Give Thanks

I'm slowly reading the bible coast-to-coast, and I came across this tonight, of all nights, from Colossians Ch. 4:
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving... Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person."
I wish anybody out there a good day. If there is anything in your life discouraging you, take heart, there is an enormous amount of good still to be found.

Interstew

I had to cover for my supervisor recently while he took a week of vacation. I've had quieter weeks, to be sure, but that's not the focus of this entry. Through a series of events that is not likely to happen again for some time, I ended up conducting my first job interview.

I felt badly for the young man before I even met him. The guys I sit with at work all went emphatically on the record as being quite relieved that I did not interview them before they hired in. I obliged them by making up a few sample questions like "Why do you think you're good enough to work for me... I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD ANSWER YET!" and proposing mind games like shaking my head "no" while he answered or saying "is that all?" at the end of each of his answers. Good fun, that, but it did bring to light that I am about as scary as somebody who stands 5'10" with glasses and no tattoos can be.

I did realize that the young man seeking a job deserves a little better than that, so, lacking any support from my employer on the matter, I hit the world wide interweb (now on computers!) for a few tips on conducting interviews. That was a Godsend. I got my act together, reviewed his resume and I was ready to rock the following morning.

Then I saw his transcript. The Hindenburg was less of a wreck. Heed my words, college and pre-college students; it is folly to claim that certain areas of your studies were your favorite and that you really have a knack for them when your grades in the relevant classes were in the C to D range. It's not in your wheelhouse, it's in your five-hole.

• Another tip: If your GPA is below 2.5, don't take 5 months off and THEN start looking for a job. Unless you spent your year off with the Peace Corps or on a foreign mission, you just look desperate.


• Additional free advice: If an interviewer notifies you in advance that the following question is a no-bull, honest query, don't throw up a smokescreen answer using a lot of key words like "leadership", "diverse", "core skills", and the like. It will get sniffed out.


• Kicking a dead horse: If the interviewer says "Not everybody can be a leader in their first few years of team projects in a field as specialized as maritime defense engineering, so what other roles do you feel you play as a member of a team?", do not present an answer that even sounds remotely like "I am the leader". Bad move.

Hopefully, the next interview I am required to conduct will go more smoothly, especially for the prospective employee. And it will ideally occur far, far in the future.

Did Somebody Leave The Parking Brake On?

I recently completed the second and final run of the 2008 I Tell You What race circuit. The EBAC Fall Challenge provided a little bit more challenge than the previous weekend's Tarzan Brown run. While the course was shorter, I had a stomach ache so did not eat much breakfast. Also, I am optimized for cold weather running, so low 60's and humid causes me to struggle a little bit. As a result, my pace was notceably slower (6:57 per mile) than the previous weekend. It was still a very nice outing for the family, as the girls were able to play by the beach and were gracious enough to cheer for me as I sputtered my way across the finish line. My time was still OK, better than any year I've participated in the Fall Challenge. Having Wifey prepare me breakfast and being consistent with my training runs (with a 22 year old to pace me) certainly helped. Now that I've had time to recover and rest, my overworked knees are feeling much better, to boot. Here are a few photographs of the morning:

A little time with my ladeez
Relaxed/fatalistic beforehand

My fans, minus Wifey

Gratuitous submarine picture from race morning at Ocean Beach, because that's how we get down on I Tell You What

Wheezing my way across the finish line, ending the 2008 race season

My Brain Hurts (bumped for comments)

My man Matty commented on one of my recent posts, and it provoked a good bit of thought on my part. The topic was abortion, and the crux (very briefly) of his discussion, as I read it, is as follows:

• There are ethical grey areas on abortion regardless of how stridently you oppose or support it
• There will be abortions regardless of the laws in place and the severity of the punishment

Both points could not be more true. I have considered both at length, because their implications are significant in a society where morality, law, and science have an intricately interwoven relationship. However, I still conclude that neither one justifies the practice or legalization of abortion. Let's address the lower bullet first, because it's relatively easy, by writing it this way:

• There will be (murder/pedophilia/gambling/blackmail/theft) regardless of the laws in place and the severity of the punishment

So, we can see that the simple existence of something should not preclude efforts to eliminate, or at least curb, that something by legislation and vigorous enforcement. So that one is put to bed on a fundamental, philosophical level. Prohibition does not necessarily preclude, but can suppress. Yet, that first bullet continues to bedevil me and anybody else who thinks seriously about abortion.

The first bullet is typically broken into two basic scenarios. 1) A woman is pregnant or in labor, and is in a situation where either she OR the baby can survive, but not both; and 2) A woman is raped and found to be impregnated by her assailant. Wow. You almost can imagine that God would write down an answer to this, erase it, and write it again repeatedly before getting it right. From this point on there are two primary factors driving the decision process. They are how you set moral boundaries and how you could ever write a clear, concise, and enforceable law to affect your policy. Put in other words, how do you define the issue morally, and how do you make it work in a nation of over 300 million citizens. And many millions of non citizens.

As I hope I have shown in past posts, I represent the evangelical Christian moral viewpoint. In the case of mother or baby but not both survive, the overwhelming principle is value of life. Well, there are two lives involved, either one could die tomorrow even if they are chosen to survive the trauma of childbirth, and for all we know either one could cure cancer or waste their lives in trivial pursuits. Not the board game, I mean... never mind. So, this is a rare instance where I think we need to look exclusively at the "how do we write effective law" aspect. Personally, I take the approach of treating it as an organ donor situation. Somebody who is alive at a key moment, although facing imminent death, can save another life by sacrificing their own body. What do you need to make such a sacrifice? Well, donor consent is essential. So, the mother, if conscious, should legally have the right at any time to sacrifice herself for the sake of the child without any other input. Fair enough. As for the child, there are two legal guardians, the mother and father. Therefore, if BOTH mother and father consent to sacrificing the baby for sake of the mother's survival, legally you would have to let it happen (again, using organ donor logic). What if the father is estranged or on work travel or in no state of mind to make any sort of decision (which is very likely)? I cannot say, but that is the issue you would have to reconcile to write effective law.

