It's Just Stuff

Two weeks ago, a house fire made the news here in Cincinnati. It was news-worthy for two reasons:

1. Eleven firefighters were injured while fighting the fire.

The fire was so big that 10 or 12 fire departments from different areas of Cincinnati were called in for support-- It was classified as a four-alarm fire. A couple of my friends are firefighters, and they know a some of the guys who were involved, so they heard a bit more about the fire than just what was reported on the news. Apparently, a group of firefighters had gone inside the house, to try to fight the fire on the third floor. (Most of the water from the hoses outside wasn't getting through the slate roof.) Luckily, they were in the process of retreating to the second floor when the flashover occurred. After the explosion, most of the firefighters were able to get out of the house on their own, but two guys got lost inside, and several other firefighters went into the house to find them and bring them out. One of the guys had gotten stuck to the floor because his gear melted. A total of eight firefighters wound up being hospitalized because of their burns.

Firefighters do this kind of stuff every day, and we don't thank them nearly enough!

2. The house was located in Indian Hill, the most prestigious area in Cincinnati.

And it wasn't so much a "house" as it was a "historic mansion." It was built in the 1920's by the Kroger family. According to the news, it was one of the most valuable properties in Indian Hill. Again, I have some inside information, because I've been there a few times-- The owner is one of my dad's college buddies, and he's hosted several reunions for the "Bishop Street" gang.


Photo from the Cincinnati Enquirer

The house wasn't just huge, it was beautiful-- a work of art. The foyer looked like something out of Gone With the Wind. It had a marble tiled floor and a big sweeping staircase, and there was room enough to stash a grand piano out of the way in a corner of it. I have no idea how many bedrooms there were in the house. I tried counting once, but I wound up getting lost, and I'm not sure I found them all. The bedrooms that I saw were all furnished with gorgeous antiques, and the rest of the house also contained some unusual stuff-- several old phonograph machines (the kind that used wax cylinders), rare books, etc. In a nutshell, the house and most of the things in it are simply irreplaceable. That kind of craftmanship doesn't exist anymore.

The news crew, with their typical sensitivity and tact, interviewed him that night. Now keep in mind, his house was still burning at the time. As nearly all of his personal possessions were being destroyed right there in front of him, this is what he said:

"There's a lot of stuff in there, but, oh well, it's just stuff."

Frankly, that amazes me. I think it's a truly awesome attitude, and I don't know how many people could take that point of view, under those circumstances.

Now of course, you can say, "Yeah, but it's not like he's going to be out on the street. He's got insurance. He can buy new stuff." And I'm sure that's very true. But my impression of him has been that he's the type of guy who's pretty fond of his toys. (And he has a lot of toys. What you can't see in the news photos is the huge garage on the property, which is separate from the house. In it, he has an amazing car collection that has to be worth millions of dollars. Remember that car in Ferris Bueller? He has two Ferraris like that one, in red and black.) And he keeps his extensive gun collection in the basement of the garage. Because that's where the shooting range is. It even has moving targets, like the police training facilities you see on TV. (I got to shoot a Tommy Gun there-- It was COOL.) So you can imagine how big the garage must be.) OK, so maybe I'm wandering a bit off topic here, but the point I'm trying to make is that he has lots of stuff. And it's the kind of "stuff" that almost anyone would love.

My step-father has a few unique sayings that have been etched into my psyche over the years:

• Life's not instant pudding.
  
  (I was 25 before I realized that no one else in the world has heard of this expression.)



• Just remember-- You can be dead right.
  
  (He said this a lot when I started driving.)



• It's just stuff. It doesn't love you back.
  
  Most often, when he says this, he's referring to cars. (In fact, he hates cars, and that feeling does seem to be mutual.)

To a certain extent, I think the concept has rubbed off on me a bit, I don't want to own a car that's so nice that I won't feel comfortable lending it to a friend. I like my car-- It's been very reliable, it gets decent gas milage, it's fun to drive, and it's small enough to get into just about any parking space. (For the record, I have a 2001 Integra.) But if it got stolen or wrecked tomorrow, it wouldn't phase me all that much.

