This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter).
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A couple of weeks ago now I got an email from my mother. Out of the blue she had heard from Mike, one of my two best friends from when I lived in Durham, NC. With the exception of one year I split between Indianapolis and Washington, DC that was pretty much from Age 5 to Age 12. (OK, I also lived there a couple years when I was around 2 years old, but I don’t remember that.) I hadn’t checked my messages yet, but turned out Mike had also left me a voice mail on my cell phone. If I had spoken to Mike since I was 12, I can’t clearly remember it.
It has been a couple weeks. Busy weeks here for sure, but I also admit to putting off calling him back. After not speaking to someone for, well, over 20 years… I was just a little nervous. Today I finally called him.
The picture above shows Don (left), Mike (center) and me (right) back in Durham. We were pretty much inseperable for those years I lived there. One of my earliest memories, although perhaps I remember describing the memory more than I remember the actual event, is arriving in Durham and pulling up in front of our apartment, then as I got out of the car having Don and Mike run down Bay street asking “Who is the new kid?!”. From then on after school usually consisted of Don and Mike coming over to my house to play. Everything from lego to computer games and D&D. In later years we were joined by Bryant who also lived near by.
For 6th grade I was gone (the aforementioned Indianapolis and DC), but came back briefly for 7th grade. Then my mom and I moved to Frederick, MD. One time Don visited us in Maryland. (And maybe Bryant? I can’t remember.) For some reason Mike couldn’t come that time. But other than that we almost immediately lost touch. Hey, I was 13. We were hundreds of miles apart. That tends to be what happens. Maybe it would less in this time of email and cellphones and everything, but certainly back then…
Next time I remember hearing from any of them was when I was a senior at CMU. 1992 or 1993 I guess that would make it. Bryant had looked up my mother and myself. To let us know he was in the Army in Germany and doing well. I remember my mom had some additional contact at some point or another, I think finding out that Don had a child. But that was many years ago.
So this time Mike was thinking about us, and using the wonders of Google found my dad’s phone number, who in turn gave him my mom’s number and my own. Thus the phone calls.
So anyway, I called Sunday afternoon. Got Mike on the phone. It was very good to talk to him. But it caused all sorts of mixed emotions, because there was mixed news. Mike is doing great. Has a long term girlfriend. Has stayed on the straight and narrow. Is doing well as a sales rep for a major food company in the central North Carolina area.
Don had not fared as well. He apperantly started to get into all kinds of trouble in high school and while he would occationally straighten out, he kept getting in trouble. He died almost a decade ago while awaiting trial for bank robbery. If I’d ever heard that news before today, I had blocked it completely from my mind. Perhaps my mom had found out and told me years ago when it happened. I don’t know. If so, like I said, I had completely wiped it from my mind. It came as a shock for me when Mike told me. After the call was over, I broke down a bit while telling Brandy about the call. It is a decade too late, and it has been over two decades since we had seen each other, but the news brought me back to those days and I shed a few tears. Don was a good kid. But something happened. And I hadn’t even known. I feel horrible for not having kept in touch all these years. It happens I guess, but still…
Mike knew less about Bryant. It had been a number of years since he had heard from him. But last he heard Bryant was getting in trouble too, and wasn’t in a stable situation shall we say.
In part, Mike was calling to thank me and my mom for being there when he was a kid and providing some experiences and structure he might not have had, and expressing his gratitude, because he thinks that our influence helped keep him from the fates of our two friends, and led him to a better result.
I dunno. Maybe there was something there, but… Mike, you did it all yourself. The others were there too and had all the same “influences”. You made the right choices and kept things together for yourself. You made good choices, they did not. You deserve all that credit, not us. But if we did have any part in it, I am glad we did. I’m just sorry it did not turn out as well for the others.
And I want to thank you as well. And the others if I could. For almost seven years you were my best friends and my constant companions. We were a team. And every once in awhile when those days come to mind, they are almost all happy memories. I think of “Don and Mike and Sam” (and later Bryant) and a smile comes to my face. I remember days making forts in the living room. I remember a treehouse in my back yard. I remember many many days of building things with Lego and running storylines with the characters and ships we created. I remember playing in the park and running around the neighborhood on foot and by bike. I remember you defending me from the “big kids” when they came around occationally. I remember making snow men in the lawn. I remember trips to the beach and the museum. It was a good time.
