Jun 082011
 

Text JunkieSo last night while I was traveling home via public transit, I was also trying to keep in contact with my wife via instant messaging. This is a common practice for my wife and I so that I can enjoy my trip more and she can know that I am safe and getting closer to home.

Well things seemed fairly normal in the conversations I was having except it did seem that she was having a harder time than usual understanding what I was saying. I had a long wait between buses and I was getting pretty hungry, so I started instant messaging questions about my dinner options for home. In come responses from my wife that they had “GoodStuff” for dinner and when I asked if there was any left for me, a resounding “Yes!” with smileys came back. I knew that they must have finished eating hours ago, so I made a request for her to start reheating it so that I could eat quickly and then move on to doing bedtime for our two daughters. I was so happy when a quick IM response came back saying: “Sure! OK!” and again a long line of various smileys.

More small chat continued until I arrived home to find an empty table and empty stove. Although it was nice to see that everything was so neat and clean, I was a little disappointed that there was no hot dinner for me after the IM conversation we just had. I then noticed that my wife was busy with our laundry and my 7 year old daughter (aka: Thing Two) was next to her holding my wife’s phone (we use our phones for instant messaging). Not only was Thing Two happy to see me, she was also laughing a lot more than usual. I asked my wife about the IM conversation we had moments ago, and she looked a little confused. This is when Thing Two jumps up and says: “I fooled you Daddy! You thought I was Mommy!” We all had quite a laugh.

It was just shocking at how I was not able to notice the difference. My wife tends to be very terse in her IM communication, so it did not seem odd for me to ask a long question and then receive a small “ok” response. Boy has Thing Two come a long way in her pranks. I’m both proud of her and a little scared for what we’re in for as well.

LOL O_o

 
the plight of my klout score

the plight of my klout score

I tend to focus less on my social networks when I have my head down coding. This time however, its effect on my klout score is pretty dramatic. LOL

I guess this is just a consequence of the typical life:work balance, but I wonder how other tech professionals maintain such a high score while also paving new roads in their field.

A couple of examples of the type of tech peeps I’m talking about:

  1. Jeff Atwood – 73: klout.com/codinghorror
  2. Matt Cutts – 73: klout.com/mattcutts

Anyway, I’m not complaining here people. I am just confused about how others manage to keep up their tweeting/blogging while “deep in the cut” of some tech project.

Do any of you have any tips? Please speak up here and let me know.

Time To Relax

 Family, Life, Random, Work  Comments Off
May 302011
 
Relax

Image credit: audi_insperation

Things have been so exciting working @gravity this year and I am amazed at how much we have accomplished in the last few months. All of this excitement and hard work has worn my not-twenty-something body out just a tad and my family has become quite used to my MacBook on my lap during weekend afternoons.

So…. How nice it is that we all get a 3-day weekend to relax and spend some quality time with those people (and/or cats) in our lives that do not work at Gravity? I have also been able to work on this blog once again. After a nice day out with the family on this beautiful spring day, I found myself curious about what I needed to do next… NOTHING!

How great is that? I was really dumbfounded for a while until my brain chimed in with a wonderful suggestion: Relax! Well that is just what I am doing right now.

Here’s to having a moment to relax and accepting it! Hope you get a moment or to yourself.

peace.

May 262011
 

image

Sometimes you just can’t find a single pair out of the entire bunch.

May 182011
 

Gee, it sure is nice to blog from the comfort of my own Android phone. It is just so easy to do with WordPress.

Not much more to say than that…

g’night intarwebz…

Apr 102009
 

For years I've actually dreaded the arrival of spring simply because of the effect this season has on my allergies. This year however the season comes at a time of welcome changes in my life. Is it that these changes are fresh in my mind that the season seems to be in tune with my life or could it be that my life is truly linked to nature's cycle of life? Whatever the relationship may be, I feel it and it is refreshing.

We recently moved into an apartment not too far from Robin's Mom's house. We were living with her Mom temporarily while we were trying to both rent out our Yorba Linda townhome and find our own apartment here in our hometown of Culver City. All of the stress such a situation can bring was pretty high and constant. It was a relief to have another caring member of the family to help out with our kids and we were blessed with such an opportunity. The stress was primarily caused by the need to simultaneously get someone renting our place and solidify our own housing locally.

The new apartment is located on a street rich in families with children and so many of these children are close in age to our own children. We now find ourselves surrounded by an urban village of friends, playmates, and support. This has enriched our family’s life and allowed more moments that Robin and I can do activities together without the kids. I’ve longed for such a village for so long that I cannot even remember when such a wish was born. Our two girls are adjusting well to this new environment as well. I was beginning to think that some of the things that made my childhood great just aren’t possible anymore in today’s world, but now at least they can bounce from house to house after school and on weekends. Each household provides for which ever children enter into. If three neighborhood children are over playing and I’m making dinner for my own, I’ll ask each of them to check with their parent if they can stay over to eat. The same goes elsewhere, and even though we’re months from July, we’ve had at least 3 BBQ’s with our neighbors.

children at play

So this year I welcome spring and the new things in my life. I’m looking forward to how things will blossom and grow from these beginnings.

© 2011 Rob 'n' Rob Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha