Monday, August 24, 2009

How to keep score on a baseball score card?

1 - Pitcher; 2 - Catcher; 3 - 1st Base; 4 - 2nd Base; 5 - 3rd Base; 6 - Shortstop; 7 - Left Field; 8 - Center Field; 9 - Right Field

You might be thinking, okay what does all those numbers mean? Well, one of my favorite things to do at ball games is to keep score. At first, I wanted something to do with my dad and thought, he knew how, he could teach me. Now, I have realized that people don't keep score as often as they used to. People are more for the entertainment and the in between innings prizes and contest that they forget that we paid to see baseball. It helps you truly become a baseball fan. It is not easy, but fun. To be honest, practice makes perfect. After one game, you should be able to keep score on your own

I could attempt to teach you, but rather, here are a few links to help guide you.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Do you know..the tradition of wedding cake?

It's summertime and that usually means wedding season. Yesterday, I attended the wedding a friend from college and the Catholic priest talked briefly in his homily about the beautiful tradition about the cutting and feeding the wedding cake.

Did you know that:
  • In the Roman times and for a few centuries, cake was crumbled over the bride's head to ensure her fertility. Women, would than rush to get the leftover that fell on the floor to receive extra insurance, I guess. 
  • When the cake was cut, the wife and husband would feed each other the cake as a symbol of their mutual commitment to each other, from sickness to health... No matter what the circumstance they would be there for each other to feed each other, either spiritually or physically.  What a beautiful symbol! It should be done with elegance, but I guess our culture has made it into fun and games.
So tell your engaged couples about this rich history and if you are a women, I dare you to rush and eat the crumbs.
Pictures and information were taken from: How to cut Wedding Cake and The Wedding Cake...history, custom, and tradition

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Do you know...the difference between a moutain or foothill?

I recently took a trip to Colorado and I have to admit, I love that state. I cannot believe how beautiful seeing those foothills or mountains can be.

I have always been in a state of denial and deep down knew those mountains were foothills.  I have never had enough time in my vacation to see the landscape, but my goal for next year is to take a few days off work and go climb one of those foothills.  I am midwest girl, we have to start small.

Wordnet says a foothill is "hilly land on the lower slopes of mountains."

So what is the difference between a foothill and mountain, so you can sound super smart to all your friends.

"You know it, when you see it" apparently. Some say its anything lower than 1000, but that is not proven. Seriously, I know. I read this article, it might help explain. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Do you know...the meaning of a godparent nowadays?

This past weekend, I joined the ranks of many and became the godmother.  I cannot tell you how much I love this little boy of mine. He is so precious!  I cannot stop thinking of him and keep thinking to myself, seriously how I sinner on my own be help another soul to heaven.  While standing watching this little baby became a child of God, my heart leaped with joy and I was so excited to suddenly help his parents pray and teach him about the love of God.

So I started thinking, where did all this come from, the tradition of godparents.  So I did myself a little research.
In the early Christian church, BAPTISM was only intended for adults. Their "godparents" were witnesses and vouched for the person's commitment, as expressed by the Latin legal term sponsor. As early as the end of the second century, baptism for infants appeared in Christian communities; the practice was believed to chase away the evil spirits present in every newborn baby. At the end of the fourth century, Saint Augustine enforced the rule of child baptism. At the time, parents were their own children's godparents. Between the sixth and eighth centuries, as child baptism became more widespread in Europe, the idea spread that for a child to have a spiritual rebirth, it needed to have new parents. Godparenting by parents was abandoned and even forbidden by the Mayence Council of 819, a law that endures to this day. A spiritual relationship, quite distinct from a blood relationship, is therefore created. The Church gives a it very specific religious goal: to ensure the Christian education of the child. (http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Fa-Gr/Godparents.html)
....the principal responsibility of a godparent is to give witness to the Catholic faith by his words and actions. When it concerns a child, he must be ready to accept the responsibility of being a part of the godchild's life for the remaining of his/her life. A godparent must have his eyes fixed on the Lord, believing that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. [Jn. 14:6] Not only must he believe it, he must be prepared to share his belief with his godchild. (http://www.catholicdoors.com/courses/godpar.htm)
For more information about the Catholic understanding, click on this link

If you are a godparent out there, give him/her a little call and say hello. Offer up something in your day for him/her and give God thanks for LIFE! Gosh, I just love my little godson!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

What is a shuttlecock?

