Mac's Thoughts

My Time. My Boys.

2011-12-02T18:56:00.001-08:00

Many of you may have wondered why within the last year I've written a total of four blog posts, this being the fifth. Oddly enough, my lack of anything remotely personal, such as blogging, has disappeared now that I have not one son, but two. It's not so much the diaper changing that swallows your time. It's the diaper change after the diaper change, followed by playing football and baseball - in the living room when mom's not home - and the occasional snow man, bath, feeding, doctor visit, and temper tantrum. It's amazing how much time those things take away from your personal space and time.

But you know what? It's totally worth it. Spending time with my boys is the greatest experience I've ever had. No, I don't have time for happy hour, blogging, working out on Saturday mornings, or reading a book a week. The things that fill up this space such as skating and skiing lessons, watching my baby army-crawl towards the Christmas tree, educating the oldest that to get a good swing on a ball you have to come down on the ball (even though it defies what your mind is telling you), are things that I wouldn't change for anything in the world.

Now, off to watch Handy Manny and scream at the oldest to clean up his toys.

2011 Militia Open

2011-08-22T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here are the results from the 2011 Militia Open. These are brought to you by Justin Bieber and a panda.

Longest Drive #4 = Jake
Closest To The Pin #7 = Mac
Closest To The Pin #11 = Mac
Closest To The Pin #13 = Jake

1st = Aaron/Patrick (75)
2nd = Keith/John McN. (78)
3rd = Jake/John Wild. (79)
4th = Mac/John Sch. (79)

It's believed that the 75 by Aaron and Patrick is a Militia record.

My Gopher Football Schedule - 2011

2011-08-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here is our lineup for the 2011 Gopher Football scheduled with Coach Kill.

09/10/11 - New Mexico State (Matt)
09/17/11 - Miami - Ohio (Sell)
09/24/11 - North Dakota State (Mac)
10/22/11 - Nebraska (Mac & Matt)
10/29/11 - Iowa (Mac)
11/12/11 - Wisconsin (Matt)
11/26/11 - Illinois (Mac & Matt)

My Proust Questionnaire

2010-12-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

Here is my Proust Questionnaire for writing class.

What do you want people to say about you 100 years from now? The amazing thing is that he's still sexually active.

Why does your wife stay with you? We both ask ourselves this daily.

What is your dream job? Writing some useless, yet extremely expensive and needy, software from a Northern Minnesota cabin after a morning of golf.

How many years have you been in school? 28 years, and counting.

What are you most proud of? My children.

Your name is Mac, why don't you use a Mac? Because my wife is cheap. I do have an iPhone though, which took, among other things, begging.

Who do you despise? I get along with most anyone, with the exception being the people I don't get along with.

How many books have you sold? Not nearly enough to retire.

Your desk is always messy. Does that mean your unorganized? I don't see it as being messy. I see my desk as being busy. If you have time to clean your desk, you're not nearly busy enough.

Who is your favorite author? Bill Bryson. Who else?

What is your favorite music? I listen to country and rock. And while working out, I occasionally listen to genre that I won't admit in public.

Who do you most admire? My dad. Everyday I look in the mirror and see myself becoming him. And I'm good with that. He's a great guy.

Why don't you go to church very often? This is a dilemma for me as I want my children to grow up with some religious background. My wife is Catholic and I'm Lutheran. That means we'll join a catholic church. I have issues with giving that organization money.

Will you someday own a BMW? Who's buying it for me? I like Hondas. The only thing they need is gas. And often not even that.

Will you ever move from Minnesota? Never say never, but I can't see my family leaving the Twin Cities. My wife wouldn't have her mother to shop with, and that would be unfavorable for all of us.

Who cooks? Occasionally my wife does. We often outsource. Thus my weight gain.

Where is your favorite place to vacation? Oddly enough, we really like the North Shore of Minnesota. Our best times have been by the lake with a few cocktails.

What is your favorite beer? Anything you're buying. Honestly, right now it has to be Surly Furious. Though, I'm willing to try most anything, with the exception of Jacob's Best.

What is your biggest regret? I missed a blocked punt in 11th grade against Fairbault. Wish I had that one back. And, back between the ages of 18 and 23, I wish I knew then what I know now. This is a catchall for a few things.

Thoughts on Coach Kill

2010-12-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

When Coach Jerry Kill was announced as Gopher Football coach, I, like many alumni and season ticket holders said "who?" Top on my list was Marc Trestman and Mike Leach. Both would have brought national attention to the program and given us the prominence we need.

I didn't have a grip against Coach Kill, it was just that I had never heard of him. (Though I had seen him as they beat the Gophers this year and I was unfortunately at the game.) He was from a non-BCS conference and someone that wasn't once mentioned as a candidate.

This all being said, after reading no less than 10 articles on Kill and finding out from my brother that he called all Northern Illinois season ticket holders in 2010 thanking them for their business, I have become a big fan.

Coach Brewster drove me ^%$#ing nuts with his grand pontifications about Rose Bowls and Big Ten titles. As an alumni and season ticket holder, I'm not unaware that our most immediate goals should be beating a team from Dakota and getting bowl eligible again. Brewster should have taken the patch of Rose Bowl grass and burned it after losing to South Dakota.

I figure myself as a pretty good judge of character and within the first three minutes of listening to Brewster, I knew we were screwed. After reading and listening to Kill on the radio. I think we have a chance. I really feel that this down-to-earth, coach who has won at every level, manager who has kept almost his entire staff intact the past 15 years, businessman who called every season ticket holder last year, will do fine job.

I'm taking a big gamble here by saying this, but I'm betting Coach Kill is here for the next 20 years.

Walter Football

2010-10-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

I run a small NFL Pick'em league where you have to pick the winner against the spread. It's just like in Vegas, though without the free drinks and smoking.

To gain an edge against my opponents, I wrote a small program that uses the line and home field advantage to create some synthetic numbers based on data I get from USA Today. So far I'm 44-41 using it.

I've been looking for some other data to add into my algorithm and in the process came across Water Football. If you think I get a bit nutty with data (e.g. my yearly golf scores, puts, greens and fairways hit are recorded in a spread-sheet), this guy has crazy stuff.

His picks take a bit to get through each week as he writes a novel for each game. But if you're really into Pick'em leagues, this guy is the bomb (technical term). He has his weekly and yearly winnings (he must play online or live in Vegas), which I find interesting to look at. I'm not sure if they are real, but he did admit losing over $1000 last week, so at least he has some humility if he's lying. Looking at the results, I think he's probably being fairly honest.

If you have a few minutes (more like a hour) to waste, check out his site. Good stuff if you're into fantasy sports and Pick'em leagues.

Bond Valuation Class

2010-10-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

I just finished up with a course on bond valuation at the U of M. If I end up passing, I'll have two classes left to finish my MBA.

The first thing you learn about taking a class on bond valuation is that you should never take a class on bond valuation. For those of us not in finance, time value of money is tough enough. Toss in trying to value static spreads, forward rates, and locked in arbitrage opportunities, we're thrown for all kind of loops.

The professor was not only a professor, but the head of finance at Carlson. He was a very good teacher, but gave us more work than a full-time working father/husband cared for. Five homeworks (hard homework), three quizzes, two group homeworks, five short papers (really short) and a final. All for a seven week class. Seemed a bit demanding to me, but I struggled through it.

My next class is on business writing, which should prove to be far less demanding than calculating the yield to maturity using treasury spot rates. Lets at least hope so.

2010 West Blue Golf League - Results

2010-09-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here are the results from the 2010 West Blue Golf League.

Playoffs
1st - The Mulligans
2nd - Swing Doctors
3rd - Earth Movers (over Mentally Handicapped)
Consolation = Pinseekers (over Double Eagles)

The tournament weather was around 70 degrees, but with a prevailing two-club wind. I'm thinking the wind, along with the Gopher Football's poor play against South Dakota, affected most of the players (Travis Ranger and Jim Conry excluded). Compared to years past, scores were down about three strokes. We also had our first + score under my tenure. Unacceptable.

Lastly, the three-sum taking second was due to a no-show. The two defined three-sums finished 9th and 12th.

Tournament
1st - Bjerken, Wagner, Spilman, Schwartz (-9)
2nd - Porter, Braxmeier, Remarke (-8)
3rd - Gleiter, Trzynka, Fermoyle, Gebhart (-7)
4th - Price, Noland, Loya, Gerding (-6)
5th - Steigerwald, Conry, Englert, Finander (-6)
6th - Kuznia, Prout, Rehfeld, Walberg (-5)
7th - Hanson, Augst, Harlow, Piere (-5)
8th - Sole, Lenz, Ronning, Rowan (-3)
9th - Wendt, Madigan, Mohs (-3)
10th - Schwartz, Kroening, Olenius, Rager (-3)
11th - McNaughton, Hunecke, Grausnick, Vlasak (-2)
12th - Meggitt, Tschida, Daml (+2)

Longest Drive #3 - Gerding (280 yards)
Closest to pin #4 - Fermoyle (not even close)
Closest to pin #7 - Prout (driver into the wind)
Closest to pin #16 - Bjerken
Longest Put #18 - Rager

Two skins were awarded. The Gleiter, Trzynka, Fermoyle, Gebhart team eagled #1 for the first (second year in a row that a eagle took a skin here). And the Bjerken, Wagner, Spilman, Schwartz team birdied #11 for the second.

