Author: sean

Mixing colloquialisms?  Yes.  Reading this.  Republicans refuse to do math, and have managed to keep tax rates artifically low for more than 20 years now.  The power behind the Virginia Democrats get upset that money gets spent south of Quantico.
Go read Blue Virginia, and see the staunch opposition to the 460 project.
What was the first thing Jim Gilmore canned after revenues started drying up?  Adding another lane to I-64 from Bad Newz to 295.
Mark Warner spent nearly all of the Federal money in NoVA.  Timmay kept it up.

I find that’s what I’m dealing with all too often these days.

I’m still trying to do good work while my body is failing, and getting paid less for it.

Good stuff, no?

Part of what I’m dealing with at work is that it’s difficult explaining to people that  just because there’s been upheaval, doesn’t mean that you have to revamp everything.  Watch a TV show about food, and you’ll hear one of the judges/critics chime in about someone using “good French technique.”  When a new chef comes in to a restaurant, he doesn’t need to retrain his cooks on how to chop onions.

Just because the old chef sucked doesn’t make the techniques wrong.  Maybe his ingredients did.  Maybe the recipes he’d chosen just weren’t that good.  And so on…

It’s frustrating to sit in a meeting, and hear people just pulling things out of thin air to do something different.  In my situation, “French technique” is codification of ITILv3.  Whether or not I really like it is unimportant;  we’ve been told to use it.  Someone spent copious amounts of time developing processes and procedures with its principles in mind.  Use it.

Maybe I’m worng.   If I am, cite something to show why you’re right.

In somewhat-related news, two shootings and a stabbing at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach last night.  You want an example of a model that’s no longer working?  I’ll cite Virginia Beach.  For both the gangland that is the “tourist-friendly” Oceanfront, and for the suburban sprawl with incredible traffic.

I’ve enabled the plugin Albert told me about, but it doesn’t seem to help much with the editor, here.

So, what else is going on?  I’m settling in to my job.  More of the same, but some of the persistent ideas are gone.  Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be possible to deliver a good product again.  (Unlike my blog, which does suck, Dana, even if I took the 58 to the 95 to the 10, and all the way across….)

Physically, I suppose I’m doing okay, despite being in the office again.  I don’t miss driving to one at all.  It’s a little of a pain actually being in a building, but……  (I’m sure whoever reads the access logs is a little surprised by my entry logs, but it is what it is.)

But, back to the work thought (and, no, this isn’t “brain fog” kicking in), been thinking a lot lately about what it means to change.  I find it interesting to listen to politicians profess change, but there’s things that are always off the table.  “Reform the tax code,” means preserve treasured breaks for many people, and soak the well-to-do.

Sometimes you do have to start from scratch.  Maybe everyone won’t be happy with having to make some sacrifices.  Maybe the outcome is completely different than anyone could have ever imagined.  But if the choices made are the ones that make the most sense, you can sleep at night.

But maybe you don’t get re-elected.

See what it is, then use it.

Trying to convey that sentiment at work;  it’s not working as well as I’d like, but I’ll keep trying.

It’s important to use what’s there;  maybe what you create isn’t exactly what you were expecting to make, but….

Reminds me of watching Anthony Bourdain in his travels.  How many of the amazing cuisines throughout the world are the result of colonists using their native techniques with the ingredients they find wherever they end up?

Would Vietnamese food be as interesting if the French hadn’t been there?  How about Brazilian without the Portuguese?

Disjointed pondering, perhaps.

In somewhat related news, Cure is back open.  Glad to see them again.  Glad Sarah enjoyed her sandwich.  Glad there weren’t any panini press marks….  Wish I could have had a beer, but Rebif night.

A lot of what I’m seeing in IT right now is people not doing just that.

Am I guilty?  You bet.  Do I like having certain things, and find myself hesitant when those things are gone?  Yep.  But fighting those changes doesn’t make any sense when what I have isn’t working anymore.  Or will almost certainly fail soon.

Yes, I’m slightly disconcerted that there’s no optical drive on the new Apple stuff.  Is it really that big a deal?  I don’t know.

Pffft.

This is the kind of BS I think about on Sundays.

