The Wit and Ramblings of David Giard - Personal
Demanding rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty

2009 was a difficult year for me in many ways. My sister Denise was less than three years older than me when she passed away in July. Her death left a wound that is still healing. Worse than her death was the revelation afterward that she had been betrayed by someone close to her - someone we all trusted. We are still fighting this battle and it continues to elevate stress in my family.

But I also experienced many positives events in 2009.

The support of friends and family has been instrumental in getting me through these difficult times. If you are in this group, then I thank you. The tragedy shared by my family has brought us closer together in many ways.

My two sons continue to grow (physically and emotionally) and they continue to impress me with each new stage of their life. Timmy is now in high school and is showing more leadership qualities than I expected. Not long ago, he organized an independent basketball team completely on his own. They competed in a large league and he even convinced his brother to coach the team. His team performed well, despite playing in a league with kids mostly 1-2 years older. Timmy is working hard to balance school work with football and basketball. Nick is in his first year at Michigan State University. The time away from home is maturing him and each time I see him, I see more of a man and less of a boy. I remember a similar transformation in me during my first year at MSU. I particularly admire the fact that he is setting high goals for himself.

I have been dating a woman for quite a while. She didn't grow up in the US and her background is very different from mine, which presents some challenges; however, she is exceptionally kind and she is the most giving person I have ever met and I'm grateful she remains part of my life.

I did a fair amount of volunteer work this year, but most of it was not altruistic. I volunteer at a local non-profit music club in exchange for free admission to the concerts; I volunteer at the local public access TV station as a way to learn more about television production. The most good I did through volunteering was with the three Give Camps in which I was involved this year. I'm looking forward to participating more next year.

The biggest personal goal I did not hit this year was to lose 25 pounds. Resolving my sister's estate, being a single father, and other commitments kept me in the car so much that I had little time to exercise. Still this needs to be on the list next year.

One of my professional goals for this year was to be more involved in the software development community. In particular, I wanted to do more public speaking.  In 2009, I spoke at 5 conferences, 4 user groups, 3 internal Sogeti talks and 2 special events (ArcReady and NPlus1 summit). I expect this trend to continue as I have 5 presentations scheduled for January 2009.

I also became more involved in the Great Lakes Area .Net User Group this year. As Vice President, I took on the role of speaker coordinator and was able to line up some excellent presentations for the group.

In January I began production of my TV show "Technology and Friends" (although the show did not have a title for the first few episodes). During 2009, I published 63 episodes online. Recently this show has also begun airing on Channel 17 of my local cable system. Recording and producing was a great experience. It gives me the opportunity to talk with a lot of smart people and I have learned a lot about software, communication and video production.

I began my blog two years ago, but I devoted more energy to it in 2009. This article is the 155the entry for the year - an average of almost 13 per month. I don't know if I'll keep up that pace in 2010.

Despite the poor economy in Michigan, I managed to stay employed all year. During 2009, I worked for a significant time for three customers. At the end of each engagement, each customer had wonderful things to say about my work.

As the Microsoft Application Development lead in Michigan for Sogeti, I focused primarily on technical training for our consultants and on building a sense of community. I organized a series of "Grok Talks"  designed to exchange information. Some talks were delivered by Sogeti consultants (giving them valuable presentation experience) and some by experts in the industry. This was a big success and we plan to continue it next year, even though I will not continue in the same lead role.

As I write this, I realize that 2009 had more positives than negatives. The loss of my sister and subsequent discoveries still made it a difficult year, but I was able to accomplish a lot, thanks to some hard work and the support of family and friends.

I am looking forward to a happy and productive 2010. I have big plans, some of which I plan to share soon on this site.

Happy New Year and may God bless you all. 

Sometimes, life gets hard and it's easy to forget that I have much for which to be thankful. Here are some things for which I am thankful this year.

My sons
At 15 and 18, they have grown up strong and smart and good natured (at least they are good-natured by teenager standards). They are tall, good-looking, athletic and popular, without being arrogant about it. I cannot wait for them to fully grow to manhood.

My siblings
My sister passed away this year. Her death and what followed put a major strain on the whole family. My siblings and I banded together for support, without which we could not have made it through this trying time.

My parents
They are pushing 80 and their health varies each day, but they are still going strong. I'm glad they are still a part of my life.

My friends
You know who you are and I appreciate the listening ear and the cold beer.

