It’s a boy!

And he’ll be here on April 3rd 2007 give or take 5 days.  We’ve got ultrasound pics I need to scan this week and put on FLICKR.  We still need to decide on a middle name for Logan Singleton.  Connor’s going to have a brother.  Something neither Amy or I had.

Keep the change.

Tonight I was surprised to see this unexpected increase in my savings account balance. When I logged on to my BOA accounts page I saw an increase of $120+ dollars. It was my annual “keep the change match” where BOA matches a percentage of what I transfer to my savings account through the Keep the Change program. Every time I use my ATM Check card the change rounding to the dollar is transferred into savings. Pretty cool. This is the first time in a while I’ve felt positive about a bank program of any type.

This reminds me. I’ve gotta go buy some numbers for tonights Powerball drawing.  Easy come, easier go.

Recruiters and Headhunters take notice.

Even though I am gainfully employed in a full-time position I still receive an endless number of emails and phone calls from recruiters scraping Monster.com and Dice.com for Citrix Administrators, SQL Admins, MS SQL DBA’s, etc. I honestly can’t understand how most of these guys get anyone to work for them except the desperate unemployed. I’m going to dissect a recent contact I received from a headhunter sending spam to everyone who had a Citrix certification on Monster.

“Hi Philipe,

I am a recruiter from XXXX; I have a position in NJ as a Senior Citrix Metaframe team Manager. I would appreciate if you can forward your updated resume.”

Here was the limited description provided for the position.

Position : Senior Citrix Metaframe team manager.
Exp : 7 – 12 Yrs
Rate : DOE
Duration : 1 yr
Location : Jersey City, Nj.
Skills : Citrix Metaframe

Now let’s count the reasons I would NEVER contact this recruiter, “Subbu”.

  1. My names not Philipe, I don’t even go by Phillip.
  2. He never looked at my resume or he would know I go by Todd.
  3. My resume states “geographic location: RTP, Raleigh/Durham” not New Jersey.
  4. Subbu probably doesn’t speak English as well as he writes it which is not encouraging since he writes it broken (I couldn’t imagine being hired by someone who can’t communicate effectively and professionally in my native language). Recruiters that I can’t understand get classified as cheap overseas labor.
  5. Who in their right mind with 7-10 years of Sys. Admin experience would answer this request for a resume?
  6. Again, who with 7-10 years of experience would jump on a 12 month “team management” contract? (They would have to mad cash)

Subbu did not even close his email with his full name, just Subbu. He also asked for the last four digits of my social as part of the requested response. Do mass market headhunters really think that there are experienced Sys Admins sitting around, poor, waiting for some vague position to come along in hopes they’re qualified? If I were an employer I would be highly skeptical of any candidate coming from a recruiting source such as this. Unfortunatley this email personifies 90% of the recruitment contacts I receive.

The best thing about the 11-07-2006 election results…

Was not that we can potentially start focusing on domestic issues more than foreign failures. It wasn’t the fact that we can stop arguing about the validity of electronic voting machines. Hell, it wasn’t even that the left created such vaccum on the right that Rumsfeld was finally asked to exit stage left. It was because this election decision was aided by the votes of the highest number of 18-29 year olds to ever vote in a modern, mid-term election. Today websites are full of gloats from many who “won” the first election they ever voted in.

This was too quickly overlooked by the media with only brief mention by CNN in one morning segment. Didn’t enough incumbents learn in the early 70’s that if you agitate enough college students with an unpopular war you’re going to cause a movement? It may not be big enough to run on it’s own but combined with enough disgruntled veteran voters you’re just gonna get voted out of office. So while Ultra Conservatives were busy trying to get enough camoflauge hats and bibles to the polls, the Democrats did just that, plus a silent mob of enraged youth arrived for the only thing they’ve committed to waking up in time for in the past two years and changed the face of congress. Go drink a keg, you earned it.

This election should prove to all future candidates and representatives elect that partisan politics and corrupt shrugs at the opposition does not validate the perceived notion that the public is clueless in the face of Washington arrogance. Regardless of party affiliation our idea of effective leadership is not all that different. Go forth and take care of the issues that matter to the public at large, the majority, for the greater good. Avoid idealistic crusades for any vocal minority and above all be prepared to admit to your mistakes and appologize publically. This takes more pride and earns more respect, nationally and internationally, than trying to “stay the course” to save face when the course clearly has no positive resolve (put in more troops or take them out – just do something).

But don’t take it from me. Listen to the greatest number of modern young voters to ever disapprove of the leadership from our elected representatives.

How much will Vista Cost?

The official release date is now Nov. 30th for business users and Jan. 30th 2007 for Home editions. The only pricing I’ve seen released by Microsoft is in AUD so let’s convert using x-rates.com:

  • Windows Vista Home Basic – AUD$385 = $298.029 USD
  • Windows Vista Home Premium – AUD$455 = $352.216 USD
  • Windows Vista Business – AUD$565 = $437.367 USD
  • Windows Vista Ultimate – AUD$751 = $581.350

I’ve been using Vista Beta for weeks and I don’t see myself needing anything in a $300 operating system that I can’t get out of a free or darn near free one. In fact, I unloaded my copy of Office 2000 last week and installed the latest version of OpenOffice never to look back. I might need to use Office 2007 in business at some point but I honestly feel that this may be the release of the first Microsoft OS/application group that will not become ingrained as a “standard” suite to which everyone must insure compatibility.

With so many open source options available now I can’t imagine that too many businesses will run straight to this OS or App suite simply because Microsoft says come and get it. There’s far less hype surrounding this release than any previous Microsoft product. It will probably enter with a whimper and go down with a bang. Note to self: move MS stock to Apple.

Rush did burn it.

I deleted an entry I created about Rush Limbaugh burning in hell. This was followed by a couple of emails asking why I deleted it. I simply had a moment of clarity. I realized that I did not want Rush to burn. After reading this article on mediamatters.org (http://mediamatters.org/items/200610250005) I realized he’s necessary to remind us all how crazy the far right, imbalanced Necon’s are. The ads favoring stem cell research by Micheal J. Fox would have probably gone completely unnoticed this year had it not been for Rush vomiting his opinion on us all to gain applause from a handful of delusional people who still think he’s worth listening to. His comments were a big push for the left.

“Mr. Limbaugh, Thank you so much for the brutal assault on Michael J. Fox. My wife heard it on your show and she is no longer undecided regarding the midterm elections due to your despicable attack on Mr. Fox. Thanks again for the boost to the Democrats. Keep up the good work.”

  • Tuesday October 24, 2006 09:42:45 PM EST

WRAL: Panelists To Discuss Future Of Dorothea Dix Property

“A panel studying what to do with one of the largest pieces of land in downtown Raleigh meets Tuesday. It is the same group that helped create plans to rebuild post-Katrina New Orleans and post-9/11 lower Manhattan.”

http://www.wral.com/news/10143925/detail.html

Is this headline meant to impress or discourage?  We all know how well the projects in Manhattan and New Orleans are going.  Sounds like another great choice by Raleigh city planners.