ATLAS SHRUGGED!!!

Visit the Official Atlas Shrugged Movie Web Site!

Epic book. My fervent hope is that the movie makes the case as strongly (or more so, since a picture is worth a thousand words, and there are literally 30 "pictures" per second in a movie!) as the book did.

I've read the book probably four or more times - each reading is an investment in time. If you can check it out of the library and renew it a time or two, it's definitely worth the effort. It has the power to change your perspective on the entitlement attitude.

JEEZ It's Cold!

It's -9 F outside this morning! That's MINUS NINE DEGREES F! The car started, I let it idle for a few minutes, backed it out, and drove two miles before the temp gauge stirred. As soon as it got the slightest bit above the "frigid" temp mark, I turned on the heater. Drove 25 miles with my gloves and winter coat on, heater on high, and I was still cold when I got to work.

I was so focused on how cold it was I drove off with my daughter's backpack and lunch box still in the back seat. So guess what happened when it was time for my wife to drive her to school.

I lived in Alaska for almost two years, and don't recall ever feeling this same bite in the air. Maybe because I was living on Kodiak Island, and the sea tempered the air -- whatever: Minnesota winter this year is ridiculously cold.

The snow in my yard is about three feet deep. And of course it's accumulated on the roof as well -- and ice dams are building up and if we don't get rid of them, we start getting leaks in the roof. There are some places adjacent to my driveway where the snow mound is five feet high!

I don't ever want to live through this kind of winter, ever again.

The Health Care Issue

So I just don't understand Senator Harry Reid - he says he won't bring this bill to repeal "ObamaCare" to the Senate for a vote. Whatever.

But if you read the article (click the title of this post), it says over half the states are joining a lawsuit against ObamaCare.

House Representatives represent the People; the Senate represents State interests.

If over half the States are suing the Federal Government over this legislation, isn't Harry obligated to allow a vote?

I'm just sayin...

I'M BA-A-A-ACK!!

Well, I was gone awhile over to my MobileMe site. Didja miss me?

didn't think so...

All the reasons for the move away and the move back are on earlier posts (here or there); I'm not gonna belabor the point now.

Suffice to say I'll be posting here from now on.

P

I'm moving

I'm moving my blog over to my MobileMe account. (Hey - I'm working at an Apple store now, so that's the place for me!) Click on the title of this post to be redirected, or click here.

Thanks for your continued readership, though my guess is that these posts are more cathartic for me than helpful to you.

Who's Counting?

1. Read Thomas Sowell's latest column, here.

2. Contact your ERs (Elected Representatives).

3. Tell your ERs to get government out of health care provisioning.

4. If your ER listens to you and responds positively, vote them back into office.

5. If your ER ignores you and responds in a way that give government more power, fire them.

Raise Taxes to Pay for Health Care Reform???

Good Grief!

Read the article in this morning's Washington Post, then come back here to read my response.

Did you read the whole thing? Or did you get frustrated and give up in the first few paragraphs?

Fundamentally, the premise of this argument is flawed. It presumes I have a responsibility, an obligation to help my fellow patient, and it intends to legislate my contribution. I reject that foundation. While I do have a personal responsibility, one to which I personally adhere, to extend charity, neither the state nor Federal government has any mandate to force me to do so.

You can tell me all day long, till we're both blue in the face, that I'm selfish. Very well. I'm selfish. I earned my money. No one else has a right to it, least of all by legislative mandate.

You want to improve the infrastructure I use to drive? Fine: collect taxes or tolls when I drive. Want to protect me from enemies, foreign and domestic? Great: use my taxes to pay for an army.

Want to take money away from me, my family, our household and our life to give it to someone who habitually neglects their own family and life? No way.

Does that paint me as greedy? Am I without compassion for those "less fortunate" than I? Am I ignoring the plight of the "victims"?

I think those who take money from someone else are greedy, and those whose money is taken are victims.

All that said, how can those who teach economics write an article that ignores economic history? When tax rates are lowered, it historically spurs the economy and tax revenues actually increase. When tax rates are increased, revenues historically fall. And when citizens have more disposable income, they give more to charity, which does a MUCH better job of filtering out the scammers and leeches so they can focus on extending a welcomed helping hand to those who actually need some help.

