OK - there are 46,000,000 people without health care in the US. What exactly does that mean?
As a taxpayer it means that all these people only see a doctor when they are very sick. It also means they probably don't have a doctor at all. So according to several web sources here are some sobering statistics:
Chance of an American woman developing cancer in her lifetime: 1 in 3. Chance of getting prostate cancer: 1 in 6. Chance of getting breast cancer: 1 in 9
I am no statistician but let's play with some of these numbers....
#1 - Chance of getting prostate cancer: 1 in 6
OK so the first thing is only men get this and they represent 49% of the US population or roughly 22,540,000 of those uninsured. If the odds are 1 in 6 that means that roughly 17% of those will get prostrate cancer or about 3,831,800 men will get this form of cancer. untreated, prostrate cancer is fatal but if caught and treated early there is a very high survival rate.
So what you say? Well, when someone without insurance gets sick, one of the big complaints is that they go to the hospital "for every little thing." Most likely because these 3,831,800 men who have no insurance will also not have a doctor they see regularly for "the exam" they will likely end up in the ER too late do do anything simple about their cancer and so we as society now get faced with a simple prospect. Treat them or let them suffer and die.
Of course treating later stage prostrate (or any) cancer is way more expensive that the procedures if caught early so if we choose to treat them we can expect to shell out multiple tens of thousands of dollars possibly hundreds of thousands. I'll keep it simple and say just $30,000. Doing the math that means something on the order of $114,954,000,000 (yes that is billions) to treat these poor guys. Of course if we had helped them by providing even rudimentary annual physicals we could have treated them earlier but that would have meant the dreaded 'government health care' option.
So this argument comes once again back to only one thing really, money. Those people that do not want health care reform and health care for all do it because they are selfish and just want to keep all there own money and let the rest of the US be damned!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
More On Health Care
Wow, I realize what is going on here. I had a conversation with someone who is opposed to health care reform. Here's what it boils down to.
"I don't want the government telling me what I should do about my health."
and
"I have a friend who is being harassed by her insurer to lose wait and adopt a healthier life style, can you imagine?"
followed with
"People who are unhealthy should pay more."
OK, pardon me but these two are diametrically opposed to each other? I mean if you are diagnosed with some health problem in this persons view point then you should pay more for you health insurance and leave my 'healthy" bill alone? But, if you are on health insurance you should not be reminded or encouraged to adopt a more healthy lifestyle.
I think this goes right back to my previous post about the potholes. It's my money and not yours until it affects me and then I want you to help me....
"I don't want the government telling me what I should do about my health."
and
"I have a friend who is being harassed by her insurer to lose wait and adopt a healthier life style, can you imagine?"
followed with
"People who are unhealthy should pay more."
OK, pardon me but these two are diametrically opposed to each other? I mean if you are diagnosed with some health problem in this persons view point then you should pay more for you health insurance and leave my 'healthy" bill alone? But, if you are on health insurance you should not be reminded or encouraged to adopt a more healthy lifestyle.
I think this goes right back to my previous post about the potholes. It's my money and not yours until it affects me and then I want you to help me....
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Health Care
OK - so this is so far off topic but then it aligns with the subtitle of this blog (hint - we already know what to do).
I cannot understand those who believe our present health care system is working (and I use the word system very loosely here). I've been reading some of their arguments about 'don't touch my existing policy' and 'no socialized medicine' etc. but just don't get the argument. I think it comes down to two simple issues.
1. I want to keep all my own money and decide where I spend it
2. I don't trust the government to run anything
On #1
OK, everyone I know agrees with this. We all want to keep all my own money. Presumably I worked hard for it and therefore I deserve to keep it an spend it as I see fit. This is one of those statements that always has the big 'BUT' attached to it. I want to keep all my own money but when I need something, I want to have that taken care of for me.
Let's say instead of health care it is roadcare. That takes out things like abortion, stem cells, sex changes, etc. . So lets say you drive down your road where your house is and there's a pothole right in front of it. I assume you have no neighbor across the street from you so there's no one to share any costs with you.
In the 'I want to keep my own money' scenario I get to decide if I am going to fix it or not. (we will forget that someone else paved it to begin with for now). The pothole is just east of my driveway and I always (or almost always) approach from the west. No big deal, I let it alone after all it is my money and I don't drive that way very often do I?
