smartsforsale

Neat Gadget Meets Mr. Battery

2009-01-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

This may turn out to be almost an advertisement. It is pretty seldom that I am really amazed by a gadget but this one really performs and provides a great service.

Here's the setup. All RV's out there run almost everything using 12 volt DC. about the only things that uses 115 AC are the Air Conditioners, the Microwave and the Television. The lighting, the furnace, and the waterpump all are running from electricity supplied by one or more batteries. These batteries are much like the one in your automobile. Pretty much the same size and shape also. The only important difference is they are "deep cycle" batteries and weigh a bit more than the one in your average Toyota.

Automobile batteries are designed to supply very high amperage for a short time. That is because just about thier whole job is to start the engine. The remainder of the time, the engine is re-charging them so they will be ready for use next time. One down side is they discharge pretty rapidly and cannot last very long without being recharged. Another downside is if you discharge them too much they will never recover.

A Deep Cycle battery on the other hand is made with much thicker plates and can last quite a bit longer before requiring a recharge cycle. Thus the name "Deep Cycle". Deep cycle batteries are used when long life is at a premium and there is no constantly running engine to keep them re-charged. Electric vehicles like golf carts and some hybreds are examples. They are also in use in some instances where getting out and walking home might be a little hard. Another name for Deep Cycle is Marine Duty.

The main idea here is how do you keep these batteries maintained when they are not in use for fairly long periods of time. A case in point is the Recreational Vehicle. Whether it is trailer or Motor Home, Bassboat or Houseboat it shares the same problem. It might sit for weeks or months with no activity. Especially in the winter months. By the way, winter is especially tough on batteries. Just plugging them into a charger and walking away will not work. That would tend to boil out all the electrolyte over a period of time. Traditionally, disconnecting the batteries and storing them in a warm location has been one method. Couple that with periodic electrolyte level checks, hooking up to a dummy load for short periods, and cooresponding 2 to 3 hour periods on a charger is about the best method. However that means that you must adhere to a bi-weekly schedule.

OK, OK...lets get to the gadget. It is called the Charge Wizard. The Charge Wizard does almost all the battery babysitting chores for you without you having to be there. It is made by the same people that made the convertor on my trailer. By the convertor on my trailer is a Power Dynamics Model 9160. It converts 115 VAC to 12 VDC and includes a built-in battery charger. When you plug in the "land line" ( that's slang for very heavy duty extension cord) into the power pedestal at the State Park or whever you are camping, it supplies 12 Volts to the trailer and as a bonus charges up the battery. See the picture below:

The convertor is the large grey box on the right. The Charge Wizard is the little black box with the label at the upper left from the convertor.

Here is the secret. The Charge wizard plugs into the convertor and controls the battery charger by going into one of 4 possible states. Normal, Boost, Storage, and Equalize.

Normal is 13.6 volts to recharge a partially discharged battery That is within 90 percent of full charge.

Boost is 14.4 volts to recharge a battery that is under 90 percent.

Storage is 13.2 volts to maintain a float voltage on a fully charged battery.

Equalize increases voltage to 14.4 volts every 21 hours for 15 minutes to keep the battery acid from stratifying and prevent battery sulfication.

All this happens automatically without demanding frequent visits. You should however still check the level occasionally.

I love it when a device actually saves me work.

Happy B-Day to Me

2009-01-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s that time of year again. I have managed to keep breathing for yet another trip around the sun. Now I realize that my birthdays are usually cared about by only myself and selected members of my immediate family. OK, I admit that there are a few others like institutions that I owe money that would miss me. But this year was particularly educational.
Just in case you didn’t know let me let you in on some details. Birthdays are usually a cause for celebration by the very young. As you get older the parties get to be less and less of a production and attendance drops. When you get to the point where you are forced to admit to yourself that you are Old, note capitalization on purpose, the parties stop altogether. You might rate an e-card from relatives or close friends but that’s about it. But secretly inside you are saying, “Yeah, all right!! I just might get back what I stuffed into Social Security!” So you do a little dance around the living room and collapse into a wheezing, gasping, pile on the couch. You might work up to taking your significant other out for dinner but that’s about it.
This time was different. Just about the time I was busy congratulating myself for outliving a few more foes, the mail arrived. Among the regular heap of junk mail and bills there was one item addressed to me. Right there on the front of the envelope was this:

What a buzz-kill!! Well that just deflated the heck out of my balloon. Something like that can definitely yank you back to earth. I crept to the window to see if there were any long and low vehicles lurking in my driveway. Whew, nobody there!! So that envelope is definitely going to the shredder without being opened. I can get along quite nicely without the details.
Y’all excuse me. I am going out to my winterized trailer to watch some TV and wait for Summer. If you need me, you know where to find me!