Want to pay for an ill-begotten government program doomed for failure? Lower tax rates. Want to dramatically improve health care in this country? Get the government out of the way and let charities and health care facilities partner in the effort. Get the government involved when there's a violation of civil liberty, but not until then.

What crisis?

In the president's own words, the "vast majority" of Americans will be able to keep their current insurance, the current doctor. (This is correct, as far as it goes, but if the President were under oath to "tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth", that "whole truth" part would cause him to stumble. "Vast Majority" will be able to keep their current care, all other things being equal, which is not reality. More in a minute.)

So back to the "vast majority" item: if we take the President's own estimate (final paragraph in linked item) of the number of uninsured, we're talking about roughly 15% of the current US population.

Fine. 15% is fairly significant. But wait; there's more. The percentage has remained fairly consistent for ten years (it was 15% in 1998 also). But ten years ago, it's estimated that nearly half of that 15% was uninsured for only a period of time (perhaps due to unemployment or some other factor), rather than chronically uninsured. So that means that really, only about 7.5% was chronically uninsured. Which means that 7.5% of the population was uninsured by choice (as I was recently, until a new employer's cost for insurance made economic sense for me to opt in to their plan).

Let's factor in today's higher unemployment rate, and let's say that 10% of the population is chronically without insurance. That's 30.4 million. That means that 90% of the current US population doesn't need fixing.

So, where's the crisis?

I know, I'm a cold-hearted son-of-a-gun, and I'm reducing this to logic, and I'm without compassion. But let's remember that if I'm not taxed to pay for someone else's health care (via the inherent inefficiencies of government administration), I'm free to contribute my disposable income to the charity I see as most capable of efficiently providing the emergency or long-term care needed by someone who can't otherwise obtain it, for whatever reason. (And yes: when my tax obligation was lower than it is now, I was in fact contributing more to charities with proven track records of successful provision to those in need.)

OK. So on to the "all other things being equal" section.

First, President Obama says, "If you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan." (All other things being equal.) Now, check this link. (And note: there's that "vast majority" phrase again.)

Second, I've heard small business owners say in very public forums that their accountants have determined that the fine imposed by health care legislation for not providing insurance is actually less than the cost of health insurance mandated by the reform legislation being considered... in some cases, over $30,000 per month less. Here's what that means from an economic perspective: 70% of America's employers likely will consider (whether they act on their consideration or not) dropping their employees' health coverage, and opt to pay the fine. That means those employees will want to get the "public option" that President Obama does or does not want, depending on which day it is, or which audience he's addressing, or some other random factor. That means government costs go up. That means (in a Democrat administration) taxes go up. (In a Republican administration, taxes would go down, because Republicans, those right-wing hate-mongers, know that when you reduce the penalty for production, production and consumerism increases, and tax revenues actually go up.)

So if the President's health-care reform is passed, people will lose their current insurance coverage and doctor, and taxes will go up.

Not interested. Back to the drawing board.

First, quoting from MSNBC’s “FirstRead” article posted 8/20/09:

"...the president wrote a 1,200-word New York Times op-ed on the health-care debate, and it didn’t mention the words “public option” in it ANYWHERE."

Wonder what the President was referring to when he made his first point in the op-ed: "First, if you don’t have health insurance, you will have a choice of high-quality, affordable coverage for yourself and your family — coverage that will stay with you whether you move, change your job or lose your job."

Since he didn't use the words "public option", MSNBC believes he must not have meant this as a public option. Right?

Much of the President's op-ed was simply empty rhetoric: "We’ll cut hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and inefficiency in federal health programs" and "we’ll be able to ensure that more tax dollars go directly to caring for seniors" and "reform will provide every American with some basic consumer protections that will finally hold insurance companies accountable."

Great words. How will this all happen? More government intrusion into my life and your life (and yours, and yours), for someone else's benefit. You and I will have less control over dollars we earn; we will be less able to contribute to private and charitable entities that have mastered the work involved in meeting emergency and ongoing needs of those who, for whatever reason, are unable to afford the care they need at the moment.

