| June 02 2008 A.D. |
THIS BLOG EXPIRING SOON
This blog will be expiring soon, as there are only 3 days left on my Upsaid subscription. It's been a fun ride, but as I look through my more recent entries, I find that I am doing less and less of my thinking in public, and that some of what I did think about, I regret having written publicly.
I may return to blogging in the future, probably using WordPress and our own domain name rather than a paid service like Upsaid. When I do, it will probably be primarily a joint blog with my wife, providing photos of our family and updates on our doings, for the benefit of relatives and friends, with little or no theology and commentary. Comments will be moderated too. I'm tired of deleting spam comments from Upsaid.
(General) Posted by Matt at 10 : 28 am | Leave a note {6}
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| | May 26 2008 A.D. |
CLASS ACTION
Over the course of 4 years during which we owned a Powerbook and iBook, Sora and I went through 4 power adaptors. They invariably broke within a year. Apple's design was beautiful, convenient, and fragile. And the adaptors were pricey, too: $79 a pop.
Now I get an email: Apple is offering a settlement to avoid litigation. We should be getting $158, one for each affected computer we owned.
(General) Posted by Matt at 6 : 28 am | Leave a note {0}
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| | May 24 2008 A.D. |
PROVOCATIVE THOUGHT
From The Hacker's Diet, Sora came across this interesting statement, which grabbed me so much that I thought I would pass it on:"In every era, each culture defines itself in terms of the heroes it admires. That, in turn, determines the mindset and aspirations of the generation whose values are formed during that time. For past generations explorers, military men, inventors, financiers, and statesmen have filled the role of hero. I believe that our time is the age of the manager. The MBA degree, a credential that qualifies one to administer by analysing and manipulating financial aggregates, has become the most prized ticket to advancement in the United States. The values managers regard most highly: competence, professionalism, punctuality, and communication skills have been enshrined as the path to success and adopted by millions.
The cult of management, for that is what it is, pervades the culture which is its host. In time, it will be seen to be as naive as the ephemeral enthusiasms that preceded and will, undoubtedly, supplant it in due course. But now, at the height of its hold, it's important to distinguish managing a problem from fixing it, for these are very different acts: one is a process, the other an event. Solving a problem often requires a bit of both." I can think of some instances from my own experience in which "management" has won out as the paradigm over other approaches.
(General) Posted by Matt at 3 : 53 pm | Leave a note {1}
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| | May 18 2008 A.D. |
POOL
We just joined the Mason Community Center, in hopes that Sora will be able to exercise there in the mornings once Hosanna becomes less clingy. We took the whole family this afternoon, and everyone had a blast. Highlights include a 3-story-tall waterslide, a smaller, 3-foot-tall waterslide in the shape of a frog (kids slide down the tongue), and a "river" of jet-propelled water culminating in a round "whirlpool". There are life jackets for the littlest kids, and a gradual, zero-depth entry catering to small legs.
At the center of the leisure pool is a Rube Goldberg device that spouted water out of various nozzles, and filling up a bucket on a hinge until it tipped over, much to little Isaiah's delight.
I was very impressed with the entire facility. Other perks include an indoor walking/jogging track, indoor basketball courts, and a playground for little kids. The family locker room is very well laid out, and featured a wall-mounted centrifuge that removes excess water from swimsuits.
The only downside to the afternoon was that while we were inside, someone apparently stole the luggage rack off Aedan's bike. He was riding with us to the pool when he remembered that he had forgotten his bike lock. He returned home, fetched it, attached the lock to the luggage rack, and arrived at the Community Center shortly after we did. He then locked his bike to a rack outside. When he emerged after 90 minutes, his bike's seat was loose and the luggage rack gone. Bizarrely, the security camera aimed at the rack the whole time showed no one stealing anything from it. So either Aedan misremembered -- which seems unlikely, given how vividly he recalls it all, and how well his account dovetails with our own experience of events -- or else the staff at the pool are lying -- which also seems very unlikely. All this, for a $10 piece of plastic junk that I can buy at Wal-Mart.
(Family) Posted by Matt at 6 : 48 pm | Leave a note {1}
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| | May 06 2008 A.D. |
TR-ISM TAKEN TO ITS FATAL CONCLUSIONS
One of the reasons why the Anti-FV Study Bible is so unerringly hilarious is that there really do exist people who believe things like this and call themselves Reformed.
(Theology) Posted by Matt at 6 : 44 am | Leave a note {5}
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