Ongoing Path to Management

Ongoing Path to Management is to discuss about my attempts to get a people management (for the sake of these series will just be shortened as manager) role. I have known this was not an easy path, but one I believe is beneficial to the company given my experience and my ability to connect with other employees.

I also do not have a need to be in management. I am well content to do my job at my current position and current pay. I would still prefer to have more responsibilities and/or more pay. That being said, if I were promoted to management, I believe I would do a good job and I am willing to do the extra work. The reason I want to do this because I believe in doing what is good for my group.

There are some other obstacles to my path due to my personal beliefs which I will address in another post. Today, I just want to address a more obvious problem for everyone that is interested in becoming a people manager.

Catch-22

One of the biggest obstacle to getting a management role is the need to have management experience. The follow up question is how many direct reports have you managed. But all managers must have had no experience or directs reports before they became a manager.

Opportunity

From my experience, the fastest way to become a manager is to know the right person. No experience, no skills, just being in the right place at the right time. I have seen fresh graduates promoted to management within a year of working. Even those who did not even want to be a manager. Majority of them have no idea how to lead a team: causing confused team members, setting unreasonable goals, creating many social impacts, etc. Simply by knowing the right person will get you promoted (for many different reasons).

And then there is the very long and difficult path that depends a lot on luck. The luck is primarily based on your work for a company that is mature enough to have a structured method of promoting. Although luck like knowing the right people is still important, but has less of an impact which could increase your chances. At these firms, you can work hard and work several years to eventually be promoted to management role. You will have a better chance if you work for someone that is in a volatile position.

By volatile position, I mean that the position (not necessarily the person but could be driven by the person) has a high potential to change. The simplest is that the person is going to retire. The person will leave and a gap needs to be filled. Next is the person that is ambitious or really skilled. Basically, the person needs to move out of the role so that it becomes available and you have to be the best option.

Leads

From my experience, I believe that most managers are more leads. They have the know-how, they delegate, they review the product, but most do not care for the person's growth, the person's career, or if very unlucky, do not care for you at all. They do not set you up for a raise or for a good review. They see annual reviews as a waste of time. They only want to lead and force you to follow, just as they have to follow their superiors.

Because most managers are leads in reality, this confuses the title of managers because that creates poor standards of what a manager should do. For those who are new to the workplace, expectations of a manager becomes much harder to maintain across the company.

Turnover

Perhaps I work in very unsafe work environments my entire career, but I see that there are very few good managers.

My speculation is that good managers rarely leave a company (or let go). So to me, most companies are hiring just bad managers. This is also my belief why I am unable to randomly find a good company to work for. Because good companies do not have turnover to have roles to fill. Good companies will have good managers who most likely have good references so there is no need to reach out to find random candidates.

Good employees leave bad companies. The silver-lining is that they learn why certain processes are in place or why certain good practices are done.

People, People, People

I was brought up that good work will eventually be promoted. I hated playing politics. I have had my work credit stolen. I have been passed by another with less experience who was later fired within months. I have been told that the company cannot afford to hire helpers but yet when I leave, they eventually have to back fill with multiple people. I have won contracts with clients who eventually canceled their contracts with my former company shortly after I left.

Sorry for all the negativity. So more positively, I have always been a go-to person for some people around me for advice on career, work, projects, or even very situational scenarios. I have always been the fastest to learn. Among my team, I have almost always had the most projects, most tasks with equal or better quality with no complaints.

But all this is not important at all to management (at least in today's corporate management). All that really matters is the people you know. Not just any person, the right person whether they work for a good or bad company. If you do not know the right person, you will never be promoted even if you are the star employee. Sadly, the "right" person typically is not someone who is a good manager (although possible).

If you work for a good company, time may be worth spending to achieve that goal. For a bad company, the expense of being promoted may not be worth the sacrifices. I do not just mean financially (or sexually). I mean sacrificing your morals.

I am unwilling to lie or cheat. I would rather work cheaply until I find the right place to work that truly appreciates their employees. My recommendation to all is to keep an eye out for good people. Do not be afraid to approach them. Connection is important in this world if you want to make an impact and have more control over your own life. Hard work can only get you so far individually in current workplace.

Buggish: Microsoft Email Spam (Junk) Filtering

I have a gmail and hotmail account that has made it into the global spamming list of emails.

I barely receive any junk mail in the gmail account. I almost most definitely don't get any of the same or similar emails after I mark it as junk.

In my hotmail account, I get 10-20 junk mails a day of spam. I do not understand why this filtering is so hard for Microsoft to track as most of the junk look almost identical, and if not identical the same format. Of the easiest junk mail to track are the ones with subjects that start with an icon image. I get emails that are not even addressed to me. I get emails that is addressed to a single person in the body but sent to a group of people. They all have images that link to a domain that is not in the from address.

At the very least, I do not see emails with massively misspelled words.

Sure none may necessarily mean it is junk mail, but majority have multiple red flags. I don't even think you need AI to filter most junk mail. But now with AI and big data, this should be even easier for a company like Microsoft to figure most this out.

Unknown knowns: Different sign languages (Taiwan vs American)

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fseektheworld2015%2Fvideos%2F602832317146664%2F&show_text=0&width=560

Side-by-side video of some basic words for Taiwan and American sign languages

Unknown knowns

Unknown knowns is my new series of learning new things that I did not know before.

Wendy's vs Burger King's Dipping Sauces with Nuggets (taste test, purely personal taste)

I randomly decided to do a side-by-side taste test between Wendy's dipping sauce (W) and Burger King's dipping sauce (BK).

My Personal Preference

Honey Mustard = W
BBQ = BK
Ranch = BK
Sweet & Sour = BK



W 50 nuggets for $9.99 or 4 for $0.99
BK 10 nuggets for $1.49 :: 50 nuggets for $7.45


W also has spicy nuggets which I typically prefer plain. BBQ and ketchup are acceptable with spicy nuggets.

W also has S'awesome sauce and Creamy Sriracha. Both are ok.

