Ponderings and Musings

Downtime.

I woke up this morning feeling sniffly and run-down. I couldn’t really call off from work today because I wasn’t feeling like I was on death’s doorstep or anything; I’m just feeling like I’ve been working and playing hard and I need some downtime.

Good thing the weekend schedule looks relatively empty. And the fact that it’s Thursday makes the weekend schedule situation look even better, because we’re thisclose to the weekend. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Earl is out of town on business tonight so I am going to hit the hay early and hope that I don’t awake to a bunch of snow in the morning (forecasters are saying to expect anywhere from nothing to something with various inches in between tonight, but I don’t buy it). I read an article this morning that talked about human sleep patterns and how an eight-hour night of sleep may be contrary to our evolution. Studies and historical documents seem to indicate that our ancestors may have slept twice each night; sleep around four hours, up for an hour or two and then sleep another four hours or so. Their bodies did this naturally. I find this interesting because my body has been trying to do that sort of thing for years but I get all panicky about the fact that I’m awake in the middle of the night and I need to get as much sleep as possible before my alarm du jour starts clanging me awake. Perhaps tonight would be a good night to try the on-off-on approach to sleeping, since the bed will be empty (aside from me) and I wouldn’t be disturbing my husbear with my latest sleeping experiment.

Life is more fun when you treat it like a science experiment.

The bright side to my “I’m not sick but my body thinks it is” feeling is that I don’t feel sad or depressed, I’m a happy, sniffly person all the way. There’s always a bright side.

23 February 2012 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 4

Proud.

I’m sitting at a Dunkin’ Donuts not too far from the house, though it’s not the closest one to the house. Sometimes life is a little more enjoyable when you venture out a little bit.

There is a Lexus in the parking lot with a license plate frame that indicates they are from Larchmont, N.Y. I know that’s down near the Big Apple but I don’t know that I have ever been there. As they made their way into the store, their loud voices indicated a definite downstate accent. They are all bundled up like they’re ready to mount an Eskimo sled. None of them look husky enough to pull the sled though. They’re making the noises that people make when they brush snow off their bodies and try to stave off the cold. I find this amusing, but I’m not being judgmental. It’s not easy for me sometimes. It’s one of my weaknesses.

The weather today is actually quite nice for February, it’s just above freezing and right now we are enjoying a light snow flurry. The snow is not sticking to paved surfaces but it’s accumulating on the grassy areas. I am more than comfortable with my “trailer park hoodie” as I call it.

Quite a few folks from downstate make their way up to these parts, much more so than farther west to places like Syracuse or Rochester. I’ve always said that it’s because we are around a tank of gas away via the Thruway but that is just speculation.

Personally, I’d be more content farther west in the Empire State, where the attitude is even more Midwestern and the accent follows suit. I’m not a huge fan of this part of the state, but I am very proud to be from Upstate New York. Outside of living around Boston for three years, I have been an upstate New York boy all my life and I kind of boast about that. I often dream of what it would be like to live in another part of the country, or even in another country altogether, but the truth of the matter is that despite the ridiculous taxes, corrupt government and decaying economy, I like upper three quarters of the Empire State a lot.

It feels comfortable and I feel contentment.

Would I like to move again? Yes. I think I could further my career and be even more content farther west in state (especially in the Rochester or Buffalo areas) but that will come when the time is right.

For now, I’m just going to enjoy the contentment.

18 February 2012 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Exercise.

I was walking up to my favorite Dunkin’ Donuts when the voice in my head started in on me.

“Remember that dream you had the other night where you were running so fast that you were running in slow motion?”

“Yeah, what about it,” my curious side asked.

“Remember how good you felt when you were running so fast that you were running in slow motion. Remember how streamlined and how healthy you felt when you heard those ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch sounds in your head?”

“Yes,” I confessed. I didn’t want to pursue the conversation any longer because the fact that I was running in slow motion and hearing ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch sounds at 43 years old was a little disconcerting.

“You should skip the cookie today, just like you did yesterday.”

“But yesterday after skipping the cookie at Dunkin’ Donuts I ended up eating pistachios at my desk and they were really good,” I countered.

“You should skip the pistachios, too.”

