Plastic Fantastic
I’ve got a couple of hundred LP’s and EP’s and a fair few “select” 45’s, but this database of vinyl auction results isn’t likely to do me much good, if a cursory survey of artists comprising the bulk of my collection is any indication. With (only) 250,000 listings, it probably isn’t terribly comprehensive, especially given that it encompasses every recording classification: Classical, pop, jazz, etc. Still, someday I might find out there’s something in my collection that would put the cats through college.
27 July 2006
Don’t Be a Moon-Calf
This professor’s essay on being an English major rings true, although I’m too old to have experienced Dead Poets Society while still deciding on my educational path. I guess the part that resounds most dolorously is that of why undergraduate literature majors fail to complete a Ph.D., as it represents, superficially, my own experience. I didn’t fall to politics, but to a dissatisfaction with the purpose of a post-graduate degree.
(Mom, no, listen, it wasn’t wasted; I still credit what I learned at grad school – or, anyway, how I learned – with much of my success in the world beyond the academy, just as I can credit earlier stages in my education with my success within it.)
And I don’t have to practice what I love so much in secret or as singing along to Barry Manilow.
This professor’s essay on being an English major rings true, although I’m too old to have experienced Dead Poets Society while still deciding on my educational path. I guess the part that resounds most dolorously is that of why undergraduate literature majors fail to complete a Ph.D., as it represents, superficially, my own experience. I didn’t fall to politics, but to a dissatisfaction with the purpose of a post-graduate degree.
(Mom, no, listen, it wasn’t wasted; I still credit what I learned at grad school – or, anyway, how I learned – with much of my success in the world beyond the academy, just as I can credit earlier stages in my education with my success within it.)
And I don’t have to practice what I love so much in secret or as singing along to Barry Manilow.
26 July 2006
Work-Life
Once upon a time I thought I’d be a writer and support myself working in publishing. What a cliché. The publisher I worked for taught me to use PC’s, back when PC’s were only just entering the business market and were just past the stage where floppy disks were seven inches in diameter. This translated into a much different career, one I’ve enjoyed a lot over the years, even though I’ve ever been as technically skilled as many people assume I am. I’ve always known just enough to get by, but always learned just a little more as the jobs or job requirements have changed over the years. But one thing I’ve sort of been (perhaps unduly) proud of is that I’ve never worked on a failed project. Now I’ve worked on two. Do I feel a little like a Jonah? Yeah, but I shouldn’t.
The job before this one, the project failed on a number of counts: we ran through a five-year budget in less than two years; we weren’t allowed to have the kind of client contact necessary to understand their specific needs or to persuade them that the project would succeed let alone be of any benefit to them; the company got taken over and the new upper management team were sceptical of the benefits and aghast at the waste. The entire project team got canned, and we flooded the market, leaving me and others of us unemployed for some months thereafter, a personal financial debacle we’ve yet to fully recover from.
Now it’s happened again. At least this time I stand to keep my job for a while yet, because the project was actually successful, and we’ve been paying employees on the new database for two years now. Only because some of the payroll staff are dissatisfied with having to do business differently than they used to – well, and because there are some real functional problems with the software that aren’t going to be resolved anytime soon – we’ve decided to revert to the previous software. I’m not particularly technical, even now, after over fifteen years working on this stuff, but the old product – even with the upgrade it’s undergone and the development being undertaken by the vendor – is so old-fashioned that I’m appalled at the decision. I don’t get to do anything more than that about it, though, just sort of gape in awe at the decision and then get on with the work of helping put things back the way they were. Nevertheless, the project can now only be said to have been a failure, so that’s two.
And hence the job-search. The old database is, essentially, non-commercial. As such, working on it puts me into a bad position. I can only continue to present a valid hiring profile to any prospective employer if my c.v. reflects a background in commercially viable product implementation and development. In-house stuff can’t ever do that, even if I’m using MS-Access, because the business world has moved beyond that kind of data handling solution. Even Microsoft is moving away from supporting the use of Access as anything more than a way for home PC users to catalog their CD collections. And IBM? Well, they haven’t been much of a player in the software market from a very long time ago now, and that’s were we’re heading, so it’s even further off the mainstream.
