So, I joined ToastMasters here at USPS a few weeks ago and I have to give a four to six minute "Ice Breaker" speech to my fellow Toast Masters in a few weeks time, telling them who I am, etc. Here is what I plan on saying, I'm sure I'll be editing it a bit. [believe it not, it looks long winded, but its ~5 mins long]. My first five years of college (yes, that’s right, 5), right out of high … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2013
Daily blogging – life experiences – just start doing it!
March 22, 2013 By
Sometimes, I share the most boring stuff, which book I just finished reading, which movie we just saw, which TV series/season I just finished. Other times, I wear my heart on my sleeve, writing about feelings, friends, work, etc., and it seems i tend to knock it out of the park on those occasions (go figure). I really need to try to get into writing a major thought down once a day, and post … [Read more...]
Friendship
March 22, 2013 By
Friendship. It comes in so many different ways. You may have worked with them, or known of them while working at the same office, but may not have had a whole lot of interaction with them at the time. Then, something happens, one or both of you lose your jobs (at different times), and somehow, reconnect, giving each other support and encouragement during that difficult period of joblessness. … [Read more...]
Software Engineering class
March 16, 2013 By
FSM (finite state machine), DFD (data flow diagram), PND (petri-net diagram), lions, tigers, bears, oh my. My head is swimming. Actually, I am getting most of this, and have been using some of these methods during my career (partially or otherwise), but, NOT consistently. Need to work on that! My class team of four met after class - 3 of us understand the term project, and are making good … [Read more...]
Phase One of Scenic Ridge Development Effort
March 12, 2013 By
In the Fall of 2006, I purchased a "Woodland Scenics" model railroad kit called "Scenic Ridge". This kit is N-Scale (they also have 2 HO-Scale kits). The kit has many, many components in it, but basically can be put into two categories: Various foam pieces and landscaping materials such as grasses, rocks, and bushes. The layout, when completed, will be 3 feet by 6 feet in size. After … [Read more...]
Computer Programmer vs. Software Engineer
March 4, 2013 By
Last week, I posted a short entry on my blog about “computer programmers”, “software developers”, and “software engineers”. One of my friends (and, myself, many years ago), thought “aren’t they the same thing?” [If you don’t like to read long winded articles, please skip this one]. Here is a quick generalization, with which you should take with a grain of salt, since the lines do blur, and … [Read more...]
Life at USPS
March 1, 2013 By
A colleague created an enhancement, and it was put in UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Environment yesterday, and he then left for vacation for a week - oh, and it's scheduled to go into production this Sunday. He asked me to "test" it since the end users didn't really know "how" to test it according to him. Anyway, I tested it this morning, and the enhancement causes an email notification to be … [Read more...]
2nd class at Saint Thomas: Software Engineering
March 1, 2013 By
First session of SEIS 610 Software Engineering was 2 weeks ago. I was immedaitely impressed by our instructor (C. Lai). He put up easy to read slides, and spoke toward them, not reading them word for word. He spoke for the entire 6-1/2 hour class, giving us instruction on the term's group project, and the first 2 assignments, as well as enlightening the class about a "new" (read: different) … [Read more...]
