Random Ideas

So, I keep running into ideas for new stories.  The most recent idea (and it’s an idea that I’ve had before, but the specifics have changed).  The first time I had the idea, I was exploring the Cult of the Damned in World of Warcraft.  Now, I’ve been playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the idea is necromancers.  Essentially, the idea is to take a group of friends.  Most end up becoming adventurers.  The last ends up becoming a necromancer.  The final result is one side versus the other.  But the main thought is the person getting drawn into necromancy through seduction and misrepresentation.  And by the time the person realizes necromancers are bad, they’ve gone too far and can’t go back. 

It’s a distinctly Christian idea in the post-Jesus US era that would create such an idea.  It’s easy to combine incorrect theology (unforgiveable sin) with flawed characters.  I think I realized in my writing, I needed to quit making characters Superman.  Too often, the people themselves only have externalized problems as opposed to real character flaws.  Taking those flaws and blowing them out of proportion makes for a more interesting character. 

In many ways, the world I think of is two different worlds.  One is midevil and fits somewhere between Berserk, Oblivion, and Skyrim.  The other is future modern and is closer to the worlds described by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson.  I’ve contemplated creating a giant, all encompassing arc that would merge the two worlds together in some fashion that would be interesting and epic.  But then I have to finish the other two stories I have half-finished.   Or I could just merge it all together in one and make something akin to Shadowrun.  Which I suppose would work pretty well if I didn’t make it too crazy.

New Computer, Old Computer

So, my wife replaced her computer with a Windows 8 machine this Christmas.  It was time for an upgrade for her, as the old computer was slow and clunky.  It also seems like the hard drive is beginning to go out.  It is aged and running Windows XP to boot.

So what do I do with an old but working computer?  Install Apache Tomcat and MySQL.  Seems like a good idea to me.  I’ve always contemplated large, data-minable information gathe­ring in a system.  Really, the goal of any good artificial intelligence is to understand end result and desire.  In order to do that, one must first have a collection of data to examine to determine motive.

Though I’m inclined to think there would be a disconnect between what people say their objectives are and what their actions are.  That disconnect is likely to cause many problems as the system anticipates based on action, not on thought.  From there, the subject would likely grow annoyed at the system because “it doesn’t do what I want”.  But in reality, it does.

I could be right, and I could be wrong.  Who knows.

On a separate note, I’m on track to finish the Active Directory book in the next three days or so.  My estimations say I’ll finish by January 5^th.  I think that’s because my average has been 13 pages every 2.4 days.  Which shows I haven’t quite developed the level of reading “habit” I want.  If I had developed that habit, the average would have been one day.  But it is not.  So the spreadsheet says I’m going to finish by January 5^th, even though I’m likely to finish by January 1^st.  Learn to measure everything, and then determine where reality meets desire. 

I’m anticipating a religious thoughts sometime this week.  Colossians 2:16-17 and 20-23 struck me very deeply in church this morning.  I think there’s something big in there.  I just have to spend a bit of time meditating on it.  I think I’ve been right a long time, I just couldn’t prove it.  And by prove, I mean quote specific Biblical passages in agreement with I think.

Decisions not made

I’ve been meaning to look into a book called The Lieutenant Don’t Know about a Marine motor transport lieutenant in Afghanistan.  Being cross trained in infantry (0311) and motor transport (3531) I understand a little bit about both.  I spent most of my time as motor-t.   If asked today, I’d say I have two MOS, and there’s a funny story behind all of that.  It might be a little funny (for a Marine) and it might be a little strange (to a person other than a Marine). 

Anyways, I was thinking about that statement.  The Lieutenant don’t know.  But I was thinking about it in terms of transition from military to civilian.  Because the two worlds are different and require different skillsets, the transition can be hard on many people.  One of the questions I’ve taken to asking former Marines why they are doing something, the statement is always the same.

Marine, why are we attacking this hill?

It’s a simple question, but shows the disparity of the officer/non-com look at the world.  The officer thinks of why.  The NCO comes up with the how.  The enlisted man performs the how.  As enlisted and NCO, we are always concerned with performing actions.  As a matter of fact, we get very good at performing actions.  Some are useful.  Some are pointless.  But we are very good at executing other peoples’ plans. 

