2022 is the year of the flu. Multiple vaccine boosters and shots did not make much of a dent. So far, I’ve successfully navigated Covid in June, stomach flu again in June, and now going through a bout of cold/ cough/ allergy/ flu in December. Without the modern marvels of Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen, the headache and or suffering would be terrible. Flonase and Saline spray decongest the nasal passages. It feels blessed to live now, and not even 100 years prior....

Cavorting in union square is always nice, especially in the fall. Macy’s Christmas tree and the ice rink set the tone for winter festivities in the bay area. Nightly showers created a minty fresh city sidewalks, and the California Sun provided a dollop of sunshine. Luckily on this Sunday, locals prevailed, so the place was not chockablock with brusque photo shoots. Hunting for a restroom is always challenging, but we lucked out in Macys....

Despite our lives being so rich and full of color, I remember very little. Looking at old photographs enhances this feeling even more. How do we make our present more interesting and memorable? An off the cuff comment from my daughter is to have experiences that stick with us. I agree with her. I think the part of having an experience is to journal it along with pictures, so that you can come back to it later on....

Mindfulness is the practice of living in the present.

I previously discussed software feature scope in Quality, time, scope: pick any two. scope skōp noun: scope; plural noun: scopes the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant. “we widened the scope of our investigation” Please keep in mind that we are addressing scope in a narrow sense of developing features for software distributed through the magical powers of the “zero additional” cost internet (after the recurring costs of connectivity, bandwidth, and access device)....

I have a lust-regret relationship with food. I love good food, variety, texture, spices, herbs, smells. Invariably, when I extend myself, I have the following regretful consequences: Weight imbalances that depress my fitness target Stomach upset that invariably happens Adding alcohol makes overeating worse Too much alcohol adds in hangover Changes I did to make this lust turn to love: Measure, measure, measure: I weigh myself daily, and make a note of it in my journal....

One of the corner stone value of my adult life, has been the old adage that “Actions speak louder than words”. The original saying is meant to convey that people’s action show their real attitudes, rather than what they say. Growing up, I was shy and introverted (I still remain that way). My childhood books (and maybe movies) led me to look up to the strong silent protagonist. I also mistook the saying to mean that I do not need to counter people’s assumptions, and that they would see and understand what I have to say by my actions....

“Choose any two: quality, time, or features” is old age wisdom of software project planning. This rule of thumb makes for lively discussions, and used to advantage by many an engineering leader. Lets start with definitions first: Quality refers to known and unknown bugs that lie in the released features. Typically enterprises have SDETs (Software development engineer in test) who help craft a test plan, feature coverage, and regression scenarios to guard against unwanted side effects....

I’ve existed on this revolving rock in space for 50 years. In this time I’ve acted like the needy child of a bird, requiring and craving constant undivided attention, care and praise. It has taken me half a century to realize that I’ve been extremely fortunate and misled at the same time. This post is a cathartic examination of people whose love I have been lucky to experience. My mom, mummy, is the unconditional forever champion of me....

A positive outlook begets success and support, and conversely a negative outlook fosters failure and bitterness. Successful people are optimistic, and bitter people remain pessimistic.