Thursday, August 28, 2008

Jobs: ETL Developer

This position is in Tampa, Florida. If you are interested you can email me at chet dot justice at gmail.

Position Description:
· Develop and implement applications that support the business strategy of measuring and optimizing performance
· Support existing data warehouse applications and users

Mandatory Skills/Experience
· 2+ years experience working on data warehouse/data integration solutions
· 2+ years working with vendor ETL tools to design/build/test (Business Objects Data Integrator XIR2)
· 1+ years working with Oracle database; good PL/SQL knowledge
· Experience with dimensional data models (star schemas)

Preferred Skills/Experience
· Java programming experience
· Data Quality XIR2
· SQL Server 2005/SSIS
· Business Objects Enterprise XIR2
· Crystal Reports XIR2

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Calculate Total Possible Score for Wii Bowling, Power Throws

Needless to say I have too much time on my hands. I've become obsessed with two Wii games, Bowling and Tanks. I play over and over. I had a perfect game in bowling the other day which wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be.

I've also been playing the "Training" game of Power Throws (bowling). You are given 10 shots with another row added each frame. You start out with 10, then 15, then 21, etc. If you get all the pins, you get a bonus (total pins * 2). So far, my highest score has been 651.

I've never bothered to figure out what the total possible score is though.

SQL to the rescue.

Using analytics and the CONNECT BY LEVEL option (10g and higher), it's fairly easy:

SELECT
pin_row,
pins,
running_total,
rt_with_bonus
FROM
(
SELECT
rownum pin_row,
rownum pins,
SUM( rownum ) OVER ( ORDER BY rownum ) running_total,
( SUM( rownum ) OVER ( ORDER BY rownum ) * 2 ) rt_with_bonus
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL <= 13
)
WHERE pins >= 4
I had to set the filter on the outer query because you start with 4 rows (10 pins). And the results:

CJUSTICE@XE>BREAK ON REPORT
CJUSTICE@XE>COMPUTE SUM OF RUNNING_TOTAL ON REPOR
CJUSTICE@XE>COMPUTE SUM OF RT_WITH_BONUS ON REPOR
CJUSTICE@XE>/

PIN_ROW PINS RUNNING_TOTAL RT_WITH_BONUS
---------- ---------- ------------- -------------
4 4 10 20
5 5 15 30
6 6 21 42
7 7 28 56
8 8 36 72
9 9 45 90
10 10 55 110
11 11 66 132
12 12 78 156
13 13 91 182
------------- -------------
sum 445 890
Voila! 890 is the best possible score if I strike every frame. I did manage to pass my high score by 9 pins tonight as well. It's a great day!

So how come no one wants to hire a guy that can do this kind of fun stuff with SQL? ;)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Day 15...

So I think I'm going through the Depression stage of The Five Stages of Grief. Actually, I don't really follow that (in order anyway). I think I have 2 stages of Acceptance. I Accepted the situation as it was on the same day (maybe that was numbness?). I just thought things would work out sooner than they have. No worries though, I'll bounce back soon enough!

I've had three interviews so far. The first (consisting of two) was for a data architect position with a local company. I was referred via a friend. I received word last week that I did not get it. I had a little hope that they might give me a go, but out philosophical differences were too great. Essentially, I'm a data-centric person, they were more software (MVC) oriented. I don't think the two positions are mutually exclusive, but I couldn't sell them on it. A bit of religiousity there I think.

Second was a phone interview for an APEX position in New York. One, I would have been able to go to New York for the first time and two, I would be working with APEX again (consistently anyway). I got bumped because I don't have experience with web services. The extent of their web services was the authentication. Isn't it just like calling a function or something? Seriously, how hard could that be? Anyway...

Third was today. Went pretty well I think. I'll know more later this week.

My sleeping habits have gone to shit. My son got a Wii for his birthday last month and I stay up until all hours playing. I bowled a perfect game tonight in fact! This is why I haven't played video games since Intellivision.

I'll end on a good thought. Today was the first day of school for both the kids and when I got home, I got a rousing ovation from them (always nice). We've had a great time the past couple of weeks.

So I lay down for a nap...and you know when you go to relax your body so you can sleep? I relaxed my facial muscles (I have a tendency to grind my teeth), I realized I was smiling...very cool.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tampa - Employment Resources

What else would I be writing about?

If you're ever in the Tampa area, here are some resources you can utilize to find a job.

Consulting Agencies

Veredus
TekSystems
Tech USA
Sun Personnel
Rita Technology Services
Stradis

Job Sites

Employ Florida - My father sent this one to me yesterday. Very good.
(The obvious ones)
Dice
Monster
Career Builder

If I think of anymore I'll add them here. If you know of any others in the area, leave 'em in the comments.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Oracle Jobs in Doral (Miami), FL

Trying to help someone out. Wife won't leave (permanently) to Miami, so I'm out of the running. Number of positions on the left, short position description on the right.

Contact me either through comments or email (chet.justice at gmail) and I'll give you the contact information of the recruiter.

1 Oracle Fin Apps 11i Financials Functional need (core modules)

6 Oracle PL/SQL Developer needs w/ FinApps experience

2 Lead PL/SQL Developer needs w/FinApps

4 Oracle Reports 6i Developer needs

2 Lead Oracle Reports 6i Developer needs

2 Oracle Discoverer needs

Monday, August 4, 2008

How to Find a Job

My job search is going. I had an interview last Friday and I have a follow-up tomorrow. I've got a few other leads, but nothing as concrete.

Last time I "lost" my job, I was prepared and was working within a week. I've been able to explore different ways to search for jobs this time as I was taken by surprise.

Here's a rundown of how I'm currently looking for work:
1. Twitter - Jake over at AppsLab suggested creating a feed on the "oracle" keyword. Sure enough, I've seen 5 or 6 job postings.
2. LinkedIn - Trolling my connections and others (again, suggested by Jake)
3. ORACLENERD - Nothing's come of this one, but I'm hopeful that someday in the future it will work for me. At the very least, it gives prospective employers insight into my thinking.
4. craigslist - I've found 2 or 3 jobs postings through here.
5. Friends - I've been fortunate to meet a lot of people in the Tampa Bay area. Despite my firing I've still got a decent reputation around town.
6. CareerBuilder - Goes without saying.
7. Monster - Still works.

One thing I have noticed is that my hits go way up when I lose my job. I'll accept a low hit count if it means I can keep my job!

Special thanks go to Tom, Jake, LewisC, Frank, Dodd, and Ray. If I left you off, it wasn't on purpose...there's just been so much going on.