Thank you Mike for calling and reminding me of all that. Lets not let it be another 20 years.
Tonight I’ll raise a glass to Don’s memory, send a wish Bryant’s way that things will improve, and be thankful that things have turned out well for Mike.
To old friends and memories…
As of this morning, it appears I am now in the sales portion of my organization rather than where I was before. All I will say for now is that this is one place I *never* expected to be. There are a number of ramifications to this, but I will leave all other judgement pending until events work themselves through over the next couple of months.
Just as a reminder to everybody, on November 10th of last year, I posted this:
Treo Number Four
So today at lunch I went with Brandy and exchanged my Treo 600 for a new one under warrentee. Right now it just finished resyncing with my laptop to restore all my contacts and programs and such. This is now my FOURTH Treo 600!!!
#1) Ordered right after the things first came out. Got it all set up. Loved it. Used it a lot. One day, the screen just was blank. Backlight on, nothing there. It was a decent flashlight, but no longer a phone. I paniced and was all upset, ready to buy a new one. Brandy made me go to the Sprint store though. They said “looks like you killed it” and then went into the back and got me a brand new one in the box. This was while we were still in PA.
#2) While I was going back and forth between FL and PA (March through June) I was doing conference calls a lot, so I bought a headset for the phone. I proceeded one day to wrap the headset around the phone, stick it in my pocket, and then sit on it. The headset had a remote control volume and microphone thingy that would normally hand down and you talk near it. Well, it is a kind of bulky thing, and when I sat on it, it pressed into the screen, because the way I had wrapped it, the bulky part was on the screen side this time, and not on the hard back of the Treo. The screen was smashed to smithereens. This time the Sprint store told me that this was NOT covered under warentee, cause, well, I had smashed it. I had to buy a brand new one full price. Bastards.
#3) When I get calls on my cell at work… or when I have to make a call, I go outside. Two reasons: One, reception in this building sucks because it is basically a metal box. Two, my office has tall walls and a door, but the walls do not go all the way to the ceiling, and are pretty thin anyway. There is no privacy. So I go talk on the phone in the parking lot. Well… in the summer in Florida when you go stand in a parking lot it is HOT. And when it is hot I, well, um, tend to sweat just a tad. After a 15 minute phone call, my face is soaking wet. And, since I am holding the phone next to my head, so is the phone. And I have discovered that Treos don’t like being soaking wet. The phone would start to flip out and do all sorts of random things. The keyboard would become unresponsive. The screen would sometimes work and sometimes not. After a few hours it would all dry out and work OK again. Well… the first few times anyway. Eventually some of the buttons stopped working completely. Namely the “Alt” button that lets you type symbols like @ when you are doing email. And the shift key, that lets you do capitals. And the space bar, which, well, does spaces. Finally the zero key started to be erratic. And while I used the touch screen to actually dial phone numbers, you have to use the zero on the keyboard when you go through those menus and stuff for customer service. I kind of needed the zero. Anyway, I’m not really sure if it was the sweat or not, but this time Sprint gave me a warentee replacement. (And even if they hadn’t, after #2 I signed up for the $4 per month phone insurance to replace the phone for a small deductible if I destroy it.)
#4) The one I picked up today. This time instead of a brand new one in the box with all the accessories I got a “factory refurbished” one. Oh well. I was hoping for a new one again, but given the situation I won’t complain too much. This one looks like new anyway. I also bought a new case for it that completely encases the Treo, with a clear plastic front that you can actually use the touch screen and all the buttons through. So I never have to take it out of the case. Ever. So I should be able to sweat on it if I have to. And I got a new headset, but one big enough and oddly shaped enough I will not be tempted to put it in my pocket. It stays in the car use for hands free driving only, not for normal use when I’m not driving. So hopefully this one will be OK. And if I do destroy it by mistake, I have that insurance now.
