steeleBreeze

test

http://en.thisbitch.info/?id=3a7a889540521050c6eb14a803307aed

posted by mike @ 3:23 PM 0 Comments

Awake at 2:00 AM

It's not 2:00AM now - just that I was awake at 2:00am. Probably should have re thought the title. hmmmm Anyway Joshua had an Asthma attack on Monday afternoon/evening. So much so we had to bring him in to the doctors. It was his doctor who stayed late to see and I am grateful for that. She is excellent with our kids. Anyway they took his stats and everything looked good his O2 sat was 94 ~ 95% and his breathing was good. Much better than the last time we took him in with this.

So they gave Josh a Xopenex treatment at the office and she told me every 4 hours - unless he is sleeping. So back home we went - and I, as well as my wife, were feeling much relieved. So we finally get all the kids bed. We go to bed as well were tired (as most parent of 3 under 5 are). Anyway Josh wakes up coughing and crying at 2:00. So I go into his room and after 5 minutes I decide that he needs another round of Xopenex. The only problem is that this stuff "wires" josh and he can't sleep for a while. Come to find out that , while, is like 2 hours. So we laid on his bed, because how dare I leave him, until he falls asleep around 4:30 ish. I get up at 6:00 - good nights sleep.

Oh did I mention that our oldest spent the night in our bed the previous night with a mild fever and neck pains. Seems to be the after effects of having his adenoids removed. And oh yeah our youngest was in the bed as well. So no sleep for 2 nights. But hey its all part of parenting, right?

I really do love my kids - just wish tthey would let me sleep a wee bit more.

later
.mike

posted by mike @ 7:29 AM 0 Comments

C # project

Ok I found a project to undertake.

I am going to write a commission program. I know, I know there are probably hundreds of those things out there and I'm sure a bunch are free. But my aim to to learn C#.

The original program I wrote was in Quatro Pro Borlands spreadsheet program waaaay back in 1994. That one lasted about a year. The information became to much to deal with in a spreadsheet plus formatting and printing was a pain. So then I moved on to Paradox, Borlands database product. Much easier to deal with. I designed that back in 1995 and I still use it. So I figured that a rewrite would be a good idea. I will be using MS-Access as the database.

The first design was much along the same lines of the Paradox layout. One table named commission to hold all of the information and run the reports off of that. A few problems with that design. One was that if the percentage changed during the year it would change the whole year not just from that time forward. The other problem was reporting. I had to programatically stop the execution of the program to let the report catch up. So I want to avoid those problems. So I quickly realized that I was going to run into some of the same issues. So I came up with a new design.

Design number two. This one is more to my liking. There are two tables once named commission and one named transactions. Now the commission table looks something like this:

policyNumber of type string
policyHolder of type string
printOrder of type integer
salesman1 of type string
percentage1 of type double
salesman2 of type string
percentage2 of type double
(this will continue for six (6) salesmen)

and the transaction table looks something like this:

policyNumber of type string
policyHolder of type string
printOrder of type integer
salesman of type string
percentage of type double
month of type string
year of type string
gross of type double
net of type double

So basically you will have a record on the screen one at a time. You will then click the add a transaction button and another window will open up, which will be the transaction window. All the fields will be populated except for the gross and net amounts. The user will then enter the gross amount and click the post transaction button which will close the window and update the transaction database with the new record - including the net amount. Thus the issue of changinf percentage will be taken care of.

Next hurdle will be the reporting. I have to figure out how to use that. I have created a basic report - but this one will need a bit more functionality. Like a break out of each salesman and a total report. Shouldn't be too bad.

Ok that's all I have for now.

later
.mike

posted by mike @ 8:34 AM 0 Comments

becomming a c # (or is it c sharp ) programmer

well i'm still trying to pick this up. going ok. you see i went to college for programming - i have a degree in computer science. go figure i actually called it way back when. i knew i liked programming in high school. now i'm 38 soon to be 39 and i still like it. problem is years ago i made a few bad choices, the end result was me taking a job i did not like. it was an IT job and i am still here. i was single - the job was easy and i had no vision for the future. well now i am married and have 3 kids and the job is still the same. no challenge so i have set a goal of learning c# to have a skill that I can use outside of work. hopefully within a few years i will be able to work from home and leave this job behind me.

So my programming background is from command line COBOL, Pascal, Fortran, Basic etc...procedure based stuff. So now moving to the object oriented programming has been a bit of a change but the logic really has not changed. When I learned programming we built apps much the same way. 1 procedure to do 1 job. That's it. It made code manageable and you knew where to look if something broke.

Now with Libraries, classes etc. It all just seems a little to much overhead. I mean most of the work is making the program talk to the OS very little actual programming. Just seems to be alot of work for nothing. But I digress. I have been picking stuff up.

Now I am at a point where I need a project - so I think I will re-write a commission program that I did in Paradox years ago. It still works fine but I think the project would be easy enought to tackle so I will try to post progress on here every once in a while. Hope this does not bore the 1 person reading this.

later
.mike

posted by mike @ 8:55 AM 0 Comments

Lost - 24 - House

If you look closely these are all shows thatmy wife and I watch regulaly. With Bones thrown in there every once in a while.

