Today is Sunday, November 30, 2014, so that means tomorrow is my target date for being "done" with the reconversion of my CDs to MP3. I have 7,115 files that I believe are duplicates. When I just ran my MS DOS batch file, it gave me 72633 File(s) as a total number of music files. If all of those 7115 are, indeed, duplicates, that puts my total music collection at 65518.
HOWEVER....
I am not going to finish converting the ~100 CDs I have to enter manually. For weeks, those CDs have been a low priority. As my deadline looms, a part of me wonders whether I should have started with them, instead of the ones I could do quickly and without manually entering artist and other song information. I can't go back in time.
I also don't know if I'll have any more time to write blog posts today as it's 9:25 AM, I have to shower and be ready to leave for Mass with Megan. The youth group is singing today; I'm hoping to play drums.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
I Guess Death is a Part of Life
Ron Rath's wake is today from 4-7 so Karen and I are going up to Cedar Rapids later. His obituary is here. In that obituary, while it mentions his two sons Tom and John, it doesn't mention (nor should it) that John has been one of my closest and best friends since 4th grade. That was the year we were both assigned to Mrs. Bacon as part of a 3rd grade / 4th grade combination. We began that school year with 3 boys: John, myself, and Tom McElmeel but some time during that school year, Gary Hatfield moved back from Texas - his dad worked for Rockwell Collins and had been transferred to Texas - to give us 4 boys. The tomboy in our class, Lesile Maple, who everyone called "Fuzz", was also in that class.
I mention that because there was a tradition in 4th grade. I would call John's house in the morning to see if his mom was home. If John answered, it was safe to go to his house before school to play his Atari 2600. He wasn't allowed to have anyone in his house if his parents weren't home so I was supposed to call each morning. One time, his mom answered, I panicked and hung up. I can't count how many hours I spent in the basement of that house on Falbrook Drive that year. We played video games until it was time to go to school.
In addition to spending hours playing that Atari 2600 and spending time with my best friend, I also think those hours cemented in me one of my core principles that I've carried with me for pretty much all of my life. Ron Rath had a den. In that basement, next to the room with the Atari 2600, Ron's den was the coolest room I'd ever seen. My parents didn't have a den so having a room dedicated to being a den was something different. Ron had a desk and bookshelves and a leather couch. I loved to just look at it.
Even in high school, I think I would have described my bedroom as more of a den than a bedroom. I had all my books and music. I think now, as an adult, it is why having a den in both of the houses I have owned was a priority to me. Hell, even in the two bedroom apartment Karen & I lived in when we were first married, the second bedroom was more of a den than a spare bedroom.
All of this because of Ron Rath. He was a good guy. I am so sorry for my friend's loss.
I mention that because there was a tradition in 4th grade. I would call John's house in the morning to see if his mom was home. If John answered, it was safe to go to his house before school to play his Atari 2600. He wasn't allowed to have anyone in his house if his parents weren't home so I was supposed to call each morning. One time, his mom answered, I panicked and hung up. I can't count how many hours I spent in the basement of that house on Falbrook Drive that year. We played video games until it was time to go to school.
In addition to spending hours playing that Atari 2600 and spending time with my best friend, I also think those hours cemented in me one of my core principles that I've carried with me for pretty much all of my life. Ron Rath had a den. In that basement, next to the room with the Atari 2600, Ron's den was the coolest room I'd ever seen. My parents didn't have a den so having a room dedicated to being a den was something different. Ron had a desk and bookshelves and a leather couch. I loved to just look at it.
Even in high school, I think I would have described my bedroom as more of a den than a bedroom. I had all my books and music. I think now, as an adult, it is why having a den in both of the houses I have owned was a priority to me. Hell, even in the two bedroom apartment Karen & I lived in when we were first married, the second bedroom was more of a den than a spare bedroom.
All of this because of Ron Rath. He was a good guy. I am so sorry for my friend's loss.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Paul = Dave
There has been SOOOO much made of the fact that Dave Lombardo is no longer in Slayer and that former drummer Paul Bostaph rejoined the band on Blabbermouth.net, but, frankly, I'm comfortable with Bostaph and his ability to NAIL the drums on these songs.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Anyone Can Write / Code
On Techwr-L, there was a thread that originated with Lin Sims asking about how to maintain large documents in MS Word. The current documentation is maintained within FrameMaker, a tool traditionally known for being able to "handle" large documents. Notes:
- There's been a lot said and batted around since this post earlier this week
- I've never run into the implied mentality that "anyone can write the documentation" throughout my career, though I've read plenty of horror stories about it!
- I have no idea how to read the code example Peter Neilson cited in his response. I can only assume that putting in the comments where he did would yield different results than the original code. It makes me really wish I knew how to read C++ source code as I wish again I had 26 hours in the day:
- 1 extra hour to devote to learning how to program
- 1 extra hour for practicing drums!
- On Mon, 24 Nov 2014 23:56:22 -0500, Dan Goldstein wrote:
> 100 pages? Heh. Tech writers have testified to Word documents that
> they maintained with 300, 600, over a thousand pages, complete with
> graphics and tables.
>
> Of course, this requires a lot of training. Jonathan West wrote, "You
> have to put as much effort into learning it as you would have to in
> order to learn Frame."
- To which Peter Neilson wrote:
If I'm not mistaken, the particular reason for the shift from Frame to Word is so that the SMEs can modify the documentation source directly, presumably saving some effort.
Perhaps the SMEs would not mind if tech writers were permitted to make changes directly to their C++ source code? Just adding comments, nothing more.
Not only does everyone know how to use Word, but everyone knows that /* and */ delimit comments in C++, and that // indicates comments on a single line.
What could possibly go wrong?