Winter Thoughts

2009-01-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

First of all you have to understand that I was 15 before I ever saw snow. Matter of fact I was that old before I ever saw ice that didn't come from the refrigerator. Yeah, I read about it in books but I also read about big white whales and dogs that could talk too. Growing up on the Gulf Coast, things like snow and mittens were just words that you had to learn how to spell. They had no reality or substance to them. In my world Winter was when you wore a jacket to school and forgot it when time to go home came around. Then you got the standard lecture about money growing on trees as your parents drove you back to school to get it. Yup, school and Winter kind of went together (yuck) like potatoes and beans. Summer was what we all lived for. Summer was freedom.

Now that I'm all growed up, Summer still means the same thing. The only difference is now I live a few hundred miles further north (still in the best state ever) and Winter brings at least one or two bouts of snow or ice. Today is an example. I am already kind of depressed because I had to winterize the trailer for the season. Also getting laid off just before the holiday season didn't exactly put me in a joyous frame of mind. And just look what I got now.

Ain't that a kick in the pants? Yeah, yeah... I know. All you yankees are squeezing in around a fireplace right now saying, "So what?? I see that every day". Well let me tell you that you mix this ice stuff and 100,000 Texans in pick ups and you got a menu for disaster. Right now out on the highways there is more color blending going on using fenders as paintbrushes than ever went on in any art school you could name. I've seen growm men commit truckicide. When I kick the dogs out to go potty, they look back at me like they were being punished. Have you ever seen a dog trying to walk on tip-toe?

Well I want Summer back. And I'm just gonna hold my breath and turn blue until it happens. Y'all come on down and take this stuff back on up North where it belongs now. Ya hear me?

That's it. Over and out. See ya...

It's All About Perception

2008-12-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Looking back at previous posts I get a sense that my attitude may need adjusting. Sometimes I make announcements as if I received them in stone from a higher power and therefore they are true. In reality most of the time it is just my opinion and is just as likely to be wrong as the next guy. Hey if I was right all the time then I would not even be looking for work. I would be sitting on a beach somewhere counting my money that I made from all my incredibile investments.
In reality, I am tossing darts at the board same as everyone else. But at least they are MY darts. I am not letting some "financial planner" stick his hand in my wallet. Hey if they were all that good, they would be on the beach counting thier money. Even worse maybe thier name is Madoff.
Wow, this is really getting morbid. I think I will sign off until I feel a little more upbeat
Save me a seat on the bus.

The Job Search Continues

2008-12-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

There is no real news here. Just some thoughts.
I should have been a Mortician. Let's see them outsource that one!
The only jobs left in the U.S. are service jobs.
I am not impressed with the quality of the job search assistance firm I have been signed up with. The things they want me to do seem to be junior high level. You know, make lists of things you want in a career and check off the entries. Create lists of friends and contacts. Waste of time... By my age if you are undecided then it is way too late. I am in software. That is not a people person industry. You spend 99 percent of your time reading obscure manuals and wrinting and testing code. You only come to the surface to breath and announce victory over the problem.
I would be better off going through the paper and looking for what is really out there.
OK, I made an entry and have my endorphins...Bye

Yet Another Learning Experience

2008-12-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

This is a re-post from a forum entry. Actually I am just too lazy to compose something new.

Got in a "one last trip" over Thanksgiving holiday. Learned some new things and re-learned some old ones. First we were without water or electricity and about a mile from the nearest human being so all the anti-generator nazis can just keep a lid on it.
1. All sorts of nasty things live in the woods. All of them would rather be in your RV with you.
2. Parking a Tow Vehicle between you and a cheap generator can make it as quiet as an expensive one.
3. Cheap generators break pretty easy.
4. A 5th wheel cannot make it for 2 days and one night on a single charge with one battery.
5. When the battery quits it will be between 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning.
6. You will know when it quits because the C02 alarm will start sounding.
7. Trailers cool off a lot faster than they warm up.
8. Your Significant Other will somehow think it is your fault.
9. A 3500 Chevy Dually makes a poor substitute for a generator.
Added next day after bailing out to do some chores...A fun time was had by all. 2 grandkids, 2 dogs, 1 daughter, 1 DW ( Thank you Lord for only one of those). The rig is filthy, the TV is filthy, and I was beyond recognition. Somewhere in the East Texas Pines there is a bare spot where the grandkids scraped every living thing into a pile and moved the pile into the RV. Sand, Leaves, Trees, Critters (Dead or Alive) ... made no difference to them. They were all treasure. Now I gotta clean things up so we can go again BTW I had no idea you could dig that big of a hole and move that much dirt with a little bitty plastic dump truck...