Tom Horner

2010-08-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

I can't say I agree with Tom Horner on every point, but out of the three candidates for governor, I like what I'm hearing from the Independent candidate.

If you're not familiar with Horner, check out this short opinion from the Pioneer Press.

Like everyone, I'm sure he has some holes in his policy, but he seems to be a level headed politician.

Credit Card Reform - Not For Me

2010-08-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Since Congress passed the Credit Card Reform Act, I've seen my card add an annual fee and increase my borrowing rate. The Act has a number of consumer protections (predatory lending, debiting higher interested balances first, advanced notice of rate increases, etc.,) but none of them directly help me. I pay any balance monthly and threaten to change cards if any unfair change is thrust upon me.

I guess in a way I was benefiting from other's ineptitude to manage their expenses or fend off aggressive banks. So maybe my new annual fee from Chase is simply my way of giving back to the greater good. Or, maybe we're continuing to babysit people who struggle to financially take care of themselves. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

Apple iPhone 4.0.1 upgrade

2010-08-06T16:11:00.001-07:00

It took three days, one call to Apple, two calls from Apple, two support staff members (the last being a senior level tech), a one-time approval to re-download previously paid for music, but I'm finally upgraded to iPhone OS 4.0.1.

We're not 100% sure why it happened, but during the upgrade process something went wrong. And then during the restore process, something went really wrong. When the restore failed (error 1604 I think), my phone was rendered useless and prompted me to try six different steps, the last being "call Apple."

The tech reps were excellent. Though my phone does not include Tech Support, being it was an upgrade issue, they agreed to help me. And then even agreed to go through some hoops to get all my music back. Apparently, music is not included in your backups (or syncs) by default. So I had to re-download it all. They showed me how to change my sync settings so now music is backed up.

All in all I lost just a couple of songs that for some reason didn't show up on the list of things I've purchased from Apple's iTunes. It's only a couple so I'm not complaining.

Now that I'm pieced back together, I'll review some of the new features in 4.0.1.

Online Gambling

2010-08-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Buried in this Time's article about a forthcoming merger of online gambling giants is some news regarding the U.S. reverting the constraints put on gaming in 2006. While I've never once placed an online bet, I've always taken the stance that others have and instead of having the government ignore it, let's make it legal and tax it. Why try to ignore a billion dollar business?

Would I engage in online gaming if it was backed by a reputable vendor and wouldn't get me thrown in prison? Yes, I'd be willing to place a few small bets. When in Vegas, I tend to wager a few $10 bets (hardly ever any more than that). If I had the opportunity to do something similar from the comforts of my garage, I'd be all for it.

Difference Between Widows 2008 Server SP2 and Windows 2008 Server R2

2010-07-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

The data center asked us if we wanted Windows 2008 Server SP2 or Windows 2008 Server R2 on our new hardware. While I should have read up on the differences a while back, it just never got to the top of my list.

From what I found, in layman’s terms, Windows 2008 Server is the server equivalent of Vista (junk!), while R2 is the server equivalent of Windows 7 (pretty solid in my mind). Meaning R2 is basically another full release of Microsoft’s server operating system. Microsoft marketing likes to confuse us with illogical names and numbers.

Other than a host of fixes (and new bugs I would bet), the major changes in R2 are more tools and functionality for vitalizing your OS and support for more logical processors. None of these are particularly important for my project, but since R2 is the latest and greatest, I suggested we go with it.

Here is some suggested community developed material that I found valuable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_2008_R2

Inspire Magazine

2010-07-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

In a time when most magazine's are struggling, the idiots in Al Qaeda have started their own: Inspire. (Now in English.)

In the first edition you can get information on such things as "make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom" (their English is sketchy) and Mujahedeen 101.

Naomi Campbell's Diamonds

2010-07-02T07:07:00.001-07:00

Model, Naomi Campbell, has been called to The Hague in former Liberian President, Charles Taylor's human rights trial. Her involvement with Taylor? Accepting diamonds as a gift from the suspected murderer.

Simply accepting diamonds isn't a crime. However, Taylor has denied to harvesting "Blood Diamonds" from Sierra Leone rebels, which he's been accused of funding. If Campbell admits she got diamonds from Taylor, then his connection to diamonds of any sort, is established.

Why am I sharing this story? Because at the end of the article, we find that Campbell not only accepted diamonds, but "was disappointed because she thought she was going to get a big shiny diamond, not rough pebbles."

Where do people like Campbell get nerve to complain about diamonds, most likely harvested by a group of rebels committing genocide? Time to get rid of my Naomi Campbell bobble heads.

Rock Throwing on Lake Superior

2010-06-30T05:45:00.001-07:00

One of the things that amazes me about kids is how easily they are transfixed on things their parents want them to avoid. Take rock throwing for example. While on our annual trip to Cornucopia, Wisconsin to visit my family's boat (and my family), my son became enamored with throwing rocks.

Throwing things in general isn't that bad of an habit. However, when surrounded by a myriad of boats, throwing things such as rocks can get expensive. As my father will attest, boat parts are generally overpriced.

Fortunately, there was a beach near by where throwing habits could be practiced. And so it was many an hour my son and I sat throwing rocks into Lake Superior. Far away from the $300,000 cruiser sitting next to our boat.

Wash Your Hands

2010-06-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you need more justification for washing your hands, here it is. I would support a similar program at work. Though I would suggest something other than a lung (or heart).

Swimming Lessons

2010-06-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night my son finished his first session of swimming lessons. He graduated from Sea Lion to, well, Sea Lion. His father, a former swimming lesson flunky, couldn’t have been prouder.

The issue is, he’s not a very good listener or follower of instructions. I know this as I too often struggle with similar issues. Just ask my wife.

Attending another round of Sea Lion won’t be bad. It gives us more father-son time, even though I think he’d rather take instruction from the young female teacher, rather than his old fat father. Suffering through this won’t hurt him though.

Citi Bank Stock

2010-05-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

My financial expert and next door cube mate, Phil, has suggested I buy Citi Bank stock. For some reason he has become under the assumption buying up a partially government owned bank is advantageous.

In a moment of obvious weakness, he somehow committed me to buy in if he bought in. He bought in. This leaves me committed to buying a bank stock of which I know little about, other than they own my house.

Earlier this week I assured him I would get in, but only at the right moment. That moment being a combination of market price and wife approval. Waited on average of personal suffering.

In prepping for my spousal conversation, I did some research in Citi. They loss $52 billion in 2008 and $7.8 billion in 2009. Losing less is better I guess. The reports I looked at didn’t show operating income/loses. Maybe because they’d be embarrassed to show it?

More interesting is they went from having 5.5 billion shares outstanding in 2008 to 28 billion in 2009. Meaning, that baby is watered down.

My guess is the government owns most of those extra shares and they will want to ditch them at some point. My shaky finance leads me to believe that if the government sells them to the open market, the price could have negative pressure (more supply, lower price). However, if Citi buys them up themselves, then the price will go up.

Thoughts? Are you buying in with Phil and a committed me?

My Father’s Retirement

2010-05-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

My dad retired last week. After 25+ years of teaching for the State of Minnesota, they finally kicked him out. Obviously I’m kidding. From what I can tell, by the awards and recognition he received throughout the years, he was a tremendous instructor and beloved by faculty, staff and students.

I asked him how he felt about retiring. While I was expecting him to be glad, I think in a way he’s going to miss being at the school. You see, unlike most of us, he loved his job. He never made a ton of money (teachers never do), but he loved going to work and I admire that.

One of the problems with being in Corporate America is that you’re bound by what I’ve called Golden Handcuffs. You make good enough money that it would hurt to take a different position – one you might enjoy more.

I’m not complaining too much as I do enjoy my job and find it rewarding. That being said, when the day comes for me to walk away, I don’t think I’ll miss it one bit.

Wacholz Farm – Organic Meat

2010-05-12T11:10:00.001-07:00

A good friend of mine, Cazzi Wacholz has launched a new website describing his organic farm. You can get background information on the farm and how he raises his animals, and how to order direct from him.

I’ve known Cazzi since I was two or three years old. He’s a top notch farmer and businessman. If you’re interested in ordering organic meat (beef or pork), he’ll go out of his way to ensure you’re getting the best service and product available.

Pandoras Profiling Ways

2010-05-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else feel they are being profiled by Pandora? After voting for songs you like and don't like, it's almost like they know what kind of music you long for.

Obviously I'm being sarcastic. My point in writing the first paragraph is to show an example of positive profiling. And how when used humanly, how profiling can benefit us.

Organic Beef

2010-05-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine has gotten into the organic beef business. He moved back to our home town of Hayward and has started to help his dad run the farm. He's a bit of a health nut so the organic farming fits right up his alley.

I'm committed to buying a quarter cow. From what I can tell, this is about 150 pounds of beef, hanging, that will result in around 125 pounds of consumable product.

The dollar figure is sketchy at best, but I'm looking at paying $2.40 per pound for hanging weight and then another 3-4 bucks for processing. (The processing will be done at Nick's Meats, which is a regionally known small-town meat shop just blocks away from where I grew up.)

