I received the following sentence in a document from a vendor, quite a well known company as well.
"The … system poles the staging area to see ifany changes are received"
Moral of the story, get someone else to proofread your documents before sending them to your client, Word's spell-check does not pick this up.
What do you say to aguy who just knocked your front teeth out?
"JOU POETH"
Jeff Moser wrote an excellent piece about becoming a grand-master developer, but in my eyes, this applies to any skill you can learn.
If you're not constantly pushing yourself into unchartered territory, you're not going to improve. I needed this piece for a bit of a wake-up call in both cycling and software development.
Lawyers should never ask grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer. In a trial, a small-town prosecuting attorney called hisfirst witness, an elderly grandmother to the stand.
Heapproached her and asked; "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you're a big disappointment to me. You lie, cheat on yourwife, manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You thinkyou're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never willamount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I knowyou."
The lawyer was stunned! Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs.. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Why, yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since hewas a youngster. He's lazy, bigoted, and has a drinking problem. He can'tbuild a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one ofthe worst in the state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with threedifferent women. One of them wasyour wife. Yes I know him."
The defense attorney almost died.
The judge asked both lawyers to approach the bench and in a quietvoice said: "If eitherof you f#ckers asks her if she knows me, I'll send you to the electricchair."
If you read between the lines in about 70% of the CVs I receive, this is exactly what they look like, excluding the experience.
The moment I see a lack of passion on a CV, it goes one way. Shift-Delete, don’t even bother with a recycle bin, I don’t want to see it again.
I'm not debating whether to go to the next social event of the year, this time I'm wondering whether it is worth staying in this country…
With the power crisis still ongoing, and it looks like that will be the norm for the future with the planning they're doing now. Eskom says it will take them 5 years to build enough power stations to fill the current gap, but in 5 years time, the demand will be higher, unless things take a turn for the worst, in which case it is not even worth debating this.
Then we have a looming water crisis, with 43% of the dams managed by the department of water affairs and forestry in dire need of maintenance because of safety problems and other issues. We have radio active materials contaminating the catchment areas of Johannesburg, which means we could already have affected meat and other foods on our tables.
Our education system is in shambles, with way too few pupils getting the required literacy & numeracy skills, never mind more advanced maths & science skills.
Most of the higher officials in our country believe they're above the law, with two cops getting suspended and being disciplined after arresting our ex-speaker for drunk driving, this while he is out on parole for worse crimes. Our police commissioner is a suspect for fraud & corruption, our president to be the same. And then they plan on disbanding the one independent law-enforcement unit that can still get them convicted, nice life.
Our brilliant government have managed to take our country deeper into the sewerage in just 12 years. And for the first five we had people in power that seemed a bit more competent than the current batch of government ministers, so how worried should we be for the things that are going to go wrong when these incompetent people's decisions become visible in 5 to 10 years time?
Don't get me wrong, I love this country. Even after getting robbed at gunpoint in 2006 while out cycling, I did not even contemplate leaving, but then I only had to worry about myself. Now I have a family to worry about, and honestly I don't see things improving very soon, and I could not lead my children into an uncertain future like this.
My question is, would you go, and if so where? What would your reasons be?
Scenario: Johnnyand Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1960 – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shakehands and end up mates.
2007 – Police are called, Armed Response Unitarrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. Mobiles with video of fightconfiscated as evidence. They are charged with assault, SBOs are taken out andboth are suspended even though Johnny started it. Diversionary conferences andparent meetings conducted. Video shown on 6 internet sites.
Scenario: Jeffreywon't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1960 – Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office andgiven 6 of the best. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt classagain.
2007 – Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin.Counselled to death. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extrafunding because Jeffrey has a disability. Drops out of school.
Scenario: Billy breaksa window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him the slipper.
1960 – Billy is more careful next time, grows upnormal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 – Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. Psychologist tellsBilly's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goesto prison. Billy's mum has an affair with the psychologist. Psychologistgets a promotion.
Scenario: Mark, acollege student, brings cigarettes to school.
1960 – Mark shares a smoke with the school principalout on the smoking area.
2007 – Police are called and Mark is expelled fromSchool for drug possession. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario: Mohammedfails high school English.
1960 – Mohammed retakes his exam, passes and goes tocollege.
2007 – Mohammed's cause is taken up by local humanrights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that makingEnglish a requirement for graduation is racist. Civil Liberties Associationfiles class action lawsuit against state school system and his English teacher.English is banned from core curriculum. Mohammed is given his qualificationanyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.
Scenario: Johnny takesapart leftover firecrackers, puts them in a model plane paint bottle and blowsup an anthill.
1960 – Ants die.
2007 – MI5 and police are called and Johnny is chargedwith perpetrating acts of terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings areremoved from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on aterror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario: Johnny fallsduring break and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, andgives him a hug to comfort him.
1960 – Johnny soon feels better and goes back toplaying.
2007 – Mary is accused of being a sexual predator andloses her job. She faces three years in prison. Johnny undergoes five years oftherapy. Becomes gay.