Everyone knows I'm in
Over my head
Over my head
With eight seconds left in overtime

--The Fray

My wife works at a college (soon to be university I think) - Mt. Union College.  She's worked there for about 5 years, and as one of her benefits, she, I, and our sons can take classes for "free" (not completely free - there's a tax implication at the end of the year, but near enough).  

Laura has been working on finishing her B.A., off and on when the class schedules suit her needs, which is good for her.  Unfortunately for me, I already have a B.S. and Mt. Union is a private traditional liberal arts college.  The college's focus is on traditional students, and doesn't offer much of anything in the way of evening classes.  That generally means that it has nothing for me in the way of academics.

This semester though, there's a math class offered from 12:00-12:50.  Throw in a few minutes drive time to and from class, and I can fit it in by taking a 90 minute lunch.  Cool.  I decided, literally, the day classes start (today) that I'd like to take the class.  It was one of the most impulsive decisions I've ever made, but it seemed innocuous enough at the time.  I emailed Laura, she checked into it, and after some wrangling,  got the professor to admit me to the class as an extra (did I mention that the class was full?)

I need Calculus II, which I've never taken, for my M.S. in C.S. at Kent State.  I did take Calculus I at Kent State, but that was about 15 years ago, so I may be a little rusty... maybe.  I tried to take Analytic Geometry and Calculus I at Kent this past spring as a refresher, ultimately so I can take the Calc II class that I need.  I took the class on the premise that I would sign up for tuition reimbursement from NEC.  Unfortunately, due to my work-related travel I had to drop the class at the last possible opportunity, which is disappointing because I was doing really well until I missed too much time traveling to Japan and Dallas.  It was a bit frustrating as well because I didn't get a refund for dropping the class or tuition reimbursement, so I basically paid $1200 out of my own pocket for what amounts to tutoring.  This time I saw an opportunity to take the same class at MUC for $free and avoid the downside if by chance something happens again like what happened during the spring semester.

Laura decided that she would take two classes this semester too.  One on Monday evening, and a second on Wednesday evening (interestingly, she didn't mention that until Friday).  It really doesn't have a big impact on me if she takes the classes other than I need to know so I can pick up the twins from pre-school after work those evenings.

That's when it hit me.

Laura won't be home until 9pm on Monday and Wednesday.  I'll be taking Calc on M, T, H, and F.  The intersection of those schedules means I have to go in early on M and W - I can't stay late.  I hit the treadmill in the mornings and the weights in the evenings.  That's nuked.  Yeah, it's only calc I, I won't have to study much, especially after taking the "refresher" in the spring, but there will still be copious amounts of homework and quizzes.  

Treadmill?  Weights?  Me-time?  Family-time?  Uh, Fantasy Football, hello?!

In order to take the class and pick up my boys on time on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'll have to be at work at 7am. 

I'll have to get up an hour earlier on Mondays and Wednesdays to fit in cardio - that makes it about 5:15am wake-up (that's the same time we got up in Army basic training, incidentally).  In order to keep my daily weight routine though, well, that's a bit tricky.  My weight routine is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.  My workouts last roughly an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.  I'm already getting up an hour earlier Mondays.  I can't go to the gym on Monday or Wednesday evenings.   Hmm.  If I tack on the time for a morning workout, then I have to get up 2 1/2 hours earlier on Mondays and Wednesdays - that puts me back to 3:45am.  Um, the gym isn't open then.  I'll figure something out - worst case scenario there's an Anytime fitness near here

Moving along.  We signed Connor and Logan up for "small stuff" football at the local YMCA this fall (self so proud). That's on Wednesday evenings at 5:30-6:45 for six weeks from September 10 through October 15.  

None of this takes into account homework, work-related schedule snafu's, recreational activities, holiday "stuff", etc.

In short, I'm going to be a bit busy for the next 15 weeks.  No, I didn't really think about it at the time.  I absolutely refuse to get beat by this schedule.  That's just how I roll.  That means that I have to work out something for my gym schedule, cut WAY back on non-important things like *cough*TV*cough, and adjust my schedule a lot by getting as much sleep as possible.  Somehow, someway, I will make this work well and fluidly for everyone involved.  

I think the hardest part for me will be keeping my head clear and not getting distracted.  I have a strong tendency to ruminate on things - work, health, family, etc.  This is going to be a big challenge for me to focus on one thing at a time and see it through before moving on to the next item.  

Ah, the sacrifices we choose make.  I guess champions get up.  Even when they can't. 

Wish me luck.

Cheers,

Goody 

Code reviews, the sanity check of software development.  They're a software engineering best practice initiative.  That's what a bullet point on my job description says, anyway.  Microsoft even calls them a best practice and has a slick how-to for C and C++:  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb871031.aspx.

