StillSecure, After All These Years

On braces, baseball and Fathers Day

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So it is quite an exciting Fathers Day weekend here at the Shimel house.  On Friday my oldest son Landon, 8, had braces put on his top teeth. I know that 8 is early for braces, but evidently today they do this as a "Phase 1", so that hopefully he won't need them as long later on.  Seeing my little boy come out of the room with braces was quite a sight.  Unlike the trauma that kids had about braces when I was younger, he thought it was awesome.  The picture to the left are not his braces.  Landon's are black and gold, Steeler braces. In 6 weeks they will change them to Yankee blue and white.  Braces have certainly come a long way since I was a kid.  But my son Landon has come a long way too.  Looking at him with his braces and talking to the office staff I realized that the little, fuzzy red headed baby we brought home from the hospital almost 9 years ago now has grown into quite a boy. Where is the little toddler that I would toss a sponge ball to underhand and tell him to use two hands to catch? Could this kid with the catchers mitt catching everything I throw at him and firing it back to me be that baby? 

Saturday is a day filled with both boys. I am taking Landon and Bradley to breakfast and than off to Baseball City to practice our hitting and pitching. Then Bradley has a birthday party he is invited to and Landon and I will go swimming.

Sunday Landon has a travel baseball team game at 10am.  Landon was selected for the team because of the great season he had in Little League and is now in tournaments for the next few weeks. Than we are all going to visit my Uncle and Aunt for Fathers Day at the house near the water with a pool.

I could not think of a better way to spend my Fathers Day weekend. My mother-in-law always used to say that she was the richest woman in the world because of the treasure that were her children.  When I was younger I laughed but would have taken the cash.  As I have grown older and have had a chance to watch my boys grow up and have come to understand what it truly is to be a Father, I know that she was right.  There is nothing like the love of a child and watching, helping and sharing in their adventure that is life.

To all of you celebrating Fathers Day this year whether as a Dad with your own kids or with your own Dad, congratulations and savor every minute of it. Happy Fathers Day!

Long holiday weekend

I am really looking forward to a long holiday weekend with the family. We are driving up to Orlando to stop in Disney World and SeaWorld. Going to check out the new water park they opened there called Aquatica. It has water rides unlike any we have ever seen. A day there and two days at Disney should have the kids in a great mood. Lets see what kind of mood it leaves me in. Waiting on long lines in the sweltering heat is not a lot of fun, plus I can only imagine what it is going to cost to fill up the gas tank to drive up there!

Anyway, won't be much blogging going on this weekend.

Iron Man was just not very magnetic to me

Took the kids to see Iron Man tonight with our cousins Jeri and Danny.  I generally like Robert Downey, Jr and he acted very hard in this movie. However, I just didn't get the story. I remember watching Iron Man cartoons when I was little and reading the comic books, there was some special thing about Iron Man's blood the way I remember it that gave him super hero powers.

In the movie incarnation, Tony Starks is the son of a weapons designer and a brilliant weapons designer himself.  However, he has some serious character flaws. He is kidnapped by some sort of mid-eastern terrorists and take some shrapnel in his chest.  A doctor attaches an electromagnet to a car battery on his chest to keep the shrapnel from going into his heart. Downey then designs some sort of mini-power source to power the electromagnet,  He uses the power source to power a metal suit he builds (long story) and escapes from the terrorists.  From there the movie is fairly predictable and frankly in my opinion not very good.  I didn't understand how he got the superpower, it was just a powered suit and how it worked was pretty silly. 

The ultimate thumbs up or down for me was that both of my sons fell asleep in the movie theater.  The good news is that this is the start of the summer movie season. I am really looking forward to Indiana Jones and the kids want to see Speed Racer!

You never know whose tomorrow it will be

Beware -Another non-security story. Last week I wrote a story about my son Landon and how proud I was about his experience in baseball.  I used a Yiddish word that I learned from my Grandmother - naches.  As I have gotten older I have developed a deeper admiration and respect for the inherent wisdom that my Grandmother brought to life and the many things I learned from her.  I remember being younger and thinking she was a little bit meshuguna as she would say. But as I now realize she was crazy as a fox and I hope I can be only half as intuitively smart as she was.  She had an intuitive grasp of people and life that cannot be learned in books.  People who think I am outgoing and loud would think me quiet and shy in comparison to her. But enough about my grandma, let me get on with the story. 

One of the phrases she used to use that I would laugh at was, "my grandson, you never know whose tomorrow it will be".  I was never quite sure what that meant, but had enough of the general gist that I didn't question her.  Today again I heard my Grandmother talking to me and saying that very phrase.  I had contacted an old business partner of mine who I had not spoken to in 3 or 4 years. I knew he had season tickets to the Yankees and wanted to buy a couple of tickets to take my sons to the Stadium in this its last year.  My old partner "Bob" called me back this morning, very early not realizing I was out in California.  Of course I asked how he was and he replied that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a while ago. He has undergone surgery and is receiving chemo at Sloan-Kettering Memorial, but the prognosis is not good.  Bob is just a few years older than me and his youngest child is just 10 years old.  I have known Bob for 20 years.  He was always the kind of guy who did the right thing.  A good family guy, he grew up like I did on the Long Island-Queens border in NY from working class parents. He worked hard and bought a house in Westchester County for  his wife, children and he.  He lived the American dream, working hard and passing on to his children the best of what he knew. What are you supposed to say to someone who tells you this?  Are there any words that provide comfort?  Is going to a frigging Yankee game relevant here?  Of course you try to be brave for their sake.  You say things like "they are doing so much with that disease now.  Keep your head up, attitude is important."  Maybe most of all, I will pray for you. How cruel is fate that this good, decent human being has been chosen to suffer from this death sentence of a disease at such a young age?  Of course Bob is not alone. Unfortunately I know too many good people who have been stricken with terminal illnesses well before their time here should be done.

I was speaking to a friend/family member the other day about the breakup of his marriage and I told him life is rarely what we think it is going to be.  Making lemonade out of lemons seems to be the ultimate and eternal human condition. It also drives home my grandmother's inherent intelligence.  You never know whose tomorrow it will be.  I get it now, you never know for whom the bell tolls.  All we can do is enjoy the good moments that God, fate or whatever grants us, because in an instant that can all be taken away and our lives changed forever.  Bob is in my prayers and I hope for a miracle for him and others who have to face similar challenges. Lesson to you all enjoy the moment, cause you never do know whose tomorrow it will be.

