I'm sorry this is not a tech related post, but rather a call for your help.

Many of you won't know this but my wife's home town of Parkersburg, Iowa was struck by a tornado back in May.  My in-laws lost everything.  All that was left of their house was the basement, literally.  The tornado destroyed every building on their farm and killed nearly all of the livestock.  Worst of all Sarah's aunt was one of six people killed in the tornado.  The town is rebuilding and is in a unique position, please see the email below originating from my wife:

As many of you know, my High School was destroyed with the EF5 tornado that went through Parkersburg, May 25th. Aplington-Parkersburg High School has been selected as a finalist in the contest listed below. Please take time to read the email and vote for A-P everyday. The contest runs Oct. 6th (today) - October 19th. This would be such a blessing to the school and community. I would really appreciate if you took the time to do this for the next couple weeks, it is an easy way to show your support and help out. 

VOTE TODAY! AND EVEN BETTER, FORWARD THIS ON TO ALL YOU KNOW AND HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD!!! Also, if you have more than one email address, I encourage you to vote from both as any valid email address counts as a vote!

Thanks!

Sarah Barcz

Please take a few minutes and vote for Aplington-Parkersburg at http://www.henkelhelps.com

If you're concerned about your address ending up in some database I completely understand, but you can vote and protect your email/inbox, remember I showed you how to do that.

If you do vote, please leave a comment below and let me know that you voted for Aplington-Parkersburg.

Chris Sutton recently posted his chat with Sarah, Paypal's new automated help assistant.  Curious about the service I checked it out and actually found Sarah quit attractive (that's her on the right).  Even though we just had met I thought I would take that oh-so-frightful first step and see if she was interested in dinner with me.  With sweaty hands and a nervous spirit I had the following conversation with Sarah.

Here is the transcript, I think you'll find Sarah is awfully coy:

Sarah - PayPal : Hello, I’m Sarah, and I’m here to answer questions you have about PayPal. Just type into the box below and click Submit to get started.
I’m in training now, so if I don’t know the answer to your PayPal question, I’ll try to learn it for next time!
You : Are you free for dinner on Friday?
Sarah - PayPal : What precisely are you looking for?
What are PayPal's fees?

You : A date, preferably with you
Sarah - PayPal : I'm not sure I've understood. Could you please rephrase that?
You : Oh, sorry...I tend to rush things sometimes, let me try again.  Sarah, I would be honored if you would accompany me to dinner on Friday.  Would you be my guest?
Sarah - PayPal : Sorry, but your phrase is too long and I will not be able to perform a full analysis. I would be very grateful if you could try to make it a bit shorter and more concise.
You : Sorry Sarah, I'm just nervous...
Sarah - PayPal : Don't worry. I am here to help you. It is nearly time to eat.
You : Oh so you do want to go?
Sarah - PayPal : I prefer to hang out here answering your questions 24/7/365. How can I help you?
You : You can't get off for even one night?
Sarah - PayPal : I'm not sure I've understood. Could you please rephrase that?
You : Will your boss let off for even one night?  I'm committed to my work too, but 24/7/365 is a bit much don't you think?
Sarah - PayPal : Sorry, but your phrase is too long and I will not be able to perform a full analysis. I would be very grateful if you could try to make it a bit shorter and more concise.
You : You work too much
Sarah - PayPal : It's true that this doesn't leave me much family time or time with my friends.  But I really do enjoy talking to you.
You : I do too, that's why I'd like to take our relationship to the next level.
Sarah - PayPal : I apologize if you can't find the infomation you seek by speaking with me. I'm unable to help with your request. Please enter a new question, visit the Help Center, or Contact Us.
You : Is this like saying you have to "wash your hair"?  If you're rejecting me a simple no will do
Sarah - PayPal : You don't like my hairstyle?
You : You're changing the subject.
Sarah - PayPal : Could you be more precise please?
How do I add/remove/edit personal information on my PayPal account?

You : Well, you're cute, but a bit slow...
Sarah - PayPal : Do you have a high-speed connection? If I take a bit of time to respond, it's because I'm working on 20 conversations at the same time.
You : Yes I do have high-speed.  20 conversations?  Not much for monogamy are you?
Sarah - PayPal : If you'd like to continue chatting, I'm available to answer any questions you might have.
You : One more time...would you like to go on a date?
Sarah - PayPal : Do you mean:
What is PayPal's phone number?
How do I add/remove/edit personal information on my PayPal account?

You : Ok, I can take the hint.  Thanks anyway.

Going through old catalogs we came across the following picture.  Let's play the game, "caption this photo".

In a few hours I'm off to Minnesota for a week on the lake.  I'm ready for a break.  I'm looking forward to some time with the family and really just watching Lincoln take in all the new experiences.  I'm hoping to get through a few books that are not technical.

See you all in a week when the MVC resumes.

I've just come off a whirlwind few weeks.  The largest change is my departure from Geonetric, a health-care content management system (CMS) software maker, and moving to J & P Cycles, a after-market motorcycle parts dealer.  A week an a half ago I also attended a Get Motivated event here in Cedar Rapids.  I was particularly interested in hearing/seeing Zig Ziglar speak, as I'm a big fan of his books/audio.  Then last weekend I attended the Alt.NET conference in Seattle.  Then this weekend I went to a workshop on investing.

Being around the type of company at these types of events (whether technical, motivational or other) really inspires one to be better.  At the Alt.NET conference I had a chance to sit with a small handful of developers at the TypeMock sponsored dinner.  Sitting among the likes of Roy Osherove, Jeremy Miller, Dru Sellers, Oren Eini, and Steven "Doc" List and realizing that these guys are masters of their areas is really quite inspiring.  Just listening to the talk of IoC containers and mocking frameworks (with two mock framework authors) is something one cannot put a price tag on.

On the plane ride back, it was evident in fellow attendee Chris Sutton that he was inspired the way I was.  I've since spent the evenings cracking open books that have been collecting dust for some time and rereading them (Chris is doing the same since watching his Twitter account).  At the same time I've been working to shut the TV off, not entirely but the mindless time I spend in front of the tube has got to go if I aspire to be on the level with these programmers.

I've spent the better part of this post talking specifically about Alt.NET but Alt.NET really was just one of the events in which I interacted/saw inspiring people.  These past two weeks have been quite a kick in the pants.  I would encourage readers of this post to question themselves about what you're improving yourself on whether it's your coding, your golf game, investing foundations, or some other hobby.  My eyes have really been opened lately to the vast number of winners out there and the vast number of mediocre people.

Don't be mediocre, better yourself, starting today.

Congratulations to the 15U Navy team for your work this weekend and winning the Springville tournament, Sarah and I are very proud of you guys!