Attack of the network gods

I've been a longtime user and believer in voice recognition software, particularly the NaturallySpeaking product. It's great for getting things done while taking some of the pressure off computer-fatigued limbs. However, it's quirky, and occasionally just stops working; then it needs the software equivalent of a good kick: the Windows "repair" facility, which does a mass refresh of the software.

Yesterday, sure enough, it stopped cooperating so I started to do a repair. Started to, because I immediately received an error message that I did not have the appropriate permissions to modify the registry. Just to be sure, I double-clicked on the time - alas, I didn't even have permission to change the time. The network gods had stripped me of Administrator rights to my workstation.

I've always had Administrator rights, which lets you install software and make configuration changes to your computer. Because technical support envisions all manner of evil things that users could put on their computer, Administrator rights are reserved for developers. Although I've been a developer for 29 years, the network gods, seeing that my job title no longer looks like a developer, summarily removed my rights.

To get back to where I was, I need a waiver approved by not necessarily God, but pretty close. Even then it's not permanent and has to be renewed every year. Since our almost-God executive has better things to do almost every day of the year than sign waivers (as the network gods well know) it may be a while before I get my access back.

Fortunately, probably again via bureaucratic mistake, I have a second computer, a laptop. For now, I remain an Administrator on this machine. So I've pressed it into duty for now, and the voice recognition still works OK there. However, at any time they could automatically take Administrator rights away from this one as well.

Apparently the rights get taken away when you log on. Hmmmm. The challenge: how long can I go without logging out? The plan: when I'm done for the day, I only lock the laptop (not log out), remove it, and bring it home - all on battery power. Then I plug it in at home to make sure the battery doesn't die. (And it's a Dell laptop, so I need to find a place where an overnight battery fire won't consume the house...sheesh!) In the morning I bring the laptop back, plop it into the docking station, and unlock it. Wahlah - no log ins!

Not sure how long I can keep this up - NaturallySpeaking also enjoys forcing reboots. I'm like a fugitive, furtively keeping to the shadows. Unfortunately, like most fugitives, it's only a matter of time. I can run but I can't hide.

The network gods always get their man in the end.

Cellular assimilation

We have become a four cell phone family - our assimilation is complete.

Not that we haven't surrendered without difficulty. My wife had one first, mostly for emergency purposes, for several years. Then my oldest son needed one in high school to better coordinate the varying pickup times. But I drew the line there: I didn't see any need for myself or my youngest son.

But the youngest is now in high school, and even after one week it was apparent a cell phone was needed. With Verizon offering additional family lines for only $9.99/month, we got phones for him and even me. My wife has been after me for awhile now to get one. For some reason my driving around in my 1984 Toyota Corolla "Luxury Edition" without a cell concerns her (it didn't help my cause that I couldn't start it last week).

And I must admit the phone, a Motorola V325 (pictured above), is pretty cool: it has Mobile Web features so I can access my e-mail via phone. (Why I would really need to do this, I'm not sure, but it's cool nonetheless.)

How much I'll use the phone remains to be seen. But for better or for worse, we have all joined the cellular club.

Technorati Tags: cell phones

Haves vs. have-nots

It's been a long day today, literally: 27 hours long, because I gained 3 hours traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast. It's about 10pm local time now, and I arose this morning at the equivalent of 2:30am Pacific time, so I'm starting to fade in and out.

It was a good trip. I met a lot of people in my new department, and spent a lot of time together with my new manager yesterday. Even short meetings face-to-face I've found can greatly spur business relationships; hopefully, that will be the case again here. The one-on-one face time with my manager was great - I know more about his background now, and feel we have forged some areas of common interest. It probably would've taken several months to accomplish the same over the phone.

I couldn't help but be struck by the differences I saw in Charlotte and here on the West Coast: it's like working at two different companies. Truly a haves vs. have-nots comparison. The offices were packed with people there, few cubicles were empty; in California, some areas have more empty cubicles than occupied ones. There the workforce is healthy and dynamic: a mix across all the age ranges and seniority levels, typical of a growing environment; in contrast, California has an abundance of veteran tech workers, but nothing else. Hiring has virtually stopped amongst the West Coast technology workforce, so there’s not many younger workers, with one exception: our Indian contractors.

Discrimination by race, gender, etc. in employment is against the law. What isn't against the law is a geographic hiring bias, and our company has a strong Charlotte hiring preference. As a result, our West Coast tech workfers are gradually becoming an endangered species.

Technorati Tags: California technology, employment

Charlotte trip

I will be in Charlotte, NC for several days this week for an all-hands offsite. It's a chance to meet some of my new teammates in person, and build relationships.

When you work on the other side of the country from most of your team, a face-to-face meeting is a rare priviledge. In my last assignment, I was quite close to many of my team, having worked with them day in and out for several years. Yet, I might go two years between actually seeing them. So it was always nice when those few chances came. This is a little different; I'm just beginning to know my new team, so this will put faces to names and kickstart some relationships.

It will also be interesting to finally visit Charlotte, the main headquarters city. Of course us old West Coasters remember all too well that San Francisco was "World Headquarters", and it's hard not to feel resentful about the stolen moniker (not to mention the thousands of jobs that go with a major company's HQ city). But that battle was lost years ago, alas.

Still, I am glad business travel is not a common occurrence for me. I hate being away from my family, even for a few days. At best it's a necessary evil. And even with these few days away, I will be missing my son's first days in high school.

I'm afraid I'd make a lousy "road warrior" with this attitude.

Blast from the past

My wife is back in the workforce - uh oh.

