As Mark Evanier (once Jack Kirby's Assistant) said "Well, it's safe to say Jack did all the pencilling. Beyond that, we run into all sorts of semantic arguments having to do with definitions of the word "writing" and with the fact that Mssrs. Lee and Kirby both have/had notoriously poor memories. You also have the fact that, when two creative talents get together and come up with an idea, each of them might honestly believe that he suggested at least the core of the concept if not the entire thing. This happens in any collaboration anywhere and, ultimately, you usually have to just say that they both had the idea. Ergo, I say that the Lee-Kirby creations are Lee-Kirby creations."
I think that quote says it all--except for the fact that Stan Lee created/inspired a whole generation of HUMANISTIC superheroes--ones with flaws, foibles and problems that were not outweighed by ultra-human abilities. Peter Parker was still somewhat introverted and Geeky, Stephen Strange was still an alcoholic and somewhat arrogant, Ben Grimm had self-esteem problems relating to his appearance. The list is Endless.
Stan Lee and Marvel Comics brought us some of the greatest comics and heroes. Thanks Stan!!
There's some personal responsibility that we all need to take.
Watch out, ipxoidi, you're going to get yourself in trouble for saying that. Psychobabble says that our 'environment' is responsible for our behavior, not our own hearts. To suggest that virus writers WANT to write them is tantamount to slander, and could set you up for huge lawsuit. (Note: Tongue firmly planted in cheek)
In all seriousness, yes the problem was with Microsoft software, but in reality the patches were available almost full month before the blaster worm was released. As a result, those corporations who had not patched their systems (and blocked the relative ports at the firewalls) should share a LARGE chunk of the blame, but the ultimate blame rests on those who exploited the vulnerabilty, regardless of their motivation. Just because the door is open, doesn't give you the right to come in.
I'm not a coder, so I may be sticking my neck out on a limb here, but how many University programs teach responsible (read: secure) coding? I know many, many tomes have been written on the subject, but is it really TAUGHT at the University level, where the majority of the corporate coders come from? If the mentality were in place, do you think we would have as many vulnerabilities in any software used/sold? I, for one, would like to think that we would not.
An even bigger culprit is the 'point and click' mentality that has developed from overuse of GUI. This is fostered in the workplace by the lack of training given to end users because XYZ Corp only has 4 IT guys to support 10,000 users. Hyperbole, and I know it, but intentional use to point out the simple fact that in most companies, GUI=Easy, hence Dick and Jane don't need to be trained.
I have been a consultant in places where the CEO doesn't use a computer because he doesn't understand them. Instead, his AA prints out relative e-mails, the CEO reads and write responses, which the AA puts back into e-mail. Consequently, the use of computers internally was limited to managers, while the workers used pencil and paper. Can you imagine an entire accounting department using pencil and paper? 30 people? The data was then chunked back into spreadsheets by 5 AA's and those spreadsheets reviewed by a Chief Accountant who put the data into the financial software. CSR's used pencil and paper and actual BOOKS to read the problem response out of. The had a complicated numerical system to refer to problems, the CSR's made checkmarks by the appropriate column, tallied them at the end of the workday, and 4 AA's put this data in a Spreadsheet for the CSR Manager to review.
Sure, their computer costs were reduced--the network only had 25 PC's on it, they were running NetWare 3.22, so it was a very stable network; I only visted them to install Novell updates and fix printers (install toner cartridges mostly) and computers. E-mail was handled via Eudora--they used POP mailboxes hosted at an ISP. Did I also mention this was a Fortune 500 company that spun off of a Fortune 100 Company? Did I also mention that it spiraled downward to bankruptcy, was purchased cheap by some investors who sold the parts for more than they bought it for (like an old Buick)?
My point is this. It is the *perception* that learning computers is hard for the average Dick and Jane that should be fought. Unfortunately, this is a difficult mentality to combat, especially where 'Dick and Jane' are much older and never had computers when they first started working for company X. Granted, using an efficient and effective patch update system on Corporate Networks would be a boon--and to be fair, many companies do this. But, more do not, so we end up with a hodge-podge of patched systems and have problems when a vulnerability is exploited.
Vulnerability exploiters *should* be punished, regardless of whether they are the first, or thirty-first exploiter. I do not believe for a minute in the facts as presented by another poster that 'deterrence' is a distant reason for puni
I once worked for a company who had as the primary owner a man who believed nothing was impossible. Religious convictions notwithstanding (Yes, I believe with God all things are possible, but I also believe He often merely shows us the open door; we have to enter and find what we need.), the company motto was "Don't worry about why it happened, or why it didn't happen, Make It Happen." This being said, he would often tell clients 'Sure, no problem, we can do that.', when the reality was that we had no clue. He would then point to the motto and berate us at meetings because we didn't 'Make It Happen'.