I’ve seen many situations in which a Marine would be asked, “why are you doing that?” And the answer would be “because someone in charge of me told me to”.  I suppose that’s a perfectly good answer for a while. 

The only problem with this mindset is that eventually the person making the decisions gets killed.  So “because I was told” becomes the guy in charge.  Or the converse situation is the person leaves the military.  Then, the leadership position has swapped again.  The commanding officer might as well have gotten killed.  Now, the guy who answered “because I was told” now has to make decisions in their own life.  And they’ve never thought of the question “why should I attack this hill?”

And then, the blind begins to lead the blind.  The success in the military becomes a collection of potential failures and half measures.  All because the person never figured out where they wanted to be.

The problem really narrows down to what each individual needs to know.  The lieutenant needs to know the job of the private and the private needs to know the job of the lieutenant.  Everyone must be versed in every single other job.  Because eventually, you end up in charge.  

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

That is all.  Carry on with the plan of the day.

Christmas week

After a week of barely keeping up, I’m now eating lunch, wondering what to do.  There are so many possibilities that could be done.  What should one do with a good 45 minutes of free time (assuming it stays free).

About halfway through writing that sentence, my brain kicked back. 

“Sure, you have lots of possibilities.  But you haven’t done a darn thing that should be doing.” 

So, after listening to my brain I’m back to reading about Active Directory Group Policy configuration.  I think I only have a bit more than 100 pages left on that book before going towards a Security+ book.  From there, it’s on to the stuff that is where I’d want to be in couple of years.  Learning stuff is great, but it’s best to go towards learning stuff to accomplish a task.  And with this, there is a task at hand and a plan.  I’ve just got to slug through all the stuff that is necessary but boring. 

That being said, I’m probably going to try and finish both books during my vacation.  I’m taking a week off after Christmas, so hopefully I’ll be finished with both.  I might actually come back from the vacation with good ideas.  Maybe.  I already have an idea of what needs to be done, I just have to end up doing it. 

As a general thought, it’s hard to get setup to be out of the office for a week (or more).  Really, I’ll be gone for about 7 work days.  That’s just crazy for me.  The last time I took that much time off, I had just had my third child. 

Come to think of it, that was March.  Wow, does time fly.  

Monday morning, a week later

A mental conversation

“It would be cool if I could do that.” says part A

“What makes you think you can’t?” says part B.

“Uhhh…”

“Look,” says part B, explaining the situation to his younger, less intelligent sibling.  “You would know how to do that if you studied to do it.  You’ve already got a plan on how to figure all that out.  Now, you need to quit being a lazy bum and do the work.”

Yes, such conversations do run through my head on occasion.

I think it narrows down to knowing that your thinking controls your actions.  If thinking controls your actions, then you need to think in the proper manner.  Your brain has to understand that action needs to be done.  Your brain needs to get the occasional pep talk about what you have already planned to do.

I wrote that a week ago.  It didn’t ever go anywhere from there.  I’m willing to abandon it where it was. 

Last week was an incredibly off week.  This week is Christmas.  After that is vacation.  We’ll see what the future holds for me.  Right now, I think I’ll leave it with this.    

Friday post

On call can be one of the most hellish weeks.  Though finally moving to hourly, it can also be one of the most lucrative.  If I work my from 8a-5p with a one hour lunch break, I'll be up to 61.5 hours for the week.  I say lucrative, because 21 hours of overtime almost gets me to the point of a double paycheck.

After years of being on salary, I would not go back. Salary is sold on ridiculous lie.  The lie is the person on salary will get paid more even though they don't work 40 hours that week.  I'm not sure that ever happened in the time I was on salary.  It was always 45 hours plus.  So my hourly rate was tanking like a mad man every minute I stuck around.  Now, I feel like I'm being valued with my time.

When I was on salary, for three or four months I worked a week of 70 plus hours one a month.  If I were to do that now, the pay would be astronomical.   Since I've been keeping track this year, the most I've hit is 67.5 hours in a week.   And the pay check was awesome.