I see college students making the same mistakes over and over, so I have to speak up.
Than/then: Then is used for sequential events. Than is used for options.
"I did the lab assignment, then the homework, then took the quiz."
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"
"I'd rather go to the mall than go to school."
Affect/effect: Affect is the verb, effect is usually a noun. A flat tire will affect the handling of your car, or will have an effect on the handling of your car. Effect can also be a verb, meaning to cause or create, as in, "Some people, in order to effect a change in Washington, voted for Obama, but so far it has had no effect."
Their. I'm an English purist, and even though "their" has been used as a singular pronoun of indeterminate sex for almost 500 years, it still sounds wrong to me. I don't like it, and I correct it when I see it.
The use of apostrophes in plurals. This one just plain drives me up a tree in short order. Apostrophes denote missing letters or show possession, NOT plurals.
Calling * an asterik. There's another s in there. It's asteriSk.
Aks, as in "Can I aks you a question?" (I always reply, "you just did"). An axe is used to cut trees. You ask permission to cut the tree down.
Ect. When did our English teachers become so ignorant that they can't teach students that etc. stands for "et cetera" (and so on) in Latin. Who started this "ect" thing? He/she needs to be hauled out and shot in the pencil case.
Complimentary/Complementary: Complimentary means free. ComplEmentary means two things that accent each other, such as "A knife and a fork are complementary utensils."
Stationery/Stationary: I saw an "educated" person misuse this one. A stationery store is where you buy stationery, also known sometimes as a stationer. The store itself, since it does not move, is stationary.
The -able/-ible suffixes. The rule I remember from grade school is that if it's a verb involving action or motion, its "-able", as in "movable" or "drivable". If it does not directly connote motion, then it's "-ible", as in "collectible" or "legible".
"seperate". Always remember there is "a rat" in the middle of "separate", whether a verb or an adjective.
elementary/alimentary: Alimentary deals with eating and digestion. Everything else is probably elementary.
Me vs. I. One of my former students threw up pictures on Facebook entitled "Ericka and I". This is wrong. Would you say "I" or "Me"? Now put Ericka back in the picture and the answer is the same. "Ericka and me". Ericka and I would be propoer if they were the subject of a sentence, but the implied sentence on the photo caption is "[There are photos of ] Ericka and me."
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Rant du jour - the phone company
I won't mention the phone companies except that it consists of three letters joined by an ampersand and has been around practically since there have been phones.
Whenever I want to pay my bill or ask a question of the company, I have to call up and go through the voice response unit, the VRU.
The company has a problem with this thing in that it cannot understand the plain vanilla Great Midwest Accent, you know, the one that all the anchors speak on the news, that is spoken from Ohio to Kansas, etc., the American accent that is the lack of an accent. I don't have a speech impediment, but I cannot understand why the stupid thing cannot understand when I say "414" it hears "404". I've tried talking in a normal tone of voice, I've tried enunciating. To no avail. Sooner or later my accent throws the stupid thing off and I end up getting connected to a person.
Then they charge ME $5 because THEIR machine doesn't work!
I've complained and complained to the person at the other end. They always say they'll pass it along, but nothing ever happens. And now I know why. Remember that $5 charge to talk to a person?
If AT&T (oops!) has a VRU that doesn't work worth a damn, why would they fix it? That would cost money (but their programmers are on salary, right?) and then they'd lose out on all those $5 charges when people DON'T have to talk to a real live person (and they're paying those people whether the phone rings or not, right?)
I guess their attitude is showing: We're the phone company and we will because we can!
It's time for me to vote with my feet and get someone whose VRU can understand a Midwest accent. I've about had enough of lousy service.
Whenever I want to pay my bill or ask a question of the company, I have to call up and go through the voice response unit, the VRU.
The company has a problem with this thing in that it cannot understand the plain vanilla Great Midwest Accent, you know, the one that all the anchors speak on the news, that is spoken from Ohio to Kansas, etc., the American accent that is the lack of an accent. I don't have a speech impediment, but I cannot understand why the stupid thing cannot understand when I say "414" it hears "404". I've tried talking in a normal tone of voice, I've tried enunciating. To no avail. Sooner or later my accent throws the stupid thing off and I end up getting connected to a person.
Then they charge ME $5 because THEIR machine doesn't work!
I've complained and complained to the person at the other end. They always say they'll pass it along, but nothing ever happens. And now I know why. Remember that $5 charge to talk to a person?
