Author: sean

Writing Prompts 1/3

Followup to yesterday’s entry…. People who know me personally will see the impetus for some of these.

  1. List your schools, through high school. Describe a memory from each.
    List some of your earliest memories. Where were you? Is there anyone who could provide clarity about them?
  2. Describe your year to date.
  3. Since it’s Election Day, when did you first vote? Did you vote today? Have your political opinions changed as you’ve aged?
  4. Write about your siblings. Where are they now, what are they doing? When was the last time you saw him/her/them? Are you on good terms?
  5. Describe a typical day for you at work. You can go total Peter Gibbons on this one.
  6. Write about your mother.
  7. If you attended college, talk about your alma mater. Did you have a good experience? Are you happy with the major you selected? Are there any lessons that’ll stick with you forever? Do you have people you keep in contact with?
  8. Pro sports time — list your favorite teams, along with when you started following them.
  9. Describe the highs and lows of your fandom.
  10. With a third of the month passed, what are your plans for the rest of the month

November is almost here

Obviously, this past winter was more than a little tumultuous, between getting laid off by the four-letter company, dealing with a separate financial matter, being bummed out about Shady Grove Marketplace closing, and an MS exacerbation, I basically stopped writing for awhile. During this hectic time, the place where I’d been writing since 1999 shut down for good.

Since 2010, I’d been writing every single day of November, and continued that last year, despite the site’s death rattles. Unfortunately, I haven’t latched onto something for next month yet.

This year, I want to write. I will write. But what to write about? This is the question.

If I was lazy, I’d recycle prompts from the past four years. Instead, I’m looking for inspiration from my, to steak a phrase from Katy, nonexistent readers.

Hmmmmm.

Exhaustion Got Me

Yeah, I didn’t write about what I’d meant to. I also didn’t run an errand I desperately need to.

I can forgive myself. This situation is taking every ounce of patience I have. (Yes, there’s something fishy going on that I’m not going to write about here. Let’s just say that I really shouldn’t have to put up with shit like this at this stage in my life. This is even more true when I’m doing a favor…..)

I haven’t gotten very far into Chopra’s book; my eyes get weird when I’m tired. But I’ve had time to think about it all more. With that consideration, I find myself really confirming my initial thoughts.

Similarly, I do know what I’m supposed to expect in my current position. I’m not getting it.

Whatever.

A friend, and former co-worker is coming by in a bit to discuss ITS757. One of the places I really take Mr. Chopra’s approach to heart is the emphasis on open data.

This change in thinking is something the certification wizards don’t understand.

Exhaustion Got Me

Yeah, I didn’t write about what I’d meant to. I also didn’t run an errand I desperately need to.

I can forgive myself. This situation is taking every ounce of patience I have. (Yes, there’s something fishy going on that I’m not going to write about here. Let’s just say that I really shouldn’t have to put up with shit like this at this stage in my life. This is even more true when I’m doing a favor…..)

I haven’t gotten very far into Chopra’s book; my eyes get weird when I’m tired. But I’ve had time to think about it all more. With that consideration, I find myself really confirming my initial thoughts.

Similarly, I do know what I’m supposed to expect in my current position. I’m not getting it.

Whatever.

A friend, and former co-worker is coming by in a bit to discuss ITS757. One of the places I really take Mr. Chopra’s approach to heart is the emphasis on open data.

This change in thinking is something the certification wizards don’t understand.

The Weekend That Was

I probably should write a longer reax to what I saw at Start Norfolk Friday and Saturday, but that can wait until later this weekend.

I seriously blew the 30 seconds I had for the pitch after having microphone confusion. I did get to meet, speak with Aneesh Chopra, which was seriously cool. At the same time, I asked him why he’d gone around to invent a whole new process for technology acquisition. He said even the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) process took too long.

That irks me a bit, but it’s perhaps emblematic of the modern Democratic Party, who’d rather not have any sort of investigation into their decision-making. SBIR is fast when compared to normal acquisition, but it forces people to compete. When one of these things fails to work, which will happen, where’s the accountability?

