"Chatham residents decry county's immigration stance"
Good old Chatham County, North Carolina, home of the "done deal" meaning our local and county governments have once again decided that five people in the county know what's good for all of us.
Sickening.
Although the statistics show Siler City, NC clearly has a massive number of immigrants at 39% of the population and the county is nearing a 10% immigrant population, the local yahoos have decided they need no assistance from the Federal enforcement agency, ICE. This despite the fact that FIVE surrounding counties with similar immigrant populations have actively encouraged this ICE connection.
There was a horrendous accident on the I40 beltline in Raleigh in the last 48 hours. An immigrant - who is being investigated as to his legal status since he was in Wake County, not Chatham - caused an accident - obviously negligence - that has one legal citizen of this country fighting for his life in the burn ward.
Want to bet the driver had not only no license, but no insurance, and that he "No habla'd" when asked to provide proof of either?
This is an outrageous burden to put on legal citizens of this country and I see it nearly every day. More schools to educate illegal children or anchor children. WIC and food stamp programs all but tapped out. Citizens who pay over a $1000 per year for required insurance hit, maimed or killed by those apparently NOT required to have any at all.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners has done a major disservice to the residents of Chatham County, of which I am one. I am tired of being forced to promote illegal activity with my tax dollars and I demand as much assistance with the illegal immigrant problem as we can get.
Otherwise, just say, "Welcome to North Mexico"....sanctuary cities inside a sanctuary county inside a sanctuary state....
28 January 2009
27 January 2009
Plane crash survival...not a money-making opportunity...
US Airways passengers get $5,000 each; is it enough?
I guess I'm not surprised.
Right after reading about the pilot's safe ditch of this airplane into the Hudson River and the calm, professional handling of the entire situation by the pilot and the crew, I find that passengers are no longer talking about a miraculous survival...but about money.
Perhaps sitting in a quiet place for 5 minutes and reminding themselves that they survived a plane crash would be a good idea.
"I survived a plane crash."
Would that achievement alone be worth more than $5000? It would to me.
That is the amount the airline is offering passengers - $5000 - along with refunding the price of their ticket, and some are complaining. I can't believe it.
I guess I'm not surprised.
Right after reading about the pilot's safe ditch of this airplane into the Hudson River and the calm, professional handling of the entire situation by the pilot and the crew, I find that passengers are no longer talking about a miraculous survival...but about money.
Perhaps sitting in a quiet place for 5 minutes and reminding themselves that they survived a plane crash would be a good idea.
"I survived a plane crash."
Would that achievement alone be worth more than $5000? It would to me.
That is the amount the airline is offering passengers - $5000 - along with refunding the price of their ticket, and some are complaining. I can't believe it.
- You survived what could have been a death experience.
- You can get on the phone and complain about it to friends and family.
- You can describe what happened to anyone who will listen.
- You can get out of bed this morning and go make some coffee.
- You can live to see other days.
- Bits of you are not in a body bag.
- Your funeral is not being held today.
26 January 2009
Is your website lazy?
Is your website tired, rundown, listless,...is it unpopular?
For readers less than 50 years of age, this is a very well known (partial) line from the "Vitameatavegemin" episode of "I Love Lucy." Definitely worth viewing if you've never seen it.
The phrase popped into my head this morning while observing and listening to someone attempting to apply for a new job via the Internet. It sounded painful!
The search for applicable job postings is easy enough. In this instance, the person seeking a new position is an experienced IT professional, with Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and over 20 years experience. I can also tell you he is not an idiot.
But on certain job sites, clicking on the position of interest ends up meaning an hour or more of re-writing a resume that has already taken considerable time to compose and format. An hour or more of trying to figure out what the page designer AND the prospective employer are really asking for...it can make you feel first, like an idiot and then second, that applying via this website is just too much hassle.
The mere plethora of skills requested for many positions, specifically in IT, should tell you immediately that making an attempt to funnel these skills into small text boxes is not going to work.
The contract environment in which many IT resources exist means they sometimes have many positions at different locations, often running only 3 to 6 months in duration. Try fitting 20 years of THAT in a character-restricted text field.
Servers that store said resumes are often slow and buggy. Spend your 45 minutes, describe the last 20 years of your life, click the "Preview" link so you can have a wee look at the masterpiece you are and BINGO - "Error 404 File Not found" or, "Internal Server Error", my personal favorite.
The "laziness" I suggest is that prospective employers and recruiters want the prospect to do their admin and clerical work for them.