I don't grocery shop and thus have little idea if 5-6 dollars a pound is a good deal. However, my gut and wife tell me that if it's good product, $6 a pound for organic beef is a good deal.

The one problem is space. Because I don't have enough space to house 125 pounds of meat, I've been pawning off small amounts to family and friends. My goal is to sell off (not for profit) 50 pounds. I'm pretty close.

If this goes well, I plan on trying his pork later this year. Buying a hog is a smaller commitment and provides ample opportunity to get bacon, sausage and my favorite, brats.

Two questions: 1) do you believe in organic foods? 2) do you believe in buying meat in bulk?

No Coffee Today

2010-04-27T08:35:00.001-07:00

If I bark at you today it’s not that I don’t like you. It’s because due to some heart flutters, I’m off caffeine for a moment. (As I write this, I’m going on 48 hours.)

Per my wife’s suggestion, I’m heading to the doctor today to see if they have any concerns. My guess is this experiment will be similar to bringing your car to the mechanic: once you get there the symptoms can’t be demonstrated.

All Inclusive?

2010-04-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

We did a all inclusive package in Mexico. All inclusive is where you pay a flat rate for food and drinks. Our logic was that since the six of us (3 couples) would be enjoying casual cocktailing starting around noon, we'd be saving money by going all inclusive. I think it turned out in our favor.

Using my brother-in-law's drunken math, we paid around $100 per person, per night for lodging, drinks and food. That's not bad. The resort was a five star (which could be debated), had name brand liquor (e.g. Captain Morgan, Absolute, etc,.), buffets, and sit down, order-from-the-menu restaurants.

Using my now sober math, I'm thinking that if we would have paid individually, we would have paid around $200 a person, per day. Though I will admit, all inclusive may have increased our food and alcohol intake.

Do you do all inclusive? If so, do you feel like you got your money's worth?

Screwed In Mexico

2010-04-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

When my brother returned from India he shared his experiences, including those of him getting screwed by practicing capitalists. His statement, verbatim, was "If you feel like you're getting screwed, you're getting screwed. And if you feel like you got a good deal, you're most likely still getting screwed."

You don't have to visit India to witness his wisdom first hand. Mexico is full of practicing capitalists, ready to milk every dollar from you.

While visiting Mexico this past week, I had the opportunity to get screwed (financially). The cab ride from the airport to our hotel (near Playa del Carmen) cost us $100. Our research before and after led us to the fact we should have paid no more than $60.

I purchased three cigars. The two Mexican ones cost me $16, which I found out later should have cost me less than $4. The Cuban I got for $7, but that took 15 minutes of negotiation - negotiation that had be walking out of the store twice. I probably could have gotten it for less than $5 if I wouldn't have gotten worn out.

Instead of upgrading our rooms with the hotel, I paid a worker cash under the table. The hotel upgrade was $120. He asked me how much it was worth to me. I said $80 which he accepted within seconds before I could retract my bid. While I saved $40, I obviously could have saved much more. So while I walked away with a better deal, I still felt screwed. A free beer afterward made me feel better. Slightly.

The box of Mexican cigars (of which I'm sampling one while typing this in my garage) cost me $21. They are $2 cigars, but being I bought these at the airport (ran out of time to buy them in Playa's market) I accepted the fact I was getting screwed.

Being a student of business, I kind of enjoyed the negotiation. But since I don't practice this art (at least not financially) I felt like I got taken advantage of.

If you're been to a country where you can negotiate price on everything, did you like it? Or would you rather be told what the price is and simply pay it?

Lawn Care

2010-04-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

The other day a young man showed up at my door offering me a free quote on my lawn care. I wasn't interested. I enjoy lawn care and told him so.

After telling him I wasn't interested, he turned his head, looked at a bare spot from a recent tree I removed, and said "are you sure?"

I didn't take offense as I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. However, if he was, I actually somewhat appreciated his humor.

Opening Day Tickets

2010-04-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

I heard on the radio that Stubhub.com is reporting that tickets for the 2010 baseball opener are averaging $101. That’s down from $127 last year. A 20% decrease seems to be significant.

Interesting enough, the Twins vs. Boston opener on April 12th, which will be in the new Target Field, will average $223. No, I won’t be going.

Cantor Exchange

2010-03-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here is something right up my in-law's alley - legal online gambling.

If you haven't heard, Cantor Exchange received regulatory approval on a movie futures exchange. It's slated to start up this spring. What is that, you ask?

A movie futures exchange is where you can bet on the box office success of forthcoming movies. Let's see how this works.

First let's get some terminology right. Futures contracts are what you're buying and selling. Each $1 in contract is $1 million in box office revenues. Bid means you want to buy a contract. Offer means you're willing to sell a contract. Got it? How about an example.

Let's say you bid $50 for a futures contract on Shrek Forever After. This means that you expect Shrek Forever After to have $50 million on box office revenue, or hopefully more. If Shrek Forever After comes in with $55 million, you get to buy it for $50 and make $5 bucks.

In this example, the person who took the offer end of the deal lost $5. However, if Shrek Forever After came in with $40 million, then the offer makes $10 while the bidder looses $10.

Buying and selling futures can be very risky so I don't recommend this to anyone with a weak stomach. However, if you are willing to take a few small risks, and are up on your movies (Scooter?) then this might provide good entertainment.

Review Time

2010-03-11T13:08:00.000-08:00

My review is Friday. I put myself in for a fully met expectations, or otherwise known as a three.

I use the same rating every year. Why? Because for 95% of us, raises and promotions are based on business results, not on personal performance.

Performance reviews are a company's way to document troubled employees, or document progress for employees longing to get promoted. For the rest of us, they are nothing more than a nuisance.

Back and Neck

2010-03-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

For the past five years I've been dealing with an upper back and neck problem. It's a really odd one. Some days I'll have no pain and then the next day I'll wake up and have a strained neck and back that lasts for 2-3 weeks.

I've tried three different chiropractors and had some limited success with all of them. What I can't seem to find is a solution. After getting a $30-45 adjustment, I'm good for 2-3 weeks and then find myself back.

So, I've decided to see a medical doctor. A neck and back specialist they tell me. I'm hopeful they can track down the issue, or at least give me some guidance on how to strengthen my back and neck to hopefully avoid more issues.

Thoughts on Tiger Woods

2010-02-22T06:08:00.000-08:00

Here are my thoughts on Tiger Woods. First, why are you apologizing to me? You, in no way, affect me or my family. I don't need an apology. While I think you have made some significant mistakes in your personal life, it's your life. Screw it up if you wish.

Second, is there such a thing as sex addiction that needs sex therapy? Or is admitting you have a "sex addiction" a way of blaming some physical or mental flaw you were born with, and thus couldn't have avoided, even if you tried. It's the latter. Animals can't be addicted to sex. And if they could, why didn't I ever date one?

Alexander M. Haig Jr.

2010-02-21T14:01:00.001-08:00

You've most likely never heard of Alexander Haig. And up until this morning, when I read about his death, either did I.

Haig was Regan's Secretary of State. After Reagan was shot, Haig went into the gathering of Regan's Cabinet Member meeting and declared himself acting president. And then without any confirmation, did a news conference and said "I am in control here, in the White House." All while shaking uncontrollably.

Humorously, Haig was not in charge. According to official hierarchy, the Vice President was. Haig was fourth in line.

I guess he was such an emotional wreck, that no one, not even the people who were really in charge, could break the news to him. Must have been a tremendous leader.

My Mail Person

2010-02-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

The following threat, I mean notice, was in my mail box yesterday. Apparently the underworked, overpaid mailperson didn’t appreciate my snow removal efforts. Notice how he crossed out "may" and wrote "delivery service will be suspended...."

What’s humorous about this is that I made a significant effort to clear my mail box (and my neighbor’s). I used both a new snow blower and grain shovel to chip away at the ice diamonds. I didn’t measure, but to my trained eye, he had an 8-10 foot clearing – a great more space than some others on the street.

Being peeved at his threat, I cleared away a couple more inches and left a competing letter asking him to call me. It had my number and everything.

I’m pleased to announce that he accepted my secondary attempt and has restarted our mail delivery. I guess the two or three more scoops of snow I removed helped.

Golden Handcuffs

2010-02-05T14:08:00.001-08:00

Many of us who are established at large companies suffer from what a former professor of mine called Golden Handcuffs. Bound by Golden Handcuffs is where an opportunity to try something new, such as starting a business, is hampered by the fact that your comfortable. And leaving that comfort-zone is, well, uncomfortable.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I’m comfortable. I’m compensated fairly, have a pension (yes I said pension) and have a good work/life balance. I’m on a well funded project that is looking like a stable place to be in the coming years.

If someone presented me with an opportunity to start a business, I’d have a difficult decision to make because of my Golden Handcuffs. However, if I was unemployed, starting a new business wouldn’t sound half bad.

Think about it sometime. Ask yourself if you’re bound by Golden Handcuffs. And if you are, I'm wondering if you find being comfortable, uncomfortable.

Our “ethical hackers”

2010-01-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

This has to be embarrassing. My company hires two ethical hackers (yes, this is what they sold themselves as), who after two days of the network group refusing to add them to the deprecated “white list,” decide it’s in their best interest to escalate the issue to management.