“I want to ride my bike but it’s not bike riding season yet,” I silently remarked, using whatever telepathic means was necessary to shut the voice up inside my head. I don’t like it when that voice reminds me of ch-ch-ch-ch and healthy eating.

“Riding your bike will be much easier this spring if you watch what you eat during hibernation season.”

“I want to sleep if it’s hibernation season,” was my simple reply.

“You can’t. There’s too much to do. Why don’t you ride the exercise bike tonight as a way to celebrate the fact that you’re not going to order a cookie when you get to the counter?”

I was entering the front door of Dunkin’ Donuts when I muttered out loud, “Fine.” I wonder if people think I have tourettes.

I didn’t have to place an order for the unsweetened iced tea because the order was already in the process of being assembled. Yesterday I had encountered a new person behind the register and she asked what I wanted as the other person behind the counter handed me my already assembled beverage of choice.

“I’m predictable, I guess,” I remarked to the new person behind the register. Apparently this translated to “my UFO has cruise control” because she gave me a look like I was an alien.

I started my journey back to the Jeep to write this blog entry when the voice started up again.

“See, you did it, no cookie today. You’ll thank me for it later on.”

I better find a way to make the ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch sound.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

State College, Pennsylvania.

For the past two weeks the plan has been that on Friday Earl would meet me at work and we would leave on a weekend adventure. The target destination has been Virginia Beach for this particular weekend. We have done is weekend jaunt in the past; it’s a good way to get away from the chill of Central New York that is so prevalent this time of year.

Earl met me at work on cue Friday afternoon. It was then that he informed me that he had received word of some major changes at his work that would be taking place on Monday. We needed to stop at his office in Scotia to pick up some binders. No worries, we did just that and continued the ride.

As he perused the binders as I drove, I could sense that his business wheels we turning. He made a few calls and got things in order for Monday. At our first stop I said, “you’re concerned that we’re going to get home too late on Sunday.”

I was right.

“Why don’t we just go for a ride this weekend and see where we end up, with an earlier target time for home on Sunday?”. I assured him there would be no disappointment.

We spent the night in southern Jersey. I’ve never really been a fan of the congestion along the east coast, so this morning we turned westward and started following the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Now I love America’s first superhighway because of its historical value. Driving along the turnpike does not give you the same feeling of disconnection from the rest of the world like the rest of the interstate system does because of the narrow right of way of the highway. Plus, the tunnels are wicked cool.

We made a few stops here and there but had a pleasant drive all the way to Bedford, where we decided to turn north so we’d be about five hours from home for our drive tomorrow.

We are in the lovely city of State College, Pa. I always add “P A” to a Pennsylvania destination; this is a holdover from my days of living along the border in Jamestown. It’s just what we do.

We went to a local pub and brewery tonight where I had a couple of draft “Red Mo”s, well, because I am a red ‘mo. It had been a very relaxing day.

I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.

11 February 2012 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Controls.

I open my eyes and notice that I have jeans on. I feel younger than I actually am. My right wrist has a calculator watch on it. Trying to ascertain as to my location, I look up and see nothing but blue sky and white, puffy clouds. I’m looking through a skylight. Actually, I’m looking through the top of an airplane. Once my mind figures this out, I can hear the engine of the plane.

“Give ‘er a rip.”

I know that voice. Instinctively I put my hands on the controls and my feet on the rudders. I’m sitting in a rented Piper in the co-pilot seat. Dad is sitting in the the pilot’s seat, urging me to take control of the plane. He’s got a huge grin on his face, one that you would only see when he was in or near a plane. My dad grinned a lot, but the grin was different when he was flying.

I glance at the instruments to make sure I’m level with the horizon and then I decide to make a slow turn to the left. We are somewhere over a hilly, wooded area. I start to bank to the left a little bit. Dad is helping with the controls a little bit but letting me do my thing. As I gain confidence, I start to descend just a little bit. Well, I try to keep the change rather slight, but I push too hard on the controls and we start to go down more than I expected. I get dizzy from the change in altitude while turning at the same time and feel a moment of disorientation. The hills start to look closer and more menacing because we are headed toward them when we shouldn’t be.

“Whoa!”