This weeks Yiddish word of the week - Naches

Non-Security post to follow, stop reading now if not interested.  According to Wikepedia the Yiddish or Jewish word naches means: feeling of pride in the achievements of one's children.  Growing up, my grandmother used to use this word all the time to describe the joy she felt whenever my siblings or I would do anything noteworthy.  As I grew up I tended to put this word into the pile of other obscure Yiddish words that my grandmother used.  When she passed away I didn't really know anyone else who spoke the language and I began to forget them.  My mother-in-law used Yiddish words like that as well and I learned some more from her, but when she passed away too, that was pretty much the end of my learning the language.  Today I got an up close and personal lesson on the the meaning of naches. 

As I have written about before my oldest son Landon's (8) baseball team is having a tough season. We have not won one game all season. In fact in many of the games we are not even competitive.  I had moved Landon up to this level of play even though he is a year or more younger than most of the other kids in the league.  The level below though was one he was in for two years and made the all star team last year.  So we moved up to kid pitch and took our chances.  Landon started off slow with the rest of the kids on the team. However, he kept working and has been pitching and playing 2b and SS most of the year.  He has also been working on his hitting.

While most of the kids on our team have shown steady improvement, Landon has really come in to his own.  Not only in raw baseball skills but in situational awareness of the finer points of baseball (knowing when to throw and where).  In today's game our other two pitchers were not at the game. I had Landon pitch the whole game.  He did great, making a bunch of great plays in the field.  He also had three hits, each time picking up an RBI.  He hit the ball hard each time. We lost again, but it was a close game.

At the end of the game, both the umpire and the coach of the other team came over and not knowing Landon was my son told me that he was a great player and the best player on the field.  Last game the coach of the first place team came over to tell me when he picks the all star team to play travel ball, he wants to pick Landon on his team.  After all these years (like the title of my blog), I finally have learned what my Grandmother meant by the word naches!  I am really proud of Landon and all that he is accomplishing in baseball.

My kids get XO's, I go to the command line

They finally came! My friend Raj Bhargava bought my two sons laptops from the OLPC project around the holiday season. Unfortunately due to the high demand, the project ran out of laptops and we have been waiting 3 months for them to arrive. They finally came on Friday. This was part of the buy one, donate one program so two other lucky children in the world have computers now too thanks to Raj's generosity. For those of you not familiar with the project, this was born out of Nicholas Negroponte's MIT lab to bring a $100 dollar laptop to children the world over. While they have not quite hit the $100 dollar cost, they are under $200. The laptop's are called XO laptops.

The laptops use low power, are extremely rugged and kid friendly and run Linux. The interface is called Sugar and is very different than a Windows type of metaphor. It takes some getting used to, but my kids seem to have picked it up pretty quickly. The wireless networking is great. In addition to regular wireless access points, the computers network in a "mesh" network that allow them to share information and chat with each other with the pre-installed software. My kids discovered chat pretty quickly and now sit next to each other chatting away over the computer. Why they just don't talk to each other I guess is part of the magic of computers. It also has a nice Mozilla based browser, a word processor, video camera and a bunch of other software. The boys are having a blast using the machines and take them everywhere. All of their friends who see them want one too, so maybe it will lead to more folks joining the buy one, give one program.

My kids are also really into webkinz. One of the first things they wanted to do was get on the webkinz site with their new machines. The webkinz site uses flash extensively. The XO laptop though only comes with open software, free is not enough. So they use an open source flash plug in, but it does not play all flash files. You can download and install the flash plug in for Linux, but this takes a little behind the scenes Linux command line work. So Dad told them to go to sleep and when they woke up, their machines would play webkinz in the morning.

It has been years since I had to work on a Linux/Unix system in the command line. Actually since I first started TriStar Web hosting with my partners and a few nights a week, I was the designated graveyard shift technical support dude. Even then, I knew only enough to get myself in trouble. Kill a process, grep files, chmod permissions, stuff like that. These laptops, while they run Linux, have a different kind of file and directory structure as to where they keep and store files and the naming system is weird. Files are truncated into numeric named files that bear no resemblance to the file name that shows up in the Sugar GUI. You have to go by the date created and size to recognize the file you are looking for and then you can rename it. The script I was trying to run got messed up in the word processor that comes with the laptop, so I had to go into Vi and fix that. It has been a while since I have used Vi too. Than the script did not have execute permissions set, so I had to do that. Well I have to tell you that this all took a few hours, but when the boys woke up in the morning, they turned on their computers and went to webkinz world and just as Dad promised, everything worked fine. I wish all of their wishes and wants were solved so easily!

Do they have to grow up?

Notice: This is a non-security post, if you only care about my rambling on security don't read past this. 
Today was a tough day for my son Landon's I9 Sports rookie league baseball team.  I am the coach of the team and have been coaching Landon in baseball since he was 4 years old. He is now 8 and playing in a 9-10 year old division. This year marks the first time that the kids are pitching and we play with walks, stealing, etc.  In years past, it didn't really matter if a child on the team was experienced or skilled enough for a particular position.  Frankly it was not that competitive and other than catching the ball at first base a players inexperience could  only hurt so much.  But at this level it is literally a different game.  If the pitcher can't throw the ball for strikes, if the catcher can't catch and throw runners out and if a child is not baseball savvy enough to know when there is a force or not at a particular base, it can get real ugly. 

I have a team full of kids who are younger for this division and for the last month many of them have been begging to pitch.  Each of them in their own mind knows that they could be a great pitcher, maybe even a big leaguer. So I informed the team that if we fell behind today, i was going to give everyone a who wanted to a chance to pitch to at least two batters.  The first two innings our best pitcher held the other team scoreless and we punched through a run in the 2nd to take the lead.  However in the 3rd inning, he ran out of gas and our next two pitchers didn't do any better.  Trailing 6 to 1, I decided to give the other kids a chance.  18 runs later (thats right 24 to 1in total) the umps called the game, as time ran out.  None of the kids who wanted to pitch managed to get anyone out and they walked every single batter.