My personal preference in sauces in general across all foods is honey mustard. I do not like ranch across all foods.

With nuggets, I prefer honey mustard and BBQ. Although, I prefer BK and McD bbq over honey mustard.


Hope this is not too detrimental to my diet...

My Thoughts: Blogging is not easy, writing an article even harder

Although easier to critique other people's works, writing even a poor article or blog is not easy (procedurally). And to follow my critiques, they are not easy to overcome in my own posts. The most pressing pressure is time. Although professional writers may be pressured by due dates, I am pressured by just spending personal time on the article. Many posts are not completely to my liking, then found that I do not publish much. Eventually, I feel that enough information is provided and the general thoughts and ideas were presented so I just publish it anyways.

Personally, I wish I had more time to research. I wish I had more time to put together the research to make a better analysis. I wish I had more energy to more things. I wish I could make my thoughts follow a more coherent process. I wish I could focus more on the topic.

Blogging is difficult for me to stay on topic. I segue way too much. I delete way more than I leave in. Sometimes, I go so off tangent that I even start another article mostly intending to drop a few notes so I can return later then go on another tangent then eventually forgetting my original post.

So, I still encourage anyone to blog, write, or simply a journal. No one needs to read it. I feel that I have learned a lot about myself from these posts.

Scammish Pseudo Professional Blog Posts

I am like many people who get suckered by click-bait articles. But unlike most, I like to do some due diligence when an occasional post strikes my fascination. Recently I have been doing some research for a project that I hope to work on, I have found that a lot of these articles have no references... not even the author.

I can understand a personal blog (like this) not following all the rules, but our default disclaimer is basically take our advice with a grain of salt because we have no credentials. I dislike these blogs that are in the name of a company especially a seemingly legit companly like glassdoor, monster, and indeed (yes, I have been researching online job hires).

My Hates

In general as far as I can remember, I absolutely hate articles with no dates! 

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/big-lies-recruiters-tell

https://www.nbrii.com/employee-survey-white-papers/10-things-employees-dislike-most-about-their-employers/

How hard is it to post a date? Not hard at all! So something is suspicious. In the best case, the company is just not legit because they are not putting the reader's concern in mind. This should be the first "readers beware" especially if you want to source the material or use their services.

Next, I hate lists that have absolutely no sources or references. And if there are no sources or references, then there should be some description of the author.

https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/author/emilymoore/

Yes, her articles are interesting reads but there are no backings. Where is she getting the information from? If from her personal experience, what is her experience? This is also not hard at all. It is the internet. The author can just as easily just make up a description.

And the author's title (Monster Staff) in the article from monster? They seriously could not come up with a more useless title to add some sort of legitimacy to the post? Might as well just signed, "some bum from the street" or anonymous.

Here's an example that does a good job of the above items:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/auditory-processing-disorder/

What irks me even more is that even reddit posts are more legit than the professional-looking blogs and articles. Even in reddit, at least some of the users will list their sources even to the point of admitting not only that it is from personal experience but that it is super biased.

So it just saddens me that many corporations are nothing like people. They put on a good face to make us forget that they will scam you if they can in as legal a method that they can.

On a Side Note

Would be nice if there was a way to rate blogs, articles, or whatever based purely on how they do certain things. I personally use the above method to rank how trust-worthy a company or site is.

See also

A good article with dates, references, and a good bio. Adds a lot of trust and believability to the article.

https://business.dailypay.com/blog/employee-turnover

Exercise (246) Sodium vs (table) Salt

Completely random, I was reading an article about the difference between sodium and salt. I think it a good short read on how salt or sodium reacts in our body. Nothing ground breaking, just a pleasant read for those who enjoys a near-layman's explanation of physics.

I have not been exercising per se for a long, long while (except for an hour of volleyball). I have been also eating a bit unhealthy lately. Fortunately, my weight has not gone up. I have been moving around a lot (moving boxes and things) which I do not count as exercising. I hope once I finish, I will be able to get back to exercising more regularly.

Reference

https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-sodium-and-salt-608498

Exercise (247) Sometimes life happens

My father was in a serious accident. I was heart-broken to hear the news. I couldn't help to feel extremely saddened when I saw his condition. Fortunately, he is recovering although it did take some time for him be out of ICU.

During these times, I sometimes feel a bit jealous of others. And I have to remind myself that there are things much more important than money or success. Although there are people that experience even more tragic situations, I do not believe that should justify a different decision even. Because the logic would not hold for whoever has the most tragic experience.

What made me second guess myself was that I did not have a good relationship with my father. I did quickly decide to drop everything and fly to the hospital. I have no regrets in the decisions made. Sometimes I feel disappointed in myself that I had to think about it or remind myself, and not just instinctively decide.

Even though it put a long pause in my professional and other personal life progress, taking that time off to care was totally worth it. It also did add a lot of life perspectives. What good is all that wealth if you do not take care of yourself? Sometimes things just happen, are you prepared if one day you realize you cannot move or talk? Most if not near all parents have sacrificed a lot for their children. Isn't it a little counter-intuitive that we sacrifice the rest of our lives to care for them? Sounds wrong when you say it out loud, but still makes logical sense in my head.

Best of luck, and do what you believe is right for you and your family/friend. Some decisions will not be easy and there will be some that even seem impossible. In those cases, don't dwell on "what ifs" later; just constantly remind yourself that you did the best you can in the situation you were in and the information you had. And remember to also take care of your own health.

I had a lot of trouble posting this message because it was very personal to me and wasn't sure how much detail to share, but I hope the message is detailed enough to help someone (maybe even reminding my future self) else in a similar situation.

For someone who is not but knows someone in that situation but not in any capacity to help, simply say that the person is in your prayers or thoughts. Even if I thought the person may not really do so, the statement is still powerful besides that it typically fills any awkward silence. At the very least, it allows me to respond or transition to another topic. In all honesty, the support was actually very helpful even if I cannot explain how that is. Thank you to everyone who supported me and my family (whether it was said out loud or within your hearts).