Now your neighbor to the west of you (the one with the nasty barking dogs and the bagpipes) also is an 'Option #1' kind of guy. He has a big pothole just east of his driveway and he always approaches from the west (mostly to avoid your pothole) so he is letting his fester a bit too. But your neighbor decides one night after two of his dogs disappear into his pothole that he doesn't want that to happen so he patches the pothole with 1/4" plywood. Just enough to support his dogs and just to make it look nice he paints the plywood black.
Now you are driving home one night and are cautiosly approaching your pothole invested street but no longer see your neightbors pothole (since it is now dog-proofed) so you blindly drive right over the dog-proof but not car proof pothole covered pothole and proceed to tear out the right front axle and transmission of your brand new Chevy Malibu.
What can you do? You cannot complain, you cannot get mad at your neighbor since there are not even any rules about pothole repair quality because it is your money and you decide how to deal with it. In fact your neighbor is probably more likely to be mad at you for screwing up his dog-proofing pothole cover.
So no rules is no rules. Now you have a broken car, an angry neighbor, a pothole in front of your house but....you still have you money and it is a lot easier to avoid a pothole when you are walking than driving.
Having trouble drawing the parallel? Well either head over to the Republican National Party website or continue reading..
Option # 2 - I don't trust the government to run anything
I love this one, especially for conservatives. Let's start with a series of qualifying questions.
Do you support the military? (how's that for a left leaning question?)
Do you support your local police department? (careful on this one)
Ok- trick question now.....
Pick from the list below who runs the military and who runs the police? (hint, it is not the Postmaster and this is not Detroit in RoboCop)
1. the government
2. the government
3. all the above
So do you think the military is run well? Would you rather privatize it too? (Remember the BlackWaterthugs?) How about the police? How much would you pay to a private company so they can pay their shareholders a dividend?
OK one more angle on Question #2 - this one is really about health care (I promise!)
So again I am going to ask a series of questions......
1. Who certifies doctor's to practice Medicine?
2. Who funds research on life saving drugs?
3. Who provides scholarships, grants, and loans to educate health care professionals?
If you answered 'the big bad government that I don't trust at all' to 1, 2,& 3 you are right!
In reality we do want some level of public support for the greater good (see potholes) and we do in fact rely upon the government to run many things and for the most part we actually think they are doing a fair job (unless you really don't support our troops and our police in which case you probably live in the woods alone with the chipmunks and your bazooka).
So it comes down to how best to control and manage the costs and delivery mechanisms associated with healthcare doesn't it. It also comes down to what is our societal obligation to one another as well. We can continue to have the healthcare "unsystem" we now have where non-care providers (read insurance companies) make more money than care providers or we can elect to change it somehow. We can continue to have people not receive healthcare and then suffer from poor health (which also costs all of us money) or we can invest in something that helps everyone. I guess that would be another blog for another day.
I cannot understand those who believe our present health care system is working (and I use the word system very loosely here). I've been reading some of their arguments about 'don't touch my existing policy' and 'no socialized medicine' etc. but just don't get the argument. I think it comes down to two simple issues.
1. I want to keep all my own money and decide where I spend it
2. I don't trust the government to run anything
On #1
OK, everyone I know agrees with this. We all want to keep all my own money. Presumably I worked hard for it and therefore I deserve to keep it an spend it as I see fit. This is one of those statements that always has the big 'BUT' attached to it. I want to keep all my own money but when I need something, I want to have that taken care of for me.
Let's say instead of health care it is roadcare. That takes out things like abortion, stem cells, sex changes, etc. . So lets say you drive down your road where your house is and there's a pothole right in front of it. I assume you have no neighbor across the street from you so there's no one to share any costs with you.
In the 'I want to keep my own money' scenario I get to decide if I am going to fix it or not. (we will forget that someone else paved it to begin with for now). The pothole is just east of my driveway and I always (or almost always) approach from the west. No big deal, I let it alone after all it is my money and I don't drive that way very often do I?
Now your neighbor to the west of you (the one with the nasty barking dogs and the bagpipes) also is an 'Option #1' kind of guy. He has a big pothole just east of his driveway and he always approaches from the west (mostly to avoid your pothole) so he is letting his fester a bit too. But your neighbor decides one night after two of his dogs disappear into his pothole that he doesn't want that to happen so he patches the pothole with 1/4" plywood. Just enough to support his dogs and just to make it look nice he paints the plywood black.
