12 years ago I was at work, annoyed that a meeting I had spent a lot of time preparing for had been cancelled at the last minute. I heard that a plane had flown into the World trade Center, and I was thinking of some unlucky Cessna pilot who had that misfortune as a similar occurrence had happened recently. So I was thinking it was no big deal. A little later when I saw the images on a TV someone had set up in a conference room, I knew this was something totally different.
About that time Julayne started sending me text messages of what she was seeing on TV. It was chilling to be quasi-working, and get a text that first tower fell and then the second one. (Months later it still gave me chills to review the text messages of that day. I held onto them until I finally changed phones.)
Hours later, after the towers had fallen and the FAA was frantically landing airplanes, a co-worker and I had to go visit a prospective client. Rumors were spreading that a plane was heading for the Ren Cen in downtown Detroit. Being outside felt kinda dangerous, but sitting in the client's office felt extremely surreal. As we're making our pitch, I just wanted to get out of there and get home (and the guy never did hire us).
All in all, a day I will never forget.
September 11, 2013
June 21, 2013
Gettin' Schooled
I graduated from high school in June of 1981. Later that year I attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College and in 1983 I was awarded an associate in applied science degree in data processing. An internship turned into a real paying job, and my career was born. Thirty years later, working with computers is still my day job, although we call it "information technology" now.
Throughout the years I've thought about going back to school and getting a bachelor's degree. Indeed I actually took a couple of classes at Western Michigan University toward that end. But two semesters of painful economics classes and a move across the state put that effort on hold.
Well, starting next month that "On Hold" status changes to "In Process". On July 2, I start my first class that will eventually lead to receiving a bachelor's of business administration in business information technology. I'll do most of my course work at Walsh College, a local business-centered school, and they will eventually be conferring my degree as well. My first course, and a select few of the rest, I'll be taking at Oakland Community College because they are cheaper there and they transfer.
When I made this decision I learned that I was short an Intermediate Algebra class that I had to take before Walsh would accept my application. I could take the course at Oakland, but I would first have to take a math placement exam showing I knew enough to get into that class. Ah, math. My old nemesis.
Since I hadn't done any algebra since high school, and sucked at it then, Julayne tutored me for three weeks. Last Saturday I went and took the placement exam. To my great surprise, they placed me in a calculus course, two levels above Intermediate Algebra! And since the higher placement alone meets Walsh's math requirements, I get to spend the rest of the summer taking an English class instead of an math class. Ahhhh!
So the plan is that starting this fall I will be taking two courses a semester (fall, winter, summer) and should eventually get done late 2016/early 2017. I'm going to be a busy, busy boy.
For those of you who are followers of my novels and podcasts, this effort will definitely have an effect there. First of all, I don't foresee doing another podcast novel until I'm done with this. It just takes too much time. Likewise, I expect I will not be taking part in NaNoWriMo. However, I do have three full novels "in the can" as it were, and I am still going to try to get those edited and released as e-books during this time.
That's my news today. Now when I grouse about having to drive across town for class (which I do this summer) or about my homework, you'll know why. I'm-a gettin' edu-ma-cated!
Throughout the years I've thought about going back to school and getting a bachelor's degree. Indeed I actually took a couple of classes at Western Michigan University toward that end. But two semesters of painful economics classes and a move across the state put that effort on hold.
Well, starting next month that "On Hold" status changes to "In Process". On July 2, I start my first class that will eventually lead to receiving a bachelor's of business administration in business information technology. I'll do most of my course work at Walsh College, a local business-centered school, and they will eventually be conferring my degree as well. My first course, and a select few of the rest, I'll be taking at Oakland Community College because they are cheaper there and they transfer.
When I made this decision I learned that I was short an Intermediate Algebra class that I had to take before Walsh would accept my application. I could take the course at Oakland, but I would first have to take a math placement exam showing I knew enough to get into that class. Ah, math. My old nemesis.
Since I hadn't done any algebra since high school, and sucked at it then, Julayne tutored me for three weeks. Last Saturday I went and took the placement exam. To my great surprise, they placed me in a calculus course, two levels above Intermediate Algebra! And since the higher placement alone meets Walsh's math requirements, I get to spend the rest of the summer taking an English class instead of an math class. Ahhhh!
So the plan is that starting this fall I will be taking two courses a semester (fall, winter, summer) and should eventually get done late 2016/early 2017. I'm going to be a busy, busy boy.
For those of you who are followers of my novels and podcasts, this effort will definitely have an effect there. First of all, I don't foresee doing another podcast novel until I'm done with this. It just takes too much time. Likewise, I expect I will not be taking part in NaNoWriMo. However, I do have three full novels "in the can" as it were, and I am still going to try to get those edited and released as e-books during this time.
That's my news today. Now when I grouse about having to drive across town for class (which I do this summer) or about my homework, you'll know why. I'm-a gettin' edu-ma-cated!
February 23, 2013
Fifty
Today I turned fifty. Five decades. Half a century. In many ways I look at that number and am amazed. Do I really feel like fifty years have gone by? No, not really. I was conscious for all of it. It's not like I was in a coma for ten to fifteen years and am missing a gap of time there. But in many ways it feels like only a whisper of time has passed since I got married, had a daughter, or moved into this house.
Even those numbers are getting into the significant range. I've been married 26 years, my daughter is 23, and we've been in this house something like 15 years (I can never remember exactly). The length of my career is also an impressive number. Come this May I will have been working in the IT field, for pay, 30 years.
