Posted on

Old dog. Not so new tricks?

It was a fairly crappy week at work. I won’t go into details but by yesterday afternoon, I was in need of a change of pace…

I’ve been telling myself for a long time that I need to learn some new programming skills (Alright, I’ve really just been whining about it.). You see, I’ve been developing products using many of the same tools and techniques for more years than I care to admit. That’s worked fine for where I am, but it’s not been the most intellectually stimulating approach…and not exactly a career-building approach. So, with my ugly week wrapping up, and a bit of a break in the action as I was nearing the holiday, I decided to return to my well-worn theme of “Man, I’m getting old and I really need to learn something new.”

Fine. Now, what should I do?

Well, I’ve been a sidelines fan of Python for a number of years. I even went so far as to experimentally embed it into one of our products, as a means of building in powerful scripting. At the time, it wasn’t really ready for that kind of environment, so I pretty much dropped it. In the intervening years, I made some half-hearted attempts to learn the language, but “real life” always seemed to get in the way.

Yesterday, things were gonna be different.

At work, we’ve been needing a way to automatically create the release package for our latest product. It includes a number of executable images, configuration files, scripts, and whatnot, and all of that needs to be packaged into a ZIP file with a name format that our host system recognizes.

Up ’til yesterday, that was all done by hand… I had my “learn something new” project.
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I wrote a Python script (and an associated Windows batch file) to build the release package. Since I already had Python 2 & 3 installed, I started by taking to the ‘Net to get ideas about how to do simple things like file manipulation, directory and file compression, exception handling, etc. In the end, I had a nice little geegaw that lets me do what I described. It took a few hours (mostly spent searching the Internet) but in the end I had what I wanted, and I learned a good bit while doing it.

“Big deal” you might say, and I totally get it. I mean, developers everywhere do that kind of thing daily as a diversion, requiring almost zero cycles, right? Still for me, it was a tiny re-affirmation that I could actually pick up something fairly new and make it do useful work. All in a scant few hours.

Then it got me thinking…

Once it was working, I started worrying that I probably hadn’t done things the “Python way”, using all the cool object-oriented features and other what-not’s that make so many Python guru’s tingle. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee any competent Python developer would take one look at my code and could give me 30 different & better ways to do what I did.

But does that really matter? I mean, I suspect that customers will generally not care whether a product was developed using the latest software framework, or the most recent vintage of micro controller or FPGA, or whatever. Obviously, people want the latest and greatest, but the “how” doesn’t usually matter. So of course, I want to use good technique and I want to be conversant in the latest approach, but when I’m working on a product, I’m not concerned that the customer will have a problem with the fact that I wrote their code in “C” and didn’t (gasp!) use the factory pattern when instantiating one of their runtime objects. Obviously, I want to be up to date and I want to understand better ways to do things, but I don’t want those matters to get in the way of doing a good product. That stuff is all good and I’ll continue to learn new languages and practices, but I need to keep my perspective pointed at developing quality products, using the best techniques I have while I’m doing it.

( Full disclosure: I’ve taken a few Java & PHP classes, and done some Javascript, Objective-C, Swift, etc. in the last few years. I’m just always worried about my age and marketability as time progresses. So, it’s not so much that I never go out and learn things, it’s really more that I don’t often get a good reason to apply them, given my circumstances. )

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Yup, it’s my annual site update

I keep telling myself I’ll go back to posting regularly. That never happens. Still, I want to be sure my site is using the latest WordPress and that my plug-ins are up to date as well. While I’m at it, I tend to select a new theme. This is the new WordPress “2012” theme (seems late, huh?). Pretty clean, limited clutter. In some cases, when the elbow is bent online levitra india like while driving or holding phone. This proves to be more efficient. viagra ordering Though this particular disease is often seen in young girls is for bulimia to occur in the years following its introduction, tadalafil prices claimed USD 1 billion in sales for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. cialis: Constitution purchase cheap cialis is taken with alpha blockers, your blood pressure could suddenly drop to an unsafe level. Detoxification can be helpful for weight loss, although this is not its primary purpose. discount cialis appalachianmagazine.com Easy on the eyes. Done.