Now you are driving home one night and are cautiosly approaching your pothole invested street but no longer see your neightbors pothole (since it is now dog-proofed) so you blindly drive right over the dog-proof but not car proof pothole covered pothole and proceed to tear out the right front axle and transmission of your brand new Chevy Malibu.
What can you do? You cannot complain, you cannot get mad at your neighbor since there are not even any rules about pothole repair quality because it is your money and you decide how to deal with it. In fact your neighbor is probably more likely to be mad at you for screwing up his dog-proofing pothole cover.
So no rules is no rules. Now you have a broken car, an angry neighbor, a pothole in front of your house but....you still have you money and it is a lot easier to avoid a pothole when you are walking than driving.
Having trouble drawing the parallel? Well either head over to the Republican National Party website or continue reading..
Option # 2 - I don't trust the government to run anything
I love this one, especially for conservatives. Let's start with a series of qualifying questions.
Do you support the military? (how's that for a left leaning question?)
Do you support your local police department? (careful on this one)
Ok- trick question now.....
Pick from the list below who runs the military and who runs the police? (hint, it is not the Postmaster and this is not Detroit in RoboCop)
1. the government
2. the government
3. all the above
So do you think the military is run well? Would you rather privatize it too? (Remember the BlackWaterthugs?) How about the police? How much would you pay to a private company so they can pay their shareholders a dividend?
OK one more angle on Question #2 - this one is really about health care (I promise!)
So again I am going to ask a series of questions......
1. Who certifies doctor's to practice Medicine?
2. Who funds research on life saving drugs?
3. Who provides scholarships, grants, and loans to educate health care professionals?
If you answered 'the big bad government that I don't trust at all' to 1, 2,& 3 you are right!
In reality we do want some level of public support for the greater good (see potholes) and we do in fact rely upon the government to run many things and for the most part we actually think they are doing a fair job (unless you really don't support our troops and our police in which case you probably live in the woods alone with the chipmunks and your bazooka).
So it comes down to how best to control and manage the costs and delivery mechanisms associated with healthcare doesn't it. It also comes down to what is our societal obligation to one another as well. We can continue to have the healthcare "unsystem" we now have where non-care providers (read insurance companies) make more money than care providers or we can elect to change it somehow. We can continue to have people not receive healthcare and then suffer from poor health (which also costs all of us money) or we can invest in something that helps everyone. I guess that would be another blog for another day.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A new venture from shore
This isn't about anything really all that technical, but it is about boats. I have owned only a handful (as in one hand) of boats, all of them small, none of them powered. To date this includes an aluminum canoe (which I traded my rototiller for and subsequently lost in a divorce), one sailboard (yes, that is a boat), one O'day Widgeon 12' sailboat, and three kayaks.
I traded the O'Day for one of the kayaks (a really nice two-person) but recently have come up wanting to get under sail again. So now I am building or rather completing a Bolger Brick. It is a very simple craft, a box that is 4' x 8' with a square front and stern and the sail offset to the side. A really quirky little boat.
The boat hull was mostly completed by someone else who I found on Craig's list. Now I am in the process of fiberglassing the hull and then have to build the rudder and box along with the side board. The fiberglassing has brought back nasty memories of helping my dad lay supporting beams inder the front deck of a 14' overpowered runnabout. Nasty because al lthis took place outside in our carport in Scottsdale Arizona... hot and nasty. He ran a vacuum cleaner to blow some air under the front deck while I laid the glass and applied the resin/epoxy.
Anyway, I'll post my progress on this little venture here.
I traded the O'Day for one of the kayaks (a really nice two-person) but recently have come up wanting to get under sail again. So now I am building or rather completing a Bolger Brick. It is a very simple craft, a box that is 4' x 8' with a square front and stern and the sail offset to the side. A really quirky little boat.
The boat hull was mostly completed by someone else who I found on Craig's list. Now I am in the process of fiberglassing the hull and then have to build the rudder and box along with the side board. The fiberglassing has brought back nasty memories of helping my dad lay supporting beams inder the front deck of a 14' overpowered runnabout. Nasty because al lthis took place outside in our carport in Scottsdale Arizona... hot and nasty. He ran a vacuum cleaner to blow some air under the front deck while I laid the glass and applied the resin/epoxy.
Anyway, I'll post my progress on this little venture here.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Birthday Non-Blues
Birthdays...wow they just keep piling up. Once I past the magic half century I started to notice a few things about birthdays.
