November 29, 2002

kids table

This distantly related, “friend” of the family shows up to Thanksgiving at my grandparents house every year. He’s an older gentleman who is very traditional and very intelligent — a PhD, in fact. He has, over the course of a lifetime, made more enemies in the family than friends but is close with my grandparents and so is invited to come to diner with his wife every year.

My aunt, the youngest of my dad’s family, is a very “take charge” person. Must be in control of everything at all times. Someone pays her good money for this. She’s quite good at what she does.

My grandpa had a stroke a few months ago. It was one of those that destroys veins — breaks them off. (The other kind of stroke is where you have a clot and if caught within twelve hours can be cured.) Exploding veins in your head do damage without fail and sometimes it’s irreparable.

We (myself, Christina, my sister and step-mom) had three obstacles going to my grandparents this holiday and we did a great job. The philosophy was that of the “big fish”. Tiny fish swim together to look bigger — to look like one larger fish. We were not going to be taken down by any other fish. Overall, we are calling it a success.

I had to sit at “the kids” table again this year. So did my wife, my cousin and sister. I was rather upset about this until my dad told me this morning that he was 30 before he got to sit with the adults. That helped a little bit, but I still feel some defeat because of it. One of the reasons that the distant relative became more distant is because of the kids table. He always encouraged it and my step-mom stood up to him about it one year. The outcome was not pretty and she swore she would never attend another event that included the Armstrongs. My aunt was the one who was in charge (of course) of setting up the tables. I’m guessing that she sat at the kids table until she was 30 too and there was no way in hell in anyone under 30 was sitting with the adults — not while she was running things.

It could have been a 10, but I give the event an 8 overall because of it. As for my grandpa, he was no obstacle at all. A stroke can be a difficult thing, but not when you live with my grandma who can see the good in everything. She says that this, “is a blessing,” and, “like a honeymoon without all that sex,” because they have been so focused on each other for the past few months. My grandpa is now looking forward to playing golf this spring, can walk around the house all by himself and can lift his arm about half way up. He’s lost his beer belly and is looking, sounding and feeling really good.

posted @ 3:28 PM

November 23, 2002

icons

The icons have been updated. You can now download them idividually, but they are now only for the Mac. Complaints? Compliments? Feel free. More will be added soon. The plan is to take all of the teachers from LamRim.com and make icons of them (no pun intended).

posted @ 9:01 AM

November 21, 2002

gladiator

The Emperor’s Club opens tomorrow. First movie that I’ve been really excited about for some time now. A visit to the site revealed that I am a “Gladiator”:

“You walk in the path of those who live from principle. Others know you to be bold and unswerving regardless changes in your circumstances. You place a high premium on living purposefully and value steadfastness. Gladiators make personal decisions determined to make the world a better place. Courageous, bold and visionary are words that belong in your domain.”

posted @ 1:12 PM

November 19, 2002

update

The autobio section has been updated.

posted @ 8:45 PM

rejection

Rejected for the subscription/circulation manager position with Mandala Magazine. I have also applied for the materials and shipping coordinator with the FPMT educational department. Both of these positions would require a move to Taos, NM which up until a week ago I would have probably not considered moving to. However, I found out that Christina has always wanted to move to New Mexico and is ready to move. The more I learn about the city the more I would like to move there. I’ve started to come up with backup plans in case I don’t get either of the positions. This way in six to nine months we can move there regardless.

Here’s what I’ve got in the way of comparison (so far):

Number of clear days in Kalispell, MT - 151
Number of clear days in Taos, NM - 255

Elevation in Kalispell - 2,959 feet
Elevation in Taos - 6,967 feet

More sunny days, plus I’ve got a weird thing with elevation. The higher, the better. You are not required to list your politcal party in Montana, but our county is very Republican. The liberals completely outweight the conservatives in Taos.

posted @ 1:37 PM

November 17, 2002

five steps of four truths

We use this process at work to resolve customer’s issues. It’s called Five Step Troubleshooting. It’s not unique to our call center, in fact, it’s not unique to technical support. It can be used for anything. Often when it is being explained in class the analogy of troubleshooting a cassette player or a common cold is used. It never ceases to amaze me how far ahead of his time the Buddha was. Compare the Four Noble Truths with Five Step Troubleshooting:

Step One — Symptom Recognition
Gather information about the basic problem. Collect all technical and environmental information:
Why is the customer calling?
What model unit does the customer have?
What OS is in use?

Step Two — Symptom Elaboration
Identify the issue. Get as much information as needed to isolate the problem:
Has the unit ever worked?
What, if anything, changed when the unit became disabled?
Has any new software or hardware been added?

First Noble Truth — There Is Suffering
The Buddha broke this down into the “Eight Sufferings” and the “Three Sufferings”. He recognized the symptom then elaborated on what each of the symptoms are combining the first two Steps into one Truth.

Step Three — List Possible Causes
List things that could contribute to the problem. For example, for communication issues look at connections, cable information, peripherals (present and past), BIOS, drivers, etc. For a unit making grinding noises, address the unit itself.

Second Noble Truth — Suffering Has Causes
Buddha lists off all of the causes of suffering such as attachment to physical desires and objects.

Step Four — Isolate the Fault
Check each possible variable one at a time:
Does the unit work in standalone mode?
Does anything else work with that cable?
Does anything else work on that port?

Third Noble Truth — Suffering Can End
Eliminating your attachment will eliminate your suffering. The fault has been isolated.

Step Five — Repair, Functionality, Logging
Make the necessary repairs, reloads, reboots, etc., required to return the equipment to operational status. Test and prove functionality of the unit, to verify that the issue has been isolated and resolved. Document your case.

Fourth Noble Truth — The Eight-Fold Path
The Buddha then lists off the following: right view, right thinking, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. Now you must repair your life. Do so by documenting your progress and testing the functionality of your “new life”.

posted @ 8:49 AM

November 8, 2002

training

Ahhh… I’m done with my training. For the last two weeks I have been in a training class to become a trainer. “Huh?” Yes, you read correctly. I was being trained so that I could pass my CTT+ (Certified Technical Trainer — the equivalent to A+ certification for hardware or MOUS certification for the Microsoft Office Suite). It was grueling. It was pointed out that what we were doing was taking two years worth of material and squeezing it into forty hours. But it was very worth it. If I might brag just a little, one of the students said he never gives fives (the highest score) on evaluations to anyone because nobody is perfect. I selected this person to evaluate me exactly because I thought he would be the hardest on me — he gave me a five on my twenty-minute presentation in front of the class.

posted @ 4:56 PM

November 3, 2002

moveable type

This site is now powered by Moveable Type. I’ve been playing with it now for some time and really like all of the options available. I was able to import the previous Blogger entries — makes it nice. Later on I’ll be able to add the hand log posts from long ago. Basically — from your perspective — the only real change is the fact that you can now comment on every entry. Oh, and the fall colors are now in full swing... just in time for winter.

posted @ 7:01 PM