tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279824042024-03-08T12:09:08.726-05:00Politics.NETMy opinions on fatherhood, politics, sports and everything else.Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-66813506235324176882023-11-03T22:14:00.001-05:002023-11-03T22:15:44.192-05:00The Ron Rivera Inconsistency<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_editorial_landscape_6_desktop/f_auto/redskins/wumzvobj3rhr7tfitn5c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="612" height="344" src="https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_editorial_landscape_6_desktop/f_auto/redskins/wumzvobj3rhr7tfitn5c.jpg" width="612" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Ron Rivera is an interesting coach. As a man, he's very well respected in the world of football. Maybe not loved but definitely very highly respected. Everybody speaks of his integrity, his leadership, his ability to command the respect of his players and no matter how bad the seasons gets, his players never seem to throw in the towel. Even in the back end of losing seasons (which is all he has so far with the Commanders), his teams find ways to win games they have no business winning. </p><p>So why then does he confound people with his words and actions? In the last 4 years as Commanders coach, there's hardly a criticism of his stewardship of the team without a prefix of "great man". And yet, he lies...a LOT! He changes his tune every time he speaks to the press. He throws players under the bus as a matter of routine (Landon Collins, William Jackson III, Chase Young, Jamin Davis, Emanuel Forbes are stuck to the bottom of Ron Rivera's bus). And with the latest leaks that badmouthed Chase Young after he was traded to the 49ers, Ron Rivera demonstrates a very Dan Snyder-esque trait of kicking players/coaches on their way out of the Ashburn.</p><p>Even before Chase Young had made his way west to the Santa Clara, leaks from Ashburn were being called into the beat writers, the national writers, podcasters like Kevin Sheehan...all singing the same tune:</p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"According to another team source, the Commanders hoped to keep Sweat, but the value of the Bears’ offer proved too good. The team views the trade of Young as a potential addition by subtraction, the source said."<a href="https://t.co/dQrVoCyTnE">https://t.co/dQrVoCyTnE</a></p>— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) <a href="https://twitter.com/granthpaulsen/status/1719453751906386162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p></p><p> </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Young, according to several Commanders coaches and other organizational sources, was viewed as an undisciplined player who developed bad habits such as deviating from assignments in an effort to make splash plays..." (Ducks for cover) <a href="https://twitter.com/sfchronicle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sfchronicle</a> <a href="https://t.co/nVB0yYSxVA">https://t.co/nVB0yYSxVA</a></p>— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSilver/status/1719475801278550391?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>One of the writers of such shallow, disgraceful garbage is Michael Silver, Ron Rivera's longtime friend. They're so close Ron got Silver a job with the Commanders a few years ago. And how do we know Ron fed this trash to Silver? One of the beat writers tweeted something to the effect of "Michael Silver is close to Ron" and Michael Silver retweeted it with a thumbs up emoji. How's that for confirmation the hit came from Mr. "coach-centric" himself?</p><p>As for lying, all you have to do is listen to Ron's press conferences over these past 4 years. One minute they want to run the ball, the next minute they want to be balanced. One minute, Sam Howell isn't ready to play the Cowboys in a meaningless game at the end of last season; the next minute Sam Howell might just be our franchise QB. And if you listen to Ron these last few days, he answers every question with a quick pivot to Sam Howell. </p><p>I can go on and on but the man is confounding. He exhibits all these negative traits and yet manages to keep his reputation as an honorable man. Al Galdi calls it <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-539-ron-rivera-says-commanders-are-roster-building/id1553345193?i=1000606564207" target="_blank">Ronese</a> because he doesn't want to acknowledge the truth. Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro make fun of him but they don't have a term for it. I call it just plain lying. </p><p>Reminds me of when Mike Shanahan staked his reputation to his claim that John Beck is an NFL QB. We all know how that turned out (hint: John Beck is no more an NFL QB than you and I). </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-12210066257922490682023-08-25T11:10:00.003-05:002023-08-28T12:20:38.545-05:00High school? How can that be?<p>In 3 days, both kids start high school. It's crazy, where has the time gone? It seems like it was just yesterday they were starting kindergarten...look at this picture:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9xuuvS5PGvd3bjw35uhSDHG7PNQpcPG-DoGu58syDBnMOJ04PUlm1JVa5FMT7GW3dVa2S9-eoXhz_MvQoE8RN_5q_0dC8ptfyKw6muk83Ulr5WGNmvBVfoqugO_fapnAU8fovcS5HG0-HwNQInIQi9ylwf09ysaVAtCf1jwxJllfKj6EiSx_Rw/s1039/Kindergarten-to-HighSchool.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1039" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9xuuvS5PGvd3bjw35uhSDHG7PNQpcPG-DoGu58syDBnMOJ04PUlm1JVa5FMT7GW3dVa2S9-eoXhz_MvQoE8RN_5q_0dC8ptfyKw6muk83Ulr5WGNmvBVfoqugO_fapnAU8fovcS5HG0-HwNQInIQi9ylwf09ysaVAtCf1jwxJllfKj6EiSx_Rw/w640-h326/Kindergarten-to-HighSchool.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p>This summer has been a crazy one with both kids trying out for high school soccer, making the teams and practicing and playing scrimmages. And parent meetings, New Student Orientation etc...I feel like I practically live at the school! And that's all before the first official day of school. </p><p>So yeah, high school is here. 🤯</p><p><br />PS</p><p>Hopefully, in 4 years, I'll be back to say "college already? where <b>has</b> the time gone?!"</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-44300877328932517452021-11-28T20:42:00.003-05:002021-11-28T20:42:19.960-05:00The Teenage Years Cometh<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">If you're lucky, a few days after your twins are born, the hospital just let's you walk out with them. In fact, they insist you take them with you. No training, no classes, no probation...they really just let you walk out with 2 humans.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fatherhood?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fatherhood</a></p>— Tundey A. (@realtundey) <a href="https://twitter.com/realtundey/status/1465097000505036800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2021</a></blockquote><p>This was me 12 years ago:</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpVXNfE69KQ/YaQtvWsPg6I/AAAAAAABTF0/PsHp4EVzNZAu04lb69Nc0sJxE244mkXIwCPcBGAsYHg/s1408/tundey%2B%2526%2Btwins.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1408" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpVXNfE69KQ/YaQtvWsPg6I/AAAAAAABTF0/PsHp4EVzNZAu04lb69Nc0sJxE244mkXIwCPcBGAsYHg/w640-h480/tundey%2B%2526%2Btwins.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>And now look at them. In a little over 6 months, they'll be teenagers! </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QiTh3yBbQLE/YaQt3IH_EDI/AAAAAAABTF4/ouJhw7w7aAkXKZStBY5jP-_pDNp1aKMRgCPcBGAsYHg/s1024/IMG_20211128_181002_981.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QiTh3yBbQLE/YaQt3IH_EDI/AAAAAAABTF4/ouJhw7w7aAkXKZStBY5jP-_pDNp1aKMRgCPcBGAsYHg/w640-h640/IMG_20211128_181002_981.webp" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Every time I look at them, I am reminded of Obama's quote on being a parent: </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"One of my favorite sayings about having children is it's like having your heart walking around outside your body." —<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a></p>— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/ObamaWhiteHouse/status/656915414723727361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-58706458369865426342021-02-24T15:05:00.001-05:002021-02-24T15:09:27.923-05:00Football Shape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jhLp7QID0AM/YDayZVLBDlI/AAAAAAABILk/IMg6JDF1DyolrirriHF2wQw5lz5ZlRAQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_20201119_204342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jhLp7QID0AM/YDayZVLBDlI/AAAAAAABILk/IMg6JDF1DyolrirriHF2wQw5lz5ZlRAQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20201119_204342.