But my house burning down... ...that would be really, really difficult for me. In all honesty, I love our house. And the thing is, it's only a couple years old-- It could easily be rebuilt. We don't own any priceless antiques. I only own maybe a half-dozen pieces of jewelry that have any sentimental value at all. But I really like a lot of my stuff. Maybe I even love some of it.

I don't think I'd be able to stand there and say, "Oh, well, it's only stuff."

Preacher's Gift

Have you ever felt like your job has taken over your soul, and your life is spiraling out of control?

You're not alone.

Please set aside 40 minutes, and listen to this.

Eurogames

A few years ago, a couple of our friends introduced us to a game called Carcassonne. Through that game, we discovered that a revolution has taken place in the past 10-15 years, and the heart of the revolution is in Germany.

Dozens of new games are introduced in Europe every year, and they're generally much more interesting and challenging than anything you'll find in stores here in the US. Forget games like Monopoly, Life, and Trivial Pursuit. Eurogames are about strategy, not random luck or obscure knowledge. Many of the creators of these games have become so well-known that the game companies advertise their new games by issuing press releases like this:

Los Altos, CA; Paris, France - January 29, 2007. Days of Wonder, a leading publisher of top-quality board games, today announced their newest game, Colosseum™, designed by critically acclaimed game designer Wolfgang Kramer and Markus Lübke.

There's a whole Eurogame sub-culture-- Go to Board Game Geek and see for yourself. As a proud member of that sub-culture, here's a list of Eurogames that I can recommend...

Board Games:

• Carcassonne - by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede
  
  Ahhh, the gateway drug! This game is fairly easy to learn, and it's sort of like working a puzzle, only you're doing it in competition with other people. While we were on vacation this summer, we taught this game to my grandparents. My 84-year-old grandfather (who loves puzzles) won every game.
  
  There are also a few expansion sets that you can buy for Carcassonne, which subtly change the mechanics of the game. I recommend Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders. Or you can just skip a step and buy the Big Box.



• Settlers of Catan - by Klaus Teuber
  
  This game became so wildly popular that it spawned a whole series of expansions, extensions, and spin-offs. I like this game a lot, but the learning experience is a little tougher than Carcassonne. The game board is made up of tiles, which are shuffled and dealt so that the map is different every time you play the game. Each player gets to place two settlements during the first two rounds of the game, and your success in the game depends a lot on the locations of your first settlements. The unfortunate thing about playing the game for the first time is that you won't understand enough about how the game works to make good decisions about where to place your first settlements. But you'll enjoy the game a lot more the second time you play it! What I like is that there are a lot of different strategies that can win the game-- It's not just about who can build the most settlements and cities.



• El Grande - by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich
  
  While Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan can bring out a little healthy competition in some people, El Grande is an all-out melee. This game involves a lot of strategy and planning, and yet every plan that you start to execute is instantly obliterated by every other player at the table.
  
  We have a friend who has been nicknamed Glinda (the Good Witch) because she is the epitome of sweetness and light. When we sat down to teach her this game, my husband said, up front, "This game is all about scheming, back-stabbing, and sabotage." She said, "Oh, I'm probably going to lose. I'm never any good at stuff like that."
  
  Yeah, right.
  
  She kicked our butts, and she did it with a smile on her face!



• Puerto Rico - by Andreas Seyfarth
  
  The downside to this game is that it takes awhile to set it up, and it also takes a decent amount of time to explain the rules to new players. But the upside is that once you start playing, you're going to have a good time. (Plus you get to say, "P'whertow R-r-rico!") Like Settlers of Catan, there are a lot of different ways to win, so you can experiment with a new strategy every time you play.



