Novemeber 18-24, 2007

Personal: I started a local Emerald Coast Technology Professionals group and site. Should be launched soon as a focal point for all Tech Pros in the greater Emerald Coast area. From Pensacola to Panama City, a resource for Technology Professionals, Employers of Tech Pros, and information about the technological climate along the Emerald Coast.

We have the girls (Jewels and Shelby) taken care of in terms of relocation. I got them all of their shots, microchipped, ad they've had their FAVN blood test sent to Kansas State for verification. If Hawaii opens up with any good jobs (with some relocation), I will jump. Stand by...

Fantasy Football: Well, well, well… Peyton Manning sure has stunk it up for me lately. Sticking with him though, he's a proven resource in FF. That being said, I lost my game in Freaks and Geeks - more rants… I also have Chad Johnson and Marvin Harrison, so far, both have pretty much been busts. Peyton needs Marvin in the game and Chad, well, Chad just needs to get with the program. If he is going to talk like a top tier WR (much like Randy Moss or Terrell Owens), he better produce like a top tier WR. This year, TJ (and now Chris Henry now that he is back) are much better choices. It really sucks, because they were such a major piece of my program. Oh well… In my Paladins league, I managed to stave off a strong effort by the Seahawks (congrats to Mike for sticking to his guns on playing all of the starting Seahawks), pulling it out in the end, thanks in part to the New England Defense. Final score: 100-91.

Pinmasters Bowling: We bowled the bye team this week and did real well, took all 8 points out of 8. Congrats to Ton Kelsey for his first 200+ game, with a 213. As a team we did real well and over the last 3 weeks we are 23-1 which has helped move us into 4th place in the league, not bad for a group of misfits and hacks. I believe there are 2 weeks left this half of the season and if we do well, we could be sitting very nicely for this half. The running joke is we got there (4th) without any sad bagging or shenanigans at all. Completely honest - "run what ya brung" mentality.

Professionally Speaking: Things seem to be possibly moving the right direction at work, but the jury is still out and we'll see over long term. They have managed to get both development teams (.NET ad JAVA) in the same general area, so at last we get to interact with them and possibly think of truly Enterprise level development. It has been mentioned that I should become the Divisions "Compliance and Standards Architect". I think I would like that.

Bitches and Gripes: Why the hell did Christmas advertisements, music, and chaos start 3-4 BEFORE Thanksgiving this year? That is absolutely ridiculous in my book. I almost fee like boycotting Christmas entirely as it has become nothing but a Commercialized American Bloated Festival and an excuse to 'get' things. It is not about the giving or even Family Interaction, but totally about "what am I getting"… It makes me want to puke...

Week of Nov 10 - 17

Personal: This is my first instance of my NEW Weekly Posting. Rather than posting little bits and pieces, I have decided to condense all my weeks thoughts into one post to be done on Saturday Evenings (with any occasional special posts as needed).

Fantasy Football: Well, week 10 was both good and bad for my teams. In my Paladin League I lost a fairly close one, but I had such a lead in that league a loss isn't such big deal (especially in light of the other team tied with me in record - Pugballs - lost as well). In Freaks and Geeks I won a hard fought battle pushing me more solidly into 2nd place. Right now I am just looking for one of the top 2 rungs of the playoff ladder so I have a week 1 bye. I went 2-3 in my 'other' leagues, keeping my firm eye on the playoffs in ALL. It's now "Run and Gun" to the playoffs now that all the bye weeks are over and as NFL teams make the playoff, some star players may sit, making the end of the season exciting.

Some major injuries this week will impact some teams (as has been all season):
Adrian Peterson - Strained MRI (out at least 1 week)
Larry Johnson - Right Mid Foot Sprain (out week 11)
Steve McNair - Non Throwing Shoulder Injury (out 3-4 weeks)
Dwight Freeney - Left Foot (possibly out for rest of season)

Pinmasters Bowling: Well, Week we bowled our 'other' rival team on Tuesday, November 13th and did real well. We ended up sweeping them, taking all 4 games. A strong night by Wayne, Harry, and myself; combined with a sub par performance by a trio of their better bowlers allowed us this precious sweep. So far this year we are 7-1 versus our rival teams. Next week we bowl the bye team and our rivals, the Shanks and Split Happens bowl each other, so depending on how things work out, we could definitely move up in the standings (currently at 7th).

