Friday's Program:
"Update on WSA & Their New Office Opening in China," Ken Myer, President & CEO, WSA Washington's Software Association

Ken Myer, President of the Washington Software Alliance, was the guest speaker.

The association represents the technology industry in the state, a collection of 1,000 mostly small companies.

Things in the industry are “now on fire,” Myer said.

The association was formed in 1980, Myer noted, and represents those involved in computer games, software and hardware. It does not include those in the biotech or airline industry.

The association recently has opened an office in Shenzhen, China as a bridge between companies there and in our state.

Shenzhen was a fishing village in 1979. Today it is home to nine million people; the average age is 28 and skyscrapers dot the landscape. There are 1,500 software companies there.

As an example of the effort put into their jobs, many worker cubicles have folding cot for times when projects are nearing their deadline.

China turns out nearly 1 million software developers each year. There are 15 million students in China.

Myer called the country the “Wild, Wild East.”

Friday Potpourri

Jim Gordon gave the invocation and pledge. Jim read from the Navy Hymn, the first and last verse. Here are all four:

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Tom Smith introduced visiting Rotarians and guests.

Howard Johnson reminded Rotarians of the Rotary First Harvest work party and that the goal for this year is to have participation by 140 Rotarians or guests.

Member Induction: Bill Rambo

Bill Rambo was inducted into the club. His wife, Marilyn, accompanied him. President Phil changed the induction ceremony to make it more formal. Rourke O’Brien helped with the induction.

Sergeant At Arms Tom Harrelson next took the microphone to spring a twist on “Is it the Truth.” Following the theme of Rotary’s international aspect, Tom had five members come up and tell either something true or false. The hard part was that they did so in their native language. Not surprisingly, most members lost the $1 bet.

Classification Talk: Susan Amini

Susan Amini was next with her classification talk. This was Susan’s second classification talk, since she has rejoined the club. She reminded Rotarians that when she gave her first talk in 1993, she noted that she hoped she would not be getting clients from Rotary members, as she was then a public defender.

Susan switched to private practice in 1994. She now specializes in family law and immigration issues.

Susan grew up in Iran and graduated from Tehran University. Because of the disruption caused by the revolution there, she married her husband, who was in Paris, by proxy. Visa problems forced Susan had to spend 10 months in Paris before she could come to the U.S. Rotarians rightly felt her pain.

Web Fun

Ode to Plurals
Courtesy of Chuck Barnes

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends a
A nd get rid of all but one of them,
What do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
In which your house can burn up as it burns down,
In which you fill in a form by filling it out,
And in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?