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> If you're a fan of the NFL, you've heard this term before, "Football shape". You hear it whenever a player is coming off injury and wants to get back into the action. The team says "Joe is getting back into shape but he's not in <b>football shape</b> yet". The player (if young) may think he's ready, he may even be posting workout videos (shirtless of course) on Instagram showing off his physical fitness. But nope, he's not in football shape yet and can't get back on the field. Or he gets back on the field and he just doesn't have that burst.</p><p>Well after a COVID-induced 1-year layoff from playing regular pickup soccer, I got back into it couple of days ago. Yeah I know, it's not the same level as the NFL. But boy oh boy, was I not in <b>pickup soccer shape</b>! Physically and I think mentally too. Physically, I didn't have my normal endurance...couldn't play 2 hours without taking multiple stints as goalkeeper (a task nobody wants to do but experienced players know it's a good way to catch your breathe). </p><p>Mentally, I was maybe half a step behind. Playing with complete strangers didn't help either. One of the reasons I <b>love</b> soccer is the teamwork involved. When you watch a well-oiled team...it's like watching FIFA videogame. Multiple players seeing the same thing, anticipating the same future event, working off of one another...it's really a beautiful sight to behold. Sadly, it wasn't like that this first time back on the field. </p><p>But I survived, I am feeling the effects 2 days but I can't wait to get back.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-72564043860672683112020-12-20T22:28:00.000-05:002020-12-20T22:28:15.874-05:00Time Travel<p> On <b>November 25th</b>, I ordered a couple of items from Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was late on Thanksgiving, I was up and decided to take a quick look at early Black Friday deals. The air fryer I had been eyeing for a few months was finally on sale. And I needed a comforter set. So why not kill 2 birds with one stone? I ordered both items for delivery (2-3 business days). Whatever, not an urgent need. </p><p>Friday afternoon, I received an email from BBB, my items have been split into 2 shipments. The first shipment is on the way. Here's the tracking number. Oh nice...I clicked on the tracking number and got this:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J26e0qM0eAU/X-AVBwTVysI/AAAAAAABHJc/HB9Vs08ABe8P6awb20wrU94FQvz472wBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s973/Screenshot%2B2020-12-20%2B220928.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="863" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J26e0qM0eAU/X-AVBwTVysI/AAAAAAABHJc/HB9Vs08ABe8P6awb20wrU94FQvz472wBgCLcBGAsYHQ/w355-h400/Screenshot%2B2020-12-20%2B220928.png" width="355" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I do not list in NJ</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Go ahead, click on it and take a look at the dates. According to that tracking info, the package was shipped on October 13th! Yeah, that's the reason for the title of this post. Somehow, BBB issued an already-used tracking number for my shipment. It gets worse. Both shipments were assigned different used tracking numbers. Both tracking numbers were for packages shipped before I even placed my order. So either BBB and/or their shipping partner royally screwed up or we've got a time-travelling package. </p><p>I called BBB, spent over 3 hours across multiples calls over multiple days with them. Bottom line, they couldn't explain it either. They decided to ship me replacements. Fine...can you expedite it? Sorry, we can't do that. It'll take 7-10 business days! At this point, I was royally pissed. So they issued a replacement order and gave me the new order number. Couple of days later, I go to check the status of that order and guess what? Their website can't find the new/replacement order number. Great...just great. Decided to call back. This time their automated phone system had the new order...no tracking info...just wait for it to arrive. Somehow, at the back of my mind I kept wondering how the heck does this happen? USPS or whoever they use can't just time-travel a shipment to the past. I wondered if both shipments will end up arriving...yep, that's exactly what happened. </p><p>First, the air fryer...oh nice. Started using it; not super impressed but that's a story for another day. Couple of days later, a package shows up at the door. Great, I thought, the comforter set has arrived. But no, it's another air fryer. I put it in the garage...I'll deal with this later. Next day, the comforter set arrived. Day after that, a second comforter set arrives. </p><p>Obviously, I can't keep them. So now I've got to call them to come pick up their stuff or I've gotta schlep them over to the Bed, Bath & Beyond store. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9arlxtaEwfs/X-AVqceO7-I/AAAAAAABHJw/8my3Ubq1dQswBHbLyglzAsFcS3py_eguwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2760/Screenshot_20201220-222421_Phone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2760" data-original-width="972" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9arlxtaEwfs/X-AVqceO7-I/AAAAAAABHJw/8my3Ubq1dQswBHbLyglzAsFcS3py_eguwCLcBGAsYHQ/w141-h400/Screenshot_20201220-222421_Phone.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-9414668329660231042020-11-07T11:49:00.001-05:002020-11-07T11:49:19.320-05:00Joe Biden is the President of the United States!!!<p> How it started:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--yh-z1f63fE/X6bPn-Jr04I/AAAAAAABGIA/F9hidMkWm5o20g3bVWIXhU07HDs3Kr15QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Screenshot_20161109-044604.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--yh-z1f63fE/X6bPn-Jr04I/AAAAAAABGIA/F9hidMkWm5o20g3bVWIXhU07HDs3Kr15QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot_20161109-044604.png" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>How it ended</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oym0Hi44lDg/X6bPrzUmVAI/AAAAAAABGIE/3xrtQuyO1GkeokkGP7JEuKfHPrdVTWoCACLcBGAsYHQ/s1266/Screenshot%2B2020-11-07%2B112900.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oym0Hi44lDg/X6bPrzUmVAI/AAAAAAABGIE/3xrtQuyO1GkeokkGP7JEuKfHPrdVTWoCACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot%2B2020-11-07%2B112900.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Good riddance. Congratulations to Joseph Robinette Biden, the 46th President of the United States.</div><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-16930686860861407002020-09-27T21:18:00.003-05:002020-09-27T21:18:44.672-05:002020 <p> What a horrible year. 100% would not recommend.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-71362975223736961622019-06-10T20:31:00.001-05:002019-06-10T20:31:54.702-05:00Strong, Likely Boy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Item # 19:<br />
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Infant. Age 1. Described as "Strong, Likely Boy" $400.00<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-75761019504450402192019-06-07T14:26:00.000-05:002019-06-07T14:26:07.532-05:00What to do?I recently bought one of those wireless earbuds from Amazon. I spent some time researching all the available options and finally picked this particular one. It was highly rated on Amazon 5 stars from 54 reviewers (most of them "verified purchase"). Not great but not bad. Anyway, the earbuds arrived and I found this in the box:<br />
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Hmm, OK. Very mysterious. As instructed, I sent them an email for further information. Here's what I received:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a_65dIn6PG8/XPq3Gv2vTxI/AAAAAAAA8Yw/pTt80YVaYqEW-cS6ZA9OMSI3JXU7JugTgCLcBGAs/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="762" height="596" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a_65dIn6PG8/XPq3Gv2vTxI/AAAAAAAA8Yw/pTt80YVaYqEW-cS6ZA9OMSI3JXU7JugTgCLcBGAs/s640/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