Of course, now there is a Treo 650. I of course want one. Next time I kill the 600, maybe I’ll be able to upgrade. But as usual, there are a BUNCH of things on the “to buy” list ahead of that…
So for now, I’ll see how long I can make Treo #4 last. They seem to be averaging about 3 to 4 months each.
So, the answer is, Treo #4 lasted 136 days. That’s about four and a half months.
Just days after I got Treo #4 I noticed a couple of stray orange pixels. Several more orange pixels joined every few days, evolving from a couple orange dots, to a couple of big orange blotches on the screen with a little string of orange in between. For the most part I could see, but every one in awhile something I needed to see was under the orange spot. And a couple weeks ago, a part of the screen started to lose contrast. So there were two big orange spots and another dim spot. So, finally took it to the Sprint store. Yup, warentee issue. They ordered me another one. (Refurb again I think.)
And so, here I am, Treo #5.
I told the guy at the Sprint Store that this was my 5th one. He was like “Hmm, if this happens again, maybe we can move you to something else.” I told him I’d only be interested int he 650. If they offer to replace this one when it dies with a 650, I would not object at all.
So, Judging by the average lifetime of these, I expect this one to last until July or August.
We shall see!
I normally don’t make posts while I am at work, but I will make an exception for this. I actually missed the exact moment, which was yesterday, but at 18:34 UTC Yesterday (March 22nd 2005) I had been with my current employer for exactly 365.2422 days, otherwise known as a year. Woo!
There have been a few ups and downs and some stress at times, but that is normal. (And to be honest, right now is one of those stressful points.) But for the most part, behing here has been a very positive experience. I enjoy what I do, I like the people here, and there is lots of room for growth and learning, which is important. I work long hours, and am often tired, but I am (for the most part) having fun. And I think I am being useful to the company.
It has been a good year. It is hard to believe it has in fact already been a year. It seems like it has gone by so fast. And I still feel like the “new guy” although at this point there are a lot of people here who started after I did. But still.
Anyway, it has been good. And it has been a year.
Woo!
Don’t have time to get into details here, but suffice it to say that between the 401K loan from 2003 that converted to taxible income (including 10% penalty for early withdrawal) when I officially left my employer at the beginning of 2004, and the fact that my current employer filed all of the reimbursements they gave me to cover the cost of moving from PA to Florida as actual income (from which nothing was withheld of course), I am getting absolutely hammered by a large tax bill that I was not properly prepared for. (I anticipated the 401K thing, but not really the other.)
Given that things were still in the “tight phase” from buying the new house anyway, this will really, really, really suck. So far I have just Turbo Taxed it, but I’ll be seeing an actual real live professional within the next week or so to see if there is anything I have missed that can be used to pull the bill down some. Then I’ll figure out just what has to happen to get the bill payed. (Including that payment plan thing.) Also exploring if how my empoyer reported things was an error which can be corrected, or if that is how it was actually supposed to be.
And I haven’t even calculated the PA tax for the 6 months of 2004 I lived there yet. I’ll probably owe a bit more for that too.
ARGH!
Taxes are evil.
Just an update on Brandy’s mom for those who have not been checking Brandy’s blog posts. Brandy’s mom is out of the hospital, and for the moment her doctors have decided to treat her medically rather than with additional surgery. She still has pains, although hopefully the new meds will help. And they will have to keep a close eye on her and reevaluate occationally. But things are looking better than they did last week.
I’ve been busy lately and have not had much time to blog (or answer email, sorry). But it is a weekend so I have a little time and I need to note this item at least, even if I don’t have time for anything else. Brandy’s mom is in the hospital again. Very stressful on all of us. :-(
Drunken Sailor: Moms
Monday we will have a better idea as to what is wrong and how to fix it and whether I will need to hop on the next plane to take care of her until she is back on her feet. I think she has worked up to an expectation of another bypass to replace the 10 year old graft and the stents of last month, and that will mean a month of no driving and taking iteasy, then a gradual return to the real world and a more normal level of activity.
I’m trusting all will be well. But at this point we are preparing for Brandy to need to fly home to PA and for me to take care of Amy here by myself for perhaps an extended period of time if it is needed. Hopefully it will not be.
