Jean Marie Kjos passed away peacefully on November 29, 2007 in Salinas, California.
She was born Jean Marie De Witt in Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 18, 1947, was confirmed at Tabor Lutheran Church in Pueblo, Colorado, graduated from Pueblo Central High School in 1965, and from the University of Southern Colorado in 1969.
She majored in English and taught second grade, then in special education, before taking over her father’s business, Pueblo Blue Print, after his death. She owned and operated that business until 2003.
She was an accomplished auto racing photographer with hundreds of credits in sports car racing publications. She loved travel, counting amongst others, visits to Russia, Afghanistan, Europe and the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and Hawaii.
She was companion, best friend, and wife. The light of my life, and a light in every life she touched.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
And please, a twinkle in my eye
I got the well-worn, leather-bound Bible out of the nightstand. On the cover, embossed in gold, Jean Marie De Witt. Inside, inscribed, a presentation for Confirmation at Tabor Lutheran Church, Pueblo, Colorado, October 29, 1961.
It’s the leaf facing that inscription that gets my attention, though, in Jeannie’s own hand – recognizable even many years ago – is this poem, so much better today than anything I could write.
God, give me sympathy and sense
And help to keep my courage high.
God, give me calm and confidence
And please, a twinkle in my eye.
The sun shows after every storm,
There is a solution for every
Problem, and the soul’s
Highest duty is to be of
Good cheer.
Through the beauties of
Nature and growing things one
Sees the everlasting
Presence of God.
I’m hoping and praying for improvement this morning.
It’s the leaf facing that inscription that gets my attention, though, in Jeannie’s own hand – recognizable even many years ago – is this poem, so much better today than anything I could write.
God, give me sympathy and sense
And help to keep my courage high.
God, give me calm and confidence
And please, a twinkle in my eye.
The sun shows after every storm,
There is a solution for every
Problem, and the soul’s
Highest duty is to be of
Good cheer.
Through the beauties of
Nature and growing things one
Sees the everlasting
Presence of God.
I’m hoping and praying for improvement this morning.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hope and Prayer
Jeannie is ill. She was hospitalized on November 5 for very high blood sugar. So she is (newly) diabetic. It was frightening indeed while she was in intensive care over that first week, but in the following week plus – through last Wednesday – she was seemingly on the mend. On Thanksgiving day, though, there was a turn for the worse, as some swelling returned where it had improved, and she was less responsive, but aware and communicating. Heather and Courtney saw her that day.
The diabetes complicates chronic liver disease. That’s the problem now. Treatment started two days ago includes a steroid along with increased insulin (the steroid pushes up the blood sugar). We’re still hoping for a positive response from this treatment. The past two days have not been good. Jeannie was unresponsive enough that she was not able to eat at noon today. Medications continue via a GI tube. We’re unfortunately having to prepare ourselves for the worst while still hoping – and praying – for the best.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Veterans Day 2007
World War I ended in an armistace signed on November 11, 1918. The day that ended "the war to end all wars" was celebrated as Armistace Day on November 11, until World War II and Korea proved that naivete tragically flawed. So the holiday was changed to Veterans Day making room for new and future heroes by this proclamation.
Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America , do hereby call upon all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11, 1954 , as Veterans Day. On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.
Here's a summary of those who have served, were wounded, and died in battle in America's wars.
Revolutionary War - 217,000 served, 6,188 wounded, 4,435 battle deaths.
Here's a summary of those who have served, were wounded, and died in battle in America's wars.
Revolutionary War - 217,000 served, 6,188 wounded, 4,435 battle deaths.
War of 1812 - 286,730 served, 4,505 wounded, 2,260 battle deaths.
Mexican War - 78,718 served, 4,152, wounded 1,733 battle deaths.
Civil War (both sides) - 3,213,363 served, 354,805 wounded, 191,963 battle deaths.
Spanish American War - 306,760 served, 1,662 wounded, 385 battle deaths.