I’ll do what I can to help, because I’m a good boy, a committed employee in a organization that fosters positive relationships with its staff, but the first good prospect that comes along is going to get a hard sell from me. Meanwhile, I’ll work on my disgruntlement.
Once upon a time I thought I’d be a writer and support myself working in publishing. What a cliché. The publisher I worked for taught me to use PC’s, back when PC’s were only just entering the business market and were just past the stage where floppy disks were seven inches in diameter. This translated into a much different career, one I’ve enjoyed a lot over the years, even though I’ve ever been as technically skilled as many people assume I am. I’ve always known just enough to get by, but always learned just a little more as the jobs or job requirements have changed over the years. But one thing I’ve sort of been (perhaps unduly) proud of is that I’ve never worked on a failed project. Now I’ve worked on two. Do I feel a little like a Jonah? Yeah, but I shouldn’t.
The job before this one, the project failed on a number of counts: we ran through a five-year budget in less than two years; we weren’t allowed to have the kind of client contact necessary to understand their specific needs or to persuade them that the project would succeed let alone be of any benefit to them; the company got taken over and the new upper management team were sceptical of the benefits and aghast at the waste. The entire project team got canned, and we flooded the market, leaving me and others of us unemployed for some months thereafter, a personal financial debacle we’ve yet to fully recover from.
Now it’s happened again. At least this time I stand to keep my job for a while yet, because the project was actually successful, and we’ve been paying employees on the new database for two years now. Only because some of the payroll staff are dissatisfied with having to do business differently than they used to – well, and because there are some real functional problems with the software that aren’t going to be resolved anytime soon – we’ve decided to revert to the previous software. I’m not particularly technical, even now, after over fifteen years working on this stuff, but the old product – even with the upgrade it’s undergone and the development being undertaken by the vendor – is so old-fashioned that I’m appalled at the decision. I don’t get to do anything more than that about it, though, just sort of gape in awe at the decision and then get on with the work of helping put things back the way they were. Nevertheless, the project can now only be said to have been a failure, so that’s two.
And hence the job-search. The old database is, essentially, non-commercial. As such, working on it puts me into a bad position. I can only continue to present a valid hiring profile to any prospective employer if my c.v. reflects a background in commercially viable product implementation and development. In-house stuff can’t ever do that, even if I’m using MS-Access, because the business world has moved beyond that kind of data handling solution. Even Microsoft is moving away from supporting the use of Access as anything more than a way for home PC users to catalog their CD collections. And IBM? Well, they haven’t been much of a player in the software market from a very long time ago now, and that’s were we’re heading, so it’s even further off the mainstream.
I’ll do what I can to help, because I’m a good boy, a committed employee in a organization that fosters positive relationships with its staff, but the first good prospect that comes along is going to get a hard sell from me. Meanwhile, I’ll work on my disgruntlement.
14 July 2006
Culture Clash
Here’s a question: is it better to travel the world – well, the Asia/Pacific region – and make some serious dough, work on a variety of projects (still within my overall skill set) or continue in my present job for another year or two, working at a place where I feel like I’m part of an organisation dedicated to doing good in the world and where I won’t ever have to do more than ride the trains back and forth between the office and home, won’t learn anything new particularly, but where I’ll always have the kind of work-life balance everyone else only ever talks about supporting? I suppose it isn’t just a question of one or the other; there may be another option later, although it still would fall on the opposite side of the sweet ride I’ve got going now. Next week, in addition to pursuing the job that’s come looking, I’ll interview with another outfit, this time for an in-house leadership role, but one where I’d also branch into other business functions as well as taking up more responsibility. But is that what I want? Ambition’s a funny thing, a drive I can’t say I’ve ever much experienced, preferring safer choices over the last twenty years or so. It’s more been the case that loyalty, that company-man entrenchment, has been my mode: everybody treats everybody right. It doesn’t hold up, if it ever did, really, but I’d still preference a permanent position over being a hired gun. At this time of my life, and with the advantages long-term employment provides in Australia – long service leave, for example – and the disadvantages of short- to mid-term – again, long-service is a good example, which is a stay-10-years-or-give-it-up perq. in many cases (5, where I am, at least in that I’d get paid out for it) – doesn’t sticking it out make sense? Plus, I’m in an “industry superannuation” fund program, which traditionally returns higher rates with lower fees towards my retirement, and that’s not nearly so far off as it seems.
