Our son is home for the holidays after surviving his first semester of law school.  Fresh off exams, he is reading for enjoyment (in his case, large history books) and catching up with friends.  The other night he asked to use my computer to check Facebook.  Afraid my computer was allergic to Facebook (I am not on said site), I asked him why he couldn’t use his own computer.

He said that, just before finals, he loaded productivity software onto his computer and now was blocked from accessing Facebook.   My reaction:  why would you load potentially virus-laden, pirated spreadsheet, calendar, and word-processing software onto your computer and risk losing the ability to access the internet?  My view of productivity software is Microsoft Office or something similar, and I was prepared to assist in helping him remove whatever virus had infected his system.

Wrong!

Apparently in the modern student vernacular, productivity software is a program that blocks internet access to any potentially distracting sites during the period when that student should be studying for finals.  It was a simpler time when the only distraction one had was the TV in the student lounge that got all of 3 channels — nobody thought to unplug it.

I feel like I should say something about the murder of 20 first-graders, but words seem inadequate and others more skilled than I have already tried.  I’ll stick to two themes related to the event:

First, how is it that we can establish appropriate restrictions on other constitutional freedoms but that the Second Amendment is somehow off limits?  I am not a huge fan of government intrusion in people’s lives, but we all are part of a society where we must relinquish some degree of freedom in an attempt to live peaceably together.  Whether or not it would prevent the sort of violence we have once again witnessed, it seems reasonable to limit public access to individual weapons of mass destruction.  Such a modest limit does not seem to overly infringe on a Second Amendment right that already has been interpretationally stretched well beyond a level that constitutional originalists may deem appropriate for any other individual right.

As a reminder, here is what the Second Amendment says:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

While there is some nuance here in terms of how one might interpret this right, I do not think it is a stretch to say that a ban on assault rifles is an appropriate potential infringement.  It is no accident that that the NRA has focused its efforts legislatively and has not sought to judicially enforce its view of this provision.

Second, in contrast with our legislators’  lack of political courage to take on the NRA, we saw extraordinary examples of individual heroism displayed in that school on Friday – teachers sacrificing themselves to protect their students; administrators running into harm’s way to try to prevent the carnage.  May we all be so worthy if, god-forbid, the opportunity was ever to arise.

Laura and I spent a long Christmas weekend in New York.  In our opinion, there is no place more Christmas-y, with all the lights, displays and excited crowds.  I am pleased to say that there is plenty of photographic proof that I was there:   I spent my weekend trying to be in as many pictures as possible – not out of any narcissistic tendencies ( I know I am photogenically challenged) – but out of spite.

When did it become normal behavior for everybody with a smart phone to snap a picture of pretty much everything they see?  Whether in front of decorated store window displays or in front of art at the Met, people need to record their view for posterity.  And they need to be far enough back from the object to get it all.  And they get pretty upset if folks who are simply living in the moment and enjoying the view walk in the “no-go zone” between their camera and the subject.

This is beyond annoying.  People stop without regard to people behind them and expect the crowd to wait for them to snap the picture.  It’s worse when they are trying to capture a loved one.  The no-go zone is pretty much the same, but it takes twice as long to pose precious darling to get just the right shot.

I think the problem is that extra pixels are free.  Back when we had to pay for film and developing, people (other than my cousins with their endless slide shows) were judicious in their use of the camera.  Now there is neither camera (per se) nor film, making the taking of pictures free and convenient (and inconvenient for the rest of us).

So, I made it my mission to get into as many pictures as possible this weekend.  If well timed, one can stride into the no-go zone at precisely the right moment.

If the picture takers ever were to review all these photos and delete the ones not worth keeping, I would be deleted.  But I am not convinced that anyone ever looks at most of these pictures once snapped.  Thus, I am preserved digitally on multiple phones, cameras, and cloud-based storage systems.  Proof positive I was in New York this past weekend.

I’m a pretty handy person.  I’m also one for launching into a new task without necessarily considering how it will end.  Some days this is a problem – turning what was supposed to be an easy chore into an all-day or all-week ordeal – and, the worst part, leading to spousal ridicule.  Last Sunday, on the other hand, was a good day – although I did not avoid the ridicule.

It was a two-chore day.  I was able to dismantle and repair a kitchen cabinet drawer that had become non-functional – a large drawer filled with heavy kitchen bakeware had derailed.  Miraculously, the repair required only a single trip to Home Depot – they had the part and I was able to make the fix.

The other chore was a bit more unconventional.  We are planning to be away for a long weekend and do not have anyone handy to water our Christmas tree.  For a person as into Christmas as I am, it will not do to have a live tree become a deadly dried out fire hazard this early in the Yule season.  A tree should not double as a yule log.  Thus, I needed a solution.

Intuitively I knew that I could set up a watering system with a larger adjacent basin and siphon.  I even validated that intuition with some modest internet research.  Turns out there is a wealth of knowledge on this point – people attaching hoses to the side drains of coolers – people setting up watering systems with basins disguised as Christmas presents.  The theory of this latter system is to allow for ease of watering throughout the entire holiday season.  I only needed the temporary system, but needed to test it out before trusting it for a long weekend.

Thus, Sunday was my test day.  I used a large Rubbermaid™ storage bin and a length of clear flexible plastic tubing.  I guess I’m not suited to a life of crime because it was ridiculously difficult to get the siphon established.  In retrospect, perhaps a narrower diameter hose would have been better.  I also would not recommend attempting this with one’s spouse sitting nearby.  Not only was she no help, but her laughter was downright counterproductive.   I don’t think she would laugh quite so hard if our tree and house were to go up in flames.  The price to be paid by the innovator.

By the way, the system works.