Saturday....

Well, Saturday wasn’t quite as productive ‘truck-wise’ as I’d hoped. Between the sun, heat and humidity it was sort of like work outside for an hour, come inside, cool down for 40 minutes or so, and then go back out.

My friend Rick came by and did help me break the truck bed the rest of the way down. So now it’s in pieces that I can manage on my own. I’ll bet most of you didn’t know that a truck bed (at least on this Chevy) is actually several separate pieces that are bolted together. There are seven pieces in all; the bed, two sides, two fender wells, the front panel and the tailgate. With it broken apart I can move it pretty much by myself now. Together it requires about four people to move.

Of course after we’d torn the bed down, we had to come inside and cool down with a couple of cold beers, while we entertained my wife with stories from the jobs. Rick is working for PHE, better known to the world as ‘Adam & Eve’. As a guy in his mid-20’s, it’s interesting to hear his take on life inside that company. Definitely a world away from the culture where I’m working! We had a nice couple of hours just laughing and talking about the ‘contract’ life.

Rick used to work with me at the last ‘regular job’ I had, so he’s got some interesting thoughts on the differences, and we had a pretty good time.

Later in the day, our ‘adopted’ daughter Nina came by as well. ‘Adopted’ as in she used to date my step-son, but they split up, and she’s continued to come by and be a part of our family. My wife and I are very glad she has, as we always enjoy her company when she stops by!

She’s been on the island of St. John in the Caribbean for the past month. Nina took a job working in a restaurant there in exchange for room and board. She got home Friday night, and stopped by yesterday to fill us in on her trip. She looked great, all tanned, rested and relaxed; we should all look that good!

I’ve got to tell you, working mornings serving up breakfast, getting out of work at 11:30am and having the rest of the day to hang on the beach and party sounds like a pretty good deal to me!! Hopefully she’ll bring some pics today when she comes over for the BBQ and I can share a few here!

I’m heading back out to the shop in a little bit, the plan for the remainder of the weekend, besides a good deal of relaxing, is to get the truck itself outside, pressure wash, sandblast, treat the underside of the bed and get it moved inside.

Once that’s done, (next week) I can begin to finish up the work on the fender wells and the bed surface (the part you’d see when it’s finished) and begin the re-assembly process.

I think that’s a goal that’s attainable, if I just plug away, and avoid getting ‘overheated’, which was really a problem yesterday.

On the down side, my bike is really becoming a problem. I thought the battery was the problem, but after charging it fully, and still having problems getting it to turn over I’m pretty sure either the primary ground cable is bad, or worse yet I’ve got a starter problem. Once I get the truck out of the garage, and have a little room to work, I’ll be able to tear into that issue as well.

I’ve really missed being able to ride it so far this summer, and had expected to take a ride late yesterday afternoon. If it’s the starter, I’m seriously considering taking to the local shop as I’ve got so much else on my plate right now. If I do, it would be the first time in my life I’d let a ‘shop’ work on one of my bikes after the warranty had expired. I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to do that!!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!

And today, a star again....

Late on Friday, one of the mainframe programmers came to my cubicle and asked me if I could populate a file in the DB2 databases. This was a totally unexpected event. The request was from the same woman who’d made the breakthrough in ‘data-matching’ I mentioned yesterday.

This was just one further testament (in my eyes) to her commitment to being a team player. There are far too few, truly team players, in the corporate world today. Most folks, especially those from the mainframe vs. PC side of things would rather die than admit it might be simpler to ask someone from the ‘other side’ to help out.

Then again, this organization, and especially this team in particular, are all about being a team. I credit a lot of this to the manager, but a good degree of credit has also got to go to the members of the team as well. The ‘we are a team’ mentality is certainly fostered, and supported, in the way our manager involves all of us in projects. As the saying goes though, “you can lead a horse to water”… What happens next is up to the horse!!

I’m going to spend a few minutes on Monday, getting a mainframe connection from home and writing a short little procedure to populate this database, so that, on Tuesday morning, she’ll just be able to go back to work on her portion of the project. It’ll probably take most of the day to run it over the internet though… so I’ll let you all know how it turns out!

That’s it for now… I’m headed outside, into the heat and humidity, to get back to work on the truck. The goals for today are to finish disassembling the truck bed, move the ‘truck’ outside, and then move the bed and doors back into the garage so I can work inside (out of the sun) on them. When they’re done, I’ll move them all back outside, and drag the truck back in to pull the motor and transmission out for the ‘overhaul’.

If the weather holds out, and my friends show up to help, I’ll post some pics later of the process.

Directions….

Interestingly enough, it’s beginning to feel like I may have worked myself out of a job, again. Let me explain.

Contract jobs are usually targeted on two fronts by the client, duration (as in time/hours) and the project, or projects they want completed. Those of you who’ve been reading here a while may recall that this job started out as a little 6 week job, last November. About a month ago they extended my contract, again, this time though the end of this year.

This week however, I’ve finished virtually everything they've given me to do. I’ve been in high gear, primarily to clear my plate for the testing phase of the customer data/D&B sync up. Yesterday, one of the full time employees here may have made my assistance in that process redundant, as a result of some great work on her part.

