blog.geigel.com

One memory from high school stands out among many others. It illustrates clearly what type of person I came to be. My junior year I decided to take chemistry even though I had no idea what to expect except that everyone knew that the teacher, Brian Rohrig, taught a difficult course. On the first day of class I made a promise to myself: I would get an A, and would make every effort to do as well as I could. And I did. I learned every bit of material he threw at us, remembered every element, knew every calculation, and could convert any unit required. Every extra credit work was turned in the next day (one question asking if there are more atoms in a drop of water or drops of water in the oceans — the answer being more drops of water in all the oceans). A model student was an understatement for what I was, and as a result I earned over 100% each quarter (compared to the class averages of C range). I earned a spot along with 2 others to represent AHS as an top-notch chemistry student in a national chemistry test. More than anything I poured my soul into that course. Near the end of the year, several weeks before Summer vacation, AHS hosted an honor student awards ceremony. I was invited and suspected I’d be receiving the chemistry award. The night, however, was to be a great disappointment. Mr. Rohrig chose another student (who was also deserving) over me. The result crushed me. I wanted to leave, and felt embarassed for having thought so undeniably it would be me. I was mad at Mr. Rohrig and went home that night deciding not to do a bit more work in the class (which realistically would drop me within the 90% range since my grade was so high anyway).

The next few days I was still fuming until a moment of realization rushed over me in an awesome wave of clarity. Our last assignment was to build some sort of “product” which we could market/sell that utilized chemical reations. It was obvious to me after my epiphany that I needed to knock the ball out of the park with my project. Sulking was no longer an option — I would instead focus my energy positively to show to Mr. Rohrig that he had greatly mistaken in choosing someone else. The feeling wasn’t one of maliciousness, but rather acceptance and action — to pull myself up an demand nothing but absolute success.

I spent weeks developing my project and when it was done it was easily the greatest achievment of my high school career. I developed a 3D topographical board game where players had to make it across an island laden with chemical reaction boobie traps. That wasn’t all. The driving force of the game was a computer program which tracked player progress on the board, showed fun graphics on the screen, and allowed students to view the chemical reactions taking place if they fell into a boobie trap. The presentation was exhilirating. The response was astounding. I ended up earning the highest grade on the project ever given out. I had overcome my demon and showed that I was capable of amazing things.

Later, I asked Mr. Rohrig for a letter of recommendation. I still have it somewhere around my house, and if I ever come across it I’ll post it, but take my word for it that it was glowing. You may also wonder if I ever confronted Mr. Rohrig about not receiving the outstanding student award. Well I did — when I visited his house to pick up the recommendation letter. He said that I was by far one of the the most dedicated students he had ever seen, but he ultimately chose honor awards based on grades. My friend, Adam (the person who won the award) squeaked by me by just a couple points. In light of my accomplishment this seemed far less important. The life lesson I took from this, of course, was to never to give up, never view a setback as total failure, and tolerate nothing less of yourself except the best. Mr. Rohrig, was one of the best instructors I’ve ever had and I owe a large part of my character development to his course.

The next year Mr. Rohrig was fired. He was a demanding teacher who wasn’t afraid to hand out bad grades to bad students. He firmly believed that you had to earn the grade you received, and parents complained. Because of this, and probably other comlaint(s) the administration fabricated to justify their action, he left our school system. Hopefully the story I’ve shared stands as a testament to his ability to change at least one person for the better

- Books written by Brian Rohrig as listed on Amazon.com
- Brian Rohrig’s teacher biography at his current school

I’m a big nerd, and I don’t care. I love gadgets, and I love depending on them and exploiting every facet of technology for my benefit. If there’s an electronic device or service that can make my life easier or better then it’s probably owned by me, or something I will own soon. I literally get a hard on for technology.

1. My PDA/Phone/Smart Device
This is perhaps the greatest marriage of devices in tech history, besides of course for the mouse and keyboard. Just a few years ago people would carry multiple devices (I was one of them!) but the day these two gadgets decided to get it on will live on as the greatest step forward for mobile computing. Pockets around the world cheered in relief. I use a Moto Q and it is absolute bliss. My life is on my phone, and my life would be nothing without my smart device. I feel naked without it.

2. My Car’s GPS Unit
Whether you have a top-of-the-line device, or your phone is spitting out turn by turn directions, it is by far one of the coolest affordable tech gadgets you can get today. As a person who likes having information available to him instantly, and who always wants to know what’s going on, how could I not have a GPS device? GPS is simply awesome, and when I drive a car without one (even if I know where I’m going) I feel lost. Having the ability to always click the “Take me home” button if I’m somewhere I don’t know is a very reassuring and soothing feeling. All cars should come standard with this feature – no questions asked.

3. DVR and/or TiVO
I’ve had my DVR for just one week and I’m already spoiled. How cool is it to pause live tv when you run into the kitchen for a snack? Or to record shows simultaneously while watching another channel? I’ve already set my DVR to record every single COPS episode in existence. The only thing I wish they’d add is the ability to skip commercials from recorded programs, or to include a “Jump ahead 30 seconds” button to quickly get to your program. Do you hear me Pioneer? Make this functionality and you will make even more money with your DVR devices. But even without this it is still just awesome.

4. My Laptop
I have a TX series Vaio from Sony, which is one of their smallest series. When I need computing power that I can’t get in my phone I pack up my Vaio and head out the door. It is my little baby, and does everything I need it to do when I’m not at my main computer at home. I’ve even downloaded a program called PDANet which allows me to get wireless internet through Sprint so I can browse websites whenever (and wherever) I want. My laptop is the perfect device to go to a meeting and take notes with, and to show presentations on. And when it’s time to play I pop in a DVD and it’s instantly a portable DVD player. Without a doubt it I’d be lost without it.

5. 360 and Wii
God made videogames so we can blow up our friends virtually. There is nothing quite like getting a group of friends together, drinking, and shooting things. Videogame consoles provide a mechanism to relax and have some fun unlike anything else out there. I love my 360 (even though it’s died once) and I find the Wii to be so incredibly unique that I play it almost as much as my 360. Take these two things away from me and I might blow up my friends for real, and who’d want that to happen?

Anyone who considers themself a programmer and/or techie knows what I mean when I refer to the “techie-high.” It’s that sublime sensation that you get when you’re in the zone doing anything geek worthy. 

It’s when…

You’re up at 4 in am coding your heart out — filled with caffeine — and could go on for another few hours without a problem.

You walk into Best Buy and know you’re going to drop money on something.

You begin trying to justify ways to purchase a new cell phone that does only one more thing than your current phone, but is twice as thin. 

You’re hanging out with a fellow geek conversing about geek-ish things, and work each other up into such a geek-frenzy that you’ve begun to worry the rest of the world around you. (Happens often at Denny’s).

You’ve just coded Luhn’s credit card processing formula from memory and it validates correctly against sample data you found on the internet.

You have every reason to stay home (i.e. things to do, washes to wash, eat food for sustenance, etc.) but drop everything the moment your friend asks you to go to an electronics store. It’s that sudden jolt of excitement that surges through you and forces you to blurt out – YEAH! – don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.

thinkgeek.com should learn how to bottle the “techie-high” up and sell it. That would be flippin’ sweet.