More rewards from the journey

While taking an idea from concept to reality is a very rewarding part of the journey, it is not quite over yet.  There are still many tasks that must be completed in order to finish the project.  The software must pass Quality Assurance to verify that it meets or exceeds the product requirements and specifications.

Then the software must survive real world use.

The final test is when the software is released into the wild. 

The greatest reward for a software developer is when people use it, recommend it to others and it survives the test of time.

NOTE: I have had the good fortune of developing software and firmware for several products that are still in production and actively being sold on the market today.

Developing software is rewarding is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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Here’s the quote from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll

Alice: I simply must get through!
Doorknob: Sorry, you’re much too big. Simply impassible.
Alice: You mean impossible?
Doorknob: No, impassible. Nothing’s impossible.

Looking back on the hike in Yosemite, we knew it wasn’t impossible to get to the other side, it was just impassible for awhile.  We followed the trail along the merced river until we got to a footbridge that led us to the other side.  From there we could finish our journey to our intended destination.

Sometimes when life situations seem impossible to overcome we need someone with another point of view that can tell us it’s not impossible, just impassible right now.

Don’t forget to keep your positive and optimistic friends around you.  When something seems impossible, they can be your biggest asset.

Simply impassible…Nothing’s impossible. is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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An Articulation Agreement is a written agreement between one educational institution and another institution that lists courses and their equivelant at the other college.  The purpose of this agreement is to help students easily transfer credits between educational systems; this is especially useful for transferring from a 2 year to a 4 year college.

Don’t assume any of your college credit is transferrable.  If you plan to attend more than one college to complete your education you should check the college articulation agreements.

If you attended college in California, you can check public articulation agreements by visiting  ASSIST (Articulation System Stimulating Inter-institutional Transfer)

Knowing which colleges have Articulation Agreements and which courses are being articulated can help you make important decisions about your educational future.

Articulation Agreements and degree acceptance is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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1. College names and reputations
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The other day I visited a college fair.  You get to talk with representatives of different colleges about their college or university and how it might fit your needs.  As I went from table to table, I would introduce myself and ask them 2 questions.  First, are they regionally accredited?  Second, do they offer the degree I’m looking for?  If they answered NO to either of those questions, I said thanks and then moved on to the next one.  I found four colleges that seemed to offer what I was looking for.

The next day I was sharing my experience with a friend who asked me another question.  What about their reputation?  She works in human resources and notices things like that.  When I enquired about what she was talking about, she said some colleges or universities have reputations.  After pondering that, I have to agree with her.  A reputation, good or bad, can be associated with the name of a school.  Reputation is one more thing that must be considered when looking for a school. 

Upon further investigation of the four colleges I found at the college fair,  everything was not exactly what it seemed.  Some of the schools weren’t listed for Federal Student Aid.

Questions to ask a prospective college:

1. Do they offer a degree in the major you’re looking for?
   • It doesn’t make sense to attend a school that doesn’t offer the major you’re looking for unless the college transfers into the graduate school you want to attend.
2. Where were their professors educated?
   • Hopefully the educators have a diverse mix of education from well known universities.
3. What kind of accreditation do they have?
   • Does it matter?  You betcha, if you plan to continue your education at another college.
   • Some employers and educational institutions assign more credibility to certain types of accreditation.
   • Check with prospective employer(s) about the kind of education they’re looking for in an employee.
4. Will the graduate school you’re planning to attend accept a Bachelor’s Degree from their college or university?
   • Some colleges will accept the credit if it is from a college that is accredited by the same type of accrediting agency.
   • Usually, they will tell you that you can get a Masters Degree through their college.
5. Does their school qualify for Federal Student Aid?
6. If the college is not listed, you might want to investigate further.  Why didn’t the college qualify?
7. How much will it cost per semester?
8. What about books, lab and parking fees?
9. Where is their campus located?
10. What is their student/faculty ratio?

