Make Money Blogging Yeah, it's pretty much a futile effort, but hey, I've been paid by Google.



Only 430 posts. I think that puts me at less than $0.40 a post. 28 months would come out to less than $4 a month.

Labels: blogging, google, work

  ¶ 1/30/2010 07:14:00 PM   3 Comments Links to this post

  The Long Drive Home So I am starting to understand why people who travel don't have a lot of time.

For the past 3 weeks I have driven back and forth to Greenville, SC, a round trip of 1200 miles. That's 600 miles on Sunday and 600 miles on Thursday. My record so far is 7 hours and 45 minutes, approximately 75 MPH.

Tomorrow I will be flying and will be there in 1.5 hours. Much better.

My reasoning for driving is multi-fold:
1. I'm not in the habit of flying thus maintain a tad bit of fear at the prospect. I know it's not rational...
2. 4 trips in a month comes out to about $3,000, I can't float that kind of money now. Driving saves me about $400 a week in air travel and about $250 a week in car rental. Driving costs about $120 round trip in gas.
3. Driving pays. Current federal rate is 0.55/mile. 1200 miles = $660. Subtract that from $120 and I am ahead $540. Multiply that by 4 weeks and I'm at about $2,000.

One thing I did not take into account is the exhaustion factor. When I get home, I don't want to do a thing and just dread Sunday creeping up. Despite having a driving buddy coming home this past Thursday, I slept pretty much all day Friday. Today I was a slug too. I'm not much use to my kids in that state.

So I'm going to fly. I nice early morning flight won't bother me much as I will still be too tired to think too much about being scared. Perfect. Sucks that I have to leave so early in the morning, but what can you do?

I still can't float the money to do this every week, so I'm going to try and rotate the schedule, fly, drive and beg for a week of remote work to ease the burden.

Any tips or tricks for traveling out there? I'm using TripIt, which is nice to keep everything in one place. What else?

Labels: family, work

  ¶ 1/23/2010 11:35:00 PM   6 Comments Links to this post

  The Costs and Benefits of Enterprise Technology My technology chops lag a bit behind the writers and readers of this blog. While I am taking the Piwowar EBS challenge along with Chet, Floyd and others, my day to day activities are more focused on trying to blow hot air onto the frozen middle of enterprise technology management. Chet recently retweeted a good question that got me thinking, reading and (now) writing. The question was:



That post linked to a super article called Upper Mismanagement from The New Republic. It discusses how many executives, having risen up from finance instead of operational backgrounds, are probably incapable of leading American manufacturing today.

We see many of those same problems in IT. Those leaders who come from a finance background tend to be focused on showing the money (or the savings), while the technical leadership are just as focused on innovative technology. That often leaves the more operational business folks hanging in between, trying to keep the business going - doing more with less.

One problem seems to be that the wrong people are making the decisions - for the wrong reasons. This is an organizational problem: the right people are not in the right place. Technical, financial, and business folks all need to work together to create the solutions that will best advance the organizational mission. Too great a focus on any of those areas will potentially endanger the goals of the others. Jake spoke to part of this divide in his OOW 08 presentation (slide 9):



What about solutions?

In a recent seminar on financial management for IT, we worked with Intel's Business Value Index model. When you have a few minutes, read this white paper: IT@Intel White Paper Using an IT Business Value Program to Measure Benefits to the Enterprise. I'll provide the first line as a teaser:

Intel's IT business value (ITBV) program has shifted our IT investment decision making process to a customer-focused, data-driven model that demonstrates the impact of IT on Intel’s bottom line.

Yes! Right on! Isn't that what we all do?! I'd argue that if we all did this even half as well as Intel we wouldn't have as many questions about "finance killing IT" or "IT costing too much" or "IT not serving business needs."

I encourage all of us to read this paper. It explains how Intel's model "works by evaluating IT investments along three factors: IT business value, impact on IT efficiency, and the financial attractiveness of an investment." I love how they are ranked.

The key to the success of the Intel model seems to be accurate measurement of all three factors. Cost is frequently measured, but not always accurately. How often have you seen a solution implemented without provisions for its total cost? IT efficiency is measured less often. Business value is typically implied in requirement gathering, but I often see operational metrics missing once a solution goes into production. One example comes from a business intelligence project I am working on. In all of our work to help our business owners develop KPIs, we came up short on defining those metrics that would indicate how well IT was performing. See a good post from CIO magazine on developing metrics for IT.

So, if it is easy and obvious to do the right thing around measuring the benefits of IT to the enterprise, why is it not done consistently? I used to think it was just me, or just my organization, or just my industry (Higher Education and Research). Since I have been in school and doing a bit of consulting, though, I find my peers in all industries are singing the same tune. Perhaps one answer is implied in the New Republic article referenced earlier in this post. Perhaps we are not preparing ourselves and those around us to take the lead in this area.

Here is a good recent publication from my industry highlighting the shifting roles in IT leadership. I would argue it is not that different in other industries. Nor would I argue that any of this is new. Here is a similarly good recent publication from the CIO Executive Council called the State of the CIO 2010. I also recently read some great old school management principles from IBM's heyday. They are enjoyable and still applicable. Check out especially the "IBM management principles and practices" and the "Quintessential quotes."

Please find the comments if you love or hate any of the resources I've included. Please also drop a comment if you have an answer to the question of "will 'show me the money' kill IT?"

Thank you @oraclenerd and @brhubart for getting me thinking, reading, and writing. Now I can shed the slacker tag for a spell and get back to my work on the Piwowar EBS challenge (I am still on hardware and OS, ugh).

Ted [ linkedin | twitter ] is Vice President for Communications at the Higher Education User Group, MBA and MSIS student at the Johns Hopkins University, Director of Administrative Systems at MICA, and slacker at badgerworks.

Labels: cio, tsimpson, work

  ¶ 1/03/2010 03:57:00 PM   4 Comments Links to this post

  Random Things: Volume #11 Work: Consulting
I just returned home from my first week consulting. I went to the northern part of Alabama and didn't have much of a connection (phone or data) most of the time.

From my perspective it was a rousing success. Now I just need to wait and see if the client approved of my work.

I chose to drive as it was semi-last minute (last Thursday I found out) and I haven't had a good road trip in years. I promise it wasn't a fear of flying.

On the way I picked up the guy I would be working with at the Atlanta airport. We had only (briefly) communicated through email and one "get up to speed" phone call. I think it's safe to say that we got along pretty well. After a couple of hours with the client the following day, they asked how long we had been working together and were absolutely shocked to learn that we had just met.

As to the work, I got to rekindle some of my OBIEE administration skills, specifically the rpd (or metadata). It was fun to get back into it as I had been prepping for this the past couple of weeks. By day 2 I was in a zone (adding physical tables, replacing logical table data sources, etc).

My colleague's expertise was in Answers, so I got to see some pretty cool stuff. I'm trying to talk him into blogging and offered him a guest slot to see if he likes it.

The clients were great and easy to work with...overall an A+.

Google Latitude
As I have a new blackberry (couldn't afford the droid yet), I managed to download my Google Contacts, GMail and most importantly, Google Maps...which ties in with Google Latitude.

I could see myself driving up I-75 and even better, I could expose my location to my wife and parents (I am an only child...the center of their universe :). I even tried to use it to find my phone which I had misplaced this afternoon (it had fallen under my seat) to no avail. Basically, I believe it uses the cell towers to approximate your location, the closest I saw it was within 800 meters.

Amusingly, as we're driving to Atlanta this afternoon and my father calls...WTF? he says. "I'm taking my colleague to the airport"

"Are you going back?"

"No, I'm headed home"

I had neglected to tell him that I would be there through Thursday...he of course thought the worse.

I have 2 pretty cool guest posts on the way. Mr. Meyers has one and Mr. Piwowar finally got to Part 3 of his EBS install guide. :) I'll post those next week so they don't get lost in the weekend down time.

