So what's this whole life thingy about?

I have spent a lot of time thinking about life and I still don't know what it is all about. The only thing I am sure of is that we have a brain for a reason, so we should use it. Think about things. Question everything. Come up with your own answers.

I have no idea if there is a god or not. I don't know if there is an afterlife or not. But I am not sure it matters. It is easier to destroy than create. If everyone spent their time destroying things the world would end fairly quickly. If everyone spent their time creating things the world would be a much nicer place to live. So where possible I create instead of destroy. I help instead of hurt. I don't do these things to earn a spot in the afterlife, I do them to make life better for myself and others. So does it really matter if there is a god or not? My actions would remain the same either way.

As I said above, it is easier to destroy than create. I have noticed in life that many times the right answer is often the harder answer. Not always, but very often. Going to college was hard, but I make a lot more money now than I would have if I hadn't gone to college. Learning to build things was hard, but I have used that skill to help myself and others. I am not sure why the right answer is often the harder answer, but it seems to be true.

One of the unfortunate parts about the above truth is that it makes life hard and often painful. I haven't figured out how to fix this yet, but I am working on it.

The week in review

During the past week I have been technically unemployed due to a shutdown at work. During this time I helped a friend put shelves into the closets of his new house, visited with other friends and helped them with their recycling, and helped my neighbors with their snowblowing after our big storm. I also managed to sort through some junk and put it in order, finding an item that has been lost for over a year now. Still can't find some of the other things I am looking for, but I have yet a few more places to look.

It wasn't an exciting week, I spent a lot of it surfing the web or watching TV. But it was an okay week. But I am ready for work again. I really don't do well with an unstructured life.

Short-term thinking

Long ago businesses worked on long term goals. They had plans for the long term and short term losses weren't a dreadful thing. But businesses stopped doing that long ago. Now they only think of the short term. Companies that are on the stock exchange worry daily about any news that will lower their stock price. Companies that aren't on the stock exchange worry more about quarterly returns. Why? Because the bosses bonus is tied to stock options and quarterly profits. The big cheese worries more about his next bonus than long term business growth because he knows he won't be with the company long term. As soon as forecasts start looking bad for the next quarter the big boss starts cashing in his stock options and polishing his resume so he can leave the company before the bad news hits.

And this (in my opinion) is ruining the US.

Short-term thinking has led to our infrastructure falling apart and nobody bothering to save the money for fixing it. It has also led businesses to indulge in practices that ultimately hit the fan, such as sub-prime lending, without worrying about the future. Which is why so many businesses don't have a future at the moment.

Thinking only in the short-term is like walking while staring at your feet, you don't trip but you have no idea where you are going. Thinking only in the long-term doesn't work either, because while your eyes are focused on your long term goal you can walk off a cliff. When you walk you have to look up sometimes and look down sometimes. Businesses run by a single person look both short and long term, but large businesses and governments are run by people who are rewarded for the short term so that is where they are looking.

Can we fix it? Possibly. But we would have to change the way people are rewarded and most people want their reward now, not in some distant future.

Enough winter already

I have had enough winter, no more. We got about 6 inches of snow last night. This morning I ran the snowblower for about 45 minutes, doing my driveway, the ends of several of my neighbors driveways, and the sidewalks for two neighbors. I have a big snowblower so doing the snowblowing isn't a big job once I get going, and I like to help people. But enough with the snow!

I haven't driven today, yesterday's driving was fun enough - I will stay in today. So instead of doing errands today like I thought I would I will have to do them after work this week. Not horrible, but not ideal. I usually like doing errands during the weekend when I am rested up. Having to do them after work saves on gas but doing errands when I am already tired just isn't ideal.

Being a single parent

Being a single parent stinks. I don't mind the parent part, that is a commitment I agreed to. It is the single part that stinks. Since my family is older and don't live close by it is hard for them to help. My friends help, but they have young children of their own and also don't live close by.

So why do I stay single? Because nobody has asked me to marry them, that's why! In the 8 years since my wife passed I have dated 2 women. One was very insecure and the dating didn't last long. The other knew exactly what she wanted in a man and I wasn't it. Of course my being a bit of a recluse doesn't help me meet women, let alone women who share my interests.

But it is hard to raise a child when you have only your own opinion to rely on. Am I being to harsh or to lenient? Without a partner to tell me it is hard to tell. I miss that semi-objective opinion. I also miss having somebody to talk to at night. Somebody to discuss my day with. Somebody to tell me how their day went. 15 year old boys just aren't the greatest conversationalists. How was school? Ok. Did anything happen? No. What did you learn? Nothing.

This whole single parenting thing is tough. I don't see why anybody would do it on purpose unless they had to.

Why good database design matters

Everybody has filled out forms that go into a computer. They typically start by asking for your first name, middle name, last name, and address. Once you fill out the form somebody types it into the computer, hopefully correctly. But even with these simple pieces of information problems arise.

Lots of people don't use the first name that appears on their birth certificate. Someone who's legal first name is Gerald might fill out the form using Jerry as their first name. Or they may prefer to be called Mike or Ron.

Lots of people have multiple middle names. Some have no middle name.

A few people in the world don't have a last name. Many people change their last name when they marry. In some cultures people have two last names and may use one or both depending on how formal they are.

Some of the richer people on the planet have multiple addresses. Some people have no fixed address but can get mail sent to a friend.

All of these real-world complexities don't fit onto most forms, and what gets written on the form goes into the computer. Now the problems start. Is Gerald Jones the same person as Jerry Jones already in the computer? Is Ron R. Smith-Klein the same person as Ronald Klein?

Designing a database that can handle real-world complexities takes a lot of thought. Thought takes time. Time costs money. So many businesses take the cheaper route and design a database that handles most of the situations they see and ignore or manually handle the exceptions. As a result the vast majority of the databases on the planet have incorrect data in them. They then spread this information to other databases, which compounds the problems.

Bad database design is why dogs get credit card applications and voter registration cards. Bad database design means people with health insurance get huge bills from hospitals because the name on the hospital form doesn't match the health insurance records. Bad database design prevents people without a permanent address from voting but allows credit card scammers to have 42" plasma TV sets sent to empty houses.

Good database design is hard work, but in my opinion worth it.

First Thoughts

Well here is the first post of my blog. Don't expect too much, I am new at this whole blogging thingy.

Let's see, what should I say. Hmmm. Perhaps some random information to get things started.

I am a database developer, which means I design how information gets in and out of computers as well as how it is stored. Even among techno-geeks this is a specialty field, so people rarely understand why I get so angry about poorly designed computer systems.

I am a single dad, my son is 15 at the moment. He has a form of autism called hyperlexia, which means he was born with the ability to read but had a hard time learning to speak. Being a single dad gives me little time to do other things in life. I am working on developing a hobby, but so far none of them has stuck.

I have an odd sense of humor, so if you find a post saying small animals have stolen my head you can be fairly sure it is humor and not a lack of medication. Fairly sure.

I like to consider myself fairly open minded. I figure people have a right to have other viewpoints than mine. So I have no problems with other people's religions, how they choose to live, or what they do in private. Be warned however that I am willing to adopt your beliefs should I find them offensive. If you believe you have the right to drive over my lawn you can expect to find me doing donuts on yours.