Am I Grateful?

At work they have these opinion pieces and viewpoints about our company and work.  This week they have one from a VP titled "Thirty Years and Still Grateful."

Grateful?

"After 30-years I remember one word. A word that describes best how I felt 30-years ago. That word is Grateful.
I am grateful to be part of a legacy. I am grateful to be part of the here and now—and also grateful to be part of the future. I am grateful to have had the lucky fortune to have been accepted into a great company. I am grateful to have served my nation through my service to that company."

Grateful?  I don't feel grateful.  After 35 years I've participated in successes and failures.  I've resolved problems and avoided creating many.  I have seriously supported our customers and made them successful (sometimes despite themselves), the direct ones who pay our contracts and the indirect ones who go into harm’s way almost daily since 9/11.  I've worked hard long hours for that success with teams who also worked hard long hours in support of our customers.  I'm proud of the things we did and do today.  I'm not grateful to anyone.  It's the country and company that needs to express some gratitude.  A 10" compound miter saw and a fancy dinner with a VP doesn't really cut it.

We Then Me?

This was posted at work as one of those "voices of..." things meant to be inspirational.  Or team building or something.

like it or not, ***** ****** has been depicted in the past as an arrogant company. It doesn’t matter whether that characterization originated from competitors, the press, our partners or our customers — it’s out there. And if we want to change this perception, we must start with making a change within ourselves, rather than expecting others to change and conform to our standards.

As a coach for the “We Then Me” pilot program for the Quality Assurance organization, I am even more aware of how the “Me” mentality can be disruptive to those around us. To foster change, it must start with each of us as individuals. We have the power to change from a “Me Then We” to “We Then Me” culture. Little by little, if we all have that mindset, we can change the perception those have of us as individuals and as a company.

I was going to comment with: "Many of us have worked with positive impact for our customers for decades.  We've worked "we then me" with dedication to mission success and performance which is I hope why **** **** is where it is today.  The "me" part has been a little lacking with economic purchasing and political power declining.  The "we" part is important but as the Soviet Union showed, not viable by itself."  But I didn't comment.

I'm pretty tired of working for the good of the company and country.  All this effort and the country fails to support it's people, only supporting the welfare of those in power.

Brain Status

Update: The brain doctor said I am good to go. He is taking me off the anti-seizure drug (slowly, last dose on Tuesday) and as far as he is concerned I can resume driving. The EEG and MRI were clear of any reason for the seizure to happen again. He says it happens, a perfectly normal person can have one out of the blue, possibly triggered by dehydration, lack of sleep, stress, drugs or just some neuron dying at the wrong moment. One in 30 of us will develop epilepsy of some form in our lifetimes (this isn't considered epilepsy since I've only had one seizure with no known cause or evidence) and 60 out of 100,000 people will do this once and never again. So brain-wise I seem to be ok. My shoulder is still broken. For more info: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1184608-overview

Apparently the FAA wants to see me be seizure free for four years, the last two years without any anti-seizure medication. And then they'll listen to the brain doctor. I have some options in the mean time as long as the DMV allows me to drive. Safety pilot/instructor can fly with me in my plane. I can fly Light Sport category aircraft (there was one I could rent but I think it is gone now). I can fly ultra-light aircraft (para-gliders, hang-gliders, powered hang-gliders, etc...). There is also some legislation in congress to relax medical requirements for my class of aircraft to be the same as Light Sport. I have not heard from the DMV yet. I called them last week and they had no restrictions on me noted. That could change and there is a form the brain doctor can send in to reinstate me, he said he would if it happens.

UPDATE:  Uh, no I can't fly Light Sport or if they relax 3rd class requirements.  Oh well.  4 years before I can fly 44D solo again.  That sucks.  Ultralight is ok I think.  DMV finally caught up with me but they bought what my neurologist said and they are happy.  Forms all filed away.  

Job Rant.

