Pervasive lack of process…

Posted by on December 28, 2011 1 comment

In the job hunt, I am discovering that finding jobs that implement sound software development processes is more of a rarity than I could ever have imagined. One place was sold to me under the guise that they are beginning to ramp up sound processes, but when I started ask questions, it seemed that they didn’t have even the easiest pieces in place. I started in a random spot, based on what I view as indispensable and they checked it off: Baselines? No. Unit tests? No. Test scripts? No. Ummm…code review or inspection? No. What do you do, then? Our daily stand-up. So you do sprint meetings? No. And how is the morale with respect to implementing these processes? Not good.

Where can I sign up? How much process has to be there for people to say they have process? Not much, it would seem.

But it seems to be more of the rule. I’ve heard of people saying they run a “Tailored Scrum Process” and wanted to cock my head to the side like a dog when you make a strange fart sound or something. The part about agile is that you cannot tailor it…it is lightweight, but the parts that ARE there HAVE to be implemented.

I would say that of the 20 or so places that I have interview with, only one professed up front that they do not have processes, but want to add them. I guess it stands to reason that so many of these companies are looking for personnel when the greatest benefit to having process is “increased productivity/morale” and hence, less turnover. The problem is finding these jobs, I suppose…since people are happy and don’t leave.

I guess opportunity lies in converting one of these places into something great. I guess I need to try…to put up or shut up.

Travels in the Hill Country: Lampasas

Posted by on December 27, 2011 No comments

Originally started, but not finished on July 3rd…

I absolutely adore the Hill Country here in Texas. I have been traveling around inside of it, when possible. This past weekend, we went to Lampasas, a small town about an hour or so northeast of Austin. To tell you the truth, the drive was the best part. We passed over the Pedernales river on Hwy 71, only to see that it was more like a creek. A lot of docks were high and dry.

Once we got to Marble Falls, we crossed the Colorado River (no, not *THAT* Colorado River) and it was absolutely gorgeous. Because my phone doesn’t take good moving pictures, I don’t have one to show. Sorry!

Once we got to Burnett, we saw a derailed and overturned train, and since it was right next to the highway, it was neat. Judging by the news vans, it was a recent misfortune. Julian enjoyed seeing it, since he is so into Thomas.

Lampasas itself had a nice little center. The park was in the center of town, and there was a golf course right next door. The pool had the old tea house, which was restored to its former glory. The pool itself was algae covered and brown. The sulfurous content of the water was minute, so it just smelled like old people’s houses. When Antonella and I were in Italy, Antonella’s sister’s boyfriend took us down to some hot springs some three hours South of Firenze. The water was about 95 degrees and smelled like matches. In fact, it took us three days to stop smelling of sulfur.

This pool was different: it was breathtakingly cold, so it was enjoyable on that hot day. The kids were good for a bit but then started to shiver, and it was easy to convince them to leave. Outside of that central park, however, Lampasas proper is truly forgettable. It had a smallish Walmart and the people seemed half asleep.

I give the Spring a B- and the town an overall C-. If you are in a drought, it is a great experience. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Leaving this Joint

Posted by on December 27, 2011 No comments

Well, some jobs absolutely suck absolutely. This is one of those.

The real tragedy is knowing that some people are so believably genuine, and so undeservedly so. No, they are two-faced and wretched. That they can smile at your children when they come to visit during lunch, only to try to get you canned right before Christmas. I feel good outmaneuvering them, and then leaving them with a labor void when they need the work done the most.

And the greatest feeling of all is showing others the evil people’s true nature.

I hope you all have…

Posted by on December 25, 2011 No comments

…the Merriest of Christmases!

My life back

Posted by on December 19, 2011 No comments

I finally graduated from school. I feel relief in some ways, and disappointment in others. At any rate, it is over…so I can get back to doing things I enjoy.

What is Genius? Stupidity?

Posted by on August 24, 2011 No comments

Genius is to use someone in such a way that they believe they are using you.
Stupidity is the other person.

