Year: 2011 Page 4 of 11

Day 79 of 1000

Christian and I often talk about what he will do for his career.  His plan is to study hard stuff, find something he likes and go from there.  He has pretty much rejected the idea of getting a degree in Computer Science.  His thoughts are that, when he writes code, he wants to write code to do something rather than for the sake and out of a passion for writing code.  So, after his Math degree, he will probably do something in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, but that is not even set in concrete.

Along that line, I got a note from my buddy Andrew the other day on a C++ library project called Cinder.  I will quote Andrew:

You all might get a kick out of this….  looks like a higher-level API built on top of existing libraries like Standard C++ libraries, Boost, OpenCV, OpenGL, etc. to enable people to write graphically powerful apps without having to fiddle with as many nuts and bolts.

I write C++ code for a living and have wondered how much longer C++ will be a good basis for making a living. The way I figure it, I have, Lord willing, between ten and twenty years left in my career. Like Christian, I do not really like to program, just for the sake of writing a good program or to do generic things. I have a HUGE appreciation for people who do that. They make my life way easier by letting me just write code for the stuff I love (machine vision). The people who do programming for programming sake are also the people who make improvements to language, develop standards, and do all that other stuff that makes programming life easier and more efficient.

Garbage collected languages like Python, Java, and C# have been encroaching on my C++ world for quite a few years now. It is possible to write very good and even efficient machine vision code in those languages. It is often possible to write code more rapidly in those languages, too. They have rich GUI, math, database, and other libraries that make them useful in a lot of different scenarios. It is even possible to write a framework in the garbage collected languages and only dive down into C++ when something needs to run very fast or uses lots of memory that needs to be allocated and deallocated continually.

Still, even though I write some C# and Python–for some reason I have written very little Java, I am not good enough at it yet that I can go dramatically faster in those languages than the C++ I have used for so many year. That is why it give my heart joy to see some graphical programming tools that move C++ a little closer in capability to the newer languages. I read the whole website and was more fired up about my chance to stay with C++ for a few more years. I will continue to work on the new languages, but plan to try out Cinder and look for other such tools.

Note: Part of the reason I started this post out the way I did was I wanted to put up this picture of Christian on his sixteenth birthday.

Day 78 of 1000

Kelly tries to resist Dave’s fruitcake

We went to a Wednesday night bible study with a guy named Dave D. when we lived in Albany, Oregon in the town of Jefferson.  Shortly after Thanksgiving the first year we were there, Dave gave us an aluminum foil wrapped block and told it was his secret recipe fruitcake.  Up until that point, I had not been reticent about expressing my utter disdain for what I thought was a pseudo-food.  Much to my chagrin my impressionable young daughter told Dave, “I hate fruitcake!” and then looked at me for approval.  That was 8-9 years ago and Dave still reminds her of that statement everytime he gets the chance.

We set the aluminum covered block on the console between Lorena and I in our minivan on the way home from the bible study.  I knew that I would feel bad if I did not at least try the stuff, so I could lie to Dave about how good it was when I saw him the following week.  I was STUNNED.  It is not only the best fruitcake I have ever eaten, it is arguably the best cake and maybe even the best dessert I have ever eaten.  The fruitcake was gone by the time we got home.

I LOVE that stuff.  Last year was the third year in a row that we had to live without any of Dave’s fruitcake.  Lorena could not stand it anymore, so she begged Pat (Dave’s wife) to have mercy on us and send the recipe.  The problem is that it is Dave’s SECRET recipe.  He worked for years to refine and improve his recipe.  We were quite saddened when we realized that we were out of luck and suffered through another year without Dave’s fruitcake.  It was a hard year.

Yesterday, however, that all changed.  I got an excited call from Lorena when she got home from her workout at the YMCA.  She had received a care package from Oregon with two (count them–TWO) fruitcakes.  We are wildly grateful!  We have decide to nibble on one over the next couple of days and save the other for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was as good, maybe even better, than we remembered.  If you ever, ever, ever get offered a fruitcake from a guy named Dave in the mid-Willamette Valley, accept it and be very, very thankful.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

Thanks Dave.  We are very grateful and we LOVE your fruitcake.  We will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to remain on your list.

Update: Kelly just messaged me to say that she was traumatized by the event and STILL feels guilty for having said that and cringes everytime she thinks about, but it was worth it as long as the fruitcakes keep coming.

Day 76 of 1000

We returned to standard time this morning so I really should be sleeping instead of writing this post.  I went to bed early because I was tired.  That is why I am up writing this blog post at 6:00 AM.  We had a nice weekend.  Weekends seem to go MUCH better when everyone does well on their tests the week before.  We went to breakfast, as I mentioned yesterday morning, at a restaurant we had never tried before in Fuquay-Varina.  It was a pretty average restaurant with very slow service, but that was a good thing because it was a nice chance to sit and talk.  There were posters for old movies on the wall, one of which Kelly decided she liked a lot with Debbie Reynolds and Leslie Nielsen titled, Tammy and the Bachelor.

Next, we went to the Willow Springs Festival which was essentially a craft fair with a couple of groups playing music at a church in a small community south of Raleigh.  The Wake Technical Community College Ensemble sang as one of the groups.  It is the first chance we have had to hear Kelly sing with the group since she started with them at the beginning of the semester.  All we did after that was work on stuff at home and go to bed early.  It is a good thing, though, because I needed to rest up for the potluck we are having after church today.

Day 71 of 1000

The need to pay for a class that is worse than worthless is a frustration.  The kids’ Argument-Based Research writing class is a required class.  All I felt was a sense of relief when Kelly texted me to say the class was cancelled.  The professor grades them on their writing, kind of, but lectures harangues on a hard left wing, pseudo-libertarian talking points during all of class time.  This includes the beauty of drug legalization, the evil of capitalism, the bankruptcy of Christianity, etc., etc. etc.  We talk about his lectures after class.  The think that boggles my mind is that he appears to be unaware that his arguments for these positions are so sophomoric.  The idea is that it will make the kids really think about what we believe.  He is not bright enough to realize that many, if not most, of the kids in his class have already thought about and correctly rejected his nonsense.  An open mind is a good thing when there are worthy questions and ideas to consider.  He is so wrong about so much, one wonders whether he knows anything about writing.

Still, I pay at least part of his salary, both with my taxes and the kids tuition.