I've been a manager at this company for more years than I want to admit anymore.  Ok, here goes... of the 32+ years in this company, 3.5 years in the late 80's to early 90's and then the last 16.48 years since August of 1996.  I've never liked being a manager,  that is why I got out of it the first time.  Fortunately I have been able to do technical work and lead a technical team so it wasn't all bad.  I do that part pretty well apparently.
Rant:

• The customer is warning us that they expect a 10% cut in our budget this year.  Just a warning and we won't know for sure until half way through the year.
• The director wants to cut now and avoid having to make a 20% cut later.
• We identified people we could cut by position that would least impact our operations and work.
• Two of those people said they would take the layoff without bumping someone if that is what it came to.
• This plan was submitted to Human Resources.  HR for short.  Heartless Rats.  Human Refuse.
• HR said we have to try to find these people jobs, even if that meant bumping our own people below them in the ranking order.  The outdated ranking order that is over a year old and has no relationship to today's rankings.
• As if I give a shit about rankings.  I need specific people.  The people we decided to release were releasable because we don't need them as much.  If everyone could do anyone's job, we wouldn't have made a selection.  That isn't the real world.  It appears to be the HR world.  A Level 5 System Engineer Sr Stf should be able to step into the shoes of another Level 5 System Engineer Sr Stf of lower ranking without too much training or trouble.
• And what is this bullshit that an employee can't say "I don't want to bump anyone."and we have to try to place him somewhere anyway?  I guess they want to avoid severance pay at all costs since it is 2 weeks pay plus 1 week per year served up to 26 weeks.  But if they bump someone who has the same salary and severance, no gain there!

I am so pissed off I can spit.  Several people are going to get an unnecessary layoff notice because some lawyers tells HR to toe the line and follow process exactly.  I am spending hours of my life writing up justifications for why the other people shouldn't be bumped by this guy ranked higher than them.  Obviously they don't trust my judgement, nor the judgement of the senior manager and director above me.  I am tired of it.  Why do we have managers at all?  Just hire a bunch of HR types to do this shit and let the engineer leads run the real work, until HR runs the company into bankruptcy.

God in judgment

Today 20 kids lost their lives. 

Mike Huckbee has an opinion.


So do I.“[W]e’ve made it a place where we don’t want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability — that we’re not just going to have be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one day we stand before, you know, a holy God in judgment,” Huckabee said. “If we don’t believe that, then we don’t fear that.”

Why would I fear a God who is so ineffective as to be totally unable to at least call the cops before the shooting starts? It never has before. Or maybe this god is malevolent and shouldn't get our attention. Or is uncaring and there is no point in our attention. Or. There is no god. Mike Huckabee... you've wasted your life on something that doesn't exist. How sad for you. Not nearly as sad as losing 20 kids you think could have been prevented with fear and superstition. Action by us here and now could have prevented it, not fear and superstition. Those kids have lost their one and only lives, they do not go to a better place. They are lost to us. Their lives have been lost, they will never be who they could have been. We will never know who they could have been. This is the price paid for supposed rights (god given in some minds) of gun ownership and personal responsibility that limits aid to mental illness. 

The first five shots I blame on the lack of health care in this country, the rest on the NRA.

Neil Armstrong

“I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer, born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace and propelled by compressible flow.”



I watched Armstrong step on the moon with my family in San Rafael CA, 13 at the time. We had missed all the Apollo flights before because we had lived in East Pakistan for the previous two years. But I followed space news actively since and after getting an aerospace degree in 1980, I joined Lockheed and have been doing space operations ever since. Armstrong and Huston Mission Control have been heroes to my coworkers and I for all this time. The cool professionalism as they landed. Tempered with a light touch of humor for sure, but cool, level headed awesomeness. Us old timers sure cringe at the new NASA celebrations… but then they aren’t really in real-time operations, they were cheering something that had happened 14 minutes before and had no real way to affect the outcome of. Not like the Apollo crews and mission control. Or all of the NASA manned spaceflight crews.