Labels: obiee, random, work

  ¶ 12/18/2009 01:12:00 AM   5 Comments Links to this post

  ORACLENERD, Inc. Today I made it official...I filed my paperwork with the State of Florida to incorporate. It seemed fairly obvious what the name should be.

If you read the previous post, you probably gathered that little fact.

All of this is related to the fact that I have a new job. I'm not quite ready to talk about the details yet but I believe there is quite a bit of opportunity here. For one, I'll be working with OBIEE again. It's been about 9 months since I last worked with and I was just getting started. There may also be some work with APEX, which would be great. Finally, there's a very outside shot that I may get to work with Exadata v2 in the somewhat near future.

Maybe you're wondering why I incorporated? I don't know, just seemed like fun. Actually, I'll be working as a consultant. This is my first real trek down that road. I have to learn about billable hours, successful travel planning...and probably most importantly, budgeting.

I'm very excited about this opportunity. I will have to travel a bit, but I'll also get to work from home quite a bit so I believe in the long run, family time will probably be greater than when I was going to that "9 to 5" type job where I was actually away from home more than 60 hours a week. We'll see.

Labels: family, obiee, work

  ¶ 11/22/2009 11:38:00 PM   11 Comments Links to this post

  How To Apply For an EIN EIN being an Employer Identification Number.

You can find the start page here at irs.gov.

This is the second time I have done this, well, second time I have had an EIN. I'm pretty sure the lawyer did it the first time around. If I remember correctly, that cost me a whopping $500, 5 years ago. Of course that included incorporation as well.

I remember how daunting it was back then, starting your own business. I felt like I had to hire a lawyer to do it. The truth is, it's very easy to do. Especially if you consider the sheer volume of documentation that exists on the Oracle database...this is a piece of cake.

It took 10 minutes to complete, but most of that time was spent doing screen captures. Twenty steps in all.

Landing page from the link above:



Begin Application:



Choose the type of business:



"Sub" Corporations:



Confirm your selection:



Why do you need an EIN?



Principal Officer?



Individual details:



Location of corporation:



Verify physical location:



"Accept Database Version" is funny. Do most people understand what that would mean? I guessed that's the USPS version of my address...but I tend to work with these types of scenarios.

Corporation details:



More about the corporation:



What does your corporation do?



I selected other because there was no IT type category on there.

What kind of Other?



What kind of Consulting?



How do you want this delivered?



Summary:



EIN assigned!



Additional information:



Thank you!



Pretty easy all in all. I bet is was a bit harder 5 years ago (i.e. not automated).

Amusingly, this form is only available at certain times of the day. I tried this morning and was told the online assistant didn't work until 7 PM on Sundays. WTF?

Labels: howto, work

  ¶ 11/22/2009 07:36:00 PM   2 Comments Links to this post

  I've Got a Job! Details to follow.

Labels: work

  ¶ 11/19/2009 02:40:00 PM   4 Comments Links to this post

  Dilbert: You're Fired!

Labels: funny, work

  ¶ 11/16/2009 11:40:00 AM   0 Comments Links to this post

  Losing A Job: The Aftermath So I've got a little experience in "losing" my job. Laid off, furloughed, rehired, resigned (and walked out), new job, laid off.

Of course I didn't lose one of those jobs...I know right where they are. I just can't or won't go back to them.

Fortunately for me, I've made a lot of good friends online. Very supportive friends. It makes "losing" a job that much easier.

Of course there's more to it...the effect it has on the family.

Kate...she doesn't understand yet. She just smiles and laughs and makes everything go away.

LC, however, is starting to grasp it. He doesn't say anything to me, but he does say stuff to his mother.

"Are we going to have to move back to Gainesville?"

"Is poppa going to pay our bills for us?"

You know...fun stuff like that.

Strangely, not to long ago he was always asking me to fire myself so I could be home all the time (it's the only way I get a vacation these days).

And then there's the wife, the lovely woman who agreed to marry me (yikes!) and has supported me through all of this. Without her, I could not have made it as far as I have.

When we met, we were polar opposites. I was a bit on the timid side and she...well, she doesn't have much of a filter. A perfect match!

Over time I have found my voice and she has muted hers (only a little). We're meeting somewhere in the middle (at least that's what I tell myself).

Kris does not work. She held LC in her hands and told me she didn't want to go back to work. I couldn't argue. Although she did work briefly but was let go because LC had an ear infection and needed medical attention. We didn't fight it. She's a stay-at-home mom, and we like it that way. She's been able to help Kate out with doctor visits, physical therapy, speech therapy, HGH injections...the list goes on and on.

Since she doesn't work, she feels, at times, out of control. When I "lose" my job, that feeling is heightened.

Not really sure what the point of this was...it's not to feel sorry for me, that's for sure. Just a warning to those out there in a similar situation. It doesn't effect just you...it effects your entire family (I haven't even mentioned my parents, or Kris' parents).

The only advice I can give to help alleviate this is:
1. Have enough money in the bank to weather the storm
2. ...OK, just 1.

Labels: family, humility, kate, kris, LC, work

  ¶ 11/05/2009 11:38:00 PM   3 Comments Links to this post

  The Perfect Job Since I am no longer tethered, I can talk about my perfect job without fear of offending.

Company Size
I don't necessarily care how big the company is, but I know the bigger it is, the more bureaucratic it gets. Small usually means more nimble. I like large companies because that's a lot of people to get to know.

Culture
Casual. Definitely casual. I've been spoiled the last 6 months...shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops to work everyday. I met a recruiter the other day and I actually had to wear (long) pants and a button-up shirt. Yuk. I like to dress up...just not every day.

Cursing. Have to have cursing.



More points if you add in a swear jar.



Even professional. I want to work with people who have Jedi skills. I want to work with Good Lazy people, not Bad Lazy.

Benefits
Health Insurance, 401k plans, vacation time...all of those are important. On site gym? WIN! Even though I fail to go, it's nice to have that option. That was one of the big selling points in moving to Tampa. WellCare had a massive (to me anyway) campus, weight room, basketball and racquetball courts. They even had a softball field.

The last place I worked had a great gym and a car wash guy that came every week or so (though I never partook).

Environment
This definitely crosses path with some of the other categories, but I decided to create a new one because I wasn't sure exactly where it fit.

By environment, I mean your desk set up. Must haves:
--2 or more 21 inch monitors
--kick ass desktop machine
--a very nice chair. If I spend a lot of time in that thing, in better be comfortable.
--Ergonomic keyboard. I've been using Microsoft's Natural Keyboard (the rounded one) since I started using a computer in 1996 or 1997. I even take it to work if they don't provide one. I left mine at the last place and sent a frantic email to the HR lady to retrieve it for me.

+1 if this is your setup.



Location
I don't want to work at home all of the time, but I do want to be close. Spending more than an hour on the road a day is a waste of time. Traffic sucks too. The past couple of months I would have baseball practice at 6:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays which means I had to leave the office no later than 5:15. I'd then swing by home, pick up LC in the driveway and off to practice we went. Thursdays were similar with tutoring at 6.

I'd also like to be able to work from home once in awhile. Some places never let you do it...I work a lot and I get into the zone at night typically. If you don't want to allow me to work from home once in awhile, why should I work at home at all?

More than anything I just want the flexibility.

So what's your perfect job? Anything like mine?

Labels: jobs, rant, work

  ¶ 10/28/2009 05:46:00 PM   8 Comments Links to this post

  Free Oracle Developer/dba There is a serious lack of work in the Tampa market and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Now, I've always wanted to do this, but was never in a position to do so financially...I'm still not, but something is way better than nothing.

I'm going to offer my services for free.

Not forever mind you, somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks. It is negotiable.