In a nutshell (a small nut) the idea is, you write some code, when you're done let me know, and then I look at it to see if it makes sense and is is free of glaring flaws.

We do code reviews all the time where I work.  I do at least one a week, and I ask other people to review my code... when I'm writing code not Word docs, all the time.  I get the occasional "why not just do this", and I occasionally I get to give it right back.  It's good.  It's a sanity check for the code.  It makes the software better; makes everyone (hopefully) better developers thanks to good feedback; and keeps maintenance costs low.

Now, here's the gaping hole: Code reviews are a sanity check on the code you wrote, not the code you didn't write.  See?  Makes perfect sense to me. 

When I look at code during a code review I'm looking at the code that you wrote.  I'm not necessarily looking for the subtle piece of logic that you left out that makes the whole feature work like the functional spec says it will.  For that matter, I may not even know what feature you're working on.  All I need to know is, what is this piece of code supposed to do, not what the entire feature consists of.  Code in and of itself does not a feature make.

Code reviews can not, nor should they, substitute for good testing, QA, and verification and validation (V&V for you software engineer types).  You still need to have some black-box testing mechanism in place to ensure that the final software does what it's supposed to do.  Code reviews can not always catch the missing logic or missing piece of code that makes sure there's money in the account before debiting it (disclaimer: that example is obviously obvious purposefully on purpose).  Having a test plan and having good QA is the only way to ensure that the software works (mostly - see "good enough").

Cheers,

Goody 

"Specifics, Bob."  One of my favorite scenes from any movie is the scene in Phenomenon when John Travolta is being interviewed by Brent Spiner (Dr. Bob) to assess his intelligence.  

Perhaps its just my engineer-type logic that finds it so appealing and humorous.  But for me those scenarios pop up on a daily basis.  For example, today I was sending an email with a Microsoft Word document attached.  That sounds benign, except for the extension - .docx.  In case you are... uninformed, docx is Microsoft's OpenXML format available in Microsoft Office.  It's the standard format for documents created with the newest version of Microsoft Office.  Which brings me to my point.

I stated in the email that the attachment is a Microsoft Word 2008 document.  Wha?  Hold up.  I'm sending this to a person using Windows and Office 2007.  They'll likely think I'm daft if I call it that.  So, I changed the wording to say it's Word OpenXML format, which will likely trigger the "hey, that's the new office 2007 .docx format" thought.  The thing is, I created the document using Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac OS X.  So, to me it is Word 2008.  To non-Mac people - heck, to most people - it's Office 2007.  The fact is, it's neither - it's OpenXML.

This sort of thing happens all of the time, of course: Kleenex / tissue; Coke / cola; google / search; band-aid / adhesive strip; the list goes on.

The point is.... well, there is no specific point, just an observation, I suppose.  Just remember, when you're trying to explain something, no matter how trivial, to an engineer you just can _not_ be too specific.

Cheers,

Goody 

Change is the only constant.  The only thing that stays the same is change.  When... nevermind, you get the idea.

I read a lot about software and technology.  Years ago I used to read books about specific topics such as programming language X or NewTechnology Y.  These days I tend to read more abstract, hand-wavy sort of books on topics such as software engineering processes, management, and business.  As my career has evolved so have my reading choices.

In the past couple of years I've read a number books related to software project management, or more precisely management of people who make software.  One thing that's certain - managing software projects is difficult.  Software is managed like an engineering discipline.  There are milestones, deadlines, metrics, things to count, things to report, things to measure.  It's a challenging endeavor to say the least.

One thing that I've noticed, but only recently become acutely aware of, is the lack of change management.  No, not configuration management.  I mean the abstract sort of organizational, management, procedural, things-are-changing-all-around-me kind of change.  The kind of change that happens when your comfy surroundings are suddenly thrown into disarray because your boss got promoted.

My company recently went through a re-organization.  We're a fairly large company with roughly 146,000 employees worldwide spread across a number of subsidiaries and divisions.   This month our North American subsidiaries all realigned  to be more effective and efficient.  It had very little, if anything, to do with the economy, and everything to do with the company's organization.  It just didn't make sense to have the subsidiaries structured the way they were.  So the company did the wise thing and reorganized the engineering, sales, and support divisions to streamline their operations.  Although our company is fairly large, the office that I work in is fairly small.  We have about +/- 25 people who work at our office at any given time.  Of course that number fluctuates slightly depending on the number of contractors we have, whether we're fully staffed, who's on vacation, etc.  

Something that I've become keenly aware of in the recent weeks is change.  Change is normally disruptive and can be positive or negative.  If the company is growing then change can be good; if it's downsizing then change can be not so good.  No matter how you look at it, or how well it's planned, change is always... well, change.  Some people deal well with change, while others do not.  What's important is how well prepared management is to manage the change process.

