I've always held the belief that most people are somewhat intelligent. Throughout the course of our current upgrade at work, my perception is beginning to change a bit. One thing has become certain, people don't read their e-mail regardless of whether you say Important, Urgent or Please Read. They completely ignore it no matter what. We repeatedly warned users that our most recent document management change would remove what they call Project Folders. These folders would disappear from the DMS but they could search from them in a different manner and, if they wanted to recreate the Project Folder, they should print out a list of documents so they could recreate them.
Seems simple enough...print out your list of documents. They had over a week to perform this task and they were advised multiple times that such an event was going to occur. So, it did occur on Friday of last week. Project Folders were removed. So, how many complaints do you think we received this week about missing Project Folders. 10? 20? I would say in the neighborhood of 40. When asked about the repeated e-mails, all they say is "yeah, I remember seeing something about that but..."
I don't understand why people don't comprehend the information we are providing them. We clearly state that our upgrade could have an adverse action on them and they should take a precautionary measure but they completely ignore that advice. And they don't even call to say "I don't understand what you mean..." so we can help them through their questions. They wait until later and then complain. Sound familiar? It's the American way...
On a lighter note, the department has received no fewer than 15 calls regarding the CTRL+ALT+DEL users must now hit before they can login to the system. 10 of them were to complain about having to hit this everyday to login...we told them to get used to it, it wasn't going to change. The other 5 said typing in CTRL+ALT+DEL wasn't doing anything. Upon further interrogation, it was determined they were actually sitting there type in C-T-R-L+A-L-T... And I thought most people were smart...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Goodbye Rudy; John Edwards
Reports say that both John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani will both end their campaigns to become the presidential nominee from their respective parties. I'm not surprised about the John Edwards exit as he never stood a legitimate chance to become the Democratic nominee for president. However, the Giuliani fall has been somewhat surprising considering I predicted him to be the Republican candidate.
Giuliani's downfall started with the public's examination of his personal life. Rudy's marital issues and parenting problems have become somewhat well-known and presented a moral dilemma for the right wing party. His somewhat liberal social agenda also presented serious issues for his primary campaign in which voters tend to be further right than in the general election. Rudy's only real issue to which he could claim some victory would be homeland security but that obviously wasn't enough for the Republican party. This leaves a battle between Romney and McCain, in which McCain has taken the upperhand. At the end of the day though, I wonder if McCain is truly any more conservative than Giuliani. If McCain is the eventual nominee, the Republican party has taken a serious jump towards the left.
Speaking of the left, Edwards demise has been a longtime coming. Hanging in the teens, Edwards commanded loyalty from only the most left of the Democratic party. His talk of the plight of the poor may have been noble to some but coming from a man who has made his fortune by taking advantage of those who have been victimized seems a bit hypocritical. Edwards is withholding his support for Obama or Clinton but, if he makes a move between now and Super Tuesday, his support could tip the Democratic nomination. I'm sure both candidates are courting his support and I would tend to believe he would lean towards Obama. I'm not sure if Edwards is interested in another shot at the vice presidency or not but I think he would harm the ticket is he is 2nd in command.
Things should be interesting over the next few days as Super Tuesday approaches. A bleary picture should clear up following the primaries next week and we may be able to see for sure who will be the presidential candidates in November. At least I hope so...
Giuliani's downfall started with the public's examination of his personal life. Rudy's marital issues and parenting problems have become somewhat well-known and presented a moral dilemma for the right wing party. His somewhat liberal social agenda also presented serious issues for his primary campaign in which voters tend to be further right than in the general election. Rudy's only real issue to which he could claim some victory would be homeland security but that obviously wasn't enough for the Republican party. This leaves a battle between Romney and McCain, in which McCain has taken the upperhand. At the end of the day though, I wonder if McCain is truly any more conservative than Giuliani. If McCain is the eventual nominee, the Republican party has taken a serious jump towards the left.
Speaking of the left, Edwards demise has been a longtime coming. Hanging in the teens, Edwards commanded loyalty from only the most left of the Democratic party. His talk of the plight of the poor may have been noble to some but coming from a man who has made his fortune by taking advantage of those who have been victimized seems a bit hypocritical. Edwards is withholding his support for Obama or Clinton but, if he makes a move between now and Super Tuesday, his support could tip the Democratic nomination. I'm sure both candidates are courting his support and I would tend to believe he would lean towards Obama. I'm not sure if Edwards is interested in another shot at the vice presidency or not but I think he would harm the ticket is he is 2nd in command.
Things should be interesting over the next few days as Super Tuesday approaches. A bleary picture should clear up following the primaries next week and we may be able to see for sure who will be the presidential candidates in November. At least I hope so...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Ted Kennedy
This is going to hurt because I'm going to actually send a compliment towards Edward M. Kennedy. On Monday, Kennedy announced his endorsement of Barack Obama. That, in itself, is not something that provokes a great deal of feeling from me. However, his reasoning for making such an endorsement and the timing is something I can appreciate.
It appears that Kennedy was going to try to stay somewhat neutral in the Democratic primary until Bill Clinton began his recent campaign against Obama. Clinton began playing the race card in South Carolina, charging that Obama was the "black candidate" in much the same way that Jesse Jackson was the black candidate. From all appearances, this was the breaking point for the elder statesman. Attempting to marginalize Obama as simply a token candidate forced Kennedy's hand and I actually respect his stance.
Obviously I am not stupid enough to believe that race plays no role in this election. Unfortunately there are many in this country who still believe that race is more important that qualificiations or ideas. But there are also many in this country who have moved beyond the color of skin and are looking for someone to lead. The Democrats have long claimed to be able to look beyond the color of ones skin and yet they are most often the party to point it out the most. I think Kennedy's quick endorsement of Barack following Clinton's obvious attempt at racial divide was the most appropriate action.
Race should not be an issue in this campaign just like gender should not be an issue. I want the most qualified individual who can lead this country to greater prosperity and stability. I don't care whether they are black, white, male, female, Christian, Mormon or Jew. I just want a candidate who can be president. I still haven't decided if there is one on either side of the aisle yet, but I'm still watching closely.
It appears that Kennedy was going to try to stay somewhat neutral in the Democratic primary until Bill Clinton began his recent campaign against Obama. Clinton began playing the race card in South Carolina, charging that Obama was the "black candidate" in much the same way that Jesse Jackson was the black candidate. From all appearances, this was the breaking point for the elder statesman. Attempting to marginalize Obama as simply a token candidate forced Kennedy's hand and I actually respect his stance.
Obviously I am not stupid enough to believe that race plays no role in this election. Unfortunately there are many in this country who still believe that race is more important that qualificiations or ideas. But there are also many in this country who have moved beyond the color of skin and are looking for someone to lead. The Democrats have long claimed to be able to look beyond the color of ones skin and yet they are most often the party to point it out the most. I think Kennedy's quick endorsement of Barack following Clinton's obvious attempt at racial divide was the most appropriate action.
Race should not be an issue in this campaign just like gender should not be an issue. I want the most qualified individual who can lead this country to greater prosperity and stability. I don't care whether they are black, white, male, female, Christian, Mormon or Jew. I just want a candidate who can be president. I still haven't decided if there is one on either side of the aisle yet, but I'm still watching closely.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Work Update
Things have heated up dramatically at work since we received the release of our document management software. We are now a mere 7-days away from rolling out a Proof of Concept to our IT department and a short 14-days away from providing a functional system to the first group of test users. In less than 5-weeks, we will begin actually giving this new Vista system with Office 2007 to production users.
With that said, now I must revisit every step I have taken over the last 6 months to determine what I have missed. So far today, I have discovered at least 6 applications that have not been packaged for the deployment. Obviously IT won't catch these missed applications because, let's face it, we don't really use many applications. But when we start migrating actual users and are missing applications, things could get ugly.
It will definitely be an interesting couple weeks here. My schedule is pretty full...but I'm anxiously awaiting actually deploying one of these machines to see how far we are off on this whole project. If everything proceeds on schedule, the entire project will be over by June. I can only hope for a positive outcome. Or I could be looking for alternative employment...
With that said, now I must revisit every step I have taken over the last 6 months to determine what I have missed. So far today, I have discovered at least 6 applications that have not been packaged for the deployment. Obviously IT won't catch these missed applications because, let's face it, we don't really use many applications. But when we start migrating actual users and are missing applications, things could get ugly.
