Engineering 141

In 1975 I’d applied to four colleges: The University of Washington, Washington State University, Gonzaga University, and Seattle University. Each application form had an entry that corresponded to some variation of “area of study.”

They each wanted to know what career path I would choose.

How the heck should I know? I was 17 at the time, doing all this during my senior year in highschool. I suppose some of my peers knew what they “wanted to be when they grew up,” and had for perhaps a long time, but I wasn’t one of them.

What I did know, from my own tinkering, along with some encouragement from a family friend, was that electronics and electrical devices were kind of interesting. I didn’t know what that meant in terms of a career, though, but, “electronics” is what I put down.

That one word changed my life.

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Inspiration

As I’ve said before people who’ve lost weight love to talk about how they lost weight. I’m no exception.

I’ve written about it, some, talked about it, some, and just generally put it out there that — after 50+ years — I’d lost some significant weight.

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Private Audience

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I gave a friend a ride into Seattle for an orientation meeting for a new job. While that meeting happened I hung out near the Starbucks in the lobby.

Eventually, though, I moved outside. The weather was beautiful, there were tables available, and it just seemed like a pleasant thing to do.

That’s when it became unexpectedly more pleasant.

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The Masks We Wear

We all wear masks as we interact with others. On one hand we might consider being anything other than our completely authentic true self as somehow deceitful or incongruous, but the masks serve an important purpose.

We use masks to protect the relationships we value.

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Pill Hill

I’m grateful to have grown up in and around Seattle.

Ironically(?) after yesterday’s post about my propensity to roam all over Seattle on my own as a child, I find myself back today for a completely different reason. Because I’ve lived so much of my life here I have a level of comfort and familiarity with the area that I value.

So being asked to give someone a ride to a confusing part of town? No problem.

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Roaming

I was probably in my early teens – maybe 13 or so.

I had my bike and I was mobile.

In retrospect I was more mobile than I realized, and probably causing my parents ulcers.

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The Grandparents

Today we think nothing of calling overseas. In many cases, using tools like Skype, not only is it easy, it’s free and can easily include video.

In the early 1960’s it was another story. My parents made one phone call to Holland. It lasted 3 minutes, took something like an hour or more to set up, involved at least three separate operators, and cost an arm and a leg.

I believe it was in part to set up a visit.

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USA, USA

Immigration Day, 1960

While I see being born in Canada as having been a positive thing, I’m also grateful that we moved to the United States when I was three.

Nothing at all against Canada, but when I look at the years that followed our immigration much of my good fortune would not have played out as it did had we not moved.

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Oh, Canada

As odd as it may seem to some, I’m actually grateful that I was born in Canada.

For one thing, even though I’m a U.S. citizen having been born elsewhere protects me from ever considering a run for U.S. president. 🙂

In reality, being a Canadian citizen as well as U.S. (I have both) opens a few doors that wouldn’t otherwise be opened.

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Sixty Days of Gratitude #1: My Parents

For the next 60 days I’m putting a little bit of structure around my daily writing exercise. Each day will be about something for which I’m grateful. Some may be trivial, while others (like today’s) more significant, but all will be honest and from the heart. I live a fortunate life, and it’s good to reflect on that from time to time.

Why sixty days? I’ll reveal that … in sixty days. 🙂

♥

It’s only logical that I start with my parents. After all, they “started” me. 🙂

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We Can Each Make A Difference

We’re being flooded with negativity. Every day, it seems, there’s something newly horrific, upsetting, depressing, embarrassing, or just wrong that comes across our news feeds or in our personal communications.

I think it’s having a deeper impact on our collective well-being than most people realize.

That was brought home to me again this morning when I received the following in response to one of my mailings:

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What Is It About 4 AM?

Four o’clock in the morning is a magical and often anxiety ridden time for me. I don’t know what makes it special, but when I wake up at 4AM there’s a certain consistency in how I frequently feel, or where my mind often goes.

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Getting Away

It’s common wisdom that sometimes you need to “get away” from your normal day-to-day surroundings. A change of scenery, as it’s often called, can bring renewed energy and fresh perspectives.

The problem, so to speak, is that there’s getting away, and there’s getting away.

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Drama Magnets

Over the years I’ve known several people that have more than their share of bad luck; I suspect most of us have.

I use the term “bad luck”, but it really encompasses an entire range of situations, scenarios, and circumstances that – through no visible fault of their own – result in bad things happening to those acquaintances.

My wife and I have started to characterize them as “drama magnets.” It seems that everything could be going along swimmingly, and out of nowhere, some kind of drama finds them.

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In Your Own Voice

One of the problems we have as writers is feeling like we need to continually come up with something new to say.

The problem, of course, is that in so many ways there’s precious little that’s truly new, or that isn’t already being said by others. This is something that I had to face from the start with Ask Leo!. There were, and are, plenty of tech sites answering questions and providing information for the public — often about exactly the same topics I address.

What I learned is that as important as what you say is how you say it. That, in a way, makes it new.

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It’s a Conspiracy!

One of the issues I face periodically on Ask Leo! is that of what we colloquially call “conspiracy theories.”

Be it part of a question, or just a rant, I get comments from people from time to time that are absolutely convinced that there’s a massive government or corporate conspiracy to invade their privacy, steal their information, or worse. Usually it’s of the generic variety — “they’re after us all” — but I’ll occasionally see the more personal version as well — “they’re after me.”

This bothers me in part because these folks are choosing to live a life in fear that is generally unfounded.

What worries me more is that it often prevents them from doing things that would benefit them, or ironically, protect them.

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Accepting What You’re Told

It’s frustrating.

I watch the scenario play out on TV all the time. People are given some information and accept it without question.

Right or wrong, true or false, intentionally deceptive or accidentally misleading. Blind acceptance from someone in a position of perceived power or beguiling intrigue.

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Why I Like Email

Some people hate email.

I love it.

It’s one of the best possible means of communication invented, as far as I’m concerned. And my reasons are very, very simple.

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Every Day is Boxing Day

There are no liberals. There are no conservatives.

There are only people.

Whe brought this to mind was this story of recent days: “GOP candidate charged after allegedly ‘body slamming’ reporter“, or more correctly the republican candidate’s response that included the phrase: “It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene …”.

Whether not the journalist created the scene is debatable. But what struck me was the need to call him out as a “liberal” journalist.

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