I'm 40!

Yes, I am 40 -- your guess whether that's octal (tout à fait, Collin!) or duodecimal or hex or something else. A few reflections:

• Last night I wrote up a "parent statement" for the younger teen. It began like this:

  Let me begin by outlining her weaknesses; this section will be quite short. She can't do multiple integrals in her head and doesn't intuitively understand why log a / log b = log_b a. She doesn't always put things away, and occasionally makes a wrong turn while driving. She manages her time no better than her 50-something dad does; consequently she sometimes finds herself pressed for time as a deadline approaches. I would not use her as a packhorse on a backpacking trip. And she has an inflated estimate of my practical and intellectual capabilities. (I have no such illusions about hers.)

• My mom and sister both sent me birthday greetings!
• The younger teen gave me "the first" of my presents: a forest green (a little lighter than that actually) T-shirt with a line drawing of a bicycle on the front with EPA mileage information -- infinite miles per gallon.
• No cars were illegally parked in the alley last night or this morning, so we had an easy time getting in and out of the garage.
• I had an easy time getting to the train -- made the left-turn traffic light!
• a free Chronicle on the news-rack
• the promise of finding the bagel of desire in the break room, and food and beer on the patio this afternoon
• lunch with a "gang of four" brothers

Well, I'm almost at work now. Hopefully there won't be any fires and I can actually make progress on that proposal to improve our code-base.