I tend to follow Bama news, and there's always a comedy of sorts that occurs.
Yesterday, the folks down in Jefferson County....our big county in the central part of the state that is moving toward bankruptcy.....had to shut down it's computer network that collects bills and handles deposits for the county.
If you were on this road to bankruptcy....you'd really want what money does exist and should be in your pocket.....arriving. And getting bills out to residents of the county would be priority number one. But the county had this issue.
From about a decade ago.....they'd gone out and built up a pretty good computer server system. At one point, they had around sixteen servers operating. There were back-ups being made, and weekly maintenance done.....to keep all the servers up and operational.
Over the past decade, there were all these debt issues, plus the sewer-system episode, then they had the loss of local jobs which meant less tax revenue. The county did what they could....laying off employees.
Well....one of the cuts that they made along the way....was the normal life-cycle of the servers. Typically, you'd start planning on your replacement servers at the beginning of the fourth year, and you would have replaced it by the fifth year. The county is nine years into operation, with one server operating, and it finally failed this week.
The county admitted that it failed Sunday evening of last week. My humble guess is that the one technician that they have for maintenance and back-up services.....probably noticed some problems on Saturday, and kept hoping (praying probably) that when he rebooted the server on Sunday....it'd come back. Well....it didn't. I'm guessing he rebooted several times, and then finally called his boss.
You can imagine Monday morning. The IT support boss is talking to the county management folks. He was probably begging for $20k, and the management guys just weren't going to give it to him for a new server. They didn't have the cash. So the boss probably went back to "Jimmy"....his one and only smart server guy, and asked what they might be able to do. Jimmy probably hinted of hard drive replacement....figuring the cost around $3k for all the hard drives he'd need.
The boss likely went back....pleaded for the money and eventually got the money. They wait till Wednesday for the hard drives to arrive, and then start the rebuilding process. Friday, things came back together, and the nine-year old server is back into action.
How long will the nine-year old server continue? Well....with new hard drives, and hopefully a decent cooling temperature....it might be around for another three or four years.
The sad thing here is that this one IT server support guy probably deserves a raise for his fine work.....but with the county in dire straits.....he'll be lucky if the boss buys him a Subway sandwich and a soda.
There's another sad thing here....in that there won't be a replacement for this poor server for 2012. So that IT server support guy will likely find the critical nature of his job doubling over the next couple of months. Comments made via the local news indicates that the county swears they are budgeting enough money to buy several servers for 2013. One can only hope that's true.
Saturday, 9 June 2012
The Wage Issue
There is a bill slowly moving across Congress....the Paycheck Fairness Act. Basically, it is this "game-changer" where female executives (and just about any level of female employee)....can come up and ask the company for salary information across the board without any fear. It also makes it much easier for a lawyer to walk in, declare a law violation, and start a court suit.
The President, and most Democrats would like to see it passed. The odds are....it won't pass in the current form.
The push on this is obvious....if you go across the business communities of America....there's a difference in pay. Over the last twenty years....it's been correcting itself. Obviously, people believe it's not fast enough.
I've sat and pondered over this, and it creates a terrific atmosphere where a company would have an open position, and just plain refuse to hire a female.....because she might bring in a lawsuit eventually, which they really don't want.
You can imagine a company of five hundred people, and five divisions. The developmental division has a sixty year old guy, who has a masters degree in electrical engineering, and forty years of experience. Down the hall is a second division, with a 39-year old female business manager with a MBA. She learns one day that this old guy is making $50k more a year than her. She approaches the boss to demand a lofty pay-raise. He declines....citing the forty year of experience being the qualifier.
She goes to court. Relations within the division are turning negative, and half the employees of the female manager are contemplating moving because of bad blood. Months pass, and the court date is about to start. The company offers her $100k to just drop the case and forget about this whole mess....trying to save legal costs. She refuses.
The judge reviews the entire case, and eventually decides that the company was right. Because of the Paycheck Fairness Act....she comes right back to work the next day. She's angry and hostile toward the whole company. They can't fire her or do anything with her. There's a steady turn-over now within her division....almost five percent a month of the divisions employees leave.
Two years pass, and the company is in serious trouble with this one division. It's causing potential distractions within the other divisions now. So they offer the paycheck-queen a simple $500k deal to just plain leave, with no legal action. She refuses.
