Buying a car

Recently Frangelica and I bought a new car.

The time was right. My old car was dying the death of a thousand minor repairs. We also figured out that if we bought a car right now we could avoid paying some extra Illinois taxes, at least if we interpreted the tax site correctly.

We got a flyer for a big sale. It was from some company that sells cars that I think are repossessed. Anyway, the flyer promised big BIG savings! So Frangelica and I went to check it out.

Keep in mind that I have only ever bought one car --my Saturn. There wass no negotiation, just a price sheet.

Frangelica and I headed out to the car dealership after I got off work. We both skipped dinner and just had a cookie --we thought we'd just be test driving, and we wanted to have plenty of time before the dealership closed at 9.

We were only interested in Saturn Vues. We test drove three before we settled on the one we eventually bought.

The negotiation process was... Interesting. And I'm not very good at it.

We were seated at a table. Our salesman would ferry different offers back and forth between us and the financial guy. We finally settled on a price, and then waited for an hour while the paperwork printed.

At the time I was sure that their "printer" had to have been the finest printer 1923 had to offer, given how long the process took. Later we realized that it was probably just a delaying tactic. We were both starving. Frangelica was getting sick. All we wanted to do was leave (with the new car). So when the papers arrived and almost all the numbers were different, we signed without complaint. The monthly payment was the same, which, a different salesman explained, was the important part. We were told that everything had to be accounted for in different ways, which was why the numbers didn't match the ones we had on paper from earlier that evening.

They actually invoked Enron. Since the Enron scandal, they said, they had to be very careful about how everything was written up.

Ultimately we signed and left with the new car.

We do love the car though, and ultimately that's what's important.

We also learned a few things.

• Never buy a car from a guy in a cheap suit
• Never buy a car from a guy that carries a plastic button around. When you pressed the button it said, "That was easy!"
• Never buy a car when you haven't eaten in recent memory. We didn't get out of there until after 10 (or was it 11?) --and there were no restaurants open afterwards. We dined on a fine meal from Checkers on the way home.

I'm not sorry we bought the car. We really do love it.

However, in the future I intend to only buy from places that don't negotiate --at this point basically Saturn or CarMax.

Logic

If God Hates Homosexuals, then God Hates Shrimp.

I can't argue with that.

Don't be a hater

Recently I received an email with the following subject: THE AMERICAN FLAG COMES SECOND.

Normally I'd ignore something like this as spam, but a friend of mine sent it. It was an article by Michelle Malkin, about a bunch of high school kids in California where, as a protest, they hung the American flag upside down underneath the California flag. According to this site, they were protesting a proposed federal law that would criminalize illegal immigration.

As far as I can tell, the part of the article that I find most offensive was added later, as I can't find it on Ms. Malkin's site.

The offending section goes:

Pass this along to every American citizen in your address books and to every representative in the state and federal government. If you choose to remain uninvolved do not be amazed when you no longer have a nation to call your own nor anything you have worked for left since it will be "redistributed" to the activists while you are so peacefully staying out of the "fray". Check history, it is full of nations/empires that disappeared when its citizens no longer held their core beliefs and values. One person CAN make a difference. One plus one plus one plus one plus one plus one.........

It is essentially accusing anyone who is "...So peacefully staying out of the 'fray'..." Of contributing to what I guess is supposed to be the ultimate downfall of the US. It is attempting to play on people's fears of illegal immigrants.

There are so many things wrong with the above statement I find it difficult to even start tearing it apart.

As I recall, the United States was founded on immigrants. The statute of liberty has the following poem engraved on it:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

One of the wonderful freedoms we have in this country is the freedom of speech. These students were protesting a proposed federal law they felt was wrong. Regardless of whether or not you agree with them, they have the right to protest, just like Ms. Malkin has the right to disagree with them.

Freedom seems to be one of the "core beliefs and values" that the anonymous author wants to ignore, at least for illegal immigrants. Most of us are descended from immigrants (legal or otherwise).

I'm no expert on illegal immigration. However, it seems to me that people do difficult things when they feel the benefit outweighs the cost. Illegal immigrants come here to the US because conditions are so terrible where they are from that living in a van down by the river with 37 other illegal immigrants and working 100 hours a week at 4 different jobs is still better than staying where they were.

That's the "problem." Walls won't stop illegal immigrants. Making illegal immigrants really "illegal" won't stop it either.

I'm inclined to say that anyone who wants to become and American should be given the chance.

Ultimately yes, the forwarded email offends me. It offends me because some anonymous twit is trying to use fear to make me hate a group of human beings that are different from me. It offends me that people buy into this crap. It offends me that while we here in America are fairly well off people around the world starve and don't have proper medical care. It offends me that human beings treat each other so poorly.

