For school, my daughter wrote a letter to President Obama. Short and sweet, it read:

“Dear Obama,

Could you try and have some times when you could be whith (sic) your family.

From: D. West”

Of all the things she could say to the president, and of all the concerns we have with our nation right now, she wrote about having more family time. She represented the concerns of children everywhere, and she knew the most important thing the most powerful man in the world could do is spend time with his children. It made me think of President David O. McKay’s quote: “No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”

It also made me think that my lame-o job (compared with Mr. Obama’s prestigious position) should not take me away from my family as much. I need to make sure to spend enought time at home!

Because now they are going bankrupt, starting with Tribune, Corp. Whew!

Today’s menu for my children at school:

Breakfast – donut and gogurt; milk (chocolate/strawberry/regular)
Lunch – Cheese and Fruit plate; Doritos; Pudding Pop; milk (chocolate/strawberry/regular)

Yesterday’s menu at school:
Lunch – Cheese pizza and ice cream; chocolate milk

In the News recently:
“About one-third of children and teens in the USA — about 25 million children — are overweight or on the brink of becoming so, government data show.” — Childhood Obesity: A Lifetime of Danger.

“Tooth decay is children’s worst chronic health problem, a “hidden epidemic,” — Kids’ Smiles At Risk

Sigh. It looks like we’ll be packing some lunches this year. Perhaps when we talk about health care reform, we can add in some legislation for reforming the way our children eat at school?

Our little boy was born today at 12:52 p.m. All went well, and he and my wife are doing great. He was 21.5 inches long and 7 lbs, 3 oz. He’s also got a thick mop of curly hair!

And get this — I got to deliver him! I was "Dr." for a day." ;-). Our OBGYN said he would help me deliver the baby, which was a really neat experience.

I’ll try to post a picture when I get them developed. We had forgotten our digital camera, so we had to go "old school" and use a disposable!

Powered by Qumana

This article makes me sick, accusing Microsoft of a $528 million tax break because they make products in the state of Washington but "sell" them in Nevada, where there is no corporate tax.

That’s just disgusting. The poor, small business owner can’t afford to pull off a trick like that or doesn’t know how, but the behemoths can and do (Microsoft, I’m sure, is not the only one). And thus the monopolies grow.

What kind of tax system could prevent these kinds of situations?

Powered by Qumana

I think I’m going crazy. I needed a book for my prospectus and could not find it anywhere on my shelf, so I asked two friends whom I typically loan books whether they had it. Nothing. I finally gave up.

Well, I just found them both–under a pile of papers on my desk! I feel like the old man who goes looking for glasses sitting on his head. This experience has taught me an important lesson: My desk is a disaster. Cleaning day must be approaching. I reflected to my cubicle mate that my desk is a disgrace, and he commented, "I think it just looks professor-like."

So that brings me to wonder: Would having a messy desk get me a job? Could I put this on my vita?

Well, that’s if I can FIND my vita somewhere on this desk? Now which pile did I put that in? 🙂

Powered by Qumana

Please excuse a deviation today from my usual thoughts on communities, learning, and educational technologies. I just needed to write some of my reflections about a man I admire who passed away last night.

Today is a sad day for the 13 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as our president, Gordon B. Hinckley has passed away at the age of 97. What a truly amazing man! The articles being released this morning say that up until the end he was putting in a full day at the office. I hope I can be able to have that strength when I am in my 90s.

President Hinckley has led the Church for 13 years, during which time he has done some truly remarkable things. I like what Senator Orrin Hatch said, “This is a man who — I don’t care what your religious belief is, I don’t care what your educational standards are, I don’t care what place you’ve reached in the world, etc. etc. — you have to conclude this is one of the greatest men who ever lived on the face of the earth.”

