Category: Opinion
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Memes: A bad way to get your information
As a denizen of the internet for a quarter of a century, I have seen more than a few memes. Some funny, some less so. Some are highly informative, some are entirely for fun, and far too many are entirely misinformation. Whatever the case, I generally find that memes are not a good way to…
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The engineer’s estimate
-A formula for success I try to keep out of trouble at work as much as possible. I do so for many reasons, chief among them being because I far prefer being praised to being yelled at. There is a relatively simple way to achieve this; make your promises rarely and in such a fashion…
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Red flag arguments
One of many things I care about is improving the world around me. That is why I’m a union representative, it’s one of the reasons why I like my job, and it’s why I raise questions to find out if there are good reasons for things being done the way they are – and to…
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Better documented tickets are better support
Last week, I wrote about the added value that derives from writing longer answers when it comes to giving support. This week’s post is a corollary to that; writing more detailed tickets when sending them on through the tiers is also better support. I like the Kepner-Tregoe red card for these situations. It provides a…
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Longer answers are better support
When working tech support, it is often tempting to give short answers to a ticket, in order to get on to the next ticket. This tendency is particularly problematic when responding in the negative to a request. Though understandable, we should fight this tendency. I have three specific reasons why it’s important, but I would…
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Reviewed: Horizon: Zero Dawn
One of the PS4-games I picked up relatively early (back in 2017), was Horizon: Zero Dawn. I loved the aesthetic of the trailer, and hoped I’d find it enjoyable. Here are my thoughts: Game: Horizon: Zero Dawn Publisher: Guerrilla Games Platform: Playstation 4 (also available on Microsoft Windows) Genre: Action RPG In Horizon: Zero Dawn…
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Creating habits to separate work-time from off-time
Since March of last year I have, for the most part, been working from home. While we were able to work out the kinks in keeping connected to the rest of the team relatively quickly, I’ve found shutting off work-mode to be a bit harder. I find myself wanting to check stuff in the evenings,…
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Reviewed: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
I have had a Playstation 4 ever since we last moved. While it doesn’t see daily use by any stretch of the imagination, it gets used from time to time. I saw people gushing about Jedi: Fallen Order, and decided to pick it up. Here are my thoughts. Game: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Publisher:…
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On (my) politics
For the most part, I have stayed away from politics in this blog. That is not because I don’t hold views on politics – I do, and some of them are listed below – but rather because I generally find that 1) politics are out of the scope of what this blog covers, and 2)…
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Reviewed: Firewatch
As I mentioned in my favorite things post, the Nintendo Switch is one of those favorite things. One of the games I’ve enjoyed a lot is Firewatch Game: Firewatch Publisher: Campo Santo Platform: Nintendo Switch (also available on Windows, OS X, Linux, Playstation 4, and XBox One) Genre: Adventure Firewatch is a first-person adventure game,…
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Adventures in recruiterland: A counterpoint of sorts
I have, in three previous posts written about recruiters, good and bad (though, let’s face it, I’ve mostly spoken about the bad). As most of the recruiters I’ve talked about have fallen squarely in the “bad” category, here’s a counterpoint of sorts. Though not bad, it’s certanly not good either. The initial contact looked like…