Michael Fisher

Posted August 25, 2012 at 5:43 pm | Permalink

A quick look at the net…
I notice that “passed away” is the phrase rather than “dead”. Why do we still do that?

Reply

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  fly44d

  Posted August 25, 2012 at 6:10 pm | Permalink

  Dead is harsher and doesn’t convey sadness over the fact. To me “passed away” doesn’t imply heaven or anything mystical, just a loss of someone who was liked. When Rush Limbaugh dies, I’ll use the word “dead”.

Atheism - Purposeless & Meaningless

This cracked me up at first (when I saw it on Facebook) in it's demonstrated ignorance of atheism. Atheism is without a belief in gods. Religious belief is a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny and the world. Spontaneous? Sure, the math, observations, and experimentation of quantum physics expects it. Causeless? Physics. Sourceless? Sure there was a source, but that disappeared an instant later. Purposeless, meaningless existence? Now this pisses me off since I spent the last 4 months preparing for what I spent all day doing yesterday, helping to give hundreds of families with special needs children a safe, inclusive, interesting, fun day at the airport. Purpose in my life is to relieve and prevent suffering, to learn new things, to grow, to make for a better future for my children and their friends. EVERY ATHEIST I KNOW strives for this in some form or another. I do this all the time in my work, home, and spare time. I DON'T need to justify myself to some made up deity in the wishful thinking that there is something after I die. I want my children to be able to live and prosper in a safe world after I no longer can support them, to give them the tools to support me in my old age. That means supporting my community and nation, getting them and the people around them educated, building the community they will need to do the same for their children. Most people do this. They would do it without religion if they half way thought about it. Since it is obvious there isn't any supernatural being doing ANYTHING in this universe, why believe?

Take the risk of thinking for yourself

"Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty and wisdom will come to you that way."

As did Hitchens, my grandfather Evan lived his life like he didn't know enough, couldn't know enough.

Personalized Billboard.

This is my 1st post using Dragon dictate on my Mac. I'm trying to not use the mouse too much. I'm trying to learn how to dictate to the computer, control it, and write something that is intelligible. So for right now this thing seems to be doing okay. So, all I have to do is to be able to compose my thoughts in such a way that I can dictate them out clearly.
The pain in my wrist gets pretty intense by the end of the day. It isn't in the carpal tunnel, the pain is in the tendons to the side of my wrist. I am currently using ergonomics, Aleve, aspirin, and anti-inflammatory cream. Usually through the day I can manage the pain with a glove and posture although the pain usually starts as soon as I sit down at the keyboard in the morning.
This is can be a test of how much that ranting I can do and see how much it actually gets before his 1st rent a gobbledygook. Wow, it knows how to spell gobbledygook! So here goes. I cannot believe how much time Republican Congress has wasted on antiabortion legislation that didn't need to be done that doesn't need to be legislated. I need the longer. This is awkward, I rant at the computer all time and now I'm tongue-tied. How freaking stupid.Okay, I need to practice some more. Maybe I should try something I know more about.
On Sunday this weekend the Monterey Bay 99's are going to have a fundraiser for their aviation scholarship program. They sell airplane rides for $.10 a pound. I will be flying my Bonanza in this charity event along with several other airplanes that Sarah has scared up. Usually this is pretty fun, most of the people really have a good time seeing the world from the sky in a small airplane. The bonanza is flying very well right now, oil leak has been fixed, it has a new battery now that makes starting a whole lot easier. Last year this event got rained out surprisingly. We ended up in the EAA hangar eating hotdogs that were supposed to be given to the public coming to visit. The weather so far looks really good for this weekend. So all I need is for my 60-year-old airplane to not break.
Well I tried a blog post with the Dragon Dictate and it wasn't too bad. This is probably a good way to practice so maybe I'll make some more blog posts can be more prolific. The level of pain is certainly a lot less this way.

