Just random stuff...

Well, I'm sitting in the office in Denver where half my team works. Yesterday, there was a big layoff and all the people from the former FRx company that was acquired by Microsoft years ago were essentially layed off. They are on another team that is reorganizing and consolidating offices. Fortunately, the folks on my team who were also part of the FRx team, are unaffected by the layoff. Nobody from my team was, whew! So, this is a fairly empty office. 19 people on my team in an office space that has the capacity for, and I'm guesstimating here, probably around 150 people on two floors. So, likely there will also be some office consolidation happening sometime soon as well. I have no idea, but, it's hard to imagine that Microsoft will continue to pay the lease on so much space for such a small team.

On the bright side, the product that I started so long ago is about to ship:
If you're interested, here are some links about the product.

• http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/MDS.aspx
• http://blogs.technet.com/swisseb/archive/2009/05/14/what-s-hot-on-sql-server-2008-r2.aspx
• http://blogs.technet.com/swisseb/archive/2009/05/12/sql-server-2008-r2-master-data-services-master-data-management-announced.aspx

I've probably blogged about it enough, but wanted to mention how happy I am that Tyson completed his Eagle. I'm proud of the fact that he did the work himself as well, working with his eagle project partner, they put together two signs for the front and back entrances to our community for community announcements and information. They are rock solid signs.

Jenny is now playing flute and she's coming right along. It's really great hearing the flute in our home again. I've missed hearing Lindz practicing somewhere in the house. Now we have the sound of the flute again.

The kids are growing up fast. Tyson's less than a year away from a mission. Amanda's in high school, Jenny in Junior High. Sarah is getting taller and smarter everyday. Her and Tyson are best buds. It's really cool to see Ty walking around the house with a little "Sarah appendage" on his foot or carrying her up to her bedroom to throw her in bed. As a parent, it is one of the most wonderful feelings to see your children not just get along, but loving each other and playing together.

Christine seems to be enjoying school. She's back at it in a month or so with more hours. I'm really glad she's going back and stretching, learning, and enjoying the challenge.

Amanda and I are looking forward to another trip to New York. I have a conference there and she's coming up for a few days before. We're going to try to see West Side Story. Amanda wanted to see Little Mermaid, but it doesn't seem to be playing any longer. My only experience with Broadway shows has been Phantom of the Opera. I really enjoyed that. I'm looking forward to West Side Story. Love the music.

I'm really enjoying my work. Though I travel a bit with a remote office, conferences, partner and customer visits, I enjoy the travel but not being away. I work with some pretty incredible people who constantly surprise me with their capacity, competence, passion, and ability to think through problems and find solutions.

I just finished reading a book Tyson shared with me called "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman". It's one of the most enjoyable reads in recent memory. For those that don't know, Dr. Feynman taught a series of recorded lectures on physics that are quite popular and hailed for their clear, crisp and approachable delivery and content. Dr. Feynman was on the Manhatten project, taught physics for years at Cornell and, oh, now I'm forgetting... Ah, Cal Tech. His stories are pretty funny. I especially liked the one about how he cracked the safes that held the secrets of the atom bomb. He has an especially lucid and sobering final entry on the state of our education system and the books used to teach our children. It's well worth the read. I'll just say this one thing, make sure you're not on your high horse, and you'll be thoroughly entertained.

On the plane to Denver, I read a book called "The Road" by Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy. Apparently it's going to be made into a movie. On a scale of depressing books/movies of 1 to 10, where "The Sound of Music" is a 2, "In pursuit of Happiness" is a 6, "Flight Plan" is a 7, "Seven Pounds" is an 8, "The Road" is a 10. I left the book out on my desk and gave it away, like an evil talisman, to the first person who asked about it. Apparently, the movie is coming out right around Thanksgiving. Interesting timing given the theme. Great, one more thing to depress people around the holidays. And that's all I have to say about THAT book.

I'm about to start reading a book called "You just don't understand, (Men and Women in Conversation)" I'm wondering if that's going to be depressing or enlightening. I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just reread Feynman's book. At least it made me laugh out loud!