If it works out, i.e. you like what I can bring to your organization, I prove that I pick new systems up quickly and I fit in well with your team; and I like working in your organization, then you pay me for that time worked and I sign up full-time either as a permanent employee or some sort of contract.

If it doesn't work out, we part ways and no one is worse for wear. You get free work from me and I get to experience a new environment (i.e. meet new people, expand my network, etc).

You can view my resume here (permanent link up top coming soon).

Some basic highlights:
PL/SQL: Expert (I don't like that term)
DBA: Junior to Mid-level (or DBA in lowercase, "dba")
APEX: Worked with up to version 3.2, admittedly rusty, but passionate about the product.
Design: Love modeling data. Model just about everything in my head (in normal life). Use Visio extensively for visual representations. Experience with SQL Developer Data Modeler, ERwin, etc.
Documentation: Give me a wiki or something similar and I'll document just about everything that I do.

That's it. Contact info is on my resume or up top on the "email" icon.

It's now posted on craigslist as well.

Labels: database, dba, development, jobs, plsql, work

  ¶ 10/27/2009 12:25:00 PM   3 Comments Links to this post

  Father, Husband, Employee, Coach, Tutor I had been pondering a post on how impossibly busy I have been lately. You know, the 45-60 hours in the office, the 2 hours on the road back and forth, coaching a bunch of 6-7-8 year olds and tutoring someone in database concepts. And blogging of course.

It doesn't seem to have quite the punch now.

Here's what it would have looked like anyway...

Father
With all that has happened in the last couple of years, I still get to come home to people that like me no matter what. LC and his battle stories with the girls at school and Kate...well, she just is. Her smile lights up the room. The infectious laugh...the hugging (finally!)...she just makes my day.

Husband
Intentionally left blank.

Employee
Move along...nothing to see here.

Tutor
It's been about 4 weeks since I began tutoring. I thought I would post more on it, but I've been so busy with everything else that I just never go to it. That should change now though, at least for awhile.

There is nothing like having to communicate complex systems to those who don't know the first thing about databases. Where do you start?

Last week was especially difficult. We had to diagram some tables based on one paragraph of requirements. This was more inline with logical modeling as well, which I don't have a lot of experience with. Which means, you have to represent (as I understood it anyway) your relationships without use of an intersection table. WTF?

Coach
One of the best things in the world. If you ever have the opportunity to coach young children, take it! Yes, it's painful at times. Yes, it is like herding cats. Yes, they do not listen. <-- does that even make sense?

But...you can yell at them for an hour straight. I don't mean the jerk kind of yelling, I mean the fun, obnoxious kind of yelling. Whatever that is.

For whatever reason, I'm naturally loud. Amazingly, I get louder on the baseball field.

There is no better way to turn your day around than by yelling at a bunch of kids. The best stress-reliever of all time possibly.

Labels: family, life, work

  ¶ 10/20/2009 11:12:00 PM   3 Comments Links to this post

  Starting Over...Again. On Friday I was told, "They're [things] just not working out..." and let go from my job. The job counter was up to a whopping 189 days though...which is encouraging. That was my longest un-interrupted stint of employment in 17 months.

On the surface, it looks terrible; there's no doubt about that. I cringe at my record over that time. Two firings, one layoff and one furlough. Ouch.

The first firing was self-inflicted. Not something I am proud of...I had interviewed, was offered and accepted a position with RevolutionMoney prior to that though, so you could say I was checked out or just looking for an easy escape. I still wish it had gone down differently but I can't change the past.

That self-inflicted would, combined with the most recent news, looks pretty bad for me as an employee.

Employee Oriented

Am I a team player?

Do I work well with others?

Am I a good employee?

Do I lie, cheat or steal?

Technical

Do I have technical skills?

How do I compare to my peers?

What is my skill level?

All perfectly valid questions for a potential future employer.

I should defend myself right?

I have no idea right now.

I think the best thing I can do right now is engage potential employers, answer any and all questions, as openly and honestly as possible, and hope for the best. I know the market isn't great right now...but I'll do what I need to do find a job.

I find myself envious of those who have been with companys for a long period of time. Amusingly, had I been a bit more patient, I would have probably found WellCare to be a nice home for awhile. I still have a lot of great friends from there I think mostly because they were my support system when Kate got sick.

I took the job at RevolutionMoney because it was a startup and offered an opportunity to do all kinds of really cool stuff. None of the "really cool stuff" came to fruition though and all of the people behind that push either left or were let go.

I had just gotten comfortable in my recent job, was in a bit of groove...but "things just weren't working out."

So I'm looking.

If you know anyone out there looking for a lazy Oracle developer/modeler/little dba, send them my way.

Labels: humility, work

  ¶ 10/19/2009 01:00:00 AM   8 Comments Links to this post

  "They're just not working out..." Yup, let's stop the clock.

189 days isn't so bad is it?



Read the timeline for more info on my brief stint in Tampa.

Labels: failed, jobs, work

  ¶ 10/16/2009 04:31:00 PM   2 Comments Links to this post

  (Old) Social Media and Travis Page Driving home on Wednesday listing to the local AM station, 970 WFLA, there was an announcement for the radio resumes and the most recent winner, Travis Page.

Travis then came on air, told us a little about himself and what he was looking for. I couldn't believe it when I heard Database Technologies.

Really? On the radio? I couldn't believe it.

When I got home I had to check this guy out. First thing I wanted to know, was he an Oracle guy or a Microsoft guy. Reading through his resume I found that he did have a little bit of Oracle, but he was obviously focused on SQL Server. Boo.

I had to give the guy credit though. I look(ed) for jobs through twitter, dice, monster, etc., pretty much all the places where you didn't have to talk. This guy used the radio. The radio isn't new, or shiny. Perhaps it can be shiny...but I digress.

So I dropped Travis a line telling him about tonight's SOUG meeting and encouraged him to attend. Sure enough he did.

I love that kind of dedication. I've tried to help people in the past only to see them ignore my advice.

So, if you're in the Tampa Bay area and looking for a junior developer, either Oracle or SQL Server (ugh), call Travis immediately for an interview.

We talked for a bit after the meeting and seems like a very genuine guy (plus, he showed up!). Besides his little SQL Server problem, I think a company could find good use out of a guy like him. Resourceful and dedicated are two very good traits to have in an employee.

If you missed it up above, you can find Travis' resume here.

Labels: jobs, soug, work

  ¶ 7/24/2009 12:13:00 AM   0 Comments Links to this post

  Learning From Failure I think I began reading The Daily WTF about 4 years ago. I don't miss or skip a post.

I remember this one time, probably about the time I began reading the site, I had to automate a process to move files from one server to another. Originally, I had tried to create a network drive (yes, it was Windows) on the database server so that I could just use a simple Java class to read the directory and then load the files via DBMS_LOB.

I had ultimately decided on a service, but I didn't know how to write one for Windows. Then I found the Java Service Wrapper which would allow me to write the guts in Java and then install it on Windows as a service. Perfect.

Now that I had that settled, I had to figure out how to detect when a file was read to be moved. I decided on a looping mechanism, to check every minute or so, to see if a file was available. It looked something like this (I'm a tad rusty, so bear with me):

package project1;

import java.util.Date;

public class Class1
{
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
    Class1 class1 = new Class1();
    Date d = new Date();
    long l = d.getTime() + 1000000000;
    String s = String.valueOf( l );
    
    for ( int i = 0; i < l; i++ )
    {
      //some sort of MOD "wait" here, then check for the file
    }
  }
}

It wasn't pretty, but it seemed to work.

Then I got a call from the server admin.

SA: "You've got something running on this machine that's spiking the CPU."

Me: "Really? I can't think of anything."

SA: "Well, take a look and see if you can find anything."

Me: "10-4"

Sure enough, go into Task Manager and there's java.exe hogging up all the CPU. WTF?

