Rachel got home from Quebec around 9 PM last night. We (me, claire and rach) sat and talked for about an hour. She went through her entire trip with us, and told us every little detail... everything she saw, ate, friends she made, etc. While she spoke, and we drank our tea together, I kept looking at her and thinking how grown up she is, how intelligent, poised and beautiful she has become.

Slow paced relaxin' weekend. Caught a couple of movies. Went to bonsai exhibit at Eliz Park... very interesting. Gotta give this another try (1st attempt at bonsai failed miserably). Ate greek food at Tapa's. Stopped in at Di's. This morning, updated some web pages, and just hangin out. Sun's out for the first time. Maybe it'll stay that way - will have to mow lawn if it does. Pretty much a kidless weekend. Rach away in Quebec (returns tonite), and Dave has discovered Drivers License = Freedom.

Visited Mom & Dad today. I brought some Boston Chicken for lunch. It was a very nice time. So many people bitch about their parents... truth is, I really enjoy spending time with them. We always have good conversation, I enjoy their company. They are never judgmental. I appreciate their depth of experience and knowledge in so many things. They are just plain good people. Thats why they are so well liked by those around them. I love my parents dearly.

Probably the best collection of Blogs is the ageless project. Its a collection of blogs referenced by the age group of the authors. Its a great idea and a great site. Check out the 1950's for mine.

My latest *Waste of Time* is reading other peoples weblogs. It an addicting pastime (and I guess Voyeuristic). Best way to do this is to go to Weblogs.Com or to Blogger and click on one of the Most Recently Updated links. You have to wade through a lot of junk to find something good, but its kinda fun. Already wasted 1 1/2 hours this AM doing this.

Woke up early this AM to drop off Rachel at the bus for her trip to Quebec, Canada with her french class. Its her first time on an extended (4 days) trip away from us. She was really psyched about going. No doubt we will miss her and worry about her! On the other hand, she is thrilled to get away from us. So it goes!

Oh happy day. Laura got her MRI and it shows no further tumor growth. A great relief. Maybe she has beaten this thing.

Read this little tidbit in Emily's Blog. -- How true, and very well stated.
"Dilbert's "Salary Theorem" states that "Engineers and scientists can never earn as much as business executives and sales people.

This theorem can now be supported by a mathematical equation based on the following two postulates

Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power.
Postulate 2: Time is Money.

As every engineer knows Power = Work / Time

Since Knowledge = Power
Time= Money
Knowledge = Work / Money.

Solving for Money, we get:
Money = Work / Knowledge.

Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of work done.

The Conclusion: The less you know, the more you make."

Listened to Sen. John McCain on the Imus show this morning. What a refreshing anti-politician this guy is. It made me reflect on what a lousy pair of candidates the two parties threw at us last election. Al "Cinton Butt-Boy" Gore and George "Corporate Bought and Sold" W Bush. Shame upon this country for getting to this state of affairs. Anyway, McCain (Rep.) actually defended Jeffords switch to the Dems, saying that the cause of this is the Republican strong arm tactics to try and force its members to toe the party line and to stifle any descent. That is what drove Jeffords to his decision. McCain also reiterated his views that Corporate money and special interests have corrupted the system, and until that is addressed, the will of the voters will never be heard, and the American people will be disenfranchised.

I applaud Jeffords for his move. It will make a tremendous effect on policy making, with all the senate committee leadership and the majority leader moving away from Republicans. Hopefully a Bush backlash has begun.

Beware Road Warriors - David got his drivers license.

Some significant job cuts have occured at work. There were good reasons for doing so... still you don't like to see it happen. Fortunately, it did not affect me or my department, since we have downsized recently. I wonder about some organizational changes that have happened, and ponder my own future at MJ. Need to speak with SM about all this later today.

A tragic accident happened over the weekend to a Rockville HS kid at a post prom party at the beach in RI. The kids had dug a 6 foot hole in the sand, and were diving into it. Matt Gauruder dove head first into the pit, and the sand collapsed around him. The other kids (there were lots of friends with him) tried to dig him out, but the sand kept coming in around him. When they finally pulled him out, he had been buried for over 10 minutes. He was rushed to the hospital and kept on life support for some time, but they finally pulled the plug yesterday.... chilling. 17 year old kid, just horsing around. How does it affect the kids that were there with him and tried to save him.