Expanding to Linux, Apache, Postgres, Python, and Django in Google Cloud

I finally got around to learning Linux and Python for the second time. I tried many years ago at a friend's place but never went back after I messed up a build. This time it was way faster with Google Cloud.

I spent about half a day figuring out the free trial versus always free. In reality, I was trying to figure out and extrapolate the always free part. Because as a hobbyist, this was very intriguing part. So basically, I can spin up a small VM and Cloud Sql for free, of course up to a certain limit which I think is well below the traffic and usage that I will be working in.

I think this is great because I am mostly on to practice and learn. If I were to expand my projects, scaling up my projects looks to be kind of simple for both infrastructure and cost. Although I did not delve deep into how to do that exactly. But the costs seem rather reasonable on a personal level.

I spent the rest of the day learning the different parts of google cloud. I quickly went through some of the options then saw all the different types of OS and DB google cloud has to offer. Of course, I spent most of the time figuring out which Linux distro to choose (Debian) and database (Postgre).

I chose Debian because it was free and seemed to have good amount of documentation online. I chose Postgre because it is new to me (I have worked with Oracle, MySql, and MS Sql in the past) and appears to be gaining some popularity (and also been seeing quite a few on job posts).

The next day, I spent all day trying to install Python, Apache, and Django. I spent part of the day looking into which web server to use which I almost scrapped because Python had its own server. I could not get the Python web server to work properly because I did not know how to open a web browser to be local within my google cloud "space" (I am still unsure if that is even possible). I was not able to open the ports to access it from an external source.

I also spent a lot of time trying to learn all the Linux commands to install. I spent a good amount of time trying to find what I can do without super user (sudo) which I found to be almost nothing. I was eventually able to install Apache with Python by following directions and open it from my system's browser (outside of google cloud).

I then looked into Python IDE which then I stumbled across Django which I later learn is a framework for python web development. So then I attempted to install Django, but ran into a lot of issues. Because I already had Python and Apache installed, I was trying not to repeat certain steps or skip certain steps. Because I was not exactly clear on what needed to be done and things were not working, I deleted my Django project and tried to start over.

I had to start over a few times until I found a different site (https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-serve-django-applications-with-apache-and-mod_wsgi-on-debian-8) that eventually got me up and running. On the bright side, I am now a bit more familiar with a few basic Linux commands: sudo, nano, mkdir, rm, mv, cp, service, etc. At least I think they are Linux commands as opposed to Python or Apache commands.

I have not started any programming yet, but excited to eventually get to that point. I still need to learn a bit about the Django framework before I can really start. So hopefully, I will get some time to work on that soon. Also, I still need to find an IDE or text editor.

Reference

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-serve-django-applications-with-apache-and-mod_wsgi-on-debian-8

Health: Temporary sharp pain down one leg

One morning, there was a sharp pain down my leg. After I shifted, the pain kind of went away then kind of forgot about it. When I got up, there was a little sore in my leg but I figured I could walk it off. Then after a standing for a minute or two brushing my teeth, there was a sharp pain that went from hip to ankle. After I sat down, the pain was not as sharp but was still painful. Then will subside almost just as fast as it came.

This went on all day with the same pattern, so I spent most of the day sitting. I figured it would go away after a day. I went to work the next day with the same problem. This went on for a few days. 

About a week later, the pain finally started to go away and was a bit more tolerable. After a couple more days, I did not even realize that the pain was gone.

I think I must have slept in a funny position or slept on something. This is not unusual as I typically just sleep wherever I get sleepy at night... on the couch, in a chair, on the bed, etc.

I stopped using Microsoft Visual Studio and Azure (2019)

I am mostly a hobbyist developer. I had moved to more process management in software engineering. So the cost of paying for the professional version ($1200 / $800) of Visual Studio is quite steep even though I still paid for several years. I am aware there is an Express version which I had used initially but the professional provided a lot of neat features also provided Azure credit so I figured it compensated some of the cost.

I was content with paying but then my real work got busy for several months, also many things came up in my personal life, so I had neglected programming for a bit. When I returned, I realized Visual Studio no longer let me log in. I eventually found that my subscription had expired. I then noticed that I had received a bunch of emails that said I was overdue. This was due to a fraudulent charge on my credit card which was canceled, and that card was the one on record to renew.

This was extremely confusing, because I thought they had moved to subscription basis which I had been paying. When I paid all the overdue costs, I was still unable to use VS 2019. But somehow VS was separate and that had expired several months past, so it will cost me another $1200 to repurchase to use. I am still a bit confused exactly what is what, like what was Visual Studio and what was monthly subscription.

My current understanding is that I was paying monthly for Azure which does not include VS. I had paid for VS the prior year. Sadly, I didn't notice that I had been paying some much to MS for so long. So I still have Azure to host my site temporarily, but absolutely no access to VS. But if I paid for VS, then I should basically own my copy of VS. After talking to support, this was confirmed to be the case. I was unable to find a key in my MSDN subscription. I just grew tired and frustrated, then just refused to use VS again... not even the Express version.

On top of that, since I had purchased VS 2019, I should have had $50 monthly credit to Azure so why was I paying the Azure monthly costs (which was under $50 / month)?! Ugh.... this is so painful.

In Summary

I had once forgot to renew in the past and paid the full cost, so this is the second time. I was barely ok with the cost. Then they moved me to subscription basis which I had complained about because I just wanted to pay a flat amount. Then I found out that I still had to pay the VS subscription and I guess I was paying the Azure subscription. I had been using VS for over 10 years, maybe around 15 years.... and absolutely no sympathy for my situation. I have been a promoter of MS VS, .NET, and MS SQL, but no longer. I don't hate them, but definitely no love anymore. 

And so, I have moved to Google Cloud, Linux, Python, Apache, Django, and Postgres. After one week, the pricing scheme is very reasonable for hobbyists and people who wants to experiment before going full production. First impressions for this new tech stack will come in the future.

Will I go back? Maybe if there were some changes, but unlikely. I'll continue to use MS Windows, although a good chance I may move

Exercise (247) Flu?

