Good News, for a Change

Like a lot of people today, I woke up this morning to learn that Osama bin Laden is no longer with us.  He was taken out of commission by the Navy Seals, in a mission that was greenlighted by the White House.  Although I am no fan in any way of the current White House occupant, I will give him kudos on this one and I hope that it's an indication that he will approve similar missions in the future as the need arises.

Kudos also go to the Navy Seals for a job well done.  I haven't had much of a chance to digest all of the information that's out there, and I'm sure that more information will emerge, but I am really grateful that we have these kind of people on our side.

I am going to say this:  we, as a nation, need to be prepared to fight terrorism as long as we are a nation.  We have two choices.  We either fight terrorism until the world comes to an end, or we surrender.  Surrender is not an option.  Also, relaxing the fight against terrorism is not an option either.  It was this way before yesterday so the killing of bin Laden doesn't really change anything as far as the war on terrorism goes.  We fight this war one day at a time.  We keep our guard up one day at a time.  We don't consider the war "won".  We instead resolve each and every day to never give up our fight for our freedom.

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Some other good news to report.

I came in to work one week ago to learn that I was being assigned to a new business effort.  This will continue for several weeks, provided that this new effort is funded by upper management.  I am also challenged with keeping a new boss happy and the feedback I've gotten from him so far is very encouraging.

The project itself has its own unique set of challenges, but to be honest, I actually welcome these kinds of challenges.    I'm learning quite a bit and I've had to use some brain cells to figure out a new type of system, that is, new to me, and what really makes it tick.

I'm having fun.

I really am.

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Spring has arrived in southern Arizona, and I'm seeing a lot of cacti in bloom.....that is, the cacti that are out in the desert.  The only cacti in my yard that has bloomed are the prickly pear in the back yard, which have reliably sprouted new pads each spring.  The prickly pear that's on the other side of my back wall not only sprouts new pads but also blesses us with the appearance of yellow flowers.  That prickly pear is much more mature.  I don't know how old a prickly pear has to be before it blooms with flowers, but I can tell you that a saguaro won't bloom until it's about fifty years of age.

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I have finished reading what a lot of people call the "Second Foundation Trilogy".  That's the three novels written about the Foundation that Isaac Asimov first wrote about.  I didn't think very much of Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford, but Foundation's Chaos and Foundation's Triumph by Greg Bear and David Brin, respectively, were both good reads.  Both fill in a lot of backstory with the latter doing an excellent job of tying in not only the Galactic Empire series of novels by Asimov, but also the "Caliban Trilogy" authored by Roger MacBride Allen.

One minor criticism of Foundation's Triumph:  it pre-supposes that you've already read the original Foundation trilogy as that premonitions of the events covered by them are introduced.  I'm not sure that the author should have done this, but with the original Foundation trilogy having been in print for nearly forty years it's not like there are a lot of readers who will read the second trilogy ahead of the first.

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That's going to be it for now.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.