Niagara Falls

It was cold, dreary and rainy on Thursday. Steve and I still managed to get outside for a little bit and take in some sites. Be warned. Cheesy pictures ahead.

In the morning this was the view from our room.

Later in the day, same location, different result. Along, with the rain was the mist from the falls.

Another morning picture.

AT&T Offices I've Visited

This blog has boasted such inane lists as the "Starbucks I Have Visited" and "Airports I've Used". Exciting stuff.


In the same tradition, like it or not, I offer the following list, defined by the title ofthis blog post:


Downtown St. Louis - One AT&T Center
Downtown St. Louis - 720 Olive
Downtown St. Louis - 14 S. 4th Street
Downtown St. Louis - 1010 Pine
Downtown St. Louis - 915 Olive
Downtown St. Louis - Tucker Blvd
Downtown St. Louis - 2600 Olive
Downtown St. Louis - new data center
Earth City MO (current office)
Des Peres MO Business Office
Manchester MO Network Center
Springfield MO Business Office
Mission KS Business Office
Tulsa OK Business Office
Tulsa OK Staff
Oklahoma City Business Office
Oklahoma City Network Center
Oklahoma City Directory Office
Oklahoma City Data Center
Little Rock AR Business Office
Dallas TX Data Center
Dallas TX HQ Building
Dallas TX training center
Ft. Worth TX Business Office
Dallas TX Uverse Center
Odessa TX Business Office
Houston TX Business Office
Houston TX Data Center
Waco TX Business Office
Austin TX Business Office
Austin TX REsearch Center
San Antonio TX Network Center
San Antonio TX Hangar
San Antonio TX Data Center
San Antonio TX Marketing Office
San Antonio TX HQ
San Antonio TX Business Office
San Antonio TX Sales Office
San Antonio TX Staff Office
San Ramon CA IT Center
San Ramon CA Network Center
San Ramon CA Internet Center
San Ramon CA Sales Office
Modesto CA Business Office
Los Angeles CA Network Operations
Los Angeles CA Sales Office
Los Angeles CA Business Office
San Francisco CA Staff Office
Pleasanton CA Staff Office
Pleasanton CA Long Distance Office
Walnut Creek CA Buisness Office
Oakland CA Business Office
Atlanta GA Mobility HQ
Atlanra GA Network Center
Atlanta GA Staff Office
Bedminster NJ Staff Office
Morristown NJ Hangar
Middleton NJ Staff Office
Somerset NJ Reserach Center
New Haven CT Staff Office
Chicago IL Staff Office
Arlington IL Business Office
Lisle IL Training Center
Naperville IL Staff Office
Hoffman Estates IL IT Center
Hoffman Estates IL Network Center
Chicago IL Long Distance Center
Des Moines IA Training Center
Tampa Bay FL Staff Office
Orlando FL Business Office
Indianapolis IN Staff Office
Saginaw MI Sales Support Office
Raleigh NC Operations Center
Raleigh NC Support Center
Milwaukee WI IT Center


That's 76 buildings I remember visiting, so the number is likely to be over 100.

Thanksgiving Niagra Falls Style

When Steve and I left Cape Cod on Wednesday, we went home via Niagra Falls.
Nothing like Thanksgiving in Canada! It was dark when we arrived, but the falls are lit at night so we walked down the hill to take a look. This is the American Falls.

This is the Horseshoe Falls.

We stayed on the 31st floor of a 51 story Hilton. This is the view out our window to the left. That is the US in the distance.

And to the right. The casino is where we ate our Thanksgiving meal. This is not the first time we've eaten Thanksgiving at a casino. (I think we did it in 2007 in Phoenix). The best thing about this one, Ontario is a non smoking province. Yeah!

I'm a little turkey

Thanksgiving Cape Cod Style

We made a quick trip to the Cape to see the kids and grandkids. While there we managed to sneak in an early Thanksgiving meal. Obviously it was delicious! Amber cooked it! She also made a homemade apple pie for Steve's birthday.

A post with pictures

We took the girls on a hike today. Catherine wanted to take a picture of us. I think she did a pretty good job.

This is what the end of our hike looked like. Two tired little girls that wanted Grandpa to carry them.

Michael and Mary got tired of helping Amber cook. They decided to take a snack break.

