Fallout from an Overworked Mind

Taming Crystal Reports When Schemas Change.

2010-09-06T15:05:00.000-05:00

There is a "feature" of Crystal Reports that just refuses to die. Having struggled with this feature at several points in my career over the last 15 years it is quit surprising that I have not found someone to step-up with a real answer. What I have always done is nothing more than a workaround, but it is effective.

To be more precise, the "feature" is the obliteration of a report when Crystal Reports (CR) verifies the database schema and attempts to re-map fields. I don't know what happens under the hood, but if there are schema changes that CR doesn't like then the corresponding fields are kindly removed from the report. Nice... If there's anyone else who has fought this and knows why, feel free to comment.

To date, my major complaint about CR is that it doesn't know where to stop. It tries to be your database instead of accepting data and formatting the report. Yes, I have used the XML-Schema binding approach and while it has made fighting with deployment a log better it still suffers from the same irrational behavior when the schema changes.

(Big side note: I will offer that if the reporting XSDs developed follow closer to the domain model instead of the database directly then the chance of breaking changes would be reduced. Typically, however, I end up with a compromise and have XSDs that are optimized for reporting.)

Let's get back on track. As annoying as it can be to redo a report that took 2 weeks of effort to format to a customer's approval, there is a way I stumbled onto that will keep the report a little safer and it is annoyingly simple: Wrap all fields placed onto the report in a function. Yep, that easy.

Wrapping the database fields does have a minimal performance impact but the benefit is that all you need to do to fix up the report is to fix the formulas to reference the proper columns in the new schema. As an added benefit, changes to the report like applying a different, custom date format (I did mention the struggle with making a customer happy, no?) is also as easy as adjusting the corresponding formula. To be honest, it was having to do exactly that task in the middle of development that switched on the light-bulb for me -- those fields didn't disappear when the schema changed but the were empty.

My love/hate relationship with CR continues. I am aware of other products but switching technologies is infrequently an option. Building your own can be cost-prohibited. When the customer also screams for a tool to build reports against the database you can work with them on procuring a proper development license and, assuming you didn't compile your reports in as resources without coding the from-a-file option into the application, you can give them the flexibility of dropping their reports into a well-known location and away they go. (side note: I would also suggest directing them to an assembly containing the reporting XSDs so they don't need to bind to the database directly which you should have developed to protect your own reports in the first place.)

I hope sharing this may save someone a few hours. I haven't found a good answer even through Google, but I may not be asking the right question. Maybe I'll get lucky and learn something by an enlightening comment. Feel free to educate or commiserate; you have my empathy and support either way.

The Family Vacation - Day 9: Travel (4 of 4)

2009-12-05T19:55:00.001-06:00

For the sake of completeness, it was an easy drive for the last day of travel. I was right that it was time to go when we did. A week away from the normal routine was starting to settle into some relaxed behavior and was turning sour. I'm glad to be home although I could stand one more day to myself to reset before heading back into work.

<>
Well, now I remember why my blog is mostly idle: the normal routine just hammers my time to spend writing.
Oh, before I forget again, total distance traveled: 1808.8 miles and probably double that in smiles.

The Family Vacation - Day 8: Travel (3 of 4)

2009-12-05T18:31:00.001-06:00

Well, it was time to start making our way back toward the normal routine. It's been a good vacation but I think it is best we call it now. The kids have been great and it will be nice to end on a good note. Yet we just couldn't make the trip home simple. That would be too easy. Instead, we decided to tackle a couple of extra hours of driving today. That should make tomorrow easier and give us a chance to catch up on a little necessary laundry. Oh, and we couldn't waste an opportunity to make one additional stop.

We had packed what we could into the car last night, leaving only the necessities to use and pack away. That still left us with about half an hour of final assembly and stress to get on the road. Having committed to a long day it was a little frustrating to corral everyone -- myself possibly the worst offender trying to make sure we didn't leave anything, even a mess, behind -- and get going. However, we made it and left without major conflicts.

Before we left the area it was a treat for my wife and I to have the opportunity to visit the Naval Aviation Museum. Thankfully the kids were also enthralled so that we didn't have to rush through the exhibits and I was thankful for the opportunity to start guiding them to an appreciation for what our service men and women have sacrificed for us. Videos scattered throughout the exhibits drew my kids attentions. My son likes planes and enjoyed that aspect but he's just too young for much more. I believe my daughter, given some of her questions, may have started to see that there is more to learn and that there are times when we must help each other under sad circumstances. Good for her; she has a great heart. We spent a little longer in the museum than we originally anticipated. It helped that there was a recent addition for the kids: an internal play area. Yay!

On the way out, we stopped to eat peanut butter sandwiches by the gulf at a small gazebo along an exercise trail. It was a little chilly but it was still nice to be outside with a little quiet time before leaving the base and getting into the long driving segment of the day. Food and other stops later, we pulled into the hotel around 11pm, making for a long but simple haul.

The Family Vacation - Day 7: Black Friday for All

2009-11-27T21:57:00.001-06:00

We may have made one of the bigger mistakes of the vacation today and we did it twice. Today has become known as "Black Friday" due to its popularity as a major shopping day in preparation for Christmas. So what did we do? We decided that it couldn't be that bad and we took the kids to the play area (which was promoted in the little freebie guide in our room) at the large outlet mall down the highway a couple of miles.

Yeah, not so smart. At least my daughter has now seen why kindness and compassion are necessary parts of a driver's arsenal and even more important at times like this. They did get to play, and we actually ended up with a decent parking spot, but it took about 20 minutes of circling. Some of that time we spent looking for the play area first and judging whether it would be wiser to go somewhere else.

After a quick restroom break, conveniently close to the play area, we gave the kids about a half an hour to play and then we walked them to death again. We actually didn't do much shopping, but in the "lifestyle center" layout for the mall you end up walking most of the very long W-shaped strip to get to the 2 or 3 places you want to go. Any normal day I'm sure we could have driven between stores and come out way ahead on time.

At the end of it all, my son fell asleep in my wife's arms at our last stop; conveniently keeping her from fixating on additional dinnerware. We made it back to the resort, consumed leftovers, then we all took naps at slightly overlapping times. The plan was to get out for an early dinner and then return for a final swimming session and to pack up as much as possible as to get an early start on the driving tomorrow.

The second attempt at getting out was a quick stop that actually turned out to be just that. We found a parking spot nearly immediately. I'd say the just-before-dinner time-frame worked to our favor. After that, we stopped for dinner at a tourist trap that, had it been a little warmer, would actually have been worth a longer stay. Instead we coerced the kids off the play equipment, away from the crocodiles and back to the resort for the promised swimming session.

The kids, thoroughly exhausted at this point, are sleeping and I shall join them shortly. It has been a good family trip and bonding time. We can't do this every year but I will certainly remember this trip fondly, even if through a head cold and drug-induced haze.

The Family Vacation - Day 6: The Turkeys Are Coming!

2009-11-26T21:47:00.001-06:00

No need for suspense, we didn't burn the complex to the ground. However, I did hear smoke alarms throughout the afternoon! We kept to the traditional lazy family day today. Things started pretty much normally with a light breakfast when we were all awake. Sleeping in until 8am, that's just crazy! We started off by making pumpkin pies -- yes, 2 as we didn't have the requisite deep dish pie crusts -- and fixing breakfast.

After breakfast, my wife and I enjoyed trading some individual time alone to just relax. My daughter was happy to watch the parade on TV once it started and my son went out for a quick walk with my wife. They didn't get far before he just wanted to play in the sandbox (aka the beach) so my wife took a 2nd walk just by herself and I took on the munchkins and prepared the bird.

It was nice enough that my daughter, having heard talk of the beach and finally coming out of her tunnel-vision about the parade, decided to give up her career as a rebroadcast announcer (she felt inclined to repeat everything said on the TV to me since I couldn't see it) and insisted on going to the beach herself. Of course, my son wouldn't be left behind so I had to slide on suitable clothing and all of us went back to the beach. Together we built a moat at the water's edge but didn't get far enough to build the castle. Oh well, the kids had fun and tired themselves out. My son was so tired at that point that he wouldn't eat a snack and barely bothered to strip clothes off before climbing into bed and taking a nap.

Unfortunately, it wasn't too long after that -- probably 45 minutes -- that it was time for the traditional late lunch/early dinner of overindulgence. I went to wake up his highness and was greeted with probably the most disappointed look I've seen in awhile. He was certainly not ready to eat and he fussed his way through not eating lunch. Equally disappointing, he refused to go back to his nap and threw a second fit about that as my wife tried to snuggle him back to bed. My daughter and I quickly fell asleep in the 2nd bed for our naps. At least the reset-button was hit for my son and he happily watched TV and played through nap time. He was still all smiles for most of the evening as we watched a couple of movies together and didn't fuss when I slipped out in the middle of "Cars" for a quick dip in the hot tub. My daughter, on the other hand, required a promise that we would go swimming tomorrow before she'd relax and get ready for bed.

Not surprisingly, both kids requested a snack before bed and both ate leftovers without much fuss. After that we all hit our crash point so I snuggled the kids to bed and am finishing this up before calling it a night.

The Family Vacation - Day 5: Kid Day

2009-11-26T21:45:00.001-06:00

Today started with the normal morning routine. Breakfast, heard the family into clothes and eventually out the door. It turned out to be a beautiful day; about 70 with mostly sunny skies. Yet, we started the day at Wal-Mart after discovering that my daughter had managed to not have any jeans with her. We're not sure how that happened and she insists that she packed them. It is quite possible that her brother, ever helpful, removed and relocated them for us or even that they were missed when we made final checks and closed suitcases. She ended up with jeans, another long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt to round out her wardrobe and she should have room to grow into the items.

After the brief shopping interlude we went looking for a playground. Sound familiar? This time we went to track down one we had seen on the way into town that, if memory served, had 2 play areas. It took a little while, but eventually we found the park -- almost to the point of being back out onto full-speed highways and away from cities. We were not the only family to take advantage of the weather. Although most of the locals seem to think winter has set in and that you need coats to go outside, some families still brave the cold and come out to play. There were 3 other families with young children approximately the age of ours who were at the playgrounds while we were there.

My daughter quickly had a following of 3 different girls, one a pair of twins who alternately provided a shadow for my daughter and one of their friends. There were a couple of kids my son's age and they played near each other from time to time (as is appropriate for that age group) but mostly my son decided to challenge himself by climbing through new types of equipment in sandals still covered with sand. Either my wife or I was near him the majority of the time, just in case. It was a bit sad, and almost funny, that the slides seemed to be the most effective speed bumps to the playground. The heavily retarded descent on the spiral slide neared comical proportions, especially when my son gave me the cherubic "what's wrong with this thing daddy" silent look.

On the way back to the room we debated on whether to hit the big fun activity for the day immediately after lunch or to try to get the kids a nap first. My son made the decision for us by falling asleep along the way. He did eat lunch and then we had to coerce him back to sleep. We nearly didn't but my daughter decided she was going to want a nap after lunch so that forced our hands a little. We did decide to keep the nap a little shorter than the 3.5 hr episodes we were seeing and the kids, thankfully, seemed to be on the same wavelength.

We packed up and headed across the street (sometimes being in the center of a tourist area works out for the best) and down half a block to a racetrack and amusement park that had about 10 rides the kids could enjoy. We checked regulations and then had to do some quick figuring. My daughter was at a border between being too big for the kiddie rides. There was one she couldn't go on as her feet would drag. Most of the others both kids could ride at the same time (limiting coordination efforts between parents) and there was one that my son couldn't ride which helped even out the ticket count.