The company hires a $10k a week expert to come in and tell them how to fix the problem. Simple.....he draws up a reorganization chart where they go from five divisions to nine divisions. The division of this female manager? They chop eighty percent of the personnel off into a new division. With fewer people and responsibilites.....the company can now offer a wage cut. She gets angry.....starts another lawsuit. Another $100k is wasted on legal fees, and the company wins yet again. So she finally agrees to leave, with a $500k pay-off.
The problem with Congress getting involved in the business world.....they really aren't helping in the ways they think. They simply fix one problem.....to create a much bigger problem in the end.
The President, and most Democrats would like to see it passed. The odds are....it won't pass in the current form.
The push on this is obvious....if you go across the business communities of America....there's a difference in pay. Over the last twenty years....it's been correcting itself. Obviously, people believe it's not fast enough.
I've sat and pondered over this, and it creates a terrific atmosphere where a company would have an open position, and just plain refuse to hire a female.....because she might bring in a lawsuit eventually, which they really don't want.
You can imagine a company of five hundred people, and five divisions. The developmental division has a sixty year old guy, who has a masters degree in electrical engineering, and forty years of experience. Down the hall is a second division, with a 39-year old female business manager with a MBA. She learns one day that this old guy is making $50k more a year than her. She approaches the boss to demand a lofty pay-raise. He declines....citing the forty year of experience being the qualifier.
She goes to court. Relations within the division are turning negative, and half the employees of the female manager are contemplating moving because of bad blood. Months pass, and the court date is about to start. The company offers her $100k to just drop the case and forget about this whole mess....trying to save legal costs. She refuses.
The judge reviews the entire case, and eventually decides that the company was right. Because of the Paycheck Fairness Act....she comes right back to work the next day. She's angry and hostile toward the whole company. They can't fire her or do anything with her. There's a steady turn-over now within her division....almost five percent a month of the divisions employees leave.
Two years pass, and the company is in serious trouble with this one division. It's causing potential distractions within the other divisions now. So they offer the paycheck-queen a simple $500k deal to just plain leave, with no legal action. She refuses.
The company hires a $10k a week expert to come in and tell them how to fix the problem. Simple.....he draws up a reorganization chart where they go from five divisions to nine divisions. The division of this female manager? They chop eighty percent of the personnel off into a new division. With fewer people and responsibilites.....the company can now offer a wage cut. She gets angry.....starts another lawsuit. Another $100k is wasted on legal fees, and the company wins yet again. So she finally agrees to leave, with a $500k pay-off.
The problem with Congress getting involved in the business world.....they really aren't helping in the ways they think. They simply fix one problem.....to create a much bigger problem in the end.
Just Some Predictions
I don’t typically go out and make long-distance predictions, but this is my top twenty list of things that will happen by 2050:
First, most over-the-air TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Either you get your TV channel via some internet service or some WI-FI service. Most every region of America will have a regional Latino channel by 2050.
Second, by 2050, most states will offer the opportunity for a kid to graduate from high school by age sixteen, and offer the first year of community college free. Twenty percent of all kids take advantage of this and leave high school two years early.
Third, by 2050, NFL and NCAA football will not exist. The lawsuit over brain injury reaches a climax where no NFL owners are willing to assume multi-million damages. It’ll start slow with one entire NFL team just announcing no more games, and end within three seasons across the whole nation. Millions will sit in silence on Saturdays and Sundays…..in disbelief that it just plain ended.
Fourth, after twelve years of inability of the Senate to pass a budget….several states start the Constitutional process to remove Senators from the budget process. Realizing that they will not be able to hand out cash to their favorite causes….a majority of Senators band together and start a trend of voting in support of any budget that the House hands them. The states with the Constitutional reform situation? By 2050, they are continuing on…. eventually passing it within a decade. Senators sit in shock as they actually lose one of their significant jobs in life.
Fifth, by 2030, an insignificant university in the midst of Mississippi….signs an agreement with a major university in China, and Google. They create an internet portal where an individual can get a bachelors degree for $10k for the entire four years. Within ten years, they graduate over 250k people with this Google/Chinese degree program. By 2050, it’s agreed by most folks that a bachelor’s degree is worthless when even your local 7-11 manager has a bachelor’s degree.
Sixth, by 2020, a series of shows will appear on the History Channel requiring entire families to pack up and move into 1880’s America....an imaginary town where everything works by the 1880's style. It becomes such a hit, that six hundred family’s band together in various settlements in Idaho and Montana, to create the imaginary 1880’s environment. By 2040, Congressional meetings occur when it’s apparent that the families even forbid modern medical procedures. The History Channel eventually realizes that it’s created a mess, and goes back to broadcasting alien visitations, Bigfoot, and ghost shows.
