There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I’m looking into an education alternative.  I’m gathering some information with the intent of submitting an application to a different college for next semester.  I’m frustrated that I have invested 2.5 years of work with a slew of liberal arts credits that won’t do anything for me employment wise.

Some of that I knew going into, but that was also different time.  I’m looking at a total of 6 years to get through the bazillion credits to finish this thing.  I’ve busted my ass to get the pre-req’s to get into my long anticipated programming class….only to have it repeat the same material I did in my previous class.

I’m looking into a similar situation that my wife is doing for her graduate degree.  An online program that caters to non-traditional students like myself.  I’ve found a couple of programs where the focus is on the nuts and bolts of my field.  In addition, in this field – certifications in the various programming languages and technologies are worth their weight in gold as far as employment opportunities – JAVA II, ASP, C++, SQL, ORACLE, etc. something my current University doesn’t have available.  With my current skill set and the right program a Java certification within a year is completely reasonable.

The program I’m looking at is a B.S. in Computer Science but there is also an Assoc. Degree in CS I could pickup along the way.  There are plenty of low level programming jobs available…I just need a slip of paper or 2 to get me in the first door.  I would like to actually make a living while working on my degree at a more reasonable pace.  Homeslice needs the skills to pay the bills….this living from payday to payday – disbursement to disbursement. Is getting old.

I have kids.  Young kids which take a chunk of time and attention.  The flexibility of online courses are very attractive.  Especially when I find myself sitting in a lecture hall surrounded by 18 year old kids who are texting, chatting, surfing the internet and sneezing on the back of my neck.

I’m also 38 years old and while I understand the concept of a Liberal Arts education….I don’t have the energy to keep taking communication, philosophy and art history classes.  “I want to make things go.”  I’m currently taking an art history class online.  I’ve had a brutal week and didn’t spend much time preparing for the test due tonight.  I spent 2 hours skimming the 200 pages of reading and printed off some art.  I basically took the test cold and scored an 89 on it.  I’ve picked up a few things along the way at my age.

I’m not regretting my higher education at all thus far….I’ve conquered some personal mountains.  But I need to focus my energy on the nuts and bolts of my new career.

It’s time to modify the plan.

People are funny.

So we have this sudden and widespread Flu pandemic called H1N1.  People freak out and start wearing surgical masks in public.  Probably a result of remembering that SARS outbreak a few years back and watching too many “outbreak” type movies.  H1N1 is not SARS, it’s not ebola, it’s not Stephen King’s super flu or Avian (bird flu).  It’s a nasty ass I-dont’-want-it flu.  The deaths related to it are not a direct result of the flu but complications from previous health conditions and a weakened immune system.  It targets the little people…who depend on us big people for care.  Not long after this outbreak we get a vaccine developed…then it get’s tested and scrutinized probably more so than the rest of the civilized world.  And then what do we do? Not get vaccinated.  I’m picturing Spock’s eyebrow raising up as he says “fascinating.”
Somewhere somebody mentioned the word “Mercury” and “Government conspiracy” and now 40 percent of people polled are refusing the vaccine.  Even in my circle of friends there are parents saying that they will not vaccinate their kids for fear of mercury induced autism or some other form of mercury poisoning. Even though it’s the same freaking ingredient that has been in vaccinations for the past 30 years.  And now we have this vaccine in a nasal spray that doesn’t even contain this thing people are “concerned” about.  People are gullible and tend to believe things they hear through the internet without looking into it’s validity.  Just yesterday my sister, who is intelligent and in her 30’s forwarded me one of those emails – “send this out to everyone you know and get a free laptop” I laughed and gave her crap about it.  Urban legends are fascinating to me.  Personally, I’ve been trying to increase my Vitamin B* (Bacon!!) in my diet to help ward off the swine. (heh heh heh).
As a parent, my tendency is to “err on the side of caution”.  We got the oldest his nose spray vaccine Monday and we’re working on getting the youngest his.  So far there has been no side effect, illness or sudden onset of Autism.  (Although, I swear to god, my oldest starts talking like rainman on the topics of star wars, bakugon or mario brothers.)
I couldn’t imagine what I would do if – worst case scenario: child dies from complications attributed with an illness that may have been prevented by a simple vaccination.  There are more important things to stress over than a government vaccine conspiracy.

