It's only Tuesday and it has already been a VERY emotionally draining week.
Monday morning, the IT division was greeted by an email from our VP of Information Technology. It was sent shortly before 6pm on Friday and addressed customer service and the use of policies and procedures in such. Here is an excerpt...
The statement 'I fouled up, but I followed the procedures' is to me completely equivalent to 'I fouled up'. The statement 'I saw a disaster coming and did nothing, but there was no procedure that made it my responsibility' is to me completely equivalent to 'I saw a disaster coming and did nothing'. The statement 'I could have helped a customer, but I did nothing to help because I didn't have a rule that told me what to do' is to me completely equivalent to 'I could have helped a customer, but I did nothing to help'.
It didn't help that I was involved in a support call from our University Provost that could be percieved as part catalyst for this email. Not that I didn't do everything within my power and abilities to do but my actions and the circumstances surrounding them may have been percieved incorrectly.
Within an hour later, I would receive news that a coworker had died over the weekend. We all knew he had been having heart trouble and he had even had angioplasty (the balloons and stints in the arteries) on Thursday. Apparently, while trying to be away from the worries of everyday life, he had a heart attack and was unrevivable.
Although our relationship was mostly professional in nature, he occupied the office next to mine and I will miss him.
Yesterday afternoon, the Technology Support area was invited to a meeting to discuss the reorganization. The other shoe was going to drop this morning at 10am.
I just returned from that meeting and the best I can say is that I am seriously emotionaly conflicted. I am disappointed that I will be continuing with email support rather than in training. I am glad that I will be continuing to work with my friend and mentor, Ron King. I am worried that Ron and I will be working under a person neither of us trusts. I am sad that our Training and Office Automation team - the one team within the IT division that I feel works most efficiently - has been dismantled. Ron and I are now seperate from our other members Eric Jackson, Wes Higgs and Estee Eubanks.
The fact that it's been raining for the past two days doesn't help, either.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Friday, September 26, 2003
Dr. Detroit
In an effort to catch up on all the news that's not fit for human consumption, I present to you... my trip to Detroit.
On September 3rd, my wife received a phone call from her mother informing her that her great aunt, Auntie Al (short for Alice), was critically ill. Although she had been to the hospital, she decided that she wanted to die at home where she was most comfortable. Hospice care was setup and they, having some experience in these matters, told auntie Al's family it was a matter of days to weeks rather than weeks to months.
When asked if she intended to go up for a visit, my mother-in-law said no. Feeling that she might regret it later, my wife checked into last minute flights Thursday morning at Travelocity. Knowing a good deal when she saw one (and since my wife agreed to go with her), my mother-in-law decided it might be worth it to go say good-bye. Later that morning, my wife booked a flight for her and her mother.
My wife called me and told me she was going to detroit. When I asked if she wanted me to go as well (that's the way it works in my family), she told me, "no, you don't need to." Later in the afternoon, she realized what she had said and asked, "...unless you wanted to go."
I checked and could match their flights but at additional cost. I'm always up for a trip but couldn't decide if I really wanted to invite myself along. In the end, I didn't decide until Thursday evening at a point where it would cost me about $75 more and I had to stay an additional day.
When my wife heard about the additional day she asked, "Are you sure you'll be alright? You'll be in a strange town where you don't know anybody with nothing to do."
"Trust me, I'll be in a new town with a rental car. I'll find something to do."
The first part of the weekend went alright. We arrived late Friday night and learned that Auntie Al had passed away that morning. Sad as that was, Auntie Al was in her 90s and was ready to go home. We spent some time meeting with Auntie Al's kids and their families as well as my mother-in-law's siblings. Some people might find that boring but I found it fascinating to listen to family stories and observe how they remembered the deceased.
After I dropped my wife and mother-in-law at the airport Sunday evening, I spent some time exploring detroit then returned to the hotel. At the hotel, I plugged into the high-speed network port and, using smartpages, google and mappoint, planned my day of freedom.
Next time(ish) - What I did on my Detroit vacation and how internet directions will always get you lost.
On September 3rd, my wife received a phone call from her mother informing her that her great aunt, Auntie Al (short for Alice), was critically ill. Although she had been to the hospital, she decided that she wanted to die at home where she was most comfortable. Hospice care was setup and they, having some experience in these matters, told auntie Al's family it was a matter of days to weeks rather than weeks to months.
When asked if she intended to go up for a visit, my mother-in-law said no. Feeling that she might regret it later, my wife checked into last minute flights Thursday morning at Travelocity. Knowing a good deal when she saw one (and since my wife agreed to go with her), my mother-in-law decided it might be worth it to go say good-bye. Later that morning, my wife booked a flight for her and her mother.
My wife called me and told me she was going to detroit. When I asked if she wanted me to go as well (that's the way it works in my family), she told me, "no, you don't need to." Later in the afternoon, she realized what she had said and asked, "...unless you wanted to go."
I checked and could match their flights but at additional cost. I'm always up for a trip but couldn't decide if I really wanted to invite myself along. In the end, I didn't decide until Thursday evening at a point where it would cost me about $75 more and I had to stay an additional day.
When my wife heard about the additional day she asked, "Are you sure you'll be alright? You'll be in a strange town where you don't know anybody with nothing to do."
"Trust me, I'll be in a new town with a rental car. I'll find something to do."
The first part of the weekend went alright. We arrived late Friday night and learned that Auntie Al had passed away that morning. Sad as that was, Auntie Al was in her 90s and was ready to go home. We spent some time meeting with Auntie Al's kids and their families as well as my mother-in-law's siblings. Some people might find that boring but I found it fascinating to listen to family stories and observe how they remembered the deceased.
After I dropped my wife and mother-in-law at the airport Sunday evening, I spent some time exploring detroit then returned to the hotel. At the hotel, I plugged into the high-speed network port and, using smartpages, google and mappoint, planned my day of freedom.
Next time(ish) - What I did on my Detroit vacation and how internet directions will always get you lost.
The French are such cards
I am so ashamed to say I am part French... and so glad to say I'm mostly... well, let's leave that out just in case. Let's say I'm glad to say I'm American.
Why am I ashamed of my French heritage? Because of this. A French author, Thierry Meyssan, created a deck of cards naming the "most dangerous" U.S. leaders. The deck takes a jab at the Iraqi most wanted cards given to U.S. soldiers hunting down the likes of Saddam Hussein and "Chemical Ali".
In a CNN.com article, Meyssan is quoted as saying, "I found it completely indecent to present a manhunt as a game..." He completely missed the point.
I have friends in the military. When you're on an operation in a foreign country, especially in hostile territory, there's not much to do on your downtime. It's not like you can run to the mall and hang out. One of the favorite pasttimes is cards. Whether it be solitaire, gin rummy or a group poker game, cards are portable, cheap and versitile.
So, if you want to have your soldiers familiarize themselves with the names and faces of the people they're looking for, you don't hang posters everywhere... you put those faces right in front of the soldiers. By putting them on playing cards, you force them to look at them while they're relaxing and you force them to look at them over and over and over. Plus, you have the added bonus of giving them a handy reference they can - and will - carry with them.
Just imagine two soldiers on watch. A man walks by near their checkpoint.
"Say, Fred, isn't that the ten of hearts."
"Gee, Wally, I think you're right."
"I have my cards right here, Fred, let's check him out."
"Okay, Wally. And after we capture him, we can sit down for a rousing game of 'go fish'."
Of course, Meyssan's attitude didn't surprise me once I learned he is the author of a one-time French best seller, "9-11: The Big Lie," claiming that no plane ever crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, and that the attacks were plotted by a faction within the U.S. military. Yeah... RIGHT!
Tell you what: If you're American, raise your hand. If you're French, raise both hands.
Why am I ashamed of my French heritage? Because of this. A French author, Thierry Meyssan, created a deck of cards naming the "most dangerous" U.S. leaders. The deck takes a jab at the Iraqi most wanted cards given to U.S. soldiers hunting down the likes of Saddam Hussein and "Chemical Ali".
In a CNN.com article, Meyssan is quoted as saying, "I found it completely indecent to present a manhunt as a game..." He completely missed the point.
I have friends in the military. When you're on an operation in a foreign country, especially in hostile territory, there's not much to do on your downtime. It's not like you can run to the mall and hang out. One of the favorite pasttimes is cards. Whether it be solitaire, gin rummy or a group poker game, cards are portable, cheap and versitile.
So, if you want to have your soldiers familiarize themselves with the names and faces of the people they're looking for, you don't hang posters everywhere... you put those faces right in front of the soldiers. By putting them on playing cards, you force them to look at them while they're relaxing and you force them to look at them over and over and over. Plus, you have the added bonus of giving them a handy reference they can - and will - carry with them.
Just imagine two soldiers on watch. A man walks by near their checkpoint.
"Say, Fred, isn't that the ten of hearts."
"Gee, Wally, I think you're right."
"I have my cards right here, Fred, let's check him out."
"Okay, Wally. And after we capture him, we can sit down for a rousing game of 'go fish'."