Research you need to do:

1. Verify the college’s credibility
2. Google their reputation
3. Read reviews
4. Check with your online networks for opinions
5. See where employees of your target company went to school – you can find this information on LinkedIn or with Google. 
6. Check if the school is listed for Federal Student Aid.  http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/FSLookupServlet
7. Check Accreditation
   • Database of all accredited postsecondary institutions (Regional, National, DETC): http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx
   • Regionally accredited colleges including Junior Colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/
   • List of regionally accredited colleges: http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/colleges/reg_accred.html

College names and reputations is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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The car was supposed to be in the shop for one day; I figured 24 hours without my car wouldn’t be a major problem.  I live within walking distance of some places I had to go.  However, just an hour before I was to pick up the car, I was contacted by the service department.  They had to tell me the bad news; there was a shipping problem.  The part didn’t arrive as expected, so it would be another 24 hours before I would get my car back.  They offered me a loaner for the inconvenience so I took them up on the offer.  I never realized how dependent I have become on my car.

Activities while I had the loaner:

• Drove to a meeting.
• Picked up supplies for repairing a bicycle.
• Used an electric pump powered by the car.
• Drove to the store.

Things I learned from this experience:

• If you need to leave your car in the shop, plan on being without your car for 48 hours.
• Allow for extra time when you’re walking, plan on taking twice as long as you think you’ll need.
• I depend on my car way too much

Eye-opening questions:

• Would you be able to get to work or school without your car?
• What if your car were in the shop 2 or 3 days?
• Do you have alternate transportation?
• Do you have friends who would help you with your traveling needs?
• How do other people handle transportation challenges?

At this point in my life, I don’t know what I would do for an extended period of time without a car.  I know of some people who have managed to do it for a while.  It definitely takes some extra effort.

What would you do?

How dependent on cars are we? is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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You might have skipped over an essential part of the trail.  Sure, you might have reached the destination earlier, but you missed important details you needed when you arrived.  On the suggested path you might have met someone along that way who would be your guide and give you important advice about the pitfalls to avoid.  The experience you might receive from traveling the extra mile is priceless, especially when that extra mile gives you wisdom and insight into future decisions.

When it comes to learning new skills, there comes a time when the student thinks they know all there is to know about the skill.  Even though the teacher says there are still many things to learn, the student decides to short circuit their studies and ventures off into the real world.  Sooner or later, the student realizes they do not know all there is to know about the skill.  The smart ones return to finish their training from the master of the skill.

The next time you are learning a new skill, remember to follow the advice of the masters of the skill.  The masters have earned wisdom through knowledge and practical experience.  The masters share their wisdom with the students who will listen.  The wise students become masters through listening, practising, then teaching others what they have learned.  In order to teach a skill you must understand it.

Remember: No Shortcuts.  Complete the Journey.

No shortcuts is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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Basic cooking skills

Your kids should know their way around a kitchen.  They don’t need to be chefs, but they should know some basic skills.

These include being able to:

• Properly wash their hands before cooking
• Properly handle kitchen utensils, such as knives
• Prevent cross contamination of food
• Properly clean cooking surfaces before/after cooking
• Follow cooking directions
• Measure ingredients
• Boil water
• Grill a sandwich
• Mix batter
• Cook pancakes or waffles
• Cook pasta
• Cook an egg
• Make toast
• Bake a potato
• Cook a frozen dinner
• Reheat food

Laundry skills

To help your clothes stay clean, they need to be washed.  An important skill is knowing how to separate whites and darks from colors into separate loads.  Another skill is having the ability to read the label for special instructions.  It is also essential to know what temperature to use for washing and drying clothes.  Finally, it is useful to know how to fold and put away clothes.

Cleaning skills

Every person should know how to wash dishes and sweep and mop floors.  They should also learn how to keep a toilet and tub clean.  A particularly important skill is knowing how to read the directions for proper use of cleaning agents.

Effective communication skills

Say what you mean and make sure your audience understands you.  Verbal and written communication are very important skills that will help you survive in the real world.

Time management

The ability to get to appointments on time is key to success.  This  includes the ability to go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up on your own.

Proper hygiene

Nobody wants to be around someone who has a hygiene problem.  Hygiene falls into several categories.

• Oral – brush & floss daily, visit the dentist regularly
• Hair – keep hair clean and brushed
• Body – shower or take baths frequently
• Clothing – make sure your clothes are properly washed and cared for and not showing excessive wear.