Here’s a great article debunking the latest “urban myths” regarding the H1N1 vaccine: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12offit.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=h1n1%20vaccine&st=cse

PUBLIC health officials are now battling not only a fast-spreading influenza virus but also unfounded fears about the vaccine that can prevent it.

Since April, more than a million Americans have caught H1N1 flu, more than 10,000 have been hospitalized, and about 1,000 have died, including 76 children. And it’s only the beginning of October. Yet, in a new survey, 41 percent of adults said they will not get vaccinated.

The good news is that for the first time in more than 50 years we’ve made a vaccine against a pandemic strain of influenza before the onset of winter, when lower temperatures and humidity allow the virus to spread more easily. Distributing this vaccine to those who need it most — pregnant women, health care workers, children older than six months and people with compromised immunity — will be difficult enough. But the task is made harder by the various myths, spread on TV talk shows and Web sites, suggesting that Americans have more to fear from the vaccine than from the deadly disease it prevents. Here are some of those myths, and why they’re wrong:

SWINE FLU VACCINE IS UNSAFE The H1N1 virus revealed itself too late for it to be included in this year’s seasonal flu vaccine. But the H1N1-specific vaccine was manufactured in the same way as the regular vaccine: The shot form is made by growing the virus in hen’s eggs, purifying it and then treating it with a chemical that inactivates it. This technology has been used to make influenza vaccines for 60 years, and it has an excellent safety record. The nasal spray form is made by adapting the virus to temperatures below those typically found in the body. This allows it to reproduce in the relatively cool lining of the nose, but not in the lungs where it could cause harm. This technology has been used safely for more than 30 years. FluMist, a seasonal flu vaccine used since 2003, is made the same way.

THE VACCINE IS UNTESTED The H1N1 vaccine has already been given to thousands of volunteers to determine whether it could protect them from the virus and to make sure that it caused no adverse reactions. Only then did the Food and Drug Administration license it.

THE VACCINE CONTAINS A DANGEROUS ADJUVANT Some vaccines, like the hepatitis B and human papillomavirus vaccines, have substances called adjuvants, which are added to enhance the immune response, so that smaller quantities of vaccine can be given. Some people fear that the H1N1 vaccine contains, in particular, squalene, an adjuvant that, while included in other vaccines in Europe and Canada, has never been used in routine vaccines in the United States. But the H1N1 vaccine available in the United States has no adjuvant of any kind.

THE VACCINE HAS A DANGEROUS PRESERVATIVE Thimerosal, a preservative containing ethyl mercury that has been in vaccines since the 1930s, is used to prevent inadvertent bacterial and fungal contamination of multi-dose vials. H1N1 vaccine distributed in multi-dose vials will contain about 25 micrograms of ethyl mercury per dose. The issue of thimerosal received public attention in 1999 when the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Public Health Service took the precautionary step of asking that thimerosal be removed from single-dose vials of all vaccines. This was done in such a precipitous and frightening manner that it gave rise to the notion that thimerosal had led to autism or mercury poisoning. It hadn’t.

In fact, subsequent studies found that infants could safely receive eight times as much mercury as is contained in the H1N1 vaccine. But the public’s perception of thimerosal was damaged. This year, enough thimerosal-free vaccine is available to inoculate children under age 6, but that does not mean doses with thimerosal are unsafe.

New myths will inevitably arise as some of the millions of people who are inoculated against H1N1 flu suffer unrelated illnesses. Health officials will keep a close eye out for any real problems. One can only hope that the American public will understand that subsequence isn’t necessarily consequence, and not be scared away from a vaccine that can save lives.

Paul A. Offit, the chief of the infectious diseases division of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is the author of “Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine and the Search for a Cure.”

For my Engineering/Ethics class, a large portion of the grade is dependent upon the “term paper”. It’s not a research paper but more of an Op-Ed piece. I thought I’d make this blog a little more useful and perhaps flesh it out here. Who knows, maybe I’ll attract some feedback or other views on it.
So the idea is to write about the ethical implications of some kind of technology based on at least one or two of the ethical dilemmas we’ve surveyed in class, and our stance on it. The topic or “technology” I’m working on is Cyberwarfare.