World War I - 4,734,991 served, 204,002 wounded, 53,402 battle deaths.
World War II - 16,112,566 served, 671,846 wounded, 291,557 battle deaths.
Korean War - 5,720,000 served, 103,284 wounded, 33,741 battle deaths.
Vietnam War - 8,744,000 served, 153,303 wounded, 47,424 battle deaths.
Persian Gulf War - 2,225,000, served, 467 wounded, 147 battle deaths.
Iraq & Afghanistan - 1,048,884 served, 13,820 wounded, 3,434 battle deaths
United States of America - 42,688,012 served, 1,518,034 wounded, 630,481 battle deaths.
*Juneau Mentor Johnson World War II - 1942*
*Brian E. Tierney Vietnam - 1968*
*Randolph Murph Korea – 2001*
Take to heart for those you loved – as I will for Juneau, Brian, and Randolph – these words(1) penned at Dak To, Republic of Vietnam, January 1, 1970, by a young man soon to become one of “those gentle heroes...left behind.”
If you are able, save for them a place inside of you
and save one backward glance when you are leaving
for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them,
though you may or may not have always.
Take what they have taught you with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane, take one moment
to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.
Michael Davis O'Donnell
Panel 12W Line 40
KIA March 24, 1970
(1) This same poem used on Memorial Day here.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
The Passing of the Age of Writing
Norman Mailer died today. Does his passing mark the end of the age of literature? There are seemingly uncountable bloggers and romance novelists, but are there writers?
Mailer wrote his first – and best – novel, The Naked and the Dead in 1948 while studying in Paris after World War II. He was just 25. He later won two Pulitzer Prizes – one for literature – Executioner’s Song, the not-really-fictional story about Gary Gilmore, executed by firing squad in Utah in 1977. He never wrote "the great american novel" that was his stated aspiration.
Mailer lived hard and in our face for over half a century. He recited obscene poetry in a YWCA. He ran for Mayor of New York, flew gliders, drank, and partied – a one-man Rat Pack. He fought in bars and fought in six marriages (he stabbed his second wife at a party – she didn’t press charges, even though she nearly died of the wound).
Mailer decried technology as dehumanizing and accused feminists of wanting to remove the mystery, romance and "blind, goat-kicking lust" from sex.
But he still wrote, with a pen, American Dream, and Armies of the Night, and countless magazine articles and stories. He wrote with style and depth, even in works not well received by critics or readers.
What a stark contrast Mailer and the likes of J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Flannery O’Connor, and Toni Morrison are to this list of the New York Times fiction top ten.
PROTECT AND DEFEND, Vince Flynn.
BOOK OF THE DEAD, Patricia Cornwell.
HOME TO HOLLY SPRINGS, Jan Karon.
PLAYING FOR PIZZA, John Grisham.
AMAZING GRACE, Danielle Steel.
WORLD WITHOUT END, Ken Follett.
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, Khaled Hosseini.
THE CHOICE, Nicholas Sparks.
LICK OF FROST, Laurell K. Hamilton.
THE ALMOST MOON, Alice Sebold.
I’ve read and like John Grisham and Ken Follett, but it’s light stuff, isn’t it? In those ten, perhaps only Khaled Hosseini pursues themes worthy of being called literature. Mailer – the writer and the character – will be missed.
Post script: Further comment on today’s quality of writing, literature, and journalism was serendipitously provided by this evening’s news report from a San Francisco television station. All they could be bothered to say about Mailer was, “Author Norman Mailer died today. He was married six times and was a foe of women’s liberation. Now, for the football scores...”
Mailer wrote his first – and best – novel, The Naked and the Dead in 1948 while studying in Paris after World War II. He was just 25. He later won two Pulitzer Prizes – one for literature – Executioner’s Song, the not-really-fictional story about Gary Gilmore, executed by firing squad in Utah in 1977. He never wrote "the great american novel" that was his stated aspiration.
