so by the title, you should’ve guessed that this blog has 3 subjects.

first, management. there is a saying about management (especially in the software industry) that goes as follows: management wants the developers to produce an efficient (read: well-designed), cheap, and rapidly developed product. trouble is, they can only get two of three things. i’m quickly finding out that some people i work with think it’s just too easy to succumb to this type of statement. they’d rather hack out a crappy solution and spend way too many hours bug fixing and maintaining than to spend an extra 20 minutes and plan out a flexible design. they lean on that expression as if it were a crutch.

on top of that, i’ve noticed that people in general loathe change. i feel that sentiments like this could cripple someone’s career. many of the developers in my area are from an older generation, a pre-C generation if you will. C was most likely forced upon them unwillingly, much like C++. few people utilize C++’s improvements over C and favor C library routines such as printf over iostreams. the people i’m working with haven’t even heard of STL!! how can you be a C++ programmer and never use an STL string?! i believe that it is essential to adapt and learn new ways of doing old things. it is human nature to be static, but doing so will hinder advancement and growth. as with everything in nature, you must adapt or die. not advancing with technology and learning new ways of doing the same old thing very certainly mean career suicide. this might explain why so many people have been at the same company for 10+ years, which is rare in software engineering.

lets move on to the “buddon” topic. i’m not perfect about my speak and articulation, but i make it a point to enunciate as best as possible. i’ve started noticing words that people are commonly mispronouncing or butchering. one such word is button, usually pronounced “buddon”. others have include “bidness” (business), and “dat” (that); there are more but my memory escapes me. someone that i speak to on a regular basis uses the “buddon” one and my skin crawls every time i hear it.

lastly, lets talk about “the 2 pounds.” crystal and i have been going to the gym (24 Hour Fitness) for 4 weeks, 4 times a week. that has equated to roughly 24 hours of working out in 1 month (pun not intended). in those 24 hours, i have lost 2 pounds and have started to bulk up. i signed a membership agreement (contract free, just have to pay first and last month’s dues up front) after my trial membership expired. $28 a month and i can use the gym any day of the week, at the one location. having seen some progress, i’m really starting to enjoy going to the gym once again. tomorrow i have my body assessment upon which i will be measured and weighed; i’m eager to find out my body fat percentage.

the last thing i wanted to mention was that i’ve been listening to the Xenogears soundtrack and have been wanting to play the game all over again. i’m just not sure if i can bare through another 20-30 hours of leveling up. there are several new rpg’s that are coming out and i might have to look into them. if anyone has any recommendations, post a comment.