I believe in yesterday.

A year ago I asked: If you experienced the worst day of your life…something truly horrible…and there was a drug that made you forget the previous 24 hours, would you take it?

I was reminded of this today when I had to send my Thinkpad back in time to a “restore point” where life was good. To a time (last night) before it got so screwed up it wouldn’t even boot up. Man, what a great feature and pretty damned close to a time machine.

Some of us would wear that Button out, hoping for a better day today. Might work if we only got to use it, say, three times in a lifetime. Yeah, today sucked… but do I really want to use up one of my “go back to yesterday” options?

It only works because –with my laptop– I can change the future. I know what I did to screw the pooch so I won’t do that again. Could we be trusted with that knowledge in life?

Gnomedex 2005

Gnomedex officially gets underway tomorrow but there was a gathering of the geeks tonight at the opening reception. I chatted with half a dozen co-attendees and the common thread running through every conversation was a passion for blogging. I was reminded of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. All of these unconnected people (Steve Lacey, Steve Duncan, Jason Laskodi), irresistably drawn to this common location. They didn’t know what or why, they just knew they had to get there. Similar vibe.

Steve Mays West

Just spent a fascinating two hours drinking beer with Steve Mays (we agreed that–when in Seattle– I would be the “other” Steve Mays). He’s a 42 year old attorney. Married. Child free. (Like me). He had a very successful radio career that started in Oklahoma City and wound up in San Francisco. (Sort of like me, except for the success part). He went to law school. Like me. But instead of dropping out after three months, he graduated and has a small but successful practice here in Seattle. And next week he joins a software company as in-house council.

Sitting in the bar waiting for him felt uncomfortably like a blind date. But after we sucked down a few of the delicious Seattle micro-brews, it was like…two guys with the same name. I was a little amazed at how much we had in common besides our name. My plan is to track down *all* of the Steve Mays’ and see what they’re like.

stevemays.com

Like a pair of old, soft, faded Levi’s, smays.com is comfortable and familiar. It has been my online home for a long time and I can’t imagine changing it. The only domain that would even tempt me is stevemays.com. Which belongs to Steven F. Mays, an attorney in Washington State. Steven F. offers few clues about himself or his practice. Well, I guess his phone and fax numbers are good “clues” but I’m thinking along more personal lines. For example, what are we to make of his single “Reader’s Recommendation?” The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of an American Icon.

I emailed Steven F. asking him if he would sell me his domain. I’m hoping Steven F.’s law practice is thriving and he doesn’t need my money. So my plea was ripped from the script of “Days of Our Lives.” Steven F. is a busy, successful lawyer with no time for web site. If he sells it to me, I’ve promised to care for it and give it loving, daily attention.

I know, it’s a long shot. My only hope is that he reads enough of my posts to get to know me and likes what I’ve done here at smays.com.

PS for Steven F. — It appears you live in a suburb of Seattle. How about we get together for a drink while I’m in town for Gnomedex?

No way out

Got a call today from a guy I knew from my affiliate relations days. He left the radio business for a couple years but is once again managing a station in southern Missouri. When I mentioned this to Data Daddy David, he said it reminded him those movies where where somebody escapes, is recaptured, and paraded before the other prisoners as the screws take him back to his cell.

“Like in Cool Hand Luke,” I observed.

“I was actually thinking of Steve McQueen in The Great Escape,” DDD replied. “I can see the guy sitting on the floor of his office, bouncing that baseball off the wall, hour after hour.”

I’ve been trying to come up with other movies where someone escapes, is captured, and brought back. Submissions may sent to stevemays@hotmail.com.