I highly recommend the non-fiction book, "Unbroken", by Laura Hillenbrand. It is a journey through the life of Louis Zamperini, Olympic Athlete and former POW. Interesting, I also attending a US Airways Leadership meeting this year with another Olympic Athlete, John Naber, so 2012 must be the year of Olympians for me.
I won't go into details on the book, but "Unbroken" is aptly titled, it details the amazing trials in the life of Zamperini, and his ability to remain 'Unbroken" through trials and tribulations that would have knocked most men on their bums.
Hillenbrand also wrote another book you might have heard of, "Seabiscuit: An American Legend". Both books will leave you awed at the ability of beasts and humans to get through adversity and achieve greatness.
Highly Recommended
Cheers, Nicholas
P.S. I had to laugh when the author mentioned in the acknowledgments that someone had named a big racehourse 'Zamperini' some years ago. Interesting to think about the 'ties that bind'.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
I invented the Internet
Well, not really. It was me and Al Gore. And thousands of other Baby Boomers. And all the generations since who combined the need for speed with the need for feed (live real time feed). But I was certainly there at the beginning.
We all played around with some form of computers during those early days. Pong came out in 1972. I remember my High School had some type of punch card reader, and we had to write some type of algorithm to feed through it for a Math class. That was around 1975 or so. Those were my first experience with computers, and I was less then enthusiastic.
Then came the Star Wars movies in 1977, and everyone (and oh yes me) was on board the digital revolution. That was the year I graduated High School and entered the 'force of the damned' armed with 'The Force'.
Programming got into my blood early in the 80's. I think I was working at Scottsdale Library and they had an Atari personal computer down in the basement. I picked up the 'Basic' Manual and built a program that caused a little digital dude to dance across the screen. To be truthful, I was not all that skilled at programming from scratch, but I was good at looking at other people's code and modifying it to do what I wanted it to do. But by then, I knew I liked computers and programming. I knew what I wanted to do.
A few years went by, and I was married, one daughter and one on the way. I needed a job really bad. One with benefits and steady income. Within a week I had two offers. One was working at an Insurance company doing work with microfilm. The other was working at ASU, driving a Cushman Cart around campus delivering computer printouts. I took the ASU job because it seemed to have the most potential of getting me into the computer field.
Boy Howdy, I was on my way.
From Cushman driver, I became a Remote Site worker. Remote site workers helped Students operate the DECWRITERS and other UI available back then. They also separated out the Greenbar coming off the line printers and stacked it in little boxes for all the CS and MIS majors working out in the remote site. At that time they had standalone IBM PC's at the remote site. While working there I was able to see the first PCs networked together. So Cool! I remember writing a program that used a SUPERCALC macro to allow us remote site workers on varying shifts to leave messages for each other on the network. A crude early wanky version of 'E-Mail'. That is where my claim begins and ends. In my own little corner of the world, I had just invented 'E-Mail'. Well, sure, I'm sure it was done elsewhere and better. But isn't that what the WEB was all about....survival of the fittest? How many people out there developed versions of e-mail, or BASIC, or Spreadsheets....and which version survived?
From Remote Site Operator, I then became a Computer Tape Librarian, then a MVS Operator. Next I worked in Production Support, which was the pinnacle of my technical progression at ASU. I had to leave ASU and go to another company to be actually allowed to develop code, and my career profession to a developer was finalized.
So, like millions of my baby-boomer comrades I became a part of the digital revolution. My career in the software development industry has spanned 30 years right out of the heart of the rise of the nerds. You could plot my life's timeline right next to Steve and Bill and the gang. I can actually show you code I now support that dates right back to 1978. What goes around comes around.
Funny thing though. I think I have kind of reached the saturation point with the digital age. With another 20 years to go before I can seriously contemplate retirement, I find myself kind of beat up with technology. Acronyms and version numbers and release numbers, 2G to 3G to 4G...I'm not sure I give a FIG anymore. It all sort of blends together, and not in a good way.
The big buzzwords at my work are 'Agile', and 'Cloud', and 'OutSourcing', and it all makes sense to me still...I can spout buzzwords with the best of them....but I'm just not that into it anymore.
