Note to self: Vote!

I’m currently looking at my todo list, which I would like to point out is sorted by relevance, priority and project thanks to views in Microsoft Outlook. I have scribbled at the bottom (it’s where I put the important stuff) to vote. It seems like such an obvious thing but I felt the need to remind myself to do my due diligence in respecting the fact I don’t have to own land, be a certain race or gender to pick my fearless leader. I don’t even have to know how to read, but if I don’t I should only ask somebody who I trust to read my ballot to me. That’s according to the directions of my absentee ballot.



I blogged about voting for Kinky earlier and that is still the direction I’m leaning. The analyzer part of me struggles with the idea of putting a character like him in charge. The emotional side of me says damn the consequences and send the political machine a message. According to Kinky’s website, early voting in Bexar County is up some 60% in the first day. Seeing that his goal was to get the nonvoters to vote for him, this sounds like early good news for our cigar toting odd ball. I’m still leaning towards Kinky but I won’t say 100% until I send my ballot off in the next few days.



Vote early and vote often.

Eid Mubarak عيد مبارك

Kara and I are celebrating Eid right now. All that really means for us is that Ramadan is over and I get three days off from work. Another bonus is I get to post Emma’s almost crawling video.



To see the pictures click here



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Back from Educause

I’m back from Educause and I would say that the trip was an overall success. This conference was different from the Microsoft TechEd conferences I usually attend. It gives me a higher level view of some of the technologies and policy making that goes into IT. At Tech Ed you are watching guys write code about 75% of the time. Both have their advantages but it was good to see how the other 1/2 lives for a while.



My presentation went pretty well. I would estimate that about 75 people pulled themselves out of bed for the 8:10 showing of “Conecting Your Campus with SMS”. I got a lot of questions and several people asked me about collaborating on this topic in the future. I even made somebody’s blog but I believe it’s in Dutch so I don’t know exactly what they were saying.



http://edutrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/10/connecting-your-campus-with-sms.html



After the conference I drove down to San Antonio and got to see my family for about 40 hours. Even though it was a short amount of time it was great to see everybody. I then spent about 30 hours in airports and planes getting back to Doha. I’m still recovering from jet lag. For some reason it hit me pretty hard this time around.



One of the more surprising events of my trip was when I got back. I don’t know if it was me being gone for a week but Emma looks noticeably bigger. She may be just sitting up straighter but I couldn’t get over the fact of how big she looks. I was only gone a week but something happened.



Facebook



So I’ve given in to the social networking experiment and have signed up on facebook. Only 14 people from my high school have signed up but I actually knew most of them. I guess it takes a certain “type”. It is interesting to see what people are up to and is kind of like a high school reunion without all the annoying small talk.



The Texas Governor’s Race



If you didn’t see the debate you can see it at:



http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=93181&catId=104

Kinky Friedman for Governor

This summer my dad mentioned to me that a guy by the name of Kinky Friedman is running for governor. Any time somebody mentions to me that an independent has a real shot at an election I’m halfway to voting for them. I’ll try not to play the all politicians are worthless but I’ve been disillusioned by Washington lately. I don’t know if the idea of just trying something different is good one but I’m tired of what we have. I looked at Kinky's platform and I could tell that he’s shooting from the hip on some of these issues and may be too simplistic in his views to be a reponsible choice.



His famous quote “"How hard can it be?" speaks to this.



Other quotes:
"May the God of your choice bless you,"



"Last time, they spent $100 million just to drive 71 percent of us away from the polls, this time, that 71 percent is coming roarin' back -- with pitchforks ! -- to throw the money-changers out of the temple!"



"Hi, folks, it's Kinky Friedman, here to wish the Houston Comets a happy tenth anniversary." He pauses, then leans forward and jabs his cigar at the camera. "Houston Comets basketball -- it's not just for lesbians anymore!"