In all of the technical books, blogs, and essays I've read recently, I can't recall a single one that dealt with managing change.  Perhaps the closest, and thus the best, thing I've read on the matter is "Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager" by Michael Lopp aka 'Rands in Repose' aka just Rands.

It's quite apparent around my office that change is happening.  Processes are changing; Projects are always changing, of course; Personnel are changing; We're hiring; Promotions are happening; Job functions are changing; But, most critical: attitudes are changing.  As I mentioned, some of the change is good, and some not quite as good.  What's apparent to me though, is the lack of change management.  Some people need to be hand-held through the change process, while others can barely tell anything is different.  The key to surviving change successfully with everyone's morale, and everyone in general, is to recognize who needs the guidance to navigate the new territory effectively.  Just because someone is averse to change doesn't mean they're necessarily a burden or unmanageable, it just means they're human.  Managers need to be aware of this and be able to recognize it.

Managing change may be considered a "soft skill" but it is certainly hard work.  So bosses, if you haven't dealt with change, or you just want to continue to grow, I can't recommend "Managing Humans" enough.  If you think you're a pretty good boss anyway, try reading about the subject or taking a seminar.  As long as you're managing humans, you can never be too prepared.

Cheers,

Goody 

I started working on a post a couple of weeks ago, but like many things, I don't know when to quit.  So, here I am with an incomplete essay / research paper hybrid that I'm _still_ adding to yet trying to keep interesting enough to qualify as a blog post.  Most blog posts that cross the 500 word mark are deemed large, and over 1000 are considered epic.  I think what I'm going to do is finish the paper then post it here as a PDF with some meta information about it.

It's an ambitious endeavor to be sure.  I don't want to give too much away since it hasn't been edited at all, but I will give the opening paragraph. 

Working title:

Why software sucks: How the software industry mislead its customers through its missteps and its inability to adapt quickly to a changing technological landscape

This will be an examination of the current state of the art in computer software applications, their construction, and the people and companies that create them.  I concede that that is an ambitious title and opening statement.  I will attempt to analyze the state of software today by shedding light on the industry itself; the processes that contribute to the end product; a historical perspective on computing; and examining the business of software.

Perhaps sounds more like a Dateline NBC investigation, I don't know.  We'll see where it goes.  Yes, the title is meant to be slightly ironic.

Cheers,

Goody 

Tonight was my first night back to the gym after a lengthy hiatus.  It feels really good to go in there and come away exhausted.

For those who don't know, I have Sarcoidosis, and it hurts.  It physically hurts, it diminishes my physical capacity, but worst of all it's mentally and emotionally taxing.  It's primarily confined to my lungs so there are no outwardly physical manifestations of it.  The downside to that is, people, especially people whom I'm closest to, tend to "forget" or just not understand - if they can't see it, it must not be too bad.  "It's not cancer, right?"  Well, it's there, and I can't ignore it because it causes me physical pain and reduces my physical endurance.

So, between the sarcoid; being supremely busy with my wife and boys (the twins are now four); working; travelling; etc. I've been avoiding the gym.  I've tried to keep doing *something* like pushups and situps, but the truth is, I just became so exhausted and frustrated that I even started slacking on that.  Well, I'm happy to say that I've been hitting the treadmill at home and I've built up enough stamina to head back to the weight room.  So, tonight was my first night back.  Probably won't be able to move tomorrow, but I like that feeling.

 It's a vicious cycle when you don't work out - you become too tired to work out, so you don't go; when you don't go, you don't build the stamina and fight the fatigue. That's a mountain with a snowball that's hard to stop.   But, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.  Hopefully tonight will be the first night of my comeback to fitness.  I'm setting realistic goals for now - first to make it a habit again, and second to build up the stamina and fitness level to lead a healthy life not just for me, but for my wife and sons too.  There was a time when I resigned myself to 40 or 50 as my life expectancy.  I'm going to do everything in my power to stretch that to 100.  100?  Ok, 90.

So, it feels good to be back, and I look forward to many more dates with the weights.

Cheers,

Goody

We made it to Japan. 13 1/2 hours on a relatively full 777. We left Sunday morning from DFW at 10:10am and landed at NRT on Monday afternoon at 2:20pm local time. We flew up over British Columbia, Alaska, part of Russia, and down to Tokyo, so from that aspect the flight was pretty cool.

Clearing immigration was interesting - there's a checkbox that says "Are you in possession of Narcotics, Marijuana, Opiates, Stimulates or .... Other Drugs." I have a prescription with me, so to be honest, I checked "yes." I don't think that's what they meant. After I handed the paper to the immigration officer his eyes got huge. He did a double take then asked me "What?!" in that why would you admit to this tone. I handed him a note from my doctor and explained that I thought it might fall under "other drugs." Glad we got that all straightened out.

