Can I play too?

So Microsoft and Pepsi have this promotional deal going on. You buy certain Pepsi products (primarily Mountain Dew), and you get a code, and you enter this code into a 10-minute time slot, and for each slot one code is drawn. The winner gets an Xbox 360 prize pack.

Now, I'm a bit of a gamer, although a lot less than I used to be. And I've definitely had my eye on the 360. My priorities are rather different these days, so I've been trying to convince myself that I don't need one on Day One and can wait for the first price drop. But the more I read about it, the more I want one. (Yes, I know, that's not surprising, considering that's what the marketing materials are supposed to do.)

It doesn't help that I now know of three people who have actually won. Two I only know by name in the Geezer Gamers forum, but one is someone with whom I regularly play Halo 2 online. And so now I'm even more tempted to play.

But the temptation is frustrated for the following reasons:

• I'm trying to avoid caffeine, as it contributes to my migraines (I know, I could get decaf)
• I don't want to spend large amounts of money on soda
• I don't want to consume large amounts of soda
• The codes aren't even available here yet!

I suppose I should be somewhat grateful that I can't actually fulfill the temptation even if I did give in, but dangit, it's just so frustrating. People are actually winning, and there's nothing I can do to even play!

Why am I leaving again?

The topic came up in another forum, "Ways to demotivate your employees". My response consisted entirely of real incidents from my current job (in no particular order):

• When you're asking one of your developers to rewrite something for the fourth time because you were unable or unwilling to get any specifics and it's been done wrong, and they say they want to get some specifics this time so they don't have to write yet another bunch of code that gets thrown away 24 hours later, a good response to this insolence is, "Well, if you don't want to work here..."
• 4:45pm is an excellent time to say "Before you leave today, I need you to...", especially on your way out the door to go drinking with the other managers.
• Additionally, coming back later at 7:00 with those other managers and a couple buddies with the smell of alcohol heavy on your breath, shutting yourself in an office, and showing off your new guitar and amp with loud music and louder laughter, while your employees are still working on that "Before you leave" project well within earshot, does wonders for demotivation.
• When discussing with fellow managers where you're going to get dinner and what movie you're going to see, make sure you do it gathered around the cubicle of one of your working-late employees. For maximum effect, position yourselves so you are literally talking over his head.
• Justify any unreasonable expectations by heavy use of the phrase, "[Crap] rolls down hill." (Note: sometimes it helps to give the crap an extra push on its way down.)
• Never give your employees annual reviews or raises. Rather, remind them how well they're already paid and how cookies and soda in the break room make up the difference.
• Long lunches, late arrivals, and early departures are the hallmark of successful management. It is especially important not to inform your employees of your schedule, lest they somehow get the idea they're important enough to know your business.
• Additionally, call your employees at their desk (or log on to instant messenger) at 8am and 5pm when you're not physically present to make sure they're there.
• Don't let your employees know anything about how the company works on any level other than what you absolutely must tell them for them to do their job (and even then, less information is better than risking giving them too much).
• Make sure your employees understand it is unacceptable for them to handle any issue without your knowledge or consent. If they do so, make sure they understand how little they know of how the company works to make those decisions.
• If an employee attempts to contact you (about an issue which they should be asking for your knowledge and consent) when you are out of the office (in late, long lunch, leaving early, and/or taking off unannounced, which you should do regularly), make sure they understand your displeasure at their interruption of "your" time. Express your anger at their lack of knowledge of the way the company works. Use of four-letter words is encouraged here. But don't forget to berate them if they don't contact you for every issue.
• When you give an assignment to an employee, don't tell him the purpose. (If he asks, a simple "It's not important, just get it done" should suffice.) That way, when the finished task does not fulfill the purpose, you can ask him to do it again.

But do I want this job either?

I interviewed for a new job. It is doing data warehousing. The company is a start-up, but it is a joint venture of two other major companies, and as such has plenty of funding and a great benefits package. Based on what the recruiter's told me, I'm probably the best candidate for this position. The interview went ok, I suppose (I've always hated interviews and am a fairly poor judge of how things go), so if it went well enough, then I'm probably going to be offered the job.