A good article, and the source for most of these quotes is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701461_pf.html



He has taken positions that are definitely against my views, pro-gay marriage, pro-choice and allowing casinos to be opened in Texas. The upside of the casinos is they will fund the school system. The decision that I have to make is which is better? A slick talking governor that ignores me or one that tells me what I don’t want to hear to my face. Maybe my analyzer side will kick in later and change my mind but for now I feel like Kinky and I'm going to use my vote to support him. Like he said "I can't screw things up any worse than they already have."

Episode 100 – All things Texas

Below are some scattered thoughts. The only thing in common is that I refer to Texas in each one of them. It looks like I will be visiting my home state more frequently this year which is exciting for me. Especially since one of the trips will be during the Christmas holiday season.



They like me, they really like me



This October I’m going to be attending a conference in Dallas where I will speak at one of the sessions. One of my colleagues prompted me to submit a proposal and a couple months later they accepted it and we were committed. I’m pretty excited / nervous about the presentation but I’m trying not to get too obsessive about it.



You can read about it at:

http://www.educause.edu/E06/Program/9155?PRODUCT_CODE=E06/SESS058



Thoughts of Texas



The last time I went to the US was this summer and while I was in the car driving from the airport I jotted down my first impressions. I added a few more thoughts throughout the first 24 hours of my trip. I’ve been told that whenever you go somewhere new take as many pictures as you can right away. This is because you are more likely to capture all the unique things before you become desensitized to them. It had been a year since I was in Texas so it was the closest thing that I had to culture shock in my home state. It really wasn’t a shock but more of a buzz.



First impressions after getting off the plane:

Spanish accents in the cleaning staff

Local out of towners are from Mexico not GCC (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Oman)

Lots of trucks

New car lots off the highway

Support our troops and USMC stickers

Grass and huge highways

Dixie chicks hate em and love em

People are conservative, sometimes blinded conservative

There are a lot of churches and you don't have to hide them

There are more then 5 types of SUVs

Large American drinks = super gigantic Doha drinks

Annoying shouting guys on the radio telling me to buy now and pay later.

Law of diminishing returns



I remember the first time that I was headed back to Texas. I was really excited, freakishly dangerous excited. It had been a year since I was there and I couldn’t wait. I would spend a week in Florida first but that was OK. Kara had left a few weeks before me, and I was excited to just talk to her while she was in the states. When she called from her parents house I kept on asking “Aren’t you excited to be in Texas”. It was like some long endurance race had come to an end for me.



It reminded me a lot of when I was at A&M and I left for San Antonio for a weekend after my first month of being away. The trips were always exciting but the time between them grew and I was no longer home sick after a while. The same is happening here. I’m excited about going but I’m not beside myself. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. One is Kara and I have learned to cope with living in Doha. We still live the American life through the Internet, season old TV shows, telephone calls and the good memories. So we miss Texas but we’re halfway living there already. So maybe that’s why we only halfway missing it. Living in the flat world makes life a lot easier for us.



http://www.amazon.com/World-Flat-History-Twenty-first-Century/dp/0374292795/ref=pd_ts_b_20/002-6055789-6020028?ie=UTF8&s=books



Going back to School



I just found out that I got accepted to UT-Dallas’ Global MBA program. I will still be living in Doha but I will take online courses from UTD. I expect it to take me 3 to 4 years. At that point I expect to reenter the real world wherever that might be. I picked it because I get the same degree as if I was taking classes on campus and the school is AACSB Acredited. I’m looking forward to the new challenge and really don’t have any more information about it for right now.



For us Texas Ex-pats, a little taste of home...



The Budweiser Real Men Of Genius – Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy



The words are below...



Today we salute you Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy.

Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy!

Men from lesser states might know their state's capital, but you? You know you're state's bird, tree and even reptile.

Love that horny toad.

You display your pride with your Lone Star tattoo, "Native Texan" bumper sticker, and contempt for any state that doesn't start with "Tex" and end with "as."

That spells Texas.

Sure, there are 49 other states in the Union, but they are smaller, wussier, and the people talk funny.

Yankee wussies.

So crack open a nice cold Bud Light, oh lover of the Lone Star state.

Because all that flag waving must have made you thirsty.



For the best Internet county station that I’ve found so far


http://www.radiofreetexas.org/