Consequently, after a bit more than a few months, I grew weary of the 'Make It Happen' speeches (note: many things we were doing were along the lines of things like SNA connections to AS/400 boxes with NT Servers, or programming routers without instruction/training/knowledge). I found a job with a larger entity, and found that they, too, suffered from the 'we never say no' policy. Saying 'No' in a corporate environment is career suicide sometimes; other times it makes management take a step back.
I agree with most of the posters about documenting your time; it's absolutely vital, both from a standpoint of showing just why projects are behind, but also at review time, to prove you are a worthy asset. Documentation will often save your bacon.
Hey, why don't Red Hat and SCO do an episode of Trading Spaces? We'll use Doug and Frank for the designers. Frank can add some Whimsy to SCO, and Doug-well, he'll paint Red Hat Brown. And, just for us male geeks---Amy Wynn as the Carpenter.(VBEG)
And I'm saying where I grew up and where I live now they're mostly like that..money grubbing and shallow.
As to the family bit--I could never have children, had an accident as a teen that made me sterile. My family happens to be all of my friends I hang with, the residents at the shelter and the kids I work with routinely with the Jaycees. Better than any wife, and more fullfilling. You obviously didn't get it. I spent a long time crawling out of a dark tunnel, why go back again?
Don't tell me what I have or haven't found. I have found happiness. I got rid of the wife thing 8 years ago, and am happier than I was for the 8 years we were together. Why? because I don't have to worry whether or not there is money in the bank to pay the bills all of the time. I know it is there. I know I have nothing and no one to answer to other than God, work and myself. My point in mentioning the home, car, boat, etc. is that I actually was able to afford to have such things because I was able to repair my damaged credit. My score at the end of our marriage was so low, I couldn't even get a checking account--that's how badly she ruined me in 8 years.
Also, don't assume I don't care about other people; I do. I belong to an organization (Jaycees) that performs civic functions routinely. I spend 3 days a month working with developmentally disabled. I also volunteer with the church most of the time. What I *refuse* to do is allow myself to become romantically involved again. It's a loss of control over my destiny that is abhorrent to me. You're caught up in the romantic ideal--it might work for you now, but you will get taken sooner or later. I gave everything to my ex; I gave up everything I enjoyed doing for 8 years. It was never enough for her. I always did what she wanted, never what I wanted. There was no compromise, it was always her way.
Don't tell me I didn't work at true love..I did. What did it get me? Nothing but trouble. When I left, I lived with a friend for 2 months in a garage apartment he was working on fixing up as a TV Room for watching sports with his buds. I paid him back by doing painting, scraping, drywalling, electrical--anything. As I mentioned above, I couldn't get a checking account, but it didn't matter because most of the money was going to pay bills. It took me 2 years just to clean things up to the point where I could get a bank account. I bought cheap junkers so I could have transport to work. The first car I bought on 'credit', had 150K miles, and was on a two year loan at 18% interest. It was a 10-year old car to boot. I did nothing and went nowhere for 5 years. I took no vacations, and sold the time back to get money to pay off bills. I think I sacrificed plenty, both during and AFTER...
Romantic Love? Bah... It's a myth at best, foolish behaviour at worst. I'm avoiding it like the plague it is. Look around you and look at your friends, your relatives, classmates. 50% of them will be divorced at least once, some twice. Better to be in control of yourself and your destiny than allow someone to ruin you. I've seen people married for 20 and 30 years splitting up. Romance is dead; it's been deregulated like the utilities.. LOL..Thankfully, I saw the light.
Nope..I am a pragmatic, practical, and quite happy (and not lonely either) Winner.
Great job, good money, my own boat, my own house, my own car..
Fun weekends..I can tool around or fish at leisure on my boat. Game with my buds..go drinking with my buds, watch a football game, whatever.
In short, I answer to nothing except the work pager and the laws.
Every woman I know has admitted that men are only good for two things--money and sex.
I know what the married ones I have sex with want--just sex. Money they get from their husbands.
The divorcees I see are only out for sex from men--they don't want money because they're happy and secure in making their own.
I know 2 single girls who game with me, but nothing else, and they agree. Men are only good for Money and Sex. Marry rich and divorce 'em, taking half of what they own. That's their philosophy, and a very common one in states with alimony. Thank goodness I married and divorced in a state that doesn't have it.
Out of a graduating class of 150, there were 62 guys..of the 50 of us left alive, only 2 are still married to the same person they were 10 years ago. 31 of us are single---35 of us married more than once. I've been married once..I married rather late, and it only lasted a short time.
In short: NAVY=Never Again Voluteer Yourself. My philosophy towards marriage and women in general.
They're all a bunch of money grabbers--ask 100 women and I'll bet 75% or more will tell you money that how much money a guy makes is the most important thing, then looks. Twenty percent will tell you looks, then money. The rest will either be uninterested in men for one reason or another, or just want them in bed and nowhere else.
