^H

I really don’t like rehashing the stuff I’ve written before.  (Some people revel in it;  I’m not one of those people.)

That said, the last few weeks really reinforce what I wrote in #2 here.

Whether or not your behavior is ethical (since morality doesn’t matter to people in modern business….) doesn’t matter much if ultimately what you’re delivering is shoddy work.

What the stick-to-the-schedule people need to understand is that sometimes things do need significant rework to approach adequacy.

There is no shame in starting from scratch when what you’ve put together really sucks.  Yes, it takes time.  Yes, this might blow a schedule written by someone with no familiarly with what the tasks actually entail.

If that makes me a problem, so be it.  I value my time too much to spend it producing nothing but bad, wrong, work.

…the sun goes down in the west.

I didn’t write this morning as I have the past few weeks.  Why?  I was busy.

Doing things important to me.  Things I hadn’t had a chance to do.  It’s also the reason I’m off Monday.  (And we’ll forget, for a moment, the fact that I have to visit two sets of white coats….)

So, what’s up?

A lot, actually.  But I’m not going to write about it, because it’s mostly disappointing.

I did get my car back up on CL, which is one important thing. And, it’ll start to make up for the difference in salary I’ve suffered the last few months So there’s that.

Background music for this entry…

So much of what I see lately that passes as awesome work actually isn’t, for a variety of reasons.  I could enumerate them, but why?  Nobody is going to read the reasons, anyway.

I think I started articulating this after reading Dana’s post, and understanding her sentiments about wanting to write all the things.  Ultimately, though, it comes down to the fact that people are utterly unwilling these days to take the time to even attempt to read all the things;  the effort you spent in writing them — is it wasted?

At the same time, words do have meaning.  Language is the primary way we communicate with others.  People who are satisfied with doing the barest of minimums really don’t deserve my limited energy.  The spoons wouldn’t be wasted if the reward matched the effort.  Right now, in many aspects of my life, the efforts far exceed the rewards.

So move on.

That might disappoint some people, but not the ones I care about, and certainly not me.  To paraphrase Popeye, I am what I am, and that’s all that I am.  Using the language to the best of my ability is part of that.  I’m not going to relearn something I know to be incorrect.  Sorry.

Sarah and I had a good time last weekend in DC.  While there were some hiccups (and there always are when somebody like me takes to the road), but, overall, the trip went incredibly well.  I needed that, and it recharged me for a few days.

How long will that charge last?  Three days is the answer.  I’m feeling completely spent when it comes to many things right now.  And taking the time to do the math, and assess things only makes the picture look more bleak.

Of course, I’ll continue to do what I do to the best of my ability, but things have to change.  I’m no longer the spry twenty-something who can delay gratification.  If you’d told me five years ago I’d be where I am, I’d have thought you insane.

As I said in the last, you know how to get in touch with me if you want details.

Random find on the Intertubes this morning.  This.  Bigotry-driven self-segregation?  Bubuhbut, it’s for the children!!1!  Facepalm.

I’m sure the people living in Virginia Beach will completely agree.

“Well, don’t want to sound like a dick or nothin’, but, ah… it says on your chart that you’re fucked up. Ah, you talk like a fag, and your shit’s all retarded. What I’d do, is just like… like… you know, like, you know what I mean, like…” — Dr. Lexus

“Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” — Abraham Lincoln (as credited on the Intertubes, so it must be true.)

I worked in broadcast for years.  There’s a difference between revising something so it’s understandable for your audience, and completely changing the meaning of it.

If you view your audience as idiotic, you might not understand that difference.  You might also find yourself worried more about graphics, and whether your document is littered with enough catch phrases.

You might also spend a lot of time in soliloquy, interrupted only by rhetorical queries to the audience about your correctness.

“Right?”

“No, I’m not sure that’s right.  Directly cite something.”

Last fall, I was working on a paper for Shmoocon.  I’d gotten about four pages in, and started rebutting some of the arguments I knew I’d get.  I didn’t have an answer for one, not even a glib one, so I gave up.  (And now my scarred-up brain is thinking of the derogatory political term, “Glibertarian.”)

Too much of what I’ve sen lately in IT is building bigger in the name of sekurity.  “Well, you have to do x.  Y says you have to, right?”

But when you query on where y says whatever it is it’s supposed to say, “Well, you know.”  No, I don’t.  I couldn’t find it.  If I could have, I wouldn’t have asked the question.

Am I dissatisfied with my current work situation?  Yes.  Is there anything I can do about it?  Not right now, at least.

Followup to the last entry.  This (PDF, pops) is what I’m getting at.  But if you already have the solution, why waste time asking pointless questions, amirite?
*sigh*
Sometimes what you actually need to do isn’t exactly what you’d envisioned.  Accepting that can be difficult.  It’s more difficult for people who’ve got a vested interest seeing the solution implemented.
That’s made me the bad guy at work for trying to do the right thing.  There’s not much reputation left to protect, so, I’ll take on the role of pincushion if necessary.  (And that I’m not regularly injecting myself with chaff to confuse my immune system, that’ll be a little easier.)
On a somewhat related note, I got a nibble on my car.  I’ll put it out to my scant few readers before I sell it to a stranger one last time.  E-Mail me if you’re interested in a 2003 Mustang GT.
Is that the conclusion I wanted?  Nope.  I used to really enjoy driving, that car, especially.  But I can’t do it anymore, and probably will never be able to do it again.  It happens.
The loss of vision is the main impediment, but working a clutch was getting difficult/tricky last few times I drove, too.
Does anyone know how to go about surrendering your driver’s license to DMV?  Discounts on bus/train fares?

Followup to the last entry.  This (PDF, pops) is what I’m getting at.  But if you already have the solution, why waste time asking pointless questions, amirite?

*sigh*

Sometimes what you actually need to do isn’t exactly what you’d envisioned.  Accepting that can be difficult.  It’s more difficult for people who’ve got a vested interest seeing the solution implemented.

That’s made me the bad guy at work for trying to do the right thing.  There’s not much reputation left to protect, so, I’ll take on the role of pincushion if necessary.  (And that I’m not regularly injecting myself with chaff to confuse my immune system, that’ll be a little easier.)

On a somewhat related note, I got a nibble on my car.  I’ll put it out to my scant few readers before I sell it to a stranger one last time.  E-Mail me if you’re interested in a 2003 Mustang GT.

Is that the conclusion I wanted?  Nope.  I used to really enjoy driving, that car, especially.  But I can’t do it anymore, and probably will never be able to do it again.  It happens.

The loss of vision is the main impediment, but working a clutch was getting difficult/tricky last few times I drove, too.

Does anyone know how to go about surrendering your driver’s license to DMV?  Discounts on bus/train fares?

At work, lately, I’ve been trying to do that.

I spent some time talking about the MVC Model, but I’m not entirely certain that’s entirely the issue I’m working through.

Certainly, a lot of the emphasis the past few years has been working only on the Controller portion.  Where’s that gotten people?  Bloated monstrosities that still don’t let users do what they need to do.  (Inspires flashbacks to funroll-loops.  Sadly, in a professional setting, they aren’t fucking with compiler flags, they’re just cobbling on more and more hardware, using someone else’s checkbook.)

I want to ask the questions that let me know what it is people actually need to do.  I couldn’t care less about the actual mechanics in the early stages.

The people who want the gargantuan solutions don’t want to ask those questions;  might keep them from building that wicked setup.  But that wicked setup might not fill the users’ needs.  How would you know that?  Besides, it’s got this nifty failover…….