Random Thinking

My blog has moved to my new blog over at downsyn.com

Click here to visit the new place….

[ Mood: Neutral ]
[ Currently: Listening to Modest Mouse ]

We got official word today that Motorola is buying Symbol Technology (the company I work for) at a cost of $3.9 billion. The CEO of Motorola was here today to discuss the purchase and give some reassurace that we wouldn’t be laid off. Because of SEC regulations about insider trading there is only so much they can tell us. But Motorola is mostly a consumer customer oriented company while we are mostly a business customer oriented company so combining the two companies seems to make sense. He told us that Long Island would remain the HQ for Enterprise Mobility so I am taking that as a good sign. Plus Symbol is much better known in the retail business market so it makes sense to retain the brand name. I would be more worried if Motorola were a direct competitor of Symbol.

[ Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Working ]

We have been cleaning out the spare bedroom to turn it into a therapy room. Mikey’s ABA teacher suggested that the family room was too distracting for Mikey because of the TV and video games. Giving him a therapy room would help him stay focused on his work. Like most people, when we say that we have a spare bedroom we actually mean we have a room where we put all the junk that we don’t have anywhere else to put!

So we have been going through boxes and throwing away things that we apparently thought were worth saving at some point. We started straightening out Beth’s room too since we were in cleaning mode and found lots of old books. Beth has lots of girl detectives and the “Dear America” and “Dear Canada” books. The “Dear Canada” books are from Scholastic and are hard to find in the USA. We had been up in Toronto a number of years ago and found them in a bookstore. Since Beth was already a fan of the “Dear America” books we bought them for her. The books are fictional diaries of girls growing up in either America or Canada (depending on the series) at a particular point in history. So there are books about the first colonists, the Revolutionary War, the pioneers, the Civil War, etc.

The “Dear Canada” series is interesting because the books cover a lot of the same time periods as the “Dear America” books but from a different point of view, one that we don’t often think about in the US. For example, the story that takes place at the time of the Revolutionary War, With Nothing But Our Courage, is about a girl and her family who are forced out of their home in upstate New York because the father was a loyalist (supported the King during the Revolution). They have to move to Canada under threat of death. Suddenly the Revolution and its aftermath isn’t quite as neat as we like to think as we read a story that, although fictional, is an accurate depiction of real events. Another story, Whispers of War, covers the period at the beginning of the War of 1812 as American forces invade Canada in the area of Niagara Falls. The narrator discusses her dread of the invading forces and her fears that her brother will be killed in the conflict.

Since the books are written from the point of view of a young girl, the messy and complex political views can be ignored and the effects that those views have on people can be explored. It is interesting to read the stories in both series to see the different points of view depending on which side of a conflict you are on. Beth enjoyed both series and although she is a little old for them now she still wants to keep them.

[ Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Working ]

BAFAB (Buy A Friend a Book) Week is less than two weeks away here now so I want to announce a special book contest that we will be running. You don’t need a blog to participate although if you want to blog about BAFAB week and this contest, please do. Be sure to link back to the official BAFAB web site as well as this blog entry if you do blog about it.

What has us especially excited about this BAFAB week is that cousin Kevin is having his book published next week just in time for BAFAB week! The book is Forgotten NY by Kevin Walsh and we will be giving away an autographed copy of the book!

So here’s how to win:

There are a series of question below. Just answer the questions and then email the answers to me at thomas.paul@gmail.com. Then add a comment below to say that you are in. A winner will be chosen randomly from the entries. We will notify the winner on the last day of BAFAB week.

The questions may seem tricky or hard but each question can be answered by going to Kevin’s website. The question will lead you directly to the answer if you read the links on each page so you won’t have go digging through the website to find the answers. Although once you visit you will probably find it so addictive that you will want to dig around!

For example, the question, “Give the name of an alley in Sheepshead Bay,” is found by clicking on the main menu entry “Alley”, followed by “SHEEPSHEAD BAY – Hidden alleys between the bungalows” and then simply selecting a name from the many alleys listed. What could be easier?