We leave next Sunday to come home. We'll leave NRT at 5:30pm and arrive at ORD before we left at 3:30pm the same day. That shouldn't mess with my internal clock too much </sarcasm>.

We have Tuesday to ourselves so I'm trying to talk a couple of people into going to Mt. Fuji. It's 1500 Yen ($15) to take the train down from the hotel. Brian said he's up for it, so we'll see.

I didn't realize that our hotel was this close to the Tokyo Tower, so we'll definitely make sure to go see that while we're here too.

So, here we are.

I've put a few pics of our arrival up here, but I'll probably break down and set up a flikr account later. Until then:  Japan Pics

Update 05/06/2008:  I set up the flickr account here.

Sayonara,
Goody 

Wow, this is right on time, as usual.

Let's see. Chicago --> CAK was....mmm.... oh, here it is, Friday, 22 February. So, what is there to say? A lot, really. Most of the people I see F2F have already heard the adventures over and over (and over). I've never been accused of being boring.

The Training

Sam and I went to Chicago for training. Regarding the training, it all went very well, and we're now both certified to install and configure the Sphericall system. Not much else to report on that front. However, our training partners were from the UK. Cambridge, that is. Mike and Andy. Couple of great chaps, they are. Although, I imagine Andy would rather be called a bloke, whereas, Mike is a fine chap. As we spent a great deal of time exchanging humor and colloquialisms, Andy pointed out how "Mike is a posh loke. For example, Mike has a gar-A'ge, whereas, I have a gA'-rage." Mike and Andy were loads of fun. Mike couldn't stop pointing out how "cheap the beer is [t]here", while I couldn't stop pointing out maybe it's the exchange rate. Either way, a good time was had by all. I think.

The City

Well, other than Elmo's Tombstones - While You Wait, we never made it there. Drove back past it on the way to O'hare, if that counts.

The Flight Home

Ahhh, this is where the story begins. O'hare. Terminal 2. Concourse F. Gate 11. 6pm. If you've never been to O'hare, then let me confirm the rumors: it's very large, and it's very busy. But, gate 11, now that's a story all its own. It's an unwritten Stephen King novella. (Maybe it's an unwritten episode of The Colbert Report.) Either way, if you haven't been there, think 1408. If you haven't seen 1408, I'll do my best to describe the scene.

Gate F11: Chicago's O'Hare International airport.

I enter Terminal 2 and start the long walk toward the end of the airport - concourse F. After the trek down the unending corridor, past untold masses of travelers, vendors, and the TSA, I finally arrive at the end... of concourse F. I look around and all I see are people. Seats filled with hundreds of people. Their faces glaring at me through the fog of delayed flights and cancellations. Their eyes, piercing my soul with a thousand silent screams for mercy. The air is foul - dank and musty. What's that stench? It's sweat. It's people. It's delayed travelers.

I look around and see gates 10, 12 and 14, but no gate 11... or 13 either!. Where are they? Where is IT? It must be here, unless the airport architects were superstitious and feared the number 11 too. No, it must be here somewhere, it's printed on my boarding pass. Then I see it. A sign pointing downward toward a set of stairs, and a broken escalator that's covered with caution tape. The sign says... "Abandon all hope, ye who enter F11."

As I approach the stairs, the air thickens. The stench becomes more nauseating. The air down there looks like hot Phoenix asphalt in July, but it's Chicago in the middle of February. It can't be over 8 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but the heat. I can feel the heat rising from the stairs. I pause, but my heart races. I don't want to go down there. I have no choice. Somewhere, beyond the final stair, is a plane. My only hope. My salvation awaits.... down there. (it's like when you're 4 and your parents forced you to eat broccoli, but you didn't want to, but you really wanted the pudding for dessert. I digress.)

I begin to descend. Step. by. step. One at a time. No sudden moves. Stay alert. The mighty Cerberus awaits. The air is getting hotter. The stench grows thicker. My eyes, they burn. The final step. I'm down... there. More people. Hundreds of people. Weary, broken souls. The sweat. The smell. The... freakin' trash. Man, don't they ever clean this place?! It's the forgotten gate of Hell. O'Hare F11. It's old. The seats, the carpet, the walls, the doors - all old! I look around for an empty seat (two really, Sam's with me, but the buddy system isn't as dramatic). There are none to be found. It's standing room only waiting for the Inferno Express, muahahaha!

So, that's pretty much it. Our flight actually left right on time, and thanks to the jet stream, we arrived at CAK a few minutes early. But that gate - that gate is absolutely disgusting. Someone should really clean that place. It stinks, and the trash barrels are overflowing.

Conclusion

All told, Chicago was pretty fun. We learned a lot about the new system, hung out with some great guys from the UK, saw some good live music, and made some new friends. As they say - It dudn't git much better'n at.

Cheers,
Goody