Of course, Meyssan's attitude didn't surprise me once I learned he is the author of a one-time French best seller, "9-11: The Big Lie," claiming that no plane ever crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, and that the attacks were plotted by a faction within the U.S. military. Yeah... RIGHT!
Tell you what: If you're American, raise your hand. If you're French, raise both hands.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
What the hell happened to Saturday morning TV?
I remember growing up watching Saturday morning TV. Five or six hours filled with cartoons and live-action shows from Sid & Marty Krofft. There was Scooby Doo (before that little insurgent, Scrappy, showed up!), The Superfriends, Space Ghost (and Dynomut), and Hong Kong Phooey for crying out loud. We also had Dr. Shrinker, Big John/Little John , The Lost Saucer, and who could forget Sigmund the Sea Monster and Pufnstuf?
I remember the broadcast stations holding prime-time preview shows for Saturday morning television. Me and my two siblings held the television hostage just to find out what we were going to be watching over the weekend.
We'd get up, kick on the TV, grab a bowl of cereal and veg out on the sofa (more likely the floor) in our pajamas until it was noon and the sports shows came on. Those were the days.
Now you kick on the TV on Saturday morning and get news... more news... news for kids... infomercials (ARGH!!)... and a morning magazine show. They don't even have reruns of Looney Toons! What's wrong with these people? Didn't they have a childhood!?
I'll tell you what happened: Action figures. That's right, action figures. Those stupid little 3-inch molded plastic action figures. In 1982, after a 4-year hiatus, Hasbro introduced G.I. JOE, A Real American Hero in a new 3-3/4-inch size. They also launched a popular G.I. JOE licensing program with Marvel Comics. Suddenly, there was a tie-in to the cartoons and comics. Within two years, G.I. JOE brands sells over $150 million and $50 million in licensed product. (source)
The public panicked. Mothers and fathers who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons saw their snot-nosed little brats throw tantrums for the latest G.I. Joe, Transformers or He-Man figures. They realized there would be no market for these toys, that they must buy, if the cartoons didn't exist. Conversely, the shows that had no marketing tie-ins flopped. The kids just didn’t want to watch them. The realization that kids are not watching cartoons, they’re watching half-hour commercials hits home.
A public outcry against feature-length commercials reached the government. In 1990, Congress passed the Children's Television Act. Saturday morning cartoons were attacked as "junk food for the mind," and television stations were required to run a minimum amount of educational programming, and report on the content of their children's programming to the federal government. (source)
One theory is that "What's dying is the institution of Saturday mornings, not cartoons for kids, which are more vigorous than ever, just spread all over the dial and at all times during the week. The only thing kids today have lost is the central unifying ritual of getting up at 6 a.m., getting sugary cereals, getting totally hyper and watching the same programs 50 million other kids are watching." (same source)
But I know it was those damn action figures. Pardon me while I go pour myself a bowl of chocolate frosted sugar bombs.
I remember the broadcast stations holding prime-time preview shows for Saturday morning television. Me and my two siblings held the television hostage just to find out what we were going to be watching over the weekend.
We'd get up, kick on the TV, grab a bowl of cereal and veg out on the sofa (more likely the floor) in our pajamas until it was noon and the sports shows came on. Those were the days.
Now you kick on the TV on Saturday morning and get news... more news... news for kids... infomercials (ARGH!!)... and a morning magazine show. They don't even have reruns of Looney Toons! What's wrong with these people? Didn't they have a childhood!?
I'll tell you what happened: Action figures. That's right, action figures. Those stupid little 3-inch molded plastic action figures. In 1982, after a 4-year hiatus, Hasbro introduced G.I. JOE, A Real American Hero in a new 3-3/4-inch size. They also launched a popular G.I. JOE licensing program with Marvel Comics. Suddenly, there was a tie-in to the cartoons and comics. Within two years, G.I. JOE brands sells over $150 million and $50 million in licensed product. (source)
The public panicked. Mothers and fathers who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons saw their snot-nosed little brats throw tantrums for the latest G.I. Joe, Transformers or He-Man figures. They realized there would be no market for these toys, that they must buy, if the cartoons didn't exist. Conversely, the shows that had no marketing tie-ins flopped. The kids just didn’t want to watch them. The realization that kids are not watching cartoons, they’re watching half-hour commercials hits home.
A public outcry against feature-length commercials reached the government. In 1990, Congress passed the Children's Television Act. Saturday morning cartoons were attacked as "junk food for the mind," and television stations were required to run a minimum amount of educational programming, and report on the content of their children's programming to the federal government. (source)
One theory is that "What's dying is the institution of Saturday mornings, not cartoons for kids, which are more vigorous than ever, just spread all over the dial and at all times during the week. The only thing kids today have lost is the central unifying ritual of getting up at 6 a.m., getting sugary cereals, getting totally hyper and watching the same programs 50 million other kids are watching." (same source)
But I know it was those damn action figures. Pardon me while I go pour myself a bowl of chocolate frosted sugar bombs.
Ponderings on an upset stomach
I woke up about two hours ago with an upset stomach. Unable to sleep, my mind started to wander into the past. I began thinking about the technological advances a centenarian would have seen in his/her lifetime: Electricity, radio, television, indoor plumbing... many of the "necessities" of life we take for granted. Then, I started remembering all of the advances I'd seen in my life and I thought I would share some of them with you.
Pong
For those of you too young to remember, Pong was the first video game... ever. It was black and white - that's two-bit graphics, my friends: It's either on or off. Pong involved moving a bar vertically, using a dial control, to intercept a square that would then "bounce" off of your bar toward the other side of the screen, which was divided by a line, where your opponent's bar waited. If you missed - it was harder than it sounds and did involve basic strategy - your opponent scored a point; much like a tennis match (but without all of the weird scoring).
To an eight-year-old with nothing but his imagination and a handful of G.I. Joe dolls (the 11-inchers, not the action figures - another invention in my lifetime), this was as exciting as... well... I just don't know what to compare it to... maybe as exciting as wrapped bread. This toy actually did something on its own!
I recall that a couple of friends down the street had a pong game and their house was the place to be. Of course, every time anyone in the neighborhood went to Jeff & BJ's house, all we wanted to do was play Pong. Since they had it to play any time they wanted, Jeff & BJ usually didn't.
I recently saw a History Channel (I think it was them) special on video games. They talked about the history and development of Pong (and other games). At the time, it was as incredible as going to the moon. These guys didn't have C or Java or even BASIC for that matter. They figured out how to get this "ball" to move across the screen, determine if it had hit something (top/bottom of screen or a "player"), then determine the angle of reflection... ingenious - and the reason you have a PlayStation today.
The IBM PC
As far back as I can remember, there have been computers. When I first became aware of them, however, they were housed in basements on college campuses or big businesses. People interacted with them through printers and punch cards. There were no CRTs yet.
I recall walking into a Radio Shack store an seeing a TRS-80 computer on display. It looked like some kind of electronic typewriter with a television display. I remember thinking that it was a computer and that you could make computers do things if you knew how. And I determined to learn how.
About four years later, the IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC for short, was introduced. For the frst time, you didn't have to go to a University campus and punch cards or sit at a terminal (dumb terminals were still in widespread use when I welt to college in 1985). It was the greatest thing since... Pong.
My friend, Bill, had one. At $1,500+ in 1981 dollars it actually belonged to the whole family. His father, being a programmer, was the primary user. Bill and I didn't use it much - like we wanted to sit down and really get to know WordStar (especially when they didn't have a printer). Don't get me wrong, having use of a word processor was a very handy thing but it wasn't until Bill bought Wizardry that we actually started using the PC as a form of entertainment. I would later go on to own a Commodore 64 (I still have the portable version [the SX-64] my folks bought me for my 18th birthday), a couple of "IBM Clones", and eventually started building my own.
Compact Discs
I was listening to the radio one morning - a regular breakfast feature growing up - and heard the DJ I listened to tell the world they were going to debut a new music system called Compact Disc. A local audio component retailer had brought one to the station and they were going to show it off. "You'll probably want to be listening on a Hi-Fi system to get the full impact." said the DJ. I promptly went downstairs, convinced my father that he could go one morning without listening to John Erling for the chance to be the first to hear one of the Compact Discs (they didn't call them CDs yet), and tuned his stereo to the station my alarm clock played.
The station milked it for all it was worth. We finished preparing for school, finished our breakfast, and still waited. If we didn't leave soon, we'd be late for school. It was worth it, though, to hear this fabulous new technology.
Finally, they interviewed the guy about what Compact Disc was, how it worked, etc. (fascinating in its own right) and played the disc.
We didn't notice any difference.
It wasn't until I actually heard a CD player first-hand, and realized the Star Trek theme had bongos in the background, that I really understood what was so cool about this technology. I think I bought my first CD about a month later (.38 Special: Flashback). I didn't even have a CD player yet, but I knew I would some day.