Funny thing is I really like the ear buds. Excellent build quality and thus far, great performance. They reconnect to my phone 2-3 seconds after taking them out of the case. It's easy to create a good seal...sometimes so good I get that underwater feeling one gets with noise cancelling headphones. Even without the 40% incentive, I would have written a review...that's how much I like the ear buds. But now I feel weird about doing it. I wonder how many of those 54 5-star reviews were motivated by a 40% discount.<br />
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As for the 40% discount, I doubt if I'll ever use it. Not unless this set stop working and I decide to buy another from the same company.<br />
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So what should I do?<br />
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<li>Don't write a review, don't take the 40% coupon</li>
<li>Don't write a review, take the 40% coupon</li>
<li>Write a review but don't take the 40% coupon</li>
<li>Write a review, take the 40% and encourage this shady practice</li>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-50426919188050815042018-05-05T13:24:00.001-05:002018-05-05T13:24:37.548-05:00Career 101: Dunk, layup or dribble out of bounds?Saw this on <a href="http://whisper.sh/" target="_blank">Whisper</a>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T3dpJ_DEGMg/Wu3yB0OuCTI/AAAAAAAA1LY/zR88-LlXH3seBUYgKVyGdDHqo9Y_88TuQCLcBGAs/s1600/20180505_135851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1140" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T3dpJ_DEGMg/Wu3yB0OuCTI/AAAAAAAA1LY/zR88-LlXH3seBUYgKVyGdDHqo9Y_88TuQCLcBGAs/s320/20180505_135851.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<br />
The way I see it, this dude has 3 options:<br />
<ul>
<li>Reject the $55K increase and stick with his old job that he loves (dribble out of bounds)</li>
<li>Take the $170K to his current boss and negotiate for a raise (layup)</li>
<li>Take the $170K job, stick with it for a year and then bounce (dunk)</li>
</ul>
The first option is what I call a poor person's advice. It sounds very noble...very "get a job you love and you'll never work". Well I am here to say that's bullshit (mostly). This is business; you should always get the most you can. Besides, this is a chance for this dude to change his baseline salary for future jobs. At his current job, getting that $55K will take several years because corporate America isn't going to offer you more than a token raise each year.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My advice would be to take the $170K offer to his current manager and get him/her to match it or raise his current salary. That's the layup option. It's not too money-hungry and doesn't summarily leave $55K (almost 50% his current pay) on the table. Worst case, he'll be fired and fall back on the $170K offer. Best and unlikely case, they'll match the $170K. Most likely, he'll be offered a raise to stay because the cost of replacement is not $0.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The last option isn't too bad either. He takes the $170K boring job, spends a year there and uses the downtime to burnish his resume (certifications, conferences etc). At the end of a year, he leaves for a better job...that could even be his old job (boomerangs are not unheard of). With this approach, he banks that $55K and doesn't have to burn any bridge doing so. If a manager looks you in the face and tells you to ignore a 48% offer from another company, he's not giving you good career advice. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What would you do? Dunk, layup or dribble out of bounds?</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-40042623637779823122017-08-19T14:50:00.000-05:002017-08-19T14:50:17.873-05:00Gone in 60 seconds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgmJwKmRCBI/WZiSX3gdihI/AAAAAAAAxI4/BoNcs9nutOcDwyphBfaIMxDOs8t1Pl2vQCLcBGAs/s1600/20170819_144846-COLLAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgmJwKmRCBI/WZiSX3gdihI/AAAAAAAAxI4/BoNcs9nutOcDwyphBfaIMxDOs8t1Pl2vQCLcBGAs/s320/20170819_144846-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-44436501733103457372017-08-10T11:26:00.000-05:002017-08-10T11:26:18.226-05:00Redgate is "evil"This is a sad blog for me to write. A product I absolutely love is now being used for evil<sup>1</sup> by the creators. If you have ever done any database work with Microsoft SQL Server, you've probably heard or maybe even used <a href="http://www.red-gate.com/" target="_blank">Redgate</a>'s various database tools. Those tools are a godsend and I can't imagine using SQL Management Studio (SMS) without Redgate<sup>2</sup>. It's literally the first thing I install after installing SMS. It's a tool that if my job didn't pay for it, I'll buy it with my own money. I love it that much.<br />
<br />
So imagine my surprise yesterday when I realize that Redgate had made a few changes to their products. Originally, the licensing was pretty straightforward. You pay for a number of licenses, get your license key(s) and put it in the product. That's it. It was based on the honor system (i.e. that you aren't using it on more servers than you paid for). I am not naive enough to think people wouldn't have abused the system. It's the software industry...it's full of pathological smart people. So I wasn't too upset when, months ago, Redgate introduced a new way of licensing that required each developer to have a Redgate account. I work on a team of 7 developers...that's 8 developer licenses total. Plus a couple of licenses for our test servers. It was a pain to have to maintain yet another set of username/password for a product I was used to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Popeil" target="_blank">setting & forgetting</a>. Still, I loved the product and the utility far exceeded my reluctance to create new accounts.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to yesterday. I was using Fiddler to debug something else and found a bunch of HTTP requests to Redgate servers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yRH5uIqNvhU/WYsFwie0LfI/AAAAAAAAxB4/49RdFsYVwyg2zFPWIeBFxra2szoXeh2_QCLcBGAs/s1600/RedgateIsEvil_1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="706" height="402" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yRH5uIqNvhU/WYsFwie0LfI/AAAAAAAAxB4/49RdFsYVwyg2zFPWIeBFxra2szoXeh2_QCLcBGAs/s640/RedgateIsEvil_1.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
See all those calls to <span style="color: red;">/v1/usageevents</span> and <span style="color: red;">/updateserver/check.asmx</span>? The checking for product update didn't bother me even though I hate it. I would rather be in control of my product updates. But still that's not unusual. But the calls to "usageevents"? That was odd. Why is Redgate posting my usage events (whatever that is) to the mothership? Let's see what's included in the request:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8Uds8Sx4p_M/WYsIdZQd49I/AAAAAAAAxCE/1fkUvG__J6QM_uYDLcNeC1-BFhszbWYRACLcBGAs/s1600/RedgateIsEvil_2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="1246" height="172" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8Uds8Sx4p_M/WYsIdZQd49I/AAAAAAAAxCE/1fkUvG__J6QM_uYDLcNeC1-BFhszbWYRACLcBGAs/s640/RedgateIsEvil_2.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>EventType seems harmless enough</li>
<li>Product Id: Sure why not.</li>
<li>Product version: meh</li>
<li>Event UUid: Interesting...</li>
<li>Usage UserId:.....hold up...what's going on here?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This means that Redgate has assigned me a unique ID and is tracking me with that ID. Let see what's in other requests.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V4FjxP-19q0/WYsIgCc4-xI/AAAAAAAAxCI/AXKFQ0Cbi28iHsURBSQpOGa0mjYwk9MqgCLcBGAs/s1600/RedGateIsEvil_5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="1245" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V4FjxP-19q0/WYsIgCc4-xI/AAAAAAAAxCI/AXKFQ0Cbi28iHsURBSQpOGa0mjYwk9MqgCLcBGAs/s1600/RedGateIsEvil_5.PNG" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What do we have here...they are collecting all sorts of information about my computer that's not directly related to their products. I get needing this information for diagnostic <b>after a user has complained about an issue</b>. But silently collecting this info and sending it to some server that could be on the other side of the world is egregious in my book. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I sent them a tweet...you know because it's 2017 and who the hell is going to call a customer service number when you can tweet and shame them publicly. I said:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/redgate">@redgate</a> Why do you track users of your products? When did this start? How do I opt out and get a refund for all of our license fees? <a href="https://t.co/9ia402rtsa">pic.twitter.com/9ia402rtsa</a></div>
