possible/probable

When I started Big Nerd Ranch, I recognized my strengths and my weaknesses. I am a good teacher and a good programmer, but I’m not much of a sales/accounting/strategy kind of person. I really needed a boss.

I met Emily Herman when I was six. We grew up in the same neighborhood near Washington, DC. Because she is the most cunning person I know who still has a very strong sense of integrity, I asked Emily to be my boss. And, because I had no actual money to pay her, I gave her stock: 40% of the company. Over the last seven years, Emily has carefully grown the company and created space for me to do writing, teaching, and programming.

Emily did not want to build the ranch.
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The forest where Big Nerd Ranch will be built is quite lovely. It is filled with White Oak, Hickory, Sweet Gum, Red Maple, Dogwood, Tulip Poplar, and Ironwood trees. There are Christmas and Broad Beech ferns. There is at least one turtle.

I know these things because Fulton County arborist Leah Pine wandered around the land with me today. The main purpose of her visit was to identify invasive, non-native species (so I can kill them), but she generously took the time to identify many of the native plants for the city boy.

She also found the turtle.
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I love my architects.

Main building viewed from rear. Mostly brick. Metal roof.

Thursday, they broke up with me over lunch.

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I was teaching in Europe last week, and I was reminded of something: There are 400 million native English speakers, but over a billion people who speak English as a second language. English is the language of business and technology around the globe. At any given instant on this planet, most people who are speaking English are not native speakers.

(As a native English speaker, I’m rather pleased by this arrangement — I can go anywhere in the world and ask, “What am I eating?” and someone in the restaurant will be able to answer. I haven’t always been pleased by the response, but I have always received one.)

Several languages, including Swahili and Esperanto, have evolved specifically to be second languages. Unlike English, these languages are easy-to-learn and small mistakes result in small misunderstandings (”Inflammable”?!?).

English is still evolving down its wandering path. In this post, I’d like to suggest that we make a conscious effort to make the language easier to learn and use correctly.

Because of new technologies, new companies, and new slang, words are added to our language all the time. Perhaps we should choose to spell them phonetically. Perhaps we should make sure that new nouns are pluralized with the addition of an “s”. Perhaps all new verbs should be regular.

Perhaps we should take a good look at common forms of incorrect grammar and see if they actually make our language easier to learn. Maybe we should give a loose leash to those who are trying to make English more accessible.

I am going to try to use simple language and limited slang in my writing. When one considers the population of the world, it seems rather rude to address only the native English speakers.

A related article at Wired

As part of the use permit application process, one must invite everyone who owns land within a quarter mile to see and comment upon your plans. So, I wrote a nice invitation and delivered it to the 17 landowners near the future site of the Big Nerd Ranch.

Tonight, a lovely spring-like evening, was the meeting. I dressed in a non-threatening manner, drove out to the site, set up a table, and spread out the plans. I sat down behind my table and waited for outraged neighbors to show up.

No one came! I should be happy — apathy makes building something like this easier — but I am actually a little disappointed that no one was curious enough to show. I’m doing something cool here, dammit.

Fulton County accepted my application for a use permit. They gave me a big orange sign to post so that my neighbors know what I am up to. I posted my sign today.

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Before you can start building something in Fulton County, you need to go through the entire process to get a use permit. We are applying for a “Country Inn” use permit. The first step is to make a site plan — where are the buildings going to go.

Here is the site plan. I’ve annotated it in red. Click on it for a PDF.

You will notice that we have used only one of the two lots. (The other lot would be to the right of this one.) The architects tell me that the spaces they wanted to build on were all on the first lot. So, I’m leaving the other lot untouched for now.

Our neighbor on two sides is a developer called Minerva. Minerva is planning to develop the land into several dense villages separated by walking trails and green space. The plan is to follow Serenbe’s example. At the moment is is just 2000 acres of forest, but someday we will be just a short walk from a coffee shop and a hardware store.

If all goes smoothly, we will submit our Use Permit Application by the end of July, and we will get approval or denial from Fulton County in October.

The Big Nerd Ranch is now 13 acres. The buildings will be located at 9055 Terry Road, Fairburn, GA.