But despite all this evidence that I am indeed fifty, that reality seems somewhat surreal to me. I made the decision in my twenties that while I may grow old, I wouldn't "be" old. It's more of a mental attitude than anything. My refusal to let my brain calcify, to think to myself "I'm too old to do x or y". The joke over the years has been that I keep my mental age at twelve.
I still play video games. I still quip-and-quibble with my daughter like we're a couple of teenage siblings determined to one-up each other. Technology still fascinates me, and I still salivate over the latest James Bond film. Pizza rolls remain one of my favorite foods.
Another way I've tried to keep my mind limber is through music. While I still have my favorite groups from my earlier years such as The Police, Rush, and Genesis, I've also found plenty of new music to listen to over the years. I like Lady Gaga and Evanescence, and more recently have gotten into Maroon 5 and Adele.
I have to admit that this anniversary was a small part of the reasoning for getting braces. I liked the idea of doing something at this age that most people do in their teens. It's my way of thumbing my nose at old age and saying "You ain't the boss of me!"
But there is a darker side of fifty. It is the peak of the hill, and looking ahead I can see the path down is much shorter than the path up. If my father's life is any indication, I might expect to make it to my seventies. We were watching Grumpy Old Men last night, and one of the topics of conversation between Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon was the best way to die. Someone who dies in their sleep was counted as "lucky." I can only hope that when that time comes I can hope for the quickest and easiest way to go like they did. Right now I'm feeling more like Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner: "I want more life, f**ker."
Despite that I'm seeing lots of signs of my impending old age. Just this week I've taken to leaving my cell phone someplace and then an hour later patting my pockets and asking myself where it is. Gray is slowly creeping its way into my facial hair, and I'm becoming more of a curmudgeon by the minute. In fact I'm ready for a cane, just so I can start using it to whack those who dare to annoy someone of my advanced years.
Things that have been on the back burner in my brain are now becoming more of a potential reality. The prospect of retirement seems much closer than it did a year ago, and I've already been thinking about how to shore up our plans for that day. I'm realizing that I'm getting closer to the day when I'll be "too old" to use my ladder. To be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to that. I hate getting up on that thing.
But really, not much is going to change after today. The daughter and I are going tomorrow afternoon to see the latest Die Hard movie and I'm looking forward to that. I plan to add Skyfall to my Blu-Ray collection soon, and I will be spending some more time on my Xbox 360 in the near future. So while some things will change, some things will remain the same. Still, it's a good time to reflect and adjust my thinking. Perhaps now that I'm past my fiftieth year I'll upgrade my mental age to thirteen. After all, it's high time I started acting like a teenager.
Even those numbers are getting into the significant range. I've been married 26 years, my daughter is 23, and we've been in this house something like 15 years (I can never remember exactly). The length of my career is also an impressive number. Come this May I will have been working in the IT field, for pay, 30 years.
But despite all this evidence that I am indeed fifty, that reality seems somewhat surreal to me. I made the decision in my twenties that while I may grow old, I wouldn't "be" old. It's more of a mental attitude than anything. My refusal to let my brain calcify, to think to myself "I'm too old to do x or y". The joke over the years has been that I keep my mental age at twelve.
I still play video games. I still quip-and-quibble with my daughter like we're a couple of teenage siblings determined to one-up each other. Technology still fascinates me, and I still salivate over the latest James Bond film. Pizza rolls remain one of my favorite foods.
Another way I've tried to keep my mind limber is through music. While I still have my favorite groups from my earlier years such as The Police, Rush, and Genesis, I've also found plenty of new music to listen to over the years. I like Lady Gaga and Evanescence, and more recently have gotten into Maroon 5 and Adele.
I have to admit that this anniversary was a small part of the reasoning for getting braces. I liked the idea of doing something at this age that most people do in their teens. It's my way of thumbing my nose at old age and saying "You ain't the boss of me!"
But there is a darker side of fifty. It is the peak of the hill, and looking ahead I can see the path down is much shorter than the path up. If my father's life is any indication, I might expect to make it to my seventies. We were watching Grumpy Old Men last night, and one of the topics of conversation between Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon was the best way to die. Someone who dies in their sleep was counted as "lucky." I can only hope that when that time comes I can hope for the quickest and easiest way to go like they did. Right now I'm feeling more like Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner: "I want more life, f**ker."
Despite that I'm seeing lots of signs of my impending old age. Just this week I've taken to leaving my cell phone someplace and then an hour later patting my pockets and asking myself where it is. Gray is slowly creeping its way into my facial hair, and I'm becoming more of a curmudgeon by the minute. In fact I'm ready for a cane, just so I can start using it to whack those who dare to annoy someone of my advanced years.
Things that have been on the back burner in my brain are now becoming more of a potential reality. The prospect of retirement seems much closer than it did a year ago, and I've already been thinking about how to shore up our plans for that day. I'm realizing that I'm getting closer to the day when I'll be "too old" to use my ladder. To be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to that. I hate getting up on that thing.
But really, not much is going to change after today. The daughter and I are going tomorrow afternoon to see the latest Die Hard movie and I'm looking forward to that. I plan to add Skyfall to my Blu-Ray collection soon, and I will be spending some more time on my Xbox 360 in the near future. So while some things will change, some things will remain the same. Still, it's a good time to reflect and adjust my thinking. Perhaps now that I'm past my fiftieth year I'll upgrade my mental age to thirteen. After all, it's high time I started acting like a teenager.
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