I can think of a way that I could support the mosque at Ground Zero.
Since the primary source of funds for this endeavor is Saudi Arabia, it seems to be that building a synagogue in Saudi Arabia's capital city, along with a Catholic cathedral and a Christian megachurch, and disavowing harrassment thereof would be a start.
But what would really convince me would be Teheran signing up for the same three religious edifices and the same disavowal.
What's that you say, don't hold my breath?
I won't, and I don't expect any of it to happen - which is why I say that I might support the mosque at Ground Zero - when pigs fly out of my arse!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Motorcycles
Just heard a guy on TeeVee say "Motorcycling is the most fun you'll ever have" - and he didn't even add "with your clothes on."
And I agree with him. I rode to work today - and grinned all the way in! I can see so much more, have what feels like so much more space to maneuver, and it seems like I'm less rushed. I don't mind moving over to let a nose-to-tail string of cagers (people who travel inside steel cages) pass me at illegal velocities - I just chug along and enjoy the view. It's far less stressful than being in the car, although it might well have been cooler in the car.
The bike I ride is a good commute vehicle - stable, a little heavy but not bad, smooth and has power and torque enough to pass just about anything I want to pass. It isn't a crotch rocket - it's more a cruiser - slow-turning V-twin, single carb, shaft drive - as close to maintenance-free as it gets. It always starts, and doesn't stall easily.
My daily ride to work is 50 miles the round trip. I have route choices, but none has any advantage in terms of time - it takes as long as it takes, and in the morning I stop a few minutes shy of the office for a giant cup of 7-11 coffee with amaretto creamer, a sandwich and a yogurt - which is what gets me through a work day. If I do everything right, the coffee stays upright until I get parked at work - if I don't do everything right, instead of a big cup of coffee I have a plastic bag of coffee - not my favorite thing!
At the end of the day, I go back outside, start the bike, and reverse the process, with a little less pressure as regards time since nobody at home looks at what time I get back in. In the evening I am likely to take short detours and try different heretofore untried routes - mornings are pretty much set on one of three routes, because of the need to be on time.
But the days I ride are typically easier days for me - I arrive more relaxed than on other days, and generally concentrate better. I seem to have more time to think about things before I arrive when I ride in - in the car, more of me is occupied with traffic, planning when I want to make a lane change, looking ahead for traffic chokepoints and such.
Of course, I'm not fond of riding in the rain. Cold is not as bad as rain, and I ride pretty late into the year. Snow is a nono - that should go without saying, although if I were to add a side car, I'd probably ride year-round. I am healthier when I ride when it is cold, and generally don't mind a cold run if it doesn't get to be more than 50 miles or so.
I have been riding now more than 50 years, and don't think I'm likely to give it up any time soon. It's a cheap pleasure, a good mood freshener, and even cheaper than driving the car!
Anyone who wants to sample it should find a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course to take. The courses have motorcycles so you don't have to spend a bunch of money that you might later regret, the instructors are pros who don't have the bad habits that folks like me may have who learned to ride by doing - and you can start on a bike that is a good size for learning, well maintained and not at all finicky.
Motorcycling is fun, it is only dangerous if you let it be, and will make you cheerful.
Try it - you'll like it!
And I agree with him. I rode to work today - and grinned all the way in! I can see so much more, have what feels like so much more space to maneuver, and it seems like I'm less rushed. I don't mind moving over to let a nose-to-tail string of cagers (people who travel inside steel cages) pass me at illegal velocities - I just chug along and enjoy the view. It's far less stressful than being in the car, although it might well have been cooler in the car.
The bike I ride is a good commute vehicle - stable, a little heavy but not bad, smooth and has power and torque enough to pass just about anything I want to pass. It isn't a crotch rocket - it's more a cruiser - slow-turning V-twin, single carb, shaft drive - as close to maintenance-free as it gets. It always starts, and doesn't stall easily.
My daily ride to work is 50 miles the round trip. I have route choices, but none has any advantage in terms of time - it takes as long as it takes, and in the morning I stop a few minutes shy of the office for a giant cup of 7-11 coffee with amaretto creamer, a sandwich and a yogurt - which is what gets me through a work day. If I do everything right, the coffee stays upright until I get parked at work - if I don't do everything right, instead of a big cup of coffee I have a plastic bag of coffee - not my favorite thing!
At the end of the day, I go back outside, start the bike, and reverse the process, with a little less pressure as regards time since nobody at home looks at what time I get back in. In the evening I am likely to take short detours and try different heretofore untried routes - mornings are pretty much set on one of three routes, because of the need to be on time.
But the days I ride are typically easier days for me - I arrive more relaxed than on other days, and generally concentrate better. I seem to have more time to think about things before I arrive when I ride in - in the car, more of me is occupied with traffic, planning when I want to make a lane change, looking ahead for traffic chokepoints and such.
Of course, I'm not fond of riding in the rain. Cold is not as bad as rain, and I ride pretty late into the year. Snow is a nono - that should go without saying, although if I were to add a side car, I'd probably ride year-round. I am healthier when I ride when it is cold, and generally don't mind a cold run if it doesn't get to be more than 50 miles or so.
I have been riding now more than 50 years, and don't think I'm likely to give it up any time soon. It's a cheap pleasure, a good mood freshener, and even cheaper than driving the car!
Anyone who wants to sample it should find a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course to take. The courses have motorcycles so you don't have to spend a bunch of money that you might later regret, the instructors are pros who don't have the bad habits that folks like me may have who learned to ride by doing - and you can start on a bike that is a good size for learning, well maintained and not at all finicky.
Motorcycling is fun, it is only dangerous if you let it be, and will make you cheerful.
Try it - you'll like it!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Hyphenated Americans
Understand something - I am an American - a citizen of these United States.
My ancestors came from Germany, Scotland, Ireland, and several other places. They became part of the Great American Dream, and ceased to be German, Scottish or Irish. They became American.
They did not relinquish their various foods, languages, literature, or anything else - all of that continued to live on in their homes, but they became a part of something bigger - and when outside their homes, conversed in English and generally assimilated into the culture of this nation - becoming tolerant of others otherness, and gaining in understanding that there is much to be learned from people not like us - and that valuable things that are learned from such folks can become part of our constantly moving and growing culture. At no time did someone take that American culture, nail it to a wall and say "This is how it is and it cannot change."
I tend to look askance at folks who are hyphenated Americans - German-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, and suchlike - they place something before the American in what they claim to be - which makes me wonder how anything about their citizenship could be more important than the American part.
We tend to be pretty tolerant - we tend to help new arrivals, show our best faces to folks we do not know, and be rather accepting of others' religious practices. I know of an area where within a block one can find Christians, Jews, Muslims and a Buddhist family - and none is trying to kill or to convert the other; rather they are respectful of the otherness of others and strive to find common ground in order to be better neighbors to one another. It's how Americans are - or rather how they used to be when I was growing up.
It seems that here of late we are getting Balkanized - we are being asked to accept a language other than English, asked to adjust our calendars and our laws to suit one group of folks more than the folks who are already here, and we are being asked to give precedence to folks who will not even deign to follow the rules to join us as immigrants.
