May 2023

Control.

Today I learned that 50% of the 10,500 employees at work are full time, remote workers. I’m happy to work for a company with such a strong Work From Home infrastructure. During the pandemic lockdowns, senior leadership discovered the company didn’t miss a beat; productivity actually improved a bit when folks were working from home.

There are plenty of roles in any company that must be accomplished in an office, but there are also many roles that can be worked from home. I have worked from home for over a decade and my career has grown in ways I didn’t think was possible. All of the people that report to me work from home. Our team earns accolades for our results.

Work From Home fears aren’t productivity based, they’re people and management based.

9 May 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Automation.

Fast food chain Wendy’s is working with Google to develop an AI chat bot that will replace a human taking your order at a drive-thru window. They plan on beginning their testing in Ohio this coming June. Here’s the article on The Verge with the details.

This is intriguing to me, though a fair sized part of me doesn’t like seeing humans lose their employment to computerized automation.

In the automation arena, I expect my job of writing code will be replaced by AI in my lifetime. One of my greatest skills as a developer is being able to use search engines like DuckDuckGo and Google to my advantage. Now that chatbots are able to write entire applications (mostly by stealing from work shared on the Internet by real developers), it’s only a matter of time before those of us that don’t write the chatbots are going to be replaced by the chatbots.

Smile to the human handing you your biggie meal. They might not be there much longer.

Graphic from The Verge.
9 May 2023 by Geek Ponderings and Musings This Ain't No CNN. 0

Flying.

My first flight in a single-engine airplane took place when I was four years old. I can easily remember the flight; Grandpa Country was flying, Dad was in the right seat (he wasn’t a pilot yet), and I was in the back seat of a Cessna 172. I was wearing a dark plaid shirt of some sort. We took off and flew around the area. I remember looking out the window to the right and seeing the ground below us and enjoying the sensation for a little bit. I then started feeling queasy. Dad looked back at me with his usual grin. I would come to recognize that grin when he gained his pilot’s certificate; Dad really liked aviation. Someone asked me if I was OK. I asked if there was a radio like in the car and Grandpa Country briefly tuned in the local country station and I think he did it over a LORAN, which operated on AM frequencies. Unfortunately neither Grandpa Country nor Dad is around so I can ask.

After a few moments of loud country music I barfed, all over my plaid shirt. I remember the airplane landing and then Grandpa Country and Dad frantically (for them) cleaning up the airplane. I also remember being brought back to the family farm and being cleaned up by Grandma Country and Mom. Apparently a clean airplane was more important than a clean son to the aviators of the family.

Luckily, that’s the only time I’ve ever gotten sick in an airplane.

Tonight I went flying with an instructor to continue getting familiar with the policies and procedures of the (new to me) flying club. I demonstrated five landings, all wonderfully graceful and impressive. We even did an engine out landing and that was a lot of fun.

I totally get Dad’s usual grin when one is in an airplane.

8 May 2023 by Pilot. 0

Understanding.

This is how you do marketing for Father’s Day. Even though it’s been 11 1/2 years since my Dad’s passing, I think about him every day. There’s so much I want to tell him of my successes in life, and the constant barrage of Father’s Day marketing messages makes me feel a little glum.

Hats off to Harry’s for showing a little compassion.

7 May 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 0

RSS.

A geeky topic for this entry, Josh Teder at Six Months Later does a great job explaining the benefits of RSS feeds.

Quick tip: if you can subscribe to this blog by going to https://blog.jpnearl.com/feed.

7 May 2023 by Geek 0

Somewhere Else?

When we read or hear or see the news, the bad stuff always happens elsewhere, right? We hear of a tragedy, feel pangs of sadness, have a spiritual moment or two, and then we rationalize that while quite sad, it happened THERE not HERE. And we go on with life.

This is a picture of me in 2013 when I was working for Frontier Communications. I had gathered with others from the company for a training seminar at the Allen, Texas office.

Of course, as of this writing the latest horrific mass shooting just happened in at Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas.