The choice may not, in the end, present itself. These things don’t always pan out, as I learned during my 5-month unemployment stint before landing this job, and sometime fall through even after that all-important second interview. But we’ll see.
Here’s a question: is it better to travel the world – well, the Asia/Pacific region – and make some serious dough, work on a variety of projects (still within my overall skill set) or continue in my present job for another year or two, working at a place where I feel like I’m part of an organisation dedicated to doing good in the world and where I won’t ever have to do more than ride the trains back and forth between the office and home, won’t learn anything new particularly, but where I’ll always have the kind of work-life balance everyone else only ever talks about supporting? I suppose it isn’t just a question of one or the other; there may be another option later, although it still would fall on the opposite side of the sweet ride I’ve got going now. Next week, in addition to pursuing the job that’s come looking, I’ll interview with another outfit, this time for an in-house leadership role, but one where I’d also branch into other business functions as well as taking up more responsibility. But is that what I want? Ambition’s a funny thing, a drive I can’t say I’ve ever much experienced, preferring safer choices over the last twenty years or so. It’s more been the case that loyalty, that company-man entrenchment, has been my mode: everybody treats everybody right. It doesn’t hold up, if it ever did, really, but I’d still preference a permanent position over being a hired gun. At this time of my life, and with the advantages long-term employment provides in Australia – long service leave, for example – and the disadvantages of short- to mid-term – again, long-service is a good example, which is a stay-10-years-or-give-it-up perq. in many cases (5, where I am, at least in that I’d get paid out for it) – doesn’t sticking it out make sense? Plus, I’m in an “industry superannuation” fund program, which traditionally returns higher rates with lower fees towards my retirement, and that’s not nearly so far off as it seems.
The choice may not, in the end, present itself. These things don’t always pan out, as I learned during my 5-month unemployment stint before landing this job, and sometime fall through even after that all-important second interview. But we’ll see.
Personality Crisis
Is this a trend: Qantas’s Jetstar subsidiary wants applicants to pay for the security and personality profiles required to get a job, a cost of AU$89. How about a little something for the HR guy, too? Do you think if palming a fifty across in a handshake will get you a job as an in-flight waiter? I suppose the security clearance is a bit more thorough than just a police check, which is nothing to speak of, but personality tests are, by many accounts, pretty common in Australia, although I’ve yet to have to go through one. Behavioral interviewing is more common, in my experience, and usually conducted by a panel, once you get past the agency recruiter, anyway, and makes sense, more so than the usual 13-question method; where do you see yourself in 5 years isn’t nearly as helpful as eliciting responses to problem-solving scenarios. But paying for it? Do you get the money back if you take up an offer, like when you have a repairman charge for an estimate?
Is this a trend: Qantas’s Jetstar subsidiary wants applicants to pay for the security and personality profiles required to get a job, a cost of AU$89. How about a little something for the HR guy, too? Do you think if palming a fifty across in a handshake will get you a job as an in-flight waiter? I suppose the security clearance is a bit more thorough than just a police check, which is nothing to speak of, but personality tests are, by many accounts, pretty common in Australia, although I’ve yet to have to go through one. Behavioral interviewing is more common, in my experience, and usually conducted by a panel, once you get past the agency recruiter, anyway, and makes sense, more so than the usual 13-question method; where do you see yourself in 5 years isn’t nearly as helpful as eliciting responses to problem-solving scenarios. But paying for it? Do you get the money back if you take up an offer, like when you have a repairman charge for an estimate?
