Again, ignore the "I get that reference", just look at the little picture . . . and pretend it's emblazoned with a maple leaf instead of a star.
Hey, @GasBandit why don't we have a Captain Canuck rating, too? This forum is so American-centric!
Hey, @GasBandit why don't we have a Captain Canuck rating, too? This forum is so American-centric!
GasBandit
Staff member
Because Captain Canuckistan didn't get that reference.
Dave
Staff member
Sorry.
fade
Staff member
No, that's @JCM.
By day they're the wives of unmitigated bigots of middling intellect, but by night they form a dynamic duo of superior savoury heroine heroessness.
Yeah, but that's, like, everyone and everything...
There. That feels more inclusive. Thank you, and sorry for being a bit of a bother.
I was more helper than saver. Im just glad that she's going to be ok.
So, please excuse the long exposition. Some background is in order.
In early 2012, I started working at my current job. We're primarily a b2b company in a very blue-collar industry (cable/telecomm). A large part of what we do is go out bury coax for new cable customers. When someone wants cable (from Comcast, Time warner, etc) and they've never had it before, someone has to go out to the house, run some cable from the little green box in the yard (or nearby yard) to the house, and then bury that cable. This is called a "drop".
When I first started working here, we had 50 employees, and most of the work was done on pen and paper, via email, phone, or fax. The flow of work was: A technician went out to install cable boxes, saw a drop was needed, and made a note on a piece of paper. At the end of the day, these drop orders were turned in, typed into a system at the cable provider, and the next day were passed out to drops teams (either in house or contractors). Those drops would need to have "dig safe" tickets entered (which every state requires to prevent cutting utility lines), which someone else had to do manually. Then, someone else had the job of checking (either via phone or via a website) every open dig safe ticket until they were 'cleared' for digging. Once that happened, someone else would call the dig contractors to go out and actually dig the line. Not only was the process slow, but it was very error prone with all of the swivel-chair typing going on.
The average time to completion in our area was about 21 days. With lots of jobs having to be re-ordered due to typing error. Sometimes these errors wouldn't be caught for weeks until the final crew went out to dig, which required the process to start all over. This is the state of the industry, pretty much nation-wide.
One of the things I did was write an entire end-to-end automated system: When a tech goes out now to install boxes, and they see a drop is needed, they open an app on their phone. They enter all the drop info into the app (including laying out dig lines via gps and taking pictures of the drop locations). All of that information flows back into a management back-end which automatically orders the job at the cable provider, enters the dig safe ticket at the respective dig-safe website, and automatically checks all open tickets every 10 minutes, clearing those that are safe to dig. Dig contractors have a "virtual whiteboard" which updates in real time, showing them which jobs are cleared and that they are scheduled to dig. The customer is alerted every step of the way, via email, what the status of their drop job is.
The average time to completion shortened to 5 days. Error rates dropped to a fraction of what they were, and are usually caught in the first 12 hours after a drop order.
Comcast was so happy with our work that they kept giving us additional areas and regions to work in, so much so that we now do work in 7 states, and have nearly 1000 employees. Last year, they expressed interest in acquiring the application themselves to take nationwide with all of their drops contractors. We closed that deal in December of last year, with an additional year's worth of work to the system in an additional contract. And while I'm not at liberty to say how much it was for, it was a substantial amount.
Which earned me a big bonus that's supposed to be showing up on my next check.
CableFax is an industry newsletter--and they did a little write up on the system today.
Changin' the world, man..
In early 2012, I started working at my current job. We're primarily a b2b company in a very blue-collar industry (cable/telecomm). A large part of what we do is go out bury coax for new cable customers. When someone wants cable (from Comcast, Time warner, etc) and they've never had it before, someone has to go out to the house, run some cable from the little green box in the yard (or nearby yard) to the house, and then bury that cable. This is called a "drop".
When I first started working here, we had 50 employees, and most of the work was done on pen and paper, via email, phone, or fax. The flow of work was: A technician went out to install cable boxes, saw a drop was needed, and made a note on a piece of paper. At the end of the day, these drop orders were turned in, typed into a system at the cable provider, and the next day were passed out to drops teams (either in house or contractors). Those drops would need to have "dig safe" tickets entered (which every state requires to prevent cutting utility lines), which someone else had to do manually. Then, someone else had the job of checking (either via phone or via a website) every open dig safe ticket until they were 'cleared' for digging. Once that happened, someone else would call the dig contractors to go out and actually dig the line. Not only was the process slow, but it was very error prone with all of the swivel-chair typing going on.
