voigtfamilynews.com is now available worldwide!

Yes, worldwide! I don't think a lot of people in Indonesia or Antarctica will appreciate that, but hopefully you will.

This site is a work in progress, I'll eventually add current events, lots more pictures and some short home movies in the very near future, so bookmark the link for future reference.

If you'd like me to add anything to the site, feel free to send me an email.

Hope you enjoy!

Tag! You're banned.

Today's thoughts aren't on technology in particular. But, considering this is my soap box, I can choose to vary my course if and when I see fit. After reading the below story, I couldn't help but post a thought or two about it.

School bans tag, other chase games

ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts (AP) -- Tag, you're out!

Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

While there is no district wide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Spokane, Washington, also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, South Carolina, school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."

Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.

I'm dumbfounded. No, scratch that: I think my head is going to explode.

We've all heard news stories, water cooler gossip and urban myths based in truth about preposterous and infuriating lawsuits filed in our already overbooked court docket. Unscrupulous, bottom dwelling lawyers (also known as "sharks") who defile the nobility of their trade by attacking fast food corporations for serving hot coffee without warning patrons strongly enough, food that's unhealthy and fattening to unsuspecting, innocent patrons, and drive through meals that contained no warning to not eat while driving (see below). Let's take a look at some actual suits that have been filed (but thankfully NOT awarded to the plaintiff) against a variety of entities in recent memory:

* In March 1995, a San Diego man unsuccessfully attempted to sue the city and Jack Murphy Stadium for $5.4 million over something than can only be described as a wee problem: Robert Glaser claimed the stadium's unisex bathroom policy at a Billy Joel and Elton John concert caused him embarrassment and emotional distress thanks to the sight of a woman using a urinal in front of him. He subsequently tried "six or seven" other bathrooms in the stadium only to find women in all of them. He asserted he "had to hold it in for four hours" because he was too embarrassed to share the public bathrooms with women.

* A San Carlos, California, man sued the Escondido Public Library for $1.5 million. His dog, a 50-pound Labrador mix, was attacked November 2000 by the library's 12-pound feline mascot, L.C., (also known as Library Cat). The case was heard in January 2004, with the jury finding for the defendant. In a further case which was resolved in July 2004, the plaintiff in the previous suit was ordered to pay the city $29,362.50, which amounted to 75% of its legal fees associated with that case.

* In 1994, a student at the University of Idaho unsuccessfully sued that institution over his fall from a third-floor dorm window. He'd been mooning other students when the window gave way. It was contended the University failed to provide a safe environment for students or to properly warn them of the dangers inherent to upper-story windows.


* In 1993, McDonald's was unsuccessfully sued over a car accident in New Jersey. While driving, a man who had placed a milkshake between his legs, leaned over to reach into his bag of food and squeezed the milkshake container in the process. When the lid popped off and spilled half the drink in his lap, this driver became distracted and ran into another man's car. That man in turn tried to sue McDonald's for causing the accident, saying the restaurant should have cautioned the man who had hit him against eating while driving.

This is not even the tip of the iceberg. The list goes on and on.



I guess what upsets me the most about this sort of litigation or fear of litigation is the greedy, narcissistic "professionals" that are pouring gasoline on the fire: lawyers. I'm taking this to heart for a lot of reasons -- the greatest being my utmost respect and admiration of real lawyers like my brother, Jim. He's a man who chose law as his profession to reach out and help others who need it. Law is an infinitely complex and at times even elegant reality that demands professionals who can navigate its intricacies and pitfalls for clients that would otherwise inadvertently expose themselves to great danger (legally speaking) without the wisdom, experience and guidance of a true expert. This is precisely why lawyers go to law school, spending a fortune on tuition and books, studying case law until their eyes threaten to pop out of their heads, and that's all just a warm up for the hell to come that is STUDYING FOR THE BAR EXAM.

Through my frustration, anger and dumbfoundedness I also feel profound sadness. It's because of the lawsuit happy bottom dwellers who twist the arms of and bully others purely for undeserving financial gain for both their clients and themselves that the honest, good hearted and brilliant lawyers have the work that's cut out for them doubled.

But because of the honesty, integrity and professionalism of true lawyers (like my brother!) I have hope that people who legitimately need guidance and representation through the challenging terrain of law will have the option to select a lawyer who will preserve and protect the Constitution and the rights of America's citizens.

One Year

October 2005 was the month I started this blog. I knew back then that the real purpose for posting my big ideas, deep thoughts and general minutia of technology was less about making a splash out there (in here?) on the internet and more about recording for posterity what was going on between my ears. I tried keeping a private journal on my home computer, but after one or two entries I never could get around to adding to it. So, why am I more able to post 'publicly'? I say publicly in quotes because if you're reading this, you're one of maybe two or three people who occasionally do so from time to time. That's hardly 'public' in realistic, viable terms, but theoretically anyone in the world could stumble across my little remote lemonade stand of thoughts and discussion of technology and walk away with a few satisfying sips of sugary, sour goodness. The best part is, I don't even charge a quarter. The idea that someone might take something away (even if it's a confounded shake of the head) is inspirational to me in some way I suppose.

So like any anniversary, birthday, national holiday or day of remembrance I'm pausing to reflect on what has happened since my first blog entry a year or so ago.


In January, Paula and I were ecstatic at the news she was pregnant. After waiting three months, poker faces and all, we finally rejoiced with our families. On May 10th, my Mom's 60th birthday, we were all devastated when we lost Liam prematurely at 19 weeks. Because of the support and loving embrace of our families and of each other, we are able through tears and heartbreak to grieve and heal.


