Glenn’s Daily Script

I’ve decided to take down this blog (probably in the next week or so). I’ve found that writing a blog with little focus (meaning many topics) and working to post every day is not really what I wanted to do.

I’m starting a new blog over at This Week in Wood where I will focus on Woodworking. I will be posting once or twice a week and will try and put in pictures. I’m really looking forward to this blog.

Ok, this is in so many ways a contrived holiday heavily promoted by corporations that have financial interest in this holiday and the things they have promoted (cards, candy, flowers, …).

…but I have see an unstructured movement to move from gifts to reconnecting with our mates and refreshing the romance. In that spirit…

My wife, Kathy, and I met in the summer after my Freshman year in high school. We connected right away though our backgrounds were a little different. She is the daughter of European immigrants. I’m the son of 2 children of southern farming families. I was the caveman coming to dinner at her house and she was overwhelmed by the activities around dinner at my house.

In the beginning, it was all about teenage romance. It evolved gradually over the years to friendship, lovers, husband/wife, co-parents and all those relationships entail. We’ve certainly had trying times yet, we have always come out closer after them.

I love Kathy with all my heart. She gives me the things that my heart needs. I respect her with all my being. She shows me the best person I can be by her own actions and deeds. Our romance may not be exciting (I don’t think I’ve every been the creative romantic type) but it has gotten stronger, the closer we become.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I don’t think I’ve read a fantasy novel in quite a long time. By Fantasy, I mean something that takes place in some imaginary time and place where some fantastical elements exist that can range from mystical creatures to magic to … use your imagination.

This book is actually the 2nd book in a series about Yelena a young woman who was kidnapped as a child and apparently (meaning it happened in the 1st book?) had a very rough life.

In this one, she is traveling with your mentor/master Irys who is a master magician (1 of 4 in the Sitia country/territory.

During this story, we find out Yelena’s talents in magic and what she is truly made of by her efforts in playing detective on a mystery where evil is trying to steal girl’s souls. Of course, that would be interesting enough if we didn’t have to deal with her long lost brother thinking that she is a spy and drips of evil herself.

The character development is full and engaging. The story takes it serious enough but inserts humor and other emotions through out.

It took me about 25 pages to get into this story but after that, I was hooked and it was a quick read from that point onward.

It’s the 2nd book in a series but served well as a stand along story though clearly it would have been even more interesting had I read the first (Poison Study). I’m excited to read the first and the 3rd story (Fire Study) and I recommend you search it out and try it for yourself.

I’ve been a pretty big fan of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I like the characterizations and the story keeps moving and changing. The special effects are decent for a TV Sci-Fi show.

I’ve been rewatching the Terminator movies with Xander (a friend of his watched them and so he asked). There are scenes that are a little much for a 10 year old but Xander covers his eyes so he’s been enjoying them. It’s obvious that Xander’s maturity is going up as seen in his enjoyment of even the plot development and character development elements of the movies.

One of the things in watching both the TV shows and the movies is the difference in the John Connor portrayals. In the 2nd movie, John is kind of a punk but very confident and embraces his destiny. In the 3rd movie, John is a pathetic whiner who still worries about his future but isn’t preparing for it like his mother would have wanted. I thought the actor playing John in the 3rd movie did a fine job but the direction was just not what you’d expect the savior/leader of the human race to be like.

Now, in the TV series we have John as a super strong teenager with lots of angst but preparing himself to lead while figuring out his path and place and not the one everyone is trying to force on him. This is an excellent portrayal of this character while the 3rd movie is not as believable.

The reason I bring this up is with the up coming Terminator movie with an older adult John Connor. I am curious as to what they plan to base the character on - the movie series or the TV series.

No one would ever mistake me for an ultra frugal person. Most of my life if I saw something I wanted, I bought it (maybe not right away but soon). That is not to say I haven’t bought those things by looking for the best deal because I have. But someone who buys everything they want (ok that’s more than I did but not far off) is not someone truly out to save money.

