Friday, just before leaving work, there was a notification sent to all concerning our data entry application--there would be some server update work taking place on Monday (today) from 12:00 AM to 4:00 AM, well before anyone got to work--so that it would all be done and ready to go for the workers when they get in.
Now, from working in IT before, including a position where I was responible for monitoring (note--not integrating or applying) the updates. 10 out of 10 times, even though the updates would "take place during the night", nothing worked the next day. Oftentimes, it wouldn't be right until about 2 hours after everyone had got to work.
So, from my previous work experience, I took this notification to mean that there would be some downtime today. However, this was argued against by many over the fact that "I used to work for a rinky-dinky Credit Union--this is a State job, including a server for the entire State."
Well, it's 8:30 AM and the server's still down. Point for me?
(EDIT: 9:50 and no server. We're getting close to meeting the '2 hours' target average from the last job. Are we going for a new record? I seem to recall us being down for some 5 hours on one occasion.)
(EDIT 2: 10:35 and we're back up. 2.5 hours is by no means a record, but certainly a contender based off of the average I'm used to.)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Mathematical Theorum of Tire-Personality
I oftentimes complain about the people I am forced to be in close proximity to when driving. Many of the thoughts and words that come about are legitimate. Here is yet another observation--perhaps one a bit more scientific.
I call it the Tire-Personality Theorum. It goes as follows.
"The defensiveness of a driver (x) is inversely proportional to the distance past the frame of a vehicle their tires stick out (y). Conversely, the reckless, carefree attitude of the driver (a) is directly proportioned to y. Additionally, the distance that the driver allows before merging in front of you (b) (whether in a multi-lane road or in passing) is inversely proportional to y.
You start to see the relation of all of the 'bad habits' of drivers in relation to their tires' sticking out from the car. Not to say that only vehicles with these absurd tire proportions are bad--there are plenty of others. However, 99 out of 100 vehicles (mostly trucks) with sticking-out tires fall into this theorum.
Did we get all of that? y = a + b = 1/x. Trust me on this--there will be a study done on my theorum some day.
I call it the Tire-Personality Theorum. It goes as follows.
"The defensiveness of a driver (x) is inversely proportional to the distance past the frame of a vehicle their tires stick out (y). Conversely, the reckless, carefree attitude of the driver (a) is directly proportioned to y. Additionally, the distance that the driver allows before merging in front of you (b) (whether in a multi-lane road or in passing) is inversely proportional to y.
You start to see the relation of all of the 'bad habits' of drivers in relation to their tires' sticking out from the car. Not to say that only vehicles with these absurd tire proportions are bad--there are plenty of others. However, 99 out of 100 vehicles (mostly trucks) with sticking-out tires fall into this theorum.
Did we get all of that? y = a + b = 1/x. Trust me on this--there will be a study done on my theorum some day.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Missing Appreciation
I think I finally realize why people don't seem to appreciate the wonders of nature as much anymore.
You drive to work early in the morning, groggy with only the mere substance of caffienated coffee stirring in your system to keep you from collapsing into a ball of human genetic materials in the floorboard of your car. You head down the two-lane highway that takes you from the small town that you live in to avoid the huge city life across the wilderness of countrysides. In the break of trees, though, perhaps on a two mile straightaway, you see the peeking of the first rays of purple light creeping up over the horizon. Though a site beheld a myriad times, it captivates, enthralls, hypnotizes. The same color scheme every day. The same hues that have been recreated by designers and artists throughout history. Yet, you just can't turn away. Perhaps on an overcast or partly cloudy day, the sky almost seems terraformed with continents of vapor, which in turn reflect the palatte of majesty.
And as you stare longingly, feeling alive for the first time in weeks, you turn forward just in time to steer your car back onto the road, seconds away from bullrushing a tree. At which point, all you can think about is how stupid nature is for distracting you.
You drive to work early in the morning, groggy with only the mere substance of caffienated coffee stirring in your system to keep you from collapsing into a ball of human genetic materials in the floorboard of your car. You head down the two-lane highway that takes you from the small town that you live in to avoid the huge city life across the wilderness of countrysides. In the break of trees, though, perhaps on a two mile straightaway, you see the peeking of the first rays of purple light creeping up over the horizon. Though a site beheld a myriad times, it captivates, enthralls, hypnotizes. The same color scheme every day. The same hues that have been recreated by designers and artists throughout history. Yet, you just can't turn away. Perhaps on an overcast or partly cloudy day, the sky almost seems terraformed with continents of vapor, which in turn reflect the palatte of majesty.
And as you stare longingly, feeling alive for the first time in weeks, you turn forward just in time to steer your car back onto the road, seconds away from bullrushing a tree. At which point, all you can think about is how stupid nature is for distracting you.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Church of Commercials
I don't like to touch on touchy subjects (in my blog, at least), but there's this one Church in my town that I just feel like going up to and... well... smacking some sense into whoever is doing their marquee sign outside.