Here's an example. We take this code:
// Our Fine Example
#include
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int a = 3, b = 5; /* Use last values set */
a = 4, b = 13;
a = 2, b = 35;
cout << a << " + " << b << " = " << (a+b) << endl; return 0; } and we'll just add two comments... // Our Fine Example #include
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int a = 3, b = 5; /* Use last values set */
a = 4, b = 13; /* Do we use these? /*
a = 2, b = 35; /* No, it's these, right? */
cout << a << " + " << b << " = " << (a+b) << endl;
return 0;
}
It still compiles without error and runs.
Have we hurt anything?
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Wait, What? Angra isn't a New Band?
I'm browsing through blabbermouth.net and come across this article about Angra, a band I've heard of, but do not recall listening to previously.
I like this new song of theirs and am now off to youtube.com to find more!
This video is of their new drummer recording his drum parts.
I like this new song of theirs and am now off to youtube.com to find more!
This video is of their new drummer recording his drum parts.
Insanity in Ferguson
When the announcement was made that the grand jury was not going to indict the police officer who is responsible for Michael Brown's death, a lot of people were unhappy. I came across this site that is tracking the riots. Until someone setting a car on fire or breaking a window or acts of violence actually make the deceased arise from the grave, I tend to think all of the rioting is idiotic. The site above includes a youtube video of Michael Brown's stepfather telling anyone who will listen to "Burn this b**** down!"
Seriously? The world is shining a spotlight on you and you incite a riot? Really?
As a parent, what is worse than seeing your child in pain or burying your child? I answer nothing. Absolutely the worst things that can happen to a parent. I can't imagine the grief this man feels because this stepfather's son was here and then he was gone and nothing the stepfather does will bring him back, including setting a car on fire or breaking a window or acts of violence. I'm deeply sorry for this man's loss. I am also deeply sorry that people are having their lives disrupted by these riots.
Especially when they won't do two things when they are over. First, they won't change the grand jury's decision. Second, they won't bring Michael Brown back to life. That is reality.
Seriously? The world is shining a spotlight on you and you incite a riot? Really?
As a parent, what is worse than seeing your child in pain or burying your child? I answer nothing. Absolutely the worst things that can happen to a parent. I can't imagine the grief this man feels because this stepfather's son was here and then he was gone and nothing the stepfather does will bring him back, including setting a car on fire or breaking a window or acts of violence. I'm deeply sorry for this man's loss. I am also deeply sorry that people are having their lives disrupted by these riots.
Especially when they won't do two things when they are over. First, they won't change the grand jury's decision. Second, they won't bring Michael Brown back to life. That is reality.
MegaDave Machine Sure to Continue
As news broke first that Megadeth drummer Sean Drover had left the band, I quipped on my Facebook page that I would get my chops up so that when Dave called, I could tell him "Yes, I will join your little band." I did that not because I think I'm a drummer worthy of replacing Sean Drover but because when you peruse the lineup changes on the band's Wikipedia page, there have been quite a few lineups over the years. Now, after reading about Drover leaving, this article announced that the lead guitarist, Chris Broderick, is also leaving. Vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Dave Ellefson are the only "current" members of Megadeth.
Wow.
I wish I was a fly on the wall as Dave and Dave discuss possible replacements. What names get tossed around? For drummers, I think of Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) as being an awesome replacement, but I fear he would bring a lot more ideas to the band than perhaps Mustaine would like. For guitarists, of course I'm going to go with hoping Marty Friedman returns to the band.
Time will tell what happens. In the meantime, I'm off to listen to "Rust in Peace."
Wow.
I wish I was a fly on the wall as Dave and Dave discuss possible replacements. What names get tossed around? For drummers, I think of Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) as being an awesome replacement, but I fear he would bring a lot more ideas to the band than perhaps Mustaine would like. For guitarists, of course I'm going to go with hoping Marty Friedman returns to the band.
Time will tell what happens. In the meantime, I'm off to listen to "Rust in Peace."
New Era Begins Poorly as Drinking Water Results are Revealed
Two things. First, this is the 2001st post on this blog. Woo-hoo. Unlike false dedication to a goal of drinking a specific amount of water each day, I consider this blog a success. From meager beginnings to now, I rely on this blog as a way to write about issues and events and interests that have stayed the same over the last 7 years:
Second, as I just mentioned, I should have drank a lot of water over the last 28 days. To enable my success, I created a grid, spread across two pieces of paper, that are shown in the pictures below. Mr. Calculator tells me I should have filled my 16 ounce water bottle 224 times over the last 28 days. The reality is I filled it a measly 8 for a dismal 0.0803571428571429 %.
Ouch.
That's called a fail.
I'm thinking I create another grid to begin on Monday, December 1, 2014, and see if I can do better. I think I can.
- family
- music
- career
Second, as I just mentioned, I should have drank a lot of water over the last 28 days. To enable my success, I created a grid, spread across two pieces of paper, that are shown in the pictures below. Mr. Calculator tells me I should have filled my 16 ounce water bottle 224 times over the last 28 days. The reality is I filled it a measly 8 for a dismal 0.0803571428571429 %.
Ouch.
That's called a fail.
I'm thinking I create another grid to begin on Monday, December 1, 2014, and see if I can do better. I think I can.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
The Sweet Song is Irony Defined
This article nailed how I reacted to hearing the opening words of his speech. Either he actually believes that statement or he was making a quick jab at Congress. I think it's giving too much credit to say it was a jab at Congress.
I want!
Updated on Tuesday, 11/25/2014
- Item #1 - From North New Jersey
- A unique chance to own custom made CD storage that holds 1920 CD's and a collection of CD's.
- Made by special order by a small furniture company and cost me $3000 in year 2000. (Just a furniture itself)
- This CD wall consists of 2 separate pieces for transportation: Base foundation and top. + crown moldings.
- All shelves are adjustable. All four compartments with double-doors locks with just one key. (Later addition)
- Made of the high quality solid wood with easy to maintain non-glossy finish.
- Dimensions:
Width: 5'3"
Height: 8'
Depth 7" - Now, the CD collection acquired over the years is mostly for serious music lover.
