If You Know Me...

If you know me at all, you will be completely unsurprised when I tell you that I am related to the man who created the “snow-alien” at right (as always, click to enlarge – if you dare!).  My brother Scott (who has a landscaping business in Virginia Beach, Virgina, called Artist in the Garden) is the perpetrator.  The snow-alien was quite a hit with the neighbors, we understand.  Proudly showing it off is my sister Holly (who has a web-based business called Learn English with a WorldWide Perspective), who lives near my parents in Charlottesville, Virginia.  We were all there visiting my parents a few days ago when a snowstorm dumped a bunch of that wet white stuff we see so rarely out here in California...and Scott just couldn't resist the opportunity...

Sad, Sad Arthur...

Via my mom:

Arthur is 90 years old. He's played golf every day since his retirement 25 years ago.  One day he arrives home looking sad.

"That's it," he tells his wife. "I'm giving up golf. My eyesight has become so bad that once I hit the ball I couldn't see where it went."

His wife makes him a cup of tea, and says, "Why don't you take my brother with you and give it one more try."

"That's no good" sighs Arthur, "your brother's a hundred and three. He can't help."

"He may be a hundred and three", says the wife, "but his eyesight is perfect."

So the next day Arthur heads off to the golf course with his brother-in-law. He tees up, takes a mighty swing and squints down the fairway.

He turns to the brother-in-law and says, "Did you see the ball?"

"Of course I did!" replied the brother-in-law. "I have perfect eyesight".

"Where did it go?" says Arthur.

"I don't remember."

Rescue of Thirty Dolphins...

A very nice story from Brazil, via friend and colleague Frankie T.:

In the News...

Here's something I don't get to write very often: slide rules in the news!

I have several of the Gilson slide rules in my collection, including a couple in pristine condition...

What He Said...

From “Advice From An Old Programmer”:

...learning to create software changes you and makes you different. Not better or worse, just different. You may find that people treat you harshly because you can create software, maybe using words like "nerd". Maybe you'll find that because you can dissect their logic that they hate arguing with you. You may even find that simply knowing how a computer works makes you annoying and weird to them.

To this I have just one piece of advice: they can go to hell. The world needs more weird people who know how things work and who love to figure it all out. When they treat you like this, just remember that this is your journey, not theirs. Being different is not a crime, and people who tell you it is are just jealous that you've picked up a skill they never in their wildest dreams could acquire.

You can code. They cannot. That is pretty damn cool.

Yes.  What he said!

Clothing Tag Humor...

Nice collection of funny clothing tags.  My favorite is at right, but there are several more really good ones...