1. Things became less important than relationships - I mean how many new tools, ties, electronic gadgets do you really need? I have a bounty, so many 'things' that I had to build an addition to the storage shed we built last year. I'd rather have family and friends around an capture memory than any item.
2. Food tastes better - yes I know I have to watch my weight more now but really, since I have to watch it, every morsel I eat should be important and taste good.
3. Less money - Last year I changed jobs, from high pressure to low pressure. From management to technical (see my other posts to this blog). I took a cut in pay at a time when we had 3 kids in college (thanks to my understanding and supportive wife!) but it paid off in mental health and because we now commute together the difference in wages is down to just a couple of thousand dollars.
4. Spiritual Self - I cannot believe that I, a devout non-believer have found religion. Of course it is still a journey but the 'faith' component of my life is sure filling in holes that were in need of filling.
5. Music - I took clarinet lessons as a kid, dropped them in the 8th grade, picked it up again four years a ago, dropped it when I returned to school and now am taking voice lessons. I'll never be a great singer but it is so enjoyable that I do it just for that alone.
6. Short time - OK, when you cross the 50 bridge (I crossed it a little while back) you know that the light at the end of the tunnel is your exit. I get it, time is finite not infinite. There is a limited supply and every day waste will never be given back.
So live, love, and follow your passions.
1. Things became less important than relationships - I mean how many new tools, ties, electronic gadgets do you really need? I have a bounty, so many 'things' that I had to build an addition to the storage shed we built last year. I'd rather have family and friends around an capture memory than any item.
2. Food tastes better - yes I know I have to watch my weight more now but really, since I have to watch it, every morsel I eat should be important and taste good.
3. Less money - Last year I changed jobs, from high pressure to low pressure. From management to technical (see my other posts to this blog). I took a cut in pay at a time when we had 3 kids in college (thanks to my understanding and supportive wife!) but it paid off in mental health and because we now commute together the difference in wages is down to just a couple of thousand dollars.
4. Spiritual Self - I cannot believe that I, a devout non-believer have found religion. Of course it is still a journey but the 'faith' component of my life is sure filling in holes that were in need of filling.
5. Music - I took clarinet lessons as a kid, dropped them in the 8th grade, picked it up again four years a ago, dropped it when I returned to school and now am taking voice lessons. I'll never be a great singer but it is so enjoyable that I do it just for that alone.
6. Short time - OK, when you cross the 50 bridge (I crossed it a little while back) you know that the light at the end of the tunnel is your exit. I get it, time is finite not infinite. There is a limited supply and every day waste will never be given back.
So live, love, and follow your passions.
Friday, July 11, 2008
DataStage and SAP BI 7 continues..
So, it has been a while but we are finally over the major hurdles of the transition from BW3 to BI7 (SAP Business Warehouse releases). To date here is a micro summary of the problems discovered along the way:
1. BW sends NULLS, BI doesn't (watch all those stored procedures that tested for NULL fail!)
2. BW was ASCII, BI7 is Unicode (DataStage needs NLS to work with this and it is buggy)
3. BW worked through a proprietary interface, BI uses RFC services. The RFC is a resource hog on the BI side and does not like to release connections when it is through. DataStage 7.5.1 wont get the OHREQUID,DATAPAKID, & RECORD unless you patch a variable on the BI side
4. Watch for special characters in the BI data set corrupting the data when it gets to DataStage, IBM is working on this one.
5. Study the process for Quelling a delta load after it fails, you are going to need it
6. Timing is everything. If you are initiating the load from the DataStage side, be prepared to wait a while and set the timeout variable high enough. Better yet, set it up so that the DataStage job is activated by the BI side, then all you have to worry about is permissions
OK- there were many more problems, most of them were just the steep learning curve I or the SAP team faced in the transition. It is mostly working now and if anyone wants to know more they can post something.
1. BW sends NULLS, BI doesn't (watch all those stored procedures that tested for NULL fail!)
2. BW was ASCII, BI7 is Unicode (DataStage needs NLS to work with this and it is buggy)
3. BW worked through a proprietary interface, BI uses RFC services. The RFC is a resource hog on the BI side and does not like to release connections when it is through. DataStage 7.5.1 wont get the OHREQUID,DATAPAKID, & RECORD unless you patch a variable on the BI side
4. Watch for special characters in the BI data set corrupting the data when it gets to DataStage, IBM is working on this one.