Strapped to my waist I have the Blackberry. I have the high speed Internet connection and a router in my house for wireless access. I write clean good code and I have automated manual processes that no-one thought could be automated. I have built relational databases and have built graphical interfaces, and I've written code that looks pretty as a poem.
But, I think I could be done. I may be just looking for a graceful exit. I may have written my last GO TO.
Cheers, NCA
We all played around with some form of computers during those early days. Pong came out in 1972. I remember my High School had some type of punch card reader, and we had to write some type of algorithm to feed through it for a Math class. That was around 1975 or so. Those were my first experience with computers, and I was less then enthusiastic.
Then came the Star Wars movies in 1977, and everyone (and oh yes me) was on board the digital revolution. That was the year I graduated High School and entered the 'force of the damned' armed with 'The Force'.
Programming got into my blood early in the 80's. I think I was working at Scottsdale Library and they had an Atari personal computer down in the basement. I picked up the 'Basic' Manual and built a program that caused a little digital dude to dance across the screen. To be truthful, I was not all that skilled at programming from scratch, but I was good at looking at other people's code and modifying it to do what I wanted it to do. But by then, I knew I liked computers and programming. I knew what I wanted to do.
A few years went by, and I was married, one daughter and one on the way. I needed a job really bad. One with benefits and steady income. Within a week I had two offers. One was working at an Insurance company doing work with microfilm. The other was working at ASU, driving a Cushman Cart around campus delivering computer printouts. I took the ASU job because it seemed to have the most potential of getting me into the computer field.
Boy Howdy, I was on my way.
From Cushman driver, I became a Remote Site worker. Remote site workers helped Students operate the DECWRITERS and other UI available back then. They also separated out the Greenbar coming off the line printers and stacked it in little boxes for all the CS and MIS majors working out in the remote site. At that time they had standalone IBM PC's at the remote site. While working there I was able to see the first PCs networked together. So Cool! I remember writing a program that used a SUPERCALC macro to allow us remote site workers on varying shifts to leave messages for each other on the network. A crude early wanky version of 'E-Mail'. That is where my claim begins and ends. In my own little corner of the world, I had just invented 'E-Mail'. Well, sure, I'm sure it was done elsewhere and better. But isn't that what the WEB was all about....survival of the fittest? How many people out there developed versions of e-mail, or BASIC, or Spreadsheets....and which version survived?
From Remote Site Operator, I then became a Computer Tape Librarian, then a MVS Operator. Next I worked in Production Support, which was the pinnacle of my technical progression at ASU. I had to leave ASU and go to another company to be actually allowed to develop code, and my career profession to a developer was finalized.
So, like millions of my baby-boomer comrades I became a part of the digital revolution. My career in the software development industry has spanned 30 years right out of the heart of the rise of the nerds. You could plot my life's timeline right next to Steve and Bill and the gang. I can actually show you code I now support that dates right back to 1978. What goes around comes around.
Funny thing though. I think I have kind of reached the saturation point with the digital age. With another 20 years to go before I can seriously contemplate retirement, I find myself kind of beat up with technology. Acronyms and version numbers and release numbers, 2G to 3G to 4G...I'm not sure I give a FIG anymore. It all sort of blends together, and not in a good way.
Strapped to my waist I have the Blackberry. I have the high speed Internet connection and a router in my house for wireless access. I write clean good code and I have automated manual processes that no-one thought could be automated. I have built relational databases and have built graphical interfaces, and I've written code that looks pretty as a poem.
But, I think I could be done. I may be just looking for a graceful exit. I may have written my last GO TO.
Cheers, NCA
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Opposable Thumb
The dollar figure changes every time I tell the story. Sitting here typing, I honestly can't remember. It seems to me it was $6.00. Why not. It was under $10.00 for sure. So, say $6.00, several packets of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. A brown potato. My backpack, with sleeping bag etc. I was right outside New York City and that is all I had.
On foot.
I dared not go into the city, I was fearful that I would get stuck there with no way out. My companion was going into the city to catch his flight home to Europe. He said his Dad would wire him some money, but I was not sure of that and I did not really want to blow his money.
I wanted to go home.
