Dog House Ramblings: February 2008

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Damn

A short run at #1 for the Vols. They lost to Vandy last night. SEC is a tough conference.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Go Vols

#2 Tennessee - 66 : #1 Memphis - 62

'Nuff Said.

Labels: Tennessee Basketball

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I may be turning into a technophobe..

Back in the later 70's, early 80's, technology was fascinating. I was pretty much a math whiz studying electrical engineering and enjoying the evolution of computers. I had my first computer in '83. In '85, I hired on at Texas Instruments. I got to play with all the cool toys, including the early stages of what has become the World Wide Web.

In '94, I jumped to the telecom industry and played with all those cool toys. I hooked up the internet at home so that I could continue to play when I wasn't at work. I bought cool electronics like there was no tomorrow. But by '98, the love was starting to fade, though I still mostly kept up with technology.

In 2002, I punted and took a year off to windsurf. In 2003, I started working in the recreational marine industry.

And now I think I'm becoming a technophobe. I hardly follow technology at all any more.

I realize this because I'm sitting here researching Intel processors. I'm doing that because both my laptop and desktop are in dire need of replacing. And I have zero clue as to the differences between all the processors currently on the market. Dual Core, Duo Core, it's all the same.

And last night at Angelo's (our favorite Italian restaurant), I'm wondering why the parents at the next table are allowing their children to listen to Ipods. I'm wondering why someone would be texting friends when they could just call them. And I'm wondering what's so important that it would interrupt such a good meal.

Then this morning, my wife explains a term that's new to me - twittering. Apparently it's something people with Blackberries like to do. I'd never heard of it, let alone can I think of a reason I'd want to do it. In fact, my 7 year old phone (I hardly call it a cell phone anymore) is not capable of any of it. Nor do I desire to own a phone that will allow me to text or take pictures.

Electronic leashes... That's all they are.

That discussion came on heels of a conversation about flat panel TV's - yet another technology that I'm sorely undereducated about. Yet we'll soon be forced into.

Yes.... I am starting to fear technology. At least the kind related to electronics. And coming from a person who graduated BSEE with honors, that just seems like a sad statement. Whether that is a sad statement about me or the world has yet to be determined.

Of course, all these thoughts are coming to me while I write in a Blog. The need for which I'm still trying to wrap my brain around. Yet here I type. I guess I justify it by calling it an outlet for my creative thinking.

Yeah.... Right....

I probably should just go windsurfing.

Labels: slow it down, technology, technophobia, twittering

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Maybe Lawyers are useful after all...

Despite living in Texas for almost 23 years now, I'm not much of a Country & Western fan. Yeah, I like some of Willie Nelson's music. And there are a few other country musicians I will listen to if nothing else is on the radio, but I'm more of a rock n roll kind of guy.

Enter BakerBotts - a fairly large law firm with offices in Dallas.

What do they have to do with C&W music you ask? Not much. But they do host an annual client appreciation event. And since my wife's scientific research has made her a client of the BakerBotts patent group, we were invited to their annual party. And being lawyers, annual parties are big events. This one was held at the Palladium Ballroom down at Gilley's. Open bar, valet parking and good food. Oh Yeah... And Pat Green on the stage live.

Not bad for a bunch of lawyers.

I'm sure Pat was underwhelmed by the crowd response since he's used to playing much larger audiences. But to his credit, it was a really good show. He even poked fun at lawyers. I like his style. That his keyboardist is a South African made it that much more fun for my South African wife. Good stuff.

So it was a good evening.

Do I like lawyers now?

Yeah... Right...

Labels: Pat Green

Monday, February 4, 2008

Sailing resumes

So the original plan was to sail at least once a week in 2008... But a combination of injury and crappy weather conspired against me.

How about once a month?

We're having more of that goofy weather in North Texas, including an 82F high temperature and some moderate winds. And being that Monday is my day off, I made it out to Fire Ant today for a couple of hours of water time. It wasn't "write home to mother" kind of sailing, but it was a good session. A little 6.5 Ezzy Infinity mostly on my Madd 135 - the Screamer tried, but didn't have the volume for the lulls.

I managed about 15 miles, a 29.9 mph max and probably the best short board tack I've ever pulled off. I won't call it "planing"... But it happened a whole lot faster than they usually do.

Labels: windsurfing session

Everyone's doing it, right? So since I've got my own domain, I might as well too. And if you're reading this, it's not like you had anything better to do.

Name: The Dog

Location: Texas, United States

I'm a Naturalized Texan living in the DFW area since 1985. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Tennessee - Knoxville. I have worked for Texas Instruments, DSC Communications and Alcatel as a board level design engineer... That all ended with the telecom crash. I essentially "retired" from engineering design in 2002 because of the glutted market. I worked in the recreational boating industry as a salesman and webmaster for about 6 years. It was good work for awhile, but was basically a dead end job. I'm married. No kids (unless you count dogs and cats).

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