Professionally Speaking: I've been working a LOT on my game Rhom. I might add that it is coming along rather nicely! Being that it is a heavily statistical type game, there is a lot of algorithms that I've needed to implement. I am still expecting around a January 1st initial deployment. If you come across this and are interested in Statistical Turn Based Role Playing Games (STBRPG) and might want to consider beta testing with me, email me at rhom AT crabisland.biz ad we can work on setting you up an account. Watch this space as 2008 is going to be very exciting.

Bitches and Gripes: Nothing pisses me off more than the way people drive! This week it as even worse, as I headed into work one day and got stuck behind a local transit official (RideOCT). Now you would think that being an employee for an organization that promotes good transportation would have some clue as to how to drive. Anyways, I got stuck behind one that was doing 25 in a 35 zone (and regularly travels at 40+). This person needed to really get a grip on things as they held up a huge line of traffic (including myself). Get with the program people. We all need to share those spaces so we ALL need to be diligent in making sure we not only do the things that help us communicate with each other, but ensure we do not impede and/or negatively impact each other on our journeys.

Happy Veterans Day!

Hsppy V Day to all my friends that I knew and shared space with during my enlistment.

Work

Well, it finally seems that most are ready to incorporate a little structure into our work environment (something I might add that I have adamant about since I got here). They've appointed a few individuals to help lead us towards some sense of process. The jury is still out on whether it's all smoke and mirrors or if it will in fact help us. Some may recall this time of year last year, when certain individuals shut down my Framework Initiative saying that we weren't Microsoft so we didn't need process and a framework (thanks Jon, Vince, and Scott). Well, they are all tooting a different horn now and the things that I have said all along are taking place and rightfully should have since I arrived (probably before in reality). So, we'll see what happens...

Outcast Rivals take I

Well, we bowled one of our rivals last night (and the other half of our team last year) - Split Happens. Everyone on our team bowled at least their average and a couple really bowled well. We ended up taking 3 of 4 games and had a resounding lead of 260+ pins after 2 games. Wayne in particular had a fabulous night, throwing a 209, 221, and 236 to end with a *gasp* 666. That gave him a triple deuce and a real strong 600 series (650+ award). Way to go man! Next week we bowl the other rivals "The Shanks", so we need to keep strong.

FF Week 9

Great week for FF, I won both my important leagues (Paladin & Freaks and Geeks), pushing my records to 8-1 and 6-3 respectively (1st and 2nd in leagues). I had a couple of key players (Santonio Holmes, Joseph Addai, and Marshawn Lynch) come up real BIG. In Paladins, I have a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way and our leader in F&G faces a very tough opponent this week (Brunggers Bucs) without the aid of his Pats players. I won all my other leagues except for 1 keeping me in the race for the playoffs.

Hate the Pats

Gah, it was a good game anyways, but the Pats beat the Colts. I am SO tired of New England. Hopefully someone will beat them soon.

US Attacks Syria

Wow, initially I had heard it was the Israelis that attacked and destroyed a nuclear plant that Syria was building, but now a report online says it was the US that carried out the attack - read it here - The Jerusalem Post - Does this scare anyone else besides me?

Crab Island Software

Well, due to lack of activity by my partners, Crab Island Software LLC is no more. I have been working hard on a couple of projects that I will be releasing very soon and felt that due to this inactivity and unresponsiveness by my 'cohorts', that is was in MY best interest to not keep this business relationship intact. Unfortunately, this pattern that has been shown by them carries over into not only this working relationship but mine as an employee of SAIC as well. I really wish that I had know they were nothing but a bunch of excuses to NOT get anything done and/or take and initiative at all. Had I have known that, I would have never entered into the agreement with them. You live, you learn (hoopefully), you move on... Stay tuned for my personal projects I am working on!

Colts vs. Pats

Well, I am going to buck most people by saying that I feel the Colts will beat the Pats with a score of 24-21 tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Regardless it should prove to be an exciting game and the MOST substantial game played in the NFL regular season for some time.

Rising price of oil...

Can anyone tell me, why, with the price of oil (per barrel) higher than it's ever been, isn't the gas prices higher than they've ever been? I mean it seems in the past that the government has used this as an excuse to raise the prices, but they aren't now. What, they don't need the 'extra' money right now? It doesn't make sense to me...