Fun and exciting
2011-09-02 || Lou Zirkel
Football season is here. This is Fritz's first season playing and he's played 2 games so far. He is really enjoying it and has come to really like watching games on TV as well as playing. He was so excited for the University of Utah game last night. He is still getting a grasp of the game but it's a lot of fun to see him getting into it.
A good day at work
2011-01-05 || Lou Zirkel
Any day I get to work with Python at work is a good day.
Today was one such day.
According to my employer Python is not on the "approved language list" meaning that I'm not supposed to write code using it. I can, however, maintain other Python and today I got such an opportunity. It's not much, but sometimes you have to look for the little things to keep you happy.
Today I am happy!
Thoughts of thanksgiving
2010-11-26 || Lou Zirkel
Yesterday, being the holiday of Thanksgiving that it was obviously gives everyone the opportunity to reflect on those things which they might be thankful for. I think that most people express their thankfulness for a great many things, mostly the obvious things in my experience. And those things are definitely worthy of being thankful for.
All that being said this year I've had pause to actually put a bit more thought into the things I'm thankful for. A week before Thanksgiving a good friend of mine met with a tragic end leaving his wife and three children. I feel so deeply for their loss.
The loss of my friend has brought to the forefront of my own mind, during this Thanksgiving holiday, the things which I am thankful for. It may be obvious to state, but one thing I am thankful for is good friends who have always been shining examples to me. My friends exemplify those things which I most want to be. Good fathers, good men, good caring contributors to society. I wish I could be even a shadow of what my friends are.
I am grateful for my wife whom I love with all my heart and who makes me a better man. She supports me in all I do and has been my absolutely devoted companion now for 17 wonderful years.
I am grateful for my children. I have a lovely daughter who is fast becoming a young woman. She is so fun to be around and is at the wonderful awkward teen stage where she's just a nerd but she thinks she is so cool. Seriously, she's a nerd but she is so dear to me and I love her so very much.
I also have a rambunctious, fireball of a son. Nearly 8 years old he is full of energy and is an absolute joy, when he is not being a terror. He is becoming more able to sit and focus long enough to watch football and basketball with me. He is still more excited about the prospect of playing the games though and is often driven to jump up and forget the game to go get a ball.
I am grateful for a mother and sister, both of whom have always been there for me in so many ways. My mom has always been there for me with wisdom and sage advice. My sister, who used to beat me up when we were younger yet would come to my defense from anyone else, has now become a treasure in my life and I enjoy every minute I get to spend with her. Unfortunately nearly a thousand miles stand between us and spending time doesn't happen near as often as I wish it could.
There are a great many more things I am grateful for than these, and none of them have I forgotten, but were I to fill this entry with every single item for which I am grateful the library of congress would not suffice to store the contents. I am truly a blessed individual and feel undeserving of the richness with which my life is filled.
The Beatles in iTunes
2010-11-16 || Lou Zirkel
Today Apple announced what had been long awaited by many: The Beatles catalog available in iTunes.
It seems many in the press are asserting that this is a big yawner, and in many ways I can agree with them. While I think that it is incredibly cool that the Beatles music is finally available via iTunes I have acquired much of their music via their remastered rerelease on CD from last year about this time. I still have a couple of CDs to purchase, but I have the majority.
Having been born toward the tail end of the Beatles run as an band I missed all the hype, and as I grew up I was never really enamored with their music. Sure, I liked it, but I absolutely was not a Beatle-maniac or anything of that sort. When the remasters were done in 2009 I really began purchasing them more out of sense of "completeness" to my collection, but as I began listening I began realizing what a large body of incredible music I had been missing.
Perhaps it is that as I've aged I've become more wise and thus can see more of the deep beauty inherent in the Beatles music. Perhaps it's just that I was blind all those years of my youth and missed a huge opportunity to have spent my life with these wonderful songs. Perhaps it's that fate stepped in and pushed me to need to be "complete" by making these purchases. Whatever the case, I am glad to have fallen in love with the Beatles at this stage in my life, and I am grateful that my kids have fallen in love with the Beatles as well.
A couple of months
2010-11-16 || Lou Zirkel
It's amazing how quickly a couple of months can pass... it seems like just yesterday I last posted to this blog and it's been over two months. Wow!
A lot has happened in the intervening two months. One quarter of school is over with for one thing. Bonnie made the honor roll with a 3.5 GPA. Mom and dad are extremely proud! Fritz too is doing quite well in school, reading above his grade level and absolutely loving math.
Paula has been working hard to get Heritage Heart & Home, her craft selling venture, up and going. We just returned from a trip to Pocatello where she spent a day selling her wares at her sister Annette's annual open house. For a first time and kind of a rush to get things ready she did quite well and most importantly she learned a LOT and is now very excited to continue on.
Work for me has been plodding along. We have been working and focusing on finishing up our Environment Manager project and we're nearly there. Our team seems to be getting along quite well and things other than that seem to be progressing right along.
Hopefully I can make more of a habit of sitting to write a bit, hopefully on a more technical level than simply a catch up "journal" entry.