Okay, in all seriousness, all joking aside what is a shuttlecock?  Well, it's that white and orange featherball thing used in the game of badminton. Do you know that the shuttlecock can be traced back to the 5th century BC in China!

I don't have the skill nor patience to play this game, but living in Kansas City, I have been real familiar with the shuttlecock. The famous Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City has a courtyard named the Kansas City Sculpture Park. In 1994 giant shuttlecocks covered that park and remain there today. They are true symbol of Kansas City yet no one really knows the them of those birdie things.
Shuttlecocks created quite a stir. Letters from those who loved its bright, fresh form and welcomed its challenge to the status quo appeared in the Kansas City Star along with articles, letters to the editor and editorial cartoons charging that it was "not art" and calling it a "giant waste."  
Oldenburg and van Bruggen imagined shuttlecocks as pieces of a game played by giants. It consists of four monumental "birdies" arranged on a 22-acre "badminton court" with the Museum as the "net." 
The information above was gathered from the nelson-atkins.org You can read more if you wish, but let's be honest its a good trivia question and now you know the answer.

For more information go to Wiki and History of the Shuttlecock

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers...

I received this e-mail from my mother today and we all need fun story to help us out a little bit. So yeah, enjoy!

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children.

Spend time with your parents.

Visit with grandparents.

Take time to get medical checkups.

Take your spouse out to dinner.

Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

How to know when eggs are good or bad?

Let's be honest, how many of buy a carton of eggs and they sit there and we forget about them and they are way past the date on the carton, and we think, well how bad can they be? Well, this is a simple trick I heard a year or so ago. I can't remember who told me, but I cannot take credit for this.

  1. Place one egg in a bowl
  2. Pour some water in the bowl, enough to cover the egg at least three inches
  3. If it floats, its a bad egg, so throw it away. If the egg stays on the bottom of the bowl, you are dealing with one pretty fresh egg there. However, if you have an egg that decides to stand on one end, it's still okay, but you should use it ASAP.
Don't ask how I know this, I just do. So enjoy the eggs.

These are some random facts I have come across:
  • Older eggs make better hard-boiled eggs because they are easier to peel.
  • If the ANY egg is kept out of the refrigerator for more than two hours, yeah you should thrown them away.

Friday, July 17, 2009

How to know when your meat is rare, medium, or well done?

I will be honest, most of the random knowlegdge I know is because of my dad. He teaches me a whole lot and I teach him a few things in turn. We make a pretty good team.

Recently my dad got a new grill for his birthday so we have been grilling a whole lot lately. He taught him this neat trick about grilling meat.

Let's say you want a piece of meat a certain way, touch a part of your face to see if feels the same way as the meat.
  • Chin = Rare
  • Nose = Medium
  • Forehead = Well done
Give it a try next time you are grilling, you can please everyone you are grilling for. We all know that people like their meats differently, so yeah a quick trick for ya.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Do you know...when the audience wave was started

So this past week I went to a double header baseball game! There wasn't a better way to spend the day during the summer in my opinion. Yes, it would have been nice if either team would have won the game, but that wasn't the case. Half through the second game there was a man who wanted to start the the wave. The fans really got into it. The whole stadium got into it. That I don't think anyone was paying attention to the game anymore. The wave continued on for at least ten times without stopping. I was shocked and did have a blast.

So I thought to myself who came up with this stuff. Who decided it would be fun to get people to stand up from their chair and wave their hands in the air? I mean seriously if you think about it, it is a funny concept. So I googled it and wikipedia told me this...
There are other reports that claim that in the 1960s, in Monterrey Mexico, during a game between Tigres and Rayados, the wave was created in the half time. The crowd was anxious, and the organizers were doing games and throwing football balls as presents in the half time because players took a lot of time returning to the field. That made people start doing the wave.
Whatever its origin, by the mid-1980s the practice was widespread throughout North America. Finally, it gained worldwide notice, and the specific name Mexican wave, during the FIFA Football World Cup in Mexico at the Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, 1986.

