Goddamn!

I just got a call from a reporter at the Sac Biz Journal wanting to ask me a few questions about growing up on a farm, and, more specifically, why I chose not to go into farming.  She caught me off guard because I can't remember the last time anyone ever seriously asked me what it was like to grow up on a farm.

As for why I chose not to farm, I was very honest and frank.  The short answer is that there is a lot of risk and, within the past 30 years anyway, relatively little reward (unless you're a big landowner, which my family is not).  I wanted more stability, and, as luck would have it, I fell into a career that has given that to me.

There are many long and hard hours involved in being a farmer, and you are always "on".  You cannot leave your work at the office.  There are too many variables and things to worry about, many of which you cannot control.  Weather.  Employees who don't care, or, more accurately, a dearth of those who do.  Distribution of cannery contracts.  Legislation and politics. 

That's not much different than any other entrepreneurial endeavor.  In fact, like any other self-employed individual, in order to succeed in farming, you must be passionate about it.  I was not, I am not, and I never will be.  I'm just not wired that way.  I am capable of working hard and long hours, as I proved on the farm as a teenager, and since then as an adult, but without the passion to live the farming life, I would have burned out long ago.

When I spoke of growing up on the farm, I let slip a detail that, in retrospect, I should have kept to myself.  It was an episode where we had a last-minute vacation cancelation due to work.  Really, though, is that phenomenon specific to farming?  I know I've used that as an example before of why it's tough to grow up on a farm, but it could happen to any family, anytime, anywhere.  Plus, it was just a canceled vacation.  Boo-f*cking-hoo.  It's not like the bank repo'd our house and we had to go live in a shelter.  That was a bad example for me to give, and I hope the reporter doesn't use it to paint farm life in a negative light.

Regarding my parents, I hope she mentions the part where I said that, overall, I had no complaints about growing up on the farm.  Comparatively speaking, I had a very easy childhood, and my parents did everything in their power to raise us right.  In addition, one plus to them owning their own business was having the ability to attend all of our extracurricular activities.  It didn't mean much at the time, but looking back now as a father, I can only hope to be as available to Troy as my parents were to me.

If there's one thing I learned from this experience, it's that I'm glad I didn't go into PR.  Had I better articulated my answers to her, I wouldn't be so worried about what she's going to write.  However, I kind of stumbled through the interview in a disjointed manner, so who knows what we're going to get?

And on a totally unrelated note, I didn't happen to catch the reporter's name.  I hope this isn't her.  X-P

George Carlin was a hero of mine.  His comedic rants influenced my thinking in so many ways, particularly in learning to be more critical of everything.  He was a giant -- a genius -- and his shoes will never be filled.

RIP, George.

IIRC, June 31st is only valid on the Julienne calendar.

[Original article here]

In an article about Broadcom co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III and the creative ways in which he criminally indulged himself, there is this passage:

In 2001, Nicholas smoked so much marijuana during a flight on a private jet between Orange County and Las Vegas that the pilot had to put on an oxygen mask, the indictment states.

Hey, if you're gonna go down, go down in style.

Oh, Twitter.  How do you expect to scale your service when you haven't yet mastered the maintenance message?

And that's all there is to say about that.

MSNBC reports that Harvey Korman has passed away.  I only knew him from his work with Mel Brooks, particularly in Blazing Saddles, but he was clearly a very talented man, and he made me laugh.  It's sad to see him go.

RIP, Hedy Hedley.

Well, maybe not, but he sure enjoys his tractor rides: