September 2005 Archives

  The Danish Air Force just had to pay Santa because Rudolph died of a heart attack when two of their jets flew over. The odd part of this is... it's not a joke! Check it out on Yahoo News!

  Well, I set out to have a Fantastic weekend and I succeeded! I hope your weekend was as good as mine was!

  I am off and travelling again. This time it's for pleasure instead of work. I intend on having a fantastic weekend!

  Ok, so I'm a little late posting. Day 2 of the conference went well. It provided us with a view of what was coming down the road and gave us access to the engineers and product managers who were VERY interested in hearing what we wanted and what our vision was for where the product should go.

  Day 1 of OPSWorld 2005 went well. It was mostly customers telling how they use OPSWare products as well as VMWare talking about their partnership with OPSWare. At the end of the day, the bussed us all down to Cobbs comedy club where we had dinner and a show. The headliner was Jake Johannsen. He was really funny!
  Now, on to day 2!

  I have made it to San Francisco in one piece. I will be here until Friday morning. I'm here to attend OPSWorld 2005. It's just a two day conference and we didn't even get a rental car so I won't be seeing much while I'm here. This will make the third time I've been to San Francisco and I still haven't done any sightseeing here.

  My plan for today was to stay home and go through a few boxes to clean some junk out of the house. I did a little of that in the morning, then I made the mistake of stepping outside. It was such a beautiful day! At that point I decided the boxes could wait. I threw my backpack in the truck and headed for Catoctin Mountain National Park. I drove the hour of so with all the windows down and the sunroof open. When I got there, I did the hike out to wolf rock and then on to chimney rock. It was a relatively short hike ( about 1.3 miles each way ). The first half mile, however, was uphill and it just about killed me. It's been quite a while since I've been hiking and I guess I'm a little out of shape! After the trail leveled off I got back into my stride though and it was all worth while.

  Today, we are all focused on the heartbreak and devastation brought on the south by Hurricane Katrina. While we need to have that focus and we need to help rebuild, I would like to take a moment to remember those who perished, those who were harmed, those who lost loved ones and those who came to help and became Heroes on this day four years ago. While current events may overshadow this anniversary, you are not forgotten. Nor have we forgotten our troops who, four years later, are still fighting battles around the world to help ensure our safety here at home.

  Well, the first clinical trial of Gelstat Migraine has been published in the Medical Science Monitor. The conclusion:

This open label study suggests that GelStat Migraine appears
to be effective as a first line abortive treatment for
migraine when initiated early during the mild headache
phase of the attack in subjects with migraine who experience
and can identify, with regularity, the mild headache phase
of their attack. Satisfaction with GelStat Migraine was reported
by 59% of subjects and was well tolerated. Further,
more stringent studies of GelStat Migraine are warranted
in migraine treatment.

  A small piece of my childhood is gone. Bob Denver, AKA Gilligan, passed away today at the age of 70. While Gilligan's Island was off the air long before I was born, I watched the reruns and remember it well.

  While it's not uncommon for the United States to reach out to other countries after a disaster, it is unusual to hear of the US accepting help from others. Ninety different nations have offered to help the US in the aftermath of Katrina. Some have offered money, others have sent equipment and still others have offered Doctors and Nurses. Thailand, who is still recovering from last years tsunami, offered 60 Doctors and Nurses as well as rice as a "gesture from the heart." I think that's a good sign that Karma is still alive and well.

  Researches are using brain scans to figure out what women want in bed. They are looking to develop a product for women that accomplishes what Viagra does for men. While they have learned some things about what a woman’s brain does during orgasm, the quote that I found funny was "women are much more complex than men". Ok, now who really needed a study to tell us that??

  Well, it was an interesting week. I arrived in San Diego on Friday the 26th of August. I'm on the plane on my way home now. If you're reading this, I guess I made it ok! We spent Saturday and Sunday setting up for the conference. The setup all went well except for the sound. For some reason we just couldn't get the feedback out of the system. We finally ended up dumping our microphones and renting some from the hotel AV people. That worked out for the best in the end. However, it is rather irritating to have around $10,000 in Sabine SWM7000 mics that are only a year old and then end up renting some to use.
  The conference went very well. It was one of the smoothest we've ever had. I had MUCH less stress this year than any previous year. By around 8 am on Thursday our equipment was on the truck back to Maryland. So, a few of us headed over to tour the USS Midway. It is a decommissioned aircraft carrier. We spent about 3 1/2 hours walking around on the Midway. While the audio tour was informative, we had our own tour guide. Bob was stationed on the Midway when he was in the Navy. So it was a walk down memory lane for him and some stories and explanations for us. It was a good day.
  On Friday, John Sue Michael and I went to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. It was pretty nice.
  All in all, it turned out to be a really good trip!! That’s the good news. Unfortunately, there was a lot of bad news from the week as well.
  While the conference was going on, Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. As I have been to New Orleans a few times and lived in Biloxi Mississippi for a couple of months, I am familiar with the area. I am absolutely stunned at the devastation I have seen on the news.
  I have received word from my friend Vicky who lives near New Orleans that she and her family are all fine. They have heard that their house survived as well. Vicky is in the National Guard and has been activated to help with the relief effort. I'm thankful that they are ok. My prayers go out to all of those affected by Katrina.