Mailer lived hard and in our face for over half a century. He recited obscene poetry in a YWCA. He ran for Mayor of New York, flew gliders, drank, and partied – a one-man Rat Pack. He fought in bars and fought in six marriages (he stabbed his second wife at a party – she didn’t press charges, even though she nearly died of the wound).
Mailer decried technology as dehumanizing and accused feminists of wanting to remove the mystery, romance and "blind, goat-kicking lust" from sex.
But he still wrote, with a pen, American Dream, and Armies of the Night, and countless magazine articles and stories. He wrote with style and depth, even in works not well received by critics or readers.
What a stark contrast Mailer and the likes of J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Flannery O’Connor, and Toni Morrison are to this list of the New York Times fiction top ten.
PROTECT AND DEFEND, Vince Flynn.
BOOK OF THE DEAD, Patricia Cornwell.
HOME TO HOLLY SPRINGS, Jan Karon.
PLAYING FOR PIZZA, John Grisham.
AMAZING GRACE, Danielle Steel.
WORLD WITHOUT END, Ken Follett.
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, Khaled Hosseini.
THE CHOICE, Nicholas Sparks.
LICK OF FROST, Laurell K. Hamilton.
THE ALMOST MOON, Alice Sebold.
I’ve read and like John Grisham and Ken Follett, but it’s light stuff, isn’t it? In those ten, perhaps only Khaled Hosseini pursues themes worthy of being called literature. Mailer – the writer and the character – will be missed.
Post script: Further comment on today’s quality of writing, literature, and journalism was serendipitously provided by this evening’s news report from a San Francisco television station. All they could be bothered to say about Mailer was, “Author Norman Mailer died today. He was married six times and was a foe of women’s liberation. Now, for the football scores...”
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
A Personal History of Computing - Part 2
At the end of Part 1, we left our Barefoot Boy with Cheek (me – I suspect Max Shulman stole my life for Asa Hearthrug even before I lived it, or having read Barefoot Boy, my subliminal psyche doomed me to live it) in the midst of an awkward puberty, still before the dawning of the computer age...But not a long time before.
Nobody had yet described anything more substantial than Andy Warhol art as “pop culture,” but IBM was – just under our consciousness – already dominating it. the Tornados became the first Brit band to reach number one in the U.S. – bet you thought it was the Beatles – with the instrumental Telstar in 1962. The electronic-sounding record (yes, record, as in vinyl, with grooves) was released not long after the AT&T communication satellite was launched. (Satellites had a “wow” factor back then.) Unbeknownst to me (who was paying attention to such things?) IBM was using Telstar to send information between New York and France. The same year, IBM launched the first airline reservation system, for American Airlines.
Of course, IBM had been producing far more insidious things; they introduced an algebraic computer language called FORTRAN (FORmula TRANSlation) in 1957, when I was an unsuspecting sixth-grader. Little did I know what a pain in the butt it would be to me more than a decade later.
We children of the Cold War knew about NORAD, of course, and that computers were the basis for the ability to intercept whatever the Soviet Union (before and since, that’s Russia, of course) might throw our way. Oh, in case you haven't heard that acronym latetly, that was the North American Air (not Aerospace) Defense Command (see War Games). IBM made that computer network operational in 1958.
The Mercury sub-orbital space flights (yes, those were a big deal back then, too) were tracked on computers. So yes, computers were in our lives, but they didn’t really reach out and touch us, if you know what I mean. The kind of gee-whiz thing that actually found daily use was IBM’s “Selectric” typewriter. Cool, but most definitely not a computer.
IBM was the real “big blue.” Long before Duke.
Actually, I was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota (like Asa) in 1964 when the first “tech stock,” intruded on my consciousness. A local company, Control Data Corporation (CDC) became one of the big go-go stocks of the sixties. It was much discussed around the fraternity. Not that I had any money to do anything about it. Some of the brothers did, of course.