Seemly the fact the site they are targeting is open to the internet already, and there is no concept of a white list, through them off. The fact they are considered hackers and never tried to hit the site has to be encouraging.

Circumventing the new company security system

2010-01-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

My walking friend, Phil, and I circumvented the new company security system. It’s a fully automatic entry system, but not automatic to catch me slipping my ID card to Phil under the door so he could use it. I expected more from the system. I’d expect the system to deny someone trying to enter the building twice, within 30 seconds, with the same ID card.

Phil had his own card, but during our walk, I was able to persuade him into trying my test. My argument was that the system was just as inept as a human. I’m patiently waiting for security to show up and reprimand me. Or thank me for my obligation to keep us all safe from intruders.

Rudy Giuliani

2010-01-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

According to Time Magazine (a great publication by the way) here is a quote from Rudy Giuliani. "We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama."

Given the chance, I'm sure Mr. Giuliani would have (and probably has) clarified that he meant "no domestic attacks after 9/11." But coming from the former mayor of New York, the statement sounds asinine.

Though I respect his leadership immediately after the attacks, I've never been a big Rudy fan.

Word Verification = True

2010-01-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

I apologize to anyone who this annoys, but I've turned on Google's "word verification" for comments. Word verification is where you have to type in a short word before publishing your post.

I'm starting to get a number of bogus comments and would like to cut down on them. Again, sorry if this annoys anyone.

Coach Brewster's Forthcoming Contract Extension

2010-01-16T07:12:00.001-08:00

University of Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster is rumored to receive a contract extension this February. While he's had a less than stellar record at the U (14-24), experts say that in order to secure key recruits, a football coach has to have 3-4 years of future job security.

What's odd about this, is that all contract extensions can, and are, bought out by universities when they want to fire a coach. Moreover, if a coach wants to leave, the extension does nothing to prevent them. Meaning, a contract extension, when used to defend job security or locking in a coach, is meaningless.

And yet coaches and their agents continue to argue the need for contract extensions, even when everyone in the world, excluding athletic directors and university presidents, know they are useless.

2009 Baseball Payrolls

2009-12-27T19:03:00.001-08:00

'09 payroll numbers are out and they are fantastic to look at. Of course the underdog Yankees came out on top at $220 million. If that doesn't mean much to you, the next highest was the other New York team, the Mets, who paid $142 million. And if that doesn't mean much to you, the Yankees paid more for their team this year than Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Washington, Florida, combined.

The Mets by the way, have the most embarrassing payroll number. $142 million couldn't even get them to a .500 winning percentage (they had 72 losses / 90 wins) nonetheless into the playoffs.

Our Twins fared well. At $73 million they were ranked in the bottom 10 teams and, along with the Rockies, were the only teams with payrolls under $100 million to make the playoffs.

Myron Rolle

2009-12-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

Florida State safety Myron Rolle's decision to skip the forthcoming NFL draft and instead accept a Rhode scholarship at Oxford restores some faith in humanity. Here is a person who some experts project is sacrificing up to $8 million by continuing his education.

Anyone who criticises Mr. Rolle (and their are some) should be ashamed of themselves. He's doing the right thing.

Corporate Leadership's Moral Hazard

2009-12-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

Do corporate leaders confront moral hazard? That is, would a corporate leader (e.g. manager) make a different decision if they assumed all risk (i.e. monetary gain or loss) of outcome?

I ask this because I'm often witness to decisions that, if were based on personal monetary gain or loss, would probably be different. But since most of us have no "skin" (i.e. money) in the game (or very little), decisions are often based on political game-playing, rather than what is most beneficial to shareholders - or employees for that matter.

It's my belief that most all corporate leadership has to deal with moral hazard. Without significant monetary incentives, we often make decisions that benefit ourselves rather than shareholders.

Google's Nexus One

2009-12-14T12:28:00.001-08:00

Google's announcement of Nexus One (their forthcoming cellphone) will be interesting to follow. I'm sure the experience will be incredible, but success will depend on if they can get enough users on the platform.

Though I'll never be qualified to give Google input on strategy, through, what I believe is ratiocination, I would suggest ridding out the Android wave (no reference to Google Wave), rather than potentially harming the budding relationship Google has with today's carriers. What I mean is, Android is becoming a serious challenger to the iPhone. Why introduce your own phone and possibly alienate the carriers?

My guess is one of the driving factors is that Google feels the U.S. should adopt a more open hardware/software market for phones, similar to Europe. Currently, most Americans pick a service, then receive a hardware/software (i.e. the phone) subsidy for signing a contract. From what I'm told, in Europe it's more common to buy a phone, then buy your service.

Or, Google could surprise us all and enter into the wireless services market and sell us not only the phone, but a monthly service. They have shown interest in buying unused radio frequencies.

Do you think Google is doing the right thing by creating their own phone?

Character Names In "The Plan"

2009-12-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

I've feilded a few questions asking where I got The Plan's character names. Here is a brief background on the main ones.

President David Kaiser - I got the name from two graduate school text book authors. The books have long since been sold (or lost) so I can't remember the authors' exact names, but David came from one and Kaiser came from another. Ironically, I think "Kaiser" was from a book on ethics. Which if you've read the book, you know how ironic this is.

Professor Marcus Rogers - Here again, Marcus Rogers came from two different text book authors. Marcus is the last name of one of my favorate professors at the Universtiy of Minnesota - Professor Alfred Marcus. The real Dr. Marcus went to the University of Chicago (and Harvard) and so that's why I placed him in Chicago.

Mike Powell - The president's behind-the-scenes contempoary was a late edition to the book. My original idea was to have the professor be the bad guy. But for some reason, he turned into being "morally wrong," but not a person who wanted to abuse The Plan's power. I also wanted to make a link to organized crime. Mike Powell was that link. Mike is my brother-in-law's first name. No idea why I used this name.

Matt LaPoint - Matt is the first name of one of my best friends and former roomates. I needed a good guy, and Matt was fitting. The last name, LaPoint, I made up. Not sure why. It just seemed to fit.

Nick Kennedy (Kendo) - Another one of my best friends is named Jon Kennedy. Tough I haven't called him by his formal name in years. He goes by Kendo to his friends. I've always thought Kendo would make a good hero's name. Thus Nick Kennedy, aka Kendo, was born. Nick is the first name of the former meat locker owner in my home town of Hayward, MN. No idea why I used his name.

Nadeen Kumar - I worked with an Indian named Nadeen at a consulting gig many years ago. And then worked with an Indian with the last name of Kumar. I had a good relationship with both of them and for some reason their names just popped into my head.

Wilbert Gresafe - Remember him? He's the crusty old marine owner who Nadeen rents the "Fish Getter" from. Gresafe one of my colleague's last name. Not sure where I got Wilbert from.

Charles Shuster - Shuster is the last name of a friend of mine who moved to Las Vegas to play cards. Just like Charles did in the book.

Press Secretary Justin Olson - First and last name of two more college friends.

Malek Abid - No idea where I got this name from. Just popped in my head.

Perry Luke and Jack Perry - Here again, no idea where I got these from.

There are a few more characters but I don't have any good reasoning for why I named them.

"The Plan" - A Thriller

2009-11-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

"The Plan" was published on Friday, November 27th, 2009. "The Plan" is my first published work and I'm happy to admit that it only took three years to finish. Any average writer would have had it done in three to six months, but being I'm employed, married, have a two-year-old son, and am finishing graduate school, three years sounds about right for me.

So what is "The Plan" all about? "The Plan" is about a clandestine effort to assassinate notorious criminals before the dysfunctional justice system mishandles the apprehension and conviction. Or in other words, our hero, Nick Kennedy, is hired by the U.S. government to assassinate people. When Nick finds out that "The Plan" has him killing innocent citizens, Nick wants out. But "The Plan" has rules. And one of them is that you can't get out. Nick and his government liaison, Matt LaPoint, find themselves being targets of the very plan they were hired to implement.

You can order paper copies or an eBook at "The Plan's" portal hosted on my publisher's (LuLu.com) website. The paper copy is going for $20.90 (plus shipping) while the eBook can be purchased for $5. If you're thinking the $20.90 is a bit expensive for a paper back, I do too. Unfortunately, this is out of my control. I'm using an on-demand publishing service and I don't have much control over the pricing. Sorry about that. If it's any consolation, if you buy the book, I'll not only sign it, but I'll also buy you a cold Surly next time we meet.

I also will have a small supply (very small at first) of books that I plan on selling by myself. I get a small discount (compensation for three years of my life spent writing the book I guess) so I plan on selling these for $18. I should have these around December, 15th (or so). They will be sold on a first come basis.

If you end up buying a copy (and more importantly, read it) let me know what you think. You can shoot me an email, leave a review on the book's portal site (recommended approach), or leave a comment on my blog. I'd love to have your feedback, both good and bad.

Struggles with Preventative Medical Measures

2009-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Recent changes outlining when women should get mammograms has caused emotional debate. Personally, I've always taken the position that when it comes to human life, preventative measures should trump any and all costs. Life is that important.

However, I do understand that by taking this position, I've left myself open to being criticized by those who look at and analyze the economics of such generalized acceptance to anything medical. And like most things I can see both sides.

Edward Lotterman has done a nice job laying out why those that look at the numbers have changed the recommendations for mammograms. I agree that false positives cause additional costs and emotional strain.