While there we did some maintenance which involved cranking up the tractor, Gator, and 4wheeler. The DW took the Gator, The Granddaughter adopted the 4-wheeler, and the 3 year old Grandson fell in love with the tractor. I had no trouble finding them at any time.

Granddad got to play with the chainsaw.

See Ya Out There...

Resolution

2008-11-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

Looking back I see that I do a lot of whining about not posting more frequently.
I hereby resolve not to gripe or make excuses for not posting on a regular basis.
Only Doogie Houser ever did this kind of thing without missing a beat. And they had to pay him a whole crap pile of money for each episode.
Wait a minute... that is an idea. All I need to do is to find some fool...er... "rich" fool...uhh..."well endowed philanthropist" to offer me a whole ton of money for each and every Saturday installment.
Hey, it could happen !!

Well, I'll be dipped...

2008-11-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here we go again. I am suddenly unemployed again and back on the job hunting trail. I swear I did not do a bad job or do anything wrong. Heck I got the project operating 800 percent faster than thier experts said was possible. I solved the last problem less that 3 days before I was told I was laid off. Maybe I should have left it un-fixed. This time around I may try the Contract Employee approach. That way there are no committments on either side and no expectations of loyalty on either side.
If they don't like the way I do things tell me to quit showing up. If I see a better offer elsewhere I quit showing up. That sounds fair right?
As far as benifits go, just give me the equivalent in money and I'll buy my own insurance as needed. Most employers are cutting back on benefits anyhow. And besides, the government is starting to treat medical and other benefits as taxable income. To those of you that have not run into it yet, beware the terminology "imputed income". It income that you did not really receive. However the taxes you pay on it comes from the money that you really did receive.
Don't get me started. They estimate what you would have had to pay for the medical coverage, life insurance, and any other benefits they can spot. Then thay add that amount to your real income and tax you on the total.
So you might as well go ahead and get sick or they will make you wish you had.
OK, back to the main thread of insanity here. I need to get my resume back in shape and start networking like crazy.
Maybe that's what I get for not posting here on a more regular basis.

Some Days are Just Survived

2008-07-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well things have conspired to keep me from updating this as often as I should. I am making myself a promise to do better. However this one is gonna be brief.
Life has been normal lately. Good things. Bad things. Some in-betweeners.
Summer in Texas is hot. Big surprise...Huh?? More later

If you keep picking at it, it will never heal !!

2008-03-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

Well how many times did your mother tell you that one? Did you ever learn? Well, me neither.
I noticed something loose on the trailer (a piece of trim) and I just kept picking at it till it fell off. Oh well, a little liquid nails and it's back in place. Stupid thing should not have been loose in the first place. Of course, I now have to go around and jiggle all the other little pieces to see if they are suffering from that disease too.
We are definitely getting a terminal case of the "wanna travel blues".
We added an Electrical outlet out by the side lot where we park the RV. It is a full 50 amp outlet. Just in case you don't know, you should be impressed by the 50 amp size. Whole houses have been run on less than that. Anyhow it goes underground for about 12 feet. Then up the wall of the house, into the wall , runs the full length of the house then out and down into the main switch.
Have you got the picture in your head yet? The idea is to keep the batteries charged in the RV while it is just sitting there. We can also turn on all the lights, run the slides in and out, and use all the utilities. In other words it can within the limits of the grey and black water tanks, function as a guest house. My thinking is when I find a wad of money on the ground I will have a generator added to the RV. The nice part is when we lose the electricity to the house ( this happens fairly often with tornados, lightening, and high winds in this area) we will just fire up the genny and move into the RV until conditions improve. I could also use the generator to keep certain items in the house like the freezer and fridge. That is assuming I have things wired correctly.
Of course my significant other will definitely have other ideas about what to do with the wad of money. hey, back off... it's a plan right? Sheesh gimme a break! maybe it will be a BIG wad of money..
later dudes.

