Today was kind of special. We had a short celebration of the release of one of IBM’s high-end servers that’d I’d worked on for several years. It’s always a great day when something we’ve worked on for so long actually gets shipped out the door. Several senior managers  made a special trip to Burlington to say thanks to the  team for all of their hard work.    The celebration itself was good. It’s nice to hear folks say that the stuff we’ve worked so hard on is going to make an impact on the company.. and maybe even the world. There was a part of the presentation where several of the more senior managers got up  on stage and started  to  sing a mangled version of a Billy Joel song (no accounting for taste) . I actually dodged the chance to get up there and make a fool of myself.. I must be slipping  The old John Cohn would never have passed up an opportunity to act like a goofball in front of a large crowd

   My boss, John. Was one of the exec that came up for the day. I got to spend some very good 1:1 time with him talking about work life and how my family and I  are  doing. Again my bosses are being so understanding of my situation.. I really appreciate it (And I’m not just saying that because you may be reading this, John J )    I found a sign today at work and began wearing it around to let folks know that I’m still not back up to full capacity…   II think the sign is working.: no one used any big words on me today J

 

Immediately after work I had a Jolts and Volts show at Camels Hump Middle School . I made a quick stop on the way home because I was starving.. I happened across this piece of chocolate in the store which happens to be in the shape of the state of Vermont. 

Now that’s strange.. It was stranger still for me to buy, let alone eat a full chocolate  bar.. I think my age must be regressing.

 

     I finally got to Camels Hump school tonight about 5:30.. It was funny walking around the middle school. All three boys went here.. Gabe’s in his first year.. I walked by my friend and school secretary Betsy S’s desk looking for a phone book and found a SamStone

 

 Tonight  Science’s  show was for is was a mixed group of 4H kids and cub scouts. It was a very good crowd.. very engaged and curious. I always dedicate my shows these days to Sam.. which gives me the strength to get going.. Once I’m going , it just sort of flows.  Doing this sort of outreach continues to  be my highest and best callings. 

 

It was about 8PM when I finished my show.. My friend Jim was in town so I went to Mexacali to meet him for a beer.. He and I stopped in BestBuy to do a little birthday shopping for Gabe (he turns “12 on June 9^th. While there I ran into Chris, Jake and Mikey. Note that Mickey is wearing a very fashionable hat made out of aluminum foil. He says it keeps the evil rays out of his brain… excellent idea!

   Talking with Jim at Mexicali was fun.. I always feel so welcome there.. They already know what I’m going to order and what I’m going to drink. They treat me well as a regular.. For example.. they gave me a straw to use to write Sam’s name in my cup of hot sauce. What more could I ask ?

    Well.. I’m going to try and do some reading before bed… I’ve got a stack of about six books I’m more tan halfway through.. so many folks have given me some thing to read… My friend Ivy sent me a poem today that reminds me of that

 

Lending Out Books – by Hal Sirowitz

You’re always giving, my therapist said.
You have to learn how to take. Whenever
you meet a woman, the first thing you do
is lend her your books. You think she’ll
have to see you again in order to return them.
But what happens is, she doesn’t have the time
to read them, & she’s afraid if she sees you again
you’ll expect her to talk about them, & will
want to lend her even more. So she
cancels the date. You end up losing
a lot of books. You should borrow hers.

 

 Sleep well everyone.. sleep well Sam.

 

-jc