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The first thing I’ll mention is that I’m finally finished with college. Fall of 2007 was my final semester of graduate school, forever. No more tests, no more homework, no more projects, and last but not least, no more group crap work. I would say no more studying, but Amie often claims that most of the books I tend to read “are like textbooks.” And in a way, I agree. And that leads me into the next thing I want to mention.

This past year was a big year for me in terms of programming. Not necessarily in any particular language, but more from a high-level, “best practices” point-of-view. I no longer ignore (any) problems. That may have started in 2006, but now I try not to tolerate something that needs fixed or redone. Honestly, I get somewhat anxious if I know there’s smelly code lingering around. If I think I can do better, I will. Even if that means rewriting a module that’s only a month old. I work a lot harder to keep my code as clean as my abilities allow, and I only envision that desire strengthening.

In addition to that, my problem solving abilities seem to be sharper than ever. Naturally, as I gain more experience with Ruby, I’m realizing many more solutions and ways to approach things. And that doesn’t only apply to Ruby/Rails applications, which is even more rewarding.

So, no more school, I’m more of an “agile developer,” what else… oh yeah, I got married! And that, of course, was the highlight of my year. I didn’t think too much would change, but it’s like a new feeling of “togetherness” that I really enjoy. It’s now official: no matter what I do in life, I’ve always got Amie. It’s a good feeling.

As far as the list is concerned, I’m reading a lot more and I’m taking around 5 times as many pictures as the previous year. However, “consistently working out” and “learn a new programming language” have been carried over as goals for 2008. Wish me luck.

Lee mentioned how teachers can now use Facebook to stay in touch with students. I’m sort of torn on this idea, and I may be a little hypocritical in explaining why.

First of all, people (including myself) spend too much time on the computer. Pushing it even further by having teachers recommend their students use Facebook might not be a good thing. In Lee’s post, the part that struck me was…

If my high school teachers would have been willing to work with me through Facebook, I know I would have done better. There were so many times I wanted to ask questions and clarify assignments, but there was no way I was going to do it front of the whole class…

Now, everyone has been in that situation, but it’s bothersome to think of avoiding human interaction with the teacher as being a solution. It seems like that would harm social skills and the developing personalities of young minds. While I’m sure everyone has neglected a question due to fear of how other students might react, a habitual “always ask online” method may prove to be even worse.

And here’s where I flip the switch on this thought. I’m the first person to ask, “Why can’t this be online?” And I’m next to the first person who would rather send an email or text over going to office hours or using the phone. BUT. I don’t always see that as a good thing, I just think it’s how I’ve grown. And maybe that’s the problem. Social applications and other means to neglect human interaction weren’t inflicted upon me, and I ended up wanting the “online version” anyway. With high school students spending 3-6 hours on MySpace as it is, promoting even more of this stuff just may be a little too much.

I wonder if getting involved with all of these “social” applications can actually turn a person somewhat anti-social in the real world. Who knows, maybe we’re nearing a point where we have to decide which is more important.

Here are a few quotes I’ve come across [from scientists, designers, photographers, programmers, marketers, etc] over the last few days, or weeks, or months. I found them to be short and insightful, so I figured I’d keep track of them here.

If everything is important, nothing is. —Unknown

Very often people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. —Clement Mok

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. —Winston Churchill

Reflection is like refactoring. If you can measure how much you are doing, you aren’t doing enough. —Unknown

Computer Science is the only discipline in which we view adding a new wing to a building as being maintenance. —Jim Horning

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. —Aristotle

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. —Alan Kay

We don’t know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don’t always appreciate their fragility. —Malcolm Gladwell

If you can talk brilliantly about a problem, it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered. —Stanley Kubrick

Buying a Nikon doesn’t make you a photographer. It makes you a Nikon owner. —Unknown

Instinct is the gift of experience. —Malcolm Gladwell

Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t. —Seth Godin

You don’t need to win every medal to be successful. —Jason Fried

In many cases, the more you try to compete, the less competitive you actually are. —Kathy Sierra

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe. —Abraham Lincoln

Amidst all the attention given to the sciences as to how they can lead to the cure of all diseases and daily problems of mankind, I believe that the biggest breakthrough will be the realization that the arts, which are conventionally considered “useless,” will be recognized as the whole reason why we ever try to live longer or live more prosperously. The arts are the science of enjoying life. —John Maeda

Today was a bad day. It was another one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. At work I’ve just been switched to a C# project, which pretty much sucks. But it wasn’t necessarily the code that bothered me. Sure, the syntax is ugly, but that simply wasn’t it. I don’t agree with a lot of the .NET methodologies, but again, it wasn’t .NET that ruined my day—it was my childish behavior.

