September 2009

Remembering.

I was on the elevator heading up the 16 floors to my office. I was alone in the elevator watching the indicators flash my progress: 12, 14, 15… The doors parted at my destination and I suddenly feel very dizzy, to the point that I have to steady myself against the door frame before continuing on the short walk to my office. Though it is very hokey and cliche to say, it was like a disturbance in the force.

I walked up the last flight of stairs to my office just as the clock on the wall advanced to the next minute: it was 8:48. I was 12 minutes early for work.

I started my daily routine when my cell phone rings, it’s Earl. “A plane just hit the World Trade Center! Turn on the television.” Wow, a small plane had hit one of the buildings at the World Trade Center. I figured it was probably like a Cessna 172 or something.

I started walking to the production side of the office when I noticed that the ABC radio feed on one of the radio stations I worked at was playing the “special report” theme music. I walked into the video studio where my co-worker Allen was tuning in the local television station. He found “Good Morning America” and we watched the building coverage of what was happening in New York.

It was a very short time later when all of us in our small office and radio stations were gathered around the television watching the coverage of what was happening in New York. A few moments later, we watched the second plane hit the other tower.

I felt ill. It was then that I knew that life had changed forever. I remember thinking this must be how people felt after the news of Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination. We were glued to the television for the rest of the day, doing as little work as possible trying to keep the radio stations running. To distract myself, I made a list of all the commercials we weren’t playing (and wouldn’t play for the next couple of days).

Like many people I know, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day. I also remember how I felt about my country and how proud I was when I saw all the flags pop up on every car that passed by in the following weeks. I remember how determined I was to walk down to a local shop, purchase the biggest flag I could find and then climb up on the roof of that 16 story building so I could hang that flag on the sign below the giant letters that proclaimed “ADIRONDACK BANK”. My love for the United States was never greater, and though I have been very vocal in the past, and will probably continue to be just that, I am still very much a proud American.

In 2002 Earl and I went to Shanksville, Pa. where Flight 93 went down. A chain-link fence held countless memories and tributes and a few little monuments. It was then and there that I cried for those that had lost their lives and I cheered for the bravery that each one of those people in New York, Washington and over Shanksville exhibited. Today it is with just as much emotion that I join in with the rest of our country in remembering them again.

Tears streamed down my face as I wrote my closing comments on a card at the site of the World Trade Center just last weekend: God Bless America.


Taken near Shanksville, Pa. in 2002.

Sync.

So it’s getting to that time of year when we are doing that whole transition thing of summer to autumn. We are actually moving into my favourite time of year in these parts. I love the autumn breezes with their slight chill, I love the sound of rustling leaves and I can’t help but feel a certain magic in the air. There is something very enchanting about this time of year to me.

Unfortunately, there is one thing my body has a hard time reconciling with the season and that is time. I have said many, many times before that I am not an early person. I’m not. I try to be. I set my alarm early, hoping to leap out of bed all happy and ready to start my day. I have dreams of working out, doing several loads of laundry, rearranging the spice rack, adding a new room to the house, you name it, all before going to work at 8 a.m.

It seems that I never get these things accomplished.

My body is just out of sync with the man-made concept of time. Before the days of the railroad, each community had their own schedule and “clock”. Noon was determined by when the sun was highest in the sky. I believe that our bodies are wired to be in sync with nature in this regard and that some of us are programmed to be early birds and some of us are programmed to be night hawks (I’m in the latter category). I remarked on Twitter this afternoon that it feels like my day truly begins after I return from lunch because try as I might, I am really stumbling my way through the day before noon. I fake it pretty well but I feel like I’m in a constant state of jet lag. Then I eat lunch, return back to work and I feel like I could plow through eight hours nonstop and actually enjoy the experience. I have told my employer that if I worked noon to 9 that they would get me at my optimum time but unfortunately that shift doesn’t exist. So I fake it.

With the onslaught of Daylight Saving Time the clocks are becoming farther and farther out of sync with what nature has deemed to be “time”. At least when DST is over we get somewhat closer to they way my body wants it to be, but until then I stumble. It’s unfortunate that the previous president extended DST by a few weeks into November, for I just stumble longer.