Someone built them a database - possibly with little analysis as to how the user would process the application - to store all the relevant and keyword data. The employer can now have an admin person run a quick search to find applicable candidates for a position...from the few, the proud, the brave who actually managed to complete the submission "mission'. Even the information submitted may not actually be conveying what was intended by the applicant, but that database is full so it MUST be working for you, right?
The contrast between this painful process and the job opening that provides a contact person's name, an email link and maybe even a phone number is dramatic. If your resume is up to date and ready for the real world, you can submit it - with or without a cover letter - in about two minutes. Time involved in this part of the process has no bearing on your ability or fit for the job - only your ability to flow your data in the format you intended to the correct person.
Wise up web site builders and owners - the harder you make an order or submission process, the less of either you will receive. Keep it simple and make it painless...these tasks are yours to perform - not your visitors.
For readers less than 50 years of age, this is a very well known (partial) line from the "Vitameatavegemin" episode of "I Love Lucy." Definitely worth viewing if you've never seen it.
The phrase popped into my head this morning while observing and listening to someone attempting to apply for a new job via the Internet. It sounded painful!
The search for applicable job postings is easy enough. In this instance, the person seeking a new position is an experienced IT professional, with Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and over 20 years experience. I can also tell you he is not an idiot.
But on certain job sites, clicking on the position of interest ends up meaning an hour or more of re-writing a resume that has already taken considerable time to compose and format. An hour or more of trying to figure out what the page designer AND the prospective employer are really asking for...it can make you feel first, like an idiot and then second, that applying via this website is just too much hassle.
The mere plethora of skills requested for many positions, specifically in IT, should tell you immediately that making an attempt to funnel these skills into small text boxes is not going to work.
The contract environment in which many IT resources exist means they sometimes have many positions at different locations, often running only 3 to 6 months in duration. Try fitting 20 years of THAT in a character-restricted text field.
Servers that store said resumes are often slow and buggy. Spend your 45 minutes, describe the last 20 years of your life, click the "Preview" link so you can have a wee look at the masterpiece you are and BINGO - "Error 404 File Not found" or, "Internal Server Error", my personal favorite.
The "laziness" I suggest is that prospective employers and recruiters want the prospect to do their admin and clerical work for them.
Someone built them a database - possibly with little analysis as to how the user would process the application - to store all the relevant and keyword data. The employer can now have an admin person run a quick search to find applicable candidates for a position...from the few, the proud, the brave who actually managed to complete the submission "mission'. Even the information submitted may not actually be conveying what was intended by the applicant, but that database is full so it MUST be working for you, right?
The contrast between this painful process and the job opening that provides a contact person's name, an email link and maybe even a phone number is dramatic. If your resume is up to date and ready for the real world, you can submit it - with or without a cover letter - in about two minutes. Time involved in this part of the process has no bearing on your ability or fit for the job - only your ability to flow your data in the format you intended to the correct person.
Wise up web site builders and owners - the harder you make an order or submission process, the less of either you will receive. Keep it simple and make it painless...these tasks are yours to perform - not your visitors.
25 January 2009
Click and Wait - the true story of rural internet connectivity
As I sit here living two miles from the nearest cable provider's service, and less than two miles from the local telephone substation, the closest I have to broadband speed is the satellite dish in my own backyard.
"Speed" relating to broadband or the Internet is a relative term for one living in this dark hole of telecommunications. A recent upload/download speed test shows an upload speed of 46.0 kbps (kilobytes per second), and a download speed of 342.00 kbps. It must be a good day and this is obviously the first megabyte transferred. The "throttling" of the speed by the service provider will take a major toll on larger transfers. When I plug my 3G wireless modem into my laptop, speeds are generally one-fifth or less as fast as in the closest metropolitan areas. In this case, less than 5 miles away.
It's not called "web-crawling' for nothing! The front page of USA Today can take more than two minutes to completely download - forget clicking anything showing a video clip. YouTube - you are not for me. PDF's? I don't think so.....
However, there is a silver lining in this cloud. There is no point having more speed if your total megabyte download is severely restricted. For this particular satellite and service plan, exceeding a maximum of 375 megabytes in ANY 24-hour period will guarantee you NO access for the following 24-hour period. You can monitor this on your own system but beware the service provider's bit meter will make the final call - 4 hours behind real time. This is the notorious FAP (Fair Access Policy.)