The muscle aches haven't gone away and now I have a slight sore throat, I am starting to this I am starting to have the flu. The aches aren't as bad as it initially was though. Sore throat could just be because it was the morning.

I did have a guest that had a fever the week prior, so I am going to be a little more cautious to be healthier.

The weight loss is probably due more to this more than the little exercising I've been doing the last couple days. I also had an all-you-can eat meal the other day, so I really shouldn't be losing weight that fast.

Exercise (249) First jog

Yesterday, I jogged for the first time in a long while. I jogged for two minutes, 3 times. I have also sped up my walk from 2mph to 2.5mph to 3mph for about 30 minutes. When I have time, I also walked (slow, probably around 2mph) during lunch for about 20 minutes.

I am not sure the cause, but today I my upper leg feels like they are restless like I cannot sit still for a minute without feeling like getting up and walk it off except that it does not go away. I do not get these often. Maybe a handful of times a year.

But if I had to hazard a guess, I feel like I get it more often after I workout but lagging a day or two. The last time I had this problem was when I started doing kickboxing. I did find that putting my legs up (against a wall) did help in the past, although it does not seem directly impactful. So, I will have to start doing that again and see if that helps. It is hard to do once I have the problem though because the restlessness just builds.

Although one pound is still within a normal weight range, at least my weight stop going up. Hopefully, I will eventually get into some rhythm of this. It will be tough as I am also trying to clear out my place.

Reference

https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a20866611/5-things-i-learned-from-throwing-my-legs-up-a-wall-every-day/

Exercise (250) Another restart

Sadly, I have reached my all-time heaviest weight to date at 250 pounds. I have been swinging between 235 and 240 for a long time since my last attempt, and lately it has just been downhill. But hopefully this was due to my busy life.

Lately

The main cause is that I have been busy with personal life activities mostly important guests visiting. I haven't slept in my room for about a month now. There was also a lot of cleaning prior and in between different groups of people.

Looking forward

As of this morning, I am at 248. I have not been exercising at all the last several months, except for the weekly volleyball (which I skipped last week for more important reasons). I do not think I will have much problems getting back to workout mode. I also need to start training to hike Grand Canyon (which I really hope I can get out of still :P).

I am hoping I can get as close to 200 as possible by end of next year. That is my goal. There will be a few obstacles like moving and getting a new job. From past experience, those will be tough to overcome workout-wise. But I will try to push through them this time around.

Buggish: MS Excel not autofit row with wrap text

Symptom: When I double-click on the left row index where you normally click to resize the row, nothing happens. In most cases this works, but for some "random" reason this does not work all the time.


Possible workaround: Make sure the zoom is at 100%


Notes: I tried to find a solution online but almost all the pages either say to make sure wrap text is enabled/checked/high-lighted/etc or that there are no merged columns.

I cannot believe I lived all these years with this problem with such a simple "fix".

Although some say only with 2010, I want to say that I have faced this problem with all versions of Excel or the very minimum the last several iterations before 2010. I have not had the pleasure of using later versions.

Reference

Found a reference with the same fix.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/autofit-row-height-doesnt-work/ca2a86b8-585a-46fd-a8a7-377e76ac5528?page=2

Buggish: Windows 10 Context Menu Does Not Disappear (right click)

Problem: Right click on any windows entity that creates a context menu (the menu that appears after right clicking), then click on any of the options. Once clicked, that option "never" disappears.

Trigger: I have not determined what triggers this problem. It is repeatable once it is triggered though.

Workaround: Lock screen and log back in. I think anything that will refresh the whole screen.

Fix:
1. In the Windows search, type in Performance and look for Adjust the appears and performance of Windows
2. Look for the option for Fade out menu items after clicking
2.a. For me, the Performance Options window was already open to the list of options under custom. By default it is under Performance Options > Visual Effects > Custom > Fade out menu items after clicking.
3. You may need to use the workaround one more time.

Once I logged back in, the error no longer occurred. I just fixed the issue and have not rebooted. Hoping this is a permanent fix.

Leadership Pitfalls: Corporate Town Halls Lacking Message

Many times I wonder why I even bother going to town halls. I never seem to get much out of them. They always just seem a waste of time. Smaller companies have been ok, but then they aren't really town halls.

Know Your Audience

When a CEO, President, or Sr VP hosts an all-employee town hall, do you even realize who they are talking to or what they are trying to say? I feel like this is just a task they are trying to fulfill. "Just say some stuff, fill the time, let everyone praise me, check."

The most common issue I have is all the talks about corporate numbers:

• Double-digit growth
• Increased revenue
• New acquisitions

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Why should I care about these numbers? Oh, did you want to say that the company has hit record numbers, record profits, keeping all salaries stagnant so that I can maximize my year-end bonus? Seriously, how am I supposed to break down those numbers besides the only number that I know that matters to you?

Realize that I am at least 4 levels below you. I have a manager, then sometimes a director, then a vp, then maybe another senior vp. Or even structurally, I have my team, then application, then line of business, then department, then maybe a child-company. Is the growth in another group, another team, another app, just your wallet?

Drill Down

Fine, those numbers are important and you cannot drill it down. I do care about topics of training, compensation, social responsibility, retention but those are all too high level.

I do not expect you to provide the low level details that pertains directly to me. I do expect your directs to break it down appropriately, who then expects their directs to break it down, until it reaches me.

Fake Impacts or Real Impacts

Leadership never seems to hear my opinion. This makes me wonder if they even care about feedback. Personally, I do not think so. I also think this is 95% true. I write this blog for the 5% of those out there that are trying to understand and improve, hence why I gave up voicing my opinion.

I mean I am not surprised. I reached out. I tried. Basically if leadership's primary issue is communication, then no matter how loud my opinion is, it will never be heard until they are willing to open their mind by reading something like this blog.

At the Very Least

If you really do care, there is more appreciation when you reach out to the silent voices. There are many people who have opinions, not just me. Do not just listen, but also listen for the things they are not saying because they cannot say it.