I cannot possibly list all albums, but to get an idea - it is mostly international progressive rock, Hard rock, a lot of jazz, jazz-rock, some classical, some world music.
I think that the fair price for the collection and furniture should be around two and a half thousand dollars.
Let me know if you think otherwise.
- From Minneapolis:
150 CD Compact Disc LOT.
ALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.
$0.30 each
AUTHENTIC CDs - NO COPIES.
SEE THE PICTURE FOR TITLES.
I have many boxes of DVDs and CDs available for sale.
- From St. Louis:
THIS IS MY PERSONAL COLLECTION OF CD'S. ALL OF THESE LOOK BRAND NEW IN THE ORIGINAL CASE AND COVERS. NO SCRATCHES!! PLAYED ONCE TO COMPUTER THEN STORED IN DRY, KID FREE, DOG FREE, SMOKE FREE HOME. 192 CD's in all. Selling as a "LOT". Meaning all of the cd's together.
$250 for everything listed in mint cases, and cd's. Good as NEW!
Note from prhmusic: I sorted the ad's original list for my own amusement.
1. 311 -- Grassroots
2. 50 Cent - The Massacre
3. A Tribute to Led Zepplain -- Encomium
4. Aerosmith -- Big Ones
5. Alanis Morisette -- Jagged Little Pill
6. Alice & Chains -- Jar of Flies
7. Alice & Changes -- Facelift
8. Alicia Keys -- Songs in a Minor
9. Altered State -- Dos
10. Alternative Summer
11. Amen -- We Have Come for Your Parents
12. Avril Lavigne -- Under My Skin
13. Barber Shop -- From the Motion Picture
14. Beck -- Mellow Gold
15. Better than Ezra -- Deluxe
16. Beverly Hills Cop 2 Motion Picture
17. Biker Boyz -- Motion Picture Music
18. Billboard Latin Music Awards 2002
19. Blink 182 -- Enemy of the State
20. Boys to Men Collection -- The Remix
21. Brandy
22. Bush -- 16 Stone
23. Candlebox
24. Candlebox -- Lucy
25. Chemical Brothers -- Block Rocking Beats
26. Chicago -- Greatest Hits 82 -- 89
27. Classic Chillout Album -- A Collection of Classics of a Modern World
28. Clerks Motion Picture Music
29. Clutch
30. Coal Chamber Music
31. Collective Soul -- Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid
32. Color Me Badd -- Time & Chance
33. Counting Crows -- Films About Ghost The Best Of
34. Creed -- My Own Prison
35. Creedence Clearwater Revival -- Chronicle Volume 2
36. DGC -- Rarities Volume 1
37. Dido -- No Angel
38. Die Another Day -- 007 Motion Picture Music
39. Disturbed -- Believe
40. Disturbed -- The Sickness
41. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Price -- Homebase
42. Elton John -- Greatest Hits
43. Empire Records -- The Soundtrack
44. EnVogue -- Run Away Love
45. Everclear -- Sparkle & Fade
46. Filter -- Short Bus
47. Fuel -- Somethink Like Human
48. Fuel -- Sunburn
49. George Thorogood & the Destroyers -- Greatest Hits 30 Years of Rock
50. Godsmack
51. Godsmack -- Faceless
52. Godsmack -- The Other Side
53. Gone in 60 Seconds Motion Picture Music
54. Goo Goo Dolls -- A Boy Named Goo
55. Good Charlette -- The Chronicles of Life & Death
56. Gravity Kills
57. Green Day -- Dookie
58. Green Day -- Ensominiac
59. Guns & Roses -- Use Your Illusion
60. Halloween Sounds
61. Hoobastank -- The Reason
62. Hootie & The Blowfish -- Cracked Rear View
63. Incubus -- Make Yourself
64. Jane's Addiction -- Nothing Shocking
65. JaRule - Rule 336
66. Jay Z -- The Blueprint
67. Jay Z -- The Dynasty
68. Jay Z -- Volume 3
69. Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon
70. Jet -- Get Born
71. John Mayer Trio -- Try
72. John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits -- Words & Music
73. Korn -- Issues
74. Korn -- See You on the Other Side
75. Korn -- The Untouchables
76. LFO
77. Life & Times At South Carter
78. Linkin Park -- Hybrid Theory
79. Lit -- A Place the Sun
80. Little Nicky Adam Sandler Motion Picture
81. Madonna -- Bedtime Stories
82. Madonna -- Music
83. Madonna -- Ray of Light
84. Magic of the Season -- Christmas Songs
85. Malfunkshun
86. Mariah's #1's
87. Marilyn Manson -- Lest We Forget The Best Of
88. Maroon 5 -- Acoustic
89. Mathew Sweat -- 100% Fun
90. Michael Jackson Greatest Hits Volume 1
91. Moby -- Songs 93-98
92. Motley Crew -- Greatest Hits
93. Mozart -- The Leopold String Trio
94. MTV 2 Hand Picked
95. MTV Party to Go 2000
96. MTV Party to Go Volume 4
97. MTV Road Rules
98. Mudvayne -- Lost & Found
99. Nappy Roots -- Watermelon Chicken & Grits
100. Natalie Cole -- Take a Look
101. Nelly -- Suit (Live The Best Of)
102. Nelly -- Sweatsuit
103. Nickelback -- Silver Side Up
104. Nickelback -- The State
105. Nine Inch Nails -- The Downward Spiral
106. Nirvana -- Incesticide
107. Nirvana -- Unplugged in New York
108. No Doubt -- Tragic Kingdom
109. Nonstop Disco -- Volume 1
110. Oasis -- Definitely Maybe
111. Offspring -- Smash
112. Orgy -- Vaper Transmission
113. Pearl Jam -- 10
114. Pearl Jam -- Verses
115. POD -- Satellite
116. Puddle of Mudd -- Come Clean
117. Pure Reggae
118. Rage Against the Machine
119. Rage Against the Machine -- Battle of Las Angeles
120. Rage Against the Machine -- Evil Empire
121. Ray Ramano Live at Carnegie
122. Ready to Rumble Motion Picture
123. Relax to Mythical Rain Forest
124. Relax to Tropical Rain Forest
125. REM -- Monster
126. Republica
127. Rick James - Gold
128. Rock & Roll Fantasy -- Rock Classics of the 70's & 80's
129. Salsa Hits 2002
130. Sammy Hagar -- The Essential Red Collection
131. Santara -- Reprise The Very Good Years
132. Seven Mary Three -- American Standard
133. Sevendust -- Home
134. Sheryl Crow -- Tuesday Night Music Club
135. Shinedown -- Leave A Whisper
136. Shy -- If I Ever Fall in Love
137. Silverchair -- Freakshow