Seymour Cray led a CDC spin-off in the sticks of central Wisconsin into gee whiz territory with stuff like vector and parallel processing, and to accommodate it, we heard about MegaFLOPS (Million Floating Point Operations Per Second).
About then I was off into the service of Uncle Sam, who had a little contretemps going in Southeast Asia. He needed me.
Nobody had yet described anything more substantial than Andy Warhol art as “pop culture,” but IBM was – just under our consciousness – already dominating it. the Tornados became the first Brit band to reach number one in the U.S. – bet you thought it was the Beatles – with the instrumental Telstar in 1962. The electronic-sounding record (yes, record, as in vinyl, with grooves) was released not long after the AT&T communication satellite was launched. (Satellites had a “wow” factor back then.) Unbeknownst to me (who was paying attention to such things?) IBM was using Telstar to send information between New York and France. The same year, IBM launched the first airline reservation system, for American Airlines.
Of course, IBM had been producing far more insidious things; they introduced an algebraic computer language called FORTRAN (FORmula TRANSlation) in 1957, when I was an unsuspecting sixth-grader. Little did I know what a pain in the butt it would be to me more than a decade later.
We children of the Cold War knew about NORAD, of course, and that computers were the basis for the ability to intercept whatever the Soviet Union (before and since, that’s Russia, of course) might throw our way. Oh, in case you haven't heard that acronym latetly, that was the North American Air (not Aerospace) Defense Command (see War Games). IBM made that computer network operational in 1958.
The Mercury sub-orbital space flights (yes, those were a big deal back then, too) were tracked on computers. So yes, computers were in our lives, but they didn’t really reach out and touch us, if you know what I mean. The kind of gee-whiz thing that actually found daily use was IBM’s “Selectric” typewriter. Cool, but most definitely not a computer.
IBM was the real “big blue.” Long before Duke.
Actually, I was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota (like Asa) in 1964 when the first “tech stock,” intruded on my consciousness. A local company, Control Data Corporation (CDC) became one of the big go-go stocks of the sixties. It was much discussed around the fraternity. Not that I had any money to do anything about it. Some of the brothers did, of course.
Seymour Cray led a CDC spin-off in the sticks of central Wisconsin into gee whiz territory with stuff like vector and parallel processing, and to accommodate it, we heard about MegaFLOPS (Million Floating Point Operations Per Second).
About then I was off into the service of Uncle Sam, who had a little contretemps going in Southeast Asia. He needed me.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
The Real Deal
I haven’t become of a fan of Viking coach Brad Childress, but he certainly knew what he was doing when he drafted running back Adrian (All Day) Peterson after his junior year at Oklahoma.
Peterson had a hell of a day today, rushing for an NFL-record 296 yards and three touchdowns. Peterson's season total of 1,036 yards represents the best eight-game performance by a rookie in NFL history and is tied for fifth-best among all players. A little simple math will tell you that Peterson could be on the way to a 2,000 yard season.
In just eight career games – not even starts, since he’s been working in relief of (former) starter Chester Taylor – Peterson has the two best rushing games in Vikings history (296 Sunday and 224 against the Bears), the most rushing touchdowns and rushing yards for a Vikings rookie in a season and the most runs of 50 yards or more in a season, rookie or not.
In perspective, Peterson’s day was better than Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, or O.J. Simpson ever had. (Though O.J.’s not recently been having good days at all, has he?)
What’s wrong with Denver? Actually, what’s wrong with the AFC West? San Diego is 4-4 now, as is Kansas City. Denver’s 3-5, and Oakland, is well, Oakland. Actually, what happened - today, anyway - to last year’s “toughest division” is the NFC North, where a resurgent Detroit (is “surgent” a word? There’s no “re” applicable to the Motor City Kitties) is 6-2 and headed for that ten-win season that Kittie’s QB Jon Kitna predicted - to widespread derision. The Old Man at Green Bay has the Packers flying – to the league’s second best record. Even the Vikings looked pretty good today (we’ll have to hope that QB training Jackson stays hurt this time). The Bears are the defending NFC champions, and might just get back on track now that they’re no longer starting stiff Rex Grossman at quarterback.