The current economic situation has me concerned though. Kathy and I decided that spending time with our kids as they grow up was the most important thing. About 6 years ago, we looked at our finances and figured that if we watched our money closely we could make it work so that we both could be at home. The current economic situation means 1 of 2 things for us. One option would be to cut to the bone which drastically changes our lifestyle (I don’t mean to imply a poverty like lifestyle but any drastic change in one’s lifestyle is hard on individuals and families). The second option would be to have one or both of us go back to work which in most ways is also a drastic lifestyle change.

We are waiting a few more months to see how this settles out.

I have notices in my personal behavior though that I am starting to have some modicum of money discipline. I have noticed over the last 4 months or so that when I see something that looks useful, interesting, desirable that I look into it and research it a bit just like I always have. The difference though is that I ask myself the question is do I need it, truly need it. As more time passes, the answer is more and more often no and I close out all my research and forget it.

This behavior change is drastic.

My motivation is many fold. It includes that I’ve grown fond of how life is working for myself but the really big point is the effect that it would have on my family if I needed to change our lifestyle in a radical way (i.e. going back to work). My boys wouldn’t get to have me walk them to school. I probably wouldn’t be able to do projects with them like building skateboards. Many other impacts too numerous to mention too.

The market changes are starting to become smaller but I can’t tell if we are near the “bottom”. I know many people have things worse so I have a lot of empathy for them and hope for all of us that we start leveling out soon.

Yes, as an individual I would love to have less taxes. Less taxes give me more spending and saving money which makes life simpler.

In reality though, I am a bit of an altruist. This streak in me makes me want the appropriate amount of taxes for everyone.

I bring this up for 2 reasons.

First, President-Elect Obama has a recovery plan that includes tax cuts and tax credits for most of the citizenry. Yes, money for the lowest income earners could get them to spend a bit but for the middle class it won’t. Those people will spend on mortgages, food, car payments and things they are already spending on. If there is money left, they will save it in our current environment. Obama is doing what politicians always do and giving us something that he thinks will make us happy regardless of the true impact. I think given the current situation, most voters want something that will really fix the problem and not just a sugar pill.

The second reason is that I’ve seen Pelosi bring up the tax cuts that Bush gave the wealthy. She wants them repealed right now. Obama wants to wait until he has the lay of the land. Again, most of the voters want a real solution. My favorite is to get rid of special interest in taxes and just go flat. It may not happen but let’s go do something real and change the tax code to get rid of special interest.

Listen to the people - don’t placate us!

I haven’t been inspired to write down any book or movie reviews lately but I heard a recommendation about the Graphic Novel - Secret Identity and thought I would check it out.

It’s a different take on Superman. The premise is that in our world, the world of no super powered any bodies, a family with the last name of Kent who also happen to be in a small town in Kansas (no, not Smallville) have a son with dark hair and a normal complexion. The new parents thought it would be fun to name their son Clark.

In the Graphic Novel, there are 4 separate stories. One where Clark is a teenager; One where Clark is a young adult; One where Clark is beginning a family; and One where Clark is growing older.

In this premise, Clark has no powers but is teased for being Clark Kent/Superboy by his family and friends. He’s frustrated by it but not truly resentful. During the first story, Clark finds out that he has super powers just like Superman. The rest of the stories have elements where Clark wrestles with this part of him and the secrets he must keep and who should he keep them from. Should he share with his family; should he share with his love; should he share with his children.

I would have loved to see these stories longer but most graphic novels are not only quick reads but you forget them and they have little impact. To me, this may be one of the most impactful comics I have ever read. It presents a perspective on life with a back drop about super powers, Superman, and heroes.

It was really enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

Wordpress is the blogging software I use on this blog. They have done a major rework of the management interface and some other bugs, features, tuning work.

The UI is pretty good. I’ve been running it since RC1 and it’s stable and has some nifty features. If you are a blogger, I’d recommend the upgrade.

In watching various interviews regarding the US Government Bailouts of the Financial Industry and the one being discussed for the Auto Industry, I have some thoughts.

