Randy Pausch passed away yesterday after his long (and well documented) battle with cancer.
The name might ring a bell for some and others might have no idea who I am talking about. Randy Pausch is the professor who gave his “last lecture” on achieving your childhood dreams. The lecture which happened to be video tapped ended up becoming an internet sensation.
I first came across Randy’s work a few years ago reading one of his papers on the use of virtual worlds and computers in education. When randomly I came across his Last Lecture I decided I’d watch it and see what it was about (this was before it became a huge internet-thing). For anyone who has not seen the lecture I recommend you watch it (I’ll be embedding it at the end of this post) as it is one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. I’ve seen commentators write that this is the type of thing every child in the world should see in high school; I full heartedly agree.
Everyone should live their life with the optimism and drive that Randy so well lays out in his lecture and I was very glad to nod my head as he spoke and realize that the principles he lays out are the foundation of the happy and well accomplished life I live.
As a dedicated follower of the virtual worlds community – I feel a terrible loss here
As a fan of his papers and a great admirer of his accomplishments – I feel a terrible loss here
Most important of all – as a human being, I feel our greater world wide community has lost one of our great teachers and fellow human beings. In the lecture he details how after he achieved all of his goals in life it became his goal to enable others (his students) to achieve their goals. I think for a teacher, or a human being period there is nothing more noble then this. And for this more then anything we feel his loss and will miss him.
I’ve been neglecting this blog quite a bit lately BUT there is a good reason for it!
So what’s going on.
Moving – We are moving in to a three bedroom town house (in the same area) because of foundation problems in our old place. With me being a gimp post-surgery its been tough going for Tammy who’s had to really step up and take the lead on the move. We’ve had great help from my Dad (with an assist for my sister Jess and my mom who’ve been watching Paige quite a bit for us), our neighbour Chandler and family friend Scott. These guys have really helped us out with the heavy lifting and I really appreciate it – thanks guys.
The new place is REALLY nice. Because we got screwed over and forced to move out of our old place we put a lot of pressure on the management company to really fix this place up and we ended up with a nicely renovated place as well as having our central air moved over. So we’ve come out of this alright. Tired, very very tired, but alright.
iPhone – So I finally managed to convince Tammy to let me get an iPhone  This thing seriously kicks ass and I’ll have a full review up when I get a chance to sit down (maybe this weekend when I finally get to kick my feet up and take it easy). But to say this totally changes your phone experience is the understatement of the century. This is Cellphone 2.0 and all previous cell phones are alpha products.
Back at Work – So I’ve been back at work for two weeks now. I’ve been trying to take it easy (a lot of shortened days as I ease back in to things) and its been a pretty smooth transition. I’ve had meetings wall to wall pretty much every day since I’ve been back and I’ve been having a tough time staying productive. Hopefully the meetings will slow down next week and I can actually start getting ahead with work again. I have three major projects on the go at the moment so its a very fast paced time at work.
Recovery wise I’ve been more or less ok back at work. I’ve had to take a few days off and work from home but all and all its been not bad. The biggest issue I’ve run into is my hamstring is tightening because of all the sitting. I’m going to have work really hard against it because this could impact the way I walk for the rest of my life.
So there it is. I’m super busy, I’m sorry I haven’t made more updates, etc, etc.
(OH YES – I got into the Warhammer Online beta and when the NDA comes down I’ll have a lot to say (all of it good))
Today I went and saw the doctor for my six week post-op appointment. My knee is doing quite well and I got the all clear to remove my brace and to stop using my cane. So as of today I’ll be going oh-natural and walking the way I’m supposed to.
I’m still planning on using the brace for sports and for the next few weeks when I’m leaving the house but all and all I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve been walking around the house tonight with no assistance and it is kind of odd; in all honesty it is like walking when I first got out of the hospital – I guess its all part of the healing process for my knee.
Later in the day I went to Physio where I managed a 120 degree bend for the first time. That is a REALLLLY big milestone for recovery and I’m glad I managed it before returning to work.
On returning to work – I did my first half day at work today after my therapy and doctor appointments and I’ll be slowly getting back into the swing of things over the next few days.
Needless to say I’m exhausted after a long day and I’m sure I have a few more of these before I’m back in a groove.
 This thing seriously kicks ass and I’ll have a full review up when I get a chance to sit down (maybe this weekend when I finally get to kick my feet up and take it easy). But to say this totally changes your phone experience is the understatement of the century. This is Cellphone 2.0 and all previous cell phones are alpha products.