If AT&T (oops!) has a VRU that doesn't work worth a damn, why would they fix it? That would cost money (but their programmers are on salary, right?) and then they'd lose out on all those $5 charges when people DON'T have to talk to a real live person (and they're paying those people whether the phone rings or not, right?)
I guess their attitude is showing: We're the phone company and we will because we can!
It's time for me to vote with my feet and get someone whose VRU can understand a Midwest accent. I've about had enough of lousy service.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wisdom of my father
My dad was a smartass sometimes, always one to tell a tall tale, but he was honest as the day is long. He'd pull your leg in a heartbeat though. Here's some stuff I learned from him:
As long as the number of days you hate getting up for your job don't outnumber the number of days you either like going to work or at least don't mind it, you're in the right place.
If you want to know your importance to the company, ask for two weeks off one week before you need it. If you can get it, you're not very essential, are you?
If want to find an easier way to do something, hire a lazy man. (I don't necessarily agree with that one)
The man who owns a home and says he has nothing to do is either lazy, crazy, or a liar. I will add "Or he can afford to pay someone to do it for him."
If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing once (and correctly).
The only man who never failed never tried anything. I got so sick of hearing that one when I was in my teens.
Respect is worth more than money, and your word is worth more than respect.
Know yourself and your morals and stick to them.
Monday is a rotten way to spend one-seventh of your life.
The worst thing about mornings is that they come so early in the day.
And my dad's response to my brother when he asked why my dad never went ice-fishing, "By the time it's warm enough for me to go fishing, there's no ice left."
As long as the number of days you hate getting up for your job don't outnumber the number of days you either like going to work or at least don't mind it, you're in the right place.
If you want to know your importance to the company, ask for two weeks off one week before you need it. If you can get it, you're not very essential, are you?
If want to find an easier way to do something, hire a lazy man. (I don't necessarily agree with that one)
The man who owns a home and says he has nothing to do is either lazy, crazy, or a liar. I will add "Or he can afford to pay someone to do it for him."
If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing once (and correctly).
The only man who never failed never tried anything. I got so sick of hearing that one when I was in my teens.
Respect is worth more than money, and your word is worth more than respect.
Know yourself and your morals and stick to them.
Monday is a rotten way to spend one-seventh of your life.
The worst thing about mornings is that they come so early in the day.
And my dad's response to my brother when he asked why my dad never went ice-fishing, "By the time it's warm enough for me to go fishing, there's no ice left."
Friday, July 24, 2009
My hints for a successful job search
I was out on the Craigslist world political forum sharing my latest good fortune (back to work in the morning!) and started throwing around my ideas for a successful job search. It's not about so much about the job search, I realized, but about being successful in your career and between jobs. So here are my hints, in no particular order.
1) Get on LinkedIn. Join groups. That's where job offers are let out, not that it's done me any immediate good, but you won't find them in your inbox.
2) If you go to a business party or pink slip party, whatever, don't get sloshed. The loser says "I'll never see these people again." The winner says "Every one of these people is a possible network contact and future friend."
3) Don't piss people off. Life is easier that way.
4) Nobody likes a smartass.
5) Know your values. If you're scrupulously honest like me, a job as a salesman is NOT in the cards. Salesmen don't lie, they just don't tell you the answer unless you ask the right questions.
6) Have a "brand". Mine is "I solve your unsolvable problems." I haven't met one yet I couldn't fix.
7) Don't diss the boss. Word gets around about who the good and difficult employees are. Bosses talk. Trust me on this. You gossip, so do they.
8) Don't be afraid to toot your own horn. Nobody else will.
9) Fellow unemployed people are not only possible contacts, they're also competition if they're in your field. People with your exact skills are competition. My view: your best bet is a guy who has similar skills, but you're different enough that you're not directly competing. A person with complementary skills is your best bet.
10) Above all, do NOTHING to lose your self-respect. No jobs is worth not being able to face yourself in the morning. If you have to, start searching. If you've already started, intensify your search.
11) Be modest. Nobody likes a guy who steals credit from other people. Pay compliments all around. If you scored the winning idea, pay credit to the guy who inspired your idea. Your co-workers will respect you for it (if they don't, see rule 11 [sic]). It shows you can work with others, give back, and be inspired by others.
12) Inspire success by actions, not by words.
13) Raise the bar. If you set your expectations of others too low, people will lower themselves to them. On the other hand, don't set them so high that they're unattainable. People won't work toward a goal that they see is unreachable.
My only commentary is on #13. My son's violin teacher has 3rd graders playing high school-level music in the orchestra. He doesn't tell them it's too advanced for them. He shows them the tricky spots and how to get over them. He expects a lot, and he usually gets it.
Other than that, a lot of this is just "be nice to people" in one flavor or another. People weren't nice to me from 6th through 12th grade, and I've never forgotten it. It takes 2 hours to win a customer, but 5 seconds to lose one. I guess a lot of this is variations on a theme, to use the musical term.
1) Get on LinkedIn. Join groups. That's where job offers are let out, not that it's done me any immediate good, but you won't find them in your inbox.
2) If you go to a business party or pink slip party, whatever, don't get sloshed. The loser says "I'll never see these people again." The winner says "Every one of these people is a possible network contact and future friend."
3) Don't piss people off. Life is easier that way.
4) Nobody likes a smartass.
5) Know your values. If you're scrupulously honest like me, a job as a salesman is NOT in the cards. Salesmen don't lie, they just don't tell you the answer unless you ask the right questions.
6) Have a "brand". Mine is "I solve your unsolvable problems." I haven't met one yet I couldn't fix.
7) Don't diss the boss. Word gets around about who the good and difficult employees are. Bosses talk. Trust me on this. You gossip, so do they.
8) Don't be afraid to toot your own horn. Nobody else will.
9) Fellow unemployed people are not only possible contacts, they're also competition if they're in your field. People with your exact skills are competition. My view: your best bet is a guy who has similar skills, but you're different enough that you're not directly competing. A person with complementary skills is your best bet.
10) Above all, do NOTHING to lose your self-respect. No jobs is worth not being able to face yourself in the morning. If you have to, start searching. If you've already started, intensify your search.
11) Be modest. Nobody likes a guy who steals credit from other people. Pay compliments all around. If you scored the winning idea, pay credit to the guy who inspired your idea. Your co-workers will respect you for it (if they don't, see rule 11 [sic]). It shows you can work with others, give back, and be inspired by others.
12) Inspire success by actions, not by words.
13) Raise the bar. If you set your expectations of others too low, people will lower themselves to them. On the other hand, don't set them so high that they're unattainable. People won't work toward a goal that they see is unreachable.
My only commentary is on #13. My son's violin teacher has 3rd graders playing high school-level music in the orchestra. He doesn't tell them it's too advanced for them. He shows them the tricky spots and how to get over them. He expects a lot, and he usually gets it.
Other than that, a lot of this is just "be nice to people" in one flavor or another. People weren't nice to me from 6th through 12th grade, and I've never forgotten it. It takes 2 hours to win a customer, but 5 seconds to lose one. I guess a lot of this is variations on a theme, to use the musical term.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Can it really be 40 years?
Forty years ago tonight, I sat in front of a radio listening to Neil Armstrong descending the Eagle to the surface of Mare Tranquilitatis, Sea of Tranquility, on the moon. Much has been written since then, and much will be written in the future of man's first steps onto an extraterrestrial body. Barring some huge disaster, we will eventually set foot on Mars; by even the most modest predictions back in the 1970s, that should have happened 20 years ago.
I won't sit and moan over what could have, or should have been. I will say only that NASA, and especially a group of roughly 35 men over the course 10 years, fired the imagination of a generation of boys (and some girls) to look outward beyond our own world and see the entire solar system as their own to conquer.
Someday we will get there, but it won't be this year or next. Even I may not live to see it, but I hope to at least live long enough to see mankind set foot on Mars.
I look at this way: creating life is a function of the universe. We may find evidence of past life on Mars, we may even find evidence of present life on Mars. I am almost certain we will find life on Europa, Callisto, Iapetus, and maybe even Titan. Indeed, I would think of Titan as the most likely home of something that may be recognizable as life, although in that environment it would have to breathe methane and eat rock (or something with oxides) to be anything remotely like our carbohydrate-based life. This life, of course, would have to be radically different from the 20 amino acids common to all life on Earth. They would have to have far lower activation temperatures. The discovery of extremophiles on Earth has given me confidence that I can make these predictions and feel relatively safe about them. Creatures live on this planet where we would be parboiled and/or crushed into jelly. Why can't life exist where it's much colder?
I won't sit and moan over what could have, or should have been. I will say only that NASA, and especially a group of roughly 35 men over the course 10 years, fired the imagination of a generation of boys (and some girls) to look outward beyond our own world and see the entire solar system as their own to conquer.