One assumption that seems to be at the center of all of these bailouts is that these companies are too large to fail. I don’t agree. When a person goes into bankruptcy, they come out of it on the other end with a different perspective on money. It seems that many of the companies management teams don’t treat the money as if it was their own and so have been loose with risk. They need a perspective change. This includes executive management compensation.

Does that mean we shouldn’t do something about the situation? No, there are possibilities.

Loans are not bailouts and could go to companies that change practices. Some changes could include elimination of predatory lending and increase focus (greater than 50%) on greener transportation options. I’m sure there are other business practices that should change to but given my limited understanding of these businesses, these seem like a good start.

Also, what about buying troubled mortgages from the financial industry and then negotiating new terms for the mortgages so that people can stay in their homes. These troubled mortgages would then be healthy and can be resold back to the financial industry (yes, some cost would be involved).

We should be more cautious with the numbers that are being bandied about. A trillion dollars is a lot and we should treat it that way. It’s too much debt for our government and ourselves, children, grandchildren and so on. Our government and elected officials need a perspective change too.

One of the things I’ve found that I spend a lot of time as a woodworker (hobby not professional) is organizing my shop. I’ve read that many hobby based woodworkers do the same.

I suspect that my reasons for this is multi faceted. One reason is that my shop is relatively small. Another reason is that I’m retooling my approach to woodworking by incorporating some hand tool skills in addition to my power tool usage.

For instance, I’ve kept my hand planes in my tool box. This has caused 2 problems though. First, there is some rust issues due to the metal toolbox and crowded hand planes. Second, the planes are spanning several drawers so remember using a certain plane for a certain job is challenging. All this motivated me to move my planes outward and put them is easily visible and easily accessible shelves.

Now I have to clean off the rust but the tools are where I need them and all the planes are ready to go.

Of course, now I have a few drawers that can be used for other purposes.

Reviewers, in general, are there to get as big of an audience as they can. Since I love movies, reviews, spoilers and the like, I have had a great deal of opportunity to listen, read, view many reviewers. In that time, my observations lead me to believe that most of them try to achieve audience size by making extreme statements.

One style of reviewer is a “Film” reviewer. This kind of reviewer believes that all movies should present art. These reviewers often favor foreign movies and they almost always refer to movies as “Film” (and yes they use a capital F). Movies that ultimately are popular are rarely reviewed favorably by this style of reviewer.

Another style of reviewer has broad coverage in movies. They let their emotions drive them and so aren’t always locked into foreign movies. If a movie moves them, they give it a more favorable review. Some of this category loves depressing movies. These depressing movies definitely move a person but if you want to kill yourself after watching a movie, is that really entertainment.

There are many other styles of reviewers. I find the rarest one can fit into the categories above but they will often insert statements about different viewers and how they may or may not enjoy the movies. If the movie is an action film, they may review it negatively but will include statements about action film fans liking the movie. Some of these statements are not always accurate but at least the approach is the least biased.

I was motivated by the reviews of Quantum of Solace that I’ve read, heard, viewed. I haven’t seen the movie myself (yet!). I heard a few reviewers that negatively commented on the film and gave no other details. I heard that thought it was awful but loved the next 2 foreign movies. I only heard one that came at it from a Bond movie fan point of view. In this view, it came out as not one of the best Bond movies but still entertaining and perhaps a necessary transition movie till this next iteration of Bond goes to the next level.

This empathetic perspective would help me as a movie fan to try different movies.

A while back I posted something about Guitar Practice which was focused on the discipline needed to make different levels of progress. I’m still doing well with this but I thought that I should apply it to my overall day too.

When you are full time parent like I am, you are busy when the kids are around. That means feeding them breakfast, walking to school, walking home, chaperoning play dates, and a variety of other things. When they aren’t around, it’s time to do other things. That is the time that I’d like to add a little discipline to.

I am very methodical and get things done but as of now, some things take me a very long time because of procrastination and going slow on other things. What I hope to do from this point onward is to set goals for each day and keep things moving at a slightly faster pace. I’m not talking about a break neck pace but rather a nice steady and even pace.

Let’s see where I’m at in a week.