Tech in the Trenches

Carl T. Holscher fights for the customers.

Category: Observations Page 39 of 88

Free food and decision making

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On November 10, 2014

In Observations

Steve Jobs wore a black turtle neck with jeans. Mark Zuckerberg wears a gray t-shirt everyday. Their reasons are the same. They don’t have to think about what to wear. They wake up and get dressed. No stressing about what to wear, what’s clean and what it matches. They get up, dress and get on with their day.

Alan Martin bought a 6-week pass to Olive Garden has the right idea when it comes to meals. Man eating nothing but Olive Garden speaks out: “I have not had one meal that was not just perfect”

I hate meal planning. I hate trying to decide on a menu the week before I eat it. Figuring out lunch is more taxing. If there are leftovers, I can take them. If we make a big batch of food during the weekend, there’s plenty for lunches. But most of the time, if we’ve eaten out or not made extra food, I have to decide what to take for lunch.

I’ll buy something either at the cafeteria at work or at a local restaurant but that gets expensive fast. If I think about it, I’ll make a sandwich the night before, or more rarely, the morning before I leave.

If I didn’t have to think about lunch or dinner, I would be in heaven. And while I love food, I can happily eat the same thing everyday. I’ve lived for weeks off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Having multiple jellies and jams helps, but I’m still a creature of habit when it comes to food. I’m too tired to think about what I want to eat. I just want something ready for me. If I had a job where lunch was provided, I would jump at the chance. If there was a platter of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches provided, that’d be perfect. I don’t need gourmet food. Just something to eat and get me through the day.

Alan Martin has taken advantage of this deal, which was only available to 1,000 people. He paid $100 for the card from Olive Garden.

It’s not about the food for him, it’s about the money.

I’m at about $1,600 in value and I’ve got four more days to try to get another couple hundred dollars out of the Olive Garden. Right now, I would really love to get to $1,800. If I could say I collected $1,800 in Olive Garden meals, that is big. I don’t know what city you’re in or anything, but in rural North Carolina, that’s a big deal.

That’s a big deal anywhere you are. And he’s not eaten every single meal he’s picked up.

Last week I was driving by and I stopped at a corner and a man was there, a homeless man with a sign and I said, “Come over here.” And he came over to the car and I opened the door—I’ve got a sliding glass door on my van—and I pushed the button to open the door and I said, “Get that Olive Garden bag. It’s got soup, spaghetti and meatballs, everything you need to have a great meal.” And he was so happy, and he took it and he went over and sat out in the woods and started eating that Olive Garden meal. I felt good about that, helping him.

In addition to handing some of them out, he’s been saving some for later. He’s able to pick up two meals on weekdays and three on the weekends.

I have been freezing some [meals]. I can’t eat ‘em all and they start stacking up in the refrigerator so I vacuum seal ‘em and I’ve got about thirty out there in the freezer that I will eventually eat.

That’s some major food storage and easy meals for later when they don’t feel like cooking or when money is tight.

Last year, during the government shutdown, I took part in Chick Fil-A’s First 100 event. Say what you will about their politics, I camped out at a store opening during October in Maryland. It poured rain on us for most of that time. The rules were we had to stay on the store’s premises but not inside the store (save bathroom use.)

So we huddled in tents and under umbrellas. What did I get out of it? I got three meals from the restaurant for the 24 hours I was camped out there.

But the main attraction was the “free meals for a year.” Which was 52 free meal coupons. This was good for a Chick Fil-A sandwich, waffle fries and a drink.

Then, for the next year my wife and I would walk in to the store, ask for “Two Number 1s” and hand over two coupons. I got a smile on my face watching the $12.xx reduce to nothing with the coupons.

My savings was only about $300. But for the weeks I was out of work, it gave us somewhere to go and get some free food. It was nice to get out of the house and have a meal out that we didn’t have to pay for.

They’re good for a year and we used our last two in September. This is my way of saying I absolutely understand where this guy is coming from and his desire to get as much out of this deal as possible.

I salute you Alan Martin. Collect your meals. Stash them away. Save yourself the money, time and decisions free food can offer.

I Am Mac

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On November 5, 2014

In Observations

Working in tech support for about a decade, I’ve supported Windows-only shops and Mac/Windows shops alike. I’ve worked with techs and in organizations that viewed Macs and their users as pariahs. Something to be dealt with. A necessary evil within their organization.

I’ve seen it in old and young techs alike. I can almost understand it from the older guys. They worked in support when Macs were a pain to support. They worked at a time when supporting a chatty Apple-talk connected Mac caused problems.

They worked in the foreign world of Apple. But those times have changed. Those times are over. Support Macs today is much different than it used to be. I am reminded of this after reading You’re Mac by David “Macsparky” Sparks.