It will definitely be an interesting couple weeks here. My schedule is pretty full...but I'm anxiously awaiting actually deploying one of these machines to see how far we are off on this whole project. If everything proceeds on schedule, the entire project will be over by June. I can only hope for a positive outcome. Or I could be looking for alternative employment...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
XBox Died
I was jamming along to the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" one minute and the next, my XBox died. Three red lights started blinking and that console wasn't doing anything worth while. So, naturally, I got on the Inter-web and searched around for about 2 seconds before I found my error and discovered that Microsoft is aware of the issue and provides free repair for up to three years. Needless to say, I'm shipping the ol' Xbox back to Microsoft for repairs.
I've had this Xbox for a couple years and registered it with Microsoft upon receipt. Thankfully, I hadn't made any alterations to void the warranty but I think it's a little shabby that Microsoft was fully aware of this GPU x-clamp issue but failed to fully inform the customers via US mail or e-mail. But what can you do? At least they're fixing it...and I really probably won't miss it that much to be honest. Just an annoyance that I didn't want to deal with.
I've had this Xbox for a couple years and registered it with Microsoft upon receipt. Thankfully, I hadn't made any alterations to void the warranty but I think it's a little shabby that Microsoft was fully aware of this GPU x-clamp issue but failed to fully inform the customers via US mail or e-mail. But what can you do? At least they're fixing it...and I really probably won't miss it that much to be honest. Just an annoyance that I didn't want to deal with.
Obama wins South Carolina
Barack Obama not only won South Carolina, he dominated South Carolina despite serious campaigning by both Hilary and Bill. In response to the overwhelming defeat in S.C., Bill said "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here." Obviously we know where Jackson's campaigns went from there.
I don't want to read too much into that line but it appears that Bill is attempting to paint Obama as the "black candidate" and marginalize his campaign as nothing more than a sideshow before the Hilary nomination. But the Obama/Jackson comparison doesn't, in my opinion, hold water and here's why:
Unlike Jackson, Barack has not attempted to pit Black America against White America. He has acted as a beacon between the races, attracting support across both race and gender lines. Jackson's primary support was that of Black America because he continually denegrated whites as attempting to suppress the black voice.
Obama also has money. Jackson was never a major fundraising threat. Obama, with high powered supporters like Oprah, has been able to build quite a war chest to maintain the battle beyond S.C. and is able to campaign in all the Super Tuesday states against the Clinton War Machine.
Bill Clinton is obviously trying to turn the Democratic primaries into a White vs. Black race with his jabs towards race at every opportunity. For an enlightened party, the Democratics sure have become affixed on race in this campaign. Maybe it's because they don't have any real issues to show their differences. I should point out that I still believe Hilary will be the eventual nominee but it could get much, much uglier than I ever had envisioned.
I don't want to read too much into that line but it appears that Bill is attempting to paint Obama as the "black candidate" and marginalize his campaign as nothing more than a sideshow before the Hilary nomination. But the Obama/Jackson comparison doesn't, in my opinion, hold water and here's why:
Unlike Jackson, Barack has not attempted to pit Black America against White America. He has acted as a beacon between the races, attracting support across both race and gender lines. Jackson's primary support was that of Black America because he continually denegrated whites as attempting to suppress the black voice.
Obama also has money. Jackson was never a major fundraising threat. Obama, with high powered supporters like Oprah, has been able to build quite a war chest to maintain the battle beyond S.C. and is able to campaign in all the Super Tuesday states against the Clinton War Machine.
Bill Clinton is obviously trying to turn the Democratic primaries into a White vs. Black race with his jabs towards race at every opportunity. For an enlightened party, the Democratics sure have become affixed on race in this campaign. Maybe it's because they don't have any real issues to show their differences. I should point out that I still believe Hilary will be the eventual nominee but it could get much, much uglier than I ever had envisioned.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
RR E-mails
Well, maybe the Governor was r . . . ri . . . rig . . -- well, not completely wrong. The recent disclosure of e-mails exchanged between Rich Rodriguez's agent Mike Brown and the University sheds some new light on the rift that was developing between the West Virginia and the coach. And much seems to be fueled by Brown as he demanded more money for everything.
Brown indicates clear back in August that Rodriguez wants more money for the football program. Additional advertising, a paid web-site, etc. Whether Rodriguez was fueling these demands or his agent is something that cannot be assessed by simply releasing some e-mails.
Some things the e-mails don't show is a breach by the University in fulfilling the agreements of RR's contract. The e-mails show additional demands from Brown but not requests to fulfill promises to RR. The University is going to take the stand that they would have met some of RR's requests following an opportunity to investigate the reasonableness and legality of the request (ie, a paid web-site similar to that for which Dennis Franchione was fired). When it became apparent the University wasn't going to bendover for Rodriguez, Brown began making threats about other openings which probably further entrenched the University to not bow.
At the end of the day, I think the e-mails help the University. After seeing how Brown was threatening the University and seeing the demands RR was making, I can see why the University would stand firm. If you allow RR to push around and restructure the entire athletic department based on his whims, you lose institutional control. And what a mess you are in when he leaves...which is becomes obvious he eventually would.
Brown indicates clear back in August that Rodriguez wants more money for the football program. Additional advertising, a paid web-site, etc. Whether Rodriguez was fueling these demands or his agent is something that cannot be assessed by simply releasing some e-mails.
Some things the e-mails don't show is a breach by the University in fulfilling the agreements of RR's contract. The e-mails show additional demands from Brown but not requests to fulfill promises to RR. The University is going to take the stand that they would have met some of RR's requests following an opportunity to investigate the reasonableness and legality of the request (ie, a paid web-site similar to that for which Dennis Franchione was fired). When it became apparent the University wasn't going to bendover for Rodriguez, Brown began making threats about other openings which probably further entrenched the University to not bow.
At the end of the day, I think the e-mails help the University. After seeing how Brown was threatening the University and seeing the demands RR was making, I can see why the University would stand firm. If you allow RR to push around and restructure the entire athletic department based on his whims, you lose institutional control. And what a mess you are in when he leaves...which is becomes obvious he eventually would.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Financial Meltdown?
As I have said before, the media lives off bad news and they enjoy playing up the prospects of a recession and stock market crash, housing crash, credit crash, etc. And while I believe the media does play some part in the recent down turn the economy, other factors obviously are at play here, including inflation due to higher energy costs which forces all prices higher.
So, what can we do to fix these problems is the question on the mind of analysts all over today. Of course, I have a few opinions that probably won't be overly popular but here goes:
1) Drill for oil everywhere. It has become apparent that OPEC has no interest in helping the American economy by increasing the output of oil so America needs to take care of itself by finding more oil in Alaska and off the coast of Florida and wherever else reserves may be. Also get back to building some power plants. Nuclear is the way to go to get the most bang for your buck...it's proven safe over the long haul and cost effective. Continue to develop alternative solutions for energy issues longterm but we're looking for answers now.
2) Encourage lending. Instead of threatening banks with investigations, continue to encourage lending to credible lending risks. Obviously, there has been some lending to unreputable sources that is causing a problem but with the threat of investigation, banks become apprehensive to lend to anyone. That just continues to prolong the suffering of everyone. Lower interest rates should encourage people to borrow.
3) Make the Bush tax cuts permanent. The more money people have to spend, the more money will be pumped into the economy. Tax rates are just ridiculously high. You cannot tax the economy back to life. No country has ever taxed itself to prosperity. Let citizens keep their money and everyone benefits.
Just a few ideas there. Personally, I don't see this momentary stagnation of the economy lasting for a long time. Everything has a way of balancing out and this is a correction brought on by an overly agressive housing market and external forces that we should have addressed long ago. I still see good days ahead for the American economy.
So, what can we do to fix these problems is the question on the mind of analysts all over today. Of course, I have a few opinions that probably won't be overly popular but here goes:
1) Drill for oil everywhere. It has become apparent that OPEC has no interest in helping the American economy by increasing the output of oil so America needs to take care of itself by finding more oil in Alaska and off the coast of Florida and wherever else reserves may be. Also get back to building some power plants. Nuclear is the way to go to get the most bang for your buck...it's proven safe over the long haul and cost effective. Continue to develop alternative solutions for energy issues longterm but we're looking for answers now.
2) Encourage lending. Instead of threatening banks with investigations, continue to encourage lending to credible lending risks. Obviously, there has been some lending to unreputable sources that is causing a problem but with the threat of investigation, banks become apprehensive to lend to anyone. That just continues to prolong the suffering of everyone. Lower interest rates should encourage people to borrow.
