Journal : OpenRoadWorks

When I was in the fifth grade, I went on a family trip to Disney World to experience the magic of, well, the Magic Kingdom. Funny how I can still remember frolicking in the park on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. For a boy of 11 years young, this was great stuff to light up the imagination. Perhaps I had let myself get too old, as I put away those memories in a box labeled "long ago childhood" and forgot about it. Thankfully, Wendy brought up that box again. From the earliest days that we knew each other, she expressed quite an interest in all things Mickey, and we have been planning and planning to go. And now that my inner child is back out of the box, I figured the present is as good a time as any to build on those memories. It turns out that prices were too good to pass up, and our two-year anniversary fell in the following week, so we're going to Disney World! I cannot wait to frolick...

Some of you might relate to the daily agony that is modern corporate life. Our digital world comes replete with fancy tools that allow anyone with a computer to create all kinds of fancy documents and publications. Of course, in comes the business manager who uses these tools to help spur economic activity. That usually means that any number of fancy-tooled employees with half a brain are asked to produce any number of reports, presentations, briefings, and white papers to sate the desire for information on corporate initiatives and operating performance. This is all fine and good. Progress is what some call this novel ability to digitally communicate. What we have not remembered, however, are the old-fashioned principles of moderation and prudence. You see, there was once a time in an analog world far, far away when people physically approached each other to talk face-to-face and engaged in iterative dialogue. Talked things out. Let ideas seep into the sub-conscious and stew a ...

Today is primary day in the United States, the day when candidates are selected to represent their parties in the election day on the first tuesday in November. Since this is what is called a mid-term election - ie. the interim period between presidential elections - the campaign activity is much more subdued. This is the time when certain senate seats get vacated, some politicians retire, and others look to run for school board or county executive. Don't tell these local and state politicians that this off-cycle election is not important - the results directly impact their livelihood for the next couple of years. Perhaps my post is mundane in mentioning the news for today; after all, these are politicians of minimal importance globally and voter turn-out will likely reflect that thought; 25-30% voter turn-out would be considered normal. But I think there is something important about getting involved in the political process, even at the most basic level of participation. Voting i...

News reports today will trumpet words commemorating a tragedy of immense proportions as symbolic buildings in Washington DC and New York City were ripped open and torn apart. In the United States, the day of 911 has taken its own shape as a second Memorial Day, remembered chiefly to appease the psychological pain that has seeped into a national consciousness that no longer feels utterly removed from the rest of the world. Since that fateful day five years ago, Americans hear more about Islam, Pakistan, and a whole series of internationally minded topics than they did before (whether they actually know more as a collective public is a debatable point). And since that fateful day, a whole number of other activities carried out by the US government have placed this country within a new context in world affairs that will affect nearly everyone on the planet for years to come. Dramatic words, I should say. Closer to home, it is my sister's birthday (poor thing that others around her con...