Month: March 2022

For decades I had a Rubik’s cube as a permanent fixture on my desk at work.  I first learned to solve it during middle school.  I got one at a bookstore close to the family restaurant.  This deluxe unit had tiles instead of stickers.  When I first got it, it bore the trademark Rubik’s logo on a center square, but it rubbed off long ago.  This very same cube sat in my office decades later.  In some ways, this little device not only provided much of my amusement when I was young, but it also defined part of my identity.  I was that guy who could solve a Rubik’s cube; it was distinctive.

Continue reading “How a Rubik’s cube demonstrates why your intuition is wrong” →

On typical Florida afternoons, my time was filled with reruns of older television shows and some newer ones.  I confessed to my wife that a disproportionate part of my English education was watching “Three’s Company” on television; this simple truth amused her.  We spent those moments crowded around a console television; it was closer to furniture than electronics.  The local stations aired “Leave it to Beaver” and “Gilligan’s Island” regularly, and they became an integral part of my childhood.  In later years, those afternoons were filled with episodes of “M*A*S*H”.  I can remember more details about the members of the 4077th than elements of my own life.

Continue reading “We have always been here” →

It started years ago.  Every other Tuesday, we met for breakfast.  We typically numbered around four to eight, and you need not actually eat breakfast, just sit and chat.  Sometimes we networked; occasionally we would vent about tech.  As we sat in the cafeteria, we’d motion for any familiar face to sit down with us.  Naturally, this was before the pandemic started.

During one such morning, I patiently walk to the station that cooks breakfast and order an omelet and hashbrowns, which take a few minutes.  Next, I wander to the coffee station where I order two items: a tall latte with whipped cream and a bacon maple bar to go along with my breakfast.  I watch as the man at the espresso stand makes my drink and hands it to me.  He then proceeds to reach for a pair of green tongs to get my bacon maple bar and puts it on a cardboard plate.  Finally, I set those on the nearby table where we normally congregate.  As I wait for my breakfast, I watch as that same man reaches for a croissant with that same pair of green tongs and hands it to a customer.

Continue reading “‘Have you checked the children?’” →