The “big game” was New England at Indianapolis. It looked like – was – the Colts most of the way, but it was the Pats at the end when it counted. Old home week for me, having watched quarterback Tony Dungy, tight end Ben Utecht, and running back Lawrence Maroney play for my Rodents. Disaffected Minnesota fans convinced themselves that his subtraction was an addition for the Norsemen. Nonsense. Anyway, it was pretty clear that those teams in the RCA Dome are the real thing. They’ll meet again, next time probably to determine the NFL crown – even though only one of them can actually reach the Super Bowl.
Peterson had a hell of a day today, rushing for an NFL-record 296 yards and three touchdowns. Peterson's season total of 1,036 yards represents the best eight-game performance by a rookie in NFL history and is tied for fifth-best among all players. A little simple math will tell you that Peterson could be on the way to a 2,000 yard season.
In just eight career games – not even starts, since he’s been working in relief of (former) starter Chester Taylor – Peterson has the two best rushing games in Vikings history (296 Sunday and 224 against the Bears), the most rushing touchdowns and rushing yards for a Vikings rookie in a season and the most runs of 50 yards or more in a season, rookie or not.
In perspective, Peterson’s day was better than Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, or O.J. Simpson ever had. (Though O.J.’s not recently been having good days at all, has he?)
What’s wrong with Denver? Actually, what’s wrong with the AFC West? San Diego is 4-4 now, as is Kansas City. Denver’s 3-5, and Oakland, is well, Oakland. Actually, what happened - today, anyway - to last year’s “toughest division” is the NFC North, where a resurgent Detroit (is “surgent” a word? There’s no “re” applicable to the Motor City Kitties) is 6-2 and headed for that ten-win season that Kittie’s QB Jon Kitna predicted - to widespread derision. The Old Man at Green Bay has the Packers flying – to the league’s second best record. Even the Vikings looked pretty good today (we’ll have to hope that QB training Jackson stays hurt this time). The Bears are the defending NFC champions, and might just get back on track now that they’re no longer starting stiff Rex Grossman at quarterback.
The “big game” was New England at Indianapolis. It looked like – was – the Colts most of the way, but it was the Pats at the end when it counted. Old home week for me, having watched quarterback Tony Dungy, tight end Ben Utecht, and running back Lawrence Maroney play for my Rodents. Disaffected Minnesota fans convinced themselves that his subtraction was an addition for the Norsemen. Nonsense. Anyway, it was pretty clear that those teams in the RCA Dome are the real thing. They’ll meet again, next time probably to determine the NFL crown – even though only one of them can actually reach the Super Bowl.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
The Peter Principle
We were sitting in section two-oh-something the last time the Illini showed up for a Gopher homecoming game, in 2004, when the Rodents sent Chief Illiniwek packing 55-0. That was in the midst of a string of seven straight homecoming wins. Game-after-home game, we sat in that section, with people we got to know, at least casually. We were the ones who saw the glass half full.
“Fire the coach, fire the coach,” they said, game after game. That was Glen Mason. We weren’t big Mason fans – the Rodents were mediocre, delivering just a few more wins than losses, sometimes upsetting Penn State, Michigan, even Ohio State once. There was a minor bowl nearly every year, and about as many bowl wins as losses. Minor bowls match mediocre teams.
But my retort was simple, “Fine, replace him. Now, who is it that you’re going to hire?” Until last December in Tempe, Arizona. The 44-40 overtime loss to Texas Tech wasn’t the first inexplicable collapse by a Mason-coached Gopher team, just the most humiliating. I’d finally had it, so when the firing came, I was all for it. I’d forgotten my mantra. Worse, it seems the Rodent’s Athletic Director had never even considered it.