Love..bah... Like the song says "It's defective, it's always breaking in half.". "Love" means a woman wants you, but only until she finds someone else with more money than you.
and my 'booty call' list is just that..booty calls, nothing more. Oh, and FYI--none of them are prostitutes. Most of them are married women I know who have husbands out of town most of the time (read: Navy Guys). Free, no strings Sex. I know a couple of divorced women who don't want men permanently in their lives either, they're as tired of us as many of us are tired of them, but get tired of using a BOB all of the time.
Not alone at all..I have tons of friends that I party and game with. I have a list of females--some married, some not, some divorced who have the same conclusion about men that I have about women--for more 'intimate' activities.
I can go where I want, when I want. I can stay out as long as I want. I answer to no one but myself. In fact, I wrote that letter just before leaving for VA Beach for Sat-Sun with some friends. I just drove back today, and work tonite in the NOC.
The water business is doing much the same thing in the USA as the Electric, Phone, and Gas utilities, but more slowly and in a different manner. You can't easily buy/sell water from one utility to another, due to a lack of interconnects; there is no 'grid'. Along with the Regulated Water Wompanies, there are Ee-regulated aspects of the water business that allow for the operation and maintenance of Regulated facilities by other entities. Some of the entities doing operation are Regulated Water Companies. The profit margin can be 2-3x that of a Regulated facility, which makes the Deregulated aspect more attractive to outside forces. Consequently, the regulated utilities are being purchased by out-of the US companies (Vivendi and Suez of France, and RWE of Germany being the three 'big players' in this business) who simply do not understand how the USA Regulated Water business works.
Most of these Deregulated operations operate at a loss, that is then subsidized by the Regulated utility entities that were purchased along with of the deregulated businesses that the regulated companies were trying to run. When you couple these factors with Parent Company problems (RWE is suffering under a 24% drop in profits, Vivendi is in the throes of economic woes, partly due to the Entertainment Division, and Suez/Ondeo with its' woes in Puerto Rico; Atlanta; Halifax Nova Scotia, etc.) and you see where the problems to even the regulated subsidiaries can be. Profit, Profit, Profit, but up the ladder and not where it should go.
ah, but we're running out of Natural Gas, so that fuel cell is a short-term solution.
Deregulation is a problem child. In PA, I'm supposed to be able to choose my power provider, however that isn't the case where I live. Only one provider gives me power here (the same with my local phone). Not only that, but since 'deregulation', only 6 power companies remain.. that's right, six.
As many people have said, the MegaCorps want profit. My job was a victim of utility dereg; and I took care of the SCADA systems. Now, they have no one to take care of them, and from what I've heard, they have problems that haven't been fixed because the 'corporate gurus' don't have time to fix it yet. Thanks to a foreign owner who is highly leveraged (and was banking on the Euro dollar and the EU), they're taking profit from all of their American holdings. Consequently, the utility infrastructure is going to erode. I feel sorry for the customers, thankfully I'm on a municipal provider for that particular need.
We need to restore regulation to all facets of the utility market. Dereg is only good for the monopolists.
You sure aren't doing much to disuade my opinion that women are too high maintenance.
Exactly why I'm divorced. Ex-wife decided that the money in the bank wasn't for things like paying bills and buying food (and making sure I had gas in my car for getting to/from clients). She preferred to spend on frivilous junk from every damn store in town.
Thank goodness I maintained control over my expense checks, or I wouldn't have had my computers or gas in my car.
Of course, I let this shit go on for 8 years of marriage, so I was stupid too.
Plan A no longer includes a woman as a permanent fixture in my house. No more--they can't be trusted and they cost too much money. 8 years later, my credit is repaired and I bought a shiny new boat and it's parked in a slip near VA Beach.
All without a woman in the house. I have a few I can ring up for a date if I feel like it and they're in the 'buddy' category (nudge, nudge, wink, wink Say No More). That's how Plan A goes men--Women can't be trusted, they'll steal you blind one way or another.
We have exactly that system here in PA--but since deregulation began we have gone from around 30 companies generating power to 6. Larger, more economically solvent power companies are swallowing smaller ones, thereby artificially creating the monopoly deregulation was supposed to prevent. If you couple this with the fact that not all companies service a given area, where does the consumer win? When I moved here and first requested electricity, I tried to shop around. What did I find out? I only have one electric company servicing me, so dereg in that respect was inneffective.
BTW--the same thing happened with my telco provider, and the one that services my area can't accept electronic bill payment because they have polled their customers and the majority don't want it.
Deregulation is not a panacea everyone seems to think it is. Personally, I like the idea of utilities being regulated and controlled. This opinion happens to come from a man who is a former employee of a utility. Thanks to dereg, the parent company (foreign-owned) gets to utilize profits from US owned subsidiaries to reduce their debt and recover from losses they suffered due to poor management. Consequently, budgets suffer because of a high demand by the parent of deeper profit margins, and there is no money for routine preventative maintanence. Without money for PM, you end up in a 'fix things as they break' role. Couple this with the fact that the company now cannot afford the number of employees they have, staff reductions are necessary. It soon ballooned to 40% across the board with some areas getting higher percentages of cuts to make the 40% average, which is bad news for both employee and consumer. Not only that, but even the remaining employees have low morale because they are constantly being told that more cuts could come at any time, since the budget numbers are too close to call.