All day I spent my time on simplistic things, yet managed not to complete a single task. I got so frustrated because I couldn’t do the things I knew were easy. It was one right after another. By lunch I was definitely ready to go home.

Unfortunately, there was a guy working with me who is relatively new to .NET and OO programming, and was trying to learn a thing or two. I say unfortunately because I was too frustrated with myself to teach/explain anything. Having someone watch the simpler things go badly aggravated me even more, since I’d normally have everything I tried today finished in 30 minutes.

Now I could complain write all day about how much I don’t like this and that, but I’d just be ignoring the real issue: my poor attitude. The truth is there are tons of people who write successful .NET applications and really do enjoy it, I’m just not one of them.

I honestly am annoyed with the thought of being back at the beginning again; especially with a language I have no desire to learn. As a result of my annoyances, though, I ruined mine and the “paired programmer’s” day today. From now on, I hope to quit being so childish when I get stuck on things, and do my best to keep a positive attitude no matter what the situation.

Of course, talk is cheap, so we’ll see how it goes.

How many times have you heard something like, “Shhhh, I’m trying to think,” as if noise inhibits thinking? To me, one of the most distracting environments is one that is quiet. Most people I come across tend to think otherwise, where a quiet atmosphere ascends focus more than a busy, noisy, and “distracting” one. I suppose there are different levels of “distracting”, but I’m referring to that of a typical office environment. You know, people talking, faxes coming in, doors opening/closing, etc. Not a jack-hammer outside of the window.

In January, the team I work with moved to a separate office space, consisting of around five people—it was dead silent. I quickly realized how much I had missed the “distractions” from the other office. Instead, I was being irritably distracted by the silence. It’s still the same, today. Personally, I think being able to hear every keystroke, mouse click, chair movement, etc from a co-worker is not only distracting, but annoying. Every morning, I play music because it just gets too quiet around here. I think better with noise. I don’t wear headphones (I’ve yet to find a pair that doesn’t hurt my ears after 2 hours), so it just blares out for everyone to hear—thanks to Amie’s Dad for the online XM access. Bottom line: I don’t want to be able to hear myself think; despite popular belief, silence is itself, distracting.

Things have been strangely busy lately, at work and at home. I’ve been doing .NET at work for at least the last month or so, and javascript aside from that. I’ve stated before that it can be nice to take a break from what I love doing, if for no other reason than to appreciate it more, but I think break time is over. I now feel like I’m being poisoned by everything that is not Ruby/Rails. I’m aching to get back into Ruby code, but unfortunately, at work I don’t necessarily foresee that in the near future. Of course, that’s the beauty of personal projects, but then time is always an issue (which is what Golf Trac is currently suffering from).

Design and develop web applications using Ruby on Rails at $125/hour, 40 hours per week (based on convenience), with optional overtime, full-benefits, and 6 weeks vacation. All server administration and maintenance will be handled by a specialized server admin.

If anyone stumbles across a job description similar to that, please let me know (I suppose I’d settle for a little less).

Yesterday just may have been the most unproductive day I’ve had at IRC. We’re nearing the end of a relatively tough-to-meet deadline (which results in a rather large deployment), and I got nothing accomplished. In fact, I’ve managed to go backwards.

The day before, an incredibly productive day, made me anxious to finish up; however, I ran into my first issue almost immediately. No problem, I can fix anything, right? Two hours later, I was still struggling with the same problem. Going against my better judgment, I moved on to a few of the bugs that I knew I could fix quickly. You know, supporting the “if you step away from it for a while…” mentality. It didn’t help matters, because I spent the rest of the morning on a new, but equally irritating and apparently not as easy to fix as I had thought, bug. The same one I had planned on gaining the quick-win off of.

Lunch rolled around, and I couldn’t ignore the aggravation. All I thought about were those two seemingly simple bugs, and what on earth would lead me to their demise. My attempts to fix the second bug led to not only the second bug not being fixed, but resulted in two more bugs from code that was previously working fine.

To make a very long and drab story short(er), I left the day with three new bugs, in addition to my existing list of fixes. Legacy code is an evil beast, and can be very difficult to maintain. Especially when dealing with .NET stuff like this (access a <span> from the server-side):

Dim detailsSpan As System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlGenericControl = e.Item.FindControl("courseDetails")

Yuck. Have you ever felt like you’re worthless for an entire day, and you’ve caused more work for yourself just by being there? Hopefully today goes a lot smoother.