So now we’ve got Brewster. Brewski. Punky. A loser. Dismantled by the Chief in the Metrodome. They couldn’t see this coming? Certainly, Punky’s coaching record... What’s that you say? There is no coaching record? Surely...
Yes, incredulously, the head Rodent hired someone who had been head coach at Central Catholic High School in Lafayette, Indiana, for two years in the 80’s and nowhere else, at any other time, at any other level. He hadn’t even been a coordinator, offense or defense. He talked a good game, though. If this wasn’t so sad, it would be laughable.
The Rodents play bad defense, bad offense, they suck on the kicking and receiving teams. They drop passes, miss tackles, jump offside, fumble, throw interceptions, leave too many players on the field, hold...well, they just do all that stuff that loses football games.
Today, homecoming, third quarter, behind 37-10, record 1-8, 4th and inches. Brewski kicks. Punky is clearly frightened. He knows he’s in over his head. Early in the fourth, Illinois goes for it on fourth and inches. They make the first down. A play later they make it 44-10. A garbage time TD and it ends 44-17. Has no one at the University of Minnesota heard of the Peter Principle? It’s real, and it lives in your football program.
Undisciplined. Clueless. Hapless. It’s not going to get any better, either. Brewster should be paying his dues running a middle school team somewhere, not coaching a Big Ten football team.
The Ducks (football’s most horrendous uniforms) dropped Arizona State from the thin ranks of major college unbeatens. Alabama fumbled away an upset of LSU. The Gators took the week off (Ok, they beat Vanderbilt, same thing). Nebraska was embarrassed again, by Kansas 76-39. The Jayhawks remained unbeaten, and should move up in the polls. (If Nebraska was 8-0, would it be 8th?) Is there a worse defense in the country than the Cornhuskers? A worse team name?
And then there were two (unless you count Hawaii, which I don’t). The Seminoles knocked No. 2 Boston College from that lofty perch, leaving only Ohio State and Kansas with unblemished records. Ohio State beat Wisconsin to put a stranglehold on the top ranking.
The Buffs had a little run – actually made it back from hapless to mediocre – but today Missouri brought them back to reality 55-10. Georgia hung on to beat Troy.
South Florida’s dropped its third in a row. The air up there in the top five was a bit rarified for the geography-challenged team. Tampa is south Florida?
There it is, another week on the gridiron. There have been better.
“Fire the coach, fire the coach,” they said, game after game. That was Glen Mason. We weren’t big Mason fans – the Rodents were mediocre, delivering just a few more wins than losses, sometimes upsetting Penn State, Michigan, even Ohio State once. There was a minor bowl nearly every year, and about as many bowl wins as losses. Minor bowls match mediocre teams.
But my retort was simple, “Fine, replace him. Now, who is it that you’re going to hire?” Until last December in Tempe, Arizona. The 44-40 overtime loss to Texas Tech wasn’t the first inexplicable collapse by a Mason-coached Gopher team, just the most humiliating. I’d finally had it, so when the firing came, I was all for it. I’d forgotten my mantra. Worse, it seems the Rodent’s Athletic Director had never even considered it.
So now we’ve got Brewster. Brewski. Punky. A loser. Dismantled by the Chief in the Metrodome. They couldn’t see this coming? Certainly, Punky’s coaching record... What’s that you say? There is no coaching record? Surely...
Yes, incredulously, the head Rodent hired someone who had been head coach at Central Catholic High School in Lafayette, Indiana, for two years in the 80’s and nowhere else, at any other time, at any other level. He hadn’t even been a coordinator, offense or defense. He talked a good game, though. If this wasn’t so sad, it would be laughable.