However, my internal discomfort is, can we place value on a life? And if we save one life by using, sometimes unnecessary, preventative treatment, is it worth it? My emotional side says it is. My economics side says it isn't. What do you think?

China's Taking of Africa

2009-11-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

A few years back I read John Perkin's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man which explained how the U.S. companies (and the government in some cases) used, among other things, low interest loans to take over natural resources from poor countries. They would purposely loan enough money to eventually default the country and thus take over full ownership.

In today's Pioneer Press, Llewellyn King's article China's concerted scramble for Africa shows that the U.S. is not alone in trying to economically "rape" (King's term) poor countries.

According to King, China is active in 48 countries out of the roughly 53 real state African entities. They are looking for resources to fuel their continued growth. In addition to loaning money, the Chinese are buying African elites who control much of the country. It's a potentially tragic situation that will demand our attention in the coming years.

VMWare

2009-11-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

I just put in a limit order for VMWare's stock. A limit order is where I place an order based on the price going below a benchmark I set. As of Friday VMWare was trading at ~$41.50. My limit order is set at $40. Meaning, if the price goes below $40, I'll be a partial owner.

Why am I buying VMWare? The primary reason is that not only my company, but the companies my company has been contracting with (e.g. HP), all use VMWare for their "cloud" services. This got me thinking; If cloud computing is what everyone is bragging about, and the companies my company is contracting with are using VMWare, VMWare is getting a lot of visibility with management. Whether their technology is good or not, visibility with management is great in the short-term.

Looking at VMWare's financial statements, they carry a good amount of cash, have a manageable amount of debt, and most importantly, have positive operating profit. For those of you who have suffered through business school, positive operating profit is key.

Think I'll be rich? Don't count on it. I only bought $1000. So unless they turn into Google, I don't plan on retiring soon. But, if by chance VMWare turns out to be the leader in providing "cloud" infrastructure, I stand to make a few bucks.

Deleted my Inbox

2009-11-09T13:22:00.001-08:00

Through some sort of key sequence I'll never be able to repeat, I deleted my Outlook Inbox today. It happened within a second and I'll never fully understand what happened.

Fortunately I didn't permanently delete anything. Within a minute, I brushed beads of sweat from my forehead and hit Control Z, which recovered it.

Thinking about it later, should I have been so concerned? No. I'm nearing the point where I'm willing to give up on email. Maybe the accidental delete was intentional?

Surly Darkness

2009-11-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

Surly Darkness comes out today! Supposedly it's on its way to local liquor stores. They don't post a listing of caring stores, but I'm thinking Blue Max in Burnsville will have it. If you know of any other stores carrying, let me know.

Your credit card interest rate

2009-11-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

You're probably wondering why credit card companies are increasing your interest rate. Both of my cards have significantly increase rates in the past thirty days. I was going to call, but then since I don't carry a balance, I forgot about it.

The well read Rachel Beck explains why pending legislation is prompting card companies to increase rates. The CARD Act, introduced by Chris Dodd (Connecticut Democrat), will freeze rates on existing balances. That is, if you have a balance of $1,000 and you're paying 10%, card companies can't increase your rate to 15% on said balance. A rate increase would only be on purchases after the increase.

On the surface, I agree that the new regulations seem to make sense. It purports to fend off predatory rate increases. But was there any thought that companies would counter the forthcoming rules by simply increasing everyone's rates before the regulation goes into affect?

Default Settings

2009-10-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

Reports of stroke patients who were accidentally exposed to eight times the normal radiation dose during diagnostic CT scans at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are prompting safety warnings and soul searching among radiologists nationwide.....'There was a misunderstanding about an embedded default setting applied by the machine,' according to a statement from Cedars-Sinai.

Though to a much lesser degree, I've been troubled by default settings as well. Being I've spend the majority of my career in support roles (where you're responsible for troubleshooting things you're not responsible for creating), it frustrates me to no end when people start using technologies before fully understanding all the details.

We as engineers have a duty to understand all the parameters, switches, overrides, and defaults. Failure often leads to catastrophe.

Horizontal Diversification

2009-10-16T20:07:00.001-07:00

While finding out I'm not management material in management school, I studied a concept we'll call horizontal diversification. It's where a company selling one product migrates into other product lines their existing customers may be interested in. Here is a picture I took on University Avenue in St. Paul. A prime example. They must have went to U of M - Carlson.

Review: Rough Juniper Pale Ale

2009-10-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

Since I no longer can drink more than three beers in a sitting, I'm in to buying unique craft beers. Mass produced American lagers no longer suite me. My recent purchase was Juniper Pale Ale by Rough Ales from Newport, Oregon.

Juniper is a light colored, crisp Pale Ale. Quite a bit lighter than Summit or Surly. I would compare it to the Brewhouse's signature Lighthouse Golden, if you've had that.

Should you try Juniper? You can buy it by the bottle so if you're into craft beers and Pale Ales, add it to your list. Worth a try.

NOTE: Per pending U.S. Government regulation, Rough Ales did not compensate me for this review. Just letting you know so I don't get thrown in prison.

Retirement Day

2009-10-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

A colleague of mine, Tom, is retiring today after nearly 37 years. Oddly, he's not as cynical as I am. And I've only been working for 10 years in a similar role.

Yesterday he invited me over to his desk. He showed me an old seating chart from his early days and a 11-year-old paper on our technology platform. He gave me the paper, knowing I'd enjoy looking through it.

He also had a "Reporter" law book with his name and years of service on it. 1972 - 2009. It was blank inside so colleagues could write their wishes. My prose is on page 20 (or so).

What amazed me most about Tom is his dedication. He was rarely sick and always early to meetings. And his dedication was evident when we talked yesterday. There on his screen was some software enhancements he was trying to get in before today. Most likely some needless change by management, but important to Tom that he finish. I respect that.

Will I too be as dedicated during my last few months, weeks, days before retirement? Not sure. Knowing me though, I'll probably worry about getting fired and thus stick it out until the last hour.

How about you?

Drinking and Golf

2009-09-30T08:41:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine was surprised when I told him I never drink and golf. He said "Do tell," and so I did.

Here is my deal: I see golf as a sport, not a social event where you chat about old girl friends and upcoming football games. For some reason, one sip of beer turns my aggressive attack of the course, into a four hour bird watching tour.

I also, when given the option, never take carts. I walk. There are some courses (e.g. Giant's Ridge) that force carts, but if the course allows you to trot among the divots, rough and trees, I'll choose trotting.

Don't ask me to golf with you if you want to drink and drive carts. I'll be walking and sipping water.

Jeff Sagarin

2009-09-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

A while ago I came upon Jeff Sagarin's sports statistics and thought I would blow the competition away in my friendly pick'em league. Seven years later I'm still in the red. It's time to share my secrete.

I'm not going to pretend to understand all his numbers, but I've found his "RANKINGS" to be very helpful when picking sleeper picks. If you are in a fantasy pick'em league, or heading to Vegas soon, check out his page. It's archaic, but valuable.

Lehman and Bear Sterns

2009-09-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

Why did the government help bail out Bear Sterns while leaving Lehman shareholders with nothing? From what I've been reading, it's because Bear Sterns had a buyer in JPMorgan (thanks for the correction on the typo Chris). No one in their right mind wanted to touch Lehman Brothers.

Lehman was so big and so leveraged that even with government backing (as in the Bear Sterns deal) there wasn't enough interest from Wall Street big shots to buy Lehman. And thus 12 months ago they failed and sent the financial system into panic.

It will happen again. Probably when I'm 60 and about to retire.

Voting Anomalies

2009-09-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

My blogging has slowed down for a number of reasons, none of them significant or health related. Though thanks to the none of you who've asked.

Sarcasm aside, Edward Lotterman has a article in today's St. Paul paper about how voters elect politicians who have platforms detrimental to those voting FOR them. You'd think we'd realize that no human (that we know of) can predict people's future needs. And thus taking a stance to "never lower taxes" or "never increase taxes" is utterly stupid. Yet my fellow Republicans often vote for someone pontificating no new taxes. And my rival Democrat friends, family, acquaintances get upset with the fiscal conservatives vow to take away entitlements.

It's unfortunate that there will never be a politician who gets elected on the basis of her saying "I'll raise taxes if they need to be raised and lower them if they need to be lowered." No, us voters are happy voting for someone who is willing to lie to us. We feel better when we're lied to than when we're told the truth. Why? Because often the truth sucks and we don't want to hear it, nonetheless vote for it.

2009 West Blue Golf League - Results

2009-09-13T13:10:00.001-07:00

Here are the results from the 2009 West Blue Golf League. If you're curious, my team is Kraft Dinner.