— Tundey (@realtundey) <a href="https://twitter.com/realtundey/status/894999705347911684">August 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div>
<div>
<br />
A day later they replied:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
The information we collect is used to improve our products - you can find out more here: <a href="https://t.co/fmjDEcMrYQ">https://t.co/fmjDEcMrYQ</a></div>
— Redgate (@redgate) <a href="https://twitter.com/redgate/status/895238250973077504">August 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div>
<div>
I went to the link and it said users can opt out. Well I checked my settings and I never opted in! So why the heck is it still sending my data back home? I sent them this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
The option to not opt-in is unchecked and yet your products is collecting the data and sending it back. It's also uniquely tracking users. <a href="https://t.co/VpvSVBT1v1">pic.twitter.com/VpvSVBT1v1</a></div>
— Tundey (@realtundey) <a href="https://twitter.com/realtundey/status/895261613816778752">August 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<br />
Waiting for their reply to that. For now I have to decide: just how much do I love Redgate? I'll probably end up using my <a href="http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm" target="_blank">hosts-based ad blocker</a> to block access to their mothership from my computer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<sup>1: Evil in this context means Google's "Don't be evil". Not actual evil.<br />
2: I use a mix of singular and plural forms to refer to Redgate products. I use a bunch of their products and found it easier to refer to them collectively.</sup>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-49907826325719404242017-01-25T21:41:00.001-05:002017-01-25T21:49:09.085-05:00Acquisition FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt): Part 1Last Tuesday morning, as I was getting my kids ready for school, I checked my calendar to see what my day was going to be like at work. I had taken the previous day off and wanted to see if there was any unplanned meeting I had been dragged into. First thing I noticed was that my boss had double booked me for an event I knew nothing about. This was unlike her so I decided to see what this new event was about. Turns out, the "small" company I have worked for for 16 years <a href="http://www.boozallen.com/content/boozallen/en_US/media-center/press-releases/2016/11/booz-allen-hamilton-agrees-to-acquire-digital-service-business-a.html" target="_blank">had been acquired by a much bigger company</a>...you might have heard of them...<a href="http://www.bah.com/" target="_blank">Booz Allen Hamilton</a>! Yeah, that behemoth.<br />
<br />
Needless to say the past week has been very eventful, very hush-hush and filled with a lot of FUD. I get that in acquisitions of this magnitude ($250M to be specific), secrecy is of utmost concern. I also get that CEOs typically don't send an email saying "Hey guys, we are shopping the company around". So by their very definition, these things will always come as a surprise. However, this was a very big surprise. I had heard some rumors that the company was being sold but that was months ago and I figured the rumors were untrue. Boy, was I shocked to read that email.<br />
<br />
I got to work and of course this was the topic of conversation EVERYWHERE! Anywhere there was 2 or more employees (especially those from different teams), you can bet they were talking about the acquisition. What will happen to Aquilent? Will we have to wear suit & tie? What about our non-billable coworkers...we know big companies don't like to double up on cost center resources. What about benefits? Will our 2017 open enrollment elections carry over? Why did we just spend 2 weeks on open enrollment when we have to do it all over? Will our accrued PTO time carry over? Will our PTO accrual rate be the same? There were so many questions and very little answer.<br />
<br />
Personally, I felt like the news wasn't well handled. Again, I get the sensitivity of the transaction but I felt like BAH has done enough acquisitions to have some ready made materials from Day 1. But all we got was an email with a promise of <b>welcome letter</b> to come on Day 2 of acquisition.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Day 2</h4>
This is the day. We'll get that welcome letter that'll explain everything. Check Outlook; no letter; ask colleagues if anyone has received a letter; check Outlook; do productive work; rinse & repeat. Right around COB, I got my welcome letter. Pretty generic except for 3 piece of information:<br />
<ol>
<li>New level on the career ladder within BAH (mine: Lead Associate)</li>
<li>New title (mine: Software engineer)</li>
<li>New 2017 salary (mine: lol nice try)</li>
</ol>
<div>
See how the level says "Associate"? Yeah that was the source of interesting questions throughout Day 2. For most people, "associate" has a junior connotation to it. So imagine the consternation of people who were "Senior Consultants" with Aquilent finding out they are now an "Associate" at BAH. This actually caused some confusion amongst 2 of my direct reports. The senior one was given an "associate" while the junior was mapped to "senior consultant". </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The <b>welcome letter</b> laid out a couple of introductory meetings that'll happen the week after acquisition wherein BAH people will be onsite. They had multiple sessions planned but I, like everyone else I talked to, registered for the first available session. I felt like the ground was changing under us, we needed this information and BAH was giving it to us in very small portions.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One feeling I got was that there's a silent "for now" at the end of every statement/promise:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Everything will be the same...for now</li>
<li>The Aquilent culture will remain...for now</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h4>
Day 5</h4>
<div>
Today was the first introductory meeting. It was held in our biggest conference room and it was packed. First up was our company's CEO. He spoke about how this is a great opportunity for Aquilent, how BAH was a perfect fit with Aquilent and how they value the same things we value at Aquilent. Now this is a guy that's spoken before the entire company several times; he does the yearly all-hands meeting with good and bad financial reports, he talks at the annual office parties...bottom line he's a good public speaker. But I could tell he was nervous. And that made me wonder why he was nervous. In addition to being the CEO of Aquilent, I think it was common knowledge that he has some money in the company. So no doubt he was going to make out like a bandit on this deal. Why the heck is he nervous? More on this later. But he himself acknowledged that he was nervous.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once he finished speaking, the top BAH guy stepped out and gave an overview of his division within BAH, how his division fits into the bigger BAH picture and how Aquilent fits into his division. He talked about the new innovations in technology and seemed legitimately excited about the stuff. Then we had a parade of BAH people (I can't even remember any of their names except one was called Gio). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Finally, time for questions and boy, did we pepper them with questions. Here are some of them:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>How does BAH calculate tenure for employees that leave and come back? </li>
<li>Answer: If the time spent away is less than 5 years, all is forgiven 😊</li>
<li>How does BAH calculate utilization (salient question: will be punished for taking PTO and engaging in non-billable activities)?</li>
<li>Answer: [took about 3 executives to answer this] They call it something else and there's no monitoring of individual utilization. However, there's an expectation of what the number would be for an entire group. </li>
<li>Is there a dress code (salient question: are we expected to dress formally)?</li>
