The Q Continuum

As I've finally been able to get back into the schedule of reading various blogs on a daily basis, I've started noticing a trend - many of them not only include various levels of thought (from really shallow to really philosophic) but they also have a number of mechanisms to see how many people are reading. There are a number of counters, from the basic web counters we've seen for numerous years, to site referral counters, to guest books, to comment trackers, and so on. Those sites that employ most (if not all) of these tracking mechanisms also implore the reader to leave a trace of their visit by signing the guest book, leaving a comment, or clicking on any number of 'track me' type links.

Maybe I'm a bit naive here, but I'm beginning to think that a large number of blogs amount to nothing more than a popularity contest - a way for the author to get validation for his or her existence.

Granted, the trend I've noticed does tend to be more prevalent with the younger crowd, specifically teenagers. Blogs that seemingly exist for no other reason than to espouse bad English, bad spelling, and , oh yes, who's the hottest guy or girl in class this week. (Needless to say, I've not gone back for regular visits to those sites.) But right up top, before you get to the professed 'most important' issues in the blogger's life are the stats of who has visited, how many comments have been left, and pleas to hit refresh or click a link or add a comment. Like I could even begin to comment on whether Ashley's boobs are really bigger than Andrea's.

Before you sound the hypocrite alarm, yes, I have employed some of these tools in this blog. I've included a site referral tracker at the bottom so I can see whether announcements about a particular post have been successfully received. I've included a comment system for those who wish to spout off about a particularly insightful or inane post on my part. But there are no hidden trackers, no counters, and if you've read carefully, no pleas to the readers to tell all their friends about my blog or to advertise any product, specialty, etc. You'll also notice that I'm bucking the blog trend of linking to 17,000 other blogs in my links section (a common ploy to get those 17,000 sites to link back to your blog to increase your counter stats). I've included links to a couple of blogs in my random links item (go on, hit refresh to update those, but there will be no additional counters added) more out of amusement for myself than anything else.

And that's really the bottom line for me. This blog is mine, primarily for me, a way for me to collect my thoughts into a seemingly rational, logical format for introspection and retrospection. It's a way for me to keep those who are interested in what's going on with me to keep up to date without having to call or e-mail directly (which opens the 'am I being an anti-communication enabler by blogging?' can of worms, but I won't touch on that here).

So, please, feel free to browse this blog. Or don't. Leave an opinion on a post. Or don't. Tell all your friends and people about it. Or don't.

If reading this blog has brightened your day, great. If it has changed your life in a meaningful way, great. If you think I'm a nutcase in need of serious psychological help, great. You can leave a comment, send me e-mail, or post in your own blog.

Or don't.

Did you know the plural of "moose" is "moose?" I didn't...

Anyway, Anna had a moose sighting this morning on her way to work. She passed an Animal Control truck that just pulled off to the side of the road as she went past, and she thought she saw a rather large dark horse in the field she drives by every day.

At the time, she didn't think anything of it. Then one of her students came in, shouting that she was attacked by a moose on that road on the way to class.

This may pass as normal behavior in rural Washington State or somewhere like that, but this is suburban Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas for goodness sake! This moose sighting was just 10 miles north of the largest airport in the state, and second busiest in the country! We're not country bumpkins!

Moose indeed...

Have you ever had "one of those days?" What's that, you say?

For example, getting up an hour early to go to a brief meeting before work, scheduled such that you can attend the meeting and still have time to drive across town to get to the office by 9am, but getting stuck behind an injury accident less than a mile from the house that costs you 20 minutes. Then dealing with heavier traffic because you hit the freeways later than you expected. Then actually getting to the meeting about the time you were expecting to leave the meeting and having to deal with the issue as a sidebar and not a full presentation. Then getting stuck at a red light that stays red in your direction for 7 minutes even though there is absolutely no traffic in any of the other directions. Finally getting to work, only 15 minutes late miraculously, finding out that your schedule has changed, but that change has been changed for that day only so you can attend a mandatory training session. Only you get involved with an issue about 30 minutes after you arrive at work and not wrapping up that issue for another six and a half hours with no lunch break, though you've been able to snack regularly through the issue because your desk is well-stocked for snacks. Then taking a half hour to try and catch up on the other work that was supposed to have been completed earlier in the day before getting involved in another issue that keeps you occupied until 7pm, all the while having the people who work with you treat you as though you're some mistake they made in the hiring process. All the while, you're questioning the benefits of making this particular employment decision yourself, only to keep seeing the harsh reality that you better be damn glad you've got a job at all. Then finally leaving the office to head home, only to find that the thunderstorms predicted for the next day got anxious and decided to roll into town 12 hours early, literally raining on your parade. So you end up driving home agitated from the days activities, in a bad mood because your blood sugar is out of whack from not being able to eat properly, and your cell phone coverage decides to really wig out so you can't talk with anyone while driving to try and get some of your frustration out of your system.

Nah, I didn't think so...

It's official - the economy really sucks.

I learned late last week that a good friend is losing his job in a couple of weeks, and not for performance reasons. The company he works for has a branch office in Austin, his office, that they're closing down to "streamline operations." Catch is, he works for a major publisher of entertainment software, so you know if the PC games market is bad, everything is bad. At least he's in Austin, where the market is faring better than Dallas/Ft. Worth.

This is just another reminder for me to remember how lucky I am to have a job within my field of expertise. I'm counting my blessings that I was only out of work for 2.5 months in the D/FW area, which is nothing short of miraculous, given my profession and career level. I know my friend will do well in his search because of his talents, skills, experience, attitude, but mostly because of his location.

To those of you who are currently earning a regular paycheck in your desired area of employment, consider yourselves blessed.

To those of you who are currently earning a regular paycheck in any field, consider yourselves fortunate.

To those of you looking for technology work, get the hell out of the Dallas/Ft. Worth market!