As I read more and more about investing and ways I can get the most out of my money, I realize how much I don’t know. To some degree, that bothers me. I came across Investopedia a day or two ago, and have been casually browsing through it. Coming from an amateur investor, it appears to be a good resource for learning about investment alternatives, as well as recommendations. Here’s a good starting point: 20 investments every investor should know about. The hardest part is that this stuff is rather boring (to me, at least). But we’ll see how it goes…

This coming Monday starts the beginning of the end of my college career. At this moment, I can’t think of a better feeling. The last three weeks before the end of this past summer semester were, to say the least, way too busy. Of course, it was my own fault for procrastinating, but I’m so tired of being busy outside of work, my fault or not.

College had its ups and downs. I loved the challenge and I like to learn, but I’m not necessarily doing what I spent 5-6 years studying (referring to undergrad, here). For my profession in doing what I love, I’ve essentially taught myself nearly everything. Grad school helped to fill in a few gaps, but even there I wasn’t overwhelmed with useful information. I’m sure I picked up a ton more than I realize, though—hopefully.

Despite my thoughts on college, I’ve only got four months left, forever. No more projects, finals, group work, or summer semesters that span the length of two summer sessions. It’s all coming to an end, and I couldn’t be more ready.

At work, I was tasked with brushing up some .NET stuff I’d done about a year (or more) ago. I’ll spare the traditional “I can’t stand .NET” rant, just know that I can’t stand .NET.

The first thing I realized when looking back at my 12-18 month old code was that I didn’t write it; I couldn’t have. But denial only took me so far. Apparently, I had no conscience of good programming back then. The funny thing is, who’s to say I won’t feel exactly the same way 12-18 months from today?

Earlier this week, I wrote a small novel about a case where I was using method_missing. My rudimentary plan was skewed a bit, but for some reason, it didn’t deter me from using method_missing. I tweaked things in an uncomfortable way, as to fit the situation, when I really just needed an even simpler association method. From that little hiccup, I felt as though I had gained a whole new wave of knowledge. All of a sudden, I was thinking clearer than ever before. I had experienced another “What was I thinking?” moment.

Every time I look at code a little while after I’ve written it, I’m astounded by how much I’ve improved, despite the time gap. But the truth is, I’ll never be “done” becoming a good programmer; I’ll always learn and improve. Unsurprisingly, that’s a lot of why I love what I do. Learning to solve programming problems better, is like a fresh view of programming altogether.

The “What was I thinking?” moments will never cease; they’ll emerge every couple of months, forever. There are times when good code turns stale, and there’s always a better implementation. While I may have limitations as to what I’m capable of, with constant refactoring and attempts to improve, those limitations diminish more and more everyday. Sometimes, though, I don’t realize that until a little while later.

Like a lot of people I’m sure, something I’m desperately lacking in the land of money management is a centralized place to manage everything. I tried the 60-day trial of Quicken, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I mean, in theory it was exactly what I was looking for; but it didn’t auto-sync with all of my accounts, which is a must-have for me to spend the money on it ($64). It was supposed to grab my investments, loan balances (car and school), banking info, etc, but it didn’t. My bank and zero-balance credit card updated automatically, but with a catch: ignored pending transactions. I’ve gotten used to the “available balance” from online banking, which does consider pending transactions. Plus, that’s what I match my check book register against. In the end, Quicken just didn’t work for me.

Wesabe just released a Firefox extension that looks pretty slick (watch the video). But I don’t feel comfortable enough trusting it with everything. I trust my banking site, but I have more confidence in a national bank than a free (and community-based?) service with not much to lose. Personally, I would not enjoy working on an application that links into banking software and deals with other money-related accounts. That’s right up there in the list of things that aren’t fun to worry about.

Maybe someday I’ll find a solution. Until then, I’ll keep using the 6 bookmarks in my “money” bookmark folder. Blah.

A Perfect Mess is a book about disorder and how “being messy” can, in some ways, circumvent organized habits. I haven’t read it, but I bet it’d be interesting. I’ve actually argued that spending time organizing certain things is wasteful. There’s a fine line there, though. Organizing code is mandatory, and a lot of what I love about MVC is the organization it provides. But take gmail for example. Early on, I thought categorizing with labels was the way to go. It’s not. At least, for me it’s not. After I set the labels, I never go back to use them. It’s extra work before archiving, and there’s really no need. I just use the search if I need something—it’s much easier and faster. Plus, it returns chats, as well.

The point is the time spent digging through the mess falls short of the total time spent organizing. I’d like to read a book about this from someone who can articulate what they’re trying to say much better than I can. All I need is a reason to be messy…

Golf Trac is something I can’t wait to use. Originally, using it was all my motivation. Now, I’m remembering how fun it is to work on personal stuff, and that boosts my motivation to finish it even more—it’s a win-win. I have to say, though, I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much without Ruby/Rails. I’m still figuring out more and more, which is awesome. It’s that amazed, “Ah ha!” moment that constantly adds to the experience (for me, anyway).