As you can imagine, I have a lot to say about this, as well as reliance on “value” propositions. I was quite disappointed to see that academia is now embracing such nonsense. Of the seven elements of the “business model” presented in the first talk, only two are immediately quantifiable.

Unfortunately, my body got the best of me for the second half of Saturday, and today. I’m trying to be as well-prepared as I possibly can be for a full week of work.

It is what it is; meanwhile, the Windows Server 2003 support end date of 14 July 2015 draws a week nearner.

Admit You’re Wrong

“Oh no, not yet.”

Background music here. (Along with the coolest CGI 1993 had to offer, and a depressingly-sad song set to colossal synth orchastra hits that prevent you from noticing first few listens…. I like that kind of thing.)

But back to the message. Everybody makes mistakes. We’re human. If Lovie Smith is the coach he’s purported to be, he’s telling himself that today, after last night. The key is learning to recognize when what you’re doing isn’t working, and to change things up.

Sticking to the football references, this is somewhere where Al Davis didn’t “get it.” Maybe speed, and throwing downfieldd all the time worked in 1983; it doesn’t work anymore. The coaching staff who got you to your last Super Bowl was boring “West Coast Offense,” and Rich Gannon. You didn’t win fast enough, and you got JaMarcus Russell.

So much of what I see being done in my career field is looking for JaMarcus. Hey, this worked in 2003, it should work in 2014. Cluestick — it doesn’t. In fact, trying to recreate it is foolish in light of what’s happened technologically.

So, what I’m trying to do is do honest analysis, and choose the best solution(s) for the current situation. Maybe they’re not textbook. Maybe they don’t lend themselves to an expensive multiple-choice test. Still, I am confident that ultimately, I can help someone make the correct decision based on the situation.

I’m writing this just before I attend Start Norfolk, so that’s affecting my thought patterns quite a bit. My current work position is also a bit akin to being a Tackle in an Art Shell Air Coryell offense. *sigh*

Admit You're Wrong

“Oh no, not yet.”
Background music here. (Along with the coolest CGI 1993 had to offer, and a depressingly-sad song set to colossal synth orchastra hits that prevent you from noticing first few listens…. I like that kind of thing.)
But back to the message. Everybody makes mistakes. We’re human. If Lovie Smith is the coach he’s purported to be, he’s telling himself that today, after last night. The key is learning to recognize when what you’re doing isn’t working, and to change things up.
Sticking to the football references, this is somewhere where Al Davis didn’t “get it.” Maybe speed, and throwing downfieldd all the time worked in 1983; it doesn’t work anymore. The coaching staff who got you to your last Super Bowl was boring “West Coast Offense,” and Rich Gannon. You didn’t win fast enough, and you got JaMarcus Russell.
So much of what I see being done in my career field is looking for JaMarcus. Hey, this worked in 2003, it should work in 2014. Cluestick — it doesn’t. In fact, trying to recreate it is foolish in light of what’s happened technologically.
So, what I’m trying to do is do honest analysis, and choose the best solution(s) for the current situation. Maybe they’re not textbook. Maybe they don’t lend themselves to an expensive multiple-choice test. Still, I am confident that ultimately, I can help someone make the correct decision based on the situation.
I’m writing this just before I attend Start Norfolk, so that’s affecting my thought patterns quite a bit. My current work position is also a bit akin to being a Tackle in an Art Shell Air Coryell offense. *sigh*

Admit You’re Wrong

“Oh no, not yet.”

Background music here. (Along with the coolest CGI 1993 had to offer, and a depressingly-sad song set to colossal synth orchastra hits that prevent you from noticing first few listens…. I like that kind of thing.)

But back to the message. Everybody makes mistakes. We’re human. If Lovie Smith is the coach he’s purported to be, he’s telling himself that today, after last night. The key is learning to recognize when what you’re doing isn’t working, and to change things up.

