Harry's Ruminations

To quote Donne: Never ask for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee. The South Carolina primary will likely be the end of Jeb Bush's run for the Whitehouse .  I'm on the record decrying the idea that we'll have yet another  member of either the Clinton or Bush family lead our nation. Still, I'm struck by what this means, not only for Jeb and his personal legacy, but also for the Party and our nation as a whole.  The saddest part of the slow-motion denouement of  Jeb Bush 's campaign: This is not who Jeb is. He's a sane, credible, thinking man. He cares about immigrants and working people. He was an able leader and governor. He wants government that helps people succeed, not people that help government succeed--that is, he's what the Republican party OUGHT TO BE. This campaign has thrown him into the modern equivalent of an Elizabethan bear-baiting, amid a radicalizing party tearing  itself apart. He's had to lower himself to the same mean...

It's been a fascinating, sometimes frustrating year.   Today's my last official workday; I'll probably check email from here on out. Some highlights to share: Code activity That pretty much tells-the-tale.  Up through July I was hot and heavy on of our projects, then I had a week of vacation (which was awesome...I really recommend Nags Head, NC .)  Throughout that time, I was working with a very sharp team, and we had a go-live with our changes on April 23d.  I didn't sleep much that night.   Things would go downhill from there.  I can't go into much detail, but from April -> August, we were on an effort to move the hosting of our solution, and it got aborted when the company made a switch in strategy and the entire Ops group supporting us left.  This left us high and dry, and we eventually retargeted on another path that delayed us 6 months. In early September, I got shifted from my previous position to one with our Retail Publis...

Except for a 1 month break during the summer, Maria and I have been swimming every weekday morning, and I'm quite proud of our progress. In January, we could barely make 1 half-lap of a 25 yard pool without being totally out of breath. Maria was very scared--she could barely swim--and she would only do kickboard stuff at first.  I was a complete goof, and the thought of doing even a full 25-yard stint frankly scared me.  I couldn't coordinate my movements, I couldn't breathe properly, and everything felt like a struggle.  I honestly didn't know if we'd make it out of January still swimming. As I sit here today, we're both up to 1/4 mile in the pool each week day apiece.  Maria's confidence is much higher, and she participated in a local swimming club in the summer.  As for myself, today marked the first time I swum 11 Fifty-yard lengths without using a kickboard.  I've just about gotten bilateral breathing on the forward crawl, and my technique...

Once upon a time, my employer decided I was enough of a naive workaholic to put me on a list.  This list contained other people who were naive workaholics.  They decided they should herd us together and teach us to be more effective, slightly less naive workaholics. The guy who taught the class had many nuggets of wisdom, but this one stuck with me.  He drew this simple diagram on a pad of paper at the front of the class.  Simple enough?  He went on to explain. "How many jumps are there between you and the CEO?  4?  5? More?   Let me tell you something: Everyone between you and the CEO is playing a game.  The CEO doesn't have to; everyone works for him. You don't have to, because you're the lowest man on the totem pole. Everyone else is playing a game.  What's maddening is the # of games one has to play to get anything done.

Yes, I'm still alive, as my twitter stream would substantiate. Felt led to share this. First, some background: I'm a Protestant Christian.  As such, I follow the doctrine of Justfication by Faith ( Sola Fide ).   Justification by Faith , broadly defined, means that we are 'justified', that is, redeemed  or saved, by Grace from God alone through Faith, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boas t.  (Ephesians 2:9, ESV).   So, there's that.  Simple enough? Well, yes and no.  So, if I'm "Saved," through no action of my own, then it seems that my actions before and  after such Justification are immaterial.  If I'm a member of the elect, might I just as well go on doing things that feel good and still punch my ticket to Heaven? The answer is maddeningly simple:  Yes, you might do that , in that Christ's atonement is suffic...

This is sort of a follow-up to my On Steve Jobs post. I write this with myself as the audience, after getting slapped with fish by life for the past 10 days. No one cares . You've been raised in child-centric America, from 1990 to the present.  You're behaviorally Millennial; you don't remember a time before computers, minivans, or helicopter parents.  You've always felt entitled to speak your mind, in whatever the situation. When affronted, you're either aggressive or passive aggressive.  Unlike your Gen-X forebears, you can't take critique as the standard 'Wah-Wah' din of parents, superiors, or peers.  No.  You feel the need to respond .  And those same people better listen to you, dammit, because you're _________ (insert your name here, Snowflake).   You'll either run your mouth off or go to some form of social media to complain and find surcease. Ibid: "No one cares." They really don't.  They may patronize you  an...

I did a quarter mile worth of laps in a pool.  Holy crap! Maria is now on a summer swim team, racing other kids her age .  Holy crap! Got a good pair of goggles at Costco, and my breathing patterns are better, if only my cardio would come along with it.