Personal
Personal reflections, comments about things I've been doing, etc.
The Canine House Alarm
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/12/2011 - 05:14At around 4:30 AM, I awoke from a dead sleep to what sounded like a door opening and someone walking around. At first, I thought perhaps Fiona had had a nightmare and was coming into the room for comfort. But Fiona is at a sleepover.
This was quickly followed by the canine house alarm. There have been other times I've been annoyed at the dog for waking me early when the birds start chirping, or when a deer wanders through the yard, but this morning, I turned on all the lights. The doors were locked and I saw no sign of an intruder. When I unlocked the door, the dog tore outside after something in the darkness, barking his loud deep bark from the depths of his lungs.
Normally, I worry about his barking disturbing the neighbors. The police commissioner next store says not to worry. The dog’s barking makes her feel more secure and after the gunshots heard in our neighborhood a week or two ago, everyone wants to feel a little more secure.
Things have settled down a little bit now. The dog is resting on the couch in the living room. The cat is curled up in a chair next to me. The sound of the lingering rain from yesterday’s storm fades to the sound of the first birds chirping. I am tired and will try to get back to sleep shortly.
#weitzman Symposium: A big day at work
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 06:54Well, here it is, Thursday, June 9th. In a few hours the sixth annual Weitzman Symposium will start. I was up late last night at a dinner with some of the speakers. I drove home through a severe thunderstorm with hail about the size of gumballs. (I don’t think there is any damage to the car, but I didn’t look closely). In the middle of the night, another severe thunderstorm rolled through our area.
I woke up early, unable to sleep, and with plenty to do. You see, this is the first time the Weitzman Symposium will be streaming live online as well as having a twitter backchannel. Please take a look at my work blog post about the conference. I’ll put up a new post around the time the conference starts which will embed the Ustream video and the CoverItLive discussion.
Yesterday, I sent out an eblast about the conference and a lot of people have been sharing the email, or posting it to Facebook or Twitter.
If you want to do me a big favor, post the link of the blog post or the eblast on your favorite social media sites, and then, stop by, and visit the conference virtually, and be sure to introduce yourself online.
ominous
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 20:28It’s been a few nights since we heard gunshots outside our house in the middle of the night, and already the memory of the rude interruption to our sleep is fading. This morning, it was a different ruder interruption. At about 5:30, our dog started barking. Wesley is a large dog with a load deep bark and clearly he was agitated this morning. Was there an intruder? Was it related to the gunshots we had heard?
I went downstairs to check things out. Yes, there was an intruder, perhaps an intruder that had been involved with the gun shots a few nights ago. Standing in our neighbor’s yard was a large six point buck; quite the trophy for either a poacher or a large dog. I put Wesley on a leash and took him outside. The buck quickly bounded off, and Wesley soon calmed down. Yet now, I was awake, and since the alarm was set to go off soon, I figured I would be up for the day.
With the adventurous morning, I found myself running out of energy towards the end of the day. So, as I wrapped things up at the end of the day, I checked the news and headed home. The media circus around Sarah Palin has moved on already to a media circus around Anthony Weiner. I’m pretty disappointed with the American media
In the evening, we took Wesley to the dog park. It is a good chance to wear him out, in hopes that he won’t want to get up and chase deer at 5:30 in the morning. On the way home, I received a phone call which seemed a bit strange. I’ll just leave it at that. It set a strange feeling to the evening, which an evening show only added to.
So now, I will try to get to bed early and see what tomorrow brings.
Random Stuff
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 06/04/2011 - 20:57And so, another week comes to an end. We’re puppy sitting this weekend. We went to the pool. We went out to have burgers. We didn’t go to concerts in Bethany or Pittsfield, or a fundraiser in Middletown. I’m just too tired.
My internet connections have been a bit spotty, which has been frustrating. Not much else to say for right now.
Memorial Day 2011
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/30/2011 - 10:42Fiona had a sleepover last night, and was up early with her friend. There was a thunderstorm rolling through and Wesley went out in the rain, got soaked and then shook next to the girls. The screams woke me earlier than I would have liked to get up, especially on a rainy holiday.
Yet, I did get up. I spent a little time surfing random blog posts. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. The girls have been lobbying to go swimming one place or another, but there isn’t a lot of time for that, so they are playing inside.
The day has a feeling of other holidays or vacation days long ago. There is a sort of melancholy low energy, mingled with a longing to get outside and do something. Listening to radio weather reports have been replaced by checking the radar online. Skimming through old newspapers and magazines has been replaced by surfing random websites, yet it is the same.
Nearby, there are rain soaked parades happening. People online are writing about what we should be remembering this weekend. Others are heading off to family cookouts.
Whatever the weather and mood, may you have a special memorial day.