I don't want to come off sounding like a bitter ex-employee here, either. Fewer employees--especially in the areas where forward-thinking and action are required--does not add up to the ability to provide quality service. No money for parts, no money for people and you're back to break-fix, which actually costs more in the long run than proactive management. Unfortunately, profit motive is always short-term. This is perfectly exampled by the fact that the nearly 60% budget reduction in IT, and the cutting of 80% of the IT staff is the direct cause of them getting hit by both Slammer and LoveSan/MSBlast this year. A friend who still works there told me yesterday they still probably aren't cleaned up from MSBlast because they have road warriors who are on vacation. They are so concentrated on being REACTIVE, they are not being PROACTIVE.
There isn't a simple solution, I'm afraid. Even though I'm in favor of regulating utilities, I'm pragmatic. I realize that regulation also causes more problems than it solves, since it (by default) creates bigger government. The old 'who watches the watchers' scenario. It seems like the proverbial Catch-22.
Oops..I did forgot to mention, this was on a Windows NT 4.0 Server. Prior to this, they ran an MMS system on a Unix box--very expensive HP-UX/Oracle solution. The entire NT/Oracle solution was less than half of the cost of a replacement for the HP-UX/Oracle system running the same software. Of course, this was under the Oracle 7 pricing structure. With the current pricing for both Oracle and MS-SQL, I think the cost of the database software alone would more than exceed the cost of the hardware AND the application with all of it's associated licenses.
A former manager of mine used to dump an Oracle Database this way. He used a combination of REXX and Windows Batch Files because he did NOT trust the backup software and its' 'hot' backup. It would shut down the Oracle services, back up the database, store it in another server location, and restart the oracle services once completed.
We ended up with three backups of the database this way..one hot backup done by the backup software, and two cold backups--one on a different file server, and a copy on tape the next day. At most, we would be 24 hours out of synch. It was an MMS program (MP5 from DataStream technologies; now DataStream 7i) and not extremely heavily used, since most of what he wanted to accomplish with it management wouldn't support. They just wanted all of the maintenance done at the wastewater plant to be recorded. Everything else was superfluous. A single day of data (8-9 hours of acutal working time) would be all that was lost; which would not have been a big deal, since there were paper copies anyway,
There are options for remote management of Windows servers via WAP devices. One of these is a product called Serverphone. There are other solutions available as well, and I seem to recall an article some months ago in a trade mag (possibly Windows &.NET magazine) about using a WindowsCE (e.g. Pocket PC) device and (I believe) Terminal Services Client.
The point is this: There are tools available to remotely manage a Windows network, but sometimes your physical presence is more reassuring than the fact that you don't charge travel time. I don't charge travel expenses to my clients who purchase my top contract services. But then..my clients are all less than an hour from my office. I purposely limited myself that way to prevent extended travel. There are a LOT of small businesses that I service.
Re:Just mentioned the Club...
on
The Big Kerplop
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· Score: 1
Ah, those were the days...
Dinky and Freddy and Motimer and the gang from 'The Mad Scientists Club'..
Tom Swift (Sr. and Jr. both were read and enjoyed by me) and Jr's friend Bud Barclay..
Danny Dunn and Joe Pearson and Irene (forget her last name)..
Jupiter, Peter, and Bob, aka 'The Three Investigators'...
and my all-time favorite..
Encylopedia Brown..
BUT....
Let's also not forget 'Inspector Roger Tearle'...even though he was very similar to Enclylopedia Brown, the books were still very good..
While I'm thinking...let's not forget Issac Asimov's 'Tales of the Black Widowers'. While not necessarily a childrens book, I did read them as a young adolescent.
Alas, we just don't have the same level of writing---we're spoiled by the multitude of channels of crap on digital cable... Maybe it's high time I pulled the plug on the idiot box....
I think I know what I'm ordering now..
The Big Kerplop just might be a fun read this weekend..
This is why we have locate coordination services in most states ( I would say most likely all, but I'm not certain of the facts. ) and if a construction/utility/whomever fails to call them, they can be slapped with a huge fine.
I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've lost telco services because some third-party company dug up our T1. The last time this happened, not a *single* member of the crew spoke a word of English. Instead, they were low-paid (I'm guessing), hispanic laborers who were told to 'dig where the marks were' (thanks to a co-worker who spoke spanish fluently). When I finally reached someone at the parent company, they told me they were told where to dig by the company who hired them--a cable television company who gave them maps. The cable company had never called the state service that provides locate coordination from utilities.
By the way, they also nicked a gas main about 500 yards from where they cut our cable with their trencher, and another crew across town nailed a 48" water main. Ever see one of those babies erupt? I think the water was spewing upward at least 50-75 feet. A hospital lost water service for several hours.