To put it kindly, she has not had the best of luck when it comes to employers. What she's doing now is temporary work, on a 1099 independent contractor basis, for the accounting firm that was used by the dentist she last worked for. This seemed very safe: large professional office building, established accounting practice over 15 years old, two mature accountants. Even for her, this had to be a slam dunk decent assignment.

Her main job at this point is to do data entry of time the accountant spent with the client for billing purposes. The unusual thing is these hours are for Jan 2006: they've never completed the recording of their hours in their system. In fact, they first record the hours manually, and then type them into the computer later; she had to roll her eyes at that process. What had they been doing in the meantime for revenue? Hopefully they billed somebody somewhere along the line before now.

But it gets better. The computer software for recording the hours is a DOS program! How it even runs is a mystery under today's Windows: it must be over 15 years old. Obviously, this accounting practice is a little hesitant about technology. But entrusting the recording of your practice's billable hours to 15-year-old obsolete DOS software gives new meaning to technology-challenged.

I doubt this will do much for her resume credentials. But then, this is my wife's world of employment; what can you expect. At least no one is yelling or throwing fits, and they're paying her. The bar is not very high here.

Technorati Tags: small business, working environment

A nice break

That was nice.

What with all the outsourcing drama the first half of this year, this was a much-needed vacation. We rented a vacation home in Irish Beach, a small Northern California coastal community. It's very quiet and a great place to unwind; coincidentally, it's where we honeymooned 25 years ago, so the timing was appropriate.

We have returned many times here, but never in August, because it's typically cold and foggy. But the weather cooperated for the most part and was in the low 70s most of the time. When we had fog there was still good visibility, so we had no problem seeing the ocean. We rented the Arena Vista home, which was up on a hill, with a good view looking down the coast.

I like this area because it reminds me of rural Michigan where we had a summer cottage when I was growing up. Change comes slowly, if at all, here; like Michigan, the countryside is much how it was 25 years ago. In that respect it's very un-California-like, where our empty lots sprout houses, not weeds. It's also remote: groceries come from a small general store 10 miles south in the town of Manchester, population 462 I think - the sign has not been changed in the last 25 years.

Many of our friends and family would not be excited about a vacation in these parts: "There's nothing to do!". And if you're looking for urban excitement, this is not the place. But if you don't mind time spent walking along the ocean, communing with nature, or curling up with a good book - you can't pick a better spot. What it lacks in nightlife it makes up for in the raw beauty of the ocean, and a quiet calm that settles over your whole being.

Boring? For some, yes. But for us it was just right.


Technorati Tags: vacation, California, Manchester

California's North Coast

See more California watercolors

We'll be on vacation this coming week in one of our favorite places: the northern coast of California, south of the town of Mendocino. Here's a watercolor "postcard" for you from there...see you in one week!

Technorati Tags: vacation, California, Mendocino

Project process is for wimps

I currently work in a small team that prepares reports for senior Technology managers on the health (or lack thereof) of major tech projects. With a project portfolio of over $100 million, it's worth paying attention to what's going on.

These projects follow a very standardized process, overseen by project managers responsible for making sure everything gets done according to plan on time, and on budget. Projects move through well-defined phases from initial definition, through design, development and implementation. We report on "adherence": a measure of the percentage of "misses" or deviations from the expected results. Forgetting to make certain inputs in the project tracking system can put the poor project manager suddenly into yellow, or worse, red status on their projects: not a desirable state of affairs.

Yet our organization, the project management police, ironically have no such structure on our internal projects. Our reporting team never sees well thought out business specifications for what's to be done. We get passing conversations, e-mail asides and the like that pass for our "specs". There is no standard process; in fact, there is no process all! And whoever made up "change is a constant" certainly had our group in mind.

This week we were doing some upgrades to our early-project process as the 2007 budget cycle begins to gear up. I needed to do some pie charts to better visualize the data, completed this Monday, and thought I was done. But Tuesday morning, in a dreaded feedback e-mail, the manager had a new idea: let's add two charts to the original four charts, and do them all for each department. Since there are six departments, the simple upgrade had gone from four charts to over 30!

Still, these changes keep us busy, and my kids in school, so I can't complain. As my teammate likes to say: I love my job. I love my job. I love my job.

As I say: it sure beats the alternative.

Technorati Tags: project management

A Big Anniversary

Today is my 25th wedding anniversary. There must be some mistake.

In some ways our wedding feels like a lifetime ago - so many things have changed. But some details of the day remain burned into my mind; remembering them it seems like just last week. A little thing: the day over, the two of us ironically the last to leave the reception, heading back to my car, both shocked to realize we did it, we are married and together. But we were truly on our own, no safety net and no guarantees of the future. Thrilling and scary simultaneously.

My wife's sister asked if we were going to renew our vows. This is common in the Filipino culture, and not too unusual amongst long-married couples. Neither of us really see the point though. We are married, said the vows then and have lived them for a quarter-century now. It seems "renewing your vows" is a little negative, as if they are shaky and need shoring up. My parents have been married 50+ years, and somehow have managed fine without being renewed along the way.

Although our anniversary is a cherished time, the number of years we've been married is less relevant. What counts is today and tomorrow: how you feel about each other now. If your marriage has survived, but the love has not, is that really an accomplishment? The past is the past; we live in the present. For myself, my feelings are simple: I love her. She is my life. I'd be lost without her.

With our oldest son heading to college, and our youngest to high school, I guess the 25 year thing is no mistake. But that's OK. We might be 25 years older, but our love remains fresh. And in the end that might be a pretty good trade.

Technorati Tags: wedding anniversary, love