Two elections in one month

In addition to the regular June primary (vote No on 16 and 17!), voters in the 12th State Senate district are being treated to a special election on June 22nd to replace Abel Maldonado. Jeff is interning at the Santa Clara County office of the John Laird campaign; I know how I’m voting in that election!

IBM bought me lunch again

The process of retiring from IBM is a long one; I passed another threshold on Tuesday, when I had my official retirement lunch. I picked the Fish Market in San Jose, the same place I’d had my Quarter Century Club lunch; many of the same people were there, but about half the group, like me, were no longer working for IBM.

The conversation flowed freely; so did the non-alcoholic beverages (IBM was paying, hence the restriction). I made a short (I hope) speech thanking everyone for coming, and I received my binder of farewell letters and my retirement gift brochure.

I didn’t open the binder until the next day; the first letter was from Sam Palmisano, congratulating me on my many years of service, and emphasizing how much IBM values its people. It was addressed to “Dr. David Singer”, which I found amusing.

The rest of the letters were from friends, and I appreciate every one of them, even the ones which remind me of potentially embarrassing moments which I thought were safely buried (did I really used to tape a “GO AWAY!” sign on my office door?).

I haven’t figured out what to select for a retirement gift; the options are varied but somewhat odd. Of course there’s the expected range of rings, watches, and clocks, but they also offer items like a griddler, a cordless scrubber, and a fax/copier. Nothing really resonates with me, but I’m sure I’ll figure out something before the deadline. Hmmm, maybe the soft serve ice cream maker….

Ten years or 400 milliseconds? You decide!

Earlier today, a friend asked me how long I’d been blogging, which got me to look at my earliest blog entries. In the process, I noticed that I’d left a question unanswered in my May 22, 2000 posting (to be fair, it was only asked implicitly). I was writing about the W3C Advisory Committee dinner at the Amsterdam Grand Hotel, and I noted that Jean-François Abramatic, the W3C Chairman at the time, was seated in the “Legi Gregi” chair but that I had no idea who Legi Gregi was.

But that was then. Today, of course, searching for answers is almost a reflex, so I highlighted “Legi Gregi” in that posting, right clicked, hit “Search Google”, and 400 milliseconds later, I had my answer (courtesy of an article Toni Dabbs wrote for TravelLady Magazine): “Legi Gregi” wasn’t a “who” at all; it means “for law and citizenry” in Latin.

I’m glad to be able to clear up the record.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, my first blog posting was on March 16, 2000, so I’ve been blogging just under 122 months so far.