As many of you also know, we’ve been experimenting with a number of ‘String Comparator’ techniques in an attempt to up the percentage of records we’d be able to machine match. Well this week she began the front end work on the process that would eventually incorporate my work.

One of the items in our plan was to apply the existing Name and address standards to the data initially, make as many ‘natural matches’ as possible, and then work on the remaining layers. When she finished applying the standardization process, a full 50% of the records matched, another 25% had only a name difference with identical street, city, state and Zip code matches, another 12% had only a street address difference with identical Company names, city. State and Zip.

With well over 80% of the file machine matching according to the rules the industry established for this process, there’s not much need for all the additional work to incorporate that comparator code. (Although that still leaves somewhere in the vacinity of 50-70,000 records unmatched) So, with that dramatic shift in direction, I asked my project manager what she’d like me to focus on, next week, while she’s on vacation.

Her response? “I don’t care what you work on next week, we’ll talk when I get back”.

I suppose I could take that two ways; first, she’s got to have a little time to find a place to ‘slot me in’ as she too had me pretty booked up, or, second, she honestly has no idea how she’s going to justify continuing the contract at this point.

Funny the difference, a day, and one run through a few hundred thousand data records can mean.

Also, for what it’s worth, I think this other programmer did a great job, and did exactly the right thing by taking her results up the chain here. It may not be the best thing for me, on a personal level, but, it’s certainly the right thing to do for the company! She’s got real skills, and is an excellent ‘outside the box’ thinker. It’s her influence has been a big part of what’s really helped push this project along and I’m happy she got this win!

I’m hopeful (aren’t I always?) that they’ll just hand me some more work they hadn’t mentioned yet as they didn’t feel I’d have time for it now. I do know my manager would like to see the company make me an offer for a permanent job, as she’s mentioned it several times. I suppose this shift could speed that process up, or end it altogether; I guess I’ll find out in a week or so.

I do have this Hummingbird ‘object model’ thing to work on, it needs to be done, but it is such a screwed up model, and so not ready for use with much except Visual Basic. I’m going to let that project rattle around in my head this weekend, along with some beer, Bondo dust and paint fumes and see what I come up with!

Just another day in the roller coaster ride that’s my career. Feast or famine it seems. I’ve gotten pretty good at taking it all in stride. I’d love for this gig to continue, contract or FTE (Full Time Employee). On the other hand, it could be time to take a month off, do some writing, thrash on the truck and let the placement folks earn their money….

Besides, it’s almost Friday… a long Holiday weekend approaching… and worrying isn’t going to change a thing… It will be, what ever it’s going to be, that I’m sure of. The other thing I’m sure of, is I’ll roll with it, whatever it is.

Little things…..

I was in a meeting today, and got a fairly nice compliment from the folks there, on my work in another project I’d recently finished.

I mention this, because, in my professional experience, it’s a pretty rare event. As a contract programmer, I’m expected to deliver, that’s why I’m there. I’ve grown so very accustomed to not hearing “thank you’s” or compliments in general, that this sort of took me by surprise.

I’ve mentioned before that the team I’m working with on this contract has been great, and my project manager has said many nice things. But this was an entirely different group, and the kind words had been conveyed to them, by a person using an application I’d recently reworked.

I found it more than a little ironic, that, shortly after writing a post about no one noticing our efforts, only the mistakes, that I’d have this experience. (or is that Karma?)

So I’ve been reflecting on it, a bit, this evening. I had to think back to 1993, to think of another project I was on where they felt compliments were as important as critique.

There are some parallels between that environment, and this one, for sure. That contract was for a project where we were developing software for convenience stores. Nearly all the people there were either developers, planners, or a bit of both. The focus was on the application, getting it developed and deployed. They weren’t building a long overdue application for a ‘business need’. Instead, we were building a product.

The organization I’m currently contracted to, while not ‘reselling’ the software it develops, does deploy it for use in an entire industry, and garners a revenue stream from its use. The software is an integral component of their service architecture.

So, in essence, in both situations the software is a product, not a ‘tool’.

The work environments are similar as well. In the 1993 shop, I felt almost like I was on a college campus. We were encouraged to talk, toss ideas around and use the best solutions we could come up with to complete whatever section we were working on.

One of the little things that impressed me immediately at my current gig is the work area configuration. In each ‘quad’ of cubicles, in the middle, is a table large enough for four people to sit and have an impromptu ‘meeting’. They also try to place people near others doing similar, or complimentary jobs. This too encourages interaction, discussion, and in my mind, a better overall result.

I wonder though, is it me? Have I just been unfortunate enough to have only worked in a handful of really well run operations, or are most companies just poorly organized and run by folks who have no clue when it comes to real productivity gains?

There’s a different ‘pace’ to both this place and the 1993 gig as well. There are often tight deadlines, but not one on top of another, in an endless stream of ‘needed it yesterday’ thinking. There’s planning, vision, foresight and a recognition that all plans are flawed and need to remain fluid. The focus then is that we need to be building today, what the clients will need, a year, or further, in the future.

I’m sure there’s a lot more in common as well, but I don’t really want to dwell there.

