Links and things that I’ve run across recently.

Even a Quasi-Government Agency Occasionally Does Something Right

True story:

Waiting in line at the post office, thinking I should probably see if I can buy stamps online and just have them delivered. Finally got to the front of the line.

“I need a book of stamps,” I said.

“You’re in luck!” said the woman behind the counter, grinning ear-to-ear. “We have those!” Fetched one from a nearby drawer.

“Excellent!” I said. “I thought you might.”

Never got around to checking for that online thing.

Black Bear, Black Bear, Where Have You Been?

We had a little excitement here in the Boston area, as a wild black bear made its way through Medfield, Norwood, Dedham, Needham, Newton, and into Brookline.

I really wanted to put up a blog post or two this week. After all, I’ve been absent, due to the large amount of work it takes to give away loads of books, together with the energy I’ve been spending trying to untangle one of the most confusing messes of a software spaghetti that I’ve ever seen. (There’s only one other software codebase that I’ve worked on that approaches this one in its poor quality.)

So, to sum up: Been gone. Busy developing software. For money (not for fun). Giving away books. Need to blog. But about what?

I have a few stories in my queue: how my Firstborn daughter got into a cool new school, how I totalled the second car I ever had almost-brand-new, how I watched You, On a Diet and realized I need to lose 3½" from my waist, how I’ve been cutting back on stress and caffeine and have had fewer headaches as a result (probably), how I sent a package to the wrong address (and how it helped restore some of my faith in humanity), how I discovered that Edie Brickell is married to Paul Simon— And where I have been all these years that I never knew that before?

Eh. Didn’t really feel like writing about any of them.

I did not laze around on the beach all day, everyday, reading books, writing on my laptop– Ah, that would have been fun.

I’m actually still on my “summer vacation,” even though the calendar and the weather both say we’re well into autumn. Because it wasn’t really a vacation, although it was a vacation from full-time writing.

I’ve been spending most of my time on a full-time software contract, developing software for a commercial search engine (which does not have a ‘G’ in its name). A big surprise to me: I discovered that I haven’t lost my touch. I fell into developing code just as easily as if it had been riding a bike. But I also have been maintaining a sense of distance from the project, doing the work for the money–doing my best work, yes, and giving my best advice, but not becoming personally invested in the results. (And if you don’t understand why this is such an important transformation for me, I recommend a National Geographic documentary about stress, which I recently watched, especially the very last segment.

I also discovered that I still make mistakes after almost 30 years, but at least I learn from them. And at least the mistakes are on the margins, subtle.