New York City to Phoenix on $6.00 (less then $10.00, even if my memory has failed). A potato and some onion soup mix.
Raw peeled potato dipped in Onion Soup mix is not bad. You will have to trust me on that one.
Not that I was completely on my own. In Delaware Ohio, a Catholic family with about 8 kids put me up for the night, fed me. In Evansville Indiana a Salesman dude dropped me off at my Aunt's house. She fed me, washed all my clothes. My cousin drove me to Grandma's house for a huge meal.
In Texas, some perv put me up in a Hotel for the night. I had to bail on that one when he decided to get too friendly at night. The traveler was travelling, not trolling.
The rest of the time, I was on my own. Thumbing back to Phoenix.
I was crazy. It was crazy to have done that. It was a different time. I was a different person.
Who thumbs now? I do not know. I do not pick them up. Who picked me up? Strangers I did not know, do not know. Ships passing in the night. What is the power of the thumb? What is the draw of the thumb? Who stops because of the thumb? Well, we know why the perv did. The Salesman in Indiana was just a good guy, no motive but to be of service and not be so lonely on his long drive. The father in Ohio may of saw something of his kids in me, traipses of my lapsed Catholicity...a kid from a large family like his. I don't know though, I could only guess.
My thumb was out a lot back then. Phoenix to Anchorage, 3664 miles. Anchorage to New York City? 4431 miles. New York to Phoenix? 2412. Then the trip to California, Utah, Colorado and back? 2500. Then all those times I hitchhiked to Phoenix College when I did not own a car. And all the other times. My thumb was a busy beggar.
Powerful magic, that thumb. I think it was the right one. When I stick it out now, right one feels right.
Not trying to brag or build myself up here. It was my thumb, not me. Me just trying to look just needy enough, just honest enough, just safe enough, just young enough, just interesting enough that the thumb sparked something in someone. Sparked them to stop, offer a lift.
Just thinking about all the people that had to have stopped for me back then, boggling. But to put it in perspective, all the people who passed me by...would be 10's of thousands. 100's of thousands maybe. Zooming on by, maybe some of those with a thought, maybe most with no thought at all to the nerdy post-teen going who knows where or how far. And why should they?
What if one of you saw me, out there with my thumb. Would you have stopped. What about my wife? I don't think she would stop. She is not that type. Frankly and truthfully, I am not the type who stops.
The type who stop.
Thanks for stopping, those that did. Thanks for seeing something that made you stop. To those that almost stopped, hesitated just a second, thanks too. It was kind of you to at least think of me. For those that did not even hesitate, thanks too. If you had stopped, time and place would have bent and nothing would have ever been the same. So honestly and from my heart, thanks. To the salesman...you are a man of great kindness and worth, thank you. To the father in Ohio...you should be very proud of your family, it is a great family. To the perv, I hope it fell off.
Cheers...nca
On foot.
I dared not go into the city, I was fearful that I would get stuck there with no way out. My companion was going into the city to catch his flight home to Europe. He said his Dad would wire him some money, but I was not sure of that and I did not really want to blow his money.
I wanted to go home.
New York City to Phoenix on $6.00 (less then $10.00, even if my memory has failed). A potato and some onion soup mix.
Raw peeled potato dipped in Onion Soup mix is not bad. You will have to trust me on that one.
Not that I was completely on my own. In Delaware Ohio, a Catholic family with about 8 kids put me up for the night, fed me. In Evansville Indiana a Salesman dude dropped me off at my Aunt's house. She fed me, washed all my clothes. My cousin drove me to Grandma's house for a huge meal.
In Texas, some perv put me up in a Hotel for the night. I had to bail on that one when he decided to get too friendly at night. The traveler was travelling, not trolling.
The rest of the time, I was on my own. Thumbing back to Phoenix.
Who thumbs now? I do not know. I do not pick them up. Who picked me up? Strangers I did not know, do not know. Ships passing in the night. What is the power of the thumb? What is the draw of the thumb? Who stops because of the thumb? Well, we know why the perv did. The Salesman in Indiana was just a good guy, no motive but to be of service and not be so lonely on his long drive. The father in Ohio may of saw something of his kids in me, traipses of my lapsed Catholicity...a kid from a large family like his. I don't know though, I could only guess.
