We had some friends over for dinner last night. We don't do this very often ... okay, almost never ... but these are people that we really like. In a sense, they're just like us, at least in the important items - attitudes and values. Their oldest daughter was in day care with ours, and we've kept in touch. Whats particularly funny is that just about the first thing their mother ever said to me was a request to get my daughter to stop hugging her daughter .... which, bemused, I did. Then, about two years later, she asked if I'd ask my daughter to include her daughter in a group play event -- the kid was just standing and watching. I gladly did, my daughter gladly did, and they were off. Neither of us saw either daughter for more than ten seconds at a time for the next half hour.
Conversation ranged over the usual topics -- amazement at the cost of houses (I mentioned that we'd thought of having an elevator put in, but really aren't able to do the math on that with any equanimity), the progress of our offspring in school (their daughter was selected for a math program that we wanted for our daughter; they chose not to send her, and when we learned why, we breathed a sigh of relief that our daughter hadn't made it), the relative idiocy of our companies (they and my wife work for the same company, which is the one that I used to work for), PC configuration (my wife mentioned that her sister was pretty literate on PCs, and I said 'This would be the one who didn't know that Windows XP has a built-in firewall?', to which both visitors said "Windows XP has a built-in firewall?), baking (they said the bread was superb; it wasn't (and I'm not being coy) but it was good, and it looked good, right down to the dusting of cornmeal on it), and other matters. It was fun, and we all enjoyed it. I don't know of many other people we'd want to have over. One of the nice things about the person I'm married to is that she could have a pleasant evening with Attila the Hun (heck, look who she married), but with these folks, you hardly have to try.
Came across a blog the other day -- MINIMSFT.BLOGSPOT.COM -- which is written by a longterm Microsoft employee. What amazed me is that he really believes in the company, really wants it to do well, really thinks it can do miraculous and wonderful things. Must be nice to have that kind of belief -- and in Microshaft, yet.
Picked up a science fiction novel while taking the offspring to buy some books. Looked good, felt good, nice concept. Brought it home, realized a) I'd read it before, and b) I had liked only the first half. So I reread the first half.... and then I went and read some more of Geisha. I had forgotton how much I like that book.
Wonder if Bush really means (insofar as he can mean anything) what he's saying about illegal aliens? I understand that use of that phrase communicates my basic attitude toward the subject, else I'd say 'Friends You Don't Know Yet' or somesuch. I don't think its a black and white concept, but I do know that its not the 1920s any more. We can't handle immigrants as we used to be able to do. I suspect a compromise is possible -- limited citizenship? -- but I don't think anyone's willing to propose that. Just the usual heartstring-twanging sentiments...
No comments:
Post a Comment