138. Silverchair -- Frog Stomp
139. Simple Plan -- Still Not Getting Any
140. Slipknot
141. Smashing Pumpkins -- Siamese Dream
142. Smashmouth -- Allstar Smash Hits
143. So I Married an Ax Murder Motion Picture
144. Soil -- Scars
145. Soul Asylum -- Let Your Light Shine
146. Soul For Real -- Candy Rain
147. Sound Garden -- Super Unknown
148. Space Hog -- Resident Alien
149. Spice Girls
150. Spiderman Motion Picture Music
151. Spin Doctors -- Home Belly Groove
152. Staind -- Dysfunction
153. Stir
154. Stone Templed Pilots -- 12 Gracious Melodies
155. Stone Templed Pilots -- Core
156. Stone Templed Pilots -- Tiny Music
157. Sylvia -- Every 6 Seconds
158. System of a Down -- Toxicity
159. Taproot -- Welcome
160. The Best of Enya
161. The Best of Ken Burns Jazz
162. The Best of Miles Davis
163. The Best of Snoop Dog
164. The Black Crows -- Greatest Hits 1990-99
165. The Doors -- Legacy The Absolute Best
166. The Eagles -- Greatest Hits
167. The Essences of Soul 2002
168. The Jerky Boy 2
169. The Notorious BIG -- Born Again
170. Third Eye Blind
171. Three Days Grace
172. Three Doors Down -- The Better Life
173. TLC -- Crazy Sexy Cool
174. Toad the West Sprocket -- Dulcinea
175. Toadies -- Rubberneck
176. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
177. Tori Amos -- Boys for Pele
178. Train -- Drops of Jupiter
179. Trapt
180. Type O Negative -- Bloody Kisses
181. Type O Negative -- World Coming Down
182. U2 -- All that you can't leave behind
183. U2 -- How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
184. U2 -- Live Under a Blood Red Sky
185. U2 -- The Joshua Tree
186. Ultimate Barry Manilow
187. Velvet Revolver -- Contraband
188. Warren G -- Regulate G Funk Era
189. Weezer
190. Wheates
191. Workout -- 60 Minutes of Continuous Mixed Dance Music
192. XXX Vin Diesel - From Los Angeles:
All Genres of music over 2000 CDs all must go in one purchase asking $.50 apiece there are no jewel cases, but all have the inserts, all come in boxes as pictured, all CDs in great condition
If interested I'm sure we can work out a deal.
- From Los Angeles:
Hi there, getting rid of some stuff around the house that I no longer have use for and the time has come to part with my cd collection that I started many many years ago. There are over 1,150 cds total and about half of them are original copies while the others are copies of originals albums (mostly Rap/Hip-Hop Music). A lot of money and time has been invested in this, so it is hard getting rid of it as it is, I'd like to at least get a fair price for todays market and value. I have a list of all the included albums in alphabetical order but is too long to fit into this posting so I can email it to you upon request. Let me know if you're interested or have any other questions, feel free to call/text me anytime at 509-979-65two3. We are in Glendale right by the Mall & Americana. Thanks for your time and have a great day. - From Los Angeles:
540 CDs for sale All Popular Music.
I'm selling each CD for $1.
You can buy all the CDs for $540 or just selected CDs for $1 each CD.
Minimum purchase is of 100 CDs for $100.
Pick up only.
See pictures of some of the CDs that I'm selling.
-
Survivor Series 2014
After the 2014 edition of the WWE PPV Survivor Series, there comes an episode of Monday Night Raw, which should be quite exciting for these reasons:
- The Authority fell and are no longer in power. Who takes over? I've seen some online reports that Mick Foley would be brought in as the General Manager of Raw.
- The fallout from the Authority v. Team Cena will be a primary focus.
- Last night, Sting made his WWE debut so tonight begins to answer the question, "What does the WWE do with Sting?" He came to the aid of Team Cena in the main event. He has always been one of my favorite professional wrestlers, dating back to the WCW days when he was isolated by the other WCW wrestlers as a part of the NWO storyline. He is 55 years old so he (probably) doesn't have a lot of matches left in him.
- Because the speculation has been that he would face the Undertaker at the next Wrestlemania, does Sting take on the role of the Raw General Manager until the Undertaker, if he is going to wrestle Sting, shows up? It'd be an interesting way to get Sting on nightly television without showcasing his age. For all intents and purposes, the Undertaker is a good guy (face) and with Sting siding with Team Cena last night, he is also positioned as a face. Making him the Raw General Manager could lead to him having to make some unpopular decisions that lead to him being the heel in a match with the Undertaker. I wish I knew what Creative had up their sleeves!
- This article traces through Sting's career and is worth reading.
- The Big Show was on Team Cena but made a deal with the Authority to take out John Cena (apparently). The Big Show shook Triple H's hand, which is an interesting twist, considering that he was tempted a couple of weeks ago to join Team Authority and declined. Why would the Big Show turn on John Cena?
- There's also the reality that there will be the beginnings of building up to the next PPV, called "TLC". Beginning tonight, there will start to be groundwork laid out for the matches that will be on that PPV. This article outlines some potential matches.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Not seeing Racism
Per this story on http://eaglerising.com/11796/see-cartoon-liberals-calling-racist-forcing-indystar-censor/, the following cartoon is racist.
