Reddick Family Web

Nobility, Humility, Loyalty

“We have met the enemy, and he is us!”

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One of my favorite cartoons used to be Walt Kelly’s “Pogo.” One particular episode in the life of Pogo Possum dealt with high-minded political discussion about environmental pollution. In the course of conversation, Albert (the alligator) flips his cigar into the swamp. In agony, Pogo cries, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Monday night we all (three households, 7 souls altogether) agreed to meet at Buns Over Texas for dinner. At our home, we have contractors in refinishing the floors in the living room and kitchen; so we pretty much had to eat out. And Nancy has been watching the Aiden and Lilly in the afternoon until Kenneth can pick them up. So here we all show up at a burger place for dinner. Somehow the conversation turned to global warming / climate change / greenhouse gases. I looked at our table and laughed. Seven people and we got there in five separate vehicles. I thought of Pogo.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.

No stroke – Bell’s Palsy

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Well, at least we can be grateful it wasn’t a stroke. Should have been easy to figure out. It was only my face that was messed up, not the whole right side of the body. So Nancy and Marina had figured Bell’s Palsy even before Doc McCarty came in Monday. He confirmed their diagnosis. It seems that the palsy is an artifact of a little cold I have been dealing with.

Never trust a virus you can’t see with the naked eye.

The good news is that it isn’t a stroke. The bad news is there is no cure. The good news is it usually goes away on its own, in 3-6 months. Good news is that they can hasten the acute part of the process with steroids. Bad news is that [Read more…]

Jacob stiffed at Circuit City

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In the Black Friday feeding frenzy this morning, opportunists at Circuit City abused the system and left Jake and Andrea shivering in the cold. Here’s what happened.

Long on the prowl for a notebook computer he could take to classes, Jake was encouraged when the Thanksgiving newspaper advertisements listed a name brand laptop computer for $299. He and Andrea got up at 3 a.m., drove the 30 miles to San Luis Obispo, and got in line in freezing weather.

At the appointed hour, Circuit City employees handed out all the vouchers for computers to a few people at the front of the line. Those people, now armed with multiple vouchers, walked down the line offering to sell the vouchers — at a profit for themselves — to others in line. One of the scalpers was asking $100 just for the voucher. In this manner, if he had three takers, he would be getting a free computer.

Jake and Andrea refused to play that game, but told store managers, pointing out one of the scalpers in line to claim a computer. The Circuit City managers’ response was “there is nothing we can do about it.” What do you think?

Elijah acknowleged for Web 2.0 contribution

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Hey, family, Elijah has his name on an important augmentation to a leading piece of software that is part of “Web 2.0.” Moodle is called a number of things, including “course” software, “collaborative” software, a “content management system.” It is part of the Open Source community.
Call it what you will, it is used at many universities as an online teaching tool. It is also used outside the academy in the corporate world and by some news organizations as an online publishing environment. It is at this stage of Web development an important piece of software.
Elijah and a colleague at Humboldt State have received open recognition for a plug-in they created for Moodle. The plug-in allows users to bring data created in proprietary exam generating software from Respondus into the Moodle environment. You can read about it at the Respondus site.
You can learn more about Moodle at its site.

Finally Fall

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The harbingers of autumn flew in today, and so now we know it’s really fall. The trees for the most part have not even turned. The one brief “freeze” we had Tuesday morning was followed by days that did not even come close to 32 degrees.
Last Sunday, when Doug, Sandy and Colleen were here, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in 90 minutes or so late in the afternnon, and things got chilly. But most of the week has been pretty mild.
Then this morning, shortly after sunrise, the first of the geese flew into town. We’re ready.