9/11

It is only fitting that my first (well second if you include my goals post earlier) real blog post be about 9/11 since it is, after all, the 11th anniversary of one of the most tragic events in US history (at least in my lifetime).  That day is, for many of us, burned into our memories - most of us remember where we were and what we were doing.  For me, I was in my 2nd year of graduate school (back when I thought I wanted a PhD in Biology).  I was working in the lab that morning when someone charged in and said a plane had just flown into one of the towers (as it happens, it was the north tower).  There was no TV in the lab and the radio left a lot to be desired so we attempted to tune in on my computer.  This was the early days of streaming news and getting a connection was very difficult, maintaining it was even harder.  Nonetheless, we could see most of the events in all its gory details as it went down.  It is a day that I will never forget... the pain, the anger, and the fear that someone could attack us on our own land - this is not something Americans were used to.  That day changed a lot of lives... it was a horrific event that would change the direction of this country and help propel us into economic turmoil.

Since that fateful day there have been more than 4000 military deaths (this number is pulled from a quick google search and may not be all that accurate).  Additionally, so many of the first responders to the towers have died from complications due the toxic air they inhaled that day.  So much has been lost, but I am astounded by our resilience... our ability to keep moving forward.  That day the terrorist won a battle, but we have and will continue to win the war.  Freedom is not free and I am humbled by all the men and women that are willing to pay the ultimate price so that I may have the right to express my feelings on a stupid little blog.  So, today, I express my gratitude to all of the soldiers in the military, the fireman, and the police for laying it all on the line for us.

In remembrance to the fallen... we will never forget.

To those that would harm us - we will not fall and you will not succeed.

Goals...

Periodically, I get inspired to start blogging... Well, this is my attempt at doing just that.  For my first post I thought I would start with something simple - my goals.  As a lead software engineer I spend a lot of my time in meetings; this is far from my ideal, but it pays the bills.  One of the more enjoyable aspects of my jobs is that I get to do a lot of architecture work... these days, my focus is on software security.  My goal for this blog will to be write about things that I find interesting, challenging, and just generally useful.  Over the last couple of months I have been working on software that is/will be deployed on government systems and have had a few challenges for security.  Additionally, while I have spent most of my career working with Java, lately I have been doing most of my work in C#.  These challenges have certainly provided me with a few good topics to discuss.  This will not be a daily entry blog... I just don't have the time, but I do hope to provide weekly posts.  I hope that my readers find my content useful! 

Oh yeah, one last warning... my hobby is lifting, running, and nutrition - don't be surprised if I throw in a post or two on those topics :-)