It’s time - for me to find a new adventure. I do so knowing that this experience - spending time with you - will be a great source of pride, joy, and laughter for the rest of my life. Through Isilon, and later EMC, I experienced an amazing amount of professional learning, while spending my time with wonderful people; people I will enjoy spending time with for years to come. There were certainly challenging times and even on my most optimistic days I never imagined just how exciting the journey could be. I’m privileged and humbled.

My house is filled with music.

Eriko is singing O Holy Night (which is one of my favorite seasonal songs), the kids are jamming out with Japanese pop music from Eriko's childhood (on MD) - not to mention dancing and talking - and I'm ever aware of the gentle machine hum and the click of the keyboard.

What an awesome fall morning.

% cat bin/locationchanger

#!/bin/bash
# Nick's Location Changer - 1.0
# 
# Automatically enables or disables Bluetooth depending on presence of
# the Thunderbolt adapter (en3).
#
# That makes it great for plugging and unplugging laptops, since
# Bluetooth keyboards and trackpads are really only used when attached
# to the Thunderbolt monitor.
#
# This makes sharing one Thunderbolt monitor between two systems (say,
# a Macbook and a Mini) really easy.  The inspiration came from the
# original LocationChanger:
#   http://tech.inhelsinki.nl/locationchanger/
#
# You should use the instructions to have OS X call the script. I also
# couldn't have done it without blueutil:
#
#     http://www.frederikseiffert.de/blueutil
#
# Good luck!
#
# WARNINGS
#
# XXX NMK - NO error checking. I'm sure this can break in many ways.

# XXX NMK - Detect interface automatically. For now use en3.  This is
#           the Thunderbolt interface on my MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
INTERFACE=en3

# LOG
#
# To tail log: sudo tail -f /var/log/system.log | grep 'Bluetooth:' 
# To view log: sudo cat /var/log/system.log | grep 'Bluetooth:' 
#
LOGGER=/usr/bin/logger

BLUEUTIL=/usr/local/bin/blueutil
# http://www.frederikseiffert.de/blueutil/" 

# BLUE TOOTH STATUS
# We don't check for "off", we just check for "on".
BLUESTATUSSTR="0==on, 1==!on"
BLUESTATUS=`${BLUEUTIL} status | /usr/bin/awk '{print $2}'`
if [ ${BLUESTATUS} == "on" ]; then
    BLUESTATUS=0
else
    BLUESTATUS=1
fi
BLUESTATUSSTR="Bluetooth: now ${BLUESTATUS}; ${BLUESTATUSSTR})."

${LOGGER} "Location Changed - begin. ${BLUESTATUSSTR}".

# If the interface exists, "enable" bluetooth. Otherwise "disable."
/sbin/ifconfig ${INTERFACE}
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    ${LOGGER} "${INTERFACE} exists, enabling ${BLUESTATUSSTR}."
    if [ ${BLUESTATUS} -ne 0 ]; then
        ${BLUEUTIL} on
    fi
else
    ${LOGGER} "${INTERFACE} does not exist, disabling ${BLUESTATUSSTR}."
    if [ ${BLUESTATUS} -eq 0 ]; then
        ${BLUEUTIL} off
    fi
fi

${LOGGER} "Location Changed - end. ${BLUESTATUSSTR}".

# XXX NMK - We exit with the same status as blueutil.
exit ${BLUESTATUS}

I typically combine my annual look-back and resolutions into a single entry, but this year I have decidedly to separate them. 2013 was an ordinary year by most measures, but underneath the waves of change are picking up momentum.

The news of my father’s diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia was the first time when I really felt as if my parents were aging. I had a lengthy seven weeks off Isilon, and I ultimately came to grips with the realization that it wasn’t work fulfillment that I was missing, but something else. In September, Zack’s first son, Cody, was born - happy and healthy, and Melissa and Kevin decided to move their large and loving family of 7+ to Oregon. Now my mother has been diagnosed with acute hypertension thyroid, which is further slowing down my parents ability to travel.

Let me first start by saying that I have a great job. I have an amazing position which affords me a wonderful balance of technical, business, strategy, and communication. I work with great people, some of whom I have known for many years and others which I have the opportunity to forge new relationships with. I work inside the fastest growing division, with the fastest growing product in the industry, contained within the industry's leading company. I have absolutely no reason to complain and every reason to be excited and grateful.

Family is more than genetics. Family can be your best friends and best friends can be your family.

My father was recently diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), an identity stealing degenerative brain condition. While his body may remain healthy for some time, it will rob me of my father, my role model, and the person I have spent my life emulating. I have always been proud to be called "his clone" (although it isn't always intended as a compliment.)