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As Mark Evanier (once Jack Kirby's Assistant) said "Well, it's safe to say Jack did all the pencilling. Beyond that, we run into all sorts of semantic arguments having to do with definitions of the word "writing" and with the fact that Mssrs. Lee and Kirby both have/had notoriously poor memories. You also have the fact that, when two creative talents get together and come up with an idea, each of them might honestly believe that he suggested at least the core of the concept if not the entire thing. This happens in any collaboration anywhere and, ultimately, you usually have to just say that they both had the idea. Ergo, I say that the Lee-Kirby creations are Lee-Kirby creations."
I think that quote says it all--except for the fact that Stan Lee created/inspired a whole generation of HUMANISTIC superheroes--ones with flaws, foibles and problems that were not outweighed by ultra-human abilities. Peter Parker was still somewhat introverted and Geeky, Stephen Strange was still an alcoholic and somewhat arrogant, Ben Grimm had self-esteem problems relating to his appearance. The list is Endless.
Stan Lee and Marvel Comics brought us some of the greatest comics and heroes. Thanks Stan!!
There's some personal responsibility that we all need to take.
Watch out, ipxoidi, you're going to get yourself in trouble for saying that. Psychobabble says that our 'environment' is responsible for our behavior, not our own hearts. To suggest that virus writers WANT to write them is tantamount to slander, and could set you up for huge lawsuit. (Note: Tongue firmly planted in cheek)
In all seriousness, yes the problem was with Microsoft software, but in reality the patches were available almost full month before the blaster worm was released. As a result, those corporations who had not patched their systems (and blocked the relative ports at the firewalls) should share a LARGE chunk of the blame, but the ultimate blame rests on those who exploited the vulnerabilty, regardless of their motivation. Just because the door is open, doesn't give you the right to come in.
I'm not a coder, so I may be sticking my neck out on a limb here, but how many University programs teach responsible (read: secure) coding? I know many, many tomes have been written on the subject, but is it really TAUGHT at the University level, where the majority of the corporate coders come from? If the mentality were in place, do you think we would have as many vulnerabilities in any software used/sold? I, for one, would like to think that we would not.
An even bigger culprit is the 'point and click' mentality that has developed from overuse of GUI. This is fostered in the workplace by the lack of training given to end users because XYZ Corp only has 4 IT guys to support 10,000 users. Hyperbole, and I know it, but intentional use to point out the simple fact that in most companies, GUI=Easy, hence Dick and Jane don't need to be trained.
I have been a consultant in places where the CEO doesn't use a computer because he doesn't understand them. Instead, his AA prints out relative e-mails, the CEO reads and write responses, which the AA puts back into e-mail. Consequently, the use of computers internally was limited to managers, while the workers used pencil and paper. Can you imagine an entire accounting department using pencil and paper? 30 people? The data was then chunked back into spreadsheets by 5 AA's and those spreadsheets reviewed by a Chief Accountant who put the data into the financial software. CSR's used pencil and paper and actual BOOKS to read the problem response out of. The had a complicated numerical system to refer to problems, the CSR's made checkmarks by the appropriate column, tallied them at the end of the workday, and 4 AA's put this data in a Spreadsheet for the CSR Manager to review.
Sure, their computer costs were reduced--the network only had 25 PC's on it, they were running NetWare 3.22, so it was a very stable network; I only visted them to install Novell updates and fix printers (install toner cartridges mostly) and computers. E-mail was handled via Eudora--they used POP mailboxes hosted at an ISP. Did I also mention this was a Fortune 500 company that spun off of a Fortune 100 Company? Did I also mention that it spiraled downward to bankruptcy, was purchased cheap by some investors who sold the parts for more than they bought it for (like an old Buick)?
My point is this. It is the *perception* that learning computers is hard for the average Dick and Jane that should be fought. Unfortunately, this is a difficult mentality to combat, especially where 'Dick and Jane' are much older and never had computers when they first started working for company X. Granted, using an efficient and effective patch update system on Corporate Networks would be a boon--and to be fair, many companies do this. But, more do not, so we end up with a hodge-podge of patched systems and have problems when a vulnerability is exploited.
Vulnerability exploiters *should* be punished, regardless of whether they are the first, or thirty-first exploiter. I do not believe for a minute in the facts as presented by another poster that 'deterrence' is a distant reason for puni
I once worked for a company who had as the primary owner a man who believed nothing was impossible. Religious convictions notwithstanding (Yes, I believe with God all things are possible, but I also believe He often merely shows us the open door; we have to enter and find what we need.), the company motto was "Don't worry about why it happened, or why it didn't happen, Make It Happen." This being said, he would often tell clients 'Sure, no problem, we can do that.', when the reality was that we had no clue. He would then point to the motto and berate us at meetings because we didn't 'Make It Happen'.