The average time to completion in our area was about 21 days. With lots of jobs having to be re-ordered due to typing error. Sometimes these errors wouldn't be caught for weeks until the final crew went out to dig, which required the process to start all over. This is the state of the industry, pretty much nation-wide.
One of the things I did was write an entire end-to-end automated system: When a tech goes out now to install boxes, and they see a drop is needed, they open an app on their phone. They enter all the drop info into the app (including laying out dig lines via gps and taking pictures of the drop locations). All of that information flows back into a management back-end which automatically orders the job at the cable provider, enters the dig safe ticket at the respective dig-safe website, and automatically checks all open tickets every 10 minutes, clearing those that are safe to dig. Dig contractors have a "virtual whiteboard" which updates in real time, showing them which jobs are cleared and that they are scheduled to dig. The customer is alerted every step of the way, via email, what the status of their drop job is.
The average time to completion shortened to 5 days. Error rates dropped to a fraction of what they were, and are usually caught in the first 12 hours after a drop order.
Comcast was so happy with our work that they kept giving us additional areas and regions to work in, so much so that we now do work in 7 states, and have nearly 1000 employees. Last year, they expressed interest in acquiring the application themselves to take nationwide with all of their drops contractors. We closed that deal in December of last year, with an additional year's worth of work to the system in an additional contract. And while I'm not at liberty to say how much it was for, it was a substantial amount.
Which earned me a big bonus that's supposed to be showing up on my next check.
CableFax is an industry newsletter--and they did a little write up on the system today.
Changin' the world, man..
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Ok, this is going to sound kinda advertisie, but man, I love the ego products. I'm actually enjoying doing yardwork because I don't have to worry about gas (or the noise) I've just switched everything over to battery powered. Lawn mower, weed eater, chainsaw, and leaf blower (wish they had a leaf sucker so I could bag it 
). But damn. I love this shit, just wanted everyone to know. haha
). But damn. I love this shit, just wanted everyone to know. haha
Make sure not to let the batteries go stale during the off season, or you'll be singing a different tune.Ok, this is going to sound kinda advertisie, but man, I love the ego products. I'm actually enjoying doing yardwork because I don't have to worry about gas (or the noise) I've just switched everything over to battery powered. Lawn mower, weed eater, chainsaw, and leaf blower (wish they had a leaf sucker so I could bag it
--Patrick
They automatically discharge themselves after a month of no use
Right, but if you leave them empty all off-season, they may not charge again in the Spring.
At least with lithium-based rechargeables. If they are run all the way down to empty, and then left that way for too long, the internal voltage may drop so low that they won't charge again. This is a thing that happens more often with "dumb" lithium batteries, I'm hoping that yours have controller circuitry that tries to prevent complete discharge.
--Patrick
Ah. I dunno. But if it does, I do have a 3 year warranty on the battery
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
Edit: after a month of non use it auto drains to 30% battery (that's its optimal storage percentage)
That's good to hear, and in line with what Battery University has to say (the big takeaway is that you shouldn't let them bake/freeze in your garage, of course!).
--Patrick
fade
Staff member
The way our organization works (SKIF) you can only test for black once a year with the Sensei from Japan. 6 tested for 1st degree, 4 for second, one for 3rd and one for 6th. 4 passed 1st, 2 passed second, and the 6th was recommended to pass (there's a special procedure for a belt that high). The sensei is a nice guy, but a strict tester. All the 1st degree candidates from our dojo passed, which is nice. The two who did not were from other dojos.
Dave
Staff member
This past week, I signed up for an Energy Exchange program at a hot yoga studio. The program has people volunteer about 4 hours a week in exchange for a week's worth of unlimited classes. It's been fantastic so far. Last night's class had a LOT of back bends, including wheel pose, which I frequently practice at home. The instructor said I had great form for it while many others in the class struggled. Plus, I got a discount on a new mat that's fantastic for a sweaty person like me. No slipping and sliding like my other mats.
