Because I am basically a serious (Read: boring) person, I tend to gravitate to serious (Again: boring) forms of diversion. Things that would drive others to drink or commit acts of mayhem out of sheer desperation I find fascinating. For example, my reading list is heavy with scholarly histories, essays, and philosophical ruminations on obscure topics. I enjoy discussing the […]
Continue readingCategory Archives: Pearls of Wisdom (Commentary)
Personal musings and reflections about this and that
Death of the Hired Man
My first meeting with Steve, some twelve or thirteen years ago, was not exactly auspicious. I was out in my front yard one afternoon when he wandered up and, apropos of nothing, offered his services. He was thin to the point of gaunt, had long and greasy hair framing a haggard-looking face, an unkempt beard of biblical length, and was […]
Continue readingThe Road not Traveled
I hadn’t intended to go that way. A series of delays had put me behind schedule and I was overdue back to the shop. So to save a few precious minutes I had planned to turn north on Westgate where it joins Slaughter, and take that lightly traveled road all the way to Stassney or maybe Jones before cutting over. […]
Continue readingMy Brother’s Keeper
For more than twenty years, the house directly across the street from my south Austin home has been a rental. Over the years the standard-issue two-story tract home of maybe 1800 square has seen many tenants, more than I can recall. Most do nothing to get my attention, and they usually don’t stay for more than a single lease. I […]
Continue readingBlack Like Me
The end of summer, by the calendar if not by the thermometer, also means the end of Summer Blockbuster movie season and the return to the theaters of real movies for adults, which means the resumption of Sunday movie matinees for yours truly, the mom, and the lady friend. Yesterday we saw The Butler. The movie is really two stories. […]
Continue readingOf Time and Tides
It is maybe 20 minutes after sunrise, dead high tide on the West Passage of Passamaquoddy bay, at the southern edge of the Bay of Fundy. Despite the early hour the air is pleasantly warm, almost balmy, but when the wind blows just right, you can feel the cool breath of the North Atlantic, a short distance away. The air […]
Continue readingLove me, Love my Dog
Qui me amat, amet et canem meum “Love me, love my dog also” —Attributed to Julius Caesar Max wasn’t exactly the pick of the litter. He was the litter, the one and only occupant of his mother’s womb, as x-rays confirmed just days before he was born on my living room floor. I was there when he emerged, blind, helpless […]
Continue readingWar and Remembrance
Today is Memorial Day. Officially the day we set aside to remember those who have died in the service of the country in wartime, unofficially the start of the summer season. As with most customs, the practice of Memorial Day has changed over time. Once a genuinely solemn occasion, Memorial Day is now little more than an excuse for backyard […]
Continue readingOn the Delicate Art of Saying “Scram”
A few years back I had a customer–I’ll call her “Jen”–who became a problem. She hadn’t started out a problem. In fact she was a pretty good customer for a good long run. Lots of issues, paid well and on time, gave referrals. The only obvious wrinkle was that she was pretty demanding, borderline neurotic actually, about getting things done […]
Continue readingA Modest Proposal
This posting will have nothing whatsoever to do with computers other than that it was written on one. It’s been some weeks now since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown Connecticut. Everybody with a forum has posted their thoughts on this awful tragedy, and so having some thoughts of my own, herewith my two cents. First, there is […]
Continue readingAn Open Letter to Paul VanDevelder
Dear Paul: A recent op-ed piece by you in the LA Times captured my attention a couple of days ago. Not that this piece, about a secession petition making the rounds in a few red states, was especially important or even well-written. It got my attention for approximately the same reason that a loud, obnoxious drunk a couple of tables […]
Continue readingRequiem for a Heavyweight
It’s been a few days now since the passing of Steve Jobs, on Oct 5, 2011. It is a measure of his stature as a public figure that most people probably remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Steve Jobs had many admirers around the world, as well as more than a […]
Continue readingProfessional Discourtesy
Not too long ago I arrived at work one morning to find a message in my Inbox from “Concerned Citizen,” who had written us through the Contact Us form on our website. Concerned Citizen claimed to be a MacIntosh technician working in North Austin. He said that he had repaired a computer that we had previously worked on, and damaged […]
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