Build trust by reaching out first. I feel that I stick my neck out. I am trying to help the company, but if leadership is the wrong type, I risk my job. That is why no one wants to say anything. The only reason I speak out is because I want to represent the people. But someday when I can no longer risk my employment, you will have another silent voice.

I have always been the last to leave. I know leadership in most corporate world do not care. I hope your smaller company will provide greater value. We really do not place a lot of value on salary. We really just want our fair share and know that our jobs are safe. People only say compensation is important when leadership is greedy, unfair, or ignorant/inexperienced. It is the safer and simpler method.

Scammish: Verizon Wireless Fraudulent Charges

I noticed that I received a fraudulent charge on my credit card for Verizon Wireless for what appears to be a prepaid phone (or something related to prepaid). I could call my credit card first, but decided to call Verizon first.

First, the number on the charge is completely useless because you require a Verizon number to get through the automated system. There is no way around this. If you hit # or 0, you eventually just get kicked out the system. There is no way to get through the system if you are not a Verizon wireless customer which I am not.

So, I then looked up online for Verizon fraud department. This was not difficult (888-483-7200). This still asked for a number but does go to an agent eventually. I stated my problem and the operator easily responds that there is nothing he can do to track the charge. He says that I have to call my bank to dispute the charge.

Of all the data that Verizon collects, they are telling me that they cannot track a charge? Yet if I do not pay, they will go to the ends of the world to collect the payment. What a joke! And why do I need to go to my bank/CC when it was charged to them? I do not have any other fraud charges. Even returning products to any other store, the store can reverse the charge.

Just for this one charge, I have to get a new credit card which means I have to update all my auto payments. So yea, Verizon... I am going to give you hate for this. Not that you allowed the transaction because there is little that can be done on that front, but to tell me not only that you cannot track the fraudster, you cannot even tell me how it was charged or the phone it is attached to or EVEN CARE THAT IT HAPPENED... That's right, you do not even ask for any sort of information (my credit card, the charge amount, when it happened, etc)....... nothing.

Clearly the reason to me for not having this process is because this is part of your business revenue in hopes that people do not check so that you can collect the amount yet if someone catches it, you just blame the fraudster. I do not stand for this practice.

This perhaps may occur to other providers, but if you claim to be #1... well then it seems that you're just a better scammer.

Reference

https://community.verizonwireless.com/t5/My-Verizon/Fraudulent-charges-on-Verizon-bill/td-p/1110983

Buggish / Paradox: Windows 10 shutdown failed

This morning while shutting down my work laptop, windows failed to shutdown and gave the following error message:

:(

Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you.

XX%

For more information about this issue and possible fixes, visit http://windows.com/stopcode

If you call a support person, give them this info: Stop Code: SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION

The most amusing aspect of this experience was that the resolution to the failed shutdown was to reboot which went without any problems. So, basically windows can't safely shutdown only?

I know the system probably just killed the process to restart, but still a little amusing.

 

 

 

 

Paradox: Corporate Leadership Communication. Can it be fixed?

One of the most common issues with leadership from worker surveys is communication. I have been thinking how to resolve this issue, and feel this is somewhat of a paradox.

If leadership has communication issues with delivering and receiving communication, how would a worker communicate this properly to leadership to correct this action?

If leadership was capable of delivering and receiving communication, the workers would not be required to come up with a solution to correct fundamental communication issues.

I believe this can only be corrected by leadership on their own. Workers need to still voice their concern, but should not invest time to explain to leadership how to correct the problem. Because if leadership was able, workers do not need to explain. But if leadership was unable, no amount of explanation will fix the problem.

I am dumbfounded on why communication is so difficult with leadership. Is it because they have never worked at our level? Have they never been conned, cheated, or unfairly deprived of opportunities? Is it because of their personal greed to earn significantly more than their workers? Do they just not understand our plight?

Or is it because they have been in our position and is now taking their "fair" share to compensate for the life that we still live in? Is it an elite class where they now have to do that to fit in with the existing leadership?

Or is it that I do not understand? I suppose leadership is getting what they want out of this, so perhaps this is the real grand scheme of things. Just keep creating chaos faster than the workers' can cope with, while their value to the company is to swindle our efforts.

Then the question becomes, why can't a "fairer" company outperform a greedy company? Does power corrupt absolutely?

Leadership Pitfalls: Hearing versus Listening for Surveys

For the purpose of this article, hearing is the words you hear and listening is the meaning of the words.

I do not know how many company leaders fall into this but leaders seem to misinterpret surveys all the time. Maybe I am unlucky in the companies that wishes to hire me or perhaps I just do not understand what it takes to be a leader.

I have filled in many surveys in hopes that it will truly change how leadership leads. Every year, almost the same results are returned: 1. Communication, 2. Training/Development. So each year, I become less and less hopeful that leadership would ever change. Even after several reorgs.

Communication

Even with other companies, there always seem to be a gap in communication. And for whatever reason, leadership thinks this means to have more meetings. Why do we even pay leadership more money if they do not understand what the workers are saying to them?

Just because the workers say "We do not know what is going on?", does not mean to have more meetings. Not only more meetings, especially not meetings about how the entire corporation is doing. Why do I care we have double digit growth (ie more than 10% growth)? Then you follow that up with record profits. Yet, you do not hear the biggest question that no one will bluntly ask "why are our salaries still the same with no additional people?" So basically what we hear is "can you feel us kicking you while you are down?"

Why should we care that you are telling us what the numbers are from the survey? We told you what we think, we have some idea what we said. Tell us what you are doing about it. Tell us you are going to set up more meetings. Then we can at the very least respond with... "that is not what we really meant to say" or the main question we do not dare ask "why are you so stupid?" so that we can correct your thoughts.

High percentages with manager satisfaction yet you know there is a lot of grumbling going on. Our surveys always scored more than 85% manager satisfaction and 90% trust in leadership. This is not an indication that you are doing a good job. This is an indication that we no longer trust you. Increased employee turn-over, unable to retain top talent, superficial questions at the end of meetings, etc. are all clues that your surveys are telling a different story.

