I‘ve always wanted to be a Superhero.

I just finished watching Batman Begins for the umpteenth time, and it made me think back to when I was little.  I lived from comic book to comic book, convinced that all I needed to change the world was some tights, a cape and an ideal;  Then I grew up… What a shame.

My observations as an adult have led me to the following conclusion;  Superheroes can’t possibly exist in today’s world, And here’s why:

- We live in a world now where to be outstanding is to be pompous, and where to strive for excellence means that you think you’re better than everyone else.

- Society plays to the lowest common denominators of our culture, wrapping them inside the fold and protecting them for their own safety while making the productive members of the world take the brunt.

- Compassion shows weakness, and weakness is as quickly exploited as it’s displayed.

- As phrased so eloquently by Edmund Burke, “All it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.”  In today’s world, apathy is the rule, not the exception.

Now, do I believe all this?  Well, not entirely but to some extent I do.  However, I’ve also witnessed that there are a great many good people in the world who are trying to make a positive difference.  I’m just afraid that too many individuals are more interested in having someone to blame their misfortunes on, than on working to overcome them.  In the end, Superheroes can only help those who want to be helped and are willing to try and help themselves.

Therefore, we’re just not ready… Someday, maybe.

Phil Malmstrom
philm@mycoffeecuphasfeet.com

Today saw the second day of continuing phone line issues at Diamond Computer. We have one working inbound line and at best we can get a couple of minutes outbound on each of the other lines. The latest from Cavalier is that they suspect a VOIP Router up the circuit a bit, and should be replacing our card in it this evening. I hope this works, as it’s truly killing our income (funny enough, customers don’t spend money if they can’t call you to do it…). I’m remembering why I registered http://www.telcomhell.com last year.  Maybe it’s time to get that up and running…

Along with the phone circus, one of my techs, Craig, had a doctor’s appointment this morning to examine an injury he sustained to his back last weekend. He was in serious pain yesterday, and the doctor basically told him to stay flat on his back for the next couple days. I certainly don’t begrudge him the time off (he’s an exceptionally hard worker), but it does put us one man short. Either way, I hope he feels better soon.

On a positive note, the new Macs are coming in. We’ve ordered new Intel Macbooks for each of the techs and I splurged and got myself a replacement for my venerable G5;  A shiny new Mac Pro with a 30″ Cinema Display.  A Macbook Pro came in for Karl already, and he seems tickled with it. The Mac Pro is in shipment, but for some reason the Macbooks for Craig and Tim are being held up (Rumor mill anyone?).  Either way, they’re amazing new machines and everyone is excited about having them to work on.

Jonathan started first grade last week (God I’m feeling old…) and his review of the situation was summed up by the repeated statement : “AWESOME!!!”. He topped it off today by getting his first library card. He’s very excited, and reading better and better every day. Dr. Seuss is our friend…

Aidan is starting back at Wesley Preschool, along with Shannon who’s now serving as a full-time Teaching Assistant in the Kindergarten. We were very pleased with Wesley when Jonathan was there, and are even happier to not only have Aidan attend, but for Shannon to work there as well. It’s an ideal situation, assuming I can find room for all the new crafts brought home by both of them…

We spent the bulk of our Labor Day weekend working hard on house projects. Aquariums got emptied, shifted, moved and the wildlife inside migrated (It won’t happen again anytime soon, I’d forgotten how heavy those things are). We also got two full coats of paint on the bedroom (yes, the paint I bought last December… Don’t go there) and the furniture rearranged as well. All in all, it was a very productive weekend. (I’ve always thought it was odd that people take a day off of work for a holiday called Labor Day;  I think the house work appealed to my sense of balance.) We did find time however, to go have a cookout at my Father’s house on Monday. The kids love it there and spent the time running about like lunatics and stuffing food down their throats (Sugar them up, Send them home). It was a nice evening and all enjoyed it a great deal.

Well, as always there’s more but it’s getting late, and I’m beat.

Phil Malmstrom
philm@mycoffeecuphasfeet.com