Nevertheless, here it is 10:33 p.m. and I have been trying to go to bed for the past hour, hoping to catch up on sleep so I can be productive at work tomorrow and then be ready for a fun filled weekend. As you can see by this entry, I have not been successful in this endeavour, for I am wide awake and writing a rather long blog entry. I feel like I could full steam for the next several hours.

But it would make me too foggy tomorrow morning.

Sunset.



Sunset., originally uploaded by iMachias.

I was doing errands around the house when I glanced out the window and saw some amazing colours in the sky. I decided that I HAD to get a photo or two and ran out to the car to get the “big camera” (which is becoming increasingly outdated by the minute) and snapped a couple of shots.

I found the colours of tonight’s sunset to be absolutely stunning.

Energy.

Will autumn beginning to make an appearance in our area you’d think that my energy would be ramping back a bit, but I’m finding just the opposite to be true. With the cooler breezes and the very beginnings of the rustling of the leaves I’m finding myself wanting to be outdoors more doing things. Last night I jumped on the bike for a 15 mile ride after work. I pushed myself pretty hard on the ride, only stopping once to catch my breath. The ride was pleasant, I even did most of it on the road as opposed to riding the trails.

Last night I decided to run some errands around 8:30 p.m., heading to the mall to pick up some stuff at GNC and just driving around a little bit with the windows and sunroof open. It was a great way to cool off after my ride.

This morning I set my alarm 30 minutes earlier so I could workout with the Wii Fit again. It’s been a while since I used it; we bought a couple of new Wii accessories so Earl and Jamie have been playing quite a bit at night and I thought I should jump in on the fun as well. So instead of lying in bed with my eyes shut until the last possible moment this morning I was up and working out. I feel really good.

It’s funny that I’m feeling this now instead of in May or June but I don’t care, I’m not going to a couch potato this fall or winter.

Central Park.



218.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

I find Central Park to be one of the most amazing things about the Big Apple. It is a beautiful thing to find such an expansive retreat in the midst of such hustle and bustle; a place where families, friends, strangers or even those seeking solitude can come to relax and take some time to unwind.

Central Park is such a beautiful place.

Earl, Jamie and I spent some time in Central Park today, just relaxing and enjoying the last weekend of summer. I snapped a few photos to share.

Since we were not armed with a blanket or lawn chairs, we opted to sit on a rock in the Sheep Meadow. Nearby, two men played guitar and sang. I didn’t recognize any of the songs but nonetheless they were pretty good.

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I liked that they were doing that.

In front of us, an older gentleman picked out his spot, kicked back and read a book. With all the texting that was going on around us, it was refreshing to see someone taking time away from the technological to find some enjoyment.

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There was a beautiful slice of society enjoying the weather today and I found the experience to join them to be quite grounding.

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I look forward to more visits to Central Park. I seem to find things there that I don’t find in similar (and larger) spaces closer to home.

An Empire Experience.



217A.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

Friday night it was the New York State Fair and this weekend we are in the Big Apple. The summer is going out with a bang.

For now, I sleep.

217C.365

Snow Leopard.

I was going to put my thoughts on Snow Leopard, the latest version of the OS X operating system from Apple for the Mac, on my geek blog. It was then that I realised that I had blown up that blog when I was moving servers a month or so ago. Instead of taking time to rebuild that blog before writing my experiences with Snow Leopard, I thought I would just include it here on my personal blog, since I have a lot of Mac users that read along. I also thought it might interesting for those that visit via their Windows based computer. But then again, all this geek talk could be boring altogether, so I guess I’ll just jump right into it.

We have four Macs in The Manor that have the chops to be upgraded to Snow Leopard. This is due to the fact that Snow Leopard is for Intel-based Macs only. All Macs have been Intel based (basically using the same processors as their Windows-based counterparts) for the past three or four years. Two of the Macs use have G4 PowerPC processors, one straggler is older with a G3. These will have to stay on the older Tiger operating system. The Macs that I upgraded included my MacBook Pro (the last of the previous generation with a 2.5 gHz processor), Earl’s MacBook Pro (same generation as mine, but with a 2.4 gHz processor), the studio Mac Mini (the first generation of the Intel Mac Minis with a single core Solo processor) and Jamie’s MacBook (the latest incarnation of the Macbook, I am remiss in knowing what processor it has).

