Unless I have my headphones on, it's hard not to hear numerous conversations around me. I overheard someone talking about the need for constant learning in software development. C++, Java, .NET, C#, Perl, Python, and VB are just a few of the languages, not to mention concepts like procedure oriented programming, object oriented programming, aspect oriented programming, patterns, libraries, APIs, etc, etc, etc. SO I wonder if the need for constant study is necessary in other professions. Certainly doctors must keep up on the changes in medical practice. My first two vehicles had carburetors and circular air filters, both common items then. I have not seen a car with a carburetor in years, and both my cars have rectangular air filters. Anti-lock brakes and air bags were only available on expensive cars, and now are on all models. So auto mechanics need to keep up with changes. I suspect that this is true of many jobs. Even McDonalds changes the menus, which means someone may need to learn more than how to flip a burger. So change happens. Scary sometimes, but it does.
WinFS is Microsoft's latest attempt at unifying file formats. They want to do away with proprietary formats for different software, so that programs can share data. It seems complex when explained here and here. Kind of a strange attitude, since they were very conscience of anyone trying to add the capability to read Excel and Word files. They are moving to XML on just about everything.
July 24th is a local holiday. The Mormon leader Brigham Young came over yon hills to the east, looked at the valley, and said "This...is the place?" I've always contended (to myself, anyway) that those words were a question, not a statement. The people around him just heard it wrong. Of course, I've heard he was very ill at the time, and being carried on a litter. Maybe it was a mumble. Anyway, Saturday is a state holiday. I don't get time off because my company's headquarters is now in Minnesota. One more temporal digression here, Friday I was looking for things to do with the apricots we were given in the cookbook. Pie is the obvious conclusion. Scanning the recipes, I came to the shocked realization we had all the necessary ingredients for banana cream pie, sans bananas. So Saturday I went on the weekly grocery store run and fixed that. That afternoon the kids and I proceeded to make it. It tastes like banana cream pie, but the filling never gelled, so it ended up a gooey mess. I think I know what I missed, so I'll have to try again.
After that we went to Layton's "A Taste of the Town", where for $5 you get to sample stuff from a variety of local restaurants. I read in the paper that the price was lowered from last year ($7) because the turnout then was low. They seem to have rectified that. I didn't sample much, because there were long lines and I has three boys in tow (my own two, and a neighbor boy). I do know I won't be ordering from Jethro's Pizza. We did not like it. Coldstone Creamery was great.
That night we did fireworks. I didn't get very many pictures of it this year because I was too busy lighting sparklers and the like. Not a loss, considering I have not updated the photo scrapbook since last Halloween. The kids, including some from the neighborhood, lost interest in the display in about five minutes anyway.
Sunday July 25 Rachel went to Camp Cloud Rim for the week. She was excited. Last year when I went to pick her up, she cried for a while because she did not want to leave. It's much cooler this year, so we will see how it goes.
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