October 30, 2006

           You know I always get confused buy daylight savings time. The reason is that I once read when I was a kid that it is supposed to make you think there is an extra hour of sunlight. Yet, as soon as the change occurs, it gets dark an hour earlier. I’ve figured it out before, but I never remember.

           There was no time for pictures today, (there was, later) so I’m going to raid a previous file for anything interesting or informative, either will do. There is always the chance something will get repeated when I do this, but I’m sure somebody will say something if it happens. How about this gambling dance party boat? It was empty, undergoing some deep cleaning but the crew had the stereo playing.
           Ruth called this morning, but I will not get over there until tomorrow. Sure enough, we have completely stumped the ancient and wise Oriental culture. They do not know what a box is. That is correct, despite building them a full-size model and shipping it parcel post around the globe, they have written back wanting more information. We have already sent them multiple photographs, dimensions and a set of full-size schematics, but they cannot grasp the concept.

           I have ruled out the old “custom order” scam, these people truly do not know what a box is, since the only other plausible situation is that they cannot imagine what a box looks like even when holding the model in their own two hands. From this point onward, I would start looking for a supplier with some brains. Do not try to second guess what we have done, we have repeatedly e-mailed them to find any box or series of boxes of any material of any size even close, and we’ll pick the one we like. Instead they have stalled and stonewalled the entire project over this, to the point of losing a potentially huge order.

           [Author's note 2015-10-30: this faked inability of box companies to understand what you want seems to be industry practice. I have other examples going back to 1986 of people refusing to state their standard box sizes, so that I could pick the one that best fits my product. It is the old California "custom order" rip-off. They have a warehouse full of what you want, but try to convince you they are setting up an assembly line specially for you. If I tell you this tale from the trailer court more than once, it is because it happens to me more often than most. Remember the "carton or case" toothpick merry-go-round. Same thing.]

           Since they have already shipped us counter-samples inboxes, it is clear to me that somebody is just being truly ignorant about it. I would say if they want to save face, they lost the chance two months ago. I went to Big Lots and bought a box of Xmas bulbs in a box of nearly the correct size. 12.5cm L x 12.5cm W x 7.5cm H. In clear plastic. However, thanks to my brothers, I know ignorance when I see it, so you watch, when the box issue is resolved, they will cook up some other trivial nonsense and we’ll start all over again.

           Well, I mean Ruth will start over. I’d have told them where to stick it after the first round. Nothing mysterious or inscrutable about it to me. What is hard to read is the way Don has his books set up. We are making headway. There is a database there, although it was designed by a filing clerk. It is sort of what you’d get from somebody who read Database for Dummies or Chapter 1 of something.
           The fields are there but absolutely no concept of what a unique key or a one-to-many consists of. However, the true mark of somebody who studied computers but has no aptitude for it is the complete lack of a “single correct path”, a phrase I may have minted. For whatever one’s technical merits, if the system does not practically self-document the flow of work start to finish, time to quit while you are ahead.

           The most successful databases I’ve designed have this single correct path, so much so that I use it to flag departures from what is workable. In the opposite, the most useless databases I’ve seen always include the lack of such a path. I know this fact is not in the manual, but if you need more than one path, consider creating another database.
           Another total amateur giveaway is the use of auto-number. If that is the best you can do, you should not bother. (Auto-number does have a use for restoring data to the original order of entry, as some sorts are hard to undo.) If you are going to use a number, at least try to give it some meaning other than just being distinct. The most glaring omission on this database? The designer did not, for some reason, use the ISBN as a primary key. This means constantly flipped back to find if you have the right book

           I’ve made the rent 12 days early. This means almost a certain trip out of town this weekend. Bear in mind, there are not that many places to go in South Florida, take out a map and see for yourself. A lot of those “little towns” on the map do not even exist, and I suggest that the small towns of Florida are rapidly disappearing altogether. Everything else is to far away, it takes five hours to get to Key West on a good day.

           I see a few people liked the picture [above]. Sure, I’ll get another. I’m in a good frame and I used JZ’s old trick of popping microwave popcorn in a pan. I did it and every kernel popped. That will never happen again. I’m in no rush to get another microwave since I know how to cook everything I consume without one. Okay, a picture.
           How about me leaning on that curiously painted seawall near Bal Harbour? I had rejected this one because it looks like I am hunched over from a cold breeze, note the fronds bending in the background. Don’t believe it, the day was hot and muggy and the wind not really helping any. For those into it, the nude beach is north beyond those trees on the horizon, around a half-mile away.