Summer of 2004

For years, I had been talking about hiring a recent high school graduate to work for me, doing all the chores around the house I needed done. I'm not talking laundry, dishes and windows, I'm talking painting, digging, building, smashing, carting, gardening and the other project that I've been meaning to do for the longest time. If said person could program, too, well, then, so much the better.

This past summer, I was fortunate to hire Kyle Smith for the whole summer. He was returning from France, where he had spent the previous 6 months teaching English in a French school, maybe high school. Because of the timing, he was unable to find a "real" job in his chosen profession (aerospace engineering), so my summer job offer was sufficient.

I have to say, the summer was quite enjoyable having Kyle around. There were certainly the many jokes about my cabana boy, including some about how I made Kyle prance around in a leather thong, fanning me all day. It wasn't quite like that, though (darn it).

Kyle helped me with the garden. I returned the favor by poisoning his family. He built a walkway for my side garden, and a fence around the main garden. He knocked up concrete, painted the ceiling and living room trim, dug up the front yard fence, planted a few trees, walked the dogs, learned to program, researched open source e-commerce packages, developed a stock market watcher, and listened to me rant about things.

He also made me laugh on quite a few occasions. At one point, Mike, Kyle and I went to some restaurant in Willow Glen in San Jose, where Kyle decided to eat the 2 pound sandwich. Mike was excited to see him try.

Kyle was unsuccessful in his conquest.