Why I'm glad I'm an employee (sometimes).

Joel on Software - Set Your Priorities: "Custom development is that murky world where a customer tells you what to build, and you say, 'are you sure?' and they say yes, and you make an absolutely beautiful spec, and say, 'is this what you want?' and they say yes, and you make them sign the spec in indelible ink, nay, blood, and they do, and then you build that thing they signed off on, promptly, precisely and exactly, and they see it and they are horrified and shocked, and you spend the rest of the week reading up on whether your E&O insurance is going to cover the legal fees for the lawsuit you've gotten yourself into or merely the settlement cost. Or, if you're really lucky, the customer will smile wanly and put your code in a drawer and never use it again and never call you back."

Service Info

We're 90% sure the service will be Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Hinde Auditorium in the University Union at Sac State.

Update: The (slightly edited) text of the obituary that was sent to the Bee and information about the Memorial are here.

It all started in a small town in Ohio.

My dad, Don Hinde, was born January 4th, 1933. His family lived in Huron Ohio. He was an only child. His mother doted on him. His father modeled the value of hard work. Together, his parents demonstrated the importance of family. Huron was a small, primarily agricultural town, and there was lots of family around.

Dad had four kids and 7 grandkids who adored him. Growing up, I though he knew everything and never thought him a know-it-all.

Since college, dad had two employers. He worked his way up at the University Union in Bowling Green, OH to become the assistant director. In 1973 he became director of the Union at Sac State. Upon his retirement they named the auditorium after him. The regional professional association he belonged to named an annual award after him and mom. He basically had one job, a career, an anachronism these days.

It is important to document that the buildings he worked in were not "Student Unions". In both cases they were University Unions. They were resources for the entire University community.

He and mom celebrated their 50th anniversary August 28th this year. There was a family dinner here and mom and dad went back to Bowling Green to celebrate. They both went to college at BGSU and were married on campus. This summer they re-visited Prout Chapel (In fact a friend hosted a reception for them.) and dad took mom back to the store where they purchased their wedding set and he presented her with a new ring.

This last Saturday Molly and I went over so that I could help dad remove and clean the 'summer' pool cover (insulated and, I assume more expensive) and put on the 'winter' pool cover (not insulated, it just keeps the leaves out). It went fine. I then pitched a project for my house, some bookshelves in the downstairs bedroom/den/office/study. He wasn't enthusiastic, but on Monday he emailed me and said if I'd send him the measurements he'd think on it.
Lee,

!. Thanks for the help on Saturday. Appreciate the assistance, and the
scrubbing too. Hope the shoes dried out OK.

2. Give me the measurements of the wall that you want to cover with
bookcases..Length and height. I'll cogitate on the project and think
about buildability and options.

Dod

Dod wasn't a typo, it's for Dear Old Dad. The exclamation point instead of a '1' may have been a typo. :-)

I will chose to think that he got that it wasn't just the bookshelves, but that it was something for us to do together.

Dad died yesterday afternoon, quite unexpectedly, at the age of 72. He was cleaning up after doing some lawn work and collapsed. Every indication is that he went quickly; I hope painlessly.

I miss him already.

A Class Divided.

An interview with Jane Elliot:

In 1968, after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assasination, a thrid grade teacher in Iowa created an exercise to explain racism to her all-white students. She divided them by eye color and then took turns favoring one group over the other. The next day those that were last became first.

The teacher now runs presentations on the topic all over the world.

"Invariably, when I do a presentation anywhere in this country, the issue of affirmative action comes up. People say that white males are the ones who are being discriminated against in this country today. So I say, 'Fine. OK. Will every white person in this room who would like to spend the rest of his or her life being treated, discussed, and looked upon as we treat, discuss, and look upon people of color, generally speaking, in this society, please stand?' And I watch. And wait. And the only sounds in the room are those made by people of color as they turn in their seats to see how many white folks are standing. Not one white person stands. And I just let them sit there. Then I say, 'Do you know what you just admitted? You just admitted that you know that it's happening, you know that it's ugly, and you know that you don't want it for you. So why are you so willing to accept it for others? The ultimate obscenity is that you deny that it's happening.'"

Like everywhere, race is a fundamental issue in this country. I wish there was a model for a way out.

Lost & Found

I borrowed the CD version of "The Pleasure of My Company." I liked it. I loaned it to someone else. I forgot who. I'd like to return it. Did I loan it you?

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

Once they screw this one up, there won't be anyone left to marvel at their pig-headed shortsightedness.

Talking Points Memo: "...a bit down further into the document which they put out there's a $1.8 billion annual cut in funding for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). That's great thinking, seeing as though we don't need to worry about Avian Flu from South Asia or other contagious diseases any more."

Many times we can be proud of Western Civilization.

BBC NEWS: "Women's rights activists in Nepal have hailed a Supreme Court order to end discrimination against women during their menstrual cycle.
There is a tradition in parts of Nepal of keeping women in cow-sheds during their period.
The practice is common in far western districts of the country.
The Supreme Court has ordered the government to declare the practice as evil and given it one month to begin stamping the practice out."

At least we don't do that 'round these parts.