Author: Paul Tomblin

The best advice you’ve been given in your life

I host a bunch of mailing lists that use the absolutely excellent mailing list software called “Mailman”. Some I run myself, others I just host for others and somebody else does the actual list membership management and stuff. Every month, on the first of the month, Mailman sends out an email to each member of each list with the names of the lists they’re on, the passwords they’re using for that list, and how to unsubscribe or update their memberships if they want or need to. Since some of the mailing lists are low traffic, and since list traffic which bounces often doesn’t indicate the actual subscriber’s address (because they’ve forwarded it from one address to another or because the bounce message doesn’t clearly indicate who it was sent to), the monthly reminders are a good way to weed out invalid addresses, as well as helping remind people that they’re on the list and what to do if they don’t want to be on the list any more. So I always see a small flurry of people unsubscribing or modifying their subscriptions right after that reminder comes out, which I see as a good thing.

But inevitably, some idiot gets the email, and rather than actually reading the instructions contained within, they hit “Reply” and tell me to unsubscribe them. I reply back and say that they were emailed detailed instruction on how to unsubscribe just yesterday, and they should try reading those instructions and following them. And if they’re like the idiot today, they say that they tried but it wanted a password, and bemoan the fact that I’m being unhelpful. To which I reply pointing out that the email whose instructions they supposedly followed included that password.

I also point out that “when you’re given instructions, you should read them and follow them” are the most helpful anybody has ever been in their entire lives, because this doesn’t just help them in this case, but for everything they might want to do or accomplish for the rest of their lives. How many other people have given them help today that will change them from needy whiners with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement incapable of doing anything on their own without hand-holding into bold, confident go-getters who can meet any challenge with aplomb and vivacity?

And do you think they thank me? Never!

Finally went flying

I finally got to lift my head up from my computer and go out and do something for myself. I went flying. No goal except to get re-acquainted with flying and have fun. I had our club’s Dakota booked from 1pm, and somebody else had it booked in the morning. I was hoping that would mean I wouldn’t have to pre-heat it, but the other guy evidently didn’t fly. The weather was saying low clouds in the morning, but higher in the afternoon, and the reports were coming in showing it better than the forecast all morning. Sure enough by the time I got out there the ATIS was reporting a few clouds at around 3200 feet and a broken layer way up high, so it was prefect visual flight conditions.

The airport was incredibly busy, as about 4 jets arrived and departed while I waited behind a Commander to take off. And then after take off, it took the tower controller until I was at 2300 feet before he could turn me over to the departure controller. Within 2 seconds of the GPS saying I crossed outside of the outer ring of the class C airspace, the controller turned me loose, so obviously the rush was going to continue for him.

I decided to try a couple of steep turns, and they weren’t good. I had trouble getting over a 30 degree bank, and I kept gaining altitude. And then I tried one stall, which I hate doing in this plane because it seems like the nose never drops. That was enough practice stuff, so I flew over and did a touch and go at Ledgedale (7G0) and another at Batavia/Genesee County (KGVQ). Both were passable but not great. I flew the first bit of the VOR-A approach into Canadiagua (D38) just to get some experience flying a VOR radial again.

My feeling is that I’m still rusty, and I’m going to need at least one more flight before I’m ready to do my club annual ride. And then I’m going to need to do 6 approaches with a CFI-I or a IPC in order to get instrument current again.

The Dakota is a nice plane, but I miss my Lance. I felt perfectly at home flying that plane, but not so much with this one.

Ethical dilemma

I’m in the middle of a big refactoring job for my work project. I’m basically restructuring all the classes that make database calls so that they use connection pooling with a per-thread “DatabaseHandle” that caches PreparedStatements. It’s a big job, and it’s going to take a LOT of time and concentration, which means that home is a far better environment to work on it than at work. The problem and dilemma comes because I was on a roll when I hit 40 hours for the week. I’m not allowed to bill more than 40 hours, and I’m sure as hell not going to do it for free. Nor can I work from home without prior approval and that’s not easy to get.

So my question is, do I quit now and hope I can quickly get back in the groove on Monday morning, or do I work on it this weekend and then when I’m done spend an equivalent amount of time at my desk at work working on personal projects, like my photoshop stuff? I’m thinking it’s probably safest, although nowhere near as productive, to shut down Eclipse right now and don’t look at it until Monday morning.

20 Random Songs meme

The rules, as quoted from Eminy’s LiveJournal:

You know the rules: 20 random consecutive songs from my library, first lines given here (or second lines if the first contains the title). You identify the song, and I’ll cross it out. Googling is cheating. N.B.: Items in square brackets are instrumental only, included here to preserve the consecutivity principle.

  1. I have to swear by Almighty God Guns On The Roof, The Clash – Rob G
  2. When we were young, we pledged allegiance
  3. All you pretty women, bring it to my home
  4. [skipped one in Bulgarian]
  5. I’ve been [loved?], down in the delta
  6. Her eyes they shone like diamonds Black Velvet Band/Galway Shawl, 4 To The Bar – Ayana C
  7. Dust falls on the empty halls of my old school
  8. Well, you could see it in his eyes as they strained against the night
  9. Men and people will fight ya down (Tell me why!) Exodus, Bob Marley – Ian York
  10. [Bach keyboard concerto]
  11. [Red Shingle Bay, Many Hands]
  12. He started out to be a tugboat man, but he never got the hang of a ratchet bar
  13. [Something from Green Linnet]
  14. Many’s the day I took for granted, breathing the air that silenced some
  15. Ships may come and ships may go, as long as the sea does roll Jolly Roving Tar, Great Big Sea – Becca
  16. Now come tell me Sean O’Farrell, tell me where you hurry so Rising of the Moon, Shane McGowan and the Popes – Ian York
  17. [Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus]
  18. High speed drift on a prairie road, hot tires sing like a string being bowed SteelSilver Wheels, Bruce Cockburn– Ian York
  19. Well I’ve got a friend who’s a man (who’s a man?) Hateful, The Clash – Rob G
  20. [Duologue, Rare Air]
  21. I was a miner, I was a docker Between The Wars, Billy Bragg – Becca
  22. [Marion Livingstone, Rare Air]
  23. There’s a noble fleet of whalers, a sailing from Dundee Old Polina, Great Big Sea – CMD
  24. In the merry month of June, when from my home I started The Rocky Road To Dublin, The Irish Descendants – Fnord Prefect
  25. [skipped first line]He had a little tavern by the strand Yarmouth Town, Great Big Sea – Laura
  26. [Infernal Dance of King Kashei, Stravinsky]
  27. [Water Music, Handel]
  28. [skipped first chorus]Said – said – said: I remember when we used to sit, In the government yard in Trenchtown No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley – Ian York
  29. [Trumpet Concerto, Wynton Marsallis]
  30. [The Pigeon On the Gate, Casdh An tSugian]
  31. The island, it is silent now, but the ghosts still haunt the waves Thousands Are Sailing, The Pogues – Ian York

I cheated a bit – I’ve got a lot of music on my iPod that I haven’t listened to or assigned a star rating to yet. I have enough time picking up lyrics on songs I’ve heard a few times, so I did this with my “4 or 5 Stars” playlist.

Anticipation

My new computer skinIn anticipation of today’s announcement of the new MacBook Pro, I ordered the computer skin a few days ago from iToppers.com. Today the guy producing it sent me this image of what it’s going to look like.

I can hardly wait. I hope there is an airshow nearby where I can get the team to sign it.