Working and Waiting

One of the vagaries of programming is that you can spend a fair bit of time waiting on things to compile. I'm in the process of putting in changes for Windows when I'm a Linux developer, and that just takes a bit of time.

With a trip to Fallingwater coming up very soon—tomorrow, in fact—and the recent weather, I'm in some mood to write. This spring has been one of the more delightful in recent memory: crisp and rainy, not too hot, and not too stressful. While the house isn't quite up to my OC standards, L's done some straight-up magic in getting it ready for Char's visit. I'm excited for the throw down and some visits to the city.

The recent past has been spent with a new niece, LG (her electronics initials complement MC's daughter's, GE, quite well). Born somewhat prematurely, she has well-developed lungs and will be an excellent swimmer or martial artist some day if she pleases to be. Strong legs and a great "What gives?" face. We've enjoyed time with her and the family through the various stresses of her sleep-scream-eat-poo-scream cycle.

The neighbors' new daughter is growing, too, and their son is barely two and quite precocious, at least with his numbers and the occasional ABCs. We taught the husband how to play Egyptian Ratscrew, which will sit well with their competitive natures.

The team competed in our annual visit to the Poconos. It was more successful than last year, though we didn't have quite the same prestigious judges. (On the other hand, Billy Blanks was there this year.) I got a chance to talk to an old Taekwondo grandmaster, a septuagenarian with some real gumption. I enjoyed the conversation about young people (i.e., me) and politics. We didn't talk karate much at all, except to say that we weren't allowed to hit people as often as we wanted anymore. D and I took weapons and forms grand championships, a missing component of last year's experience.

The week following, MC tested for his 7th degree. I could wax eloquent about this, but I'll note in passing that AC was granted rank by people in Tangsoodo to sit on the testing board. He probably should be giving them rank in TSD instead. They closed the test, which was pretty ridiculous. It's mostly a face-saving move, and I can appreciate that...but no family or students were allowed to participate. I was there as an uke, and E made it in as a gopher. If we weren't there, we wouldn't have had a proctor or other help.

MC dislocated his elbow on a break early on and finished the test that way. We didn't know at the time if it was dislocated, broken, or a nerve pinched, but he was in a great deal of pain. He still differentiated himself from everyone very, very well—he didn't let up on the technique, which was amazing to me. As his junior it was all yes sir, no sir, but I told him later that it was really stupid to do that. The privileges of friendship.

The months have been good. The grass is growing, and the weed and feed seems to have mostly done its thing. The pear tree is growing a goodly bit, and we have blueberry bushes in the offing to be planted. God has been so good.