My thumb was out a lot back then. Phoenix to Anchorage, 3664 miles. Anchorage to New York City? 4431 miles. New York to Phoenix? 2412. Then the trip to California, Utah, Colorado and back? 2500. Then all those times I hitchhiked to Phoenix College when I did not own a car. And all the other times. My thumb was a busy beggar.
Powerful magic, that thumb. I think it was the right one. When I stick it out now, right one feels right.
Not trying to brag or build myself up here. It was my thumb, not me. Me just trying to look just needy enough, just honest enough, just safe enough, just young enough, just interesting enough that the thumb sparked something in someone. Sparked them to stop, offer a lift.
Just thinking about all the people that had to have stopped for me back then, boggling. But to put it in perspective, all the people who passed me by...would be 10's of thousands. 100's of thousands maybe. Zooming on by, maybe some of those with a thought, maybe most with no thought at all to the nerdy post-teen going who knows where or how far. And why should they?
What if one of you saw me, out there with my thumb. Would you have stopped. What about my wife? I don't think she would stop. She is not that type. Frankly and truthfully, I am not the type who stops.
The type who stop.
Thanks for stopping, those that did. Thanks for seeing something that made you stop. To those that almost stopped, hesitated just a second, thanks too. It was kind of you to at least think of me. For those that did not even hesitate, thanks too. If you had stopped, time and place would have bent and nothing would have ever been the same. So honestly and from my heart, thanks. To the salesman...you are a man of great kindness and worth, thank you. To the father in Ohio...you should be very proud of your family, it is a great family. To the perv, I hope it fell off.
Cheers...nca
Monday, April 16, 2012
La Cage Of Folly
Ok, real quick....
Nick Cage has got to be one of the most overrated actors in America (and that says a lot). Yeah, 'Nick', not going to even let him assume the 'Nicolas' (gives all us Nicholas a bad name). I mean, the guy is a Coppola, so I could give him a break...but why? If you have not seen him in Con Air, or Ghost Rider, or City Of Angels...then surely you've seen him in National Treasure. The guy just over-reacts, over-acts, and hacks his way though every B movie he can get his hands on.
Take a look at this video if you don't believe me.
Tone it down Nicky Boy.
Still don't believe me? Then tell me why his Uncle Francis did not even pick him for Godfather III, where he had to settle for Cuban Andy Garcia to play Vincent Mancini? Or why would Cousin Sophie choose Bill Murray to whisper in Scarlett Johansson's ear instead of Cage in Lost in Translation? Could it be Nick could not manage to tone his overacting down to the required whisper?
OK, OK, this is supposed to be a fairly positive blog....so I won't trash him to death. Even I like a loose blow-em-up movie from time to time. And some of Cage's movies fill that bill, absolutely. But let's never kid ourselves that Cage is ever going to emote beyond his limited talent level.
enuff said
Cheers, nca
Nick Cage has got to be one of the most overrated actors in America (and that says a lot). Yeah, 'Nick', not going to even let him assume the 'Nicolas' (gives all us Nicholas a bad name). I mean, the guy is a Coppola, so I could give him a break...but why? If you have not seen him in Con Air, or Ghost Rider, or City Of Angels...then surely you've seen him in National Treasure. The guy just over-reacts, over-acts, and hacks his way though every B movie he can get his hands on.
Take a look at this video if you don't believe me.
Tone it down Nicky Boy.
Still don't believe me? Then tell me why his Uncle Francis did not even pick him for Godfather III, where he had to settle for Cuban Andy Garcia to play Vincent Mancini? Or why would Cousin Sophie choose Bill Murray to whisper in Scarlett Johansson's ear instead of Cage in Lost in Translation? Could it be Nick could not manage to tone his overacting down to the required whisper?
OK, OK, this is supposed to be a fairly positive blog....so I won't trash him to death. Even I like a loose blow-em-up movie from time to time. And some of Cage's movies fill that bill, absolutely. But let's never kid ourselves that Cage is ever going to emote beyond his limited talent level.
enuff said
Cheers, nca
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Who is this guy.
Who is this guy?
Really?