Here is the website:

Forgotten NY
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/

And here are the questions:

1) Find the name of the cobblestone street named after the sexton of Trinity Church. Hint: It is in the cobblestone capital of Manhattan.

2) Name the type of classic streetlamp that is so well preserved and popular that the city is bringing them back in newly designed posts.

3) Several NYC trolley stations stil remain even though the trolleys haven’t run in years. Identify the location of one of these stations.

4) You’d never believe you are in your NYC if you visit this place, the literal (it’s near the southernmost edge of Staten Island) and figurative end of New York City. Name it.

5) Streets sometimes disappear with new development. Several streets in Greenwich Village had this fate when 6th Avenue was extended. Name one.

Bonus: We all know who is buried in Grant’s Tomb (no one is buried there – Grant and his wife are entombed not buried), but a short way from Grant’s Tomb is the grave of a small child. What is the child’s name?

Good Luck and have fun!!!

[ Mood: Amused ]
[ Currently: Reading NY Times Book Review ]
Joe Queenan is sometimes brilliant. That is a pretty high compliment especially considering that most people are only rarely brilliant or perhaps never brilliant. Take for example of the subject of Joe Queenan’s book review in tomorrow’s NY Times Book Review section, Joe Eszterhas. Estzerhas, famous for such works as “Flashdance”, “Showgirls”, and “Jagged Edge” has written a new book about how smart, clever, and wealthy Joe Eszterhas is (and not to mention how many times he has slept with Sharon Stone).

The name of the book is The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood and Queenan gives it the perfect review, a falsely fawning and glowing discussion of the book. For example, when Eszterhas takes a whack at Mark Twain and Willaim Shakespeare(!), Queenan writes, “Frankly, it’s high time somebody took a poke at those stuffed-shirt has-beens who wouldn’t know Sharon Stone from Oliver Stone.” Queenan compares the book favorably to Plato’s “Critias” and the Bible! The end result is one of the funniest reviews I have read in the NY Times since, well, the last time I read a review by Joe Queenan. Read it!

[� Mood: Fed Up With Life�]
[� Currently: Reading blogs�]

On Wednesday Mikey had three petit mal seizures. Mikey never had seizures before so this was quite a shock. A petit mal seizure is also called an absence seizure. The person having the seizure becomes completely unresponsive and stares into space. They can not be brought around until the seizure ends. It is like an arythmia of the brain. Normally the seizure lasts less than 30 seconds. They are not that unusual for children Mikey’s age, but there is some risk that children who have petit mal seizures can develop gramd mal seizures.

Being good parents we made an appointment to see the neurologist. I took today off from work so I could go with Michel. Knowing Mikey, we made the appointment to be the first appointment of the day because Mikey has trouble sitting patiently. So we get there on time (even a little early) and sit down with Mikey. After about 15 minutes, Mikey is getting near the end of patience and decides to take off his clothes. So we are struggling with Mikey and still no sign of the doctor. It turns out that Mikey is not the first appointment and it is going to be awhile before the doctor gets around to us. Mikey had had enough and I have had enough so I grab Mikey and I’m out the door. Michel said that the receptionist was very rude after I left and told Michel that she was a bad parent.

What really annoys me is that there is a sign at the desk that says you will be charged for missed appointments. Can I send the doctor a bill for missing her appointment? We won’t be going back there. Michel made an appointment with a different neurologist. She said the receptionist at the new doctor’s office was very nice and said not to worry if Mikey takes his clothes off. Being an office for children with neurological disorders, they are used to all types of behavior!

[� Currently: Watching CSI�]

I posted earlier about a contest Debra was having on her site. She is having another contest as an introduction to BAFAB week and I couldn’t resist participating. Debra has already sent me a signed copy of her excellent book, Trying Neaira, so I am not doing this to win, but only because I love these kind of puzzles.