• Ticket to Ride - by Alan R Moon
  
  Like Settlers of Catan, there are several different versions of this game available. (We have TTR: Europe.) This is probably the simplest of all of the Eurogames that we've played, and it's one of the easiest to learn, so Ticket to Ride may eventually replace Carcassonne as the game of choice for introducing our friends to Eurogames. On the luck vs. strategy spectrum, Carcassonne and TTR are weighted a bit more toward luck, while the other games listed above are almost pure strategy.



• Tigris & Euphrates - by Reiner Knizia
  
  We've only played this game once so far, and it made my head swim. The rules aren't terribly complicated, but the mechanics of the game really challenge your mind. To say that it's complicated is an understatement. Reiner Knizia is a mathematician and one of the more famous game designers. (Lost Cities and Lord of the Rings are two of his other games.) There are certainly plenty of Tigris & Euphrates fans out there, but I wouldn't recommend this game to a newbie.



• Lord of the Rings - by Reiner Knizia
  
  This game is really unique because everyone works together to try to beat the game. Or rather, you're trying to beat the odds, which are stacked heavily against you. Beware of the Mines of Moria!

Card Games

• Lost Cities - by Reiner Knizia
  
  This is a very simple and elegant two-person card game. And one of the best things about this game is that you can play it online!



• Citadels - by Bruno Faidutti
  
  This is one of my all-time favorite games. It only takes a couple of rounds to get a feel for how the game works, and the mechanics are very well-balanced so that there are pros and cons for every character and every strategy. And it's a very portable game. You can easily make room for it in your bag, so you can take it with you when you're travelling, and you don't need a big table to play it.
  
  NOTE: If you buy Citadels, I recommend getting the character cards laminated. They get handled a lot during the game, and they can start to wear out. Plus, it's makes it easier to keep them from getting mixed in with the other cards.

Where can I buy Eurogames?

I linked everything to Funagain Games because they've got a really great website-- They include photos, summaries of the rules, and magazine reviews for almost all of the games, and they allow customers to write their own reviews. (I'm amazed by how much thought and effort people put into their reviews.) Their prices are pretty fair, and they've got an excellent selection.

and Time Well Spent
As far as I can tell, these two companies generally have the best prices, and we have a couple of friends who have recommended them. I haven't bought anything from either company yet, simply because I feel a certain amount of loyalty to Funagain Games. (As I said before, I like their website, and they also have a "frequent buyer" program, and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.)


They carry some of the more popular games, and of course their selection is growing all the time. But games at Amazon are generally more expensive than at Funagain Games or Fair Play Games.

So go have some fun!

Frustration & Faith

I've been meaning to write up this posting for quite awhile now. (My first attempt was back in January.) I think that there are two reasons why it's taken me so long to get around to it:

1. I needed to dedicate a fairly sizeable block of uninterrupted time to doing it. (i.e. You may notice that this posting is rather long.)


2. I think I needed to be ready to let go of it. What I'm trying to say is that I couldn't write about all of this while I was in the midst of it. But now I feel like I'm ready to mark a moment, kind of like a memorial, and move on from here.

In the past year and half, I have had to really struggle through some serious questions about who I am, how I define my self-worth, and what my purpose is. Throughout this period, I've had a playlist on my iPod called "Frustration & Faith." Now, as a general rule, I don't look to pop music for philosophy or counseling, but these songs either say how I was feeling, or they say things that I needed to believe in. And somehow I just feel like I should share this...

1. Bad Day - by Daniel Powter
   
   When things at my job were at their absolute worst, this song seemed to be on the radio every single time I got into the car. And since I had literally a 5 minute commute each way, it also seemed like something more than coincidence. The song is actually way too upbeat to describe how I was really feeling-- I think the only lyrics that specifically applied to me were:

   
   You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
   You tell me your life's been way off line
   You're falling to pieces every time

   
   That part reminds me of going to get coffee in the cafeteria at work every morning with my friend Gus, which was invariably the high-point of my day. The rest of the day was always miserable.



