I wrote this ~12 months after September 11, 2001. I wanted to remember what I was doing on that day when we heard about the planes. The first I knew that something was awry on September 11, 2001 was mid morning. I arrived at the office - same time as always - 7:15. Some time in the 9:00 hour I happened to glance at my.yahoo.com - my frequent home for news. There was a one liner about a plane striking the World Trade Center. I've read about a B-17 striking the Empire State Building some time around WWII. I recall thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal. I think I tried a couple other sources to see if anyone else had more information - no one did. Within 30 minutes my boss asked if I had read anything, "No, not really" I responded. Site inquiries now just timed out. Everyone was connecting to see what they could see. I think I got one through on chicagotribune.com, but the information was about the same. No one knew much. Someone (my boss Mark I thin...
My kids are off at University and all my high school booster responsibilities are done. I've downsized and I have some extra free time. For years I've said that I would like to teach and a little opportunity to do just that came up. I grabbed it. I've found a company run by a tech guy in his spare time that offers various after school STEM programs. He's got loads of things he offers to schools / PTAs. This group selected an after school enrichment class in software coding. The curriculum is self paced and drag & drop. The essentially make programs out of virtual Lego blocks. Today was the first day of class. We're got kids from 1st grade to 6th grade. There's 13 of them. Some observations. Second graders are different than 5th graders. The little kids' fine motor skills are not as developed as the big kids. Mouse pad movements was often done with their ...
Due to an unexpected (to me) Indian holiday, my first day in India was quite quiet. After 20 some hours in the air and on the ground from Chicago, we landed in Bangalore. We collected our bags and found our taxi. Over the last several weeks I’ve heard (lots), “You won’t be prepared for India. It’s so different than anything you’ve ever experienced.” So, I imagined landing in Hong Kong in ’83 and made it much worse in my head. I probably over did it. Yes, people drive their tiny cars in a crazy manor here (pretty exciting stuff), yes there is plenty of poverty. Yes, there is a weird dichotomy of abject poverty next to 21st modern buildings. However, it is just another country. People are people. The Infosys Bangalore campus has hundreds of bikes for the borrowing. During regular work days, I’m sure they’re difficult to come by. On a holiday, it was easy. We grabbed two bikes and saw the campus. We hired a car and driver for the day to take us all over Bangalore. Top highlight was an ama...
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