The idea is based on this article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/politics/02cyber.html?_r=1
“In 2003, the Pentagon and American intelligence agencies made plans for a cyberattack to freeze billions of dollars in the bank accounts of Saddam Hussein and cripple his government’s financial system before the United States invaded Iraq. He would have no money for war supplies. No money to pay troops….

But the attack never got the green light. Bush administration officials worried that the effects would not be limited to Iraq but would instead create worldwide financial havoc, spreading across the Middle East to Europe and perhaps to the United States.
Fears of such collateral damage are at the heart of the debate as the Obama administration and its Pentagon leadership struggle to develop rules and tactics for carrying out attacks in cyberspace.”

Now I need to examine the ethical dilemmas regarding state sanctioned cyberattacks against another country knowing the potential fallout could include civilian infrastructure?

One might think…what’s the big deal it’s just computers getting attacked as opposed to human beings? However, think of all the areas controlled or affected by computers. Electricity, Traffic lights, water treatment, hospitals, air traffic control, mass transit, communication…etc., etc.

I’m not 100% sure what my stance is on it but I’m leaning towards the NOT side. I guess that’s why I’m diving into this further. More later.

Hoax? Publicity stunt? Don’t care? I’m quite frankly sick of hearing about it. Apparently it’s been a slow news week or I’m underestimating the appeal of watching a train wreck on television. First, what kind of an idiot builds a balloon of this type in the back of his yard with small children running around? I can think of a dozen legitimate safety concerns that should have come to the forefront of a parent’s mind.

Secondly, I’m having a difficult time with the physics. Is there enough lift capacity in that thing to lift a child of that weight and move in the manner that it did?

And the last thing I’ll write on the topic. If you have a sick child, why would you have him in front of cameras? I watched the ABC clip of the interview – the poor kid is wrapped in a blanket and then starts vomiting and then neither of the parents go in to check on him until the reporter prompts them.

I’m glad no-one was hurt…I hope someone kicks the parental units in the pants for being stupid, and I hope to not ever hear about balloon boy again. Night!

It’s time for a blog overhaul.  In need of some inspiration for my virtual world. Stay tuned.

My almost-7-year old son attached himself to an Irish/Scottish band called Snow Patrol a few years ago.  I have grown pretty fond of their “Eyes Open” & “Final Straw” albums as well.  My son’s favorite song is “You’re all I have”.  Brilliant bittersweet songs as one would expect from the land of Celts.  As soon as we got word that they were coming to town, I had to get us tickets.

What an incredible show/night it was.

We started the night out with dinner at old Chicago..wolfed down some pepperoni rolls and then walked down to the Knitting Factory to wait in line.  Thankfully the line wasn’t very long when we got there and we only had to wait 20 minutes for the doors to open.  I was a little concerned about my short guy being able to deal with “general admission”.  We found a spot near the rail just above the floor.  Two guys around my age were standing there sipping some beers and as soon as they saw Brennan & I they offered to let us take the corner spot…perfect for someone short to be able to see the stage.  I thanked them profusely.  They thought it was very cool that this was his first real rock concert.  My son (Let’s call him “B”) is not known for his patience but he handled the hour and 20 minutes of waiting quite well.

The plain white t’s were the opening band.  I knew the name but am not very familiar with their music.  When they got on stage the lead singer announced that he was very ill and rather than cancel, they were going to attempt 3 songs.  You could tell he was hurting.  ’B’ knew the last song they played and sang along. “Hey There Delilah”, I was impressed.  I’m sure I’ve heard that song in some recent movies somewhere.

Snow Patrol made their entrance and ‘B’ was all grins and cheering.  We knew most of the songs.  The lead vocalist had great stage presence and was hilarious….the Irish are known for telling good stories.  They sound better live than on CD.  There was something uplifting and powerful….an incredible energy and emotion emitting from the band that I haven’t experienced from a live band in a long time.  Kudos to the staff of the venue…they kept checking on us to make sure my little guy was ok…I appreciated that.  AND they found him better earplugs…as the ones he had were kind of big and he had a hard time keeping them in.  The visuals were incredible…..animated rocket ships and robots….the swirls of graphics from their latest album engulfed the band at certain moments.