Seriously delayed ramblings

2008-03-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well I guess any reader is bright enough to read dates and realize it's been a while since my last posting. We did a last minute initial run in the trailer. Just an overnight to a local state park. However it did show our general level of un-preparedness (is that a word??) to do a longer and further from home trip. A list of screw-ups follows:
1. No propane in the tanks. - my fault for leaving the thermostat and gas on.
2. Took way too long to get underway. I wanted to get there before nightfall so my first experience with leveling the unit, un-hitching, and setting up water, and electrical would not be in the dark. Oops...
3. Too late to get the tanks filled. no place open.
4. Had a problem calling to get a reservation and to make sure the gates would still be open when we got there. Called a friend to do an internet search for a phone number. Then got the dreaded "push 1 for this, push 2 for that" reply.
5. Almost paid the price for doing it in the dark. Came real close to smashing the trailer front with the tailgate.
6. Got pretty close to a divorce over parking and leveling. It wasn't happening fast enough.
7. Slept late and found out check-out time was 1:00 P.M.
8. Didn't get to do much outside.
9. Kissed the tailgate with the hitch hooking back up. No dents.. Dumb Luck.
10. Had a hard time guessing what the brake setting was supposed to be. Lotta bumps and jerks.
11. Learned the hard way that a 5th wheel trailer cuts a little insice of the path the truck makes. Not the same as a pull behind trailer. "hippity hop".
12. Left the steps down while towing. Nice guy pulled along side and told us before we broke something.
13. the dump valves leak a little. So the dump created a new dance step never seen before.
14. The dump hose does not fit in the storage for it. Bummer...that's gonna leave a smell.
15. Learned that you really cannot back one up without someone on the ground watching out for stupid moves on the driver's part. You really need to practice communication skills before doing this. I still have no idea what some of those signals were supposed to convey.
16. Do not put a bag of ice with a leak in the freezer. You end up with a non-removable lump.
17. Dog fell off the doggie ramp after we got home.
18. Drained the trailer pipes as well as possible. Temp went to 20 deg with 5 inches of snow. Barf!

Well, have you quit laughing yet? And a fun time was had by all. Learning continues.

Doodads and Trinkets

2008-02-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Back to the trailer thing. One item that I must warn you about is everybody in the world will be trying to sell you stuff that they claim you cannot live without if you own a trailer. Everything from All sorts of level indicators ( so you know when your trailer is level). to fifteen different kinds of window blind cleaners. Of course if you bought only one of everything they claim you "need", it would take a Missouri Pacific Locomotive to haul this thing down the road. Luck is with me, I don't need all that, I have a spouse. So far there are eight pillows on the bed and we have been exactly nowhere. There are 6 lawn chairs for the 5 of us.
Later

Memory is a Poor Substitute for Records

2008-02-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

I guess I have to admit something. When I started this blog thing at least one of my reasons was so I could look back at a hard record without sitting down and thinking something like " Well I believe it was sometime around February of last year.. or maybe the year before...". Well you get the idea. I've always been envious of people who religiously keep their day-planner or diary up-to-date. It seems that they usually have all of their other records neatly arranged by year in some kind of filing system.
My system has usually been a different sized cardboard box for each year. If the box desintegrates, then that is the signal that I don't need that year anymore. I think my memory works the same way. Ocassionally I will get some kind of "blast from the past" like when I run across some old photos or hear about a high school reunion. That will wake up some old pile of memories for a short time. However my recollections of things is blurry at best. When I actually run into old friends or see old photos it comes as a shock because my recollections are usually a little different. In my memories my friends were better looking and the things we did were a lot more important than actual records seem to indicate.
So I am trying to do the day-planner thing and this blog thing. My hope is along with easy retrieval of the past, at least keeping up-to-date by occasional reviews may lessen the shock of change. It may also serve as a reminder that my life needs to be fun to live. Because first "I cannot take it with me " except for the records I keep. And no-one else is going to do it for me because choices I made and who I am has kept me in a state of obscurity such that the general public is unaware of my existance. When most of us leave this existance there will be no published biographies lining the shelves of the bookstores. No records of the decisions we made and why we made them. We ( most of the population) are just not important enough for anyone to care. Dang, this is pretty dark thinking huh? So if we all keep little pieces like this blog, diaries, notebooks, photo albums, and stuff, some one might be able ot at least get a peek into what life was like for us.
OK, that's enough for now. I gotta go. Maybe I'll pick back up on this later. maybe not.

Everybody Duck! Here He comes again!!

2008-02-10T15:58:00.000-08:00

OK people. Bear with me as I try do do the impossible. I'm sure there is nothing to it, but that's what Napolean told the Empress too. Watch carefully now, at no time will my fingers ever leave the hand to which they are attached.

Oops. Got the dreaded error bX-499bh2. I think that means the thought police are closing in and I have less than 2 minutes to get out of town. Let's try that again.

Ooh Look at the pretty picture...

Well dear Reader ( whenever !!) there is "Sasquatch" and his faithful companion "Tow'd". This is my special project for probably the next few years. It certainly is where my money is going for the next few years. So I am temporarially changing the direction of this blog for a short time. Really it is not a change since this is supposed to be about whatever is most important to me at the moment.

