Remembering 9/11 - Thomas G. Crotty

As the tenth year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, it is my hope that we take a moment no matter where you are at to stop and remember that yes the world changed that day, but the lives of 2,996 families changed even more.  2,996 families lost loved ones that day and it is the purpose of the 2996 project to make sure we never forget them.

As part of the 2996 project in 2006, I the priviledge and honor to write about and pay tribute to Thomas G. Crotty.  When I went to the project website to see who needed writing about I noticed that Thomas had not been chosen to be written about.  I want to make sure his story is not forgotten.  Even though this post is a re-post of what I wrote back in 2006, please note that I am reposting it because I don't want ANYONE to be forgotten from that day.  now please keep reading and let's not forget Thomas G. Crotty, one of the 2,996 persons who died September 11, 2001

To be quite honest, I wasn't sure just what to write. There have been several memorials not only to Thomas, but to all of the 2996 that died that day. The more I read, the more I realized that even though this was a shock to the nation, I want to emphasize that Thomas is more than a statistic, more than just one of the number of people who died that day.

Thomas was a husband to Joanne and a father to his two little girls Catherine and Caroline. He was a family man who loved to be with his family. He was an athletic man who was to compete in a marathon with his brother a week after 9/11. He was a caring man towards all of his family as his brother James told Newsday reporter Lawrence Striegel how he was living in Michigan in 1996 when his wife, Fran, became very ill. Tom helped get Fran admitted to a special private room at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan during six months of treatment for Wegener's granulomatosis, an autoimmune disease, and then visited her often while James was back in the Midwest. "He said, 'Put her in there and we'll worry about the money later,"' James said.

Thomas started off his business career at Merrill Lynch as a trainee. He had spent his last seven years at Sandler O'Neill Partners, where he was a managing director for equities. His work ethic was reflected in a comment that one of Thomas' clients mad to Thomas' mother "Even though I wasn't a large investor, he always made me feel so important. ... He never brushed me off." He was at work on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 attacks.

To Joanne, Catherine and Caroline, please know that the man to whom you gave all your love to as wife and daughters didn't die in vain. He is NOT some statistic that will be placed in some history book. He is a man who loved life and the three of you and is an inspiration to all of us. You see, I have two daughters as well; my oldest is twelve and my youngest turns 9 in two weeks. And after reading about this wonderful man I want to make sure that I show as much love to my family as he did to you for life is very precious and too short.

My heart goes out to the three of you this day, to all of Thomas' family, and to all of the family of the remaining 2995 persons who perished this day. May we all NEVER FORGET!

A Song For All Of Us

I don't know about you, but I happen to like all kinds of music.  One of my favorite groups is the southern rocking Christian band Third Day.  If you've never heard of them, I would like to start you off with one of my favorite tracks they do simply called "Thief".  This song means a lot to me for reasons most wouldn't understand, but I hope it lifts you up.

Enjoy!

Dad To 2

Adventure Landing Labor Day 2011

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day!  Here in tinder dry Texas, we woke up to temperatures in the upper 50's and lower 60's for the first time in over six months!  After 2 straight months of 100+ degree days and 85+ degree nights, it was a wonderful change of pace.

Just had a few mundane items I had to take care of today that I hadn't had a chance to do because of the heat, things like clean the garage, make sure the yard was taken care of, things like that, and then it was off to Adventure Landing in Dallas with the girls!

Adventure Landing is quite the experience and if you have not been there, I do recommend going there and having fun.  Three putt putt courses, a go-kart race track, bumper boats, laser tag, batting cages, and a nice arcade really will fit the all day fun bill for those needing an all day place.  As for us, we had Groupons to burn (Thank you Connie!) and the kids wanted to get out in the cooler air.
We started off on the first putt putt course and finished it, with my nine year old (well, she'll be nine later on this month) finishing first.  It was Morgan shooting a 47, me shooting a 51 and Chloe shooting a 53.  After that is was on to the Kart racing.  Now I have to admit a couple of things here.  One, Morgan wanted to do this by herself and two, would I actually fit in one of these little things!?

Disclaimer:  This in NOT me in the picture!