In his service to the Church, these were some of the highlights that I think I will remember hm most for:

– Creating the Perpetual Education Fund, which I think is one of the greatest humanitarian efforts in the world and is continuing to grow. This program uses interest from a pot of money gathered through donations to give loans to people in developing countries, who then repay the loans for the next group of students. Perhaps because of my background in education, I am particularly excited for this program and the good it is doing for thousands of people in the world. If you truly want to “teach a man to fish”, consider donating to this wonderful program, which is administered by volunteers so 100% of the money goes towards these educational loans.

– Temples for members of our church are very special, different from church houses and more costly and difficult to build. But President Hinckley oversaw a radical change in how temples were built so that the number of temples worldwide could double in three years.

– Even in his 80s and 90s, President Hinckley traveled throughout the world to meet with members of the Church everywhere. I like the quote in this article that he was so beloved in the Orient that members there joke he will be resurrected a Korean!

– In 1995, he led the Quorum of 12 Apostles in crafting a powerful document on the family that explains how families can be built and developed successfully in today’s society.

– In 2000, he and the Quorum of 12 again issued a proclamation, this time a beautiful statement on our Church’s beliefs concerning Jesus Christ

– He was a bestselling author of Standing for Something.

– Above all, he was an exemplary example of a husband and father, and was perhaps best known or his devotion to his wife, Marjorie.

To those not familiar with the LDS faith, it may be interesting to know that the next president has already been selected, although not officially until after President Hinckley’s funeral, per the Church’s revealed tradition. The new president will be Thomas S. Monson, who was the senior member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles. I actually got to hear him speak by satellite broadcast to our church service yesterday. He is best known for his devotion to the needy (he frequently visits hospitals and has looked up the widows he served as a young bishop years ago), and as an experienced leader, and humorous storyteller.

Thank you President Hinckley for your service and love of the people, and to President Monson, our prayers are with you!

Tags: LDS, Mormon, Hinckley

Powered by Qumana

I am currently on the phone with Adobe trying to get some assistance. Since I have upgraded to a Macbook, I am installing my old copy of Adobe CS 2, which requires first installing Adobe CS 1.3 and then installing the CS 2 upgrade.

This is usability problem number 1. Why do I need to spend 15 minutes inserting the 3 1.3 version disks just to get to the point when I can install 2.0? I bought these three years ago, there has to be a way that Adobe can know by now that I legitimately have 2.0 and can just let me download it somewhere.

For some reason, the 2.0 installer doesn’t like my 1.3 serial number, even though 1.3 is up and able to run on my hard drive. So 1.3 is there on my hard drive but the 2.0 installer doesn’t see it and won’t let me upgrade to 2.0

But here’s the kicker: When I call Adobe, they try to verify that I am who I say I am. The conversation goes like this:

Adobe: What is your email address?

Me: Er, which one? I have, like, a dozen. (I then name off all the email addresses I can think of, but since it was three years ago that I bought this, I can’t remember the obscure backup email address that I used back then).

Adobe: Well, then, what was your zip code three years ago?

Me: Er ….

Adobe: Well, what was your telephone number?

Me: Er ….

Adobe: Well, what was your address three years ago?

Me: Er ….

C’mon, I can’t be the only one–especially as a student–who doesn’t remember his address, phone number, and email from three years ago. That was probably about three apartments ago. There HAS to be a better way! Why can’t they ask for my date of birth, mother’s maiden name, or something else that won’t change within a few short years?

And I know what Adobe would say to me, "Well, you should have updated your information with us when you moved."

Yeah, right. Who does THAT with EVERY, SINGLE company they have ever done business with?

There has to be a better way!

BTW, for anyone reading this, how well does 2.0 run on Intel chips in Rosetta? I’m not a power user, I just like to make fliers and brochures every now and then. Will it be painfully slow for me? Tags: Adobe, CS, usability problems, identity

Powered by Qumana

I like blogging, and I think it can be a useful thing for educators,
professionals, and students. However, I must admit I got a few chuckles
from this WikiHow article on “How to Dissuade Yourself from Becoming a Blogger.”

Enjoy!

technorati tags:blogs, blog, blogging

Blogged with Flock