But do I want it? The problem is, it's a DBA position, and based on how the interview went, there will be little to no coding involved. Writing code is my first big love. I've been writing programs since I taught myself BASIC when I was 8. This job would be a definite move away from that. Is that where I want to go? Do I want to put myself on track for being a data analyst instead of a coder?

Could I do the job? Most definitely. Would I be happy doing it? That's the real question. I'm not sure. Part of me is hoping I'm not offered the job, so I don't even have to make a decision. If I had other interviews pending, it would be easier, but although I've had many nibbles on my résumé, this is really my one big bite. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time on my knees figuring this one out.

You know what? Maybe I don't.

I received orders that I was to rewrite a certain module yet again, from the ground up, for the third or fourth time, because an executive at our major client blinked. Once again, the specs were not thought through and were very vague, were rather arbitrary with respect to how the system is actually used, and so on. The order came by way of a phone call from my boss. I had a couple other things to do first, so I did those while waiting for our department meeting where I could address my concerns.

At the meeting, when the topic came up, I believe I said something to the tune of, "We need to sit down and talk the requirements through, because I don't want to spend all day rewriting this code yet again just to throw it away tomorrow." The first words out of my boss's mouth? "Well, if you don't want to work here..."

Eventually we were able to talk things through enough that I was able to write the module the way it was wanted (today) with more clear directives, but his initial response stuck with me. And I thought to myself, "You know what? Maybe I don't want to work here." Honestly, having my job threatened when I protest about wasting time and energy is really low, and it's not the first time I've been threatened with such for not just shutting up and doing as I'm told. And that's only one aspect of the complete lack of respect I'm faced with.

So now I'm looking again. I'm tired of putting up with this. The reasons I've stayed so long have become less and less important and less certain. I'm sure once I leave, they will finally make whatever big deal they've been hoping for and I'll miss out, but honestly I've been doubting what my cut of that would be if I stayed anyway.

I will miss the perks. I pay less for health insurance for my whole family than many people I know. I can wear what I want and even come in and leave when I want within reason, I can work from home when necessary, and the kitchen is stocked with free goodies. The 401(k) program is pretty cool as well, considering the employer matches 1:1 on up to 5%.

But I'm not happy. I can only deal with so much, and this job passed it a long time ago. It's way past time to move on.

What do you do with a D-Link Wireless router?

Well, you could always make something useful with it.

This D-Link DI-514 wireless router has given me nothing but trouble [never have I wanted so much to throw a piece of hardware out of a window and never see it again], so there was no pain in dismantling the stupid thing for decorative parts (except for the occasional burn from the soldering iron). I have already replaced it with a Linksys, and I'm much happier now.

Now, in all fairness, a lot of people have told me they have had the complete opposite experience, that Linksys isn't worth the silicon its code is printed on, and they'd be willing to run a production site over a D-Link. On the other hand, other people agree with my experience and wouldn't wish a D-Link on their worst enemy (our office uses a Linksys, and we haven't had a lick of trouble with it). Your mileage may vary, I suppose.

What good am I?

Today was our choir Easter performance. We had another one on Friday, but my wife decided not to attend that one (although, since her niece was visiting to get help with her prom dress, it would've been easier if she decided to just leave the kids). I actually had fun singing, and I was actually feeling pretty good.

So I find my wife and kids after the performance. I give her a hug and say, "Thank you for coming." I was expecting her to stay at home, with some excuse about the kids bouncing off walls or something; so I wanted to at least acknowledge that I was glad she came. She replies with, "You're lucky you still have kids," and she proceeded to tell me what a pain they were. I mumbled something about, "I'm sorry you couldn't enjoy it." She didn't protest.

Should I post this here?

It would be more appropriate to put this in a personal journal, but since I don't keep one (I really should), I might as well add it here.

Another birthday has come and gone (many days ago, so now I can talk about it without it being close enough to be worth thinking about except as a passing thought), and I was almost successful in getting by without notice. The company CEO did send out a happy birthday e-mail to the whole company (one day early), so I had to at least admit the day at work. Fortunately, our team took a little field trip to some of our client sites that day, so stopping for a "birthday lunch" was more of an incidental rather than a special event.