We want a smaller government, not a bigger one. All I need for the government to do is stand back and let me do what I need to do. If someone (or some company) targets me in a predatory manner, let the government shield me from predatory behavior. It’s the government’s job to step in and protect me from those who would intentionally do me harm. It is expressly not the government’s role to provide a service in competition with private organizations. And face it: every time they try, they fail: USPS, Amtrak, Medicare, Social Security.

I certainly do not want the President to fail, unless his goal is to further infringe on my rights as a citizen. In that role, his intentions become at odds with my best interests.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you’ll always have the support of Paul.

Completed Staff Work

Check out this blog post (click title above). My kind of philosophy!
P

Thomas Sowell : Alice in Medical Care - Townhall.com

Thomas Sowell : Alice in Medical Care - Townhall.com

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Back In MN!

Greetings!

Have to say, the last year-and-a-third have been a great experience for me professionally. That said, I am so glad to be back in the Twin Cities - home each night after work, able to play with the kids, mow the lawn, work on the house, visit with the neighbors... very nice.

New position at Gillette is shaping up to be very rewarding: lots of room for process development here, I must say!

I'll keep ya posted.

Blessings, and 73s!

We're in Des Moines, now, the kids and I. Rolled in Friday night about 7:45 or so. Watched a movie while eating frozen (well, cooked, but not ordered out) pizza. Saturday called Mom and talked with her awhile - she's busy working on cleaning the house - then went to the Science Center (glad they have a reciprocal agreement with Science Museum of MN - kids had a BLAST!) and hung out at the mall awhile. Came back to the apt to do some spelling bee stuff and art work - Brennan is excellent at freehand stuff. Maura spelled probably 30 words, sounding each one out, and had great fun. Watched Monsters Inc, talked to aunt Barbara and Grandma H on the phone.

Back home Sunday - meeting Mom at the half-way point, maybe grab a little something to eat, then the kids and Mom go home and I'll be back in Des Moines for another work week.

Went to donate blood today - I had too much fat in my plasma. They had to stop me after a half hour (of a 2 hr appt) because they wouldn't be able to use my blood!

Never heard of such a thing. Must've been the ice cream last night, and the goulash and Greek salad today.

Marriage and Parenting

Just a quick post:
In marriage, sometimes you just feel like throwing your hands up in the air and proclaiming, "I can't win!"

Forget about winning. Don't try to win. Winning implies there's someone else who isn't winning.

Instead think about succeeding. There's enough room for everyone in a family to succeed.

See ya next time.

Summer '08 Greetings

Hello, dear readers. The family and I have spent the last couple of weeks celebrating mid-summer (yes; I know it's only a couple weeks old, and that we have two and a half months to go.. just seems like it's been here awhile now, what with temps in the midwest reaching the 90s so frequently).

I haven't written much on the presidential race (or other contests); mostly because I haven't felt really qualified to speak on many of the topics of debate. But you know what? I am as qualified as any citizen (more than some perhaps; less than others), so I'm going to open up my mouth and allow some of the hot air to escape.

This is not really open for debate: this is my blog, and if you don't like what I write, you're welcome to ... well, I guess, stop reading. But I'd rather you tell me what I've missed in my argument. Why is it that you believe I'm off base? Do your best to change my mind. Let's see what happens.

First, gay marriage. Wait: no; back up. Homosexuality is not gay. It's homosexuality. To me, because I'm a child of the 50s and 60s, gay means "lighthearted and carefree." It does not mean "light in the loafers." There's a debate about whether homosexuality is a characteristic from birth, or a learned/acquired behavior. For purposes of my discussion here, it doesn't matter: the operative word when discussing homosexuals is "practicing." Even if the desire is innate, acting on that desire is still an abomination to the Creator of the universe. If you want any chance to see that Person (I believe He embodies characteristics of both male and female, which is why leaving your parents and cleaving unto a person of the opposite sex is so crucial: we're made in his image, so if we're with someone of the same sex, we're not following His plan), you'll have to make a conscious decision to accept His terms for that opportunity to be presented. If you refuse and follow your own terms, well, you're on your own.

