StillSecure, After All These Years

What I did on my holiday vacation

Image via Wikipedia

OK gang, I am back and looking forward to 2009.  Hey it can't be any worse than 2008 can it?  Anyway, when I last wrote my family and I were saying goodbye to our dog Jake.  We had planned a short trip on New Years day and as it worked out, it was good for all of us to get away from the house which just seems empty without Jake. 

We were planning to go to St. Augustine and then stop at the Kennedy Space Center.  It turned out to be a great trip.  For those of you not familiar, St. Augustine is actually the oldest city in North America (settled by Europeans anyway).  Originally "discovered" by Ponce de Leon in the early 1500's while looking for the mythical Fountain of Youth, St Augustine was already a city 50 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.  There is a ton of history to visit and tour dating from the 1500 and 1600's all the way through the late 1800's and early 1900's when the city was the wintering grounds for the Vanderbilt's, Whitney's, Rockefellers and so forth. My oldest son Landon is learning about the history of Florida in school this year, so this trip we toured a lot of places he learned about.  It was very educational and cultural for all of us.

Stopping at the Kennedy Space Center brought out the kid in me.  Seeing the rockets, the capsules and all of the space program history had me dreaming of becoming an astronaut again.  We had lunch with Story Musgrave, who flew 6 shuttle missions including a space walk to repair the Hubble Space telescope.  The space center folks have done a great job making this a real fun destination for kids and adults alike.  We stayed a second day because we could not take it all in one day.  If you get a chance, Kennedy Space Center is a great place to visit.  Also our space program is really one of the crown jewels of America. I am going to write more about that in another post.

This was our first vacation where it was not waiting on one line or another to go on a ride or sitting at a pool or beach.  I have waited years for the boys to be old enough to appreciate an educational trip like this. I am really looking forward to more of these kinds of trips in the years to come!

Now back to work and security and making 2009 a year to remember!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Fun Things To Do in Florida: St. Augustine
• NASA Primes Space Shuttle Discovery for Move
• Jan. 5, 1972: Nixon OKs 'Low-Cost' Space Shuttle

Back from Christmas, but on my way out again

Image via Wikipedia

Just wanted to drop a quick note that I have not abandoned the blog.  Just really busy with Holiday stuff and end of quarter/year business.  New Years Day I am taking the family on a mini-vacation for a few days here in Florida, so will be AWOL again.  Lots of big news though coming up in the next week or two around both the Security Bloggers Network (check out the site for some of the new look) and some news with StillSecure as well.  Stay tuned and Happy New Year to all of my readers!

What are you thankful for? Its probably right in front of you

Image via Wikipedia

OK, let me get sentimental here a bit about tomorrow's Thanksgiving holiday here in the US.  Sitting here at my laptop typing a blog post while I listen to "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Beddingfield, thinking about going to a party tonight, football game tomorrow morning and up to my family for a big holiday dinner tomorrow, we take for granted our lives.  In fact more than take for granted, we actually complain and wonder why we don't have it better.  Even in these tough economic times, for the most part we are spared the real disruptions and tough times that many in this world confront every day and that our grandparents faced in years gone by.

I was reminded of this last night while watching my sons baseball team practice.  I was talking to a mom of another boy on the team.  Having seen this family throughout the baseball season a couple of times a week, I never noticed or thought anything of them other than they were nice people and their son has a great compact swing when hitting.   I mentioned to the Mom that we had gone away this past weekend across the state to Naples and had a great time.  She told me that they have not had any vacation for 2 years.  Her husband lost his job 2 years ago and has not been able to find another one.  She is a licensed nurse and works 50+ hours a week and makes 50k a year.  She supports herself, the two boys and her husband on this.  They are 5 months behind on their mortgage and she is at her wits end. 

Now of course you can say why can't the husband find a job.  I don't know, but that isn't the point.  Think about the pressure her and this family live with everyday and what it must feel like hearing about others going to Disney or other places on vacation here in Florida. Thinking about trying to buy healthy foods that cost more money.  About getting the kids extra help so they do better in school.  For me it made me realize that my problems can be very small indeed compared to others, even right in your community.

So be thankful for what you have. For sure there are others who look at what you have and would be grateful for it.  Look no further than what you have in front of you and realize that no matter what, it could be a lot worse.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Related articles by Zemanta

• The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

9/11 - Seven years later, a moment of silence

God took me off the grid

I had every intention of blogging during the long holiday weekend. Catching up on email and work at some point was on the agenda as well.  However, this morning in the middle of email my laptop froze up.  I could not do anything with it and so had to power down.  On start up I got a missing media notice and it looks like my hard drive went kaput.  Luckily my Windows Mobile phone has everything I need to stay connected. Email, typepad blog platform, etc.  Well we went to my family in Hollywood Beach for a fireworks display and BBQ tonight.  I left my phone in a backpack, so I would not take it in the beach or water with me.  Great, it rained, the backpack got soaked and my phone is down now too! 

So I think it is God telling me to go off grid this weekend.  I am writing this on Bonnie's desktop machine. The kids are staying with my cousins and Bonnie and I are headed down to Key Largo for the weekend.  I have her spare pink Razor with my Sim card for phone calls, but that is it.  No email, no computers, no blogging!  Speak to you all Sunday night or Monday, enjoy your weekend!

Hopefully, I had one article written scheduled for tomorrow morning. I hope it publishes.

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!

Its Mothers Day, be thankful you have a mom to call - so do it.

Mothers Day is always a tough one for me. My mom passed away 25 years ago and though time has passed to cover up a never healed wound, every Mothers Day the scab is torn off a bit and the regret and pain ooze through. Having our kids celebrate Mothers Day with my wife has made it better, but nothing takes the place of your own Mom. Fred Wilson reminded me of that today with this post about a Tom Friedman piece in the NY Times today.

Tom just lost his mom last year after a long bout with dementia it seems. She was 89. Tom reflects on her remarkable life and how she influenced him to be what he is. Can any of us say any differently? Weren't all of our Moms special to each of us. Isn't so much of the people we are today directly related to that woman who raised and nourished us? Of course. So on this day honoring Mothers everywhere, if you are lucky enough to have your Mom available to thank, do so and don't miss the chance because you never know when you might not be able to.

Happy Mothers Day Bonnie and to all of you mothers everywhere!

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!

Happy Thanksgiving

Not sure who is reading blogs today or tomorrow, but to those of you (you know who you are) that have taken the time to check in today, from everyone here to all of you and yours, have a happy, safe and secure Thanksgiving!

In case you have been wondering, here is a link to an article on why we eat turkey for Thanksgiving.  Enjoy!