3) Make the Bush tax cuts permanent. The more money people have to spend, the more money will be pumped into the economy. Tax rates are just ridiculously high. You cannot tax the economy back to life. No country has ever taxed itself to prosperity. Let citizens keep their money and everyone benefits.
Just a few ideas there. Personally, I don't see this momentary stagnation of the economy lasting for a long time. Everything has a way of balancing out and this is a correction brought on by an overly agressive housing market and external forces that we should have addressed long ago. I still see good days ahead for the American economy.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Strike for the Upgrade
Beginning Thursday evening, we proceeded with consolidating documents from 6 offices into a central location in Clarksburg. That process was completed Saturday evening and we did some testing from the other 5 offices on Sunday and Monday, and while a bit slow, everything seemed to be working fine. Monday was a holiday so it wasn't a full test...today was the day when it would matter the most. Today would be the first day that the entire organization would log into the domain and attempt to work across the WAN. A true test...
That is until I received a call at 7:45 a.m. with an ominous message: The power is down in Clarksburg. Well, at least we have a never-fail system with redundancy to the Charleston office so people should still be able to get in and work. Right? Wrong. Apparently the never-fail system wasn't setup properly and didn't replicate.
So by 8:30 a.m. users were attempting to log-in and, obviously, couldn't. The Domain Controllers were down, the document system was down and there was no other system for users to log-in to. And, of course, this entire problem will be blamed on the upgrade despite the fact it is the fault of the building.
This is a major strike against the upgrade because people will now associate further progress as troublesome. Whether it is truly the fault of the new system or not, it will be assumed that everything that goes wrong is because of our move forward. It's not a good day here...not good at all. Maybe we were too ambitious for one weekend...attempting to migrate users to login to both Novell and Active Directory plus consolidate our documents in one weekend. Maybe we weren't. But one thing is for sure...there's going to be a lot more questions about this upgrade following this debacle today.
That is until I received a call at 7:45 a.m. with an ominous message: The power is down in Clarksburg. Well, at least we have a never-fail system with redundancy to the Charleston office so people should still be able to get in and work. Right? Wrong. Apparently the never-fail system wasn't setup properly and didn't replicate.
So by 8:30 a.m. users were attempting to log-in and, obviously, couldn't. The Domain Controllers were down, the document system was down and there was no other system for users to log-in to. And, of course, this entire problem will be blamed on the upgrade despite the fact it is the fault of the building.
This is a major strike against the upgrade because people will now associate further progress as troublesome. Whether it is truly the fault of the new system or not, it will be assumed that everything that goes wrong is because of our move forward. It's not a good day here...not good at all. Maybe we were too ambitious for one weekend...attempting to migrate users to login to both Novell and Active Directory plus consolidate our documents in one weekend. Maybe we weren't. But one thing is for sure...there's going to be a lot more questions about this upgrade following this debacle today.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Cheapshots
An awesome list of college football cheapshots during the 2007 season:
http://thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/2008/01/cheapest-shots-of-year.html
Calvin Magee's recent allegations against WVU are not included...
http://thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/2008/01/cheapest-shots-of-year.html
Calvin Magee's recent allegations against WVU are not included...
Eh...it's a Super Bowl
Patriots vs. Giants *yawn*
Does anyone care? The Patriots are going for a perfect season. Yeah, I guess that's interesting. Eli Manning is trying to get out from under the shadow of Peyton. Sure, that's going to be a storyline. But doesn't anyone really care who wins outside of Boston and New York? Sure, there's plenty of people who want the Patriots to lose because they're the Patriots and there are plenty of people who want New York to lose because of Eli...but is anyone really rooting for one of these teams to actually win?
San Diego should have eliminated the Patriots on Sunday. Three Brady interceptions and San Diego could only kick field goals. LT sat on the bench, injured, and sulked. Tomlinson may be the worst teammate in the NFL who isn't constantly discredited by the media. Rivers played a decent game, also injured, but couldn't score touchdowns. Why Norv Turner punted with 9 minutes to play is anyone's guess. I assume he thought the San Diego defense could make a stop. Well, that was obviously wrong. And so the Patriots are 18-0 in the Super Bowl again.
As for the Packers/Giants game...well, Eli Manning played a good game. No mistakes. On the other side, Favre cost the Packers the game. An interception in field goal range and an interception in overtime for the loss. Now the world goes on Favre watch to see if the guy is going to retire. Hopefully he drags it on until draft time so the Packers can't draft a replacement quarterback. I would bet $10 that he'll be back though...and, quite frankly, he should come back. He had a good season and, unless his arm falls off next year, there's no reason to believe they can't compete next season. That's as close to a compliment as I will give...
So, we now wait 2 weeks for Giants/Patriots in the Super Bowl. Two weeks of ESPN hype. Two weeks of everyone digging for plots for the game. Two weeks of interviews with Peyton and Archie Manning about Eli. I hope someone interviews Tiki Barber so he can explain why the Giants are so much better since his departure. Personally, I'm going to try to avoid the whole thing...so don't look for any more analysis here until after the "Big Game". And, just to get it out there, I will be rooting for the Giants but I can't imagine they'll win. If they do, I'll be quite happy...not because I particularly like New York...see above.
Does anyone care? The Patriots are going for a perfect season. Yeah, I guess that's interesting. Eli Manning is trying to get out from under the shadow of Peyton. Sure, that's going to be a storyline. But doesn't anyone really care who wins outside of Boston and New York? Sure, there's plenty of people who want the Patriots to lose because they're the Patriots and there are plenty of people who want New York to lose because of Eli...but is anyone really rooting for one of these teams to actually win?
San Diego should have eliminated the Patriots on Sunday. Three Brady interceptions and San Diego could only kick field goals. LT sat on the bench, injured, and sulked. Tomlinson may be the worst teammate in the NFL who isn't constantly discredited by the media. Rivers played a decent game, also injured, but couldn't score touchdowns. Why Norv Turner punted with 9 minutes to play is anyone's guess. I assume he thought the San Diego defense could make a stop. Well, that was obviously wrong. And so the Patriots are 18-0 in the Super Bowl again.
As for the Packers/Giants game...well, Eli Manning played a good game. No mistakes. On the other side, Favre cost the Packers the game. An interception in field goal range and an interception in overtime for the loss. Now the world goes on Favre watch to see if the guy is going to retire. Hopefully he drags it on until draft time so the Packers can't draft a replacement quarterback. I would bet $10 that he'll be back though...and, quite frankly, he should come back. He had a good season and, unless his arm falls off next year, there's no reason to believe they can't compete next season. That's as close to a compliment as I will give...
So, we now wait 2 weeks for Giants/Patriots in the Super Bowl. Two weeks of ESPN hype. Two weeks of everyone digging for plots for the game. Two weeks of interviews with Peyton and Archie Manning about Eli. I hope someone interviews Tiki Barber so he can explain why the Giants are so much better since his departure. Personally, I'm going to try to avoid the whole thing...so don't look for any more analysis here until after the "Big Game". And, just to get it out there, I will be rooting for the Giants but I can't imagine they'll win. If they do, I'll be quite happy...not because I particularly like New York...see above.
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Technology Upgrade
Feels like a good time to update everyone on the major technology upgrade we are undergoing at work --
We have spent this week adding user to the new Domain while continuing to keep them part of the Novell Network. To accomplish this, users needed to login to the domain using their old account for NDS while also logging into AD with their new account. In addition to that, we needed to copy their old Windows local account to their new AD account so they wouldn't lose all their settings. Supposedly a product called NDS Migrator was supposed to make this task simple. Well, it did when it worked, which was less than 50% of the time. In the end, we ended up manually copying and joining computers to the domain which took some time.
On Wednesday, I traveled to Wheeling at 8:00 a.m. and worked their until 5:00 p.m. and then drove to Martinsburg, arriving there at 9:00 p.m. Worked in that office until midnight and went to the hotel. Traveled back into Martinsburg Thursday morning to finish moving user acounts and then traveled back to Clarksburg on Thursday afternoon. I then proceeded to work the grave shift overnight from Thursday to Friday morning and finally got home this morning at 9:00 a.m. That's a long day...
Beginning Thursday we also began our Document Management System consolidation. So, basically we're taking 6 libraries of documents and consolidating them into 1 massive collection. Over 3 million documents were copied from the various libraries, renumbered, reprofiled and loaded into the new DMS. As I said, I worked overnight Thursday working on this and got about one-third of the way through. Sixteen PCs were setup in an office to perform the consolidation. I took a picture of the room, which was impressive, but I forgot the camera at the office. I'll get them on here Monday or Tuesday. The second shift is now working on this project and we're over 50% of the way complete on the DocsOpen consolidation.