My career
This wasn't my first career choice, but it is the one that I've enjoyed the most. The constant learning keeps me moving forward.

Happy Thanksgiving all. Don't forget the good things and good people in your life.

HopeMongers is attempting to connect people together via charitable donations. The web site HopeMongers.org allows individual contributors to donate small amounts of money (they use the term "Microgiving" to describe this) to individual projects that help the poor of the world.

By doing so, they eliminate much of the bureaucracy and cost that burdens many other charitable institutions. The projects that HopeMongers supports tend to be small in size and focused on an individual community. Examples include digging a well to provide clean drinking water for a village in Haiti; construction of a building to house an orphanage in Uganda; and a computer education center in South Africa.

"All the money that's donated to HopeMongers goes to the project" said lead architect Phil Japikse.

On the web site, each project lists the amount needed to fully fund it and the amount raised so far.

Sam Henry of Microsoft is the driving force behind this site and he has traveled around the world seeking, vetting and overseeing projects to show on the site.

But many others are involved in the development of the web site.

DiscountAsp.net donated the web hosting; SAAS hosts TFS and the build servers for free; and most of the development time was donated by dozens of talented developers. Those who didn't volunteer worked on the project at a discounted bill rate.

The development team was spread across the US and worked part-time, which presented a number of challenges. For instance, most of the collaboration took place between 10PM and 1AM Eastern time, via LiveMeeting. For those interested in the technology, the site is built using ASP.Net web forms built with JQuery, C# and NHibernate.

The site is now live and accepting donations. Visit http://www.HopeMongers.org  to learn about the projects and to give a little. You can even donate to the HopeMongers project itself from the site.

I gave $10 to help provide clean drinking water to a village in Uganda and I feel better for having done so.

I am months late producing this video. But now that it's finished, I want to show it off. Earlier this year, my son's 8th grade basketball team tied for the city championship. Here are highlights from the season.

My sister Denise passed away very suddenly Saturday morning. I very much appreciate all those who have offered their love and support over the past few days.  Below are the details of her funeral and visitation.

Visitation
 Wednesday 7/15, 3-9PM
 Thursday 1-9PM (Rosary at 7PM)
 Wujek-Calcaterra & Sons Funeral Home
 36900 Schoenherr Rd.
 Sterling Heights, MI 48312
 Map: http://is.gd/1yL05

Funeral Mass
 Friday 7/16, 10AM
 St. Isadore Catholic Church
 18201 23 Mile Rd. (at Romeo Plank Rd)
 Macomb, MI 48042
 Map: http://is.gd/1yLLJ

Entombment
 Resurrection Cemetery
 18201 Clinton River Road
 Clinton Township , MI 48038
 http://is.gd/1yLN6

Mike Cramer and I grew up in suburban Detroit when Mark "The Bird" Fidrych burst onto the sports scene.  Tall, lanky, long-haired and filled with quirks, the Bird captured the imagination of both kids and adults during his time with the Detroit Tigers. His career was brief but spectacular. He won Rookie of the Year in 1976, but an misdiagnosed arm injury the following year hindered his performance for the rest of his career.  Several attempted comebacks fell short and Fidrych pitched his last Major League game in 1980.

In 1976, Fidrych was famous for both his pitching prowess (he started the All-Star game and was runner-up in the Cy Young voting as a rookie) and for his on-field personality.  I saw him pitch once that year.  I was 14 years old and I remember well his enthusiasm for the game.  He would talk to the baseball between pitches and sometimes he would get down on his hands and knees to smooth out the dirt of the mound. He never hid his joy after getting a batter out or retiring a side or winning a game.

Now Mike Cramer has a film which features Mark Fidrych and the effect he had on a young boy in suburban Detroit - an effect The Bird still had when the boy grew up and struggled with his empty life at middle age and set out across the country to find the answers from his boyhood hero.

Mike's movie - Dear Mr. Fidrych - debuts this Friday night June 26 at the Detroit-Windsor International Film Festival.

Mr. Fidrych will not be in attendance.  The Bird passed away less than three months ago, killed while working alone on a dump truck on his Massachusetts farm.

But the Bird is in this film and I believe he will be at this screening in spirit. I hope you go watch it. The Bird and the movie may inspire you the way he inspired me when I was a kid; the way he inspired Mike Cramer and the boy turned man of the movie.  Maybe he'll inspire a generation of sports fans and movie fans who never got a chance to see him.

