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March 29, 2003
A little moment
So today was my first weekend day with just my family. After my mother-in-law left, I expected a barely holding on kind of sanity throughout our house. Instead it has gone all right so far. Certainly there have been moments and one night, I just needed to get out of the way, but I think we can do this.
My reassurance definitely appeared this morning while Lori was fixing some breakfast. Kieran was laying against me on the couch, and Maura was dancing to VH1 and holding my hand. Kieran looked up at me, calm and seemingly reassured by my familiar form, and Maura smiled and wanted me to help Kieran dance. It was such a great moment. It was a wonderfully complete moment.
Posted by KnipSter at 08:49 PM | Comments (2)
March 23, 2003
On our own...
So we're returning my mother-in-law to her husband this week. Its wonderful how much help she has been. We're lucky and appreciative to have her.
Of course, the time has come for us to "pull the bandaid" and go the rest of the way through the transition we are in. From the "one child" family to the "2 children" family.
We had a dry run last night with the in-laws heading to Wesport for Dinner (they concur with a positive review on Acqua Ristorante). We're figuring out how to adjust bathtime, bedtime and dinnertime, but I think that will be okay.
Thanks Jean!
Posted by KnipSter at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2003
Tech Industry Burnout ...
Burnout increases among technology workers. This has me thinking (stay tuned for further thoughts).
Some reactions (from above article) by companies:
Some 55 percent of companies surveyed have begun "skill development" programs to boost morale, and 24 percent have bolstered their retention programs.
Still, only 11 percent said they had boosted salaries and just 8 percent offered cash incentives to curb worker burnout.
Hiring remains extremely tight as well. "You're not going to find many companies out there who have ongoing ads and invitations to people to submit resumes," said survey author Schafer. "Many companies are not taking resumes from people, and there's no hiring to speak of."
Is this the same burnout that I have experienced and see in my valuable coworkers?
According to this article:
Personality traits (who you are) such as perfectionism, rigid thinking, and unrealistically high expectation levels increase the risk of burnout.
Stressful working conditions contribute to burnout: responsibility without decision-making authority; unchallenging work; inadequate feedback about job performance; work that involves constant rejection, competitiveness; and companies undergoing downsizing, reorganizing, merging, etc. are typical of burnout-prone organizations.
Other Interesting Articles (via Google):
- UIUC: ttp://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/jobstress.html
- TechWire: Businesses Increasingly Face IT Worker Burnout
- CertMag: Dealing with Burnout
- Entrepreneur: Rusty Business (are your employees suffering from "rustout"?
Posted by KnipSter at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2003
A note to my brother...
My brother is being very vocal about the War on Iraq.
Sounds like you have the following points:
1. You are patriotic
2. You exercise right to criticize, and that doesn't contradict #1
3. You question how this action "protects us"
4. Saddam may have WMD
5. Iraq or would-be Terrorists are unlikely to try and get WMD into the US
6. Federal Gov't should do other things
7. Federal Gov't should devote attention to N Korea
8. Support Troops
9. US is behaving "imperialistically"
10. We are taking over the 2nd largest oil reserve for profit
Let me respond:
#1,2,4,6,7,8: Good, in the end, we agree on important parts
3. Is it possible that our government has more information than you about the magnitude of threat that Saddam Hussein poses to the United States, its citizens, and/or its allies?
5. Clearly desperate people attempt desperate measures, I wouldn't be so sure about this. Religous zealotry, Oppression, and the instinctive urge to protect one's own are powerful motivators that would enable people to take extraordinary risks.
9,10. Iraq is now Iraq is number 3 behind Canada (now estimated at 180 billion barrels) due to the Canadian Oil Sands. Given our relationships with the top 10 largest oil reserves, I find it hard to believe that OIL is the motivator for this action. I also find it hard to believe that we are interested in colonizing Iraq.
Don't get me wrong, I am not pro-war. It sickens me that I have close friends that are likely to be in harms way right now. In fact, one of my friends may be about to become a first time father, and is deployed to the middle east.