Playoffs
1st - Mentally Handicapped *won in one hole suden death playoff.
2nd - The Mulligans
3rd - Kraft Dinner (over Double Eagles)
Consolation = Bushwoods Finest (over Missing Links)

Tournament
1st - Gleiter, Spilman, Fermoyle, Rehfeld (-12)
2nd - I. Kuznia, B. Kuznia, Braxmeier (-11)
3rd - Schneiderhan, Wiegel, Sole, Kroening (-9)
4th - Hanson, Schwartz, Smith, Finander (-9)
5th - Stoltz, Remarke, Prout, Olenius (-9)
6th - Noland, Loya, Maurer, Ronning (-9)
7th - Mohs, Trzynka, Walberg (-8)
8th - Martin, Piere, Kieth, Loos (-8)
9th - Porter, Richter, Conry, Brett (-6)
10th - Steigerwald, Vlasak, Grausnick, Hunecke (-4)
11th - Lutz, Rager, Wendt, Dehnert (-3)
12th - Tschida, Lenz, Rowan (-2)

Longest Drive #3 - Schneiderhan (316 yards)
Closest to pin #4 - Schneiderhan
Closest to pin #7 - Spilman
Closest to pin #16 - I. Kuznia
Longest Put #18 - Tschida

Two skins were awarded. The Martin, Piere, Kieth, Loos team eagled #1 for the first. And the Lutz, Rager, Wendt, Dehnert team birdied #16 for the second.

The once mighty Krispy Kreme

2009-09-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Remember how popular Krispy Kreme was? Rumor has it a former manager of mine used to wait in line for a good hour just to bring in Friday donuts for his team. Whether the hour was on company time is fodder for another post.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Krispy Kreme is down to 89 company owned stores and 133 franchises in the U.S. (Internationally they have 326 stores and have benefited greatly to the declining dollar.)

What happened to the drooling fools who waited in line for hours, days, weeks to get a sugar donut? My guess is lack of diversification (e.g. I don't think you can get a mocha or latte at Krispy Kremes, but you can at Dunkin Donuts) and bad management (there were rumors of management-misconduct reported by the Wall Street Journal) lead to the company's decline and the fools' disappreance.

Facebook friendship cleanup

2009-08-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine ignores any Facebook friend request from someone he would have nothing more than a casual conversation with. His logic is "why would I want to follow the lives of people who I haven't talked to since high-school?" At first I made fun of him, but after pouring through a number of needless status updates, news feeds and photos, I decided to adopt a similar, yet very watered down, vetting of my Facebook friend list.

If you've found yourself removed and don’t feel it was necessary, let me know. We can negotiate a re-friendship.

Review: "Lose It!"

2009-08-24T14:40:00.001-07:00

I loaded the iPhone application "Lose It!". From what I can tell, it's a way of tracking your calorie input. A colleague of mine has lost 30 pounds using it so I thought it was only prudent to try the application for myself. My doctor has been none too happy watching my weight gain the past two years. (In my defense, it's all be after a child.)

To get started I told the application I wanted to lose one pound a week until I reached 200 pounds. I'm at 235 right now so my program is scheduled out until early next year. While I find the application neat (and easy to lie to), I've not had much luck with the weight loss. After four days I've successfully gained two pounds. No fault to the application.

While I like Lose It!, I wish there was some type of monitor you could put behind your ear or in between your toes that would monitor actual calorie intake. Think that would help us stay in better shape?

1167

2009-08-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I returned from a ten day (six work day) vacation. We spent four days near Bayfield Wisconsin and the rest of it in Apple Valley (our home town). The time off was needed and appreciated.

I knew my email box would be full when I returned. I was expecting between 1000 and 1500 emails awaiting me. And I was pretty close. After 15 minutes of downloading, I ended up with 1167 emails. Spread throughout the week, it took me a total of 6-8 hours to go through them all. I deleted over 95%.

Last time I checked there are 60 minutes in an hour and 8.5 hours in a normal work day. Being I was out six days, I missed 3060 minutes of work. If my math is right, 1167 emails means I get, on average, a new email every ~3 minutes.

I'm finding that between 3-4 hours of my day is spent checking email. Of that time I would guess that between 30 and 60 minutes is spent reading emails that I could have ignored and been equally effective.

Is this part of doing business in a large behemoth, or will there some day be a more efficient medium of communication?

Editing is almost finished for "The Plan"

2009-08-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

At 2:14PM on August 18th I finished my second edit of a forthcoming novel called "The Plan." After nearly three years of design and writing, I'm hopeful to have "The Plan" published this fall/winter. The exact release date is still up in the air as I'm 1) reviewing the need (and cost) of a professional edit job, and 2) working out the details of a self-publishing contract with Book Surge (part of Amazon) or LuLu.

From the research I've done, getting your first book published is nearly impossible. You basically have to send your manuscript to every publisher in the world, hound them relentlessly, and pray that someone takes a chance. I don't have the time to do these things so I'm going down the self-publish route. Book royalties, which are extremely low, are higher for self publishing, but you have to do most (i.e. all) of your marketing, selling, and front a portion of the production costs. I'm still working on the contract with Book Surge (or LuLu), but I'll probably be paying $400-$700 to get my book published and into the marketplace. (Yes I'll most likely lose money. But I didn't write it for the money. I wrote it becasue of an interest in writing a book.) I plan on doing limited marketing (e.g. my blog) and sales (mostly word of mouth as I'm not a salesman) myself.

I'll give more details on what the book is about (and how to buy it) as fall/winter nears. But as a teaser "The Plan" is a clandestine effort (The Plan) to assassinate notorious criminals before the dysfunctional justice system mishandles the apprehension and conviction. I got the book idea many years ago while thinking about how the O.J. Simpson case would have been handled differently in a dictatorship (at the time Saddam's Iraq) rather than a democracy. More to come in the weeks and months ahead.

Review: Magic Hat

2009-08-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

While on my stay-cation, I picked up a bottle of Magic Hat. Though the bottle says "not quite Pale Ale," it's definitely a Pale Ale. A little fruity for my taste, but a respectable brew.

I think the folks behind Magic Hat (Magic Hat Brewing Company, South Burlington Vermont) might have been at Woodstock. On their label they state "The ancient ritual of brewing a distinctly rich and flavorful beer is a performance to behold. Our mysterious melange of time-honored ingredients harmonize with chaotic chemistry, humble patience, and blind faith to create unique beers to share in the rousing company of kindred spirits." Pick up a bottle sometime and read the label.

Why inflation hasn't found us yet

2009-08-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

If you're wondering why the government's unparalleled expansion of the money supply has not led to inflation, look at our productivity numbers. In a New York Times article by Edmund Andrews (syndicated by the Star Tribune), he states that productivity is up at an annualized rate of 6 percent.

In increase in productivity will allow companies to keep prices stable. And when prices are stable, inflation is kept low.

Don't get too comfortable though. There are only two ways to pay off government debt: raise taxes or print money. Printing money, which we've been doing, will eventually lead to inflation.

Detroit leading?

2009-08-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to see that Detroit is finally leading the technology influenced evolution of automobile engineering. The Pioneer Press had an article saying that the GM Volt will get 230 miles per gallon in the city. Freeway millage will be even better.

If you're keeping track at home (and I am), that is three or four times more efficient than today's Prius. I'm sure Toyota will counter with an upgrade of their own, but I find it refreshing to see Detroit announce their results first.

Installing iPhone OS 3.0.1

2009-08-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason my brain doesn't think like others. It took me ten minutes to find the area in iTunes where I could update my vulnerable iPhone. I was looking for update 3.0.1 which fixes some texting bug - or something like that.

Since the bug fixes the SMS Texting App, I first checked under Applications. Nope, just a listing of the current Apps I have installed. I then checked the iTunes store. Nope, just Michael Jackson albums for sale. Next I tried a search. "OS 3.0.1" returned a number of irrelevant results.

Thinking I may be in the wrong tool, I did a Google search. Every hit referenced "upgrade available in iTunes." It had to be there someplace. After restarting iTunes (it froze on me) I clicked on "Devices" and found the upgrade flashing me in the face.

I'm a usability study waiting to happen.

Summit Brewery

2009-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

This past spring a business professor of mine said he heard Summit Brewery may be having cash problems. The term "cash problem" is vague and could mean something serious (as in the company does not have enough cash to make payroll) or something innocuous (as in the company would like to expand but does not have the money to do so). I'm not sure where he was going with the statement and I didn't ask a follow-up.

A few weeks ago I was talking to a high-school friend who works for an Anheuser Busch distributor. We, of course, started talking about beer. I told him that my favorite Ale was Summit's Pale Ale and voiced my frustration with his distributor for not caring it. He said that while they don't carry it now, there were rumors that Anheuser Busch was thinking about buying Summit, or creating a distributing relationship. Being my son started to run towards the park, we ended up leaving the conversation with me unable to ask a follow-up.

I don’t want to start any rumors so don’t read into anything I've said. My guess is that if Summit is having "cash problems" it's because they want to expand, rather than experiencing lugubrious business issues. And expand I hope they do. Everyone in the world should have the experience of a ice cold Summit Pale Ale.

Hack is a hack

2009-07-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've been informed that I was recently thrown under the bus. To try and resolve an issue last week (the day before customers were suppose to use the product), we put in a configuration file hack on a live server. The hack was not applied to all instances of the application running on the server, simply because we wanted to test the hack on one instance to see if the hack worked. Once it worked, the hack was not applied to all other instances.

I'll take the blame because in all honesty, I should have said something like "guys, we should really follow the process and make the hack an official change." An "official change" would require management approval and a new build of the application. But I didn't, and thus got burned.

To be honest, I really don't care that I'm now under the bus. I'm not trying to get promoted. I don't think there is a chance I'll get fired over it. I'm not sensitive to what others think of me. So who really cares? A hack is a hack. The people asking me to make the hack should understand that.