This is wrong.
We ought not to care what language folk use at home, whether they sit on the floor or on the roof, nor what they will or will not eat - in someone's home that's how it is. But we ought not to be so prepared to allow someone's home and ancestral culture to be used to tell us that what we have built of a couple of hundred years is no longer valid, and what folks from other places bring is more valid and more useful. After all, if those other places were all that great, how come people are trying so hard to get away from those places to come here?
In Germany, part of the national tax supports churches. We don't do that here.
In Mexico, noncitizens cannot own prime property. We have no such restriction.
In the parts of the Middle East, citizenship is restricted to followers of Muhammed. We have no such rule here.
The USA is a different place from the rest of the world, and the differences are important. I can see no reason to turn it into France if France already exists - folks could simply go there. Of course, they'd have to learn French....
The world is full of socialist nations - those in lover with it could go there, but won't - because there are always things there that are different, be it Language, Laws, Climate, Living conditions, or potential for employment.
This great nation is a unique place - why folks would want to turn it into another place that already exists is beyond me.
Some have told me that there's no equality here - but they don't understand that equality cannot guarantee equal outcomes. We are all born the same way, but we can't all be Ted Kennedy (not that I'd want to be Ted Kennedy.) and we all can't be rich - but the class envy that is being used to justify redistribution of income is obscene. I've had some lucky breaks; so have some other folks I know. Sometimes we get bad breaks - and we can either let it defeat us or rise above it. A lot of our station in life has to do with decisions we ourselves make - and if they are bad decisions, you are not owed the fruits of my labor to bail you out - although I can help if it pleases me to do so.
I've done plenty of stupid things, some of which hurt me rather badly, physically or fiscally. Nobody owes me a bailout - much as I might have liked to be Malcolm S. Forbes, I wasn't - and there is no set of circumstances that permits me to believe that he (or his estate since he's dead now) owes me a bailout from my own foolishness or anything of that nature.
Lots of what happens we ourselves have to own. Your degree in Albanian Studies probably won't make you rich, or even moderately well off - but that study was your choice, so live with it. My occupation did not exist when I exited high school trying to imagine what to do if I ever grew up - I had to change, to adapt, to find opportunity and to work to excel to be noticed. It can be done, but nobody else has to own your errors.
I guess I'm just irritable today - I spent the morning listening to a couple of coworkers harranguing one another about how bad life was, and how much they were owed for having been born.
Americans simply are - they need no excuse, and they need apologize to nobody. It's OK if you don't like me - but it's not OK to threaten my existence because I have friends who are Jews, because I get paid better or because I will not change my views to yours. One of the unique things about Americans is that we understand everyone's belief has the potential to be right, so we tolerate all sorts of various beliefs. This is not easily accepted by those with blinders on who, having seen nothing else cannot conceive of anything being worthwhile that they've not already seen and passed on as good. But those with blinders on are the ones who'll ultimately suffer for their own ignorance, and their own failure to allow themselves to learn from others.
Enough. I'll be back another day.
My ancestors came from Germany, Scotland, Ireland, and several other places. They became part of the Great American Dream, and ceased to be German, Scottish or Irish. They became American.
They did not relinquish their various foods, languages, literature, or anything else - all of that continued to live on in their homes, but they became a part of something bigger - and when outside their homes, conversed in English and generally assimilated into the culture of this nation - becoming tolerant of others otherness, and gaining in understanding that there is much to be learned from people not like us - and that valuable things that are learned from such folks can become part of our constantly moving and growing culture. At no time did someone take that American culture, nail it to a wall and say "This is how it is and it cannot change."
I tend to look askance at folks who are hyphenated Americans - German-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, and suchlike - they place something before the American in what they claim to be - which makes me wonder how anything about their citizenship could be more important than the American part.
We tend to be pretty tolerant - we tend to help new arrivals, show our best faces to folks we do not know, and be rather accepting of others' religious practices. I know of an area where within a block one can find Christians, Jews, Muslims and a Buddhist family - and none is trying to kill or to convert the other; rather they are respectful of the otherness of others and strive to find common ground in order to be better neighbors to one another. It's how Americans are - or rather how they used to be when I was growing up.
It seems that here of late we are getting Balkanized - we are being asked to accept a language other than English, asked to adjust our calendars and our laws to suit one group of folks more than the folks who are already here, and we are being asked to give precedence to folks who will not even deign to follow the rules to join us as immigrants.
This is wrong.
We ought not to care what language folk use at home, whether they sit on the floor or on the roof, nor what they will or will not eat - in someone's home that's how it is. But we ought not to be so prepared to allow someone's home and ancestral culture to be used to tell us that what we have built of a couple of hundred years is no longer valid, and what folks from other places bring is more valid and more useful. After all, if those other places were all that great, how come people are trying so hard to get away from those places to come here?
In Germany, part of the national tax supports churches. We don't do that here.
In Mexico, noncitizens cannot own prime property. We have no such restriction.
In the parts of the Middle East, citizenship is restricted to followers of Muhammed. We have no such rule here.
The USA is a different place from the rest of the world, and the differences are important. I can see no reason to turn it into France if France already exists - folks could simply go there. Of course, they'd have to learn French....
The world is full of socialist nations - those in lover with it could go there, but won't - because there are always things there that are different, be it Language, Laws, Climate, Living conditions, or potential for employment.
This great nation is a unique place - why folks would want to turn it into another place that already exists is beyond me.
Some have told me that there's no equality here - but they don't understand that equality cannot guarantee equal outcomes. We are all born the same way, but we can't all be Ted Kennedy (not that I'd want to be Ted Kennedy.) and we all can't be rich - but the class envy that is being used to justify redistribution of income is obscene. I've had some lucky breaks; so have some other folks I know. Sometimes we get bad breaks - and we can either let it defeat us or rise above it. A lot of our station in life has to do with decisions we ourselves make - and if they are bad decisions, you are not owed the fruits of my labor to bail you out - although I can help if it pleases me to do so.
I've done plenty of stupid things, some of which hurt me rather badly, physically or fiscally. Nobody owes me a bailout - much as I might have liked to be Malcolm S. Forbes, I wasn't - and there is no set of circumstances that permits me to believe that he (or his estate since he's dead now) owes me a bailout from my own foolishness or anything of that nature.
Lots of what happens we ourselves have to own. Your degree in Albanian Studies probably won't make you rich, or even moderately well off - but that study was your choice, so live with it. My occupation did not exist when I exited high school trying to imagine what to do if I ever grew up - I had to change, to adapt, to find opportunity and to work to excel to be noticed. It can be done, but nobody else has to own your errors.
I guess I'm just irritable today - I spent the morning listening to a couple of coworkers harranguing one another about how bad life was, and how much they were owed for having been born.
