Latest articles

• Pride of workmanship, part 2

  I moved to Indianapolis many years ago to take a job editing technology books. My first project was editing a new edition of one of the publisher’s biggest sellers. I drew this plum assignment not for my l33t editorial skills, but for being the new guy. You see, the author had a reputation for running […]

  23 June 2007

• God grenades

  Last night I drove home after nine from a late dinner with some folks. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, still a novelty here, it was still light out, and it was warm. I rolled down my windows and cut through Broad Ripple, an old Indianapolis neighborhood known for its shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. I cruised […]

  9 June 2007

• Pride of workmanship, part 1

  Quality guru W. Edwards Deming, who helped transform Japan into an industrial powerhouse, claimed that workers who feel pride in the quality of their work are critical to a company’s success. Pride in my work is certainly critical to my satisfaction on the job, right along with being challenged and enjoying the environment. When I […]

  4 June 2007

• All about the old road to Bloomington

  I’ve finished writing about my Bloomington road trip at my personal Web space. Every dead end and bit of abandoned pavement is described in excruciating detail at the link below. http://www.jimgrey.net/Roads/SR37IndyBloomington/index.htm

  26 May 2007

• Wanted by the FBI

  When I was 16, I spent a summer on an exchange program in Krefeld, Germany with 30 other Hoosiers. On the flight over, engine trouble forced us to land in Düsseldorf rather than in Frankfurt as expected. Düsseldorf expected no international flights that day, and so nobody was working in customs. My passport went unstamped; […]

  19 May 2007

• The old road to Bloomington

  A ride down the old Dixie Highway, former State Road 37, between Indianapolis and Bloomington.

  15 May 2007

• Please stand by

  I try to write here about once a week, but a family emergency has thrown me off my pace. A small bleeding tumor was found on my father’s lung last week, and he was sent straight into surgery to have it removed. Dad came through surgery remarkably well and has been recovering faster than expected. […]

  7 May 2007

• Holding up my hand

  On my first day of Kindergarten, my mother walked with me the half mile to school so I’d know the way. I was a little anxious about meeting so many new children, but only a little anxious because I felt tremendously reassured that Mom was taking me there. When the time came I reached my […]

  26 April 2007

• My Terre Haute home today

  I was in Terre Haute a couple weeks ago and, of course, drove by the house where I had my first apartment. I thought I’d share what the house looks like today. The apartment entrance is on the far left of the house, below. I was disappointed to see that the house, currently for sale, […]

  19 April 2007

• Re-integrating joy

  My dad once told me that I was the most joyful little boy he had ever known. During my first few years, he said, I seemed to constantly have a big beaming smile on my face, and everything seemed to make me happy. Now, I’m sure I didn’t enjoy it when I got in trouble […]

  15 April 2007

• Brushes with greatness

  In the summer of 1986 I drove a rusty brown 1975 Ford Pinto all over northern Indiana delivering papers and small packages for a courier service (owned by my aunt, thank you nepotism). This car came complete with manual steering, manual brakes, and an AM radio with a single speaker mid-dash. The South Bend AM […]

  11 April 2007

• Merciful invitation

  It’s easy to get a bad impression of God as you leaf through the Old Testament. God said that the natural consequence of sin — of falling short of what God wants from us — is death, just like overeating’s natural consequence is getting fat and not paying the rent’s natural consequence is eviction. It’s […]

  21 March 2007