Looks like too many people want to take the credit, so we will never know!

"Today, the wave is generally seen during a lull in the action on the sports field, as spectators seek to amuse themselves to fend off boredom. There is some controversy as to when the wave is appropriate to perform during a sporting event. Some feel that the wave can be performed at any time, and is often done so for either entertaining the audience or distracting the opponent. Others feel the wave is only appropriate when the home team has a sizable lead such that the opponent has little or no chance of winning. Still others feel the wave is always disrespectful to the home team athletes and should never be performed."

I am not sure how I feel about this. However, I would semi agree it was a little disrecpectful when we stopped paying attention to our hometown boys. But, they should play better ball if they want us to cheer for them right? Thoughts???

(Of course this is a wikipedia, audience wave, so you can believe it or not)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

How to ask the right question to your employers?

I have been applying to a lot of jobs lately, sadly, I don't always receive an interview. But I do, I research the company for a good hour. I try to see memorize their mission statement and make it applicable somehow with my character, research company history, simple google search, facebook a few friends who might work with them, just to name a few of my techniques.

I came across this site that really helped me ask those questions that truly leave an impression to the interviewers.

However the site doesn't seem to work, so here are some great questions to keep in mind.

Organization

1.          What drives the organization? What do senior executives value? What is important to them?
2.          What are the core values that make up the organization's culture? Has this been consistently supported by senior executives?
3.          Is the organization financially strong and stable? Please provide your annual financial reports for the last three years. (This is available on-line for publicly-traded companies.)
4.          What are the significant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the organization over the next few years? What are the organization's strategic goals?
5.          How does the department / team I will be joining relate to the overall organization? How does it support the organization's strategic goals? Is the department a cost or profit center? How is the department perceived politically?

Management

6.          How often will my immediate supervisor meet with me one on one?
7.          What is the management style of my immediate supervisor and their superior?
8.          How do you deal with poorly performing employees?
9.          What is your strategy for empowering employees?
10.       How do you ensure you are delegating effectively rather than micro-managing?
11.       How do you help ensure that employees are highly motivated?
12.       How do you ensure that each employee is doing quality work?
13.       How does management ensure that employees feel listened to?
14.       How do you enhance the creativity of developers?
15.       How approachable and receptive is management to suggestions and feedback?
16.       How do you minimize interruptions for developers?
17.       Do you treat people with respect and integrity? Provide an example.
18.       How important is productivity of software developers to the organization? What do you do to maximize productivity?
19.       Do you put as much if not more effort into retaining employees as you do recruiting? What is your retention strategy?
20.       How do you promote a healthy work-life balance?
21.       What metrics do you track and report on? Provide a report showing data from the last few months.

Teams

22.       How are teams assembled? How are team members selected? What are the selection criteria?
23.       How often will the team I am in meet as a group?
24.       What do you expect will be my role on the team?
25.       What are the experience levels (i.e. junior, intermediate, senior) and job roles of the other team members?
26.       What is involved in moving to another team or changing work assignments?
27.       Do teams have a sufficient diversity of skill beyond simply coding? What about ability in gathering requirements, architecture, usability design and testing, database design and administration, functional testing, and technical writing?
28.       What types of team-building activities are done? How frequently?
29.       Are teams empowered and self-organizing? Are teams able to choose and tailor a methodology to suit them and their work?
30.       How much freedom and support is provided to mentor and consult with colleagues, superiors, and customers?
31.       Describe the clients, customers and end users I will be working with or for. How reasonable and pleasant are they?

Work Assignments

32.       What kind of work assignments will I be given? What will be my day-to-day responsibilities?
33.       What opportunities will there be to work with new, interesting technologies?
34.       How do you plan to provide me with challenging work that makes optimal use of my abilities while providing a supportive environment?
35.       Are developers required to do administrative or non-value-add tasks that could be done more cost effectively by others?