While I'm known to not get certain types of humor, I don't necessarily find the cartoon all that funny. It's simply a commentary on what is going on in our country. Should the cartoonist simply had a door with "Knock! Knock!" being heard at the dinner table? Would it be as inflammatory as some perceive it to be?
No one will ever know because the cartoon above is what was published.
While I'm known to not get certain types of humor, I don't necessarily find the cartoon all that funny. It's simply a commentary on what is going on in our country. Should the cartoonist simply had a door with "Knock! Knock!" being heard at the dinner table? Would it be as inflammatory as some perceive it to be?
No one will ever know because the cartoon above is what was published.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
California? Nope.
First, no, we're NOT moving to Gold Country, CA. The house in this post is from an acquaintance on a technical writer email list and when I looked at it, I thought, "WOW! What a house!"
This would be a great house if I were living in California. I'm not going to, but I still like looking at the pretty pictures!
This would be a great house if I were living in California. I'm not going to, but I still like looking at the pretty pictures!
PROPERTY INFORMATION FOR 3520 WASATCH DR, AUBURN, CA 95602
| Location Information | |||||
| County: | Placer | Map Code: | - | ||
| MLS Area: | 12301 | Cross Street: | Moss Rock | ||
| Census Tract: | 218.01 | Location: | Snow Line Below | ||
| Subdivision: | Saddleback Estates | Directions: | Hwy 80 to Bell Rd. Exit. Left on Bell Rd. Right on Haines Rd.Left on Dry Creek Rd. Right on Blue Grass Dr. Left on Moss Rock Dr.Right onto Wasatch Dr. House is fifth on the right. | ||
| Interior Features | |||||
| Rooms: | Master Suite, Separate Family Room | Master Bathroom Description: | Closet Walk-In 2+, Double Sinks, Shower Stall(s), Tile, Tub Jetted | ||
| 1/2 Baths: | 1 | Other Bathrooms Description: | Double Sinks, Shower Stall(s), Tile, Window | ||
| Dining Room Description: | Breakfast Nook, Dining Bar, Formal Room, Space in Kitchen | Kitchen Description: | Counter Other, Island w/Sink | ||
| Has Fireplace: | Yes | Number of Fireplaces: | 1 | ||
| Fireplace Description: | Circulating, Gas Log, Master Suite | Heating: | Central, Propane | ||
| Cooling: | Central | Floors: | Carpet, Tile, Wood | ||
| Laundry: | 220 Volt Hook-Up, Cabinets, Inside Room, Washer/Dryer Includ | Additional Equipment: | Audio/Video Prewired, Cable TV Available, Central Vacuum, H/S Internet Avail, Home Theater Equip, Networked, Water Cond Eqp Owned | ||
| Appliances: | Cook Top Elec, Cook Top Gas, Dishwasher, Disposal, Ice Maker B/I, Microwave B/I, Oven Elec B/I, Oven Self/Cont Clean, Refrigerator B/I, Warming Drawer | ||||
| Exterior Features | |||||
| Stories: | 2 Story | Construction: | Frame, Wood | ||
| Exterior: | Siding Lap, Stone, Wood | Foundation: | Concrete Slab | ||
| Roof: | Comp Shingle | Water / Sewer: | In & Connected | ||
| Water: | Private District, Well Domestic | Utilities: | 220 Volts, Propane Tank Owned | ||
| Parking Description: | 3 Car Attached, Facing Front, Garage Door Opener | Recreational Parking: | Boat Storage, RV Storage | ||
| Has Garage: | Yes | Landscaping: | Back, Fenced Back, Front, Sprinkler Auto F&R | ||
| Has a Pool: | No | Is a Horse Property: | Yes | ||
| Horse Property Description: | Cross Fenced, Fenced, Trailer Storage | Topography: | Level, Rock Outcropping, Shape Regular, Trees Many | ||
| Elevation: | 0 | Lot Size in Acres: | 4.04 | ||
| Lot Size in Sq. Ft.: | 176030 | Zoning: | F | ||
| Energy Features: | Attic Fan(s), Ceiling Fan(s), Dual Pane Full, Low E Glass Full | Improvements: | None | ||
| Road Description: | Paved, Public Maintained | ||||
| School | |||||
| Elementary School: | Auburn Union | Jr. High School: | Auburn Union | ||
| High School: | Placer Union High | ||||
| Additional Information | |||||
| Property Type: | SFR | Property SubType: | 1 House on Lot | ||
| Property SubType 2: | Detached, Custom | Year Built: | 1986 | ||
| APN: | 076-153-004-000 | Status: | Active | ||
| Is Short Sale: | No | Association Fees Include: | Assn Mgmt | ||
| HOA Fee: | $140.00 | HOA Frequency: | Yearly | ||
| Other Structures: | Tool Shed | ||||
Made for a King
Yesterday was quite eventful. For weeks, a common discussion has been that Alex needs a new mattress as his current mattress sinks in the middle. Despite his protests that his mattress is comfortable, it is not a good mattress for him - its use has been outlived. Thus, when we left North Liberty for the Denver Mattress Company store in Cedar Rapids, the intent was to buy a new mattress for Alex.
Then, we learned that a king bed, which I had considered Plan B, was only $200 more than a queen. We also learned that there is a 15 year warranty. And we can return the mattress if we don't like it.
Alex looked at us incredulously, unable to grasp how going mattress shopping for a new mattress for him had transformed into no new mattress for him. Instead, he is getting our current mattress which, conveniently, he says isn't comfortable.
Hmmm.
That was yesterday. Today, after playing drums at 11 AM Mass at Saint Thomas More, Karen, Alex, and I went to Kohl's to get Alex some black pants and black shirts he needed for the West High School production of "Little Women" - he's on the light crew but, for some reason, is also moving the set around. We also got a king size comforter because, duh, a queen size comforter would never work. We also picked up some king size sheets.
