A Budget
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A Budget Last Updated: Wanna buy a pen?
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Update At Friday we are looking forward to a trip to the IMAX to see the new Harry Potter flick on the big screen - which should be fun. Thursday is, of course, Thanksgiving here in the states, and I'm working on being thankful for all which we do have - and it's plenty. Sometimes, however, it's easy to focus on the negatives - like, for example, the inability of my batch files to power up a router which goes dark when the breaker trips, and doesn't re-light until I push the power switch. I really should get off my dead arse and wire in the outlets and circuit I'd planned for my computers. A thirty-amp circuit dedicated to this corner where I keep my computers would get the kitchen lights, garage outlets, back yard light, microwave, and dishwasher on a separate circuit from my computers. Well, the upstairs computer would be on the same circuit (I think the bonehead who wired in the dishwasher didn't quite want to use a dedicated circuit, and tapped into an underpowered one instead. Any electricians have an opinion on upgrading the circuit breaker instead? I thought not (as in DON'T CHANGE THE BREAKER!) - I guess I am getting smarter in some ways). Oh well. Other than that, not much other than resumes going on here right now...
[Link] The game goes something like this. You get the boys in the circle. You play telephone. You go a couple of rounds with simple questions. The boys actually get better at it. Fred and Timmy are the last two boys, Bobby's the first. On the next round you tell Bobby to pass on the message "Timmy beat up Fred's little [brother/sister]". When it gets around to Fred, you wait to see what happens. If the message is passed in the clear, you give Timmy plenty of praise for passing on a message which (we hope) isn't true. If the message is passed in the clear and Freddy clobbers Timmy, then you have yourself a "game"... You stop the boys before anyone lands a blow, and then ask Freddy if Timmy did beat up his younger sibling (It's a damned good idea to make sure Timmy didn't clobber Fred's younger sibling before you start the game, of course). Then you ask the boys if it's right for them to act based on what someone tells them before they check the facts. It's a simple game. It's one that's played with a number of variations even into adulthood - sometimes it's called "politics". But I'm sitting here, reading through the various scenarios I should be prepared for, and it hits me like a ton of freaking bricks. Little Georgie made up some story about how this other kid was going to beat up some other kids. Based on that story, George beat up the other kid, and went all out, and not only hurt the kid, but his family, friends, and entire neighborhood - because it turns out little Georgie was lying, and he kept up the lies because he didn't want to be caught or have to say "sorry, I lied". Now, I don't know how things go in Texas - I've been there, for a couple of days, and I've been impressed by the people I did meet - decent, straight-forward folk. However, I'm confused. Both Bush and Cheney came from there (Cheney changed his registration to Wyoming for the election, I understand). I guess I won't be able to use this ethics game. If we can't get it right on the big scale, I'm going to be accused of cherry-picking my options on the small scale. Go figure.
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Update At Jack said "he probably looked in a mirror. Ugh."
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Update At But I know he's going to continue on with it. I just wish I had back when I was in High School. I hadn't thought about it in years, but it's like on of those "recovered memory" things - I can see clearly the little room in the South Building of my old high school where Chess Club would be held. I can see the other guys in the room, along with the teacher/coach. Weird. I'd forgotten even the existence of that room until just now. And yes, I'm a bit anal like that. I was in every single room of those buildings - with the exception of the girl's locker rooms - when I was in high school. I just liked knowing the building, I guess. Oh well. One learns, one adapts, one carries on.