Was this painful?  You bet it was.  For the kids, the parents, the coaches, the other team and everyone else watching.  However, I had to let it run its course so that each child had a chance to see for themselves that it is not easy to do.  It was a tough lesson to learn for 8 and 9 year olds, that not everyone can be the pitcher.  I had mixed feelings about doing this because I didn't want the kids to lose confidence or be hurt by their lack of success.  Even Landon who is one of the kids on the team who can pitch (picture to the left) was crying after the game that he did not want to play on this team anymore. But I felt I had to do this. I think they had to learn this lesson, I just wish it were not the hard way.  After the game I gathered the team and told them baseball is a team sport.  Each member of the team contributes in their own special way.  They each possess a unique set of talents and skills that allows them to help the team, but not everyone is cut out to be a pitcher or a catcher. I think they all realize it now. Some of the kids accepted this and told me they did not want to pitch anymore.  Other kids said they would practice and try to get better. 

At some level I guess it is part of growing up and realizing that you are not the next Nolan Ryan or Josh Beckett.  It is similar to a truth I come to grips with every day.  That is as I get older with each day, there are going to be some dreams and hopes that are going to go unfulfilled in my own life.  There are going to be mountains I am not going to climb. As I have gotten older I have come to grips with this reality and even accepted it.  Looking into the faces of these little kids today I wish they never had to realize their own limitations. I wish they could believe forever that anything is possible, people never die, they never even get really sick,and everyone can be a great ballplayer. I wish the realities of life did not have to invade on their innocent idyllic lives.  I wish I did not have to be the coach who had to show them in this painful way their own limitations and life lessons.  It was not one of my favorite days coaching for sure.  Don't you wish we could all still live in that anything is possible place of our childhood fantasies where we could be the next Mickey Mantle or Franco Harris or even Bill Gates for that matter. 

Is security in the genes?

Interesting thing happened tonight. My oldest son Landon, 8 years old, was trying to log in to WebKinz world (both of my boys are into these webkinz things, but that is another story).  There was a problem with the page loading so he called me over to help him get on the site.  I was able to get the log in page and asked him for his user name, which he gave me. I than asked him for his password and he said, "sorry Dad I can't give you that, I don't want you hacking into my webkinz account".  He would not even type in his password until I moved away from the keyboard. Can you believe this!  I asked him where he learned this.  He said a lot of kids in school give out their passwords and other kids hack into their accounts, but he is too smart for that and changes his password every 2 weeks anyway, just to be safe.  I was duly impressed, but questioned why he would not even trust his dad.  He told me that he trusts no one with his password, not even his dad.  Though slightly miffed that he didn't trust his dad, I was very impressed and proud of his security awareness.

Play Ball!

I can't help but be a little excited about the start of baseball season tonight.  Thats right baseball season.  I live in Florida, the land of the grapefruit league and both of my sons little league teams kick off practice tonight.  I know you are thinking that the Super Bowl isn't even played yet, but need I remind you it is but just about 2 weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.

Of course the fact that I coach both of boys on their teams makes it more exciting for me.  My youngest son Bradley will be in modified coach pitch again, so I get to toss the balls to the kids to hit.  No outs, everyone gets up and goes out in the field.  It is hard keeping 5 and 6 year olds focused on the game.  My oldest son Landon, makes the jump to real baseball this year in the rookie league. Though only 8 he is in with 9 and 10 year olds with the kids actually pitching.  I am hoping for a great season with both of them!

As much as I love football, there is something about baseball in the air that gets the blood flowing.

Football fanatic

What a great time to be a Patriots fan!  Unfortunately I am not.  Nevertheless it is fun watching them play and hoping against hope that someone knocks them off.  I was out to dinner with a friend in Boston last week who is a big Pats fan and has a 17 year old son, who likewise is a big Pats fan.  What a great age to have your team be in the middle of a dynasty.  I was lucky enough to experience that when I was growing up and my Steelers were in the middle of their run.

On the other hand, no matter who is playing it is a blast watching football in my house.  My son Landon is obsessed with football. He takes apart every play and every situation.  At this point he has asked me for a jersey of just about every NFL team.  Of course the day he told me he was a Peyton Manning fan and liked the Colts more than the Steelers I wanted to ask him to find a new home to live in.  But I am getting over it and still hope to turn him around soon!  My younger son Bradley watches with us too.  The three of us sitting in front of the TV watching playoff football is about as good as it gets for this Dad!

Where is Shimel?

Sorry readers if I have been slow on blogging but with end of year/quarter work and kids on vacation, blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.  But I am back and hopefully with lots to say.  I spent lots of time at Disney World with Bonnie and the kids over the vacation.  The kids had a ball, even though Orlando had record low temperatures.  We frooze! I won't bother with a top ten list, but my least favorite thing about Disney is lines. I hate waiting on line for everything from rides to food to going to the bathroom.  For the money you pay there, you shouldn't have to do it!

Anyway, holidays are over, the kids are back in school and I am back to blogging.  Stay tuned.

Cats in the cradle and other New Years thoughts

"Warning: non-security post" One of my favorite songs as a kid was Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle".  Maybe because my parents were divorced and my dad was not around, the song struck a chord with me.  When I grew older and got to know my Dad I was struck at the many similarities between him and I, in spite of the fact that he was not there for the formative years in my life.  I am sure as a result of that experience I try to savor every moment with my own two sons. 

We were sitting and reflecting at dinner tonight about New Years and as I often do I was telling the boys a story.  I usually make up one that ends with a moral lesson.  Tonight as I was coming to the moral punch line in my New Years story when my oldest son Landon, 8 years old, looked up at me and said, "Dad, you could sum this story up by saying that half a meatloaf is better than none".  Anyone who knows me knows that I am always using corny analogies like this, so I was laughing to myself hearing Landon say that. 

As soon as we were done with dinner my youngest son Bradley started complaining that Landon had not given him enough time on their Wii video game.  Landon looked at him and said, "I went outside to give you time to play Wii while I was gone, it is not my fault you didn't play.  Dad I can lead a horse to water, but I can't make him drink". At that point the words from the song, "My boy had grown up just like me" rang into my head.  It made this New Years special and caused me to reflect on all I have to be thankful for watching these boys grow up before my eyes.