Groovy

2009-07-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

I took a moment this afternoon to write a few lines of Groovy code. If you're not familiar with Groovy, which I’m not, it's a fairly new programming language (or at least new to me). I've heard it's much like Python, which I'm also not familiar with.

I've got this Java test suite I call the "McNoland." It's basically an accumulation of different testing I've been doing with Java over the course of a few years. Every time I need to learn something new, I try to package it into my "McNoland" test suite.

What's cool about Groovy is that it fits right into "McNoland". I can create Groovy classes and run them from my entry point. Or in other words, I can write a class in Groovy and call it from Java. Pretty neat.

Now I'm not 100% sure what kind of problems I'd like to solve with Groovy. To be honest, I've not found much in Groovy that I can't do in Java. But I'll keep trying and see how it works out.

Check your 401K statement

2009-07-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last night my wife tossed me the dreaded 401K statement. I was expecting another catastrophe, but instead was pleasantly surprised to see my statement was up 17% over the last quarter. This got me thinking: for those of you who pulled out into cash, when are you getting back in? Now? Three months from now? A year?

The problem with pulling out is you never know when to dive back in. I just stay in and sweat it out.

My pending fiscal conflict

2009-07-12T12:45:00.001-07:00

I own a small (very small) portion of the company I work for. However minute, I'm of the mindset of asking a simple question when making a capital decision: if this was my money (which a percentage of it is) would I make the same decision?

This question is important because it's my belief companies are wasting millions, if not billions, of dollars on capital decisions that leaders would otherwise avoid making if they were spending their own money. I think business professors call this a fiscally influenced moral conflict (or something like that).

I'm bringing this up because next week I'm going to be given an assignment that as a capital owner, I feel conflicted about. That is, I'm going to be asked to spend time on a task that I don't feel is beneficial to me as an owner. It's going to be a waste of money.

But I've got to do it (or most likely one of my colleagues will) because our leadership expects it. And they expect it because it's politically sensitive, not because it's beneficial to the company.

Look around you and ask yourself, "if this was my company, with my money, would I recommend doing all the things we're doing?"

Expert Traveler

2009-07-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my wife and I flew to Chicago for a Twins vs. Cubs game. While coming back, I took a picture of this "Expert Traveler" sign, located to the right of the normal TSA lines (which had similar signs saying "Regular Traveler," or something like that). If you were an "Expert Traveler," which I guess my wife felt we were, you were sectioned off from the normal population.

At first I thought this was odd. Who wouldn't say there were an Expert Traveler? Then it dawned on me, the TSA are geniuses. They've successfully sectioned off all the vain assholes who think they are more important than normal travelers. It's brilliant.

So there I sat, in an equally long line, listening to "Expert Travelers" tell each other how important they were.

Fire Fox 3.5 - a porn surfer's browser

2009-07-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I installed Fire Fox 3.5. If you don't know, I'm a big Fire Fox fan. I like it more than Safari, Chrome and of course IE (piece of junk). Why? I like the web proxy override feature and spell check. And all the add-ons like Fire Bug.

Fire Fox 3.5 has a new feature called Private Browsing. When browsing the web with a normal browser, the browser will cache pages, history, cookies, etc., and store them for a myriad of reasons (performance, refined search, auto-login, etc.). This all works fine unless you don't want someone to track you.

Internet porn advocates will find Private Browsing right of their alley. They're not interested in performance (at least browser performance), they're interested in covering their tracks. To make sure their wife (or husband I suppose) doesn't find porntube.com when first typing in potterybarn.com, all the porn surfer needs to do is turn on Private Browsing during their late night surfing. Nothing will be tracked.

Think I'm crazy? I'm willing to bet my entire life savings (a modest sum) that this feature will be most used by those who don't want others to see what they were browsing.

Holidays and special events

2009-06-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that life would be easier without holidays and special events like weddings. It may sound like I'm being negative, but I'm not. I'm simply concluding that signature dates set expectations. And expectations are often not achieved, leaving one or more parties upset. It's easier and more satisfiable without them.

If it was up to me there would be no global holidays. People could celebrate Christmas, but on the day they deem most accommodating. Things like weddings would be virtual. Family members not able to make the date could download it at there convenience. See how much better everything could be?

Cap and Trade?

2009-06-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

On Friday, the House passed the Waxman-Markey bill on energy and climate change. A signature piece of the legislation is "cap and trade."

As I understand it, cap and trade works like this. The government will hand out, for free, tokens. The tokens are used by companies to release carbon dioxide. Companies can only release as much CO2 as they have tokens.

After the initial token liquidation, companies needing more tokens must buy them on the market. Those companies who increase efficiency and emit less CO2, can make money by selling their tokens.

Will it work? I'm not sure. What happens if all companies decide to increase efficiency at the same time and cause token prices to drop? Would that prompt less efficient companies to buy up tokens, at a bargain, and start stuffing more CO2 into the air?

Cap and trade proponents will argue that the tokens will be forced to appreciate as they plan on gradually lowering the token supply (similar to how the Fed controls the money supply I would guess).

So where do I stand on cap and trade? I don't know. I'm always a proponent for increased efficiency. But I'm not always sure how to best accomplish it.

iPhone 3.0 OS

2009-06-21T18:49:00.001-07:00

I'm currently installing the iPhone 3.0 OS on my phone. I typically stay away from any software release with a trialing "0," but Apple seems to make good stuff so I'm giving it a shot. Hopefully my five songs and ten pictures aren't lost.

The two features that are of particular interest to me are copy and paste (how could I be getting around not having this?) and a new voice memo application. I'm notoriously forgetful so maybe a sexy iPhone voice will help remind me to pick up milk. Or was it juice?

UPDATE: Turns out the sexy iPhone voice is mine. And for the record, it was milk.

Wisdom and Intelligence

2009-06-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence is something you gain from a combination of DNA (if your parents are smart, there is a good chance you'll be smart) and your dedication to learning new things from books and people. Wisdom on the other hand is gained from life experiences.

I work with a number of intelligent people. They understand how to do their job well. But they're not all wise. Some intelligent people get bogged down in meaningless situations. And while they often have a point, the context is irrelevant to efficiency and economy.

There are others though that are both intelligent and wise. They only push their opinion on the things that are of significant consequence. And once their position is stated, most rational people understand where they are coming from and agree with the approach.

I bring this up because I'm a big believer in wisdom. I'd rather work with a wise person than an overly intelligent person. Wisdom is an under appreciated asset that when realized and exploited, can help you bury your competitors.

Peeing and brushing with their index finger

2009-06-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

Why does a person find it necessary to pee and then immediately brush their teeth with their index finger? I just saw it in the third floor bathroom.

I'm guessing he washed before "brushing." However, you'd never catch me rubbing down my teeth with my fingers, in a public restroom nonetheless, after peeing.

Southwest

2009-06-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Attention airline executives. Before doing anything, hire an employee who reports to you and does nothing more than fly Southwest Airlines and documents their experiences. Take those data and copy them.

My brother's pending late fee

2009-06-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

While rummaging through my parent's basement this past weekend, my son made it into his uncle's storage room. Otherwise known as his bedroom.

Among the cluttered boxes, my son grabbed this. After finding a safe spot to land, I started rolling around in laugher. My son joined me by jumping on my privates.

Why's it so funny? My brother is in India for six months. I can't wait to see the late fee!

Work Nights

2009-06-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight is my third work night in the past five days. Apparently management forgot to assign a resource to do some data definition compares in our large corpus database. On Friday morning, I was asked (more like told) we needed to have some software completed by Tuesday night to do the validation. The entire thing is a massive cluster fuck. And I plan on using this as an example when we're asked to fill out a 360 survey.

I've spent Friday and Monday night writing the software. Tonight I get to run it (10PM - 11PM). Why not do work at work? The work area I'm stuck in doesn't allow for work. It allows for openness, which also stands for chaos. I can't get in more than five minutes without having someone stop by my cube asking a question. I need a vacation.

Why management continues to confuse me

2009-06-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our Agile development timeline goes something like this. Releases are six iterations long and iterations are two weeks long. Each iteration has Stories and Tasks which are entered into a database and "burned up". If you "burn up" correctly, your completed work matches your estimated work. If you match, it means you're either a perfect estimator or lying.

One of the nice things about Agile is it keeps the lying to a minimum. You can still do it, but the general idea is you expose yourself to everyone to make sure everyone knows who is doing what and when "what" will be completed. Works pretty well.

I'm now overhearing a covert plan by our esteemed management to sneak in a Agile iteration and have it excluded from the said "burn up" data. Or in other words, we want a two-week span of time where we can do work, but not show others that we're doing work. This should be good.

Miller Lite's "Taste Protector Cap"

2009-05-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend while acting as a sybarite (a person dedicated to luxury and pleasure), I cracked open a Miller Lite, only to notice the new "Taste Protector Cap."

If you're not familiar with the new packaging, the "Taste Protector Cap" locks in the great pilsner taste. Can dinker? Don't worry, both bottles and cans have it. I can't speak to kegs.

Beer companies do a great job creating innovative packaging to lure in customers. Coors does the best job. From what I can tell, their blue mountains gimmick has positioned themselves as the number one beer among softball players. An honorable position.

