Uninspired

Just a few random observations on my way to work this morning.

I can’t believe how many people make phone calls (on the bus) before 7 AM. Everyone I know would kill me if I called them that early. These aren’t business people calling the East Coast either. I hear people calling friends “Grrrl, you won’t believe what happened last night,” their relatives, “Look, you know how Dad is, you are just going to have to make the sugar-free Jell-o and the strawberry with marshmellows.”
What is the deal with wearing headphones in public?
First of all there were three people on the bus whose mp3 players were cranked so loud that we could all hear their music. They sat in a triangular pattern, creating a bizarre triangulation/music-meld of punk, metal, and country. This created a strange field of energy that two people actually disappeared in while trying to get to the door of the bus. Where did those people end up? In the future, the past, another world, another bus zone?

Next there was a guy in the elevator with his headphones still on. I understand wearing them on the bus, but while walking down the street – how do you hear the honking car horn, ringing bicycle bell, and shouting of joggers that are about to run you down? (Then again, if you want to behave like you are the only person in the world – maybe you ought to be run-down   ) Wearing headphones in the coffee line – how do you hear the barrista ask you if you want whip or not? Wearing headphones in the elevator – how do you hear the nice, attractive young woman ask you to press the 4 button? The answer is – you don’t. The young, attractive lady is left to throwing balled up pieces of paper and used kleenex at you from across the crowded elevator, so you’ll press the damned 4 button!

I wonder what would happen if people went back to the olden days where we didn’t have enough technology to be constantly entertained, and we had to grow/raise our own food, and we had to do lots of hard physical labor from dusk to dawn. Where we relied on each other for basic existence? Well, we actually do still rely on each other, and you can try to block that out with your cell phone, headphones, or your car door and windows. You can pretend noone is around and drive like a maniac, ignore the woman throwing spit balls at you in the elevator, and make the barrista shout at you about whipped cream – but the fact is, you aren’t alone out there – and that is a good thing. Try to embrace it. Maybe you’ll be surprised at how entertaining your fellow human beings are.

What am I thankful for this year? Well, my motto this year is based on my foot doctor’s advice “Let the pain be your guide.” I took this to heart. After years of lay-offs and fear of lay-offs, I’m thankful I’m in a position where I can get 3 jobs in one year, pick and choose, and finally have the opportunity to review, reprimand, lay-off, fire and interview employers instead of taking whaterever is offerred, out of desperation, and putting up with whatever is dished out because of fear. I have learned a lot about my world view and what is important to me this year. I’m thankful for Hubby, certain cats and dogs, my God-son, my Grandparents, my banjo instructor, the “ex-pirations,” friends, gin, and let’s not forget my foot doctor, who have all helped me learn a lot this year. I am also thankful for you, dear reader – I can’t believe you actually continue to read this darned blog!!

Enjoy your Holiday weekend slowly with people who make you feel good.

When I first started working in the software industry 9 years ago, process was all the rage. All the books were about requirements, specifications, defect tracking, metrics, and project estimation. A few years ago, I went to a PNSQC conference where several software QA gurus (imo) were present and a huge backlash against process was evident. Of course, all of those guys were consultants and had been for quite some time. It is a lot easier to be a guru when you work for yourself, swoop in and tell companies what to do, then swoop out. It is also much easier to be the person at the top who dictates and controls the process or lack-thereof. The perspective of a worker bee, who has to get tasks done within the dictated framework, is a bit different and is something I don’t hear addressed often in the ongoing debate around process.

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Well, today is Election Day in the good old U.S.A. I just dropped my ballot in the box, and I also dropped my two weeks notice in my boss’ in-box.

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Recently I sat in a QA team meeting where half of the QA staff was questioning the “usefulness” of the QA Test Plan, which was a more generic long term plan, and suggesting a plan geared toward the current phase of the company which is in a start-up “get a few key customers interested” phase. Half of the QA team wanted to be more involved in hearing and learning about the key customers’ issues. They wanted to develop the test plan more around the current “key customers” and worry about the future once these customers were satisfied. The other half of the team was pretty quiet – neither agreeing or disagreeing with the manager who felt that it was best to start developing the QA department in a way that is geared toward long-term plans, and let project managers and tech support deal with the current key customers.

Both arguments are valid, but unfortunately, the manager missed the boat on why. I think the manager believed that the QA team was concerned about the fact that bugs were found by the current key customers and that QA would be blamed for this. The manager made a point of saying that the company had never played the blame game and that QA would not be held accountable for these issues. (The company does not have any formal accountability requirements.) Therefore, the manager was comfortable with continuing on the current path of worrying about the more generic future and letting go of the current key customer specifics.

Being blamed was not even remotely the concern of the team-members who questioned the current plan. Meeting their personal accountability standards was what they were concerned about – or in a nut-shell, job satisfaction.
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My work week was such a joke that I laughed until I cried.

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I stayed home from work on Monday to help out a friend in need. Because of this, I was able to catch an episode of Oprah. The episode was about Moms around the world, and it broke my heart.

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The other day at work I had what I term a “crying-day.” I asked my favorite co-worker if she’d like to go to lunch and she replied, “Sure, but can Hallie come too? She’s crying in the bathroom.”

We decided to walk to the dim sum place in Chinatown. I thoughtfully stuffed my pockets full of Kleenex, and we took off. Once we had settled ourselves in the red vinyl booths, poured some tea, and selected our first plate of dumplings, we told our stories, offered each other support and brain-stormed constructive ideas.

Where do you cry at work?

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