Other advancements I've had the priveledge to witness (in no particular order):
The Apple Macintosh
The Computer Mouse
Video Arcades
Ergonomic Keyboards
Stereo Television
VCRs
DVDs
Kicker Boxes
CD-R
LCD (digital watches, particularly)
Hallogen floor lamps
The breaking of the 4.77MHz, 33MHz, 66MHz, 100MHz, and 1GHz barriers
Home Theater
Color/Inkjet printing
Laser printing
The list goes on and continues to grow....
I love technology
Pong
For those of you too young to remember, Pong was the first video game... ever. It was black and white - that's two-bit graphics, my friends: It's either on or off. Pong involved moving a bar vertically, using a dial control, to intercept a square that would then "bounce" off of your bar toward the other side of the screen, which was divided by a line, where your opponent's bar waited. If you missed - it was harder than it sounds and did involve basic strategy - your opponent scored a point; much like a tennis match (but without all of the weird scoring).
To an eight-year-old with nothing but his imagination and a handful of G.I. Joe dolls (the 11-inchers, not the action figures - another invention in my lifetime), this was as exciting as... well... I just don't know what to compare it to... maybe as exciting as wrapped bread. This toy actually did something on its own!
I recall that a couple of friends down the street had a pong game and their house was the place to be. Of course, every time anyone in the neighborhood went to Jeff & BJ's house, all we wanted to do was play Pong. Since they had it to play any time they wanted, Jeff & BJ usually didn't.
I recently saw a History Channel (I think it was them) special on video games. They talked about the history and development of Pong (and other games). At the time, it was as incredible as going to the moon. These guys didn't have C or Java or even BASIC for that matter. They figured out how to get this "ball" to move across the screen, determine if it had hit something (top/bottom of screen or a "player"), then determine the angle of reflection... ingenious - and the reason you have a PlayStation today.
The IBM PC
As far back as I can remember, there have been computers. When I first became aware of them, however, they were housed in basements on college campuses or big businesses. People interacted with them through printers and punch cards. There were no CRTs yet.
I recall walking into a Radio Shack store an seeing a TRS-80 computer on display. It looked like some kind of electronic typewriter with a television display. I remember thinking that it was a computer and that you could make computers do things if you knew how. And I determined to learn how.
About four years later, the IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC for short, was introduced. For the frst time, you didn't have to go to a University campus and punch cards or sit at a terminal (dumb terminals were still in widespread use when I welt to college in 1985). It was the greatest thing since... Pong.
My friend, Bill, had one. At $1,500+ in 1981 dollars it actually belonged to the whole family. His father, being a programmer, was the primary user. Bill and I didn't use it much - like we wanted to sit down and really get to know WordStar (especially when they didn't have a printer). Don't get me wrong, having use of a word processor was a very handy thing but it wasn't until Bill bought Wizardry that we actually started using the PC as a form of entertainment. I would later go on to own a Commodore 64 (I still have the portable version [the SX-64] my folks bought me for my 18th birthday), a couple of "IBM Clones", and eventually started building my own.
Compact Discs
I was listening to the radio one morning - a regular breakfast feature growing up - and heard the DJ I listened to tell the world they were going to debut a new music system called Compact Disc. A local audio component retailer had brought one to the station and they were going to show it off. "You'll probably want to be listening on a Hi-Fi system to get the full impact." said the DJ. I promptly went downstairs, convinced my father that he could go one morning without listening to John Erling for the chance to be the first to hear one of the Compact Discs (they didn't call them CDs yet), and tuned his stereo to the station my alarm clock played.
The station milked it for all it was worth. We finished preparing for school, finished our breakfast, and still waited. If we didn't leave soon, we'd be late for school. It was worth it, though, to hear this fabulous new technology.
Finally, they interviewed the guy about what Compact Disc was, how it worked, etc. (fascinating in its own right) and played the disc.
We didn't notice any difference.
It wasn't until I actually heard a CD player first-hand, and realized the Star Trek theme had bongos in the background, that I really understood what was so cool about this technology. I think I bought my first CD about a month later (.38 Special: Flashback). I didn't even have a CD player yet, but I knew I would some day.
Other advancements I've had the priveledge to witness (in no particular order):
The Apple Macintosh
The Computer Mouse
Video Arcades
Ergonomic Keyboards
Stereo Television
VCRs
DVDs
Kicker Boxes
CD-R
LCD (digital watches, particularly)
Hallogen floor lamps
The breaking of the 4.77MHz, 33MHz, 66MHz, 100MHz, and 1GHz barriers
Home Theater
Color/Inkjet printing
Laser printing
The list goes on and continues to grow....
I love technology
Monday, September 22, 2003
Honeymoon in Springfield - the early years
I am sore. I am exhausted. I had the most incredible weekend I've had in a LONG time!
Let's flash back a couple of weeks and start there. The wife and I are planning a trip to Kansas City to see my folks. We've been meaning to get up there for a while but other obligations have kept us close to home - or far from home in the case of the Detroit trip that I still need to tell you about.
At any rate, we had planned to make our semi-regular trek up I-35 the weekend of September 13th. While cruising the web one day during the first week of September, however, Shelly discovers that Rick Springfield will be in concert at the Verizon (formerly Sandstone) amphitheater in Bonner Springs on October 20. Our journey is postponed.
Fast forward a week. "Have you bought tickets to the concert yet?" I ask.
"No. Not yet. I know how much they cost, though."
"How bad?"
"Very reasonable, actually. $10, $20 or $30, depending on where you want to sit."
"Cool"
[Disclaimer: These may not be the actual conversations but you get the gist of it.]
Fast forward to the weekend of the 13th. "Have you bought tickets to the concert yet?" I ask.
"No. Not yet."
"Any particular reason why not?"
"I'm not sure I want to go." (at this point I'm thinking she's a few guitar picks short.)
"What do you mean you don't want to go? You love Rick Springfield concerts."
"I don't know if I want to spend the money - or how much if I do."
"Okay."
Fast forward a few days (life goes by so fast, doesn't it?) "Have you bought tickets to the concert yet?" I ask.
"Why don't you buy the tickets if it's so important to you?"
"Because I don't know where you were planning to go to get the tickets. I thought you were going to handle it."
"Ticketmaster.com"
Now... if you think you're observing a fundamental difference in the way men and women communicate, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Fast forward (oy, I'm getting dizzy) to Thursday evening, the 18th. On our way home, she asks, "Are we still going to your parents' house this weekend?"
If you've been following along, guys, you know I've already established this... and those of you who are married or in a long-term relationship will recognize the full reversal. Have you noticed that women will mention something once, as a suggestion, and then get upset with you because you (the collective you - the TWO of you) decided to do something and you don't remember it. They say it's because we don't pay attention and we're insensitive but we know the real score. Besides, what do you expect when you talk to us in the middle of WWE/WWF/The ball game/Star Trek?
I digress. My response is, "Yes. I figured we'd leave Friday night, like we were planning to last weekend."
"You want to leave on Friday?"
"Yes. Like you said about last weekend, that gives us all day Saturday to do what we want in KC."
"You know the Renaissance Festival is still going on, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can go for a while before the concert. The festival and the amphitheater share a parking lot, don't they?"
"I think they do, yes." (here it comes, guys) "So, does that mean we're going to Kansas City this weekend?"
I'm stunned. I can't believe she just asked me that. Was she not right there in the truck with me? As calmly and clearly as possible, I repeat myself, enunciating my words carefully, "Yes. I figured we'd leave Friday night, like we were planning to last weekend."
Now I KNOW she's a few guitar picks short...
Stay tuned for details of a surprise weekend event and details of the concert (and the concert tickets).
Anything free is worth what you pay for it.
Uncle Bubby
p.s. Shelly, I love you. Please forgive me for grabbing a laugh at your expense.
Let's flash back a couple of weeks and start there. The wife and I are planning a trip to Kansas City to see my folks. We've been meaning to get up there for a while but other obligations have kept us close to home - or far from home in the case of the Detroit trip that I still need to tell you about.
At any rate, we had planned to make our semi-regular trek up I-35 the weekend of September 13th. While cruising the web one day during the first week of September, however, Shelly discovers that Rick Springfield will be in concert at the Verizon (formerly Sandstone) amphitheater in Bonner Springs on October 20. Our journey is postponed.
Fast forward a week. "Have you bought tickets to the concert yet?" I ask.
"No. Not yet. I know how much they cost, though."
"How bad?"
"Very reasonable, actually. $10, $20 or $30, depending on where you want to sit."
"Cool"
[Disclaimer: These may not be the actual conversations but you get the gist of it.]
Fast forward to the weekend of the 13th. "Have you bought tickets to the concert yet?" I ask.
"No. Not yet."
"Any particular reason why not?"
"I'm not sure I want to go." (at this point I'm thinking she's a few guitar picks short.)
"What do you mean you don't want to go? You love Rick Springfield concerts."
"I don't know if I want to spend the money - or how much if I do."
"Okay."
Fast forward a few days (life goes by so fast, doesn't it?) "Have you bought tickets to the concert yet?" I ask.
