Regarding my recent blog entry about The Curious Savage auditions...

GEORG landed a speaking part in the play!   Yes, incredible as it may seem, Georg will be acting in the role of "Judge Samuel Savage", one of the three Savage children who commit their stepmother into "The Cloisters".

I don't want to ruin the story for you by telling too much.   But I will tell you that Georg's character gets a bit injured while searching for the missing $10,000,000 in bonds which his stepmother has hidden.

Now, I'm not sure how well Georg can act, but if how he behaves when he thinks he has a slight fever is any indication, he will no doubt give a Star Performance!  

So, for those "local" to New Hampshire, Georg will be performing on stage in Warner, May 1 - 4th.   Ticket information will be shared as we get closer to the dates.

Through the Warner's Men's Club, Georg came to hear about auditions for an upcoming amateur theatrical production of "The Curious Savage" by John Patrick.

The play will be performed at the Warner Town Hall from May 1st to May 4th.   The production is being done by the very local Sunapee Kearsarge Intercommunity Theatre.

A SKIT photo collage from "Our Town" in 2006

That's nice.   Right?   So what?

Almost as a goof, a new form of adrenaline rush, a small but fun life experience & challenge...   We BOTH auditioned!!!   And OHMIGOD!   Georg was fabulous!   A natural.   And I survived.   In fact, after the fact, I realised that I truly enjoyed it!   Yes, only a mere taste.   But already, I know I want more!

To those of you who know me, let me apologise while you try to get back into your seats.   Yes, I know it's hard to believe I would EVER get on a stage, read a part with other actors, and try to secure a role in a theatrical production.   But, there comes a time in life when you just have to say, "Why the hell not?"

While I am confident I did not secure one of the female roles, I do suspect I'll be working on the technical side, updating the SKIT website and helping with documentation.   My sideways entry into The Theatre.

And so it is done.   My first big adrenaline rush for 2008.   Now back to my regularly scheduled life.  

Spring.

What's the first thing that comes to mind?

For some, it is the promise of a new season of flowers, gardening, grass, lawn mowing, mud, hay fever, and more.   For some, it may remind them of an integral part of an assembly they build at work.   For some, it may transport their spirit to a beautiful mountain location where crystal clear water bubbles out of the rocks.

As I look out my office winter at yet another new layer of snow and grey skies, the fact that today is the first day of Spring is rather lost on me.

But I recall a promise of Spring from many years ago...   A technical promise.   In the 1990's, people were talking about the next OS.   Something smaller, smarter, faster.   Modular.   Clever.   Something very exciting.   Rumours were flying.   Every tale told got better, as they sometimes do.

In the field, we didn't get to hear too much about it.   But we had heard the name.   It was a new OS called Spring.

While never an OS offering, many excellent technologies literally Sprang from Spring over time.   Technologies, concepts, and new methodologies now used in lots of Sun products.   And that in itself is very cool.

And typical of Sun.

Great engineers.   Great ideas.   Great products.   Disruptive technologies.

Meanwhile, winter continues to drag on in New Hampshire.   Happy Spring!

It's truly a pain in the tush, but on a regular basis, per corporate policy, Sun employees must change their UNIX login passwords.   And when one delves deeper to learn the reasoning behind this, sure, it makes sense.

However, with each change, there is the headache of trying to create a new password which had not been used before, meets the stringent requirements of being difficult to crack, and is still useable and rememberable....

... one which ultimately will NOT end up being taped to the underside of the keyboard, written into a note book, or tucked into a wallet.

For this user, the pleasure of changing passwords ranks right up there with paying taxes and going to the dentist.   Oh joy.

Now that I've changed my password yet again, I just hope I will remember it tomorrow!    

Another winter draws to a close.   But as Old Man Winter continues to hang on, bringing a few additional snowfalls and frozen nights, Spring is starting to barge her way in, bringing longer hours of sunlight, warmer days, melting snow, threats of floods, and the promise of colors to come....   Buds, leaves, spring flowers, grasses & meadows, and flowering shrubs & trees.

To some, this simply means Spring is Coming.   However, for many across Canada and the North East, this transition period means "Sugaring Season" is here!

(Click to enter the NH Maple Producers website)

On our farm, the taps / spouts are in place.   Buckets hang from the spouts.   And as the trees warm up in the sunlight, a very pleasing drip... drip... drip sound can be heard as the sugar maple sap drips into the buckets.

The tap and a drop of sap about to fall.

Georg collecting sap.

Snowshoeing from tree to tree, we collect the sap, filter out any little bits of debris, boil it down for hours, filter it again, and bottle.   Throughout the season, local fellow sugarers visit each other, checking out how things are progressing, and sharing advice & sugaring wisdom.   Georg, a relative newcomer to maple sugaring, enjoys these impromtu meetings and gatherings.

Yes, Spring is coming.   But for now, it's Sugaring Season!   Next weekend, maple sugar houses all over New Hampshire will be hosting open houses to invite the public to learn more and sample the freshest maple syrup possible.

While Kearsarge Meadows is not listed on the NH Maple Producers' March 29 - 30 Events Website, we too will be welcoming friends and family to enjoy the fun of maple sugaring while we wait for Spring to finally arrive.

I'm an Instant Messaging user now.   I use Sun's Java System Instant Messaging.   I use Pidgin & GAIM.   I use Yahoo Messenger.   Yup, I am getting more and more connected...

...and it's making me nuts!

Today, my daytime in-the-office IM tool of choice started beeping at me.   That's expected.   I have it "finely tuned" to notify me of different events.

However, I was at a loss as to WHY it was beeping.   No one new had logged in.   No one left.   No one was trying to strike up a conversation.   No one was talking about me.   All was fairly quiet on the IM front.

ding Ding DING!

Distracted again.   I looked.   No one there.   Nothing happening.   Hmph.

ding Ding DING!

Over and over.   Every couple minutes.   So, I killed IM.

ding Ding DING!

Hmph.   Next, I killed all processes that even sounded vaguely like they might be involved.

ding Ding DING!

Okay, this is getting odd.   Shutdown.   Reboot.   Get a Diet Coke from the fridge.

ding Ding DING!

No way!   The system was still rebooting, I was a good 40 feet away, and yet it was loud and clear....     Hold on...

I dug into my pocket and pulled out my mobile phone.   Sure enough, there was a new text message from my boss, one that had been waiting for me for, oh, probably about an hour.

Time for a vacation or just change the notification sounds on IM?   Yah, I'm thinking vacation...!

This week, we've been hosting the visit of a fellow Sun employee, a German who is based out of the Geneva Switzerland office and resides in Lyon France.   The primary purpose of his trip involves meeting with an important ISV in this area.   And, as is customary at Sun, since he is "in the area", he's also meeting with colleagues at the Sun campus 70 miles south of here.

Over the past (nearly) 3 years since we moved from the United Kingdom to the USA, we've had well over 20 Sun employees visit our home.   Quite a few of them flew in from outside of the area from as far away as Bangalore India and were welcomed guests staying at our home instead of a hotel.

Working From Home sounds to many like working in isolation.   However, we've found that with both of us being long time Sun employees, we talk shop a lot at home.   (We do try to limit shop talk to "office hours", however, in order to preserve & respect the HOME part of WFH.)

But when we have Sun guests, then it starts to feel like maybe it's time to campaign for official Sun office status.

Sun's Warner Office.   I think it has a nice ring to it.