O bright heaven's son

Sunday is Saint Patrick’s Day, honoring the Fifth Century Bishop of Armagh, who is credited with converting the Irish to Christianity. Paddy’s the patron of Ireland (duh and engineers, and he protects against snake infestations and bites. Kind of an all-round player, he is.

Turns out that our man was never actually canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Something to do with him living in an era when there was no formal process for it. Which doesn’t explain all the thousands of saints from the early Church who were made saints, but maybe his alleged opposition to snakes had something to do with it, the Vatican being what it is. He’s there by popular acclaim and his day is probably the most celebrated worldwide of anyone except for Jesus’ birth and death.

So, let’s have a little something for Pat.

No, not some drunken pub song about whiskey being the devil, we’re having “Be Thou My Vision”, to the tune of Slane, an old Irish melody. I couldn't find a good recording out of Ireland, so we've got this one.

 

 

Parking lot (redux)

Oh, hey—look what I found. Another repeating pattern.

Enjoy.

 

 

 

Key interview question

Last week I interviewed for a product management position with the head of HR of a small pre-IPO software company. According to this person’s LinkedIn profile, she has a few decades, including V-level slots, with some legit, Fortune 100 companies. So I was a little surprised when she said:

“Oh, you were a product manager at [Megalithic Software Corporation]. The daughter of a friend of mine is a product manager there. Her name is X Y; did you know her?”

Uh, MSC has more than 150,000 employees, including several thousand PMs. Maybe a few thousand fewer staffers and a few hundred fewer PMs now, but still.

“Oh, I don’t think so. What unit does she work in?”

“I don’t know. But are you sure?” Voice becomes louder, pronunciation more distinct. “Her name is X Y.”

“No; sorry.”

Dunno if that ended my candidacy with that company, but I’ve not heard back from them since that call.

Parking lot

I’ve started an alternative walking route because I was getting a bit tired of the same-old, same-old. This one takes me by a non-denominational church that runs a daycare program. I got a kick out of these little cars, all lined up and ready for their little drivers.

 

Gratitude Monday: March winds

It was 41F yesterday when I went out on my morning walk. (An hour later than usual, because of freakin’ Daylight Saving Time, which has no earthly purpose other than to disrupt the world’s circadian rhythms twice a year.) But there was a brisk wind, which made it feel colder. Great walking weather.

The wind also made some interesting patterns flowing through the trees.

And there were splashes of color, with daffodils and forsythia.

The wind was even pushing the clouds around apace.

So, that’s my gratitude for today.