"Why don't you buy the tickets if it's so important to you?"
"Because I don't know where you were planning to go to get the tickets. I thought you were going to handle it."
"Ticketmaster.com"
Now... if you think you're observing a fundamental difference in the way men and women communicate, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Fast forward (oy, I'm getting dizzy) to Thursday evening, the 18th. On our way home, she asks, "Are we still going to your parents' house this weekend?"
If you've been following along, guys, you know I've already established this... and those of you who are married or in a long-term relationship will recognize the full reversal. Have you noticed that women will mention something once, as a suggestion, and then get upset with you because you (the collective you - the TWO of you) decided to do something and you don't remember it. They say it's because we don't pay attention and we're insensitive but we know the real score. Besides, what do you expect when you talk to us in the middle of WWE/WWF/The ball game/Star Trek?
I digress. My response is, "Yes. I figured we'd leave Friday night, like we were planning to last weekend."
"You want to leave on Friday?"
"Yes. Like you said about last weekend, that gives us all day Saturday to do what we want in KC."
"You know the Renaissance Festival is still going on, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can go for a while before the concert. The festival and the amphitheater share a parking lot, don't they?"
"I think they do, yes." (here it comes, guys) "So, does that mean we're going to Kansas City this weekend?"
I'm stunned. I can't believe she just asked me that. Was she not right there in the truck with me? As calmly and clearly as possible, I repeat myself, enunciating my words carefully, "Yes. I figured we'd leave Friday night, like we were planning to last weekend."
Now I KNOW she's a few guitar picks short...
Stay tuned for details of a surprise weekend event and details of the concert (and the concert tickets).
Anything free is worth what you pay for it.
Uncle Bubby
p.s. Shelly, I love you. Please forgive me for grabbing a laugh at your expense.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Penguins everywhere! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!
Okay, so it's 10:45 on a Monday night, I haven't had much sleep in the past 3 days, and I should REALLY go to bed... but I wanted to post something so my sister would have something to read during her convalescence. She recently had her nose broken - on purpose! I always knew she had her nose out of joint most of the time but it's fixed now.
Anyway... I am one step closer... well, maybe half a step closer - to getting my web sites back up and running.
It was a Tuesday afternoon... no... wait... it was a Thursday... ... ... or was it Wednesday??? Let me start that over...
It was not a Friday afternoon a little over a week ago. The laptop was fired up and the Linux book was open to page ninety something. I got tired of farting around with vi and emacs and moving files around. I was toward the end of the chapter on file permissions - very useful, actually - and I decided I'd had just about enough of that shit. I zoomed ahead about 6 chapters and started reading about WEB SERVERS. [insert big, ominous orchestral music accent!]
I flipped through the pages, installed a couple of necessary components and was ready to start my test. Now what was the command to reveal my IP address? I pop out to a command prompt and type ipconfig but it doesn't work. I try some other command burried deep in the recesses of my mind (MAN, is it ever dusty down here) but that doesn't work either.
What to do? What to do? ... I know, I'll call Jason!
Okay... got his number... dialing... He's there! He actually answered the phone!
"Jason, what was that command in Linux to make the system tell you its IP address?"
"Go to a command prompt and type ipconfig."
"I already tried that and it didn't... well what do you know? It worked this time... THANKS!" [evil laughter inside my head - be sure to add echo effect in the film version to make it scarrier]
Armed with the correct IP address, I fire up a browser on another computer and start typing... one three nine dot seven eight dot (mumble mumble mumble). As I hit enter, I get the Apache Server test page. WOOHOO!!!!
I upload some of my own content and try again. As I hit enter, I get the Apache Server test page.
[sound of pages ruffling as I frantically search for the reason why my content is NOT being displayed]
Silly me, of course there's a configuration file. Only problem is, it's not where the book says it will be. Not wanting to waste any time, I use the move command (I knew it would come in handy - wax on, wax off) to place my content in the default directory. As I hit enter, I get the Apache Server test page.
No no, just kidding. My content came up. I ran around to the other offices, exhuberantly reciting the IP address to anyone with a browser. They weren't impressed.
"What am I looking at?"
"The web server on my laptop. It's working!"
"Oh........... that's nice."
So what if they weren't thrilled. I got it working!
Here's where it goes from a whole step to a half step...
Somewhere in the midst of all that, I had to change the ownership of the directory from root (a.k.a. god) to a new group. I couldn't figure out how to do it from the command prompt so I did it from the GUI. Not a problem until you remember that the machine that is supposed to be the actual server is a P100... it and the GUI don't get along.
Twenty-four hours later, the laptop was once again a slave to Bill Gates and Microsoft (did you know that it only takes about TWO MINUTES for the blaster worm to infect an unpatched computer?). This fact has much to do with the subject of my next post... Detroit.
It's late and I've rambled more than my share... gnite.
Keep warm and don't let your socks have any snacks after midnight.
Anyway... I am one step closer... well, maybe half a step closer - to getting my web sites back up and running.
It was a Tuesday afternoon... no... wait... it was a Thursday... ... ... or was it Wednesday??? Let me start that over...
It was not a Friday afternoon a little over a week ago. The laptop was fired up and the Linux book was open to page ninety something. I got tired of farting around with vi and emacs and moving files around. I was toward the end of the chapter on file permissions - very useful, actually - and I decided I'd had just about enough of that shit. I zoomed ahead about 6 chapters and started reading about WEB SERVERS. [insert big, ominous orchestral music accent!]
I flipped through the pages, installed a couple of necessary components and was ready to start my test. Now what was the command to reveal my IP address? I pop out to a command prompt and type ipconfig but it doesn't work. I try some other command burried deep in the recesses of my mind (MAN, is it ever dusty down here) but that doesn't work either.
What to do? What to do? ... I know, I'll call Jason!
Okay... got his number... dialing... He's there! He actually answered the phone!
"Jason, what was that command in Linux to make the system tell you its IP address?"
"Go to a command prompt and type ipconfig."
"I already tried that and it didn't... well what do you know? It worked this time... THANKS!" [evil laughter inside my head - be sure to add echo effect in the film version to make it scarrier]
Armed with the correct IP address, I fire up a browser on another computer and start typing... one three nine dot seven eight dot (mumble mumble mumble). As I hit enter, I get the Apache Server test page. WOOHOO!!!!
I upload some of my own content and try again. As I hit enter, I get the Apache Server test page.
[sound of pages ruffling as I frantically search for the reason why my content is NOT being displayed]
Silly me, of course there's a configuration file. Only problem is, it's not where the book says it will be. Not wanting to waste any time, I use the move command (I knew it would come in handy - wax on, wax off) to place my content in the default directory. As I hit enter, I get the Apache Server test page.
No no, just kidding. My content came up. I ran around to the other offices, exhuberantly reciting the IP address to anyone with a browser. They weren't impressed.
"What am I looking at?"
"The web server on my laptop. It's working!"
"Oh........... that's nice."
So what if they weren't thrilled. I got it working!
Here's where it goes from a whole step to a half step...
Somewhere in the midst of all that, I had to change the ownership of the directory from root (a.k.a. god) to a new group. I couldn't figure out how to do it from the command prompt so I did it from the GUI. Not a problem until you remember that the machine that is supposed to be the actual server is a P100... it and the GUI don't get along.
Twenty-four hours later, the laptop was once again a slave to Bill Gates and Microsoft (did you know that it only takes about TWO MINUTES for the blaster worm to infect an unpatched computer?). This fact has much to do with the subject of my next post... Detroit.
It's late and I've rambled more than my share... gnite.
Keep warm and don't let your socks have any snacks after midnight.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
When it rains... things get wet
Oh my goodness! First, there isn't anything, really, to talk about. Now, there's so much that has happened that I forgot some of it because I haven't had time to update...
[pant] [pant] [pant] [pant] [pant] [pant] [pant]
Good dog. Woof!
Let's start with the Big Blue Chevy. The other day, I get in the truck to go to work, look down at the odometer, and it reads 1234. That was way cool! I was going to devote an entire entry to just that and have some fun with it. When I sat down to do it, though, I decided I didn't have enough time to devote to it right then and postponed it.
As I was going to Saint Ives, I met a man with seven wives, each of these wives had.... what? Oh, sorry.
My point is, somewhere between point A and point B, life happened.
I'm at work at the moment and got busy. Remind me to tell you about...
The penguin and the server (linux stuff)
My trip to Detroit
Why web directions and constructions will prevent you from getting anywhere efficiently in Detroit.
[pant] [pant] [pant] [pant] [pant] [pant] [pant]
Good dog. Woof!
Let's start with the Big Blue Chevy. The other day, I get in the truck to go to work, look down at the odometer, and it reads 1234. That was way cool! I was going to devote an entire entry to just that and have some fun with it. When I sat down to do it, though, I decided I didn't have enough time to devote to it right then and postponed it.
As I was going to Saint Ives, I met a man with seven wives, each of these wives had.... what? Oh, sorry.
My point is, somewhere between point A and point B, life happened.
