I like having an unusual last name. I like that I know its history. "Hochee" only goes back a few generations, a poorly anglicized version of the Romanian "Hociota." It's got character. Spunk.
Alas, the growing power of search engines has begun to encroach on the novelty. Google for "hochee" and you get 13 pages of results. My step-gram dominates the first few pages with her notoriety on the highly competitive llama showing scene, and Dad and I get a few honorable mentions in the chess tournament standings, but what about all those other pages? I found one WWI-era quote from Nick Hochee that I think might be familial, but I categorically reject any connection with the fellow who gives visitors to Amsterdam advice on guns, the modification of bongs, and navigating the red-light district. What about John Elphinstone James Hochee, a 19th century scholar from Buckingham? As for Bita Hochee, I first guessed it to be the name of some geologic formation in nothern Arizona. Apparently a Martian meteorite was found there, and it seems to be a hotbed of religious and musical energy (uh, not sure if there's a connection there). Then I discovered this:
"... Bita Hochee, [Arizona] a town of six or seven people where seasoned church-planters Andrew and Sharon Torbett are making a stand for the gospel at a church called Broken Arrow Chapel (Assemblies of God)."
Again, I categorically deny any connection.
Today I suggested to one of our customers that the network problems they were experiencing were due to a solar flare. They rightly took this in good humour. Couple a hours later and I hear on the radio that we have just been bombarded the past day with vast amounts of radiation from a solar flare aligned perfectly with the earth. On the 1 to 5 scale of solar flare-up savagery, this flamin' electron bomb scored a 5. Airlines that had scheduled over-the-poles flights actually flew at lower altitudes to reduce the risk of instrument failure. A Japanese satellite was reportedly knocked out of commission. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Brian Greene might have his head in the clouds with his talk of string theories and a 10-D world, but it's still a fascinating topic to contemplate, a little something to help shake my eyes away from my day-to-day tunnel-vision. A grand unified theory has been the holy grail of theoretical physics for a century, and while still buried in mounds of unverifiable speculation, it seems possible that some real answers may be almost within grasp. However, I appreciated Mr. Greene's big-picture perspective:
"If we did finally have the unified theory, if we did finally have the deep laws of the universe in hand, that in a very real sense would also be a beginning. It would be the beginning of our quest to use that deep understanding to fully explore this universe, to fully understand black holes and stars and galaxies and even the big bang, to fully understand how things got to be the way they are. So in many ways, it would just be the start. A unified theory would put us at the doorstep of a vast universe of things that we could finally explore with precision."
Can't help but pull out once again this new favorite quote:
"Try to grasp the endless possibilities to conceive, create, and construct things. There will be no limit to the opportunities for us to develop and make use of our creativity. When we reflect on the abundance of creation, it is obvious that eternity is the only time measure that can do justice to life’s possibilities." - w99 10/15.
Hey? How did my links go AWOL? Come back links!
I didn't make any technical changes, and I've rebuilt my entire site. All you seasoned MT vets, what say you? Do I just sit tight and wait for the link fairy to wave her wand?
* edit *
I guess the fairy was nearby, cause it's working now.
* edit *
And now it's not. I give up.
I got the keyboard. If I had timed it a tad better, I probably could have saved myself $40, but I bid with 1.5 minutes left, more than enough time for my competitor to get in rebuttals, twice. It was still a good price for this board. I love that warm fuzzy feeling of affirmation when eBay declares in no uncertain terms that I AM A WINNER!
Of course, come to find out that this keyboard has no speakers. Duh. I've wanted to get some nice computer speakers for a while, so this was all the incentive I needed. Done.
Went biking this weekend with a friend and got to take some time to appreciate just how beautiful it is around here. These four pictures were all taken within just a few miles of my place. We were more focused on finding good singletrack than setting up lush shots, but you get the idea.
I thought this was also worthy of mention. Inspiring, isn't it?
Thinking back over the past year, I came to the conclusion that days were better when I was doing more cooking at home. Of course, this doesn't establish cause and effect. Was I cooking more because the days were better, or were the days better cause my home cookin is so crankin' sweet? Who cares, right? The point is that I am once again cooking at home more often, and I like it.
The camera people told me the ship date has been pushed back another couple weeks. Whatever.
I'm bidding on a synthesizer. I miss playing the piano, and this board isn't a phenom synth or controller ('cause it's old), but it's got a rep for fantastic weighted key action and good piano and organ sounds. That's really all I'm looking for at the moment, but when it's time for me to get sweet, I'll probably want a better controller.
Closing thought: It's strange, but ignoring problems doesn't make them disappear. Oh well.
