Yesterday was rough. Saw my father for the first time in twelve years. Poor guy couldn’t stop babbling about pain and wanting to go home. If he could only see himself, though. The severity of his situation would be enough for anyone to want to stay in bed. However, the fine staff at Carson Tahoe are confronted with two problems. A.). My fathers diagnosed condition of pancreatitis and B.) withdrawal. The two together make for a situation where my father needs the help, but at the same time can not as he is wanting to get out of his bed every hour or so wanting to go home. He will also fight the nurses to make this happen. All this transpired not five minutes of me walking in.
Yesterday I had also talked to my grandmother for the first time in twenty or so years. I found out that she has cancer and is dying. That followed up with a call from my aunt, of whom I had not talked to in years. It’s strange making contact with my family like this. Time has transpired to the point where the other side of my family had just become numb to it all. I don’t blame them. With the amount of family turmoil in my family, I suppose you have to pick and choose what burdens you wish to shoulder while trying to live a normal life.
Allergies in the area is what did me in. I got pretty sick around four. Could only see my father for about ten minutes when I new I had to get some form of medicine as I was not going to make it through the night. It was probably nerves more so than anything. Nerves and pollen, I might add.
This morning my father squeezed my hand, calling out my name.
The fact of the matter is that I am on my way to Carson City to see my father, of whom I have not seen in twelve years. What prompted me to make such a bold move? Well, my father is could be dying. Things are pretty bad as he is in ICU and is under constant supervision by nurses and staff who are trying to ward off impending kidney failure. It’s time like this when I feel like I must put matters in perspective, but I am none the less frustrated as I had plans to initiate friendly relations with my father this year. I am about to be married. My future wife deserves to see my father, mother, and the rest of my family no matter how dire the situation. Yet here I am. My hands are shaking and my mind wonders as I drift into an abyss of images and sounds from a past I have shelved for most of my adult life.
I wish to blog about my experience for others who are also putting off talking to their significant others, of whom they may not be on great terms with. Don’t put it off. I have lived with the decision of not knowing or contacting my father my entire life. He has been a cheat, con man, theif, gambler, and an alcoholic. I felt just in my thought process. But in these last 48 hours I have been overcome with emotions I just can not turn my back from. I need to see him for my peace of mind.
…and so I wait to board the airplane, hoping I can restore the dignity of a man I don’t even know.
Newtek once again disappointed me after releasing their monthly newsletter.
For those of you who are aware, Newtek is in the middle of developing their latest and greatest Lightwave successor, CORE. Although they have been promising all of the bells and whistles found in modern day 3D rendering packages such as Maya or 3d Studio, Newtek seems to have only been promising rather than delivering.
So, with your sentiments, and our dedication to shipping a solid, tested, and stable software application – we have made the decision to move our originally expected ship date from Q1 2010 to later in the year. We will communicate to you the most accurate expected ship date once we have entered the full BETA and testing process for LightWave with CORE Technology.
Originally, the software was slated for September, and then they pushed the date over to q1. Now, Newtek says “later this year.” What ?
…Well at least Newtek entered into “full” BETA – whatever the heck that means.
If you are reading this, Newtek, which I hope you are, listen to what I am about to say. I LOVE your product. I’m probably the last person on the face of this planet that actually does. I am for the direction you are going, but I highly suggest not doing it at the expense of your customers and/or price point. I just used your software for a project which made my clients very very happy and wish to use it further. Please don’t let me down.
Just stumbled upon a news release which had a screenshot of the new upcoming HBO series, “The Pacific.” So, I did a quick web search and whoala, stumbled upon their home page which I included below. Enjoy.
I believe I was one of the only ones bragging about how I believe the Apple IPad was in fact going to be serving HD television content through a new ITunes ubscription model. Well by now we all know that I was wrong (and perhaps a bit nieve). Nevertheless, All Things Digital (Wall Street Journal) had a great article the other day in which the author predicted the Apple IPad would rejuvinate Apple’s iTV offering. Perhaps Apple is really going after Amazon and the eBook market, but when you actually look at the device, it hardly focuses on eBooks as much as it does on anything else. As a matter of fact, I would contend that Apple’s IPad offering as it stands right now, does not really serve any one market in particular. People claim that Apple is focusing on other niche markets such as stay at home moms, business casual, etc. I doubt that to be the case.
The iPad looks to be quite the enigma. I believe that AT&T and Verizon lack the proper infrastructure to bring about Steve Job’s true vision – a true convergence of ads, television, and publications. What appears to be a thin client now, could potentially be a dominant entertainment platform in the years to come.
Today’s actions or behavior of the Republican minority reminds me of a familiar theme from United States political history. In 1948, President Truman had to face a similar environment, but with a Republican controlled congress. Known as the “do-nothing” congress, the Republicans themselves called upon social security expansion and the promotion of health and education by the federal government. The Republican majority, however, was divided, creating a climate whose forecast involved President Truman’s failure to seek a second term in office.
We all know how that fairy tail ended.
The Republicans are predicting a great victory in November. Are they not students of history? If there is one thing the American party hates most, its the perception of being lazy (even though I think we are a very lazy people). We like to drive our big gas hungry trucks, drive 80 MpH down the freeway, and bestow upon the rich the powers to eliminate tens if not thousands of jobs. A storm of chaos is brewing when countries such as France or Spain is perceived as being “more” progressive than the United States. President Obama stated in his state of the union that he doesn’t accept second place. Well neither do the citizens of the United States and nor should the Republicans. When Ford’s theme of like a rock evolves to that of drive one, there’s a problem. Rocks can’t float in a sea of change.
So where do we go from here?
The Democrats need to follow George Bush Jr’s strategy to “stay the course.” In a sense, the Democratic majority have absolutely nothing to lose. If “change” brings about a Republican strategy of forcing a stale-mate, doing nothing as their Republican counterparts would most certainly force the Republicans to go on the “offensive.” And the Democrats don’t want to be perceived as the problem, they want to be seen as the solution. After all, the democrats do have a mandate brought about by the American people. Creating an environment where Obama will be forced to use his veto powers is not wise. There isn’t much unifying the Republican party other than religion and greed. If it involves giving women the rights to do anything, or take away the banks right to steal from anybody, you can forget about it. Let the Republicans speak! After a while ( Sarah Palin ), people will see and hear how idiotic and extremist they really are.
If I were Republican, I would have taken this “do-nothing” stance in the summer as opposed to spring. But as of now, I believe President Obama is doing the right thing. Up the rhetoric and expose the Republicans for who they are and what they are doing. It’s free air time for Obama and will only drain the banks of the Republican party coming into the November elections.
