First Post

OK. Well, hum.

This blog thing sounded fun right up to the point where an actual post was required. Now, I have so much to write that beginning seems an insurmountable obstacle. This must be the usual problem among newbie bloggers because nothing seems to intimidate the way a blank screen does.

A friend of my wife and I blogs. She composes and organizes her blog very well. Her posts include lots of pictures. More importantly, her blog seems honest. While this blog will not likely emulate her subjects and style, she has set a standard.

On the other hand, maybe the time has come to make more use of the old camera phone.

Friends and Family:
My wife, Jan, provides adult supervision in this house. Jan is smart, funny and wise. She is scary when she's angry but warm and caring most of the time. Her pragmatism is the perfect counter weight to my optimism. Everything we accomplished since we were married we did together.

My sister, Debra, has a PhD in Architecture from Texas A&M. She is smart, funny, energetic and excels at annoying me. Her daughter, Natalie, just started kindergarten and already demonstrates her mother's best qualities. But, Nat doesn't annoy me as well, yet. I'd say she needs more practice. Frankly, only those I love the most possess that ability to make me crazy so I expect Nat to grow into her proper role, soon.

Debra has a firm called RAD-Consultants. She uses her science background to organize knowledge-bases for Architecture firms and Health care organizations. She also consults with furniture manufacturers who use real science to produce high quality stuff. Debra rocks!

My cousin, Randy, is a C++ programmer and analyst. He is one of those guys so smart it leaves me speechless sometimes. Randy is also very good at making me crazy. He provoked me so far about 12 years ago that I completely changed careers. It turned out to be one of the best mistakes I ever made.

Randy has a love for dogs. Several years ago, a doberman pincer showed up on his front porch. The dog was obviously a stray. It suffered from severe malnutrition so Randy and his wife Dotie took on the dog's recovery. A local veterinarian found Strider had a problem absorbing nutrients so Dotie fixed special food sometimes feeding Strider by hand. Strider's quirky personality made him a very fun diversion. Randy would stand under a light on his back porch to make shadows on the ground. Strider chased them until he exhausted himself. We all loved Strider; Randy most of all.