Category: Blog

On a lazy afternoon in Florida, I visit a friend of the family at his restaurant.  I worked in very this restaurant before, under different management and a different name.  I simply called him “Mr. Five” because his surname sounded like the Cantonese word for ‘five’.  We catch up on how our lives progressed.  At some point, he outright suggests that I should “go back to China to find a Chinese girl; it’ll make your mom happy.”  While I didn’t respond in the way that I otherwise might, this conversation filled me with disappointment.

Now, I’ll go into a little detour.  I’ll give you a sample list of names, and I’d like you to ponder about what they have in common:

• Anne Frank
• Betty White
• Mother Teresa
• Rosa Parks
• Julia Child

Continue reading “The mother of all dilemmas” →

I have been a computer geek since my teen years.  On my early days, I learned to program on a TRS-80 Model 3.  It literally had no ability for any graphics; it was all text.  We saved data and programs on cassette tapes, which predated floppy diskettes.  Yes, you read that right.  My sister got the first legitimate computer in our house which ran MS-DOS.  This computer had a handle and its own screen.  Toshiba sold it as a ‘portable’ only because it was completely self-contained.  I don’t believe that this computer fit in any backpack I’ve ever owned, and it weighted about nine pounds.

In high school, I carried a lot of books.  I lugged around both a backpack and a purple duffle bag with school colors.  Once I entered college, I continued to carry more weight than I needed to, opting to keep books or other items with me in case I wanted them.  This included music in the form of cassettes, and later CD’s.  I opted to be prepared at the expense of lugging all that weight.

Continue reading “What a difference a week makes” →

During my early years, my Catholic school in Puerto Rico did not conduct any field trips.  I first enrolled in the public school system in Florida at the age of ten.  They did conduct field trips; each of these required a signed parental consent form.  In this regard, we simply brought that consent from home and simply asked her to sign it.  My mom didn’t really speak (or read) English.  Truthfully, she didn’t really know what each particular field trip entailed, though she implicitly trusted us not to abuse that trust.  We never had her put her name on a blank check or sign away the car or house.

During my senior year in high school, there was a similar classroom session for our Health class.  This particular class was a requirement for graduation.  However, this specific lesson required parental consent; those who did not get consent would spend it in the library.  Like all other parental permission forms that preceded this one, I simply handed the paper to my mom and asked her to sign it.  The lesson talked about human sexuality, had pictures of circumcision, childbirth, etc.  While I’m sure some students didn’t get consent, the ones who remained didn’t seem especially distressed.

Continue reading “Hiding behind our children” →

Like most high school students, I read Shakespeare in class.  To be bluntly honest, I tolerated it.  Naturally, I understood that it was a necessary part of my education and in many respects, he became the standard.  However, his writing neither especially impressed me nor compelled me to read it outside of my required reading.  Though I understand that to many of you, this is heresy.

I also read Orwell’s 1984 in high school, ironically right around 1984.  It was required reading.  This book both fascinated and deeply distressed me; it was delicious.  First, while there were obviously many elements of this society that were deeply distressing, today I’ll focus on just one.  The predisposition to amend history, most memorably with the simple statement, “Oceania is, and always has been, at war with Eastasia.”  This is untrue; Oceania switched loyalties during the novel.  However, the book describes a society that simply refuses to acknowledge its history.  If the government makes a strong enough assertion, that’s what ‘truth’ will be.

Continue reading “American Exceptionalism versus accurate history” →

On an otherwise ordinary afternoon in the mid 1990’s, I walk into a small office near work.  I have never been here before, though I’ve driven past many times.  We will meet for about 30 minutes.  First, they escort me into a small room with a table surrounded by a handful of chairs.  I sit on one side and a professionally dressed woman sits on the other.  Next, she places a thick document on the table, more accurately measured in inches than pages.  Finally, we start the process of signing these documents, as she points to specific places and instructs to sign, initial, or date.  Meanwhile, she assures me that I’ll have an opportunity to read through everything, but we didn’t schedule nearly enough time.