I don't have time to run any tests, but I'm thinking the "Taste Protector Cap" might be a gimmick too. I can't imagine Miller Lite stumbling upon a new packaging technology - one that scales to both cans and bottles - that wouldn't be applied to their entire product line. I.e. Does one want Miller High Life with a "Taste Rejector Cap"?

One thing I will say though, I'm finding myself drinking a bit more Miller Lite lately. Could the "Taste Protector Cap" be subconsciously luring me in?

Lascivious Facebook Friend requests

2009-05-22T19:23:00.001-07:00

Recently I've received two odd Facebook friend requests. The first was an attractive blond. While I can't say for sure, I think she had some kind of Eastern European name - though it may have been Russian (I consider Russia in Asia, though a portion of it is in Europe). I Ignored her as we had nothing in common (including Friends, which I use as a barometer when accepting new friendships).

This morning, in between packing for my son's first camping trip, I got a request from a young female whose picture was of her (I'm assuming it was her) sitting in a promiscuous position on a kitchen chair with a g-string undergarment. I hadn't seen something like that for some time so you can imagine my consternation. Why would she want to Friend a mid-thirties, married, father, slightly overweight person who makes a modest income and still has student loans?

Does anyone else get these types of Friend requests? Or are they attracted to my wealth and good looks?

Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome

2009-05-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the Best American Writing series. If you're not familiar, the best America Writing series includes a number of yearly publications allocated to subjects like Travel or Science. In the 2008 Science series, there is an article on Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is "a rare disease which causes people to mutilate themselves."

People with Lesch-Nyhan try to eat off their fingers and lips. They're often successful. They also do things like drive into traffic with their wheel chairs - in an attempt to harm their body. Lesch-Nyhan patients don't want to mutilate themselves, but because of a brain issue, their body does lugubrious things. It's an incredible disturbing syndrome that has no cure.

As I read about sicknesses like Lesch-Nyhan, I'm better able to put life into perspective. Making money, having a big house or driving a new car are all insignificant. Having a healthy family is the most important thing in the world.

Acting Team Lead

2009-05-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm down to my last day and a half as the acting Team Lead (our lead is on vacation). This week is further proof that I'm not cut of the management thread. Things like finding out on Friday (at 4PM nonetheless) you're getting a new employee on Monday, and then finding out on Monday morning that you're not, bother me to no end. From what I can tell, sporadic fits of disorganization and ineptitude run rampant in management. Not my cup of tea. (NOTE: I've got my own disorganization and ineptitude to deal with. I don't need managements' as well.)

A few years back I gave the Team Lead role a try. I had a good team with no personnel problems, but only lasted nine months before taking a different position. What I couldn't deal with is the other Team Leads and Managers. Not all of them, but just a few. Team Leads and Managers are like a large barrel of apples. Most of them are good, but the few that aren't spoil the experience.

Choosing to not manage people has its limitations. For example, I'm pretty much at the end for career advancement. There is one (maybe two) individual contributor levels above me, but I'm not sure if my brain is large enough or if my schedule is flexible enough to be a senior technology leader (called Architects or Principal Architects where I work).

To be honest, I'm alright with staying at the level I'm at. At least when I go home at night, I feel relatively accomplished and know what I'll be responsible for the coming day. As the acting Team Lead, I felt neither of these.

Where is all that money?

2009-05-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Fortune has a good article on Bernie Madoff in their current publication. It's long, but explains in detail how the scam was pulled off. It also answers a very important question for me: where did the $60 billion go?

The $60 billion everyone hears about is the present value of all Madoff investor's investments. Madoff never took in $60 billion. He simply said everyone was getting 15-20 percent returns. Compound money for 20 years and you get some large numbers.

Bernie got into trouble when too many people tried to collect. He was able to alley investors for years as the collectors never out numbered the contributors. However when the market went to hell, the collectors collected and ran Bernie out of money. And that opened the doors wide open.

So where did the real money (around $20 billion) go? It went to the folks who pulled money out in the 20 to 30 previous years.

Breaking down

2009-05-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I was called into an emergency meeting with management (not mine) to discuss an urgent deliverable that is needed by Friday EOD. Apparently someone forgot a key piece of our application requirements and with out this one piece, all is lost - or so I'm told.

I got involved because in another life I wrote some software that solved a similar problem. And now management wants to see if we (I.e.me) can make changes to it by Friday.

If there is one thing that bothers me the most about organizations, it's lack of having a thought out plan that leads to unnecessary urgency. Before joining the project I was told by hand-waving leadership that the Agile development process all but eliminated unscheduled fire-fights. That is not true. Only really smart, organized leadership can see around corners and stubbornly stick to a process. Unfortunately for us, the honeymoon is over, management is giving in and we are deviating back to gun slinging.

Pioneerof The Nile

2009-05-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Pioneerof The Nile for me in the Derby tomorrow. He's currently 4-1.

Who do you have?

Graduate School

2009-04-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

I finished up my fourth year of graduate school last night (U of M - Carlson). Actually, now that I think about it, it was actually my eight year of graduate school given I already have one master's degree (software engineering).

For those of you thinking of getting an advanced degree, here are three suggestions.

1) Do it before you have a family. And if you already have a family, make sure your wife and kids are on-board. You'll be spending a number of nights away from them. Throw in reading and studying, and your free time is limited.

2) Limit the number of classes that have group projects. No offense to my teammates from this past semester, but trying to synchronize five working, married, multiple class going students is nearly impossible. You end up spending an entire Saturday (typically the one directly preceding your due date) assembling a project imbroglio (confusing mess).

3) Don't get two master's degrees. If you get a degree in engineering, stick with it. If you get a degree in management, stick with it. Don't try to do both. And if you do (as I did), prepare to develop an increased amount of anxiousness towards finishing.

Serenity Now

2009-04-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

I just got done explaining to a colleague in my department (not my group) who has "engineer" on his title, the difference between using Windows Remote Desktop to log into a server's windowing process (laymen call this a Desktop), verses viewing a server file system via a UNC share (e.g. \\YourServer). The person was confused why, when I was logged into the server I could see icons and the Start button. While on his machine he could only see, as I explained to him, a shared folder.

I was using Remote Desktop. After I went to his desk, I found he was browsing the file system via the UNC path from Network Neighborhood. And now I know why I leave this place cussing and swearing at times. Maybe "engineer" doesn't mean you have the slightest bit of technical aptitude? Where is my $%&^$% coffee?

Dan Brown's new novel: "The Lost Symbol"

2009-04-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

A few years back I continually bugged a Barns and Nobel representative asking when a new Dan Brown novel would be coming out. I gave up after two years.

For those of us who enjoyed the "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angles and Demons" (they came out in reverse order, but gained popularity in the order I stated them), the wait is over. On September 15th, 2009, Brown will release "The Lost Symbol." The title seems apropos given Brown's character, Robert Langdon, is a symbologist.

With the exception of "Deception Point," I've read most of Dan Brown's books. I like his writing and look forward to "The Lost Symbol." How about you? Are you a mainstream reading as I am - at least most of the time.

New York Times' iPhone App

2009-04-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

The other day I added the New York Times' iPhone application. While you can hit nytimes.com with Safari, the user experience lacked pleasure.

The Times' iPhone application is great. You can drill down into the section you'd like (similar to reading the paper copy) and then increase or decrease the font size.

Though a moderate conservative, I'm a big fan of the Times and wish them well in their fight against being irrelevant. My suggestion to the Times is to either charge me $4.99 a year for the iPhone App (it's currently free, but I'd pay $4.99), or put in more advertising. The only advertisement I've seen is a reference to the Times' movie line.

If you have an iPhone, check it out. If you don't have an iPhone, continue to buy the New York Times paper copy. It's a great read.

Group Projects

2009-04-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Did I ever tell you how much I loath group projects for part-time graduate students? As an undergraduate, I didn't mind them. I lived on or near campus and had little, if any, responsibility outside of paying rent and finding four bucks for a weekend keg party.

Now that I have a family and a job, my days, nights and weekends are filled. I don't have time to spend five hours at campus working on a team project on a Saturday afternoon - as my group-mates are this weekend.

So why do instructors make 30% of your grade a group project and presentation? My guess is the University thinks that students like group projects. Well I don't. I hate them. I'm willing to bet that any part-time student, full-time employee, full-time father, full-time spouse, full-time house-chore-worker agrees with me.

As a note to the University; I just registered for three classes this fall. I only plan on taking one of them. I dropped an email to each instructor asking them to send a sample syllabus. I'm taking the class - no matter it's subject or my interest - that doesn't have a group project. The other two I'm dropping.

Take that bureaucrats.

O'sheas

2009-04-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

O'sheas is now my third favorite casino in Vegas. Cheap beer, good service and affordable gambling make it the type of place any economic minded gambler loves. If you like Bill's, you'll enjoy Osheas. And if you're Irish, the green decor is an added bonus.

Next time you're in Sin City, check it out. From Ceasers, just cross the street.

Dear iPhone

2009-04-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

Dear iPhone,

Oh how I love you. Here I sit , pool side, with my lovely wife and other beutiful people, checking baseball and golf scores while being served sweet liquor.

You, complete me.

Mac