I just ran this on my machine and you can see the CPU start to spike:


Off to Google to see what I can find. During my research, I found mention of a small method called Thread.sleep(long). So I replaced my brilliant add 1000000 to the current date with Thread.sleep(6000), or whatever equals 60 seconds. Problem solved.

A short time later I read a post on The Daily WTF about the same exact problem (I can't find the exact post for the life of me). The "victim" did the exact same thing I did. The solution was the Thread.sleep() call.

Me = FAIL

One more short example.

Over beers, a friend (see last entry) of mine and I were discussing the failure of the North Korean missile launch. I said, "Idiots." He said, "They're going to learn a lot more from that failure than they would have had it suceeded."

Spoken like a true engineer I guess.

The point? You learn by trying. You learn my doing. You learn by failing. Whether you realize it or not, you learn. (Well, some people don't, but that's another post). If you're reading here though, that probably means you have a passion for what you do. That means that you are trying. You are learning (maybe not here specifically ;).

Here's to trying and failing and hopefully trying and succeeding.

Labels: development, failed, ideas, life, work

  ¶ 7/02/2009 12:21:00 AM   0 Comments Links to this post

  Burnout After about 5 years of near constant activity I'm finally beginning to feel the effects.

In 2004 I started a business. I would work over 100 hours a week including my day job trying to get that thing going (which never happened). The birth of Kate in December of that year really changed my life. Pretty much every since Kate has been to keep our heads above water financially.

Early 2005 I took a different job. They (graciously) allowed me to work up to 60 hours at for time. That certainly help alleviate some of the financial pressure.

In the last quarter of 2006 I got a call from a recruiter saying I could make two and a half times that money in Tampa. I took it. Unfortunately the contract only ended up lasting about 5 weeks before I rolled into a permanent position. That was WellCare.

About 1 year ago to the day, I was fired from WellCare, ostensibly for blogging about their layoffs. Strangely, last week they announced another round of layoffs.

I then took a contract (temp to perm) position at RevolutionMoney. My hopes were very high as it was still in the start-up phase and they were looking to compete with the likes of Visa and MasterCard. Less than 2 months later though I was let go.

Five weeks after that I was brought back as a permanent employee. Only to be furloughed 3 months later and brought back 4 days later.

In April I resigned and took a position with a new company.

Oy...

Where's the burnout?

I think all of this has led to a bit of burnout. I use to come home and after the kids went to bed starting work on some other side project. Now I just catch up on all the movies I've missed over the past 5 years. The desire to do new and different things is there, just not the will. I get on the computer and start doing other, more trivial stuff.

Lately I'm trying to get Oracle installed on Ubuntu. Mostly screwed that up and will probably have to reinstall everything. I know enough to be very dangerous.

At work I've lost a bit of my fight. I'm still passionate, I just don't have the desire to argue my point all the time. Yes, I know, choose your battles and all that. Most of the fights I've had though are fundamental, like constraints. Without a position of authority (Lead or Architect or DBA or something), I'm not sure I can get others to listen.

It's not like I'm socially inept. I know how to get along and work with others. I just don't know how (anymore) how to change their minds. I've tried proving my ideas out, but it mostly doesn't matter. I'm up against something larger here.

So, I'm a bit burned out. I have not posted a technical article here in more than a month. That's frustrating.

Have you had burnout similar to mine? How do you handle it? What do you do to get over it?

Labels: humility, work

  ¶ 5/26/2009 01:14:00 AM   20 Comments Links to this post

  Top Ten Grammatical Errors That Make People Look Stup--Silly.... I had been planning and scheming to be the "first" to have a guest blogger...but Lewis beat me to the punch. Yes, yes, I know, neither of us were the first to think of it.

I'm part of this the Network with Gators group on LinkedIn and one of the daily digests came through my email titled, "How many Gators are making the leap to entrepreneurship or business owners?" (I've probably done the quotation marks wrong). Anyway, I saw one of the comments by one Tiffany Morgan and decided to reply to her privately.


I liked the fact that she was creating something all her own, especially that she was so young in doing so. I was probably face down...I mean, doing something else, something non-constructive, at her age. (Seriously, it's not like I'm 70 or something, so why does early 20's sound so young?)

Anyway, I thought many of us could use some good writing tips. If you're like me, you won't necessarily go looking for them. So I'm bringing right to you.

Without further ado, Tiffany Morgan.

---

Words are one of the few things in this world that aren’t discovered—they are entirely manmade. Because of this, those of us who love the things fight among ourselves (and with those who hate the things) to form some semblance of consistency through them, to make the words that make the world make sense be sensical themselves, to give them empirical, scientific substance when they inherently have none. So we draft up things like dictionaries, thesauruses, and style books. Few people read them, fewer love them, but everyone needs them. A typo can be easily overlooked, but not knowing the difference between “who” and “whom” or “its” and “it’s” can make the difference between acceptance and rejection, publication and dismissal, credibility and incredibility. It’s not necessary to beat yourself up memorizing the rules, but it is helpful to know at least some of the common issues our tenth grade English teachers should have taught instead of harping on the state assessment exam.

Top Ten Grammatical Errors That Make People Look Stup—Silly... .

I just received a tongue lashing from Tiffany because I tried to give her crap about the ellipsis

10. Putting quotation marks inside periods and commas – This is never, ever right. No matter what anyone tells you, quotation marks (and yes, they are called "quotation" marks, not "quote" marks) always (times infinity squared) go outside periods and commas. This rule does not always apply to other punctuation marks, however, so just memorize it for these two for now.

Wrong: "I love Twitter", she said.
Right: "I hate Twitter," he said.

9. Using "and" when you mean "to"

Wrong: I’m going to call my dad and wish him a happy Father’s Day.
Right: I’m going to call my dad to wish him a happy Father’s Day.

8. Mixing up "then" and "than" – "Then" denotes time, sequence, or addition. "Than" is a comparative word.

Example:
I’m going to school, and then I’m going to work.
She likes cake better than ice-cream.

7. "Lose" v. "Loose" – "Lose" means something is or may no longer be possessed. "Loose" means something is slack.

Example:
I don’t want to lose my job.
My shoelace is loose.

6. There, Their, and They’re – "There" refers to a place, stage, or relation. "Their" is possessive for a group. "They’re" is the contraction form of "they are." No examples here. They are seriously self-explanatory.

5. Saying "whether or not" – The word "whether" means there is an option. To say "whether or not" is redundant.

Wrong: I don’t care whether or not you like my Hammer pants!
Right: I don’t care whether you like my Hammer pants!

4. Using "of" when you mean "have" – We might say it this way, but writing it this way is a big no-no.

Wrong: You should of listened to your boss.
Right: You should have listened to your boss.

3. "Affect" v. "Effect" – People who have never learned the difference between these words generally use "effect" for everything, but I promise you: They are different! "Affect" is a verb and means "to influence," but "effect" is a noun (except when it’s a verb, meaning "to cause," but we’ll leave that alone for now).

Example:
Having the puppy in the house positively affected her mood.
The cute puppy had no effect on her mood.

2. "You’re" v. "Your" – "You’re" is the contraction of "you are," and "your" is possessive. Once again, no examples here. We can do this, people!

And the number-one-please-never-get-this-wrong-again-or-the-world-might-implode-grammatical-error-that-makes-people-look-stupid-er-I-mean-silly error is:

1. "Its" v. "It’s" – "Its" is possessive. "It’s" is the contraction form of "it is."

Example:
It’s going to be a rainy day.
The dog wagged its tail.

There are others, and maybe we’ll get to those if Chet is gracious enough to invite me back. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I barely even began to touch on word usage, which is actually more bothersome in some ways than misusing contractions and possessives. Until then, try remembering these rules in your day-to-day activities—when writing papers, preparing memos, e-mailing, and if you want to get really fancy, texting. When you don’t have time to get it completely right, though, just get it written, and contact a professional. I’m a professional editor, and you can contact me through my website, www.WriteWordEdit.com, for an extra set of eyes or for extensive editing of pretty much anything (personal statements, essays, research papers, resumes, fiction, non-fiction, and more).

Lastly, as a general disclaimer, any errors or typos found herein are the sole fault of an early a.m. dysfunctional brain. Coffee, please?

Happy writing,

Tiffany Morgan
Write Word Edit
Founder/Editor in Chief
www.WriteWordEdit.com

Labels: style, work, writing

  ¶ 5/12/2009 11:23:00 PM   23 Comments Links to this post

  The Computer Setup I get to setup my new computer.

Here's a list of tools I'm installing:

SQLDeveloper, for those moments I wanted to be able to easily download data. Great database navigator as well. I create reports here and in JDeveloper as well.
JDeveloper, though I won't be using Subversion for work, I'm hoping there is a plugin for source control that I can use. Still my favorite editor of choice.
7zip
CubicExplorer, which is a tabbed windows explorer and fairly nice.
WinMerge, always nice to be able to easily compare files.
FastStone Capture - screen grab utility. You can also add arrows and stuff to your captured images.

Firefox was already installed so I imported my JSON file with my standard links (Oracle Documentation, Google Stuff, etc). I needed some FF Add-ons though:
Meebo, which I'm trying out for the first time.
ScribeFire, for the occasional quick post.
Shareaholic, for quickly sending links out.
Delicious, naturally.

Oracle Database was already installed along with BI Publisher, so I didn't have to worry about those. I'm sure I'll have others, but these are the basics.

Labels: tools, work

  ¶ 4/10/2009 03:00:00 PM   6 Comments Links to this post

  La Revolución ha Muerto For me anyway. I am moving along.

I will certainly miss all the friends I made and miss the opportunity to work with some very, very smart people. I wish I could have stayed, especially after the announcements yesterday (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Bradd, this is not an April Fool's Joke. ;)

I guess the good news is that it wasn't involuntary. Will be added to the Tampa Timeline.

I start a new job on Friday.

Labels: humility, work

  ¶ 4/08/2009 05:34:00 PM   9 Comments Links to this post

  Keep it Down I've tired (for the moment anyway) of adding Part II, III, etc. to the titles. So I'm going with a whole new name.

This is a followup to last week's post, Shut Your Mouth! In the comments Niall Litchfield (love the hair!) left a link to a brilliant article, Unskilled and Unaware of It.

I know I have read that or a summary of it at some point in the last few years.

The summary of the article reads:

People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and
logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error...

As Niall suggested, try to read it self-critically.

I think I know when I don't know...but I'm sure there have been plenty of occasions where I thought I knew but I really didn't. I'd also like to think that I don't do this any longer, that it was a fancy of youth, but I can't be so sure. Most recently it would have been in the consideration of building out a highly scalable system.

Anyway, have you ever worked with someone so described? If so, how did you go about dealing with it? Did you make an effort to teach or give "negative" feedback so they might learn? I'm thinking every domain (IT, Financial Services, etc) has those that fall into this category? How do you fix it? Can it be fixed?

Labels: rant, work

  ¶ 4/05/2009 11:39:00 PM   1 Comments Links to this post

  Shut Your Mouth! Those of you who know me, know that I have a tendency to talk a bit. I've been counseled by many (wife, friends, co-workers, etc) to keep my thoughts to myself but I still have a "problem" with it.

I've been known to send out emails late in the night to my CIO...only to do the same exact thing a couple of weeks later at the start of a holiday.

Just a little advice here, if you do decide to do something like this. Don't do it on Friday night where you have all weekend to think about whether or not you should have sent it. Especially don't do it on a Friday night if you have Monday off too.

Starting a blog helped, a little. I could scream out into the nothingness that is the 'tubes. There wasn't as much back and forth as I would like though. It's gotten better over time as more and more people read this blog, but nothing can replace that instant gratification of a healthy discussion.

And healthy are the ones I am talking about. I don't (necessarily) mean that I just talk to talk. I have opinions on just about everything software related. Architecture. Design. Style. Best Practices. Performance. I'm even worse when it comes to databases. I think I have a pretty good grasp of how to model data. I've been creating diagrams since before I became an IT guy. I understand when it is good to normalize and when it is good to denormalize.

I am very passionate about what I do. I love what I do. Every other week I get a paycheck and I'm stunned that someone pays me to do this.

You know what, if they're gonna pay me all this money, I'm not so sure they want me to keep my mouth shut.

The usual caveat: When a decision is made, with or without my input, I will keep my mouth shut about it. Either I accept the decision or I start looking for other work...that's my decision to make. But I won't be that guy who keeps arguing the point long after. At least I try not to be, I ain't perfect.

It also goes without saying that not all people are equal in a discussion. Some have strengths that others do not.

I think a good discussion can lead to better products. There is plenty to be learned through good discussion. A multitude of view points can force you to reconsider your own position; possibly strengthening it for future debate or forcing you to abandon that idea.

How could that ever be bad?

Not everyone feels the same way of course. Not everyone likes these types of discussions. Either they feel that it's not my place to disagree (i.e. I'm not qualified) or they just don't like being challenged. If my boss says stop, I stop. If a peer says stop I'll ask why.

So, do you know how to keep your mouth shut? Any good stories of how it went bad? or good? Please share...there's much to learn from the discussion.

Labels: humility, rant, work

  ¶ 4/02/2009 05:56:00 PM   14 Comments Links to this post

  April Fools! Suffering from a bout of writer's block I impulsively decided to post that I had lost my job again. I figured it would be somewhat plausible given my recent past. I think it worked, a little. I realized that I did tag it "funny" but left it on there. Notably, Gary caught it.

I did email Lewis and Dom privately to tell them I was being funny. Bradd caught it himself going so far as to delete his original post.

I started to worry about jinxing myself, you know, the self-fulfilling prophecy sort of stuff? One way or another, it's out of my hands. It was funny to me at least. I think Jake chuckled a little bit but didn't want to acknowledge my small prank.

I was paid back by LC when I got home...he popped out of the bushes and scared me. Followed by another sneak attack shortly there-after.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Labels: funny, work

  ¶ 4/01/2009 10:06:00 PM   8 Comments Links to this post

  Not Again... Seriously...could I have a worse year?

I've been laid off again!

I'm starting to get a complex...

Mr. Justice,

Due to the economic downturn...yada yada yada

Labels: funny, work

  ¶ 4/01/2009 10:40:00 AM   5 Comments Links to this post

  Cisco Fatty - A Cautionary Tale For those of you who don't know, last week a young woman interviewed at Cisco and shortly after leaving published the following tweet:

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

Needless to say it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do.

Since I have some experience in the matter, I figured I would chime in.

Last year, about this time, I blogged about WellCare's layoffs at the time. Looking back I find it...funny? that I didn't know better. Despite people telling me not to do it. Maybe I was just stubborn. Anyway, I blogged it and in less than an hour it came across my Google Alerts, along with everyone else in the company who had set up Google Alerts for WellCare. Oops.

I removed the post that afternoon when my VP gave me an earful and the rest is history. My contract was terminated the following Tuesday when I returned to work.

With Twitter it's even easier though. There's an illusion of privacy I think, especially for those who don't truly understand the social web. I didn't completely understand it, or what the consequences could be. Perhaps I did though and just didn't care. I still wrestle with that. I'm not proud of the way it went down, but it's in the past now.

That said, I think I took responsibility for my actions. I have expressed regret here and in interviews. I don't blame anyone but myself.

@theconnor though seems to be taking another tact. While stating

it was crass of me to say what I did and I take full responsibility for the stupidity of my action.

she then goes on to talk of the impact of Twitter and that people don't really know what it is or what it's affect will be. Really? What about the people that have been fired for blogging (ahem)? What about the people that have been fired for posting on Facebook?