But the zeal with which you choose to criticize and judge the competence of our leadership from your vast life-experience(sarcasm) confuses me. You act as if GWB and his advisors are members of the "frat" across the street and can't possibly understand the ramifications of their actions the way you can.
While these people may not be the most eloquent or polished personalities, I would encourage you to not underestimated their own experience and skill set.
Do you really believe that our government plays with our military (and, as such, our fellow citizens) as if they were pieces of a life size Risk(tm) game (and not people)?
Posted by KnipSter at 03:45 PM | Comments (1)
March 18, 2003
I need a nerd section...
Whats the "blogger" convention when someone has multiple topics to write about. Separate blogs or categories. I tend to write to passively communicate with my future self, my friends and my family.
But there are a few topics I'd like to write about that may not be so interesting to what I expect my "readership" to be, or maybe I don't want to come off as a nerd. So should I segregate a nerd blog or just expect my numerous (2) readers to wade through it.
Posted by KnipSter at 10:22 AM | Comments (3)
March 17, 2003
The more things change ...
So I graduated from college almost 10 years ago. They always say you can't go back and that everything changes. Back in the day, we occassionanly took advantage of our highly visible location on Forbes Avenue to make our opinions known.
Apparently the guys (my "brethren") who have followed in our footsteps have done the same. While I don't consider myself a hawk, I have to say that I find the response both humorous and a valuable counterpoint to the naive followers (as opposed to the few with at least arguable positions)
There's a brief reference in this Pittsburgh Post Gazette Article.
Anyway, here's an email report that was forwarded to me:
So there I was: cooking hot dogs in the house's kitchen around 4pm. All of a sudden, a bunch of guys that were out on our porch working on our Carnival booth rush inside and then out the back door. Somebody comes through the kitchen in a hurry and tells me to go outside and see what's going on. So, seeing as my hot dogs weren't in any hurry to cook, I left them on the grill and went outside.
About 10 police vehicles were out on the road, which was covered with people. On one side of the road stood a dozen or so anti-war demonstrators. On the other side, about 20 brothers of Delta Upsilon, and about 30 other people who came to join in the fun (including several of our guys).
The DU's were grouped along the edge of the road wielding an assortment of crudely drawn signs. "I love war. Bomb Iraq." "I drive an SUV." "More tanks. More nukes." "France needs a lesson in WWII." "Honk if you love war." "Nuke Paris." And a few others.
Apparently the anti-war protestors were marching along Forbes Ave. until they received a rather unfriendly reception upon passing the DU house, whose members proceeded to heckle the demonstrators to no end.
No one was arrested or injured (that I know of). Most of the police left after clearing the people off the road itself so traffic could resume passing through. A few of the police stuck around a bit longer, and when they left, they honked their horns, much to the delight of the guys carrying the "Honk for war" signs.
Needless to say, the anti-war demonstrators were not amused. ;-)
Pictures here.
Posted by KnipSter at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2003
Nothing to say...
So why am I writing?
I don't know. Sometimes in the moment of explaining why there is nothing to say, something pours forth from the mind. When I was about 13, my father offered me $1/day to write in a loose leaf journal. I can't quite remember, but there were roughly 10 questions I had to answer for the $1. What did I do that day? What did I learn that day? etc...
I thought he was crazy to pay me for barely, if any, more than 10 sentences. He laughed at me in the knowing way, and told me that he would sell the journals back to me at quite a profit when I was grown up. I wonder if he still has them. I'm not sure he wouldn't recoup his investment.
Posted by KnipSter at 03:50 PM | Comments (1)
March 12, 2003
A Family Portrait...
So we pack up the family to head to the church to have a family potrait taken for the Parish directory. As a supportive husband, I encourage my wife's continuing practice of her faith, and the raising of our children within that structure. A significant part of her appreciation for the church is the concept of community that surrounds the church.
Not being an active churchgoer ever, I come to this world with some misguided expectations. When I think of church services and events, I expect that the everyday self-centeredness and inconsideration for others is left at home. I expect that those who would take opportunities to gain by others would treat the grounds as holy. I mean, why not? Its church!