Folks, we're all human beings. We're all on this rock together. I know it's cliche, but can't we all just get along? If the student who is hanging the American flag upside-down offends you, fine --say something. Write your congressman, write your local paper, form your own protest, do something --be heard. But don't preach hatred.

That's the news...

...and we are outta here.

Frangelica and I, after a lot of discussion, have decided to move back to the midwest, where people are sane. Or at least crazy in a way we like better.

I hope to be able to talk publicly in broad generalities about a new job soon. For now, I know I'll be staying in the game business.

We're leaving the third week in June.

Frangelica has a better rundown of why we're going, and where we're staying here.

I hope to post other details soon, including the story of how we purchased a new (used) car. Until then...

WATCH THE SKIES!

Yet more crickets

I know that my posting has been more sporadic lately. For a while I was regularly cranking out one or more posts a week. Not so much any more.

I've been busier with other things. I'm learning C# and test driven development. I'm doing yet more reading. I've played (and beaten) more XBox games in the past two months than I have in the two years that I've owned the XBox itself.

Right now I'm supposed to be working on an Arcana Evolved game. I'd like to have something set to go by the time Frangelica is done with her Spring Break, which is about 3 weeks from now. By that time I need to have the basics for the campaign done, and I'd like to have the AE Item Maker done too.

Of course, the pile of XBox games still taunt me. There are several yet to play.

For now, I leave you with...

INVADER ZIM!

Finally, Chewbacca speaks!

http://rrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnhhhh.blogspot.com/

Software Development Approaches

It's no secret that I've always been interested in different software development methodologies. To me, asking the question, "how can this be done better?" is natural. Sometimes the phrase, "there has to be a better way" practically screams in my head.

As you might imagine I have been known to proselytize different methodologies. Recently I've settled on Agile methods. The values just make sense.

Some of my friends and coworkers will note that this is an almost about-face for me, but that's a story for another time.

What I really wanted to do was introduce this article:

Characterizing People as Non-Linear, First-Order Components in Software Development

It very nicely sums up what has been rattling around in my head for quite a while. The most important part of a software development process is the people involved. The process itself is secondary.

Interesting...

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

Adventures in Test Driven Development

I just finished reading Test Driven Development By Example by Kent Beck.

It looks pretty cool. In the book Test Driven Development: A Practical Guide, author Dave Astels swears that TDD will make programming fun again. I find that particularly appealing, because it's been quite a while since I thought programming was fun. Don't get me wrong, I do like my job. I like programming. It gives me a deep sense of satisfaction when I finish a feature or fix a bug. I just haven't had fun writing code since I played around on my Dad's TI-99/4A.

Anyway, I finished reading Kent's book and was keen to start using TDD, so I did something I haven't done in years.

I started writing code at home.

That's a tough thing for me to admit. Almost every programmer I know writes code at home for fun. I never did. I got enough coding done at work. At home I was all about doing other things, like hanging out with friends and family or working on other hobbies.

I have also been reading about C#. I picked it because I wanted to learn more about Microsoft's .NET platform and learn something that might help at work.

So, I started a project at home with the latest version of Microsoft's Visual C#.

For the curious, I'm using Visual C# 2005 Express for my IDE, Perforce for source control, and NUnit for the unit testing framework. I'm developing a magic item creation tool for Arcana Evolved. I don't intend to release it, at least not with any data. The data belongs to Monte Cook, and I believe one already exists. Regardless, it should be a good learning exercise for me.

Goals

There are several things I'd like to get out of this project.

• Learn more about TDD
• Learn about XML (no, unlike seemingly most other programmers on the planet I haven't yet worked with XML at all)
• Learn the C# language
• Learn how to write windows apps in C#, using windows forms
• Figure out if C# could be used to write games
• Evaluate C# and the .NET platform for use at work
• End up with a good utility for myself should I ever finally get around to running an Arcana Evolved game again
• Figure out if writing code can really be fun again

The Story So Far

So far I'm done with Spell Completion Items, Single Use Items, Charged Items, and Constant Items. Magical Arms and Armor is a beast of a different color, and so is going to take more work. I have written 91 unit tests for about 8 classes, though one class has no tests of its own.

Things I've learned so far:

• Test Driven Development doesn't necessarily mean you start with a blank slate. It's good to think a bit about what you're implementing before you do it. TDD already forces you to do that by making you write tests first. You only write code in response to failing tests.
• Writing a to-do list on paper really helps. It keeps me focused on the test I'm working on and lets me not worry about juggling everything I need to do in my head.
• Starting out is hard. I have to remind myself to test first. See the red bar. Make the test work. Then refactor. My natural impulse is to work on several problems at once, to make changes that I "know" I'll need later. Usually I end up with too much stuff. I really have to fight the impulse to go right to the debugger.
• Fake data works great for tests. I don't have to pour through the AE book looking for a spell with a particular modifier when I can just make one up.
• Writing code is indeed fun again. For me, this is the most important part.

