October 14, 2010

Miners

I have worked underground.

I worked in an underground coal mine in Illinois for about 9 months, and worked in an underground oil shale mine for about a year.

Working underground makes you appreicate your fellow workers. You rely on them unconditionally. I am not sure if it is a universal signal, but in the underground coal mines in Illinois if you shake your "bug light" (hardhat lamp) back and forth horizontally at someone they stop IMMEDIATELY. It does not matter if they are the president of the company or the lowest red-hat (that would have been me) on the crew - you react to that signal without question.

You do that because you hold your co-workers lives in your hands at all times. And you never take that for granted.

Now, that is not to say that there was not a certain level of horseplay underground. But you would never, ever knowingly endanger someones life.

We were talking here at the office about the Chilean miners, and how they survived the first 17 days through the strict discipline and rationing by their shift boss. One of the guys here said that he would have just knock the boss out, and taken all the food.

I said he wouldn't - because that is not how those miners think.

When you work underground you are the member of a very small fraternity. And you worry about everyone you know.

But I will point out one very sad thing about this rescue.

Where were the mine owners when the guys came up?

Flying can be 'hell' for tall passengers - CNN.com

Flying can be 'hell' for tall passengers - CNN.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Not sure why Hell is in quotation marks.

That is my life!

October 9, 2010

Questions Of Travel - Elizabeth Bishop

There are too many waterfalls here; the crowded streams
hurry too rapidly down to the sea,
and the pressure of so many clouds on the mountaintops
makes them spill over the sides in soft slow-motion,
turning to waterfalls under our very eyes.
--For if those streaks, those mile-long, shiny, tearstains,
aren't waterfalls yet,
in a quick age or so, as ages go here,
they probably will be.
But if the streams and clouds keep travelling, travelling,
the mountains look like the hulls of capsized ships,
slime-hung and barnacled.

Think of the long trip home.
Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?
Where should we be today?
Is it right to be watching strangers in a play
in this strangest of theatres?
What childishness is it that while there's a breath of life
in our bodies, we are determined to rush
to see the sun the other way around?
The tiniest green hummingbird in the world?
To stare at some inexplicable old stonework,
inexplicable and impenetrable,
at any view,
instantly seen and always, always delightful?
Oh, must we dream our dreams
and have them, too?
And have we room
for one more folded sunset, still quite warm?

But surely it would have been a pity
not to have seen the trees along this road,
really exaggerated in their beauty,
not to have seen them gesturing
like noble pantomimists, robed in pink.
--Not to have had to stop for gas and heard
the sad, two-noted, wooden tune
of disparate wooden clogs
carelessly clacking over
a grease-stained filling-station floor.
(In another country the clogs would all be tested.
Each pair there would have identical pitch.)
--A pity not to have heard
the other, less primitive music of the fat brown bird
who sings above the broken gasoline pump
in a bamboo church of Jesuit baroque:
three towers, five silver crosses.
--Yes, a pity not to have pondered,
blurr'dly and inconclusively,
on what connection can exist for centuries
between the crudest wooden footwear
and, careful and finicky,
the whittled fantasies of wooden footwear
and, careful and finicky,
the whittled fantasies of wooden cages.
--Never to have studied history in
the weak calligraphy of songbirds' cages.
--And never to have had to listen to rain
so much like politicians' speeches:
two hours of unrelenting oratory
and then a sudden golden silence
in which the traveller takes a notebook, writes:

"Is it lack of imagination that makes us come
to imagined places, not just stay at home?
Or could Pascal have been not entirely right
about just sitting quietly in one's room?


Continent, city, country, society:
the choice is never wide and never free.
And here, or there . . . No. Should we have stayed at home,
wherever that may be?"

The Long History Of American “declinism.” | The New Republic

Latest Entry In The Long History Of American “declinism.” | The New Republic: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

October 3, 2010

The Case Against Expatriation: Not Cutting the Mustard - James Fallows - National - The Atlantic

The Case Against Expatriation: Not Cutting the Mustard - James Fallows - National - The Atlantic: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Having lived overseas I can understand this fellow's point.

And I met many Americans (and Brits and Aussies and Dutch) who fit that mold. I toyed with the idea of never returning, but never seriously.

September 25, 2010

Goodbye OpenSpirit Corporation

I started work at OpenSpirt on June 1, 2003. The company had 18 employees and under $2 million in sales. We were about to release the best version of the software ever - about two orders of magnitude faster than the currently released version.

We slowly grew the company using cash flow, with a little bit of equity from the then current investors. We targeted specific accounts and specific functions, and then delivered what we promised. We had a great relationship with our investors and cut no prices (we doubled them when I joined, and then increased them by 2.5x a couple years later.)

