<Wed 2 Aug 2006> As you may know, I'm darn near blind. I hide it well, and I have worn contact lenses since about 8th grade. Well, I'm finally going to do something about it. I'm getting Visian Implantable Collamer Lenses installed in my eyes. They are Phakic Intraocular Lenses that are installed just behind the iris. I'm writing up my experiences, and you can follow along on my Visian ICL page.

<Thu 29 Dec 2005> My father passed away this evening. More information will be at josephmdwyer.com or right now at this link.

<Mon 06 Dec 2004> Almost a year ago, I mentioned that I seemed to have a lot of karma stored up. That has always worried me, because I've always been afraid of what was going to happen when the great cosmic scales swung the other way. My father has been diagnosed with mesothelioma -- a form of lung cancer normally caused by exposure to asbestos.
My dad is now receiving excellent care, but cancer treatment is never easy on a person.

<Fri 12 Nov 2004> A conversation regarding the election:
mdwyer: Did I tell you how scary visiting the Dachau concentration camp was?
Mom: oh, yes.
mdwyer: Did I tell you of the terrifying parallels there?
Mom: What parellels?
mdwyer: Okay, so there's a translated copy of the German 'bill of rights'. It is a beautiful document. It talks about freedoms and, even more than ours, about a right to privacy. But then a shadowy someone burns down the Reichstag. And the Nazi party took that as an opportunity to take away privacy and other human rights. They also expunged the other political party, by calling them traitors. It culminates, of course, in a bid to take over the world mixed with horrible human rights abuses. Now, we have a pretty good bill of rights. We have an expectation of privacy, even though it isn't really codified. Suddenly, someone burns down the World Trade Center. Then the PATRIOT act takes effect.
mdwyer: Sidebar -- I worked in a library, and was taught that I was to release library records to NOBODY. That what you do at a library is your business. Cool. The PATRIOT act wants to look into library records.
mdwyer: Meanwhile, anyone who questions our war is labeled a TRAITOR by the party in power. Now, we're attacking other countries... we're trying to convert them to Democracy.
Mom: Wow, you are delivering a pretty heavy message to me. I never, never thought in those terms of the parallel
mdwyer: The PEOPLE who LIVED in the city of Dachau were oblivious to what was going on inside the walls. Do you have any idea what is going on in Guantanimo bay? Now, I'm not saying it is anything it isn't. Conspiracy nuts annoy me. But isn't the point of history to know how to avoid your mistakes? Are we the new Nazis?
Mom: God, I hope not
mdwyer: Me too.

Are Parallels To Nazi Germany Crazy? "My conclusion is that some comparisons between modern times and Nazi Germany are valid, and some are not. Enough are valid, in my opinion, however, for us to be wary, and as vigilant as humanly possible."

<??? ?? Feb 2004> Dachau is a terribly beautiful place. Wide open spaces. Tall, sheltering trees. And the absolute horror of what was done there. Our day started kind of dismally. The weather is turning cold, and the day is full of dreary greys. There is one bright spark, though. While we were waiting for the train to leave the station, a trio of kids walked on, one carrying a skateboard that was about as tall as he was. This is an open train, so you can freely move from car to car without having to open doors. They wander off towards the front of the train. A few moments later, the train begins pulling away from the station.
rrrrrrTHUNKrrrrrTHUNKrrrrTHUNKrrTHUNK! Suddenly, a child sitting on a skateboard goes rolling down the middle of the aisle! As the train begins braking for the next station, the kid goes rolling back the other way, wheels thumping over thresholds. For the next few stops, a different child went rolling by at every station.
Dachau, the camp, is so clean. The blood and ash has all been washed away by time. This, somehow, makes it that much more disturbing. But, the exhibits are entirely different.
Words fail me...

<??? ?? Feb 2004> Back in Munich after visiting castles and stuff. Munich is FULL of police right now... Apparently Donald Rumsfeldt or someone is here... Peace protestors and everything...
Heading home soon. The last thing to do is visit Dachau... yikes.

<??? ?? Feb 2004> Hey! This computer has AOL IM on it!

mdwyerfoo: Bwaaahahahaha... you guys are working!!!!
RLamp7: Whats worse being online at work or IN GERMANY!!!!
mdwyerfoo: Heheheh...true dat...
RLamp7: How is it so far???
RLamp7: And where are you online at???
mdwyerfoo: tzpe... stupid kezboard...
RLamp7: See thats why they lost two world wars
mdwyerfoo: Dude... I'm in oldßtown salzburgh...
mdwyerfoo: This place is... ohmygod...
RLamp7: You're in Austria??????
mdwyerfoo: Yup. No kangaroos here.
RLamp7: That is AWESOME!!!!
RLamp7: You HAVE to check out the theater there
mdwyerfoo: Which one? we've generallz been avoiding the music scene... tough to do in this town.
mdwyerfoo: The fortress was breathtaking...
RLamp7: Plus it's pretty bitchin to hear Mozart where he was born
RLamp7: The national theater
RLamp7: Don't avoid the music scene! It's way cool over there
mdwyerfoo: Well, we caught the display of two-headed animals... that was cool. Oh, and did zou see the Deutsches Museum in Munich?
RLamp7: No I have never been to Munich other than the airport
RLamp7: Pretty cool?
mdwyerfoo: Wow... that place is incredible. It says we walked 16km through the place, and I feel it!
RLamp7: LOL
mdwyerfoo: The trains in Munic are great.
RLamp7: Mass transit is SO much better there isn't it?
mdwyerfoo: From our room in Munich, I could see the place where the Israeli olympic team was kidnapped...
RLamp7: You BETTER be taking lots of pictures or I will be forced to kick your pasty ass! lol
mdwyerfoo: Mass transit is better eveywhere else...
RLamp7: Ohh man COOL!!!!
mdwyerfoo: Only burned one roll so far...
RLamp7: Dood!
mdwyerfoo: There is just so much that... the pictures wouldn't do it justice...
RLamp7: Yeah, but it's not like you go to Munich every day
mdwyerfoo: You know this -- there is nothing so awe inspiring as standing at the foot of a catherdral that's been there since the 1400s....
RLamp7: Yep I do know that