I am thankful that I have been able to spend the time with both boys these past years. I wish I could spend more time with them and hope to in the year coming up.  But I reflect back on the growth both of them had over this year and am amazed.  Much of the credit goes to my wife Bonnie who is home with them all the time and puts so much love and effort into raising them.  They say children make it all worthwhile.  I have to agree, sometimes just taking a step back and realizing it makes the wonder of it all almost overwhelming. I look forward to many more New Years with them.

Happy New Year to you all and enjoy every minute with your own families and loved ones!

Your life is an occasion

Your life is an occasion, rise to it - Dustin Hoffman as Edward Magorium in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

In another lesson of you can't put much stock in what the critics say, I took my two sons to a delightful movie today.  It is called Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman.  It also features a great young actor named Zach Mills and former child star Jason Bateman (as the mutant, I mean accountant). Bonnie and I originally saw a coming soon trailer for this movie months ago and thought it would be great for the kids.  However, when it came out the reviews have been almost all very poor, especially the local Florida paper.  Well I guess I know why that critic is reviewing movies in a Florida newspaper and not the NY Times. So in spite of the bad press, we honored our family Thanksgiving weekend tradition of going to the movies.

Anyway, in an age where movies are judged by how cool the computer animation is, how many people the superhero beats up and crude bathroom humor, I found this movie to be a movie with a message I want my kids to learn.  It is about Mr Magorium's impending "departure" and a young girl who has not lived up to her potential finding the "sparkle and magic" in herself to fill those old, large shoes.  I don't want to give away more than that, but my kids were really into the story and we had some great discussions about some of the concepts the movie explored. It has enough CGI to give the kids the oohs and aahs they like, but that does not dominate the story, which explores some great lessons for the young and old alike.

So don't believe the press, go see Magorium for yourself and by all means bring the kids!

Microsoft is going to have to do better than this if they want my security dollars - wait they did!

Blogging this while waiting on the phone for a Microsoft Live One Care technical support person.  I have been on the phone for about 25 minutes, oops someone just picked up, hold on. OK I am back.  The friendly Microsoft technical person, David has me on hold while he researches my problem.  He doesn't sound like a Dave though.  I know that outsourced call centers like to have their people use Western sounding names to make us more comfortable, but frankly I always feel like I am talking to some dancer at a strip club who tells me her name is Kitty or something.  I would perfer they use their real name.  I am a big boy and can deal with it.

Anyway, back to the story. I had installed (and paid for) OneCare on Bonnie's computer a while back. For the most part it has been fine, but frankly Bonnie doesn't get into many high risk activities on line. I knew I was in trouble though a while back when I asked my youngest son Bradley (5 at the time) what he was doing on the computer and he told me he was "Googling".  Then just a few weeks ago, my oldest son Landon told me about this cool 3-D screen saver of fishes he can get for free.  I knew we were headed for trouble.

Anyway tonight I noticed the little green one care icon was no longer in the tray.  My security center was in the red with firewall and AV off. When I manually tried to start OneCare I got an error message that said to restart the machine.  I did that, same problem.  Then I uninstalled OneCare (another reboot) and installed it again.  Same problem.  When I tried to start the service I get another error message. So I log onto the OneCare help site and follow the automated FAQ, useless.  I then try to do a live chat with support after figuring out how to log in to my account (they don't make it obvious). The chat asks to run a diagnostic to help which takes another 10 minutes.  Then the chat client loads only half way and freezes.  Back to go, don't collect the 200 bucks!

Now I log back into help and pick 24 hour phone support.  Same diagnostic gathering takes another 10 to 15 minutes and they give me a phone number and case number.  25 minutes minutes I am on the phone on hold and finally Kitty, I mean Dave gets on to help.  Dave tells me he is going to log into my computer (BTW I find out Dave's name is Jesus, I would have been fine with that).  He logs in with my permission and after 3 or 4 or 5 reboots and checking he confirms it was a corrupted file that he had to reinstall which he did.  Bada bing, badda boom, we are all fixed and good to go. We than rechecked everything and its all good.  While we are on the phone I talk him into downloading Cobia and playing with it, hey ABC (always be closing).

So while the whole thing took over an hour and a half, Dave from Manilla did a heck of a job.  What started out as bitch rant about Microsoft's OneCare support doesn't end that way and as they say in Manilla we have a "happy ending".  Now lets hope it keeps the computer protected from the next thing my kids play with!

Do you remember when you first rode a two-wheeler?

Do you?  For many of us riding our first two wheeler without training wheels was an important right of passage to being a big boy or girl.  It may not be as significant as our first acceptance letter to college or even a first kiss, but being able to ride that two wheeler is an accomplishment that any little one can be proud of. 

Today I took the afternoon off after a busy week and ahead of a overseas business trip next week.  I went to down to the basketball/tennis court area of our development with our two sons Landon (8) and Bradley (6).  I took Bradley's two wheeler with me, though he refused to get on it after a spill the first time he tried it without training wheels.  After a few minutes of shooting baskets and watching Landon ride his RipStick (if you don't know what that is you are old!), I called Bradley over and put on his helmet.  After some initial reluctance (OK he took a temper tantrum) he got on the bike.  I held on to the bike the first time around and then let go.  Before he had a chance to complain about letting go, he realized he was riding on his own and just took off from there.  When he finally came to a stop the look of accomplishment and joy on his face was truly priceless.  It is one of those moments when being a parent is the best thing on the earth.  I don't think Bradley will ever feel happier or more proud of himself. 

It made me think back to when I first learned to ride and how great I felt about it.  Do you still remember when you learned to ride a two wheeler?  Certainly a small but significant milestone in growing up.  Congratulations to Bradley!

Oh to be 6!

Today is a big day in the Shimel house. Our youngest son Bradley turns 6.  Bradley is in kindergarten and loves to play tennis, flag football, soccer, karate and bowl.  His birthday party in fact is at the local bowling alley this Saturday.  I can't believe that our baby is already 6.  It seems it was just yesterday I was holding him in the hospital the day he was born. Bradley came early, probably as a result of the 9/11 trauma that my wife Bonnie suffered.  He was an emergency C-section and after he was born all of the doctors and nurses were busy taking care of Bonnie and left me to sit there holding my new son.  It was love at first sight and I have been bonded with him ever since.  He is growing up into a precocious, bright kid. In some ways he is tougher than his older brother and has a nature/animal loving side that reminds me of my brother Kevin who is a vet.  Most of all, Bradley brings joy to all around him with his love of life and all that he experiences.  This past August on his first day of school, I asked him how it was and he told me, "Dad, it was great.  I felt like I was 6!".  Yesterday I walked in the house and there was Bradley waiting at the door.  I say whats up Bradley and he said, "Dad you are talking to a shoe lace tie-er (not sure how to spell that)". 

