Hey guys! The dumpster is being delivered on Friday, so anyone who wanted to come over and help do some damage on Saturday would be most appreciated. The primary goals are to get the hot tub, deck, and huge dirt pile on the side of my house in there. Everything else is gravy.
Say around 10AM?
Thanks!
I got a phone call today.
And old friend and mentor of mine, Wendell Collier, passed away on Saturday morning from complications of pneumonia. He was 37 years old.
I met Wendell when I went to work for Auction Broker Software. I liked him from the very beginning. He was a warm, open, friendly and genuinely happy guy. He was arguably one of the hardest working men I’ve ever met in my life, regularly putting in 12 hours a day or more and still fitting in time for his family and his church. Yes, he was a very religious man as well. Thing is, I really enjoyed talking about religion with him. You see, Wendell never tried to push his beliefs off on me. Any time we talked about God he would ask me, “Are you sure you are ok talking about this with me?” He would answer my questions about his faith honestly, and never looked down on me for not sharing them. Was it obvious that he wished I felt the way he did. Patently. But that came from a place of truly being concerned about me, and he never let those beliefs show in an overbearing manner.
I remember his passion for spaceships. He loved rendering 3-D models of them while he was taking breaks at work. He told me all about Space 1999, which I had never seen before. We would spend hours talking about all that is geeky in Science Fiction. I remember one time how he purchased a model for the Space 1999 ship during a lunch break, and the schoolboy joy that was evident on his face as he opened the package back at the office.
I remember how much he LOVED chinese food. Whenever we went out for lunch, or it was ordered into the office for us, it was Chinese. Crab Rangoon was huge with him, and in fact I think the first time I ever had Crab Rangoon it was because he uncharacteristically offered to share one of his pieces with me.
He was an amazing teacher. In fact, much of the expertise that I have in my field today can be directly contributed to him. He would never tell you exactly what to do. He would push you in the right direction and let you find your own way. The software that he wrote for Auction Broker was light years ahead of its time, and had it been marketed properly could have made them a lot of money. Other people recognized his talent, and had the vision to utilize it, and hired him away from there. He took his skills to their business, and helped them create a piece of software that was so good it actually threatened to take business away from eBay. So eBay bought it. Unless I miss my guess, he made those people a lot of money (and, quite honestly, saved them from being yet another in a long list of crushed dreams that ABS left in its wake). He was on the verge of doing it again. Yet another piece of software that he helped to develop was set to go live in February.
His employer, who called to tell me the news, said that it will take 3 or 4 programmers to replace him. I think me might be shooting a bit too low. I also understand that he was active in the SCA where he lived in Texas. From the references that netgoth found, it would appear he was highly regarded there. He was also the Children’s Marshall for Southeastern Ansteorra (the Kingdom that is Texas). Again, not a surprise. Family meant everything to Wendell, and if there was ever a man who lived to the code that the SCA represents it was him. Honor. Integrity. Loyalty. Chivalry. He was truly a knight of the modern age.
I haven’t talked to Wendell in years, but we frequently talked of him with fondness. He was a unique individual, and a good friend. My heart goes out to his wife and children right now. If he meant all of this to me, imagine what he was to them.
I know that he would not have been afraid of death, and that he would want us to take comfort in that. In some way, I do. All I know is that here on Earth it’s a little bit dimmer, and in the sky it’s a little bit brighter. There’s a big new star up there now.
Rest in peace, my friend.
A picture of Wendell from an SCA event
His obituary from the newspaper in his town.
I’ll be completely honest here. I’m having a hard time believing this article is genuine. I can’t say it would surprise me if it was, but Bush seems much more shrewd than to lose his shit like that in front of people who aren’t in his inner circle. I did a google search and couldn’t find any other references to this incident, so I’ll put it out to you guys. Can we collectively confirm or deny this particular piece of reporting?
Because, quite frankly, if it’s true it needs to be spread.
(Original link courtesy of kelgirl)
Ground Rules: The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 weird habits of yours” and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly.
In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.
1. Unless I consciously decide to do so otherwise, I read magazines backwards.
2. Once I find something I like in a restuarant, I generally tend to order it over and over again. Trying something new very rarely happens.
3. I get really freaked by my fingernails having any kind of white on them, and frequently trim them down to the quick. Often too far, which makes them hurt for days.
4. About 2 to 3 times a year I go through “purge cycles” where I’ll whirlwind through the house and throw out anything I think it causing excess clutter without serving a function.
5. I totally and completely lose my shit if you mess with the rear view mirror while I’m driving.
much_ado tacked another meme on to this, asking for five simple pleasures in your life.
1. Coffee.
2. Waking up without the alarm and cuddling with netgoth
3. Hugs from my son.
4. The thrill of a first read through on any production I’ve done with Jobsite
5. Sushi
Oh, and as for the tagging? Do this if you’ve got some time. hehehe…I half-tag you all!
Official announcing the the annual Casa De McGreevy Christmas Eve party!
Come join us on Saturday, December 24th, at 8PM for a evening of food, fun, and friends as we celebrate yet another Giftmas descending upon us. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, and I truly cherish this party every year.
The house will be open until late in the evening, so if you have family obligations please feel free to stop by after (or before, if you have a late night partying kind of family). Bring your favorite libation, and something to throw on the table to gnosh on if you’re so inclined to do so.
If you need directions, contact me directly at mcmcgreevy AT gmail DOT com
Looking forward to seeing you soon, my friends.
“Organizations do not require good leadership to exist and function. Organizations with poor leadership typically have no competition or perform their tasks away from the public limelight. Many are government entities.”
– CUES University Online Training, “Leadership”
So apparently last night was the night I decided to take strange journeys through Dreamland.
I was the Mayor of Halloweentown in zayna‘s dreams, which is kinda cool. In mine, I was me…but I was me being played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a movie about my trip to Las Vegas for training. Apparently, though, my training ended up getting wrapped up in terrorists or bugs from space or something because I was running around with a gun in my kilt.
Yeah. Arnold was dressed like me, too. In my “No, I will not fix your computer” shirt and a black Utilikilt.
So…did I make any strange appearances in YOUR dreams???
Hello, my friends.
My last post was a letter to my son. Some of the memories of our time together, and my feelings for him. I’ve gotten several comments from you, through email and other sources, about how it touched you. I get the feeling, though, that some of you may not want to “spoil” the post with your comments.
So.
Here’s your chance. Today is his 10th birthday. If you’d like, leave a note for him here. Tell him something you’ve observed about him, or share a memory. This isn’t necessarily for him now. This is for him when he’s older and we’re all long gone. Take a moment and drop a thought into a time capsule. I think it’s a pretty neat idea, personally. Writing specifically to the future version of a person. If you do too, participate.
And thanks.
As I’ve stated in the past, part of the reason why I keep this journal is so that you’ll have the ability to, some day, take a look back at what I’ve written and figure your old man out. Think of it as a kind of form of time travel, if you would. You can see yourself and our life through my eyes at the time. Or maybe you can just read this and confirm how much of a nutjob I am. Regardless, I full expect that someday you will have full access to this journal and will eventually stumble across this entry.