You’ll remember that I had already purchased 6.7 acres. The lot was rather long and narrow (about 900′ x 300′). So I hunted down the people who owned the long, narrow lot next to it. Today, Gayron and William Johnson sold me their 900′ x 300′ lot. Now, the ranch will be safely ensconced in 900′ x 600′ of forest. Here is a photo of the Johnsons, who told me at the closing today, “Well, we weren’t planning to sell it, but you kept pestering us…”

The question I keep getting from architects is “What is your budget for the project?” This is a very strange question. Building the ranch will give the students a better experience and gives me total control over our schedule. Thus, I’m willing to spend a lot of money to make it happen.

But. Every dollar that I spend on this project increases the likelihood that Big Nerd Ranch will go bankrupt under the burden of the debt.

So the answer would be “I am willing to spend what it costs and not one dollar more,” except an architect would only hear the first part. So, I make up numbers. I try to make up numbers that give the architect/surveyor/demolition man/contractor that look like they are passing a kidney stone, but doesn’t keep them from saying, “OK, we can do it for that price.”
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The lovely and talented Anne Kate Halsall has asked me to tell the story of “How I Got Started Programming”. There is a particular form to this meme, I will do my best to follow it.

How old? I was ten when the Hippies taught me to write code.

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Today we started the demolition of the Carey’s house. There is great excitement these days about folk art. This house is folk architecture. The house sits atop a couple of cement block walls, and about half of it seems to be made from a kit for a barn. There are a pair of french doors that open onto a 50-foot drop — like they never quite got around to building the deck that would have gone there.

These french doors created a problem in getting financing. One appraiser declared “This house is a death trap,” and it seems that many lenders don’t feel comfortable financing ludicrously dangerous dwellings. I, myself, am quite relieved to see it coming down.

Video of the backhoe lifting the front deck and tossing it into the basement

As the building came down, I asked the demo guy if we needed some sort of permit from the county. He said, “Well, sir, I don’t guess they can make us put it back up.”

Here is the backhoe in the basement:

The activity on my blog has been falling off. I’ve been quite engrossed with the building of the ranch, and the blog has not been getting the attention it deserves. Thus, I’m going to take quick turn, and begin blogging about the project.

After we were married, Michele and I volunteered at the Omega Institute. For seven weeks, we lived in a tent and helped run the retreat center. It was from this experience that I decided that technical training should feel more like a retreat, in the monastic sense of the word. And that I would create this “monastery for learning”.
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Today is my 39th birthday.

Yesterday, Michele and I celebrated 8 years of marriage.

On Saturday, I did my first triathlon. This photo is me coming out of the water after the swim.

On the Tuesday before that, I got the braces off my teeth. (For about 18 months, I’ve been living with the misery of braces.)

Clearly, it has been a big week, but that isn’t even the big news.
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The Telegraph recently posted a list of the 110 best books. It is a pretty good list, but they missed some of my favorites, so I thought I would create this addendum of great non-fiction books. (Disclosure: I’ve included a link with my associate number — if you buy the book, I’m going to get a kick-back.)
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Three books that I have been reading are related in interesting ways. They are all tied together by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. So let me start there.

Maslow says that people pursue their needs in a predictable manner. First, a person takes care of the physical needs: food and shelter. While the person is looking for food, they keep thinking, “Man, when I get some food in my belly, I’m going to be so freakin’ content.” But, it turns out that the contentment is fleeting; as soon as there is food in the belly, the person starts to think about safety: storing food for a later date. When that is taken care of, the person seeks to fulfill their social needs: friends, family, and a sense of belonging. Finally, the person seeks self-actualization.

It is a pretty good model, I think. It explains why we are never as content as we thought we would be, but makes the discontent seem like a positive thing.

The three books are “The World Is Flat”, “Break Through”, and “Bowling Alone”.

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Walden is in first grade in the neighborhood public school.

Before going any further, let me point out the importance of public schools: Public schools are the mechanism by which we ensure that all Americans are given the opportunity to learn. Public school is where the rich and poor meet and recognize the humanity of the other. Public school is where future progressives and future conservatives adopt a language and an intellectual foundation upon which all debate will be based. A public school can act as the fulcrum around which a neighborhood finds purpose and unity.

Second, let me point out the best thing you can do for your local public school: send your children there. It is the families who read and think (like yours) who make our schools great. A public school populated only by students who can’t afford private school is a disaster — both for those students and for the nation they inhabit.

My Bully Pulpit

There are numerous people who worry about Walden’s education. At the top is the State Superintendent of Schools in Georgia. She has lots of power. Then, there is the Superintendent of the City Schools of Decatur and the School Board. They have power. And there is his principal, Greg Wiseman, who has a little power. Then, there is the School Council. The parents at Walden’s school elect a group of parents to advise Greg and the School Board. The School Council has no power at all. (I think the PTA could kick our ass if they wanted to.)