Dad grabs the controls and pulls the Piper level. I gain my senses and am allowed to give it another try.

“You gotta work at it. Easy.”

He’s still grinning.

I decide that I have had enough of heading toward the hills and bank to the right.

“Well, we can’t go too close to the base. They don’t like it when we get into their air space. Gotta do it by the book.”

I level off and decide to head straight ahead. I squint as we head toward the sun, Dad is wearing his aviator sunglasses. He was always prepared like that. The sky is clear, the ride is smooth and the warmth of the sun coming into the cockpit is reassuring. A beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Dad takes the controls and banks us to the left with much more confidence than I displayed when I was trying to turn earlier and became disoriented. Urged to try, I do the same. I do much better and I successfully head us off somewhere; apparently I’m headed in the right direction. He continues to grin.

And then I jump, as I wake up and realize my alarm is going off, telling me it’s time to start my Friday.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

10 February 2012 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Path.

A while back I talked about a new iPhone app called Path. It’s actually version 2 of Path, called, appropriately, Path 2, (wow that’s a lot of commas; I apologize to anyone that’s allergic) and it is a pretty nifty app in that it creates something like a hybrid twitter or Facebook stream/Foursquare check-in notification/Instagram photo sharing space for your closest friends. The idea behind Path2 is that you only connect with your closest friends and family so you can be a little more intimate with the details of your life. After all, there are some things in life that you shouldn’t share on Twitter. For example, I’ve seen people share the time, place and method of their latest sexual escapade on an unlocked Twitter stream and to me that’s just freaky. I know that I live my life pretty openly on the Internet but there is no way that I would ever proclaim to a random group of millions of people the specifics of how, when or where I just had sex. There a couple of reasons that might lead to that sort of proclamation, for example, if you want to share the boundaries of your creativity or if you want to advertise your abilities so you can get a higher rate.

I think I digressed.

Anyway, Path2’s design through it’s gorgeous app was to urge you to be a little more personable with a select group of people with your internet life. I used it and liked it for that reason; I only followed a half dozen or so people on there and it was kind of nifty. If I want to go for the full-on broadcast of details, I could by just telling the app to push my details to Twitter or whatever.

Now, the Path2 app and service is free. This always leads me to taking pause, because you can hardly ever get something for nothing so there has to be some sort of catch. Well, I haven’t figured out the mechanics to figure out how the folks at Path2 were making money. Actually, I didn’t invest enough time to figure out how, but when there’s little to no money involved there’s usually data-mining so that it can be sold to an advertiser. It’s kind of like my feelings about Google; as a Google user you’re not the customer, you are the product and the applications are the factory that build the product base. I figure I was just another Path2 product.

Now here’s where it gets wonky and it makes me angry. I read on Daring Fireball this morning that Path2 has been uploading the ENTIRE ADDRESSBOOK on your Android or iPhone to it’s servers, WITHOUT your consent. That’s right, data that can be linked back to you is being stored on Path2’s servers and nowhere did you agree to that sort of thing.

That’s bad.

Now, I know that Google and Facebook and a ton of other services and applications do the same thing, but they let you know that in the very, very small print of their Terms of Service. I completely abide by the “don’t put it on the network if you wouldn’t want it on the front page of the New York Times” rule I learned back in 1988 when I worked for DEC. When I put my address book on iCloud, I know that I am doing it and I know where my address book is being stored and I know the possible ramifications from doing so.

It is not cool when a company does it without my permission. Not only does that damage the reputation of the company in eyes, but it damages trust in Cloud computing in general. And that’s not good. Because we wouldn’t be able to do the millions of nifty things we do with our smartwhatevers if we didn’t have the power of cloud computing behind them.

Path2 was deleted off of my iDevices this morning at approximately 5:40 a.m. They’ve lost my trust. And getting back my trust would be damned near impossible unless they completely opened up the source code for their app so that the world can see what they’re doing.

In a world where honor and integrity seem to be less important, it’s unfortunate when elements of today’s technological niceties seem to reinforce that fact.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 February 2012 by J.P. Geek Ponderings and Musings Why. 3

Teaching.