In December, I will have worked for the Airline 20 years. Before that, it was the University for 8 years. 28 years working in IT. Which means....desk jobs, more or less. Programming, Development, Production Support, Pagers, Databases, COBOL, JCL. But it was not always that way...
I worked for the YMCA (youth Camps) for some five summers. I worked libraries, restaurants, Forest Service, worked for a plumber digging ditches, and I worked as a Page at the library. I mowed lawns, painted apartments. Most of those jobs were on my feet, some were outdoors, almost every job much more physical then what I do now.
How did this come to be? Where did I make the turn in my life from a physical worker to a sedentary worker?
Daughters, I suppose. At the time I met my beautiful wife, I was a nomad of sorts. I lived from paycheck to paycheck, job to job. I sought adventure, I sought the outdoors, I led a physical existence. I drove a Motorcycle and was never in the same place more then 5 or 6 months. With marriage and two quick daughters...the need for responsibility/grounding/clipping of wings had to take place. My daughters needed health insurance, a home, some degree of stability. They needed a Mother and Father. Not to mention, I needed all that too.
All good. No doubt. Every responsible Father needs to turn that corner if he is going to be of worth. Cowboy up!!!
Still, looking back at the change in my personality, I sometimes miss the nomad part of myself. When I hear a train-whistle, I can't help but think of riding freight cars across California, Nevada, and Utah. When I smell the pine, I can't help but think of leading groups of youth on hikes into the Bradshaw mountains or down Havasupi. When I see graffiti, I think about writing short poems on a highway underpass is Canada while waiting for the next ride to pick me up.
How far have we evolved from the nomad tribes of our ancestors? As men, where do we draw the line and divorce ourselves from our testosterone induced heritage...fight of flight, pick up our tent and move on, conquer our enemies, plant our staffs upon the earth and piss around to mark our territory?
Is this why it is so difficult for some men to turn the corner, to put family first? To hang up the spurs and strap on the baby shoulder harness? How, as men, are we to balance this duality of our spirits? The need to be men verses the need to be husbands and fathers. Some do this so well. I'm not sure I did, and sometimes I fear I may have gone too far toward losing my masculinity, while other times I thought I could have been a better husband and father.
One thing I know, is I don't know one thing. :) As Bill Cosby once said..."If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right."
Cheers, nca
P.S. To Read A Little More About the Role of Fathers, I recommend reading "The Family: A Proclamation To The World
Really?
In December, I will have worked for the Airline 20 years. Before that, it was the University for 8 years. 28 years working in IT. Which means....desk jobs, more or less. Programming, Development, Production Support, Pagers, Databases, COBOL, JCL. But it was not always that way...
I worked for the YMCA (youth Camps) for some five summers. I worked libraries, restaurants, Forest Service, worked for a plumber digging ditches, and I worked as a Page at the library. I mowed lawns, painted apartments. Most of those jobs were on my feet, some were outdoors, almost every job much more physical then what I do now.
How did this come to be? Where did I make the turn in my life from a physical worker to a sedentary worker?
Daughters, I suppose. At the time I met my beautiful wife, I was a nomad of sorts. I lived from paycheck to paycheck, job to job. I sought adventure, I sought the outdoors, I led a physical existence. I drove a Motorcycle and was never in the same place more then 5 or 6 months. With marriage and two quick daughters...the need for responsibility/grounding/clipping of wings had to take place. My daughters needed health insurance, a home, some degree of stability. They needed a Mother and Father. Not to mention, I needed all that too.
All good. No doubt. Every responsible Father needs to turn that corner if he is going to be of worth. Cowboy up!!!
Is this why it is so difficult for some men to turn the corner, to put family first? To hang up the spurs and strap on the baby shoulder harness? How, as men, are we to balance this duality of our spirits? The need to be men verses the need to be husbands and fathers. Some do this so well. I'm not sure I did, and sometimes I fear I may have gone too far toward losing my masculinity, while other times I thought I could have been a better husband and father.
One thing I know, is I don't know one thing. :) As Bill Cosby once said..."If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right."
Cheers, nca
P.S. To Read A Little More About the Role of Fathers, I recommend reading "The Family: A Proclamation To The World
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