The Severed Cortex

So far everything is going well. Monday was orientation where we covered benefits, mission statement, compliance, and had lunch in the executive dining room. At the end of the day we watched a video on harassment. It was kind of funny. The examples they use in the video are so over the top that if anyone actually did do something like that, one would take it as a joke. It seems ridiculous to have to show a video like that in this day and age, but I guess people are stupid. They don't put instructions on a shampoo bottle for no reason. On Tuesday I had to sit through four hours of Siebel CRM training. It wasn't too bad. After training they took me out to lunch and when I returned I got to start setting up my new office. Yes, I have an office. My very first one. It's small and the window looks out onto the wall of the building next door, but it is an office with real walls and a door nonetheless. Today was my first day in the St. Louis office with my new boss. It looks like, so far, I'm going to be able to bring this business up to speed however I want to. Nice, but I've got a ton of stuff to learn. Based on lunch today, which also included the IBM Intel platform channel rep, I've got several tons of stuff to learn.

In orientation on Monday I received a new laptop, a Lenovo T61 Thinkpad, which weighs like 2 ounces and doesn't crash every 30 minutes like my Magellan HP laptop did. I also got a new Motorola Moto Q and even though my personal one is only 6 months old, this new one is way cooler. This new one has a better interface for some reason, even though both are Windows Mobile 6. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with my only 6 month old Moto Q. In addition, LRS gave us a free jacket or parka, our choice. I chose the jacket. They aren't cheap jackets or parkas either. They have zip out liners and hoods and are made of high quality material. So, to sum up, I've worked there three days, received a new laptop, a new smartphone, a new jacket, a gift basket, and three free lunches, two of which were pretty nice. I can get used to these perks.

Link: http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=370743&altf=Esfx&altl=Nppsf

Three weeks until vote day. Vote for Drew.

Credit to Jay for the link.

Link: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282850344

In normal years, knocking off Vanderbilt would be old news even for a Mississippi State team that is clearly not quite as good as last year. However last year Vandy went to a bowl game so they aren't exactly the SEC doormats anymore. Coming into Starkville this week the Commodores were ranked 13th in the country. Not any more. State finally showed up for a game and knocked Vandy down a peg or two. Now, one has to wonder whether Mississippi State really does have a decent team or not. State has a winnable game at Tennessee, followed by the homecoming patsy Middle Tennessee State, and if both of those turn out positive, the Bulldogs are back to .500 at 4-4. Perhaps this season is still salvageable.

Link: http://www.lrs.com

I came home today to find a box addressed to me from my new employer. Turns out it was a gift basket. I haven't worked a day for them yet and already they are sending me a gift basket full of goodies. There was a travel coffee mug, a gold keychain, a clip for holding my badge, a t-shirt, a mouse pad, some assorted pens and pencils, a note pad, a can coolie, and some candy. Sweet!
I've never had that happen before.

Link: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/C8A40753ED4823BC862574DC00170C66?OpenDocument

His daughter must be devastated. I feel for her.
This is a very nice article and it deserves to be on the front page. If you want to understand why this country values greed and selfishness look no further than this example. A man who has influenced countless people is relegated to a side story in the Sports page in his 'hometown' paper, while that slimeball Tom Lakin is on the front page.

I'm off my soapbox now. I really like how Derrick Goold said his "fingerprints are all over the history of the Cardinals' franchise". Very apropos. Goold's writing is really growing on me.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26092641/

Makes me sad to see bacon denigrated like this. How many times do I have to say it!? Bacon is nature's most perfect, naturally occurring food. The majesty of the bacon tree glistening in the fall dew is unmatched by any other.

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3630931&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines

He has worked for the Cardinal Organization for seven decades and is the longest tenured person in major league baseball. Every infielder who has come through the Cardinal organization can probably say that George Kissell taught them something. Scott Rolen is a hell of a defensive third baseman, maybe the best since Brooks Robinson, but even he admitted that George Kissell taught him a thing or two.
Get well George. The Cards need you on the field in Spring Training next year.

I haven't been to an air show since somewhere around the Carter administration. We lived near Eaker Air Force base as a kid and they flew C-130 cargo planes and B-52 bombers out of it. We'd always see them flying training missions over our houses when we were kids, but every year they'd actually have an air show where you could look inside the planes. I know my parents never took me to any shows, but I do remember going with someone. Somewhere after high school they shut the base down and of course the entire town of Gosnell, Arkansas went with it.