<li>Answer: [laughter] No dress code. "Dress for your day" concept. One of the execs said their most recent acquisition before Aquilent in Charleston SC really dresses down; so from what they see today, we at Aquilent should be fine.</li>
<li>Follow up: I, since I asked the question, explained to them that we dressed up for them 😊 (which was true. I had noticed that a lot of people were dressed up today....for Aquilent anyway).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Overall, I think they did a good job answer questions. Some questions were really tough and you could see them hemming and hawing through it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So why was our CEO nervous? He spoke at the end of the sessions and I think his words showed how significant this sale was to him. Yes, financial he'll be alright (fine maybe more than alright) but his words revealed the truth: he wasn't nervous...he was emotional. He was there from day 1 when the company was bought out from the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/09/27/the-fall-of-commerce-one.aspx" target="_blank">Commerce One trainwreck</a> and years later, he's selling to BAH.<br />
<br />
Day ...I've stopped counting the days<br />
<br />
A lot's happened since Day 5. The deal with BAH hit a snag. Because of some conflict of interest with my project, the deal with BAH had to be postponed. There's a long version of this but the bottom line is my project was sold off to a 3rd company (Octo Consulting). This was required to resolve the COI with BAH buying Aquilent which develops and operates an acquisition portal for the Navy. More from the <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005810/en/Octo-Acquires-SeaPort-e-Business-Unit-Aquilent/?feedref=JjAwJuNHiystnCoBq_hl-Rc4vIAVcHHkbDcwJimU8QtrtlakeQ9hNboBqTAWIjTge3KWq9s9jif-UkBjBsFRyYAbRTSLTc1mgvhPlnaBA55M-oupQnbXnhKsYk8RmHF_kAy2gZikaX3QWV6xOvgFlA%3D%3D" target="_blank">press release</a>.<br />
<br />
Because of this, the past couple of weeks have been very interesting. Everything was hush hush but the word was on the grapevine that something was happening. But we didn't know what. That led to a lot of FUD and nervous anticipation. As for me, I didn't think there was reason to be scared. We were all billable and it wouldn't make sense for a company to fire billable people. Even CommerceOne didn't do that in their crazy last days.<br />
<br />
Last month, I had worked 16 years for Aquilent<br />
2 weeks ago, I was going to be a Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton<br />
This week, I am a new employee of Octo Consulting (title: Senior Manager/Lead Software Developer)<br />
<br />
In Part 2, I'll write about my experience moving from Aquilent to Octo. It's been a surreal experience.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-81430698951403882392016-09-16T12:57:00.001-05:002016-09-16T12:57:44.260-05:00Game over: Trump is going to winI feel like I should preface this blog post with some things about me:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I am a far left liberal on social issues</li>
<li>I am a moderate on fiscal issues</li>
<li>I don't recall ever voting for a republican</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now that we've establish my meager bonafides, I have come to a sickening realization that Trump will win this election. Don't get me wrong, he has no business winning. He's a crystallization of every qualities of a right wingnut job. He may not have started the birther movement but he adopted it as his child and did a fine job raising that racist myth as his own child. He's a dangerous moron that thinks he can solve complex problems outside his realm of expertise. For a guy that rich, he demonstrates a shocking lack of knowledge of basic economic issues. He's publicly said he would be dating his daughter if she weren't his child and he wasn't married. Seriously, he said this. Not once, not twice...multiple times. Finally, when asked what his 1-year old daughter took from her mother, he said "breasts". This is not an exaggeration. Google it. There's video. This is a grown adult who doesn't care enough to hide that he's sexualizing his 1-year old baby. That's the guy the GOP has selected as their standard bearer. That's the guy the so-called evangelical wing of the country has picked to represent them: a tax dodging, draft dodging, baby sexualizing 70-year old who has never been elected to any office in his entire life! A guy whose "charity" simply takes money from one party, donates it right back to other parties and takes credit for the donation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So why do I think he's going to win?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Because he's turned this entire election cycle into a Seinfeld episode...in that it's all been about nothing! Think about it. It's post-labor day and today's main topic is that Trump is going to accept that Barack Obama was born in the United States! This is what we are talking about less than 2 months to the election. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's go back to the GOP primary. How did Trump win? Did he win by distinguishing his policies from that of his competitors? No. Did he wow us with presidential qualities? Heck no! He basically insulted them (Little Marco, Lying' Ted and low energy Jeb...to be fair, Jeb Bush was severely lacking in energy), bragged about the size of his penis and called Rosie O'Donnell a pig. Oh yeah, he also made impractical YUGE promises that everyone knows he can't fulfill. But he won because he's the master at this reality show game. He's a master bullshit artist and he figured out a way to reduce the GOP primary to a reality show where nothing matters but the presentation and the bombast.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Back to the general election. I'll admit I didn't think he could do it. I thought he would be pummeled into submission by the Clinton Juggernaut. I said to myself "he's going to find out the difference between college and NFL". But guess what? He's done it. While the political talking heads are going on and on about electoral college pathways, he's dictating the agenda every single day (good and bad). It's September 16...where are the ads that'll bring this con artist down? Where are the ads that'll stitch together all of the rubbish he's said for the past 1.5 years? They are nowhere because he's got Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media talking about things he wants them to talk about. Even his refusal to release his taxes distracts the press from doing a full analysis of his tax policy. It's all about the razzle dazzle. Everybody (media, leftists) is asking him to show us his tax returns and his medical report. This past week has been spent talking about his medical status...that's one less week he has to spend defending the actual bullshit policies he's proposing. That's another week where his lies that he'll make the economy better gains more ground. It's a political rope-a-dope. By all counts, Clinton should be winning. She's a seasoned politician who has spent her adult life in the service of the public. But this isn't politics as usual. She's playing on Trump's turf now and she's losing</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When Trump wins the election in November, remember this picture and know that he successfully got everybody to play on his terms in this election.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tMY6p5IG7g/V9wtU7cBeUI/AAAAAAAAsAw/3RTxczhaBb4ryYvZm5pRjCyzpsZypVt2gCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160916_130322717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tMY6p5IG7g/V9wtU7cBeUI/AAAAAAAAsAw/3RTxczhaBb4ryYvZm5pRjCyzpsZypVt2gCLcB/s400/IMG_20160916_130322717.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Finally, I'll leave you with this, the lyrics to Razzle Dazzle from the great musical Chicago:</div>
<br />