I'm at work at the moment and got busy. Remind me to tell you about...
The penguin and the server (linux stuff)
My trip to Detroit
Why web directions and constructions will prevent you from getting anywhere efficiently in Detroit.
Monday, September 01, 2003
No gnus is good gnus
Been kinda quiet the past week or so. The cold kinda slowed me and the wife down. So, here's the news:
The big blue truck now has 1,175 miles on it. I'm looking for a name/nickname for the truck so if you have any suggestions, post them to the message board.
The last time I filled up, the fuel warning light was just coming on. With the current price of gas (almost $1.60/gal), it cost me almost $35.00 to fill up! To some of you in California or non-oil states, that probably seems cheap. To me, that sucks.
The labor day weekend was seriously non-productive. I already mentioned the cold my wife and I are sharing but it also rained. Then, it rained again. After that, it rained some more. When that was done, it kept raining. Did I mention that it rained? Forget any outside work - which SERIOUSLY needs to be done - but the grey skies kept us pretty bummed out.
To give you an example of the grey-weather-combined-with-a-cold bumming level, let me tell you a little story...
Over the past year or so, I've gotten really good at putting together knocked-down furniture. That's the particle-board stuff with the simulated woodgrain vinyl veneer finish (a sticker that looks like wood) that you put together yourself. Basically, anything they sell at Wal-Mart. When I say I'm really good, I mean I'm really good. I've thought about hiring myself out as an assembler. I can slap together a shelving unit in less than an hour and a small entertainment center only takes me about two... by myself.
With my current mood and physical condition, it took me two days to put together a small chest-of-drawers to go in the closet (it's a big closet). I had to force myself to finish putting the drawers together just so I could get it done. And that included using an electric brad nailer to attach the backing (I usually use a staple gun but I couldn't find my staples... AGAIN). That whole thing should have only taken me an hour and a half... at most.
Another 3-day weekend shot to hell. Oh well, at least I got to sleep.
The big blue truck now has 1,175 miles on it. I'm looking for a name/nickname for the truck so if you have any suggestions, post them to the message board.
The last time I filled up, the fuel warning light was just coming on. With the current price of gas (almost $1.60/gal), it cost me almost $35.00 to fill up! To some of you in California or non-oil states, that probably seems cheap. To me, that sucks.
The labor day weekend was seriously non-productive. I already mentioned the cold my wife and I are sharing but it also rained. Then, it rained again. After that, it rained some more. When that was done, it kept raining. Did I mention that it rained? Forget any outside work - which SERIOUSLY needs to be done - but the grey skies kept us pretty bummed out.
To give you an example of the grey-weather-combined-with-a-cold bumming level, let me tell you a little story...
Over the past year or so, I've gotten really good at putting together knocked-down furniture. That's the particle-board stuff with the simulated woodgrain vinyl veneer finish (a sticker that looks like wood) that you put together yourself. Basically, anything they sell at Wal-Mart. When I say I'm really good, I mean I'm really good. I've thought about hiring myself out as an assembler. I can slap together a shelving unit in less than an hour and a small entertainment center only takes me about two... by myself.
With my current mood and physical condition, it took me two days to put together a small chest-of-drawers to go in the closet (it's a big closet). I had to force myself to finish putting the drawers together just so I could get it done. And that included using an electric brad nailer to attach the backing (I usually use a staple gun but I couldn't find my staples... AGAIN). That whole thing should have only taken me an hour and a half... at most.
Another 3-day weekend shot to hell. Oh well, at least I got to sleep.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Softens hands while you do the dishes
I used to be in advertising.
NO! Not sales. Ewww. Now I have to do the spasmic gross-out dance like I just found a fresh booger under the lip of the table.
I was in production. When I say production I mean I did it all. I could conceptualize, write, shoot, edit... whatever it took. Of course, not all commercials required that I perform every function but I could produce a spot from start to finish if I had to. I worked for the cable company in Stillwater, OK (home of Oklahoma State University!). Being a college town, half the residents are of a nomadic nature.
Side note: I don't want to sound like Superman, there were two of us on the production team for Stillwater.
Anyway, one of our clients was Stan Clark. If you're one of the non- or not-so-nomadic residents, you may recognize the name. If not, you may recognize the name of his flagship restaurant, Eskimo Joe's.
Stan is a pretty important guy around Stillwater. He owns three other restaurants besides Eskimo Joe's: Mexico Joe's, Stillwater Bay, and Joeseppi's (his newest restaurant that, apparently, has no web site yet).
One afternoon, I was sitting in the Joe Dome (which used to be the beer garden for those of you familiar with the establishment) having lunch with some friends from out of town. Acting like a big shot, I start bragging...
"Yeah, I know Stan Clark." I begin, sticking my chest out and reaching up to tug the lapels of the jacket I'm not wearing.
"Who?"
"The guy that owns this place. He also owns Mexico Joe's and The Bay."
"Oh."
I continue to explain how I met him through my work in advertising, and the fact that faulty equipment caused me to ruin the one and only commercial I ever produced for him. [He started having his spots produced by a company in Oklahoma City after that. He still maintains that it wasn't because of the botched commercial but some say there are no coincidences.]
"I know he at least knows me by sight," I continue. "He'll wave and say 'hello' when I see him. I don't know if he remembers my name, though."
We finish our lunch, pay our waitress and head for the door. As we step out into the warm Oklahoma sun, I hear someone yell from across the street. "Hey, Joe!"
Standing outside his corporate office (a refurbished house across the street from Joe's), is Stan Clark, waving his arm and shouting a warm hello. His timing couldn't have been better. My chest puffed out as I returned the wave, "Hey, Stan!"
"I guess he does remember my name," I say to my friends.
NO! Not sales. Ewww. Now I have to do the spasmic gross-out dance like I just found a fresh booger under the lip of the table.
I was in production. When I say production I mean I did it all. I could conceptualize, write, shoot, edit... whatever it took. Of course, not all commercials required that I perform every function but I could produce a spot from start to finish if I had to. I worked for the cable company in Stillwater, OK (home of Oklahoma State University!). Being a college town, half the residents are of a nomadic nature.
Side note: I don't want to sound like Superman, there were two of us on the production team for Stillwater.
Anyway, one of our clients was Stan Clark. If you're one of the non- or not-so-nomadic residents, you may recognize the name. If not, you may recognize the name of his flagship restaurant, Eskimo Joe's.
Stan is a pretty important guy around Stillwater. He owns three other restaurants besides Eskimo Joe's: Mexico Joe's, Stillwater Bay, and Joeseppi's (his newest restaurant that, apparently, has no web site yet).
One afternoon, I was sitting in the Joe Dome (which used to be the beer garden for those of you familiar with the establishment) having lunch with some friends from out of town. Acting like a big shot, I start bragging...
"Yeah, I know Stan Clark." I begin, sticking my chest out and reaching up to tug the lapels of the jacket I'm not wearing.
"Who?"
"The guy that owns this place. He also owns Mexico Joe's and The Bay."
"Oh."
I continue to explain how I met him through my work in advertising, and the fact that faulty equipment caused me to ruin the one and only commercial I ever produced for him. [He started having his spots produced by a company in Oklahoma City after that. He still maintains that it wasn't because of the botched commercial but some say there are no coincidences.]
"I know he at least knows me by sight," I continue. "He'll wave and say 'hello' when I see him. I don't know if he remembers my name, though."
We finish our lunch, pay our waitress and head for the door. As we step out into the warm Oklahoma sun, I hear someone yell from across the street. "Hey, Joe!"
Standing outside his corporate office (a refurbished house across the street from Joe's), is Stan Clark, waving his arm and shouting a warm hello. His timing couldn't have been better. My chest puffed out as I returned the wave, "Hey, Stan!"
"I guess he does remember my name," I say to my friends.
Monday, August 25, 2003
Sony has won me back
I have a Sony Mavica FD88 digital camera. I chose this camera for two reasons. One, it uses floppies to record the image. At the time I purchased it, 1.3 megapixels was pretty good and everyone was using JPEG. The convenience of the floppy was a big plus.
The second reason I chose the FD88 was because of its long zoom lens. It has an 8x optical zoom with a 2x digital zoom, giving an effective 16x total zoom. Don't ask me what this equates to in standard focal lengths, I just know I can get pretty close-up on stuff far away.
As megapixels increased, zoom lengths decreased. Take a look around and you'll see that 90% of the digital cameras out there have no more than a 3x zoom. Not very useful unless you're relatively close to your subject.
Since the end-of-life-cycle for the Sony Mavica FD97, I haven't been impressed with any digital camera. The FD97 only intrigued me because of the dual media (memory stick or floppy) and the long zoom. I was taking more pictures and wanted better quality - swapping floppies just doesn't cut it anymore. I have all but abandoned my FD88, sad to say. It just doesn't fit my needs anymore.