44D display at Watsonville Air Show & Fly In

Photo Courtesy of FlightAware.com

Thoughts of this weekend

This last weekend, actually the five days from Thursday morning through Monday, have been a roller coaster for me.  I took vacation to support the EAA B17 visit to Watsonville.  Additionally the 7th Day in the Sky (DitS) event took place on Saturday.  These were to be totally separate events and not merged at all which was probably successful.  From a participant's point of view the events were probably fun, a good time, and meaningful.  The comments about the DitS displays and flight simulators are sounding good.  I had kids in my plane totally blown away by being in it, acting differently than their parents normally see them.   The B17 visitors I met as a docent on Friday and Sunday were amazed by what their uncles, grandfathers, fathers, and husbands flew in and conditions they fought in.  One lady only managed to get a little out of her husband before he died about being a B17 co-pilot, but she knew he had bailed out of one through the bomb bay as the plane burned.  She finally saw on Sunday how hard that must have been, that the little he told her about the war was but a drop in the bucket of what he had gone through.  On Friday a young lady and her grandfather were there, he was telling and showing her, for the first time apparently, about being a gunner in the belly turret of the B17, how he had to squeeze into it after takeoff with his parachute only half attached.  She watched as other vets surrounded him, asking questions and sharing experiences from the war.  It seemed to open a whole new relationship between her and her grandfather.  I think there were many such stories from families of veterans.

Not all went well however.  Thursday I caught an earful from the owner of the aircraft repair shop next door to the EAA hangar where the B17 parked.  Getting that large four engine plane into it's spot for the first time was complicated by cars on the ramp that weren't supposed to be there.  The B17 was going to blow crap into the repair shop's doors and make a  mess, the owner was enraged and let me have it.  I got the full depth of his contempt for me and my ability to manage the ramp for this plane.  Unfortunately this is the shop where I was going to have my plane's annual inspection done, where its been done since 2007.

Thursday evening I managed to get my plane in the air, the battery, for a change, had enough charge to get it started.  This may have been the last time I fly N1844D.  I don't have enough money to do the annual inspection, easily a $5000 job this year with a 5 year propeller inspection due.  Last year's inspection and repair cost $8000.  I can't do that again.  It is grounded now with the annual inspection expired.  I wanted to fly it one last time on Saturday after DitS was over before the last inspection expired, but the battery was dead and I didn't have the energy to try to recharge it.

DitS on Saturday was a disaster from my point of view.  I was in charge of the display ramp and aircraft and I utterly failed.  I didn't check in with each pilot as they arrived, I didn't ensure they knew the rules, I didn't even keep track of who showed up.  When families started to go up for rides, I didn't move those planes off the display ramp, I should have ensured the families knew there was no insurance to cover them other than what the pilot had (if any), I had no knowledge of who was flying, I had no knowledge if their medicals and aircraft inspections were current.   Even worse, people started wandering across the active, unprotected ramp, to the B17.  To get there they had to pass the fuel island and aircraft with engines running.  We watched and tried to guide people and aircraft but it was a zoo.  I saw one small child start to run towards a turning propeller, fortunately stopped quickly by a parent.  As a pilot commented, this situation was appalling.  My feeble attempt to redirect people was of course futile.  I needed to anticipate this to begin with by putting up better signs and barriers to get them there, I needed to actively stop it once it started.  I did neither.  I had heard the FAA was going to be at DitS.  I didn't even remember that.  Amazing.  My greatest fear is that my friend Don French and his staff will get in trouble with the FAA.

I want to know who decided to fly kids and families.  Who selected and arranged the passengers.  What were they told.  Why was I not told.  But then if I had been on the ramp instead of showing my plane, I would know these things.

I like showing my the plane and interacting with the kids, parents and visitors.  Being in charge of aircraft movement and crowds is obviously beyond me.  I don't do it well, I shouldn't be in charge of it.

Lars Vilks Attacked at Uppsala University

A quick point. Free speech is NOT negotiable.

NOT. AT. ALL.

Dog Mohammed.

Mohammed as a dog.

Mohammed drawn as a dog.

