Life is short

This is a blog for rants. This one is a gripe against the world. Sorry for the "bummer-ness" of this one.

I googled to find the email of an old computer-chemistry buddy of mine, Fred Arnold, with hopes he'd have time to share some the warm yet frank career advice I remember from my grad school days. I was shocked to learn that he passed away at the young age of 40, due to cancer.

[Fred, in case you get internet connection wherever you are, I'll never forget your tales of hiking though stinking jungles for hours on end with over 30 lbs of antiquated photographic equipment on your back for the sole purpose of capturing a lizard on film. ... And in case you don't get internet, I'm sure you'd prefer for me to stop.]

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Today is a day after my birthday, 3 weeks after surgery. And I learn an old work chum, only 7 years my senior, is gone. One phrase dominates my thoughts: life is short.

No wonder I cried when I was born! Sometimes the world is pretty harsh. ... Maybe it's not fair to rant about stuff that truely is beyond anyone's control--if so, this is my last post of the ilk. ... That being so, it's probably my last chance to complain about sunburn. Sunburn sucks.

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It appears I don't have time for 1-2 hours of computer solitare every day. The world is telling me I've got to change. And it's also telling me that my education isn't as important as my judgement. Time to start seeing clearly and make the right decisions.