I think she was on the right path with her decision to post, but I don't think she goes far enough to show she's learned from it. She had a golden opportunity to redeem herself ever so slightly, but she didn't. Humility in this instance would have gone a long way in her future endeavors.

Update
Hat tip to Jake

Labels: humility, work

  ¶ 3/23/2009 10:11:00 PM   3 Comments Links to this post

  Fun with Deployments I'm sure many of you have had deployments such as this, but it was my first.

The day started at 2:00 AM. Joy.

In the office a little after 3 (40 minute drive) and the place is bustling. There are about 10 people in the office already (we have 50 employees) and 2 on the phone.

Mr. DBA had a whopping 1 hour of sleep.

I managed to get about 4 as I just feel asleep putting LC (not Lewis Cunningham, Little Chet) to bed.

To summarize the deployment, massive changes to our core OLTP system which needed to be propagated to the BI/DW environment. We started meeting/planning for this back in December as downtime was required.

As part of the preparation, a code freeze was implemented last week as well as a deployment (fixes/patches) freeze.

Before leaving yesterday, I disabled the production OLTP jobs that would run during the deployment window. I then disabled all jobs on the BI/DW side.

Just before deployment of the database changes, Mr. DBA created a restore point.

We set up a 2 hour window to deploy and validate. Deployment of the database changes took about 15 minutes. Validation took a little over an hour. Once the call that we were backing out was made, I began work on the BI/DW side.

I had DROPped, ALTERed and CREATEd about 200 objects. Everything went smoothly (3 or 4 practice runs). I turned all the jobs back on.

I then began copying the 187 OBIEE reports that were affected over to the production environment. I know there are better ways, or at least I've heard of them, but I was going with what I was sure of. Copied the old reports to a new folder and began replacing them.

Once I was done with that, I went through my checklist of changed reports to make sure they were working (at least from a functional standpoint). Nine of them were still broken. I made fixes to those and moved forward.

I then fixed and validated our Financial reports because we have a daily 11 AM deadline.

I did however forget to include a few grants from objects I DROPped and reCREATEd. I fixed a few of them in the morning then notified (and apologized) the business that they may have issues copying the Oracle (we don't really have any others) DBA group of the objects that may be affected.

My piece from start to finish took about 4 hours. I was done* by 9.

Had lunch with my parents (they bought!) and brought them back to meet everyone. I was laughed at (nothing new there) for bringing them in. I think my Mom cried too (might be an only child thing or the fact that it took me 10 years to graduate from college so she thought I would be a lawn man forever).

I'll still have work to do on the reports as the Business folks begin to validate, but overall it was a big win. The planning and implementation on this deployment was excellent and I was proud to be a part of it.

Labels: work

  ¶ 2/11/2009 09:24:00 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

  Using Twitter... I've been using Twitter for a little over a year now.

Initially, I didn't really get it. I was just trying it out since many of the people I read were using it. After that initial post, it was 3 months before I used it again. The 3rd time was 2 months after that.

From my timeline, I started to really use it at the end of July after I was laid off at the behest of Jake. He suggested using it to search for jobs. Though I didn't find any that matched up well for me, it was my breakthrough.

Last month I broke the 1000 tweet milestone.

I've used Twitter to search for jobs, to meet new (Oracle) people, to ask questions, to scream from the rooftop and other things. I try and encourage others to use it as well, most recently my colleague @serge_a_storms.

It's a great way to ask questions too. A couple of weeks ago I posted a question asking for scripts to download source. @neilkod reminded me of DBMS_METADATA and I was off. I really use to love the OTN Forums participating heavily in the Application Express forum. I like this medium a lot better though. Just a quick tweet and I can get answers or pointers from a multitude of people. I don't think it replaces the forums just yet, but I like it.

Probably my favorite part of it though is the "screaming from the rooftop" effect. @crisatunity seems to have taken this to a new level recently which is quite amusing. What do I mean by screaming from the rooftop?

You know those times you are going through thousands of lines of code and you see something stupid? You want to scream right? Tweet it. Goes without saying though it is public and will stay around forever...but it's fun. Sometimes you'll get sympathy from others, sometimes you'll get crickets.

Have you tried it out yet? What are your thoughts on it? If you do use it, do you blog as well?

Labels: work

  ¶ 2/01/2009 10:20:00 PM   5 Comments Links to this post

  Developing a J2EE based SOA Architecture No, I haven't gone to the dark side.

I just figured it would be best to know my enemy. ;)

Tonight I went to the Tampa JUG (no, it's not a code word for the local strip joint so stop laughing), or, the Tampa Java Users Group. The guy that runs is the the not so infamous Mr. V, from Application Developers vs. Database Developers Part II. I also got to meet/see some former WellCare colleagues as well (hi everyone!).

The presentation was done by Kevin Barfield from JBoss.

Interesting tool which incorporates (I think I'll get this right) the JBoss server, BPM and just about anything else you can imagine. It also included an overview of the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). That's also a new file type that you can load (as opposed to .ear, .war, etc).

Overall pretty cool stuff, but I really can't put it into context. I'd have to monkey around with it for awhile before I could truly understand what to do with it.

Anyway, that was my trip on the dark side. Not a whole lot of fun but an opportunity to expand my horizons.

Labels: java, work

  ¶ 1/27/2009 09:35:00 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

  What's My Purpose? No, not as a person. I kind of know that one; father, husband, son, etc.

I'm talking about my chosen career.

Software Developer, Database Developer, DBA, however it is that I am defined professionally.

What is my purpose as one of those?

I bring this up because I had a great conversation with a friend over the weekend. In discussing all things geeky, he said, "My job is to eliminate the need for me."

That's a paraphrase of course because I believe beer was involved during this discussion.

I about jumped out of my seat though. I had never heard anyone (to my knowledge or memory anyway, though my old boss may jump in and remind me) utter those words. I have uttered those words (but not to my wife apparently, as I called her almost immediately) before. I have said them in interviews, in discussions...but never here.

"My job is to eliminate the need for me."

Indeed.

I strive for that...to build a system that requires virtually no support. I am nowhere close, but I strive for it.

What other role do we serve but a support role (unless we sell software)? IT in just about every instance is a cost center right? We are there to support the business side of the house do their job more effectively and more efficiently. Nothing more, nothing less.

We aren't there to build systems that will require constant care. We aren't there to ensure we have a job in the future. We're hired to build the best application possible and get out of the way.

Of course, there are many factors in our way for doing so. Poor business requirements is probably the number 1 reason. If the business can't describe how can we build it?

The upside of eliminating the need for us is we can move on after a couple of years. We can demand more money up front as they won't need us for 5 or 10 years (still don't know how to sell that one). The idea remains the same though...

So then, how do we build software that will obviate the need for us? I still don't know...but if you do, feel free to comment.

Labels: humility, rant, work

  ¶ 1/26/2009 09:23:00 PM   8 Comments Links to this post

  Ubuntu Installation Update I finally managed to seriously try a non-windows OS recently.

To update, I have installed it on 4 machines at home. They are all still in dual-boot mode as I haven't completely figured out how to get rid of Windows without screwing everything up, but 2 of the 4 now default to Ubuntu. It's progress right?

Machine 1:
Dual Xeon Pentium 3 Processor with a speed of 1.6 Mhz (is that right?), 512 MB Ram. It's an old Dell Dimension 530 workstation that I bought on EBay. After installation I quickly realized that the graphics card (Diamond FireGL2) was incompatible. Joy. So I'm currently debating whether to get a newer, compatible graphics card.

Machine 2:
IBM Thinkpad (can't retrieve the specs at the moment). 256 MB Ram. This is my son's computer (he's 6) and the initial inspiration. It was old, had the remnants of corporate security on it, and was a perfect test subject for my trials.

