Grunt Work + Rant

Right now I'm doing the part of the job that no one likes, documentation. This software project I've been working on has to be documented by the time they boot me (Nov. 18th). We've got roughly, what, about 300 source files, couple of thousand lines apiece? Not a problem, I'll just skim through, and clean up the code comments that the other two gents working with me have no doubt left behind, and.......WTF?!?!?!?! Those @#$%^*!!!!!!!!!!!! The technical lead, my "boss" didn't comment a DAMN thing. The other dude, the one with ...... "issues" has peppered his code with comments like this one (method names changed to protect the not-so-innocent):

NOTE: Maybe this isn't the best place to do it, but I'm adding the following quick-and-dirty kluge. If I looked at the code more carefully, I might discover that it's better to invoke goDoStuff() someplace to accomplish this.

...and if you looked at the code even more carefully, you might gouge out your eyes to spare them some pain. I mean, WTF? It's cute when someone like Larry Wall does this, but the code from this dude just hurts my heart. Variables are passed into methods and never referenced, half-finished methods are hanging around, never called by anything, etc. The error messages read something like "WARNING!!!! Dongle has bad widget name! Do you want to continue???????" Seriously. Here's a tip to any programmer writing the text for an error message that users might actually see: users get the idea that you are serious after the first punctuation mark. If you feel the need to use multiple exclamation or question marks after your sentences, then it's time to break out the old thesaurus, because you need other means of self-expression.
Ok, my head is about to blow up, I've got to stop thinking about this now.

Brrrrr.......

We've finally gotten some cooler weather in this area. The ForecastFox plugin just ground my computer to a screeching halt to let me know that it is currently 49 degrees, F.
The cubical I'm in is on the 6th floor in an area that doesn't have many other tall-ish buildings, so I get a nice view. Right now there are baleful dark clouds filling the sky; I can't really look at them for long or my cube-mate might think I'm staring at him, since he's right next to the window.
This was a day made for staying in bed under the covers until noon, and spending the afternoon sipping some warm beverage whilst swaddled in blankets and gazing out a window. One might even watch Food Network if feeling adventurous.

Breathing Room

Got the word late last week that the 14th would not be my layoff date, and that the contract had been extended to Nov. 18th. So that's the new layoff date. It comes down to getting a few more paychecks and putting up with some really asinine sh*t for a little longer, that's all.
Since finishing up with all that overtime last week, higher brain activities have pretty much ceased. I've got a giant case of the "don't wanna"s and the apartment is a major wreck. There are friends I haven't returned emails and phone calls to, and I think the cats are a little afraid of me right now. Shouldn't I be a little cheered up from getting the contract extension?

WORK IS TEH SUCK

Holy cow, it's been a week since the last update. My life has been taken over by this job. That doesn't really make any sense....the powers that be are sacking me in a few days, yet I'm consistently putting in 12-hour days. Apparently there is a clause in the contract my company has with NASA that demands a certain number of hours worked per task. What I was never told was that even though I could take sick days and vacation time, I would still have to work X number of hours, hence the 60-hour weeks. I understand that my company is just doing what it has to do but I am majorly pissed because 1) no one told me about this little detail beforehand and 2) it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to work so hard just so they can sack me on time with minimal mess. More and more, there only seems to be one course of ACTION:

(thanks, Drew)

Get out of my head, Kanye West

Kanye West's new single "Gold Digger" has taken up residence in my head. It is looping and looping and looping and makes Gwen Stefani's "Holla Back Girl" look like a minor blip in the history of Songs That Have Stuck in My Head. Go watch* the video .... if you daa-a-a-a-are!

* = Windows Media Player and Real Player formats only. If you run Linux or Mac OS X, no soup for you.

I've gotta get out of this state.

So the rumors are true; Roy Moore is running for governor of the state of Alabama. The same Roy Moore who couldn't understand why so many folks disapproved of his putting a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Supreme Court building rotunda, and who was removed from office by the Alabama judicial ethics panel, would like to run the state. Now, normally I would dismiss this news breezily, thinking that there couldn't be enough people crazy enough to vote for him, but this comes on the heels of something that has sort of thrown me for a loop. Take a look at the image below, I've marked the relevant portion:



For those who can't see the picture, according to an online poll (Sept. 29, 2005) from a website for a local tv station here in Alabama, 28% of participants believed that the hurricanes (Katrina and Rita) were God's punishment for sin. Pardon the pun, but HOLY CRAP.

So what's a non-believer to do? Fake the 'amens', so as not to be outed? Move? I think my formula is going to be something like: crying + Captain Morgan's + The Daily Show - Fox News = survival