More Facebook Comments

Facebook has clearly become that rarest of software animals: a bonafide killer app. Meaning it has changed how computers are used on a broad basis. People spend hours in it, and now certain phones are being marketed essentially as Facebook devices.

I expect social scientists to form a new branch of study based on Zuckerberg's creation. One potential topic: does Facebook complement one's friendships, or supplant them? Or: how our resistance to personal privacy is being eroded away.

One entrepreneur is delivering a service ("Social Guard", I believe it's called) which performs background checks on one's community of online friends - the idea being to ferret out the imposters and predators who falsely represent themselves as something else.

If dangerous predators lurk among it's users, Facebook gives a whole new meaning to the term "killer app".

Aunt Jena is so sad

The girls looked at Aunt Jena's blog and saw her fishing with Uncle Tommy. Mary was very concerned that Aunt Jena didn't catch any fish!

DWTS and Political Science 101

Most people erroneously believe the United States is a democracy. If that were so, every bill would need to be subjected to a nation-wide popular vote. We would spend every minute of every day reading bills and voting on them, and as the Founding Fathers observed, voting ourselves direct payments from the federal treasury!

Our form of government is actually republican. We are represented by others who vote for us. Even their votes are not democratic: the distribution of power in the Senate does not match the population, the President can veto decisions, and the courts can disallow votes based on constitutionality (decided by judges who are appointed, not elected via popular vote). Another example would be presidential elections in which states essentially vote based on their population weight. Ii's possible for a candidate to lose the popular vote, but win in a landslide in this winner-take-all state scenario.

Liberals tend to gravitate toward the popular vote due to its perceived fairness. Conservatives tend to support the republican mechanisms due to the original intent of the constitution.

This is where Dancing with the Stars comes in ...

The show has been controversial this year due to the unexpected results of the show's popular voting feature. Bristol Palin, for example, has survived longer than most feel is fair due to her good showing with the popular vote.

Here's the irony: liberals love the popular vote, but in this case, the fallacies of this approach are benefitting a conservative family. Should we admit that pure democracy has some margin of error? If we do, can we also concede the possibility that the popular vote in the last presidential election may also have been an anomaly?

Michael Showing Off

A Long Story

I've read War and Peace twice, and it doesn't come close to my recent literary experiences ...

The saga begins in Cape Cod. This spring, we were combing through the store at the local dump, and I picked up a copy of Winds of War by Herman Wouk. Price: free!

The book recounted the story of a fictional military family, the Henrys, during World War II. The historical details and insight are extensive, and as far as I can tell, wholly accurate. It was almost a thousand pages in length, and took me over a month to read. Worse, somewhere around page 800, I realized the story had barely progressed through a third of the war yet. That's when I learned about a second book, War and Remembrance, which constitute the continuation of the story!

I now find myself engrossed in a second 1000-page tome. No complaints, however, as the story is excellent, very interesting to me, and much exercise is derived from carrying the "project" everywhere.

The only problem: it may take me longer to read these books than it took the world to struugle through WWII the first time!

Sherlock 2010

Masterpiece Theater has added a new series to its stable of detectives, and this time they've selected the greatest detective of all time: Sherlock Holmes.

The twist this time is an updating of the setting to modern London. Despite the oddity of seeing Sherlock Holmes use an iPhone, the series stays true to the spirit of the Holmes saga. The character is based on the science of deduction, and the detective wields it with precision and a lack of social sensitivity. In other words, it's well executed.


My only complaint is with the length of each show. At 90 minutes, they're too long, and as a result, elements of the plot often seem contrived.

It's definitely a welcome addition to the Sherlock Holmes entertainment offerings.

Sunday nights on PBS.

Mood Swings

My son, Tommy, underwent an operation last week to remove part of his femur and knee, and replace them with artificial versions of the same. Thankfully, such things are possible today.

It was a day of crazy mood swings for me.

First, it was a time of good thoughts ... we had a great doctor, everything was on time, Tommy was 100% ready to get this done, and the operation was a total success! With no other cancer in sight, Tommy has now rid himself of this nuisance, and can move forward.

Here is a shot of his leg post-surgery. The work performed is hidden by yards and yards of ace bandages:

But days at the hospital (below) can be long, and negative thoughts crept in ...

