Joe Jaena

Last October, I wrote about throwing out my old hockey equipment. Today, I received an e-mail from Joan Broadway, who found that piece of writing while searching for Joe Jaena on the Internet. She gave me some terrible news: Joe passed away, in December 2000.

Joe was the captain of the hockey team I played for. Her e-mail put me in a sad spell for a few minutes. I guess I always thought that Joe would find that web page himself, and drop me a line. Now I know that won't ever happen.

Confidence

I watched Confidence in the movie theaters last night.

The director of Confidence, James Foley, also directed Glengarry Glen Ross. Once I learned that, I knew I had to see this. GGR is one amazing movie! When I scanned the cast listing, and saw Robert Forster, that sealed the deal. I really enjoyed Robert's portrayal of Max Cherry in Jackie Brown; his role in Confidence is substantially smaller. (The cast was studded with super stars, including Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia).

The movie was about a con, a crime, a heist. And like an old book from high school, it felt very familiar. The lead character (Jake Vig, played by Edward Burns with his trademark scowl) even says that a good con is like a play: everyone knows their lines.

I was intrigued by some reviews that said you'll know what to expect, you just won't know when. The movie was like comfort food. You like it. Just enjoy it! And I did.

Woodpecker

While on my walk, I heard the distinctive sound of a wood pecker, pecking away. I was under him, by the proximity of the sound. I looked up at the four or five trees. The bird pecked-pecked, stopped, then resumed, then stopped. I had to wait for him to hammer before I could hone in on him. It took a few minutes before I could finally spot spot him. There he was! His head jack-hammering into the tree. Mia was blissfully pushing her hand through some dirt. My head was looking towards the sky.

Planting Grass

I'm happy to report that the slightest of grass blades have begun to appear. Jenn spotted them, while I was on my way out with Mia for a walk. "You have to look at the ground at an angle." Sure enough, there they were, so small and delicate. With the warmer weather coming, we should be seeing the green fuzz of new grass over the next few days. I'm excited by this possibility.

Planting Grass

Two Sundays ago, Jenn's Dad came over and we planted some grass. We raked and prepared the ground, then spread fertilizer, then spread seed. So far, no grass. But today, somewhat at work suggested that it's still a little too cold for the grass seeds to grow. He said to wait until a few weeks of solid evenings in the 50 degree range. I'm guessing that's mid-May.

Light Jacket

Today, the temperatures are expected to be over 70 degrees! I'll be wearing short sleeves, and I'll be carrying my light jacket. Unfortunately, the weather will turn cold again. Up and down. New England weather. But today will be a wonderful bite into warm sunshine.

Thirty-Five

I turned thirty-five years old today.

VxWorks

I spent the last four days attending a training seminar on VxWorks, the real-time operating system from Wind River.

This operating system is booted up and loaded to run the small computer program used by some modern fighter jet ejection seats. The computer program calculates an angle, according to the Michel Chabroux, the instructor of our seminar. He brought up the ejection seat story because it illustrated the need for a fast booting operating system. VxWorks can go from zero to application run within seconds. I know it takes my PC up to a minute to fire up, and then it takes up to a minute to start mail, and my web browser. Jenn and I typically leave it on during the day. A pilot needing to abort can't wait that long. I spent the week looking at the operating system that helps him out in this situation.

Who was the programmer who wrote that little program? How big was the VxWorks OS (it can be made very small if you don't need all of its features)? If you're reading this, send me an e-mail!

Micahel Jeter

Jenn noticed in the obituaries today that Michael Jeter died. He played the lovable "Mr. Noodle" on Sesame Street. Mia could say his name ("nooou-nooou"). Jenn and I delighted in his very expressive acting. Elmo always introduced Mr. Noodle as "Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle!". Reading Mr. Jeter's obituary, it's striking to realize that you probably have seen him, even if you don't watch Elmo. He was in The Green Mile (with Tom Hanks), Patch Adams (with Robin Williams), and True Crime (with Clint Eastwood). But I won't be missing him in those roles. I'll be missing Mr. Noodle, Elmo's comic relief.