Just too much Traffic

I went to Dallas for work last week. I enjoyed it a lot. Dallas has tons to do, which is a big contrast to where I am now. I've been there twice before, once for NSBE, and later for an interview with TI... thier loss :-). Both times, I didn't have time to explore, well, for NSBE I didn't have transportation. So while this was for work, we actually had some time to look around. Makes me wonder what I'm doing here... then I think about how good this position is for my career. Well, should I have chose my career over living in civilization?... I'm used to big cities, having things to do, and using public transportation if I have to. The social scene here is 25 miles away, and while my new peoples are cool, I prefer to drive, because I'm sure I won't drink if my car is in the parking lot, AND I can't possibly leave without me. If I ever get stranded there, I have yet to figure out any way for me to get back home.

If anywhere is in need of public transportation, its right here. The city is growing very fast... if you saw everything going on here, you'd never believe its Arkansas. 15,000+ people commute into and out of this small city on a daily basis. I asked my co-worker what is holding up the process, and he said some things that I had to think about... they make sense, but I had trouble grasping that this was the reason things are taking so long. He said that there is a stigma associated with public transportation, but the bigger the city, the less you'd notice it. In this case, the mentality here is still small town Arkansas, even though the city is growing exceptionally fast (in the top 30 fastest growing counties in the country). So here, public transportation is associated with the lower class... people who cannot afford vehicles. You need a vehicle here, or you can't do anything, so I guess part of the fear is that implementing public transportation will attract lower class citizens. I don't know. What he said makes sense, but I can't get past the fact that as much as public transportation is needed, this is or could be one of the reasons there are no plans in place for it. I'm lucky I live 2 minutes away from where i work, and I can get there using side streets... but I am looking to buy a home at some point, and the last thing I want is to have to wake up an hour or more earlier just to get to work in time because of traffic. If they put public transportation in, I'd be the first to use it... otherwise maybe a better investment than a home is buying a bus and putting up some signs.

I hear thunder... I'll publish before the electricity goes out.

~JL

Just Find Your Cause

I realized that I need something to keep me occupied after work, but I decided I will not use this as a venue to commit myself to a project that I will not complete. However, I have been trying to work something out.

A few times when I watched Charlie Rose, I saw successful CEOs or rich actors and actresses talking about the organizations they help fund and support. In many cases, the support for these organizations came out of being personally affected. For example, a relative with breast cancer would prompt you to financially support finding a cure for it.

There is nothing wrong with that, my thing is why wait for it? Back when I was in NY I was approached to walk for breast cancer, and support other major causes that need support, but I didn't. That doesn't mean I don't think its important, but I can guarantee if a close relative had it, I'd be walking with everyone else. So what I'm striving for is a change of mentality.

My point is, find your cause. It doesn't have to be everything, just pick something that you can help bring positive change to. My favorite organization right now is VH1 Save the Music. I don't need to tell you that I love music, but music is dying, literally. Without talking about the low quality of content prevalent on the radio, music programs are being cut from school curriculum all over the country. Can I have a Black teen be an aspiring violinist for a change? We have more aspiring rappers than we have aspiring doctors or lawyers. Maybe if we save the music, some other things will follow? That's for another day. Today, find your cause, and let it be something that drives you.

~JL

"Music Education = Brain Power"
http://www.vh1.com/partners/save_the_music/

Just at Home

Well, I've noticed a very drastic decresae in the amount I've been writing, so I had to ask myself what's wrong. Is my life boring? It can't be. I have fun. Granted, being in Arkansas isn't as exciting as NY, but I should have a lot to talk about nonetheless. I guess my lack of material is due to being in the job routine. Interesting things happen at work that I can't talk about... whereas before I was working, if anything interesting happened, I could talk about it.

I'm home in NJ right now. I flew here on Wednesday evening for a good friend's wedding. I was one of the groomsmen. I had a great time, and the wedding was wonderful. Gave me something to look forward to because I really felt a lot of what was going on. It also had me thinking. You may not believe in love at first sight. I won't say its impossible, but I definitely doubt it can happen... but I will say that you can know whether or not someone is for you when you meet them. You can know whether they are long term material, or summer fling material. My question is, do we waste time and energy on people that we know won't work out for the long term? Is the long term anyone's priority anymore? Because if it is, then shouldn't we focus on meeting and pursuing quality? AND, as difficult as it may be, shouldn't we also train ourselves to learn the difference between knowing someone will work in the long term, instead of thinking they will... because thinking is tied in with imagining, and I know I do that a lot. That gets me caught up, and confused from time to time, and in the end, I end up essentially wasting time on people that I know deep down are not for me. How many quality women were passed up while I was wasting time on things that wouldn't have worked anyway? Think about it, beacuse if I learned anything from this wedding, its that the two individuals had a feeling from the start, that this could be something good, this should be something to pursue, and that it would be something for a lifetime.