It's notorious now that Comcast and AT&T have similar policies. Users of HughesNet - formerly DirecWay, received no FAP notice - even though it had not been part of the original contract. When they say "Terms and conditions may change without notice" - they really mean it.
GOTCHA!
Let's talk about the expense of this system. This is the DELUXE internet access...the best available in our community. Many of our neighbors use dial up since they can not afford the upfront and continuing costs of even this lackluster satellite performance. Initial costs of the satellite dish, modem, and installation exceeded $1000.00. The required long-term contract sets customers back an additional $100 per month. Remember, this is for internet access only. No TV, no radio, no talking to those on other planets.....
Compare this to our in-town neighbors paying $35 per month for TimeWarner's "RoadRunner" service or Embarq's DSL service which provide speeds several times faster than satellite.
So, what is my point?
#1 Page designers, service providers, and information services - I can't read your stuff! When it takes 4 megabytes of bandwidth to load your home page, and important news stories are a 20 megabyte video clip, you can be sure you won't find your links in my bookmarks.
#2 PPC advertisers - I hope you didn't invest too much time or money adding more high speed, high capacity servers to your internet business. They are severely limited by the data trickle offered to many outside the urban telecommunications core. The coolest web page with all the Flash in the word has no value if not viewed.
#3 Netflix - Great service! Thanks to snail mail I can at least still view the movies you offer. Not so with the Instant Download feature I am paying for but unable to enjoy. No way - no how.
#4 Governments and monopolistic lease holders of telecom access. The new Administration is touting the need for infrastructure improvements from highways and bridges to an enhanced electrical grid. Don't forget the data! Our community doesn't need eight lanes of highway to get to the dirt road at the end. We do need to get the latest weather information, commodity pricing, and to have access to the same public resources as other, more densely populated communities. After all, we do bear the same or more of the tax burden.
"Speed" relating to broadband or the Internet is a relative term for one living in this dark hole of telecommunications. A recent upload/download speed test shows an upload speed of 46.0 kbps (kilobytes per second), and a download speed of 342.00 kbps. It must be a good day and this is obviously the first megabyte transferred. The "throttling" of the speed by the service provider will take a major toll on larger transfers. When I plug my 3G wireless modem into my laptop, speeds are generally one-fifth or less as fast as in the closest metropolitan areas. In this case, less than 5 miles away.
It's not called "web-crawling' for nothing! The front page of USA Today can take more than two minutes to completely download - forget clicking anything showing a video clip. YouTube - you are not for me. PDF's? I don't think so.....
However, there is a silver lining in this cloud. There is no point having more speed if your total megabyte download is severely restricted. For this particular satellite and service plan, exceeding a maximum of 375 megabytes in ANY 24-hour period will guarantee you NO access for the following 24-hour period. You can monitor this on your own system but beware the service provider's bit meter will make the final call - 4 hours behind real time. This is the notorious FAP (Fair Access Policy.)
It's notorious now that Comcast and AT&T have similar policies. Users of HughesNet - formerly DirecWay, received no FAP notice - even though it had not been part of the original contract. When they say "Terms and conditions may change without notice" - they really mean it.
GOTCHA!
Let's talk about the expense of this system. This is the DELUXE internet access...the best available in our community. Many of our neighbors use dial up since they can not afford the upfront and continuing costs of even this lackluster satellite performance. Initial costs of the satellite dish, modem, and installation exceeded $1000.00. The required long-term contract sets customers back an additional $100 per month. Remember, this is for internet access only. No TV, no radio, no talking to those on other planets.....
Compare this to our in-town neighbors paying $35 per month for TimeWarner's "RoadRunner" service or Embarq's DSL service which provide speeds several times faster than satellite.
So, what is my point?
#1 Page designers, service providers, and information services - I can't read your stuff! When it takes 4 megabytes of bandwidth to load your home page, and important news stories are a 20 megabyte video clip, you can be sure you won't find your links in my bookmarks.
#2 PPC advertisers - I hope you didn't invest too much time or money adding more high speed, high capacity servers to your internet business. They are severely limited by the data trickle offered to many outside the urban telecommunications core. The coolest web page with all the Flash in the word has no value if not viewed.
#3 Netflix - Great service! Thanks to snail mail I can at least still view the movies you offer. Not so with the Instant Download feature I am paying for but unable to enjoy. No way - no how.