2. Meant to Live - Switchfoot

   
   Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open
   Maybe we're bent and broken
   Broken
   
   We were meant to live for so much more
   Have we lost ourselves?
   Somewhere we live inside
   
   We want more than this world's got to offer
   We want more than the wars of our fathers
   And everything inside screams for second life




3. Tell Me Who I Am - Steve Manuel

   
   Cause I know I'm not the sum of what everybody says
   And I'm not a magazine, or what my body image is
   I've got to be more than my job
   I've got to be more than my address
   More than living to get by
   Or trying to impress...




4. Out Is Through - Alanis Morissette

   
   My tendency to want to run away feels natural and
   My urgency to dream of softer places feels understandable
   
   The only way out is through
   The only way we'll feel better
   The only way out is through
   Ultimately




5. The Beautiful Letdown - Switchfoot

   
   It was a beautiful letdown when I crashed and burned
   When I found myself alone, unknown and hurt
   It was a beautiful letdown the day I knew
   That all the riches this world had to offer me
   Would never do
   
   In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubts
   I was trying so hard to fit in, to fit in,
   Until I found out
   That I don't belong here
   I don't belong here
   I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
   But I don't belong




6. Martyrs & Thieves - Jennifer Knapp

   
   And I know they are wrong
   When they say I am strong
   As the darkness covers me
   
   So turn on the light
   And reveal all the glory
   I am not afraid
   To bear all my weakness
   Knowing in meekness
   I have a kingdom to gain




7. Maybe There's a Loving God - Sara Groves
   
   I wrote a previous post about this song, and it just continues to be a favorite of mine.



8. In the Palm of Your Hand - Alison Krauss

   
   I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand
   Though rich or poor I may be
   Faith can see right through the circumstance
   Sees the forest in spite of the trees
   Your grace provides for me




9. Faithful to Me - Jennifer Knapp
   This simple, acapella song was a late addition to this list...

   
   All the chistles I've dulled carving idols of stone
   That have crumbled like sand 'neath the waves.
   I have recklessly built all my dreams in the sand
   Just to watch them all wash away.
   
   Through another day, another trial,
   Another chance to reconcile
   To One who sees past all I see.
   And reaching out my weary hand
   I pray that You'd understand.
   You're the only one who's faithful to me.




10. Word of God Speak - MercyMe

    
    I'm finding myself at a loss for words
    And the funny thing is: It's okay.
    The last thing I need is to be heard
    But to hear what You would say
    
    I'm finding myself in the midst of You
    Beyond the music, beyond the noise
    All that I need is to be with You
    And in the quiet hear Your voice




11. To Be Free - Steve Manuel

    
    You can live by the book, but it's slavery
    You can try, try hard, to do right
    I would pray that I would be given bravery
    Just to live out my heart in the light
    
    I want to be free
    I want to know life
    I don't want to live afraid to die
    I just want to kill the fear in me
    I want to let it go
    I want to be free




12. Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol

    
    My bones ache, my skin feels cold
    And I'm getting so tired and so old
    The anger swells in my guts
    And I won't feel these slices and cuts
    
    Get up, get out, get away from these liars
    Cause they don't get your soul or your fire
    Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
    And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time




13. This Is Your Life - Switchfoot

    
    This is your life
    And Today is all you've got now
    And Today is all you'll ever have
    
    Don't close your eyes
    
    This is your life
    Are you who you want to be?
    This is your life
    Is it everything you dreamed that it would be
    When the world was younger
    And you had everything to lose?




