Weblog » Rants

At work, keeping the “young kids” around is a really big problem.

You see, I work for a division that has been around for 40 years in a company that is over 120 years old. My division had its heyday in 1980 and most of its employees are aged to match. They are all creeping nearer and nearer retirement and my employer is having difficulty solving the need for new blood in preparation for the soon-to-be boomer exodus.

In the time I’ve been employed there, almost all of the people with whom I started have left and been replaced with fewer, younger employees. Management has only recently grasped the enormity of the problem, and is still treating it with the backroom secrecy that was popular before the dot-com bubble.

They are of the same mind and opinion as the people who researched and wrote this article:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/011008-young-workers-hard-to-retain.html

Lets talk about why this article is so completely out of touch with reality, shall we?
(more…)

So, I got a text message and instead of doing something helpful, my phone decided to crash. While it has happened before, it has never taken all of my data with it.

This means I had to restore from backup all of my data. Unfortunately, I don’t frequently see the need to backup my phone… so I’m looking at a loss of almost a year of data.

It is time to get a new phone I think. I just wish Palm got their act together and released the new Linux-based palm-OS sometime soon. Otherwise I’m going to be getting the Treo 700p and hoping it doesn’t crash like my Kyocera 7135.

If you’ve changed your phone number in the past year, or you’ve only given it to me recently, let me know and I’ll re-add you. 

Thanks to everyone for coming out to celebrate my Apartment-Warming! I am glad everyone enjoyed themselves and got terribly full on my food.

I’ve learned a few lessons and I’m posting them here for others for the future:

• Do not make Borscht
• Check with the Parking Department to see if they are going to implement a bizarre lockdown policy on the primary lot for your apartment.
• Know the number of the person to call to get parking lot unlocked so people can escape.
• Keep a playlist on your ipod marked "Party" for unexpected occasions.
• If you must make borscht, follow the recipe properly… and maybe serve it warm… but just try not to serve it at all.

For those of you who had to escape from the parking lot, I want to apologize for the craziness and let you know that I am registering a formal complaint with the Parking Office, City Hall and Mayor Nancy Cozean herself.

Thanks again, everyone, for coming! If anyone meant to take home some borscht and forgot, I have plenty here for you to come pick up!

I never thought I’d say it (and I fear I might be responsible for other people reading it by linking to it) but Collin’s blog has given me a delightful little tidbit that I have to share with my crazy friends at IBM.

You do not have to drink 8 glasses of water a day! It is a myth, and a potentially dangerous one.

Thats right, this post is directed at you maniacs who carry a 64oz bottle of water around with you at work and check in with each other throughout the day to see how well you are drinking. There is no original scientific basis for the 64oz measurement; you do acquire hydration from caffeinated beverages; even dry items like bread contain water; and drinking too much water is dangerous (hyponatremia).

Even Snopes addressed this issue after the crazies spread spam encouraging overhydration. 

To end this post, unlike the maniacal myth propogators, I will be providing some legitimate sources to back up my claims. Oh… and "I told you so".

(more…)

BeepetyBeepety…BeepetyBeepety

Hello, Mike Young.

Hi Mike. This is Anna.

(Searching for customers with the name of "Anna" to bring up the proper record.) Hi Anna, what can I do for you?

You are a Software Engineer, right?

(Pausing my search in confusion.) Umm. Yes.

Well I am a recruiter with Microsoft and we have some job openings that we think you might be suited for. When would  be a good time to discuss them with you?

(Looking around to see if my co-workers are playing a joke on me.)  Do you realize that you are calling me at work? (Sudden feeling of derision and disgust) And I don’t ever think I would work at Microsoft in my entire life!

Oh… well I—

Click! 

(more…)

Collin has created a blog, but in good conscience I can’t link to it.

You see, if it was typical Collin fare I would be all over it, but instead it houses such delectable treats as, “While the rest of the blogosphere rallies against the current building efforts being done on the levees in New Orleans, I take pause.” and “This method of information-gathering is likely to suffer from the so called self-selection bias. Basically, most students are going to transport the survey directly from their hanging file and into their circular file.”

I just can’t do it. Somehow as I read it, I picture Angela Lansbury at her typewriter with the theme from Murder She Wrote in the background.

Collin, when your blog links to Shark Espionage or Sex Law Overhaul (you know… your roots) let me know and I’ll add you.

The Onion predicted it all long ago.

Gillette has created a razor with 5 blades… 6 if you count the one of the back that they had to add because you can’t shave a mustache with a razor bigger than your upper lip.

Its all part of America’s insatiable thirst for more.

Which is why I’ll be picking up one of these razors, a King sized beverage, a PowerMac Quad G5 and my new 2 bedroom apartment.

I am of the firm belief that one should support the standards before attempting to add to them.

Some people feel differently.

Reminds me of 1998.