Seventh, by 2020, CNN is bought by a Chinese national news company. After five years of trying to make it profitable again, they give up and sell the CNN company to a Kazakhstan oil company. CNN eventually dissolves into nothing by 2050.
Eighth, Coke, Pepsi, and all the other ‘evil’ drinks…..are eventually deemed as unsuitable for all kids under the age of ten by 2025. Doctors mandate this to parents as part of the normal upbringing business. An entire society emerges by 2040 which hasn’t ever had Coke to drink….and doesn’t really like the drink. Coke loses half of its customer base by 2050.
Ninth, bath salts become such a problem by 2020, that local cops regularly complain about “zombie” attacks. It becomes such a mess, that cops regularly request a second cop in the car, which doubles up the cost of law enforcement across the nation. As cops discover the regular taser has no effect on the zombies, they call for a XXL-taser, which would normally kill a human being. Debate rages on about allowing this XXL-taser to be legally sold to cops.
Tenth, when gas hits $6 a gallon around 2030….Ford introduces a turbo three-cylinder pick-up which becomes a highly sought vehicle. GM counters with a turbo two-cylinder pick-up. Fiat-Chrysler counters with a turbo one-cylinder, that ultimately gets 90 mpg, but can only haul one guy, a dog, and two hundred pounds of firewood, with a max speed of 40 mph. Fiat sells 4k of these new pick-ups the first month.
Eleventh, by 2040, most all states require septic tanks to be inspected after replacement by a state-authorized individual. No one can really explain how you become certified, other than paying $1k to some state office for your inspection license.
Twelfth, there’s a high speed bullet train built by 2030, going from San Francisco to LA, that costs $350 round-trip. There are never more than four trips a day, with a max of one hundred people on each trip. Officials cannot admit profitability on the train, and state tax payers cough up around $200 million a year in extra costs.
Thirteenth, Gitmo is still under operation, with over 500 prisoners in 2050. Some President wakes up and figures out Saudi Arabia wealth is tied to Jihad operations by 2025, and suddenly most all terrorism dries up.
Fourteenth, by 2050, three Latino Presidents will have served. Two of three were Republicans.
Fifteenth, by 2050, there will be casinos in forty-nine of the fifty states (excluding Alabama). Two of every ten Americans will be diagnosed as gambling addicts.
Sixteenth, by 2050, rodeos will be outlawed in thirty-one states as being harmful for the animals.
Seventeenth, by 2050, Russia will have half the population that it currently has. There will be an offer of land for settlers, if they will agree to stay five years. Three thousand Americans will take up the offer each year.
Eighteenth, by 2050, eight states will allow kids as young as fourteen to marry without consent of a judge or their parents….starting a new trend where 40-year old women marry up with young gentlemen. Four states go as far as allowing cousins to marry. And California will allow people to marry ghosts and imaginary people, as long as a judge signs the paperwork.
Nineteenth, by 2050, eighty percent of the nation will not be required to pay income taxes. The remaining twenty percent will question how this all came to be.
Twentieth, and final….by 2050….guys in India will graduate from an American college with a law degree, and pass the bar exam of the state….then move back to India to run an on-line lawyer business where you log onto their site, and pay with Pay-Pal $8 an hour for their services. American lawyers will get furious over the discount lawyer business, but half the population will accept the Indian lawyers as legit.
First, most over-the-air TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Either you get your TV channel via some internet service or some WI-FI service. Most every region of America will have a regional Latino channel by 2050.
Second, by 2050, most states will offer the opportunity for a kid to graduate from high school by age sixteen, and offer the first year of community college free. Twenty percent of all kids take advantage of this and leave high school two years early.
Third, by 2050, NFL and NCAA football will not exist. The lawsuit over brain injury reaches a climax where no NFL owners are willing to assume multi-million damages. It’ll start slow with one entire NFL team just announcing no more games, and end within three seasons across the whole nation. Millions will sit in silence on Saturdays and Sundays…..in disbelief that it just plain ended.
Fourth, after twelve years of inability of the Senate to pass a budget….several states start the Constitutional process to remove Senators from the budget process. Realizing that they will not be able to hand out cash to their favorite causes….a majority of Senators band together and start a trend of voting in support of any budget that the House hands them. The states with the Constitutional reform situation? By 2050, they are continuing on…. eventually passing it within a decade. Senators sit in shock as they actually lose one of their significant jobs in life.