5. Study the process for Quelling a delta load after it fails, you are going to need it
6. Timing is everything. If you are initiating the load from the DataStage side, be prepared to wait a while and set the timeout variable high enough. Better yet, set it up so that the DataStage job is activated by the BI side, then all you have to worry about is permissions
OK- there were many more problems, most of them were just the steep learning curve I or the SAP team faced in the transition. It is mostly working now and if anyone wants to know more they can post something.
Monday, May 5, 2008
DataStage and SAP extraction The Open Hub
So you are about to migrate (finally) from that ancient BW datawarehouse to the new spiffy SAP Netweaver enabled one you say? Well, thank goodness you have all your extracts in DataStage so migration should be pretty straight forward, right? Not so fast!
We started our migration almost a year ago. I was new to everything, new job, new software (both DataStage and SAP), new people. My first assignment would be to assess what the lelev of work would be in migrating our BW extracts to BI 7. I started with the Ascential (err...IBM) manuals for the SAP BW Pack. That's where I ran across this little tidbit..."During the initial install of the Ascential PACK for SAP BW you will be prompted to choose either the Open Hub Extract stage (3.5 or greater) or the Extract stage for supported versions less than 3.5 (less than 3.5). The
Open Hub Extract stage and the Extract stage cannot exist on the same machine."
Did you get that last line, "cannot exist on the same machine?" So, that's the first gotcha. You have to have a license to install this on another server. Fortunately, or DataStage (err. ..IBM Webshere) representative were great and they provided us with a time limited copy to help in the transition.
So, Lesson 1 - you need a separate server and license.
Of course the same is also true for your client install! So, you will need a second client install (on a different machine) so that you can migrate and test your DS jobs.
Lesson 2 - you need a separate place to put the client software if you intend on maintaining your existing code while you migrate.
I partially solved this second item by installing the client software on the new server and then just remoting in. But if you have several developers this can be a problem.
Next - DataStage and that pesky SAP GUI (along with passwords)
We started our migration almost a year ago. I was new to everything, new job, new software (both DataStage and SAP), new people. My first assignment would be to assess what the lelev of work would be in migrating our BW extracts to BI 7. I started with the Ascential (err...IBM) manuals for the SAP BW Pack. That's where I ran across this little tidbit..."During the initial install of the Ascential PACK for SAP BW you will be prompted to choose either the Open Hub Extract stage (3.5 or greater) or the Extract stage for supported versions less than 3.5 (less than 3.5). The
Open Hub Extract stage and the Extract stage cannot exist on the same machine."
Did you get that last line, "cannot exist on the same machine?" So, that's the first gotcha. You have to have a license to install this on another server. Fortunately, or DataStage (err. ..IBM Webshere) representative were great and they provided us with a time limited copy to help in the transition.
So, Lesson 1 - you need a separate server and license.
Of course the same is also true for your client install! So, you will need a second client install (on a different machine) so that you can migrate and test your DS jobs.
Lesson 2 - you need a separate place to put the client software if you intend on maintaining your existing code while you migrate.
I partially solved this second item by installing the client software on the new server and then just remoting in. But if you have several developers this can be a problem.
Next - DataStage and that pesky SAP GUI (along with passwords)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Getting Technical - DataStage and SAP BW
Let's say you have an SAP Business Warehouse and you want to get data out of it on a regular basis without going through the extract and FTP route. That's where a tool like DataStage (from IBM) comes in.
DataStage is an ETL tool (formerly form Ascential) that has as an option a connector capability to SAP or to SAP's Business Warehouse. Where I work our dependent data mart (MS SQL 2005) receives about 90% of its data from the SAP Datawarehouse. We don't use DataStage to place dat a back into BW (yet) so this will only be about downoading.
What am I going to write about?
My job for almost a year now has been to migrate our existing SAP BW to DataStage to SQL implementation from an SAP BW vs. 3 to and SAP BI vs. 7 implementation. I am fortunate that those that did the original work (BW 3 to DataStage to SQL) had done their homework pretty well.
This multipart posting will be about the work I had to do during the migration (still ongoing) and the learning curve/pactches/ and discoveries along the way. My hope is that someone else facing this type of migration will benefit from my experience.
Technical issues:
Our existing BW is BW 3: The new platform is BI 7 running on an IBM Linux server (12 CPU) somewhere in Europe. Our DataStage is version 7.5.1.A running on a Windows 2003 server. We are using the SAP BW pack version 4.2.1.