We watched the 2 hour season finally of Lose last night. After a so-so season it was nice to see that they can still write a decent episode. Something actually happened. Kinda had to since it was the season finally and you need a cliffhanger.

Couple of thoughts: Nice to see that no one is safe Charlie kicking it old school was a nice touch. Saving his friend and all. But really if Desmond hadn't told him how he would die would he have closed the door from the inside? I was wondering why he did not close the door from the other side? Go figure. My feeling is that he is really dead. Not like Mikahl, Locke or Charlie (the first time with the hanging.)

Jack in the post rescue scene referring to his father. Kinda odd - wondering if they are trying to throw us off the track.

Also Ben telling Jack that Niaomi is not who she pretends to be seems to be off as well. Since when has Ben told the truth. She may not pose the imminent danger that Ben thinks. It may well be that Ben knows his little monarchy is over if "society" finds them.

I like the fact that Jack played hard core with Ben as well. Ben has lost his hold over Jack. Jack out played him.

All in all a good finale -can't wait until next season.

Change of pace to 24.

Not a bad season but they really need to change it up. I heard that the writers are going in a different direction. This weapon of mass destruction plot is getting thin. Although you never know who will live and who won't. Gotta like that. Killed off a bunch of good guys as well as baddies.

I liked the season finale, blowing up stuff is fun. But that scene with Heller at the end was kind of off. Besides that it was good.

Lastly House.

The season finale is next week, thanks American Idol. Anyway still a great show. The whole sub-plot with the cop and the drug issue was a pain and did nothing to advance the characters. Fun show.

later
.mike

posted by mike @ 10:48 AM 0 Comments

still nothing

Yep still nothing. Doing some stuff here at work. Just can't get into it today. I figured some stuff with c # out so that's a plus. It's just that I've been here 13.5 years and I just do not feel challenged anymore. Plus the fact that I'm taking a riduclous amount of time off for kids doctor visits, michelle's physical therapy and school visits I'm amazed I have not been "talked" to.

Well that's why I am learning C# perhaps a new language will help things along. I'd like to program from home. Just have to figure out a program that people would use. I'm sure there are plenty of good ideas out there. Just have to find one.

Well on the plus side I have a new computer with dual monitors and windows vista. I have no idea what people are complaining about, I like the new interface. Things look neat and what's wrong with that? Plus it's just cool as far as i'm concerned. I was one of the early Windows 95 users as well as 98 and xp. Each upgrade has been better than the last. Granted this one is a huge machine hog but hey i'll take it. I got a brandy new machine as well fun fun fun!! plus i want to stay ahead of the curve when we HAVE to start getting vista. now i can use the machine with out all that fighting to find stuff. xp seems archaic now. with transparent windows and the like. just a much nicer interface to work with. just my 2 cents.

listening to vh1.com radio right now the hair band station - slade's run run away is on. geez have not heard it in quite a while! i guess i'm starting to get old eh? graduated high school in 1986. yep i passed my 20 year reunion last year. i'm so proud of myself - i have not been to any reunion - except for the 5 year one which really does not count. my friends are now turning 40 and it's my turn next year. don't feel like 40. my parents seemed so much older at 40 than I feel. go figure.

ok spinal tap is on - sex farm - great movie!

i guess i have ranted enough

later
.mike

posted by mike @ 3:56 PM 0 Comments

C# or C Sharp

Either way I am still learning it.

It is interesting to say the least. I went through some tutorials and that helped get used to the development environment. But I still need to learn a bit about the language and .net. Seems like I am not makeing any headway but I am, it is just slow. I just figured out reports, at least one aspect of them anyway. So that is a plus.

I think I set my goals to high so I get frustrated when I can not figure something out. I have programmed in Paradox for a while so I have that dowm. I also have used Visual Basic 6 and some VB.net but I figured a good way to learn would be to pick something completely new to learn. Maybe a mistake going that way but I am plowing ahead. I just get side tracked easily when I get frustrated. Like now I am writing in my blog instead of working out a new problem I have encountered.

Whee.

Anway should ge back to work.

Later
.mike

posted by mike @ 11:26 AM 0 Comments

bang your head

well i'm an ax grinder
pile driver
mama sez that i never never mind her...

well if these lyrics sound familiar to you - excellent you grew up in the 80's as well.

i am listening to vh1.com radio station - 80's rock

and bang your head by quiet riot came on.

now i owned this CASSETTE back in the day so i may have listened to it a few times
did i mention that i was somewhat of a metal head?

anyway it came on and i remember the lyrics. go figure i have not heard this song for well over 10 years prolly closer to 15 still knew all the words. i can't remember what day it is or what i am doing tonight - but hey i can still lip sync to quiet riot.

rock on dude....rock on

.mike

posted by mike @ 3:20 PM 0 Comments