Americans simply are - they need no excuse, and they need apologize to nobody. It's OK if you don't like me - but it's not OK to threaten my existence because I have friends who are Jews, because I get paid better or because I will not change my views to yours. One of the unique things about Americans is that we understand everyone's belief has the potential to be right, so we tolerate all sorts of various beliefs. This is not easily accepted by those with blinders on who, having seen nothing else cannot conceive of anything being worthwhile that they've not already seen and passed on as good. But those with blinders on are the ones who'll ultimately suffer for their own ignorance, and their own failure to allow themselves to learn from others.
Enough. I'll be back another day.
Mosques at Ground Zero
I do not want to see one built, not now, not ever. It is said that Muslims are peace-loving peoples, and that what has been done by angry Muslim men is a travesty. Why do we not hear the highest Muslim authorities disavowing this activity? Our president is apologizing all over the world for our slights real or imagined - why has no Muslim authority or nation apologized for this massive affront?
It was not the Christians, the Jews, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindi or any of thousands of others who so desecrated that place, and I for one am not interested in permitting the glorification on that site of the actions by the heirarchy of the group that created the devastation but has yet to acknowledge any complicity or even the wrongness in the actions.
No mosque at Ground Zero.
It was not the Christians, the Jews, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindi or any of thousands of others who so desecrated that place, and I for one am not interested in permitting the glorification on that site of the actions by the heirarchy of the group that created the devastation but has yet to acknowledge any complicity or even the wrongness in the actions.
No mosque at Ground Zero.
Congress
Several years back, a mistake was made by Congress.
Originally, the House of Representatives was intended to be the representation for the people. Theoretically, it still is, although I believe it's more an old boys club, where the primary purpose of the inhabitants is to stay there by promising whatever folks want to be promised, usually at someone else's expense.
The Senate, however, was intended to be representation for the various states - and Senators were chosen by the legislators of the various states - insuring that the interests of those states were represented, and that no state was more equal than any other state. Since we are not a pure democracy, but a constitutional representative republic, the states have a responsibility to the voters of their own representatives in whatever bodies the states hold to be legislative - and the state as a body has responsibility to itself and to its inhabitants at the federal level to have the interests of the state represented when legislation is being made that affects the state as a corporate body. Senators were to be answerable to the state legislatures, not to the states' individual voters.
By making senators popularly elected we have effectively removed from them any responsibility to represent the state as a corporate entity - they now depend on their popularity with Joe SixPax to get elected rather than the works they have done in behalf of the state legislature. The interests of the states are thereby not being served.
I think that this is wrong, and I think it should be reversed. What it represents at present is an excuse for states to ignore whatever duties they may have, to defer to the Federal Government in all matters and, ultimately, to create for all of us one huge Federal state, which we will all hate.
My opinion, folks.
Originally, the House of Representatives was intended to be the representation for the people. Theoretically, it still is, although I believe it's more an old boys club, where the primary purpose of the inhabitants is to stay there by promising whatever folks want to be promised, usually at someone else's expense.
The Senate, however, was intended to be representation for the various states - and Senators were chosen by the legislators of the various states - insuring that the interests of those states were represented, and that no state was more equal than any other state. Since we are not a pure democracy, but a constitutional representative republic, the states have a responsibility to the voters of their own representatives in whatever bodies the states hold to be legislative - and the state as a body has responsibility to itself and to its inhabitants at the federal level to have the interests of the state represented when legislation is being made that affects the state as a corporate body. Senators were to be answerable to the state legislatures, not to the states' individual voters.
By making senators popularly elected we have effectively removed from them any responsibility to represent the state as a corporate entity - they now depend on their popularity with Joe SixPax to get elected rather than the works they have done in behalf of the state legislature. The interests of the states are thereby not being served.
I think that this is wrong, and I think it should be reversed. What it represents at present is an excuse for states to ignore whatever duties they may have, to defer to the Federal Government in all matters and, ultimately, to create for all of us one huge Federal state, which we will all hate.
My opinion, folks.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Rights
This particular rant is a long time coming, but (IMHO) relevant.
There's a bunch of discussion today about rights, legisation of and about rights, and the granting of rights.
Let's understand one thing - rights aren't granted, they simply are. Anything a government, organization or person grants to you is at best a privilege, subject to removal. Rights preexist governments.
Rights cannot be legislated - if they could, they could be legislated away. If what you may do can be legislated away by your government, you are not a citizen, you're a subject whose very life exists at the whim of someone else.
The Constitution does not either create or legislate rights. What it does is to recognize that rights exist, and they existed before its writing and acceptance.
Congress cannot grant you a right. The President cannot grant you a right. Not even the Constitution can grant you a right, although it can and does recognize rights that already exist.
Anything granted is at best a privilege - and they can be taken away.
Pay attention - this is important, because people who want to tell you what to do will try to convince you that they are creating new rights for you, and they're not - they're creating privileged groups - and theise groups can become non-privileged just as soon as they start to become uppity.
There's a bunch of discussion today about rights, legisation of and about rights, and the granting of rights.
Let's understand one thing - rights aren't granted, they simply are. Anything a government, organization or person grants to you is at best a privilege, subject to removal. Rights preexist governments.
Rights cannot be legislated - if they could, they could be legislated away. If what you may do can be legislated away by your government, you are not a citizen, you're a subject whose very life exists at the whim of someone else.
The Constitution does not either create or legislate rights. What it does is to recognize that rights exist, and they existed before its writing and acceptance.
Congress cannot grant you a right. The President cannot grant you a right. Not even the Constitution can grant you a right, although it can and does recognize rights that already exist.
Anything granted is at best a privilege - and they can be taken away.
Pay attention - this is important, because people who want to tell you what to do will try to convince you that they are creating new rights for you, and they're not - they're creating privileged groups - and theise groups can become non-privileged just as soon as they start to become uppity.
Illegal Immigrants
A more meaningless juxtaposition of words I have never seen.
Think about it - Immigrants are people from other nations who get in line, obey the rules, jump through the hoops that this nation requires for immigrant status. Immigrants are de jure and defacto legal.
Illegal Aliens are folks from other nations who just bust in and take what they want, secure in the knowledge that we'll put up with it. Well, I know too many who stood in like and are still standing in line that have more potential to be of benefit to this great nation, Folks who jump the line and don't obey the rules should be run out of town on a rail. More members of the criminal class we do not need - and an illegal alien, because it refuses to follow the rules is a criminal.
It's pretty simple to me. I'm sorry that Mexico feels that we are being discriminatory by insisting on a set of immigration rules far less draconian than those which Mexico imposes on outsiders who would live there. Furthermore, I am astounded that the Mexican Government has the stones to complain that our returning their illegals is putting a strain on their infrastructure - that is not our fault!
I'm gonna have more to say, but this is probably enough for tonight. I have a bunch backed up since February - and some of it ain't pretty!
Think about it - Immigrants are people from other nations who get in line, obey the rules, jump through the hoops that this nation requires for immigrant status. Immigrants are de jure and defacto legal.
Illegal Aliens are folks from other nations who just bust in and take what they want, secure in the knowledge that we'll put up with it. Well, I know too many who stood in like and are still standing in line that have more potential to be of benefit to this great nation, Folks who jump the line and don't obey the rules should be run out of town on a rail. More members of the criminal class we do not need - and an illegal alien, because it refuses to follow the rules is a criminal.
