Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Profiled

... hm.

So, what do you have to say for yourself?

My first day at work, they 'asked' me to provide detailed information about myself.

I did.

This is how I described myself:


Humble. Shy. Quiet. Retiring. Except in meetings.
 
Dedicated and hard working, insightful. Thoughtful. Pensive. Focused. Exacting.
 
Demanding. Detail-oriented: yes, a perfectionist.
 
Cheerful demeanor hides a melancholy disposition.
 
Will never, ever be late to a chicken biryani lunch.
  • The usual suspects: Java, Perl and all the rest. But with some tricks up his sleeve: Haskell, Prolog, Bayesian analysis, Neural Nets, Phonemic parsing, Infons. iLog/JRules. Planning, Scheduling, rule-based decision making
  • Past projects:  Document processing, including chinese language texts, NSA. Rule-based system deployed to border protection, DHS. Document management, SAIC/FBI. Video On Demand,Java/XML system, COMCAST. EarthWatch,Satellite imaging and mission planning, C++,ITT. UAV payloads..., Raytheon/USAF ... to name a few.
  • Interests:      Go, Halo, Writing fiction, Kenjutsu,Mathematics
  • Schools:        United States Coast Guard Academy, George Mason University
  • Birthday:       April 26
 That's me. Who are you to you? Who are you to your coworkers? 

Birthday week prayer

Dear LORD,

Thank You for today.

Thank You for the many gifts You've given me today and throughout this week already, it being my birth-week. Have you given me more blessings this week because it's my birth week? Or have You allowed me to be more present to the blessings You give every week now because it's my birth week? Or both?

Thank You for the visit of my sister from Vermont this week and for giving us both time to be with each other to talk and to listen. Please bless her and her family. Please give her strength to bear the sacrifices she makes, even in the sacrifices she doesn't want to have made.  It's been so hard for her, LORD, for so many years. Just like, but so different from, me. Please, can You give her time in the Sun to bathe in Your Joy? You didn't for Blessed Mother Teresa, but Beki isn't her, Beki's my little sis, and it'd be a nice birthday present for me: her joy in the rest from the weight of her burdens and responsibilities so she can be a kid for a while, having never been one.

Please watch over my family as they recover from the 'flu, and all families as they struggle, and by Your Grace, recover from illness.

Please let me be productive, kind, attentive, and caring.

I ask all these things in the Name of Jesus, the Christ.

Amen.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Thanks for nothing!


Dear LORD,

Thank You for today!

What a day! It was a day like every other day, so thank You for the miracle of a normal day, where no ill befell me, my family nor my friends.  Thank you for letting minor upsets at work stay minor and for allowing everything to fall together so that everything got done without trouble, fuss nor argument.

Thank You for giving me eyes to see the good in others so that they see the good in themselves and consequently have a better day for it. Thank You for the family time on the track after work to remind me what I work for.

Grace and Peace to all through You. I ask this in the Name of Jesus, the Christ.

Amen

Sunday, April 7, 2013

EM's tea outing with Papa!

Once upon a time ... (this is a short story told in photographs) ... there was a little girl named EM ....

This is EM, the heroine of our story ...
... who would like to state for the record,
 that her Papa is mistaken about her being 'little,'
as she's rather tall for her age.
who wanted to go for high tea with her Papa ...

Note Papa's new threads, lookin' fine I might add ...
(EM's comment: "Papa, you need a haircut.")

so she did her research and made reservations to go to the Pink Bicycle in Occoquon, VA ...

We really should buy shares at this place ...
The principals of this story, Papa and EM, were ushered right in, the first customers of the day, and were asked if they had reservations. Papa informed Jan, the server who greeted them that, yes, there were reservations, and it was EM who made them. Jan remembered the phone conversation and warmed up to little EM right then and there. And why should not Jan warm up to EM? For, after all, EM is the heroine of this story!

They were seated at a rather grand, high table. Too high! So they chose, instead, a comfy little table in the cosy, and very pink, tea room.


"Papa, I get the smoky ham sandwiches!" ... I'm told they're quite good.
After much deliberation, EM chose the "Lady Belle Tea," which was the Princess tea to the far-too-grande "Queen tea," and were served Earl Grey (Papa's staple) and White Cherry tea (EM trying, and liking, something new). Then came orange marmalade scones with clotted cream and strawberry and raspberry jam, and then finger sandwiches on a platter along with several varieties of pound cake. A very satisfying tea where our getting to know each other better conversations were those of EM pointing out the paintings, souvenirs and other people's conversations, and of Papa agreeing with her.

"Papa, do you always say 'yes' to everything I say?" asked a bemused and amused EM.
Papa's answer was a "Yes," with barely the slightest hint of self-aware irony.

EM enjoying a quiet moment at her new home she just bought,
with her inheritance after the surprise discovery that she was
the Marquise d'Aquitaine and related to Eleanor Dashwood.
Papa, reasonably: "But I thought Eleanor Dashwood was a fictional character..."
EM, impatiently, ignoring his obtuse observation: "Papa, you nee a haircut!"
Papa, smirking: "Yes."
After the tea, they lived happily ever after as EM swept off in her horse-drawn carriage driven by her ever-trustworthy driver (EM: "Papa! Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road!" Papa: "Yes"), and her Papa, much afterward, made a beef stroganoff dinner from scratch for the whole family.

But that is another story.

The End.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Home again prayer

Dear LORD,

Thank You for today. Thank You for the baptism of my nephew, Peter, and my niece, Sofiya. What a miracle! Thank You for Your care and protection in getting us home safely from this 500+ mile road trip.  Thank You for the girls being so pleasant and accommodating during the trip.

So, LORD, it's back to work for me. Thank You that I have a paying job to return to. Help me to be useful and productive at work. Help my wife and daughters rest and recuperate.

I ask all these things in the Name of Jesus, the Christ.

Amen.