It was also in January that I lost my job with World Kitchen.
Later that month I stood at the end of the proverbial diving board, took a deep breath and decided to change the direction of my career, leave the world of corporate politics, ladder climbing and endless pining for that next tick higher in the salary game and become a full time, hourly billing SAP/IT consultant. I'm currently working with a small dedicated internal team at Hospira, a hospital pharmaceutical company, to streamline and scrub clean their $100 million SAP system installed a couple of years ago. My phone rings two to three times a week with offers from a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies who need a temporary contractor to trail blaze solutions and/or clean up messes in their monster back end SAP systems and related business processes, and they're all willing to pay a premium for that service. Becoming a contractor is a decision that has very positively changed our lives. It was because of that decision that we were able to close on our first house May 26th, a place we almost immediately considered home, and a place that's already filled with the love and laughter of each other and of family.

The past year has also been instrumental in the development of our creative lives. Paula (aka watersoul) enrolled in piano classes to learn the basics of reading and writing music, and more and more I have been putting down the TV remote control and picking up the mouse to learn website creation and rudimentary music composition on the new Mac.

Paula has also recently taken the legal and administrative steps required to start her own business, to be her own boss, something she's talked about for years. As President, Chairman (Chairperson?) and CEO she will manage and run the entire operation from our guest room. Already incorporated, (thank you Jim V!) she's almost ready to start accepting appointments for waxing and facials. The name she chose is very fitting I think -- "Poetic Waxing, Ltd." I thoroughly enjoy watching her casually mention the new company to her girlfriends. Their eyes collectively light up as they eagerly ask how soon they can come in. They ask for business cards and talk about how their friends and relatives are looking for something exactly like this. She smiles in her usual friendly, confident way and invites them in as well. I watch Paula admiringly and wonder how she knew they'd all love the idea of brow waxing and facials so much? They can obviously go to a corporate spa down at the local strip mall and have the same thing done in a dedicated room with soft dim lighting, plenty of free green tea, an artificial waterfall in the lobby and a full staff dressed in sleek white smocks to attend to every need, but I guess for some there's a sort of magnetism to sitting down and chatting with someone you know while having hot wax spread on and unwanted hair torn from the skin. To tell the truth, I wouldn't have believed it would work if I hadn't seen it, but Paula always seems to have a knack for seeing through the hype and personal convictions and knows exactly what will work and what won't. Whether it's choosing the right shade and hue from thousands of paint color choices for every room in the house all at once, solid advice for life altering career decisions, the perfect housewarming gift for a friend, how to play with kids or starting her own business -- she knows her stuff. Even if she decides to keep things simple and stress free by booking only a couple of appointments per week at Poetic Waxing, I know that Paula will instinctively know what will work best. That's one of the things I've always loved about her.

This year has also brought some very big news for my brother. He finished law school and has also just recently passed the bar! He's now known as "James D. Voigt, Esq." (congrats again, bro!!). I am so proud and so happy. There are a lot of lawyers out there, but what I admire most about my younger, wiser brother is his dedication to doing what's right. The family law office has recently made a significant shift in focus to pursue the idea of bringing families together through adoption, immigration, and estate planning. But there's something else even better. Jim and the rest of the office have just added another element to their services -- placement of special needs children in schools. It's a big departure from servicing the business needs of banks to bringing families together and helping special needs kids, and I am humbled and immensely proud of everyone at Flynn & Tirona.



This year also brought a great reunion with my cousin Kyle. What's great about getting back together with family close to your own age (yes cuz, 25 is not THAT FAR from 36!) is the resulting friendship that is forged. As kids we used to play, ride Grandpa's go cart during my family's North Carolina visits, go to Sunday brunch and hang out, but as adults we get to set the agenda. Paula and I flew down in late June to spend time with everyone, and Kyle and I were thick as thieves. True to his laid back and generous character, he planned a four-wheeling trip on a trail through a nearby state park in his awesome highly customized Jeep Rubicon. How is it customized? Think "Pimp My Ride", but for off-roading insanity. I had the time of my life! I created a sort of music video of the experience:



I'm so glad we've gotten back in touch. He is going through a lot of great things this year, including going back to school to earn his bachelor's and so much more, but I'll let him tell you all about it.

Paula's brother Dan has a career that over the past year has taken off with such force and acceleration that it's sometimes hard for him to keep up. A freelance video and film production specialist who also dabbles in corporate web design has developed quite a reputation for himself. He has recently been tapped for jobs ranging from production assistant on the movie "Derailed", where among other things got to hold the umbrella for Jennifer Anniston between scenes, to production assistant on "Late Nite With Conan O'Brien" during their week long shoot in Chicago last Summer to streaming video consultant to the Chicago Sun Times. Dan's even listed at the popular "Internet Movie Database" site with the likes of Robert DeNiro and Steven Speilberg! His resume reads like that of a veteran production specialist of 26 years, not a 26 year old with a career that has just begun. Great things are in store for this man, you can tell it the instant he walks into a room. They say what comes around, goes around -- and Dan is proof that in his 26 years on this Earth his genuine warmth and ever-present hand extended to help others is reflected back on him brightly.



Another tradition of yearly reflection is the gaze to the horizon, to gaze ahead. No one knows what will become of the next twelve months, but I wish everyone reading this all the best of health and happiness!