It's pretty simple to me. I'm sorry that Mexico feels that we are being discriminatory by insisting on a set of immigration rules far less draconian than those which Mexico imposes on outsiders who would live there. Furthermore, I am astounded that the Mexican Government has the stones to complain that our returning their illegals is putting a strain on their infrastructure - that is not our fault!
I'm gonna have more to say, but this is probably enough for tonight. I have a bunch backed up since February - and some of it ain't pretty!
Arizona
I've been thinking about all the hooraw about Arizona's law with respect to illegal aliens.
I know how to make sure that there can be no charges of profiling.
Just make sure that everyone who interacts with police at any time are asked for papers. If everyone has to do it, there can be no discrimination. I am accustomed to being asked for ID in a traffic stop, and I'm a native-born old fat bearded white guy - no profiling there, although I do ride a motorcycle, so maybe I can make a case for profiling after all? I guess not - more damn trouble than it is worth.
I think Eric Holder needs replaced with someone who can read who doesn't hate white folks.
But that's just my opinion, folks. Meanwhile, I applaud Arizona, and regret that I work for a city that can't meet its obligation to its inhabitants but does advertise itself as a Sanctuary City - no damn wonder they can't pay their bills!
I know how to make sure that there can be no charges of profiling.
Just make sure that everyone who interacts with police at any time are asked for papers. If everyone has to do it, there can be no discrimination. I am accustomed to being asked for ID in a traffic stop, and I'm a native-born old fat bearded white guy - no profiling there, although I do ride a motorcycle, so maybe I can make a case for profiling after all? I guess not - more damn trouble than it is worth.
I think Eric Holder needs replaced with someone who can read who doesn't hate white folks.
But that's just my opinion, folks. Meanwhile, I applaud Arizona, and regret that I work for a city that can't meet its obligation to its inhabitants but does advertise itself as a Sanctuary City - no damn wonder they can't pay their bills!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Spam
I just when through my SPAM email folder, just to see what was taking up all the space. My email filters work pretty well, and it gets pretty full pretty fast - I emptied it on Monday and there are already over 1500 messages there.
Probably 70% of those messages are adverts for Viagra, Cialis, and various misspellings of those drugs to get by SPAM filters. Another 20% are for Adderall and similar amphetamines that are available only on 30-day prescription. Most of the rest invite me either to a porn site or to get something FREE! FREE! FREE! that I neither want nor need.
In a few weeks I'll be 68. Porn is not exciting. I already have ADHD and a doctor that takes care of me - I don't need black-market pills to abuse. Most of the FREE! stuff I would not use.
But why do I get all these ED ads? Particularly when my most interesting problem is that I occasionally pee into my slippers?
Probably 70% of those messages are adverts for Viagra, Cialis, and various misspellings of those drugs to get by SPAM filters. Another 20% are for Adderall and similar amphetamines that are available only on 30-day prescription. Most of the rest invite me either to a porn site or to get something FREE! FREE! FREE! that I neither want nor need.
In a few weeks I'll be 68. Porn is not exciting. I already have ADHD and a doctor that takes care of me - I don't need black-market pills to abuse. Most of the FREE! stuff I would not use.
But why do I get all these ED ads? Particularly when my most interesting problem is that I occasionally pee into my slippers?
Monday, February 8, 2010
Snow
I've had enough snow. Where's Global Warming when you need it?
The last time I saw snow up to my knees or above was when I was maybe four years old, and lived off Wilson Point Road near the Martin's plant.
I haven't ever seen such a slow response to streets needing plowed, and have been a bit annoyed by some folks who would have us put the snow only in special places. I'm old, folks, and if I'm gonna have to throw snow around, I'm not gonna carry it any farther than I have to. I hear I shouldn't put snow on the street - I don't think the plows ought to negate 5 hours of work on my part by plowing my driveway shut worse than it was before I started clearing it.
I'll quit throwing it in the street when the plows stop blocking my driveway.
Last I heard we might get another foot (of snow) tomorrow. Baltimore City is on liberal leave but essential folks have to report. Yesterday I could not get a car out to the street - this morning I could have, but everything was iced and I could not predict which way it would go after I got it into the street, so it was a no-go for getting in to the office for me. I took the day off, and was glad that I did.
But when I thought about it, it occurred to me that, had I been essential personnel, I might have got into trouble for failing to report. Without an all-wheel-drive vehicle, there's no way I could have reported, and I don't own one of those. Guess I'll have to go and get one if I am deemed essential.
Meanwhile, I guess I'll enjoy the time off - and curse the snow.
Tomorrow, alas, I'll go in to the office, at least until the snow comes again.
Global Warming - gotta love it!
The last time I saw snow up to my knees or above was when I was maybe four years old, and lived off Wilson Point Road near the Martin's plant.
I haven't ever seen such a slow response to streets needing plowed, and have been a bit annoyed by some folks who would have us put the snow only in special places. I'm old, folks, and if I'm gonna have to throw snow around, I'm not gonna carry it any farther than I have to. I hear I shouldn't put snow on the street - I don't think the plows ought to negate 5 hours of work on my part by plowing my driveway shut worse than it was before I started clearing it.
I'll quit throwing it in the street when the plows stop blocking my driveway.
Last I heard we might get another foot (of snow) tomorrow. Baltimore City is on liberal leave but essential folks have to report. Yesterday I could not get a car out to the street - this morning I could have, but everything was iced and I could not predict which way it would go after I got it into the street, so it was a no-go for getting in to the office for me. I took the day off, and was glad that I did.
But when I thought about it, it occurred to me that, had I been essential personnel, I might have got into trouble for failing to report. Without an all-wheel-drive vehicle, there's no way I could have reported, and I don't own one of those. Guess I'll have to go and get one if I am deemed essential.
Meanwhile, I guess I'll enjoy the time off - and curse the snow.
Tomorrow, alas, I'll go in to the office, at least until the snow comes again.
Global Warming - gotta love it!
Friday, January 29, 2010
State of the Union
Our President has been with us for a year.
I didn't vote for him, although I had hopes for him.
He has managed to dash all hopes that I had. In its simplest form, he lies.
He apparently thinks we proles have no memory, and that we don't know that he promised to air debate on (among other things) health care. This did not happen.
He promised bipartisan efforts, then shut out the opposing party, saying "I won!"
He promised that the Constitution would be uppermost - then appointed Czars to do things not constitutional, effectively nationalized industries, gathered up a crew of hangers-on in high offices for which offices the first requisite seemed to be having failed to pay taxes. You and I would end up in jail for such silliness - his buds get high-visibility well-paid jobs - which pay comes form us proles.
His wife has hired more assistants than the past 20 presidents' wives have found either needed or useful - all of which are paid, you guessed it, by us.
He makes generals wait - not a good thing, and gets troops killed just by doing nothing.
He believes we are all too stupid to breathe unassisted, and that there is not a question that he has not heard so he has all the answers - and all the answers involve growing government. He fails to understand that Government produces no profit, and sucks the life out of profit-producing organizations by demanding tribute that is used to pay , guess what, more government "workers."