Okay: back to homosexual marriage: Not for it; in fact, adamantly and vehemently against (but you're a smart reader; after all: look what you decided to read! So I bet you've guessed my opinion already). I have no objection to a male and female engaging in holy matrimony, but when two males or two females decide to exchange vows, it isn't holy any more. It's abominable. And not only for reasons already stated. (See the previous paragraph:we're made in the Creator's image. Check Genesis: "Let Us make Man in our image" and "Male and Female created He them." So if George and Gary get together, it isn't representing God.) But also because it flies in the face of every established law. Contrary to popular belief, the Constitution is not a "living document." (I genuinely abhor that phrase.) It is amended from time to time to correct errors (women's right to vote, for example) and increase our understanding. But it is not open to be interpreted by those who would have it say something other than what it clearly says.

Ah, I'm off track. What Constitutional law covers marriage, anyway? Can anyone tell me? I can think of nothing, yet people always are harping on their Constitutional right to marry anyone they want. But if you bring up the Bible, the definitive work on marriage, people say, “Don’t preach your religion to me.” And in the next breath, it’s “we should be tolerant of other people’s religions.”

Yes, yes; I've rambled on and on and...

So now we're up against two candidates: a pro-life candidate and a pro-choice candidate. One who thinks it's OK the government to step into my pocketbook at the point of a gun and take what I've earned so that another can benefit, and one who... well, one who doesn't think that as much. We have no candidate who thinks the government has no business dealing in health care, in the mortgage industry, in education. Me? I think the government is here to make sure each person minds his or her own business, doesn't interfere in someone else's rights, and defends us against foreign enemies. Now you know why I will never win public office: if the politician robs Peter to pay Paul, he'll always have the support of Paul. So I'll never have Paul's support.

Jeez I've gone on so long I should just cut this off and come back another time to finish. 

I'll write more later.

Create a Business Continuity Plan - wikiHow

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is the least expensive insurance any company can have (especially for small companies, as it costs virtually nothing to produce). Unfortunately, many companies have never taken the time to develop such a plan.
Here you will see suggested steps and considerations, in an abbreviated way, for small companies to create a BCP that will improve their chances of continuing operations during or after significant disasters. Development of a BCP for larger companies is not within the scope of this document.
Business Continuity Plans are sometimes referred to as Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP) and the two have much in common. However a DRP should be oriented towards recovering after a disaster whereas a BCP shows how to continue doing business until recovery is accomplished. Both are very important and are often combined into a single document for convenience.

Steps

1. Document internal key personnel and backups. These are people who fill positions without which your business absolutely cannot function – make the list as large as necessary but as small as possible. Consider which job functions are critically necessary, every day. Think about who fills those positions when the primary job-holder is on vacation. Make a list of all those individuals with all contact information including business phone, home phone, cell phone, pager, business email, personal email, and any other possible way of contacting them in an emergency situation where normal communications might be unavailable.
   
2. Identify who can telecommute. Some people in your company might be perfectly capable of conducting business from a home office. Find out who can and who cannot. You might consider assuring that your critical staff (identified in Step 1) can all telecommute if necessary.
   
3. Document external contacts. If you have critical vendors or contractors, build a special contact list that includes a description of the company (or individual) and any other absolutely critical information about them including key personnel contact information. Include in your list people like attorneys, bankers, IT consultants...anyone that you might need to call to assist with various operational issues. Don’t forget utility companies, municipal and community offices (police, fire, water, hospitals) and the post office!
   
4. Document critical equipment. Personal computers often contain critical information (you do have off-site backups, don’t you?). Some businesses cannot function even for a few hours without a FAX machine. Do you rely heavily on your copy machine? Do you have special printers you absolutely must have? Don’t forget software – that would often be considered critical equipment especially if it is specialized software or if it cannot be replaced.
   
5. Identify critical documents. Articles of incorporation and other legal papers, utility bills, banking information, critical HR documents, building lease papers, tax returns...you need to have everything available that would be necessary to start your business over again. Remember, you might be dealing with a total facility loss. Would you know when to pay the loan on your company vehicles? To whom do you send payment for your email services?
   
6. Identify contingency equipment options. If your company uses trucks, and it is possible the trucks might be damaged in a building fire, where would you rent trucks? Where would you rent computers? Can you use a business service outlet for copies, fax, printing, and other critical functions?
   