14. Perimeter of Me - Dividing the Plunder

    
    Well, I'm frightened by how easy it can be to live so long
    Going from one thing, to the next thing, to the next,
    'Til months have gone
    And you realize you have really not done anything at all
    At night you fall asleep believing you've just climbed
    So you could fall
    
    And I don't believe that "Who I Am" is something I can find
    It's whatever I create with what I do with all my time
    It's who I choose to love with all my heart, and strength, and mind
    And whether I believe that what I have is really mine




15. Giving In - Steve Manuel

    
    No more fighting, please
    No more pointing at me
    No more mourning who I'd hoped I'd be
    No more defending
    None of this wishing I was right
    No more concessions to my appetite
    
    I'm giving in, I'm giving up
    I won't let my pride into it
    And like cool wine poured from a crystal cup
    I'm giving in
    I'm giving up




16. Better Days - Robbie Seay Band

    
    Wherever your are, breathe out, and breath again
    And know that life is hard, but it's worth breathing
    Listen to me now, for Love, oh Love
    Is waiting for you, just to say:
    Here come better days




17. The Long Day Is Over - Norah Jones
    To me, this song is just a promise of something to look forward to-- That no matter how bad things get, there will eventually be an end to it, and a well-deserved rest. A feeling of coming home.

Blog Consolidation

Since Blogger is now offering the "Label" feature, I've decided to consolidate my three blogs down to just this site. My other two blogs were:

• YKYAAW... - Dedicated to those moments when Reality smacks you across the face, and you realize that you ARE, actually, an Adult...
  ...whereas the rest of the time you just feel like a kid who happens to have had more than 18 birthdays and is pretending to fit into adult society.


• Wonder - verb 1. to speculate or be curious to know about something
  2. to be in a state of amazed admiration or awe, especially at something very beautiful or new

I've moved all of my old posts here from the other two blog sites, and tagged them accordingly. Thanks for reading!

Business Structures 101

After all of this research, it looks like the structure that will fit our business model better is an S Corporation rather than an LLC.

It all has to do with the fact that we want to get paid wages for the number of hours that we spend working for the business. As it turns out, the IRS is very sensitive to LLCs that make "special allocations" to give profits to members in ways that don't simply represent their ownership interest in the business.

The IRS guide says, "The rules governing partnership allocations (IRC section 704(b) and its accompanying regulations) have been criticized as being some of the most difficult and complex."

Oh, yippee, sign me up for THAT!

So instead, we're going to be an S-Corp, which allows its shareholders to be treated as employees, and it has certain tax advantages over the two LLC models as well. (You don't have to pay the 15.6% self-employment tax on profits.)

Because I'm sure you were dying to know!

You know you're an adult when......you start your own company

This week, I'm in the process of filing out the paperwork for our LLC. The three of us (myself, my husband, and one of his friends from work) will be providing sales support, customer training, and consulting services on behalf of two software companies that make special engineering applications. For right now, I will be the only one working full-time for the new company, since they're both keeping their corporate jobs, but they'll also be doing some part-time consulting work and providing their expertise with one of the software applications.

There are lots of things to learn about starting a new company. Today I put together a summary to explain our options to my partners. (Yes, of course, I could explain this all to my husband without typing it up, but our other partner lives in New Hampshire.) And they say that the best way to learn something is to synthesize it, so I guess I'm benefiting from this experience as well.

Here's what I've learned so far this week:

1. LLC's have a choice between being taxed as a Partnership or as a Corporation.
   
   
   • Partnership - The IRS default is for an LLC to be treated as a Partnership for tax purposes, which is also referred to as "pass-through" taxation. As far as taxation goes, this is pretty straightforward. The owners of the LLC simply pay personal income taxes on whatever money they receive from the business. They still have to file tax forms for the LLC every year, including Schedule K-1 forms, which summarize the profits (or losses) for each member, but the LLC doesn't actually pay any taxes to the government.
     
     In this model, owner-members of the LLC are not considered employees, and they do not receive a salary or wage. Instead, they generally get paid by receiving their share of the profits, based on the amount of capital that they have invested. Members can, however, create "special allocations" in their operating agreements, to redistribute profits in ways that are different than just the percentage of the business that they own, but they have to be able to convince the IRS that there are legitimate business reasons for doing so. We're planning to do a special allocation because we all want to get paid a fee based on the number of hours that we work for the company, but beyond those fees, we plan to split the profits equally, because we're all contributing equal amounts to get the business off the ground. My next step will be to check with a lawyer to make sure this is all legit in the eyes of the IRS!
   