Mohammed is a dog.

A poor dog with a head that looks like Mohammed.

The dog Mohammed about to be run over by the modern world.

The modern world confuses the old dog Mohammed.

Fuck Mohammed and the asshole in the background of the video chanting while his scared daughter cries. This is child abuse.

Day in the Sky success!

DitS turned out well. I haven't blogged about the hours of frustration, anger, frustration, resignation, frustration and drama this has been since early in March. EAA suddenly decided that the risk to their Young Eagles program was too much and wanted out. DitS organizers couldn't understand the reasoning and was ready to claim discrimination against special needs kids. Most still don't understand the issues. The result was no flying by anyone. But a lot of kids got to hang out around airplanes, we had a bunch opened up for them to sit in, NASA had a cool display with solar telescopes out. It turned out very well. Not a lot of EAA 119 volunteers but that is ok. We got enough Cisco people to help set up. I ended up setting up the entire ramp myself in the morning because I dreamed about it all the night before. I was at the airport before 7am and before the ramp crew, so I just did it. I am paying for it today, I ache everywhere. I took no pictures during the day so these are from Mary and Dean.

A little time with PZ Myers

Allena, her roommate Heather and I got to listen to PZ Myers at DeAnza college today. He talked about the things Creationists do to try to argue against evolution and science. Is that it? Mostly is was list of adjectives you could use to describe creationists. Obtuse is my favorite one.

Obtuse: lacking in insight or discernment; dense: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity;

Actually, I think creationists like Ray Comfort isn't obtuse, I think he is deliberately lying for his own gain. He has a lucrative gig with his creationist character and is milking it for all it is worth.

After the talk was an even longer Q&A session that was wide ranging and quite interesting. I had a couple of questions but held them to myself... hard to break the shyness barrier. I did at the end get PZ to desecrate (sign) Allena's copy of the Comfort edition of Origin of Species. That was pretty funny.

At the post event beer and pizza at BJ's in Cupertino, there was too much noise from the football game to hear what was going on at PZ's end of the table, but we had some great conversations at our end with some young people. Very nice time!

I am fed up.

I am so fed up with the right wing. I seriously don't understand them. Do they really think the health care system we have today is working? Does it make sense to have uninsured/uninsurable people walking around emergency rooms? People who get health care anyway, just paid for by higher insurance and hospital costs? HOW IS THAT NOT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE? What part of 1 + 1 = 2 don't they understand?

The rowdies at the town-hall meetings... I haven't been to one yet. But if they are denying people the right to speak and not participating in the discussion, then they don't have any right to wear any American flags or colors on their clothing. That is about as un-American as you can get. Liz and I want to try to get to a meeting one of these days. I want my congressperson to see I support HR 3200. I have already written to Eshoo that I do.

Limbaugh and Beck. How anyone can stand listening to either of them much less agree with them is a mystery to me. They are morons. No, not morons. Un-American fascists. Very scary people. More scary is that people listen to them.

Obama is blowing it I am afraid. Some kind of push for health care needs to be made. Simple for the simple minded. I wish they had pushed for a single payer plan and just skipped the "bi-partisan" effort. That turned out to be a mistake.

Shit.

Ready for the airshow

Plane is cleaned up, hangar is ready, hot dog stand is under control.
Time for an airshow!

Day In The Sky 2009

Day in the Sky happened on the 18th. 451 people flew with 47 pilots and planes in 170 flights. It was quite a day! I got in five loads in between my hand wringing and coordinating with different groups. Several of Liz's students got rides and I saw mostly smiles and appreciation from parents/family. The air over Watsonville was filled with airplanes and NorCal air traffic control was amazed at what was happening. The pilots and ground crews did a great job keeping everyone safe. But next year... not so many planes/flights. Or somehow spread it out more evenly.

Kepler Mission

Looking for other earth like planets!


Deb McCabe working at the LASP is doing mission operations for this program.

Obama Gal

I love my Liz!