Work Environment

36.       Will I be situated in an office with a door?
37.       Is the work environment quiet with no distracting noises like intercoms, call center staff, ventilation systems, or traffic?
38.       Are living, green plants in abundance in the office?
39.       Are high quality chairs provided?
40.       Is the office setting (chair, desk, keyboard, and monitor) ergonomically friendly? Can I adjust the height of everything to fit my needs?
41.       Do you supply at least two large monitors as a standard configuration for software developers?
42.       Are software developers provided with high-powered workstations? How often are they upgraded?
43.       Does the office setting support collaboration with coworkers? This includes at least one extra chair, the ability for two people to sit in front of the computer (i.e. pair programming), and a white board fixed onto a stable surface with room for at least three people to stand in front of it.
44.       Will I be provided with an ergonomic keyboard and mouse to my specifications? Or can I purchase my own and expense it with no questions asked?
45.       Will I have the freedom to install the tools I want on my workstation?
46.       What is the process and lead time to get a new tool, workstation, or server purchased and installed? How much bureaucracy and delay is involved?

Project Management

47.       Do projects have realistic schedules, resources, and scope that are actively managed and adjusted? How much freedom and control does the project manager / team have to change these three factors?
48.       How do you deal with a project that is behind schedule?
49.       How do you manage requests to change the scope or requirements of a project?
50.       What tools and practices are used to manage project schedules?
51.       Who estimates the time or effort required to do development work?
52.       How is the expenditure of effort tracked? What tools are used for time entry and tracking progress?
53.       What is the duration of iterations and releases?

Development Practices

54.       What development methodologies do you use? Describe how they are put into practice.
55.       How closely does development activities align with the philosophy & principles of Agile and Lean?
56.       What languages, libraries, and frameworks are commonly used or mandated?
57.       What developer tools (especially IDE) are provided or mandated?
What do you do for:
58.       Version Control?
59.       Unit Testing?
60.       Code Reviews?
61.       System & Integration Testing?
62.       Client / Customer / End User Collaboration?
63.       Requirements / Design Specifications?
64.       Design Reviews?
65.       Defect Tracking?
66.       Build Automation?
67.       Continuous Integration?
68.       Usability Testing?

Continuous Improvement

69.       What continuous improvement activities are performed on a regular basis?
70.       How often are retrospectives / lessons learned meetings held?
71.       How aggressively do you minimize bureaucracy and non-value-add activities? Can you provide an example of improving in this regard in the last six months?
72.       What is your process for handling suggestions and ideas from employees? How many suggestions per employee on average were received in the last year? How many were acted on?

Professional Development

73.       Do you provide opportunities for developers to receive feedback and learn from having their software running in production?
74.       What opportunities will I get to work with or mentor under expert world class software developers, architects, and managers?
75.       How much paid training do you provide to each employee per year? What kind of training is it? Can employees choose or recommend the training they take?

Performance Evaluation

76.       What kinds of opportunities for growth and advancement are possible? Describe the options for technical career paths that do not involve management.
77.       How do you make decisions regarding promotions?
78.       What approach is used for providing timely, effective feedback on performance? How are performance evaluations carried out?
79.       What do you look for in an ideal employee?

Working Hours

80.       What are the official number of hours worked per week?
81.       How many hours per week on average have your software developers worked over the last three months?
82.       Do you allow or expect mandatory overtime? What do you consider an unacceptable amount of overtime (both mandatory and voluntary)?
83.       Do you provide flexible working hours? What limits are there?