Now, I’m looking for topics for posts. I don’t want to re-create Facebook or Twitter posts, so this should be a place to put more substantial work. I’m open to good suggestions… Among other things I keep telling myself is that I’ll start writing about Embedded Systems development. Perhaps I’ll do something there…soon…maybe…

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A Simple Christmas Truth

I was thinking about Christmas and how I’ve grown to dread this time of year. I honestly don’t know why I feel that way, but as I was thinking about it this evening, I also happened to be listening to a Christmas song from MercyMe. It’s sung from the perspective of Joseph, Jesus’ father, while Jesus was still an infant. Joseph is speaking to Jesus, asking Him if He feels the weight of His glory and if He understands the price He’ll eventually pay. Joseph goes on to tell Jesus to rest now because soon enough, He’ll have much to do.

At the moment I heard that, a really simple truth became clear to me. It’s this:

It doesn’t matter whether you believe that Jesus was born in October, December or March. It doesn’t matter how the world has chosen to celebrate Him or even when. What is important to understand is this: Jesus wasn’t born one minute early, or one second late. His ministry didn’t begin one week ahead of time or one day after it should. His death on the cross didn’t occur seasons too soon, or months too late. Instead, these events occurred at exactly the right time; exactly the right year; exactly the right moment. And what’s so exciting about that fact is that if God can perform with such perfect timing for His Son, imagine what He can do with you! He never sleeps. He never wavers. He’s never early and He’s never, ever late.

I know that Christmastime is one of the most depressing seasons for many people. I admit it’s started pretty poorly for me. A long-time friend passed away this past weekend at the age of 45, after a truly brave battle with cancer. I’ve been questioning God about it all, particularly the timing. I keep thinking what a horrible time of year for it was for her to die and how this will affect her family and friends. It has to feel like an unbelievable tragedy to them and their grief has to be immense. But when I consider what I just realized about His timing, I have to rest in this simple truth:
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God is never early. He’s never late. He has a plan for us and He always completes his plans. I have to believe that. I have the evidence: The Word made flesh, at the perfect time.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

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Some personal maxims…


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As I’ve moved along my career and life, I’ve developed a few small personal maxims.

Forthwith:

  • Something needs done.  Do it.
  • Ideas are not more important than their implementation.
  • Analysis is no substitute for execution.
  • Think.  Act.  Repeat.
  • Let your efforts pull your audience in, not shove them down a path you designate.
The list isn’t exhaustive and for me it continues to grow, but these do capture a fair amount of my thinking of the last few years.  I imagine everyone has their additions, variations and twists.  

Posted on

Reposting some fun stuff…

This was originally posted back in 2005.  I was fortunate to find it by using the “Wayback Machine” (Internet Archive @ www.archive.org), since I’ve managed to lose most of my content prior to about 2007…

Sadly both friends from this post have passed on.  I miss them a lot and I think this story will give you a feel for the kind of fun and friendship we had.

Original post: July 19, 2005:

I should have known when my friend Bob went down on the ice of the hillside that trouble awaited us.

We were helping our friend Steve move some items from his in-laws-to-be, to the home he and his new wife would be occupying. Mainly, we were there to transplant a spare refrigerator from the basement to it’s new residence a short distance away.

The first clue trouble was ahead should have been the fact that it was January. The next should have been the glare of ice on the lawn leading down to the back entrance of the house. Did you know that when snow melts then freezes again, the result can be slippery? Three reasonably intelligent adult males and that fact somehow didn’t set off any alarm bells.
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As we made our way down the hill and around the back, Bob took a pretty hard fall, sliding toward the side of the house. Steve and I were having our own troubles staying upright when we finally made it into the safety of the basement. Despite the fact the ceiling height was about 5 feet and we all banged our foreheads multiple times, we still needed to get the refrigerator back to the vehicle. The theory was, after our adventures getting to the basement, we should strap the ‘fridge to a hand truck and try to take a slightly different route back to the U-Haul (or whatever the vehicle of choice was, I can’t quite recall) so as to avoid the skating rink on the hillside. Even though there was still snow on the ground in line with the path we were planning, it seemed like a safer bet to have it under foot than the other form of frozen water. It *sounded* like a good plan at the time…

Steve chose to steer the appliance from behind while Bob and I guided the thing from the front. That part was going OK, and we were making slow but steady progress until we got to a little rise in the lawn that required a bit of heaving on Steve’s part and a fair bit of shoving on Bob’s and my part.

