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Journal (The Ember Update)Wednesday, December 18Crank it upDue to rain and high-wind storms this weekend, we had no power for about 24 hours. Luckily our heat and hot water are gas, and Rash had kerosene for his camp stove, but we had no computers or stereo at our disposal for entertainment and information. Almost, that is. Earlier this year I made a donation to KQED and chose a hand-powered radio as my "gift." I thought it was going to be really tiny, because they were touting it as the "fig newton" radio (yes it's square like a fig newton, but about 6"x6"x2"). It conveniently arrived about a week before the power outage, so I cranked the handle for about 90 seconds and had all the news I could hope for. It's a cool little radio, with excellent short wave reception and a very bright flashlight on front (no more dead flashlight batteries). It's so compact and lightweight (1 lb. 5 oz.) that it'll be easy to take along camping. Normally I don't plug products, but the Grundig FR-200 is just too nifty. SkinSo tell me, who thought either of these photos made the person pictured look good? Couldn't the web designers responsible have made them less like a beet and the undead? They happened to appear together just like this on the NASDAQ site, which just made their inhuman skin colors more pronounced.
Monday, December 16"There never was a good war or a bad peace." - Benjamin Franklin RevealedThis week Andy pointed to a new Peace Link, and I have to second his recommendation: Real Goal in Iraq. Another friend of mine abbreviated the article when passing it on via email:
The article makes several references to a report called "Rebuilding America's Defenses." As my friend noted, "Interesting (if depressing) to see the whole recipe at a glance..." PeepThis would be a toot, only it's too minor. Ads I designed are appearing on the NASDAQ site right now. They were for a little freelance job I did for AllPredictive.com. Just like you I'm not a banner ad fan, but there it is...
Wednesday, December 11Part One: SFOA couple weekends back Rash and I went to San Francisco International Airport. Not to take a flight or meet someone arriving ... this trip was simply to visit the airport where my dad collapsed. You see, Rash and I will be flying in and out of SFO for Christmas—on the same airline my dad was flying—and Rash thought a pre-Christmas visit would be a good idea. I concurred; I didn't want the first time I'd encounter that place to be on my way home for Christmas. The airport is beautiful, with a very cool ceiling sculpture with iridescent flaps that changed from blue to indigo to magenta depending on the viewing angle. Rash and I had a Japanese brunch at the very stylish food court in the International terminal (no fast food chains for Pacific travelers). We explored a bit, including the little aviation museum designed to mirror (almost to scale) the interior of the original airport terminal. The display was "Building for Space Travel," with lots of old-timey futuristic stuff on display, mixed with illustrations and a few pieces from the World's Fair, and modern futuristic (including a really sleek ray gun from Babylon 5).
There was even a large Pan Am globe. I have fond memories of Pan Am from my childhood. Part Two: LorenzoThen I summoned up my strength and we went in search of the exact ticket counter where it all happened (#18). Unlike when my father encountered the area, this time it was mobbed with people. And then we walked right past Lorenzo, the ticket agent who my dad reportedly collapsed in front of. Lorenzo was standing talking to some co-workers on the edge of the throng. We knew he was tall and foreign, and we both noticed his nametag (Lorenzo Menotti, we think). Rash and I went off to the side, agreed that Lorenzo looked like a loser (he really did), and talked about whether I should do anything. I called both my mom and brother, and the only request (from my mom) was that if I felt a need to talk with Lorenzo, to tell him how much pain he's effectively caused my mom, brother and me. So I did. By the time I got off the phone Lorenzo had gone back behind one of the ticket counters. Just as he was calling up another customer I walked up and asked if I could speak with him. He followed me, and when we were more or less clear of the crowd, I stopped, turned and asked him if he recalled when my father collapsing in front of him about a year and a half ago. He immediately said yes, and that he'd heard my father had a massive heart attack, and that he was sorry about my loss. I corrected him on what happened to my dad, and then I proceeded to explain that we had a witness who had relayed the whole sequence of events to us, including the fact that Lorenzo didn't help. Naturally Lorenzo had his own version on the story. This didn't surprise me in the least. After all everyone who experiences an event remembers things their own way. Lorenzo insisted that my dad refused his help after vomiting the first time. He claimed that when my dad collapsed he got help right away. He also insisted that Michael (our witness) was there the whole time and also saw my dad collapse. And who am I to say? I wasn't there. The only statement I could make was that I saw no reason for Michael to go out of his way to contact us and then intentionally misrepresent things, whereas I could think of reasons Lorenzo would claim to have acted quickly (like protecting himself). Anyway, my blood boiled a bit during the confrontation, and eventually I declared, "This is pointless!" I pressed Lorenzo to promise he'd call 911 if he ever witnessed another person in distress. He resisted this demand a bit, but in the end relented. I don't know if he'll ever be in a similar situation again (I hope not), and I certainly don't know that he'd call 911 even then. Maybe it was pointless, but the least I could do was make the request. (But as my dad would say, "Change a man against his will, he's of the same opinion still.") Why did I bother with all that? I don't know exactly. I needed to visit the place, and Lorenzo happened to be there. Did it help me? I don't know that either. Sometimes I wish that Michael never left his card for us with instructions to call. It seems the more I have learned, the more I wish I didn't know anything ... other than what the doctors originally surmised when my dad arrived at the medical center. Before there was a Michael or Lorenzo, my mom, brother and I were told by the doctors that my dad had collapsed, immediately slipped into a coma and never suffered. I only wish that were true. Ignorance may be bliss. Knowledge can be terribly, terribly distressing.
Tuesday, December 3MorkI saw Robin Williams in the Haight last Friday. He was driving his shiny black SUV, filled with his family, windows rolled down so he could see and be seen. I was with Aurora, who spotted him first and waved. He was wearing a big smile. Rob (who joined us a couple minutes later) said he'd seen Robin in the Haight previously, in the same vehicle; he apparently lives or has a place in San Francisco, and is friendly and well liked by his neighbors. ReadingThis fall I've been taking a class on internet marketing and strategy. It's been informative and has led me to read/listen to the following books on business building and web strategy:
They have all been valuable, especially Good to Great, Built to Last and Now or Never. I appreciate and respect books whose recommendations are supported by research, not just bombastic opinion. I'm now reading:
Next in line:
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