Father's Day Bag

Tomorrow, I start a new job. My wife got me a new bag for Father's Day, and I'm feeling like it's the first day of school. I can't wait to start, however. It's been two and a half months since I've been away from work, and I'm eager to get back into it.

The Sum of All Fears

I finished The Sum of All Fears today. This is a Tom Clancy book about terrorists trying to build a nuclear bomb. It was a long book (900+ pages) but a real page-turner. I was engrossed from the first few chapters, right up until the incredible finish. I couldn't read the book fast enough.

This was the kind of book that I took with me everywhere. I read bits of it waiting on line at the post office, sitting in traffic, or during television commercial breaks.

The book had a realism that kept me on my toes. When I read an article about the real director of central intelligence, George Tenet, I half expected to see plot lines from this novel. A review I read echoed the same sentiment.

This is a super fun book, and I highly recommend it.

Fitovers

I wear Fitover Sunglasses. I must admit that these look a bit 'unconventional' (they're huge!) but they work great! The weather remained hot, and the sun was blinding, but thanks to these Fitovers, I'm in the shade.

Hot

Today was hot. Hot weather. I often claim that summer is my favorite season, but on days like this, I feel I need to move summer down a notch. Someone said that winter is better because you can always put on clothes when you're cold, until you get warm. With summer, you'll always be hot, no matter how many clothes you take off.

It was 80 degrees on Paul Fox's real-time temperature monitor, but it felt like 90.

Golf Reunion

I played golf today and ended up with a reunion of former work colleagues.

I left the house after Mia's morning feeding. By 6:50AM, I went into the pro shop at the Woburn Country Club and asked if I could play nine holes as a single. Normally, I would have joined another group, but a league was teeing off in five minutes. I decided to try another course.

I went to my old stand-by, Pine Meadows Golf Course. This is a nine-hole course (like the Woburn Country Club). I paid the fee, and was asked to join three older gentlemen. As my group was getting ready to tee off, three guys from my last job happened to be walking past the first tee. The starter suggested I join them, since it was clear I knew who these guys were.

So just like that, I left the three older gentlemen, and joined my former work colleagues: Tim Besser, Bill O'Keefe, and John Perakis.

Golf is a sport best enjoyed with happy company. These guys were happy. Despite a work day, they wanted to squeeze in nine holes before the 9AM. I had played with a few of them before. The comraderie of golf can't be overstated. There was no discouraging remarks. Instead, the banter was self-deprecating, and above all, encouraging. Golf talk isn't trash talk.

And the course was an old buddy too. All of us had memories of certain birdies, pars, bogeys, snow men, and "other" scores as we marched through each of the familiar holes. I can walk this course in my head.

I played OK, but the surprise reunion made up for my ugly score.

Bourque's Cup

Ray Bourque has finally touched the Stanley Cup. He and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils in an epic seven game series, that had me emotionally spent by the end of it.

I told my wife when the Stanley Cup finals started, that I would emotionally invest myself in rooting for the Avalanche, for Ray Bourque. I told her that she could for the Avalanche for Chris Drury, a fellow BU alumnus.

For me, I spent a heady seven nights watching this on TV. There were games where I was glued to the television. There were games where I could only watch it cowered behind the computer, watching web updates to a mute scoreboard.

When the Avalanche went down 3-2 in the series, I was thrust into a despair I hadn't felt in a long time. When the Avalanche tied it up 3-3 in New Jersey, I moved about in trepidation for forty-eight hours, until game 7. Everything I did on Saturday seemed frought with Stanley Cup significance: should I wear a certain shirt? which TV should I watch the Cup? should I have a take-out lunch in addition to dinner? should I shave?

Saturday seemed filled with other great sports. I rejoiced when Jennifer Capriati won the French Open in an epic third set, but I feared that her good fortune would 'cancel out' an Avalanche win. I enjoyed the quick two goal lead by the New England Revolution, but I couldn't bear to think that the sporting gods would deny me an Avalanche victory so that my local soccer team could win one at home. I hid all this from Jenn as best I could, but in the early evening, I told her that I was a big mess waiting for this game to begin.

And when the game finally started, and the Avalanche kept pulling ahead, I frequently changed the channel, not daring to believe that a victory was possible. But with five minutes to play, I could barely sit down. After the game, I was so keyed up, I stayed awake flipping through the local news and Ray Bourque led every local telecast.

I am relieved to be writing these words as a common sports fan. The team I rooted for won, and that's a very satisfying feeling.

Televised Sports Angles: Updated

I spent a few minutes editing my last entry on watching sports live versus on television. I think it's a little better now.

Televised Sports Angles

John McEnroe spoke with President Bill Clinton after the French Open live telecast, and asked him "what should tennis do to become a more popular sport?"

Mr. Clinton gave what I felt was a thoughtful answer. He said that "like tennis and ice hockey, television producers should strive to make the telecasts look as if you were there." Mr. Clinton went on to say that both tennis and ice hockey were unique in that television cannot properly convey the true speed and action of the sport, no matter how good the camera operators are.