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BAILIFF(Spoken)</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Mr. Flynn, his honor is here</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY(Spoken)</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Thank you. Just a moment.</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">You ready?</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">ROXIE(Spoken)</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Oh Billy, I'm really scared.</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY(Spoken)</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Roxie, you got nothing to worry about.</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">It's all a circus, kid. A three ring circus.</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">These trials- the wholeworld- all show business.</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">But kid, you're working with a star, the biggest!</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">(Singing)</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old razzle dazzle</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle Dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">And the reaction will be passionate</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old hocus pocus</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Bead and feather 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">How can they see with sequins in their eyes?</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">What if your hinges all are rusting?</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">And they;ll never catch wise!</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY AND COMPANY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Row after row will grow vociferous</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY AND COMPANY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old flim flam flummox</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Fool and fracture 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">How can they hear the truth above the roar?</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">COMPANY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Roar, roar, roar!</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY AND COMPANY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Throw 'em a fake and a finagle</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">They'll never know you're just a bagel,</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">And they'll beg you for more!</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY AND COMPANY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old double whammy</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Daze and dizzy 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Back since the days of old Methuselah</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Everyone loves the big bambooz-a-lah</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old three ring circus</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Stun and stagger 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">When you're in trouble, go into your dance</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Though you are stiffer than a girder</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">They'll let you get away with murder</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">And you've got a romance</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">COMPANY(The same time as BILLY's)</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle Dazzle</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Show 'em the first rate sorcerer you are</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Long as you keep 'em way off balance</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">How can they spot you've got no talents?</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle Dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">BILLY AND COMPANY</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle Dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">Razzle Dazzle 'em</span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="verse" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;">And they'll make you a star!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-4300418739644292172016-05-11T21:52:00.000-05:002016-05-11T21:52:39.650-05:00Product review: Anker RoboVac 10This is a first. I have never done a product review on my blog. To head off questions, no I am not being paid for this. No, I did not receive this item as a sample or promotional item. Yes, I paid full price for it.<br />
<br />
With that out of the way, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anker-RoboVac-Self-Docking-Drop-Sensing-Technology/dp/B01AUHOY90?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00">Anker RoboVac 10</a> is an automatic self-docking robotic vacuum cleaner. Basically, it's a Roomba. But is a rose still a rose if it goes by a different name and costs far less? I don't know. Never had a Roomba but I bought this Anker RoboVac last week on Amazon and it arrived couple of days ago. Setup was quick and easy but the vacuum wasn't pre-charged (more on this later). So I charged it overnight, set it to clean at 7:30 am and forgot about it. At 7:30 the next morning, it very quietly went to work. While the kids ate breakfast, "Robby" (as my daughter christened it...yeah we have a habit of naming everything...I am typing this on Maggie4) cleaned 2 bedrooms, a dining area, a hallway and the kitchen. Robby was still cleaning when we left the house an hour later. When I got back after work, the house was spotless...you know that "maid came while we were gone" look? That's how the house looked. And Robby was back on the charging cradle ready for another day of thankless hard work sweeping up after humans.<br />
<br />
Pros<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Very quiet</li>
<li>For a $199 device, it magically finds it way to the charging base every time</li>
<li>Goes under pretty much anything: bed, couch etc</li>
<li>Call me crazy but I like the idea of turning it on, leaving the house and coming back to a clean house.</li>
<li>It cleans all floor types: carpet, hardwood etc.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Cons:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>No battery life indicator</li>
<li>The scheduling doesn't handle anything but daily cleaning. I like a clean house but I don't want Robby cleaning every day</li>
<li>Apparently, the Roomba has features that lets you map out where the robot should clean. Robby doesn't have that feature. I just made sure to close doors to rooms I didn't want it to clean...like bathrooms and closets.</li>
<li>Replacement parts aren't available (yet). It does come with an 18-month warranty.</li>
</ul>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-301395262634156362016-05-11T20:10:00.000-05:002016-05-11T20:10:31.181-05:00Handling failureBlogger's note: I wrote this last year but never posted it. It's still pertinent; so enjoy.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
The past few days I have been thinking about failure. Not personal failure but professional failure. It occurred to me that while organizations are very good at highlighting success and awards, very few highlight how they handle failure. And even fewer job applicants are interested in knowing how a future employer handles failure. I have been conducting interviews for 5-7 years now and I have yet to have a job applicant ask me about my failures or my employer's failures. I think this is a very important issue. Because, let's face it, success is very easy to handle. Failure, by contrast, shows you way more about a person's/an organization's character.<br />
<br />
If you are about to join a new organization, ask them what happens when they encounter failure. Do the managers look for scapegoats? Do the employees shift blame? Do managers and employees focus on solving the problem, learning from it and moving on? I think we can guess what bad organizations do; good organizations focus on solving problems while great organizations, in my opinion, not only focus on solving problems but also cycle back to learn from their problems.<br />
<br />
So when you get to the interview portion where the interviewer says "Do you have any questions for me?", ask how s/he handles failure personally and how their organization/division/team handles failure. Like all interview responses, you can expect to get bullshit and PR speak. But hidden in the bullshit will be indicators that'll clue you into how the organization operates. If nothing else, I bet they'll remember you. And that's half the battle in winning at interviewing.<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-26891095603642543802016-02-08T15:07:00.000-05:002016-02-08T15:07:01.366-05:00Reply All?I <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2013/04/reply-all.html">wrote about this</a> in 2013; apparently Microsoft must not be listening to me (the horror!) since the option is still there in the business version of Outlook. In fact, I think it might be the default because I had to change it to "Reply" from "Reply All" today.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8Dxfk5wZqs/VrjyBVOun0I/AAAAAAAApCI/8jCmtrbaRQM/s1600/ReplyAll..PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8Dxfk5wZqs/VrjyBVOun0I/AAAAAAAApCI/8jCmtrbaRQM/s640/ReplyAll..PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