Fifth, by 2030, an insignificant university in the midst of Mississippi….signs an agreement with a major university in China, and Google. They create an internet portal where an individual can get a bachelors degree for $10k for the entire four years. Within ten years, they graduate over 250k people with this Google/Chinese degree program. By 2050, it’s agreed by most folks that a bachelor’s degree is worthless when even your local 7-11 manager has a bachelor’s degree.
Sixth, by 2020, a series of shows will appear on the History Channel requiring entire families to pack up and move into 1880’s America....an imaginary town where everything works by the 1880's style. It becomes such a hit, that six hundred family’s band together in various settlements in Idaho and Montana, to create the imaginary 1880’s environment. By 2040, Congressional meetings occur when it’s apparent that the families even forbid modern medical procedures. The History Channel eventually realizes that it’s created a mess, and goes back to broadcasting alien visitations, Bigfoot, and ghost shows.
Seventh, by 2020, CNN is bought by a Chinese national news company. After five years of trying to make it profitable again, they give up and sell the CNN company to a Kazakhstan oil company. CNN eventually dissolves into nothing by 2050.
Eighth, Coke, Pepsi, and all the other ‘evil’ drinks…..are eventually deemed as unsuitable for all kids under the age of ten by 2025. Doctors mandate this to parents as part of the normal upbringing business. An entire society emerges by 2040 which hasn’t ever had Coke to drink….and doesn’t really like the drink. Coke loses half of its customer base by 2050.
Ninth, bath salts become such a problem by 2020, that local cops regularly complain about “zombie” attacks. It becomes such a mess, that cops regularly request a second cop in the car, which doubles up the cost of law enforcement across the nation. As cops discover the regular taser has no effect on the zombies, they call for a XXL-taser, which would normally kill a human being. Debate rages on about allowing this XXL-taser to be legally sold to cops.
Tenth, when gas hits $6 a gallon around 2030….Ford introduces a turbo three-cylinder pick-up which becomes a highly sought vehicle. GM counters with a turbo two-cylinder pick-up. Fiat-Chrysler counters with a turbo one-cylinder, that ultimately gets 90 mpg, but can only haul one guy, a dog, and two hundred pounds of firewood, with a max speed of 40 mph. Fiat sells 4k of these new pick-ups the first month.
Eleventh, by 2040, most all states require septic tanks to be inspected after replacement by a state-authorized individual. No one can really explain how you become certified, other than paying $1k to some state office for your inspection license.
Twelfth, there’s a high speed bullet train built by 2030, going from San Francisco to LA, that costs $350 round-trip. There are never more than four trips a day, with a max of one hundred people on each trip. Officials cannot admit profitability on the train, and state tax payers cough up around $200 million a year in extra costs.
Thirteenth, Gitmo is still under operation, with over 500 prisoners in 2050. Some President wakes up and figures out Saudi Arabia wealth is tied to Jihad operations by 2025, and suddenly most all terrorism dries up.
Fourteenth, by 2050, three Latino Presidents will have served. Two of three were Republicans.
Fifteenth, by 2050, there will be casinos in forty-nine of the fifty states (excluding Alabama). Two of every ten Americans will be diagnosed as gambling addicts.
Sixteenth, by 2050, rodeos will be outlawed in thirty-one states as being harmful for the animals.
Seventeenth, by 2050, Russia will have half the population that it currently has. There will be an offer of land for settlers, if they will agree to stay five years. Three thousand Americans will take up the offer each year.
Eighteenth, by 2050, eight states will allow kids as young as fourteen to marry without consent of a judge or their parents….starting a new trend where 40-year old women marry up with young gentlemen. Four states go as far as allowing cousins to marry. And California will allow people to marry ghosts and imaginary people, as long as a judge signs the paperwork.
Nineteenth, by 2050, eighty percent of the nation will not be required to pay income taxes. The remaining twenty percent will question how this all came to be.
Twentieth, and final….by 2050….guys in India will graduate from an American college with a law degree, and pass the bar exam of the state….then move back to India to run an on-line lawyer business where you log onto their site, and pay with Pay-Pal $8 an hour for their services. American lawyers will get furious over the discount lawyer business, but half the population will accept the Indian lawyers as legit.
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