The Rodents play bad defense, bad offense, they suck on the kicking and receiving teams. They drop passes, miss tackles, jump offside, fumble, throw interceptions, leave too many players on the field, hold...well, they just do all that stuff that loses football games.
Today, homecoming, third quarter, behind 37-10, record 1-8, 4th and inches. Brewski kicks. Punky is clearly frightened. He knows he’s in over his head. Early in the fourth, Illinois goes for it on fourth and inches. They make the first down. A play later they make it 44-10. A garbage time TD and it ends 44-17. Has no one at the University of Minnesota heard of the Peter Principle? It’s real, and it lives in your football program.
Undisciplined. Clueless. Hapless. It’s not going to get any better, either. Brewster should be paying his dues running a middle school team somewhere, not coaching a Big Ten football team.
The Ducks (football’s most horrendous uniforms) dropped Arizona State from the thin ranks of major college unbeatens. Alabama fumbled away an upset of LSU. The Gators took the week off (Ok, they beat Vanderbilt, same thing). Nebraska was embarrassed again, by Kansas 76-39. The Jayhawks remained unbeaten, and should move up in the polls. (If Nebraska was 8-0, would it be 8th?) Is there a worse defense in the country than the Cornhuskers? A worse team name?
And then there were two (unless you count Hawaii, which I don’t). The Seminoles knocked No. 2 Boston College from that lofty perch, leaving only Ohio State and Kansas with unblemished records. Ohio State beat Wisconsin to put a stranglehold on the top ranking.
The Buffs had a little run – actually made it back from hapless to mediocre – but today Missouri brought them back to reality 55-10. Georgia hung on to beat Troy.
South Florida’s dropped its third in a row. The air up there in the top five was a bit rarified for the geography-challenged team. Tampa is south Florida?
There it is, another week on the gridiron. There have been better.
Friday, November 2, 2007
A Personal History of Computing - Part 1
Once upon a time there was a small boy. He lived in a small town on the prairie, where his father and his grandfather had an office suite (he didn’t know then it was a suite, or even what a suite was) above the Five and Dime on main street. They managed farms, sold real estate and insurance, and with them was the small boy’s uncle Bud, who was a lawyer, with row on row of beautiful books. There was a dentist down the hall in the upstairs of that brick storefront building, and it was a forbidding place, what with lawyers, and dentists, a busy father, and a dour grandfather.
But there was one object that seemed magic. It sat on a stand high enough to be majestic, low enough to be a visual feast of little mechanical pieces masterfully arranged to some rule not understood by the boy. It said Burroughs on it, it was a 100-key adding machine, and you could see its innards. Tiny little parts and pieces that were positioned by setting the keys to represent numbers, then all moved together when a great handle on the side of the machine was pulled. The small boy couldn’t pull it himself – it was too high and too hard – and of course he wouldn’t dare, in that very serious place.
That was the boy’s first computer, an adding machine invented by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642, but more specifically the improvement patented by William Burroughs in 1888. His company was the American Arithmometer Company which became the Burroughs Corporation, which later built big (we called them mainframe) computers, and finally merged with Sperry to become Unisys, one of the computer giants of the second half of the last century (before IBM ate them all for lunch, of course).
That magic machine was more to be admired than used. A few year after that, there was ninth grade typing class on Royal electric typewriters, while Univac was “inventing” the first computer for the US Navy to build its nuclear submarines. (At least that’s how I remember that story.) The boy wasn’t really affected by all that, since there were other far more pressing interests. Their names were Carol, and Elaine, and Janet.
Those are stories of a different kind. Of unrequited love. Stories shared by all pubescent boys.
Anyway, there’s Chapter 1 of A Personal History of Computing.
But there was one object that seemed magic. It sat on a stand high enough to be majestic, low enough to be a visual feast of little mechanical pieces masterfully arranged to some rule not understood by the boy. It said Burroughs on it, it was a 100-key adding machine, and you could see its innards. Tiny little parts and pieces that were positioned by setting the keys to represent numbers, then all moved together when a great handle on the side of the machine was pulled. The small boy couldn’t pull it himself – it was too high and too hard – and of course he wouldn’t dare, in that very serious place.