My next post: Why you cannot run both BW 3 and BI 7 DataStage on the same server...
DataStage is an ETL tool (formerly form Ascential) that has as an option a connector capability to SAP or to SAP's Business Warehouse. Where I work our dependent data mart (MS SQL 2005) receives about 90% of its data from the SAP Datawarehouse. We don't use DataStage to place dat a back into BW (yet) so this will only be about downoading.
What am I going to write about?
My job for almost a year now has been to migrate our existing SAP BW to DataStage to SQL implementation from an SAP BW vs. 3 to and SAP BI vs. 7 implementation. I am fortunate that those that did the original work (BW 3 to DataStage to SQL) had done their homework pretty well.
This multipart posting will be about the work I had to do during the migration (still ongoing) and the learning curve/pactches/ and discoveries along the way. My hope is that someone else facing this type of migration will benefit from my experience.
Technical issues:
Our existing BW is BW 3: The new platform is BI 7 running on an IBM Linux server (12 CPU) somewhere in Europe. Our DataStage is version 7.5.1.A running on a Windows 2003 server. We are using the SAP BW pack version 4.2.1.
My next post: Why you cannot run both BW 3 and BI 7 DataStage on the same server...
Friday, April 11, 2008
Working for a living
I've had a few jobs in my life, worked in a hospital, computer operator, various programming jobs, systems analysis, entrepreneur, CEO, CIO, business broker, various consulting gigs, systems architect to name a few. Now I am a DBA (officially a data warehouse lead) at a multinational.
You'd think after that stint as a CEO I would be onto other things but I did a reevaluation and came to the conclusion that I really liked getting my hands on systems, solving problems and learning new technology. Plus, I really don't travel that much on business anymore which really fits what I want to be doing really well.
So I am going to start interspersing a few musings of discovery of a more technical nature in with these blogs. Specifically I am going add some of those 'ah ha" moments that I have run across in my new job. There are a lot of people out there with a lot more specific knowledge on some of the tools I am using/learning but I often am left to my own devices to solve problems (even after extensive googling!).
So here's what I am working on right now and I'll start posting what my discoveries are as I can.
My current project involves migrating the ETL processes from a SAP BW 3 to DataStage to MS SQL 2005 data warehouse project from BW 3 all the way to BI 7. To give you an idea of scope of the data, we daily transfer about 4m rows in 20 - 40 DataStage extract jobs.
My current nightmare involves the pesky DataStage Server 7.5.1.A Open Hub Extractor interface so my next post will focus on a few insights. Stay tuned....
You'd think after that stint as a CEO I would be onto other things but I did a reevaluation and came to the conclusion that I really liked getting my hands on systems, solving problems and learning new technology. Plus, I really don't travel that much on business anymore which really fits what I want to be doing really well.
So I am going to start interspersing a few musings of discovery of a more technical nature in with these blogs. Specifically I am going add some of those 'ah ha" moments that I have run across in my new job. There are a lot of people out there with a lot more specific knowledge on some of the tools I am using/learning but I often am left to my own devices to solve problems (even after extensive googling!).
So here's what I am working on right now and I'll start posting what my discoveries are as I can.
My current project involves migrating the ETL processes from a SAP BW 3 to DataStage to MS SQL 2005 data warehouse project from BW 3 all the way to BI 7. To give you an idea of scope of the data, we daily transfer about 4m rows in 20 - 40 DataStage extract jobs.
My current nightmare involves the pesky DataStage Server 7.5.1.A Open Hub Extractor interface so my next post will focus on a few insights. Stay tuned....
Thursday, August 2, 2007
New Job Saves Carbon
I have been at my new job for six weeks now (and am loving it!). In my old job I had to commute 52 miles south five days a week and 52 miles back north to get home (with occasional trips to Boston, another 92 miles each way). My wife meanwhile commuted 50 miles east every morning with a return trip back each night. Together we put over 200 miles on our cars every day!
I was able to cut my carbon output in the summer by riding my Kymco Scooter which gets 75 mpg. Of course, if it was raining or after September that option was out. It works out that between the two of us we used about 45 gallons of gas a week (my car gets about 25 and hers 20).
Well with the new job I now go to almost the same place as she does (4 miles apart) so we have been driving my car and riding together almost every day. We also discovered a back road route that only takes 10 minutes more in driving but is 10 miles shorter (plus we drive slower and now get 27 mpg on my car!). Our fuel consumption has dropped to only 15 - 16 gallons a week! That's 30 gallons less and a lot less carbon.