The installation process on all four machines was relatively painless. Both my and Earl’s MacBook Pro went flawlessly, completing in about 45 minutes. My Mac Mini was the same experience, though it took about an hour. The fly in the ointment was Jamie’s MacBook, which I find ironic since it’s the newest computer in the house. When I started the install on his computer it froze about 10 minutes in. I had to force the computer off and start over, luckily, no files had been overwritten or moved prior to this and I was able to boot into Leopard before starting over with the upgrade. On each of the machines software upgrade immediately downloaded and installed an additional upgrade. I don’t recall what this upgrade was but it went painlessly.

Once the upgrade was in place I was ready to rock and roll. My MacBook Pro is my primary machine and I do a lot of different things on it: I edited video, I manage all my photos, I do all of my online interacting and I manage my finances. None of my applications have complained about the upgrade, everything seems to be working fine. I have even been successful with using Skype, which I had read on Twitter folks were having an issue with. I don’t know why I am lucky in that regard.

The primary thing I look for when upgrading an operating system is improvements in the user experience. A quick glance at the screen of a Mac will not clue you in as to whether it has Leopard or Snow Leopard on it. Both look pretty much identical in that regard. One little improvement that I enjoyed was an animation of the wi-fi icon that tells me when my computer is looking for a signal. Speaking of which, that area is a _big_ improvement since the upgrade; my MacBook Pro now finds my home wireless network in about a second when I open the lid versus the five seconds it took under Leopard. That delay used to irk me because I did not experience the same delay under Windows Vista or Windows 7 on the same computer; I’m happy that Apple fixed that.

Other UI (user interface) improvements that I am enjoying include the improvements to stacks on the dock. The scrollbars are a much needed improvement and quick look works flawlessly.

One thing not included in Snow Leopard that I wish had been included was a little bit of “glass”. While I think Microsoft uses this a little too much in Windows Vista and Windows 7 with their Aero interface, I think that a little bit here are there adds a touch of class to the UI. While there are some cool visual effects on the dock with both Leopard and Snow Leopard and the file bar across the top has a glassy appearance (if you want it), I think if Apple had included a touch more glass in Snow Leopard users would have had something to look to assist with the the feeling that they upgraded their operating system. Granted, Apple has said all along that they were focusing on the mechanics of the operating system with this upgraded by making it leaner; I still think a little bit of something in the UI would have made people are little more excited about the upgrade.

My MacBook Pro and my Mac Mini both feel decidedly snappier with the upgrade. Things are purring along beautifully and with the exception of one glitch when the computer went into sleep mode (the screen got stuck in dim mode when I was typing this blog entry), everything has been working great.

Because of Apple’s rock bottom price of this upgrade ($29 for a single computer, $49 for a family pack, good for five computers), I recommend the upgrade to everyone that has a Mac with the specs for it. I believe the speed improvements and the interface tweaks are used to it.

Moonlight.



Moonlight., originally uploaded by iMachias.

It’s around 4:30 a.m. and I just woke up with a start. Feeling wide awake, I looked outside and saw that the full moon was shining brilliantly. I decided to see if I could snap a photo of the last full moon of summer and this is what I came up with. It’s my first attempt at playing with the manual settings on the “big” camera.

I don’t think it’s too bad for my first attempt.

If you click on the photo to get to it’s page in Flickr, you’ll be able to see my camera settings on there.

Now I’m going back to bed.

Breakout.

I am a very happy geek tonight. I found Super Breakout from Atari for my iPhone. Atari games are the coolest.

Space.



214.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

My supervisor was out of the office today so I took the opportunity to move to a new cubicle. This new space is in the same quad as my original cube and is 180 degrees around the maypole from where I used to sit. The difference with this cube is that it’s in the corner of the room, whereas my old cube was out in the middle of the floor. Being the old guy of the group I was having a hard time hearing telephone conversations; this can be a problem when you work a tech support position on the telephone. The new cubicle is a much quieter space and was previously occupied by the former old guy of the group. He was part of the lay-offs in April. Now I wonder if I have moved into the last seat before final departure.

Since the cube is identical to my original spot (aside from the walls), I set it up identically to my old space. I even took the lightbulbs out of the overhead light fixture; I strive for a cave like feel to my workspace.