He says no lobbyists will be around to influence anyone, but apparently he meant that no more than all of them will be allowed through the door.
His congress creates libraries of rules for us regarding how health care will be managed, and then exempts itself from those rules.
It's time to unelect the house of representatives - all of them and get some folks in there who are truly interested in representing the interests of the folks who put them there.
It's also time to return the selection of senators to state legislatures, although I don't think I'll live to see that happen.
I still believe that the Founding Fathers had their heads screwed on straight, and that we tamper with what they devised at our own peril.
/end rant
I didn't vote for him, although I had hopes for him.
He has managed to dash all hopes that I had. In its simplest form, he lies.
He apparently thinks we proles have no memory, and that we don't know that he promised to air debate on (among other things) health care. This did not happen.
He promised bipartisan efforts, then shut out the opposing party, saying "I won!"
He promised that the Constitution would be uppermost - then appointed Czars to do things not constitutional, effectively nationalized industries, gathered up a crew of hangers-on in high offices for which offices the first requisite seemed to be having failed to pay taxes. You and I would end up in jail for such silliness - his buds get high-visibility well-paid jobs - which pay comes form us proles.
His wife has hired more assistants than the past 20 presidents' wives have found either needed or useful - all of which are paid, you guessed it, by us.
He makes generals wait - not a good thing, and gets troops killed just by doing nothing.
He believes we are all too stupid to breathe unassisted, and that there is not a question that he has not heard so he has all the answers - and all the answers involve growing government. He fails to understand that Government produces no profit, and sucks the life out of profit-producing organizations by demanding tribute that is used to pay , guess what, more government "workers."
He says no lobbyists will be around to influence anyone, but apparently he meant that no more than all of them will be allowed through the door.
His congress creates libraries of rules for us regarding how health care will be managed, and then exempts itself from those rules.
It's time to unelect the house of representatives - all of them and get some folks in there who are truly interested in representing the interests of the folks who put them there.
It's also time to return the selection of senators to state legislatures, although I don't think I'll live to see that happen.
I still believe that the Founding Fathers had their heads screwed on straight, and that we tamper with what they devised at our own peril.
/end rant
Sunday, January 24, 2010
New Rant(s)
I hate working 7 AM to 3 PM. I hate even worse getting up at 5 AM to be at work at 7 AM.
I think it's prophetic that a democrat did not get Ted Kennedy's seat - not that it was ever his anyhow, although the folks in Massachusetts were probably shielded from that fact.
I think that the Constitution is not subject to alteration except by the means it established, and I surely am tired of the way so-called czars are being appointed to bypass the constitution. Someone needs to uncerstand what, historically speaking, czars were.
I think Bull Riding is a great sport, although I have no interest whatever in participating.
I think it is a damn shame that courtesy can't be legislated, because if folks would be courteous we'd have a lot fewer dead and damaged people on the highways.
I think it is not the job of the President to dictate to folks what is good for them.
I think that people need to make their own decisions, and take the heat when the decision is wrong - and learn from it. It's an old axiom that good judgment comes from experience, much of which comes from bad judgment, and that that axion is important to remember.
I think it is getting late, so I'm going to bed.
I think it's prophetic that a democrat did not get Ted Kennedy's seat - not that it was ever his anyhow, although the folks in Massachusetts were probably shielded from that fact.
I think that the Constitution is not subject to alteration except by the means it established, and I surely am tired of the way so-called czars are being appointed to bypass the constitution. Someone needs to uncerstand what, historically speaking, czars were.
I think Bull Riding is a great sport, although I have no interest whatever in participating.
I think it is a damn shame that courtesy can't be legislated, because if folks would be courteous we'd have a lot fewer dead and damaged people on the highways.
I think it is not the job of the President to dictate to folks what is good for them.
I think that people need to make their own decisions, and take the heat when the decision is wrong - and learn from it. It's an old axiom that good judgment comes from experience, much of which comes from bad judgment, and that that axion is important to remember.
I think it is getting late, so I'm going to bed.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Zero dark thirty
When I was in the Air Force, that was the time we had to get up for certain shifts, and I always hated being up before the sun. For many years I have worked 10 to 6, 11 to 7 or similar hours during the day, giving me plenty of time to wake up in the light, have breakfast with my wife, have some extra coffee, and arrive at work reasonably awake. It even gave the folks around me time to determine which problems were theirs, so I could start right away on real problems, and not misoperations.
Well, I just changed to work 7 to 3 - and I hate getting up around 5 AM. Maybe I can change it back in a couple of months. I hope so.
It's cold around here right now - global warming seems to have gone into hibernation. I thought all along it was crap, and some purloined emails (and the fact that the global temperature has been static for almost ten years) only served to underline that belief.
But it is even too cold to think about starting the motorcycles, let alone riding one of them for more than about three minutes, and it is my personal rule (be kind to engines or some such bull) that I never start one up if I am not going to ride it for at least 20 minutes. Usually I ride to work when I can, but not when it asks for frostbite before even getting on the highway. We did have one day the weekend before Christmas that it was really nice, and I rode over to visit our then-pregnant daughter, and really enjoyed the ride - it was cool, but not really cold.
I gotta write some emails - I owe one to a friend in Germany, and a couple more. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow as soon as I get to work; right now I gotta get some sleep - 0 darh 30 approaches!
Well, I just changed to work 7 to 3 - and I hate getting up around 5 AM. Maybe I can change it back in a couple of months. I hope so.
It's cold around here right now - global warming seems to have gone into hibernation. I thought all along it was crap, and some purloined emails (and the fact that the global temperature has been static for almost ten years) only served to underline that belief.
But it is even too cold to think about starting the motorcycles, let alone riding one of them for more than about three minutes, and it is my personal rule (be kind to engines or some such bull) that I never start one up if I am not going to ride it for at least 20 minutes. Usually I ride to work when I can, but not when it asks for frostbite before even getting on the highway. We did have one day the weekend before Christmas that it was really nice, and I rode over to visit our then-pregnant daughter, and really enjoyed the ride - it was cool, but not really cold.
I gotta write some emails - I owe one to a friend in Germany, and a couple more. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow as soon as I get to work; right now I gotta get some sleep - 0 darh 30 approaches!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
New Arrival
I could have just stayed awake.
Lia Joy Phillips, our newest grandchild, appeared about 5:30 this morning - all 8 pounds 7 ounces.
She has the normal appendages and such, is noisy at times and quiet at others, and I am sure she will lead our Elizabeth a merry chase from time to time.
Another miracle at which I can marvel.
Happy Birthday, Lia!
Lia Joy Phillips, our newest grandchild, appeared about 5:30 this morning - all 8 pounds 7 ounces.
She has the normal appendages and such, is noisy at times and quiet at others, and I am sure she will lead our Elizabeth a merry chase from time to time.
Another miracle at which I can marvel.
Happy Birthday, Lia!
Never boring around here
It's almost midnight - and the phone just rang.
