Take this opportunity to make sure your site is properly backed up.  And while you’re at it, upgrade WordPress too.

The surest way to be interrupted at your desk is to put on some headphones and turn on a good album.

And there’s an interesting corollary:

The surest way to NOT be interrupted at your desk is to put on some headphones and play NO MUSIC AT ALL.

After sleeping in till 10:30 (due to a late night up in Hollywood catching District 9 with some old friends), we ate a breakfast of waffles and bacon with pineapple and apple juice.  We took our time and really enjoyed each other’s company.

Then, after cleaning up and getting directions, we headed up to the Van Nuys Airport.  Ever since I saw One Six Right, I wanted to go up to Van Nuys to see the airport firsthand and of course, to watch the airplanes.  We first tried the little viewing area to the west of the airport.  It’s a good area to sit and watch the planes come in, but isn’t the best for taking pictures or getting very close to the aircraft.  So, thanks to a posting on airliners.net, we went to the other side of the airport to the intersection of Arminta and Hayvenhurst.  The view wasn’t any better over there, but just before the corner we spotted several old airplanes and decided to stop.

The planes all belonged to the Condor Squadron, and we were able to go through the fence and walk among the planes.  They are all AT-6/SNJ trainers that were used in World War II.  We met Chris and John, two members who own individual planes.  They were cleaning up and refueling after doing a simulated dogfight over the Lane Victory earlier in the afternoon.  It was great to talk with them and learn a bit about their planes.  I took quite a few pictures, which I will try to post tomorrow.

After we left Van Nuys, we headed down to LAX and went to the Proud Bird for dinner.  Since we were early (only 5pm), it wasn’t crowded at all and we were able to get a table right on the window.  The prime rib and mashed potatoes were great and we just finished up the day with chocolate cake and a movie.

All in all it was a great day.  Thanks for making it special, babe.

We’ve worked together for more than three and a half years, and in that time, we were able to build some really cool stuff.  We worked together so well that at one point, when we were the only two developers, we were routinely referred to as “Navid,” a portmanteau of our first names.

I will miss him for many reasons, but one sticks out in my mind.  It took me nearly all of the four weeks notice he gave us to finally realize that I’ll miss him because of how much he challenged me.  He was always learning.  And, everything he learned about was relevant to our development in a significant way.  He’d routinely start sentences like “So I read this book over the weekend on data warehousing…” or “Do you know what’s so cool about python decorators?”  When he did, I knew that for the next hour or two of my life, I would be treated to a session of mind expanding dialog.  I know I am not the same person today that I would have been if it weren’t for the last few years, working with him.

So, I’m going to miss him.

I am happy beyond words for the changes he and his family are able to undertake, but I’ll miss him.

Thanks for the time, Dave.  We’ll work together again sometime.

There’s absolutely no pleasing everyone. You can’t and shouldn’t try to make everyone love you. The best you can do is make sure that they’re hating you for the right reasons.

Being a people pleaser by nature, learning the above has been tough for me.  Especially lately.

A friend let me borrow his GH3 for Wii and two guitars.

This game is so much fun, it’s emberrassing.

I want to thank everyone for their great outpouring of sorrow and commiseration when they heard I had reached my 30th birthday.  I guess I have to start “acting my age” and “knowing better,” or something like that.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent a card.

(-:

I saw a Haskell snip today on Slick or Slack, and it definitely piqued my interest.

Jeff Atwood answered my question yesterday.

In case you don’t want to read his whole article, the answer is: ClipX.