The nerds are at the Cloud Computing Expo (http://cloudcomputingexpo.com/general/attend1110.htm) this week, and we flew up today, Halloween. We nerds fly Southwest Airlines (www.iflyswa.com) despite our hero, Kevin Smith’s, misadventures (https://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith/status/9079110598).

So anyway as we board we are greeted by a smiling vampire flight attendant, who once we were all seated, gave us a rocking safety lecture (“…unlikely water landing, don your life vest then it’s kick-paddle, kick-paddle, kick-paddle-breath, all the way to shore. Don’t worry, once you make it onshore we’ll bring the nachos and beer”), then wished us all a Happy Halloween.

“Happy Halloween!”, echoed a tiny squeak from behind and across the aisle from us. We looked and a little girl in a pink top, flouncy pink cow girl skirt and black biker boots was bouncing excitedly in her seat, not overly concerned with the fact that her boots were just missing her daddy’s head as he was scooping spilled goldfish crackers off the cabin floor. She was on the aisle, he was in the center seat, and her sister by the window was watching them mutely, probably waiting for daddy to clean whatever she smeared onto the window off. “Happy Halloween!”. Oh lord this was going to be a fun flight.

We took off, and got the okay to start our electronics again. I went analog with a crossword puzzle that was baffling until I realized they were embedding ‘bat’ as single character in the puzzle (e.g. combat becomes com{bat symbol}).

When the attendant came around for drink orders I heard that aisle order three apple juices. I smiled at daddy ordering his own juice, then realized that he might have to share in case someone spilled. Smart man.

When the drinks arrived, I looked over and saw the flight attendant was smart too. The drinks came with soft drink-like covers and straws. The cowgirl on the aisle was curled up against her daddy, his arm softly on her side.

We finished the puzzle together with a stellar clue, and I looked over at the cowgirl and father. She and her sister were both out cold, curled against their father. He was breathing slowly, asleep himself. His arms rested lightly on the girls at his side, no bend at the elbow. It looked like the slightest move, and anything approaching the girls, would not only be felt but intercepted by those arms. He slept lightly, a wiry man who looks like he runs a lot, but has spent the time to know how to make his girls comfortable enough to sleep on planes.

I desperately wanted to take their picture, so I could give it to him. So he could remember when these two were angels on the plane, not the silent or screaming demons of adolescence. But I realized this Father probably did not need that. I hope his arms always remember what it felt like to comfort then guard these two, of the complete and total trust these girls had, and would always have, in him.

Last Saturday, Jon and I spent the morning at C2SDK’s monthly computer giveaway.

Computers 2 SD Kids is a wonderful two-fer organization: it helps low-income families, and it helps the environment. It does this by accepting donations of used computers and other electronics from individuals and local companies, refurbishing the computers, and giving them to families. The computers that can’t be refurbished—and the other electronics—are recycled, which provides cash for C2SDK’s programs.

The monthly giveaways are fun, and go by in a blur. There are always a few frustrating and/or comedic moments, like when Jon, who spends the events directing traffic, had to pluck a small Muslim man out of the way of a speeding car. Or when a recipient gets upset that their monitor is not only a lowly CRT instead of the much-preferred LCD, it is a different color from the computer! And the mouse is yet another color—ack! Or when someone shows up with their application and wants their computer right now, instead of going through the approval process like everyone else in line had to do.

Then there are the touching moments, like the time it just happened to be a little girl’s birthday. She squealed with delight when she got her system.

Our September giveaway was particularly poignant, as it was held on September 11. With the protests and counter-protests going on at various national sites that day, I found myself looking at the line of white, Hispanic, black, and Muslim families and thinking that this was a better way to spend the day: helping Americans in need, no matter where they were from or how long they’d been here.