Sticking to the football references, this is somewhere where Al Davis didn’t “get it.” Maybe speed, and throwing downfieldd all the time worked in 1983; it doesn’t work anymore. The coaching staff who got you to your last Super Bowl was boring “West Coast Offense,” and Rich Gannon. You didn’t win fast enough, and you got JaMarcus Russell.

So much of what I see being done in my career field is looking for JaMarcus. Hey, this worked in 2003, it should work in 2014. Cluestick — it doesn’t. In fact, trying to recreate it is foolish in light of what’s happened technologically.

So, what I’m trying to do is do honest analysis, and choose the best solution(s) for the current situation. Maybe they’re not textbook. Maybe they don’t lend themselves to an expensive multiple-choice test. Still, I am confident that ultimately, I can help someone make the correct decision based on the situation.

I’m writing this just before I attend Start Norfolk, so that’s affecting my thought patterns quite a bit. My current work position is also a bit akin to being a Tackle in an Art Shell Air Coryell offense. *sigh*

On Starting Your Own Business

Wow, has it really been almost a month since I’ve written anything? Considering what I’ve been doing lately, and me getting out of practice since the site where I’d been writing for more than twelve years died, I’ve been bad about keeping up here. (But it is a blog, and my blog, like every other one, sucks…) Initially, I was going to call this, “Choking on CoC,” but that’d be a bit more crass than I normally am.

Saturday, 23 August, I attended a seminar put on by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce about starting your own business.

While I did get a couple of helpful tips, on balance, spending the morning there was largely a waste of time.

Important take-aways:

  • If you run a seasonal business, you have to prepare for the thin months
  • People spent a lot of money researching how to do things in a totally suburban environment
  • S-Corp ueber Alles (And trying to figure out the HTML code for the u-umlaut is proving too much of a pain for me to deal with when there’s football on TV.)
  • Many who own sole-proprieterships choose not to pay themselves as employees, and rely on income derived from profits earned from operations

Other Intersting Factoids (some, admittedly depressing):

  • The top business for Hampton Roads is hair and nail salons
  • Creating “customer value” is the most important thing these days
  • Location, location, location!!1!

I did get some ideas, but absolutely zero contacts out of the session. With what I’m trying to do, and what I think Hatch Norfolk is trying to do with its 1000-Four effort, socialization with other business owners is very important. Not only did the speaker not engage his audience, there weren’t really any opportunities for interaction with other owners. I suspect none of them is doing what i’m trying to do with ITS757; why wasn’t I given the opportunity to collaborate with any of them?

I understand that one of the goals of these sessions is to recruit new CoC members, but recitation of stale ideas isn’t the way to do that. If I was planning on opening a T-Shirt stand at the Oceanfront, a hair salon, or a landscaping company, my take might be different.

(Maybe the recitation of stale ideas goes along with the soliloquy on the struggles of franchise owners. Of course, the focus was on things like chain fast food restaurants. This all taking place at a business within staggering distance for me of at least four chain sandwich shops… I think this sheds light on a fundamental misunderstanding of what business models are going to be successful in the future….)

At this point, I feel like I wasted my time and money. I think I’d feel that even more strongly if I dropped the Benjamins to join the CoC

Oh well. What else should I have been doing on a Saturday Morning?

Disgusting

Sleep isn’t something that comes easily to me lately. This morning’s nocturnal reflection involved the art of the upsell. Part of what I’m trying to help people avoid is getting ripped off by unscrupulous commercial providers.

  • Know what you need
  • Analyze who provides what you need
  • Make the buy

I’m reminded of a fast food chain who took two $0.99 menu items, cut a third off the portion size of each, and put them both into a cup for $2.

Great deal!!1!

Of course, there was a multi-million dollar TV ad campaign driving that message home.

In my professional life, I’ve never been okay with those sorts of tactics.

And that makes me a bad person.

If only there were some letters I could buy after my name to add weight to my opinion.