I love my family! We just had the pleasure of running errands together and despite Noah being puny, Amy being overtired and cranky, and a bit of a rough start, we had a good outing.
We live a great adventure!
Day: September 16, 2006
Terrorists on American Soil!
Domestic terrorism is prevented by improving the quality of life in America not by bombing Iraq, Iran or anywhere. To have Congress take on the credit card companies that hold so many of the American people hostage would be a good place to begin the Domestic War On Terror. I missed a payment on a closed credit card and they charged me $165 per month in fees and penalties until I got caught up. That should be illegal!
The letter demanded a large sum of money and set a deadline for its delivery.
“The letter did communicate that if the city did not comply, Las Cruces residents will be shot at random,†Lara said.
[Source]
If I had to guess, these extortionists are on their last nickel and feel this is their only option. If people actually start getting shot, I will change that opinion to these extortionists not being extortists but sick cold blooded killers. More information.
Why document?
Because I have just spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what 1, 3, 5, and 6 mean in regard to access levels. Had the previous developer added a single comment to the database design to say 1=guest, 3=admin, 5=customer service, 6=suspended or the like my job would be more manageable.
Developers should document at a minimum within the code and in an external document. Further documentation can be injected into many other places such as the database table design via Enterprise Manager. Once you make commenting a habit, the pain goes away and it almost becomes fun.
Cathy to the rescue!
Cathy, despite not feeling well, has risen and I am working undisturbed! I owe her.
Where did the morning people go?!
Noah asleep on the couch.
Amy asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor.
Tommy asleep in his bed.
Sarah asleep in her bed.
Cathy asleep in her bed.
Evan wrecking havoc.
It’s 10am and my deadline is noon! Calgon!
The Sound of Silence – Riiiiight
Programming is an art. Basically programming is mathematically solving complex logic problems that start out as word problems. That is why lateral thinkers make good programmers.
I have heard it stated that programming is 90% thinking and 10% coding. I am not sure if 90/10 is accurate but the concept is correct. To get your head around the problem, you have to be able to concentrate and sometimes for a long time. One disadvantage of working from home is finding long blocks of undisturbed time to concentrate and focus.
I used to have a Sony Discman (minidisc player) that was great for helping me block out ambiant noise (white noise drives me nuts) but it is gone or misplaced. I have often used ear plugs that cut noise down by about 20 decibals but I have lost ever single set. I would kill for a nice pair of noise reducing headphones. Of course, having a music source to plug those into would be even nicer.
In leu of all that, I will let Evan climb in my lap, listen to Amy’s shrill demands and shreaks, monitor the fights between the older children to decide when to intervene, listen to the dogs bark at unseen foes, hear the whine of the television and the hum of the refrigerator, heed my wife’s requests and listen closely to the words she does not speak, and between chaotic outbreaks I will slip in some coding enjoying the chaos and the logic.
More 9/11 cover up?
9/11 hero raided by SWAT.
Major Mike McCormack is a hospital technician and civil air patrol pilot who worked the ground zero site for eight days after the collapse of the twin towers. He is one of the real heroes of 9/11 and was the man who found the American flag that was later displayed as a token of unity atop the rubble.
[Source]
"Numerous firemen were telling me that they heard numerous secondary explosions all over the building – these guys are seasoned firefighting professionals – a lot of them have military backgrounds and they’re not stupid." [Source]
Excited Over High Gas Prices!
Yesterday I paid $2.199 per gallon of gas! I never thought I’d see the day that I got excited over $2.199. When I first started pumping gas into cars and using my own money to buy it, I think gas was either $0.58 or $0.68 per gallon. The guy sharing my pump last night said he remembered gas being 20 cents a gallon but also that his wage was $1.60 per hour.
I am still confused as to why we never saw $4 or $5 per gallon like “the they” claimed would happen with the pipeline shutdown.