My hernia has healed up well. Turns out I had two small tears right next to each other. Doc opted to stitch them rather than use the standard mesh technique. Fine by me.
I'm heading to NYC the last week of November. If you would like me to bring you something, either to or from, just let me know. Of course, delivery charges may apply and no, I'm probably not cheaper than FedEx.
My roommate is officially engaged and will be moving out in the near future. Anybody looking for a cheap place in a lovely area of the country? Not only is the Spokane area beautiful and have great weather, but, as my pa is quick to point out, it's situated right in the middle of one of the most economically depressed regions of the country. Don't worry. Be happy.
I found this oddly amusing: Fun with Fish
Cool Stuff:
iTunes for Windows
Radio@Netscape
Both are boku sweet for the PC-based music lover.
There was a brush fire somewhere nearby today, and as I drove home into the normally blinding sun the thick gray haze caused it to look exactly like the moon. Exactly like. I've heard that they're about the same size from our perspective, but I've never seen it like this before. Wild.
For the first time, I feel like I'm in control of my job, rather than vice versa. I'm finally understanding how to avoid being taken advantage of, without sacrificing quality.
It sure is swell that Californians finally got their apathetic and spineless governor replaced by a misogynist, racist salesman with healthy name recognition. Three cheers for democracy.
Ok, I realize it was a bit unfair to whine without giving actual details, but I didn't want to bore you. I dropped off a coworker at the mechanic to pick up her car, and en route we got to talking about things we don't like about management. She's been here a while, and divulged such gems as:
A) Our best secretary has been working here for more than twenty years, well before the current owners came along, but she still gets paid tiddles. When she was offered a job by one of our customers for more than twice the pay, the owners wouldn't release her, threatening to sue if she took the job. Although the customer is not a direct competitor, some of the services they provide are similar, and the boss made it clear that she couldn't go. She didn't even get a raise.
B) Our best technician has been here seven years. She is brilliant, and is the only one here who really knows the ins and outs of the time and attendance systems we specialize in. She is amazingly loyal, and frequently works long hours without requesting the additional compensation she is due. Several of us agree that this place would fall apart without her. Recently, when she expressed dissent over certain issues, management made it clear in no uncertain terms that she is expendable. When my immediate manager quit, she was promoted and took over the position, but still retained most of her old responsibilities. She got a lousy 1$/hr raise, and has been working 12-14 hour days for the past six weeks. The bosses haven't demonstrated a bit of appreciation. Instead they just load her with more work and chastise her for not getting stuff done, even though she's easily doing the work of two full-time jobs. She told me yesterday that she used to love her job, and that now, for the first time ever, she seriously wants to stay in bed and call in sick.
C) The owner and his wife sold their stock in the company a few years ago to start an employee owned share system (ESOP) which I thought is pretty neat. They used that as leverage for justifying the exceptionally low pay rate to new employees, myself included. It never occurred to me that the two longtime employees, including the aforementioned secretary, will not be eligible to benefit from this. Also, the owner is still receiving a pay check from our company, even though he spends 80-90% of his time working with his new startup, which currently hasn't made any money. This didn't bother me initially, but then I realized that when the startup does become profitable, only he and a couple others will benefit, not the rest of us who are paying his check. Basically, they're milking a core of hardworking, underpaid people for their own benefit, and using the ESOP arrangement to blind the new people to what's really happening.
All that was just added to the previously sensed lack of caring, evidenced especially in the biting tongue and arrogant demeanor of the boss's wife.
It's funny, but I really hadn't given it much thought today. Hopefully I'll forget again by tomorrow.
I've always known my boss and his wife cared more about money than people, at least when it comes to running their business. Although I didn't like their mindset, and grated against the lack of appreciation shown for us techs who are earning their salaries, I shrugged it off and retained a measure of respect for their business savvy. Even when I disagreed with their management style, I could usually find some value to their methods. Today I learned some things that I probably shouldn't have learned, and it makes my blood boil. Any vestige of loyalty I may have had has dissipated. Also gone is any desire to get in on a piece of a potentially profitable business venture they are undertaking. I simply don't want to work with people like that anymore. Maybe I'm overreacting; maybe that's just the way the business world works, but I know that's not true. Utter disregard for the welfare of employees is common, but not the norm for small businesses whose viability depends on the efforts of a small core of highly trained people, and I'm not including myself in that. I'm new, so I know I'm expendable. At the very least, such callous treatment should be compensated by pay, but that's definitely not the case here.
I'm in no hurry, but I think it might be time to return to the classifieds. What's sad is that I even like most of what my job entails, and most of the people are easy to get along with. Perhaps I'll reconsider when I cool off a bit.