In 2006 we took on another investor to enforce of view of Vendor Neutrality (one of our founding principles) and it worked. We got an outside Board chair. We got a bunch of cash, and used it judiciously to expand overseas. But we still made money. We were cash flow positive for six years in a row.

OpenSpirit saw the growth of, and helped promote, Petrel - a wonderful piece of modeling software. We piggybacked on much of their success.

Then oil companies started seeing us not as an interesting science experiment, but a necessary part of their work-flow.

We had the growing pains that all small companies do. We had to add better benefits (expensive!) infrastructure (painful) and process (don't tell me what to do!).

By late last year we had over 65 employees, and were seen as the undisputed leader in integration and interoperbilty software in the oil and gas upstream vertical. Nice place to be, but it was sort of a small niche.

One of our owners decided that it was time to sell. Probably not the best environment to sell into, but he who pays the piper calls the tune. All we had to do was dance.

And dance we did. We selected an investment banker (Houlihan Lokey out of San Francisco) and started the game. We had the first term sheet in about a month (nice job, guys!) but it took a long, long time to negotiate the deal. More on that later. Or maybe not.

So here we are. Closed and funded last week. The investors can't be unhappy (well, they can be - but if they are it is their own damned fault). The employees are by and large happy (what about my vacation?) and we are looking forward to a great time as part of TIBCO Software.

Good luck to us!

September 20, 2010

Schumpeter: Down with fun | The Economist

I can tell you how to have fun at work:

1. Clear Goals
2. The tools and training to be able to reach those goals
3. Reward (not necessarily financial) once those goals are reached.

THAT is fun

Schumpeter: Down with fun | The Economist: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

September 19, 2010

September 4, 2010

August 31, 2010

Here is one explaination for the forms of the plantations

Of course, river front was very valuable, as the river was the means of transportation. I think that had as much to do with the shapes of the plantations (getting your goods to market) as the taxes

Form Follows Tax Laws « Candy Chang: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

I always liked this map

My paternal grandfather (a sugar farmer in Louisiana) had one of these maps on his wall:

1858brno.jpg (JPEG Image, 1302x4770 pixels): "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

August 25, 2010

Building a Nation of Know-Nothings/ We all lose

Building a Nation of Know-Nothings - NYTimes.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

20% of Americans believe that the sun revolves around the earth.

More Americans believe in UFOs than in evolution.

You may call it arrogance, I call it a damned shame.

Just August

My wife and I had the good fortune to get reservations at the Just August Project last night.I didn't bring my camera with me, as I sometimes find I concentrate too hard on the photos and not enough on the food, and I didn't want that to happen this time.

I am glad I did.

The food was great, and the kids running this place were fantastic. (anyone under 30 is a kid these days)

Here is the menu, and it was fantastic. Some superlatives to point out - the sweetbreads were some of the best I have ever had. And I seek out sweetbreads. I have eaten them on four continents and have enjoyed them all. But these were some to write home about. The bread breads were also great. Now that I am baking weekly it is fun to see what others can do with a little yeast and gluten.

But it really was special to see the heart that this crew poured into the pop-up. I hope they get their own place soon.

I feel sorry for anyone who wasn't me last night.

Is the web really dead? - Boing Boing

Is the web really dead? - Boing Boing: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

August 15, 2010

Mangalitsa Pork Chops! Revival Meats does it again

We finally grilled the Mangalitsa Pork Chops we had our friend David pick up a couple of weeks ago.

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


Don't they look good?

We grilled some vegetables as well:

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


Those chops turned out great:

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


and we had to have a nice Pinot Noir:

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


It was an excellent meal:

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


This meat was like no other. It just melted in your mouth, and the flavor was incredible.

If you ever have a chance, get some, grill it, and eat it. You will not be unhappy.

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops


with my sweet ever lovin'

From Revival Meats Mangalitsa Pork Chops

Test

djp

August 13, 2010

E=mc2 Is a Liberal Conspiracy Against Jesus | The Atlantic Wire

E=mc2 Is a Liberal Conspiracy Against Jesus | The Atlantic Wire: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Capgemini Announces 2010 U.S. Metro Wealth Index

Capgemini Announces 2010 U.S. Metro Wealth Index: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Here is the punchline:

HNWI = High Net Worth Individuals (also adults)

If you want to be rich, move to San Jose.