Not my belief, just an observation.

MVC home-cooked woes

Posted by on August 18, 2011 No comments

At the current job, we use a home-cooked version of MVC. It is dreadful to learn how to use it, since no one here sets up their model the same way. The client-side data provider is set up to clearly be an abstract factory, but it seems everyone is oblivious and circumvents it. It is dreadful to follow. *Sigh*

Another Health Insurance Rant

Posted by on August 4, 2011 No comments

Pretty funny that I can add this topic to the Government category.

First, your homework assignment: read this.

Now, take a deep breath. I’ll join ya.

Okay, now for me, I just bought some insurance, as I am officially a contractor. It isn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination. What is really quite sad about all of this is how it has come full circle with a hitch. I’ll explain:

Many years ago, circa 1973, Nixon effed everything up by requiring companies with more than 25 persons be offered an HMO. The HMO is great for the insurers, since the doctors they have in their HMO have to play ball by their rules.

The current rule is that I have gone back to pretty much what it was before 1973…that I pay for my healthcare out-of-pocket and am basically insured against something bad happening…that is, provided it can’t be determined as a pre-existing condition. So, I pay over $400/month for nothing, as my deductible is $10,000. I can put money aside in a Health Savings Account to help with my deductible…eventually. So, pretty much everything will be out-of-pocket from here on out.

If you think that it stops with the self-insured, then here’s a nice little cudgel for ya, stolen from wikipedia:

Costs for employer-paid health insurance are rising rapidly: since 2001, premiums for family coverage have increased 78%, while wages have risen 19% and inflation has risen 17%, according to a 2007 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Employer costs have risen noticeably per hour worked, and vary significantly. In particular, average employer costs for health benefits vary by firm size and occupation. The cost per hour of health benefits is generally higher for workers in higher-wage occupations, but represent a smaller percentage of payroll. The percentage of total compensation devoted to health benefits has been rising since the 1960s. Average premiums, including both the employer and employee portions, were $4,704 for single coverage and $12,680 for family coverage in 2008.

So, the questions are, with these rates increasing, do you feel that the quality of healthcare provided is better or worse? How is this reform?

Infrequent PSA on cliches, etc.

Posted by on July 29, 2011 No comments

For today’s installment, I figured I would start with a cliche that I see misused quite frequently:
..to flush it out.
For context, consider:

“I have a bit more analysis on the problem to flush out the details.”

What you really meant to say was “Flesh out.” The idea is you have made a skeletal analysis, now you are adding body to it, as in flesh to a skeleton. There are countless sites I found that point this out. Cliches suck anyway, please ensure you are using them correctly should you feel complelled to use them.

Vicious Circle
Use it instead of “vicious cycle.” My wife has a vicious cycle. When things bad keep happening, it is following a vicious circle. Enough said.

Orient/Orientate
Though orientate is considered proper in the Queen’s English, it isn’t over here in the colonies, and quite frankly, she isn’t our queen. In American usage, orientate means “to face East.” Orient means either “East” or to get one’s bearings. However, it is interesting that “orientation” exists in American English. I only bring this one up because I heard it a lot lately and my brain hates it.

Opening thoughts on MVC home-baked

Posted by on July 21, 2011 No comments

Started a new job just yesterday, doing basically front-end development for the Department of State Health Services. I was interested to find they had their own version of MVC, which is over 10 years old.

Of course the ‘mystical’ part of the whole process is accomplished by abstract factories. You create a table in the database and a data provider is created for you auto-magically. It creates the container class for you as well…then you just have to follow a few coding standards and you can create a whole new page within 8 hours, all plumbed up and ready to roll. Quite nifty, actually.

Some of the key differences I have noticed topically versus MVC3 is that there is a strict one-to-one relationship between the controller and the view. Also absent is the notion of view engines, a la Razor or some other implementation. It really is just WebForms. But it was nice that they force the javascript be separate…I hate mixing it all together.