My programmer gave me his letter of resignation today. I'm very sad because he was good at what he does. He has agreed to continue working until the end of the first week March, then he is off to his new job. This is one of the problems with working for the state is that we can not compete for the talent. David likes his job and the environment and would stay if we could compete with the offer. However, that would be a 33% increase in his current salary (and be more than I as his supervisor make)...and we just can't match it. So an outstanding programmer goes back out in the business world. This means an increase cost to the tax payers for me to go through a hiring and training process that will probably leave me with a "B" programmer instead of the "A" programmer that I had.
I'm getting frustrated with management in the state. This is the third thing to happen this week that would not happen in the business world. First, back in November I placed a requisition with a justification letter for a souped-up laptop for me. It took until the beginning of February for the State purchasing Technology Oversight committee to approve it. When I went back to the vendor that had won the bid, they informed that the model had been discontinued with no direct replacement. I have to start the entire process over. That means I probably won't get my laptop for another 3-4 months. We are talking about this kind of bureaucracy for a $2,000 machine...are we really saving money?
Then, in January I requested a tablet PC with a justification letter for a director who travels to our schools two-three times a week. Well, it came back this week REJECTED. Why? Well, the oversight committee doesn't like the inclusion of the wireless access card in the machine (although my laptop that they had approved had an integrated wireless card...I guess they just didn't notice). The State wishes to have a copy of my department's "Wireless Access Policy", prior to approval of the tablet PC. The ludicrous thing is that there is currently in effect a state mandated moratorium on wireless networks for state agencies. I don't have a "Wireless Access Policy" because I am not allowed to have a wireless network. Of course, you can't buy a tablet pc w/out a wireless access card (not that I would...many of our colleges do have wireless access and the director needs the ability to connect to those networks when she visits those campuses and she has a wireless home network that she will need to connect to when she works at home). Anyway, I sent the State Information Officer and email asking for an example "Wireless Access Policy" so that I could make sure I submitted back exactly what they wanted. I haven't heard a thing back. I wrote one myself and am sending it to our lawyers for their review...not that they can understand it. Basically...a waste of my time and theirs.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Valentines
| I've only got two more days to get ready for Valentines. I hate that it is on Saturday because that means that I have to be sweet and romantic the entire day...uggggghhhhh. j/k
Seriously, though, it is such a hard day. I ordered flowers for Erin in early January (so as to get January prices), but have no clue as to what else to get her. On top of that, I don't have time to go shopping tomorrow or Friday. The whole "out-to-eat" thing is an awful experience because everyone (minus their dog --- it is a "couple" thing after all) is at the restaurants. What to do? Woe is me!!! |  |
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Home Visit Tonight
Erin and I are supposed to have our first home visit this evening. We were actually supposed to have it last Tuesday night, but the social worker canceled due to a client giving birth. She rescheduled for Thursday. Then, last Thursday, she called and cancelled due to a baby exchange. So far, no call from her canceling...but there is still 6 hours for her to do so.
Monday, February 09, 2004
Hope for the Short People
While its too late to help me...short kids will be able to get a boost from modern medicine. Why couldn't his have been invented 20 years ago...then I might be able to find clothes that fit.
Saturday, February 07, 2004
No Solutions, Only Trade-Offs
We live in a great country. The American, "can-do" spirit has allowed us to achieve such monumental achievements in the realms of science, health, and technology. Who would have guessed 100 years ago that men would walk on the moon, that childhood disease would be virtually wiped out, or that an entire library could be stored in a hand-held device. These great achievements have bred in us an attitude that with enough time and money, we can solve any problem and conquer any difficulty.
While this is true, I believe, for challenges in the physical world. It is not true for challenges found in the non-physical (spiritual, social, philosophical, etc...) world. So often our modern society tries to fix social problems the same way they fix technical problems. The main difference, though, is that technical (scientific) problems follow a set of a rules. Once you understand the rules and the boundaries, you can find ways to use those to your advantage.
The non-physical worlds, however, do not follow a set of rules. This is a thought that seems to confound the liberals, intellectuals, and socialist of our time. They are always amazed that their "great experiments" don't work. They then complain that they would have worked, but they were not able to fully implement the idea because there was not enough money, time, or training.
The truth is that even if you had all the time in the world, money and training will not change the human spirit. Take the "war on poverty" for example. The fact of the matter is that there are some people who will do only the bare minimum to scrape by. Many of the social elite think that they don't have the education, or the skills, or the resources, or the support, or the __________ (fill in the blank), and they go on and on about how "unfortunate" people are. They never, ever say that the people have no ambition. As long as there are people with no ambition (and as long as the behavior is rewarded with handouts) people will continue to be lazy.
It comes down to this, there are no solutions to social problems. There are only trade-offs. We can only win the "war on poverty" by making everyone the same (which means taking everyone to lowest common denominator, i.e., poor). Of course, people that want everyone to be the same don't want to be different themselves and they definitely do not want to be poor. So they really aren't willing to make the trade off necessary.
It is election time and politicians are on the loose. The people will demand solutions. But that doesn't mean that they will get them. What they are more likely to get is the illusion of a solution by someone seeking their vote.
I want to live in a country and society that offers everyone individual freedom and liberty. The trade off, though, is that people must be responsible for their own choices. If you want a society that nobody wants for anything then the trade-off is personal freedom and personal choice. Make sure as you vote, you realize what you are trading for what you are getting.
While this is true, I believe, for challenges in the physical world. It is not true for challenges found in the non-physical (spiritual, social, philosophical, etc...) world. So often our modern society tries to fix social problems the same way they fix technical problems. The main difference, though, is that technical (scientific) problems follow a set of a rules. Once you understand the rules and the boundaries, you can find ways to use those to your advantage.
The non-physical worlds, however, do not follow a set of rules. This is a thought that seems to confound the liberals, intellectuals, and socialist of our time. They are always amazed that their "great experiments" don't work. They then complain that they would have worked, but they were not able to fully implement the idea because there was not enough money, time, or training.
The truth is that even if you had all the time in the world, money and training will not change the human spirit. Take the "war on poverty" for example. The fact of the matter is that there are some people who will do only the bare minimum to scrape by. Many of the social elite think that they don't have the education, or the skills, or the resources, or the support, or the __________ (fill in the blank), and they go on and on about how "unfortunate" people are. They never, ever say that the people have no ambition. As long as there are people with no ambition (and as long as the behavior is rewarded with handouts) people will continue to be lazy.
It comes down to this, there are no solutions to social problems. There are only trade-offs. We can only win the "war on poverty" by making everyone the same (which means taking everyone to lowest common denominator, i.e., poor). Of course, people that want everyone to be the same don't want to be different themselves and they definitely do not want to be poor. So they really aren't willing to make the trade off necessary.
It is election time and politicians are on the loose. The people will demand solutions. But that doesn't mean that they will get them. What they are more likely to get is the illusion of a solution by someone seeking their vote.
I want to live in a country and society that offers everyone individual freedom and liberty. The trade off, though, is that people must be responsible for their own choices. If you want a society that nobody wants for anything then the trade-off is personal freedom and personal choice. Make sure as you vote, you realize what you are trading for what you are getting.
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