As I thought about it more, I think television enhances every sport, with the replays, and unique camera angles. This year's Stanley Cup finals introduced sychronized cameras to provide the ability to rotate around a replay, allowing for better angles.

'Continuous flow' sports, sports with little or no interruption, like ice hockey and tennis, are better 'live', when you can properly take in all the action. I spent many college ice hockey games watching just one player skate their shift. Soccer fits into this 'continuous flow' sports category as well. These games are just better 'live' because you choose the action you want to watch, plus you can watch all the action.

Another sport that television doesn't properly do justice for is golf. Television 'flattens' the course, and you rarely get a feel for the undulation of a green or fairway. But the worst part is that the flight of the ball is hidden. TV has to follow the ball using a close-up or tight shot, because a golf ball quickly disappears on the television screen if you stay focused with the golfer. When you watch golf 'live', you can see just how far away the 'target' is, in relation to the golfer. Morever, you can often follow the flight of the ball. Seeing a struck golf ball fly towards sky has to be one of the best sights in sports.

The best television angle I can remember in golf was the 1999 Ryder Cup, held at the Country Club (Brookline, MA). The players were teeing off a par-three, and the camera was somehow placed at the same level as the tee. The lens captured the arc of the ball, as it shot straight up and curved onto the tricky green. As all the players lined up to take this shot, you could see that each player produced similar ball flights, a testament to their talent.

Limitations such as these won't stop me from watching sports on television. But having attended a number of sporting events 'live' makes me realize that television provides only the limited view of the camera.

Lawn Patch

I laid down some lawn patch this morning. I felt like a landscaper, raking, digging, and watering. The product should produce grass in a matter of ten days, provided a water it twice a day. I should pull out the digital camera and take pictures of this progress.

My Wife and EBay

My wife has been selling stuff on EBay. I thought I was the heavy duty EBay user in the house, buying video stuff and computer parts but Jenn has surpassed my experiences. She has received modest checks for old maternity clothes, and makes extensive use of PayPal for online payment. In one afternoon, she became adept at taking digital photos, adjusting and cropping them, and uploading them. I can see how someone with an attic (or in her case, a closet) full of old stuff can clear it out for some money using EBay. Amazing.

Fruit for Work

This morning, I received a fruit basket from the company that just hired me. Jenn and I were amazed at this lovely gesture. The basket was from Winston Flowers, and the oranges that were included in the basket were excellent!

Job Offer

With great relief, I signed and mailed a job offer letter today. I'll post more details later, as I learned a great deal about job hunting with this recent job search. I start on June 18.

My Second Birdie

Jenn, Mia, and I have been on a brief vacation, at Jenn's mother's home. While I was there, I played golf. Jenn's step-father is a member of the Elmcrest Country Club, a private 18-hole golf course.

I'm not a good golfer yet. I am more of a golf driving range rat. I'm more comfortable hitting buckets of balls, than subjecting myself to the real test of an actual golf course. I played miserably over the past few days. But I did hit only the second birdie of my life, on the par-3 6th hole. I hit a 6-iron as purely as I've hit one, and it landed six feet from the pin. I sank the putt, and was thankful I had a witness.

My other golf accomplishment: I kept the same ball for almost thirteen holes. I promptly lost three others after that first lost ball.

Five-Finger Discount

I just wrote a review of Five-Finger Discount, a book I recently finished. It's the memoirs of a young woman who grew up in Jersey City. I gave it a fair rating.

If I were to ever write a memoir, Jersey City would have a prominent place in it, because I grew up there from 1971 to 1986 (when I left to go to college). My mother had planned for me and my brothers to live in Jersey City all our lives, because it had everything: church, schools, lots of decent work, and so close to New York City. Alas, when I left for college, I never really came back. Jersey City shaped my sensibilities though. I loved growing up there.

I knew the sounds of sirens wailing in the wee hours. I know what it's like to walk to the corner deli, or catch the PATH to New York City. Jersey City had everything a growing boy needed: great schools, big parks, lots of playmates, and a diversity that I simply took for granted. Whenever I go back with my wife, I marvel at how much has changed. Downtown, near my high school, is a transformed community. But my folks still call Jersey City home, and that makes every trip to Jersey worthwhile.

Cleaning Shelves

I dusted off two tall book cases in my den. There were six shelves worth of books, the rest of the shelves piled high with clutter. I cleaned off each shelf, and dusted it with Pledge. I then took some time to deal with the clutter.

A few weeks ago, I read an article by Penelope Kramer about cleaning out your clutter in Utne magazine. She writes that clearing your clutter "clears a path to the soul by creating a serene space in which to foster your dreams and plans."

I have to admit that now that I'm almost finished cleaning off the shelves and throwing out the junk (I filled two kitchen garbage bags), the room feels more serene. More importantly, I feel more serene.