The side effect of the Docs consolidation is that documents will be unavailable in all offices until the consolidation is finished sometime on Saturday. We have been sending notices of this fact since last Friday. And, of course, what do you think the calls were about this morning? Where are my documents? Oh, I didn't read that e-mail but I need my documents! People pay no attention to the announcements we make and they wonder why IT can be irritated. For over a week we have warned that documents would NOT be available beginning Thursday night but our users chose to ignore our warnings. But, regardless, the process must continue.
This is really a major milestone in moving forward. Once the consolidation is done, we will finalize a final DMS client for our PCs and update our Vista image with the new client. After that, we will patch Vista and Office 2007 and begin distributing test machines for an IT Proof of Concept beginning the week of January 28. Final POC testing on February 4th and we'll actually begin user testing on the week of February 11. If we can proceed without any additional issues, we will beging rolling out new Vista workstations with Office 2007 by March. Several months behind schedule but at least it should work. If not, I may be looking for other employment...
We have spent this week adding user to the new Domain while continuing to keep them part of the Novell Network. To accomplish this, users needed to login to the domain using their old account for NDS while also logging into AD with their new account. In addition to that, we needed to copy their old Windows local account to their new AD account so they wouldn't lose all their settings. Supposedly a product called NDS Migrator was supposed to make this task simple. Well, it did when it worked, which was less than 50% of the time. In the end, we ended up manually copying and joining computers to the domain which took some time.
On Wednesday, I traveled to Wheeling at 8:00 a.m. and worked their until 5:00 p.m. and then drove to Martinsburg, arriving there at 9:00 p.m. Worked in that office until midnight and went to the hotel. Traveled back into Martinsburg Thursday morning to finish moving user acounts and then traveled back to Clarksburg on Thursday afternoon. I then proceeded to work the grave shift overnight from Thursday to Friday morning and finally got home this morning at 9:00 a.m. That's a long day...
Beginning Thursday we also began our Document Management System consolidation. So, basically we're taking 6 libraries of documents and consolidating them into 1 massive collection. Over 3 million documents were copied from the various libraries, renumbered, reprofiled and loaded into the new DMS. As I said, I worked overnight Thursday working on this and got about one-third of the way through. Sixteen PCs were setup in an office to perform the consolidation. I took a picture of the room, which was impressive, but I forgot the camera at the office. I'll get them on here Monday or Tuesday. The second shift is now working on this project and we're over 50% of the way complete on the DocsOpen consolidation.
The side effect of the Docs consolidation is that documents will be unavailable in all offices until the consolidation is finished sometime on Saturday. We have been sending notices of this fact since last Friday. And, of course, what do you think the calls were about this morning? Where are my documents? Oh, I didn't read that e-mail but I need my documents! People pay no attention to the announcements we make and they wonder why IT can be irritated. For over a week we have warned that documents would NOT be available beginning Thursday night but our users chose to ignore our warnings. But, regardless, the process must continue.
This is really a major milestone in moving forward. Once the consolidation is done, we will finalize a final DMS client for our PCs and update our Vista image with the new client. After that, we will patch Vista and Office 2007 and begin distributing test machines for an IT Proof of Concept beginning the week of January 28. Final POC testing on February 4th and we'll actually begin user testing on the week of February 11. If we can proceed without any additional issues, we will beging rolling out new Vista workstations with Office 2007 by March. Several months behind schedule but at least it should work. If not, I may be looking for other employment...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
To Brett Favre Fans
UPDATE: 3/4/08 -- Brett Favre announced today that he will retire. I'll write more later on that but, in the meantime, I wish him the best. He will now reign over Green Bay as Queen Favre I. Seriously though, he was an excellent quarterback...but his hijacking of the Packer franchise over the past few years (this year excluded) was very unnecessary. Green Bay has treated him well...and they deserved better from him in the lean years. But, I digress...the Princess has now become a Queen...or something.
Dear Brett Favre fans,
On May 17, 2007, I officially proclaimed Brett Favre a Princess. As evidence of such a claim, I discussed Favre's whining over the fact the Packers passed on Randy Moss and Favre's constant wavering on retiring. I also pointed out Brett Favre's interception record and Favre's obvious attempts to hijack the Packer franchise.
This season has seen Favre return to the form he showed in the mid-90s. He is now one game away from returning to the Super Bowl. And all the Favre-lovers want respect for the man that threw 47 interceptions in 2005 and 2006 and has set an interception record with 288.
So, I will show a little respect for Favre today. He, with the assistance of those players around him, have led the Packers back into the playoffs. Perhaps his 28 TD passes as compared to 15 interceptions if the reason. But I will not give sole credit for the Packers rebirth to Favre. The presence of a running game and an improved defense have to be credited as well.
Regardless of all of that, Favre remains a Princess and I'm sure that he will pass blame to whoever he can when the Packers are eliminated from the playoffs this weekend. And he will continue to play games to increase his public perception to the detriment of the Packers organization and his fellow players. That's just the way a princess acts. However, if Favre does win the Super Bowl, I will remove his tiara and apoligize. Until then, I present Princess Favre:
Dear Brett Favre fans,
On May 17, 2007, I officially proclaimed Brett Favre a Princess. As evidence of such a claim, I discussed Favre's whining over the fact the Packers passed on Randy Moss and Favre's constant wavering on retiring. I also pointed out Brett Favre's interception record and Favre's obvious attempts to hijack the Packer franchise.
This season has seen Favre return to the form he showed in the mid-90s. He is now one game away from returning to the Super Bowl. And all the Favre-lovers want respect for the man that threw 47 interceptions in 2005 and 2006 and has set an interception record with 288.
So, I will show a little respect for Favre today. He, with the assistance of those players around him, have led the Packers back into the playoffs. Perhaps his 28 TD passes as compared to 15 interceptions if the reason. But I will not give sole credit for the Packers rebirth to Favre. The presence of a running game and an improved defense have to be credited as well.
Regardless of all of that, Favre remains a Princess and I'm sure that he will pass blame to whoever he can when the Packers are eliminated from the playoffs this weekend. And he will continue to play games to increase his public perception to the detriment of the Packers organization and his fellow players. That's just the way a princess acts. However, if Favre does win the Super Bowl, I will remove his tiara and apoligize. Until then, I present Princess Favre:
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Mountaineer Basketball -- Get Some
Attended the WVU/Syracuse basketball contest on Sunday and I must say I was quite impressed by the Mountaineers. I had only attended one other game this season and that was against the lowly Baltimore Eastern Shore. That wasn't much of a contest. You would expect Syracuse to put up quite a fight against the Mountaineers but that certainly wasn't the case as WVU dominated Syracuse all over the court.
The much criticized Alex Ruoff scored 23-points in the Mountaineers 20-point victory over the Orange. Alexander, Flowers, Nichols and Butler all contributed big-time to the home victory. WVU has now won 14 straight at the Coliseum. The thing that is most shocking about this years Mountaineers is their ability to grab rebounds. Despite being outsized, the Mountaineers were only outrebounded by 3 boards.
The physical prowess of this year's Mountaineers puts the Beilein system to shame. They fight for everything on defense but still run a good offensive system. The amount of open layups and short jumpers were unbelieveable. It's a good team and I will be very surprised if they don't make it to the NCAA tournament this year. They'll keep getting better --- and Michigan will keep getting worse.
The much criticized Alex Ruoff scored 23-points in the Mountaineers 20-point victory over the Orange. Alexander, Flowers, Nichols and Butler all contributed big-time to the home victory. WVU has now won 14 straight at the Coliseum. The thing that is most shocking about this years Mountaineers is their ability to grab rebounds. Despite being outsized, the Mountaineers were only outrebounded by 3 boards.
The physical prowess of this year's Mountaineers puts the Beilein system to shame. They fight for everything on defense but still run a good offensive system. The amount of open layups and short jumpers were unbelieveable. It's a good team and I will be very surprised if they don't make it to the NCAA tournament this year. They'll keep getting better --- and Michigan will keep getting worse.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Iran is like Britney
Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are very similar to Britney Spears. Now stick with me here because I'm really going somewhere with this...seriously. Let's start with Britney, shall we? Yes, we shall...
Britney Spears was once relevant to the world (or some people on said world). She was there entertaining people but eventually people got bored with her and started looking for other things to watch. But she couldn't stand not being the center of attention so she starting hanging out with other people who were bad influences. She started getting out of cars without panties so she would be in the headlines. The she really started going crazy and now most people are just sick of her but she can't come to the realization that she should just stay at home and take care of herself and her affairs. She still craves the public spotlight but the spotlight has moved on for most people.