Our daughter is in labor - only several days late, but a couple of days before they would take her in and induce her. I'm too old for the excitement I think. Another new life is coming.
I remember when this daughter was born - I was there. I am at heart a simpleton, theologically speaking - but the day she was born, I was present for a miracle - the birth of a live child, and as far as miracles go, it is the only one I ever needed.
But I had a few other miracles that day, too - I gained an understanding of the reason recovery from a surgical (C-section) delivery seemed so tough. I watched the doctor cut her open from hip to him, then stick his arms inside up to (it seemed) his elbows to pull out the daughter that had decided she wasn't coming out any other way. I got to watch the very first hours of this daughter's life, and literally see her grow, change and gain strength.
Now, there's a granddaughter coming. By the time I get up in the morning, she might be here.
Of course, we are getting snow now, supposed to be continued through tomorrow evening, just to keep life interesting. Happily, my son-in-law has a Subaru, which is good for a trip to the hospital - and since this child is number two, you might think he'd be used to it - but I'm sure he's going nuts anyhow, and will be asleep on his feet by the time we get there tomorrow.
Merry Christmas to all. I guess I ought to get some sleep....
But it's something good, a thing to be celebrated - a new life!
Our daughter is in labor - only several days late, but a couple of days before they would take her in and induce her. I'm too old for the excitement I think. Another new life is coming.
I remember when this daughter was born - I was there. I am at heart a simpleton, theologically speaking - but the day she was born, I was present for a miracle - the birth of a live child, and as far as miracles go, it is the only one I ever needed.
But I had a few other miracles that day, too - I gained an understanding of the reason recovery from a surgical (C-section) delivery seemed so tough. I watched the doctor cut her open from hip to him, then stick his arms inside up to (it seemed) his elbows to pull out the daughter that had decided she wasn't coming out any other way. I got to watch the very first hours of this daughter's life, and literally see her grow, change and gain strength.
Now, there's a granddaughter coming. By the time I get up in the morning, she might be here.
Of course, we are getting snow now, supposed to be continued through tomorrow evening, just to keep life interesting. Happily, my son-in-law has a Subaru, which is good for a trip to the hospital - and since this child is number two, you might think he'd be used to it - but I'm sure he's going nuts anyhow, and will be asleep on his feet by the time we get there tomorrow.
Merry Christmas to all. I guess I ought to get some sleep....
But it's something good, a thing to be celebrated - a new life!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Merry Christmas
I know, I am early - but I heard about something this morning.
I have heard of folks giving kidneys to other folks. Today I learned that I know someone involved in such a case. Without being too specific, a husband happens to be a match for his wife's brother - tested as a last resort when there were no matches - for whatever reason there's a match.
Surgery should occur before Christmas is actually here.
This is giving of oneself in its purest and most personal form - what Christmas should be all about.
Quite literally, it is the gift of life.
I have heard of folks giving kidneys to other folks. Today I learned that I know someone involved in such a case. Without being too specific, a husband happens to be a match for his wife's brother - tested as a last resort when there were no matches - for whatever reason there's a match.
Surgery should occur before Christmas is actually here.
This is giving of oneself in its purest and most personal form - what Christmas should be all about.
Quite literally, it is the gift of life.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Snowy Saturday Morning
I woke up this morning and looked outside to see the first real snow of the year. I had heard there might be a dusting - but if this is a dusting, I don't want to be around when it snows in earnest! The Weather Bug on my TeeVee says it will go away tomorrow and we'll be back to motorcycle weather on Monday, but I think I'll wait until it arrives before uncovering the big Kwacker.
I hope this is better tomorrow morning, or our parking lot at Church will be a disaster, and there will be more choristers than congregation - but we'll be there anyhow.
I had a laptop from a friend most of the week - it got infected, and was a beast to clean up. I had hoped just to get lucky, put in a new drive and scan the old one and have it clean up, but it was not to be - after a couple of hours with the recovery CD's and scans, I swapped the drives back and it was still not right - something had been altered that Norton could not find, so I ran a repair on it, then spent more time finding my friend's data and putting it where he could find it. He will have stuff to reinstall, but at least I found all his data and pictures. I had intended to take it back to him today, but I think in view of the weather I'll take it to him at church tomorrow since we'll both be there.
Other than that, it was a quiet week - a couple of small chores for The Queen, otherwise major cleanup on the music collection, and some remote server maintenance for other folks occupied my time - and I also found a few e-Books I had not read in many years, so I read them, too - some vintage Heinlein juveniles and such.
Now I have server stuff to do, the downstairs computer to make work, the upstairs nedia center computer to make work, so I guess I ought to get about it.
Have a good Saturday.
I hope this is better tomorrow morning, or our parking lot at Church will be a disaster, and there will be more choristers than congregation - but we'll be there anyhow.
I had a laptop from a friend most of the week - it got infected, and was a beast to clean up. I had hoped just to get lucky, put in a new drive and scan the old one and have it clean up, but it was not to be - after a couple of hours with the recovery CD's and scans, I swapped the drives back and it was still not right - something had been altered that Norton could not find, so I ran a repair on it, then spent more time finding my friend's data and putting it where he could find it. He will have stuff to reinstall, but at least I found all his data and pictures. I had intended to take it back to him today, but I think in view of the weather I'll take it to him at church tomorrow since we'll both be there.
Other than that, it was a quiet week - a couple of small chores for The Queen, otherwise major cleanup on the music collection, and some remote server maintenance for other folks occupied my time - and I also found a few e-Books I had not read in many years, so I read them, too - some vintage Heinlein juveniles and such.
Now I have server stuff to do, the downstairs computer to make work, the upstairs nedia center computer to make work, so I guess I ought to get about it.
Have a good Saturday.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Thanksgiving
I know, it's been over for almost a week - but today is the first time there has been time to think about it all that hard.
I've been alive almost 68 years - and I guess, considering the number of dead people I know that I should be most thankful for that, and I am. I'm grateful that I can still work and that there are folks that value what I can do.
I've been married for almost 42 of those years, and can still remember the good old single days, and have to concede that they weren't all that great. My wife is a very patient lady, and puts up with a lot, but she's still here, and together we have three good kids, some grandkids and will have another before too long. I can still be musical under the direction of my wife, and enjoy the experience.
I'm still riding my motorcycle, and proved this past Sunday that I can still pick it up if I need to, not that I wanted to know that....
I'm grateful for our families - for our parents who are long gone, for values they instilled in us, for experiences involved in growing up in a small town, for siblings and cousins aplenty, for summers in the Pittsburgh area with cousins and friends, and for shared experiences with neighborhood friends.
I'm grateful for all the ladies that have entered and left my life over the years, even though sometimes things ended badly - each taught me something of value, and I cherish the memories of all of them. I'm particularly grateful to my wife - she has put up with a lot over the years, and has been supportive through good times, bad times and truly horrid times. I am not a perfect person, and she has grown pretty good at overlooking that fact.