I still haven't been able to get the internal wireless card working (Intersil Prism 2.5), but I did have an old Linksys PCI card lying around, so there is internet access. Tonight I was trying to diagnose the reason for no sound and apparently messed something else up in the process (hopefully I'll learn something from all of this). The latest error on restart was of the GDM variety, though I can't recall it specifically.

Machine 3:
Dell Inspiron 4300. P3, 1.8 Mhz. 512 MB Ram.
This has been my work-horse for the past 7 years. Over the last 2 or 3 though, I've used it mainly to work remotely. In the beginning, I had JDeveloper (9 I believe) and Oracle 9i Server running on it at the same time. That was painful. Overall it seems to run just fine with Ubuntu. Though I probably won't be doing any performance testing (Oracle) with it soon.

From oraclenerd

Machine 4:
Dell XPS, T5350 (I think) Dual Core Processor. 3 GB Ram.
This is my main "work" computer and has Windows Vista installed on it. I installed Ubuntu (dual, default is still Windows as it's shared) last week. Downloaded JDeveloper 11i (.bin file) and managed to install it successfully (w00t!). Next up I want to install Oracle 11g Server using this post as a guide (thanks Mr. Norris).

Performance on this machine rocks. Vista out of the box took up 1 GB of Ram. Ubuntu is running at about 400 MB. I have had no problems on this machine and look forward to learning more here...

From oraclenerd

And if you've got any resources you can link up for me, please do.

Labels: install, ubuntu, work

  ¶ 1/19/2009 11:24:00 PM   4 Comments Links to this post

  What a Life... Saturday afternoon I had scheduled to go golfing (I'm not a regular golfer) for a friend's bachelor party (believe it or not, no strippers). Saturday morning wifey was sick so I decided to cancel the day of golfing (drinking). For weeks I had also planned on attending the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) Tweetup Saturday night. Since wife was sick and there was a second event, dinner, I opted to go see my friend and celebrate with him.

My friend is a former teammate from UF (Go Gators!). Of the 8 people who attended, I was the only one not a high school (or further back) chum.

Anyway, one of his high school friends (and teammate) was a guy who played 12 years in the Big Leagues (MLB). He retired 2 years ago.

Me:
"So, what do you do now?"

Him:
"I chase my kids."

Me:
"Wow"

35 years old and his job is to chase his kids. How sweet is that? He never has to work a day for the rest of his life. I wonder if I had been fortunate (read: talented) enough to play MLB if I could handle doing "nothing" for the rest of my life? I couldn't imagine it now...I work almost non-stop. Either for work or just learning something new. Doing "nothing" would probably drive me nuts.

What about you? Could you retire at 35 or whatever your current age and do nothing?

Labels: life, work

  ¶ 1/18/2009 10:39:00 PM   6 Comments Links to this post

  2009 New Year's Resolutions I was tagged by @crisatunity here, so I'll do this. Hopefully The Curmudgeon isn't reading...

These are professional resolutions, not personal (I'm fat, so guess what #1 is on that list).

1. No brainer here. Go the entire year without losing my job. If I leave voluntarily, that doesn't count. I'm just shooting for no firings, no layoffs and no furloughs.
2. Become proficient in OBIEE. I've been given a second chance so to speak. Our DW guy decided now would be a good time to start his own consulting company and I am the lucky recipient of his job. Bonus: Datawarehousing is all the rage. OBIEE is a great tool to have in the tool box so I consider myself lucky on more than one front.
3. Build a PL/SQL only test harness. I don't really know why, but I want to give this a go. I've used SQLUnit (and like it) and a little bit of utPLSQL, but I think there's a lot to learn here. Specifically, how to generate and run code. I've never really done that, except for a small DROP <OBJECT> script now and again.
4. Contribute something tangible to the Oracle community. So I blog, cool. I've done an ApEx presentation, sweet. I would love to be able to contribute an application (a test harness perhaps?) or some sort of library. I don't know exactly what it is yet...

Four is good enough for me this year. One will be the one I focus on most...I just hope it doesn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy. ;)

So, who shall I ask to join us? Jake has already done like 33 end-of-the-year posts...I'm sure one of them included some form of resolutions (predictions actually, it qualifies though). Here we go:

1. Bradd Piontek || (twitter, blog)
2. Don Seiler || (twitter, blog)

I've paired those 2 guys together because I'm pretty sure they know each other. Watching them on Facebook and Twitter go at it keeps me laughing all day. For instance, tonight on Facebook Bradd posted a picture of him drinking something out of a brown paper bag and asking the community to guess what he was drinking. Mr. Seiler said something along the lines of "shame and disappointment?"

3. Dan McGhan || (twitter (loser), blog)

Dan was my "co"-presenter in September on ApEx. I made him do the whole thing, mostly because he heckled me (i.e. answered all the questions) in my first presentation.

*No drinking went on during the writing of this post.

Labels: 2009, funny, work

  ¶ 1/02/2009 11:16:00 PM   5 Comments Links to this post

  Countdown Timer Part II Once before I had a countdown (well, countup) timer to mark the time since my last production incident (one where I screwed something up). It was a way to poke fun at myself but also a steady reminder to be careful.

In that vain, I've created a new one marking the consecutive time I've been employed! As noted in my previous post, I've had difficulty holding on to jobs this past year. Three times in fact. Fired once, laid off twice and brought back twice (by the same company).

Here's to not having to reset this effin clock in 2009!

Cheers!

Labels: funny, work

  ¶ 12/30/2008 08:43:00 PM   5 Comments Links to this post

  This is the LAST time... On Friday I was furloughed...and today I was invited back. I start tomorrow.

Wow is really all I can say. Perhaps I should write a book or something? These past couple of years certainly qualify as book worthy. :)

Labels: humility, work

  ¶ 12/29/2008 10:27:00 PM   5 Comments Links to this post

  The Tampa Timeline I moved to Tampa a little over two years ago. To say it's been hectic would be a gross understatement. Here's the events myself and my family have been through in that short time:

November 27, 2006 - Begin work at WellCare as a contractor.
December 2, 2006 - Closed on Gainesville house
December 17, 2006 - Purchased Tampa house
December 26, 2006 - Rolled into a fulltime position at WellCare in the Datawarehouse group
January 4, 2007 - New CIO announced at WellCare
April 21, 2007 - Kate gives the Reaper the finger
Summer 2007 - Awarded on-the-spot bonus, only to be *PIPped 2 days later
August 6, 2007 - Sent a "manifesto" to my CIO
August 14, 2007 - Started this blog
October 24, 2007 - FBI Raids WellCare with 200 agents
January 26, 2008 - CEO and CFO resign from WellCare
April 24, 2008 - Gave my first professional presentation on Application Express
May 22, 2008 - I write a short statement on my blog that WellCare is doing layoffs
May 27, 2008 - I am fired from WellCare, with cause, for posting company "confidential" information
May 28, 2008 - My wife officially takes over as my blogging editor
May 31, 2008 - I get my official offer from Revolution Money as a contractor
June 15, 2008 - My paternal Grandfather passes away at 89
July 27, 2008 - I'm let go from Revolution Money
August 29, 2008 - My wife's maternal Grandmother passes away at 94
September 2, 2008 - I start as a fulltime employee at Revolution Money
September 24, 2008 - My wife's maternal Grandfather passes away at ~95 (no one knows his exact age)
December 26, 2008 - I'm furloughed from Revolution Money
December 29, 2008 - I'm asked to come back to Revolution Money.
April 8, 2009 - I resign and am then escorted from the premises.
April 10, 2009 - I start my new job.
October 16, 2009 - I get fired let go again.
November 3, 2009 - Became an Oracle ACE

What have I learned in this time?
1. Don't go into the office. If you boss says he needs a word, say you have to go to the bathroom and run for your car.
2. Leave early. If layoffs are coming and you aren't there, they can't let you go!
3. Don't check email while on vacation.
4. Life is rough sometimes, but you have to roll with it.
5. Have fun. We spend more time with those at work than we do with our families. Enjoy yourself while you are there. I got to play ping pong everyday (after 5 naturally) at Revolution Money with my Arch Nemesis. I won two times...out of a thousand games. But it was fun.