So why this rant? Well, it's about that old idea, car pooling. What ever happened to car pooling? It works and it saves. Granted my wife an I are the perfect couple for car pooling but still, why not resurrect the program for car pooling but this time put some teeth into it. Maybe make it a state program with tax incentives? Why not offer a special speed pass/ fast lane that lets car poolers ride free on toll roads?
Car pooling is not easy, it takes effort to find someone, to coordinate every day with car use, etc. but it could make a tremendous difference.
I was able to cut my carbon output in the summer by riding my Kymco Scooter which gets 75 mpg. Of course, if it was raining or after September that option was out. It works out that between the two of us we used about 45 gallons of gas a week (my car gets about 25 and hers 20).
Well with the new job I now go to almost the same place as she does (4 miles apart) so we have been driving my car and riding together almost every day. We also discovered a back road route that only takes 10 minutes more in driving but is 10 miles shorter (plus we drive slower and now get 27 mpg on my car!). Our fuel consumption has dropped to only 15 - 16 gallons a week! That's 30 gallons less and a lot less carbon.
So why this rant? Well, it's about that old idea, car pooling. What ever happened to car pooling? It works and it saves. Granted my wife an I are the perfect couple for car pooling but still, why not resurrect the program for car pooling but this time put some teeth into it. Maybe make it a state program with tax incentives? Why not offer a special speed pass/ fast lane that lets car poolers ride free on toll roads?
Car pooling is not easy, it takes effort to find someone, to coordinate every day with car use, etc. but it could make a tremendous difference.
Friday, June 8, 2007
All hands on deck!
Home projects. Two weeks ago my wife and I decided to go ahead with the planned addition of a raised deck on our house. We have been without a deck since 2004 when we tore down the old one to make room for the sunroom we built. As an interim I put a few pavers down so the grill wouldn't sink into the mud during the rains. Now, we are back at building.
I want to make it clear when I say "we are building" I really mean that. We didn't hire anyone to put the four-season sunroom on and we aren't hiring out the addition of the deck work either. All this means a lot of back-breaking work. From digging the five-foot deep post holes for the concrete pillars, mixing and pouring the concrete, to lugging the twelve-foot long 2 by 10 treated beams. Along with all this work comes the various scapes and bruises common to such labor.
So this deck is nearly complete. I can now walk on about 1/3 of it. Today I will continue the tedious process of laying the floor boards across the joists. We decided to use a hardwood called Ipe (pronounced "ee-pay") with hiddent screws. Ipe has a hardness rating of 3,600 lbs compared to treated lumber's 690 lbs. What this translates to for me is that everything is harder to do. Cutting takes longer, drilling takes longer (and wears out the blades and bits faster too). The hidden fasteners (Ipeclip) work well but using them means preparing the board with a bisquit cutter before laying the board down. In other words, it will look great but it takes a long time to get there!
Someone asked me why we don't pay someone to do this. My first response is "because we have three kids in college!" But in reality part of it is the satifaction of doing it ourselves. Yes, I ache from the work (but I am also losing a little weight and toning up). Yes, it takes longer to get it done (but I am my own boss and can make adjustments to the process as we go, like where I have to put the downspouts from the roof). I guess the real answer is that when it is done, we will have done it ourselves (or in the case of the deck, I will have done it since I worked on this one alone).
I want to make it clear when I say "we are building" I really mean that. We didn't hire anyone to put the four-season sunroom on and we aren't hiring out the addition of the deck work either. All this means a lot of back-breaking work. From digging the five-foot deep post holes for the concrete pillars, mixing and pouring the concrete, to lugging the twelve-foot long 2 by 10 treated beams. Along with all this work comes the various scapes and bruises common to such labor.
So this deck is nearly complete. I can now walk on about 1/3 of it. Today I will continue the tedious process of laying the floor boards across the joists. We decided to use a hardwood called Ipe (pronounced "ee-pay") with hiddent screws. Ipe has a hardness rating of 3,600 lbs compared to treated lumber's 690 lbs. What this translates to for me is that everything is harder to do. Cutting takes longer, drilling takes longer (and wears out the blades and bits faster too). The hidden fasteners (Ipeclip) work well but using them means preparing the board with a bisquit cutter before laying the board down. In other words, it will look great but it takes a long time to get there!