You know the type, the kind of sign where they put up the individual letters that spell out words--they're quite common.
Anyways, most churches I've found have something incredibly corny that has nothing to do with the Bible (or in some cases, religion at all), but this one church, over the course of the last two months, have put up not only cheesy little sayings, but lawsuit-worthy phrases.
Without exaggerating, here are some of the things said:
'Geico saves you money, Jesus saves your soul'
'God is like Allstate--you're in good hands'
'Save money? Go to Wal-mart. Save your soul? Go to church'
I'll stop here... though I think there are a few others.
Now, I'm no lawyer. Still, I believe the term Trademark refers to something like Intellectual Property that is owned by a person or company. I even believe some companies have copywrited (copywritten?) actual phrases so that they can't be used commercially. Since when do churches feel they get an exemption from this? And it's not even like they're clever sayings. They basically just watched a commercial at 11 PM at night and thought, 'Hey, that sounds like a good thing to put on my sign.'
Not i'm not religion-bashing here. But I do believe that the signs have to go. Or at least put something worth reading on there, not just when Bingo is this week.
That's my opinion, at least.
You know the type, the kind of sign where they put up the individual letters that spell out words--they're quite common.
Anyways, most churches I've found have something incredibly corny that has nothing to do with the Bible (or in some cases, religion at all), but this one church, over the course of the last two months, have put up not only cheesy little sayings, but lawsuit-worthy phrases.
Without exaggerating, here are some of the things said:
'Geico saves you money, Jesus saves your soul'
'God is like Allstate--you're in good hands'
'Save money? Go to Wal-mart. Save your soul? Go to church'
I'll stop here... though I think there are a few others.
Now, I'm no lawyer. Still, I believe the term Trademark refers to something like Intellectual Property that is owned by a person or company. I even believe some companies have copywrited (copywritten?) actual phrases so that they can't be used commercially. Since when do churches feel they get an exemption from this? And it's not even like they're clever sayings. They basically just watched a commercial at 11 PM at night and thought, 'Hey, that sounds like a good thing to put on my sign.'
Not i'm not religion-bashing here. But I do believe that the signs have to go. Or at least put something worth reading on there, not just when Bingo is this week.
That's my opinion, at least.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
On a serious note...
Oftentimes, I try to incorporate a little humor or sarcasm in my comments, but I just can't manage it today. I've been listening to some songs that really bring back some memories. It's really funny how music has the ability to attach itself to memories to make them seem more vivid or alive to you, where you weren't even thinking about them before the song. As if music has a direct attachment to the parts of the brain related to memory storage. Any scientists out there want to take this up as a study?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Signatures and News
And a hearty good morning to all.
I decided this past weekend to (once again) fire up this IMHO blog. This time, sincerely keeping them short--thus increasing the chances I can actually put something up most every day. ... Well, within reason, of course.
So, it's only 10:30 AM here. I've been at work for a little over 2 hours (Now on my 15-minute break, in case anyone from management is checking in). Yet, I've somehow come across two interesting thoughts that just have made me laugh.
Signature Lines on Emails
I received an email from a colleague earlier today necessary for research. This was the first time I emailed this person (and in all honesty, have never actually met this person), and thus, saw her email signature ever.
Now for those unfamiliar with an email Signature, business individuals who use a program to manage their email will oft-times personalize their email templates to already have their name and contact information at the bottom. Usually, this is nothing more than a name, title, address, phone number... that sort of thing.
However, this email I received today had a pithy saying at the end of it. (I really should call it a 'pity' saying, as you'll soon discover) Now, this in itself isn't really unusual--on the occasional online forum, I'll do the same. However, this particuar line actually had created a paradox in space and time. I'm surprised my computer has not imploded from receiving an email from her.
The message, for fear of crashing this blog server, is read below:
YOU ONLY FAIL, WHEN YOU DON'T TRY
I actually spent about 5 minutes dissecting this sentence. Take a minute to gather your own thoughts about it before reading on. I'll wait...
Ok, back with me?
First of all, the line itself is a falsity. There are plenty of people who try and fail. Consider my high school career. I did fine in every class except Calculus, which I tried my best at, and still failed. Thus, the sentence itself is not true.
However, my biggest concern was the paradox in it. The grammar is incorrect. There is a comma where there should be no comma, and no period where there should be at the end. Thus... she failed. However, by the context of the information in the statement itself, she didn't fail, because she tried. Thus is born a paradox. It's one of those English Faux Pas that you learn about in College English I; like 'There is no error in this sentance.' I know this seems like nit-picking, but for a professional LEGAL businesswoman to have a paradox in their signature line... well, it scares me.
News Articles that make you think...
My workmate, Becky, on her 15-minute break, was reading news articles from the local paper's website reciting of the news. She brought to my attention that 'From the news desk', at the top of the page, told the story of a local woman who just today won $1,500 dollars in a contest that her local bank was holding. Talk about a slow news day, huh?