*Performance Improvement Plan

Labels: family, humility, work

  ¶ 12/27/2008 11:38:00 PM   1 Comments Links to this post

  Looking...Again! Not once, not twice, but three times in one year!

So if you know anyone who needs an ORACLENERD, forward them on!

Thanks.

Labels: humility, jobs, work

  ¶ 12/26/2008 02:21:00 PM   8 Comments Links to this post

  Random Things The best how-to on the SQL MODEL clause, by Duke Ganote.

I've been trying most of the day to PIVOT a query based on monthly buckets (up to 7). It's driving me crazy. I haven't been able to get it going with Analytics and that's what led me back to Duke's post.

I'm co-presenting Application Express at the SOUG meeting with Dan McGhan. Dan graciously helped out when I stumbled last time. You can get directions and sign up here.

I'll be doing more of the backend (why does that always make me giggle?) stuff and Dan will be showing off some of the cool front end stuff (customization, javascript plugins, etc).

By the way, I found out at the DBA 2.0 one day conference that we were presenting. That was funny.

I like twitter now. Jake suggested using it to search for jobs during my recent stint of un-employment...I like the "micro-blogging" thing.

I did get my old job back last week. They (thankfully) were able to move the start time up a month. I get to do some testing as part of the deal.

I do miss home though. It was nice hanging out with my wife without having to always rush through conversations. Being around the kids (before school started) was fun too. I have never been able to enjoy my time because I'm always thinking about some problem...since I had no job I was released from that burden.

The Wii is gathering dust, kind of. I did score a 184 on tanks (Wii Play) last night. I also miss my afternoon naps...

But I'm thankful to have a job again. Lots to do...

Labels: development, family, humility, work

  ¶ 9/08/2008 10:53:00 PM   3 Comments Links to this post

  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.

Labels: humility, work

  ¶ 8/18/2008 11:51:00 PM   6 Comments Links to this post

  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.

Labels: work

  ¶ 8/14/2008 10:14:00 AM   4 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: oracle, work

  ¶ 8/06/2008 04:49:00 PM   2 Comments Links to this post

  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.

Labels: web2.0, work

  ¶ 8/04/2008 09:50:00 PM   1 Comments Links to this post

  I Found a New Job! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,395181,00.html

My wife thinks I'm perfect for it!

Labels: funny, work

  ¶ 7/31/2008 11:27:00 AM   4 Comments Links to this post

  Don't Go Into the Office Whenever my boss asks me to come with him...I will politely tell him I'm not going.

I was laid off yesterday.

I want to see how many jobs I can have in one years time apparently. I didn't undermine myself this time though.

So if you know of anything in the Tampa Bay area, please let me know.

Labels: funny, rant, work

  ¶ 7/29/2008 02:34:00 PM   11 Comments Links to this post

  Revolution Money Seeks Senior DBA Here's your chance to work with 11g RAC.

Either email me (chet dot justice at gmail) your resume and I will pass it along, or drop me a line and I will provide you with the appropriate contact information.

Here are the details:

JOB SUMMARY

As a Database Administrator with Revolution Money Inc, you will be responsible for all aspects of administration and the deployment of the various database components of our products. Major duties are to include installation, configuration, integration, tuning, troubleshooting and support.

Joining our team means you will have the opportunity to implement and use advanced features such as clustering and replication. We operate in the following environment: Linux; Oracle 11g RAC on ASM with Oracle Data Guard and Oracle Streams; 7 x 24 on-call support.

DUTIES & ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
• Responsible for 24X7 production support.
• Install and maintain Oracle servers and service pack deployments.
• Manage security of application access to databases.
• Facilitate root cause analysis on database issues.
• Maintaining database performance by developing tuning methodologies.
• Perform backup and recovery.
• Assist database development environment and life cycle within the organization using best practices to ensure the benefits of standardization, documentation and change management.
• Providing information by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing database performance and trends.
• Research, planning and implementation of database upgrades and patches.
• Maintain technical documentation relating to database management.
• Perform benchmarking analysis to properly size hardware platforms.

OTHER FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Assist our internal customers running Oracle Database products including Oracle Applications.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• A Bachelor's Degree in computer science or equivalent is required along with 5+ years experience with Oracle as a DBA.
• Production experience managing and monitoring Oracle 10g RAC databases.
• Oracle OEM/Grid Control, RMAN
• Strong PL/SQL , UNIX Scripting, Perl
• Solid Linux/UNIX and networking experience.
• Must be highly motivated, and a quick learner.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work well in teams, as well as working within a fast-paced, dynamic environment are requirements.

Desirable Skills:

• Oracle 11g RAC databases
• Oracle Streams
• Oracle BI/Data Warehouse, Oracle Financials, OID, OWB

Labels: oracle, revolutionmoney, work

  ¶ 7/28/2008 02:55:00 PM   2 Comments Links to this post

  Process I read The Daily WTF, well, daily. On Thursday last week, there was a good one on process. Essentially, the entire process had to be followed when an error occurred at boot. F1 would have solved the problem immediately...

My first job I never really got to put anything into production, so I wasn't real familiar with it. My second job, I was the lone ranger, so I did everything myself (though I did not do development in production). My last job however, was full of "The Process."

Rightfully so, especially in a large environment (i.e. more than 1 developer), though I think it was a bit overdone. And up until one of my failed deployments, the deployment itself was done through the Change Request (CR). What I mean by that, is that the code was attached to the CR itself. Since I attached a newer version, which had not been QA'd, well, you get the picture. We finally moved to a system whereby the DBAs actually deployed from our source control system...thankfully.

Now I'm in an environment that's a mix between the last job and the second to last. Everything is QA'd, but there isn't this whole process surrounding deployments...yet. Fortunately we're small enough to deal with it.

What's the point? I'm not sure.

Perhaps it's that I've learned more what not to do from The Daily WTF...

Labels: development, process, work

  ¶ 7/06/2008 11:18:00 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

  Corporate Life III See Part I and Part II.

In Part I of Corporate Life, I said:

It feels like I've experienced about every event I could have imagined:
1. In January of 2007, a new CIO/SVP was hired and promptly restructured (replaced the VPs) the IT department.
2. In October of 2007, we had a nifty FBI raid.
3. January of 2008, we appear to be losing our CEO, CFO and General Counsel.

prodlife then mentioned that I hadn't experienced layoffs.

Four months later I did, on May 22, WellCare laid off 208 employees. I blogged it. I was fired.

I'm up to five corporate experiences.

I'm still missing the merger/acquisition and the IPO. Anything I'm missing?

Labels: wellcare, work

  ¶ 6/26/2008 11:54:00 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

  Long Live the Revolution! Revolution Money that is...

I'm no longer afraid to at least say that, though if you had checked out my LinkedIn profile, you would have seen it.

Revolution Money is a startup company described as "PayPal meets MasterCard" without the fees. Among the board members are:

• Steve Case, founder of AOL


• Ted Leonsis (here and here), among other things, he is the current owner of the Washington Capitols


• Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury

There are a couple of other board members, but those are the ones that I know of off-hand.

So far I am extremely happy, though I don't really know how to deal with the distress that is no longer there. I suppose it will wane with time...

Everyone I work with seems to be amongst the best and brightest which is pretty cool. My view (pictures coming soon) is pretty awesome. Relaxed environment (think casual Friday every day). The CEO brings his dog into work...

I should have the opportunity to learn quite a bit here.

Labels: work

  ¶ 6/18/2008 08:21:00 PM   2 Comments Links to this post