Someone asked me why we don't pay someone to do this. My first response is "because we have three kids in college!" But in reality part of it is the satifaction of doing it ourselves. Yes, I ache from the work (but I am also losing a little weight and toning up). Yes, it takes longer to get it done (but I am my own boss and can make adjustments to the process as we go, like where I have to put the downspouts from the roof). I guess the real answer is that when it is done, we will have done it ourselves (or in the case of the deck, I will have done it since I worked on this one alone).
Friday, June 1, 2007
"When God closes one door, She often opens a window."
There's a lot to be said for changes. Changes force us to reevaluate the choices we have made. They cause fear, uncertainty and doubt about ourselves. They add stress to seemingly simple choices. Such was the case towards the end of April when my employer and I had a disagreement about what my role was and would be in the future resulting in my unplanned departure from their employment.
And so began my search for a new place to work. Working with my wife (and life partner) I began the process of searching for a new job. We had both agreed that it was time in my life to focus on what I wanted to do with the remaining work years. We also have three kids in college next year so the dire finances also provided framing for my efforts.
It took me one day short of one month to get an offer from a company that I believe will provide me with both requirements, doing what I want to do and a good enough pay to cover the costs. I wont be making a fortune but then I am not that interested in having a lot of money. I am interested in doing well and working well. My new job is with a manufacturing company that has been around for almost four-hundred years. I'll be leading a data warehouse effort. It means I'll be working closer to the technology than I have been in my recent jobs but that is something I wanted to do. The reflection process pointed that out to me.
I should start there any day (they have to run a drug screen and a criminal background check). Until that time I am catching up on the various projects around the house and studying for the new job.
And so began my search for a new place to work. Working with my wife (and life partner) I began the process of searching for a new job. We had both agreed that it was time in my life to focus on what I wanted to do with the remaining work years. We also have three kids in college next year so the dire finances also provided framing for my efforts.
It took me one day short of one month to get an offer from a company that I believe will provide me with both requirements, doing what I want to do and a good enough pay to cover the costs. I wont be making a fortune but then I am not that interested in having a lot of money. I am interested in doing well and working well. My new job is with a manufacturing company that has been around for almost four-hundred years. I'll be leading a data warehouse effort. It means I'll be working closer to the technology than I have been in my recent jobs but that is something I wanted to do. The reflection process pointed that out to me.
I should start there any day (they have to run a drug screen and a criminal background check). Until that time I am catching up on the various projects around the house and studying for the new job.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Big Day! UMass Gradutation
This is Staurday, May 26th, 2007 and in just a few hours I will complete a step in a jouney I began way too many years ago. Starting at 12:30pm I'll be in the stadium at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (along with several thousand others) for my college graduation. I am only 30 years late for this ceremony but as the saying goes, "better late than never." It took three and a half years of hard work, studying, attending classes, homework, and sweating the exams to get to this day. The big question as always is "was it worth it?"
As the title of my blog suggests, I have no answers only personal expereinces. So for me, yes it has been worth the effort. What it has meant is the completion of something, something that is not just recognized by me, but also by others. Will I get a new job and earn lots more money? Well, not likely (although I did just get a new job). I say this because I already had a job and was earning a pretty good wage.
Would I recommend this for anyone else to do? Yes and no. If you want to finish something you started, and do it only for you then yes. If you want to learn, really learn, and understand the work of learning then yes also.
So, it's about 9am and the house is stirring. It is occupied by my "support team." My wife and kids (and my neighbors too) who provided patience and support during my crazy hours, who gave up weekends away because I had homework. We are getting ready for the big day and I thank them all.
As the title of my blog suggests, I have no answers only personal expereinces. So for me, yes it has been worth the effort. What it has meant is the completion of something, something that is not just recognized by me, but also by others. Will I get a new job and earn lots more money? Well, not likely (although I did just get a new job). I say this because I already had a job and was earning a pretty good wage.
Would I recommend this for anyone else to do? Yes and no. If you want to finish something you started, and do it only for you then yes. If you want to learn, really learn, and understand the work of learning then yes also.
So, it's about 9am and the house is stirring. It is occupied by my "support team." My wife and kids (and my neighbors too) who provided patience and support during my crazy hours, who gave up weekends away because I had homework. We are getting ready for the big day and I thank them all.
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About Me
- Richard Rabe
- Belchertown, Massachusetts, United States
- Experiences in life: marriage, kids, computers, flying, remodeling, learning