“You’re Mac”

It was interesting because this time his inflection implied my situation was hopeless. It was like a Microsoft-approved version of “I am Groot.” One phrase. Infinite inflections. Clearly, he’d had a lot of practice at saying it.

Macs can play nice with Exchange servers and Active Directory. Macs can speak Samba to access file shares. They can run corporate anti-virus software. Macs are good citizens.

It’s most interesting that David has encountered issues when presenting with Macs. They’ve so easy to work with! I’ve never had a problem with a Mac when presenting. It beats the guessing game of which magical button combination I need to press to get the Dell/Lenovo/IBM/Sony computer to acknowledge the VGA cable plugged into the side of it.

David closes with:

Many (but hardly all) of the IT professionals serving these industries have been far too busy earning Microsoft certifications to pay any attention to Apple and they are not only unhelpful, they can actively lob hand grenades at your attempts to get any work done with your Mac.

I’ve always prided myself on being as fluent with Macs as I am with Windows. It helps me when I work with every customer. It makes me a better technician because I can speak Mac or Windows. I’ve said it before but this is a great time to reiterate. Technical Support Is Customer Service!

The first job of a technician is to help the customer. It doesn’t matter if the customer is someone you see everyday, or someone who has come to your organization from the outside. Especially if that customer is someone from the outside.

That’s the other secret role of tech support no one talks about. People remember their support experiences long after they leave. Just as David recounts these two experiences with poor support, don’t be the reason for someone’s post about poor support.

Support your customers. All your customers. And be that shining example of support for your company. It’s not hard. Just try to help and care about what you’re doing.

50 Shades of Bruise

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On October 31, 2014

In Observations

Jian Ghomeshi beats women. He has tried to play this off as consensual BSDM play. This is not BDSM. Nor is it consensual. There are now 8 women who have come forward with accusations. One of them has publicly told her story and the Toronto Star has been looking into allegations against him since May.

Jian Ghomeshi: 8 women accuse former CBC host of violence, sexual abuse or harassment

Before all of this became news, I saw a tweet linking to a post on Facebook written by Jian Ghomeshi explaining he was wrongly fired from the CBC.

He writes:

Today I was fired from the company where I’ve been working for almost 14 years – stripped from my show, barred from the building and separated from my colleagues. I was given the choice to walk away quietly and to publicly suggest that this was my decision. But I am not going to do that. Because that would be untrue. Because I’ve been fired. And because I’ve done nothing wrong.

I’ve been fired from the CBC because of the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.

He goes on to explain the smear campaign perpetrated against him by a jilted lover. He does not explain the other women who have since come forward with their own tales about his abuse and violence.

Six months ago, I would probably not be telling you about this because I would have had no idea who he was. However, since then I have started listening to NPR whenever I get into the car. And I’ve heard him on Q many times. It was, and still is, a good show I enjoy as part of NPR’s lineup.

There are two parts of this story that need to be told. First, this is not BSDM or any other kink. This is violence. Pure and simple. BSDM relationships are built on trust and love. This is pure violence against women.

Ghomeshi’s friend Owen Pallett took to Facebook and wrote some of his thoughts and says this in so many words.

The beauty of BDSM relationships is that the power is always in the hands of the sub. BDSM and choke play is a subversion of male violence.
To hear that anybody has been abusing the BDSM power relationship for the purpose of engaging in non-consensual violence-against-women is horrifying.
That is not the point of BDSM. BDSM is in fact about the exact opposite thing. It is about repurposing acts of violence into creating a power dynamic of fucking EQUALITY.

The author John Scalzi has some similarly harsh words for Ghomeshi.

  1. It was canny of Mr. Ghomeshi to try to frame his assaults in the context of BDSM, but also disingenuous and false. BDSM is not my thing, but I know a lot of people for whom it is. None of them would see what Mr. Ghomeshi did as something relating to their particular kink. Attacking someone without their consent isn’t about sexual gratification, it’s about the assertion of power — the ability to say “I can do this to you and there’s nothing you can do about it.” And sure, maybe Mr. Ghomeshi got a rise out of that, too. But at the end of the day choking a woman who is not consenting to the experience and saying it’s BDSM is akin to stabbing someone in bar and claiming it was a martial arts test match. Again, BDSM isn’t my thing, but it’s a thing I know enough about to know that what Mr. Ghomeshi was doing wasn’t that.

The next part of this story is a sad tale that gets repeated far too many times. The women here are the victim. It does not matter that he was a radio show personality. It does not matter if they came forward immediately. They were beaten by this man.

Here is Ghomeshi’s friend Owen Pallett again:

But let’s be clear. Whether the court decides that predatory men are punished or exonerated does not silence the voices of the victims. It does not make victims liars.
Whether our culture continues to celebrate the works of predatory men is another issue. It does not silence the voices of the victims.

He ends with.