I am grateful for having served in the Air Force. My enlistment may have been triggered by a fear of the draft, but the experiences, education, and travel that that four years brought were a large piece of my education and maturing process. I enjoyed what I did in the service and would go again in a heartbeat. I appreciate our troops, support them, and get a wee bit irritable when I hear them denigrated - those who speak ill of the Service as a career and of those who choose to make it a career are fools at best. I recommend to everyone exiting high school that consideration be given to a term of service. I went in at 19, was single and rather aimless, and it gave me experience and purpose - and taught me at least 200 things I never in my life wanted to do again!
My gratitude for family influence gets greater with each year - and as I grow older I am amazed at just how much my father and grandfather knew that mattered - and how much many better educated people knew that didn't matter. My brothers and I each went our own way and survived the experience, learning all the way, and we are still civil to one another. I wish one brother was on the east coast instead of where he is - as we grow older we find it harder to get together on any regular basis, although when we do it seems that conversation picks up where it left off, and the time between meetings disappears.
My father and his brother were two very different people - and I am grateful for having been able to get to know both, even though Uncle Bob was in California, and we were not. I have traveled for work some of the places I have been employed, and family that wandered to California have always welcomed me when I was able to get to their area. Uncle Bob was the person who introduced me to Disneyland, a time I'll never forget, when I had first returned from a prolonged stay in Germany.
The time in Germany was something I'll not soon forget - learning the land, the people, the language, and exploring on my motorcycle. There are people I met there who are still with me, even though I've not seen them since 1966; learning experiences that could not be repeated anywhere else, and lessons about people and places that I carry with me.
All in all, it has been interesting so far, and my gratitude goes out to people without number who have helped me, counseled me, commiserated with me, taught me things, introduced me to exotic foods, different languages, and other ways to look at the bits that make life interesting, and to my various family members, without whom it would have been really dull!
Thanks, all of you - you have helped shape what I am today - take credit for the best parts, and blame the worst parts on my humanity.
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
I've been alive almost 68 years - and I guess, considering the number of dead people I know that I should be most thankful for that, and I am. I'm grateful that I can still work and that there are folks that value what I can do.
I've been married for almost 42 of those years, and can still remember the good old single days, and have to concede that they weren't all that great. My wife is a very patient lady, and puts up with a lot, but she's still here, and together we have three good kids, some grandkids and will have another before too long. I can still be musical under the direction of my wife, and enjoy the experience.
I'm still riding my motorcycle, and proved this past Sunday that I can still pick it up if I need to, not that I wanted to know that....
I'm grateful for our families - for our parents who are long gone, for values they instilled in us, for experiences involved in growing up in a small town, for siblings and cousins aplenty, for summers in the Pittsburgh area with cousins and friends, and for shared experiences with neighborhood friends.
I'm grateful for all the ladies that have entered and left my life over the years, even though sometimes things ended badly - each taught me something of value, and I cherish the memories of all of them. I'm particularly grateful to my wife - she has put up with a lot over the years, and has been supportive through good times, bad times and truly horrid times. I am not a perfect person, and she has grown pretty good at overlooking that fact.
I am grateful for having served in the Air Force. My enlistment may have been triggered by a fear of the draft, but the experiences, education, and travel that that four years brought were a large piece of my education and maturing process. I enjoyed what I did in the service and would go again in a heartbeat. I appreciate our troops, support them, and get a wee bit irritable when I hear them denigrated - those who speak ill of the Service as a career and of those who choose to make it a career are fools at best. I recommend to everyone exiting high school that consideration be given to a term of service. I went in at 19, was single and rather aimless, and it gave me experience and purpose - and taught me at least 200 things I never in my life wanted to do again!
My gratitude for family influence gets greater with each year - and as I grow older I am amazed at just how much my father and grandfather knew that mattered - and how much many better educated people knew that didn't matter. My brothers and I each went our own way and survived the experience, learning all the way, and we are still civil to one another. I wish one brother was on the east coast instead of where he is - as we grow older we find it harder to get together on any regular basis, although when we do it seems that conversation picks up where it left off, and the time between meetings disappears.
My father and his brother were two very different people - and I am grateful for having been able to get to know both, even though Uncle Bob was in California, and we were not. I have traveled for work some of the places I have been employed, and family that wandered to California have always welcomed me when I was able to get to their area. Uncle Bob was the person who introduced me to Disneyland, a time I'll never forget, when I had first returned from a prolonged stay in Germany.
The time in Germany was something I'll not soon forget - learning the land, the people, the language, and exploring on my motorcycle. There are people I met there who are still with me, even though I've not seen them since 1966; learning experiences that could not be repeated anywhere else, and lessons about people and places that I carry with me.
All in all, it has been interesting so far, and my gratitude goes out to people without number who have helped me, counseled me, commiserated with me, taught me things, introduced me to exotic foods, different languages, and other ways to look at the bits that make life interesting, and to my various family members, without whom it would have been really dull!
Thanks, all of you - you have helped shape what I am today - take credit for the best parts, and blame the worst parts on my humanity.
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Doing What I Do
I'm an info systems specialist, who does odd jobs for a living. I'm one of the people who, when asked "Do we have this information and can we get it in this form?" says yes, no, or I'll look into it.
I've been in Info Systems since the late 60's, and one thing that is becoming more apparent each year is that everyone knows things and presumes that among the things known is how something has to be done to be effective.
More and more, when someone wants something, that someone will take up a lot of time telling me what to do and, often, how to do it. Nobody any more tells me what it is that they hope to accomplish, which would go a long way towards getting an optimum result.
Where I work, most of our data is stored in Oracle - partly because one of our major systems is purchased and was written to use Oracle, and partly because it is a good product, with a long life and a solid company behind it. It is also reasonably easy to use when I write stuff in the language I use most of the time, and while there is a lot that I do not know, I understand how stuff is stored and have written enough code that I can usually do whatever is needed if the data exists in any rational format.
Just an example - I was asked to strip down a Personnel database and a Mobile Phones database so the bosslady could load the resulting files into Excel and use Excel to find out what phones were in use by people who weren't our employees any more - so we would know to turn them off. A couple of fields from one and a couple of fields from another, creating two files.
I had designed both databases, and knew they could be tied together in retrieval, so I did what was asked, and in one file added one field from the other database, giving one of the files all the info needed to avoid writing the Excel program. Then I thought some more about it and wrote an extract to create a file showing only phones assigned to people who were gone.
In the end, the person who actually had to use the data was as happy as a clam to get only 79 records to deal with instead of 800+ with only some labeled as needing attention. The person who originally directed that I do this was dismayed to see that there was no longer a need for the Excel program to do the comparison - but ran it anyhow and it worked, and it verified my results. I'd've had it two days earlier had it been clear what we were trying to accomplish - which was to find out if we had any cell phones assigned to people we no longer employ.
Then this morning I found that there was to be an inventory comparing our vendor's data about who was using what phone to ours. I found that wity minimal massaging I could download from the vendor site a detailed statement, parse it and pass it against our equipment and personnel databases and come up with a list of mismatched names - reducing the number of records to be examined from 1400 to around 200 - but this time I was asked if there was a way to take the vendor data and validate it against our data.