13 July 2006
Surprise, No Surprise
Paul Simon’s latest, Surprise was something I think I heard about first from Jason Kottke and had been simmering away as something I had to hear for a while now, mainly for what seemed, after Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints, a natural collaboration with Brian Eno. But while Eno provides well-integrated “soundscapes,” the songs are (just) Paul Simon pop songs, with little of the world music expansiveness of those other albums. Yes, the lyrics are, as always, high-literary, if not outright poetic, and that line about the Golden Retriever poster in “Father and Daughter” made me smile outright, as I’m sure it was intended to, and the music is very good, but that doesn’t make it the same kind of breakthrough Graceland was, but more of a return to form with Eno-ambiance. What I really should have done was listen more carefully in the first place over at paulsimon.com, or, if an Eno project was really my goal, explore more of The Long Now. But I don’t really regret the purchase; Paul Simon’s in good form, and I’ll enjoy listening to this again.
Paul Simon’s latest, Surprise was something I think I heard about first from Jason Kottke and had been simmering away as something I had to hear for a while now, mainly for what seemed, after Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints, a natural collaboration with Brian Eno. But while Eno provides well-integrated “soundscapes,” the songs are (just) Paul Simon pop songs, with little of the world music expansiveness of those other albums. Yes, the lyrics are, as always, high-literary, if not outright poetic, and that line about the Golden Retriever poster in “Father and Daughter” made me smile outright, as I’m sure it was intended to, and the music is very good, but that doesn’t make it the same kind of breakthrough Graceland was, but more of a return to form with Eno-ambiance. What I really should have done was listen more carefully in the first place over at paulsimon.com, or, if an Eno project was really my goal, explore more of The Long Now. But I don’t really regret the purchase; Paul Simon’s in good form, and I’ll enjoy listening to this again.
11 July 2006
Dirty Deeds
Once upon a time, the Liberal party leader made a stink about backroom deals over who would lead the Labor party, Bob Hawke or Paul Keating, and when. Hawke took the leadership first and was Prime Minister, and when the time came, he handed the reins over to Keating, who was (by many accounts) a better PM. Having been caught out on having made the same deal 12 years ago with his Treasurer, Howard now says there never was a deal, which makes sense, since he broke it. Howard denies it, of course, but that’s just semantics. Power-sharing deals are made all the time at all levels of government. I know someone who was promised a turn at being mayor of his local council (although, like Liberals at the higher level, apparently, such deals aren’t worth the slimy handshake their founded on, since as soon as the guy he was to replace decided to run for State office, the deal got broken; what’s Howard’s excuse? He was the best candidate to beat Menzies record?) There was a deal, but there was no hard promise, nothing that had to be lived up to. Why Costello has remained loyal can only be guessed, although I’d go with the idea that Howard would have to retire eventually and Pete could be pretty well assured that the rest of the mediocrities on the front bench wouldn’t present much of a challenge to him even then. The Treasurer inevitably has a leg up on the rest in a succession because he’s the one responsible for taxes. Health Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney General Philip Ruddock don’t hold anything like a position with the profile of the Treasurer, and by keeping the front bench alignment the way he has, Howard has effectively assured Costello of the starring role whenever he’s ready to give it up. The only ways that won’t happen, even now, is if the federal party decides the present “scandal” is enough of an embarrassment as to deny primogeniture or if Howard chooses to disinherit Costello.