Metro Area Adult Population HNWI Population %
New York 15,438.39 667.2 4.32%
Los Angeles 10,227.83 235.8 2.31%
Chicago 7,602.36 198.1 2.61%
Washington D.C. 4,347.74 152.4 3.51%
San Francisco 3,530.69 138.3 3.92%
Philadelphia 4,725.57 104.1 2.20%
Boston 3,723.37 102.3 2.75%
Detroit 3,554.01 89.1 2.51%
Houston 4,450.61 88.2 1.98%
San Jose 1,457.85 86.5 5.93%







































August 9, 2010

Is a Facebook Friend a Friend?

I am not a big user of Facebook. I am a member, or client, or user - whatever particular phrase they use for their participants. BUT I do not check it every day, and I don't post many things on it.

The best (absolutely best) thing that I have got from Facebook recently was that a young woman who worked for me back in 1993/94 contacted me (she lives near Caracas) and we had a great conversation about Capitalism and Socialism and how loaded each of those terms are in our respective countries. There is NO way that I would have been able to contact her, or her me, without Facebook. There is not way we would have been able to talk about Hugo, Obama, and Sarah and how their foolishness affects the general population without Facebook. But it was on their Chat service, not their "What's on your mind" query.

I value that interchange, and I look forward to another with her (and her kids?) in the near future. THAT is value.

What I don't particularly value is old "friends" who have easy access to me here in town via e-mail, or, god forbid, telephone, who try to "Chat" with me when I am not near the damned computer, and then get all hussy and fussy when I don't reply.

I usually don't reply to "chats" if I can actually chat.

And don't go thinking that I am any sort of a Luddite. I am the CEO of a software company! I have had a computer in my house since 1984. I have soldered together my own modem cable!

But I like to talk to people. I like the interaction that is spawned by face to face conversation. I live for witty repartee! and I am damned good at it. I don't have to worry about a la repartee de l'escalier because I am not ON the stairs when I come up with my reply.

There are not many things that I am good at, but that is one of them.

So, if you are my friend, be my friend, not my "Friend".

And don't spend hours on a reply that will fade with the morning light. It won't impress me.

(edit - a computer in my house since 1984, not 2004. Thanks, bro)

Flight attendant loses control

JetBlue Flight Attendant Pops Open Plane Chute at JFK, Slides Away - Metropolis - WSJ: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

August 2, 2010

Cooking for Pregnant Nieces

I have three pregnant nieces and one pregnant niece in law.

One lives in Houston, one in Austin, One in North Carolina, and the other around Washington DC. They are all siblings.

Two of them happened to be in Houston this weekend:

From Nieces' Shower
so we had an impromptu shower for them. We were going to have them over for lunch, so a shower seemed to be the logical thing (especially after Trouta:
From Nieces' Shower
(shown here with Ree) suggested it.

We decided that we would make Gazpacho, An Asparagus Egg Bake, Savory Bread Pudding, and also serve some of Dan's Famous Pate Campagne with Fruity Chutney.

The Gazpacho was took the most chopping.

This is what we chopped:
From Nieces' Shower

Here is how we chopped it all:
From Nieces' Shower


From Nieces' Shower


From Nieces' Shower


From Nieces' Shower


From Nieces' Shower


Then you mix it all up:
From Nieces' Shower


From Nieces' Shower

They we made some of Dan's Famous Fruity Chutney. You start with about a cup of chopped onion. Add about a cup of dried fruits (you can use anything. But if you use big fruits, chop them up, too) Sweat the onion in a little olive oil. Add fruits, about 1/3 c brown sugar, 1/2 c cider vinegar, 1/2 t turmeric, a pinch of allspice, a bay leaf, a cinnamon stick, salt and pepper. Saute until sticky and thick:

From Nieces' Shower
Serve with your Pate Campagne:

From Nieces' Shower
We also had the Asparagus Egg Bake:

From Nieces' Shower


That was a lot of asparagus. Over four pounds!

You mix it with chopped prosciutto, Gruyere cheese, salt and pepper, and about a half dozen eggs. Top with Parmesan cheese:

From Nieces' Shower


We had made the Savory Bread Pudding before. It has baby arugula and locally cured bacon, cream and some spices that I can't recall. But it is unbelievably delicious:

From Nieces' Shower


Nate and Domi brought Hill Country Peaches:

From Nieces' Shower


and a creamy sauce for them, which I never got a chance to photograph.

And Ree brought something called Uncle Bob's Apple Cake, and it was outstanding as well. But it was mostly all gone before I thought to photograph it. That is one of my problems - I like to have a small glass of wine (or two) while cooking and eating, and I occasionally forget to take photos!

But I have a couple of the happy couples:

From Nieces' Shower

Domi and Nate

From Nieces' Shower

Josienne, Domi, Nate, Jared/

and, of course, Rex!

From Nieces' Shower