Thursday, May 15, 2003 :::
Just had to geek out a little bit more about the cool new features I'm currently working with on our phone system. With the upgrade that we just completed, we added extension to cell phone transferring, IP softphones, outcalling, and are now looking (I'm looking anyway and probably going to propose it just because it's so cool) at unified communications. Let me explain.
Extension to cell phone transferring means that you type in a code when you are out of the office and it transfers any calls to your extension to your cell phone / pager / home phone or whatever other number you designate so you don't miss your calls.
IP softphones allow an individual to login to our phone system from a remote location and use our PBX's internal features on their home phone, laptop, or cell phone. Outcalling is where the voicemail pages you on a cell phone, pager, home phone, etc... when someone leaves you a message in your office mailbox to notify you to check the message.
Finally, unified communication is where you can check all your voicemail and e-mail messages with a cell phone, then respond to an e-mail message with a voice message. So if I was out of the office on a business call and someone sent me an e-mail asking to set up a meeting with me later in the week, I could get that message read to me by the VM on my cell phone, then reply with a spoken message that the VM would convert into a text file, then send back with my response.
Just more cool things coming out from your friends at Avaya.
Okay so I'm not as consistent as I should be with my blogging, but eventually I'll get back into the groove. It's been busy on the old homestead this week with Meghan's parents visiting this weekend with some friends and their kids. So our serene three person household (Meghan, me, and our dog Cali) will jump to a ten person household for the weekend. Right now we are struggling to pull everything together in our house before they show up, and it has been rough. We dethatched our lawn last week which resulted in 36 bags of dead grass after raking it all up, which is sitting in my garage until we load them in the cars this evening to dump at the compost heap in Buffalo. I was unaware that most cities have free dumps for lawn waste, which people can then visit and buy the compost for their gardens, lawns, or whatever for a small fee. Not that Meghan and I have a lot of lawn and garden waste floating around our house, but it's just good to know. We are also working on some landscaping, planting flowers, fixing the dogs kennel, ripping up sod and putting down cement tiles, etc... The last project I had for yesterday was using a miter saw to cut a 1/4" trench through my driveway to drop our electric dog fence wire into. I have to say it was a pretty cool sensation ripping through the driveway with a circular saw, but lost the sparkle when I had to backfill with the blacktop sealant. Not as much fun as it sounded - though I was wearing my paintball mask to cover my eyes and face from kickback (scaring the neighbor kid in the process.) Nothing says howdy neighbor like a masked man with power tools.
So this all means our house will be in tip top shape for when the in-laws show up tomorrow, not for a social call however. Meghan's dad (Mark) and his friend (Ron) are going to help us start our basement project. Now when I say "help" I mean they are going to do all the work and my buddy Aaron and I will be learning a great deal. We figure we can get the framing and part of the electrical done this weekend, which leaves us the drywall, plumbing and carpet for completion. Now to hop up on my soapbox. I'm not very good at this stuff. Don't get me wrong I've never been one to shy away from manual labor, but I'm a little nervous about this weekend because I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING about construction. Hell, my tools are sitting in cardboard boxes in the basement. The last time I did work with my tools was building a free standing wall in our living room, before that... hanging pictures in our bedroom. Far cry from building a basement, but we'll see how it works out.
I'll probably be away from blogging for a while, what with me being in the hospital next week with nail in the head or something. Either way I'll let you all know how it turns out.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003 :::
I know it has been a while since my last blogging session - looks like three months to the day - but I think after a fairly hectic winter I'm back to writing on a more permanent basis. The reason that I've been unavailable is that I'm spending more and more time at work taking on further responsibilities. Our company recently upgraded the telephone system that handles our day-to-day operations, and when I say our company I mean "me". Being a telecommunications company, it is pretty important that the equipment we are selling is working properly, so in addition to completing all my other daily responsibilities I am being asked to learn the intricacies of a $30k phone system. It's a little harrowing to say the least. Right now I am trying to figure out how to run our voice over IP (VOIP) application and an extension to cellular (EC500) call routing application. VOIP is an interesting product because it allows a business to run their voice protocal over the existing network, instead of using traditional T-1's or analog phone lines. The EC500 is a product that allows internal calls to forward to a cell phone, so any calls to your individual business phone can be sent directly to your cell phone, home phone, etc... It's an especially nice product for the outside sales person because they can give the appearance of being inside the office when they are actually on the golf course... er... I mean on a customer appointment.
This upgrade lead me to some revelations. One, I am a geek. Not only did I get excited about performing the upgrade, but I was excited to learn about all the new features, and applications we are able to run. I try to explain some of this to my wife, and god bless her she smiles and nods, but it does nothing for her.
