Whoops. I Goofed.

Mea Culpa.

Talk about an embarrassment.

I'm a pretty computer-savvy guy, you know? I've been around computers since the floppies were bigger than the dinner plates - as a user. I was a cat herder - er, network administrator for a while in the '90s, but I never got into the uber-user, HTML spouting, raw-coding side of things.

Well, look at me now! I'm a certified moron! I managed to goof, something semi-serious.

Over there in the left column, under the counter, is a colorful little icon-thingy that looks like one of the Arizona automobile license plates. It identifies this site as a member of the Arizona Bloggers webring - or it would, if it was active. In a typical (for me) learning experience, I was being my efficient self - so I thought. When I signed up to join the AZ Bloggers, I got an e-mail from the webmaster telling me exactly what to do. Actually, I signed up both of my blogs - my normal voice blog (Yes, Cartter With Two Ts) and this Snarky voice blog that you are currently reading and wishing you hadn't stumbled into on such a nice day.

At any rate, I received two emails from Mr. Webmaster - one for each blog. So - I clicked through on the first one (for the other blog, which in hindsight is painfully obvious), grabbed the little piece of code that puts that colorful little icon-thingy on the web page, and pasted into the code for the template for the other blog.

This is where my efficiency and knowledge of computers collide in a rather humbling display of hubris.

I opened another window into the Internet. I started another blog edit session. I logged into this blog. I copied THE SAME PIECE OF CODE into this template.

Mr. Webmaster was not amused. Well, maybe he was, but in his gruff, webmasterly tone he promptly discontinued the link to this site.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the great Cary has broken the ring! This blog was listed for less than twelve hours, and I managed to bring down the wrath of the ring leader. Apparently, the code is unique (due to an identifier) to each web site!

<smack forehead with hand>

Who knew? Well, obviously, a lot of people KNEW - I just wasn't invited to the information pool party.

Remember a few entries back where I snarked at the anonymous commenter? Guess what, anonymous? I'm not perfect! I just learned something. Hey, guess what else? I'm going to practice what I preach and LEARN form this mistake, thereby eliminating (to a great degree) the chance of REPEATING this mistake. Hopefully, by the time you have gotten this far, the Webmaster has grudgingly allowed me back into the inner circle, with a minimum of grumbling and threats.

And that, dear lurkers, is what it's all about.

Learn, do, make mistakes, learn from mistakes, don't repeat the mistakes, learn even more.

My Grandfather once told me, "Making a mistake is normal. Making the same mistake over and over again is just plain asinine." How true, and how guiding. I miss you, gramps.

Lunch! (crossposted)

Mistake.

Big mistake.

Real big mistake.

I ate at Garcia’s today, at the invitation of JS, a salesman here at The Big Cabinet Shop, in thanks for helping him get up to speed on the software we use here.

I’m not saying the food was bad, au contraire. It was good. Very good. Too good. I ate so much that here it is three hours later and I still feel like I just pushed away from the table.

Bloated, distended, uncomfortably full. OK, mostly my fault for ordering a large item when I normally eat a small lunch, but c’mon – this is the original Garcia’s on 35th Ave. south of Thomas, not one of the franchised locations. How can you NOT overeat there?

I highly recommend their food, especially the freshly made salsa and guacamole. Order anything, slap the guac on it, and go to town.
Just don’t have to go back to work afterwards, because that’s a criminal act.

How Much Training Do You Need?

I work in a Big Cabinet Shop, in the layout and design area. In other words, I create the paperwork that the shop floor uses in order to build the cabinets. Most of the cabinets are self-explanatory, since we base our cabinetry on a 3” increment – the cabinets are a width that is evenly divisible by 3.

Once in a while, there is a cabinet designed that needs extra attention – it cannot be built just by looking at the elevation print that is supplied in the paperwork. This is either a special or custom print, depending on complexity and composition. Any cabinet that does not face the viewer squarely needs a special print, because the software we use measures the width of the cabinet from a fixed point – if the cabinet is angled, it measures how wide the face is from left to right, and if the cabinet is actually wider but is set at an angle, the apparent width is less than the actual. For example, a cabinet that is 17” wide, but sitting at a 45° angle to the other cabinets on the wall, will appear to the software to be 13 15/16” wide, and will be labeled as such. The cabinet list at the bottom of the page has the correct width listed, however.

In order to facilitate the correct building of the cabinets, if a situation arises where a special or custom print is needed, a note is written on the elevation view to that effect: “SPECIAL PRINT C# 2, 3, 5” indicating that cabinets 2, 3, and 5 are different from the norm. A special print is then generated – a separate piece of paper, with the correct dimensions and a cut list for all the parts involved. If it’s really complicated, a set of orthographic drawings will be included on the print.

The quality inspector just came up to my desk and asked me if this cabinet (#5, in this case and the basis for the example above) is really 13 15/16” wide or 17” wide. I confirmed that it needed to be 17” wide. He confirmed that they had built it according to the elevation, not the special print.

I wonder what they do with the special prints that are included in the job papers? It doesn’t seem that they use them in order to build the cabinets….

Bunchamorons.

Driving Me Crazy

Is it just me, or does it seem like there are more and more vehicles in the Phoenix metro area with Mexican plates? It seems like they are starting to outnumber the snowbirds and other out-of-state visitors.

Tonight, on the way home, I was passed (and by passed I mena, of course, blown by like I was sitting on the side of the road on blocks) by a Grand Marquis with Chihuahua state plates. Of course, he was right ahead of me at the next red light, and when that light turned green he was off like a rocket again.

