I’m starting to realize that all the abuse I put on my body in my younger years is exposing itself. I’m also starting to realize that if I don’t do something about it, the second half of my life is going to suck. I’m not out-of-shape, given today’s standards of shape (and how effed-up that is). I’m 5’8” at 168. I could probably run a 10k right now, even with a torn meniscus and an evident case of osteoarthritis. But in my mind I’m out-of-shape. Since breaking my hand a few years ago, my upper body (all the way to my brain) has succumb to atrophy. The signs are disheartening for sure. All things considered I don’t eat badly; I stopped drinking soda and coffee. I suppose if I were rich and handsome I’d buy a sports car and …

Even my 10-yo is kicking my butt in video games. We just received FIFA09 from GameFly yesterday and it took two games before he was beating with evenly matched teams, and he’s never played futbol before in his life. Twerp. But, I’ll take all that - he’s growing up nicely.

Just last week my 15-yo was complaining about breaking a nail playing the drums. I called him a ‘girly man’ and he used a surprise attack to get me to the floor. I still pinned him…but, geez. I know that it is only a matter of time before I will hope that our duels are only of the mind. But, even then I’m not sure. I’ll take that too.

I couldn’t be more proud of my wife…who’s 30-something days from returning from a Air National Guard deployment to the Middle East. The past 6 months haven’t been easy for any off us - but, we are all doing our part, without any doubt or regret. It isn’t pleasant being away from a loved one I assure you that. At the same time it isn’t that hard. I take comfort in my family, and I know they do the same. We just understand.

All that said I really am liking growing older. I see with clarity, literally and figuratively. I’m connected to so many people - past and present. And, the potential for the future is great. Sure, our world is struggling to find its way - but, I have confidence.

Professionally, the stars seem to be aligning. Open source which I for so long have evangelized is finally getting its due. Not just Linux, or commercially - but socially. Again it is the potential and the timing. The bridge between embedded and enterprise, both from a software and hardware perspective is slimming - ubiquity is possible. Shoot, open source hardware is very near to mainstream.

I’m not really sure what the point of this post was…just mental venting. :)