As for the case of impregnation through rape (let's say "impregnato via enrapo", to feel Latin-y and feel legal), that is the trickiest of all. Wifey has done a bit of research on this topic, and has come up with a solution superior to anything I have thus far. When a woman claims rape, it would be totally justifiable to perform a procedure that cleanses her reproductive organs while obtaining DNA to find and use against the accused offender. Knowing that it takes at least a matter of hours for an egg to implant, it would have no hospitable place to land, so thus is passed along with no consequence. Therefore, effective law should require that any woman should report rape to the proper authorities within 24 hours, and moral issues can be cut to almost none. What this woman waits to report the crime, say for a period to exceed a few days? Well, most likely that is because it is acquaintance rape. Ugh. Note that the unborn baby still has done nothing wrong to deserve death. I think our legal system has actually headed in the right direction by establishing that murdering a pregnant women results in two murder charges. Perhaps to follow that course logically, while maintaining the baby's right to exist, the rapist is charged for his crime twice. He is an immediate repeat offender. Yes, this leaves a woman responsible for dealing with the crime of another, a victim in probably every sense. However, she should receive the full support of the government to assist her. This follows Matty's path to enacting government policies to reduce abortions. This could come in the form of social security payments to the child as though its father had died, in addition to child support to be paid by the rapist.

Whew, that was a long-winded post. In summary: laws to prevent abortion are not fundamentally unsound, babies should be considered for abortion when the mother is in jeopardy only when consistent legal and medical principles are applied (I chose the organ donor scenario), and the baby has still committed no crime in the case of impregnation by rape so the government should double-prosecute the rapist and provide the full weight of society's support for the mother and child who remain.

Comments > Free Time

I've had good comments to my last post, I regret that I have not yet had time to digest and reply. I leave you tonight with something I saw at work recently in an engineer's cubicle. Know first that CuNi is copper-nickel alloy, and NiCu is nickel-copper alloy, which is stronger. The note said:

NiCu > CuNi > pumperNi

Seriously, if you laughed and snorted, you are a geek. Welcome to the revolution.

The Pain Train

This week has been tough at work. My supervisor is on vacation, so that requires me to field an awful lot of questions from the other engineers in our group. I basically just try to keep the wheels spinning until the boss gets back, which is very different from actually being in charge.
While the long days have been tough, they have not been nearly so painful as Sunday's second annual (for me) running of the Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run. The weather was gorgeous, and Wifey and Sweetness accompanied me to the starting area to cheer for me at both ends of the race. I even knew a few people who were running as well. Talking while running is not the most efficient way to conduct oneself during a race, but those who know me know that I have been blessed with the gift of gab, so I chat with those I recognize. And a few I don't.
After a gradual start, I picked up the pace a bit to keep stride with my coworker Nick. At mile 1 I heard the watch holder call 7 minutes, which was not bad. After 3 miles I was around 20 minutes 30 seconds, which was even better and made me realize I should coast for a little bit. Sure enough, after cruising to mile 5 I heard that watch holder call just shy of 35 minutes. That was good, because my goal was to beat 40 minutes (7:14/mile pace). It was also a bit agonizing, because I was starting to feel bad. Actually, awful. Actually, thinking death might be a sweet release. I mean, I'm kind of a tractor when it comes to running, a big load, full diesel, pouring out black smoke on the hills, all that jazz. Nonetheless, as I approached the last corner, there was a small group of runners about 20 yards ahead that I just knew I could pass. So I poured it on, black smoke and all, and ripped right by them! No joke, they were actually cursing me as I went by. And then... I realized it wasn't the last corner, and I had about 3 blocks to go. I did make it to the finish line, but my mis-estimation was written all over my face in discomfort, according to Wifey. It was great to see her and Sweetness waving and cheering, but I needed a minute to regain my strength and focus on not puking and stuff.
After that passed I was able to enjoy the fact that I beat my goal. Five and a half miles in 37 minutes, 24 seconds, for a 6:48/mile pace. Huzzah! I've never beaten 7:00 in a race before, so that was nice. Strangely, having handily beaten the goal I set for myself, and facing long hours this week at work, I have not so much as put running shoes on my feet in preparation of next week's EBAC Fall Challenge. I figure my body needs the rest, and let the 4.75 mile chips fall where they may.

Vote John McClane

Wait, you mean streetwise cop John McClane is not the Republican candidate for president? This is a bit of a disappointment. I mean, who wouldn't want a president who had single handedly put the blunt object of justice upside the head of international crime on multiple occasions? Nonetheless, I will go to the polls tomorrow morning and cast my vote for another high profile Irishman, John McCain. I admit that he is an underwhelming candidate, and is not likely to be victorious. However, he is far preferable to Barack Obama, a windbag with little substance and a viciously liberal candidate. Abortion is important to me, as is defense, and I see little merit for Obama on either topic. Along with what will likely be two compliant houses of legislature, I fear the results by the time we reach 2012.
However you feel, GO AND VOTE! I certainly don't know everybody who reads this blog, I don't even have any idea how many people check it out. I can say with certainty, though, that every one of you has complained about the state of our nation, or even the American state that you live in. If are over 18 years of age and you don't vote tomorrow, then consider that you have no right whatsoever to complain about our leadership, no matter how vile of an act those leaders may perpetrate. The Founding Fathers would have disagreed with many of the cogs of government that have been added in the last 230 years, but they would still, to a man, insist that the populace must vote for our representative republic to thrive.
Get on it!