I understand there are certain level of optics that leadership should keep. But if you are going to play dumb, you are only going to keep dumb people or smart people doing status quo. For example, company employs thousands of people and many with decades of experience. Yet during innovation events, only the new graduates attend (and most strongly "encouraged" to go).

We actually had someone dare ask the question about fair compensation. If we are putting up record numbers, why are we only treated to fair market value while executives get to enjoy all the added bonuses. To add a little more background, the top employees barely reached 1% raise each year (at least that is what leadership told us). On top of that, company "perks" (which we already low standards even compared to small companies) have been slowly picked away.

On top of that, the response was (paraphrasing) "we understand because aren't we all here for the money?" WOW! Not even a hint of sarcasm in there. Clearly only heard, "we are greedy and want more money." Listen carefully and you might hear, "we just want our fair share (going forward for what we clearly did for you for the past several years)". Of course, this come the day after the CEO just sold some shares for millions of dollars.

Yes, surveys do say something but are you really listening or just hearing what you want to hear? All I know is that things have not changed one iota since I started except now we have more company meetings that just seem to waste more of my time. The saddest part for me is that I have actually spent a lot of time writing a response to most of these meetings but have never sent it out to anyone. Why? Because I do not trust anyone. What have you done to earn my trust in you?

Training/Development

Every year, they say they try to add more budget to train people. Yet the only people who seem to get training, or have time for training, or go to interesting events, are the new graduates. Then we slowly watch as each one slowly move on to other companies.

What do you think that communicates to all your veterans? More promises, and more broken promises. There was one time a group got their training, then got replaced by interns because the interns couldn't fix the legacy stuff (or at least were not interested in it). On top of that, they were expected to make use of the little training they got.... a year later. No practice, not even a small project.

Why is HR in charge of training? HR should be in charge of making directors or managers to create time for training for their direct reports. HR barely knows enough to hire the person. You think they know what specialists how to improve on their existing skillsets? The manager/supervisor will barely know that.

I have yet to ever receive any sort of training. They say I need to be more pro-active about it. Yet when I ask questions, I seem to be dumped with more work. Even if I find something interesting, they will ask if there is a cheaper (ie freer) option. If I knew, wouldn't I just request that one?! After a while, I just do not care anymore. I just do my own training now and pay for it myself.

Company has been around for decades and they do not know where my position should grow into. Yet they say they are all about career growth. They should already know what I should move into... they clearly care when it comes to our salary.

The Truth

But in all actuality, the real truth is that corporate leadership really (really, really, really) does not care about their employees. Oh, they'll promise you the world. At the end of the day, they get to return home with their payday. They care so little and they have so much of a monopoly over your life that they do not even care to create a fake optic to make you feel better. Just bribe a few people with a 2% raise or a fancy title just to make it look some people are happy. Which they probably are because they are friends of the leader and are not doing much work.

The company has let go of people with vast experience, yet the company still employs a person who does absolutely nothing. Literally, nothing. Who knows, maybe she's the making of a future leader. It is the only real explanation.

But just in case there is actually a "good" manager/leader somewhere out there that just happened to read this... people are complex, most people are good people, and they won't say directly what is needed. One, they may not actually know how to phrase it. Two, they also want to save your ego by not saying you're dumb to your face. Three, spending a little bit of time with all (or most) of your directs will at least open the opportunity for someone like myself to trust you.

From personal experience, there was on CEO of a company of hundred. He remembered my name a year later (randomly in the hallway) and only after meeting me once. You cannot imagine how much more I did if something came from him after that. Now, a director (not my director) that sits about 15 feet away has no clue that I even exist. She won some national award... and no one here even cared.

You may not have to believe in all the things I say. But if enough people say the same thing, there ought to be some pattern worth investigating.... just saying...

Reference

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page30.shtml

Leadership Pitfalls: Working hard is the path to success

"Work hard, work hard, and work even harder."

Some leaders who are asked to give a lesson on their success to their legacy typically gives this speech. But in my opinion, this is one of the most demoralizing things to say.

First, are they saying those around them did not work hard? What about those who actually did work harder? They also typically add that they are first in, first out. And, they truly believe that.

This claim is very detrimental to morale. Whether you do work harder than everyone else, not everyone may believe that you do. Even the worst employees truly believe they work hard. It is equivalent to asking a person if they are a good person.

Somehow, I sit near these people (at different companies) who say these kinds of things. They rarely are even close to being the first or last people in the office. Not only are they not staying late, they are out the door very quickly. I am not saying that they don't work hard, but don't be claiming to be working more hours than you are. Also, I am typically the last person out the office. I have never been recognized for work effort.

Second, they appear to not understand how success works. Most of us know that success is not only hard work, but also being in the right place at the right time (and many other things). Those who feel that they were passed on a raise or promotion will feel more jilted listening to this speech. These people are now more likely to move on as their talents appear to be not recognized.

Alternative

If given the opportunity to give a speech, leaders should focus on how the company has opened opportunities for people like him to contribute more to the group. Then follow up that the company is working on recognizing current talents and finding new opportunities.

My Sentiments

Most companies have backfilled my role with multiple positions. Also in almost all my roles, I have been the go-to person to backup almost everyone within my team. Basically, I am able to more than my roles but few are able to cover mine (even when I am the most junior on the team). I say this because I can personally say that hard work will not get you anywhere.

If anything, hard work will detriment your success. Working smart also will not help with your success, but it is required. Luck and abusing the system will increase your chances to be "successful". I have talked to quite a few peers of leaders mentioned above. Most of the "success" or break-through achievements are usually based on lies and the ignorance (true or turning a blind eye to save face) of those evaluating their performance.