Consequently, after a bit more than a few months, I grew weary of the 'Make It Happen' speeches (note: many things we were doing were along the lines of things like SNA connections to AS/400 boxes with NT Servers, or programming routers without instruction/training/knowledge). I found a job with a larger entity, and found that they, too, suffered from the 'we never say no' policy. Saying 'No' in a corporate environment is career suicide sometimes; other times it makes management take a step back.
I agree with most of the posters about documenting your time; it's absolutely vital, both from a standpoint of showing just why projects are behind, but also at review time, to prove you are a worthy asset. Documentation will often save your bacon.
Very Big Evil Grin
Laurie Hickson-Smith..She's from Mississippi, IIRC... Not my cup of tea, but then, I don't really like red heads...Now Genevieve.....
Hey, why don't Red Hat and SCO do an episode of Trading Spaces? We'll use Doug and Frank for the designers. Frank can add some Whimsy to SCO, and Doug-well, he'll paint Red Hat Brown. And, just for us male geeks---Amy Wynn as the Carpenter.(VBEG)
And what am I going to do with 10TB ethernet?
Watch the smoke rise from the cables?
Hm.. Worst case....Echelon will read e-mail much faster..
No..East Coast...
And I'm saying where I grew up and where I live now they're mostly like that..money grubbing and shallow.
As to the family bit--I could never have children, had an accident as a teen that made me sterile. My family happens to be all of my friends I hang with, the residents at the shelter and the kids I work with routinely with the Jaycees. Better than any wife, and more fullfilling. You obviously didn't get it. I spent a long time crawling out of a dark tunnel, why go back again?
Don't tell me what I have or haven't found. I have found happiness. I got rid of the wife thing 8 years ago, and am happier than I was for the 8 years we were together. Why? because I don't have to worry whether or not there is money in the bank to pay the bills all of the time. I know it is there. I know I have nothing and no one to answer to other than God, work and myself. My point in mentioning the home, car, boat, etc. is that I actually was able to afford to have such things because I was able to repair my damaged credit. My score at the end of our marriage was so low, I couldn't even get a checking account--that's how badly she ruined me in 8 years.
Also, don't assume I don't care about other people; I do. I belong to an organization (Jaycees) that performs civic functions routinely. I spend 3 days a month working with developmentally disabled. I also volunteer with the church most of the time. What I *refuse* to do is allow myself to become romantically involved again. It's a loss of control over my destiny that is abhorrent to me. You're caught up in the romantic ideal--it might work for you now, but you will get taken sooner or later. I gave everything to my ex; I gave up everything I enjoyed doing for 8 years. It was never enough for her. I always did what she wanted, never what I wanted. There was no compromise, it was always her way.
Don't tell me I didn't work at true love..I did. What did it get me? Nothing but trouble. When I left, I lived with a friend for 2 months in a garage apartment he was working on fixing up as a TV Room for watching sports with his buds. I paid him back by doing painting, scraping, drywalling, electrical--anything. As I mentioned above, I couldn't get a checking account, but it didn't matter because most of the money was going to pay bills. It took me 2 years just to clean things up to the point where I could get a bank account. I bought cheap junkers so I could have transport to work. The first car I bought on 'credit', had 150K miles, and was on a two year loan at 18% interest. It was a 10-year old car to boot. I did nothing and went nowhere for 5 years. I took no vacations, and sold the time back to get money to pay off bills. I think I sacrificed plenty, both during and AFTER...
Romantic Love? Bah... It's a myth at best, foolish behaviour at worst. I'm avoiding it like the plague it is. Look around you and look at your friends, your relatives, classmates. 50% of them will be divorced at least once, some twice. Better to be in control of yourself and your destiny than allow someone to ruin you. I've seen people married for 20 and 30 years splitting up. Romance is dead; it's been deregulated like the utilities.. LOL..Thankfully, I saw the light.
Nope..I am a pragmatic, practical, and quite happy (and not lonely either) Winner.
Great job, good money, my own boat, my own house, my own car..
Fun weekends..I can tool around or fish at leisure on my boat. Game with my buds..go drinking with my buds, watch a football game, whatever.
In short, I answer to nothing except the work pager and the laws.
Every woman I know has admitted that men are only good for two things--money and sex.
I know what the married ones I have sex with want--just sex. Money they get from their husbands.
The divorcees I see are only out for sex from men--they don't want money because they're happy and secure in making their own.
I know 2 single girls who game with me, but nothing else, and they agree. Men are only good for Money and Sex. Marry rich and divorce 'em, taking half of what they own. That's their philosophy, and a very common one in states with alimony. Thank goodness I married and divorced in a state that doesn't have it.
Out of a graduating class of 150, there were 62 guys..of the 50 of us left alive, only 2 are still married to the same person they were 10 years ago. 31 of us are single---35 of us married more than once. I've been married once..I married rather late, and it only lasted a short time.
In short: NAVY=Never Again Voluteer Yourself. My philosophy towards marriage and women in general.
