Why it is good to be a big fish in a small pond

In my job I am one deep. There is only one business manager. There are very few people locally who can do what I do or want to for that matter. Too bad for employees at Circuit City. They just laid off everyone making over a certain wage. Now, that just sucks.

Retail, especially regular stores and those dealing with technology in particular, are facing special pressure. In technology it is not only difficult to keep up with all of the changes, it is hard to hire good employees at any rate of pay. These people were making too much money, as little as $11.50 per hour and up in come cases, hardly enough to pay bills, yet it was too much to pay.

When I go in to look at technology I expect people in the store know the difference between different brands, technology solutions, etc. For $10 an hour you will not get the brightest bulbs in the box, nor will you keep them. No mention was made of the amount of benefits paid to these employees.

Just another sign of how things are changing. Oh, and most sources say it costs about one year's wages every time you change an employee. It really is hard to see how this will pay off.

Technology and Wives

My wife has passed a milestone. While out of town she had the dubious honor of hooking up her parents' new computer to the Internet. Now, they are on dial-up, to it is not just a matter of plugging it into a cable modem or router. She had to find the modem, plug the cord in the correct slot, then find the ubiquitous AOL software on the new computer (I think it must be a law that new consumer computers have AOL software pre-installed on them), run the routine, get the account information from her mother and get them set up. And, yes, she managed to do it. I was very proud of her. She also had a printer issue: no printer port. What was good about this was that she realized that there was no printer port on this new machine. Without a USB cable no one could have fixed that.
I was quite impressed at her ability to work through the issues. Yes, she had to call me, but it was to confirm her own diagnosis of the issues and to suggest a couple of resolutions, not because she was lost.
It is good to see her progressing in this way. I'm not sure when she crossed the line from techno-lost to technology enabled, but she has. I think she retains much of what I teach her because she understands it at a new level and can then use that new knowledge and understanding to learn herself.
"Dial-up sure is slow," was her comment on her return. I guess she likes how I provide for her.

We all own TV, or at least we can.

I am watching the Black Donnellys on my computer courtesy of NBC. I watched a couple of episodes of Andy Barker, PI, the sitcom about the CPA turned private investigator. It is pretty funny. The premise is sort of hokey, but it actually works, and it is funny. One line I liked the most is "You know the feeling I get when I hit the equal sign and it matches the number on the worksheet? Well, that's how it felt." OK, it does utilize some of the stereotypes of CPA's but in sort of a light, funny way.
What do I mean we own TV? Well, we can watch what we want when we want to. True, not everything is like this yet, but it will me. First, there are commercials with this, but we put up with those on regular TV and have to watch it on their schedule. Well, here I am, typing my blog and watching TV at the same time. I could be doing lots of things online while watching TV. OK, the screen is kind of small, but I like it anyway.
The Black Donnellys looks like a pretty good show, sort of like an Irish Sopranos.

Tired... very tired

Well, I have been working on my den project now for a week, at least. I got the walls up last weekend, then got the joists up Sunday and more done the other night. Next we got the plywood on top.

These pictures are pre-plywood.

So, I have not been up to a lot of writing, as when I come in my shoulder is hurting so bad I can't stand it, so I take a hot bath and put some Thermagena on it. Well, tonight I did the same. Word of warning, do not put that stuff on right after a bath because your pores are open!! Yikes, did that burn, but my shoulder does feel better.

After a little research I am sure the pain in my shoulder is caused by a rotator cuff injury of some sort. I just hope it will just be outpatient surgery.

My wife is delayed in Seattle, due to a mechanical issue with the plane. They had to change planes, so they will not be here until after 10 PM. I am glad I am taking the morning off, as we will be home rather late.

No-Writing Weekend

Other than a few emails and discussion group posts, I did no writing or computer stuff due to my concentration on the building of my den in the garage. Basically, I am building a den a the back, read that the end away from the door, of our large garage. It is a box, eight feet wide by eight feet tall and about 24 feet wide, or the width of the garage. The walls are what used to close off the garage door when the entire thing was a computer/TV/recreation room for me and my son. After removing it I came to the realization, with the help of a friend, that the entire two pieces are exactly the same size as the wall I intended to build for my den.

Keeping the two walls(basically 8 x 8 foot squares made of read cedar 2x4's and exterior siding) intact (mostly), I made room for them, including cutting a swath out of the workbench on one side for it to slide into. Well, Calvin came over yesterday and we got the one wall in, then attached the other. The next task was to frame in the main door opening. That done, we needed to put the 2x6 plates on the wall, then attach the hardware and put the joists for the roof in place.

Of course, this is not all go as planned, as it turned out the door to the garage, which is a 3x8 foot monster metal door, is too high, so I will have to make some modifications to that part of the roof. That is as far as we got, since I need some hardware to made the part near the door work. Besides that my shoulder was killing me, so I took off and did what I had to do, then soaked in the tub. My shoulder was throbbing with pain... I really need to see a doctor about this.

I will try to take some pictures of the work tonight and post them.

300 by Frank Miller

Being a fan of Sin City by Frank I was very excited to purchase the last copy of 3oo by him at the local Walden Books. The new movie by the same name has come out and is a great hit. No, it is not precisely historically accurate, but it is also, as with others of his work, a study in a way of the human condition. He always puts his spin on things, taking his own viewpoint without regard to for common social values. Sin City has a collection of the most ugly, beautiful, virtuous and evil characters on modern literature. The heroes are flawed in deadly, unlikable ways with little or no common humanity in them.

300 is about warriors and their commitment to an ideal, not the battle so long ago. That is the stage on which these man fight and die. Miller takes them to a new level, a new place, one that we can only hope to achieve in this day and age. Bloody, violent, but beautiful in its own way, the story will probably never lose currency.

If you want to purchase the original graphic novel it is on Amazon, with a link to your left.

Art from maps

This morning I started reading my morning Technology email from the Washington Post and came across t his article about a guy using maps to make art. His name is Nikolas Schiller and he seems to be quite the digital artist. He does not like Google, so you may have to go to the Washington post article above to get to his site. The art is just plain impressive. I am not so sure about his politics, but we all have a right to opinions. .

He has done a lot of maps, including most of the state capitals, even Bismarck, North Dakota!