It was definitely a down time, we had the kid part pretty much to ourselves. The attendants were pleasant and a couple of them even took the time to learn the kids names and make sure they were ok with the rides. My daughter, in particular, experienced her first go card ride with the attendant, who had pretty much followed us between rides as there was nothing else going on, patiently guiding her and teaching her what she could do. To her credit, there was only one turn she didn't stay in long enough until after the 6th lap and then she was golden. The real treat came when we found out she was just barely big enough that she could ride along with my wife -- being the one to be a big kid tonight -- on a more adult-level go cart ride. My son was quite upset that he couldn't go, but I distracted him by explaining where the girls were and by having him cheer as they went by.

As a reward, he was allowed extra rides on the kids choo-choo train. A young attendant had overheard his name and, as he was the only kid on the ride, after guiding my son by name to the ride, provided an unforgettable moment as my son was allowed to "push that button to start the ride when I tell you." His eyes were like saucers and he squealed with delight as the attendant coordinated starting the ride with the cosmetic button push. The attendant also enjoyed the experience and I hope he understands just how happy he made my son. (Thanks, dude. God bless you a little extra for that one.)

After running out of ride tickets we came back to the resort just in time for a magic show. It wasn't a Vegas style show, but the magician did a good job working with the kids and elderly in the audience. My daughter was a little scared by the guillotine routine and she was fascinated by most of the rest. My son didn't really care and he just wanted to go to the room. I hope he didn't make too much noise and distract everyone around him. At least I now have a reference for the "shall I get you a straight-jacket" threat!

Dinner was simple as tomorrow we attempt to burn down the resort and after a short kid show or two (hard to remember when you're dealing with screaming kids and cleaning up after dinner) we settled down to bed.

The Family Vacation - Day 4: Marching On

2009-11-25T06:28:00.001-06:00

What would possess me to wake up at 6am while on vacation? I don't know, but it does have a couple of benefits. First, I can actually connect into the resort's WiFi connection from the room at that hour when it won't finish handshaking after about 8am. Second, I can make coffee and enjoy some quiet time while the family is snoozing. And those two items leave me ready to type and catch up with the days events without having to filter out 2 days worth of stuff when trying to post.

So, today we decided to start off by heading the down "the strip" and see what was to be found past Wal-Mart while looking for a place for the kids to play. After breakfast, some in-room play time and finally corralling the kids into clothes appropriate to the weather -- partly-cloudy, breezy, warming up to a high expected near 70 but still chilly in the morning (as if 55 was chilly) -- we packed into the car and started driving.

The kids nearly fell into car-induced naps which prompted us to come back towards the resort and take them to a state park. They played on some basic playground equipment and then we took them on a nature trail. At first there was a high level of resistance from both kids. My daughter just wanted to go to the beach (a theme repeated frequently since our first encounter with the waves) and my son seemed to chant "I want a 'Carry You'" with his arms stretched up. Both of them were encouraged to continue to walk and to learn about the native sand dune plants -- many of which are actually endangered thanks to human development of the areas.

Somewhere into the first about third of the walk the kids settled into examining the reserve. My wife encouraged my daughter to keep working on reading the little signs explaining the trees and shrubs while I played catch-up; walking at my son's pace. He's actually fun to watch explore the world around him. He's very thorough and experimental while at the same time still a bit timid. The combination makes for some cute moments as he is at first surprised during his experiments and then rewarded with something new and interesting.

Eventually the kids wore down to the point where progress was frequently measured in feet-between-'Carry You'-requests. So we guided them through the remainder of the trail, a quick 2nd effort in the playground and then back to the room. It wasn't until packing into the car that I looked at a watch and realized we had taken an hour(ish) long walk!

The kids were appropriately grumpy but a good lunch improved their spirits enough that the fight around taking a nap was minimal. And it was quite a nap! I believe the first kid roused after approximately 3 hours while the second followed not long thereafter. We had planned an early dinner at a nice seafood restaurant so there wasn't much time to prepare or get distracted.

We were a little worried at first as the restaurant, while listed as casual, was occupied by an older crowd that was attired in business casual or better clothing. By the time we left there was one other family in casual clothing in the restaurant but we were on alert the whole time so that we would not be causing a scene.

Dinner was excellent and the kids were well-behaved. I acted like an armchair for my son as his booster couldn't find good footing in the bench of the booth and he wasn't wanting to sit particularly still either. My concerns that he would pull his normal "I'm done, go play" routine were unfounded as the most he did was snuggle on my arm and in my lap.

Returning to the room, it was a little early for bed times but too late to want to make a return trip to the pool. So we snuggled on beds and watched a movie. There was some protest about not watching another show which was understandable given the lack of activity between naps and bedtime, but we managed to read a book and snuggle enough to get over the fussing and realize it was bedtime.

And, get this, the kids slept together in one bed! Woo hoo! Perhaps the best thing to come from that was that neither parent was treated to an all-night massage and could actually sleep.

The Family Vacation - Day 3: Initial Recreation

2009-11-24T06:43:00.001-06:00

You know your day is going to go well when you start by hitting that local vacation hot spot, Wal-Mart. Breakfast was no less exciting: McDonald's in Wal-Mart. But it gets better! After ordering and sliding in to one of the 4 mini-booths with our tray of food, we distributed food and then watch my coffee go flying straight at my my toddler, strapped into his highchair! Ugh... I'll let the guilty part off the hook this time but it's straight to parent court for proper consideration next time.

Sufficient food has been procured to cover the majority of the meals for the week, including Thanksgiving dinner. Yep, we are going to attempt to rotisserie a turkey breast in our mini-oven (all the way from home) and fix the trimmings in about a 4x4 kitchen. Should be a good family experience.

Another reason for the shopping goes back to our desire to lessen our impact on the environment. It can be shocking just how much waste is generated supporting tourists. Meals in fast-food restaurants generate a lot of extra waste that does not go into recycling programs.

I think my daughter may be getting a better idea on how lucky she is at home. We've discussed how our resort rooms are as big as many of the homes people live in daily and how this demonstrates we can live with less of the creature comforts typically surrounding us.

So after we picked up the necessities, we came back, over-stocked the diminutive cabinets and refrigerator and proceeded to the beach. It was time to just be out in nature and both kids had a blast. My son, not exactly stable on his feet right now, decided to charge a wave and tripped over a tidal pool; face-planing in some cold water before I could catch him.

My daughter, giving up on the initial plan to build a giant sand castle, decided charging the waves would be more fun. Thankfully she has a healthy dose of self-preservation and stopped when the first cold wave gently tickled her toes. From there the two of us made trips for wet sand and water to the ocean's edge mostly safely. My son took a rake of the sand toy size and combed the beach, randomly, squealing with delight.

Eventually my daughter just had to go challenge a wave directly and head-on. Of course, the wave won, but she was delighted to have tried. I was there with her so she didn't get pulled away and I hope that telling her about how to stand against the wave helped a little. Apparently, between attempts at standing in the waves she was telling my wife about what I was telling her, so maybe it will sink in for more than this one day. Thankfully my son decided waves were not his thing and didn't venture out so that only one of the parents (me) had to be worried about tracking a kid in the waves.

It was a bit chilly -- although to a northerner, not as cold as the locals would describe it -- and even with running around the kids turned purple. So we headed back to the resort, dried off, washed off, ate a later lunch and grabbed a well-deserved nap. My wife doesn't nap and I only took a short nap, but the kids really needed it.

When the kids woke it was nearly dinner time, especially with the kids still wanting to swim in the pool yet today. So we acted like bums and let the kids watch some TV while dinner was prepared. After cleaning up dinner, we changed into swimsuits and went to the inside pool at the resort. It was fun to be in the pool with the kids again.

My son has decided that he can direct the play, dictating which of the little games he learned from the YMCA he wanted us to do, and thoroughly enjoyed himself. The level of enjoyment expressed in his nearly crazed eyes was refreshing. He's going to like swimming this winter. It was no surprise that my daughter was happily splashing around.. She's lost a little of the form of her strokes but her strength has improved. She was teetering on the edge of moving up a level in her lessons but this extra strength should push her over the edge. We will likely still keep her in the same class one more time for reinforcement and refinement of her strokes again, but I don't believe that she'll have any problem in the teachers eyes when it comes to moving up after that.

After about an hour of swimming it was time to return to the room and call it a night.

The Family Vacation - Day 2: Travel [2 of 4]

2009-11-24T06:15:00.003-06:00

Story of the day: drugs + sleep debt + distracted co-pilot = unexpected side trip.

It would be fun to turn this into Gilligan's Island, but nothing even remotely scary or life impacting happened. I was mostly in the driving zone, so I kept the helm for the entire trip. The head cold has not improved substantially, but neither has is worsened.

The kids both remained patient and were not fussing over video choices. Both were a little sleepy but we tried to take stops at intervals which were conducive to potty breaks and not sitting too long. Some of the entertaining kid-led sing-along sessions were amusing! :) It is fun to see the kids interacting and playing together even in the confines of a 2 day car trip.

Unfortunately, our side-trip began shortly after starting out for the day. Two state highways out of town join together and then somehow magically split apart. Our maps didn't show enough detail and the directions from online resources seemed to give enough detail that we may have been overly confident of the visibility of our pending split.

We did question our sanity a couple of times as all we saw along the highway were parked pickups and the occasional speeders. The volume of traffic seemed low, but it was fairly early on a Sunday morning, so the situation was plausible. What finally stuck and had us check was crossing an interstate junction that we did not expect to cross after our first pit stop for the day. Grab the atlas and cue-up the forehead slaps. We had not managed the split of the highways correctly.

After a little re-route planning and a big u-turn, we were back on the way. One nice thing about this trip is that, although long, there are big stretches of driving where you're just on one highway or interstate with no need to do anything but drive. There are very few junctions to catch or towns to navigate. The latter point is also a little sad in that you don't have much of an opportunity to spot what life might be like or catch an unexpected local event of interest. Maybe when the kids are older we'll go get lost somewhere and spend time learning about people instead of just passing through.

With two days of driving behind us I'm looking forward to some down time. Hopefully I can shake this head cold, recharge the batteries, and enjoy the overdue down-time with family.

The Family Vacation - Day 1: Travel (1 of 4)

2009-11-21T21:43:00.003-06:00

After a more normal, lazy weekend morning group snuggle in our bed, my wife and I began to migrate to the rest of the challenge for the day: starting the car rides. In case you were not aware, this turns out to be about a 2 hour process even having staged the car the night before.

There actually were not too many hiccups in the routine, although protests were expected and encountered. Here's how it went:

Showers and clothing: first my wife, then me with both kids in the shower and my wife tackling drying/initial clothing as cleanliness was achieved. Record protest set number 1. Gee, batting 1000 already.
Turn on TV show for the kids to keep them occupied.
Pack toiletries and double-check diaper count in diaper bag.
Separate squabbling kids who should just be watching TV.
Kids end up getting yogurt for a morning snack after protest #2.
I've forgotten what it was, but not long after finishing the yogurt came protest #3.
That lead to getting kids into the car.
Take kids to McDonald's for breakfast.
Go through 3 sets of utensils for 2 kids.
Finally get on the road.

Really, this was pretty smooth. My wife's family, and mine, both have histories of exceedingly drawn-out efforts to get underway on the day of the trip. I'll actually write that up as a successful transition.

Traveling was not quite as successful. Even with the videos there come problems. My son decided he didn't like the first choice and spent nearly an hour whining: "Need it off. Momeeeeeeeeee, need off!" He's learned a very effective tone of voice to use for this task. Thanks, as appropriate, to daycare for that one -- sometimes tough love *is* the proper response.