At this point I’m just fairly amazed, that in 20 plus years, several hundred clients, (over a thousand actually if you count all of the off site ‘spec’ development I’ve done) and a dozen employers, that only two stand out to me as really well run operations.

Maybe I see them as well run because they suit my particular style? I can’t dismiss that as part of it, but I don’t see it as all of it. I’ve been comfortable nearly everywhere, and enjoyed most jobs, or contracts regardless of the corporate culture, as long as I got to do, the voodoo I do, and got paid.

It’s possible, that at this stage in my career I ‘see’ more now, than I did say a decade ago, that the quality of the workplace, and my work, is more important to me now, than just having work. (But don’t think for a moment I wouldn’t work in the worst place I’d ever been, if it came down to it, because I would!)

Or, is it that I’m finally mature enough (dare I say old enough?) to actually appreciate it now?

Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know, is that I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had, the experiences, so, that right now, I’m aware that I’m working one of the best gigs I’ve ever had. It’s making the experience that much richer for me. I know for sure, that back in ’93, I did not have this point of reference and as a result didn’t enjoy that one as fully as I could have.

So I guess the point of this ramble is…. Take the time to look at where you are, and if you find yourself in a good spot, appreciate it. If on the other hand, you don’t, take comfort in the fact that there are in fact, better spots down the road and just keep moving forward.

Driven to the edge... of what?

I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘driven’ man, in fact I often lament the fact I don’t have more drive. That I don’t get more done, accomplish more, try more things, that I never seem to have enough time.

Lately, well for a few years now, I’ve also felt, well, older. I don’t have the energy I once did that’s for sure, I’ve written lately about some of the things I’ve done. I didn’t mention though, that back then, a sixteen hour day was not unusual, in fact it was pretty common.

All along I’ve been thinking that somewhere, something in me changed, that I’d lost the edge.

Then today, Spirit of Owl types this in a comment:

"If I don't do this, it'll be ok, and maybe nobody will even know... except me!"

That just about sums me up. In everything I attempt and especially those things I work on alone, that phrase, or one almost exactly the same, haunts me. It used to be much worse though, if I ‘cut a corner’ on a project I’d think about it, replay it actually, in my head, attempting to justify the corner I’d cut. In some cases, I didn’t even own the car, truck or house in question any longer.

Eventually, I realized that the only person, the work behind any project really matters to, is the one doing the project. No one cares how many times John Grisham rewrote a paragraph, how many times a story started and dried up on him before he finished it. Folks do care though, about the appearance of the finished product.

You could build a house, one perfectly square, with every stud, rafter and joist exactly 16” on center. The plumbing and electrical systems could be works of art, in and of themselves. The doors, windows, light switches and fixtures perfectly placed. But, if the finish on the drywall is sloppy, or the trim uneven or poorly matched, that is what will be noticed.

I can get lost in the details sometimes, but, I always have a vision. Right now, I can ‘see’ that truck finished. I’m not saying ‘see’ in an abstract sense either, I mean I can close my eyes, concentrate and ‘take a tour’ of that truck. Front to back, top to bottom, from the inside out, or the outside in, 3D and Technicolor. Some folks would say it’s a blessing, some a curse. I’m somewhere in the middle.

The problem is though, because I can see it, I can’t leave things ‘undone’. If you look at the picture where I’ve cut out the panel from the truck bed as an example, there’s some surface rust in there, nothing serious. In fact a wire brush and a shot of undercoating would probably work just fine. In my minds eye however, it’s been sandblasted clean and repainted so it looks as good as, or better than, it did new.

I wonder at times, am I the only one who feels like this? That it just has to be right or I’ll never really be happy with the result? I know now, that there’s at least one other person, Spirit, who at least knows the feeling.

I’ve also got to mention, that Firehawk’s comment on how what he found most interesting were the register marks and writing on the panels:

“The best part of the pictures has to be all the notations drawn on the panels with Sharpies. I liked the guidelines and angle notes and so forth.”

Those took forever to get right. I’m a real believer in, when working with body panels, measure four times, cut once and measure everything again. If this were wood, I could just run down to Lowe’s and get another 2x4. Here, if I cut one time and take too much off, I’m pretty much hosed. A single mistake becomes a geometric increase in the amount of time, and work involved at that point, not too mention the increase in my frustration level.

Then there’s the other problem with this ‘vision’ thing. I’m the only one who can see it. I don’t have the drawing ability of a Chip Foose, so about the only way anyone ever sees one of my visions, is if I actually build it. I tried to explain an idea I have for the graphics to my wife today. I was pretty excited about it and tried to ‘paint a picture with words for her. Just didn’t work.

It kind of reminded me of when we were remodeling this house before we moved in. She had no idea what I had in mind. She just had faith in me, that not only could I think it, I could also do it. I love her for that. For the way she just flat believes in me, not sort of, not half way, full flat out 100 percent committed belief.

Whenever I get discouraged, and believe me I do, she’ll just say to me “Just don’t loose your vision, you’ll get it done, you always do”.

So, to you two guys, thanks for noticing. I know I’ll get this done, eventually, although I keep hoping for sooner rather than later!