Personal projects in general are fun to work on (especially when it’s not rpheath.com again). Nobody can tell me what to do or when to do it. If I want to spend a week on nothing but adjusting pixels, I can. There’s no worrying about this decision or that decision, I only have to please myself. And, believe it or not, sometimes I’m not in the mood to program. It’s nice to be able to set it aside for when I am in the mood.

I think Google employees get 20% of their work-week to work on personal projects. That’s what I need… one day per week to work on my own stuff, and get paid for it. Of course, a full week would be much better (lucky bums)¹.

¹ Yes, I realize it took hard work to get there. And they’re not really bums.

Amie mentioned a statistic to me yesterday. It came from a nonprofit institution in New York that compiles an “injustice index” each year. Here is one of the injustice’s reported (for 2006):

The average CEO earns more before lunchtime than a full-time minimum-wage worker makes in 1 year. The ratio of the average U.S. CEO’s annual pay to a minimum-wage worker’s is 821:1—the highest ratio ever.

That just blew me away. I know CEO’s are important and all, but for that to be the average is just not right. I wonder how the money-makers in entertainment/sports compare to a minimum-wage worker? I’m sure it would make me sick, as well.

What I’m quickly realizing about life is, no matter what you do right, it’s increasingly difficult to get ahead. Everyone goes through it, but I guess I’m (more or less) just starting out.

Marrying Amie was the best thing in my life. But a big part of being married, that I hadn’t considered before, is insurance. Yes, insurance. It drives me insane. Right now, our insurance expenses cover: life, car(s), ring(s), and since we’re still renting, we have renter’s insurance. On top of that, a recent quote for health insurance—just to add Amie (she’s still a full-time student)—came in at just under $500/month! “But it’s pre-taxed.” Oh OK, that makes everything just fine. And another thing about insurance, anytime you actually use it, the provider raises the cost. It’s absolutely absurd how much insurance costs, but at the same time, you’ve got to have it.

I honestly feel like I’ve done just about everything right so far in life, and I still get smacked in the face with a few things. I’m learning first hand why it’s so very important to invest, invest, invest while you’re young. We don’t have kids or a dog, and it feels like it takes nearly everything we have just to make it. I’m so excited to get a house, but it’s no fun to realize the budget we thought we had is about 25% less.

A friend of a friend told me about a guy who got a raise that pushed him into the next tax bracket. After his raise, he ended up making less than he was before the raise. And all you can say is… that’s life!

Since the end of January, I’ve designed between 7-10 sites from scratch, and I’m currently working on another one. It’s beginning to wear me out. I don’t mind working that much, but it’s the depressing realization that I’m all out of ideas that’s breaking me down. It’s hard to be creative and do something fresh and new over and over and over again. I think I’ve hit a wall, and I have a deadline coming up around mid-August for another new design.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m moving too fast; sometimes I wonder if I like this stuff as much as I say I do; and sometimes I wonder if I just need a break from it all. It can be frustrating… very, very frustrating. But in the end, bad days come and go. I’ll move on, and probably be happy with the design. For now, though, I feel like complaining.

It’s six months into 2007, and I’m sort of slacking on what I had proposed for the new year. So far, I’ve definitely read more books than I normally would; I’m using a calendar consistently (but not quite daily); I’m a lot more frugal than I’ve ever been before; and I’ve already taken 16 GB worth of pictures since purchasing the new camera. Areas I’m slacking: working out and learning a new programming language.

I’m annoyed with my level of effort toward going to they gym. I’m annoyed because I know I’d be happy and feel better after 6 months. It’s pretty much guaranteed, so why don’t I go? The absolute best time to go is in the morning before work, but that’s really hard to do without someone else going. I’m up too late at night, and like a child, refuse to go to bed earlier. Sleeping 8 hours a day means when I’m 60 years old, I’ll have slept 20 years of my life—that’s too depressing for me.

Concerning a new programming language, I’ve come as far as choosing one: Python. I’ve looked into it and read a little, but never attempted to write anything. I still love Ruby/Rails, so my motivation for something new is non-existent. Right off the bat, I don’t think I would like the open-ended blocks/methods in Python. Interpreting code based on spacing and indentation isn’t a bad thought, but I’m not sure it’s for me. I’m strict about that, but I enjoy the closure of explicitly ending a block or method. Anyway, I have a side project I started a few months ago (in Rails), but haven’t had time to work on it much. I don’t think I’ll be able to learn a new language until that’s wrapped up—hopefully it will be before 2008, though.