#4 Governments and monopolistic lease holders of telecom access. The new Administration is touting the need for infrastructure improvements from highways and bridges to an enhanced electrical grid. Don't forget the data! Our community doesn't need eight lanes of highway to get to the dirt road at the end. We do need to get the latest weather information, commodity pricing, and to have access to the same public resources as other, more densely populated communities. After all, we do bear the same or more of the tax burden.
Wood Stove Install - Interview
Since I posted the review of the Century Hearth Wood Stove, it seems appropriate to get some input from the stove's installer regarding the "How-To" of installation.
Question: What was the hardest part of this installation?
Answer: I expected the hardest part of the installation to be removing the shingles, cutting a hole in the roof, and re-establishing a water-tight seal. That turned out to be easier than I expected. I chose a warm day, a flat pry bar and did not try to rush the job. Shingle nails were easily removed and I was careful not to break the old, brittle shingles.
As it turned out, centering the two-hundred pound stove under the hole by myself was the biggest challenge.
Question: Other than the stove itself, what were some of the other required expenses?
Answer: Double-walled pipe - at over $30 per foot - made me wonder just how important that element of fire safety really is. Stories of slip-shod chimneys catching a house on fire gave me an appreciation for how important it was to do this job right.
Question: Had you known then what you know now, is there anything you might have done differently with this installation?
Answer: No - not really. Some good choices were made in having the stack taller than the code required for a good draft, and not including any bends or elbows - again to maintain the strongest possible draft.
Question: What was the hardest part of this installation?
Answer: I expected the hardest part of the installation to be removing the shingles, cutting a hole in the roof, and re-establishing a water-tight seal. That turned out to be easier than I expected. I chose a warm day, a flat pry bar and did not try to rush the job. Shingle nails were easily removed and I was careful not to break the old, brittle shingles.
As it turned out, centering the two-hundred pound stove under the hole by myself was the biggest challenge.
Question: Other than the stove itself, what were some of the other required expenses?
Answer: Double-walled pipe - at over $30 per foot - made me wonder just how important that element of fire safety really is. Stories of slip-shod chimneys catching a house on fire gave me an appreciation for how important it was to do this job right.
Question: Had you known then what you know now, is there anything you might have done differently with this installation?
Answer: No - not really. Some good choices were made in having the stack taller than the code required for a good draft, and not including any bends or elbows - again to maintain the strongest possible draft.
Country Hearth Wood Stove - Review
$600 savings in the first year of use!
People living north of the Mason-Dixon line won't believe it, but North Carolina gets COLD in Winter.
Having purchased a rural cottage on a lake in the Piedmont region of North Carolina a few years ago, and having observed the "excess resource" of wood already available on the property - buying a wood stove seemed a smart move. I am not disappointed.
This little stove - Century Hearth Model FW240007 - really cranks out some heat - and I mean HEAT - not just warm air!
A good link for a description of all the bells and whistles of this stove is at Vermont Castings.
You'll either need to understand and be very handy with the installation requirements or have someone do the tough stuff - like cutting a hole in the roof and assembling the proper pipe, etc. You'll also need to carefully follow the code for distance from walls and have a fireproof mat for your floor. As you can see in the picture, the mat protects the ceramic tiles on the floor.
Other items of importance to novice users will be the need for a blower fan. Otherwise, you'll have a 90 degree area right around the stove and not enough heat moving through the rest of your home. This particular model's coverage is up to 1500 square feet of living area.
Don't forget to buy an ash bucket which will soon feel like an appendage. The good news is that carting the bucket back and forth inside and out will do wonders for your ability to move from 90 degrees to 5 degrees in a timely and efficient manner. A little use of the biceps is never a bad thing either. Exercise with a purpose!
This is not a purchase for those who like to just sit in a warm house during Winter. It's a fair amount of work - even if you have wood available as I do on my property. You still have to haul the wood, tend the fire, clean the stove and the pipe - and plan for those times when the stove has cooled and so has the house. If you can project-plan this into a daily process though, I highly recommend it as a viable option to gas, oil, or electricity for home heating.
From an economic standpoint, since heating my house is normally accomplished by propane and a gas pack unit, I estimate my expenses this first heating season will be cut in half - in this area and at current propane rates - a savings around $600 for one season.
I purchased this stove at Lowe's for around $480, end of 2007. The other items needed to complete installation brought the total cost to just under $1500, (double-walled pipe is not cheap.) I am very pleased with the return on investment of this purchase.
If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask...
Enjoy!
24 January 2009
A new focus
Escaping from IT Project Management and back to the world of words and ideas.
New portfolio - Day One....
New portfolio - Day One....
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