BAFAB week is Debra’s invention and it is a very clever idea. BAFAB stands for “Buy a Friend a Book”. The idea is to go to a bookstore and just buy a book for a friend for no particular reason. BAFAB week occurs four times a year, the first week of January, April, July, and October. The October BAFAB week is rapidly approaching so think of a friend and a book they might like and run out and get it!

So anyway, check this link for Debra’s contest. Here is my entry:

Buzzing gossip, oblivious to the personal self and modest life, played with the perceptions of the six Maryland girls.

Update: Make sure you keep your eye on this blog as we are going to be announcing a fun BAFAB contest. The prize is going to be an autographed copy of a very special book that is coming out next week.

[� Mood: Silly�]
[� Currently: Working sort of...�]
“Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”� Hedy Lamarr

At my company, most of the conference rooms are named after famous scientists. This makes sense since we are a technology company started by a physicist. So there is a conference room named after Richard Feynman, Neils Bohr, Marie Curie, Isaac Newton, Andr?-Marie Amp?re, and of course, Hedy Lamarr. Wait a second, Hedy Lamarr? The actress? How does she get a conference room named after her?

Hedy Lamarr lived an interesting life. She was born in Austria, went to acting school, and then married a wealthy German arms manufacturer. He actually tried to buy every copy of one of Hedy’s films because she appeared nude in it! He turned out to be very possesive and with Hitler coming to power, Hedy decided to take off for England. There are stories of her drugging her maid and then hiding in a brothel to get away but they are probably apocrphyal.

She ended up going to Hollywood at the invitation of Louis B. Mayer and became a succesful movie star. Apparently though, she learned something about radio control while married to her first husband, the arms manufacturer. In 1940, Hedy and a friend, the composer George Antheil, started thinking about radio controlled torpedoes. An odd thing for an actress and a composer to discuss over drinks I will admit, but it was wartime. By 1942, they had designed a radio controlled torpedo that could not be jammed using what Hedy referred to as frequency jumping. The device was patented but the military turned their back on it until 1962, when it was finally used by the US Navy in torpedoes.

So what is such a big deal about this frequency hopping idea? Nothing except that it is the principal behind spread-spectrum communication used in virtually every portable radio device including cordless telephones and WiFi networks. Hedy never made any money from her idea because the patent had run out by the time it became practical but she did live long enough to be recognized as one of the most important women of science and received an award from the EFF for making modern communications possible.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that!

“Films have a certain place in a certain time period. Technology is forever.”�Hedy Lamarr

[ Mood: Very Sad]
[ Currently: Listening to the quiet of the house]

It’s after midnight… and I’m tired. For the last few days I have been avoiding reading or watching anything about the WTC. It is still too painful for me… because of that day but even more because of the memories it brings back of the attack in 1993. I was with Dean Witter, working on the 70th floor of Tower 2 for 10 years but I had left in early 1997 to find something closer to home.

But on February 26, 1993 I was on the 70th floor when I felt a gentle shake and heard a distant murmur. It felt and sounded like a big machine shutting down in the distance. Although I didn’t know it, six people, including a pregnant woman had died in that moment. The first indication that there was a problem was when the power went out and when smoke started coming up through the stairwells. Without power, it was those smoke-filled stairwells that were our only way to safety. The stairwells were pitch black because the Port Authority, who ran the buildings, had decided that since they had their own backup power supplies they didn’t need battery powered lights in the stairwells. But the explosion had destroyed all the generators and the power had to be turned off to protect the firemen who were spraying water to put out the fires.

We trudged down the 70 floors in the dark, with the only light being from the small pocket flashlights that some women carry in their pocketbooks. It took us 45 minutes to get down. When we finally exited the building, the news crews were there to film us and talk to us. It was only then that we saw that we were covered in soot. Traveling down the darkened stairwells, there was no way for us to see how much smoke and ash were in the stairwells. Because of their design, the stairwells had acted as chimneys, sucking the smoke out of the basement garage.