And now, Mahmoud. Mahmoud became President in 2005 and started grabbing headlines by threatening Israel. He couldn't keep his mouth shut really. He talked of Iran's nuclear rights and everyone was paying attention. But, just like Britney, his act became old. You can only threaten Israel so many times before it loses some of its luster. He teamed up with Hugo and tried to show ties to North Korea...you know, the bad influences. But with recent success in Iraq and news that Iran suspended its nuclear program several years ago, Iran has faded into the background. Mahmoud still craves that spotlight and throws out a good controversial statement once in awhile to grab some headlines but he's not the center of attention he used to be. If he were smart, he would take the same advice I gave Britney which is to worry about home and not continue to draw unwanted attention to the negative sides of your country.
My guess is that both Britney and Mahmoud will fail to take my advice and both will continue to try to shock people to move the spotlight back to them. But for the most part, both are washed up and need to move on...at least that's what I think. And something tells me I'm not alone...
Britney Spears was once relevant to the world (or some people on said world). She was there entertaining people but eventually people got bored with her and started looking for other things to watch. But she couldn't stand not being the center of attention so she starting hanging out with other people who were bad influences. She started getting out of cars without panties so she would be in the headlines. The she really started going crazy and now most people are just sick of her but she can't come to the realization that she should just stay at home and take care of herself and her affairs. She still craves the public spotlight but the spotlight has moved on for most people.
And now, Mahmoud. Mahmoud became President in 2005 and started grabbing headlines by threatening Israel. He couldn't keep his mouth shut really. He talked of Iran's nuclear rights and everyone was paying attention. But, just like Britney, his act became old. You can only threaten Israel so many times before it loses some of its luster. He teamed up with Hugo and tried to show ties to North Korea...you know, the bad influences. But with recent success in Iraq and news that Iran suspended its nuclear program several years ago, Iran has faded into the background. Mahmoud still craves that spotlight and throws out a good controversial statement once in awhile to grab some headlines but he's not the center of attention he used to be. If he were smart, he would take the same advice I gave Britney which is to worry about home and not continue to draw unwanted attention to the negative sides of your country.
My guess is that both Britney and Mahmoud will fail to take my advice and both will continue to try to shock people to move the spotlight back to them. But for the most part, both are washed up and need to move on...at least that's what I think. And something tells me I'm not alone...
It's State Street!
It's been a short while since I talked about the major renovations happening in Fairmont. It's exciting...a waterpark and a road to Downtown. And Applebees opened. But I will focus in today on the I-79/Downtown Fairmont connector (or lack thereof).
The connector project has shockingly run short on funds. However they did find enough money to change my exit from Downtown to East Park Avenue and put up huge sign holders all along the construction area. The signs may be a bit premature considering there isn't a road leading from the nearly complete ramps to actual, you know, downtown. No fear though...the DOH is considering just connecting to the current State Street until the road can come up with the funds to be completed.
I don't know if you have traveled down State Street in its current condition or not but I have and, let me tell you, it's not a smooth ride. There are holes EVERYWHERE. Some will literally eat the tire off your car. There are portions of State Street where you seriously have to cross into the other lane of traffic to avoid total destruction of your vehicle. And they are seriously contemplating opening this up to interstate traffic?
To make matters worse, there is a huge water leak between the Dairy Mart on State Street and the lot that was formerly known as State Street School. It has been there for months and months and yet no one seems to want to do anything about it. Don't be surprised if there is another water shortage in February brought on solely by this massive State Street water leak.
Long story short, State Street is going to need major repairs to open the connector using the current two-lane road. So, does it make sense to really dump sorely needed funds into repairing a road they don't want or to push ahead and take that money and begin actual construction of the four-lane highway of the future? I would start the widening project now and get that road fixed instead of repaired and then go back to the working on the ramps later. But, hey, what do I know...I just live here. I'm sure Mr. Mollohan has a good plan...
The connector project has shockingly run short on funds. However they did find enough money to change my exit from Downtown to East Park Avenue and put up huge sign holders all along the construction area. The signs may be a bit premature considering there isn't a road leading from the nearly complete ramps to actual, you know, downtown. No fear though...the DOH is considering just connecting to the current State Street until the road can come up with the funds to be completed.
I don't know if you have traveled down State Street in its current condition or not but I have and, let me tell you, it's not a smooth ride. There are holes EVERYWHERE. Some will literally eat the tire off your car. There are portions of State Street where you seriously have to cross into the other lane of traffic to avoid total destruction of your vehicle. And they are seriously contemplating opening this up to interstate traffic?
To make matters worse, there is a huge water leak between the Dairy Mart on State Street and the lot that was formerly known as State Street School. It has been there for months and months and yet no one seems to want to do anything about it. Don't be surprised if there is another water shortage in February brought on solely by this massive State Street water leak.
Long story short, State Street is going to need major repairs to open the connector using the current two-lane road. So, does it make sense to really dump sorely needed funds into repairing a road they don't want or to push ahead and take that money and begin actual construction of the four-lane highway of the future? I would start the widening project now and get that road fixed instead of repaired and then go back to the working on the ramps later. But, hey, what do I know...I just live here. I'm sure Mr. Mollohan has a good plan...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
State of the State
So many lowlights from the State of the State address last night delivered from Governor Manchin. I was a little surprised, and somewhat disappointed, that he didn't appoint himself Offensive Coordinator of the West Virginia Mountaineers. But there were plenty of other things the governor addressed that I will tell you about:
- Teachers. Oh, those teachers always wanting more money. 3.5% last year...3% this year. And a $400 bonus. Okay...well, that sounds alright. I think the teachers would gladly set aside this "bonus" for another 1% actual raise but, hey, it's money. But the $20 million in funds the governor wants to set aside as a "signing bonus" for teachers who are in higher demand is a powder keg. A teacher who receives a "signing bonus" is going to fulfill their obligation to meet the bonus (2-3 years or whatever) and then move on to a higher paying job if their salary isn't up-to-par. Wouldn't it make more sense to put that money into actual teacher's salaries to help shore up good teachers? And I cannot see how the teacher's unions are going to let this go. I see some serious longterm issues if this is really attempted.
- Governor Manchin wants to "establish a commission to thoroughly review the anti-bullying practices of our schools." Are you serious? Biggest waste of money ever. You want to handle school issues? Give teachers and principals the authority to actually discipline students and have the local and state boards back up the personnel. There, study done.
And, lastly, this one is important enough not to bulletin -- the changes to the Promise Scholarship. Governor Manchin wants recipients to either work in state after graduation or pay back the Promise. Actually, this is pretty easy and I will address it with a quick letter for the Governor:
Governor, if you want people to stay in this state following graduation then do something to create jobs and create opportunities. You want people to stay in this state, cut taxes and help businesses. You want people to stay in this state, eliminate the business franchise tax.
Joe, have you been around the state lately? People aren't rich here. Maybe you have been hanging around athletics too long with Rich and Nick but most people don't make $2 to $4 million a year. People count on the Promise and, when they are finished with school, look for a good paying job. There aren't a lot of those being created in the State of West Virginia and you aren't doing enough to change that fact.
Threatening students who want to build better lives is not a solution to the state's real issues. Why punish those who are taking advantage of opportunities either in state or out? Most people who leave West Virginia really didn't want to but were forced to by the lack of good careers in this state. Change that first before you threaten those who use the Promise to better their lives.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Oh, Those Tears
I called it Monday. Hillary cried, rumors started circulating that she was contemplating leaving the race and *BOOOM*, 
Hillary surges at the last minute to win New Hampshire. The "It's Not Easy" speech with the watering eyes showed Hillary's "compassionate" side and ignited a fire under the women who would have otherwise been swooned by the rock star, Barack Obama. For anyone to think these series of events were anything other than a scripted plan by the reeling Clinton campaign is pure naivety. They attracted media attention at a time they needed it most and invoked sympathy from the Democrat caucus-goers. If anyone thought Hillary was going to go silently into the night, they obviously haven't watched the Clinton's for the past 16 years.
There remains one out for Senator Clinton should she choke on Super Tuesday and be forced to concede the Democratic nomation and that out is to become head football coach at the University of Michigan. She could follow the lead of Rich Rodriguez and abandon her team (or party) when the going gets tough. I've heard that neither Hillary nor Michigan will comment on any coaching searches but there could be an offer on the table for the former First Lady. Of course, you shouldn't believe everything you read on the West Virginia Message Boards but someone claimed to know someone that knew someone that knew Roger Clinton. Or maybe they said George Clinton.
