Images of Christmas past

Before the extended family showed up at our house for Christmas, I was working on a slideshow of photos from past Christmases. I spent some time figuring out how to project the photos onto my TV with a Chromecast, a Chromebook, and Picasa. (Yes, there were lots of easier ways, but I felt like playing with those devices. I learned enough for a couple more blog entries!) 

My gramps dressed up as Santa

There were close to 1,000 photos I gathered for the slideshow. Some are scanned in from old slides and photos from before I was born. Others are from Christmas gatherings this year. I find looking through them transfixing, and so did many of the family members visiting.

I’m not a fan of large gatherings, but looking at the pictures made me nostalgic for past family Christmas gatherings. Nostalgic for folks who are no longer around, like my gramps dressed up as Santa. Nostalgic for my nephew Drew smiling as he played with his older cousins. Nostalgic for my dad with his teasing smile. 

Becky surrounded by too many presents

Most of the pictures are of happy smiling people. Of people eating, laughing, and talking. Of children surrounded by more gifts than they know what to do with. 

Of course, the images don’t quite capture some of the less than photogenic moments. Moments, like our cat Bob knocking over a windowsill candle which broke and caught some tissue paper on fire. Or, the food that did not turn out like planned. Or, the keys locked in a running car in front of our house. Or, the folks who did not show up. Or, the treasured tree ornaments that broke.

Susie and our first Christmas tree

Christmas is sometimes messy. 

I started thinking about what that first Christmas must have been like for Jesus and his family. We mostly think of them in an idealized setting, as depicted in manger scenes, with shepherds, angels, and wise men looking on. The reality, of course, was a lot messier. As newlyweds with a child due too soon, Mary and Joseph certainly endured comments and knowing looks in their town. They also had had angelic visits foretelling them about the special child to whom Mary would give birth. Despite all that, they probably just wanted to get back home to share the joy of their new baby with family and friends. 

Davey, Nathan, and Becky in Christmas jammies

In subsequent years, Mary and Joseph probably told their own family stories about the day that Jesus was born. And, about the funny things that happened on his birthdays in later years. While Jesus had a much greater mission here on Earth, I’m sure he treasured that time with his family, just being together and discussing the joys and sorrows of Christmases past. 

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and got to spend it with loved ones. I also hope you have the opportunity to get out some of those old photos and relive images of Christmases past. 

And, that you take some time to think back to that very first Christmas and what the baby Jesus would come to mean to the whole world.

Merry Christmas! 

Electric car update

My LEAF's odometer showing 22,222 miles

I drive an electric car. I related my impressions after the first four months with my Nissan LEAF in an earlier blog entry.  After over two years and 20,000 miles, I’m convinced more than ever that electric vehicles (EVs) are the future. While there certainly are improvements I'd like them to make, I don’t see myself buying anything other than an electric car in for the foreseeable future.

To read the rest of this blog entry, please visit its new home on Principled Technologies' Tech Everywhere.   

The act of giving thanks

Susie's traditional, and delicious, holiday cranberry jello

It is that time of year when most folks’ minds turn to being thankful. That is, of course, entirely appropriate. I know that I have been blessed and have much to be thankful for. I’m thankful for my gracious God, my beautiful wife, my wonderful family, my great friends, the hard-working folks at my company, my church, my health, and so many more things that did not immediately pop into my mind.

My pastor’s sermon on Sunday morning, however, made me think about another aspect of thankfulness. He pointed out the importance of expressing thankfulness to others. We often make a point of having an attitude of gratitude, but don’t bother to express that gratitude to others.

I’ve often thought about how the apostle Paul had plenty of reason to complain given his situation. He was imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, driven out of town, and beaten, among other things. Instead of lamenting his situation, he was thankful to God. 

What I had not thought about before was how he expressed his thanks to those around him. For example, early in his letter to the Philippians he says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first days until now.” (By the way, note the use of “you all” in the Bible!) How must reading that have made the folks at Philippi feel? Here was Paul, the great champion of the faith, saying how thankful to God he was for them.

Crucially, Paul was very specific. He didn’t just say, “I’m thankful for you guys.” Instead of a cheap, general blanket thanks, he told them he was thankful for how they had been both early adopters of the gospel and had remained faithful. (See also Romans 1:8; Ephesians 1:15-16; Philippians 1:3-5; 2 Thessalonians 1:2-3; and 1 Timothy 2:1 for similar examples in Paul’s letters.)

I’m going try and follow Paul's example by doing my best to be specifically thankful to people during the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hopefully, by the end of that time, I’ll be in the habit of being more vocal with my thanks. You have to admit, it is hard to see a downside to trying this!

So, thanks for reading this blog. I really do appreciate you and the other folks who take some of their precious time to read what I may have time to say. I hope you take this entry to heart and express your thanks to those around you. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kermit oral history panel update

Around a year and a half ago I wrote about my trip to NYC and the interview I participated in for an oral history project on Kermit. I had a great time reminiscing and spending time with Frank da Cruz, my boss at the time and the person who did the most over the years to make the Kermit file transfer protocol, programs, and project so successful.

The Computer History Museum recently released a transcript of the interview, as well as another one from an interview with Joe Doupnik who worked on Kermit after I had left Columbia University. My guess is that none of you will want to read through these transcripts, but I’m happy and proud that my work is now a part of the museum. I guess that means I am now officially an old, museum piece.

A picture from the era when I worked on Kermit

As the picture shows, I was pretty young (about 23) when I started working on Kermit. I vividly remember the days flying by while I was coding. I would suddenly look up, notice it was dark, and have to run home to my new wife who was wondering where I was.

I wrote the first versions of Kermit in assembly language. Eventually, I wrote a version in C, but assembly language was my favorite.

In those days, open-source software did not really yet exist, but we felt Kermit should be freely shared as broadly as possible. As the Internet was still ARPANET and not widely available, we made the programs and code available on magnetic tapes and eventually floppy disks. We encouraged others to create their own versions and contribute them back to us so we could in turn distribute them to an even wider audience. Those were exciting times and the transcripts give at least some flavor of those times, or at least how we remember them.

Eventually, the Internet largely obviated the need for the Kermit programs and protocols. There are, however, some specific situations where Kermit still is used over 30 years since we first developed it. I consider myself blessed to have had a role in getting it started.

Quick book reviews (#7)

Here is another set of brief reviews of books I recently read. These reviews use a scale of one to five stars based on Library Thing (where I post these reviews as well). I am a tough grader and seldom give out the full five stars, so keep that in mind when looking at my ratings.

The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance by Randy Alcorn (3.5 stars)

Alcorn looks at balancing truth (which can be harsh) with grace (which can be too gentle). Generally, most Christians fall more to one side or the other of this balance. Some think that telling other folks they are wrong is the most important thing and believe they are doing so in love. Others instead favor showing grace and forgiveness over worrying about what the sin may be. Alcorn attempts to show the correct balance between these two extremes. My main complaint with the book is that it does not consider the proper way to speak or show truth to others. As a silly example, telling someone they should not steal office supplies is unlikely to do much good. Mentioning that I had had an issue with something similar and how I came to understand my error and found some techniques to help overcome the temptation is more likely to be of help. Both approaches may be speaking truth, but one is more likely to do any good. Alcorn’s book is a short one that can easily be read in an hour or two. I would recommend this to Christians trying to understand the proper balance between showing grace and speaking truth to those around them.

Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape: The Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil, the First Five-Times Winner of the Tour de France by Paul Howard (2.5 stars)

Howard pulls off a remarkable feat in this book—he makes boring the life a five-time Tour de France winner who had an affair with his doctor's wife, married her, had a child by (and an affair for twelve years with) her daughter, and finally broke up his marriage by having an affair with his step-son’s ex-wife who he ultimately married. While the book is full of interesting facts and controversial topics, it fails to be compelling. The reason may be that the author does not do much in the way of finding trends among the facts or of trying to reconcile competing viewpoints of the people he spoke with. Despite the flaws, I would recommend this book to anyone curious about a very different era in cycling, the 1960s.

More than Meets the Eye: Fascinating Glimpses of God’s Power and Design by Richard A. Swenson (3.0 stars)

Swenson’s book is a journey through a number of areas of science to show how they point to the hand of God, the Creator. He describes in great detail topics such as how finely tuned conditions are for human life and the incredible complexity of both the universe and the human body. I really enjoyed Swenson’s books on maintaining margin in our lives, but I was less impressed by this one. That may be because many of the things he cites were not new to me and seemed somewhat repetitive. The book is also a bit dated as it was first published in 2000. Despite those reservations, it can be fun to read. I would recommend this book to Christians who don’t have a lot exposure to the wonder of science, especially those who may not be familiar with some of the work of Michael Behe and other intelligent design proponents.

Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality by Wesley Hill (4.0 stars)

Hill's book is a self-exploration of his homosexuality in light of his Christian faith. He details his life and his decision to live as a Christian, celibate homosexual. Hill does not pretend that the decision was an easy one nor that living such a life is simple or without struggles. Instead, he openly and honestly shares of his life, both failures and triumphs. I recommend this book to anyone looking to better understand the lives and choices facing homosexual Christians.

I am running behind on reviewing books I've read, so I should have another set of these in a couple weeks. Well, that is my goal, at least!

Bolivian sabbatical video

I’ve described in earlier blog entries Principled Technologies’ (PT’s) sabbatical program as well as the sabbatical videos we have been creating about some of them. 

As you can see below, we just finished the video about my 2011 sabbatical. I can't say as that I particularly like looking at myself in the video. (Where did those crows' feet come from?) Despite my discomfort, I think the PT studio team did a great job of putting together the video. 