BTW Look at the right side for a link to "Tioga and George". A particularly well written blog about extreme RV living. I am not going that far, but it is a nice read.

Later, duty calls...

Oops, thar' she blows!!

2008-02-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

OK, so sue me, it's not a whale. It is "Sasquatch" the big old dually truck coming to an RV park or state campground near you! New truck, new trailer, look out world here we come.
I've always been envious of the people I see pulling trailers down the road. Mainly because they always seem to be headed for fun. While I am usually headed for work, or back home after work. I used to enjoy driving but that was a while back. We are going to try to get back into camping and vacationing. Life is too short to spend it seriously all the time.
We have tried a couple of times renting motorhomes, but that can get expensive real fast. Especially when we get one that I can stretch out in. And the only ones that I would like to own run into serious lottery winning kinds of money.
So here we go folks. I'll try to keep this up-to-date but don't hold your breath.

Aw...Crapalooza!!

2008-01-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

I just has a horribile thought. If anyone ever reads this, they will know just about every thing I do. Should I worry?? Nah, never gonna happen!
However just in case, my real name is Ebeneezer and my number is 555-1212. Gimme a call.

Still working but Getting Dumber all the time

2008-01-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

OK, I admit it, old age is shrinking my brain. At least that's what I'm gonna blame it on for now. At this point, we should be stuffing every available penny into some kind of 401, supersaver, get rich quick account. Guess what..? It ain't happening!
We now own ( really the bank owns) a large diesel truck and a fifth wheel trailer. I don't want to wait till I can't remember whether or not I went potty yesterday to travel around a bit. I want to enjoy the outdoors while I can.
Back to the dumber part. Gee you would think that I might pay attention to the gas prices, the falling stock market, and the crashing economy. You might even thing I should be burying money in a tin can in the back yard from fear that the banks are gonna all come crashing down.
Well poo on that!! If they want me they'll have to catch me first. Mwa-haa-haa!!!
Silly truck!! The diesel gets about the same mileage as my Toyota does. And pollutes less. Who knew...?
Later dudes...

idiots, cretins, and other things that go "splat"

2008-01-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

There are quite a few things that can cause me to get up on a soapbox and make a fool out of myself trying to fix the world. Most of the time it doesn't want to be fixed. The rest of the time I am talking to people that don't seem to realize that my problems are more important than theirs. This probably includes you, dear reader, so if your particular world is already fixed you can close this and skip my ranting.
Spam. If the credit card companies quit creating all those offers for cards that I didn't ask for then the ones I do have could probably afford to lower my current rate. I am just saying that all that paper, glossy printing, inserts, postage, envelopes, etc. obviously adds up to some real money. Assuming about $2.00 per person to send those out to about 200,000,000 people that have active bank accounts in the U.S. adds up to a tidy sum (you do the math). multiply that by the guess that there are about 20 to 30 companies doing just that and the number begins to stagger me. I'm basing this on just my personal experience. Others may get more or less of this crud than I do.
On top of that I have to waste electricity, machine wear, and time to shread about three inch tall stacks of this stuff every month.
To make things even better they are not even looking at what they do. This month I got four separate offers for a new user promotional interest rate from the same company. I already have a card from that company. Gee, can I get the new one, transfer balances from the old one and cancel it? I don't think they would let me do that. Man, listen to that shredder noise drone on, and on, and on.
Oh well the U.S. Mail would probably go bankrupt if they quit. That would put some people out-of-work and They would come looking for me.
Crap, I'm getting paranoid!! Later folks, I gotta go hide my head in the laundry basket until it's safe to come back out.

Christmas

2007-12-22T15:19:00.000-08:00

Well it is unavoidable isn't it?
Advertisers are trying every trick in the book. You mail cards to "friends" that you havn't spoken to in years. You hang out enough lights to make your electric supplier Lick his chops and sharpen his billing pencil. You hope that the people that you know with the holiday depression syndrome catch a bye on this one. for the umpteenth time you wish you had bought stock in a battery company. You go screaming through a couple of stores at the very last minute. All these things are just the prelude.
Time seems compressed and flies by all too fast.
But take one look at the face of a child. And listen for 30 miinutes to thier thoughts with no regard for your own.
It's all worth it!
Do not let polititions, self-centered idiots, or self-serving parasites take that away.
Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!

Ramblin...