When we got home from shopping, I spent some time in our bedroom. The result of yesterday's purchase is there will be a new king size mattress delivered to our house in the next 7-10 days. A king bed will come over 8 inches on each side. This reality, coupled with wanting to vaccuum the carpet under where our current bed is located, gave me the task of taking the wrapping paper out from under our bed. I also moved my nightstand table and rearranged the clothes that had been stored between my nightstand table and the bed. I also needed to find a new home for my MASH series on DVD which I had kept between the nightstand and the wall. My dresser is kitty-corner in our bedroom so I also reached behind the dresser and got rid of what could be thrown away. I would call all of this a productive way to spend a couple of hours. I also packed for going to Lou & Jean's this week and laid out my clothes for work - I do that so I don't have to decide in the morning what I want to wear.
And where was Megan during all of this? Was she working at Fareway? Nope, she was in Davenport on a retreat as a team member putting on the retreat. I am very proud of her for being on the leadership team in the Davenport Diocese. I hope she continues to do things like this.
Then, we learned that a king bed, which I had considered Plan B, was only $200 more than a queen. We also learned that there is a 15 year warranty. And we can return the mattress if we don't like it.
Alex looked at us incredulously, unable to grasp how going mattress shopping for a new mattress for him had transformed into no new mattress for him. Instead, he is getting our current mattress which, conveniently, he says isn't comfortable.
Hmmm.
That was yesterday. Today, after playing drums at 11 AM Mass at Saint Thomas More, Karen, Alex, and I went to Kohl's to get Alex some black pants and black shirts he needed for the West High School production of "Little Women" - he's on the light crew but, for some reason, is also moving the set around. We also got a king size comforter because, duh, a queen size comforter would never work. We also picked up some king size sheets.
When we got home from shopping, I spent some time in our bedroom. The result of yesterday's purchase is there will be a new king size mattress delivered to our house in the next 7-10 days. A king bed will come over 8 inches on each side. This reality, coupled with wanting to vaccuum the carpet under where our current bed is located, gave me the task of taking the wrapping paper out from under our bed. I also moved my nightstand table and rearranged the clothes that had been stored between my nightstand table and the bed. I also needed to find a new home for my MASH series on DVD which I had kept between the nightstand and the wall. My dresser is kitty-corner in our bedroom so I also reached behind the dresser and got rid of what could be thrown away. I would call all of this a productive way to spend a couple of hours. I also packed for going to Lou & Jean's this week and laid out my clothes for work - I do that so I don't have to decide in the morning what I want to wear.
And where was Megan during all of this? Was she working at Fareway? Nope, she was in Davenport on a retreat as a team member putting on the retreat. I am very proud of her for being on the leadership team in the Davenport Diocese. I hope she continues to do things like this.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
So Much for That Prediction
All hope that Metallica would play a brand-new song can now be considered wasted effort. To conclude their week-long residency, they played "Sad But True," as shown below.
Damnit! I wanted a new song!
Damnit! I wanted a new song!
Converting Resumes
I am looking at needing to eliminate 14, 961 duplicate files from my music folders. Previously, I mentioned that I had approximately 200 CDs remaining to convert. While I work on weeding out duplicates, I have the Toshiba laptop ripping CDs. It's kind of fun as I am ripping Life CDs and while the CD rips, the CD is played so I get to listen to music. The Eagles are playing the acoustic version of "Hotel California" with that awesome percussion groove under the acoustic guitar.
Notes from Career Panel
I was asked by Mount Mercy University English professor Carol Tyx to be a member of a panel of MMU alumni that were English majors. The purpose of the panel was to discuss our careers. Prior to the panel, Carol emailed me a set of questions and, using those questions as prompts, I created the following content. This is a selfish post, one that specifies a lot of details about myself and my career journey. To prepare for posting my notes to this blog, I did some minor editing just because it's my blog and I can do that since I own the content.
What has been your employment journey since graduating from Mt. Mercy?
Context First
I came to Mount Mercy College in fall of 1988. My goal was to be a high school English teacher. I did a semester of Student teaching in Fall 1991. I did not like teaching – stories could be told about being slapped by a student, breaking up a fight, and going through a faith crisis at the same time - what am I doing here on earth? What purpose do I serve?
To summarize, those are the “highlights” of the “Dark Time of my Life” and by the time I graduated in May 1992, I had concluded teaching was not a career for me.
Since I had gone through my college education with a focus on being a teacher, it was difficult when I realized I had no idea what I could do with my degree.
I began my job search in February 1992 and it ended 3 years later in February 1995 and during those 3 years, I applied to many companies for many positions in many cities.
During the time that I didn’t have a permanent, full-time job, many life events:
Two recurring themes in my career:
Worked there from 2/10/98 – 9/30/98.
Working there was interesting. I had my own office, but it was a small company that had money issues. We used to sit around the lunch table and hope the mailman would bring a check from a customer so that payroll could be met. Went through layoffs – it was a choice between me and a co-worker. Part of not being laid off was the understanding that I would stop doing my technical writing duties and start doing data entry because the company generated revenue from data entry whereas technical writing was an overhead cost.
This is an important part of my career. Why would I want to leave a good thing and go somewhere else? At the time, these were my reasons I decided to look for a new position outside of Quintrex
Editor's Note: This section, Unnamed Hellhole in Southern Iowa, is the part of my prepared notes that I didn't get to talk about during the panel. On Friday, I mentioned to a co-worker that I felt somewhat odd that all the talk on the panel was about the "good" that has happened in our careers. Sometimes, there are "not good" parts of a career. Certainly, I hope the students attending the panel never, ever, have to go through what I did. The parallels between this epoch of my life and "The Empire Strikes Back" are easy to sketch as I was definitely going through a time of uncertainty. Life was certainly bleak.
