Let me explain how I’m making this post, and that will give you an idea of how busy and stressful life/work has become.

As I write this, we’re driving down I84, in northern Connecticut. I have a wireless Broadband adapter for my laptop, so that I always have Internet access when we travel. I took today off so that we could come back to Massachusetts for Easter. Supposed to be a vacation, but I answered email both Saturday and Sunday nights, as well as for the last 45 minutes in the car.

I need to learn to start putting up a hard wall separating work and weekend, but I keep finding reasons to make it permeable.  We’re launching a new initiative on Wednesday and there were lots of little last minute things that needed to be dealt with. The flipside could have been not taking a vacation at all, so I guess this the compromise.

Jean’s driving, and I’m about to see if I can do some programming, I just needed a break.

I’m feeling on more stable ground now. Just starting my 5th month. At least I feel like I have a better understanding of the picture that the puzzle pieces are trying to make. I still keep finding whole sections of it that were hidden under the bed by a devious child, but the cleanup on those items is coming along quicker each time.

I haven’t kept up with LJ in weeks. So much so that when I read through my friends pages, I get to the end of what LJ shows me without having read all the new messages, and for that I apologize. I need to at least start reading it weekly if I can’t get to it daily. My other daily reading has also suffered. When you find yourself 8 or 9 strips behind in OoTS, while its nice for continuity, it reminds you have long it has been.

This car ride is making me sick.. need to take a break from this LCD and have a snack.

Of course I did the exact *wrong* thing, and put my fingers into my throat and attempted to dislodge the damn thing. I was successful, but only because it was actually a double piece that was connected by a length of skin. So I managed wedge my fingers next to it, hook the skin and pull it back out.

Now I know I’m not supposed to do that, and I even once knew about how to perform a Heimlich on myself..

Problem is, when you’re choking, all that goes out the f’ing window.

The Heimlich maneuver is one of the few methods by which a potentially life-threatening choking incident may be resolved, and its method should be learned by anyone who is in a position to potentially offer help to minors, seniors, or other individuals at potential choking risk.

However, when one is alone, the chance of successfully performing the procedure is dramatically decreased, because to perform the Heimlich upon one’s self is generally awkward, especially when one may be suffering the preliminary or advanced effects of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.

One must, before conducting the procedure, be sure that it is absolutely necessary. While the signs of life-threatening choking may be somewhat ambiguous in others, one generally knows whether or not his or her airway is obstructed, but all the same some clarifications must be made.

Partial airway blockage is not cause for the Heimlich maneuver. If you can breathe at all, speak at all, or cough, you are not a candidate for the Heimlich maneuver. Coughing is a far more effective way of removing partial blockage of the trachea, and it will clear successfully virtually all such blockages. If one cannot cough because one cannot draw air, then the Heimlich maneuver may be necessary.

There are two ways to perform the Heimlich maneuver on one’s self. The first method is much like those conducted on others.

* Place your balled fists together, about two inches above the navel, but below the breastbone. Thrust forcefully upward and into your abdomen. Repeat until the blockage is cleared. This may be difficult, as the angle at which one must place one’s arms in order to achieve this compression can be hard to reach, especially with the force required to dislodge a tracheal blockage.

* If it is not cleared, one may alternatively lean over a chair or similar prop to attempt compression. Place yourself over a chest-high chair, and, if possible, force yourself upon it quickly and forcefully in an attempt to force out the blockage. This may, depending upon your strength and stature, be more or less effective than the traditional fisted method.

Many people find it difficult to perform the Heimlich maneuver upon ones self for much the same reason that it is difficult to slap, cut, or otherwise hurt one’s self–the natural instinct against the self-infliction of pain. However, one must do what is possible to ensure that the necessary force is used, because consciousness will quickly fail in conditions of hypoxia, as with tracheal blockage. To fall unconscious in a room alone with a blocked air passage is, needless to say, unlikely to be resolved with a positive outcome.

Proper instruction in CPR technique and official certification may allow you further practice with the Heimlich maneuver as it is practiced both upon one’s self and upon others. Seek out health and safety programs in your community for more information on certification and training courses designed to instruct the community in safety technique.

think that says enough

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Then I had a few days off and we traveled to MA for Thanksgiving.

That was my final reprieve, as we returned on Saturday and I flew out to Downey, CA on Sunday.

So I’m laying here now on Tuesday night, and I’m hear for another 3 days. I’ll be returning Friday night. I don’t have a car this time, so there isn’t alot I can do after I get done my work training. Granted, I didn’t finish until almost 6 tonight anyway. Originally, I thought I might see who was around up in LA from my Ithaca days and maybe stop by and say hi for dinner or something, but that’s not feasible without a car.

Luckily, on day one, I got a new mobile phone and laptop. So now that I’ve got it all configured, I’m actually paying for WIFI access in the hotel for the next 3 nights, and hence my ability to finally post.

I’ll talk more about the job later, but I wanted to comment on the flight out.

The worst flight I’ve been on in 25 years. We got in the air 45 minutes late, but then the pilot told us we might be in for some rough weather and he was going to leave the seatbelt sign on. He wasn’t exaggerating. He got on 3 more times to update us over the next hour. He apologized and said it was the worse he’d seen in years as well.