We stopped at a fun place for lunch. It was one that brought back a couple of college memories for my wife and I. Unfortunately, although well-behaved (which was itself a nice surprise), the kids did not each a balanced lunch and my son barely ate. This meant that diets were not observed and we would have cranky children (and very full parents). Oh well.

The second movie choice was good for both kids. With my wife driving I took some extra drugs and a small nap to see if I could improve the status of my head. The drugs were optional, the nap was not. I just can't ride in cars.

We stopped for an extended break (time for the kids to play) and then it was back behind the wheel for me. We were not far from dinner at that point so I decided to try to tough it out without a movie. The kids actually started inventing a way to play together. That lasted for about 20 minutes after which I decided a short show was in order to keep them from destroying the car. Their game had encouraged my son (Lord knows how) to start dismantling his car seat. Bring on the show!

Dinner was uneventful and both kids ate reasonably well. No more serious arguments, 2 heads kinda lolling to the side from time to time. We made it to the hotel and are trying to get to sleep. Not too bad, to be fair, but this is day 1 of 2 on this half of the travel.

The Family Vacation - Day 0: The Preparation

2009-11-21T21:06:00.005-06:00

For the record, these trip memos were posted once the vacation was completed. I have no intention to repeat the mistake made by a family who was so accurate with their Tweets that they gave a clear time-line to thieves who robbed them blind and knew exactly how much time was available.

It has been several years since my wife and I even considered an extended vacation. We took our kids to see family in Florida several years ago now. At that point we flew, hauling a kid car seat and an infant bucket through the airport and down the airplane isle.

This year we are making a stab at a family vacation again, taking a trip that will require about 12 hours of driving time. Of course, with young children we will be well above that.

My daughter is highly anticipating this trip. She's found very good questions to ask that demonstrate her attempt to prepare for what is coming. She energetically packed her own suitcase, bouncing between her room and ours, following the precise prompts for category and quantity of clothing items my wife was providing.

I tried not to cough on everyone.

In what seems like my own personal tradition since about High School, I'm once again going on vacation while fighting off a cold. This one isn't particularly bad until the pressure in my head kicks in full force. As I near that point I become irritable, impatient, and a bit wobbly. This should make things much more entertaining, right?

With the usual level of miss-communication and an unexpected call from a friend and prior co-worker that ended up irritating my wife more than necessary, we did manage to have ourselves packed up before the kids bedtime.

After putting the kids to bed, it was time to play the traditional game of suitcase Tetris. Normally this is only a minor challenge, but this time I actually failed. There was just not a way -- confirmed by my wife -- to get everything in without risking stockpiling projectiles to ensure harm int he case of an accident.

Ok, so let's review and look for what is necessary:
Really big suitcase for my wife: check.
Medium-sized (possibly no longer legal for carry-on) suitcase for my daughter: check.
Average-sized (carry-on legal) suitcase for my son: check.
Slightly cramped, average-sized suitcase for me: check.
Beach toys: check.
Powered Travel Cooler: check.
Counter-top oven: check.
Cooking utensils: check and check.
Diaper bag: check. (in cabin)
Snack bag: check. (in cabin)
Movies for the kids: check (in cabin)
Toiletries: need space once finally packed.
Out-Of-Trunk-Space: check (by about 2 or 3 items worth).

So, what would you leave home?

For us, the powered travel cooler was the casualty for safety's sake. How are we going to make a Thanksgiving dinner without an oven? Shish... what were you thinking? ;)

It's now way too late at night, somewhere around 11pm, and I'm definitely hurting. This should make the trip even more exciting. Oh well, maybe I'll go for complete exhaustion, sleep-debt, and high levels of caffiene to, you know, recapture my college lifestyle (because that was such a good way to do things the first time around).

Fallen-Angel Cake [Difficulty: Master]

2009-06-10T20:37:00.002-05:00

1 box of easy-bake Angel Food Cake (the just-add-water kind)
1 1/4 C Cold water
1 box of Macaroni and Cheese
1 Package of Hot Dogs
1 Bundle of Grapes

Feeds: 2 Kids, 1 Adult (+1 later)

0) Send wife to training class and gather ingredients

1) Prepare Macaroni and Cheese (See box for recipe)
2) Pull down plates
3) Microwave 1.5 hot dogs
4) Plate Macaroni
5) Cut hot dogs to bite-sized pieces and plate
6) pluck grapes from bunch and plate.
7) Hold discussion with kids on drink selection, healthy snack request denial and choice of "short show"
8) take cooled plates to table and begin calling kids.
9) Place dry ingredients from cake box and cold water into stand mixer and follow speed/timing from box.
10) search for proper pan -- find bunt pan and decide that will work.
11) Quickly turn on oven then
12) Turn off stand mixer
14) Detach toddler from leg and warn of hot oven.
15) Detach toddler from opposing leg, providing reminder of hot oven.
16) Place toddler on couch after removing from bear-hug of both legs.
[optional] Groan.
17) Repeat call for dinner, turn off TV.
18) Return to bunt pan with older kid following and spray with baker's Pam.
19) Pour batter into pan.
20) Explain to older kid about batter and that it is not made with "licking eggs."
21) Provide detailed instructions to kids on going to the dinner table.
22) Buckle toddler into chair.
23) Put cake in oven.
24) Pour milk, under protest as options were not given, then hold discussion about having performed step (7)
25) Return Thanks to God for the food.
26) Fix your own plate, quantities now optional.
27) Attempt to enjoy normal kid-interrupted dinner with kid-discussions and tantrums.
[Optional] admire getting to this point without having sent a kid to a corner for a time-out.
28) Constantly remind toddler there is no more M&C until grapes or hot dog are consumed.
29) Remind older kid that M&C was her choice and that she must eat it before being excused.
30) Attempt to wolf down dinner.
31) After sufficient food is consumed, excuse kids.
32) Clean off table.
33) Start Movie (original Disney Peter Pan as a suggestion)
[Optional] Empty clean dishwasher.
34) Load dishwasher with dirty dishes.
35) Remove cake from oven, per instructions: "Immediately turn over onto cooling rack."
36) Marvel at how easily the cake slid free.
37) Realize that this is *not* the way it should go...
38) Confirm suspicion that (18) should not have been performed.
39) Rename dish to Fallen-Angel Cake.
40) Remove cool-whip from freezer.
41) Get out dessert plates.
42) Slice strawberries.
43) Slice more strawberries.
44) Wait for movie to near completion.
45) Cut servings of massively-deflated cake, plate with strawberries and cool-whip.
46) Wait for movie to finish.
47) Call kids for dessert.
48) Avoid Stampede
49) Turn off-TV before kids realize and get upset.
50) Enjoy!
[Optional] Blog about ordeal so others can laugh with you.

Working Around DataTable.Merge() Not Changing DataRowState

2009-04-01T09:16:00.003-06:00

Before I forget, while the documentation on the DataTable.Merge() methods would seem to indicate that the method is smart about using FK relationships and RowState. The reality is that Microsoft has acknowledged in the Connect forum that the Merge is much more like a batch load in that constraints are dropped, data is correlated, and constraints are re-enabled (possibly throwing exceptions) but *without* changing row states. There is a workaround suggested using LinQ which I can't work with right now as I'm restricted to the 2.0 framework.

I was hoping to use the merge functionality to perform some small ETL tasks. Instead, after researching for awhile, I came up with the following, relatively simple workaround. I'm using Strong-Typed DataSets which affects the nature of the implementation, but the approach should still work for the more generic form.
If it's not obvious, this sample is in C#.

public static void Upsert
(DataTable sourceTable, TableType targetTable)
where TableType : DataTable, new()
where RowType : DataRow
{
TableType inputTable = sourceTable as TableType;

//if we can't cast to the appropriate type we can run into
//data problems down below in LoadDataRow.
if (inputTable == null)
{
inputTable = new TableType();
inputTable.Merge(sourceTable, false, MissingSchemaAction.Add);
}

//pull in schema from candidate table
targetTable.Merge(sourceTable.Clone(), true, MissingSchemaAction.Add);

//apply resuling schema to candidate table
sourceTable.Merge(targetTable.Clone(), true, MissingSchemaAction.Add);

//now use LoadDataRow to "merge" the tables, together
foreach (RowType row in inputTable.Rows)
{
try
{
targetTable.LoadDataRow(row.ItemArray, LoadOption.Upsert);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//TODO: Tighten this exception down to what is actually thrown (not in MSDN Documentation?)
//exception will be thrown on FK validation failure
//this is ok and actually expected in the design of the load.
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Verify Expected Error: " + ex.Message);
}
}//next row
}

As you can see, this could use a little more work, but I've managed an Upsert (Insert or Update combined method) implementation. This method was placed in the DataSet's partial class and each DataTable partial class contains a typed version (non-generic) of the Upsert method that delegates to the above generic form for it's implementation.

public partial class MyDataTable
{
public void Upsert(DataTable table)
{
MyParentDS.Upsert(table, this);
}
}

The table Upsert does accept the base DataTable reference to allow the merge to come from a query result that was not filled into a MyParentDS instance. The generic method on the parent either casts or merges into the strong-typed form.

The gotcha in all this is that the item array from the row must match or you can end up with some seemingly unexpected type-mismatch errors from LoadDataRow. The safest way, I felt, was to make sure I "cast" to the MyParentDS before going into the upsert section itself.

Recorded here so I don't have to reinvent the wheel again.

Laminate Flooring Recap - Pictures!

2009-02-20T20:53:00.018-06:00

In this first picture you can see the initial cut-away of the water damaged area near the old patio door. The night before the door was replaced, I pulled the laminate back to the left further to expose and clear out the remaining area.
This shot of the kitchen area shows the new french doors that replaced the old slider.
Now the work begins. With the furniture removed, this is what the old rooms were like:
Of course, the furniture had to go somewhere. Think of it as an expensive game of Tetris!

With the carpet removed and a large section of linoleum taken up. You can just make out the repaired section of the floor near the door where the wood is a different color. That repair goes under the door, by the way.
The start of the next day we indulged the kids and let them "ride" a bike inside. The plywood layer they are riding on brings the floors level so there's no funky transitions going on. This picture is more like the "end of day 1" progress picture.
End of Day 2:
End of Day 3:
End of Day 4: (Opposing views)

End of Day 5: (again opposing views)

End of Day 6: (End of the Big Stuff)

Laminate Flooring Recap - Day 6

2009-02-20T20:35:00.003-06:00

This coming weekend doesn't provide much time for working on the floor so I took the opportunity of a small lull at work to flex some time and headed home early to work flooring before the kids came home.

2:45 - start of last row by cabinets, initial pieces needed to be cut down.
3:30 - 4 rows later, start cuts on vents.
4:15 - now the trickier side, the 2nd row at the vents (the way it happened, I had to cut out the majority of the vent from the 2nd row, leaving only 1/4 inch of the board. Decided to lay the row immediately behind at the same time for stability -- to keep from shattering/splitting the 1/4 inch sections.
5:10 - Time to start the last row on the main part of the floor. Each one will be measured and cut as the wall is a little wonky.
6:20 - 6:45 - Eat the dinner my wife kindly brought home.
8:00 - The main area is now done. Yay!

Summary:
4' x 21' aprox (one longer row in front of the cabinets) covered.
3+ (probably 3.5) boxes used.

To Do:
Pantry and hallway. All floorboards (which it seems we're inclined to get a larger, slightly fancier cut to add a further formal touch, stained of course.)

For now, I'm going to relax. After that, I'll see about putting together the photos of each day into a post.