Enter the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828. I first heard about it at MIE, the Mavica Information Exchange. When I went to check it out at Steve's Digicams, I started pining for one right away. It's an 8-megapixel, 7x Carl Zeiss-lensed, dual media (Memory Stick or Compact Flash!), lotsa-buttons, picture taking machine! [Grunt! Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!] It's code name is Dark Angel, for crying out loud.
I WANT ONE!!!
Two problems:
1) Not available until November
2) $1,200.00 MSRP
I guess I'll have to wait for a good deal on eBay...
The second reason I chose the FD88 was because of its long zoom lens. It has an 8x optical zoom with a 2x digital zoom, giving an effective 16x total zoom. Don't ask me what this equates to in standard focal lengths, I just know I can get pretty close-up on stuff far away.
As megapixels increased, zoom lengths decreased. Take a look around and you'll see that 90% of the digital cameras out there have no more than a 3x zoom. Not very useful unless you're relatively close to your subject.
Since the end-of-life-cycle for the Sony Mavica FD97, I haven't been impressed with any digital camera. The FD97 only intrigued me because of the dual media (memory stick or floppy) and the long zoom. I was taking more pictures and wanted better quality - swapping floppies just doesn't cut it anymore. I have all but abandoned my FD88, sad to say. It just doesn't fit my needs anymore.
Enter the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828. I first heard about it at MIE, the Mavica Information Exchange. When I went to check it out at Steve's Digicams, I started pining for one right away. It's an 8-megapixel, 7x Carl Zeiss-lensed, dual media (Memory Stick or Compact Flash!), lotsa-buttons, picture taking machine! [Grunt! Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!] It's code name is Dark Angel, for crying out loud.
I WANT ONE!!!
Two problems:
1) Not available until November
2) $1,200.00 MSRP
I guess I'll have to wait for a good deal on eBay...
Sunday, August 24, 2003
I hab a code in my node
I decided I was tired of waiting five minutes for anything Linuxy to happen on the P100 so I backed up my laptop (a P2-500-ish), stripped the hard drive, and plunged it into the pool of linux. After it dried itself off and settled down (I told it not to go swimming for at least half an hour), I was off and running with my book.
A laptop being portable, I was able to do some work on it at.... work. This is not necessarily using office time for personal benefit. In many of our meetings with the PHB's, the idea of Linux having a greater presence on campus has been mentioned.
I got to the fourth or fifth "hour" lesson in the book on Friday afternoon and was learning the basics of vi and emacs when I got a chill. No, not one of those shiver-up-the-spine, oh-my-God-something-terrible-is-going-to-happen, hey-is-it-cold-in-here? chills. I mean one of those achy, stuffy-head, fever, I-feel-like-shit chills. And, while the fever has broken, I'm still feeling rather puny and I still have the cold.
I tried to work on it a little Friday night but it just wasn't happening. My laptop still sits atop the heap of not-yet-dirty clothes next to my bed (guys, you get it - ladies, don't even try) with the book resting on top of it where I left it Friday night. This weekend, between naps, my time has been monopolized by rounds of Star Trek: Armada which I find relatively easy to play while in an altered state of consciousness (cough syrup is kool!).
My snot-stuffed cranium is telling me it's time to go back to bed. I hope I can sleep for more than 3 hours. Goodnight.
A laptop being portable, I was able to do some work on it at.... work. This is not necessarily using office time for personal benefit. In many of our meetings with the PHB's, the idea of Linux having a greater presence on campus has been mentioned.
I got to the fourth or fifth "hour" lesson in the book on Friday afternoon and was learning the basics of vi and emacs when I got a chill. No, not one of those shiver-up-the-spine, oh-my-God-something-terrible-is-going-to-happen, hey-is-it-cold-in-here? chills. I mean one of those achy, stuffy-head, fever, I-feel-like-shit chills. And, while the fever has broken, I'm still feeling rather puny and I still have the cold.
I tried to work on it a little Friday night but it just wasn't happening. My laptop still sits atop the heap of not-yet-dirty clothes next to my bed (guys, you get it - ladies, don't even try) with the book resting on top of it where I left it Friday night. This weekend, between naps, my time has been monopolized by rounds of Star Trek: Armada which I find relatively easy to play while in an altered state of consciousness (cough syrup is kool!).
My snot-stuffed cranium is telling me it's time to go back to bed. I hope I can sleep for more than 3 hours. Goodnight.
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Work is a four-letter word
I like my job. I really do. If you've been reading up to this point, you know there are some big changes going on at work.
I don't mind change. Will Rogers once said, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." You have to keep moving if you expect to stay alive. Change is necessary so I might as well embrace it.
The problem is not the change. The problem is the way it is being handled and the people that are handling it. Maybe I'm making a mistake by going "public" with this but it needs to be said.
I see two major problems with the way the change is being presented:
Problem #1: Lack of direction
Given the way the command team our new University President brought in is set up, there's a plan. The Texas Tech Red Raiders have a desired outcome. The problem is, none of us know what it is. For crying out loud, none of us in IT even know what to call ourselves. When our new director of Technology Support (or, is that technology services.... let me check the org chart to see who I work for... yeah, it's "support") met with us, I asked her point blank what we were calling ourselves and she didn't know! How can we know where we're supposed to be going if we don't even know how to refer to ourselves?
Problem #2: Lack of buy-in from the workers
Maybe fixing the first problem will at least help the second problem. I would love to tell the people I have contact with that I'm excited about the changes but I can't. Any time you have change - especially major change - it goes much smoother if you have buy-in from those effected. How can I buy in to something when I don't even know what it is? How can I be anything but afraid of the coming changes when I haven't been given any reason to anticipate or be excited about them?
It's funny, isn't it, that when the working-class wants to upgrade some system they have to prove to management that it's necessary and justify everything with ROI and cost-savings. We must get buy-in from management because they, ultimately, have the power to grant or deny our request. It doesn't necessarily go the other way, does it?
I also said something about the people who are handling it. I'm not going to name any names but here's what I'm up against (not all items apply to all individuals):
Directors who have managers and supervisors in their chain of command that
- Can't seem to make a decision without checking with the other director
- Feel it necessary to approve all leave requests for their chain of command - down to the person on the bottom rung
- Give subordinates a dressing down (in front of others) for merely acknowledging them while the subordinate is in the middle of helping someone instead of dropping everything to speak to the director
- Must be in control of hiring full- and part-time employees who have clearly-identified supervisors
When do they have time to do the jobs they're paid to do?
I don't mind change. Will Rogers once said, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." You have to keep moving if you expect to stay alive. Change is necessary so I might as well embrace it.
The problem is not the change. The problem is the way it is being handled and the people that are handling it. Maybe I'm making a mistake by going "public" with this but it needs to be said.
I see two major problems with the way the change is being presented:
Problem #1: Lack of direction
Given the way the command team our new University President brought in is set up, there's a plan. The Texas Tech Red Raiders have a desired outcome. The problem is, none of us know what it is. For crying out loud, none of us in IT even know what to call ourselves. When our new director of Technology Support (or, is that technology services.... let me check the org chart to see who I work for... yeah, it's "support") met with us, I asked her point blank what we were calling ourselves and she didn't know! How can we know where we're supposed to be going if we don't even know how to refer to ourselves?
Problem #2: Lack of buy-in from the workers
Maybe fixing the first problem will at least help the second problem. I would love to tell the people I have contact with that I'm excited about the changes but I can't. Any time you have change - especially major change - it goes much smoother if you have buy-in from those effected. How can I buy in to something when I don't even know what it is? How can I be anything but afraid of the coming changes when I haven't been given any reason to anticipate or be excited about them?
It's funny, isn't it, that when the working-class wants to upgrade some system they have to prove to management that it's necessary and justify everything with ROI and cost-savings. We must get buy-in from management because they, ultimately, have the power to grant or deny our request. It doesn't necessarily go the other way, does it?
I also said something about the people who are handling it. I'm not going to name any names but here's what I'm up against (not all items apply to all individuals):
Directors who have managers and supervisors in their chain of command that
- Can't seem to make a decision without checking with the other director
- Feel it necessary to approve all leave requests for their chain of command - down to the person on the bottom rung
- Give subordinates a dressing down (in front of others) for merely acknowledging them while the subordinate is in the middle of helping someone instead of dropping everything to speak to the director
- Must be in control of hiring full- and part-time employees who have clearly-identified supervisors
When do they have time to do the jobs they're paid to do?
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
GERONIMO!
I've taken the plunge. I purchased one of those "Learn X in 24 hours" for Red Hat Linux 9 and, as I sit here typing this, my measly little P100 with 48MB of RAM is running through the installation.
I know, I know, that's a pretty puny system to be running Red Hat 9 on but its price was right. It's a donated computer (thanks, Ron!). I don't mind waiting on it because once I set it up as my web server, I don't plan on noodling with it much at the console.
Enough about that... let me give you some observations about the book. First, I bought it at B&N for 50% off so it was only $15 instead of $30. This is a very good thing because I'd be pissed about what I've seen so far if I'd paid $30 for it. As it stands, it's kind of humorous.