I actually did fit in one, the shortest one they had, and the seat belt actually fit, well barely but it fit.  However, it was a scary moment when I hit the gas pedal full throttle and it didn't move....for about 6 seconds.  Then my little Kart moved and it was off to the races!  Morgan was doing fine in her Kart, and I didn't see Chloe at all.  I later found out she was at the front passing everything in sight!  Morgan lapped me once and I lapped her once.  It was easy lapping me as I was the slowest thing on the track.  (have I mentioned I am fat and probably exceeded the weight limit?)

But then came the really scary moment.  We were pulling into the pit for the end when I looked over to my right and saw Morgan coming in fast and could not stop in time as she hit a wall of tires head on at full speed!  After they let us out of the Karts I found her crying, saying her neck and chest hurt and she wanted to go home.  Well, she had, and still has a nice scrape on the left side of her neck and she's going to have a very nice bruise on her neck and chest, but she shook it off like a big girl.  That and the large size cherry slush drink helped out.

Chloe and I played a second round of putt putt while Morgan rested and kept score and I beat Chloe by two strokes.  Then we played a third round with all of us playing.  We decided not to keep score that round as all three of us were getting tired and after a call from my wife, we had to rush to finish as Chloe had Girl Scouts that evening!

But such as the life I lead and this Labor Day was a good one.  Hope yours was too.

Dad To 2

Focus Groups

I had the privilege of participating in a Christian Fiction focus group held by Thomas Nelson Publishers tonight.  This was the first one I had ever participated in and I loved it!  I had to apologize at the end as I felt that I had probably spoken way too much, but that's just me.  I am opinionated and when you ask for my opinion, I will most certainly give it.

There were ten of us in all in the group, led by two facilitators, Eric and Aaron.  The breakdown was 2 guys and 8 women.  What was really surprising was the number of women who read the same genres I did, and had the same opinions on romance, historical and modern fiction as I do.  It was really cool to discover that! 

So what exactly did we do?  We answered questions of course.  Questions like: "How do you describe Christian Fiction?", "What types of fiction do you like to read?", as well as "Why do you read Christian Fiction?".  We looked at some book jacket cover art, including some that was in development still and some that is due to be released in the next few months, and gave our opinions on.  Overall it was such a positive experience for me.  I do hope I'll be able to do this again sometime.  The other thing that was cool, or maybe not, is that we were videotaped during this.  I'm just glad I'll never have to see that tape!

Oh, and the other cool thing about it?  Swag.  We each received a bag with a Max Lucado book, (one not released yet!) and a coupon for any three Christian fiction books on the Thomas Nelson website!

If you have never participated in a focus group, I highly recommend doing so.  It is quite an experience.

So have a great evening and God Bless!

Windows 7 Phone

I have traded my work iPhone for a Samsung Focus running Windows 7.  Since I will more than likely be developing against Microsoft's system, it made sense to change them out, even though I really, really like the iPhone and actually own and use one personally.

I'll be writing a blog post about first impressions and my thoughts on my new phone, as well as what I think about the differences between the two in a later post.  For now let's just say that it is going to take some getting used to.

Have a good evening!

Heading To Microsoft in October!

For the first time in a long time I am happy again as a software developer.

The last position I held, I rose from a purely Visual Basic.NET developer at the beginning to bringing the shop around to the C# world to becoming the Information Technology Manager of the company.

But like all things, that position had to come to an end, although the ending was on my terms.  I was blessed enough to become a partner of TDIndustries, hired on to develop software and help grow a department from scratch.  A software development department that had been gutted and was, and still is relying on outside consultants.  Officially I am the Systems Architect for the company, but I prefer to think of myself as a software developer.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that one of  TDIndustries' policies is to send it's partners to at least one conference a year.  Even though I have only been there one day, they are letting me go to VSLive! in Redmond, Washington.  Not only will this be my first professional conference I will be going to, but to go to it AT Microsoft's headquarters!  Needless to say I am excited.

So if you are interested, here is more information for you.  If you can make it, I look forward to meeting you there.

Father's Day 2011

I am hoping that all of the dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day.  I know I did.  I am a University of Texas fan, so I have the new shirt and other Longhorn items, but my daughters painted the two paintings I am holding for me as well.   I am a very blessed man.