To do:

Laminate Flooring Recap - Day 5

2009-02-18T20:33:00.002-06:00

tonight (back to real-time), after a full day away from working the floor, I decided to work in a little bit of flooring between cooking dinner for the kids, starting recorded kid shows, refereeing and time between dinner and bed.

6:30 - 8:30 pm - interspersed putting down rows of laminate with parental duties.

2 more boxes down. Covered about 4x40. We should have around 2 boxes left over. Not too bad considering we purchased based on maximum floor dimensions without accounting for space taken up by cabinets.

The next row starts with ripping down boards to go up against the last set of cabinet faces. Only about 4' left of width to cover. Of course, that includes the work around the cabinets, the door, and the floor vents. Oh, and figuring out the pantry closet and most likely the hallway. I'm reasonably certain at this point we'll end up doing the hallway. Not a large task, just need a piece of transition strip so we can change directions. Then there's figuring out how to end at the stairs and the other transitions/thresholds to do.

I'm going to pretend that all the floorboards are going to stain and install themselves.

Laminate Flooring Recap - Day 4

2009-02-17T21:10:00.003-06:00

I should have been at work. I was planning on going to work. The head cold/virus/whatever had other plans for me. It really would not have been pleasant for coworkers to have to deal with me -- the drugs weren't working well enough and my headache and general exhaustion was debilitating. Instead, with the kids home for President's day and my wife having to sacrifice her day to be home with them, I fought through the pressure to try to complete more floor, taking a much easier pace and trying to return the home back to normal sooner.

8:30 - after eating a granola bar, started placing more wood. Today will include cuts around the island (which should be highly entertaining given my mental state and mood) thankfully followed by long runs of open space.
10:00 - start working island.
10:36 - the first row at the island is in. Examined remaining space and decided it best to move the stove.
11:03 - vacuumed out the work area, threw the circuit breaker and pulled out the stove. OMG are the sides of the stove and the floor under it disgusting. There's barely an eight of an inch (1/8") gap to the counter on either side, but liquids and small crumbs have found their way into a protected area.
11:21 - stove is out, linoleum under it is removed.
Noon -Lunch.
12:20 - back at it, groaning a little.
12:50 - 1:10 - Hobby Horse repairs: 4 new springs placed, attempted to run a stringer between support bars for the feet, but the rod is a little too wide.
2:30 - the width of the island has been covered. Several PITA pieces to cut, but they're done. Wife starts helping as Little Trooper is napping and our lady in waiting is entertaining herself with TV and playtime in the basement.
3:50 - Little Trooper wakes up, back doing the boards alone (I miss the company)
4:50 - enough of the floor done to put the stove back in place.
5:05 - anti-tip hold down hardware relocated and installed. Determine the original placement never worked. Power restored to the stove and it still works. Done for the day.

5 more boxes completed. Only about 6' of width remain (that's slightly under 1/3 of the floor). Should be interesting to work the vents and around the cabinets.

Addendum:
9:30-10:00 pm - discuss what we're going to do about pantry closet and hallway at the garage door. We're leaning to working those. Fun, especially since the boards in front of the pantry have been in place for days now - we'll be working those in kinda backward. Most likely will need to purchase a direction-change transition runner to go from the kitchen to the hallway.

Laminate Flooring Recap - Day 3

2009-02-17T21:05:00.002-06:00

Roll the clock back a couple of days, here's what happened on project day 3:
8:30 - move refrigerator, pull linoleum with my daughter's help ;). Take out remaining floorboard. Resume laying down laminate.
Noon - break for lunch which we could assemble in the little remaining kitchen space.
12:30 - back to the boards.
2:15 - enough of the floor done to put the fridge back and rip some more linoleum.
2:30 - done for the day. Time to clean up to celebrate my birthday with extended family.

4 more boxes placed, about 1/2 the width of the floors completed.

The time with family was a welcome break, getting all of us out of the house for an extended period of time and away from the noise of construction. Unfortunately, dinner wasn't much quieter and my head was not clearing up.

Laminate Flooring Recap - Day 2

2009-02-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

You'd think that my body might decide to cooperate, given the large amount of work ahead. Instead, I woke nice and early. This is the Day2 recap (posted the next morning as I had no finger energy left to type last night):

5:30 - Wake up, take drugs for stuffy head. Lay in bed and try to get some rest.
6:30 - Start of the morning routine, Little Trooper woke up and was not to be deterred from breakfast.
8:00 - After the family is completely up and breakfasts are completed, send everyone else but me to the basement. There's plywood yet to place.
9:15 - First row is down. 2nd row is going to either end at the closet or need to be cut to go in. Decide with my wife that we need to do the coat closet. Fun, more ripping and staples. (Just cant' get enough of those staples.)
9:40 - 2 Birthday calls and lots of Tetris with plywood, the closet is now ready.
10:46 - Plywood underlayment is now complete. House and garage are vacuumed to remove as much sawdust as possible. Bring up compound miter saw and prep work areas to start laying laminate in earnest. Rest of the family heads to swimming classes.
11:30 - Oh yeah, need to do more undercutting of the door frames. It's not fun to run a hacksaw as close as possible to the floor and my hands have a lot less skin on the knuckles.
12:30 - Family is back from swimming with lunch. Break for lunch and settling the kids down for a nap.
1:30 - Back at it. Cringe at how slow things seem to be going. Spacers are pivoting under the drywall (most of which stops about 1/2 inch short of the floor) and the previously laid rows are bowing against the large open doorways between rooms. Curse at myself for agreeing to start on what isn't a very solid continuous wall. The results had best be better than starting against the outside wall of the house. My wife is able to assist while Little Trooper is napping and the princess is watching Dora/Max & Ruby episodes in the basement.
5:00 - Stop, discuss dinner, break for dinner.
6:50 - Return from dinner, banish everyone to the basement again while I continue work on the floor. (Did I mention my wife is doing an extraordinarily good job dealing with all the noise and constant kid needs while I'm banging around and she's still fighting off a bad headache? Kudos.)
7:30 - Did you know it can take nearly 1/2 hour to size/cut/re-size/re-cut just one board? Yeah, an ugly cut that has a 1 inch strip that runs 23 inches until it spreads back out to full width. And that has to go into a space where I'm pushing the board in next to a wall. Ugh.
8:20 - Need a break. Little Trooper went down for bed on the early side. That was good as he will sleep through the noise. Go down to watch part of a show with my daughter and take a rest.
9:00 - Oops, long rest. She's going up with my wife to get ready for bed, I'm going to try to work some more.
9:30 - Done for the night. We're at a break in the room where the next row must extend into the kitchen and under where the refrigerator is now. That will wait until after breakfast tomorrow. Clean up work areas, put tools out-of-reach of kids.
10:30 - My wife poured me a bath in our indulgence tub. Bless her soul, she's still making sure I have some time to relax on my birthday.

Summary:
4 boxes of laminate used, about 6' x 18' of floor covered. Gee, that only leaves 12' x 36' now that we're to the long runs!
About 300 brad nails to hold plywood in place (not even worrying about the centers of most boards).

Laminate Flooring Recap - Day 1

2009-02-13T20:22:00.002-06:00

A brief history:
We have about the cheapest carpet made down on the floors in the house that date to when we had the house build 8 1/2 years ago. As we made the carpet selection -- mostly what color of cheap carpet -- one thing we did do right was to listen to suggestions and upgrade the padding. That decision turned out to pay for itself many times over.

Now, with 2 kids and 8.5 years of general use, there are well-worn tracks in the carpet where even the upgraded padding can no longer compensate having been broken down under the relentless traffic. There are stains that give rise to fun memories yet which "decorate" the high-use areas. And now that the kids are proficient walkers we don't feel the need to keep the same level of "crash zone" padding around.

In short, it's time to bring in the wood! You can read my wife's post on the agony of making the decision on what to do and where to stop. Keeping this down to a reasonable size... (yeah, right)

Monday: New patio door (in this case, French doors) installed, with a defective astroglade (sp>) unit -- it's the thing that holds the door closed by pushing rods into holes in the door jam.

Tue-Thur: catch up at work for time lost to door install.

Thur pm: bug very good friend to help pick up plywood underlayment to level floors. After he comes over, while not feeling tops, we make the clarification that the underlayment is 4x8 sheets of plywood that won't fit in his SUV. (BTW, I'm extremely grateful for his willingness to help and I will make it up to him)

Now for today's recap:
6:30 - out of bed, help with morning routine
7:45 -take kids to daycare
8:15 - back home, time to start working!
9:10 - complete Tetris game to move the furniture out of the 2 rooms getting the new laminate flooring.
10:00 - Completed removing baseboards (minus the one behind the refridgerator that will come out when I get to working that part of the floor)
10:25 - cut-out and removed the largest square of carpet which is then in a lump in the middle of the garage.
10:36 - grumble and groan after vaccuming up a cigarette butt that was closed up behind the baseboards.
Noon - OOOOOWWWW! Most of the carpet padding is now removed, way too many staples removed (needle nose pliers and I are now really good friends).
12:35 - after 3 phone calls, clean-up of pulled staples and padding, along with removal of a few stragglers, is completed. Time to go shopping for the plywood and maybe some lunch.
1:00 - decided to pull up an additional section of old linoleum to see just how bad that effort would be and to expose the transition area. Finally going for lunch and flooring.
1:20 - 3 - The trip to the store didn't work out as smoothly as planned. I picked out the plywood, went to rent a truck to bring the full sheets home, found out my insurance card needed to be updated to the most current one which I had already paid for. Purchased the wood and placed it on hold for pick up later. Returned home, dug through the pile of mail to find the cards. Returned to the store, rented and loaded the truck. Returned home again, unloaded wood. Searched owner's manual for type of gas the truck uses (required to bring it back at same level on tank with accompanying gas receipt). Giggle at the fact it took as long to figure that out as to load, move and unload the wood. Buy 2 gallons of gas. Return the truck. Wait for it to be checked back in. Guess what... I went a whopping 9 miles. While waiting for check-in, laughed with sales clerk because the hadn't written down my departure time and were surprised I was back to soon.
3ish -4:15 - Valentines part for both kids at daycare.
4:30ish - show kids around the floor, cover dangerous areas, coverse about plans for the night, and return to working by starting to lay plywood.
6:20 - dinner break - Pizza in the basement.
6:50 - back to work with lots of cuts (corners, vents, etc) on the docket.
7:30 - kids meltdown, stop work for the night, put kids to bed.
9:00 - for whatever reason, type this up.

On the plate for tomorrow:
All the complicated cuts of plywood.
Plan out if we're going to do closets, a hallway, etc. and finish preping those areas (or leave them as-is)
Finally get to laying laminate and pray it gets done.

(Un) Common Courtesy

2009-01-25T22:07:00.002-06:00

This evening was, majorly, a delight. Although a little tired from a shortened nap for my son and no nap for my already tired daughter, the two of them, the two of us, my parents and sister's family all went to see "Elmo's Green Thumb" tonight. The show was OK, I watched enough to wonder at the level of anamatronics and their implementation in the performers' costumes, but the real treat for me was watching my kids. Both of them enjoy Sesame Street at levels appropriate to their ages and the two of them together seem to have some other shared consciousness which causes them to laugh, sing, bounce, etc with synchronized precision and honest joy. This interaction didn't diminish with my interposition or with repositioning to various laps and seats. Probably the most enjoyable time was the spontaneous bouts of dancing both engaged in with fascinated looks pastered on their faces. With the other stresses in the family, this was a welcome respite that did my soul much good.