What's Next

I still have several things to do.

• I have to tackle Magical Arms and Armor, which work differently than all of the other items.
• I have to add a UI
• I have to get real data into the system

I think I'm going to start on the UI next. I'm going to use Charles Petzold's book Programming Microsoft Windows Forms, as well as Pro .NET 2.0 Graphics Programming. Between those two books I hope to be able to figure out the basics of windows forms. I'm told that .NET makes windows programming significantly easier. I sure hope so, because writing code with MFC is painful.

I haven't yet looked into learning XML, though I should do that soon. I can only use test data for so long.

Anyway, I've joined the TDD mailing list and found it very useful. I haven't posted there yet but I'm sure I will.

I've also been bitten by the TDD bug, but that will have to wait for another post. For now, things are going very well. Programming is fun again, and like I said above, that is the most important part.

Back in, um, pain

In mid December, Frangelica and I were getting ready for my company's Christmas party.

One Saturday morning I woke up and could hardly move. Getting out bed was painful. I hobbled like an old man over to the bathroom. In the time since the previous night the bathtub wall had somehow grown to nearly thirty feet tall. Or at least, that's what it felt like.

After a hot shower I was better. Not great, but better.

I sort of have a history of back trouble. My father's back has gone out a few times. It went out once when he was playing with us kids at the school playground. He went to pick my sister up and he went down. I believe the paramedics came for that one. I remember he managed to get up on his hands and knees, and then couldn't go anywhere from there. Another time, his back went out when he bent over to pick up his toothbrush.

So anyway, my dad has had back trouble. So does my mother. Me, when I have trouble it's almost always with one shoulder.

This time, however, it was my lower back. Anyone who has had back problems will tell you how painful it is, how tense you get. You spend a lot of time wondering when your back will give out next. All of a sudden, the ground seems really far away. Getting in and out of the car becomes and adventure. You hobble from place to place. People wonder if you're just a young 80, or if you really are 30.

The only things that tends to make backs get better is time and rest. Well, that and moving correctly. Lift with your legs. Don't bend at the waist without bending at the knees. Get out of bed by turning on your stomach and inching backwards onto the floor. Be really careful of where and how you sit down, because if you choose poorly you won't get back up again without help.

Anyway, that Saturday I took it easy. By Sunday things were better. Not 100%, but better. Monday passed without incident.

Tuesday, Frangelica wanted to go to the mall to get makeup for the upcoming party. We went to Sephora.

Frangelica approached an employee to ask about some mythological powder or ungent or some such alchemical concoction. The employee smiled.

Before I knew what was happening, Frangelica was swarmed. At one point, there were three employees working on her. Over the course of our visit, all five store employees helped her with something.

In the meantime, I stood up and tried not to look too out of place. Which was hard, because I was the only male non-employee in the store. And my back was killing me. That's the other thing about back problems. Walking is more or less ok. Standing is bad. I stood for what felt like hours. I would have gone outside to sit on a bench, but I knew Frangelica needed me to pay for what was looking like about one million dollars worth of makeup.

Eventually I couldn't stand it any more. I told Frangelica I was going to hobble out to a bench. The employee chirped, "We're almost done."

Foolishly, I believed her. Looking back on it, they were only halfway through.

I must say that when Frangelica emerged from the flurry of activity, she was stunning. By which I mean, even more stunning than usual.

After some small discussion we decided that the various ungents, creams, powders, tonics, and whatnot would be Frangelica's Christmas present.

By the end my back felt a little better, but only because it had gone numb.

The next day I could hardly move. Getting out of bed was a Herculean effort. Scaling the sheer walls of the bathtub was too. A hot shower didn't help.

So, off I went to the doctor. Naturally, my doctor was on vacation, though I did like the doctor I saw. He hooked me up with industrial strength Ibuprofen and some groovy muscle relaxants, told me about a couple of exercises I should do and then sent me home.

The next day I went back to work, fuzzy from the muscle relaxants.

Normally, you shouldn't take the muscle relaxants and drive. It's a bad idea. But this is Virginia (the "welcome" sign to the state says, "Welcome to Virginia. 2 drink minimum"). Being numb improved the driving experience. Sure the idiots were still there. Sure I nearly died. I just cared less.

Anyway, about a week went by and my back wasn't getting much better. Sure it was a little better, but it wasn't the amazing improvement I was expecting. I was running out of muscle relaxants. So, back to the doctor I went. Naturally, both my doctor and the doctor I had seen previously were unavailable.

The doctor I got was a small Chinese woman. "If you're not better by mid-January, come back and see us."

