Summer Nights

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, which some say is the beginning of summer. According to the sun, it is mid-summer, since it is the day when the daylight is the longest. For the next six months, the day will get shorter until mid-winter on December 21. Because of lag caused by the atmosphere, summer weather will continue for the next three months. With it come hot days and mild summer nights.

Summer nights are one of my favorite times. You can go out without putting on a jacket. Nature is chiming a chorus of bugs and night birds and creatures. Summer nights are good for taking a walk in the neighborhood. Often there is a mild wind blowing. It reminds me of nights in the past of summer camps and night parties. Of course the stars are up there, and it is comfortable to look at them, although the night is short.

I went to a sky watch program last night as part of our local astronomy club activities. It was a beautifully clear night with the only clouds at sunset making that brilliant and hot-looking. The wind was blowing, which felt good but interfered with observations. I showed the public first Jupiter, which was in twilight skies - I could not make out the four big satellites, and then I showed Venus, in a gibbous phase. After Venus went into the trees, I showed the moon with its craters and seas. The biggest surprise was finding out that two people who I had known for some time separately had met and were going out with each other. The one thing I did not like was that few stars were visible, due to city light pollution and a nearly full moon.

Smattering

I just found out about Friday Five - five questions it asks you to answer, by Smattering. Here they are:

1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo? We live in a house that is spacious and adequate for us but was poorly built and requires constant repair. Right now we are replacing or have replaced the kitchen floor, a side door, and some water valves, and have had repairs done to the roof.

2. Do you rent or own? We own the house.

3. Does anyone else live with you? My wife and three indoor cats.

4. How many times have you moved in your life? It depends on what you call a move. I counted my undergraduate college as 4 moves - a different dorm each year. A total of 14 times in my life.

5. What are your plans for this weekend? Show the public the stars at a skywatch, go to church, and make plans for the rest of the summer and autumn.

A name for my blog

Now that I've named computers, I need now to name my blog, with something other than JVBLog. I conceive of this series of blogs as some sort of journey; in fact a Journey through Blogspace. However, Blogspace is the name of a web logging program, so that's out. So I thought of Blogrealm instead, or even Blogual Reality. That sounds somewhat clumsy, but Blogrealm has some merit. The element of a journey, as my life journey, is not there, however. Blogjourney sounds too long. I then thought of Blogtrek. Now I have seen Star Trek occasionally, but I have not been a constant Star Trek fan; I'm not a Trekkie. But Blogtrek sounds nice, and what's more, it doesn't google. It will now. I have decided to call my blog Blogtrek. So now I shall boldly blog where no one has ever blogged before…

Supervisors

I don't think I have had much luck with supervisors. They have varied from somewhat above average to really abysmal. So I thought of what I would like in a supervisor and came up with three levels of them:

Level 1. Autocratic. This supervisor either criticizes a lot or barks out commands; a dictator. Some of these make me afraid of them. Needless to say, when I get one, I want to get out. Three of the supervisors I have had have been at the Autocratic level.

Level 2. Laissez-faire. This supervisor does not look over my shoulder all the time, but he or she either ignores me or is pleasant and easy to get along with all the time without really guiding me anywhere. This one leaves me wondering what to do next. It's as though we live in two worlds. Most of the supervisors I have had were at this level.

Level 3. Involved. This supervisor keeps track of what I am doing, but also gets substantial input from me. Relationship is friendly with a lot of discussion between us. We feel like we are a team headed towards a goal. He provides me with guidance, and I am able to provide good feedback to him. This is the type of supervisor I want. Unfortunately, I have had none. However, I have had two team leaders who were at this level - one of these on a real project and the other at a training session.

So maybe if I ever were to get another job, I would like it to involve a Level 3 relationship with my supervisor. How do I find such a relationship? It is not the most easily obtained thing from a job interview or from biographies of supervisory personnel. A similar conundrum exists in searching for a place to live. It may be that the most important criterion in buying a house is whether you can develop good relationships with the neighbors at that house. So far I see such choices as a gamble and want to turn the odds in my favor.

Naming Computers

Since I bought my first PC on 1992 January 29, I have named PCs and other computer equipment. My first computer was HAL because I got it on close to the date on which HAL 9000 was created in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". Since then I have named other computers: Gooney Bird, because its CD-ROM sounded like a taxiing C-47; Izzy, after our cat, at work because our branch's symbol was CAT; Super v because there was a directory named v that could not be deleted, no matter what; Clunky, because the hard drive made clunking sounds and every once in a while gave the horrific message, "General failure error reading drive C:"; Slamrunner, because the computer ran a program called SLAM and because when it booted it beeped twice, like a roadrunner; and Boogie, because I like to dance a lot. Today I named a printer Tiger at work, because when you send a print job to it, it makes a raaooww sound much like that made by a big cat, and I say that when that color laser printer prints, it meows.

Do these names sound unworklike? I like them because they are easier to remember than some serial number or something like Workstation-23. Further they have the advantage of being portable. If I were to name a computer after some project I am doing, what if later the computer were to be used for something else? Izzy, for example, has nothing to do with my work, so it can be used anywhere there. Further, they make using a computer more fun. What's the name of your computer? By the way, this blog was written on Boogie.

Saving Time

Well now that I know what I want to do (probably), I need time to do it. But since I am currently employed, I have little time to do it. I have little time to update my web site, study mathematics, go to all my outside activities and clubs such as Toastmasters, astronomy club, and church events, and have some time to goof off and do whatever I want. What I do have is plenty of money from my full-time job. So I try to save time where I can.

I wait until a number of errands pile up, then I do them all at once, in the same store if possible, but stores like Wal-Mart are a time-waster because you have to hunt for the item you want in an illogically arranged store. I get out my clothes for the week and organize, especially if I have to work five 9-hour days in the week, and get ready for work in a precise schedule, so that I can listen to NPR's "Earth and Sky" and "Stock Market Song" (today it was "Stormy Weather", as the market was down yesterday) both. The time between them is almost as great as my commute time.

I do all sorts of things to trade money for time; i.e, buy time. For example, I grab any brand that happens to be out on the grocery shelf, even though it is more expensive than something I would have to hunt for. We call in plumbers, painters, and other people to do work around the house rather than do them ourselves. In purchasing stuff, I look for quality, durability, reliability, and especially I try to see, if possible (usually it is not), if I will have to spend hours on the phone haggling over software glitches, if the item is a computer, cellular phone, PDA, or the like.

In traveling I listen to traffic reports and avoid routes with construction, accidents and jams on them if I can. Two of my interests lead to my traveling frequently into a metropolitan area at evening rush hour time; I go many hours too early simply to avoid these jams.

I suppose if I were retired I would have to go the other way and trade time for money, even though time is precious; we each get only a day a day and once it is gone, it is gone. Then I would shop for the cheapest brands and learn to do work around the house and on the automobiles. I then would be able to use the time to make the most of my talents and capabilities.

What my blogs say about me

What do my weblogs reveal about my interests? I did a count and found out that 10 of them relate to mathematics or computers, and that 8 of them to literary interests, and 4 in public speaking. This says that I may have an interest in literary material more than I had thought. Of course, this blog is a journalistic and literary area, so this may distort the pattern. But I note that at SUUSI, , I most frequently choose personal growth and writing workshops. So maybe there is something to this.

My calling then appears to be to combine mathematical and literary/journalistic interests together; i.e., to write articles on mathematics. I already have ten such articles at my web site, but I need to get something out to the public, preferably as something of a business venture. This could be difficult, but that is what it looks like to me.