Maybe this is the comeback that baseball denied The Bird.

Today I start a new job. 

My last employer and I parted ways about a month ago when they decided to close their Michigan office.  I've been extremely busy since then - interviewing; writing articles; preparing and delivering presentations; attending DevLink; and spending time with my family.  I even managed to sneak in a California vacation last month. 

After weeks of interviewing, I ended up with four job offers.  I chose Sogeti primarily because of the people I met.  They have hired a number of very bright developers in Michigan during the last year and the prospect of working with them excites me.  I didn't choose the highest offer or the shortest commute (although these were both factors, of course).  I chose the position that I felt would benefit me the most in the long term.  I tried to see myself a year after working for each company and I believe I chose the one that would enhance me the most professionally.  I relish the idea of learning from people smarter than me.

I'm nervous for the unkown but excited for the challenge.

I was working at a large utility company in downtown Cincinnati on the morning of September 11 2001.  I had only been at my desk an hour when I heard the rumors: someone had flown a plane into the World Trade Center.  I checked CNN.com but was unable to access its site.  Every news site I tried reported that their server was too busy to respond. 

Instant messages began to trickle in.  Co-workers relayed phone calls from their families.  The office was filled with rumors: a second plane had hit the other tower; one tower had collapsed; another tower had collapsed; the Pentagon was hit; the White House was hit.  It became difficult to separate truth from fiction.  It became nearly impossible to focus on work.  Eventually someone wheeled a TV up to our floor and we were able to watch live reports and hear the news with at least some credibility.

If an enemy attacks the US, Cincinnati could be considered a likely target - many federal government offices, including the IRS and Court of Appeals are there; Procter & Gamble, one of the world's largest companies is headquartered there; and a nuclear power plant sits a few miles west of the city.
 
The department manager walked through our floor around 10AM to announce that management had considered the issue and decided all employees should remain at work.  A half hour later, he returned and informed us that they had changed their mind - the building was closing and all employees were to go home. 

I was one of the last to leave the building because I told a friend that I would drive him home if he couldn't find a ride from someone who lived near him (By that time, the buses were not running)  He found a ride from someone else, but by the time he told me, the building was nearly empty.

When I walked outside, it was nearly midday but the city was eerily quiet.  There were no cars, no buses and no people.  No boats sailed on the Ohio River that morning.  From horizon to horizon, no airplanes appeared in the sky.  Even the birds were gone.

In those days, I used to park about a mile from my office and I didn’t see a soul on my walk.  It could have been 3AM Sunday except for the sun burning overhead.  I was reminded of movies in which the protagonist awakes and goes outside to discover he is the only living man left in the world. 

I drove straight to the school where my two sons (1st and 5th grade) were enrolled.  I walked to one boy's classroom and stood at the window and watched him silently.  I'm not sure how long I stood there but the bell eventually rang and I stopped him as he exited for his next class and chatted for a few minutes, telling him nothing about the attack.  I told him I loved him.  Then I walked to my other son's classroom and did the exact same thing.  I spoke to my wife, who worked at the school.  We had little to say to each other.  School was not dismissed early that day and I left before the boys did.

On the way home, I stopped at a coffee house and sat, numb thinking of the day's events.  I knew thousands had died in New York, but I didn't know what it meant to the rest of us.  I didn't know what would happen in the coming weeks and months.  Were we at war?  Would we be attacked again soon - closer to home this time? 

I once read that everyone in America remembered where they were when they heard about John F Kennedy's assassination.  I was a year old in 1963 and wasn't aware of it until years later.  But I believe the same can be said of September 11.  It is our generation's Kennedy.  I haven't met anyone above the age of 20 who doesn't remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard of the World Trade Center Attack. 

It turned out that the outward changes in our lives were minimal - no further attacks of this magnitude were carried out and no terrorists came near Cincinnati.  But I think we were all changed that day. 

But our attitudes changed that day.  As a country, we became more vigilant and more suspicious.  Security tightened noticeably in public places and most people did not complain about the inconvenience.  People now have a greater appreciation of the risks taken by firefighters, policemen and soldiers as they carry out their duties.  Most of us take our safety less for granted than we did before.

Our lives were instantly separated into the time before September 11 and the time after.  Seven years ago, we didn't how - but we knew that things had changed.