Prior to this evening's festivity, we all attended church together. The priest offered a homily reflecting on the transformation of Saul's convictions about Jesus's resurrection. (Bear with me, this is related even if religious.) To overly-simplify the point, Saul was overly-zealous and overly-guilty. He persecuted early Christians with fervor because of their blasphemous (in his eyes) belief in the resurrection. His guilt was well-intentioned but proven to be misplaced and it took Saul many, many years to reconcile for himself -- in the face of the factual resurrection -- his beliefs; a period of introspection that ultimately resulted in the complete conversion of Saul's life into the reborn Peter. The priest then challenged us to be neither over-zealous nor over-guilty. We're not perfect and we must observe the world around us with tolerance so that we may gain wisdom.

Got that? Wondering where this is going?

So, after the show, we planned to go for a meal with the gathered family at a location not far away. We had parked on the 3rd level of a parking garage above the rest of the family that had parked on the 1st level having arrived much earlier. The other car was quickly out and re-parked at the restaurant while we packed up and proceeded to get into a line of cars backed up the exit ramp. A quick glance at the cars around us would confirm that this family show was attended by families. By far, SUV's and Minivans populated the parking slots -- both demarked by paint and defined by the momentary gridlock. Families of all sorts braved the wind and cold to take tired children to their cars, weaving through the same mass of viechles that saught direction.

With the kindness of a minivan driver a couple of spaces down, we both joined the stream flowing toward the exit ramp. We proceeded to the end of the row, just around the corner, then join the gridlock. I would estimate that there were about 20 slots on either side of the lane where the majority of the cars were still parked. Pedestrian traffic moved faster, but terminated in the viechles in-view and going nowhere. While engines started and drivers attempted to communicate, the most prevalent light in the row was the glare brake lights .

I can't speak for all viechles, but in my car the kids were antsy and I wouldn't think it too much of a stretch to imagine the behavior was shared in most of the cars surrounding us. One, which was to my side, had two women, dragging 3 children into the viechle; one under audible, even if unintelligable protest.

This is where things seemd to go all wrong. We had all just come from a show that embodied the good qualities for our children to learn. In sharp contrast, it's nearly amusing to see 6 minivans try to all back into the same space at the same time, none willing to yeild, while two additional cars try to navigate out of the way. While that went on, I reminded my daughter that there was no where for my car to go and that -- here's the initial tie in -- we were not the only ones with opinions on how this should go. It was not right for us to believe we knew best and had the only opinion that mattered.

I will admit, I wanted to get out and direct traffic, but eventualy the congestion started to clear. Nearly exactly at that moment, the car with the two women and 3 children, reversed quite rapidly, nearly into the side of my car. Apparently their impatience was boiling over. Their horn started honking and I could nearly taste the resentment they were projecting from not moving. To be honest, I was likely eminating much the same set of emotions, but I remained on my break while the automotive knot was unwinding. Apparently my view on the situation was not shared.

From the kindess of the mothers, a door was opened and yelling comprable to the gentleness of a seasoned drill seargent commensed. Right in the middle of a gridlocked garage and in a stellar role-model for their children and mine, the mother in the passenger seat instructed me that I should be driving like I intended to go somewhere yet that night -- along with other phrases I will decline to share. Now, I have no idea where I could have gone except to plant my viechle further into the congestion, but that was of no concern. The driver of the other viechle decided that the point was not taken seriously enough and laid on the horn continuously for 2 minutes.

After having been parked for roughly twenty minutes, the knot was undone to the point where I could move forward. As I cleared a critical amout of space, the driver quickly reversed her car out of its parking spot -- while still on the horn somehow, nearly hitting the back side of my car and I would imagine the nose of the car that has been patiently waiting behind me, pulled completely across the isle, and charged forward down the parking spaces next to me, culminating in cutting me off ("rode raging" me as my wife put it likely most accurately) while still hollaring out a window before nearly hitting a car parked in the makeshift lane. Incredible!

It's not worth it, I reminded my daughter as I let the other car in front of me. I could have gunned it -- my car would easily have raced into the back of the car in front of me -- but what good would that do? I would have been just as guilty in my miopic perspective and wrongly zealous by that action as the other driver already was. I would have risked the safety of my family and several others for what?

No, I'm not confessing to a peronal faith conversion from this eventm but I was quite frankly shocked and dissapointed in the behavior of many adults this evening with the safety of many families in their hands. All I can hope is to hold onto what I grew up learning as common courtesy, teach it to my children by example and pray that more people open their eyes to the world around them.

Aged or Jaded?

2008-12-02T21:53:00.002-06:00

I have a new teammate. He's recently out of college and reminds me of me at that point in my life. He's secure in what he knows, willing to challenge the established practices, respectful of the "elders" on the team, etc. I miss the times when I didn't worry about the other dynamics of software development, when the code itself was the focus of the effort and the reward for a job well done.

So what is it that changed things for me? Some of it I would classify as maturing, seeing that there is more than code to having a successful product. Good code is easier to maintain and it is still a joy to see. But not everyone has the same definition of good. Good code simply works; both in that it is simple and that it does just what it should. Good code may also be judged for lucidity, elegance, brevity or even against "coding standards" -- someone's idea of a quantifiable measure of good. I've started to add: Good code is maintainable code, well documented and testable. Unfortunately, that starts to become a balancing act with elegance and brevity as not everyone is able to write or understand code at the same level. In this case, the maturing aspect is the inclusion of others in the goal.

But, it's more than that. Much of it is that I'm growing tired of the fight. I'm weary from nearly arguing about quality and costs with management that does not want to hear anything other than what is it going to cost the customer on contract. There's no buy-in to producing good code. It seems that the bean-counter definition that drives decision making is: Good code is shipped code. That's it, nothing else would seem to matter. I've put together justifications about technology upgrades to bring codebases into today's world (much of those are over a decade old!) The cost of being unable to attract or retain good developers doesn't seem to matter. Yet we're expected to be judged on quality, meeting customer expectations and other "Good Code" (and important outcomes) metrics. Apparently we're expected to do this for free or on someone elses' dime.

It would be nice to get back to the simple definitions, to being the happy coder truly enraptured with my job. Where I could have simple pride in the completion of the job, not, "if you qualify it thusly, make this exception, take that into consideration... Yeah, I could be proud if it!" Yet, somehow, I still enjoy the work. It's still a thrill to see the software through the customer's eyes. I really love it when on first demo they pick at little things because it means we've truly impressed them and nailed the big stuff!

So, Is it that I'm Aged or Jaded?

My answer: Yes.

You Know You're a Parent When...

2008-12-02T21:52:00.000-06:00

Romantic time starts with, "Are they asleep?"
And ends with. " Yes, so am I. Goodnight."

Ask The Hard Questions

2008-11-30T21:38:00.003-06:00

It wasn't all that long ago that I asked, rhetorically of my son, "Who told you that you could grow so big?" A simple enough question I've heard uttered aloud on numerous occasions. I was not prepared to receive an answer, however. My daughter, in a perfectly casual, nearly off-handed way said, "God did, in his heart." Such an amazing answer I couldn't do anything but sit there in awe.

I don't make a habit of posting religious items. For that matter, for the last nearly 6 months I haven't really posted at all. ;) But matters of faith have been in the forefront lately for me and I've started wondering if I'm missing the not-so-subtle nudge to start speaking out more. Tonight provided further fodder.

My daughter's bedtime routine hasn't changed substantially. We put on PJs, brush teeth, read books, snuggle, and finally turn out the light. I tuck her in and then wholeheartedly offer: "Good night, sleep well, God Bless you, I'll see you in the morning." There are nights where we have some discusson on how many books we read, how much snuggle time is allowed, not being ready for bed, etc. Tonight there were no arguments; she was on top of the routine.

We brushed teeth, put on PJs, picked out books, and read books as normal with my daughter keeping track of what we had done and what was next. She had picked out 3 of the Golden Book books from the collection on her shelf: I Love You, Daddy, The Little Tugboat and The Story of Jesus -- arranged into that order. None of them were new or strangers to the bedtime routine.

After finishing the books my daughter chimes in with, "Let's turn out the light and talk about after Jesus died. OK, Daddy?"

Um... woah. Wasn't expecing that one. "Sure. What about when Jesus Died?"

I can't do the conversation justice, nor does my gramatical sense stay out of the way enough to be able to faithfully reproduce it here. What I did come away with was the thought that I need to call a good friend (and Priest) to come have a better conversation with her. We touched on subjects from how Jesus was conceived, born, why he died, where he is now and even a little on Heaven and afterlife. Nothing like asking the easy warm-up questions first.

If there's anything from what happened tonight that I would emphasize it is simply this: I hope that people never stop questioning items of faith, that we can approach the questions, no matter how hard, with an open mind and search for answers even if they remain beyond our reach.

My daugher has started on this path, and for that I am grateful. May I never stand in her way.

Mellow Rib Rub

2008-04-08T21:26:00.002-05:00

(originally posted to the wrong blog... my apologies)

Wanted to do something with some pork spareribs that wasn't a heavy Southwestern blend and that would complement smoking with Apple Wood chips:

1/4 C Brown Sugar
1 tsp ea:

Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Sweet Hungary Paprika
Crushed Marjoram
Ground Ginger
Ground Coriander
Ground Cloves
Crushed/Ground Fennel

Personally, I'd go on the light side (3/4 or less) with the Cloves and Fennel to help keep the more subtle apple wood flavor come out more.

Who Cut the Cheese?

2008-03-09T19:35:00.007-06:00

If you will forgive me the junior-high level joke for a title, this was actually a question with much weight on it as both my wife and I palled at what could be implied by the unknown answer.

The back story:
Sunday mornings are always a bit of a challenge. I like to try to sleep in at least one day on the weekend; something that hasn't happened effectively since my son was born nearly a year ago. My daughter has always insisted on breakfast, ideally pancakes, muffins, or some other home-cooked meal for Sunday breakfast. So, she would come in, join us in bed for a snuggle and snooze, then my wife, feeling much hungrier than me, would take the girl downstairs and prepare something.

(I would guess she's already posed a rant about wanting me to help with this activity. Much as I would try, it's just not something I find I'm able to motivate myself to do consistently and for that I'm sorry.)

Now, with my son deciding to wake up at the usual morning time to eat -- why should he break routine for this weekend thing he doesn't have any concept about just so I can nap? -- that starts the day a little earlier. I do try to be the one to go get him and bring him to my wife in bed for the morning start. I then lie back down, half-snoozing until, inevitably, my daughter comes in. From there, the quiet morning snuggle becomes more like a circus as she and the boy play/fuss/tunnel in the sheets/fuss and otherwise act like their ages.

Back to the story:
Today there was no difference other than we all managed to stay in pretty good moods, even to the point of getting everyone dressed and working in showers after breakfast. My son was the first one done, followed by my wife, then my daughter and finally me -- IIRC. It was at this point where we heard a melodic, "I need a snack," followed by the pitter-patter of my daughter's little shoes going down the stairs and around to the kitchen.

We heard the pantry door open, rustling in the pantry, the door close, drawers open and shut, nothing outside the noises you would expect to hear for the preparation of a snack. So, it was with quite a shock when my daughter came back upstairs and my wife asked, "Where'd you get that?" "That" was a big hunk of cheese from the fridge. We were not upset with the choice of snack, but this is precisely where the question at hand came into play as both my wife and I stared at each other. We decided, in that parental-telepathy kind of way, to wait a few minutes as we were all going to be wrapped-up and headed down anyway.