2007-11-16T13:14:00.000-08:00

Well it should be painfully obvious by now that this blog thing is a catch as catch can kind of happening. The only time I can do this is when nobody else is around. And those times are seldom seen.
Part of the problem is I just cannot stand an audience. The other part is the audience is either competing for my attention like my grandkids or trying to drive the train like other people I could name. Don't smirk. you know what I mean. Either telling me I got it all wrong or trying to correct my grammer. I'll have you know my memory is just as good as it always has been and my grammer is dang near purfik.
Other news is there has been yet another layoff at where I used to work. Must be about number seventeen in the series. Another piece of the pie headed across the border. I know because some of the refugees have come to work where I am currently employed. I have given up hope that congress or company higher ups will ever realize that it is a declining spiral. Wall Street has them paralyzed.
It is real simple. If you fire more people, then you make less product to sell. If you sell less product, then you make less money. As a matter of fact if you fire more people, then there are fewer people out there with money to buy your product because your people buy products from others that use that money to buy your product.
The system is self-feeding but it can also be self-eliminating.
I think I will call my new theory "enema economics" instead of "trickle down economics".

Fall or Autumn

2007-10-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well the answer to that particular question is Fall. At least it is and always has been in Texas. The only reason that I grew up even knowing there was an alternate word for it was some mention in an obscure first grade reader schoolbook. It was probably written and published by someone from the north. Of course I immediately filed that word in with the other useless words written in primary readers by some yankee writer. You know, words that have no meaning or reference to a Texas native. Like mittens or snow or golashes. It's a good thing they included a pictoral reference or I would have assumed it was a medical condition. Lost her mittens or lost her mind sounds like the same thing to me.
As a matter of fact, there are probably a lot of cross culture words that I could remove and never miss. There are also some that have more that one meaning like stoop. Down here it means bending ov a little closer to the ground. Up north stoop is a tiny front porch. In Texas we just have different sized porches. Little ones, big ones, medium sized are all called porches. Of course when you get a great big one and your family wants to put on airs they call it a veranda. It's still a porch to me.
A word of caution. This story has no moral, This story has no end...
Bye now.

Amazing Feats by the Government

2007-10-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, they now have an "interim" security clearance . I have been informed that I have one of those. So now I can do real work on my assigned project. That is amazing because it means that the gov actually changed an existing procedure. Remember that these are the same people that still say it is agianst the law to carry wirecutters in your hip pocket is certain states. However, back to the subject.
I wonder how that works?? I think "interim" means that it is still in the investigation phase but they have got far enough along to assume that I will probably test out all ok. That's all right if I make it, but what if I don't? Do they have one of those 'Men In Black' thingys that make you forget the stuff I am not allowed to see?? That is a scary thought! Maybe that's how Reagan, Ollie North, and Clinton were able to state that they just could not "remember" some incriminating items. That definitely means that the device wasn't around during Nixon's term.
This could be a real hoot !! You could finally forget that really cute girl in High School that turned you down. There are lots of really embaressing moments that I could definitely do without! Besides that I could re-claim that room for storing things now that I keep forgetting.
I gotta go think about this... later folks

Security Clearance Blues

2007-10-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well here I sit waiting for the U.S. government to get off of the couch and declare that I am not a threat to sell or give away any secret stuff. So far it has been only 2 weeks. That last time, it took almost nine months exactly. Coincidence ?? I don't think I want to go there.
Meanwhile I am bored to death.

Ipod vs. Boze

2007-09-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

Well looking back it ain't so bad. This blogging thing at least gets me up off the couch. It is a kind of wierd feeling when you suddenly realize that you can write anything here. And I do mean "anything".
For instance. I don't particularly like the Ipod. Nah, It is not because I'm an old geezer. The functionality, the physical package, and the interface are Great! It is just that the quality of the music is so bad. At a maximum data rate, the highest quality MP3 is 4.28 times worse than a Compact Disc at reproducing the sounds.
The generation before me and my generation spent a lot of sweat and money and time taking recorded music from the old wind-up players, to platters, to "hi-Fi", and to Stereo. Speakers were designed and built to help reproduce sounds as close to the original as possible. Now they seem to be throwing that away.
What's with that?? I do not buy the story that the music is so bad that it is not worth being faithfully reproduced. What do you think?
Pretty risky huh?? Saying that I don't like the most popular music reproducing on the planet? Not only that, It is made by Apple which happens to be the most famous underdog on the planet as well. Shame on me...

Negative ego trip

2007-09-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing that I am not dependant on the number of people that read this for my daily bread. Woo Hoo... That would be a buzz kill for real.
I never thought that There would be a large audience for my ramblings during the job hunt, But I did think that the number would be larger than Zero. Insert picture of deflated Ego here.
Seriously folks. I did not even tell friends and family about my venture into the blogging world. That would be too much like selling girl scout cookies. I really wanted a place where I could spit out anything with no fear. However I kind of vicariously like the thought that you can't take back what you spit out. I wonder if it will withstand the time test. You know, read it a week later and think " Wnat a lame thing to think !! Even lamer to write it down where anyone could stumble across it ".
Oh yeah, on the job front... So far So good... still employed. But getting up at 5AM kinda sucks.