So we arrive at our scheduled time for a picture and the nice people volunteering for the church explain the process: "We take your name, and the Olan Mills people will call you when they are ready." Hmmm, Olan Mills, what a nice thing for them to help a church out putting together a nice directory with photos of the parishioners and their families, I'm sure they must get good referrals out of this.
Of course, we went out of our way to bring the whole family (including our 10-day old). Generally speaking, "they" say keep your newborn at home for the first 6 weeks, particularly in the winter months for disease prevention. But Lori was excited for this picture and we believed that her "community" would be considerate and understanding, and help us navigate the process efficiently so as to minimize the time we needed to be there.
So we wait for our turn in the makeshift photo studio, at which point the photographer, who is only doing his job, tries to talk the 10-day-old into holding his head up straight, and get his eyes to look at toys on the camera. Okay, maybe because he is so big, the photographer thought he was older, but please, if it were merely that the infant didn't want to hold his head up or focus his eyes, then we would have a whole new way of child rearing!
Then this guy starts taking pictures of just our daughter, and then wants me to put the infant in a makeshift plywood easel with a repeatedly used cloth covering it. Gross! What the heck does this have to do with the church directory?! So it hits me: Olan Mills isn't contracted to do the directory, hoping the Goodwill will bring it more business, its getting the church to pay for the sitting fees and talking the parish into all going through the process. The Church gets an unretouched print of each family (which is a no-cost output of a sitting), and the opportunity to 1-on-1 sell prints and packages to each family in the parish.
People taunt me for my paranoia. They claim I believe that "everyone is out to get me." I think its closer to "everyone is out for themselves, and they don't care if that costs anyone else (which includes me)."
I was explaining my expectations of "church behavior" to my mother-in-law, who was brought up in a strong religous atmosphere in a close community and raised her children in suit. Her reaction shouldn't have suprised me. She looked at me with this confused look as if to say "you really think that?"
Church is just another club or place where people are just people.... *sigh*
Posted by KnipSter at 08:53 AM | Comments (3)
March 09, 2003
Genealogy Revisited.
Adding another child to the family brings forth renewed interest in where the family came from. I've been working on a site which allows the navigation and extension of our family tree. If you are a relative and would like to check it out, let me know. If you aren't a relative then you'll have to wait to check out the site architecture. Since I gather and collect information about living relatives, its important to respect their privacy.
My next task is to allow for the editing of an Individuals "record" so that I can further enable my relatives to add/edit our family.
Posted by KnipSter at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2003
Let it Snow... (take 3)
So it began snowing this morning, looks like about 6" so far. I'd glad we weren't bringing Kieran home tomorrow, the snow would have me stressed out and I'm sure the roads are in rough shape.
Grandma Fran's travel plans fell through, so its the passenger route on JetBlue tomorrow. We don't mind her company and I'm sure she doesn't mind either.
And now my brother now gets to enjoy the Skunk Arrival. What's going on?
Posted by KnipSter at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2003
Yesterday must have been exciting...
You can tell it was a fun/exciting day if Maura is still sleeping at 8am. Kieran did 3 feedings last night (I think) and we were slightly overzealous with the sleepers (fuzzy outfits for you non-parents out there). One diaper change we found his whole back sweaty and soaked: poor camper.
I know we have it pretty easy so far (knock on wood), but I'm all the more aware of sleep interruptus.
We've had grandparents all weekend and the grandmothers are still here. Its been a tremendous help, and we're eating well too!
Posted by KnipSter at 07:59 AM | Comments (1)
March 04, 2003
Homecoming...
So Kieran just got home, he's sleeping after a feeding and a short car ride. Stamford Hospital was great again. Maura was excited to see Mama and "My Baby." She immediately wanted to gently rub his head, tickle his feet and show him her favorite TV character elmo. She ran over, grabbed a clicker and turned on the TV, and when Cookie Monster appeared, she clearly turned to Kieran and said "Baby.. Cookie! Cookie!"
Its the cutest thing. I don't think she could have reacted better.
Posted by KnipSter at 12:51 PM | Comments (1)