Things aren't nearly as interesting on the Republican side. McCain, Romney, Guiliani, Huckabee, Thompson...they're all pretty close in the running but none of them inspire greatness or ridicule as much as their Democratic counterparts. McCain won New Hampshire but I don't see him getting the nomination. Huckabee shouldn't survive Super Tuesday. Thompson's campaign is pretty lethargic even though he probably is the only true conservative in the race. It seems to be a race between Guiliani and Romney. Wake me up if one of them does something vaguely interesting...
Hillary surges at the last minute to win New Hampshire. The "It's Not Easy" speech with the watering eyes showed Hillary's "compassionate" side and ignited a fire under the women who would have otherwise been swooned by the rock star, Barack Obama. For anyone to think these series of events were anything other than a scripted plan by the reeling Clinton campaign is pure naivety. They attracted media attention at a time they needed it most and invoked sympathy from the Democrat caucus-goers. If anyone thought Hillary was going to go silently into the night, they obviously haven't watched the Clinton's for the past 16 years.There remains one out for Senator Clinton should she choke on Super Tuesday and be forced to concede the Democratic nomation and that out is to become head football coach at the University of Michigan. She could follow the lead of Rich Rodriguez and abandon her team (or party) when the going gets tough. I've heard that neither Hillary nor Michigan will comment on any coaching searches but there could be an offer on the table for the former First Lady. Of course, you shouldn't believe everything you read on the West Virginia Message Boards but someone claimed to know someone that knew someone that knew Roger Clinton. Or maybe they said George Clinton.
Things aren't nearly as interesting on the Republican side. McCain, Romney, Guiliani, Huckabee, Thompson...they're all pretty close in the running but none of them inspire greatness or ridicule as much as their Democratic counterparts. McCain won New Hampshire but I don't see him getting the nomination. Huckabee shouldn't survive Super Tuesday. Thompson's campaign is pretty lethargic even though he probably is the only true conservative in the race. It seems to be a race between Guiliani and Romney. Wake me up if one of them does something vaguely interesting...
Server Room Pictures
Most people remember the pictures of the server room here at the office I posted a year or so ago. And well, a lot has changed in there. So, I will give you a before and after today to show the dramatic change:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Any questions?
Monday, January 07, 2008
Leaving So Soon?
Drudge is reporting that Hillary Clinton could be considering abandoning her run for President already. Losing in Iowa, trailing in New Hampshire and watching her lead nationally plummet, the former First Lady may be trying to cut her losses and minimize embarrassment to the Clinton name.
The question is whether there is any truth to this rumor or not. My guess is that this is a story planted by the Clinton Campaign to generate media reporting and warn Democrats that if they don't get in line behind Clinton soon, they will be stuck with Obama or Edwards. By threatening to leave the race, she's attempting to rally the troops to vote in the primaries and save her campaign. It will be interesting to see if this works or not...or, of course, I could be wrong and she's just really losing big time.
In an unrelated story that also involves leaving, I attended an East Fairmont basketball game this weekend. I don't attend many so it was entertaining to see the Bees score 103 points in their win over Brooke. More entertaining was an exchange between the one official at the game and a couple folks in attendance. Let me set the scene quickly: East Fairmont is leading Brooke by over 30-points. The ball is loose and Brooke and East players are scrambling and an East player is on the court and a Brooke player jumps on his head, possibly breaking his nose. A foul is called on another East player.
At this point, a fan from the crowd starts giving the ref "the business". He questions the officials ability to adequately officiate the game but nothing overly derogatory. Most officials would walk away but this referee decided to respond by saying there was a meeting on Sunday for new officials and they were always looking for new help. At this point, another fan chimes in that they definitely need new officials.
Apparently this set the ref over the edge and he asked security to excort both gentlemen from the game. Basically the referee threw out two patrons because he couldn't walk away and they were unhappy with the call. I know a ref has the authority to eject fans from games but this seemed like a huge error in judgement on the official's side. Dealing with criticism comes with the officiating job. Regardless, it was a very entertaining exchange and the first time I've seen a fan thrown out for just talking to the ref.
The question is whether there is any truth to this rumor or not. My guess is that this is a story planted by the Clinton Campaign to generate media reporting and warn Democrats that if they don't get in line behind Clinton soon, they will be stuck with Obama or Edwards. By threatening to leave the race, she's attempting to rally the troops to vote in the primaries and save her campaign. It will be interesting to see if this works or not...or, of course, I could be wrong and she's just really losing big time.
In an unrelated story that also involves leaving, I attended an East Fairmont basketball game this weekend. I don't attend many so it was entertaining to see the Bees score 103 points in their win over Brooke. More entertaining was an exchange between the one official at the game and a couple folks in attendance. Let me set the scene quickly: East Fairmont is leading Brooke by over 30-points. The ball is loose and Brooke and East players are scrambling and an East player is on the court and a Brooke player jumps on his head, possibly breaking his nose. A foul is called on another East player.
At this point, a fan from the crowd starts giving the ref "the business". He questions the officials ability to adequately officiate the game but nothing overly derogatory. Most officials would walk away but this referee decided to respond by saying there was a meeting on Sunday for new officials and they were always looking for new help. At this point, another fan chimes in that they definitely need new officials.
Apparently this set the ref over the edge and he asked security to excort both gentlemen from the game. Basically the referee threw out two patrons because he couldn't walk away and they were unhappy with the call. I know a ref has the authority to eject fans from games but this seemed like a huge error in judgement on the official's side. Dealing with criticism comes with the officiating job. Regardless, it was a very entertaining exchange and the first time I've seen a fan thrown out for just talking to the ref.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
It's a New Year - Let the Gloom Begin!
It's a new year so that can only mean doom and gloom for the world. The media couldn't wait to get out the forecast for 2008, and it calls for a shortage of oil and food, recession, inflation, housing market collapse, credit woes and joblessness. To hear the American media tell it, you would think the world was on the brink of the apocalypse due to global warming and American tyranny around the world. Of course, this is the old playbook they have been using since George W. Bush was elected president. Everything around the world was rosy until January 20, 2001 when the United States swore in the man that would bring destruction upon all.
Of course the media has something besides impending doom to look at thanks to the 2008 election season. A savior could arise to save the world from total collapse into archaic ruin. For that to occur though, our next president would have to be a Democrat. Or at a minimum a liberal (Hello, Mike Huckabee).
I refuse to buy in to the media's portrayal of the State of the Union. Yes, there are credit issues and housing issues. The dollar is weak but that should actually help the economy within a year or so. The credit problem is the fault of American's who overextended themselves over the past several years and now find themselves in a jam that they should have to deal with, not every one. The housing collapse is the fault of these "flippers" who never thought the real estate market would correct itself. Once again, it is not the job of the American public to bail out people who can't pay their mortgage. Obviously, if there are simple methods to keep foreclosures lower, those steps should be taken but the American government should not be on the hook for makring mortgage payments.
On the international front, I remain cautiously optimistic. Pakistan, thus far, has been able to absorb the loss of Benazir Bhutton and is moving ahead with election despite a delay. Iran has lowered their rhetoric and I believe there are probably more backdoor meetings occuring with that country than any of us could imagine. Iraq has turned a corner and, with some perseverance and luck, we can create a stable government that rejects terrorism and tyranny. I believe that we are making progress despite the so-called "cowboy" policy we have used to "alienate" the rest of the world.
When all is said and done, no one knows what 2008 will bring. Sure, it could turn bad but it could also turn really good. I have faith in the United States and its citizens to work through the credit and housing troubles. I have faith in the American military to maintain stability throughout the most volatile regions in the world. I even have faith in our government to stay out of the way so Americans can solve our problems (well, I have a little faith...). I do not have faith in receiving a fair and accurate portrayal of any of this from the media because they have made it clear that what is bad for us is good news for them. And the media has already forecast doom and gloom and they certainly don't want to be wrong.
Of course the media has something besides impending doom to look at thanks to the 2008 election season. A savior could arise to save the world from total collapse into archaic ruin. For that to occur though, our next president would have to be a Democrat. Or at a minimum a liberal (Hello, Mike Huckabee).
I refuse to buy in to the media's portrayal of the State of the Union. Yes, there are credit issues and housing issues. The dollar is weak but that should actually help the economy within a year or so. The credit problem is the fault of American's who overextended themselves over the past several years and now find themselves in a jam that they should have to deal with, not every one. The housing collapse is the fault of these "flippers" who never thought the real estate market would correct itself. Once again, it is not the job of the American public to bail out people who can't pay their mortgage. Obviously, if there are simple methods to keep foreclosures lower, those steps should be taken but the American government should not be on the hook for makring mortgage payments.