So, we get downstairs and my wife asked, "How did you get the cheese?"
"I cut a piece."
"With what, honey?"
"A knife."
"From the drawer?"
"Yes."
"Where's the knife now" (it wasn't on the counter as far as we could see)
"I put it back."
"Ok, in this drawer?" asked my wife, pointing at the drawer with our eating utensils.
"No, the other one."
** Panic sets in at this point as I start moving across the kitchen **
"Which one?" my wife asks again.
"That one." my daughter answers, sorta indicating with her head in the direction I feared before returning to another bite of the snack.

Sure enough, I get over to the drawer, open it, and see the tell-tale streak of cheese along the blade of our butcher knife. I think I laughed as I pulled forth the blade to clean it and check the rest of the drawer for escaped cheese, but I was quick to mentally count the fingers toes and other body parts I'd seen in the last few minutes.

We've moved the knives.

What Did You Leave For Santa?

2007-12-25T10:35:00.000-06:00

My daughter continues to surprise us. We were preparing for Santa's visit last night, setting out a snack. Traditionally we place out a couple of cookies, milk, and a small snack for the reindeer. However, in an unexpected turn, my daughter looks at me and says, "No, Santa not want cookies. Make him tummy sick." while rubbing her tummy and looking quite sad. "He need... nana with him's milk." So we put out a glass of milk, a banana and some baby carrots for the reindeer. Santa was pleased and left several nice gifts for the family. I guess there's room for changes in all traditions.

Warm Your Belly Rub

2007-12-19T12:51:00.000-06:00

I do a fair amount of grilling throughout the year. I'll stand in rain, snow, hide from sleet, and bundle up as appropriate to complete a meal with some nicely grilled, preferably smoked, meat. In the course of dinners, I've played with various wet and dry preparations. The following recipe will be inflicted on my in-laws and relations via their Christmas stockings this year. It is my understanding that they enjoy a little kick to their spices so I aimed to deliver. This has been kitchen and friend tested and has received the "Scott Safe" label by the narrowest of margins.

My wife and I are admittedly spice snobs, we like fresh spices and frequent our local Penzy's Spices store.

With no further ado, here is a dry-rub blend I'm calling "Warm Your Belly Rub." (sized in parts)

12 parts Brown Sugar
4 parts Medium Hot Chili Powder
2 parts Ground Cumin
2 parts Ground Chipotle Chili Powder
2 parts Kosher Salt
2 parts Course Ground Black Pepper
2 parts Garlic Powder (not salt)
1 part Lemon Zest (I used a dried Lemon Peel)
1 part Ground Allspice

Surgery ?= Developmental Milestone?

2007-12-03T22:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry to post a lot about the Little Trooper, but he decided to crawl and transition to/from sitting tonight. He wasn't full-on crawling before surgery. This isn't the first time he's made a transition to a new developmental milestone immediately following surgery, it's the 3rd!

Guess he's like me... wont' take a challenge without a good hard fight! We don't start tasks without finishing them... even if surgeries interrupt!

The Little Trooper Is Home.

2007-12-03T14:30:00.000-06:00

Surprising all of us a little, Little Trooper was discharged this morning. He can eat whatever he feels like (although we'll probably ease his way back into solids). When I arrived to pick him and his mother up he was giggling and playing, rolling around the crib before I could change his diaper, and pretty much back to normal!

He's home now, taking a nap in his car seat from which I will not wake him. Time for the rest of us to recover.

An odd thing to celebrate.

2007-12-01T21:14:00.000-06:00

Sometimes being a parent is just plain strange. Like tonight:
After 2 days of very very bad sleep schedules resulting from being with my son in the hospital pre- and post-op with the constant stream of checkups I am only barely qualified to even type this entry.

My wife came over after taking our daughter to her swimming lesson; bringing lunch for us. Sometime after she had arrived, we were taking turns holding the little trooper and eating lunch. I held first, then finished lunch. With things settled in, I decided it would be a decent time to shower and started preparing. I was about to step into the bathroom when I heard quite the rip from where they were sitting. Looking over, my wife confirmed my thoughts: it really *was* the little trooper! We figured it was just gas... exciting enough as that is as it actually came from the proper place. Instead, we started doing the happy dance as I checked out the results and found that we actually had encountered our first soiled diaper!

Now... bring on the paste and more frequent diaper changes.

The surgeons were happy when they came and did rounds. We had a further 2 examples for them to review and they were quite happy. If he keeps responding this strongly, he could be on clear liquids tomorrow, then breast milk. He might even be able to come home as soon as Tuesday evening! Surgery was Friday morning and we were expecting 3-5 days minimally with the operating surgeon hinting that, based on little trooper's reaction when the ostomy was first performed, that we'd be looking to the longer side of that range.

There may be more cheering in the future, but for now I must sign off as I believe my pillows are calling my name.

The Pedicurians Are Coming!

2007-07-04T16:43:00.000-05:00

To start off this Independence day, my headstrong daughter wanted to have a little home pedicure. My wife did the honors, soaking feet and trimming toenails. Then my daughter insisted that it was time to switch. My wife started soaking her feet and then the phone rang.
Answering the phone, I started to do my usual wandering around while talking routine. Unfortunately, my kind daughter decided that I was to be included in the pseudo-spa day and started to follow me around with a pair of toenail clippers saying, "Dad, give me your foot!" loud enough to carry over the phone and dropping down to my feet whenever I paused. This lasted for about 3 minutes before I had to beg a moment away from the conversation to respond.
Beware! The Pedicurians are coming!

Interesting Sandwich Toppings

2007-07-04T16:37:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend we decided to have a lazy lunch and went to Subway as a family. My daughter was her usual independent self, insisting on doing things her way. I must credit her, however, for fairly clearing expressing her desires. The most interesting part was in selecting toppings...

Lettuce, cucumber, pickles, tomato and Olivers.

She was mumbling a little, but it was fairly clear... especially repeating Olivers several times because we didn't know what she was saying! Once I figured it out it was time for a good laugh. We have had one of our friends' son over more for some play time. His name is Oliver. I would suspect he doesn't know that he is now a part of my daughter's diet!

Requirements Gathering: 101

2007-06-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

... and Piglet said, "if you see what I mean, Pooh," and Pooh said, "It's just what I think myself, Piglet," and Piglet said, "But, on the other hand, Pooh, we must remember," and Pooh said, "Quite true, Piglet, although I had forgotten it for the moment." And then, just as they came to the Six Pine Trees, Pooh looked round to see that nobody else was listening, and said in a very solemn voice: "Piglet, I have decided something." "What have you decided, Pooh?" "I have decided to catch a Heffalump." --Piglet Meets a Heffalump, A. A. Milne.

I have been working on gathering requirements for the last several weeks. Once again, it was may daughter who found the proper reference to frame my experiences. If you were to randomly stick your head into any one of the myriad of meetings I've been in lately it would invariably come to a similar discourse within moments. At least, even if not completely relevant or in the normal conversation flow, a decision is made: "I have decided to catch a Heffalump."

In my career as a software developer I've been the target of criticism for incorrectly implementing a dream set of software in someone's head. If you were to hold up the requirements I was given along side the above paragraph it is likely that the excerpt contained more meaningful statements than the requirements themselves.

For Pooh and Piglet the adventure continues. They start with an Idea and then bat it back and forth until it is deemed a Clever Idea. This is a step that really should be considered more frequently than I have seen. Ideas are wonderful, they bring value to a project at any stage, and they should be given respect.

What is not so wonderful is when an idea is presented as fact. Ideas should never find their way into the process without a proper challenge at any stage; requirements, analysis or implementation. This is not to advocate squaring off in a boxing ring, but a simple idea can turn into a nightmare if not properly analyzed and weighed against the risk involved.

When and idea is conceived, the originator must not feel unappreciated or the idea will either stagnate or slip in under the radar. The recipients of the idea must not discard the idea without proper reasoning or the individual presenting will stop presenting. Recipients must also resist the urge to bless the idea because it is "obviously beneficial," potentially starting down a very slippery slope.

Pooh and Piglet press on, the Very Deep Pit is built, seeded with Pooh's Hunny, and the Trap is set. It is only after implementation, upon waking in the middle of the night, that Pooh realizes he has provided the last of his most valuable resources, his Hunny, to the project and the jar is now sitting at the bottom of the Very Deep Pit.

Unfortunately, this is too true in software development as well. The idea is agreed upon, developed, implemented, and then suddenly the realization of the commitment sinks in. Resources are spent that can not be reclaimed and the risk, not fully understood, comes to show at last.

Hopefully the end for us can be that we learn to use a little more discipline and empathy throughout the development process. The consequences of not learning these lessons can be costly and embarrassing; although we likely will not be found wandering around with a Hunny jar stuck atop our heads.

Remember the Sacrifice

2007-05-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

I have the privilege of living with the complication of my life but not having to worry about my freedom. This is something that I will never take for granted.

Today is Memorial Day. It is a holiday not just for us to appreciate a day away from work and time with families but it is a day in which we remember those who sacrificed, sometimes everything, for us.

Just in case someone happens across this entry who has become directly impacted in their lives by the sacrifices of their family members, loved one, parents, children or friends, know that today especially I hold them in my heart and prayers every bit as much as they held me -- and all of us -- in theirs.

Thank you, and God Bless.

D&D Wisdom

2007-05-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

At the end of the evening last week we wrapped up one story line element. Our new benefactor (NPC) proceeded to reward us by completely healing our warforged fighter with a very paladinish laying on of hands.

Of course, as level 1 characters this seemed a most impressive feat. To put it in perspective (and to keep this post somewhat in focus) I offered into the ensuing conversation, "We look at our benefactor with bewilderment and mutter, 'You are a god!'"

My daughter was sitting in my lap at the time, nearly asleep, and surprised us all by very clearly saying with a voice reflecting a bit of awe, "Mom, you... are... a... god!" So, while it struck us all very funny at the time it made me think...

Yep. Mom, you *are* a god. And we seldom recognize all the work you do.

The Big Sister

2007-05-05T06:47:00.000-05:00

When my son was born we fully expected that my daughter would have a period of adjustment to endure. At times we joked that it would be the next 16 years and there is still truth in that. What I did not expect was my daughter's set of reactions in the last 6 weeks.

She is 2.5 and acting all of it and in many ways even older when her brother was born. Personal independence at the fore, she had envisioned herself only important person in the house. Thankfully this behavior, which we are working on daily, is constrained only to the house and our cars.

She has an active interest in her baby brother and wants to see what he does. We were not sure how she would react at the time, but she was absolutely wonderful in helping to prepare his room, crib, changing table, closet, etc as we made her an active part of that process. However, she doesn't recognize any boundaries on when she needs to leave him alone. Pacifiers can be shoved in his mouth with the most honestly good and helpful intent. It can be playtime for them while he is in his crib, trying to relax. And, apparently, sleep is a temporary state which can be invalidated at a moment's notice.

On the other hand, we've encountered a significant amount of regression. Little darling has decided she can play the "I'm a baby" card at will. She claims that she needs diaper changes, to be rocked to bed, to sleep with us in our room, and the most frustrating item being that she can cry whenever she doesn't get her way. We've lost all of the good potty training we'd had, although apparently she still takes herself while at daycare.

But, in the end, she is watching out for his best interests, at least as much as can be understood by a 2.5 year old. When he cries she tries to comfort him. When it's dinner time she makes sure he has a seat at the table. When he won't stop crying she offers to get his medicine. She enjoys holding him and he now smiles back at her. They snuggle together on the couch in the most darling positions. And, probably the best sign of success that has been there from day 1, she talks more proudly about him than I do to everyone she knows. (Even if it does include a little too much detail about "his owies" than most people need to hear.)

