TITLE: Reflection on a Friday
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: August 31, 2018  3:06 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 If you don't sit facing the window, you could be in any town.
</BLOCKQUOTE></EM>

 I read that line this morning in
<A HREF="https://chuckpearson.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/maybe-the-cumberland-gap-just-swallows-you-whole/">
   Maybe the Cumberland Gap just swallows you whole</A>,
 where it is a bittersweet observation of the similarities among
 so many dying towns across Appalachia.  It's a really good read,
 mostly sad but a little hopeful, that applies beyond one region
 or even one country.

 My mind is self-centered, though, and immediately reframed the
 sentence in a way that cast light on my good fortune.

 I just downloaded a couple of papers on
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return-oriented_programming">
   return-oriented programming</A>
 so that I can begin working with an undergraduate on an ambitious
 research project.  I have a homework assignment to grade sitting
 in my class folder, the first of the semester.  This weekend, I'll
 begin to revise a couple of lectures for my compiler course, on
 NFAs and DFAs and scanning text.  As always, there is a pile of
 department work to do on my desk and in my mind.

 I live in Cedar Falls, Iowa, but if I don't sit facing the window,
 I could be in Ames or Iowa City, East Lansing or Durham, Boston
 or Berkeley.  And I like the view out of my office window very
 much, thank you, so I don't even want to trade.

 Heading into a three-day weekend, I realize again how fortunate
 I am.  Do I put my good fortune to good enough use?
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