Little Reminders

Sometimes you just need little reminders...

Today I got the last of my tax refunds for this year. I ran the numbers, and once we send one check, we will be out of debt. Out. No debt. (Except for the mortgage...that's unavoidable.) A nice little reminder that despite having a tight budget, and having lower earnings the last two years due to hurdles on the career track, we are still making headway and able to provide for ourselves...

Recently I reviewed my career vitae. I was astounded at how much I had expanded my skill set in the last year and a half or so. I knew it was happening...I knew I was learning. But it really struck me when I started putting it down in a list how much I've been allowed to flourish in the last year and a half thanks to good leadership, good co-workers, and a positive work environment...

Sometimes, usually when I'm buried knee deep in the guts of one of the data centers at work, I get really frustrated with the amount of grime, mess, sloppy cabling, ancient pain-in-the-ass legacy hardware, et cetera that can clog up the place. Then less often than I should, I remember...I'm working at the first commercial data processing location in the United States. I'm working in the midst of nearly six decades of history and cruft. I work where the first commercial mega-computer existed...and I helped unplug the last mainframe from the same location. I'm a piece of that history. Wow...

With plummeting math and science interest/scores in successive generations of Americans, I worry that we won't maintain our high-tech edge. And then I over-hear co-workers talking about how they are trying to foster reading and learning in their children, two of the core fundamentals that lead to good educations and interests in understanding the world around them. Maybe we're not totally screwed...