On the international front, I remain cautiously optimistic. Pakistan, thus far, has been able to absorb the loss of Benazir Bhutton and is moving ahead with election despite a delay. Iran has lowered their rhetoric and I believe there are probably more backdoor meetings occuring with that country than any of us could imagine. Iraq has turned a corner and, with some perseverance and luck, we can create a stable government that rejects terrorism and tyranny. I believe that we are making progress despite the so-called "cowboy" policy we have used to "alienate" the rest of the world.
When all is said and done, no one knows what 2008 will bring. Sure, it could turn bad but it could also turn really good. I have faith in the United States and its citizens to work through the credit and housing troubles. I have faith in the American military to maintain stability throughout the most volatile regions in the world. I even have faith in our government to stay out of the way so Americans can solve our problems (well, I have a little faith...). I do not have faith in receiving a fair and accurate portrayal of any of this from the media because they have made it clear that what is bad for us is good news for them. And the media has already forecast doom and gloom and they certainly don't want to be wrong.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Some Random Things
First, there seems to be a growing backlash against Coach Stewart a mere 24 hours after it became official that he is the new coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. It started with Ken Kendrick and has ballooned from there. There are many questions about his qualifications for the job and the circumstances surrounding his departure from VMI have raised several concerns. Many are afraid that hiring Coach Stewart was somewhat haphazard following the emotions of the Fiesta Bowl victory.
I am going to wait and reserve judgment. By bringing a splintered team together and pulling out a miraculous win over the Oklahoma Sooners, Coach Stewart earned a shot at leading the WVU Mountaineers in 2008 and beyond. No matter who you choose as coach, you're taking a leap of faith that they will be able to put together a winning program. Rich Rodriguez, while experienced and somewhat well-known, was not necessarily a "big name" hire. Only time can tell whether the University made a good or bad decision and I don't think it's fair to prematurely call the Stewart hire a failure until he has a chance to lead the Mountaineers on his own terms. Only then can we truly evaluate the decision fairly.
Next, Hilary Clinton took a hit last night in Iowa. The Clinton campaign has spent the last few weeks attempting to temper expectations in Iowa. A third-place finish has to hurt. Should she lose to Obama in New Hampshire, things could get very interesting on the Democrat side of the nomination race. The Clinton campaign has several major issues to resolve if they hope to put together a serious run for the presidency. I sense more troubles before they right the ship and ultimately win the nomination.
On the Republican side, I think nominating Mike Huckabee could be the biggest mistake the GOP could make. Huckabee is not an electable candidate. Democrats have to be hoping he gets the nomination. It's an uphill battle for the Republican candidate regardless of who is nominated. It the Republicans nominate Huckabee, they might as well concede the office to the Democrats.
Lastly this morning, I am still receiving e-mails regarding my post way back about Michael Vick kicking my dog. Apparently Vick has a lot of supporters out there. In case no one noticed, Michael Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for breaking the law. He is also facing felony charges in Virginia for his role in dogfighting and gambling activities. This is not a case of someone being wrongly accused. Vick, by pleading guilty, admitted to his role in dogfighting. And, by extension, dogfighting if for gambling. As I have said before, Mike Vick will never play in the NFL again and his supporters need to accept the fact that he is a criminal and a liar who blew his career. And he was never that great of a quarterback...
I am going to wait and reserve judgment. By bringing a splintered team together and pulling out a miraculous win over the Oklahoma Sooners, Coach Stewart earned a shot at leading the WVU Mountaineers in 2008 and beyond. No matter who you choose as coach, you're taking a leap of faith that they will be able to put together a winning program. Rich Rodriguez, while experienced and somewhat well-known, was not necessarily a "big name" hire. Only time can tell whether the University made a good or bad decision and I don't think it's fair to prematurely call the Stewart hire a failure until he has a chance to lead the Mountaineers on his own terms. Only then can we truly evaluate the decision fairly.
Next, Hilary Clinton took a hit last night in Iowa. The Clinton campaign has spent the last few weeks attempting to temper expectations in Iowa. A third-place finish has to hurt. Should she lose to Obama in New Hampshire, things could get very interesting on the Democrat side of the nomination race. The Clinton campaign has several major issues to resolve if they hope to put together a serious run for the presidency. I sense more troubles before they right the ship and ultimately win the nomination.
On the Republican side, I think nominating Mike Huckabee could be the biggest mistake the GOP could make. Huckabee is not an electable candidate. Democrats have to be hoping he gets the nomination. It's an uphill battle for the Republican candidate regardless of who is nominated. It the Republicans nominate Huckabee, they might as well concede the office to the Democrats.
Lastly this morning, I am still receiving e-mails regarding my post way back about Michael Vick kicking my dog. Apparently Vick has a lot of supporters out there. In case no one noticed, Michael Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for breaking the law. He is also facing felony charges in Virginia for his role in dogfighting and gambling activities. This is not a case of someone being wrongly accused. Vick, by pleading guilty, admitted to his role in dogfighting. And, by extension, dogfighting if for gambling. As I have said before, Mike Vick will never play in the NFL again and his supporters need to accept the fact that he is a criminal and a liar who blew his career. And he was never that great of a quarterback...
Thursday, January 03, 2008
And the Bill Stewart Era Begins
Bill Stewart in now 1-0 as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers thanks to some unbelievable plays by Pat White, Noel Devine, Owen Schmitt and a much-maligned defense that somehow withstood the barrage the Oklahoma Sooners threw at them. In arguably the biggest game in West Virginia history (oh, how we like superlatives), the Mountaineers answered so many questions: Is there life after Rodriguez? Were there too many distractions to play a good game? Where did that defense come from? Who is the next WVU coach? All decided on the play of White and the other Mountaineers.
The first thing is obvious. Life definitely does continue after Rich Rodriguez. Did Coach Rod ever have a game like we saw in the Fiesta Bowl? Outside of a win over Virginia Tech and the massive first quarter against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, have we ever seen WVU play four quarters of dominate football like they did against Oklahoma? The team played loose and opened the playbook a little and allowed our athletes to play ball. Sure, Slaton was injured but White, Schmitt, Devine, Reynaud and even Tito were allowed to make plays on the offensive side of the ball. White's arm wasn't perfect, but he threw enough to keep the Oklahoma defense honest.
There were distractions. The players and coaches admitted to it. Losing your coach and dealing with the State of West Virginia melting down could distract some people. McAfee was trying to figure out why people were destroying his car. Slaton was deciding whether to go to the NFL. And other players were trying to determine whether they were staying at WVU and, if they did, for whom they would be playing. But WVU took all the nervous energy and refocused and put together a game for the ages and didn't worry about the future. For 60 minutes, the Mountaineer focused solely on the opponent and all the distractions melted away, for both fans and players. And it was phenomenal.
Jeff Casteel may have saved his job with the dominate performance of the WVU defense. Did anyone expect West Virginia to stop Oklahoma and their freshman quarterback? While the special teams struggled on kickoff and punt coverage, the West Virginia defense stood tall against the vaunted Sooner offense. Sure, West Virginia was one of the top ranked defenses coming into the game but most people felt those numbers were somewhat disengenuous given the opponents. But Casteel's defense was faster and stronger than the Oklahoma defense. I was reminded of the days of the dominate WVU defense during the Nehlen era when West Virginia always did have one of the strongest defenses in the nation. Something I would enjoy seeing return.
Probably the biggest consequence of this win over Oklahoma is the fact that Bill Stewart is now coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. Pat White and the gang basically laid down the gauntlet for the University following the game by proclaiming Stewart their first choice and challenged the administration to do the same. Stewart obviously is highly respected but the questions are going to come about his ability to recruit and to put together a national championship caliber staff. While I have never enjoyed watching a coach on the sideline more than watching Stewart last night, questions will abound about his ability to keep this program at a high level.
But those are all questions for the future. For today, Bill Stewart is the 32nd coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers and West Virginia has won their 3rd bowl game in a row. The Mountaineers now add a Fiesta Bowl trophy to the archives and fans can look forward to what may be next year. Today, it truly is a great day to be a Mountaineer wherever you may be.