If only we can all recapture that excitement that every day accomplishments can bring to a 6 year old.  What a great world it would be.  Happy Birthday Bradley!

My own pilgrimage to a football Mecca

For those of you not interested in my personal interest posts, you can stop reading right now.  For those still reading, let me share with you the fulfillment of a life long fantasy this weekend.  As I have written about many times, I am a big Steeler fan and have been since I was about 10 years old.  In all of these years, I have seen the Steelers play in person only once.  That was in NY when they played the Jets one year (actually it was NJ, at Giants Stadium).  Though I am a die hard fan, I have never seen them play in their home stadium in Pittsburgh.  For many years my wife Bonnie has tried to get me tickets to a game, but has been unsuccessful.  Steeler tickets in Pittsburgh are hard to come by. 

Last year at the end of football season, I was talking football with Jeff Lumley, who does an excellent job as a federal account manager for StillSecure.  Jeff lives in Colorado now, but is from the Pittsburgh area.  In fact he still has his season tickets to the Steelers, that he now shares with his friends.  Jeff could not believe that I never had seen a Steeler game in person and told me he was going to get me tickets.  I thought it was a nice thought and left it at that.  Well Jeff made the calls to his buddies back home and as soon as the schedule came out, he told me that he had three tickets for me for opening day against Buffalo.  I felt like a Christian pilgrim being told he is going to the holy land or a Muslim making the Haj.  I don't know if Jeff realized what a good deed he had done.

I told Bonnie about the tickets and she asked who we were going to take with us. I had to tell her there were only three tickets and I was going to fulfill this dream by taking my two sons with me to a Steeler game in Pittsburgh. I have tried my hardest to make sure my sons share my passion for football and the Steelers. Though only 8 and 6, they are already well indoctrinated in the Steelers and the Yankees.

I made airline, hotel and rental car reservations and Saturday morning we flew up to Pittsburgh.  After the usual airline BS which rerouted us through NY we arrived in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon.  I stopped at a mall store and picked up Steeler jerseys and terrible towels for the boys (you can't get little kids Steeler jerseys in Florida).  We checked into the hotel and killed the rest of the day at a museum (at least some educational stuff to offset missing school on Monday).

We woke up early on Sunday had breakfast and then changed into our Steeler game day uniforms.  At about 10:00 we started walking down the river walk towards Heinz Field.  It was a beautiful sunny day in the 70's. We wound up taking a water ferry across the river and were on line at the stadium when the gates opened at 11.  We checked out the great hall, ate lunch and went to our seats. Looking out over a sea of black and gold clad fans, I felt a sense of belonging.  I guess sort of like a Jewish person going to Israel or something like that. When the F-16s overflew the stadium at the end of the national anthem, I had goose bumps. 

The game was a walk over for the Steelers, 26-3.  In the history of the team it will probably not be remembered too much except for the kick off of their 75th anniversary season.  They wore throw back uniforms with yellow helmets.  However, for me it was a dream fulfilled.  My sons waved their towels (OK, so did I), yelled for the Steelers and we had a great time.  In the 4th quarter my youngest son, Bradley asked me the score (he just doesn't get the scoring) and said, "Oh my God we are crushing them".  That was what it was all about for me.

We left the game with just over 2 minutes left.  I stopped when we were at field level just before the tunnel out and told both boys to stop and look at the field.  I said "guys remember what that looks like.  I don't know if we will ever have a chance to come back here and see the Steelers play again.  I hope we do, but who knows.  You boys won't be this young and neither will I.  Remember that you and your Dad came here and did this."  Who knows what the future holds, but this was a memory I will remember the rest of my life and I hope it is one they will as well. Thanks Jeff!

Like the commercial says - three tickets to the game, a couple of hundred dollars.  Airline, hotel and car, a couple of hundred more.  Sharing this memory with my boys - PRICELESS

A visit to the Pentagon

I was up at the Pentagon on business today. It was the first time I had been in the main Pentagon building in some time.  On the way out, passing through the main entrance to the metro station I stopped by the huge quilts on display there for the victims of 9-11.  They were very impressive and remind us all that we need to be ever vigilant.

I had seen the quilts when they were in the Naples, Fl area a few years ago. They just looked a lot more impressive hanging in the Pentagon. As some of you may know, we lost one of my wife's sisters in the Trade Center on 9-11.  I stopped at the quilt display today and took the time to find my sister-in-law Myrna's picture. It took a while but I found it.  It gave me a bittersweet feeling.  In one moment I was sort of proud that her picture was there and at least in some way the country recognized the grief and loss that her family suffered.  On the other hand, I was terribly sad and wished it was someone else's family who could be "proud" of their loss.  It made me think also of all the families who have lost loved ones in Iraq and other places and how bittersweet their pride must be. It is a shame that anyone of us has to grieve over how man treats kills their fellow man in this world.  But this is the world we live in. Anyway, if you are in the Pentagon, on the way out take a moment and pay your respects to these American heros who gave their life on that fateful day.

Nintendo - a company that does service right

All too often we bloggers use our blogs to blast this company or that about crappy customer service and bad customer experiences. While most companies unfortunately deserve our wrath, I wanted to for once do a positive story on a company that does it right.  Nintendo is a company that deserves our praise.  Yes my family has spent a small fortune between Nintendo GameCube, GameBoys and DS Lites, not to mention all of the games themselves, but their service is first rate. 

My youngest son Bradley received his first DS Lite for his 5th birthday last October.  Right after the new year, the hinge broke off and the game console was broke.  I called Nintendo and they opened a ticket, sent me a pre-paid UPS mailing label and then sent us a new game console for Bradley in just a week or two.  No costs or hassles or anything.  Then this past weekend, the same exact thing happened again to Bradley's DS.  I dreaded calling them, as I felt for sure that they would not replace this twice.  However, I was very surprised when the real person answering the phone said no problem and opened another ticket and is sending me the pre-paid UPS label and they will either fix or send Bradley a new DS in a few days.  Frankly, I was ready to go out and pony up the $120 bucks on a new one. 