7. Identify your contingency location. This is the place you will conduct business while your primary offices are unavailable. It could be a hotel – many of them have very well equipped business facilities you can use. It might be one of your contractors’ offices, or your attorney’s office. Perhaps telecommuting for everyone is a viable option. Wherever it is, make sure you have all the appropriate contact information (including people’s names). If you do have an identified temporary location, include a map in your BCP.
   
8. Make a "How-to". It should include step-by-step instructions on what to do, who should do it, and how. List each responsibility and write down the name of the person assigned to it. Also, do the reverse: For each person, list the responsibilities. That way, if you want to know "who is supposed to call the insurance company?" you can look up "Insurance". And if you want to know what Joe Doe is doing, you can look under Joe for that information.
   
9. Put the information together! A BCP is useless if all the information is scattered about in different places. A BCP is a reference document – it should all be kept together in something like a 3-ring binder. Make plenty of copies and give one to each of your key personnel. Keep several extra copies at an off-site location, at home and/or in a safety-deposit box.
   
10. Communicate. Make sure everyone in your company knows the BCP. Hold training classes – mandatory training classes – for each and every employee whether they are on the critical list or not. You do not want your non-critical staff driving through an ice storm to get to a building that has been damaged by fire then wondering what to do next.
    
11. Test the plan! You’ve put really good ideas down, accumulated all your information, identified contingency locations, put your personnel list in place, contacts, service companies, but can you pull it off? One thing you will definitely learn in the test is that you haven’t gotten it all just exactly right. Don’t wait until disaster strikes to figure out what you should do differently next time. Run the test. If you make any major changes, run it again a few months later. Even after you have a solid plan, you should test it annually. Pick a day – let everyone know what’s going to happen (including your customers, contractors and vendors) then on that morning, act as though your office building has been destroyed. Make the calls – go to the contingency site.
    
12. Plan to change the plan. No matter how good your plan is, and no matter how smoothly your test runs, it is likely there will be events outside your plan. The hotel you plan to use for your contingency site is hosting a huge convention. You can’t get into the bank because the disaster happened on a banking holiday. The power is out in your house. The copy machine at the business services company is broken. Your IT consultant is on vacation.
    
13. Review and revise. Every time something changes, update all copies of your BCP. Never let it get out of date. An out-of-date plan can be worse than useless: it can make you feel safe when you are definitely not safe.
    

Tips

• All critical personnel should keep a copy. It's not a bad idea to keep one in your car.
  
• Prepaid cell phones are an inexpensive option for emergency communications.In some disasters cell phones don't work so considering a satellite communications system may protect your ability to communicate.
  
• The binder you use for your BCP should be very distinctive – bright, neon orange is a good color.
  
• Keep your BCP out and visible so everyone sees it frequently – that way the idea of business continuity will stay on everyone’s mind.
  
• Have a weather plan for your employees with a number they can call to get an update on conditions. Look into some of the new Internet phone services with a voice mail message.
  

Warnings

• Do not rely on a fireproof safe to store your computer media. Fireproof safes are designed for paper; a CD, DVD, floppy disk or a magnetic tape will melt. Get a media safe for those items. Better yet, store data off site!
  
• Do not make pirated copies of important software. Even if you can do that (often you cannot) they might not work, and you could create serious legal problems for yourself. Contact your software vendor if you don’t understand your options.
  
• Do not distribute your plan to people that don't need to have it. Your plan will contain sensitive and secure information that could be used by a disgruntled employee for inappropriate purposes.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Develop a Risk Management Plan
  
• How to Prepare to File an Insurance Claim in the Event of Disaster
  
• How to Make a Disaster Plan for Your Family
  
• How to Be an Effective Project Manager
  
• How to Create a Business Plan
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Create a Business Continuity Plan. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Home Organization

OK: I said in my previous post that I had info on home organization.

I'll start with a bit of history - the "back story."