Why would Microsoft include this option, much less make it the default? I have no doubt there are some people who use "Reply All" every time but surely they have to be in the minority. Besides, that's just bad behavior and it shouldn't be encouraged, even minimally, by having an option for this.<br />
<br />
Dear Microsoft, it's 2016...stop encouraging bad internet etiquette.<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-76699745933915579712016-01-05T12:29:00.002-05:002016-01-05T12:29:59.435-05:00For real, Microsoft?Have you ever blogged? This is what Microsoft baked into SharePoint as their blogging platform:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--HQ3XeGMcH0/Vov1bj9r5iI/AAAAAAAAo18/F0EbwwB8LbY/s1600/blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="385" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--HQ3XeGMcH0/Vov1bj9r5iI/AAAAAAAAo18/F0EbwwB8LbY/s400/blog.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In 2016! Seriously, this is the interface Microsoft expects people to use when composing blogs. Fuck, I don't even want to tweet 140 characters using this crappy layout. This looks like the UI I would have come up with 10 years (you know before the age of great web UI). I am no UI expert but I am self aware enough to know that:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>this is crappy</li>
<li>you can "borrow" better UIs </li>
</ul>
<div>
Microsoft, please stop with this nonsense. SharePoint is SharePoint; stop half-baking features like this into it. I have been around SharePoint for years now and I have yet to see any company where people actually use all the social features Microsoft is baking into it. All they've done is made SharePoint even more bloated. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
BTW, notice how there's an asterisk by the Title field in that screenshot? Why does a blog, which is sometimes a stream of consciousness writing, require a title? Because it's stored in SharePoint and in SharePoint, <b>everything </b>(yes everything!) is a list. There discussion board is a list, photo library is a list, wiki is a list...everything is a list.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is what Blogger offers:</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-31049895683311141962015-12-28T15:18:00.002-05:002015-12-28T15:18:42.452-05:00The playbook: part 3On October 11th, I wrote the <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/10/the-playbook.html">playbook</a>.<br />
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On November 13th, I wrote an <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/11/the-playbook-update.html">update</a> to that <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/10/the-playbook.html">post</a>.<br />
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Today is the final installment in the series. In the first two, I laid out how law enforcement officials use the system to a) kill minorities and b) ensure that the killers are not brought to justice. All while seeming to be doing their hardest to ensure justice. How do you do it?<br />
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<a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/10/the-playbook.html">Part 1</a>: You intentionally sabotage your own case to the grand jury<br />
<a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/11/the-playbook-update.html"><br /></a>
<a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/11/the-playbook-update.html">Part 2</a>: You put the victim on trial and leak information damaging to the case against the killer cop<br />
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Part 3 is the inevitable result that <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/police-rarely-criminally-charged-for-on-duty-shootings-1416874955" target="_blank">most killer cops</a> are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/04/11/thousands-dead-few-prosecuted/" target="_blank">never indicted</a>. In the Tamir Rice case, part 3 was dropped today: no indictment. Shocker, right? The DA did everything he could to ensure the grand jury would not indict.<br />
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Do black lives matter? I guess it depends on who you ask. To the cops and DAs in these very high profile cases that never indict or never get conviction because they deliberately over-charges and fails to get an indictment, I don't think black lives matter to them. And if you think "Well I am not black so what do I care"...you are solely mistaken. It's not going to stop at killing unarmed black people. Eventually they'll start killing white people in the same numbers, then maybe we'll get some movement on this issue.<br />
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This is a case where a 12-year old black boy was shot 2 seconds after cops arrive on the scene. Think about that. 2 seconds was all they gave him before shooting him to death even though they didn't have to drive up close to him. Even though there were civilians sitting closer to him without fear. This was in Ohio, not Fallujah. Even when our soldiers were in war zones, their rules of engagement was stricter than that. It was all caught on camera (no audio) and this DA could/would not get an indictment.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/us/tamir-rice-shooting/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/us/tamir-rice-shooting/index.html</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-74946311144957046102015-12-08T17:12:00.002-05:002015-12-08T17:12:55.936-05:00Will you recommend this McDonald's to others?I am filling out a McDonald's satisfaction survey and ran into this question:<br />
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Seriously? Who goes around recommending McDonald's to others? McDonald's are like gas stations; on every corner and one is just as good as the next. That's the beauty/curse of being a franchise, no? Every restaurant serves pretty much the same food.<br />
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Person A: Hey, can you recommend a great place to grab a quick lunch?<br />
Person B: Oh yes. You have to go to this great place I know. The food is great and the service is excellent.<br />
Person A: Really? Now I've gotta see this place. Where is it?<br />
Person B: It's the McDonald's on All Saints Road. The food is to die* for.<br />
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And they had this other gem on the survey:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* some would claim that's literally :)</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-27817546172486371552015-11-13T06:56:00.000-05:002015-12-28T15:19:39.897-05:00The playbook: updateLast month, I wrote about the <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/10/the-playbook.html" target="">playbook</a>. It's how insiders in the justice system use it against minorities. Specifically, I mentioned the prosecutor in the Tamir Rice case and how I felt he was preparing to tank the case just like the Micheal Brown prosecutor did. Well, the next play in the book was executed last night: he released<br />
another external report by a cop from another district.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/11/new_report_finds_tamir_rice_sh.html" target="_blank">http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/11/new_report_finds_tamir_rice_sh.html</a><br />
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I believe the next step is the DA will fail to get an indictment and the criminal case will be over. Another unarmed black boy killed with no justice. His family will file and probably win a civil suit against the police dept; and that'll be the end of it. Meanwhile a guy declared unfit to be a police officer will continue doing just that even after killing an unarmed boy.<br />