Which leads me to my second revelation, work can only really be appreciated by someone with similar interests. Don't get me wrong, my wife and I have similar interests - but trying to explain to her some of the funny things that my customers' do is like talking ethics with a politician - it doesn't sink in. She sits and smiles while I tell her story after story of funny questions, interesting new applications, and goofy technicians I run into day after day, all the while she is probably thinking about what to have for dinner, or what test she has coming up.
The final revelation that dawned on me as I was pouring through feature after feature is something that society has been talking about for years, but didn't really hit me until a couple of days ago. As technology gets more advanced, human interaction becomes less and less important. Think about all the people you interact with on a daily basis. For me it is almost entirely over the phone. A disconnected voice calling for help, or questions, or answers that will probably never have a face associated with it. Faxes, e-mail, telephone, video conferencing, etc... all takes us further apart instead of bringing us closer together. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but simply an observation that struck home with me recently.
Thought someone might find it ironic as you are reading through my blog.
Friday, February 07, 2003 :::
More good news - our gym called to tell us our membership fees were lowered from here on out. We set up a 15 month membership where the rates lowered after we were there for 15 months. That call really did make my day. Now I don't feel so bad about skipping the gym, sitting on the couch watching movies and eating ice cream. I'll probably start hitting the gym right around the same time I start sweating from walking to the kitchen for more Cow Tracks (second only to Moose Lake Fudge for overall goodness). Until then though...
By the way, the Kemps flavor of the month is Hot Chocolate. Brief description : Chocolate Flakes And Mini Marshmallows Swirled In Chocolate Ice Cream. Though good tasting, it will never take the place of hot chocolate - especially when mixed with Bailey's. Yum.
For whatever reason I was thinking about the environment this morning - more importantly thinking about George W's answer to pollution in the State of the Union address. He requested an increase in funding to move auto makers toward creating a hydrogen powered car that would run solely on water. Great move, and I really did applaude him on it when he spoke those words. Considering he is taking on the very industry that made him rich, and allowed him to be in the office he currently holds... probably not going to happen. However during my morning commute I found another reason the hydrogen powered car might not be such a good idea.
In Minnesota this morning we had air temperatures ranging from 13 below zero to 22 below zero - wind chill pushing those temperatures down to 18 and 30 below in outlying suburbs (where we live). The morning commute was good until I heard the traffic report - commuters coming into Minneapolis on 94 were slowed due to a 10 car pileup due to ice on the highway (no fatalities thankfully). After talking about the backups on the cross town, 694, 169, and 494, they made mention for motorists to be especially careful in areas where automobiles might be stopped for prolonged periods of time (stoplights, railroad crossings, on and off ramps, etc...) because the cars' exhaust was freezing to the road. I know that the carbon monoxide wasn't freezing to the road, but rather the moisture from the engine - which made me think about what would happen if a hydrogen powered car was ever in Minnesota in winter. I am guessing that the car would emit steam (or another by product high in H20) from the exhaust pipe. Not being an expert in hydrogen powered cars, wouldn't it at least make sense that the exhaust from this car would freeze to the road a lot easier than existing emissions would?
Another thought (for those of us that live in cold weather states) pertained to freezing pipes. Everyone knows that you need to flip your shutoff valves in the basement so your pipes don't freeze and burst - thus flooding your basement. It happens all the time, and those pipes are in the basement of your house. What would happen to cars where water was stuck in the lines heading to the engine, but has been sitting outside on the street all night? Wouldn't logic dictate that the water would freeze in the engine bringing a new meaning to the engine block? I suppose that if they installed engine heaters in all cars you might be able to bypass the engine freeze, but if the engine got too hot wouldn't it also boil the fuel?
Thursday, January 30, 2003 :::
By the way, Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife. She is twenty-something years old today and happily on her way to 30 (though she still passes for 18).
Well I think I have sat back long enough trying to weigh both sides of the State of the Union address, and should probably throw my two cents into the ring.
First of all, let me say that I don't think George W. Bush is doing a bad job as President - though there is certainly room for improvement. I enjoyed the last eight years we had because Clinton seemed to be more "middle of the road" than Presidents in the past, which lead to what I perceived as both sides getting their views heard. Has he been responsible for the downturn in the economy? Not possible. After the country rode the dot.com and telecommunications boom into the next century, the economy had to go somewhere - down being the likely direction.