So as of a few days ago the pool was finally clear of all the muck that had been left in it by the previous owners. And we got the pool care lesson from the pool people that cleaned the pool. And so for the last week Brandy has been finishing up the final bits and cleaning it and balancing the chemicals and such every day. We haven’t got the pool heater set up yet. It is out of fuel and we haven’t called to get it refilled yet. But it is a lovely blue clor now and it looks pretty clean.
So, today, while looking at it, I waited for no golfers to be on the tee right next to our house, then while standing next to Brandy, I just stepped off the edge into the deep end… fully clothed. I didn’t stay in long. Just about 15 seconds as I swam from the deep end to the shallow end then got out…. standing completely and totally drenched in long pants and a button down shirt… at least until I was able to get out of the soaked clothes and into a bathrobe. But hey, the pool is now officially open!!!
About an half hour later, we let Amy swim too. Um, also fully clothed. We had been planninng on leaving to run some errands and didn’t want to actually get all into pool mode. But we let her in her clothes and she has been swimming for over half an hour now. It is a little chilly still. Pool water temp is only 63 degrees. But once you are in for a few minutes you get used to it. She is having a blast. We are going to enjoy this pool a lot I think. Especially once it is just a little bit warmer.
I am very tempted to get back in and swim and play a little. Not fully clothed again though. That felt icky. Of course, my preference by far is skinny dipping. Not a big fan of swim suits if I can avoid them. They are icky. :-) But Brandy says with the 17th tee of the golf course only 10 feet away and such that would be a bad idea, so suits may have to be involved at least some of the time. Drat. Oh well, we’ll work something out I am sure. :-)
But anyway, pool is open!! Woo! Time for more fun swimming!
First ten things to come to mind to blog as I surf the websites I check regluarly (see left column):
* I’m in the New York area for business, and this time I am not sick! Woo! One of my co-workers is sick though, so I guess it all balances out. Matt from my previous job now joins me at my current job. He is a great addition. Today was his first day. We started him right out at a client. It went very well. It is now snowing hard. Tomorrow morning’s meetings might be messy. (OK, that one wasn’t from my usual sites, it was from what it going on, just throwing it in.)
* My mom reprints an article by my dad on drops in donations to Africa after the tsunami. No real thoughts here by me, just a note, and a link to complete the three way family article linkage.
* Brandy is posting again. Apperantly she has found and unpacked the tarot.
* A thread on the TivoCommunity site links to a site with pictures of all sorts of incidents with planes. I immediatley thought Ivan would like this.
* Rumors of Apple Buying Tivo: This has been going around for awhile, but seems to have gotten more attention in the last few days. I wouldn’t lay odds on it happening, but I would be quite happy if it did. Tivo was great, but has been struggling lately to stay in the game and keep ahead of the rapidly approaching competition. An infusion of Apple influence and money might be one of the only ways to get it back in shape to stay the best. And Apple has a long track record of knowing how to survive as a premium product with low market share for those who care more about the total quality of the product than the cost.
* Earlier this week I finally got a Florida Driver’s licence. Woo! Go me! (Also not from a site, but hey!)
* A little while ago the GPS Info noted that Garmin posted the manual to the new Street Pilot c330. Unfortunately it looks like they DID dumb down the interface, removing some of the geek features that I like. So my object of GPS lust remains for now the Street Pilot 2620.
* The bulb on my InFocus X1 reached the end of its life span and popped a few days ago. At the moment we are watching TV on a rtegular old fashioned TV. It makes me very sad. There are other priorities in the budget though, so it will be awhile until we get a new bulb for the thing.
* Speaking of Tivo, the kinds of applications that are being developed now that Tivo has released their developmetn kit are really cool. I honestly thought this would mostly be lame, but some of these are actually interesting and useful. It will be interesting to see how they capitalize on this sort of thing going forward. (Found through PVRBlog.)
* I am in a hotel, away from home. There will be a meeting with a client in the morning if the weather allows, then lunch, then it will be time to be home. Looking forward to it. Home is nice. I like being home. A nice weekend relaxing and doing things around the house. Sounds fun. :-)
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