For an hour, we kept changing altitudes. 20k. 28k, 22k, 3ok. 25k. Trying to smooth things out. It didn’t work. I haven’t see a vomit bag used in 25 years, and I saw a dozen used on this flight. People would vocalized ‘woahs’ and ‘ahs’. We were holding onto headrests and arm rests. I found myself locking my fingers under the tray table and standing on the balls of my feet trying to deal with the shifts and bounces. I felt myself straining against the seat belt several times as we dipped unexpectedly. I’m glad I had a seat belt on, or I’d likely have hit my head on the ceiling.

Wow. Don’t make me go through that again please. At one point I thought, what a way to start a new job, dying in the mountains of western PA. When we arrived, we heard that we’d just missed being redirected to Ontario, CA because of the fog. Flights afterwards were, and that would have put me 50 miles from the hotel instead of 22.. The taxi at 22 miles cost my $64.. another employee got redirected and split the $130 cabfare with someone else. Heard later that there we delays all across the country. In LAX, outgoing flights were backed up several hours.

I’m so glad I didn’t have to add on THAT to the end of a horrible flight.

Let’s hope Friday’s return is easier on the insides..

I know I haven’t been sleeping well the last two nights.. Hoping staying up a bit and writing this will help me settle down… last night I was up at 3 and 5 and finally got out of bed and started my day at 6. Monday morning, I was up at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. I wanted to attribute that to the plane ride + first day jitters, but today was day too.. Am I still nervous? A good night sleep will prove otherwise.

Well today was the day. After being with my current company for 12 years, I’ve given my two weeks notice.

While woodwindy (woodwindy) was wondering if we were moving to her neck of the woods, we’re not. We’re staying where we are, *but* I will be working in Philadelphia, so I guess that’s technically close enough.

This is the best thing for my family right now. I’m moving to a much larger company, and with that comes stability. The economy has really hurt my current employer (a real estate developer), and we’ve seen several years of decreased cash flow. This has affected our annual reviews, our year end bonuses, and our profit sharing. We’ve also had a round of layoffs starting last year (which incidentally coincides to exactly when I started getting serious about looking for another job, and then another just two weeks ago.

So while their future doesn’t look so bright right now, I think the future for me is much better. I’ll be receiving an increased salary and be part of an executive team for the first time. Sure, I may wind up working harder, but there will be benefits from that hard work. This change once again opens the possibility of a larger family, or a larger house – just two of the things I thought I had put behind me forever in the current economy.

Who knows where the future will take us, but today is about change. Certainly not on the same level as the Presidential change and the change in our country, but to me, change that is much more important.

Current Mood:  ecstatic

So I voted today. All done. Gloucester County has early voting as of a a few weeks ago. At the Deptford Mall, they have a County Office (near Boscov’s). So it’s really easy to head into the mall, vote, and get out of there.

Early voting is up throughout the country, with a prediction of as much as 30% of the votes being early cast this year (as compared to 14% in 2000).

Early voting is a great way to get a chance on a vote that fits your schedule, rather than trying to make it fit into a single designated day.

You might want to look into it in your area.

I would’ve enjoyed the book on its face, but it’s underlying themes really struck a chord with me.

Little Brother is a scarily realistic adventure about how homeland security technology could be abused to wrongfully imprison innocent Americans. A teenage hacker-turned-hero pits himself against the government to fight for his basic freedoms. This book is action-packed with tales of courage, technology, and demonstrations of digital disobedience as the technophile’s civil protest.

We’re living in a time where our personal freedoms are being slowly squeezed away in the name of protection. Each little thing slowly builds on the one before, creeping up on you. If you set aside the fact that the folk warning of the boiled frog is a myth, the anecdote still serves a purpose when examining our country in a post-9-11 world.

The boiling frog story states that a frog can be boiled alive if the water is heated slowly enough — it is said that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will never jump out.

The book does a great job of introducing the reader to modern technology items such as RFID, cryptography and pattern analysis. The narrator of the story takes the time to explain what they are and how they are used with very easy to understand examples – and that’s key to appreciating how these technologies can be used for either good or bad.

I’ve had a time in my life when I was a hacker. Not nearly as experienced or in depth as I could have been, but I understand the culture – another reason this book appealed to me.

But even today, I’m still interested in cryptography and ARGs. I’ve been on a  LARP.

You have several options for enjoying Little Brother.  Besides the traditional print copy, you might enjoy the audio version (listen to an excerpt above), or even download a version to read for free.

I can’t say enough good things about the book. I was already recommending it before I was halfway through, and now that it’s done, I wish I had more to read.

Don’t take my word for it. Read a review or two. I don’t want to make this entry much longer full of their words, but I encourage you to see the impression it has made on others, sometimes even being called a modern day 1984.

Whether it will have the same staying power 60 years from now that 1984 does, I can’t say. What I can say is that it’s an important reflection of today and where we could be tomorrow.

Before you watch this video, it may be NSFW as I chose the uncensored version (mild language). I feel it’s important to hear people speak in their own words on important topics such as this.

These are very serious times we are living in, and everyone’s voice deserves to be heard. Your voice. In many parts of the world, you wouldn’t have a voice at all. But, as improbable as it seems, many Americans do not take their right to vote seriously, and often ignore it altogether.

If you don’t have 5 minutes to watch this piece here are some highlights:
1) You NEED to vote
2) You must be registered to vote, and there is a deadline which varies per state. Some deadlines are as soon as Oct. 4. You just can’t show up on election day and be part of it.

3) If you haven’t registered, check out http://maps.google.com/vote to get an interactive map. This will tell you, based on your address, not only where you can register, but how much longer you have to do it.