When Katy and I got married, I moved into her house, a 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow in south Minneapolis. About 820 sq ft, unfinished basement, detached 1-car garage, fenced back yard. We did a few small improvements and maintenance items (rain gutter, roof repair, ceiling repair, floor varnishing, things like that), then we sold the place and bought a house in Brooklyn Park with more than double the finished square footage, and tons of storage. Over the years, we acquired more furniture and stuff, and when we moved again, we were overwhelmed with the stuff we had to pack and move! But no worries: we were moving into a larger house! Right? WRONG! Though it had more finished square footage, it had tons LESS storage - and we were splitting at the seams.

So, we had to move AGAIN, to a house with more storage and more square footage. But even so, it still had lots LESS storage than our Brooklyn Park property. That's where we are now, and we've been there almost two years - and still haven't unpacked a lot of stuff because there isn't any place to put it.

OK: enter a home organizer we invited over (whose name and company website we're not sharing, because she was extremely confrontational and it was not a pleasant experience), who shared a few high level ideas and dropped the name IKEA.

So we visited the local IKEA store and browsed...and bought. So far in the past month, I'd estimate we've spent close to a grand there, but the storage space it's bought us is...well, Katy half-jokingly said it would "save our marriage." (At least I THINK it was half joking...)

In the sun room we moved games and toys off a Target storage shelf (designed more with the garage in mind) and onto a piece of furniture...with more shelf space. In fact, we purchased a few items where the kids could put their clothes, where we could put our tapes, CDs, DVDs, books, our other books, the rest of our books, and our remaining books.

I posted an "after" photo (sorry; I wasn't thinking far enough ahead to include "before" photo) of the sun room storage (more photos in later posts). Admittedly we have a ways to go - but if you knew where we'd been, you'd congratulate our progress!

What's the point of this post? Jeez: if you're struggling to find stuff, or struggling to find places to put your stuff, or both, turn loose of some dough and make a few storage changes in your house. It's calmer here now. Really!

Good luck, and blessings.

Contract Update

Well, here we are about halfway through the six-month contract at Aviva Life Insurance and Annuity in Des Moines. Seems to me like I've been able to get a lot done in the first three months, but there certainly is lots left to do!

Not sure what the company's plan is for this position: don't know if they're going to bring me on full time or extend the contract, or if they'll decide they can get along without a Change Manager - or with me.

For my part, I hope they decide the role is required and that I'm fulfilling it well - I think I am doing fairly well in it, and I'm learning a ton!

The downside, of course, is the commute - driving down here Sunday night, sleeping alone in the apartment each night, driving back Thursday night and working from home Friday after work is starting to take a toll on me. Mostly because I lose essentially two evenings a week due to the 7-hr round trip.

The iPod is invaluable to the commute - updating it on iTunes, then plugging it into the car-charger/FM transmitter to listen to podcasts and music over an unused FM frequency seems essential to my well-being and all-around sanity. Katy suggested I use her iPod, but then it would be out of her hands the whole time I'm in DSM. And then I received one of my own in a manner I would never have imagined.

More later - I have a great post on organizing the home!

TTFN

The ITIL experience

Ever since starting at my new employer in Des Moines, I've learned just exactly how much I have to learn. Well actually, I can't say that. Because I'm sure I don't yet know how much I have to learn. I'll just say I've learned how much I don't know. Hmmm. Guess I can't say that either, because it's simply restating the previous....

I've just learned that I have a lot to learn! How about that?

I think I'm pretty good with the process analysis, but only mentally - for some strange reason, they want what I know in my head to be reduced to writing! Now I'm a pretty good writer, but if you ask me, I could use a little help. Like when I was asked to document the Change Management process and put it into an SOP format, for example.

I know the ITIL process; I know what has to happen with a Change from initial request, through the approval, through deployment, through closure. I know what has to be documented for testing, validation and back-out. I know if the change fails it has to trigger a post-implementation review, and that if it's cancelled it isn't necessarily a failed request.I know that the requester can't approve the change. I know the developer can't push to production. I know the tool has to be configured so that people can't make material modifications to their requests after submitting them for approval. I know there has to be some sort of infrastructure discovery component associated with the Change Management system, else changes will be deployed without an associated RFC.

But to put all that stuff into an SOP document?? Daunting, to say the least. After it was all said and done, the SOP doc I submitted was 29 pages!

Sheesh! I didn't think I had it in me!

See ya.