And at home, it was mostly just another day. Just a couple of cards from the wife and kids to open at dinner, and trying to ignore the phone calls from the parents calling to say happy birthday (thank goodness for answering machines, or I'm sure my mom would've tried calling all night). Fortunately, my wife hadn't decided what to get me and planned on asking me about it, so I could tell her that I didn't want anything, that it was just another day.

So why am I feeling like this? It's not something I really want to talk about, not even semi-anonymously on a random internet page. I guess a 50,000' summary would be that I'm not happy at work, and although I could change that, it wouldn't matter because I'm not happy at home either, and no amount of success at work can make up for failure in the home.

More space for what?

Message on my car loan statement:

Beginning next month, your new statement will be a larger size to accomodate additional account information to help you manage your account.

The current statement is approx. 8 1/2" tall and, oh, 4-5" wide? It's folded in quarters. The area above the first fold is an advertisement. The area between two more folds is completely blank. Actually, in total, the current statement is probably about 1/3 empty space. Also, the interest rate is 0%, so the only activity to report every month is what I paid and how much is remaining. For what could they possibly need more space?!?!

Possible legal troubles? (Part 2)

I received an e-mail on September 1 (sent to <company>@<mydomain.net>) that said:

<my name>,

Thank you for responding to our letter. Unfortunately, I have shown our Legal Department your response and they still claim it is in violation of the trademark and tradename laws and ask that you change it. 

<e-mailer's name> for <Supervisor's name>
Business Conduct & Rules

It was therefore no surprise when I received the following letter (again, the only things changed are in angle brackets):

September 16, 2004

<our names and address>

RE: E-mail Address

Dear <our names>:

On August 13, the Corporation sent you correspondence advising that your email address (<company>@<mydomain.net>) was at odds with the Rules of Conduct for <company's affiliates>.

As of the date of this letter, the Corporation has not received your written assurance that the email address has been changed. Nor have we received your promise that you will comply with the Rules of Conduct. In our previous correspondence, we indicated that the use of this email address is in violation of the Rule of Conduct as our mark (or a version of it) is being used without our permission and in a manner that will cause confusion in the market place.

We once again our requesting your written assurance with in the next 20 days that you understand and will comply with the Rules of Conduct and our request. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

<signature>
<name>, Supervisor
Business Conduct & Rules Administration Department
Office Phone <phone>
Fax <phone>
Email <e-mail address>
File <xxx>

I decided to avoid arguing about the part where I was being asked to follow the rules of one of their affiliates, or that since a complete copy of the Rules of Conduct are not available to me, I will not write or sign anything stating that I will abide by them.  I'll save that for Part 3, if it comes to that. Instead, I sent this letter:

September 23, 2004

<name>, Supervisor
Business Conduct & Rules Administration Department
<address>

Re: E-mail Address (File <xxx>)

Dear Mr. <name>:

I am writing in response to your second letter of concern over the trademarks held by <company> Corporation and the e-mail address <company>@<mydomain.net>. I'm afraid I do not understand why your concern continues. As I explained in my last letter (a copy of which is included for your convenience), the e-mail address was only given to <company> Corporation and is not used by anyone but <company> Corporation, including myself. The e-mail account itself does not exist, and never has.

I will repeat this, because apparently I was not clear enough the first time. The e-mail account <company>@<mydomain.net> does not exist. If its continued presence in your database is offensive to you or whatever rules you have created with regards to your trademarks, you are free and encouraged to delete it from your database. That will destroy it, because the only place that address has any meaning is in your database. It does not exist anywhere else.

Once again, for clarity, the e-mail account <company>@<mydomain.net> does not exist.

A written confirmation of receipt of this letter is requested as the only further correspondence on this matter.

Thank you,

<signature>
<name>

enc:	copy of original correspondence
	copy of my previous correspondence

To be continued? I hope not.

Possible legal troubles?

