David Obbee's (obbee) Blog

You have to admire the Michigan State University basketball program and its coach, Tom Izzo.  Once again, the MSU men's basketball program, under Izzo, has made the "Final Four" of the NCAA championship tournament.  It's the sixth time in twelve years! What makes it an especially remarkable accom...

My youngest daughter is turning 8, and for her birthday she was allowed to get her ears pierced- a very big deal to a 2nd-grader.  It's a rite of passage for girls, one of the many steps one takes to give the outward appearance of "growing up."  I think that's what makes a first pair of earrings ...

My oldest daughter recently had a "tiger unit" in her social studies class, which spurred me to start reading a book about man-eating predators that I had picked up at the dollar store.  There are a lot of reasons why large predatory animals such as tigers are endangered, one of the chief of whic...

Two events occurred recently which gave me a new appreciation for access to tools and information, and the importance of having a back-up plan.  The first was an internet connection upgrade at work.  The second was the moving of my living room couch away from the window. We switched internet serv...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  My mother's family is from Ireland, so I am always eager to celebrate March 17th.  I wear green, listen to my Wolfetones CD in the car and usually have a Guinness with dinner.  Growing up, my mom told me it was "bad luck" not to wear green on St. Patrick's Day.  And inde...

March Madness begins this week.  I'm not talking about the folks who will spend the 17th drinking green beer- I'm referring to college basketball!  The annual NCAA men's basketball tournament starts this Thursday. Odds are, if you have at least two people at your job, there will be a pool going. ...

My wife and I took the kids to one of those big-box member-only warehouse-type grocery places over the weekend.  We save a lot by buying certain items in bulk, and (usually) we enjoy going on Saturdays because there are free sample stations set up throughout the store, allowing us to snack while ...

My family went to see Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland today.  It was a rainy Saturday, making it a perfect afternoon to catch a movie.  I liked the film a lot.  We saw it in Imax 3D- in addition to the colorful characters and eye-popping effects, I thought it had a great message. It's not gi...

I've been reading a lot lately about personality types.  I find it to be a very interesting topic, both personally and professionally.  It's been enlightening for me to discover that, based on temperament, we all have natural inclinations to like specific activities and- perhaps even more importa...

In our neighborhood it's definitely obvious that spring is almost here: the days are warmer, the birds are appearing in greater numbers, and (my wife has let me know) it's time to really give the house a good clean-up.  Yes, my household definitely participates in the annual tradition of the "Spr...