Tech Support

Posted on May 4, 2011 by leighton

IT is a unique field. Partially because of just how broad a field it actually is, but mostly because people seem to have a lot of misconceptions about those of us who work in IT. I don’t mean the normal misconceptions that form from a simple lack of knowledge of a given profession, I mean misconceptions that only seem to apply to the IT field. It’s as if completely rational, mostly intelligent people lose all semblance of intelligence or rationality when thinking about it. Continue reading →

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A Hand in the Dark

Posted on May 2, 2011 by leighton

Like every other kid, I thought my dad could fix any problem, had vast knowledge, and was braver than Superman. In my mind, Dad could do anything. He also handled all the scary things around the house (though he did occasionally coax me to do a scary thing). If I was in a scary situation though, I always wanted him nearby because his mere presence lessened the fear. Continue reading →

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Like Butter on a Knife

Posted on April 29, 2011 by leighton

Clear communication is extremely important in a marriage. It should be one of the foundational skills that couples develop if they even think about getting married. Of course, even couples who communicate with one another very well occasionally trip up. Nobody’s perfect after all. Chrisie and I are no different from any other marriage in this respect. We mess up and confuse each other from time to time. But there’s also the strangely unclear conversations that we (in even our fantastic relationship) seem to have with each other. Repeatedly. Continue reading →

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And Then It Was My Turn

Posted on April 27, 2011 by leighton

Here’s the thing about childbirth: men can’t do it. We just can’t. It doesn’t matter how much our wives wish, um, interesting things on us when they are pregnant, it’s just not possible (bad Arnold Schwarzenegger movies aside). Of course, once a couple decides it’s time for a more permanent form of birth control, there is something the man can do. It’s also actually far easier for the man. Well, at least physically and financially. Emotionally is another beast altogether. Continue reading →

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A Couple of Short Ones

Posted on April 25, 2011 by leighton

I’ve had a couple of stories that I wanted to share for quite some time (one of them was written down before I even kept a notebook of ideas for this site). I kept looking for the right moment or the right way to share them. The difficulty is that they are both rather short and it seemed like cheating or a cop-out to use them (I have no idea why I seem to think that some governing body will accuse me of writing too short a story). Then I realized what most people probably would have thought of right away. Just put them both in one post. So that’s what I did. Share and Enjoy. Continue reading →

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All Your Eggs

Posted on April 22, 2011 by leighton

We moved from Virginia (where I was born) when I was three, so I don’t have as many memories from there as I do from Tennessee, but I do have several. As you might expect, some of them are rather fragmented or small scraps floating through my mind without context. A few however are vivid. Continue reading →

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That’s Not How You Do It

Posted on April 20, 2011 by leighton

I walked across campus one beautiful Spring day and ran in to a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. A female friend. We never dated (not even close) even though I think she might have hinted at the possibility in the past. I was recently engaged to Chrisie, but didn’t worry about talking with her (this was back when Chrisie was a tiny bit jealous sometimes) since Chrisie knew her as well and also knew I wasn’t interested. I didn’t worry, but I should have. Continue reading →

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When Life Hands You Mildew

Posted on April 18, 2011 by leighton

For a while, what is now our dining room was our daughter’s playroom. It was painted in fun colors. The walls were a light blue, the ceiling was purple, and we stenciled undersea looking flowers all over the walls. Everything was great until the one day we left the window open and an unexpected rain storm popped up. Continue reading →

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No, Not Really

Posted on April 15, 2011 by leighton

My daughter was less than a week old and my wife and I sat in the pediatrician’s office. Since she was our first child, we went the doctor that was on duty at the hospital when Autumn was born. Big mistake. Continue reading →

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The Brief Reprieve

Posted on April 13, 2011 by leighton

In July of 2001 I experienced one of the worst parts of the corporate world: looming layoffs. It created one of the most stressful moments in my life to that point. It was bad to start with, but an employee with too much knowledge managed to make it far worse than necessary. Continue reading →

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