Still Alive and Kicking

2007-08-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Just a short note to let anybody that cares know that I intend to continue updating. Yeah, I know... my entire audience is me, myself and I. However that will not deter me.
The past two weeks have been busy times. My new employer works a 9-9-9-9-4 work week. And the day starts at 7:00 AM so I have to be up at 5:00 AM in order to drink enough coffee to stay awake for the drive in to work. Give me a few weeks and I will settle into the new schedule. If I repeat that to myself enough times maybe I'll start to believe it. The only time I ever got up at 5 AM before was the first day of hunting season!!
That's all for now. See Ya.

Woo Hoo, I was wrong!!!

2007-08-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

Yep I was wrong. Apparantly I did not completely blow the interview. I start the new position Monday morning . That is part of the reason for the length of time between updates. The other part is you suddenly have 15 million things to do that you have been letting slide. At the same time, you really want to go collapse in front of the TV and just veg out for a couple of days.
Now having said that, I have to also relate the stress relief that I feel. It is amazing. It's almost like I feel externally justified in my existance. Most of the doubts that were beginning to creep in have vanished. Trust me, there were some doubts. Was I "out-of-date"? Too old? Too geeky? Too "out-of-touch"? Too specialized? Not specialized enough?Etc. ?? I am not sure about other people in this position, but I was on an emotional roller coaster.
You have to believe in yourself in order to sell yourself to potential employers. But if you are so damned good, then why did they let you go? Yeah I spent some nights with very little sleep. During the day, you don't dare let your friends, family, or potential employers see any signs of doubt or stress.
One other strange thing is when you tell someone about your success, you are a little disappointed that they don't immediately run around in little circles waving the flag or something. The usual response is "Cool, I knew it would happen". Man, I wish they had let me in on the secret! It was getting pretty lonely out there!

Immediate feelings after the interview

2007-07-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Man, I blew it.
Or at least right now I feel that I did. I should have done the prectice interview and other thiings. There is one particular reference that I should have reviewed. "Typical interview code questions" is a real killer. I am one of those people who cannot type when there is an audience. If someone is looking over my shoulder I cannot code the most simple function in the world. I just go into a brainlock.
If I had practiced on a few of the examples, I may have done better.
On the other hand I always blow the first interview. That's what I am telling myself.
Pretty lame excuse huh?

First sign of progress

2007-07-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

I have an upcoming interview. Woo Hoo... I did the phone interview thing and now I am going to have the dreaded "face-to-face" interview.
No pressure at all. If you impress them enough, you get a job. If not you're doomed! <>.
The job-search-help organization I have been attending has classes on interviews, practice interviews, seminars, and reference material. All of which I have pretty much ignored up to now. Am I suddenly worried? You bet your butt I am! But It is no more than the natural nervous feeling that I always get before giving a presentation to a group of people. Did I mention that I'm a software nerd? Usually the only time I am in front of more than two people at a time is at a family reunion.
So I keep telling myself I am not doomed. It just means the search continues. And continues...and continues...etc. Maybe I AM doomed bit I won't realize it for quite some time. Now that's something to look forward to. Right?

Win the lottery or get a job. Choices..choices...

2007-07-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is the way an engineer's mind workss. Follow along now and don't get lost.

I have a dollar for a lottery ticket.
If I win the lottery then I don't need a job.
If I get a job then I might not "need" to win the lottery. But it would still be a good thing.
Statistically, my chances get pretty good for winning in about five thousand years.
I see reports where a lot of lottery winners end up broke.
Spend the dollar on beer, forget about the lottery.
Drink the beer.
What problem?? I don't have any problems...

Back to the job search.

Weekend Vacuum

2007-07-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

Actually I only named it that so I could show off that I knew how to spell vacuum. Else the title would have been Weekend Sucks. When you are not working, it is hard to tell the weekend from any other day. In reality you are busy all the time. I have been using the weekends to make up for work that I should have been doing the rest of the week. Usually things to do with the job search that I didn't get to do because I was interrupted.
My family just assumes that if I am home then I am not "working" and therefore I am available to do whatever. It is not thier fault. That is the way it has worked for years and I guess it has become a habit. taking out the garbage or fetching something from outside doesn't sound like much but it's a complete shift of mental gears. It takes a while to get back to what you were doing.
The seminar type classes I have been attending told me that job-hunting was a ten hour-a-day job. However I didn't really believe it until I had to do it. Oh well some time spent revising the resume for the twentieth time and another copy e-mailed to an employer that will probably get a hundred applicants a day.
Well that just makes my point. Weekends are depressing.