Someday we will get there, but it won't be this year or next. Even I may not live to see it, but I hope to at least live long enough to see mankind set foot on Mars.
I look at this way: creating life is a function of the universe. We may find evidence of past life on Mars, we may even find evidence of present life on Mars. I am almost certain we will find life on Europa, Callisto, Iapetus, and maybe even Titan. Indeed, I would think of Titan as the most likely home of something that may be recognizable as life, although in that environment it would have to breathe methane and eat rock (or something with oxides) to be anything remotely like our carbohydrate-based life. This life, of course, would have to be radically different from the 20 amino acids common to all life on Earth. They would have to have far lower activation temperatures. The discovery of extremophiles on Earth has given me confidence that I can make these predictions and feel relatively safe about them. Creatures live on this planet where we would be parboiled and/or crushed into jelly. Why can't life exist where it's much colder?
Sunday, July 19, 2009
As a follow-up to the Article 90 post...
I saw the Columbus paper site had a new article on Obama, linked through drudgereport.com. It seems now a former general and a lieutenant colonel (two steps from general) have joined the suit suing over Obama's alleged non-citizenship. I posted a piece at 11:50 AM on Sunday stating why everyone was wrong about the birth certificate, called it a conspiracy, and otherwise insulted no one. My writing was removed for being "abusive". Why? Because I didn't go along with the predetermined theory? Because I disagreed with 99% of the posters? Because I quoted the chapter of law that pertains and explained my understanding of it?
Why do we have the freaking Internet if people (sheeple?) refuse to use it to its potential and insist on remaining willfully ignorant of the law? We have the greatest research tool known to man and people gather in herds bleating "birth certificate....birth certificate", like it's a holy mantra or something.
Read the effing law instead of remaining with the ignorant herd!
8 USC 1401. Google "citizenship law" and you'll get the same thing. Don't take MY word for it (I'm not a lawyer). Try it yourself! Read the law and you'll understand my anger at peoples' willfull ignorance. There's no excuse for it.
Why do we have the freaking Internet if people (sheeple?) refuse to use it to its potential and insist on remaining willfully ignorant of the law? We have the greatest research tool known to man and people gather in herds bleating "birth certificate....birth certificate", like it's a holy mantra or something.
Read the effing law instead of remaining with the ignorant herd!
8 USC 1401. Google "citizenship law" and you'll get the same thing. Don't take MY word for it (I'm not a lawyer). Try it yourself! Read the law and you'll understand my anger at peoples' willfull ignorance. There's no excuse for it.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Summer of my Discontent
Yeah, I ripped off the title. So what? I changed the season at least.
Once again after yet another consulting assignment I find myself unemployed in the midst of a recession. They loved me, but did I get a permanent job out of it? That wasn't in the cards. This was a project, so I bear no animosity to the client company. That's business. It's just lousy timing...again.
In my opinion this is the same recession that started in 2000 or thereabouts. As far as I'm concerned they never cleaned up the rot in the economy from the first recession; Greenspan only swept the dirt under the rug with lower interest rates. That kicked off a housing boom (but little else) and here we are 9 years later. It took the Wizard of Wall Street a few years, but he finally admitted he screwed the pooch.
I'm earning less now than I was 10 years ago. IT, which is my field, never recovered from the last recession, at least in the experience of the rates I was commanding. So I'm wondering how those knobs in Washington, District of Corruption, ever figured that the recession was over. Yeah, economic indicators...they trumpeted the rise in the number of jobs. I've been saying for years they need to change that indicator.
What's worth more to the economy? 10,000,000 jobs paying $10,000 a year or 1,000,000 jobs paying $100,000 a year? They're worth the same amount of money, but the government would have us believe that the 10,000,000 jobs number is way better than 1,000,000. With the government's number, we have 10,000,000 workers living in extreme poverty getting Earned Income Credit on their taxes (which is essentially free money; I know, I got some in years past), whereas with the second we have 1,000,000 people paying about 35%-40% of their wages in taxes. Which is better for the IRS?
An article I caught quoted in a newsgroup from the San Jose Mercury along about 2003 said that of those laid off from Silicon Valley, most had found jobs again. Yeah, 60% of them were working in the "hospitality/entertainment" arena, meaning they were chambermaids, front desk clerks, bellhops, or hosts or wiaters at Chuck E. Cheese. I'm sure that pays almost as well as their former jobs in Silicon Valley. NOT!