Right out of high school I went to college with the intent on getting a degree in Music Education. At the time it seemed like the natural career path for me, because I did have an interest in teaching and I enjoyed my musical aspirations. My music performances (vocal and tuba) brought joy to others so wouldn’t it be a wonderful contribution to the world if I could teach others to do the same thing. However, my heart wasn’t into college that first time around and I abandoned the idea of becoming a music teacher after a while. I could get into a long discussion as to the reasons for this realization but we’ll save that for the next time we have a drink together.

The reason I bring this up is that although I didn’t pursue that education degree, there’s a part of me that still very much enjoys teaching and that is what I’ve been doing at work this latter half of the week. I’ve been working on writing software for the past eight weeks, now it’s time to instruct users on what it does, why it does it and how one goes about accomplishing what they’re destined to accomplish using the application I have written. The classes started last night. So far they have been well received.

I think because I am so passionate about technology and the fact that I like people to get what they can out of a technological experience is why I enjoy teaching others about it so much. Some people may not realize that I feel this way, because there is an IT geek part of me that does the stereotypical roll of the eyes, a big sigh and a click click click of the mouse to fix something that someone has messed up on their computer once in a while, but that’s usually reserved for something that I think the user should know in tandem with a cranky mood I might be having. I don’t respond as well to expected IT support (“make my screensaver do something nifty!”) as I do a genuine interest in how to accomplish something on a computer (“please show me how to change my screensaver).

I think it’s the passion and the belief in the subject that fuels my motivation to teach. And because of my eccentric ways, some might find that my passion might be in something that most find mundane, so I guess in a way it’s a win-win for all involved.

There’s a part of me that wants to pursue teaching technological stuff to others, or at the very least, writing about it and sharing with the world all the nifty things that one can do with the right geek tools when used properly.

Perhaps this is something that I need to put on the bucket list.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 February 2012 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 1

Shifted.

Those that see the Twitter announcement that I a new blog entry has been posted will note that I am writing this blog entry at 9:13 a.m. Contrary to the notion that I am covertly writing this blog entry from my cubicle at work, I am actually sitting in the comfort of my home office and I am currently not on anyone’s clock.

I start work at noon today.

Now I know that that’s quite an introductory paragraph for such a simple fact; a shift in one’s time schedule is not something to get all giddy about. However, in my reality, I am giddy because my day is changed up a little bit and I am actually going to be working during my personal Prime Working Hours. I enjoy being productive in my Prime Working Hours. I would enjoy it even more if I could do it from the comfort of my own home office, but that’s another blog entry.

I am working different hours today so I can train the first round of users on how to use the software I have been designing and building for the past month or so. It’s going to be a little bit of a trick, training users on how to use a software application that hasn’t been completed yet, but it’s a challenge that I am sure that I can live up to. Full on implementation for the new software isn’t until next Tuesday, so I have plenty of time to get it completed and the bugs worked out. (Please don’t let the sarcasm drip onto your nice looking clothes).

In all seriousness, I have enough of the application done that it is functional and we can get data where it needs to be, there’s just not enough flash and pizazz for my liking. I’ll be tweaking for a while. Besides, these days people don’t expect the “.0” release to be anything beyond functional anyway.

Despite the challenge, I am very excited to be working these different hours today. My only concern, other than the aforementioned incomplete application, is whether my iced tea at my favorite Dunkin’ Donuts will be warm at 8 p.m. after waiting for me to retrieve it at noon.

1 February 2012 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Relaxation.

Earl and I sometimes quip that we are a “power couple”. We both have pretty intense careers and it is not uncommon for us to spend nights apart because he is traveling somewhere on business. There’s a part of me that would enjoy traveling for business as well, but that’s a different subject.

I say we quip about the “power couple” thing because I don’t really see us as a power couple as much as just a busy couple. When I worked for DEC in the late 1980s I saw a lot of power couples; two people working for the same company that were trying very hard to claw their way up the corporate ladder. There was one couple in particular that maintained a long distance relationship; he lived in Seattle and she lived in Boston. They commuted one way or the other on the weekends to see each other. I don’t think that I could do that. Earl keeps me grounded, so I need to have his home base be the same place as mine. I couldn’t bring myself to have my own place (say, five minutes from work); that’s just not our style. That’s the reason Earl stays at one of the hotels in Buffalo each week, he can’t bring himself to have a separate apartment.