Right. Clearly, I forgot to mention that with back problems, everything is slow, including the healing.

Now that it is mid January, I am feeling a lot better. My back is still a little tender, but I'm almost back to normal.

New Year, New Plague

Once again it's been more than a month since my last post. I apologize for that. Part of the reason is that Frangelica and I were visiting friends and family in the Chicago area.

Then we came home and got TEH PLAGUE. Again.

Clearly this whole family visit thing just doesn't work in my favor. The Grandma and the Spinster visit over Thanksgiving, and we get TEH PLAGUE. Frangelica and I get better. Then my back decides to give me... trouble. And I get a more mild version of TEH PLAGUE again, just before we drive back to Chicago, which made the drive that much more fun.

Then, just a few short days after we get back from Chi-town, Frangelica and I both get sick. Again.

I'm ready for a new, more healthy year now.

So, what's happened in the last month? I think that calls for a few new entries.

Litigation

I have felt for a while that our society is over-litigious.

It started with the disclaimers you have to watch on DVDs. At first the disclaimers were just standard FBI warnings of doom. Now most DVDs I watch come with disclaimers about the extra content, specifically the commentary.

Today in the doctor's office I saw a special copy of Sports Illustrated. It had a cover that was a giant ad for Viagra. On the cover, in bold print in the lower right corner was a disclaimer that stated that just because SI put the special cover on the magazine didn't mean they endorsed whatever the special cover was selling.

A few minutes ago I was checking my email. I recently joined several mailing lists relating to game development and test driven development, so I'm getting a lot more email. One of the messages I just read had the following disclaimer, no doubt attached by the company the individual worked for:

E-Mail messages may contain viruses, worms, or other malicious code. By reading
the message and opening any attachments, the recipient accepts full
responsibility for taking protective action against such code. Sender is not
liable for any loss or damage arising from this message.

Really folks, this is just silly. All these disclaimers are getting out of hand.

Next I expect there to be disclaimers shown during movie previews, printed on restaurant menus, and in prefaces to comic books. Perhaps we should sign something before we enter a store, use a pen, or are handed a piece of paper. I'd hate to have to sue someone over a paper cut I received while reading their disclaimer.

Lost

Wow.

To give you an idea of how much Eunice and I like this show, we rented it from Netflix. After the end of the first disc we went out and bought the first season. This is some of the best TV I've seen in a long time.

I would seriously consider getting either cable or satellite TV, along with a TiVO just to watch this.

Luxor: Amun Rising

I sense less free time in my future.

Behold, my doom.

Chirp Chirp

After two short months I'm back on the blog.

I'd like to say that I had a good excuse for being silent for so long. I could say, for example, that I had been recruited as a secret agent and have been deep undercover. I could use the somewhat more standard, "I've been busy" excuse.

The latter is closer to true. It's been a combination of busy, sick, and lazy.

Frangelica and I are currently fighting off TEH PLAGUE. We're feeling better, but I'm writing this after a caughing fit at 5 in the morning, so not that much better.

More news to come.

More adventures in cooking

I'm about to make hamburgers. Once again, I'm terrified.

I have learned 2 important things.

1. Do not use the rough side of the sponge on the pots and pans we have.
2. I have a copy of How To Cook Everything, so I don't need to spend half an hour or more searching the internet for basic cooking instructions.

The sad sad tale of a cheap futon

Well, chalk this one up to, "you get what you pay for."

The cheap futon we bought just broke. Several slats of pressboard served as the support for the cushion. Three of the slats buckled. One snapped into 3 pieces.

Time of death was set at 10:47 p.m.

Time from assembly to destruction? A little over 1 month.

No food poisoning yet

Well, the pork chops haven't killed us yet.

I'll keep you all posted.

Chops

As I type I'm in the process of attempting to make pork chops.

I'm terrified.

In case this is the last communication I have with the outside world, tell my family I love them.

More on jobs in the video game industry

Here is another interesting article on working as a game developer.

It makes some good points, like how the working conditions are at least partially the fault of the workers themselves.  I can attest to the odd climate around the office at Tiburon.  It made 100 hour weeks not only seem reasonable, there was something wrong with you if you didn’t put in that kind of time.

Part of the problem does come from bad management and what I like to call Managing By The Bottom Line.  Hiring new college grads and working them like mad looks great on paper, but in reality there is a not-insignificant cost to hiring new people.

Anyway, I’m not really in a good ranting mood.  People who know me know that I can go on about the state of the gaming industry for hours –I’m sure everyone involved in it can.  I’ll leave you with the original ea_spouse article, as well as a link to the FAQ, the press page, and Gamewatch.org.

I will say that there are some good employers out there, and if anyone reading this is thinking of going for a game industry job, be careful, and do your research.