At this point, you need to know that Steve had elected to wear treadless deck shoes for our little moving adventure and you also need to know that neither Bob nor I knew this.

While Steve was heaving to help pull the ‘fridge up the little rise, his shoes’ lack of tread became an issue…and both his feet slipped out from under him. Remember, he had the hand truck and appliance tipped toward him while he was backing up the little rise. When pressure overcame friction, the whole shebang landed on top of him. After a second or so of surprise, I lost my composure. If I had a camera and had been cruel enough to think of it, I would have snapped a picture or two. It was like something from a Saturday morning cartoon. Here was a refrigerator laying in the snow, two arms extending from the sides at the top and two legs sticking out of the bottom…and Steve yelling for us to get the thing off of him. He didn’t sound like he had been hurt and frankly, I was laughing so hard that when Bob and I got the load off of him, I had to sit down in the snow to regain my self control. Thankfully, the hand truck and the mushy ground had helped to prevent any injuries to poor Steve.

I’m not sure what the moral of the story is here, but I can tell you that snow, deck shoes and refrigerators are not a good combination in the middle of January, particularly when you add three supposedly intelligent males to the mix.

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Annual Blog Site Update

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Posted on

Succinct review of Obamacare.

“Let me get this straight.  We’re going to be gifted with a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president who also hasn’t read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke.

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– Unattributed

Posted on

Tort reform as Health Care reform?

My brother-in-law had to have a double heart catheterization yesterday.  He has to have at least one a year since his heart transplant.  Besides spending more than 15 hours there,  he was allowed to leave the hospital only after:

– I signed a discharge form, since he had been mildly sedated during the procedure.
– The nurse read an extremely long list of “do’s” and “don’ts” to him.
– He and I acknowledged the list.

…which took some 15 minutes or so.  My brother-in-law and I then headed down the elevator and then toward the garage.  The same nurse came running up, breathless, to recite a forgotten part of her script before we got out of the building.  We left the 5th floor, crossed a large lobby and walked down a long hallway before she caught up to us.
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Why?  Because hospitals and doctors, nurses, aids, janitors, etc. are sued every day for every form of supposed infraction.  Who pays for these lawsuits?  Of course in the end, we all do.  However, those “greedy” insurance companies are first in line to pay,  not that I’m a big fan of insurance companies.  There are certainly many things that need fixed in that industry, but it’s hard to lay the blame for this insane desire of our elected officials to control your health care completely at their feet.

I won’t go into the rigamarole he had to go through **while he was in the O.R.** the last time he had one of these, all in the name of helping prevent lawsuits… (think recorded disclaimers, ad-infinitum)

Wanna help control health care costs?  Spend some effort focusing on the insane number of lawsuits that are filed each second of every day.  Will that “fix” health care in America all by itself?  No.  But imagine what a difference it could make.

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Let’s talk Political agendas…

The President, while attempting to help save the Mass. Senate seat from a loss to (gasp!) the Republican candidate, yesterday said of Scott Brown that “It’s hard to suggest he’s going to be significantly independent from the Republican agenda,”

He was kidding right?

Of course it’s obvious that he and his Congressional cronies have absolutely no agenda, right? Sorry contestant, that would be incorrect!

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The hypocrisy of our Socialist POTUS and Congress is un-paralleled and this desperation move simply continues to cement that as fact.  I believe the public has begun to see these hypocrites for what they are and I’m truly hoping that they demonstrate it on Tuesday.

If anyone has an agenda, it’s without a doubt the President and his buddies over in the Capitol.  Focusing attention on someone else to distract from your own crimes doesn’t change that fact that you committed ’em.

Posted on

Merry Christmas!

Amidst my grousing about our political situation, there’s still much to be thankful and happy for.

So…

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Merry Christmas!!!!!