Jian Ghomeshi is my friend, and Jian Ghomeshi beats women. How our friendship will continue remains to be seen.

We’ve heard this story before. A man is having his life ruined by an ex-lover. OK. So that explains one person. What about the other seven people who have come forward with similar allegations?

This is why women don’t come forward. The burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt they were beaten and attacked is frightening. Then, even if they are able to come forward, they risk not being believed and backlash against them. This is true of someone who is not a media figure with a fan base.

This is true of every woman.

Women should not be afraid to report violence against them.
Women should not have to band together in numbers too large to ignore to report an attack.

One attack is too many.

Dispatch from the Trenches #13

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On October 17, 2014

In Observations

Ebola Vaccine Would Likely Have Been Found By Now If Not For Budget Cuts: NIH Director

“NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001. It’s not like we suddenly woke up and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we should have something ready here,'” Collins told The Huffington Post on Friday. “Frankly, if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would’ve gone through clinical trials and would have been ready.”

Though he cautions this cannot and should not be rushed.

“Sometimes vaccines not only don’t work, they make things worse,” Collins told HuffPost. “Look at the HIV step trial, where that vaccine not only did not protect [against] HIV, it increased susceptibility because it did something to the immune system that made it more vulnerable. That could happen here too.” (The private sector, it should be noted, hasn’t developed an Ebola vaccine for a variety of reasons, primarily financial ones.)

There are limited vaccine human trials underway but it’s going to be a slow process to know whether it works or not.

Why 12-Foot Traffic Lanes Are Disastrous for Safety and Must Be Replaced Now

What would happen if these lanes were reduced to 10-feet wide, as proposed? Three things. First, cars would drive more cautiously. Second, there would be roughly eight feet available on each side of the street for creating protected cycle lanes, buffered by solid curbs. Third, the presence of these bike lanes would make the sidewalks safer to walk along. All in all, an easy, relatively inexpensive win-win-win that DOT could fund tomorrow.

Fascinating case for decreasing lane width to decrease speeds, integrate bike lanes and save lives because of those buffers to pedestrians and cyclists. In addition to decreased speeds being less deadly.

According to a broad collection of studies, a pedestrian hit by a car traveling 30 m.p.h. at the time of impact is between seven and nine times as likely to be killed as one hit by a car traveling 20 m.p.h. This tremendously sharp upward fatality curve means that, at urban motoring speeds, every single mile per hour counts.

Canned: A WWII-Era Community Cannery Hangs on in Rural Virginia – Modern Farmer

This particular cannery opened in 1942, during the World War II “Victory Garden” push to encourage the American public to become more self-sufficient while so much food was being sent to feed soldiers overseas. By the end of the war, according to a 1977 USDA publication, there were more than 3,800 community canneries in the country.

…

Soon after the Victory Garden craze ended, however, modern supermarkets, home freezers, changing tastes and other factors began thinning the cannery ranks. In 2012, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent named Donna Meade found that just 14 community canneries remained in the state, when she wrote her master’s thesis on the topic. (The Keezletown Community Cannery claims to be the last in operation founded during World War II; Modern Farmer couldn’t confirm or refute this, and Meade’s research didn’t focus on the history of any of the other canneries that are still in operation).

My wife is an active canner and preserver of food. It’s a neat process and great for when you find yourself with pounds of cranberries or bushels of apples. There is now fruit leather, apple butter, cranberry/chocolate jam and other delicious things in my house because of my wife’s hard work and interest in preserving. We have local orchards where we could go and pick the raspberries and apples so it cost us very little to create these delicious treats we’ll enjoy for months.

We’ve also canned chicken and pork to have on hand. It came in very handy when the government shut down last year (as they’re threatening to do again this year). Which meant I lost my paycheck for a few weeks. We were still able to eat and live pretty well on the food we had saved and squirreled away. Canning is not just for Mormons, survivalists or doomsday preppers. Canning and food preservation can help you get through a lost job or a bad winter storm.

If you’re interested, you should find out if there’s a local cannery in your area, like this one in Northern Virginia. It’s not a hard very hard nor expensive but it does take time and a fair amount of kitchen space.

Eavesdropping on the Dawn Patrol

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On October 10, 2014

In Observations

Dawn Patrol is a fun, new podcast from the makers of Technical Difficulties, (formerly Generational).

If you want to know what it’s about in 140 characters of less, I’ll let Justin Lancy put it better than I can.

When I was in college, my roommates and I would often have rambling conversations about technology, video games, movies, TV and anywhere the threads of discussion took us. I love this podcast because it captures the random threads created by four friends talking. There’s no editing. No caffeination. No polished presentations. There’s real people having real conversations.

I feel like I’m eavesdropping on their conversation when there’s a new episode released. It’s so much fun and I highly recommend it.

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