It's obvious that the same writers put together the Red Hat 8.0 book... much of what I've seen is a copy and paste job. How do I know? It's not that I have the RH8 book, the editorial staff missed a few (several, actually) references to 8.0. It appears as though Red Hat 8.0 and Red Hat 9 are interchangeable. The laughable thing is, as I started going through the installation process, I noticed som BIG differences in what they say is going to happen and what actually happens. For instance, the book says the installer will give you options for personal desktop, workstation, web server, or custom installations... it doesn't. It gives you default (desktop) or custom.
I'm not too worried, though. I'm confident the book will teach me the basics. If not, the publisher is going to get a nasty-gram.
Looking at the progress meters on the P100 I see we haven't gotten very far. The first package shows aobut 80% done since I started typing this and the overall progress is... well, it's just not yet. I think this is an overnight installation.
Happy Shaving,
Uncle Bubby
I know, I know, that's a pretty puny system to be running Red Hat 9 on but its price was right. It's a donated computer (thanks, Ron!). I don't mind waiting on it because once I set it up as my web server, I don't plan on noodling with it much at the console.
Enough about that... let me give you some observations about the book. First, I bought it at B&N for 50% off so it was only $15 instead of $30. This is a very good thing because I'd be pissed about what I've seen so far if I'd paid $30 for it. As it stands, it's kind of humorous.
It's obvious that the same writers put together the Red Hat 8.0 book... much of what I've seen is a copy and paste job. How do I know? It's not that I have the RH8 book, the editorial staff missed a few (several, actually) references to 8.0. It appears as though Red Hat 8.0 and Red Hat 9 are interchangeable. The laughable thing is, as I started going through the installation process, I noticed som BIG differences in what they say is going to happen and what actually happens. For instance, the book says the installer will give you options for personal desktop, workstation, web server, or custom installations... it doesn't. It gives you default (desktop) or custom.
I'm not too worried, though. I'm confident the book will teach me the basics. If not, the publisher is going to get a nasty-gram.
Looking at the progress meters on the P100 I see we haven't gotten very far. The first package shows aobut 80% done since I started typing this and the overall progress is... well, it's just not yet. I think this is an overnight installation.
Happy Shaving,
Uncle Bubby
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
I stare in amazement
It amazes me that my $400 gas range does not have a battery backup for its clock in case of a power failure but my $50 VCR does.
Monday, August 11, 2003
Thanks
I need to say thank you to Bud and Sandy, my in-laws. They paid around $250.00 to have a receiver hitch installed on my truck. Not that I used the one on my Blazer much, but it's nice to have.
Thanks for doing that.
Thanks for doing that.
Keep Truckin'
So, my sister keeps telling me that I need to update my blog. Honestly, I think she's the only one reading it regularly (if I'm wrong, please post something at the discussion board) but it's good exercise.
I told you not long ago that I was car shopping. I bought a brand new full-size Chevy extended-cab pickup a little over a week ago. The thing is freaking HUGE! I'm still trying to figure out how to park the damn thing. That being said, I love it!
In my decision-making process, I drove just about every type of SUV available in the state of Oklahoma. I drove models from Chevy, Buick, Mazda, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Dodge, Nissan, Kia, Suzuki, Hyundai (yes... Hyundai), Isuzu, and probably a couple more that I can't remember. They all sucked in some way or another.
Some were too big for my wife (she literally couldn't get in them), others were too small for me (when my right knee pushes the button on the gear select lever, it's TOO small), and still many others were too... "soccer mom" (in my neice's words).
Then, my wife got to see her mom's Chevy Silverado pickup... and she liked it. She could get into it (BIG plus), it rode well, and she could probably drive it if necessary. My mind was aglow with whirling transient nodes of thought (apologies to Harvey Korman). I'd already decided I liked the Dakota, now I was going to get the chance to play with the big boys.
I finally got a chance to see her mom's truck... and they let me drive it... and I was impressed... and I went looking for one of my own.
The choice wasn't hard. I drove a Ford (BLECH!!!!), then a GMC. The GMC was SOOOOOO sweet. It was black with alll the little doo-dads... and it was $30K
I checked out the local Chevy dealer and his selection was limited to about a dozen trucks with more amenities than I wanted to pay for. I probably could have worked a deal with him but I decided to check out Knippenmier Chevrolet (that's cuh-nipple-meyer) where my in-laws had purchased their truck.
They literally had ACRES of trucks! They have so many trucks they have to have their own filing system for them (they number them on the windshield). I told the salesman what I was looking for and I laid out the terms I needed. He looked through an inventory sheet, found a model at the lower end of the price spectrum and commenced to cipherin' on the sheet of paper.
I bought the truck the next day.
I told you not long ago that I was car shopping. I bought a brand new full-size Chevy extended-cab pickup a little over a week ago. The thing is freaking HUGE! I'm still trying to figure out how to park the damn thing. That being said, I love it!
In my decision-making process, I drove just about every type of SUV available in the state of Oklahoma. I drove models from Chevy, Buick, Mazda, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Dodge, Nissan, Kia, Suzuki, Hyundai (yes... Hyundai), Isuzu, and probably a couple more that I can't remember. They all sucked in some way or another.
Some were too big for my wife (she literally couldn't get in them), others were too small for me (when my right knee pushes the button on the gear select lever, it's TOO small), and still many others were too... "soccer mom" (in my neice's words).
Then, my wife got to see her mom's Chevy Silverado pickup... and she liked it. She could get into it (BIG plus), it rode well, and she could probably drive it if necessary. My mind was aglow with whirling transient nodes of thought (apologies to Harvey Korman). I'd already decided I liked the Dakota, now I was going to get the chance to play with the big boys.
I finally got a chance to see her mom's truck... and they let me drive it... and I was impressed... and I went looking for one of my own.
The choice wasn't hard. I drove a Ford (BLECH!!!!), then a GMC. The GMC was SOOOOOO sweet. It was black with alll the little doo-dads... and it was $30K
I checked out the local Chevy dealer and his selection was limited to about a dozen trucks with more amenities than I wanted to pay for. I probably could have worked a deal with him but I decided to check out Knippenmier Chevrolet (that's cuh-nipple-meyer) where my in-laws had purchased their truck.
They literally had ACRES of trucks! They have so many trucks they have to have their own filing system for them (they number them on the windshield). I told the salesman what I was looking for and I laid out the terms I needed. He looked through an inventory sheet, found a model at the lower end of the price spectrum and commenced to cipherin' on the sheet of paper.
I bought the truck the next day.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Sanctuary
The sun rose behind the clouds, its electric hues waning but not yet replaced by the diffuse glow of daylight. The early August air was cool in the wake of the departing rain. The sounds of morning surrounded me... crickets chirped softly in the tall grass, a crow signaled its presence somewhere near, and unidentified birdsongs drifted on the wind.
In the distance stood a great blue heron, stately and proud. Nearest the edge of the yard, a glossy ibis searched the shallow pond for its breakfast. Between them, a white crane, dancing about the water in a slow waltz, flapping its wings as if chasing away his reflection.
As a barn swallow cruises over the yard, I spy another crane. This one above nature's stage to which I am witness. He flies with purpose. Then, noticing the other birds, begins to circle. His lazy arcs carry him lower as he searches for a landing place. Spotting it, he drifts downward and, with a final flap of his wings, settles into place among the others.
This is my sanctuary.
In the distance stood a great blue heron, stately and proud. Nearest the edge of the yard, a glossy ibis searched the shallow pond for its breakfast. Between them, a white crane, dancing about the water in a slow waltz, flapping its wings as if chasing away his reflection.
As a barn swallow cruises over the yard, I spy another crane. This one above nature's stage to which I am witness. He flies with purpose. Then, noticing the other birds, begins to circle. His lazy arcs carry him lower as he searches for a landing place. Spotting it, he drifts downward and, with a final flap of his wings, settles into place among the others.
This is my sanctuary.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
If the shoe fits...
If the shoe fits, it's out of your price range.
This, for me, in its literal and figurative sense, is VERY true. I can walk into a shoe store, ask to see a pair of $300.00 Nikes in a size 12 and they'll fit like no other shoe has fit before. Same thing at Payless Shoes (generally nothing over $35.00) only in reverse - I have to try on every pair of shoes in the style I'm looking for from 11.5 to 13 - wide and regular. I hate shoe shopping.
Side note: I once found a perfectly fitting pair of shoes at Payless. The unfortunate thing was that the left shoe was a size 12 and the right was a 13. Go figure.
The point of this, really, is about my quest for a new vehicle. I drove the one I want last night. It's a beautiful, black, 2003 GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab with full-size bed, dark grey interior with cloth bucket seats, AM/FM/CD/Cassette with Bose speaker system (including subwoofer), full center console, and a 5.3 Liter V8 engine. [insert Tim Taylor grunts here]
The problem? It stickers at $30,000+
I'm stuck with laying it all out for the dealership and letting them figure out how to make it happen, buying a Hyundai Santa Fe which my wife really likes, or waiting another year or so.
