2001: Product Placement Oddity

I watch a lot of films. My friends and most of my family have an understanding that when I say a lot.. I mean an unhealthy amount of DVD's and new release movies are part of my daily existance. I also watch some films more than others. 2001: A Space Odessey is one of those films that I've seen dozens of times and each time I see something new or have a new thought or inspiration from this wonderful film. There are many things in life that I have waited for my son to be of age so that I can share them with him (and he might enjoy or get something out of). I felt that it was time for him to watch 2001 the other night. About 26 minutes into the films when the first dialogue is being spoken he started showing signs of being bored. Sigh. Maybe in a few years he'll enjoy it more. We kept watching the film and only about 10 minutes later into the film (at 35:11 to be exact). WHAM! There was my company's (Whirlpool) logo on one of the futuristic appliances. I've been working for Whirlpool for almost four years, primarily focusing on connected/intelligent appliances. My current work has me looking futher into the future in advanced concepts. Well, staring right back at me was a real flash back, an automated food preparation appliance straight from 2001, er... 1963. It was at this point in the film, after taking a screenshot and performing a quick CSI-like photo enhancement that my son said "cool". Not quite the reaction I was hoping for. The pictures are of 1) the food tray, 2) the scene with the appliance and 3) a close up of the logo on the appliance and 1960's Whirlpool logo and insignia for comparison. I'll never look at the film the same way again.. oh btw.. I started working for Whirlpool in 2001.

Mr Toad's Wild Ride

My home has been in a continual state of remodeling for sometime (pix to follow). Two weeks ago I replaced the carpet in the master suite and bath. I removed the carpet myself and it has been piled up in my backyard, underneath my second story window (conveienent). I traveled last week so I delayed in the rental of a dumpster disposing of the carpet and all the other items that seem to accumulate over time, broken lamps, scraps of lumber, etc. Now, as Thomas and I removed the old carpet from the backyard, I spotted something unexpected underneath the last bit of carpet. Hidden from the August sun and the wind I discovered a small toad. He waas initially asleep nd and after we took a few pictures and let him be, he hopped away to find a cooler spot. Thomas was thrilled to find such an interesting creature underneath carpet. Who knew toads preferred plush carpeting? Ah.. what adventure lies in store for us next in the backyard!

Latin Festival, friends & fun

Thomas and I made it to the local Latin Festival where we had some wonderful food brought in by friends at Cravings (a local catering service). We also ran into many friends and coworkers as we sampled the food and cuisine. In the picture Thomas can be seen with some friends he ran into at the Curious Kids Museum tent. Personlly I believe these a succesful weightloss program yet to be invented that involves 30 minutes in a bouncy room.

Latin Festival, friends & fun, originally uploaded by johnmknight.

Another day at the office

Another day at the office, originally uploaded by johnmknight.

RCAngel

RCAngel, originally uploaded by johnmknight.

So... this is Ryan (aka RCAngel for those XBOXers). He works (strong word...) with me at Whirlpool in procurement. He's smiling because he now has a "door" on his deluxe cubuicle. Yeh Ryan...

Another Goodbye...

Well... what a few weeks it's been. Let's recap... my director at work, "J" has moved to Germany (and left the company), James (a former manager and XBOX compadre') has moved to Seattle (read:Amazon.com). Now last week we saw Aaron leave (also moving to Seattle/Amazon.com) with of course this week the natural migration of interns, Jennifer and Jarod, taking place as well. Somewhere in all this is a melanhcoly tune that drones on about seasons and moments in one's life and, oh yes.. change. Well.. change I do. Might even say I've made a living out of it...from software to products now.. I've made changing things, company's and technology my core business. This time.. though.. I'll admit it.. I'm a little tired of it. Rewind just a little bit and I could mention Ali (xbox bro aka AlphaCog), a former coworker and mentor and the list as they say goes on and on. Life's like this. Ebs and flows.. Highs and lows... Right now my companies stock price is hovering at an all time high as is the amount of displaced friends I have at the moment. Ah but the eternal sunshine that is destined to permiate my exsistance shows me that all these friends in all these far off places are on their own journey, as have I been. They were all perfect strangers once, and had we never met by my own travels across this great land.. we would be just that still... perfect strangers. Such is life. They're all still friends (and reading this rolling their eyes no doubt) and they are all still in touch (to some degree). I just don't get to see them at the coffee maker or at lunch and some still make a mockery of me on the xbox. I guess it's true what they say.. the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here's the offical send off and congrats...
Good Luck Ali (congrats and welcome to fatherhood!)
Good Luck James (enjoy the new challenges)
Good Luck J (enjoy family and friends)
Good Luck Aaron (enjoy unpacking, you never truly stop)
Good Luck Jennifer and Jaron (enjoy being engaged and showing off the rock)
Good Luck Andy and Francie (enjoy beeing married and the joys of home ownership)
Good Luck Andrew and Sarah (enjoy the new life and happy birthday)

Remember change is good...