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Update: <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/12/the-playbook-part-3.html">http://blog.tundey.net/2015/12/the-playbook-part-3.html</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-46587727656432909132015-10-11T22:24:00.001-05:002015-11-13T06:58:51.059-05:00The PlaybookSo this one time I went to my boss to request raise. To prove I deserved a raise, I listed all the times I was late to work; the times I skipped out early; the times I deployed my code without testing it; I listed the times I took 2-hour lunches. Surprisingly, I didn't get the raise.<br />
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Obviously, that's not a true story. But there's a report that the "prosecutor" in the Tamir Rice case has released 2 external reports that justified the murder of the boy. Which, by my count, makes it the second case where a prosecutor intentionally sabotages his own case before the grand jury. This is from the playbook of how to tank your own case. I am not a lawyer but from the little I know, the prosecutor is supposed to be an advocate for the victim. If a prosecutor takes a case to the grand jury, that's because s/he believes the accused is guilty. So why would these experienced adopt this tactic that guarantees they won't get the result even a first year law student (or an ardent watcher of Law & Order) can get? Why would the DA in the Ferguson go so far out of his way to present exculpatory evidence for the defendant? Either he believes in the case and wants an indictment or he doesn't believe in the case and is trying to railroad an innocent man.<br />
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Unless, this is all part of the playbook. It's all part of the bullshit. It's part of the way the system is corrupted against minorities. Because these DAs can say "hey look, we tried to get an indictment but just couldn't". A 12-year old boy is shot dead 2 seconds after arriving on the scene by a cop that was fired from his previous cop job because he was "unfit" for police work. A seasoned prosecutor is about to tank the case right before our very eyes. And they want us to believe that black lives matter. That "all lives matter". If all lives matter; if black lives are equal to white lives; if black lives are equal to blue lives; how does this happen?<br />
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<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2ac4090767bf4bd58855ff296fcdf810/reports-officers-shooting-boy-pellet-gun-justified" target="_blank">http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2ac4090767bf4bd58855ff296fcdf810/reports-officers-shooting-boy-pellet-gun-justified</a><br />
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Update: <a href="http://blog.tundey.net/2015/11/the-playbook-update.html">http://blog.tundey.net/2015/11/the-playbook-update.html</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-91105510064892012252015-08-20T13:03:00.000-05:002015-08-20T13:03:31.828-05:00Rise of the Idiot Philosopher™Listening to Donald Trump's town hall last night, it dawned on me: we are in the age of the Idiot Philosopher™. Simply put: Idiot Philosophers are morons who think they know everything. Until now, they could be found in bars, fishing holes, tailgate parties, superbowl parties and thanksgiving dinners where they spurn their tales and offered solutions to things beyond their realm of expertise (i.e. nothing!), But with thrusting of Sarah Palin (Moron from Wasilla™) into the political limelight, idiot philosophers have become more popular and enboldened. Like Senator Thom Tillis <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/02/03/the-next-public-health-debate-hand-washing/" target="_blank">who wants restaurant workers <b>not</b> to wash their hands after using the bathroom</a>. Or <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-saying-illegal-immigrants-have-to-go-targets-obama-orders-1439738967" target="_blank">Trump who wants to deport 11 million people</a>. Or those <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=lefty+morons+who+are+convinced+vaccines+are+killing+us&oq=lefty+morons+who+are+convinced+vaccines+are+killing+us&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">lefty morons who are convinced vaccines are killing us</a>. Or the guy who has zero economics degree but is convinced <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=an+increase+in+minimum+wage+will+kill+small+business+jobs&oq=an+increase+in+minimum+wage+will+kill+small+business+jobs&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">an increase in minimum wage will kill small business jobs</a> (despite all the economists who say this isn't the case).<br />
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Of course, part of this can be blamed on the emergence of social media and the 24/7 "news" media. Used to be we were spared from the rantings of these idiot philosophers. But now a moron in Wasilla, Alaska can post something on Facebook and within hours, it becomes the subject of national discussion and local news all over the country.<br />
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So the next time a guy starts telling you how he's got all the solutions if we'll just listen to him, ask yourself: Am I in the esteemed presence of an idiot philosopher? If so, it's OK. Idiot philosophers, like most drunks, are quite funny; especially after they are liquored up (when they happen to be politicians, you are the one who needs to be liquored up to find them funny).<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-84769708156253590542015-07-15T18:59:00.000-05:002015-07-15T18:59:31.007-05:00Driving the Curious TwinsEvery once in a while, chauffeuring these kids around gets interesting. This happens when the conversation between them takes a turn towards what I like to call the existential and I simply stay out of it. Today's turn led them to ask "Who decided summer was going to be so long?" It started with Dara.<br />
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Dara: Summer is too long. I miss Mrs Strine so much [Mrs Strine was their kindergarten teacher]<br />
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Random talk about how the school is empty during summer and students have to hang out with their families...Then:<br />
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Toni: Summer and winter are so long. I wonder who made them so long<br />
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Even though I wasn't looking, I could imagine the gears turning in their little heads. Eventually:<br />
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Dara: It was the first baby!<br />
Toni: The first baby?<br />
Dara: Yes, the first baby came out and saw the seasons and decided how long they'll be<br />
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Me? I wondered whether I should blow their minds and ask where the "first baby" came from. But I decided it'll be mean to do that to 6 year olds. The last time this happened, I discovered that God married Mother Earth and created every living thing!<div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27982404.post-71162015593421425692014-11-07T17:00:00.001-05:002014-11-07T17:00:37.707-05:00This is what grinds my gearSo there I was on a Friday afternoon having a discussion with a co-worker about articles, subject-verb agreement and other arcane aspect of grammar (we were arguing over the help text on a report). As these things sometimes do, it bogged down to an understanding of rules of English grammar. He said one thing was right and I said the other was right. Then out of nowhere he goes "let's get a 3rd person in here to break the tie". Great, I thought thinking he was going to suggest someone with a BA in English Literature or something like that (lots of disciplines end up in IT). But no, he said "let me get someone <b>that was born here</b>". And thus ended my productive time that day. What the heck do you mean get someone that was born here, I wanted to say to him. I had to study for years and take multiple exams to be proficient in this language; why would you assume someone born here is automatically better than me (I wasn't interested in his estimation of his own proficiency at this point). Arrgggghhh.<br />
<img class="irc_mi" src="http://advancedlanguage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/frustrated1.jpg" style="margin-top: 108px;" /><div class="blogger-post-footer">If you are reading my blog outside of blogger, leave comments at http://polsnet.blogspot.com/</div>Tundeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579859658460943707noreply@blogger.com0