All I'm saying is I can't wait for this recession to be over, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Maybe it's just my mood today, but I think the best years of my career are already behind me, and I have 21 years to go yet. Every time a recession ends, I end up poorer. I don't see that pattern changing this time. The dollar's sinking in long-term value, the Chinese and Russians are calling for the end of the dollar as an international reserve currency (they know something we don't?), and I'm just generally not optimistic. The only raises beyond inflation rate I've ever gotten are from job-hopping; every company said they couldn't afford raises due to economic conditions, etc. Meanwhile I busted my keister in college and earned two degrees, and for what? Nothing that I can see except a mountain of debt I didn't need at 46.
I'm just bitter, sore, disappointed, and not in a good mood. I hope it passes.
I like to be useful, so this current stint of unemployment is killing me. It's not that I'm worried about losing my apartment or anything. I consider that just a matter of time at this point. It just kills me to get up in the morning with no targets, no options, no new jobs posted on the job boards (they're all retreads of past stuff I've been rejected from already or stuff I'm not qualified for), and no accomplishments. I wanted to go into business for myself, but I can't get a website, I can get a host for my website, I have no potential clients, and I can't even afford cardstock to print my own business cards! Holy Hell, this is killing me!
Discontent? Yeah, bordering on rage at my circumstances, but to whom/at what to rage?
Once again after yet another consulting assignment I find myself unemployed in the midst of a recession. They loved me, but did I get a permanent job out of it? That wasn't in the cards. This was a project, so I bear no animosity to the client company. That's business. It's just lousy timing...again.
In my opinion this is the same recession that started in 2000 or thereabouts. As far as I'm concerned they never cleaned up the rot in the economy from the first recession; Greenspan only swept the dirt under the rug with lower interest rates. That kicked off a housing boom (but little else) and here we are 9 years later. It took the Wizard of Wall Street a few years, but he finally admitted he screwed the pooch.
I'm earning less now than I was 10 years ago. IT, which is my field, never recovered from the last recession, at least in the experience of the rates I was commanding. So I'm wondering how those knobs in Washington, District of Corruption, ever figured that the recession was over. Yeah, economic indicators...they trumpeted the rise in the number of jobs. I've been saying for years they need to change that indicator.
What's worth more to the economy? 10,000,000 jobs paying $10,000 a year or 1,000,000 jobs paying $100,000 a year? They're worth the same amount of money, but the government would have us believe that the 10,000,000 jobs number is way better than 1,000,000. With the government's number, we have 10,000,000 workers living in extreme poverty getting Earned Income Credit on their taxes (which is essentially free money; I know, I got some in years past), whereas with the second we have 1,000,000 people paying about 35%-40% of their wages in taxes. Which is better for the IRS?
An article I caught quoted in a newsgroup from the San Jose Mercury along about 2003 said that of those laid off from Silicon Valley, most had found jobs again. Yeah, 60% of them were working in the "hospitality/entertainment" arena, meaning they were chambermaids, front desk clerks, bellhops, or hosts or wiaters at Chuck E. Cheese. I'm sure that pays almost as well as their former jobs in Silicon Valley. NOT!
All I'm saying is I can't wait for this recession to be over, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Maybe it's just my mood today, but I think the best years of my career are already behind me, and I have 21 years to go yet. Every time a recession ends, I end up poorer. I don't see that pattern changing this time. The dollar's sinking in long-term value, the Chinese and Russians are calling for the end of the dollar as an international reserve currency (they know something we don't?), and I'm just generally not optimistic. The only raises beyond inflation rate I've ever gotten are from job-hopping; every company said they couldn't afford raises due to economic conditions, etc. Meanwhile I busted my keister in college and earned two degrees, and for what? Nothing that I can see except a mountain of debt I didn't need at 46.
I'm just bitter, sore, disappointed, and not in a good mood. I hope it passes.
I like to be useful, so this current stint of unemployment is killing me. It's not that I'm worried about losing my apartment or anything. I consider that just a matter of time at this point. It just kills me to get up in the morning with no targets, no options, no new jobs posted on the job boards (they're all retreads of past stuff I've been rejected from already or stuff I'm not qualified for), and no accomplishments. I wanted to go into business for myself, but I can't get a website, I can get a host for my website, I have no potential clients, and I can't even afford cardstock to print my own business cards! Holy Hell, this is killing me!
Discontent? Yeah, bordering on rage at my circumstances, but to whom/at what to rage?
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