I am the chairman of the School Council. My only real power is that I get to make the agenda, and a couple of teachers, a couple of parents, and the principal have to follow it.

This week, I added this to the agenda: Why is cursive on the curriculum, but typing is not?

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I love bookstores. I worked in a bookstore during high school. Today, I wander down the aisles looking at books, reading the blurbs, and putting them back on the shelf. I can easily fill a couple of hours browsing in a bookstore — especially now that every bookstore has a coffee bar.

What if I spent the time reading a single book instead of browsing? I would read significantly more books than I read now. I think the choice between reading and browsing is an important one for each person today.

You, dear reader, have stumbled upon my blog. This indicates that you are someone who spends time browsing web pages. As a blogger, I appreciate this, but is it the best use of your time? Instead of little snacks of knowledge, perhaps you should be working your way through a meal: A textbook? A college course? Perhaps you should be out there solving the problems that face the world.

It seems to me that there is beauty in both the snack and the meal. And that we, as a culture, must embrace both, and make conscious decisions about what is an appropriate mix.
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In 1991, I was living in Seattle. At that time, the state of Washington had a caucus instead of a primary. Before the caucus, I was annoyed. After all, to someone who has voted in a primary, the caucus has many obvious problems:

• It happens at a certain time. Primaries last all day — vote anytime.
• It takes much longer. (A caucus takes over an hour)
• Your vote is not secret.

I loved the caucus.
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I finished Greenspan’s “Age of Turbulence”, and I thought it was delightful. The first half is a memoir, and the man has had an interesting life. The second half is “What is happening now in the world economy.”

In that second half, he talks a little about corporate governance. Greenspan is a libertarian, so he makes it clear that there are many reasons why the government should not interfere with how CEOs and their boards get things done. No one, however, thinks that shareholders should be satisfied with the status quo.

Greenspan makes one suggestion that I liked: Stock options for CEOS were originally intended to reward good performance. Good idea, but much of a stock price’s fluctuation is due to changes in the sector, not in the performance of the CEO. Rather, Greenspan argues, a CEO’s reward should be based on how much better his company has done than comparable companies in the same sector. This makes a lot sense — why reward the CEO of an aluminum mining company, just because the price of aluminum goes up?

As a corporate officer myself, I have a couple of ideas on corporate governance.

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I have a confession: I am not patriotic.

I mean, I’ve travelled all over this country and it is pretty good. It has beautiful scenery and nice people. And we have a decent government — democratically elected, relatively corruption-free. But, it is just a country.

There are lots of countries that have beautiful sights, nice people, and decent governments. Why would I love the United States of America in particular? Just because I was born here?

Truthfully, if Canada wanted to annex all of the US, I’d be OK with that. My personal taxes would go up, but I wouldn’t have to spend nearly so much on the health insurance of my employees. We would get a more reasonable drug policy. And when we travelled abroad, people would be nicer to us. (Everyone loves Canadians.)

To me, a nation is really just an administrative district: it has a border and a governing body. If I’m feeling small, I feel love for my family and my friends. If I’m feeling large, I feel love for all the people of the world. The idea that my love would reach to the border, but no further, is a bit strange.

Today, as I pedaled past a small house with a big US flag, I wondered, “Why are people patriotic?”

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When I’m teaching my classes, sometimes a student will say, “Aaron, you are so patient with our dumb questions.” And I respond, “That’s my job this week.”

See, if I was trying to ship software, the dumb questions would be an annoyance. But, if my priority is to eliminate dumbness, answering questions is the most effective use of my time.

Sometimes when I’m walking around the neighborhood with the boys, a car will pass too quickly, and I think, “There is someone who has lost track of their priorities.”

My grandmother accidentally killed a small girl with her car. She lived for 40 more years, and never drove again. Next time you are running late and driving fast, imagine how she must have felt. Priorities, people.

I think that a lot of what people call “self-discipline” is having clear priorities.

Where Have I Been?

It has been two weeks since my last post. I’ve been working on the third edition of my book “Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X”. I had to revise 400 pages into a useable state in three weeks. It is there, and I am relieved.

As I worked feverishly, I thought about my priorities: How important is this blog? How important is lunch with a friend? How important is a glass of wine on the porch with Michele? The truth is this: all of them are more important than the book. Why did the book get priority? It had a deadline.
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