Childhood Truth

2007-04-06T19:35:00.000-05:00

My daughter, finger on the pulse of reality, recently said:
"It's not sweet candy, it's chocolate!"

QFT.

Prescious Wisdom

2007-04-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard by now, my son was born and has several issues. They are all things that can be addressed but he will be highly monitored for at least the first several years of his life. My daughter, at 2 1/2, has done an absolutely amazing job of maintaining a normal life while her parents are flipping out, short-fused, and emotionally spent.

About a week after the boy was moved to the children's' hospital in town we took the girl to see her brother. I was in the room with her and had placed her on a chair at crib-side. While she was admiring him, gently feeling arms and hair, smelling him, but being very careful he woke up enough to start fussing.

Without any prompting, my daughter took his hand, moved close to him, and softly said "It OK, I here." Then she gently caressed his cheek with the back of her free hand while I went off to a corner to grab Kleenex.

She's becoming a big sister right before our eyes. It is a role she appears to be relishing and I couldn't be any more excited or floored by her compassion and understanding.

That's my girl! May God continue to spread His love through you.

Shake Your "Groove Thing"

2007-01-18T10:07:00.000-06:00

This morning proved to be quite entertaining. Between frustration and fascination I am caught with the observations of my self-defining 2 year old daughter.

It appears that my daughter has picked up a new clue. To put things in context, we engaged in delightful conversations, as much as that term applies, covering the range of finishing cereal, wanting juice and which juice, wanting an orange and wanting to squish bananas. Then, during the usual morning struggle over breakfast, dancing or playing and not wanting to go to daycare, I took my lunch box and portfolio to the car as much to give me a break and a chance to cool down as to speed up the inevitable support getting my daughter into the car. When I returned all of 30 seconds later, my daughter asked for a bag for her orange, her sunglasses and her coat. Yep, she started getting herself ready for the ride to daycare. Moments later she was in coat with sunglasses in one had and bag of oranges in the other. If she is using preparing the car as the clue to get ready to go I will be delighted.

On the way to daycare I stopped around the corner to fill up the car. I'd rather not run it on fumes. She sat happily in the back seat, radio playing, watching the cars and trucks move about the lot. With the extra influx of trucks supporting clean-up of the ice storm she was in heaven pointing out all of the "differen" (still missing the 't' on the end) big trucks, often accompanied by "oh, another one" and a finger pointing. I left her in the car and pumped gas. She continued to point and made the effort to talk to me through the rear window, looking back over her shoulder since she was restrained in her car seat still.

Minutes later I settled back into the driver's seat and my daughter was still giggling and babbling about trucks. KC & the Sunshine Band was on the radio. You can probably guess what was playing from the title of this post. Just as I was making my way through the lot I hear, "Shake boo boo, Daddy! Shake!" Somewhat shocked, I quickly hit deliberate word confusion mode, singing, "Shake your groove thing" to prevent any unnecessary learning and then started asking if she wanted to dance. We had as reasonable a dance session, enjoying the remainder of the song, as could be had while I was driving and she was strapped in her chair. When the song ended she disappointingly asked for me to play "Shake Shake" again.

I'm still smiling about it and probably will the rest of the day.

Shields Up!

2007-01-03T18:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry to have to do this, but some people can't leave well enough alone. Comment Moderation enabled. Only registered users may post.

From this point forward:
I will remove off-topic comments with no remorse if they would impose on the comfort level of readers.

If you are thinking about posting, think about the response you may generate and use some (un)common sense. Should you have strong opinions that you believe the world needs to hear I encourage you to take your vigor and create your own blog. I am less likely to moderate a link that users can choose to follow than books published via comments to my posts.

Have respect and you will be treated in kind.

Sweet Home, Chicago.

2006-10-27T10:11:00.000-05:00

It isn't my permanent home, but it was last weekend for the Chicago Marathon. I'll keep this post short: It's done. Results have been posted to our training blog. Soreness has mostly subsided and the knees were not a problem. At least I didn't fall and crack my head open like the winner did at the finish line.

Congrats to everyone who made the attempt and a pat on the back for all finishers. Just stepping up to the starting line is a tremendous task that has my respect. Finishers even more so for managing the ordeal successfully.

Time to Taper

2006-10-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

It's a little surreal. While I've been training for the Chicago marathon with the lofty goal of completing the run -- no illusions of grandeur, I'm a 1/2 miler not a distance runner by nature -- I have put many other things aside as my Saturdays have been consisting of running ever increasing distances and then doing my best not to nap the rest of the day away. My wife and daughter are tiring of the routine and I must admit I am too.

That, however, is going to change. We just completed our longest run, and after mapping it, the route was 21 miles, not just the 20 we were targeting. I could still walk and my knees didn't quit. By Sunday evening I was actually believing I could do this thing without serious long-term injury -- although stock in an ibuprofein company might be a good call.

So, with that, our next couple of weeks taper back seriously, giving the body a good chance to heal before the main event. Of our training group, 2 have sustained injuries that they can not heal from in time for the race and a 3rd is still wanting to try. That leaves 2 of us (myself included) who are complete newbies to the event to get lost wit 40K of our closest friends in downtown Chicago.

That was the easy part, now we have to find a hotel room.

Lessons from a treadmill

2006-09-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

I just realized I hadn't posed since... well, too long (July 10, 2006 if you want to be precise) . Some things have changed, some have not. I was running on a treadmill this morning and, having almost 3 hours of unchanging surroundings, I let my mind wander.

My daughter turned 2 last week. That should have been a post by itself, however with family in town, and both sides at that, there was little time for posting.

Then, this past weekend, I had the honor of singing for a very good friend's wedding. With an out-of-town wedding there was much traveling and little time to post.

So how does this all relate to a treadmill? It's actually more direct than you might think. As you may have guessed, I'm training to complete the Chicago Marathon come Oct 22 -- yet another huge time commitment leaving little time to post. With the travel this weekend I had to squeeze in a 16 mile run at some point.

However, local weather at the wedding turned from the best Cross Country weather to absolutely squishy over our first night, eliminating running outdoors. Not only was I likely to get lost, I was certain to be wet. Not a good combination. While I've always held a level of disdain for running on a treadmill I now have an even better reason to avoid it in the future.

I thought pavement was hard to run on for long distances, but the treadmill at the hotel, featuring "SoftTouch" technology, seemed more like a very constrained trampoline than a solid running surface. Add to that the lack of any appreciable circulation in the A/C of the workout room and a TV that worked as long as you weren't operating the equipment and you have a pretty good picture of how I spent 2:20 of my morning.

The most amusing part of the entire run wasn't running but stopping. WHEEEE!!! I swear the room kept moving. In that awkward moment as you re-assert your control of your perceptions, and in my already crazy mind, I started to see how it really framed where I'm at right now. Several things are stopping, coming to a natural conclusion, while other things are still moving and I'm carried forward without conscious effort.

Let's start with the best part: Right before my daughter turned 2 we received confirmation (more like an affirmation) that we are now expecting our 2nd child. The first one is asserting her own identity more every day and we're well on the way to the next. Steady legs, steady.

Then there's work. I've been acting as Tech/Team lead for 20 months of a 3 month, temporary assignment. The new employee additions to the team are coming into their own. One has agreed to accept the Tech Lead role, relieving me of that responsibility while another has had to accept the Project Manager role as our existing PM found a job closer to family (another long standing transition that finally triggered).

All-in-all that wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't also at the end of the contract and with the new employees holding down the fort I need new work. I'm sorry, but it's been 3 months of promises that "we're 90% sure we have incoming work -- a year-long new development effort" that haven't had the i's dotted and the t's crossed. I'm about to jump off a cliff here with the end of the existing contract and I'm supposed to be happy that we're managing to get a temp badge put together?

Anyway, the other item coming to an end may (finally) be my usage of VB6. I'd been laying the groundwork for the technology conversion/upgrade to .NET for the existing VB applications for some time. There's now (2 years later) enough momentum to see it happen. I wish the new PM and Tech Lead much luck with the effort and I hope I could at least be around to see it happen.

This does, however, mean I need to get back up to speed with .NET and with Java -- both of which have had releases since I last touched them for work. Hit that wall, slide down, and get caught in the rush of progress! This would normally be exciting if I wasn't more concerned with planning for child #2.

Finally, there's the wedding. I truly couldn't be happier for a good friend of mine and I was honored to have the opportunity to sing for the ceremony. We met in church choir back in college and I count him as one of the few, rare people who actually understands me.

I'm sorry that I did not have the time in recent years to remain as available to random events. In my heart he is a brother and always will be, his wife not far behind in that category whether she knows it or not. They will be missed and yet their marriage represents one of the best outcomes I could have hoped for either of them, truly reflecting the beauty their relationship contains.

How time continues to move us forward, I'm still trying to catch up and right myself. I did remember to stop the treadmill, right?

Shaving as a Team Sport

2006-07-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

It was too cute not to talk about. This morning I was off to a sluggish start to the day. My wife was already out the door for work and my daughter was asleep on our bed after having joined us for an early morning snuggle. While attempting to make myself presentable, I heard my daughter stir. I turned off my razor and poked my head into the bedroom.

Her smile and happy giggle turned the morning around so I stole a few moments to be with her -- still on our bed and complete with the razor in my hand. She was in a good mood and I wanted to enforce that before she would start screaming for mommy. It was during this that my daughter invented Team Shaving.

The rules for Team Shaving are simple:

Turn the razor on.
Put the razor on dad's face.
Add your own razor noise as you help dad shave.
After 10 seconds of moving the razor around, pull it back and squint.
Turn the razor off
Pucker up for a kiss
Giggle when kiss is given
Repeat, starting at (1) until satisfied.
Pounce!!!
[optional] Briefly exchange roles.

I hope your days start off just as wonderfully.

Flame War? NOT!

2006-06-27T16:50:00.000-05:00

-- subtitled: Don't make rash decisions, you're the only one likely to be burned. --

Life has been busy. Fun with my daughter, time spent with friends, work-stress at least not increasing, starting to train to run the Chicago Marathon. But at the same time I keep looking for an opportunity to sit down and just breathe.

Here's an example of what happens when you don't get a break:
Gaming with friends I'm playing a Mystic Theurge. Theurges may not be the most powerful spellcasters but they afford a lot of flexibility and opportunities to tweak for a battle. Well, I took a fairly standard load-out into a day of adventuring. Our plans seemed easy enough to execute... bust down a door... look for trouble... and beat down the opposition. Fair enough until you run into a red dragon that knows you're coming.

Here's where stress comes into play. The entire group is happily joking, singing, telling stories and then BOOM! we hit silent, serious mode. Social time is over boys and girls. Now we started to sweat. We had prepared for lots of fighters, spellcasters using flame, mind control attempts on our fighting dwarf front line, but certainly not one incredible challenge like this.

Now, besides figuring out what to do against a spellcaster that is much stronger than you -- and trying to deal with an interrupting 2 year old -- you must come up with something smart to do that doesn't harm the party members in front of you. The best option I could come up with was to try to further protect the party and prepare for a strategic withdrawal.

Unfortunately, I'd come loaded for offense. I had this new spell that could be interesting but not being very experienced with it the logistics were taking longer to arrange. About the time I was getting a handle on it my wife's patience ran out and she cut into my struggles rather abruptly. I resigned from the effort and we agreed that whatever I chose to do could happen while the next person was going -- I wasn't going to slay the dragon myself.

"Fine," I huffed at last, "I'm going to cast a fireball just behind the dragon..."

Dead silence filled the room for about 15 seconds before 3 other experienced players started to laugh hysterically.