One of the things I threw out was an old paperback dictionary. I had owned it since high school. I used it so frequently, that it split down the middle. I managed to keep both halves of this dictionary together. Why did I keep this for so long? My wife has a bigger dictionary, plus there are dictionaries on-line. On page 265 of this old dictionary, a high school classmate wrote his name: Luis Freire. The page had the words between diva and division. The hardest word on this page looks like diverticulitis (inflammation of a tubular sac branching off from a canal or cavity). I can't imagine what compelled him to write his name in my dictionary. But it doesn't matter now, does it? I threw out this old reference book, seeking more serenity.

My Vanity Domain

Finally put together a simple web page for my new domain, rickumali.com. An old friend works at the company that hosts my site.

While I expect over time to develop more stuff for this new site, I have invested a lot time making web pages on The World, Lycos Tripod, and Yahoo! Geocities. I will most likely just maintain those as well, rather than migrate everything.

I'm Good People

I got 'passed over' by a company this afternoon. Today's rejection was done over the phone. The hiring manager was fair and civil. I perfectly understood his line of reasoning (I'm missing the technical requirements of the position).

I've been looking for work for about a month now. Since the start of my job search, I've interviewed at three companies. Today's rejection lowers my current 'active' list down to two.

On my own, I've dropped my resume (via e-mail) to various companies. Not one company has called or sent e-mail stating that they have my resume on file. For every article I read where companies are 'on the look out for talent', my cynicism grows. Companies can afford to be picky now. There are plenty of candidates out there. One friend of mine said he was starting to consider a 'regular job' (i.e. not with a high-tech company).

There's no doubt the lack of activity is due to the general malaise of the high-tech economy. But c'mon, don't companies need good people? I'm 'good people'. Instead, recruiters focus on reformatting my resume.

Another colleague said it's the nature of human resources. They are inundated by resumes. They have to wade through them, passing only those deemed fit to the actual hiring manager. The key is to get to the hiring manager first. Recruiters help with this, but one also has to network or make a lot of cold calls. I'm starting to do this now. As someone remarked to me, forget trying to find the job, and just find a job.

The Bar Exam

Last night, I feasted on Travis Wise's California Bar Exam Primer. If you are ever curious about what it takes to pass the examination that leads up to becoming a lawyer, read this.

Based on the comments that Travis has received, his site is tremendously valuable to those studying law. He provides resources (web sites, outlines, books, study suggestions) specific to passing the bar exam in California. He even documents how to make flash cards on the PC, as an aid for studying.

What I enjoyed was his terrific writing about how the test affected him, emotionally and mentally. He writes wonderfully about how to prepare for the test, and he definitely conveys how grueling the whole experience is. The section on the various dreams of those in the midst of the bar exam was revealing.

When I was younger, I read One L, a slim book by Scott Turow, the best selling author of Presumed Innocent, and many other legal fiction. Turow's book provides insights into the first year of law school. Travis' document gives insights into the final stages of law school, and the bar exam.

Like others, I often heap derision on lawyers. After reading how rigorous the bar exam is ("The bar exam is an exercise in malpractice."), and how fundamental a step it is on the way to becoming a lawyer, I'll be more mindful of what student lawyers go through. Travis has captured the feeling of what is essentially a lawyer's rite of passage, and he does it marvelously.

The Last Rolling Rock

If you've been keeping track of my last Rolling Rock, you are rewarded. I finally drank it.

An American Tragedy

I finished An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser. This was the most ambitious book I've read this year, because it is literature, and it was quite long (814 pages in my Signet Classic edition).

I was grateful for the lengthy afterword by Irving Howe, a literary critic. He put the novel into perspective for me.

The plot is simple: young boy with passive morals falls for the allure of the luxurious life, which leads to murder. But this simple sentence gives no justice to the depth and detail of this somber novel. Howe writes that the novel continues Dreiser's form of 'naturalism', which basically means lots and lots of prose. At times, it was almost like listening to someone drone.

Howe also points out that Dreiser really exposed you to the inner machinations of the main character, the unforgettable Clyde Griffiths. It was almost claustrophobic, how close I got to Clyde.

Howe states that a theme in the novel was the tragedy of trying to break free from one's social strata. Clyde is a poor boy/man, due to his upbringing as a child of poor wandering missionary parents. Clyde is exposed to riches when he works at a hotel as a bell boy. Clyde craves the good life 'insanely', but he cannot obtain this life because doesn't have the education or the fortitude. Through fortune, he obtains a position in his rich uncle's factory, and his troubles start. He sees the good life of his uncle, and cousins, and he starts reaching for it, by obtaining the favors of a rich woman. Unfortunately, his earlier relations with a factory girl causes a conflict in his pursuit of this rich woman, and the novel descends into the consequences of Clyde's 'solution' to this conflict.

A harrowing book. Would I recommend it? Yes. But give yourself time.