Why did this need to happen at all? Why did we need to come here and have body parts removed which were healthy a year ago? Why this, and why that. If you've ever heard a child who annoyingly moans "but whyyyy?" time after time, you have a good mental picture of my thought process.

Thankfully, many remembrances helped re-establish some sanity ...

The truth is we're very fortunate. No one is born perfect, and no one escapes problems in our limited number of days. I'm just thankful that this issue was caught as early as it was. I'm thankful Tommy had the opportunity to complete his marathon in March and achieve the milestone he desired. I'm thankful he's so strong and ready to face this. But these aren't the biggest blessings for us ...

Our family and friends have been super supportive, and are a source of strength (see Britney visiting above). Tommy's faith is strong and the habits he's developed to see the positive in situations are helping him now.

Jena has been amazing, and it's hard to think of "Tommy" any longer; it's "TommyandJena". I'm thankful God gave him a mate who sees the same potential in him we as parents saw.

One more thing to be thankful for: the future.

A Study in Contrasts

The sports world is interesting as it often reveals the character and will of those involved. Last week provided another interesting study of character.

On one hand, there was Randy Moss ... a premier receiver with no Super Bowl rings, Randy can't seem to grasp the basic concept that football is the ultimate team sport. By taking plays off, haranguing coaches, insulting club staff, and mouthing off incessantly (without much to say), Randy has managed to squander his superior giftings. Imagine his impact on football if he strived to succeed! Minnesota stupidly gave up a third-round draft choice (to the Patriots, of course) before realizing their error. When he was placed on waivers after only four weeks with the Vikings, 22 teams passed before one claimed him.

On the other hand, there was Isaac Bruce ... Isaac recently retired from football, and in his retirement interview credited his teammates and faith for his success. Skill, combined with a strong work ethic and positive attitude, propelled Isaac to a platform in which he ranks above Moss in receptions and receiving yards. To most people, his 73-yard touchdown catch in the closing quarter of a winning Super Bowl effort was his most memorable career moment.

I get the feeling that if Isaac Bruce walked out of retirement today and offered his services to the NFL, he would be chosen long before the 22nd team passed on the offer!

Lombardi was right: character builds championships!

What the Elections Told Us

The 2010 elections brought massive turnover in the House of Representatives, and to a lesser degree, in the Senate and states. Clearly, there's a message here, but what is it?

Some would say it's normal - that off-year election turnover is the expected pattern. True enough, but this was the largest such turnover in 62 years, so something bigger was at play.

Some would say people are frustrated by the economy. The truth is, they were frustrated by the policies which led to the downturn (such as socialistic housing rules), and the failed bailouts which mortgaged our future and made things worse.

The administration suggests that this was a "communications problem", implying the American people don't get it. Huh?

To me, the answer is the exact opposite. Americans do get it, and they don't like it. 32 Democrats who voted for Obamacare were fired, and that should be as clear as it gets.

Most Americans desire a government which protects the American experience, provides opportunity, encourages the strong to do better, assists the weak, and manages our resources wisely. The constitution defines us as a people, and should be more repected as the underlying foundation of our government.

Every time the elected stray from these precepts, turnover will occur to the degree necessary to right things.

On the Cove Again

Son Tommy and daughter-in-law Jena recently moved in with us so he can continue his treatments in St. Louis. It's usually tougher than one expects to cohabitate with one's parents once you've established your own routines. Things tend to shift this way and that after seven years away, and they don't fit together exactly as expected. As Thomas Wolfe opined, "You can't go home again".

Nonetheless, we are thrilled to have Tommy and Jena with us under the same roof. Cancer impacts the whole family, and a unified effort can make things easier. My son Mike recently told me that families are people who help one another, and he's right.

I especially like the transformation of Tommy's old room from "teenage boy" motif to decidedly "married guy".

I view surgery and chemotherapy as an unexpected and unwanted interlude in Tommy's life. Cancer is evil, and as such, it will yield to better things. It will not define Tommy, as I believe he and Jena will advance past this to accomplish their life goals. Looking back from some future vantage point, this will likely be viewed as a blip. Perhaps in some way, it may lead to some higher level of blessing over the long haul.

The future is safe, but for now there are things to do, and it's great to have Tommy and Jena (and Lyla) here. Maybe next time they move out, it won't be so far!