I guess one could say why does the hinge keep breaking. Is it a design fault?  Maybe, but as the father of two video gamers, I am just real glad they are replacing it!  Now, if I can only get them to give me the inside scoop on where to pick up a Wii in time for my oldest sons birthday in August ;-)

Why the Florida Marlins are not a successful business

In a relatively short period of time the Florida Marlins have managed to win not one, but two World Series championships.  Unfortunately after each championship the owners of the team (two different owners) had to dismantle the team because the payroll could not be sustained due to the miserable support the team receives here in South Florida.  It is no secret that they either want a new stadium or they will leave. 

Today I had a chance to experience this first hand.  Our local little league, I9 Sports had our annual trip to a Marlins game.  Counting the 100 or so kids from our league who went to the game, there could not have been more than 2500 to 3000 people total at the game.  Growing up in NY, it was rare that you went to Yankee or Shea Stadium on a Sunday afternoon and it was not packed. It is really hard for kids and other fans to really feel part of the experience when you are so isolated in a huge stadium that probably sits 45,000 or so.  On top of this watching baseball in the summer sun of South Florida would probably be deemed cruel and inhuman punishment by any competent court.  You literally roast in your seat and we were not even in the sunny part of the stadium.

Our club level tickets cost $42 dollars regularly and we got them for $30.  However, they are doing construction on the stadium (adding new restaurants and suites) in time for football season (the Dolphins own the stadium).  So all the restaurants and facilities on our level were closed and we had to go down one level to get any food or refreshments.  No vendors walking the aisles (it is too hot I guess).  It is just not a major league experience.  Frankly, we had a better time going to a pre-season NY Met game up in Pt. St. Lucie this spring. 

At this stadium, with these prices and fielding the team they do, the Marlins don't deserve the fans support.  The question is if they did something to change it, would the fans respond?  I don't know, but this is not a way to run a baseball business.

A special birthday for Bonnie

Yesterday was my wife Bonnie's birthday. We had a great day, starting with the boys and I giving her flowers and presents in the morning. Then going to down to Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach for lunch and playing in the park on the intercostal. Then we came home to get ready for her special night out. 

We went with some good friends, Bill and Dori Gerstein, down to Sunny Isles Beach in Miami Beach.  The beautiful Acqualina resort there recently opened and it has an Il Mulino from New York restaurant. Bonnie and I used to go to the NY location years ago when we lived in NY for special occasions. That was before they opened several restaurants all over the world. Since we moved to Florida, Bonnie has not been back though.  I went a few times to the one in Ceasars in Las Vegas, but without my wife, it just wasn't the same.

The Miami outpost of Il Mulino is every bit as good as the original in NYC.  We had a great meal, great wine, service, great company, everything.  The resort is right on the beach and is gorgeous. It was a very special night for a very special wife.  Happy Birthday Bonnie and many, many more!

5767 years and still learning

OK, forgive me as I am going to blog about religion here, with nothing to do about security. So if you are not interested please don't read any further. One of the complaints we hear about organized religion in general today is that it just doesn't adapt to the changing times. We hear young people have faith, but are not turned on by going to church and synagogue. My friend Mitchell Ashley has made tremendous progress against this at his church, where Mitchell leads the church band playing contemporary Christian music at very progressive services.  This "Christian Rock" seems to have made Mitchell's church very successful in attracting young people and getting them involved in the church. 

Growing up Jewish, I don't remember our local Synagogue being a place that really seemed to be "with it".  My perceptions of all this changed today when I attended my 5 year old son Bradley's pre-school Seder at Temple B'nai Israel in Boca Raton. For those who don't know, a Seder is the traditional Passover meal and with Passover starting Monday night, they had a mock Seder at the school today.  I was amazed at how they used technology and media to make it relevant and fun for the kids.  First of all everything was put on powerpoint slides and projected up on the wall so everyone could read and sing along.  The graphics accompanying the words and lyrics were great and gave the kids something to look at.  Next the words to many of the songs and prayers were put into new melodies.  There was even some hip-hop/rap type tempos with prayers for words.  While I thought my grandmother, god rest her soul, would be turning over in her grave had she heard this, the kids were really into it.  They were up and dancing and reciting the prayers.  All of the pre-recorded songs were actually on an iPod that was plugged into the rooms stereo system.  Other songs were sung and played on guitars live in the room.

Instead of being told just sit there and behave yourself as I was as a child, here the children were encouraged to indulge themselves and enjoy the festivities.  The adults and children put on hats and costumes, used finger puppets and other props to act out the story. What was the real pay off for me, was that the kids liked it so much, they actually learned and knew the whole Passover story of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  It was very heartening to see that after 5,767 years the Jewish religion is still growing and adapting to stay relevant in our turbulent times.

In this holiday season, whether you celebrate Passover or Easter or some other holiday, peace and good wishes to you all.

A Purpose Driven Life

No, I am not going born again and this is not a post about religion or anything like that.  But there comes moments in all of our lives where we stop and want to bookmark where we are and reflect on who, what and why we do what we do.  I am having a weekend like that this weekend.  I guess it says something about how "mature" I am that I at least recognize these moments.  At times like this I am always reminded of a line in the movie Wall Street.

“Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.” —Hal Holbrook, Wall Street

Not that I am facing what Bud in the movie was, but I just feel like it is one of those times to take stock.  What is driving me to this self-reflective navel gazing?  Well first of all tomorrow is Bonnie's and mine 17th wedding anniversary.  Can it really be that long already?  Where does the time go.  So many of our friends have had their marriages fall apart over the last few years.  Those of you married or in long term relationships know that maintaining one for that period of time is not the easiest thing in the world.  My wife has put up with much from me over the years and I can honestly say that even after all this time we still are learning about each other and how to be closer than ever.  Happy Anniversary Bonnie!