I’ve been to Allen Premium Outlets. It’s 3.4 miles from the spot where I’m standing in that photo. 99.9% of the time, despite the vivid imagery shown on too many TV screens and computer monitors, I can’t picture the location of these senseless tragedies. It’s easy for me to picture this one.

We need to do something to stop these senseless tragedies. Screaming at each other is accomplishing nothing. Civil listening and discussion might get us somewhere.

We need to get somewhere else.

7 May 2023 by This Ain't No CNN. 0

Caturday.

Truman enjoys relaxing in the middle of the floor under the ceiling fan. His typical stance, when he wants to be totally aware of his surroundings, is one paw forward for balance. He seems content.

6 May 2023 by He's A Feline. 0

Dasher.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m very picky when it comes to keyboard. This drives my husband crazy, because we have too many keyboards in storage as I try something for a little while, realize it isn’t fitting the bill, and then in the closet it goes.

A couple of years ago I discovered Velocifire keyboards on Amazon. They are mechanical keyboards that are relatively cheap on Amazon, and other than an annoying space bar rattle, I like the way they perform. It’s probably because I learned to type when I was in elementary school and first used an IBM Selectric Typewriter at age 10, but I like a keyboard with a little bit of heft and the rapid-fire sound of fingers dancing on the keys for all to hear. It makes me sound productive.

I wanted to jazz up my keyboard with a new set of keycaps. I’m also pleased with that which is retro, and Drop offers their MT3 Dasher Keycap Set. Modeled after Data General’s “Dasher” terminal of the late 70s and early 80s, this keycap set has a delightful retro kitsch to it that makes my geek heart happy. The keycaps are compatible with any keyboard using Cherry MX (or equivalent) key switches, so it took just a few moments to pop off the original keycaps and pop these new caps in their place.

Mechanical keyboards are fun!

The upgrade in the feel and sound of the keyboard is a delight. I’m very pleased with this purchase, especially since this set was marked down from $120 to $39. A little pricey but well worth it.

These little things make my workdays at a geek that much more enjoyable.

5 May 2023 by Geek 0

Chase Ready.

We’re getting close enough to my annual storm chasing trip to where I can start pinpointing the area of the country I’ll be visiting. It’s going to be an interesting trip this year; this is the first time I’m chasing in May instead of June. I knew this would result in being a little farther south than I was last year, but with the odd weather patterns as we move from La Niña to El Niño, and the jet stream doing some interesting things, it looks like I’m going to be very well acquainted with Texas and Oklahoma.

I have absolutely no issue with that.

I like exploring areas of the United States I haven’t been to before. Small towns are fascinating to me, and it makes me a little sad to see them become a little more generic or cookie cutter as corporations do their best to make each town look the same with their big box stores and chain restaurants.

Like previous trips, I plan on staying way from the Interstates as much as possible (unless it’ll get me to a storm faster), and I plan on eating at locally owned restaurants as much as I can. I’ll probably listen to local radio stations as well. Having worked in radio in a former life, radio is always fascinating to me. And with some radio stations I get a really different point of view than what I normally experience in my day to day life.

I’m looking forward to the experience. My plan is to direct my content to this blog instead of relying on social media to share my experiences.

4 May 2023 by Storm Chasing. 0

Vibe.

I enjoy the vibe of Downtown Tucson. While not a particularly large downtown area, Tucson has some great little restaurants and has made some good decisions in reusing old storefronts and the like throughout the area.

We met our friend Mike at the local gay bar for a drink. Mike and Bubba have been together for a long while; Bubba works during the week but Mike was able to hang out for a bit. Earl enjoys his Piggly Wiggly shirt. I brought my beer gut, though I wasn’t drinking beer.

Afterwards Earl and I went to a place downtown called The Drunken Chicken. It’s a small location but has a great vibe about it. Earl decided to cover up his Piggly Wiggly tank top for dinner.

When we left it was quiet out and about. I guess that’s typical for the area on a Wednesday night.

3 May 2023 by Fun and Games Dept 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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