This was my workplace before Thanksgiving

Just one more tweet! Please!!!

It was not long ago that I valued the complete escape that a vacation offered. The office couldn't reach me by hook or by crook. I was completely free from anyone I did not choose to contact in some way. Nowadays, I find myself seeking out hotels with internet - wired or wireless. And add to this an iPhone that connects to 3G 24/7, and a Skype connection that I can check from any network-connected computer.

Is this a network or connection addiction? I am not the only one I know who is this way. I am not even the most prolific tweeter I know. Is this a sickness, or just the usual human proclivity to overdo everything?

Steve Jobs goes on medical leave

It did not generate much buzz here on Mod-blog, but for months now there have been persistent rumors of serious health issues for Steve Jobs. Jobs has consistently denied any serious issues, and even put out a letter shortly before MacWorld which claimed recent unexplained weight loss was due to a non-serious hormonal disorder which was being treated. Apple's stock has been jittery about this. It is sure to plunge now that Steve Jobs has officially announced a medical leave of absence to deal with his medical problems. He is still CEO and will be involved with strategy, but the day-to-day operations of Apple are now in the hands of Tim Cook, Chief Operating Officer.

The question remains whether this is a life threatening condition or not. Unlike most CEOs, the modern Apple has become synonymous with Steve Jobs. Only Bill Gates is seen as tightly joined to his company, and as central to its success. The question now is whether the market is willing to wait and see, of it they will use this excuse to cut and run in the midst of a Recession.

Biscuit Update - Home and Sleeping

Well, it has been an eventful and uneventful day, depending on your point of view. The good news - Biscuit is home safe and snoozing next to me (as pictured below). The bad news - they could not do the endoscope because she was too swollen to put in an IV for the anesthesia. This means we still do not know what is wrong with her, but have to treat her on the doctor's best guess. This is probably okay as the doctor has been practicing medicine for 40 years and is renowned for his instincts and intuition. But it may mean that we are treating the wrong thing.

We start on some new meds today and see him again in two Mondays. Please be praying the new meds are efficacious and that she begins to feel better soon. As of now, she is just muddling through life.

Prayer Request: Our Dog Biscuit

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or who have spoken to me in-person the last few weeks are aware that our family has been going thru a minor crisis. Our dog Biscuit has been diagnosed with "significant" heart disease and some kind of gastrointestinal disorder. The heart disease is being treated with medication, but in order to treat her intestinal problem any further, she needs an endoscope. The endoscope, however, is dangerous because anesthesia is required, and anesthesia is always dangerous (potentially fatal) for a dog with heart problems. However, it has become clear she is NOT improving without this, so we have opted to have the vet do the endoscope today.

Please be praying for all of us and for little Biscuit today. Please pray that God guides the doctor's hands (both the vet and the anesthesiologist) so that they do their best to get the info they need without risking her life. Please pray that they can see what is wrong and know if there is a treatment. Please pray that we recieve comfort during this stressful day, and that once the doctor knows what is wrong that we have the required wisdom to know what to do next.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

The Macbook is coming! The Macbook is coming!

I got a call late yesterday from the Apple Store. My Macbook is healed and ready for pickup. Of course, they made me sign something saying I understood that all of my data might go ka-plouie, so I expect I will have a lot of data restoration to do. Luckily, I had run a backup only a couple of weeks back. This should mean I'll be able to post more often starting Saturday or so. My experiment with a Linux (Ubuntu) laptop has been a pleasant surprise - it has been VERY useable and let me do everything I needed to do. But it still ain't as easy or fun to use as my Mac.