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Update At I found myself, at noon today, wandering from Savage clear to Apple Valley, in sheer desperation, looking for REAL maple syrup. SuperAmerica didn't have it. Kwik-Trip didn't have it. K-Mart didn't have it. Perkins didn't have it. Holiday didn't have it. Wal-Mart, the grocery stores, and all the other places - well, they were sane. They were closed. So we made do with about a half-cup of the syrup, rather than the full boatload. Oh well. Other than that, it's been a fairly quiet day around here. I've spent some time considering why I'm thankful - and some time considering what to do with this new chapter in my life I've been given. I'm reasonably sure that I'm a good, decent, intelligent, knowledgable technical individual. I am not an expert in any particular area - but I cover a lot of ground and I know it well enough to keep a small-to-medium organization running day in and day out over the course of a year, with a few days of help from high-forehead types whom I trust. However, I'm not sure that the technology market is still looking for my type. I know my stuff, and I've kept my skills current - but I'm also finding that the market isn't interested in running it's own systems. There's an outsourcing vibe which I experienced first in 2001, and I've watched grow. What disturbs me is that I can discern no appreciable direction. I could go deeper into the Microsoft arena and get my MCSE - a fair bit of studying, but I've done far more difficult things. The problem is that I have far too much experience to carry around a "minimally certifiable systems experience" moniker. And I've been there before. I had a CNA when the Novell CNA was a legitimate, difficult, and respectable skill. I think the MCSE and it's attendent alphabet soup are past their prime. When high school kids come out of school with a diploma and an MCSE, well, let's just say there's no need. With Linux, there's no marketplace. By that, I mean that there's no market leader, which means there's no one to turn to and say "these people have set the standard, let's go with that." Sure, there's Red Hat, there's Xandros, there's Debian - but none of them have any sort of certification protocols, aside from Red Hat, and Red Hat ain't in my price range. There's also the small matter of being gun-shy. I've spent the last 15 years of my life in this field, in a wide range of disciplines - and I love it. But I'm also intensely aware of the fact that, at 42 years old, I'm sick and tired of starting over again. Of my last three jobs, I lost one due to internal office politics that I didn't see coming, I lost one to overseas outsourcing I saw coming, and I lost one to a mistake and a political climate that I had no idea existed. Clearly, I need to pull my nose out of the technical stuff and play politics - but why? I mean, I understand that every office has a climate and a clique and a power base and a power structure, and to be successful, one must be plugged in - but why can't I be apolitical over in the corner and do my job? Based on the outcome of the last job, I can't. I avoided being a pawn in the power structure by following my boss - not blindly, but carefully, not stepping out of line, and most definitely not contradicting him. He was, and remains, a good guy, a good manager, and a very, very good man. What he wasn't able to do wasn't his fault - but apparently my efforts in building bridges and coalitions amongst the other managers clearly failed in a spectacular way. And that's what really hurts. I thought I'd made friendships, and instead, I was apparently just settling in quite firmly like a golf ball on top of a tee. Oh well. So be it. I'm ready to move on, ready to get to the next step, ready to face the next challenge, whatever, where ever, it is. I just can't wait for it to take too long, or I might just find myself, and my family, trying to live out of our vehicles. Which isn't going to look too good on a resume. On news from other fronts, we're now finding terrorists in the damnedest places.
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Update At Some friends of ours invited us along this morning to the 10 am showing of TGOF - at the Imax at the Minnesota Zoo. I've always loved the Imax - mostly because I don't get the hurling wobblies when I face a screen some 87 feet wide by 68 feet high. The movie was impressive on many levels, but again, I find myself understanding, deeply, why the movie theaters are doing so poorly. Here, Mr. Theater Owner Of Any Sort, is a short list of suggestions for you to improve your business.
Just another public service. After the movie (which our friends paid for), we came back to the Buffalo tap for lunch. Our treat, as they'd bought the movie tickets. Then over to Walgreens for a prescription or three - only two of which could they fill, so we wandered off in the other direction to the Other Twenty-Four-Hour Walgreens just 3 miles from home, and hit #3. Now we're in for the duration, as the snow is getting thicker and thicker out there...
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Update At 1145 Well, today, instead of traveling to St. Cloud to visit my parents, we're sitting tight, waiting for the furnace repairman to take a whack at our non-heating furnace. At present, it's about 59 degrees in here and it's in the upper 20s outside. Ann's doing a fair amount of baking so as to insure we don't drop below a tolerable temperature - but we'll be keeping bundled regardless.
[Link] Update at 2445: Yes, I know
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