Even then we did not know the seriousness of the attack or even that it had been an attack. We were told there was a fire in the parking garage and that no one was hurt. With that we went off to a neighborhood bar to get cleaned up and have a drink. I remember washing up in the bathroom and when I thought I was finally cleaned up, I gently wiped my hands on the front of my suit and my hands came away completely blackened. The suit, my coat, my tie were all beyond hope and were thrown in the trash that night.

Ten people who worked for Dean Witter (it was Morgan Stanley by then) died in the attack on 9/11 even though Morgan Stanley occupied 22 floors. A good part of the reason so few died was the head of security, Rick Rescorla, who made sure that everyone evacuated even before the second plane struck. He died while checking to make sure everyone was out when the south tower collapsed. I remember Rick leading the evacuation drills that he insisted upon. After the attack in 1993, Rick was sure that another attack was going to occur and he insisted on us being prepared for it.

I will never understand the kind of evil that can plant a bomb in a parking garage in hopes of knocking down a building. Or the kind of evil that flies a jetliner into a building. But there is evil in this world, an evil that enjoys the suffering of others. We must find THAT evil and destroy it. We can never destroy all the world’s evil but we can and must destroy the evil that wishes to destroy us.

I didn’t know any of the people who died on 9/11. I didn’t know any of the people who died in the attack in 1993. I used to sit by the fountain/memorial that was erected in the plaza to commemorate the 1993 attack and try to come to grips with the evil in the world while thinking about the six people who lost their lives.

I made a page to remember the Twin Towers. http://www.downsyn.com/wtc.html

The very lovely and talented Debra over at deblog and book-blog is sponsoring a contest to win a free book! All you have to do is answer a bunch of questions about books and then tag three people before September 30th. Now that I host a bunch of blogs I have plenty of people to tag! Ha ha! Now my evil plot can finally be revealed!

The book is an autographed copy of John Shors’s historical novel Beneath a Marble Sky. Click on the book to read Debra’s review.

1. What are you reading now?

The Good Soldier �vejk and His Fortunes in the World War by Jaroslav Ha�ek. Ha�ek is one of the most famous Czech writers other than Kafka, of course. A friend in the Czech Republic had mentioned the book to me. Ha�ek was sort of an odd bird and it would be worth reading a biography about him if someone would write one!

2. What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

This hasn’t been a great year for reading but I would probably say 1776 by David mcCullough even though parts of it felt like it was written by a committee and could have used some editing for grammar!

3. What’s your favorite work of historical fiction?

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This really was a book that I could not put down. It is not anything like Follet’s regular genre which is spy novels. This story takes place in the 12th century and involves the building of a cathedral. Sounds dull? It isn’t! Almost 1,000 pages and when I was done I wished it hadn’t ended.

4. Pick a random book from your shelves and write down its first sentence. Does it make you want to read more?

“On the first day of Februray 1328 King Charles IV of France, third son of King Philip the Handsome and last of the Capetian dynasty, lay dying.”

Pretty good first sentence for a book about the Hundred Years War (by Desmond Seward) and it does make me want to read more.

5. Have you ever read a book and wished that you’d written it? What was it?

Yes! Lots of books. I wish I was an historian so I could write like Shelby Foote. Or that I could write novels like Umberto Eco.

6. What book on your shelves do you wish you’d never bought?

Genius by James Gleick. But only because I feel guilty about never reading it.

7. Have you ever bought someone a book for BAFAB?

Yes. I bought a book for Beth but I can’t recall what it was! Maybe it was To Kill a Mockingbird. I bought it for her but I can’t remember when.

8. What book do you really wish someone would buy you for BAFAB?

non-fiction: Redemption by Nicholas Lemann

fiction: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards.

9. Go to book-blog.com and leave a comment mentioning your post. Remember to include your permalink in the comment.

Done!

10. Tag three people.

I tag Stephanie, Amy, and Ali. Maybe this will get Ali to blog!

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