Today, I woke up and did a 35 minute morning yoga from a YouTube video. Then, just as I was about to leave the house and head to Starbucks, I saw on Facebook that there was a LIVE DDP Yoga workout. It was just starting, so I said "Screw it! We're doing this!" I quickly got into some workout clothes, rolled out my mat, and got to it.
And now, because I must be insane, I'm still considering going to ANOTHER hot yoga class tonight.
And then tomorrow I'll probably go into a coma.[DOUBLEPOST=1488650961,1488650852][/DOUBLEPOST]And for anyone who wants to try the DDP Yoga that I never shut up about, the video will stay up. It's almost an hour long, so I don't recommend doing it all at once if it's your first time. Or if you do, be sure to modify as DDP suggest throughout the workout.
Today, I woke up and did a 35 minute morning yoga from a YouTube video. Then, just as I was about to leave the house and head to Starbucks, I saw on Facebook that there was a LIVE DDP Yoga workout. It was just starting, so I said "Screw it! We're doing this!" I quickly got into some workout clothes, rolled out my mat, and got to it.
And now, because I must be insane, I'm still considering going to ANOTHER hot yoga class tonight.
And then tomorrow I'll probably go into a coma.[DOUBLEPOST=1488650961,1488650852][/DOUBLEPOST]And for anyone who wants to try the DDP Yoga that I never shut up about, the video will stay up. It's almost an hour long, so I don't recommend doing it all at once if it's your first time. Or if you do, be sure to modify as DDP suggest throughout the workout.
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Moved house Sunday and Monday. Started a new job on Wednesday. It's been a busy week.
- Nearly all of our furniture survived the move intact
- Nobody got hurt
- Living room, kitchen, salon, bedroom, bathroom are all already 100% unpacked and nearly finished (some wires to tuck away and such small things)
- Internet is up and running!
- Library is starting to come together
- Brand new phone and laptop from work, both pretty decent and complete liberty to install anything I want and use them any way I want
- Colleagues seem cool, so does my boss
- I can clearly see how and where I think I can improve things and make a difference
- The work load is....Not exactly horribly taxing. These people hired me because the work load was getting to them and they didn't manage everything at once, but they think it's perfectly OK to spend an hour chatting around the coffee maker. I won't be goofing around all the time but it doesn't seem like I'll be pushed to 105% all the time, either.
- Nearly all of our furniture survived the move intact
- Nobody got hurt
- Living room, kitchen, salon, bedroom, bathroom are all already 100% unpacked and nearly finished (some wires to tuck away and such small things)
- Internet is up and running!
- Library is starting to come together
- Brand new phone and laptop from work, both pretty decent and complete liberty to install anything I want and use them any way I want
- Colleagues seem cool, so does my boss
- I can clearly see how and where I think I can improve things and make a difference
- The work load is....Not exactly horribly taxing. These people hired me because the work load was getting to them and they didn't manage everything at once, but they think it's perfectly OK to spend an hour chatting around the coffee maker. I won't be goofing around all the time but it doesn't seem like I'll be pushed to 105% all the time, either.
So, my oldest friend came to town today as a surprise. He brought me an early birthday present (like almost two months early) of a Nintendo Switch! We've been playing the Fast RMX game all afternoon and having a blast. He also got the Zelda: Breath of the Wild to go with it. This has been a great afternoon and evening.
I just went to a free Laughter Yoga class the library. First time ever trying something like that.
Oh. My. God. Everyone has to do this. Hell, anyone CAN do this. No mat needed. Everyone sits in chairs in a circle and does various laughter-relating breathing exercises.
Not only will I drag everyone I know to the next class (next month), but I totally want to teach this now. I loved it.
Oh. My. God. Everyone has to do this. Hell, anyone CAN do this. No mat needed. Everyone sits in chairs in a circle and does various laughter-relating breathing exercises.
Not only will I drag everyone I know to the next class (next month), but I totally want to teach this now. I loved it.
Michael Palin, after the wall fell.
Hey hey HEY. None of that science talk around here, mister. This is a NEW world where, thanks to His Majesty Trump, science is OPTIONAL.