A great encore came at the end….and the lost song they played….”You’re all I have”….we rocked out and sang along.  An incredible show and a great Father/Son experience.  Naturally I got him a T-shirt.  He’s legs were exhausted and we had a bit of a hike to the car…so I put him on my back…piggy-back-style and zoomed away.  We were kinda bummed mom wasn’t along…she would have loved it as well.  Off to bed now. Cheers!

I love this scene.

“He could’ve tuned in, tuned in
But he tuned out
A bad time, nothing could save him.
Alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out.
He got up outta there, ran for hundreds of miles.
He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree.
The wind rose up, set him down on his knee.

A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
Delivered him wings, hey, look at me now
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh, power, oh

He floated back down cause he wanted to share
His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere

But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
By faceless men, well, fuckers
He still stands

And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
The love he receives is the love that is saved
And sometimes is seen… a strange spot in the sky
A human being that was given to fly”

I thought this video captured the spirit of the song:

I recently hit another milestone…one of those that marks another year of life on you.  The older I get the more I see patterns in my life.

I felt the need to toss some recent thoughts into this blog.  Yeah it’s been a while.

I have some friends and even a former friend experiencing some bad times. I also have a 6 going on 7 year old who has a hard time with disappointment and failures.  I’ve certainly experienced my share of failure and disappointment, depressions and will probably experience more.  I have a hard time knowing what to say to my friends and family during these “times” …a pat on the head and “everything will work out” seems kind of patronizing and an “easy out.”  I’m an introvert and I have to come up with my own solution regardless of all the advice I get.  Extroverts tend to drive me nuts in that respect.

If it’s one thing I’ve learned in life it’s that human beings are fallible.  No one’s exempt.  Our heroes, our parents, our friends, spouses, significant others…. no-one is exempt from ‘fucking up’.  And the other part of that is it’s hard as hell to face our failings.  No-one hates to be wrong more than your’s truly.

In life’s travels I’ve come across people that are not capable of identifying or even admitting to their mistakes.  It’s always somebody else’s fault.  It’s always easier to point out all of the flaws of other people rather than think about ourselves.  That’s a whole other blog topic.

As a parental unit we don’t like to see our kids experience disappointment and failure.  But we’re not doing them any favors if we keep them in a protective bubble for 18 years and kick them into the cold cruel world.   There’s another potential blog topic, all on it’s own.

So back to my friends (and for myself) fucking up is inevitable….it’s not fun…but it’s going to happen.  At that point we can blame the external people/forces….we can kick ourselves….we can throw in the towel….be a chicken-shit and take the easy way out.  (Even in the darkest of times, suicide has never been an option for me.  I have this incessant need for survival that always takes over. )

After 30-some-odd years I’ve found some success in an other option.

The idea that it’s never too late to start all over again.

Like we used to say as kids…”OOPS, DO-OVER”.

Maybe it means trying again with a different approach.

Maybe it means completely re-inventing who we are.

Maybe it means finding a new road altogether.

I think…(notice I say think)…the key…is to find that 1 thing in life that is worth fighting for –  (Maybe if you’re lucky there might even be a couple.)  I also like the idea…that forgiveness (though hard)  is always possible.

I raise a pint to my friends & family.  I’ll weather the storm with ya the best I can.

Cheers.

I did it.  I exceeded the test score I needed to get into Calculus by 15%.  With that, I was able to talk to the Chair of the Math dept today and get into the classes I need.  I worked my ass off the past 2.5 months.  I regularly questioned myself if I would be able to do it, had moments of doubt, stress, and fear of the unknown.  The Pay-off happened Saturday when I nailed the Assessment and with today’s meeting.  Now I’m preparing to embark on some of the toughest classes I’ve had to take yet, but I’ve got my mental faculties back, my confidence back, and the motivation to kick some ass.   This was not a very enjoyable summer break.  We were not able to do much with the kids between work, classes and my studying.  Next summer that will change.  However, today’s carrot made all that work a nice little payoff.  School starts in a couple of weeks.  Bring it!