   
   
   • Corporation - The downside to this option is that the tax situation gets more complicated. For this structure, it is assumed that the active members receive salaries from the business, and that a significant amount of the profits will be reinvested in the business from year to year. The business writes off the member's salaries as an expense, so the business isn't taxed for that amount, and the members pay personal income tax on their salaries. That's simple enough. But when it comes to the profits, things get a bit more convoluted. The LLC pays taxes at a corporate rate (just 15% for up to $50,000) on all of the profits generated by the business, and then individual members pay additional taxes (aka "double taxation") on the profits or dividends that they receive.
     
     So essentially, if you're reinvesting most of your profits, you might save money by being taxed at a reduced business income rate rather than paying taxes at the personal tax rate. (With pass-through taxation, you wind up paying taxes at the personal tax rate on profits that you never really received because they were reinvested in the business.) The good news is that you can change from Partnership to Corporate taxation at any time, by filing a simple form with the IRS, but the BAD news is that you're not allowed to convert back to Partnership taxation for at least 5 years. So generally, most LLC's don't make the change until they're well established and making a significant profit from year to year.



2. Management Methods - LLC's have a choice between Member-Managed or Manager-Managed.
   
   
   • Member Management - Most LLC's are managed by all of their members, and this is exactly what we want to do. The key requirement here is that all of the members (owners) play an active role in managing the business. Otherwise, everyone's share in the business could be considered a "security" (i.e. an investment, like stock, where you expect to make a profit based on other people's efforts) and then you might have to file for an exemption with the SEC. Or, worse yet, you might not get an exemption and you'd have to comply with all of the disclosure requirements.
   
   
   • Manager Management - This structure allows an LLC to be managed by a) a subset of the LLC members; b) a mixture of some members and some non-members; or c) a person (or group) who isn't a member. In the case of Option A, an LLC could be managed by two members who work in the business full-time, while three other members (who aren't interested in actively managing the business) just invest money and hope to make a profit. Option B - An LLC receives some capital from an outside investment group, and, in exchange, that group asks to have one of their partners or employees involved in running the business. Option C - The owners of an LLC hire a CEO to manage the business on their behalf.
     
     In the case of Manager Management, the shares in the company will certainly be considered securities, but there can be some tax advantages for the non-managing members. Members who are managers of an LLC have to pay self-employment taxes, including the full tax amounts for Social Security and Medicare. (If you're an employee of a corporation, your company pays half of these taxes for you.) Non-managing members get to skip these.

P.S. I am not in any way an expert on this subject, and I am certainly not offering any legal or tax advice here. I just thought that this was sort of interesting, in a convoluted sort of way, and since I had already done the work, I thought I'd share it, in case anyone out there is interested in learning something new. Or not.

God Hates Shrimp

I probably shouldn't be doing this, but it's just too good not to share...

My sister has a science blog that discusses ocean ecology and overfishing. In her most recent posting, she had a link to the God Hates Shrimp website.

Yep. It's true. Shrimp are an abomination. So are lobsters, crabs, scallops, and clams. Roadkill is also verboten, and, as my friend Tracie likes to point out, we're also not supposed to boil a goat in it's mother's milk. (See Deuteronomy 14:21. In fact, you might want to glance through all of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy before you start making any plans for dinner.)

But wait, it gets even better! From that website, you can find a link to this website, which you can bookmark under either "Irreverent" or "I'm SO going to Hell for this..."

Of course, don't forget to check out the link to Real Church Signs.

And so my work here is done. Have fun, and don't get into too much trouble!



P.S. My sister's blog is called Shifting Baselines. I think it's informative and entertaining, so I recommend checking it out once in awhile. And in all seriousness, please spend a little bit of time exploring the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website and their Pocket Seafood Guides. If you're going to eat fish, pick something like Tilapia and not Orange Roughy or Chilean Sea Bass.

