Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

Last week, I received a postcard in the mail, advising me that I would be getting a call from the A.C. Nielsen Company. I checked my caller ID and sure enough, they called. Several times. (And didn't bother to leave a message.)

Sunday afterenoon, they called again, and I happened to be around to pick up. The caaller was very nice and polite, and had a pleasant voice. She had some questions for me, which I happily answered. She also mentioned that they'd be sending me a postcard that I could fill out and send back. Then came the question: "How many working TVs do you have at home?" I answered, "Um.....zero." at that point, it was pretty cutmuch "Oh. Have a nice day" and she hung up.

I rarely watch TV these days. About the only things I watch are the Weather Channel, the occasional sporting event, and maybe the local news. Nothing else interests me anymore, and hasn't for a few years. Sitcoms? Not funny. anymore. Drama? Nah. Cop or medical shows? Nope. I might turn the tube on and use it for background noise.

And I have no delusions about TV. To a television network, I'm not a customer -- I'm the product. The customers are the ones who buy advertising. And the product they're delivering are the number of pairs of eyeballs watching the commercials. It's not "a program with commercials in it", it's "commercials with a program around them".

Last December, I cut back on cable TV to absolute basic service to save money. Other than the Weather Channel, I don't miss the other channels I was getting. I often remark that cable companies should offer a la carte packages so we can pick and choose what channels we get.

And I still think there should be more Nielsen families like me. People who don't bother to watch television. But that would probably skew their expected results.

So....zorya_thinks asked, in my previous post, "Have you thought about walking upstairs occasionally and engaging your team members face to face? "

This question is kicking up a lot of stuff for me.

The short answer is "no". There's no guarantee that the folks I need to talk to will be at their desks and available to answer questions. Plus I think there's a company policy about not having meetings or conferences in cubicles, because it creates too much noise for neighbors. We primarily use Microsoft Communicator (instant messenger) and Lotus Notes (email) for communication. I don't even pick up the phone and call them..

But I hate asking people questions. Sometimes I get a look or a tone of voice that conveys to me, "I expect you to know these things." Or I'm rebuffed with "I'm too busy". Or I'm given the passive-agressive response of no answer at all.

After all, asking for help is a sign of weakness. I'm expected to figure this stuff out on my own. That's why they hired me, right?

When I worked at AGI two years ago, one of the tem leads -- Mike -- resented my questioning him. He'd respond with "Google is your friend!" or provide me a link to lmgtfy.com (Let Me Google That For You). It was like he was saying to me, "Go away kid, you bother me."

I don't know when or why I learned to not bother people with questions. I guess it was in elementary school. I suspect it was my 3rd grade teacher who was tired of my incessant questioning and implored me to leave her alone. (I don't think she ever taught a gifted kid before me.)

In the past couple of weeks, I've been tasked with writing unit tests for the code I developed. My project lead is big on unit testing, and wants the code to be tested thoroughly with many varied test cases.

What is unit testing? Wikipedia defines it thusly: "unit testing is a method by which individual units of source code are tested to determine if they are fit for use." What it means for my client is to identify test cases, determine what the anticipated results are, run the code, and check the results to see if they match the anticipated results.

This was something I never learned in college, This would have been covered in a software engineering class. There was one on the books, but we didn't have an instructor to teach that course. (Yeah, I can go on ab out the politics of my CS department, but I'll save that for another time.)

So I'm struggling with this. I can look at the data, and I can't tell if it looks right or not. I've asked for help, but the attitude I seem to get from both my project lead and tech lead is "We expect you to know these things." And so I write the tests, not know if if what I'm looking for is the right answer or not.

One of the many songs I remember singing at Boy Scout camp was "Bound For Australia". (Original lyrics here.)

But I remember a corrupted version of the song. The was another troop at a neighboring campsite -- Troop 547 from Lackawanna, if I remember correctly. One year, one of the boys was going for Bee Keeping merit badge. And the rest of the guys in his troop razzed him for it. They subsituted the word "Bees" for the word "Heave". And that's how I remembered the song:


Bees away, my bonnie boys
Bees away! Bees away!
Bees away, my bomnnie boys
For we're bound for Australia


I tried going for Signaling merit badge one year. And didn't get it.

"Be kind to your web-footed friends......."

On the Filkers group in Facebook, there was a suggestion for a new filk convention, using the name "Concino" (Latin for "to sing in chorus" or "to play together").

As if our summers aren't booked enough already. Conventions, Pennsic, PSG, Starwood -- these would take up some of my spare summer time if I could attend. (Well, maybe not Pennsic.)