<??? ?? Feb 2004> I'm stitting at an internet terminal in Austria right now. I'm not sure what day it is, but that is pretty much par for the course during any of my travels. I have so much to write, but I don't think I can do it just yet. For one thing, I'm having problems every time I want to punctuate a word or type any word containing a 'Z' or 'Y'. Those keys are swapped on these keyboards. (Or kezboards, as I'm beginning to think...)

Anyway, let me try to sum up: Medical Emergency in Denver, means late for connection in Frankfort, means luggage doesn't make it to Münich until two days later. Pizza for dinner, but they put corn on pizza, here...

Incredible museums, lots of walking, feet hurt.

Salzburg is full of Mozart and The Sound of Music. Incredible fortress, though. More museums. Feet hurt.

Very cool. Wish I could write more, but... well, feet hurt.

<Fri 20 Jun 2003> The drive to Broomfield was a whole lot less stressful that I thought it would be. But still, it became quite tiresome. So, I finally moved. Yes, again. I now live in a little brick ranch in Suburban Hell. It is a really neat house, though. I'm happy! But this is the first time I'll have ever lived alone. I'll be trying my best to not become a bitter hermit.
Anyway, check the contact page again for the new numbers.
Other than that, everything has been pretty much groovy. The job has been good to me -- I've had to tread up a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to working in a large corporate environment, though. The hoops you have to jump through to get tasks done are annoying. But the feeling of job security is novel!

<Tue 28 Jan 2003> From famine to flood... I've been storing up a lot of karma in the last few years, I guess. Every once in a while, I spend massive amounts of it in a fit of change. Well, it has happened again.
First of all, I'm moving. The Evilsoft West Compound will be closing as of the end of this month. Why? Personnel issues, mostly. Someone in the house started stealing things. I have a pretty good idea who it is, but I am powerless to do anything about it, lacking any proof. So, everyone gets the boot. I only hope it is a major inconvenience to the guilty party. I would have loved to have made it all work, but lacking a public hanging of the person responsible, there was no way to make it all workable, and still maintain the freedoms and lifestyles that the house brought out. I refuse to lock everything I value behind my bedroom door. I'd done my time in a dorm room. I'm not going back to that again... I have spent a lot of time at that house, and I will miss it greatly.
Okay, sooooo I'm moving into a new house that is three blocks away. Which might be kind of silly considering what ELSE has been happening. Anyway, be sure to visit my Contact page to get my updated addresses.
The other thing is that my situation at 6D has finally come to an end. I hadn't been all that happy there for at least the last year. My job became more fun -- I finally got to do some development work that I am really proud of. I made a sketchy product MUCH more reliable. But the overall stability of the company, and the directions it was going were not where I wanted to be heading. I've been through the dot-com crash once already. I know the signs. I know when it is time to go. I'm only surprised that it lasted this long, really...
The funny thing is that this time, I beat them to it by just days. You see, I was supposed to resign, with my last day being on the 24th. But instead, they laid me off on the 17th. Unlike TrainingLinks, they wouldn't honor my resignation -- they refused to pay me out to the end of my resignation day, and instead forced me to take my vacation after they threw me out on the 17th. Oh well. That is their right, but it certainly wasn't the nice thing to do. I suppose it goes without saying that nobody got a severence package. Hell, nobody got an opportunity to buy their laptops, either. Here's a hint: If you're going to be laid-off, try to be among the first. If you're among the last, grab a box of paperclips and a stapler on your way out...
As I said, I haven't been happy there for some time, and had been looking for a way out. In this economy, you don't jump ship when there isn't another ship to swim to. I was reaching desperation when a fabulous yacht of a ship steamed by and threw me a line...
In a few days, I'll be starting my new job at Corporate Express. I jokingly say that I'll be selling Post-It notes and paperclips, but I'll actually be part of a team supporting their e-commerce system. I'm excited! I get to work in the Internet sphere, but in a company that is actually established! I am soooo tired of startups. I'll miss the 'toy factor' of my other jobs, but this opportunity is just too good to pass up.
So, there you go. The new job is in Broomfield, which pretty much means that I'll have to move again soon -- the 70 minute commute will drive me insane in short-order, otherwise. But in the mean time, I'll be hanging out at Fort Fun for a few more weeks.
<Sat 28 Dec 2002> I'm still alive. No really. Here's the deal: In case you hadn't noticed, the world has changed a lot since the last time I updated these pages. My situation hasn't changed all that much, though. I still work at Sixth Dimension, I still live at Evilsoft East. I still drive a blue Subaru Impreza, and I still have some strange, unhealthy fascination with rubber duckies (don't ask).
I'll write more later, I trust. In the mean time, if you want to know more about me, feel free to write me. The E-mail address is unchanged, too.