During that meeting, a voice silently screamed in my head, “You should not sign anything you that have not read or fully understand.”  This voice didn’t stop me from signing page after page, legally committing myself to a contract.  For all I knew, I might’ve legally committed to donating a kidney.  The only thought that alleviated my anxiety was simply, “Millions of people have gone through this before.  This is very normal; you’ll be fine.”

Continue reading “The ‘Great Equalizer’ is not equally accessible” →

Years ago, I watch movie called Gattaca.  I have enjoyed films with both Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, so I watched with great anticipation.  Most good films that are set in the future with a hypothetical premise will provoke thoughts about its ethics.  I may try to describe the film, but the trailer does a great job.  Additionally, you should watch the film; it is exceptional.

While I may write a post about the premise of the film, today I’ll simply reflect on a scene between two characters:  Vincent, played by Hawke, and his brother, Anton.  Vincent, genetically flawed, routinely outswims his brother, genetically flawless, across a body of water at night.  It is a trend that frustrates Anton, who cannot comprehend how this is possible.

Anton: How are you doing this, Vincent?  How have you done any of this?
Vincent:  You want to know how I did?  This is how I did it, Anton.  I never saved anything for the swim back.

Continue reading “X is not Twitter” →

I’ve had the privilege to have mentored a handful of engineers in my career.  I grew fond and protective of them.  They are all extended family.  Naturally, they were all different.  Some needed insight into how to debug a particular problem.  Others asked about the history of a particular component and why it behaved the way it did.  I rank designing components with them among the most fun and rewarding activities.

Engineers consistently learn best by ‘doing’.  As I mentored them, I instructed them to feel free bang their heads against the wall for a while; solving that puzzle will both best commit it to memory and boost their self-confidence.  However, we also set healthy boundaries for how long they may struggle with that puzzle.  I advised them to come get me if they had not made any progress for a while.  We set our rule of thumb to two hours.

Continue reading “To those we’ve lost…” →

As a child, I once came upon a documentary on the development of the Bell X-1, the first supersonic plane.  Honestly, I don’t remember much from it.  I don’t even remember what the plane looked like.  The underlying and pervasive theme centered around breaking the sound barrier, most of the observed behavior about flight are transformed as your plane approaches the sound barrier.  They needed to build the plane to function differently than other planes of the era.

However, the speed of sound (767 mph) is a natural barrier.  Sonic booms don’t arbitrarily occur; it’s not as if we sweet talk the atmosphere to behave that way for show.  Engineers and pilots navigated and overcame the challenges to building and operating the Bell X-1.  As an engineer, I acknowledge it as a great human achievement, but I also understand that it overcame a natural barrier, not an artificial one.

Continue reading “The mythical four-minute mile” →

On a particularly light-hearted moment, I entered a conversation about organ donation.  Are people generally for or against organ donation?  One response was, “Take everything, I don’t need it.”  This was an incredibly sensible and practical response; it wasn’t mine.  I confessed that the idea of walking around in the afterlife without a couple of key parts, like my eyes and my heart, gives me the creeps.  That’s right, I, who have not practiced Catholicism since boyhood, who aspires to epitomize logic and reason… gets the creeps about not having eyes or a heart in the afterlife.

The response to my confession was a surprisingly good out, “Once you make it to heaven, you’ll be whole again.”  That’s great; it means that in some ways, I don’t need to worry about how my body parts are parceled out.  I suppose that in the other case, lacking my eyes or heart would be the least of my worries.

Continue reading “Assholes in heaven” →

My older sister and I have an ongoing, but distressingly regular, discussion.  When we talk, she often refers to me as “Frankie”; this is not okay.  Our dialogue goes something like this:

Me:  My name is Frank.  Please stop calling me “Frankie”.
Her: I called you that when you were little.
Me:  I know, but I never said that was okay.
Her: I don’t mean anything bad by it.
Me: I understand, but it’s not my name.
Her: It’s a term of endearment.
Me: It’s not if it doesn’t endear me.

To be completely fair, Frank is neither my birth nor legal name; it’s simply the name I choose to go by.  I understand that she calls me that without malice and mostly because she forgets, but the fact remains.  I should be called what I asked to be called.

It reminds me of dialogue from Pretty Woman:

Vivian:  Can I call you Eddie?
Edward:  Not if you expect me to answer.

Continue reading “Montague or Capulet” →