To this point, my career had been going quite well. I had worked as a technical writer for nearly 16 years and thought I “knew” all I needed to know about this profession. Working at this place showed me I do not. Thus, I am going to tell you something that you may not hear from anyone else – there are times in life where you will realize you are in the wrong place. I consider this a misstep in my career. Swayed to leave Quintrex with false promises of building the same type of situation I had at Quintrex from the ground up and more money. Quintrex counter offered to keep me, but I didn’t even look at the number because of the above 3 reasons. Should have looked at the number. Traded security for “opportunity” that seemed like a good idea. Learned a lot about myself and my character.
Career Panel Thursday Nov. 20 2:00-3:00 109 Warde
What has been your employment journey since graduating from Mt. Mercy?
Context First
I came to Mount Mercy College in fall of 1988. My goal was to be a high school English teacher. I did a semester of Student teaching in Fall 1991. I did not like teaching – stories could be told about being slapped by a student, breaking up a fight, and going through a faith crisis at the same time - what am I doing here on earth? What purpose do I serve?To summarize, those are the “highlights” of the “Dark Time of my Life” and by the time I graduated in May 1992, I had concluded teaching was not a career for me.
Since I had gone through my college education with a focus on being a teacher, it was difficult when I realized I had no idea what I could do with my degree.
I began my job search in February 1992 and it ended 3 years later in February 1995 and during those 3 years, I applied to many companies for many positions in many cities.
During the time that I didn’t have a permanent, full-time job, many life events:
- Proposed to my wife in June 1992
- Married my wife in August of 1993.
- We purchased first house in April 1994.
- Telemarketer at APAC
- Temporary data entry clerk at ACT (Iowa City)
- Software Quality Assurance Testing at ACT (Iowa City)
- Got an awesome letter of recommendation from manager!
First Technical Writer position NDP (Cedar Rapids)
Interview at 8 AM on Friday, February 10, 1995 & signed job offer letter before noon. Words of advice: Always negotiate salary. I was offered $17,500, which was low, so I countered up to $18,000. I should have asked for more. The VP I was interviewing with said that I would have to work that much harder for that extra $500.
Two recurring themes in my career:
- Networking
- The only reason I even knew about this company was through a friend. My wife and I had a New Year’s Eve party on 12/31/1994. Invited several friends (MMC alumni). One friend was having a “good time” and started talking about how he worked for a great company. If he hadn’t been at our house that night, I would have never known of their existence. There was never a job ad for the position I applied for.
- Focus on content.
- Don’t rewrite or rephrase what someone tells you should be told to the end user. You should be knowledgeable about your subject so that you pick and choose those details that the user needs.
I worked there for 3 years.
Second Job: Jordan Systems
Jordan Systems had a product that was PC-based software, not AS/400.
Do not fail to value networking! Worked with a MMC alumni who lived on my dorm floor my freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Software on an AS/400 with an interface to a PC. AS/400 used to be a popular platform in the area and you could take programming courses at Kirkwood, but it has since been reduced in popularity and use (at least from my perspective).
Worked there from 2/10/98 – 9/30/98.
Working there was interesting. I had my own office, but it was a small company that had money issues. We used to sit around the lunch table and hope the mailman would bring a check from a customer so that payroll could be met. Went through layoffs – it was a choice between me and a co-worker. Part of not being laid off was the understanding that I would stop doing my technical writing duties and start doing data entry because the company generated revenue from data entry whereas technical writing was an overhead cost.
Third job: Quintrex Data Systems
There was a major life event upcoming: we were expecting our second child and financial security was a must. I sent in a resume for a classified ad in the Cedar Rapids Gazette for a QA Tester. Ad mentioned AS/400 experience a plus. Networking again! The Vice President was a neighbor from birth until about third grade, but he knows my parents and knew me. I worked there a dozen years. My first day was 10/1/1998 and I submitted my resignation on 10/15/2010. A lot of my time at Quintrex was awesome. I was the only dedicated technical writer so I .carved a niche and definitely nested. I was able to branch out into Marketing writing, User Interface design for Windows, and all sorts of other tasks like release distribution (paper copies of instructions & burning multiple CDs). My primary work was to maintain end-user and internal documentation for all their systems. There was a lot of content - multiple 500 sheet reams of paper. I requested and then was sent to conferences in Boston (2004) and Long Beach, CA (2007). I had to adapt to technology changes. The online Help was distributed in a file format called WinHelp. However, Microsoft announced that they were ending support of WinHelp with Windows Vista. This caused a conversion from MS Word to HTML.
This is an important part of my career. Why would I want to leave a good thing and go somewhere else? At the time, these were my reasons I decided to look for a new position outside of Quintrex
- The company served the Telecommunications industry with software to landline companies.
- CEO was 65 and refused to reveal his plans
- There was a subtle change in company culture – documentation isn’t important.
Epilogue: After I left
- Company was purchased by St. Louis-based NISC
- The technical writer that was hired to replace me died from a leg clot
- CEO who wouldn’t reveal his retirement plans actually retired in September.
- Did on-site 3 hour training about the tools I had used to write the company’s documentation in August 2011.
Unnamed Hellhole in southern Iowa
Editor's Note: This section, Unnamed Hellhole in Southern Iowa, is the part of my prepared notes that I didn't get to talk about during the panel. On Friday, I mentioned to a co-worker that I felt somewhat odd that all the talk on the panel was about the "good" that has happened in our careers. Sometimes, there are "not good" parts of a career. Certainly, I hope the students attending the panel never, ever, have to go through what I did. The parallels between this epoch of my life and "The Empire Strikes Back" are easy to sketch as I was definitely going through a time of uncertainty. Life was certainly bleak.
To this point, my career had been going quite well. I had worked as a technical writer for nearly 16 years and thought I “knew” all I needed to know about this profession. Working at this place showed me I do not. Thus, I am going to tell you something that you may not hear from anyone else – there are times in life where you will realize you are in the wrong place. I consider this a misstep in my career. Swayed to leave Quintrex with false promises of building the same type of situation I had at Quintrex from the ground up and more money. Quintrex counter offered to keep me, but I didn’t even look at the number because of the above 3 reasons. Should have looked at the number. Traded security for “opportunity” that seemed like a good idea. Learned a lot about myself and my character.