The first thing is obvious. Life definitely does continue after Rich Rodriguez. Did Coach Rod ever have a game like we saw in the Fiesta Bowl? Outside of a win over Virginia Tech and the massive first quarter against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, have we ever seen WVU play four quarters of dominate football like they did against Oklahoma? The team played loose and opened the playbook a little and allowed our athletes to play ball. Sure, Slaton was injured but White, Schmitt, Devine, Reynaud and even Tito were allowed to make plays on the offensive side of the ball. White's arm wasn't perfect, but he threw enough to keep the Oklahoma defense honest.
There were distractions. The players and coaches admitted to it. Losing your coach and dealing with the State of West Virginia melting down could distract some people. McAfee was trying to figure out why people were destroying his car. Slaton was deciding whether to go to the NFL. And other players were trying to determine whether they were staying at WVU and, if they did, for whom they would be playing. But WVU took all the nervous energy and refocused and put together a game for the ages and didn't worry about the future. For 60 minutes, the Mountaineer focused solely on the opponent and all the distractions melted away, for both fans and players. And it was phenomenal.
Jeff Casteel may have saved his job with the dominate performance of the WVU defense. Did anyone expect West Virginia to stop Oklahoma and their freshman quarterback? While the special teams struggled on kickoff and punt coverage, the West Virginia defense stood tall against the vaunted Sooner offense. Sure, West Virginia was one of the top ranked defenses coming into the game but most people felt those numbers were somewhat disengenuous given the opponents. But Casteel's defense was faster and stronger than the Oklahoma defense. I was reminded of the days of the dominate WVU defense during the Nehlen era when West Virginia always did have one of the strongest defenses in the nation. Something I would enjoy seeing return.
Probably the biggest consequence of this win over Oklahoma is the fact that Bill Stewart is now coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. Pat White and the gang basically laid down the gauntlet for the University following the game by proclaiming Stewart their first choice and challenged the administration to do the same. Stewart obviously is highly respected but the questions are going to come about his ability to recruit and to put together a national championship caliber staff. While I have never enjoyed watching a coach on the sideline more than watching Stewart last night, questions will abound about his ability to keep this program at a high level.
But those are all questions for the future. For today, Bill Stewart is the 32nd coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers and West Virginia has won their 3rd bowl game in a row. The Mountaineers now add a Fiesta Bowl trophy to the archives and fans can look forward to what may be next year. Today, it truly is a great day to be a Mountaineer wherever you may be.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
The "Disappointed" Rich Rodriguez
Poor Rich Rodriguez was "disappointed" by the lawsuit West Virginia University filed to collect the $4 million dollars he owes the University. He was also surprised by "the scope of animosity" from the fans and admininistration. My favorite quote from Rodriguez is "I don't think that's normal. That's not normal protocol, I didn't think. Imagine my shock watching the game at the hotel with my family and it comes across that ticker, getting sued for $4 million. That wasn't a good night."
Well, Rich, imagine the disappointment and surprise from thousands of Mountaineer fans when they found out you went out to Toledo to meet with Michigan officials after professing your desire to stay at West Virginia. Imagine the disappointment and surprise of the WVU athletic department when it was revealed you planned to break a contract you just signed 6 months previous. Imagine the hopes of you leading us to a BCS Championship being dashed by Pitt and then the announcement that you would leave.
To pretend that you are surprised by the outpouring of emotion by Mountaineer fans is disingenuous at best. What reaction did you expect as you abandon a team that is getting ready to play in their second BCS bowl ever? Did you expect congratulations and best of luck from the Mountaineer fans that pay ever-increasing prices for your salary? Did you expect the athletic department to say "Hey, don't worry about that buyout."? You made a promise to Mountaineer fans and West Virginia University when you signed a contract stating you would be the coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers and you broke that promise when you resigned.
You are the one who has insinuated that you wouldn't be paying the buyout which left the university no choice but to file suit. And rightfully they have done so. Your innuendos that the university is in breach of contract has not been backed up by any fact what-so-ever. If there is proof that the atheletic department didn't live up to its word, then let that be known. Otherwise, pay the $4 million dollars that you owe West Virginia University and Mountaineer fans.
Rich Rodriguez lied to Mountaineer fans and to West Virginia University. He broke promises made to student-athletes and individual donors. And he continues to fight the University on money he owes them. Yet, he remains "surprised" that West Virginia fans are no longer fans of his. Delusional is the only word that comes to mind.
Well, Rich, imagine the disappointment and surprise from thousands of Mountaineer fans when they found out you went out to Toledo to meet with Michigan officials after professing your desire to stay at West Virginia. Imagine the disappointment and surprise of the WVU athletic department when it was revealed you planned to break a contract you just signed 6 months previous. Imagine the hopes of you leading us to a BCS Championship being dashed by Pitt and then the announcement that you would leave.
To pretend that you are surprised by the outpouring of emotion by Mountaineer fans is disingenuous at best. What reaction did you expect as you abandon a team that is getting ready to play in their second BCS bowl ever? Did you expect congratulations and best of luck from the Mountaineer fans that pay ever-increasing prices for your salary? Did you expect the athletic department to say "Hey, don't worry about that buyout."? You made a promise to Mountaineer fans and West Virginia University when you signed a contract stating you would be the coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers and you broke that promise when you resigned.
You are the one who has insinuated that you wouldn't be paying the buyout which left the university no choice but to file suit. And rightfully they have done so. Your innuendos that the university is in breach of contract has not been backed up by any fact what-so-ever. If there is proof that the atheletic department didn't live up to its word, then let that be known. Otherwise, pay the $4 million dollars that you owe West Virginia University and Mountaineer fans.
Rich Rodriguez lied to Mountaineer fans and to West Virginia University. He broke promises made to student-athletes and individual donors. And he continues to fight the University on money he owes them. Yet, he remains "surprised" that West Virginia fans are no longer fans of his. Delusional is the only word that comes to mind.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008
A quick 2007 in review: WVU over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl. Boise State upsets Oklahoma. Nick Saban goes to Alabama and Bill Cowher retires. Florida wins a national championship in football. And basketball. Snickers airs a "controversial" ad during the Super Bowl and Michael Irvin is removed from ESPN. Teachers threaten a walkout for more money and gas prices rise, rise, rise. "West Virgina" wins the NIT Championship and John Beilein leaves for Michigan. Bobby Huggins comes home. Hilary, Rudy, Obama, McCain and Romney provide entertainment for everyone while sports are not on. Barry Bonds is indicted and the Mitchell report is released (which I read every page). WVU begins preseason Top 5 and then loses to South Florida and Pitt. East Fairmont advances in the playoffs for the first time ever. The dollar drops, housing markets "collapse" and gas still rises. WVU gets invited to the Fiesta Bowl and Rich Rodriguez leaves for Michigan and WVU can't find a coach. Which is far more important in the eyes of Mountaineer fans than, say, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.
Oh, what a year it was. Good things, bad things...a typical year. But that's all behind us now...the question is what is going to happen in 2008 -- and here are some burning questions:
Oh, what a year it was. Good things, bad things...a typical year. But that's all behind us now...the question is what is going to happen in 2008 -- and here are some burning questions:
- Who will be the next coach of West Virginia? Could the rumors about Nick Saban turn true? Will WVU hire Butch Jones and completely alienate the fans? And how much will ticket prices rise? PREDICTION: WVU settles for Jones and Ed Pastilong announces his retirement in 2009. And Rodriguez pays $3 million of the $4 million buyout.
- Where's the basketball team going? Can Huggins compete for a Big East title this year? PREDICTION: WVU finishes 7th in the Big East and ends up back in the NIT this year. But watch out next year...
- Can Beilein and Rodriguez win at Michigan? PREDICTION: Beilein continues to struggle until he is fired. Rodriguez has a good year but loses to Ohio State (9-3).
- Who is running for President? PREDICTION: Rudy Guiliani allows Romney and Huckabee take each other out and becomes the Republican candidate. The Hilary Attack Machine gears up and takes down Obama. Rudy is the new president...
- What's going to happen in Pakistan? PREDICTION: Uneasy peace for the entire year. Musharraf declares emergency states serveral times throughout the year to keep power.
- How will WVU football perform in 2008? PREDICTION: Eh, not a BCS Championship.
So, I'm sure there are far more pressing questions that I didn't answer but that's all I can think of at the moment. Watch out for tomorrow's Fiesta Bowl. WVU should be playing some inspired football and I don't believe it will be the blowout the Corso predicted. I hope there can be some reconciliation between the WVU Athletic Department and the MAC donors or it's going to be a long, cold couple years as WVU tries to stay competitive in football and basketball. Maybe it's just too much to ask...
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