The Aras Corporation

While doing some googling recently, I came across a company with a really cool name. The Aras Corporation. They are are based in Lawrence, MA, and produce software for manufacturing organizations. I felt compelled to see if I could obtain a shirt with their logo on it. They sent me a black polo shirt, with a red logo embroidered on it. Very sharp looking.



The web site itself is somewhat surrealistic. Since I have not yet internalized the notion of a company with my name, everywhere that it refers to the company, I internalize it as something I am doing. As an example, "Aras is actively building a world-class team." Good stuff.

I wore the shirt to work last week. Although I know that the engineers with whom I work are high caliber, it really drove the point home when the vast majority of them assumed that the shirt was from a company I had started. In "past lives", the question would have simply been "where did you get that shirt". Different standards, different assumptions. I am happy to be in a place where the bar is set this high.

Spring Kayaking

I've been kayaking on the Missippii River since February (it never froze up). A week ago I was out, and a snow squall hit when I was in my middle of my route. The sleet was stinging so hard that I had to tuck my head close against my chest to try and protect my face. This only lasted 10 minutes or so, and then the storm passed.

The clouds cleared, and the setting sun bathed the lake and shoreline in a warm, red glow. The real treat was that the snow had really cooled down the surface of the lake, so there was a foggy mist rising up. The foreground was backlit by the setting sun, and the background was a very dark sky as the storm continued on to the east. This magical moment only lasted a few minutes - once the sun started warming everything up again, the fog quickly went away. My reward for not scampering back to shore when I saw the storm approaching?

Tonite was so warm that I did not need a jacket. I can already feel shorts and T-shirt weather coming up!

Airline Safety

In today's WSJ, there is an article about how airline accidents due to turbulence have decreased over the past few years. Last year, there were no serious or even minor injuries to passengers due to turbulence. Eight flight attendants did get hurt (typically broken ankles). In 1999 and 2000, there were 90 injuries to passengers and crew. The reasons cited were increased seat-belt use, better flight crew training and better weater forecasting. Also, due to security regulations, the crew frowns on passengers stand around near the bathrooms.

I always keep my seat belt buckled when seated. If nothing is going on, I might loosen it up a bit. If the turbulence warning is announced, I'll snug it up a bit. Turbulence is not going to hurt the airplane, but it can hurt me. I can still recall when I was flying a Cessna 152 near San Diego and hit a rough patch. My arms literally flew off the yoke and hit the ceiling before I realized what was happening.

So I always keep my seat belt fastened. I don't mind my arms flying around, but I prefer to keep my body firmly planted in my seat.

Popularity of Names

I found this interesting link at Timbu. It's an interesting way to visualize baby name popularity - The Baby Name Wizard. Type in a name, and it will plot the popularity of that name over time. Amazingly enough, Aras did not show up.