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The call that you don't expect…

by Vinny Carpenter on October 28, 2007

My mom called me yesterday from the hospital with some terrible news. My father has suffered a massive heart attack and has passed away. My father was 67 years old and in relatively good health. He had suffered another heart attack 12 years ago but had really turned his life around after that event.

My father was a wonderful man who was loved by everyone that met him. He was the best father my brother or I could have ever asked for…. He was kind, loving and a gentle soul that loved life and always set a wonderful example for my brother and I. My brother and I loved him so much and we are going to miss him so much. Life just won’t seem the same without him and words can’t describe the sadness we all feel. He was a wonderful husband, friend and partner to my mother and they loved each other tremendously.

 

My dad with my daughter
Dr. Suresh M. Carpenter (1940 - 2007)

Update: (Nov 3, 2007)

Thank you to everyone who has called, written, and emailed with their condolences, thoughts and prayers.  My family and I really appreciate the kind words, prayers, moments of remembrance and the wonderful stories you’ve shared about our father. We are all doing well, given the circumstances but all of the support we’ve received from friends and family has been instrumental in helping us deal with our loss.

A lot of you have asked about sending flowers and while we really appreciate the thought, I think my dad would have preferred a donation to further Parkinson's research.  My mom suffers from Parkinson and my dad wanted to see a cure for Parkinson in his and her lifetime.  I don't want anyone to feel compelled to do anything or give anything but if you want to send flowers, we would rather you donate to one of the many wonderful Parkinson's research and support organization.  I am rather partial to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and would encourage you to donate to help cure Parkinson's.

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Daily del.icio.us for Oct 10, 2007 through Oct 16, 2007

by Vinny Carpenter on October 16, 2007

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by Vinny Carpenter on October 8, 2007

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Birthday Tribute to Baby Gavin

by Vinny Carpenter on February 22, 2007

Gavin Winslow is beating the odds and is about to celebrate his first birthday. Gavin is my wife's cousin’s son and he was born on February 23, 2006 with end-stage renal failure, or congenital kidney failure. Gavy was born with only 10-15% function in one of his kidneys, and 0% functions in the other. He was admitted to Children’s hospital of Wisconsin immediately after his birth and started on peritoneal dialysis.

Gavin is a fighter and a tough little guy who is beating the odds every day as he gets ready for his kidney transplant. Gavin's family and friends have come together and helped raise $95,778.67 (as of 2/15/07) to help offset the cost of Gavin's transplant and transplant-related expenses. Visit www.savebabygavin.com for more details on Gavin’s journey.

Gavin’s mom Jill and my wife Kristin put together this video to celebrate his first birthday. Check it out and visit www.savebabygavin.com and donate to help Gavin celebrate many more birthdays.

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Daily del.icio.us for Feb 13, 2007

by Vinny Carpenter on February 13, 2007

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by Vinny Carpenter on January 31, 2007

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Still having a blast!

by Vinny Carpenter on December 31, 2006

I cannot believe it's already been a month since I started my new job. Guess the old adage about time flying when you are having fun is true. I am having a blast at my new job and Artisan is an awesome place to work. In addition to truly loving what you do at work and your co-workers, having a view like this really helps make it an awesome place to work.

View from my desk

The view from my desk overlooks Lake Michigan, Discovery World and the SummerFest grounds which host the World’s Largest Music Festival.

By the way, we are hiring developers. If you're interested in learning more, drop me an email using the contact form on this blog and I can fill you in and provide additional details.

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Here's to third place!

by Vinny Carpenter on December 30, 2006

I found a really interesting article in The New Yorker magazine via Matt's blog. The article is a must-read but here's the article in a nutshell: Focus on profitability and not market share as market share doesn't always lead to profitability. The article looks at Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo and how Sony rules the video game marketplace with the Play Station and Microsoft is closing in with the XBox. Nintendo is languishing in third place but its stock is up 65% this year and because Nintendo is not trying to rule the entire industry, it’s been able to focus on its core competence and actually make money. Microsoft's game division is losing money while Sony is barely making any money. Here is an edited quote from the article:

Companies that adopt what they call "competitor-oriented objectives" actually end up hurting their own profitability. In other words, the more a company focuses on beating its competitors, rather than on the bottom line, the worse it is likely to do. And a study of the performance of twenty major American companies over four decades found that the ones putting more emphasis on market share than on profit ended up with lower returns on investment; of the six companies that defined their goal exclusively as market share, four eventually went out of business.

There are lot of companies out there that should play to their strengths while recognizing their limitations instead of trying to be everything for everybody.

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by Vinny Carpenter on December 26, 2006

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by Vinny Carpenter on December 16, 2006

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