~JL

Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. rnb

Just Right

My siblings came down to visit me over the weekend. It was great to see them. I tried to keep them as occupied as I could, but that is a big task here in Arkansas. We went to the mall, I showed them the University, we went out to eat a few times, and I showed them what I do at work. For me, that was a highlight, because I explain to people as much as I can about what I do, but you can't really understand until you see the technology in action. Now I know that they have an idea about what I talk about.

Everything at work is going well. Socially though, things could be better. I've met cool people, but things are really slow down here, and I guess that's just withdrawl from living in NYC. Some just go to the gym when they're bored. I went to a nice get-together on Friday and one of the girls I saw there lives in my apartment complex. I asked her if she goes out often and she said she hardly does. That surprised me, because if you don't then you are immediately a hermit (as my sister loves to say). That's the last thing I want to be, so I get out as much as I can. That includes the gym, different work cafeterias at different times to meet people, and I make it a point to go out either Friday or Saturday every weekend. She continued to say that her main routine is work and church. That's good, but I need more. Problem is that I've been to the clubs etc and I don't like the scene. I hate competing with the music, and yelling in people's ears, and not being able to hear back. Besides that, there's not much else.

I've never deliberately looked at fingers for wedding rings before... never really had to. But I find myself doing it all the time now, and I am amazed at the number of married people I see down here, and most are much younger than I'm used to seeing. Makes me wonder if anyone is left. It doesn't get me down though. I'm one of those"Everything Happens for a Reason" people, so I figure the right person will come along at the right time. What does get me down is that I haven't had many relationships before, and they haven't lasted long. I still have a lot to learn about myself.

That's it for tonight.

~JL

Just stop at the Top

Today at work, I had my first ADP (Associate Development Plan) meeting with my manager. They are designed for you to organize what your goals are, career and personal, and for you to develop timelines and measurables for achieving them. It allows your manager to learn more about you, make suggestions for courses of action, and keep you in mind when certain opportunities arise. The overall theme of my ADP was business technology. I'd like to be CTO someday... doesn't matter what company.

I work in a lab, observe technology demonstrations, and run tests. I'm getting a lot of the technology side, but what has been really interesting me is how the technology will be used to make the business better. So I'm trying to tag along with business analysts on my team to see more about what they do, and how they make the decisions they make. At least that was my original plan.

I did some more thinking today, and I may not even have to do all that. Technology deployment from a business perspective is all about understanding processes involved in the business, and making them more efficient. That isn't exactly what my manager said, but that is what he implied, and he is right. Tagging along with business members on my team is good, but as I learned, I was hired to come up with new ideas for technology applications, and in order to do that I need to observe how things operate so that I can identify opportunities to make the processes more efficient. That is what business technology is about. 4 years studying electrical engineering can get very technical, but that doesn't mean anything from a business perspective (depending on the company)... for example, in my position, you can give me tons of specs and impress me with the amazing things technology can do, but I can't consider its use if it doesn't perform the way we want it to, for the applications we have in mind. Bottom line, I want to be that middle person, where I can speak the tech language, but from a very practical, application driven perspective. I see companies slow to adopt technologies that will help them, and some are quick to adopt what will cost more than it will benefit them. I think my place, or career passion, is to be able to distinguish between the two, because I'm confident I'll make the right decisions... I have an eye for that type of thing.

~JL

Just to Congratulate

Congratulations to the new National Programs Chairperson. The news and its delivery was definitely welcomed, and a pleasant interruption to being out and about on a Saturday evening. Definitely makes me want to serve on a board in some capacity. I miss it to an extent. I'll consider the R1AB. In my opinion, national programs chair is quite possibly the most important position, and I have every confidence that the new chair will give it the respect, attention, and successful execution that position requires.

I watched V for Vendetta this evening. It was very interesting. At first, I wondered how they were going to pull off a movie with someone wearing a mask the entire time, but if you're into symbolism, and you listen carefully, it means a lot.

Change of subject, before I spoil the movie.

I have an XM satellite radio trial for 3 months with my car. I barely listened to it at first, but I grew tired of my CDs, so I turned it on for a while. Its not bad, but I have some major concerns about it. Satellite radio, at least the way it seems, should have a level of quality that far surpasses normal radio. Over the years I have acquired a great many songs with varying quality, most easily represented by the bit rate. A clear song can range from 128kbps and up. I can tell that what I hear on XM is sent at lower than 128kbps, and is more likely 96kbps, which is something I will not pay for. Their reason for doing this, lower bit rate means they are sending less information per channel. Less information per channel means they can have more channels. They sacrificed quality for more variety, likely keeping in mind that they will gain a lot more listeners due to variety than they will lose because of quality. I happen to be one of the quality oriented individuals. I turn on regular radio, and it sounds better. I can burn CDs and it sounds much better. Why pay $12/month when all I find myself doing is noticing how bad it sounds?

~JL