Another thing driving my self-reflection was that this was playoff day in flag football.  I coach both of my sons teams in soccer, baseball and football.  We were lucky enough to win the division in soccer last season and today we won in football.  However, for the second time in 5 years of coaching I lost my cool on the field.  Just like the first time, it involved one of the kids on my team laying on the grass crying after being crushed by the other team.  Today, it was the second play in a row where on of my boys was hurt by the same player on the other team on the first two plays of the game.  Obviously this player from the other team was out to play hard and make a statement.  On reflection (that is what this post is about), I probably over reacted and made it a bigger deal than I should have.  The coach of the other team is actually one of my best friends.  Though the parents on my team appreciated that I was sticking up for their children and trying to make sure they were not getting hurt, I felt like I could have done better.  I apologized to the refs and the other coach and rallied my team and we won by a touchdown.  I will be honest.  It felt good to be the winning football coach.  I can almost imagine how Tony Dungy felt :-)  Anyway, tomorrow it is baseball for both of my boys teams so I will be coaching again all day and will try to be a good coach and keep my cool.

I look at my life on this weekend and realize looking into the abyss, I see a very lucky man staring back.  A beautiful wife who loves him, 2 great boys that I am proud of, a successful company that I feel I have helped give life to.  A full plate of activities and adventure that keep me moving forward, learning and growing. There is much still to do, but these are the things that keep me going day after day and give purpose to my life.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Douglas Schweitzer over on his ComputerWorld blog has an article up on the proposed legislation by Senators Murphy and Stevens banning the use of social networking sites in public schools and libraries.  Unlike most of the coverage of this proposed legislation I have seen, Douglas seems to support it.  Maybe he does not realize that the way it is currently written, such sites as Wikipedia would be banned as well.  That would be a real shame, as even my young sons have started to use the Wiki for school research.  However, I have a bigger a problem with what Douglas writes.

Douglas seems to be proud that Suffolk County, Long Island (I lived in Dix Hills in Suffolk before moving to Florida, so know it well) has already banned MySpace and the like from libraries there.  I don't know if they have also banned Wikipedia, but the real point is, Douglas does that make your children safer?  Do you think all of the sexual predators are on MySpace?  Do you honestly think cocooning your children is going to keep them safe.  There comes a point where they have to live in the real world as it is.  I am against censorship in any public forum, unless you are talking about obscenity or other illegal acts.  I think your job as a parent is to do your best to make sure you child understands right from wrong, is not a "victim" that is easily fooled by predators and that you can trust to do the right thing.  This sort of attitude reminds me of the parents who always wanted to "hide" the drug issue from their children.  You know what, those kids wound up being the biggest drug abusers. My child in second grade is already learning drugs are bad.  The philosophy is that if you have not talked to your child about drugs by the time they are in second grade, someone else has.  Same thing here. If you think banning MySpace is going to keep your kids from learning things or being exposed to predators, brother do I have a bridge to sell you. Douglas does not want his kids learning their sex-ed on the internet.  Douglas here is a news flash, your kids are going to learn about sex-ed on the internet, whether you ban MySpace or not.  In fact the internet is just todays tool to learn about sex-ed.  Douglas where did you learn about it?  Did you sit down and have the birds and bees talk with your dad or had you already been exposed by some of your more daring friends in school.  I think artificial constraints just don't work and don't accomplish the goals.  Better to educate children on how to use and benefit from using MySpace the right way then to ban it all together.

The other problem is today My Space, tomorrow what?  It used to be the AOL chat rooms.  Who is going to decide what my child can and cannot see.  I don't want the US Senate (some of whom have never been on the net and don't have a clue) or some local library board making that decision.  As a parent I reserve that right to myself. I will make that decision and stay out of my business!

Daddy works at the airport

Writing this aboard a Delta jet from Atlanta to Denver on Sunday night.  After getting home late Thursday/early Friday, I am back on the road again.  I fly home Wed. night, getting home about 12:30AM.  I had a great two days with my family.  We had flag football games, went swimming, out to dinner with Bonnie and then more swimming and going to a birthday party with my youngest son Bradley.  Bonnie met me at the party and I went right from there to the airport.  Bradley was not thrilled I was leaving again and truth be told I was not thrilled either. 

It made me think back to two weeks ago when I went to "special guy day" at Bradley's pre-school.  The teacher had done little stories from each child that was waiting for the Dads on the kids desk.  One of the things that the teacher asked them was what their Dads do for work.  Bradley told her I work at the airport to make money for the family.  I work on airplanes he told her.  I chuckled at the school, but when I got home I tried to explain to Bradley that Daddy just goes on the plane to go somewhere else and that Daddy tries to keep our computers and networks safe.  What I do, is not the point though, the point is that Bradley knows that Daddy leaves on the plane a lot and he is not there for him. I sometimes think to myself, is it worth it?  Of course the easy answer is, of course it is.  I hope all the hard work now will allow me to spend more time with my two sons later.  But sometimes I wonder. Even if all the hard work does pay off, will my sons ever be 5 and 7 again.  Is my time with them now more crucial and valuable than my time with them when they might be older?  Would a job that did not have me traveling, even if it meant making less money, be better for them?  Certainly the money made from working and traveling affords them a very nice life, but is that an excuse I am using to soothe my conscience.

I know the quality versus quantity thing.  When I am home, I coach them both in soccer, football and baseball.  I take them swimming, bowling and the movies.  We go up to Orlando and do the theme parks several times a year.  I hug them and kiss them and tell them I love them often.  Still, is it enough? I am not the only one who deals with this.  Many of my friends who are road warriors go through the same thing.  Still it doesn't make it any easier. I am interested in what you think about this.  Especially if you did this and now your children are older.  How did it turn out?

Kids and sports

Big weekend for the Shimel family in sports.  We are in the middle of soccer playoffs and today was the first day of flag football.  Our league that the boys have played in the last couple of years was taken over this season by I9Sports.  I9 is a national youth sports organization with local franchises.  Our local franchise is run by some great people, Rob and Mindy Cannova and Bobby and Jackie Spilka.  I am one of the athletic directors of the league, in addition to coaching both of my sons in soccer and baseball. 