Daily ramblings

2007-07-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

I think I mentioned back a few posts that I have spent extensive time in the defense industry. The reason I mention this is because one of the must-haves for that job is a security clearance. I included my last clearance level on my latest resume for two reasons. One is I would definitely accept a job offer in that arena. The other was it should be a clue to the commercial job recruiters that I would probably never be an embaressment to any company. It is an indication that unlike certain public officials I have never been associated with a brothel or any other strange group trying to overthrow the present government ( democrats included ).

The point is, the group I am working with suggested that I remove that from resume copys that I submit to non-defense companies.

Nah, I'm leaving it in there. I think that indications of stability, ethics,,etc shoud be pretty important to a recruiter. I for one would hate to wake up and find out that I had hired the unibomber just because he had a great interview personna.

Any opinions out there?

Nobody Out There ??

2007-07-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

That's what I get for asking. No one replys. Probably my fault for not knowing how to advertise a blog. Of course the "other" answer is the blog is Boring... Of course it is boring you idiot... I'm a software engineer nerd!! The only thing more boring would be a resident Egyptologist in an obscure musuem in Bumsquatch Nebraska!
You would think you would be getting used to being ignored by now. It starts as soon as the layoff announcement is known. Everyone at work tends to avoid you like you have the plague or something. Maybe antibiotic-resistant TB is a more recent simile. I know they don't mean to, but it is kinda like some kind of superstitious ritual like not walking under a ladder. You just cannot avoid doing it.
Another interesting thing about being laid off is the emotional turmoil. You pretty much run the gamut from anger to fear. That can cause you to appear a little unstable to friends and family. I have to watch it to keep from exploding over some little thing around the house.
Well another day and another resume copy in the mail. By the way, did I mention that I am really good at this software thing? I got lots of awards and stuff. That's just in case you are a hiring manager with a hot job request in your hand.

Oops. That's why erasers sell better than pencils

2007-07-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

So much for the once-a-day commitment. Gee, that lasted a whole day! A combination of Family, previous promises, and unforseen events all ganged up on me.
Enough excuses. I was also carrying on a running e-mail with a head-hunter that wants me to do contract work for him. I want to know a little more about his company's track record before I sign on the dotted line. It looks like they prefer to work in a W-2 environment instead of a W-1099. There is something to be said for each. I gotta do some research. Anybody out there have an opinion?? Any reasons for that opinion??
With any luck the answers to those questions is the total amount of my research.

2007-07-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to do this once a day. So some of them are going to be boring. I guess you pretty much have the picture now. I'm seriously looking for work.

I am a software engineer with extensive experience in the embedded software field. I have worked for defense companys and most recently for a commercial company in the telecommunications area. The assumption that I am going on is my departure is the result of outsourcing jobs to overseas locations. That assumption is based on recently training two chinese nationals to do my job. That was one of the signs that I should not have ignored. I just assumed I would be assigned to a new project. Silly me, my new project is job hunting.

So far I have taken a bunch of classes that attempt to teach me what my resume should look like, what are the most effective jobsearch techniques, and some hard reality looks at what I need to do in order to compete with other job applicants. Mainly that amounts to an advertising sales pitch with me as the star product. You know... a meat market.

2007-07-08T19:37:00.001-07:00

Later that same day... Well some of this is coming together so I better get back to the main attraction. Me and my jobhunt.

First let's set the stage. The reason I started this is I got laid off for the first time ever in my life. Every other time that I parted ways with a company it was because I believed I saw the end coming. Now I did not just run around job-hopping. I stayed a minimum of 6 years at any one company and I usually wasn't wrong when I left. One got company sold to BarinCo and got severly downsized and re-directed. One closed shop entirely, and in another one the division I was in got sold and re-located out-of-state. This time I guess I ignored the portents or perhaps I just thought I was bulletproof. After all, I had survived there over 8 years and over 3 years of twice yearly downsizings, re-orgs, and just plain old job-cuts. Well I am here to tell you I was Wrong.

They tell me that these days the average time spent at a company is about 6 years before some major event happens. That event usually entails looking elsewhere for employment. So if you are reading this you better figure that it will happen to you too. So pay attention and don't make the same mistakes that I am about to. I promise to let you know what works and what doesn't.

2007-07-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

Let's get started. Part of the reason for starting this is to document my jobsearch and part is to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so other people can tell me where I am going wrong. One other thing I hope to accomplish is to get over the initial loathing and shyness about the self advertising that is a necessary part of the jobsearch process.
More to come as I get used to this blogging thing...