They're all a bunch of money grabbers--ask 100 women and I'll bet 75% or more will tell you money that how much money a guy makes is the most important thing, then looks. Twenty percent will tell you looks, then money. The rest will either be uninterested in men for one reason or another, or just want them in bed and nowhere else.
Love..bah... Like the song says "It's defective, it's always breaking in half.". "Love" means a woman wants you, but only until she finds someone else with more money than you.
and my 'booty call' list is just that..booty calls, nothing more. Oh, and FYI--none of them are prostitutes. Most of them are married women I know who have husbands out of town most of the time (read: Navy Guys). Free, no strings Sex. I know a couple of divorced women who don't want men permanently in their lives either, they're as tired of us as many of us are tired of them, but get tired of using a BOB all of the time.
Anyone who believes in love is a fool..
Not alone at all..I have tons of friends that I party and game with. I have a list of females--some married, some not, some divorced who have the same conclusion about men that I have about women--for more 'intimate' activities.
I can go where I want, when I want. I can stay out as long as I want. I answer to no one but myself. In fact, I wrote that letter just before leaving for VA Beach for Sat-Sun with some friends. I just drove back today, and work tonite in the NOC.
What more could I ask for?
The water business is doing much the same thing in the USA as the Electric, Phone, and Gas utilities, but more slowly and in a different manner. You can't easily buy/sell water from one utility to another, due to a lack of interconnects; there is no 'grid'. Along with the Regulated Water Wompanies, there are Ee-regulated aspects of the water business that allow for the operation and maintenance of Regulated facilities by other entities. Some of the entities doing operation are Regulated Water Companies. The profit margin can be 2-3x that of a Regulated facility, which makes the Deregulated aspect more attractive to outside forces. Consequently, the regulated utilities are being purchased by out-of the US companies (Vivendi and Suez of France, and RWE of Germany being the three 'big players' in this business) who simply do not understand how the USA Regulated Water business works.
Most of these Deregulated operations operate at a loss, that is then subsidized by the Regulated utility entities that were purchased along with of the deregulated businesses that the regulated companies were trying to run. When you couple these factors with Parent Company problems (RWE is suffering under a 24% drop in profits, Vivendi is in the throes of economic woes, partly due to the Entertainment Division, and Suez/Ondeo with its' woes in Puerto Rico; Atlanta; Halifax Nova Scotia, etc.) and you see where the problems to even the regulated subsidiaries can be. Profit, Profit, Profit, but up the ladder and not where it should go.
ah, but we're running out of Natural Gas, so that fuel cell is a short-term solution.
Deregulation is a problem child. In PA, I'm supposed to be able to choose my power provider, however that isn't the case where I live. Only one provider gives me power here (the same with my local phone). Not only that, but since 'deregulation', only 6 power companies remain.. that's right, six.
As many people have said, the MegaCorps want profit. My job was a victim of utility dereg; and I took care of the SCADA systems. Now, they have no one to take care of them, and from what I've heard, they have problems that haven't been fixed because the 'corporate gurus' don't have time to fix it yet. Thanks to a foreign owner who is highly leveraged (and was banking on the Euro dollar and the EU), they're taking profit from all of their American holdings. Consequently, the utility infrastructure is going to erode. I feel sorry for the customers, thankfully I'm on a municipal provider for that particular need.
We need to restore regulation to all facets of the utility market. Dereg is only good for the monopolists.
You sure aren't doing much to disuade my opinion that women are too high maintenance.
Exactly why I'm divorced. Ex-wife decided that the money in the bank wasn't for things like paying bills and buying food (and making sure I had gas in my car for getting to/from clients). She preferred to spend on frivilous junk from every damn store in town.Thank goodness I maintained control over my expense checks, or I wouldn't have had my computers or gas in my car.
Of course, I let this shit go on for 8 years of marriage, so I was stupid too.
Plan A no longer includes a woman as a permanent fixture in my house. No more--they can't be trusted and they cost too much money. 8 years later, my credit is repaired and I bought a shiny new boat and it's parked in a slip near VA Beach.
All without a woman in the house. I have a few I can ring up for a date if I feel like it and they're in the 'buddy' category (nudge, nudge, wink, wink Say No More). That's how Plan A goes men--Women can't be trusted, they'll steal you blind one way or another.
BTW--the same thing happened with my telco provider, and the one that services my area can't accept electronic bill payment because they have polled their customers and the majority don't want it.
Deregulation is not a panacea everyone seems to think it is. Personally, I like the idea of utilities being regulated and controlled. This opinion happens to come from a man who is a former employee of a utility. Thanks to dereg, the parent company (foreign-owned) gets to utilize profits from US owned subsidiaries to reduce their debt and recover from losses they suffered due to poor management. Consequently, budgets suffer because of a high demand by the parent of deeper profit margins, and there is no money for routine preventative maintanence. Without money for PM, you end up in a 'fix things as they break' role. Couple this with the fact that the company now cannot afford the number of employees they have, staff reductions are necessary. It soon ballooned to 40% across the board with some areas getting higher percentages of cuts to make the 40% average, which is bad news for both employee and consumer. Not only that, but even the remaining employees have low morale because they are constantly being told that more cuts could come at any time, since the budget numbers are too close to call.