Some of my favorite photographs come from long exposure shots. Typically, there are two general situations in which long exposures deem appropriate: night shots and moving water. Of course, there are plenty of other reasons to use a long exposure, but as an beginner, these are the two situations that are blatantly apparent to me. Having no easy access to rushing water, I usually try my luck with night shots.

Traffic at night is fun to shoot. But I hate doing it around Morgantown because of the obnoxious (students?) kids roaming around all night. Yesterday, I was in the mood to go take some pictures and play around with what I had (hopefully) learned about long exposures. Without considering the interstates, I thought three main places to be appropriate: Beechurst¹, Pateson, and High Street. In the summer, Beechurst at 10:00 pm is somewhat bland, and I had been to Pateson a few nights before. That left High Street. Even without too much traffic, the street/traffic lights would be enough to get a reasonable shot (they tend to glow like stars at 15 seconds and up).

I was on High Street for about 15 minutes before deciding to leave. I took about 10 pictures or so. With nearly every picture, I had to listen to ridiculous comments being shouted out of passing cars and “townies” out roaming the streets. Of course, none of it made any sense. Examples include: “Are you shooting a porno?”, “YEAHHHHH, TAKE MY PICTURE!”, “Whooooooooooooooooooooooo”, and so on. Probably the most uncomfortable, though, was when these three guys were walking by. One of them said “Dude, he’s taking a picture—[to me:] Are you taking a picture of the East Coast?” Then his strung out friend, standing about a foot from me, starts going nuts “[looking at me:] F*** yeah this is the East Coast. F*** you, F*** you, and F*** you [pointing at his two friends and myself]. This is the F***ing East Coast B****!” Since Amie was with me, we left. The last thing I want is to get into an altercation with a strung out heroin addict because I was taking a picture of High Street, especially with Amie with me. I guess deep down stuff like this weighs on my mind. It makes me choose to leave rather than deal with it. I’m just tired of the fact that I have to make the choice.

¹ I say Beechurst mainly because of the walking bridge above the road by the PRT station. There’s also potential going up the hill toward Evansdale, but I’ve yet to try it.

The $250+ savings sucked me in. I needed a new battery for my existing phone, which was about six years old. Since I was a long-time Sprint customer, I had $175 off a new phone, plus any rebate offered by the phone itself. When compared to the cost of a new battery, a new phone was potentially cheaper. So I chose the new phone and got the Motorola Razr V3M. My reasoning for this phone was mainly because of how thin it was. I don’t care about camera/video, I don’t care about music on my phone, and I don’t care about text-messaging (although, anymore, I think I’d like that more than talking). The reviews came back positive, so that’s what I got.

In this day and age, we all want things to happen now. It’s more of an expectation than a convenience, and it goes down to the milliseconds. Which leads me to the main issue I have with my phone: it’s too slow. I open it up, it hesitates to show me a screen. I hit “contacts”, I have to wait a second before my contacts show up. Speed dial takes about 2 seconds longer than my last phone, which is what I use the most. It’s hard to make an argument that waiting an extra second (or less) for something is irritating, but it is. A few other annoyances include:

• The camera button is placed precisely where the thumb needs to be when flipping the phone open. What’s that mean? I usually turn on the camera (which takes about 4 seconds) just so I can turn it back off (another 2 seconds) before making a call.
• If I miss a call, it will display “dismiss” or “dial” until I answer one or the other. I can just hit “end” to clear it, but it shows back up the next time I open the phone. This issue compares to the cancel or allow Mac commercial—it’s just annoying.
• The ring tones suck, and I’m not the type to download new ones. I just keep it on vibrate all the time.
• There are only two options for including vibration: “high and vibrate” or “vibrate only”. This may be too picky, but ideally, “low and vibrate” would be my choice when I’m not at work.

So there you have it. And just so you know, I’m probably the last person to review a cell phone, because I’m biased toward not having one at all. I just know I’d probably get something else if I could do it over.

I played basketball daily for years and years. Before making a pass, I would instinctively blur the entire scene. I’ve always thought it was a little odd, but ironically, it helped me to see the court better. I’ve since come to find out that this tactic is a desired approach when a simpler view is sought, and applies to much more than basketball.

At the end of the second law in The Laws of Simplicity, there was mention of something that stood out to me: a “blurred approach” to design.

Groups are good; too many groups are bad because they counteract the goal of grouping in the first place. Blurred groupings are powerful because they can appear even more simple, but at the cost of becoming more abstract, less concrete.

Working within the details can isolate decisions. