I certainly wish circumstances were different and I would have been able to attend the PASS Summit this week. I miss being part of the active community and seeing old friends and meeting new ones, but I'm glad I was here at home. Being home means I've been able to tend to my wife. That's my job, more so than any regular employment or professional commitment. She's recovering, still in pain, requiring the Motrin that was prescribed. She's also still very tired as her body heals up from the pregnancy. Once we found out the twins had passed, they went through a process to induce similar to a normal pregnancy and birth, so her body is recovering just as it would from a regular pregnancy. And that means she gets tired more easily. I've seen her regain more of her strength each day, but she still gets more tired than she does normally. Being here means I can take on kid wrangling, fix the meals (although this has been made easier since our church family has, with grace and generosity, provided all of her dinners and some of our lunches since Sunday night), and take care of other things that she might not feel up to do. So we're surviving, we're not over the physical part yet, and I know it'll be a while for us to recover emotionally and mentally.
Speaking of which, I went back to some advice my dad gave me after we found out the news. He made a point of telling me to ensure that our four year-old wasn't neglected. He had been through this when his mother lost her twins, and as the baby of the family, he felt like he was kind of shoved to the side. This is something he still remembers in a very raw and painful way. While he knows that it wasn't intentional, that doesn't erase the memory of the pain he felt. Now my father is a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant (like fellow Kelley/Kelly, Andy Kelly) and he's an old-school Marine among old-school Marines. So he typically keeps his emotions close to his vest. I know for him to share that meant it was a pretty significant memory and a time of great pain in his life. As a result, we've purposely have looked to ensure all three kids have received a good deal of attention. This includes my oldest, who will soon be turning 12, because of his age and his tenderness I think he took the hit almost as hard as Kimberly and I did. He has always had a tender and loving heart. It's one of the things about him I can't take any credit for but I'm extremely proud of him over. But it also means in times like this he hurts and hurts a lot.
In order to cope I've turned more to reading and to music, both playing and listening. Hymns and jazz music are certainly a salve for my soul. I've also delved back into poetry, specifically poems of faith. Thankfully, I've got a great library here in Columbia, SC, and it had a book entitled The Poetry of Piety. I don't see it available for order anywhere any longer, or I would link to it, but it's been a good read thus far. I'm barely into chapter two, and I've enjoyed what I've read.
(Editorial Warning: If you're not interested in hearing about matters of faith because that's not why you follow this blog, then what follows is exactly that. Just wanted to give you fair warning.)
For instance, chapter one covered Sir Walter Raleigh's epitaph, which was:
Even such is Time, which takes in trustOur youth, our joys, and all we have,And pays us but with age and dust;Who in the dark and silent grave,When we have wandered all our ways,Shuts up the story of our days.But from which earth and grave and dustThe Lord shall raise me up, I trust.
The message of this epitaph is that time will eventually get us. The joys and energy we have in our youth will succumb to old age and then eventually death. It's an inevitable marching in that direction. However, Sir Walter Raleigh was putting his trust in the promise that God would raise Him up again in the future. This is a central message of Christianity, and it was one he was holding tight to. The book points out that this epitaph was reportedly written the night before his execution, and if that's the case, is a reflection of the final thoughts of a man who had done and seen much in life. He didn't reflect upon his accomplishments or his family or anything else except a promise from his faith. This was a welcome reminder that I believe in something more than this present life. And that I believe that there is hope beyond what I can touch and see. I know some would think I'm naive, silly, foolish, an idiot, or even a bit unstable because I cling to such faith. But in a time such as the present, that faith has steered me through. It has always steered me through, both in rough times and in good ones. And I hope to end life with a similar sentiment and conviction as Sir Walter Raleigh did.
Kimberly and I went to the high risk doctor's office this morning for the ultrasound. Unfortunately, they realized very quickly that both children had passed away. There was no heartbeat. They suspect Twin-to-Twin Transfusion syndrome. We are in mourning and have begun the procedures to ensure Kimberly's health. Support from friends, family, our church, and the SQL community has been awesome. Thank you all. I'll close on this:
A Path of Sorrow
In memoriam of our twins.We've walked this path before, You and I,Where my heart was shredded and in despair.But I will proclaim to all who will hear,"God is good, even in these times of pain."I remember the past. I remember the agony.I remember facing an ended future.There was nothing I could do but suffer,Except trust and lean on You by faith.I had tried it my way and I had failed.There was nothing I could do to overcome.And then You held me up and soothed me.You spoke loving words of grace and mercy.You delivered a miracle and You healed me.You did what the doctors could not explain.You restored my future I knew was lost.And You gave me a hope I'll never lose.Nothing happens outside of Your control.And I know that even as I mourn deeply,You stand beside me with Your arms around me.You are here in the midst of my pain.So I will praise You with every breath.I will proclaim Your greatness to all.For I've walked this path with You before.And I see You're beside me yet again.
Quite a few folks have commented about my previous post about missing the PASS Summit, whether publicly or in private. It's hard to keep track of everybody who has, so this is a blanket blog post that explains what the doctors are concerned about.
The condition that raised the red flag is this one: Monoamniotic-Monochrionic twins (MoMo twins).
During the 20 week ultrasound, the fact that there were twins caught everyone by surprise. But as they investigated, they could not see a membrane between the two. And that raises the question of whether or not they are MoMo twins or not. As a result, we've gotten a referral to specialist doctors at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. It'll be a three-hour ultrasound, with better equipment, mind you. We went through the same thing with our now four year-old daughter, so we at least know what to expect. It's entirely possible that the membrane is there, then the risks go down quite a bit. There are still risks because there's one placenta, but it's less than with MoMo twins.
Because we didn't know when the referral would come, I ended up cancelling out of all the PASS Summit. We figured it would be next week and on Tuesday we were notified that it would be for next Tuesday. However, my wife has been in a lot of pain and her feet and ankles have been swelling badly, so she asked if they could work her in sooner. Yesterday they called back and we've got an appointment for Friday. The good news is that at least by the end of it we'll be more certain as to what's going on and what the path is. The bad news is that last weekend was rough on her and I don't see it getting much better any time soon. So I'm really concerned about her and me and the boys (11 and 10) are doing what all we can to take on additional responsibilities and let her rest more.
Last night was a struggle for me. I was up again because of my sleep habits (or lack thereof) and I spent a lot of time thinking about the situation, the possibilities, how to prepare for them, etc. And while I was able to walk through things logically, I was and still am worried. That's reality and I know that's normal. I ended up penning a poem to kind of get out how I feel. I'll include it here in case it might be a help to others. It is intentionally written like a psalm. The reference to the father and son in the second stanza is from Mark 9.
I Call Out to You, Lord
Lord, I can't hide from You my heart.I'm worried and I'm scared.I don't know what is to come.I know the tighter I try to hold on,The more I fool myself with a lie.I know the answer is to trust.I'm to lean on my faith in You.But knowing and doing are not the same.So I call out to You like that fatherWho sought healing for his son.Father, help me to be strong.Guide my thinking and my focus.Let me look to You and You alone.For I need to gaze upon You nowSo I will not falter and fall.Let me be filled with compassionAnd be a Spirit-led father and husband.Allow me to act with Your wisdom,Touch with Your love and understanding,And be a source of peace to my family.I offer my troubles to You, O God.Bear them away from me with haste.Let me see Your goodness and mercy.Show me Your beloved faceSo I may forge on with faith and hope.I yield to You now, my Strength and my Shield.I put my heart before You.Lift me up and comfort me today.For I cannot attain peace without You.Nor give it to the ones I love so much.
I was chatting on FaceBook today with a guy from my church who is learning to be a network engineer. He's a smart guy and his dad is in IT, too. John is his name and he has helped me in the past with IT-related work that we needed to do around the church. He's not afraid or too above doing the stuff that's just got to be done, like doing cable runs in the ceiling. As you might guess, I love working with and talking with John. We were chatting about a project he had for class where they had to figure out a plan and cost it out for wiring a four-story building. A very practical exercise. As we wrapped up the conversation, he made a point that I always have a lot going on. Another friend of mine, the wife of one of my former pastors and a man I still consider a mentor in minstry, remarked that I'm very much like her husband, with "too many irons in the fire." She's right that I'm like him. I don't know that I could be satisfied not being constantly engaged in stuff. It drives my wife crazy sometimes, but that's the way I'm wired. Even with that said, I still need to take time to destress and unwind.
One of the activities that I used to do a lot for that was play flute. I blogged about getting back to doing that every day. It's been slow going getting back into the habit, but my tone is coming back, and I'm enjoying it. I played for about an hour before I went to to bed and it did serve to relax me greatly. The great thing about playing music like this is I can play out my stress and my emotions, especially by choosing music that expresses how I feel or just doing a bit of improv. It's an activity I've needed to get back into and I am glad that I have.
Another thing I do to destress is walk. I sometimes do this at work for lunch. I'll wolf down my meal and then head out for a couple of miles. Since I work downtown in Columbia, SC, there's good sidewalks and there are some streets which don't have a whole lot of traffic. They are out the back of my building, so it's really easy to get out, spend about 45 minutes trudging around, and just thinking and letting go of whatever has gotten me worked up. Or, if there's something that's really pressing hard on me, I'll take a 15 minute break and walk a couple of times around the block, then head back in refreshed. It's amazing how stepping away from 15 minutes and disconnecting from a computer can really help clear the mind and release the anxiety and stress that so often accompanies our profession.
In any case, I think anyone who works in IT should have activities and habits that help them relax. A friend of mine, who shall remain unnamed, has seemed stressed out a lot lately. He doesn't get up and do anything at lunch time, continuing to plug away at his desk. He doesn't really take breaks. And I've watched him get spun up as the day grows long. I can tell it's taking a toll on his health and his sanity, but that's how he's choosing to handle things. I've tried to encourage him to at least step away for a few minutes, and he does from time-to-time, but far less than he needs to. I hope that aspect changes in the near future. He's been a friend for years and I don't like seeing him suffer when he has the ability to do something to alleviate some of the pressure and stress.
I hate cold calls from vendors. Nothing gets my blood hotter than some vendor trying to call me when we haven't established a working relationship and when I haven't shown the slightest bit of interest in his or her product and that vendor seems to think that I care to hear about their perfect product at that exact moment in time. I don't. I mean, I really, really don't. I work IT. I'm a technician, specifically a DBA. And my days are busy. That's the nature of IT. So getting an unsolicited phone call is the last thing I want. Taking that call pulls me away from whichever one of the multitude of tasks I have in my queue I am currently working on. And that means after the call I have to spend time getting my mind and effort back into that task. So that phone call makes me terribly inefficient if I take it. As a result, I'm likely going to ignore it. And when I listen to my voice mail later and hear that you're cold calling me, guess what I'm going to do? That's right, I'm simply going to delete my voice mail and you're not going to get a call back. Why? If for no other reason than you weren't considerate of my time.
Unsolicited emails aren't much better. If I see its an unsolicited email, at least I'm in the process of checking my other emails at the time. So it's not as big a time waster. Chances are I'll still delete it, but you'll get more consideration than if you tried and call me. I care about my time. And I care about my efficiency. If I don't use my time wisely or if I'm inefficient in my work, I no longer have any work to do. That's because I'll be unemployed. So if you want a chance to get my attention, take into consideration that my time is precious. If you don't, you won't get any of it.
So if you're a vendor, how do you get your product in front of me? First of all, build a good product that meets a need of mine. Make it usable and make it so it saves me time. If you do that right, chances are you're going to be able to help a lot of folks like me. Second, price it reasonably. I don't care if your product can part the waters of the Jordan River if I can't afford it. Now Brent Ozar overheard where someone said, "Your rates are too high!" His response was, "No, your budget was too low." I said reasonably priced. Look, I know you need to make a profit to stay in business. I get that. So price it where you're doing that and not gouging me. If your prices are reasonable, then the budget will be there if we really need the product. But if you come with some extravagant price, you will take yourself out of my consideration. Third, give me something that shows your product at work when I go searching for it. I want to see actual screenshots. I want to know the specifications I need to run your product right. They need to be current. If you can give me a 14 or 30 day trial, that's great, too, so long as you don't start bugging me on the phone constantly. Like I said, my time is precious. Speaking of which, understand SEO. You do want me to find your product when I go looking. Fourth, and finally, treat your customers right. I am more likely to consider a product if I have heard that a colleague has had a good experience with it and with your company. If your product is great but your customer service is lousy, you likely won't get my repeat business.
This is a whole lot better approach than cold calling me. Maybe in the last century when connectivity wasn't as great and IT folks were more isolated cold calling was effective. But if you're trying to get my attention, cold calling is not the way to do that. Sure, you might get my attention, but not in a good way. If you want your sale, you're better served doing the four things I listed above. That approach is far more likely to work if I need what your product provides. And that's something else to keep in mind: I may not need your product. Perhaps I've gone with a competitor. Perhaps I've built my own solution. Or perhaps I just don't have that need. If I don't, respect that. I am more apt to want to do business with you later if you show my some respect as a professional.
I'm reading through Brad McGehee's How to Be an Exceptional DBA and in chapter 4 he talks about having the right skill set. Brad starts right out of the gate talking about formal education. To be a DBA breaking in may be more difficult without a computer-related four year degree, but it can be done. One of the things Brad talks about is that he knows quite a few DBAs who don't have a traditional computer science or information technology degree. I'm one of those. My degrees are in physics and mathematics. And while that may be considered closer than say anthropology or theology, the fact of the matter is that even a computer science degree doesn't strictly prepare one to be DBA.
However, the facts don't lie. Statistics published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the trend is towards more jobs requiring at least a four year college degree. As a junior high youth minister, these types of facts are of interest to me, because one of the things I want to make sure of is that my junior high schoolers know this sort of information so they'll be able to make good choices in high school and hopefully later on in college. If you look at the bottom of page 4, you can see that while the education cluster of "some college" doesn't change in projections from 2006 to 2016, the other two categories do. The number of jobs for high school graduates or less is expected to drop by 1.1% and that number ends up going to bachelor's degree or above. When you consider new jobs as well, though, it swings a bit more in favor of the college degree.
Then I weigh in the experience some of my colleagues without a college degree have had. In a couple of cases, they weren't hired because they missed that "checklist" item. In a couple of other cases, while they were gainfully employed, they were offered a smaller salary because they didn't have the degree. I know of one case where the difference was several thousand dollars a year. So putting these types of situations together with the projections, what can we say? Well, we can't say that you have to have a degree. But what we can say is that if you don't have a degree, it'll be harder, simply because it'll be harder in general. And even if one does get the job, not having the degree may cost one a tangible amount in actual salary.
So if you don't have a four year degree, should you care? I look at a degree much like I do certification: having it can help, but not having it doesn't automatically mean you fail. With that said, I know a couple of friends who, in their thirties, have embarked on the quest to complete their bachelor's degree. While they may be very good at what they do, they want the degree. It may not be for the job. It may be completely for them, to say they accomplished it. And I think that's a better attitude than believing you have to have the degree. If you're doing it for you, the classes mean more to you and you put more into them. When you're just trying to get through them to get the sheepskin, then you do enough to get the grade you want, but the class itself isn't very meaningful. I learned that especially as a dual major once I chose to take coursework outside of my majors. These were classes I wanted to take because I was interested in the subject, not classes I was required to take to complete one of my majors. And I found that I was more willing to put in the time to learn the material. Case in point: I think my favorite class after four years of college was abnormal psychology. Closely on its heels was cognitive psychology. Neither of those were required for graduation. So I lean more towards they why. Why are you doing it? That should be taken into serious consideration before beginning the journey to complete a college degree, whether at the bachelor's level or higher.
I've started a blog to write down and track my personal goals:
The Goal Keeping DBA
Since Active August is part of reaching my goal of getting back into good physical shape again, my posts with regards to Active August will be there. For instance:
Active August Day 1
Others are doing the Active August challenge as well. The ones I've seen thus far:
Thanks to Mike Walsh for really getting this started. Active August is similar to Fit February where folks endeavor to make changes in their lifestyle to get in better shape. I didn't join in on the Fit February but I do plan on getting on board for Active August. I need to as I'm still woefully out of shape. My plan:
That's my plan. If you're not extremely active (see Steve Jones) already, how about joining in? Tweet or blog about to help encourage others in the community to try and get in better shape and stick with their plans. August 1 is a Saturday, the perfect day to get started!
I've been quiet as of late, pretty much ever since i went to Bethany Summer Youth Camp (BSYC) as a leader of the sports evangelism team (using soccer to reach kids). This is something Thomas LaRock pointed out in his latest rankings, which are a great place to find some really quality SQL Server bloggers to follow. He did so in a tongue-in-cheek style, reflecting that real life does come into play. But point taken that I haven't been blogging much lately. I needed the prod to start writing again. So I decided to start by what's been on my mind and work my way back into technology related posts, especially those about SQL Server.
One of the reasons I've been so quiet is due to my experiences at BSYC. At the camp I went back and worked in one of the communities I worked in last summer. And once again, I left feeling like there is more that needed to be done than a one week camp. I'm still thinking about what to do and how to do it. I have friends in that area now that can help, who will help, but it's more of a soul searching on my part to see what's next. As I've been thinking about it, I've been reminded me of a blog post I read a couple of years ago. It's not on-line any longer where it was, but thankfully, there's the Internet Archive. Here's the archived blog post:
Headed to Uganda
For those of us who work in technology, we tend to have it good, real good. We usually are at the upper end of the pay scale and we're typically talking about tinkering with new technologies and debating the merits of that technology. We don't think about things like "power and hot water" because we accept those as givens in our lives. It typically takes something sudden and dramatic to help us realize once again that not everyone has it like we do. And that we can do something about it. You don't have to be like Johnny Long and go out to Africa for a year with the family. If that's what you feel compelled to do, then by all means, do it, but there's plenty to be done all around us. For instance, consider that here in the United States, a recent report cited that 1 in 50 (2%) children are homeless each year.
And it's not just about money, either. I was thinking about that while watching the homerun hitting competition at the all-star game. That was a lot of money that was donated. But more often than not, people are needed. What we did at BSYC didn't require a lot of money. But to reach those kids we ministered to, to show them they mattered, that required people. I had a great group of youth that cared and extended their love through the ministry. To them I'll be eternally grateful. So if money isn't something you have in abundance right now, perhaps you can spare some time. The personal touch often means a whole lot more than a couple of dollars thrown someone's way.
And with that, I'll get off my soapbox.
When the announcement for Bing came out, I didn't immediately go over and check it out. As a matter of fact, I didn't even look at it. My reasoning was simple: Google was working well and therefore I didn't see any reason to switch. But this past Saturday, Paul Nielsen of SQL Server Bible fame tweeted the following:
Microsoft search engine Bing honors D-Day on their front page. Goggle "honors" Tetris.
To me, D-Day is a bit more important in world history that Tetris. So I clicked over and saw an image of the beach and the land behind it, where Allied forces came ashore 65 years ago. You can still see the image if you go to the Bing page and hover towards the bottom right of the photo. You should get left and right arrows, which allow you to navigate back and forth to see the images that have been posted. The D-Day one was Saturday's. Imbedded in the image are a couple of highlights which can take you to more information on that fateful day.
Now the fact that Bing was honoring D-Day and Google wasn't isn't the reason I switched. However, the difference in their choices is the reason I considered Bing. I took a look at it, ran a couple of searches and was reasonably satisfied with what I got back. So since I was already there, I decided to configure it as my default search provider for both IE7 (sorry, I've not upgraded) and Firefox on my personal laptop. I figure I'll give it a run for a few weeks and see how it does. If I don't like the results, I'll switch back. If I do, I'll leave it alone. If it works great, I'll look at switching over my other systems, too. If you're interested in doing the same, you may want to visit the following link:
FAQ: How to add some Bing to your browser (ComputerWorld)
This one isn't a technical post, but it's entirely appropriate to those of us in the IT field. Today was a stark reminder about priorities and what they should be. Those who follow me on Twitter probably saw that I tweeted about a tragedy that affected one of the families in my church. In a nutshell, the unexpected did happen and someone did pass on fairly young. There's a lot of folks taking it pretty hard, my family included. One of the things I tweeted was the following:
A reminder that life can end unexpectedly. Live life to the fullest today and prepare fully for eternity now. There may not be a tomorrow.
If you aren't a person of faith, then the preparation for eternity part is taken care of, so far as you're concerned, but it is still important to live life to the fullest. That doesn't mean be foolish and careless and reckless. But it does mean looking at priorities and thinking about what's truly important. If something is important to you, it should get the proper amount of time, attention, and care based on its priority. For me, my priorities basically follow the pattern:
Sometimes these things go together. For instance, I love to play boardgames. So do my boys. And that's something we do together. But if I have to give time and effort, I will do so based on the previous list. Now there are always times where times will be slightly out of balance. For instance, if I have to work extra hours to complete a project, then it gets done. But over the last few years I've experienced that when you rob one priority to give time to a lesser priority, no one is happy and nothing gets done as well as it should.
As an IT professional the job / professional reputation is easiest to spend the most time on. If you like your craft (and I do), working with technology can be fascinatng and it can be easy to immerse, to the detriment of the other priorities. I've done it and regretted it after the fact. In the last two or three years I've worked very hard to correct that. I know others in the same boat who have done likewise. And the more we get our time and effort and care to match our priorities, the happier we are.
With that, I'll get off my soapbox. But if you haven't thought about what's really important to you, now might be the time to do so along with some self-evaluation to how your time and efforts match up with those priorities. I have found that regularly reassessing my time and effort has helped a lot in making sure I am giving the right emphasis where it needs to be. And I'm very glad to have started that practice in my own life.
Shortly after the Zune debuted, I purchased one. And I've been happy with it. It's done everything I expected out of a music/video player and it's gone with me nearly everywhere. So I was a bit saddened to pull it out this morning and see that the screen had been cracked. Not the external glass, but the internal LED screen. It's been a few days since I've used it. I believe the last time was right before SQL Saturday in Atlanta. It had gotten tossed in one of my laptop bags, one with plenty of padding, but it looks like a sharp impact to the screen still occured. I'm not sure if it occurred while it was in that bag or some other time. Though it still plays, I can't read a single thing on the screen, renduring the Zune unusable.
This morning I thought about what to replace it with and got a few bits of feedback from some folks on Twitter and on Facebook, but it'll be probably a month or so before I do replace it. There's a very good reason for the delay: it's not budgeted and I don't have money saved up for its purchase. The excess money we had saved up went towards a planned purchase of a MacBook about two weeks ago. In considering how I've used it over the last few months, I've realized that it's not essential for me to have a new Zune or iPod or other mp3 player. I have a PSP which mostly collects dust and for the purposes of carrying portable music and some podcasts, it'll do. I could go ahead and purchase a new player and throw it on a credit card, but like I say, it's not budgeted and the money hasn't been saved up and set aside for it. Purchasing on credit is not something I want to do for something that isn't absolutely essential.
This got me to thinking about projects and resources and how they get allocated. We all what resources and focus on the things we care about the most. For me, that has usually been the security side of things and now it's ensuring that we get good code that performs well against the databases I support. But there are a lot of things that need to be done to bring a project to completion and sometimes you have to compromise in certain areas to get to the finish line. This means sometimes not having the resources to crank every bit of performance out of each and every stored procedure and data access code. Often the resources that would do that are busy working on bugfixes or supporting the implementation of those bugfixes. And that means that stored procedure code base which is performing okay is left at performing just okay.
When I have served as a project manager, I have understood this dynamic and accepted it. It's part of the trade-offs you have to make to ensure resources are assigned to the proper areas to complete the project. But as a technician I've realized sometimes that I have a very myopic view of an application or project. Of course I want the stuff that's important to me fixed first. However, in the grand scheme of things those things may not be of the highest priority. But I'm only seeing the things that impact me. I'm not taking a step back and getting the bigger picture. And sometimes I've made a big deal out of it. And some of those times the PM doesn't take the step back either and assigns the resources to my priorities when he or she shouldn't. It's the same as buying a new mp3 player on credit.
As technicians, when there isn't enough resources available to complete all the wants for a project, it's time for us to take a step back. We need to try and understand where our needs fall within the other needs of the project. Does our needs truly deserve priority? If they do, then we should detail why in very clear language that explains the impact of not getting to what we want to see accomplished. There is a great temptation to exaggerate a bit, but that doesn't serve us well. We may get priority on this project, but what about the next one? If we've exaggerated the impact and that is seen, then the assumption is going to be that we always exaggerate our issues. We'll become like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. And that story didn't end well.
Maybe our issues don't get resolved by the end of the project. But if they are legitimate and we've documented them well, then our organization knows about them. Hopefully they don't get forgotten about. If our write-ups were well done and the project had the right visibility, they won't be forgotten. And they'll eventually get the resources needed to solve the issues, if those issues show themselves to be painful enough. That's like saving up and buying the mp3 player when the resources are available. We don't overextend the organization or burn credit we shouldn't for something that isn't absolutely critical. All around, it's the smarter choice.
Those who know me personally know that I grow my hair out to donate for kids. I have donated a couple of times to Locks of Love. This past Saturday I participated in a hair collection drive led by 11 year-old Sarah Brotman:
Midlands girl gets a haircut for a cause, organizes drive Haircuts for good cause
Midlands girl gets a haircut for a cause, organizes drive
Haircuts for good cause
I've known Sarah and her mom for a while now, and this is something that has been close to Sarah's heart because even as a younger child she grew her hair out to donate. In fact, her and her mom were two of my biggest encouragers to grow my hair out. For this collection drive, Sarah did the legwork to find someone who would collect the hair and give free haircuts to those who donated. Because of Sarah's efforts, it looks like Wella Professionals School (mentioned in the second link) may be looking to do this on a regular schedule. I hope so as it's a win-win for them because they are able to give back to the community and their students get more experience. And ultimately it benefits children who have lost hair due to alopecia, cancer, or another medical issue.
It does take a little while to grow hair out long enough to be donated. A former pastor of mine who worked as a barber to help pay his way through seminary said hair grew at an average rate of a half inch a month. From the little bit of research I've done on the web, that seems a bit right. The shortest accepted length is a ponytail of 8" so it will likely take about 18 months if you normally wear your hair short. However, the need is there because it takes a minimum of 6 to as many as 25 ponytails to make a child's wig.
I don't know if I'll be able to grow my hair for another donation because there is a lot of gray creeping in. Pantene, for instance, only accepts the hair if it's no more than 5% gray because gray hair doesn't absorb dyes at the same rate as normal hair. I'm starting to push that limit. But if your hair doesn't have much gray in it, it's a worthwhile cause.
If you want to see what goes into making a wig, here's a step-by-step:
Wigs for Kids - Hair Restoration Process
As I blogged about previously, I had decided to go ahead and pre-order the Kindle 2. It was slated for delivery on Thursday, February 26, but came a day early.I've had it in my hands now for two days and here are some of the things I've noted:
The Form Factor is Nice:
The form factor is small and handy. I found myself reading in bed and was able to easily hold on to the Kindle in one hand, even being able to navigate the pages fairly quickly.
The Text Is Crisp and Clear:
When I first saw the text, I was reminded me of the original Macintosh computers. My wife was quite amazed at how crisp and readable the text was. There is no glare. And you're not staring at a bright screen, like on a computer. It's very comfortable to read.
Ordering New Books Is Easy and Quick:
The first book I ended up ordering was A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer by John Piper. I wanted to see how quickly I was able to go through the order process. Searching was quick. Ordering was quicker. The one draw back we found is when you use the Kindle Store, you don't have a choice on how to sort. For instance, if you just navigate the categories, it sorts by Bestselling, even if that's not what you want.
There Is a Lot of Free and Inexpensive Content:
Because of the connection to Project Gutenberg, there is a lot of free content in the form of classics available. A lot of the classics are available inexpensively, too. For instance, I've never read The Count of Monte Cristo but I've always wanted to do so. If I go and buy the paperback in the bookstore it'll cost me $7-8. But I was able to get a Kindle version for less than $5. Also, I want to read The Three Musketeers, also by Dumas. That is available free of charge. So once I've read The Count of Monte Cristo, it'll be next on my classics list.
Pictures and Tables Aren't So Great:
While the images that are displayed by the Kindle 2 are great when it's in sleep mode, the images and tables for the two technical books I've purchased haven't been so great. Those books are:
When pictures or tables are zoomed in on, you must rotate your Kindle to view them properly, even if the image or table wasn't large enough to justify such. Also, thus far the images and tables have been a little faded and blurry, though still readable. For instance, there are tables that are composed of nothing but text. However, because they are in table format, when you zoom in, the crispness and darkness of the text is a bit lost.
Searching Is Awesome:
I'm a youth pastor as well as a SQL Server guy so having quick and easy access to a Bible is a must for me. You never know when you're going to get a phone call or a FaceBook chat or the like. I purchased the NASB translation of the Bible that was available through the Kindle Store because the sample was searchable. For instance, I taught a lesson Wednesday night on Ephesians 6:2-3 (Where Paul quotes from the Old Testament about honoring one's parents) and by searching on book and chapter, I could move around in the sample easily (though the sample was limited to the Old Testament). At first, when I downloaded it, I wasn't able to search, for it was indicating it didn't have the index yet. However, when I got up the next morning I tried it again and sure enough, it worked just fine. Jumping through text is quick and the search results return back enough around the searched for text to figure out if that's the right section. For instance, I just did a search for DBCC LOG on Kevvie's book and got back 23 hits. Some of the hits have DBCC and log separately, but I'm given enough context to see that.
eBook Quality Varies:
You can really tell what publishers thought about the medium and crafted their product accordingly. One of the books is obviously just a straight port from the print version. For instance, the font for the table of contents reflects what I would have seen in the print version of the book. That doesn't work so well in an eBook reader. Also, some of the spacing is badly off. I know it's not in the print book, which tells me it happened during the conversion process and wasn't cleaned up. Other books are nice. Everything is designed to fit well on the screen and to flow easily from one page to the next. I think as more and more books go to the Kindle and as publishers become more used to dealing with content for the Kindle, this should improve.
When the Kindle 2 was first announced, I debated about whether or not to get it. Then I realized I had to same sort of debate with myself over the Kindle, and that ultimately there were a couple of times I regretted not having gotten one. One of those times was over Christmas break when I lugged a whole duffel bag full of books with us on vacation for about a week. Some of those books weren't/aren't available on Kindle (and I was without Internet connectivity, meaning I had no access to Safari), but quite a few are. Another time was when my 11 year-old finished the paperback he had brought for what was supposed to be a long roadtrip. He thought it would be enough, as he had also brought his video game gear, but he wasn't in the mood to play games and burned through the rest of the book in record time. I would have loved to have been able to download the next book in the series for him and then hand over the device. But I couldn't.
I also kept up with what Andy Leonard and Steve Jones had to say about their Kindles. Steve, in particular, was who eventually helped me decide to go ahead and pre-order the Kindle 2 based on what he has blogged about his experience with the Kindle. Steve reads a lot of books. Certainly a lot more than I have time to read in a year. However, if I keep up with my goals for the year, I'll average about a book a week when you include technical, faith/theology, and personal/professional development. It would also be nice to get a subscription or two via the Kindle each day rather than consuming all of that paper. I'm slowly but surely doing away with my print subscriptions wherever possible. I have found that the magazines just stack up and I never get around to reading them in that form, simply because they are too bulky to carry around between home and work. So for those subscriptions I can get on Kindle, I'll probably go ahead and do so, depending on how well that feature works out.
So I'm looking forward to getting my Kindle 2 towards the end of the week. I agree with Steve that it looks to be more of an incremental upgrade over the original Kindle, and for original Kindle owners there's probably not much justification to buy a new one. I could look for a used one, but I like the smaller form factor. If it delivers on time, that should work out perfect. I don't have anything in particular for next weekend scheduled, so that should be a good time to put it through its paces, both for me and my oldest. My youngest son (almost 10) is currently reading Brisingr and he's got it in hardback. Since that's the only book he's reading right now, he can lug that book around until he's done with it. After he's done, he can take a look at the Kindle.