- Began working there on 10/18/2010.
- Processes in place were wrong.
- Used a page layout app (InDesign) to maintain 100+ page user guide. ID is fine for brochures, but was the wrong tool for creating online Help in HTML.
- Manually typed the Table of Contents, then reprinting to verify pages matched
- Manually drew a line to margin
- One space or two – use one unless it “looks funny” then use 2.
- Tedious copy and paste work for other languages.
- Stopped working there on 4/13/2011.
- Father of a kid on my son’s baseball team came to a game with a programming language book. Started conversation about it. I hadn’t known he was a programmer. Found out he worked at where I had applied, and that since he knew my current manager, he said he would put in a good word for me.
- Neighbor’s sister-in-law worked at my current employer, knew my current manager, and said she would put in a good word for me. She was recently reassigned to my department. My cubicle is less than 5 feet from her.
- Fellow parish member worked at my current employer. Had known her for 20+ years. She knew my current manager, and said she would put in a good word for me.
Eventually, I interviewed with my current manager, and then followed up with HR, who told me I was the “top candidate” for the position. That thought still makes for a nice ego stroke. Job offer came via phone call during supper. When I was told what the salary was for the position, it was higher than I had imagined and took me by surprise to the extent that I didn't even try to negotiate! Always negotiate.
What kind of work do you do currently?
Software documentationWhat skills are needed to perform your job?
These are ideas that are not limited to my work at my employer – spans all of career. Given: you know how to arrange words in an order that is clear and easy to read.- Ability to analyze and use previous knowledge to make decisions about new situations.
- Critical thinking skills
- If you are told the system should create A, but you have never been able to create A in the system – you can only create B, what is different? What steps did the person telling you A is created take to achieve that and where are the differences between your knowledge where you only see B and the knowledge of the person telling you should be able to create A?
- Teamwork Skills
- You have your strengths and you have your weaknesses.
- I work on a team where my strengths (tools) and weaknesses (project management) are balanced out by others on the team.
- Compromise
- Our department had a recent discussion about expand / collapse. This became my pet peeve issue that if you search for a keyword in the "site" search and the keyword is found and you click the search result to go to the page that the word is supposed to be on and you do a page-level search for the same word, if that word is in a collapsed section, you wouldn’t be able to find the word that your "site" search listed in the search results. We were collaboratively working on a user guide where the original design of a page had 7 expand / collapse sections and the word I was using as an example was in the seventh collapsed section. 7 user clicks to find information – making the user do more work than necessary. To go along with this, there is often more than one way to write something. Negotiating a style that you will use to make them read as if one person, one department, wrote all of the documentation.You could write:
- To do A, click B.
- or
- Click B to do A.
- Philosophical differences
- There are different approaches to any situation.
- Your experience is just as valuable as your co-worker’s experience.
- Do not be totalitarian in your opinions and dismiss others’ opinions.
- Who is the best writer - Shakespeare or Chaucer?
- Often there is no right answer so you have to use the skills you gained from being an English major to analyze the situation and make a decision.
How might an English major prepare for the job market?
- Embrace technology.
- You don’t have to own the latest / greatest gadget or use the latest / greatest Windows operating system or Mac operating system, but you should be familiar with it. I knew nothing about computers when I graduated and consider myself to be dangerous enough to think I know what I’m doing when it comes to trying to remedy laptop or computer issues.
- The trend is for companies to use social media to research you as a candidate. Your online images and words create an impression of you by people you may never meet.
- Understand the value of a recent backup
- Consider if the device upon which you store your music collection or even your term papers for this semester were to suddenly not work. I was using my work laptop when I suddenly got an odd Windows message. The end result is that I lost a lot of data. I’ve also lost music files that were created by converting from CD to MP3.
- Humility
- You are not the gift to writing that you think you are. You will encounter multiple people in multiple situations where what you think is “right” is exactly what they think is “wrong” and your challenge is to and Embrace that person’s opinion. Make yourself learn from that person. Adapt your world to incorporate their knowledge to improve yourself.
- Side note: In my experience, everyone thinks that they are a writer. The quip I’ve often heard is that “writing is easy. After all, it’s just typing words.” My value as a technical writer is the ability to choose the words that communicate the information the user needs and to put those words in the correct order. At every position in my career, there was always a co-worker that believed they would be able to do my job “better” than me. There is probably a person on this campus that has the same interests as you and may think they are as skilled in that interest as you are.
- Soft skills
- Being able to work on a team.
- Recent Gazette article: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/soft-skills-hot-commodity-among-employers-20141019
- Develop good habits
- Decide that you’re going to do something at 3:30, M-F, and then track whether you follow through with doing it.
- If you don’t follow through, analyze your motivations for not following through.
- Don’t be discouraged by the advertised jobs you will come across. When you go to Rockwellcollins.com or ACT.org or Corridorcareers.com, searching for "writer" or "write" will not yield many results.
- Expand your search criteria or, perhaps, don't specify any search criteria and simply scan all available jobs.
- There's many job titles for a "technical writer" such as "documentation specialist", "technical communicator" and so forth.
Is there anything you wish you had done while you were a student that would have prepared you more effectively for the work world?
- Take programming classes, especially if you are interested in writing software documentation. As someone who writes about software, a basic understanding of the logic and approach to programming - what it takes to create the systems I write about – would be helpful. You can learn on your own.
- Take a basic business class and/or accounting class. Economics, ledgers, taxes. I was in a position where I did technical writing contracts outside of regular work. Have no idea if what I did was correct or not, but I did it. <grin>
- Spend time in the computer lab helping users solve issues with computers and software.
- Try different things that are outside of your comfort zone. Have preferences, know what you’re good at, but don’t pigeon-hole yourself into a limited area.
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