 

Watching the video brings back fond memories of my sabbatical trip 18 months ago as well as my most recent trip less than a month ago. I especially love how they worked Bárbara's wonderful artwork into the opening sequence.
 
I'm proud of PT's sabbatical program for both giving people seven paid weeks off every seven years and for encouraging people to do something good in the world during that time. I'm even more proud of what PT employees have done over the past few years through that program--helping causes as varied as the homeless, orphans, and endangered species on four continents. 

I look forward to the future sabbatical efforts of folks from PT. And, the resulting videos!  

I hope and pray that, in some small way, we will make an impact for the better in the world.

Cochabamba, Bolivia

The day after leaving from the beach following Becky’s wedding ceremony, I headed to Cochabamba, Bolivia. I went to spend time with the orphans cared for by the Amistad Mission. I’ve been to Cochabamba to work with Amistad three times before over the last 14 years and I now am trying to go at least once a year. 

Some of the mountains surrounding Cochabamba

Because of many other things going on this fall, it was a fairly short trip. I went by myself this time, but never felt lonely. How could I? I was often with people I’ve come to know and love over the past few years.

Cochabamba is at an altitude of 8,000 or more feet, but is ringed by even higher mountains. The weather is nice most of the year. The city is sometimes called the City of Eternal Spring and is generally arid with pleasant temperatures. There was some rain while I was there but the temperature was in the 70s or low 80s most days, though it got cool in the evenings.  

Typical breakfast at La Morada

I spent much of my time at La Morada, a facility for visitors like myself that Amistad runs. It is the place where I slept, did lots of reading, took warm showers, drank safe water, and ate many of my meals. Doña Celia made sure there was always plenty to eat. Between those meals and the restaurants I went to, I managed to gain weight (as I usually do in Bolivia) in a third-world country.

My trip was made even better by my wonderful translator/tour guide, Sarah. She was there to translate when I needed her, but let me stumble through things when I thought I could. More importantly, she put up with me and was fun to be around. 

Bárbara helps show off the mariposas

I spent my time mostly just being with kids and the people that care for them.Part of each day I was at La Villa which is a group of buildings that serve as homes where the children are raised in family groups, each led by a mamá.  

Life at La Villa goes at a much slower pace than I’m used to. I was able to wander around and visit with different children, most of whom I had met on previous trips. Sarah was usually with me to help me communicate with the children. I had plenty of time to hang out in the library and help some of them with their homework. I also had time to work on some crafts with Bárbara and her house. At her request, I brought down some supplies for making a butterfly mobile. (Thanks to Gina for getting the supplies for me!) While I don’t claim to be as artistic as she is, we worked together and created a couple mobiles like the one in the picture above.

Bill, the gardener, in action

One of the ironies of the week was that I spent some time gardening, which I normally hate. Mamá Jhenny has her own little garden and she had me digging rows for her to plant onions. I had a great time, though I may have cut the vine of her favorite pumpkin. She smiled at me and did not seem to mind. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Enjoying dinner with some of the college students

I also had the opportunity to have dinner with some college students at a nice restaurant, Paprika. They had grown up as children in La Villa, but were now in college studying areas as diverse law, accounting, sociology, and civil engineering. They told me about their studies and their challenges. One of the girls remembered Becky from when she first visited in 1998. We ate a good meal, laughed a lot, and generally had a great time together.

Working hard to finish the ice cream

I spent Saturday afternoon with the children and mamá of Casa Amanecer. We took them to Globos where they had lots to eat including way too much ice cream. Some of the little ones made more of a dent in the generous portions of food than I thought was possible. 

After eating ourselves silly we went bowling. Even the little boys had a blast rolling the ball down the lane. Hitting any of the pins was a bonus. I bowled terribly and lost to Dunia and Marinely. There seemed to be bowling balls, kids, pins, and kids everywhere. It was chaos. It was wonderful.

Dunia and Marinely say their victorious goodbyes

I also had the privilege of spending a decent amount of time with the Bolivian director of Amistad, Lila. She even took me to her church on Sunday where we sang choruses in Spanish. I felt myself crying at one point. It was so touching to be with a fellow group of Christians half a world away. 

I managed to get much of the gist of the sermon in Spanish. It was about the importance of the family. Though some of the specific examples were very Bolivian, most of it would have been equally applicable in my church in the US.

Goodbyes with Bárbara and Casa San Francisco

I’ve tried to understand why I love going to Amistad so much. I’m not sure what it is, but there is something special about the people, both the children in the orphanage and the people who work with them. I’ve been told that my pictures from Bolivia seem to show me with a real smile rather than the often awkward one I have in most photos. Bolivia is the place where I feel the most free to smile, laugh, and cry. I can’t wait to go back.

Beware, however, I will be trying to convince you to come with me the next time I go!