Economy - I see the current economic plan that Bush has in place as the wrong direction to go. Granted the government is the single largest employer in the country - I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I won't argue this point - but increasing government spending is not going to turn the country around, especially when coincided with a tax cut. Putting money back into the pockets of tax payers is good policy. I don't care what side of the political fence you stand on (even those that stand on the damn thing and sling mud to both parties) getting a check from the government is always nice. However, the money I will get back after a tax refund is found money, and money that I feel could be (and should be) used to pay my way in this country. I don't use very many public services that my income tax money goes toward. Police, public roads, fire department, are a few that pop into my head right away. However I have healthcare, I'm not homeless, good job, no drug problems, not 65, but I feel that my good fortune can be used to benefit those that may or may not be down on their luck. The problem with Bush's plan as I see it is that increasing spending, while decreasing the amount of money being taken in, will only amount to a budget deficit. One would think that lowering taxes would co-coincide with a balancing of the federal budget. Not so much. Why not propose cuts on government spending that might make sense? Adding an additional $450m to the budget to mentor underprivileged children will not help turn this country around. Here's an idea, give that $450m budget surplus to inner city schools (most of the same children that would benefit from the mentor program) so they can give these kids a fighting chance by bettering their chances through education instead of giving them someone to talk to. Cut a deal with Dell, or IBM, or Gateway to let the government buy computers at $'s over cost to put into these schools. Deals like tax breaks, government funding, etc... would allow that $450m to go further than before. Why not set up a program with consumers around the country for the government to purchase their old computers in exchange for "computer cash" toward the purchase of a new computer? This would allow the government to buy used computers from consumers (to refurbish and put into schools at a lower price), then give citizens money that has to be used toward the purchase of a new computer, which would help the tech industry turn around their current situation. Employment would go up because the government would need to hire people to set up drop-off points, refurbish the computers, clean them, and re-distribute them to schools. In the private sector, computer companies would increase production (hiring more line workers), shipments around the country would increase (employing more dock workers and truck drivers), and the demand for computer parts would increase creating more jobs and profits to part suppliers. I'm just kind of curious why we as a country don't think along these lines.
Medicare / medical services - I have no idea what the problem is with this program. As I really have no opinion (other than agreeing with Bush that we should impose limits on malpractice suits) so I can't speak on it in earnest. Going back to the malpractice suit, I did hear about a woman that was suing a doctor because he branded UK (for University of Kentucky) on her pancreas before removing it. The only reason he was caught was because he gave her a tape of the operation. Now who does this really hurt? It wasn't left in her, she didn't die, wasn't hurt, so what the f*** does she care? I think that the doctor needs to be reprimanded by his superiors, and possibly fined by the hospital - or have his license removed - but why should the price of my healthcare go up because some patient won $40m, or whatever they will award her, to help her get over some writing on an organ that isn't in her anymore? It's like a dentist branding his initials in a baby tooth before yanking it out. Unprofessional, yes. Dangerous, not so much. Again, just an opinion.
Foreign Policy - I decided to leave this topic last because it seems to be the most hotly debated of all the points Bush made on Tuesday. Let's start with the easy one, AIDS relief for Africa. Why is it that when America is passing out money, food, and medicine, countries line up around the block for free handouts. When America starts asking questions about the treatment of citizens or the domestic / international policies of other countries, we are the great evil? I'm not suggesting that America has earned the right to question other countries government policies, but critics can't have it both ways. Arab, European, Asian, nations (and others) are condemning America, saying we brought our current terrorist problems upon ourselves due to our foreign policies. No one seems to mention to the rest of the world just how much money is currently sent out of our country in foreign aid. We as a country spend billions of dollars annually trying to improve the standard of living for other nations citizens, but continue to be criticized for our foreign policy. Great. For just one year, lets take all the money we are sending out to foreign countries in the form of medicine, food, and money and toss it around the 50 state. I guarantee that the standard of living in the United States increases exponentially. This is my foreign policy. Iraq, for everything they have done on an international stage - hiding WMD, researching nerve, VX, and mustard gas, flipping the collective "bird" to the UN and it's inspectors - should be the world's problem. It is not the financial or military responsibility of this nation to undertake a war with Iraq (alone or with UN support). As the information continues to filter out of Iraq, any UN resolutions for action against Iraq should involve an international undertaking, financially and militarily. The United States' responsibility is not to act as a hitman for the United Nations, and we as a country need to remember that. Money we are currently spending (1.5billion toward AIDS relief in Africa) in foreign countries is just as useful domestically.
I'm getting tired of going on and on. Hopefully someone reads this and has some suggestions for me. Please keep in mind that it is physically impossible to get my head up my own ass, so we can rule out that it's already there.