After all these years we are still very much in love.

Since we are on the go at breakneck speeds all week, sometimes we need a little downtime. Now I had plans of doing some work on The Big Project this weekend, and I have made some accomplishments thus far, but the both of us have been so tired today that all we wanted to do was veg out. I slept in a little bit, went to brunch with two lovely ladies that I used to work with and then came home and did a little bit of work while Earl worked at the office, trying to catch up on his monthly paperwork. When he got home we both crashed and took a multi-hour nap. I haven’t taken a nap that long in a very long time. It would explain why I’m writing a blog entry at 23:00 EST when I’m usually long asleep by then. Apparently a multi-hour nap is the new Geritol for the 40s set.

It’s funny to think that a few years ago at this time I was just starting the night at work as a club DJ, blasting my eardrums out with yet another Madonna remix and working until all hours of the morning. I can’t imagine doing that now. I don’t think it’s age as much as it’s priorities.

The relaxation theme will continue tomorrow, though I need to finish a few more pages of code for the application that I am debuting this week at work. We’ll still find time to relax in the meantime, so we can get all wound up again for the work week.

Life is good but if it isn’t, just laugh, that’ll help make it good again.

28 January 2012 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 2

Discretion.

I believe that under the right parameters, social media has a spot in the workplace, especially for folks in technology related fields and positions. One of the greatest assets at my job is that fact that if I am stuck on building a piece of code or trying to find documentation on a very old piece of equipment that I am trying to integrate into our network, I am able to reach out to others that have had the same kind of experience, whether it be through a Google search or reaching out on Twitter or a conversation in an IRC chat with geeks like me. This is one of many reasons that I have my Twitter account. I know that there are folks that like to use Twitter as an “enhanced chat room” where they publicly trade quips back and forth and occasional post photos of various parts, and that’s fine, but my personal work ethic dictates that that sort of interaction needs to be confined to off hours. It’s just the way I roll.

One other thing that I enjoy about Twitter (which is my favorite of the big, primarily word-based social networks), is that if you follow the right people, you’ll learn of news pretty quickly. I turn to Twitter before anywhere else when I hear that there may be late breaking news. When we had the little earthquake last year I saw “Earthquake!” (from a person in Virginia) on my Twitter feed at the same time as it was happening in the office. Kind of cool. I love following Twitter during political debates, discussions and other such events. I have a Twitter list set aside for my growing political information habit and that’s what I usually have scrolling by on my desktop. Oddly enough, these bits of information usually keep me focused on the task at hand, because it keeps my mind wandering when I’m doing tasks that don’t require a lot of brain cycles. It’s just the way I’m wired.

I was working on The Big Project yesterday when I saw my supervisor’s reflection in my super glossy monitor. He was standing behind me and that doesn’t really bother me because he’s a good guy and I enjoy working with him. I went to look someone up on iChat so we could drop them a line when my Twitter feed popped up over another window. Unfortunately, the Twitter name of the latest update was a little suggestive.

Oops.

Though it’s known that I follow Twitter at work for the reasons mentioned above and nothing was said about what had appeared on my screen, I felt somewhat ashamed of myself because I don’t believe that that sort of activity belongs in the workplace. Though I’m a goofball, I still believe that a high level of professionalism should always be maintained and this little thing was not demonstrating my beliefs. So last night I decided to clean out some of the racier accounts that I follow on Twitter and to make doubly sure that nothing like that happens again, I created a separate Google Talk account so that I could continue chatting with the vendor that uses Google Talk without having my former Google+ contacts pop up on the chat window list (what’s that about, anyways).

I always worry about offending people when I unfollow them on a social network, because it’s kind of like a slap in the face, especially without an explanation. And because I’m already rather selective as to who I follow on Twitter and the like, it’s not a huge deal for me, but nevertheless, I felt that this particular incident was less stellar than I strive for when I reach for the stars.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

27 January 2012 by J.P. Geek Ponderings and Musings 2

Ponderings and Musings

Downtime.

Proud.

Exercise.

State College, Pennsylvania.

Controls.

Path.

Teaching.

Shifted.

Relaxation.

Discretion.

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