I don't want to come off sounding like a bitter ex-employee here, either. Fewer employees--especially in the areas where forward-thinking and action are required--does not add up to the ability to provide quality service. No money for parts, no money for people and you're back to break-fix, which actually costs more in the long run than proactive management. Unfortunately, profit motive is always short-term. This is perfectly exampled by the fact that the nearly 60% budget reduction in IT, and the cutting of 80% of the IT staff is the direct cause of them getting hit by both Slammer and LoveSan/MSBlast this year. A friend who still works there told me yesterday they still probably aren't cleaned up from MSBlast because they have road warriors who are on vacation. They are so concentrated on being REACTIVE, they are not being PROACTIVE.
There isn't a simple solution, I'm afraid. Even though I'm in favor of regulating utilities, I'm pragmatic. I realize that regulation also causes more problems than it solves, since it (by default) creates bigger government. The old 'who watches the watchers' scenario. It seems like the proverbial Catch-22.
Oops..I did forgot to mention, this was on a Windows NT 4.0 Server. Prior to this, they ran an MMS system on a Unix box--very expensive HP-UX/Oracle solution. The entire NT/Oracle solution was less than half of the cost of a replacement for the HP-UX/Oracle system running the same software. Of course, this was under the Oracle 7 pricing structure. With the current pricing for both Oracle and MS-SQL, I think the cost of the database software alone would more than exceed the cost of the hardware AND the application with all of it's associated licenses.
A former manager of mine used to dump an Oracle Database this way. He used a combination of REXX and Windows Batch Files because he did NOT trust the backup software and its' 'hot' backup. It would shut down the Oracle services, back up the database, store it in another server location, and restart the oracle services once completed.
We ended up with three backups of the database this way..one hot backup done by the backup software, and two cold backups--one on a different file server, and a copy on tape the next day. At most, we would be 24 hours out of synch. It was an MMS program (MP5 from DataStream technologies; now DataStream 7i) and not extremely heavily used, since most of what he wanted to accomplish with it management wouldn't support. They just wanted all of the maintenance done at the wastewater plant to be recorded. Everything else was superfluous. A single day of data (8-9 hours of acutal working time) would be all that was lost; which would not have been a big deal, since there were paper copies anyway,
There are options for remote management of Windows servers via WAP devices. One of these is a product called Serverphone. There are other solutions available as well, and I seem to recall an article some months ago in a trade mag (possibly Windows & .NET magazine) about using a WindowsCE (e.g. Pocket PC) device and (I believe) Terminal Services Client.
The point is this: There are tools available to remotely manage a Windows network, but sometimes your physical presence is more reassuring than the fact that you don't charge travel time. I don't charge travel expenses to my clients who purchase my top contract services. But then..my clients are all less than an hour from my office. I purposely limited myself that way to prevent extended travel. There are a LOT of small businesses that I service.
Ah, those were the days...
Dinky and Freddy and Motimer and the gang from 'The Mad Scientists Club'..
Tom Swift (Sr. and Jr. both were read and enjoyed by me) and Jr's friend Bud Barclay..
Danny Dunn and Joe Pearson and Irene (forget her last name)..
Jupiter, Peter, and Bob, aka 'The Three Investigators'...
and my all-time favorite..
Encylopedia Brown..
BUT....
Let's also not forget 'Inspector Roger Tearle'...even though he was very similar to Enclylopedia Brown, the books were still very good..
While I'm thinking...let's not forget Issac Asimov's 'Tales of the Black Widowers'. While not necessarily a childrens book, I did read them as a young adolescent.
Alas, we just don't have the same level of writing---we're spoiled by the multitude of channels of crap on digital cable... Maybe it's high time I pulled the plug on the idiot box....
I think I know what I'm ordering now..
The Big Kerplop just might be a fun read this weekend..
knghtrider
This is why we have locate coordination services in most states ( I would say most likely all, but I'm not certain of the facts. ) and if a construction/utility/whomever fails to call them, they can be slapped with a huge fine.
I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've lost telco services because some third-party company dug up our T1. The last time this happened, not a *single* member of the crew spoke a word of English. Instead, they were low-paid (I'm guessing), hispanic laborers who were told to 'dig where the marks were' (thanks to a co-worker who spoke spanish fluently). When I finally reached someone at the parent company, they told me they were told where to dig by the company who hired them--a cable television company who gave them maps. The cable company had never called the state service that provides locate coordination from utilities.
By the way, they also nicked a gas main about 500 yards from where they cut our cable with their trencher, and another crew across town nailed a 48" water main. Ever see one of those babies erupt? I think the water was spewing upward at least 50-75 feet. A hospital lost water service for several hours.