Financial management

While the ability to earn money is a great skill, there is an even greater skill that will help you get ahead in this world.  It’s the ability to hold on to a portion of what you earn for future needs.

Personal responsibility

This is probably the trickiest one.  Sometimes, while growing up, young ones have not been held accountable for their actions.  This is probably the hardest one to undo.  Every action or inaction a person takes has consequences.  The sooner this is learned the better chances of survival they have.  Blaming your past actions on someone else will not solve the problems you have today.  Taking responsibility for where you are, good or bad, is the right thing to do.

Urban survival skills for living in the real world is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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3. No shortcuts

But sometimes we get so caught up in sending out the message that we forget who we’re sending it to. If we’re not careful the message might not be received or it might be misinterpreted.

We need to stop and consider our intended audience. How do they communicate with others in their network? Have they communicated with you in the past? What was their preferred method?

If you only communicate via email and they communicate via LinkedIn then it doesn’t matter if you sent the message or not. They’re not going to get it or, worse, they’ll receive it too late to do anything about it.

My wife tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with our step-daughter for what seemed like a month. She tried and tried but the expected response never came.

When I heard about this problem, I said: “I see her all the time on Facebook. Why don’t you just send her the message using Facebook?”

My wife took my advice and within 30 minutes she got a reply. It wasn’t the message, it was the method of delivery that was the problem.

There is one final part of the equation that we need to remember when we’re communicating with our social networks.

Even if you have the right message and you figure out the right communication method(s), you still need to remember the timing of the message.

I recently tried to share an important message with a group of individuals but it was not well received. The problem was not the message or the method of delivery. It was all about the timing.

Sometimes, a perfectly good message is not received because the audience is not ready to hear it yet, or because the messenger hasn’t taken the time to develop a rapport with their intended audience.

I’ve learned that even though communication method is very important to getting the message across to your audience, rapport and timing are essential to acceptance of the message.

Keys to successful communication is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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Regarding Connection:

• No Login Required
• Required Acceptance of terms of service & acceptable use.

NOTE: This was much easier than the double login required at Starbucks

Website Access:

• Visited all the sites I normally use without issues
• Visited mrwes.net, Yeah McDonald’s, no gateway or firewall issues.

NOTE: Starbucks, had some weird issues with my website.  I’m already “Lovin’ McDonald’s”

Regarding videos:

• Had access to video channels
• Embedded YouTube videos (No problems)
• YouTube.com (No problems)
• Revision3.com/tekzilla (No problems)
• Geekbrief.tv (No problems)

NOTE: Some videos performed better in lower resolution

Regarding noise:

• There music was a little more geared towards teenagers
• A few more teenagers introduces more noise

NOTE: Bring headphones to cancel out the extra noise from the crowd and house music.

Regarding Coffee:

• McDonald’s Mocha was pretty good

Regarding Electrical Outlets:

• Starbucks wins on available outlets
• Starbucks are designed to accomodate people staying awhile.

Regarding WiFi cost:

• No Charges

McDonald’s WiFi service is FREE!!! is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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Count the cost
It seems like many stores are competing early for shoppers’ dollars earlier this holiday. The sales have already begun. Why wait for a sale and fight the crowds when you can get it a few days earlier without all the hassles? Most of the time, people are rushing from place to place, trying to get that bargain, standing in long lines to save a few dollars. It is true, you might save $20 or $30 bucks but at what cost? If you count the number of hours spent standing in lines and multiplied that by the value of your time, you might discover you come out ahead when you buy a few days earlier or a few days after Black Friday. We already counted the cost and decided to make a purchase early. The time we spend on Friday morning will be with each other over breakfast at the local Waffle shop.

Watch for crazy drivers
I’ve noticed that a lot of people are starting to drive crazy. Drivers seem to have a lot of stuff on their minds and concentrating on the road doesn’t seem to be on their list of concerns. What does this mean for everybody else? It means the only person that is watching out for you is you. Keep your eye out for those people who are not paying attention. Be careful when you’re entering intersections. I’ve already seen a few people run red lights in intersections. Don’t assume everybody will be courteous on the road.

Have you noticed a change in people’s behavior already? Is it my imagination or is there something to it?

Christmas Shopping starting early this year is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

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