Life, in a Nutshell

I realize that it's been a very long time since I've posted anything on this blog, and there are some very good reasons for why I haven't been writing. This past year has been extremely difficult, and it seems like most of the things that have happened were just too personal and too emotionally draining to try to share on a blog. But since these things were major events in my life, I would have felt dishonest if I had continued to write about trivial stuff, pretending that everything was OK and normal when it clearly wasn't.

So here's the (simplified) update of everything that has happened in the past year:

• Jobs - I no longer work for a Fortune 50 company, and I hope that I never will again. For awhile I worked part-time for a small company (~20 employees) and that was a learning experience too. After that, I took some time off. Now I'm working on starting up my own LLC. I'm really, really excited by the idea that I'll be working for my self, from my home. I'll have a hard-wall office with a door and a window-- the dream of every cube-dweller-- and I'll also have the option of working from my back deck or pretty much anywhere else I want to be. There's no dress code, I can bring my dog to work with me, and I won't have to worry about what my boss will think if I have to go to a doctor's appointment or if take an hour and a half to have lunch with friends.
  
  My self-confidence was really shaken by losing my "dream job" last year, but I've come to realize that I am an intelligent, responsible, hard-working, talented engineer, and so I deserve something better than being treated like a replaceable cog in a corporate juggernaut that grinds out far more bureaucratic sludge than productive results. I hate corporate politics, and I hate that my roles have been defined and my worth has been determined by managers and directors who are inept at best. (I won't even try to describe the worst bosses... I know. You know. We'll leave it at that.) I know that I can be far happier and more productive working for myself, and I now I see that my true "dream job" is SO much bigger than anything that could fit into a 6x6' cubicle.



• Pets - I am no longer the proud parent of a tubby tabby and a cross-wired wiener dog. We still have the dachshund, but my sweet fuzzy cat was stricken by cancer at Christmas time, and she died in March. At the same time, I suffered through a difficult health issue of my own, and I wound up depressed. I tried some medication, but the side effects seemed as bad as the symptoms, so I quit my job and got a puppy instead.
  
  Her name is Bella. The rescue folks told us that she was a Border Collie / Golden Retriever mix. Now that she's grown up a bit, we think it's more likely a that she's a Border Collie / Labrador Retriever mix, since she looks just like a small black lab, but with white toes. We've been talking about getting another cat, but I think we'll probably wait until Bella settles down a bit.



• Travel - I have done a quite a bit of traveling in the past six months or so.
  
  In February, we did our annual ski vacation in Tahoe. There couldn't be a better group of friends to ski with, but things went badly for me at the end of the trip, so the memories of this trip aren't as fond as they have been in previous years.
  
  At the end of April, I tagged along on my husband's business trip to Zurich, so I got to wander around the town while he was working. I really enjoyed Switzerland, and since my new LLC will be partnering with a software company there, I hope that I'll be able to go back again.
  
  In June, we went back to Longboat Key for a week with my mom's extended family. This year we got to spend time with my mom, my grandparents, my grandmother's sister, her three daughters, two of my aunts, two of my uncles, two of my cousins, and one of my cousin's kids. The weather was nice. I got to feel tall for a week. It was a good trip.
  

So that's my life, in a nutshell. Now that things are looking up, I have a feeling that I'll be writing more often. Not to mention that now I'll be able to blog from work without having to worry about getting busted by my boss and I can blog about work without violating any stupid corporate policies!

Geek Life

This is easily the funniest "experiment" ever captured on video by a couple of geeks.

Granted, the Honda "Cog" commercial was more elegant and professional, but when it comes to pure, unpolished geek panache, it's going to be hard to top EepyBird.

...BUT...

The guys at Mythbusters (aka the best show on television) are going to try! And I'm sure it'll be great! Sunday, November 26th @ 9pm.