The last option is not such a tragedy. My current vehicle, a 1993 S-10 blazer, is mechanically sound and still runs well after more than 137,000 miles. It's just that it's so fun to get new things, isn't it?
So, when your back's up against the wall and there's no tomorrow, just take one day at a time and remember... the bigger they are... etcetera.
-- Jack O'Neil, Stargate SG-1
This, for me, in its literal and figurative sense, is VERY true. I can walk into a shoe store, ask to see a pair of $300.00 Nikes in a size 12 and they'll fit like no other shoe has fit before. Same thing at Payless Shoes (generally nothing over $35.00) only in reverse - I have to try on every pair of shoes in the style I'm looking for from 11.5 to 13 - wide and regular. I hate shoe shopping.
Side note: I once found a perfectly fitting pair of shoes at Payless. The unfortunate thing was that the left shoe was a size 12 and the right was a 13. Go figure.
The point of this, really, is about my quest for a new vehicle. I drove the one I want last night. It's a beautiful, black, 2003 GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab with full-size bed, dark grey interior with cloth bucket seats, AM/FM/CD/Cassette with Bose speaker system (including subwoofer), full center console, and a 5.3 Liter V8 engine. [insert Tim Taylor grunts here]
The problem? It stickers at $30,000+
I'm stuck with laying it all out for the dealership and letting them figure out how to make it happen, buying a Hyundai Santa Fe which my wife really likes, or waiting another year or so.
The last option is not such a tragedy. My current vehicle, a 1993 S-10 blazer, is mechanically sound and still runs well after more than 137,000 miles. It's just that it's so fun to get new things, isn't it?
So, when your back's up against the wall and there's no tomorrow, just take one day at a time and remember... the bigger they are... etcetera.
-- Jack O'Neil, Stargate SG-1
Friday, July 25, 2003
The old grey mare...
My mother in law just bought a new truck. This is significant because it got my wife thinking about what kind of deal her mother got. Interest rates are low and the dealers are hoping to dump the 2003 models to make room for the '04s. It's a buyer's market for cars right now.
Why is this important? My wife thought it might be a good time, despite that it would bring us two car payments, to replace my car.
She mentioned this to me about a week ago. I started salivating like a canine owned by a guy with a bell named Pavlov. (why would anyone name a bell Pavlov?) As in other situations in our marital history, she said something to me with the belief that the previously discussed event would not come to fruition. She said, "You'd best call the Credit Union and see what they'll loan you." I performed this task with the speed of Mercury (he was the messenger with the winged Nikes, right?). The phone call the next day confirmed that our credit was, in fact, in good enough shape for me to purchase a new vehicle.
And so began the search.
Since I had already requested time off from work to spend time with my neice I found myself with plenty of time to examine available replacements. Lucky for me, my neice enjoys looking at cars.
My first day off was only a half day so we stayed local. The locally available manufacturers consist of Honda, Dodge, GMC, Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, Jeep, Toyota, Cadillac, and Ford. The SUV market in this selection is limited obviously by manufacturer as well as price. I'll barely consider a Ford, Pontiacs and Buicks are ugly, Toyota tends to be proud of their vehicles and there's no way I'm paying for a $Cadillac$. So, in 109 degree heat, I test drove a Chevy Trailblazer, a Honda CRV, and a Dodge Durango. The Trailblazer came out on top.
I had the whole next day off so my neice and I trekked to Oklahoma City. I drove the following: Nissan XTerra, Kia Sorento, Suzuki XL-7, Mazda Tribute, and a Mitsubishi Montero. Between the two days, I picked my top three.
Picking my top choices was not an easy task. I kept bouncing back and forth thinking this one had good power, that one had plenty of room, this other one had a better ride... I made a decision matrix. Not only did I decide on my top 3 but also decided that mid-sized SUVs have become too womanized. That is, they are designed now more with a female in mind. That would be great if the vehicle were for my WIFE!
It's so frustrating. All of the SUVs I drove had a more car-like ride and, yesterday, I drove a Toyota Highlander which, basically, IS a car. I know my wife prefers this but, if I'm buying a truck, I want a TRUCK. She told me to look at trucks...
In my mind the decision is made. I'm buying a new vehicle. With this in mind, I set out to clean out and clean up my Blazer. Three kitchen-sized bags of trash, two boxes of crap I need to keep, a bottle of Armor-All and a few screwdriver twists (to remove some stereo equipment) later I felt I had a different car... ready to be turned over for appraisal.
Once again, I took my neice out to a car dealer. This time to look at a Dodge Dakota. The '03 V6 extended cab I drove wasn't bad. Nothing impressive really but when we returned to the lot, there was a dark blue, quad cab Dakota shined up and ready to roll. It turns out it was an '01 model and had been taken in trade but it had everything I wanted: AM/FM/Cassette/CD stereo, 4 doors for a more SUV-like feel, power windows and locks, remote mirrors, and a charcoal grey interior. I scanned the spec sheet they had prepared... it had a V8 under the hood! Oh yeah! I HAD to drive this baby.
I enjoyed it so much I took it to pick up my wife from work and she didn't mind how it rode. It was better than my Blazer but it still had that tight truck-like feel to it. The truck was whispering in my ear.
My more reasonable side told the truck to be quiet but that we might be back. I knew I had to do some research on price, reliability, gas mileage, and all that other stuff. I did it as soon as I got home.
Later that evening, I talked to my wife about the truck. She wants more comparisons and thinks a new vehicle is still the better option. My analitical side agrees with her but my fun side keeps bitch-slapping him and saying he wants the truck. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Zoom zoom.
Why is this important? My wife thought it might be a good time, despite that it would bring us two car payments, to replace my car.
She mentioned this to me about a week ago. I started salivating like a canine owned by a guy with a bell named Pavlov. (why would anyone name a bell Pavlov?) As in other situations in our marital history, she said something to me with the belief that the previously discussed event would not come to fruition. She said, "You'd best call the Credit Union and see what they'll loan you." I performed this task with the speed of Mercury (he was the messenger with the winged Nikes, right?). The phone call the next day confirmed that our credit was, in fact, in good enough shape for me to purchase a new vehicle.
And so began the search.
Since I had already requested time off from work to spend time with my neice I found myself with plenty of time to examine available replacements. Lucky for me, my neice enjoys looking at cars.
My first day off was only a half day so we stayed local. The locally available manufacturers consist of Honda, Dodge, GMC, Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, Jeep, Toyota, Cadillac, and Ford. The SUV market in this selection is limited obviously by manufacturer as well as price. I'll barely consider a Ford, Pontiacs and Buicks are ugly, Toyota tends to be proud of their vehicles and there's no way I'm paying for a $Cadillac$. So, in 109 degree heat, I test drove a Chevy Trailblazer, a Honda CRV, and a Dodge Durango. The Trailblazer came out on top.
I had the whole next day off so my neice and I trekked to Oklahoma City. I drove the following: Nissan XTerra, Kia Sorento, Suzuki XL-7, Mazda Tribute, and a Mitsubishi Montero. Between the two days, I picked my top three.
Picking my top choices was not an easy task. I kept bouncing back and forth thinking this one had good power, that one had plenty of room, this other one had a better ride... I made a decision matrix. Not only did I decide on my top 3 but also decided that mid-sized SUVs have become too womanized. That is, they are designed now more with a female in mind. That would be great if the vehicle were for my WIFE!
It's so frustrating. All of the SUVs I drove had a more car-like ride and, yesterday, I drove a Toyota Highlander which, basically, IS a car. I know my wife prefers this but, if I'm buying a truck, I want a TRUCK. She told me to look at trucks...
In my mind the decision is made. I'm buying a new vehicle. With this in mind, I set out to clean out and clean up my Blazer. Three kitchen-sized bags of trash, two boxes of crap I need to keep, a bottle of Armor-All and a few screwdriver twists (to remove some stereo equipment) later I felt I had a different car... ready to be turned over for appraisal.
Once again, I took my neice out to a car dealer. This time to look at a Dodge Dakota. The '03 V6 extended cab I drove wasn't bad. Nothing impressive really but when we returned to the lot, there was a dark blue, quad cab Dakota shined up and ready to roll. It turns out it was an '01 model and had been taken in trade but it had everything I wanted: AM/FM/Cassette/CD stereo, 4 doors for a more SUV-like feel, power windows and locks, remote mirrors, and a charcoal grey interior. I scanned the spec sheet they had prepared... it had a V8 under the hood! Oh yeah! I HAD to drive this baby.
I enjoyed it so much I took it to pick up my wife from work and she didn't mind how it rode. It was better than my Blazer but it still had that tight truck-like feel to it. The truck was whispering in my ear.
My more reasonable side told the truck to be quiet but that we might be back. I knew I had to do some research on price, reliability, gas mileage, and all that other stuff. I did it as soon as I got home.
Later that evening, I talked to my wife about the truck. She wants more comparisons and thinks a new vehicle is still the better option. My analitical side agrees with her but my fun side keeps bitch-slapping him and saying he wants the truck. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Zoom zoom.
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