Someone at work, most likely Barb Brown whose husband Paul is stationed at Scott Air Force Base, left a flyer in the break room about the upcoming air show. I always thought they were pretty cool and I knew an eleven year old boy would like it so I set the thing up. I picked up Robert late in the morning and we headed to Shiloh in the misty rain. The forecast called for the rain to stop, but I was starting to wonder if it might not be true. We stopped at Ruby Tuesdays in Fairview Heights to load up on food and to hope that the rain would stop. Robert, as usual, got chicken fingers. I, as usual, asked from which part of the chicken the finger actually came from. Robert had no answer. I had the mini burgers. I don't know who invented mini burgers, but that dude is a genius. He's not as much of a genius as the guy who invented Cheetos, or the guy who invented the tight white shirt for women, but he is genius nonetheless. There's something about tiny burgers that makes one feel like a giant eating them, and it doesn't hurt that Ruby Tuesdays has some pretty tasty ones. I scarfed them down, then tried to make Robert pay. He gave me the whole "I don't have money" routine again.
We had three choices to get to the air base. Choice one involved the Metrolink to Scott station, followed by a bus ride to the airstrip. Choice two involved driving near Scott, followed closely by trying to find a place to park. Choice two was not recommended. Choice three was to park at the pinnacle of pork barrel spending, Mid America airport, and take a bus to the airstrip. We chose the latter. It wasn't the fastest way in the gate but it certainly was easy. By the time we parked the rain had pretty much quit.
Once we arrived at the airstrip gate, we were wanded with metal detectors and had our gear searched through. Wouldn't want any terrorists I suppose. There were all kinds of planes available to tour, but we only went through a couple. Shortly after we arrived, Nancy and her little sister Celeste and her niece Katy called to say they were on a bus out to the airstrip. We waited for them to show up. Once they did, we headed out to the flight line to watch the planes. We caught a glimpse of a B-52 flying around while we were coming in on the bus. A F-15 did some maneuvers for the crowd as we were coming in the gate, and as we were heading to find a nice spot to watch, a FA-18 Hornet was pulling some sweet tricks. One of the coolest was to get the water vapor rolling over the wings creating a cloud that sort of surrounded the aircraft. Basically it happens when the plane breaks the sound barrier. That's Mach I for those of you playing at home. After that, the Lucas Oil stunt plane came out and did a ton of really cool tricks, followed by an old barnstorming bi-plane that tried to do the same. It couldn't muster the same kind of awesome tricks the tiny Lucas Oil plane could. The barnstormer sported a 110-HP Continental engine and the prop on it was almost as loud as the jet engines. Almost.

Finally, around 2:30, the main attraction started gearing up. I'd seen the Blue Angels practicing one day over San Francisco Bay a couple of years ago but I'd never seen the Air Force Thunderbirds before. Basically they are the same, but I guess Navy pilots and Air Force pilots would beg to differ. The Thunderbirds put on a great show flying back and forth across the flight line. The did the normal tricks like flying towards each other and turning at the last minute, the standard eight point rotations, and the totally cool trick of flying at the lowest speed possible while still remaining aloft. But, to me, the most amazing thing is watching them fly in formation. Correction. Flying in formation, executing a turn and still remaining inches from each other at 800+ mph was the most amazing. It's unbelievable how those guys can do that and there must be an extra big compartment in the cockpit to house the cojones one must have to even try something like that. Robert watched in amazement and so did I.

Once the show was over, we headed back home. Nancy and I had a dinner to go to in St. Louis so Robert played Guitar Hero while we got ready. I don't think he minded.

Some pics
Thunderbird Formations: 1 2 3
Thunderbird in slow motion
Robert sees something cool
Our friends

Link: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/6B34C908BEEAB601862574D8000E0476?OpenDocument

Remember Lawrence Phillips, the guy who Dick Vermeil tried to save but couldn't? Now he joins O.J. in jail, and he might get to stay there a very long time.

Link: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/1C32251C61FC57D2862574D800130551?OpenDocument

Dave Duncan, the pitching guru that makes mediocre pitchers into good pitchers, will get one more year to team up with Tony LaRussa and hopefully bring home a world championship. You can't argue with Duncan's track record, but I sure don't like the kind of pitchers he does. I'd rather go with the flame throwing fastball guys rather than the junk ball pitchers he favors. The Cardinals have plenty of money to spend and hopefully they can bring in one true ace to throw BB's and Duncan can work his magic on the other four starters.