This appear to be most obvious with government contracts. The strategy for one past company was to simply over-promise knowing they will not be able to deliver most of the items. Once they win the contract, they simply prolong and find excuses by blaming other groups. In my opinion, this was super easy to do because most people do not know how to manage a project. Most people fail to simply just respond to emails. When renegotiating contracts, they simply say that people don't follow up and that is why the project is behind. Also to save face, it is very difficult for clients to change to another vendor unless something went beyond obviously wrong.

Maybe I have warped the definition of success for this article but I hope most readers will understand where I am coming from. I still believe in my values, and still hope I will find a decent group to build my career. I am still in a good place to support myself and those around me. I still wish I can have the opportunity to be promoted to be a leader someday because I believe I can contribute more than other leaders, not because of the status of being a leader. My belief as a leader/manager is to work myself out of the role so that the team will be self-sustaining. If miraculously all leaders are deserving of their roles, I have no problems staying at the "bottom".

Leadership Pitfalls: Don't eat/take your subordinate's treats/food/etc

Do you have people at the office that have bowls of snacks or candies to share for the office?

It's a trap

This is not an intentional trap. This is not the intentions of the givers (unless it's me). But you will have people like me who witness those who take things.

The trap is not a single incident infraction. The problem is when you abuse the (unspoken) system... the peer judgment of others. The main problem starts when you take a larger portion of the goods.

Lack of Compassion

The goods are not free. Out of the goodness of the giver, they are sharing to help those around them. But when the taker starts to feel entitled, this just hits the wrong nerve in me.

For example, there is a lady who always keep a variety of sweets in her area. Several people enjoy the treats. But each day after she's gone, a group of people takes a noticeable amount of sweets from her desk. Because I am usually one of the last people out of the office, I notice this group.

Although she does not mind, this action by that group is just wrong to me. I have also heard the same from others. Some of them have also started to use more racial biases because of this.

So not only does this make it appear poorly for those who take too much, but it also also reflects poorly on whatever prejudicial group the observer makes.

Unfairness

I am one that occasionally leave sweets/snacks on my desk to share. As a person who has bought food to share and even though I am not poor, these foods are not cheap. 

Because I am further back in the office, I do not get as many visitors. I do regularly get a director who is very friendly with a colleague who sits next to me.

Although I am ok with those who take a treat each time they visit, his visits started to irk me when he said (somewhat playfully) that I need to restock my treats (when I haven't restocked for a while). Not only restock but a specific request of candy that I brought in once. I don't mind when someone at least at the same corporate level as me does this because they never do. Yes, that sounds odd but there is an unspoken understanding that these are treats, not entitlements.

I also know this director eats other's treats. And there are similar complaints from those people as I have in my mind. We are the bottom of the hierarchy. A director is 2-3 levels above us, so easily makes twice as much as us (which means he has the potential to save way more than double). Over 5 years, he has never given anything back... not even a thank you. 

If it were just me, I would just chalk it up to my bad luck. But for others, the very least he can do is do something nice (and something unselfish) in return. Even if we have poor directors (I work for a fortune 10 company so extremely unlikely), he could at the very least "promote" them in some ways. I do not even mean a professional promotion. A simple this is a great person, kind person, or if I even have to drudge the bottom of the barrel.... a very simple thank you. Or even, even lower.... at least do not criticize (like not enough plates, utensils, etc). 

Optics

Ultimately, there is nothing technically wrong with taking or even accepting treats. But because the visual is very subjective, this is just not worth the optics that this behavior projects for a manager or executive.

If anything, I even give back to those that share their kindness even if I do not take any or much. This does not have to be food or materials. I have assisted or aided in other ways, although food is the simplest way. 

People see, people judge, but they won't share their thoughts especially if you are in a leadership position. In my opinion, those who cannot even balance simple human compassion do not deserve my respect for there position. And if his peers cannot at least recognize this, I also have lowered respect for all of leadership.

Reference

Personal experience

My Thoughts: "...people used to be called pirates. Now they're open source enthusiasts."

I found it quite entertaining reading the comments to a blog by Jeff Atwood (https://blog.codinghorror.com/we-dont-use-software-that-costs-money-here/). A large amount of them were dedicated to a single paragraph: "It's tempting to ascribe this to the 'cult of no-pay', programmers and users who simply won't pay for software no matter how good it is, or how inexpensive it may be. These people used to be called pirates. Now they're open source enthusiasts."

Why I find this so fascinating was how at-arms people were defending themselves as if the paragraph was a personal attack on them as software users. At first, I just thought it was the one or two people who always make a big deal about a small thing (the paragraph was not even the point of the blog). But as I continued to read, you see comments (paraphrasing): "long time reading, but not anymore." All over few statements (did I mention that it was not even the point of the blog?).

Still and in a more serious tone, the commenters even appeared to have missed the whole point of the paragraph. First to address the logical problem that keeps irking me. A lot of commenters were basically saying "pirates != open source enthusiasts" but the paragraph reads more like "pirates then open source enthusiasts".

Besides the logical discrepancy, the definition of "pirate" isn't the typical use of the actual people who "steals" software. From the usage, I took the scope of the meaning of pirate to be the group of people who used paid-software for free by downloading hacked or opened software or obtaining keys illegally. Common things that I saw back in college: MS Windows, MS Office, Starcraft, etc.

To me it was felt so ironic that those defending to never have been a pirate probably has used pirated products (I am clumping in MP3 and movies here)... with or without their knowledge. At least back in the day, that was the sign of a good technical engineer... so it is very hard for me to imagine an IT/SW person to not have used pirated products.

Perhaps the confusion is due to the use of the term "open source" instead of "free" or "cost-free" software. Because some commenters were saying "free" being open-source instead of closed-source software. But the article is about costs, so I am not sure why the confusion exists.

Basically, I read the paragraph of people who were users of pirated software are now users of open source software. I have the same sentiments. With more readily available no-cost software, most people have steered more away from pirated software.

Disclaimer

I am pretty sure I've posted a blog about this (blame my fault memory). The periods outside of the quotes are intentional... it just bugs me to use periods within quotes when it is not related to the quote.

Also, I am not sure why I am easily amused by these things.

