Category Archives: Thoughts and Comments

The End of Ambition

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jonhen

Today I watched the last Space Shuttle lift off, right up the coast from me. Once the Atlantis lands, 9,000 people will be laid off. One man has worked at NASA for over 30 years, and he has worked on … Continue reading →

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Toys in the Sun Run: 2010 Edition

Posted on December 13, 2010 by jonhen

23rd Annual Toys in the Sun Run. December 5, 2010, Broward County, Florida. A few months ago, thanks to a bit of prodding from my friend and coworker Justin Armstrong, I bought myself a brand-new Harley-Davidson motorcycle: a 2011 Sportster … Continue reading →

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NUMMI Nova

Posted on April 2, 2010 by jonhen

This is a little personal story about the American car industry, as well as a review of a great episode of This American Life . The episode in question is “NUMMI”, episode #403, available for immediately listening or download here. … Continue reading →

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Skeptical Me

Posted on February 11, 2010 by jonhen

I have always considered myself to be a realist, ever since I was old enough to understand the concept. I don’t put much stock in superstition, blind faith, or jumping on the bandwagon. When I first started this blog, before … Continue reading →

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Alligators in the Wild

Posted on December 29, 2009 by jonhen

Everglades National Park – Shark Valley. U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) 25 miles west of the Florida Turnpike from exit 25 (S.W. 8th St.). Phone: 305-221-877. Hours: 8:30am – 5:00pm, 365 days a year. I’ve lived in South Florida for over … Continue reading →

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The Rickety Bridge: A Health Care Post

Posted on September 4, 2009 by jonhen

I haven’t written much in a political vein in a long time. In fact, looking at the dates on this blog, I see that I haven’t posted anything, period, in quite a while. I blame the length between posts on … Continue reading →

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A Memorial Day Dining Story

Posted on May 25, 2009 by jonhen

This morning, Frank and I decided to have breakfast at a local favorite, Weston Diner. Weston Diner is one of those great places where people line up to have their names put on a list for breakfast, where the waitresses … Continue reading →

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In Which Our Hero Gets Laid Off

Posted on January 30, 2009 by jonhen

I’ve been in the software business for 23 years now. I’ve been at 7 different companies and held 11 different jobs. I’ve worked in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Charlotte, and Fort Lauderdale. I’ve been at small companies that failed, large … Continue reading →

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A Miraculous Start For 2009

Posted on January 17, 2009 by jonhen

And while I’m at Lowe’s with my dad, shopping for new fixtures to make it easier for her to get in and out of the shower, I get a phone call from Frank: “Donnie’s plane just crashed – but he’s OK. … Having lived in South Florida for almost five years now, I’m always shocked when I travel north in the winter and am reminded of how barren and dead everything looks in the winter – which is, in fact, one of the main reasons I live as close to the tropics as is economically feasible (Hawaii was our original plan, but that didn’t work out).
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The Year Everything Connected

Posted on January 1, 2009 by jonhen

If I could, I’d have it automatically forward to my cell phone permanently (I should note here that my company’s phone system is perfectly capable of doing this, but because of some antiquated human resources policy, only “Executives” are allowed to access this option. … So, even sitting in a comfy chair in my library, reading a book, I’m still wirelessly connected to the outside world – the Kindle even has a text-based web browser built in. 2008 was also the Year of the Netbook, tiny, cheap laptop computers that are used primarily for emailing and surfing the web.
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