A lot of what I’m seeing in IT right now is people not doing just that.
Am I guilty?  You bet.  Do I like having certain things, and find myself hesitant when those things are gone?  Yep.  But fighting those changes doesn’t make any sense when what I have isn’t working anymore.  Or will almost certainly fail soon.
Yes, I’m slightly disconcerted that there’s no optical drive on the new Apple stuff.  Is it really that big a deal?  I don’t know.
Pffft.
This is the kind of BS I think about on Sundays.

Or something.  I accomplished a lot both personally and professionally this week.

Major takeaway (for you executive summary-types)?  I’m not dead yet.  I still can do a lot of things.  I do have to operate differently than a lot of people, but whatever.

So, major accomplishments…

1.  Figuring out this thing I was working on at work.  It might well get spiked, but it does work. Check HR Geeks if you want some of my leftovers.  First fifteen bucks takes it.  Otherwise, it goes on Craigslist at some point…..

2.  Dealing wiht health BS.  Being an asshole pays off sometimes.  I checked i with Foursquare at the hospital yesterday afternoon after mistreatment from a nurse at my doctor’s office.  Having it go out over Twitter, plus a mention of the place, got results.  I really am not comfortable doing that sort of thing.  I know some people enjoy being professional malcontents, but I am not one of them.

3.  Users.  It’s up.  The database works.  PHP works.  It’s somewhat sekured.  There’s more work to do, but it’s well on its way.  Now if we could get Ethan off PINE……

4.  Discontinued one of my meds.  Not one of my MS meds, but I hope my quality of life will improve some now that I’ve been off for a bit.  We shall see.

Much as I’d like to have a relaxing weekend, that’s probably not going to happen.  *yawn*  Why come no three-day anytime soon?

I’m really getting involved at work.  The stuff I’m doing isn’t exactly what I’d done in the past, but I do understand why it’s important.  I also understand why people who have been set in their ways wouldn’t fit in with what’s going on.

That brings me to LinkedIn.  For some of the people there, connections and endorsements serve as a substitute for real ability.  That goes, too, for some the the people I see in “people you may know.”

Yes, I know that dude.  No, I don’t want to be connected to him.  In fact, if I was to see him in person, it’d be everything I could do to keep from kicking his ass.  (We’ll set aside for a moment the fact that me actually seeing him isn’t much within the realm of possibility, given my eyesight.  Kicking his ass would be tougher, still, but…..)

So, what’s on tap for this weekend?

1.  Shopping for some computer stuff.  Time for a new laptop.  Leaning towards a MBP 13″.  That may well happen today.  Desktop will be something I address down the road.  I really can’t game anymore, so building something nice seems pointless.  Anything I buy probably has enough oomph to play the few games that I still do fire up from time to time….

2.  Actually filing my income tax returns.  I think I did most of the work filling them out back in early February, but the job search was taking precedence.  I also planned it right, so I’m not getting much of a return.

3.  More fiddling with users.  I’d like to do some promotion to get people back in to using it.  I actually stuck my head into #757 the other day.  Whether or not I’m better for doing that is a matter of debate.  Some of the usual cast of characters is still around.  Others are off in the ether, which brings me to #4…

4.  Go see Mr. 804 who’s no longer around.  I would have headed down to WWC in Chesapeake, yesterday, but this whole not driving thing, plus a long week at work made the bus ride down there particularly unappetizing.  (I could have made this one, “drink,” but I really don’t have the constitution to do that, anymore.)

5.  Finish watching House of Cards.  This is just another step that’s gotta have broadcast TV execs, ad execs, Whitney Cummings, worried.  First, it was worthwhile programming on A&E, TNT.  Now, it’s places like iTunes and Netflix.  (And, maybe, I shouldn’t pick on Whitney.  While Whitney is, in fact, awful, and 2 Broke Girls looks that way, the latter might be fun to watch with the sound off…)

6.  NCAA Basketball.  My bracket was doing well until Harvard.  Duke hasn’t sucked its way out, yet, unfortunately.  Duke sucks.  I think I had Louisville over Indiana in the championship game.

So, off to get it all underway.  Big thanks to the choadsmoker who woke me up with his shitty music outside this morning.  Your music is awesome, bro, but not as awesome as you;  don’t forget that.