In which I discover, I'm NOT Michael Westin

For those of you unfamiliar with the character Michael Westin from the USA tv series Burn Notice, he is a former spy who is burned and thrown out of the spy game forecfully.  The underlying sub plot is him wanting to, for love of country, get back into that game and do what he was born to do.

 

In March, I was laid off from a cutting edge consulting firm, burned essentially.  I've since found another job at a wireless provider doing similar database work, but without a lot of the cutting edge glory.  Frankly, good riddance.  The people here are really nice and the work is plentiful and fairly simple. 

 

In essence, if I were Michael Westin, I'd settle down with Fi in Miami, take a nice PI job and go drinking with Sam every once in a while.  It may not be as glorious as the insiders game, but I think we'll both live longer.

 

V

 

P.S.  Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind in a few years, but it sure is nice here now.

Exclusivity rights

Now this is interesting.  Verizon is taking the stance that they do NOT want the iPhone to be taken out of exclusivity from AT&T.  That's a very long view reasoning and frankly, I think I like it.  From a tactical standpoint, having the iPhone at this moment would be profitable... and from a consumer point of view I'd rather have a carrier choice.  But from a strategic point of view, taking the iPhone by force would be admitting that you have nothing in development that can knock it off.  By taking the "no, let AT&T keep it" stance that they have, Verizon has me wondering what they have in the pipeline.  Is it Sun Tzu, appear strong when you are weak, a shrewd strategy decision, or both... only time will tell.

 

I think the reason I like this comment by Verizon is that they are getting beat in the hardware market (everyone is playing iPhone catch-up), but rather than complain to the referee's, they are just buckling down and attempting to beat their opponent straight up... kudos for that.

 

V

40 years ago yesterday

3 men climbed into a 363 foot metal tower, the tower was filled with millions of lbs of explosives.  The explosives were then set on fire.  12 minutes later the explosives had thrown the tower and the men so high they reached orbit and broke apart. Only a tiny module was ever recovered, with the 3 men inside.  Happy anniversary to the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

 

V

*the above is not an original description, I just liked it.

John McCain is right and wrong

Yesterday on Meet the Press, John McCain answered a question on the CIA misleading Congress flap that's currently going on.  First, he said clearly that he cannot make a comment because he's not on the committees and has no additional information.  For that, I applaud him.  If you don't know something about a topic, it's perfectly OK to say so and to reserve judgement until you do.  However, then came the double talk.  He then responded to a follow up question as to whether there should be an investigation.  His answer was No.. not until all the facts have come out.

 

WHAT??  The very PURPOSE of an investigation is to find the facts.  What is he expecting here, that the facts are free range cows and will mosey on in when they get hungry enough?  His position on that is a logical impossibility.  I think all the crap on BOTH sides of the aisle had damn well be investigated.  I want the facts on all of it so I can make the aforementioned informed decision. 

 

It's statements like the above that show we just need better politicians.  Republicans AND Democrats have to stop talking out their mouth and ass at the same time, cause their breath is starting to stink.

 

V

Side work... sigh

So I've been doing some side work on a little access database to help a co-worker of a friend compile some data.  I'm getting paid for it so it's a good deal.  The problem is that as with all programming, the requirements changed after delivery.  While it may look simple on paper to add two new columns to a report, when they are new aggregates that span 3  different fields based on a date comparison... it's not simple.  It's doable, but the access language is so clunky that I'm feeling my frustration level rise.  Oh well... just means less time in the evenings and weekends for the next week or so.


V