And so I thought....What about a weekend-long (or longer) campout of filkers? Right now, I can't afford the time or money to put this together. But in a few years, I might have both.

The name of the convention would be "Contrails", as in "Con[vention]" + "trails". Yes, I'm aware of the other meaning of the word -- those trails that jets leave when they fly in the air.

Next question: Location. Where would it be held? I have a few sites in mind: Allegany State Park near Salamanca/Olean, NY, Oakwood Farm near Muncie, IN, Brown County State Park near Nashville, IN.

There would be little or no programming, giving it a "relaxacon" feel. We'd probably all sit around the campfire, singing filk songs and possibly passing around a bottle of mead, or Tully. (As long as it's not a dry site.)

Naturally, since we'll be outside, all the instruments will need to be acoustic and/or unplugged.

If and when I start this, I'll probably start it as a circle-of-friends weekend, and let it grow from there.

Let's face it. Being broke sucks. Banks and other institutions charge additional fees for those who don't have a certain balance in their accounts, for transactions. It's like they're punishing people for being poor. Where's the logic in that? Or is it strictly a heartless thing to do?

This past Saturday, I was supposed to help my friends Jon and Cassie shear some sheep. I never got a hold of them. So I ended up at Brother Bear's Coffee in Yellow Springs. I thought I had enough in my checking account to cover the $2 cost of a cup of coffee. The transaction went through. The next day, I checked my account. I was in the red, and I thought, "Oh, shit!" The next business day, I was charged a $37 NSF fee, just as I would be charged for an overdrafted check

So I just paid $40 for a cup of coffee.

Yes, I did opt in for overdraft protection. I can go in the red somewhat if I need to. But if I make a series of transactions, I get dinged for each of those transactions. Money-grubbing bastards.

This weekend was another trip to Buffalo NY to check on mom and visit friends, and to feast of the foods I can only get in Buffalo.

Mom's still doing OK. The weather was mostly chilly and overcast all weekend. I'm glad I had the foresight to pack a light sweatshirt and jeans.

Fri 6/10: I was hoping to leave early (oh-dark-hundred early). But I was up until 2 AM the previous evening doing some PC work. So I didn't end up leaving until 10:30am. Roads were good, the weather was dry and clear. Stopped at the Tucky's in Mayfield Heights for lunch: a Chicago dog, a Cleveland dog, and a bottle of Boylan's diet root beer. Arrived in Tonawanda around 7:00pm.

Sat 6/11: Took mom to Headmasters East in Cheektowaga, so my mom could get a permament. This shop is owned by my cosuins, Rose and Joseph. Spent time visiting with them while Mom was in the chair having her hair done. Had lunch at Mighty Taco and drove along the East Niaga River shore. Had dinner at Jack's with longtime friends Liz and Louis, followed by coffee at Coffee Culture.

Sun 6/12: Had dinner with my aunt Angie. One of her sons had previously brought over a black kitten, who was very playful. I showed my aunt Angie how to discipline the kitten with a spray bottle filled with water. I then had coffee and conversation with my friend Sal at a Denny's in north Buffalo.

Mon 6/13: Took my dad's car to a local repair shop for the annual safety inspection, an oil change, and a tire rotation. Then paid one of my mom's medical bills. Since I was out that way, I had lunch at Charlie the Butcher's in Cheektowaga. (I think it's the best place in town for beef on weck.) Took the scenic route back home -- I-190 to the Skyway to route 5, which parallels the eastern shore of Lake Erie. Had dinner with dagonell and cigfran_cg at Zebro's in Barcelona Harbor, just south of Westfield. (dagonell wrote a review opf the restaurant here.) Stayed overnight at the Microtel in Erie, PA.

Tue 6/14: Left Erie around 10:15am. Lunch was a Burger King in Medina. Arrived home in Dayton around 4:45pm.

Ganked from autographedcat: Post a comment, and I will reply with a reason why I think you're great. In return, you have to post this same meme on your blog and comment for other people.

[Updated 00:30 14-Jun] Backstory: I posted a link to an article on yuricareport.com which talked about the rise of Dominionism in America. And one person on Facebook took exception to it.

This response has become so long that I want to make this a LiveJournal entry for posterity.

Over on Facebook, Patt Huttsell wrote: "Jim, it seems you are the one dispensing hate and discontent against Christians of late I have other friends that are Wickens and they have NEVER attacked me for what the past has christians have done nor are you posting the persecution of Christians by the Romans. so what is your real beef with us?"

( You got questions. I got answers. )