Russ | November 1, 2012
It’s only taken me approximately forever, but I have finally achieved Nerdvana: my home theater and peripherals are all working the way I want. The components: TV A/V receiver + speakers (5.1) Blu-Ray player DVD changer DVD player X-Box PC (as a file server for videos & mp3s) And, of course, enough cables to set [...]
Russ | July 2, 2012
Fifteen years ago today was the worst day of my life. I was showering, getting ready to go to work, when my roommate pounded on the bathroom door. Phone call. An emergency. I knew it, even before I took the phone. He was gone. My dad was the best man I’ve ever known, and though [...]
Russ | June 8, 2012
My niece, the youngest of my parents’ grandchildren, graduates from high school today. She’s made me very proud as she’s grown from a binky-sucking toddler into a fine young woman. She’ll be heading off to college in the fall, as will all her fellow graduates. And like her cousin Tessa (a year older, attending Pepperdine, [...]
Russ | May 24, 2012
Not too many years ago, I had some doubts that I’d make it this far. And yet, here I am. Today is the big 50. Eat me, Vile Neurological Problems.
Russ | August 22, 2011
I received the bad news this weekend; an old friend and former co-worker had died. Jose was one of the first people I met when I went to work at Cisco Systems in San Jose back in ’96. I was a complete noob, but he never hesitated to help when I was beating my head [...]
Russ | May 9, 2011
Amtrak Turns 40…Called a ‘Massive Failure’ by its Founder Amtrak is: Government owned and controlled Union-operated, employing more than 20,000 workers Has a CEO appointed by the president of the United States Its annual budget is allocated allocated by Congress. What could possibly go wrong? You know you’re old if you can remember riding a [...]
Russ | March 29, 2011
As the 49th anniversary of my having shuffled onto this mortal coil approaches — all too rapidly — I was recently thinking about some of the things I have done, or not done, in my 30+ years of being an adult. I’ve been a soldier, a student, a clerk, an engineer, a writer, and one [...]
Russ | March 16, 2011
Today, as it happens, is the 10th anniversary of my becoming a homeowner here in my adopted home state, North Carolina. Taken a week before I took possession, the photo below shows the house nearly complete. All that remained was a bit of touch-up painting, and installation of the appliances and the garage door. Oh, [...]
Russ | January 12, 2011
One of the downsides of being on the opposite coast from the rest of my family is that I don’t get to watch the various activities in which my nephew and nieces excel. Fortunately, one of the reportorial outfits in my home town, Santa Barbara, has been posting videos. In this one, I get to [...]
Russ | January 7, 2011
They say you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. I’m not quite sure where that puts in-laws… but I have been blessed with a terrific sister-in-law. My brother married extremely well (far better than he deserves, as he will be the third or fourth to admit.) My sister-in-law Holly was an [...]
Russ Emerson : If I could bottle the smell of my kitchen right now, I'd be richer than Croesus. Um... is "Croesus" on the IRS' hit list?
(Wed May 15, 9:29 pm).