Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Breaking the silence.
It wasn't the abundance of poultry, the harrowing holiday traffic, fears of critical dischord, or even just plain laziness that has kept me from this page these last few days. A personal vacation is always warranted, even when it isn't exactly deserved - but that's not the reason, either. Even so, writing a blog is like a vacation of sorts, all unto itself anyway. No, no; when I realized what has been occupying all my time these days, I was at a loss to explain.
I've actually been busy at work. I know, I know; I'm as surprised as the next person. More, actually.
So things have been heating up on the job. Citing "...schedule delays, strategic long-term planning requirements, and critical development paths," I've recently been charged with solving a fairly sticky technical problem. Assuming until now that someone else would produce a solution for it, I've labored unproductively in my lab on the hill, waiting for such a solution. As the task now rests in my young, untested hands, there are others who now wait for me. The challenge, of course, is to keep them waiting as briefly as possible. This, in short, is why I'm now pulling out more of my hair than usual.
But, come on, really. This, the caffeinated rush of breathless academia, is what it's all about, isn't it? Well, it is for me, I suppose; as well put by a former coworker of mine, we're "...pushing back the frontiers of science." Or, something like that.
So, with all apologies - and lest I tarry everlong with my ego on my sleeve - I offer to you, fair Reader, the formerly pre-empted post from Monday, December 2nd, 2002.
Hooray for Buffalo.
No, not the legendary beast of the American plains. Those majestic animals are in fact bison; buffalo, as I've heard repeatedly, are not actually native to the North American continent. Rather, today we pay homage to the fair city of Buffalo, the "City of No Illusions," leading New York in its Westward finger-pointing, spearhead of the Empire State. Why, you ask? Could it be because this selfsame city has been host to the most Superbowl losses in history? True enough, perhaps, but let's not focus on sports issues here; as was recently pointed out to me - unsurprisingly - I have no aptitude for sports reporting. Perhaps one would recall, then, a more macabre notoriety for this lakeside town. For, as it was written in the script of the Broadway hit A Chorus Line,
Doesn't ring a bell? If not, that's fine; I suppose that such a derisive note should never be cause for celebrity, anyway - but then, it was a claim to fame of the fictional California city Santa Carla that it was the "...murder capital of the world." So put, I'm afraid, in yet another quote from 1987's The Lost Boys. But no, even such literary aerobics as these aren't the real reason for the clicking of heels on this occasion. The homage I pay to Buffalo today has more to do with that most mundane of American proletarian traditions:
Buffalo was home to the modern world's first coffee break.
As pointed out this morning [Monday] on NPR's cultural segment Present at the Creation, it was some combination of events in the years 1901-02 that gave workers at the Barcolo and Larkin Companies in Buffalo not only free coffee in the workplace, but also a specific time in the morning during which to enjoy it. Imagine that. It is still a matter of some dispute which company was actually responsible for the tradition, but in this day when Americans sip, gulp, and otherwise do the backstroke through their coffees, we consume somewhere upwards of 350 million cups of black gold each day. Here's to you, Buffalo, and to the fire you light under our sagging egos each morning: America loves you.
It wasn't the abundance of poultry, the harrowing holiday traffic, fears of critical dischord, or even just plain laziness that has kept me from this page these last few days. A personal vacation is always warranted, even when it isn't exactly deserved - but that's not the reason, either. Even so, writing a blog is like a vacation of sorts, all unto itself anyway. No, no; when I realized what has been occupying all my time these days, I was at a loss to explain.
I've actually been busy at work. I know, I know; I'm as surprised as the next person. More, actually.
So things have been heating up on the job. Citing "...schedule delays, strategic long-term planning requirements, and critical development paths," I've recently been charged with solving a fairly sticky technical problem. Assuming until now that someone else would produce a solution for it, I've labored unproductively in my lab on the hill, waiting for such a solution. As the task now rests in my young, untested hands, there are others who now wait for me. The challenge, of course, is to keep them waiting as briefly as possible. This, in short, is why I'm now pulling out more of my hair than usual.
But, come on, really. This, the caffeinated rush of breathless academia, is what it's all about, isn't it? Well, it is for me, I suppose; as well put by a former coworker of mine, we're "...pushing back the frontiers of science." Or, something like that.
So, with all apologies - and lest I tarry everlong with my ego on my sleeve - I offer to you, fair Reader, the formerly pre-empted post from Monday, December 2nd, 2002.
* * * *
Hooray for Buffalo.
No, not the legendary beast of the American plains. Those majestic animals are in fact bison; buffalo, as I've heard repeatedly, are not actually native to the North American continent. Rather, today we pay homage to the fair city of Buffalo, the "City of No Illusions," leading New York in its Westward finger-pointing, spearhead of the Empire State. Why, you ask? Could it be because this selfsame city has been host to the most Superbowl losses in history? True enough, perhaps, but let's not focus on sports issues here; as was recently pointed out to me - unsurprisingly - I have no aptitude for sports reporting. Perhaps one would recall, then, a more macabre notoriety for this lakeside town. For, as it was written in the script of the Broadway hit A Chorus Line,
"Committing suicide in Buffalo is a redundancy."
Doesn't ring a bell? If not, that's fine; I suppose that such a derisive note should never be cause for celebrity, anyway - but then, it was a claim to fame of the fictional California city Santa Carla that it was the "...murder capital of the world." So put, I'm afraid, in yet another quote from 1987's The Lost Boys. But no, even such literary aerobics as these aren't the real reason for the clicking of heels on this occasion. The homage I pay to Buffalo today has more to do with that most mundane of American proletarian traditions:
Buffalo was home to the modern world's first coffee break.
As pointed out this morning [Monday] on NPR's cultural segment Present at the Creation, it was some combination of events in the years 1901-02 that gave workers at the Barcolo and Larkin Companies in Buffalo not only free coffee in the workplace, but also a specific time in the morning during which to enjoy it. Imagine that. It is still a matter of some dispute which company was actually responsible for the tradition, but in this day when Americans sip, gulp, and otherwise do the backstroke through their coffees, we consume somewhere upwards of 350 million cups of black gold each day. Here's to you, Buffalo, and to the fire you light under our sagging egos each morning: America loves you.
Much content for this post paraphrased or otherwise borrowed from the NPR website; specifically, the Monday, December 2nd, 2002 edition of the segment "Present at the Creation." Visit and learn more about America's favorite morning beverage, as well as other long-standing cultural icons.