Well, our gripe comes in the form of the fact that this story is... well, how do I put this.... NOT NEWS. In fact, one would go so far as to say that many readers wouldn't really CARE about this particular story. In general then, the point is how newspapers, television reporters, and Web news sites, when choosing their 'top stories', always puts some article that nobody really cares about. For instance, when Yahoo puts on their top four links under 'News' a video of a 6-month old kitten batting around a ball of yarn. Cute? Of course. Sharable with friends? Absolutely. News? To my friend's 3 year old daughter, perhaps, but not to me.
To reinforce this point, referring back to the news article Becky was looking at, the stories that the money winner TRUMPED included a plane crash (in a town about 50 miles away), a child being killed in his driveway, as well as some seasonal medical advice that could help hundreds.
Do you see the problem here? Not that it doesn't matter some random lady won money from a bank--I think it's great... wish it was me. It just... isn't news.
In my honest opinion, I believe that Newspapers and TV News programs should have some sort of a section separate from the news... Actually, wait... they do. It's called Editorials, Opinions, or OTHER FLIPPIN' SHOWS OTHER THAN THE NEWS. At the very least, have a section called Not News to talk about it. Not 'Entertainment News' or 'Film Reviews'--just Not News. Is that so much to not muddy the definition of News for the people today?
I decided this past weekend to (once again) fire up this IMHO blog. This time, sincerely keeping them short--thus increasing the chances I can actually put something up most every day. ... Well, within reason, of course.
So, it's only 10:30 AM here. I've been at work for a little over 2 hours (Now on my 15-minute break, in case anyone from management is checking in). Yet, I've somehow come across two interesting thoughts that just have made me laugh.
Signature Lines on Emails
I received an email from a colleague earlier today necessary for research. This was the first time I emailed this person (and in all honesty, have never actually met this person), and thus, saw her email signature ever.
Now for those unfamiliar with an email Signature, business individuals who use a program to manage their email will oft-times personalize their email templates to already have their name and contact information at the bottom. Usually, this is nothing more than a name, title, address, phone number... that sort of thing.
However, this email I received today had a pithy saying at the end of it. (I really should call it a 'pity' saying, as you'll soon discover) Now, this in itself isn't really unusual--on the occasional online forum, I'll do the same. However, this particuar line actually had created a paradox in space and time. I'm surprised my computer has not imploded from receiving an email from her.
The message, for fear of crashing this blog server, is read below:
YOU ONLY FAIL, WHEN YOU DON'T TRY
I actually spent about 5 minutes dissecting this sentence. Take a minute to gather your own thoughts about it before reading on. I'll wait...
Ok, back with me?
First of all, the line itself is a falsity. There are plenty of people who try and fail. Consider my high school career. I did fine in every class except Calculus, which I tried my best at, and still failed. Thus, the sentence itself is not true.
However, my biggest concern was the paradox in it. The grammar is incorrect. There is a comma where there should be no comma, and no period where there should be at the end. Thus... she failed. However, by the context of the information in the statement itself, she didn't fail, because she tried. Thus is born a paradox. It's one of those English Faux Pas that you learn about in College English I; like 'There is no error in this sentance.' I know this seems like nit-picking, but for a professional LEGAL businesswoman to have a paradox in their signature line... well, it scares me.
News Articles that make you think...
My workmate, Becky, on her 15-minute break, was reading news articles from the local paper's website reciting of the news. She brought to my attention that 'From the news desk', at the top of the page, told the story of a local woman who just today won $1,500 dollars in a contest that her local bank was holding. Talk about a slow news day, huh?
Well, our gripe comes in the form of the fact that this story is... well, how do I put this.... NOT NEWS. In fact, one would go so far as to say that many readers wouldn't really CARE about this particular story. In general then, the point is how newspapers, television reporters, and Web news sites, when choosing their 'top stories', always puts some article that nobody really cares about. For instance, when Yahoo puts on their top four links under 'News' a video of a 6-month old kitten batting around a ball of yarn. Cute? Of course. Sharable with friends? Absolutely. News? To my friend's 3 year old daughter, perhaps, but not to me.
To reinforce this point, referring back to the news article Becky was looking at, the stories that the money winner TRUMPED included a plane crash (in a town about 50 miles away), a child being killed in his driveway, as well as some seasonal medical advice that could help hundreds.
Do you see the problem here? Not that it doesn't matter some random lady won money from a bank--I think it's great... wish it was me. It just... isn't news.
In my honest opinion, I believe that Newspapers and TV News programs should have some sort of a section separate from the news... Actually, wait... they do. It's called Editorials, Opinions, or OTHER FLIPPIN' SHOWS OTHER THAN THE NEWS. At the very least, have a section called Not News to talk about it. Not 'Entertainment News' or 'Film Reviews'--just Not News. Is that so much to not muddy the definition of News for the people today?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)