Reference

https://blog.codinghorror.com/we-dont-use-software-that-costs-money-here/
https://perlbuzz.com/2008/04/10/open_source_is_not_piracy/

My Thoughts (on results as asker): Interview question: 9 balls, find one odd with a balance scale

Disclaimer: This post does not contain the answer the question, although this may contain small hints.

I have posed this question to several people, and found it interesting the common logical point people get stuck on. The most common answer I get is three. Out of 20 or so people (rough estimate), only 1 person (math teacher) figured this out on their own.

Majority of the responses is that they put four on each side. If equal, then the one on the table. If not, take the group that is heavier. Put two on each side, then one on each side.

After they have exhausted their thoughts, I would clue them by asking why they choose four. Why not one, or two, or three?

What I found most interesting is that majority of the people still cannot come up with the answer of two. The reason I find this very interesting is because they use similar logic when they put four balls on each side. The other interesting oddity is even if they brute force the answer (by trying one on each side, then two on each side, then three on each side), some still cannot come up with the answer.

As an Interviewer

Although I enjoy asking this more like a party game, I do not think this is a very effective question for an interview. The question does not effectively get the interviewee to talk out loud, even after I tell them that they should think out loud.

Perhaps they do not want to appear unintelligent by going through wrong assumptions even though everyone does it as part of the process. Or perhaps they don't want to appear to be using brute force.

Maybe a more reasonable assumption is that it is much faster to go through it in your head than talking out loud since the samples are simple enough. Unlike more out-of-the-box questions like how many golf balls fit in a Boeing 747 or monkey with a sombrero, where the question naturally gets interviewees to talk out loud.

Since the interview already is time limited, my personal opinion is that there are better questions to ask if I am trying to test someone's ability to think through a problem. Although

Reference

Search for "interview 9 balls"

Buggish: Outlook.com, It looks like someone else might be using your account

I made the common mistake of entering the incorrect password multiple times eventually entering the correct one eventually but then got the page that says "It looks like someone else might be using your account" dialogue (with Google Chrome).

I was still able to access my account via Microsoft IE as it was still logged in. I logged out, then logged back in and reached the same error page. But on IE, I was able to still change my password. After changing my password, I was able to access my account again on IE. On Chrome, I still get the same error.

Not only do I still get the same error, I am unable to change the account to another account. There appears to be no way of changing the account too. I used EditThisCookie to clear the cookies for the site (live.com), closed browser, and even rebooted. None of this fixed the problem.

The only solution was to go into google chrome settings and clearing all cookies. I am not sure which specific sites also needed to be cleared. 

glassdoor.com (first impression, three weeks)

I have been passively looking to see what new opportunities are out there, and was suggested to use a few sites. One of the sites was glassdoor.

I still went through the usual agony of filling in yet another profile and job history. It does have an importer, but obviously my formatting is not obvious enough for the automated process. I think it took more time to correct than just to enter the details myself. The process is very standard, no love or hate.

Once the profile is created, it is pretty simple to apply to job posts that are connected via glassdoor. After a couple job posts, I actually started avoiding job posts that required me to apply via the employer's company site. Why is that not automated to pass my details to the company site? Honestly, I did not care much because they were mostly larger corporate companies which I was not in the mood of applying to at the time.

After a week or two, I actually had real calls for phone interviews from the actual employer. This was actually pretty amazing! I have to admit I was very impressed with this. I did not apply to that many. The interviews were legit and did not waste my time.

I was impressed because I had very little luck in the past with job boards: monster.com, dice.com, etc. (more than ten years ago). One of the biggest problem was that I was constantly called by recruiters. These recruiters clearly do not read the resume and are just fishing for anyone that would respond, then figure out if they are a fit. I tested this by clearly putting on my resume that I am not looking for work in my current state, yet all the opportunities are for that state.

Cons

For whatever reason, I cannot update the experience field on their website. I have tried multiple times and multiple browsers. It appears to save once I enter the experience detail, but once I refresh the page, it disappears.

Reference
http://glassdoor.com

Sony MDR-J10 Review

I have owned 5 of these over several years. I am very sad that these now costs nearly $100. I originally paid $10, and became very hesitant at $20.

Design

Personally, I love the design. (I am fashion-illiterate so don't trust me on the looks)

The great design is that it hooks around my ear rather comfortably. I can wear them for hours without it causing soreness. It does not move much even while exercising. The best part is that it does not plug into my ear. It does go in slightly but not like other earbuds. It almost hangs near the entrance.

Problems

The biggest problem is that the durability of these earbuds are very questionable. All of mine died (the latest today hence this post). The last was probably my best at nearly a year (and probably because I used them less often). The oddest part for me is that the left one always dies first. 

I haven't figured out why this happens. I don't tug on the cable. Maybe the cord of one or two have been rolled over by an office chair, but haven't been the immediate cause of the sound disappearing. Also there are no visible damages to the cable. Nothing appears to be clogged in the earbud.

There were two that did consistently shock my ear (usually the left too). I thought it was because of the dry air. The worse of the pair did sometimes shock the right ear but much less frequent. I recently read a post where some people had the same problem, so I figured I should mention it.

Because these break so frequently for seemingly explainable reasons, I cannot justify paying more than $20 per pair. $100 definitely out of the question. I would pay $10. More, and I start trying other brands before returning.

I do like the other brands and/or models. Sony also had a similar one with a softer rubber material. It was ok but I prefer the harder plastic as it was easier to put on the ear. The software one was sometimes tricky to sense where it sat on my ear without having to adjust it a few times to get the best quality. I do not like the ones where it loops completely around the ear. It was uncomfortable, and also trickier to put on. 

Side notes

I am not much for fashion or sound quality. Personally, they look decent enough and the sound quality was decent enough.

 

Keywords

earphones, earbuds, headphones, sony, over the ear, MDR-J10

References

Amazon -
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-J10-Headphones-Non-Slip-Design-x/dp/B000092YR6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1546449995&sr=8-15&keywords=sony%2Bearphones%2Bover%2Bthe%2Bear&th=1