Once upon a time, the Liberal party leader made a stink about backroom deals over who would lead the Labor party, Bob Hawke or Paul Keating, and when. Hawke took the leadership first and was Prime Minister, and when the time came, he handed the reins over to Keating, who was (by many accounts) a better PM. Having been caught out on having made the same deal 12 years ago with his Treasurer, Howard now says there never was a deal, which makes sense, since he broke it. Howard denies it, of course, but that’s just semantics. Power-sharing deals are made all the time at all levels of government. I know someone who was promised a turn at being mayor of his local council (although, like Liberals at the higher level, apparently, such deals aren’t worth the slimy handshake their founded on, since as soon as the guy he was to replace decided to run for State office, the deal got broken; what’s Howard’s excuse? He was the best candidate to beat Menzies record?) There was a deal, but there was no hard promise, nothing that had to be lived up to. Why Costello has remained loyal can only be guessed, although I’d go with the idea that Howard would have to retire eventually and Pete could be pretty well assured that the rest of the mediocrities on the front bench wouldn’t present much of a challenge to him even then. The Treasurer inevitably has a leg up on the rest in a succession because he’s the one responsible for taxes. Health Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney General Philip Ruddock don’t hold anything like a position with the profile of the Treasurer, and by keeping the front bench alignment the way he has, Howard has effectively assured Costello of the starring role whenever he’s ready to give it up. The only ways that won’t happen, even now, is if the federal party decides the present “scandal” is enough of an embarrassment as to deny primogeniture or if Howard chooses to disinherit Costello.
05 July 2006
Cat Flu
Are viruses getting stronger, or am I getting weaker? Late last week I came home with a bit of a sore throat, and it escalated into full on like-swallowing-a-scouring-pad-past-a-golf-ball and then proceeded through a head full of cotton wool and I’m still only just back to work. Watching the news over the weekend, an announcement came through to warn me of a tough ‘flu season. Right. Tough enough already, and it wasn’t even ‘flu. I suppose it’s too late to get the shot now, but I may have to think about it next year.
Are viruses getting stronger, or am I getting weaker? Late last week I came home with a bit of a sore throat, and it escalated into full on like-swallowing-a-scouring-pad-past-a-golf-ball and then proceeded through a head full of cotton wool and I’m still only just back to work. Watching the news over the weekend, an announcement came through to warn me of a tough ‘flu season. Right. Tough enough already, and it wasn’t even ‘flu. I suppose it’s too late to get the shot now, but I may have to think about it next year.
Dr. Strangelove Rising
There are reports that Iran isn’t so far from developing long-range missiles, even intercontinental, and given North Korea’s potential for selling its offensive WMD technology to anyone who’ll pay, I admit to some trepidation over their tests today, although mainly because threatening George Bush with nukes is as bad a plan as going swimming with an opened artery. The White House has been looking for a good excuse to use America’s nuclear weapons, part and parcel with its calls for the development of an entirely new range, the replacement of the existing equipment, and their use in conventional warfare situations, so it’s just as well the tests were a bust. Nevertheless, in an age we’d thought to have seen the end of the nightmare scenarios, this isn’t helping matters. The calls will be stronger, they’ll be listened to more seriously, and the threat of a bomb being dropped somewhere is now closer than ever. Unfortunately, I think it’ll be us before it’ll be “them” that does the dropping. (Maybe I’m just getting old.)
There are reports that Iran isn’t so far from developing long-range missiles, even intercontinental, and given North Korea’s potential for selling its offensive WMD technology to anyone who’ll pay, I admit to some trepidation over their tests today, although mainly because threatening George Bush with nukes is as bad a plan as going swimming with an opened artery. The White House has been looking for a good excuse to use America’s nuclear weapons, part and parcel with its calls for the development of an entirely new range, the replacement of the existing equipment, and their use in conventional warfare situations, so it’s just as well the tests were a bust. Nevertheless, in an age we’d thought to have seen the end of the nightmare scenarios, this isn’t helping matters. The calls will be stronger, they’ll be listened to more seriously, and the threat of a bomb being dropped somewhere is now closer than ever. Unfortunately, I think it’ll be us before it’ll be “them” that does the dropping. (Maybe I’m just getting old.)
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