Despite the tragedy at my son's school, it is a big day for Dave. He is running for class President (if they have the election) today, and he also has his test for his Drivers License. GOOD LUCK DAVID!

Oh yeah... we won in softball last night 15-2. Rach hits HR and double. I had a couple 6th grade kids from slow pitch playing up on our team. Sarah played an incredible defense in the infield.

Rented the movie "Antitrust". Pretty good flick. Target audience was young computer geeks... but none the less, it was an enjoyable techno thriller. I knew I would like the movie as soon as I saw the openning credits scroll by as HTML code - nice touch. The plot is a fictionalized Bill Gates taking over the world scenario, and a young hot shot programmer screwing up his plans. The computer scenes were fairly realistic for this kind of movie. Lots of Unix stuff.

Saw a wonderful movie last night called "Widow of St. Pierre". Sad ending. French flick with subtitles. Highly recommend it. It was a very nice evening of movie and going out for a drink afterwards with my honey.

Unfortunately, killed 4 of 5 fish in my fish tank. I have had a terrible problem with green cloudy water, so I siphoned out most of the tank yesterday and refilled it. I think I contaminated some of the water with a little soap or something. One fish and one sucker fish survive.

I've been listening to a lot of Miles lately. I love Miles Davis. The man was the greatest.

• Listen to BIRTH OF COOL -. Strange arrangements, tuba's, french horns... and Miles sensitive sylistic soloing.
  
• Hear KIND OF BLUE - maybe the greatest jazz album ever recorded. Miles has a way of kickin back... holding back the beat, creating a strange tension with his playing.
  
• Dig MILES SMILES - the great quintet from the 60's. Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Experiments into new rhythms, compositions, soloing, creating moods with his music different than anything done before or since. Tony Williams dancing on the symbals. Footprints is my favorite Miles cut.
• Groove to BITCHES BREW. The landmark album that started Jazz Fusion. Chick, McLaughlin, Zawinal, Herbie, Airto. Electric, African, Exotic, Percusive, Creative, Inspiring.

All very cool stuff. Get a hold of these CD's. Listen

OK, nothing happened today as predicted. "Paranoia strikes deep, into your heart it will creep" (Crosby Stills and Nash [actually I hate CSN]). Its too bad that a good part of my life must exist in a state of paranoia... but such is life. That feeling is not without basis, so I contiue to stay on guard.

Did you ever get that feeling.... something bad is about to happen? A knot in the pit of your stomach, a calm before a storm, a bad taste in your mouth, a tense feeling that can't be relaxed? Something may happen tomorrow. Question is, will it happen to me or those around me (or both).

Lost "the big game" against TG's team. Feel like we got robbed when two clear outs were called safe, prolonging the inning where TG scored mucho runs. We started to come back, but couldn't make up the deficit. Rach hit a key double clearing the loaded bases for 3 RBI's. Our girls played great except for a couple of defensive lapses. Mary is one hell of a great pitcher, and we still managed to score 7 runs.

I haven't updated much due to time constraints and some blogger problems.

Here is an update. Softball: Big game tonite against other Vernon Team. This is always a close, hard played game... looking forward to some good stiff competition. All our other games have been blow-outs.Work: Situation bad... maybe getting worse. I will know more by end of week. ATT Cable: Met with them Monday evening... These guys are scum. IMHO their only mission is to maximize revenues while investing as little as possible in the system and they will do so with complete disregard to the Agreement they signed giving them the 13 year franchise rights.

Mothers Day - Its been a really tough year for my Mom. Since the stroke about one year ago, she has had to come back physically through a difficult period of physical therapy. She succeeded in getting most of her physical strength back, but the stroke has paid its toll mentally. Mom's short term memory is weakening. Still, it is hopefull to see she still has her wits about her, and her quick sense of humor. It was great talking with her this morning. With age and health becoming an increasing factor, she is still a strong woman. Love you, Mom.