I guess the message here is if someone is going to be doing something for you, rather than let your preconceived notions of the process guide the request, explain what the desired result is and let the professional pick the methodology. If the pro is a pro and needs more information, you'll get more questions, and if no more questions are needed you'll probably get a happier result a lot faster than if you try to guide the methodology.
Enough of my grumbling. Have a good evening, y'all.
I've been in Info Systems since the late 60's, and one thing that is becoming more apparent each year is that everyone knows things and presumes that among the things known is how something has to be done to be effective.
More and more, when someone wants something, that someone will take up a lot of time telling me what to do and, often, how to do it. Nobody any more tells me what it is that they hope to accomplish, which would go a long way towards getting an optimum result.
Where I work, most of our data is stored in Oracle - partly because one of our major systems is purchased and was written to use Oracle, and partly because it is a good product, with a long life and a solid company behind it. It is also reasonably easy to use when I write stuff in the language I use most of the time, and while there is a lot that I do not know, I understand how stuff is stored and have written enough code that I can usually do whatever is needed if the data exists in any rational format.
Just an example - I was asked to strip down a Personnel database and a Mobile Phones database so the bosslady could load the resulting files into Excel and use Excel to find out what phones were in use by people who weren't our employees any more - so we would know to turn them off. A couple of fields from one and a couple of fields from another, creating two files.
I had designed both databases, and knew they could be tied together in retrieval, so I did what was asked, and in one file added one field from the other database, giving one of the files all the info needed to avoid writing the Excel program. Then I thought some more about it and wrote an extract to create a file showing only phones assigned to people who were gone.
In the end, the person who actually had to use the data was as happy as a clam to get only 79 records to deal with instead of 800+ with only some labeled as needing attention. The person who originally directed that I do this was dismayed to see that there was no longer a need for the Excel program to do the comparison - but ran it anyhow and it worked, and it verified my results. I'd've had it two days earlier had it been clear what we were trying to accomplish - which was to find out if we had any cell phones assigned to people we no longer employ.
Then this morning I found that there was to be an inventory comparing our vendor's data about who was using what phone to ours. I found that wity minimal massaging I could download from the vendor site a detailed statement, parse it and pass it against our equipment and personnel databases and come up with a list of mismatched names - reducing the number of records to be examined from 1400 to around 200 - but this time I was asked if there was a way to take the vendor data and validate it against our data.
I guess the message here is if someone is going to be doing something for you, rather than let your preconceived notions of the process guide the request, explain what the desired result is and let the professional pick the methodology. If the pro is a pro and needs more information, you'll get more questions, and if no more questions are needed you'll probably get a happier result a lot faster than if you try to guide the methodology.
Enough of my grumbling. Have a good evening, y'all.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
On aging
I am 67 years old. I don't feel old, but each month it seems that I know someone else who is now dead, and I don't like that at all.
I'm all out of uncles and aunts. The ranks of cousins are slowly diminishing, and parents are long gone. High school classmates are going, and friends from Air Force days are dying - some older than I, and some not.
I guess my uncle's death got to me more than I realized. I knew he was old and had lived longer than anyone expected, but it was still a shock to know that he was gone - particularly a few days after talking to my wife about taking time for a trip to California to visit him, deciding that I had to do it before the year ended. In the past year I have sung at more funerals than in the five years that came before this past year - and it is a trend that disturbs me greatly. The only up side is that none have been for any of my kids....
As I was riding my motorcycle in to work this morning, I was thinking about my next high school class reunion, which is being organized now and should occur next year sometime - and it will be our 50th. I don't want to miss it, and I hope that we get a really good turnout. I volunteered many years ago to get a database of the members going, and have located a good number who were missing - but there are still ten or fifteen members that nobody has seen since graduation - and nobody knows if they are alive or dead.
The motorcycle seems to give me time to think about stuff that just never comes to mind when I am elsewhere. I'm glad I still have one and happy still to be able to ride it and hold it up, although I've reached the age where it is really hard to pick up if it is laying on the ground. I hope I can continue to ride for more years - it's almost the only solitude left to me, and gives more pleasure than I can explain, and I don't know why, because I go to work the same way whether in the car or on the bike - but on the bike I arrive more cheerful and relaxed.
I digress - it's late and my brain wants to shut down. I think my own mortality is beginning to impinge upon my sense of self. I mean, I know we all have to go sometime, and I am sure if my health goes to hell in a big way I would prefer to be gone rather than to stay around and use up resources and space - but I am still working full time and no way ready to consider that that might be all there is. There are too many places I've not seen, too many interesting people I've not met, and too many memories neither written nor shared, and, of course, too many amends unmade. I guess maybe I am getting old, but I sure don't have to like it, and I don't.
Maybe I ought to just hang it up and go to bed for today. Tomorrow is another day, there should be no rain, so I can motorcycle tomorrow, too, and I'll feel better when I've done that. So I'm gonna take this train of thought and stuff it under a pillow, get on my CPAP mask, and sleep.
G'nite, all.
I'm all out of uncles and aunts. The ranks of cousins are slowly diminishing, and parents are long gone. High school classmates are going, and friends from Air Force days are dying - some older than I, and some not.
I guess my uncle's death got to me more than I realized. I knew he was old and had lived longer than anyone expected, but it was still a shock to know that he was gone - particularly a few days after talking to my wife about taking time for a trip to California to visit him, deciding that I had to do it before the year ended. In the past year I have sung at more funerals than in the five years that came before this past year - and it is a trend that disturbs me greatly. The only up side is that none have been for any of my kids....
As I was riding my motorcycle in to work this morning, I was thinking about my next high school class reunion, which is being organized now and should occur next year sometime - and it will be our 50th. I don't want to miss it, and I hope that we get a really good turnout. I volunteered many years ago to get a database of the members going, and have located a good number who were missing - but there are still ten or fifteen members that nobody has seen since graduation - and nobody knows if they are alive or dead.
The motorcycle seems to give me time to think about stuff that just never comes to mind when I am elsewhere. I'm glad I still have one and happy still to be able to ride it and hold it up, although I've reached the age where it is really hard to pick up if it is laying on the ground. I hope I can continue to ride for more years - it's almost the only solitude left to me, and gives more pleasure than I can explain, and I don't know why, because I go to work the same way whether in the car or on the bike - but on the bike I arrive more cheerful and relaxed.
I digress - it's late and my brain wants to shut down. I think my own mortality is beginning to impinge upon my sense of self. I mean, I know we all have to go sometime, and I am sure if my health goes to hell in a big way I would prefer to be gone rather than to stay around and use up resources and space - but I am still working full time and no way ready to consider that that might be all there is. There are too many places I've not seen, too many interesting people I've not met, and too many memories neither written nor shared, and, of course, too many amends unmade. I guess maybe I am getting old, but I sure don't have to like it, and I don't.
Maybe I ought to just hang it up and go to bed for today. Tomorrow is another day, there should be no rain, so I can motorcycle tomorrow, too, and I'll feel better when I've done that. So I'm gonna take this train of thought and stuff it under a pillow, get on my CPAP mask, and sleep.
G'nite, all.
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