No wonder my auto insurance keeps going up.

Insurance Update Call

<ring>

The house phone is ringing. Since TMBWitW and I have cell phones, we don't normally answer the house phone.

<ring>

I'm sitting right next to it, I'm the only one home, so I figure I'll answer it.

"Good morning, Cartter's" - dead silence. Oh great, I'm on an autodialer and the lag between the answer and the person is -

"Yes, is this the Cartter residence?" (If you had been polite enough to have been listeneing while the phone was ringing, and you had heard me answer the phone...)

"Yes, it is."

"Is Scarlet or Cary available?"

"This is Cary."

"Mr. Cartter, this is (name of insurance company) calling to update our records. This phone call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes (second voice: OK, now just go right into it) Is your home phone number XXX-XXX-XXXX?" (Great. A trainee. I'll bet they teach her all sorts of illogical questions.)

OK, now I understand that the autodialer dials the phone and hands it over when someone answers. But, really, since you are reading your script from the database that the autodialer used to dial my number, why is it necessary to ask if this is still my home phone number?

"Yes, it is."

"Mr. Cartter, did you recieve a letter asking for an update of information for your policy with (name of insurance company)?"

"Yes, and my wife returned it with the updated information either yesterday or the day before."

"OK, thank you for your time. (second voice: give him the contact information in case he has any quesitons) Mr. Cartter, in case you have any questions about this phone call, please call 1-800-XXX-XXXX and refer to contact number XXXXXXXXXXXX." <click>

Me, staring at reciever: "Well, I'm glad I don't have any questions, since I didn't record that conversation and I didn't have anything to write with."

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

Last night, on the way home from church, it was kind of raining a little bit. My wife and I were stopped at a light, and there was a car headed north, waiting to turn west. There was a glob of traffic going south, and a person on a bicycle approaching the intersection from the north, on the west side of the street.

Do you see what I was imagining?

Turning vehicle got a clear spot, started the turn. Saw the bicyclist, stopped - across southbound traffic. Southbound Dodge pickup saw the turning vehicle stop, hit his brakes. Freshly wet pavement in Phoenix, after a long dry spell = ice rink. Even with his ABS working overtime, the Dodge hit the turning car in the right rear passenger door, spinning her clockwise 180°. The look on the bicyclist's face when she realized she was about to wear a Toyota was rather odd - and all control left her muscles as she just coasted into the driver's door of the Toyota. The light turned green for us, and, since I am not a doctor nor was my lane blocked, my wife and I continued on our way.

A lack of common sense really hurts sometimes. That, and not paying attention to your surroundings.

Actual Radio Exchange

D: "S., there's a unit of wood under the side roof, do you want to get it or do you want me to bring it in?"

S: "Uhh, yeah, D."

D: "The answer requires more than just 'yeah,' S."

This kind of stuff makes me laugh quietly as I continue to work...

Anonymous Commenters

I replied to the previous post's commenter with a rather sarcastic note in my typing. I'm not always sarcastic, but I am very intolerant of incompetent people. I mean, you are hired to do a job, you are trained to do a task, and yet you can't seem to get it right.

Now, I'm not perfect, but my common sense tells me that if I am not sure how to do something, especially if the outcome may impact my future employment (through reviews or what not), I am going to ask for clarification on a point. And the neat thing is, I am going to do my best to retain that knowledge.

In other words, I make mistakes, but usually only once, and I learn from that mistake and alter my actions in the future.

Why is it that when I apply that same (low, in my opinion) standard to others, I am suddenly being bitter?

And, if you are going to comment, leave your name. I know it gives you the option of remaining anonymous, but I prefer to know who I am talking to. Or remarking to. Or replying to.

So, Anonymous #1, that's why these first few posts have been kind of snarky. Because you have been shown how to do your job, so do it. Quickly, efficiently, and to the best of your ability. Take some pride in your work. Be able to show off and say "That is something I have accomplished on my own."

Well, duh - part 2

Hey – pick up window dude! If you are going to hand me a drink that has half the contents dripping down the outside, at least give me some napkins to wipe it off, don’t make me ask. Better yet, pay attention to what you are doing and wipe it off before you hand it to me!

Well, duh.

Hi – um, fast food worker? When you loaded the napkins in the dispenser, the half flap side is supposed to be facing out, you know, so that people who need napkins can actually pull them out without having to rip them apart. And while we are on the subject, if you stuff them that full, pressure and friction will cause them to be torn beyond useful when they are extricated. Just thought you’d like to know.

What do you know...

Went to Panda Express tonight to grab dinner on the way home.

Every employee in the store was of Mexican descent. How do I know it's authentic Chinese food?

Red Light Runners

I live in an area known nationally as ranking at the top of red light fatalities - that is, some idiot runs a red light and creams an innocent motorist who is lawfully entering the intersection.

The city's solution? Lengthen the all-red time. Think about it for a minute - there is more time where the lights are all red, which means the RLR can speed through with less chance of an accident. This doesn't reduce the incidents, it increases the number of RLRs!

My suggestion? Reduce the all-red time to zero. That's right, as soon as one direction turns red, the other direction turns green. The smart motorist, knowing this, will pause before entering the intersection on the green light, the RLR will eventually, by natural selection, be removed from the gene pool. Yes, this may involve an innocent motorist, but I believe that the greater good will be served by eliminating the chance for the RLR to be successful.

Since this makes sense, it will never be implemented by the city, as the ones who run the city do so without the benefit of common sense. Or so it seems.