I own my own domain and maintain my own mail server. Since setting it up, I made it a habit to, when asked for an e-mail from any web site, use that company's name as the to address. Since any e-mail sent to my domain goes to me, as far as my mail server is concerned, I could use anything. Using the company's name is beneficial to me for two reasons. One, I know immediately who is sending me the e-mail. Two, if said company ever has their e-mail list stolen, or if they ever sell it to someone else, I can block that e-mail address, and I know with whom I need to update my contact info with a new address (or with whom I will never do business again). Either way, my correspondence with anyone else is unaffected.

Anyway, occasionally a company will get a little nervous seeing their name used as a personal e-mail address. My wife had one sewing website ask her to change her address, and she just made up a new one to avoid confrontations. Me, I'm a little more stubborn.

I received this letter in the mail about a month ago. For the moment, I am obscuring their name, because I'm not looking for trouble. But I thought this was worth chronicling, in case it turns ugly. This is the text of the letter, with all spelling and gramatical mistakes as they appear in print (with the exception of content in angle brackets).

August 13, 2004

Dear <our names>:

The Corporation has recently learned that your e-mail address is <company>@<mydomain.net>. The purpose of this correspondence is to ask for your cooperation as it relates to changing your e-mail address.

To begin, <company> Corporation nor any of our affiliates or Sister Companies will not allow the use of any of its trade names (company names), trademarks (product names), designs, or symbols by any person, including a <company>-affiliated <list of affiliates> without our permission. We, along with our affiliates and Sister Companies, will not give authorization for use of our trade names, trademarks, designs or symbols in a manner that is likely to cause confusion as to it's source. It is important to understand that we take strong measures to protect our marks from being used without our permission or used in a fashion that is likely to cause confusion. We believe your e-mail address can and will cause confusion in the market place. In view of this, we are asking that you change your e-mail address.

We would respectfully request your written assurance with in the next 20 days that you understand and will comply with the Rules of Conduct and our request. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

<signature>

<name>, Supervisor
Business Conduct & Rules Administration Department
Office Phone <phone>
Fax <phone>
Email <e-mail>

I sent the following reply, along with a copy of their original letter, to the address that was printed on their letterhead (no return address was typed, just the phone numbers and e-mail address):

August 19, 2004

<Supervisor's name and address>

Re: E-mail Address (File <xxx>)

Dear Mr. <name>:

I am writing in response to your letter of concern over the trademarks held by <company> Corporation and my e-mail address, <company>@<mydomain.net>.  I understand the concern of your corporation and the need to protect its trademarks and their use in the marketplace.  As such, some explanation is in order.

The domain <mydomain.net> is a personal domain, owned, administered, and operated by me personally.  The Mail Exchanger for this domain is configured such that e-mail sent to any and all addresses at <mydomain.net> is delivered to me personally.  As such, the account name "<company>" does not actually exist.

Additionally, the correspondence address <company>@<mydomain.net> has been provided to one and only one business, namely <company> Corporation.  Therefore, correspondence to this address can only come from <company>.  E-mail sent by me or anyone else from my domain does not contain the address <company>@<mydomain.net>.  This cannot cause confusion in the marketplace, nor can it cause confusion as to the source of any message.  In fact, my purpose for providing that address to <company> for correspondence was specifically for the purpose of removing any ambiguity as to a message’s source.

I believe you will find that I am respecting your trademark in this instance.  Since no actual account exists, since only <company> has been provided this correspondence address, and since no e-mail is sent by me with the <company> name, that there is no violation of your property or potential for confusion in any forum, public or private.  As requested, you have my written assurance that I will continue to respect the trademark of <company> Corporation, as I have hitherto done.

A written confirmation of receipt of this letter is requested.

Sincerely,

<my name and signature>

enc: copy of original correspondence

Chez Brulé

Chez Brulé, the blog of a dear friend.
She has moved to a LiveJournal account.

My first Blog

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to put here. It may be random links to things I find interesting, it may be important thoughts (I have them sometimes), or it may be completely lifeless. But I guess now I join the ranks of zillions who "have a blog".