Had a nice day with our family. Took a ride to the shore line for a great lobster dinner at Abbots.

Watched 60 Minutes. They had a segment on the execution of Timothy McVeigh. I am generally against the Death Penalty... but if anyone deserves to know the horror of taking their last breaths as a consequence of their actions its McVeigh.

Had a day away from the office today. Quick trip to Boston with R & S to look at some digital print equipment. Learned some new stuff which is always nice, but realistically, I don't think we will be buying any new presses at this time.

While away, poor RD gets buried with work... lots of high pressure stuff too. The guy is a trooper.

Meanwhile, SB last night. We win again 11-4. Brought in some younger players as subs. They did great for first timers. Lots of fun watching them light up with excitement playing with the older girls.

To help get Cable Internet access for the town of Vernon (ATT is trying to weasle out of their commitment to do so), I drafted a letter to the DPUC, and ran it past an attorney friend of mine. He edited my letter, and this is the result. Gordon... you are freakin brilliant!!! I have read this letter a dozen times and each time it just amazes me. GREAT JOB. Thanks a bunch. It goes out registered mail tomorrow.

Haven't blogged in a couple of days. I have been consumed with battling ATT cable and trying to work within the groundrules set by the State of CT DPUC. Its been quite an education. I have talked with numerous officials from ATT, DPUC, Town Council members, press, etc. whew!!!

Meanwhile, another SB game, won 37-9 or something like that. Rach hits another HR... incredible. I had a few catches with her this weekend. The girl throws harder and more accurately than the old man. I had to endure her telling me that I throw like a panzie! Guess in my old age, I just don't have it anymore (probably never did).

Just got back from Mike Stern/Dennis Chambers concert in little ole' Vernon of all places. This concert Rocked! Absolutely Jazz Fusion at its best. Incredible. Stern is my new favorite guitarist. It was also a real pleasure to experience this with my son. We were both blown away.

Ooops, almost forgot to mention our visit to Mom and Dad's yesterday. A great day... got to see Barb. We are so very fortunate to have such close family ties. This extends through three generations. My kids are so wonderful with my folks. They are thoughtful intelligent outgoing, warm hearted people. Its incredible and rare that grandparents, parents, and kids can appreciate each others company as we do.

Here it is, my recent emails to ATT regarding cable Internet access. A service that they had promised in the Franchise Agreement, that they are now reneging on. Copies of these emails also went to the Department of Public Utilities (DPUC).

For about 2 years, I have been trying to find out when our region will get cable modem access (we are too distant from phone co. for DSL). The cable companies have been ignoring my requests, lying to me, stonewalling me. About 8 months ago I found a contact that provided me with the Franchise agreement that shows AT&T *Broadband* was required to provide this access by May 22, 2001. All this time, an AT&T official told me that they will make this deadline. Now that the deadline is less than 3 weeks away, AT&T is trying to get out of there responsibility because they do not have the capital to invest in Cable Internet. What bullshit. They signed this agreement that granted them a 13 year monopoly on cable service in this area, and now they are trying to weasel out of their commitments. I have contacted the DPUC (public utility commission), and so far they seem to be interested in following up on this. I will also contact the local newspaper next week... This could get interesting. I may post some of the communications with AT&T and the DPUC up to the web.

It's Friday - Yeeha! The load has lightened at work. Alot less pressure and more manageable workload. Very interesting conversation this morning with AK. Perhaps some interesting and lucrative oportunities may come my way... who knows.

Meanwhile, Dave's condition is not healing all that well. He sees doc later today. Rach not feeling all that well either. Have a big game tonite under the lights. Hope enough girls show up to field a team.

Dave seems to be feeling better. SB game tonite, won by a lopsided 24-3. Rach hits another HR.

Work continues to piss me off. I am getting no support. In fact when I bring up the subject the result is even worse.

Update: Dave had the cyst drained. He will need surgery, but not until this current bout is healed. Rach had a great SB game, hitting 2 home runs as we won 25 - 8.