This is about my 5th year of coaching and I get a blast out of watching the kids play and improve over the course of the season.  Frankly, one of my biggest thrills is when a child I coached a few years back comes over and says, "Hi Coach, how are you".  I love to catch up with them and see how they have grown.  It kind of makes me feel like a Bear Bryant or Joe Paterno, in my own way ;-)  Anyhow, last week Bradley's (my 5 year old) team lost in the playoffs and they are out of the race for now.  The highlight though was Bradley scoring his first goal in soccer.  He really looked good and then without any fanfare put his head down and ran back to his side of the field.  Landon's (my 7 year old) team won 5-0 in their first playoff game and play tomorrow at 11.  If we win that game, we play at 12:30 for the league championship.  The boys are real excited, so is their coach!

Bradley, started flag football today.  That is the game I played as a kid and did not realize how proud I would be watching my little guy run around playing. Landon is playing football too.  That will last for 2 or 3 months and then on to baseball season.  One great thing about living down in Florida, the kids play sports year round.  Anyway, wish us luck tomorrow, it sure would be nice to win the league title.

Like the Master Card commercial says, cleats for sports, $25.00, balls and other gear, $35.00, watching and coaching your children play - priceless!

Story update:  Well it was quite a day.  Landon's team won the league championship in heart stopping fashion.  We won the semi-final game on a penalty kick in sudden death overtime, 2-1!  Then with just 20 minutes break went into the finals.  We fell behind 1-0 early on, but came back with 2 goals in the second half (the last with just 2 minutes left) to win it all.  Bedlam broke loose as the team and their parents celebrated.  Really was priceless.

Wannado City, where kids do what they Wannado

This weekend we had some friends down from Long Island.  They have two boys the same age as our sons and Sunday we took them to Wannado City.  If you have never heard of Wannado City, it is pretty cool.  It is an indoor role playing theme park for kids.  It is set up as a city and the kids do run the place.  They can be fireman, policemen, doctors, dentists, fashion models, etc.  Many of the occupations and the work areas are sponsored by companies.  For instance Spirit airlines sponsors the flight  simulator, Coca Cola the soda factory, the Miami Herald the newspaper shop.  Best of all, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey sponsors the circus.  Kids earn money doing jobs and can spend it in the stores and at the rides.  If you have small children and are ever down in the Ft. Lauderdale area, it is a great way to spend a day.  Educational and fun, not crazy expensive (only about 20.00 dollars a child, adults free).

The highlight of the day was my 5 year old son Bradley being the star in the circus show at the end of the day.  We had to drop the kids off and for a half hour they rehearsed the acts, then the parents came in for the show.  Bradley has inherited a lot of the performing genes from Bonnie's family and loves getting up in front of people.  He had everyone laughing!

The more things change, the more they stay the same or As time goes by

Yesterday was my birthday, so my wife Bonnie and the kids made it a special weekend.  I spent all day with the kids yesterday doing things and coaching them in Soccer today.  Last night Bonnie and I went out with our friends David and Leisa for dinner and then to see Peter Frampton in concert at the Bank Atlantic Center's Frank Sinatra Theatre.  We went to the Bone Fish Grill, but had to get there early in order to be out in time for the concert.  Now going to dinner early on a Saturday night in South Florida is a trip in and of itself.  At some level, I was thinking great, is this what it means to be my age, dining with the early bird crowd in Florida. Where did the years go, is life over as I know it? 

After dinner we went down to the arena and saw Peter Frampton.  It was about 25 or so years ago that I saw Frampton at Madison Square Garden.  Well he doesn't look the same.  The long flowing hair is gone replaced by a very thin head of gray hair.  But then again, who am I to talk, my hair is not what it was 25 years ago either.  However, Peter Frampton is still a great musician and entertainer.  We all had a great time, singing all of his old hits from Frampton Comes Alive (or as he calls it, that double album that you used to use to clean seeds (extra bonus points if you smile remembering that)), as well as listening to a few songs from his new CD.  It made me realize that I may not be 20 years old anymore, but life is as sweet as ever.  With my family and friends, loving what I do for work, I have much to be grateful for.  I am looking forward to more concerts and good times as the years go on.  Rock on! Here is some You tube video from Peter Frampton on this present tour.

A reluctant post on 9/11

Unlike so many of my blogging friends (here, here and here, for a few examples), I was not planning on commenting on the 5th anniversary of that horrific day (and the weeks that followed). Unlike many of them, 9/11 hit too close to home in my case.  My wife's sister, Myrna Yaskulka worked in the trade centers for Fred Alger Funds.  She was a vibrant, fun loving, nourishing person, a mother of 3 sons, caretaker for her own mother and most of all a genuinely innocent spirit.  On that beautiful fall morning, we were still living in Long Island and I was working in Purchase, NY for Interliant.  I was about to leave for work, when I saw the news of the first plane and was just getting on the Long Island Expressway, when Bonnie called to tell me of a second plane and said I should come home.  I returned home and saw F-18 fighter jets buzzing our house.  I remember thinking they looked like angry hornets, loaded with missiles. 

Though Bonnie was immediately concerned for her sister, I thought the law of averages would protect us and she would be fine.  By that evening we received word that no one from her sisters office had been heard from.  By then the roads into and out of the city were closed and Bonnie's mom was alone on Staten Island.  I actually "borrowed" my friends police badge and drove from Long Island to Staten Island to bring Bonnie's mom to our house as I expected the worse.  The roads were empty, except for other police officers and emergency workers heading into the city to help with the rescue.  I took the Verazano Bridge from Brooklyn into Staten Island and stopped midway through, looking into NY Harbor.  I don't remember seeing the lights on at the Statue of Liberty ( all the better, she was probably crying anyway), but I remember a clear view into a smoke-filled lower Manhattan.  It was eerie and angry and chillingly dark, except for the bright spot lights focused on where the towers had stood.  The fires were still burning and the smell was intense.  I remember stopping and thinking, Alan, take a good look and never forget what you see, smell and feel.  I got to her mom's place, took her and headed back out to Long Island, flashing my master shield whenever questioned (it occurred to me that terrorists could have done that too), we made it home and tuned into the TV like everyone else. 

So started a 10 day period of mourning, mixed with hope and then finally despair and realization, that we would never see Myrna again.  We organized a memorial service that was attended by thousands, but was missing the guest of honor.  We never heard anything or found out anything more about how Myrna reached heaven.  Needless to say, 9/11 is always an ordeal in our house.  A scab that is ripped off a never healed wound.  I know the rest of the country shares our grief, but it just cuts so close to the bone for us.

So here we are 5 years later and we still have n