Compensation and Benefits

84.       Do you provide a competitive salary? What is your definition of competitive?
85.       How do you ensure that the salary of long-term employees stays competitive, especially in a hot job market? Do you respect your long-term employees enough to raise their salaries in such situations without waiting for them to ask for raises?
86.       How do you compensate for overtime?
87.       Do you pay your software developers according to their level of productivity? Why or why not?
88.       How many weeks per year of vacation do you offer?
89.       How flexible are you concerning how banked vacation can be used? Can it be saved from year to year? Are there any restrictions on taking vacation?
90.       What is your policy concerning raises? How regularly do you give raises? Do you consider a yearly increase in salary equal to the local inflation rate to be a raise?
91.       How do you reward exceptional performance? What do you consider exceptional performance and how do you identify it?
92.       Do you provide share options, profit sharing, retirement savings contributions, or pension? If so, what are the details of the plan(s)?
93.       What medical benefits do you provide? Do you cover dental work or eyeglasses? Do you cover health preventative measures such as exercise programs, vitamins, or preventative medical exams?
94.       What is your policy regarding sick days?
95.       Do you allow and support people in working from home? Up to what percentage of the time?
96.       Will travel be expected? If so, how frequently, for how long, to where? What is the policy on travel expenses?
97.       What other benefits or perks do you provide?

Contribution to Community

98.       How do you participate in and contribute to the local and global I.T. / software development community?
99.       What open source software do you support? What form does this support take?

Wrap-up Questions

100.     Who are you competing with locally for recruiting software developers? Who are you losing developers to?
101.     Bonus Question: Please provide three references consisting of employees I can talk to. The references should include a senior software developer and a technical lead.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Where is your local farmer's market?


Yes! I love Saturday mornings in the spring, summer, and fall one reason! Farmer's market!! I have been waiting to go for a few Saturdays now, but I always seem to have something else to do. So I made it a point to head out this morning.

To help you find your local farmer's market ---> http://www.localharvest.org/


While I was there, there was so many fruits and vegetables to choose from, but I couldn't decide and I didn't know what was in season. There were two nice ladies with fresh basil and I am sucker when it comes to fresh herbs, so I stopped and talked to them. If you want REAL in season tomatoes wait til 2nd weekend in July and later. Do you want to eat food that has products to speed up the growth, heck no that is why you went to the farmer's market in the first place to get the real stuff. Here are some pictures, it was jammed pack! But I had loads of fun, walking, smelling, and tasting.

Fourteen dollars later, I had fresh fruit and vegetables for the rest of my week. Plus 4 pieces of fresh bread and fresh flowers! Yeah, give it a try sometime you will love it.


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Removing Chewing Gum from the exterior of your car...

Yes you read correctly. Today I went to donate some items to our city garage sale. And when I went to open up the side door there was gum. Fresh gum all over the side of my car. WHAT NOT TO DO: paper soaked in water. Yeah that's doesn't work, so I trusted my faithful google search engine. WHAT TO DO:
  • Get a clean towel
  • Dab a few squirts of Goo-Gone
  • Wipe it off!
Yeah it was amazing! So next time this happens to you, you will know what to do. (Let's be honest this rarely happens to you, but you will know what to do now). Moral of the story, don't throw your chewing gum out the window because this could happen.

Saying Goodbye

For some reason, I decided to start this blog the day my sister and brother-in-law move 10 hours away from home. Saying goodbye is usually one of the hardest things I ever have to do. This morning, I was speechless and the only words that came out of my mouth were. "I love you." In the clip above she says it wonderfully, "I can't think of any words to say." Those are the words that I can only seem to say. I know saying goodbye is not always permanent, but it's hard nonetheless. I wish I had the answer to the heart ache, but I don't on this issue, but I do have a few things to say.

  • Cherish each day.
  • Live to the fullest.
  • Always say I am sorry.
  • Count your blessings.
  • Don't be afraid to laugh.
  • Complain less and fight.
  • Love with all your heart
  • Tell the ones you love, "I love you."

Lift your head up high and take two steps forward and live.

This is the story of life, people will come and go, so don't be afraid of relationships. We are made to live in union with one another. So get out there and enjoy life with others.

Why should you care.

Because we all should be well rounded individuals. Are you getting tired of the same old things? Well be adventurous and learn something new. I know I am not the brightest of them all, but I am always willing to listen and learn. Some of it might not change your life dramatically, but at least you will have something to talk about at a dinner party. It's all about teaching others to teach. So learn something new that might help yourself and help someone else.