"The dragon feels warm and cozy and thanks you for reminding him of his time in the womb," responded our DM. And then astonished, "Seriously, you should know that. I'll let you make a different choice, funny as that was."

Doh!

Just perfect. This is a choice example of why I need a break.

So, if any coworkers, friends, or anyone I've slighted irrationally happen to read this, please, please, please bear with me as I get things back to normal.

Maybe I should stick to casting Magic Missile at the darkness.

October 22, 2006 - Insanity Reigns

2006-05-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

Look Out Chicago!

Breakfast is the New Team Sport

2006-05-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize that eating breakfast required more than one person, especially for a bowl of cereal. However, who am I to argue with a nearly 2 year old girl.

She not only ate half of my bowl of granola, she insisted on working through the remaining milk by having me take out some of mommy's cereal (which was already in a small bowl for her) and add it in to sop up the remains.

So when does father-daughter eating make the Olympics? :)

Pancake Cereal and Shadow Dancing

2006-05-18T08:50:00.000-05:00

This morning has been interesting. My daughter did not wake up well. She was slightly warm, but did not have any noticeable fever when we took her temperature. Still, her grumpiness of late has made us a little more cautious. Maybe grumpiness is putting it too lightly... she's been obnoxiously clingy and demanding. Tantrums currently have a hair trigger and she has stopped taking the time to even attempt to use words.

So we caved a little this morning and let her go shopping in the pantry while we prepared lunches. She brought us the syrup from the pantry and asked for "more." As luck would have it we had a pair of pancakes in the freezer from this past weekend that we could prepare quickly. Her mood started to shift.

My wife finished preparing her lunch and left for work. No protests were offered, instead our daughter told her "bye bye" and went back to her syrup dipping efforts. I finished packing and settled down to a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

A long time ago I picked up the habit of drinking the remaining milk from the bowl when I was done and this morning would be no different except for my daughter deciding she wanted some.
Ok, milk isn't a bad thing, so I slid the bowl to her and she proceeded to feed herself milk with my spoon. As she was happily engrossed in breakfast I finished getting ready to leave.

I'm not sure when it occurred, but about the time I was packing things into the car (easier to do without the baby attached to your leg) I looked down and she had 2 spoons and a fork all in the bowl of milk... and pancakes! Apparently pancakes are good when dunked in milk. Probably tastes a good bit better than the Cheereos.

So, to keep this post from becoming too much longer, the other fun thing that I observed this morning was on the drive to daycare. I looked in the baby mirror and saw my daughter waving one arm around somewhat frantically while looking down but not at her feet. At a red light I spent another moment of watching her actions it finally dawned on me: She was playing with her shadow! I don't remember her doing that before. That's kinda cool.

She thought it was fun and continued to play happily. So, as we started back up and turned the corner it only surprised me a little bit to hear her squeal from the back seat. Traffic was coming to a stop at the next light so I glanced back. She was giggling and moving her arm, trying to find the shadow again. When she did relocate the shadow there was a mighty giggle and then she traced the shadow back to her arm and then to the sun! I think she may have just figured it out.

Now I get to smile all day!

Immitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery

2006-05-13T10:08:00.000-05:00

My daughter has taken to learning by immitation. It only takes one moment for her to capture and start repeating words, facial expression and other actions. She's picking up some really funny expressions as a part of this learning cycle. She's also picking up and repeating some less than desirable traits which we hope to overload out of existance by reinforcing the good stuff.

As much as I'd stop, smile and enjoy the recent memories for what they are, hind-sight still causes me to compare her learning approach to the growth of the developers I'm currently supporting. They too are immitating the patterns they see --both good and bad -- and, as is the case with my daughter, I'm hoping to steer their direction with positive reinforcement. For a pair of them that have been struggling, this is finally working!

Now, how do you get your managers to take the same approach?

The New MSCCS

2006-04-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

To clarify the title: MS would be my initials and a serendipitous way to start the remaining: Certification in Common Sense.

Apparently I've spent too much time worrying about how to prove my value to employers, both those who write my checks and those for whom I perform contract software development. I've spent nights trying to figure out what certifications I should go after and if a complete suite, along with a new spiffy title, is worth the effort. To date, I can't say that not having one has hurt me.

However, I have run into individuals with certifications that make you want to break out the d-4 of silence. (Sorry, a bit of an inside joke but you probably get the idea). That's not to say certifications don't help HR people perform mind-numbing filtering of the glut of resumes the must deal with daily, there are fewer people who can craft the skills qualified by the certification into a workable solution.

In the midst of shaking my head at code I couldn't believe I remembered (seeming randomly at the time) what a friend had said his business degree seemed like at times: a degree in common sense. That made me wonder, is common sense truly that rare? Did Monty Python create a cult classic with "The Upperclass Twit of the Year" skit?

Mix all the previous thoughts together and you get my odd declaration that I'm going to start charging for a certification in common sense. Perhaps this will be a better filter for HR.

$52 Tank of Gas

2006-04-12T13:56:00.000-05:00

I made the choice awhile back to purchase a 2002 Bonneville SSEI. It's classified as a performance car. The engine comes equipped with a supercharger and a requirement for Premium gas for it's higher octane rating.

This morning, running on fumes with the gas gauge below E, I pulled into a local QuickTrip and prepared for the bad news. Unfortunately I wasn't sufficiently prepared. The signs posted prices at 2.69/2.79/2.91 (another recent change is the extra 2c for premium). However, the pump was actually charging 2.68/2.78/2.98. WTF?

I have no way to answer why the sudden jump in the cost of premium gas, but I just about lost it. All that was left to do was cry and watch as I pumped 17+ gallons at just under $3/gallon for a total tally pennies under $52.

While I realize that others may have it worse elsewhere in the country, isn't it time we asked why we should be relying on oil (apparenlty suddenly expensive refineries)? There are options out there. Perhaps if we stopped accepting lobbying money and directed it to research/infrastructure instead we'd actually meet the future before we create insurmountable hurdles to maintaining the basis of our current travel infrastructure .

Uh-Oh, BOOM!, owie...

2006-04-06T15:00:00.000-05:00

Recently my daughter fell. This is not an unusual event except for the fact that she fell while nearly galloping from excitement toward the car in the parking lot of a hotel. As expected the experience was traumatic for her and us as parents. She skinned her knee and it quickly displayed the strawberry in-progress. It did surprise me how quickly it started to swell and the total event led my wife to requesting a stop at a Walgreens. The cure for the trauma was hugs-n-kisses for my daughter and a squirt of Solarcaine administered by my wife for her sanity.

All in all my daughter took it well. The next morning she decided to put together the longest string of meaningful words and gestures I've had the pleasure of experiencing yet:

"Uh-Oh," she said, her eyes open and arms stretched to the side.
After a brief pause she thrust her arms to her side, palms down and declared, "BOOM!"
Lifting her eyes back up to look forward she meekly offered, "owie..."

I caught the storytelling in the rear-view mirror and nearly lost it. The true honesty in the retelling was touching. She had just demonstrated her ability to understand and communicate a cause-and-effect relationship.

Some days I wonder at what management level do you lose sight of this basic tenent?

In the grander management hierarchy at my contract sight we had a new manager join the fold. Two levels above my project manager the new manager bust onto the scene with a show of force. The winds of change are coming, "just you watch." Attendees at his first meeting were given the mission statement "Quality above all else" along with the explanation that as a department we would not release software before it's time. Like id Software, we would provide a release "when it's done." The mission is clear and I will do my best to execute to that goal.

However, what happened to reality? We have contractual obligations that include release schedules that must be met. To complicate it further there are multiple contract with different customers for the same family of products that have competing schedules. How long will it take to find the compromise to which we can actually achieve our goals.

Many in the meeting, my project manager included, were just wondering how long the honeymoon would last. It didn't take too long. About a month into the new regime we hit the first wringle in the plan. The software under development needed to go to an external entity for testing. Although nearly all involved expected that the entity would not be ready the contracts (and other political influences) need to be apeased.

Instead of taking the long weekend I had been hoping for I was told that "the weight of the free world rests on your sholders. Don't let the Berlin wall go back up. I'll see you on Monday" Great. So I asked the question: "To push this release out the door who should I call for testing?"
My answer: "Just give me this one." Uh-Oh.

Since that weekend -- in which I sacrificed time with family in multiple states and some of my health -- there has been improvement. Schedules are discussed and the big picture is coming into perspective. As a part of this process I've come to realize that this new manager plays political games in trying to improve the company image and catch the outside entities in bad positions.

Push them back, don't let them see that we can't deliver a fully tested product today. Don't tell them no, don't give the impression there is any reason to question our ability to deliver. Don't worry that you're tap-dancing in a minefield.

I made the mistake of believing that things could improve. Two weeks ago I had a system engineer show up in my cube and ask if I had the latest release (release candidate to be exact but that may be too much detail for a manager) ready for delivery. Answering 'No' went over about as well 'as a fart in Sunday school!' (you can thank my cube-mate for that)

With a boldness bolstered by our renewed commitment to quality and having recently been shown the schedule that included testing, I pulled out my documents and pointed 3 weeks down the road. A phone call later and I was emphasizing that the installation packages I was providing had not been tested by anyone just because a customer was screaming to have the media in hand so they could test -- another flight-of-fancy and another game of Risk. The CD's were in the mail half an hour later.

Yet that day, 10 minutes after delivery of a raw build I sit down at the keyboard of my test box, click a button and cackle/cry to the sight of "The application has caused a serious error and must be shut down." They couldn't affort the time to test and we had just delivered code that was broken. Instead we're going to let them keep it and mark it as a known issue. This is just a release for some comfort testing so there's no real long-term risk. UH-OH!

At this point I'm just glad it's Friday. Focus on the Positive things when the rest of your surroundings are chaotic.

Upon returning to my desk from the weekend and opening my email... BOOM! We have been given notice that the external entity is moving towards software certification with the release that is broken. They haven't heard yet of any reasons to stop the train. Who wasn't listening? Or to whom were they listening?

To put this in perspective, failing that certification means "The End." We're not allowed to deliver uncertified product. The legacy servers are being turned off in 2 weeks, the database will go away, the central file server will go away, the communications network will go away. Our license to operate expires, the supporting contract will go away. My contract will go away. Solarcaine will not ease the sting, hugs and kisses only offer momentary comfort.

So we're working on a compromise. We have at least managed to stop some of the bloodflow. We have a couple of extra days to squeak in a build that has actually been given some of the usual testing. In theory we should deliver tomorrow. With the code delivered to me today we can't, it will likely be at least Monday possibly Tuesday to work through a couple of issues in a product delivered to us. All I can do is pray that the other, external side is also playing games and trying to call our bluff. I'll show my poker face and tick away at my keyboard.

I just wonder when our new manager will finally let reality set in. I've see the manager grovel, I'm waiting for the whimpered, "owie..."

Still Mentoring VB6?

2006-03-20T21:28:00.000-06:00

I didn't expect to start the Fallout with something of this nature. Chaos, ever the deceiver, has decided that I need to now, with only a year left in paid support, mentor 5 people on VB6 as well as provide guidance on domain knowledge. That was certainly an unexpected task to fall in my lap.

While I have no doubt that a group consisting of C++, C# and a Java developer will find VB as unwieldy as I did when I first shifted from C++, I have no reason to believe they will struggle for long. Groaning about the tradeoffs, however, is a life-long endeavor.

With any luck, the entire team will see the transition into something a little more modern -- either Java or C#. The future direction is not set and the non-religious arguments do not offer a clear choice. Whichever path we take it can only be an improvement from where we are now.

<grumble/>