Monday, January 27, 2003 :::
So the Super Bowl has come and gone with the usual lackluster AFC performance typically reserved for the 90's Broncos or Bills. As the game featured the Raiders (boo, hiss) and the Bucs, I (as a marketing major) was more interested in the commercials than the game itself. Unfortunately I was a little bit let down this year, unlike years past. As I recall from my college days, the most important part of an advertisement is recall - the ability of your target market to remember the advertisement and specifically the product being advertised. So as I sat down this morning in my office, I could only remember a couple of ads from last nights Super Bowl, and some of the ads I couldn't even remember what the product was. As advertising companies become more and more dependant on television vs. radio and print ads, they must similarly become more outrageous and memorable than ever before. Print advertisements, and radio to a lesser degree, could reach their target market based on the publication or radio channel they used. Television advertisements have to appeal to a wider variety of users, and capture that market in the first 5 seconds, because of America's "channel surfer" mentality. If the advertisement isn't "fresh" (buzzwords suck) and innovative then the market will change the channel and look elsewhere.
My favorite commercial of recent months would have to be the young vs. old Gatorade commercial with Bulls MJ vs. Wizards MJ. Gatorade and Nike seem to be some of the only major advertisers still staying ahead of the curve for innovative and creative commercials. Budweiser (though the clown spot was hilarious), Reebok (with the exception of Terry Tate the office LB) and others are dropping into normalcy. Let me go back to the Reebok commercial though. That ad was HILARIOUS. The only real problem I see is if Reebok rides this concept into the ground. Riding an idea, then jumping to the next concept is what makes a marketing powerhouse. Taco Bell with the f'n dog, and all Old Navy commercials are examples of staying with an idea too long.
I've said it before, but I'm in the process of writing my congressman to propose a bill that would ban Old Navy and Taco Bell from ever advertising again. Let me know if you can think of any other companies that need to be added to my ban. GEICO is quickly working their way to the top.
Thursday, January 23, 2003 :::
Back again after another hiatus, I swear I'm becoming as reliable a read as The Sports Guy. I need to get a little something off my chest before I begin another day of work. I need to vent about crappy drivers. On my way into work today I almost got into two accidents, and almost run off the road by another driver. Granted my drive into work takes about 40 minutes, but it's all highway driving and I should be able to comfortably set the cruise control at 60-62 mph and listen to whatever morning show catches my ear on that particular morning, not worrying about whatever a**hole is using his F150 to play bumper cars. My drive home is as much, if not more stressful than the drive in. I have to contend with massive amounts of traffic (which you wouldn't think is possible considering I live 30 miles from work), people rushing to get home, and as of yesterday got stuck behind some jagoff doing 40 mph in a 55.
Here's my beef. The DMV needs to create a more realistic measuring stick to determine who gets a driver's license and who doesn't. Right now you pretty much read a manual, pass a computerized test, make a few right turns (parallel parking, much less highway driving, isn't even covered on most tests) and here's your license. Meghan and I had to retake the written drivers test, to get our MN license's, which included such brain busters as what the state capital is, and the blood-alcohol level for a DUI. I understand that it is important to know the answers to both of these pressing questions, but it really doesn't show any applicable real world knowledge of operating a motor vehicle. How about adding questions that might actually tell us whether this person needs to be removed from the road. Add this question, "When driving down a two lane road in the left hand lane, and you are traveling at the EXACT SAME SPEED as the car to your right, what do you do?" If that person doesn't say to either speed up, or slow down and move into the right hand lane, we deny them a license immediately. Or how about adding this one, "When driving in a parking lot, how do you determine whether the aisle is a one way or two way aisle?" Come on - how hard is this?
Renewals are just stupid. You go in within 30 days of the expiration date and they give you a new license - no test, no questions, just a fee. What about taking another driving test, and not around the block, but a real honest to god driving test. My suggestions for improving our selection factor for who gets a license and who doesn't include flunking people if any of the following occurs.
Coming to a complete stop at a stop sign.
Driving slower than the posted speed limit (unless pregnant, children are in the car, or you are on fire).
Using the left hand lane as a parking lot.
NOT GIVING THE "WAVE" WHEN SOMEONE LETS YOU IN FRONT OF THEM.
Not merging when a posted sign says "Lane Ends in X ft.", instead passing everyone and then causing traffic jams when attempting to re-merge. Hell we should just pull people out of their car and shoot them for that one. (Don't get me wrong, I use those lane ends areas to pass slower motorists myself, but I know how to friggin' merge so I don't slow down traffic - which is the key.) That's about all I can think of right now, though I am REALLY looking forward to any opinions from the rest of you guys.
As a side note, I was driving home yesterday and saw a guy brushing his teeth on the drive home. I'm serious. 65 mph, and he's killing plaque.