That was the boy’s first computer, an adding machine invented by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642, but more specifically the improvement patented by William Burroughs in 1888. His company was the American Arithmometer Company which became the Burroughs Corporation, which later built big (we called them mainframe) computers, and finally merged with Sperry to become Unisys, one of the computer giants of the second half of the last century (before IBM ate them all for lunch, of course).
That magic machine was more to be admired than used. A few year after that, there was ninth grade typing class on Royal electric typewriters, while Univac was “inventing” the first computer for the US Navy to build its nuclear submarines. (At least that’s how I remember that story.) The boy wasn’t really affected by all that, since there were other far more pressing interests. Their names were Carol, and Elaine, and Janet.
Those are stories of a different kind. Of unrequited love. Stories shared by all pubescent boys.
Anyway, there’s Chapter 1 of A Personal History of Computing.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Economic Ruminating
Oil price up today. Duh!. Yesterday the Fed cut interest rates, so investments flowed to the Euro and other currencies of countries holding interest rates high. Of course the value of the dollar against those currencies fell, and since crude oil is priced in dollars. Well, duh! (Of course crude oil just got cheaper in all those other currencies.
Meanwhile, the corn from which we make Corn Flakes is at record highs. Cows eat it, too, of course, meaning steak is also at record highs. Is someone going to explain to me why using our food for fuel is a good thing? I didn’t think so.
Some fool on television was arguing that consumer spending will be strong – carry the economy – through the quarter, meaning Christmas. Well... The currency is inflating. (How is devaluation against other currencies in a “global economy” not inflation?) Real estate has cratered, mortgages are in default, debt is at historic highs, there’s no more “home equity” to convert to cash, and the consumer is going on a spending spree?
It reminds me of the time I heard an analyst say “We don’t pay any attention to PEs anymore.” That was right before the so-called “dot-com” crash.
On a more positive note – well, maybe not so positive – that crude market is going to crater. Along as there’s not a war, that is. I mean another war. It will go down to the inflated currency equivalent of wherever it would be without about a 30% “fear factor,” say, about fifty or so.
This internet’s a cool thing. Courtney wrote another Hawaii blog the other day, and about Tar Heel basketball. I’m doing this Pen-Pen thing, and a couple more. Almost anything I want to look up (like the currency markets) I can, quickly and easily. I was thinking about the first time I became aware that computers could make things different – really different. It was 1978, I think. That’s a whole other story. Perhaps tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the corn from which we make Corn Flakes is at record highs. Cows eat it, too, of course, meaning steak is also at record highs. Is someone going to explain to me why using our food for fuel is a good thing? I didn’t think so.
Some fool on television was arguing that consumer spending will be strong – carry the economy – through the quarter, meaning Christmas. Well... The currency is inflating. (How is devaluation against other currencies in a “global economy” not inflation?) Real estate has cratered, mortgages are in default, debt is at historic highs, there’s no more “home equity” to convert to cash, and the consumer is going on a spending spree?
It reminds me of the time I heard an analyst say “We don’t pay any attention to PEs anymore.” That was right before the so-called “dot-com” crash.
On a more positive note – well, maybe not so positive – that crude market is going to crater. Along as there’s not a war, that is. I mean another war. It will go down to the inflated currency equivalent of wherever it would be without about a 30% “fear factor,” say, about fifty or so.
This internet’s a cool thing. Courtney wrote another Hawaii blog the other day, and about Tar Heel basketball. I’m doing this Pen-Pen thing, and a couple more. Almost anything I want to look up (like the currency markets) I can, quickly and easily. I was thinking about the first time I became aware that computers could make things different – really different. It was 1978, I think. That’s a whole other story. Perhaps tomorrow.
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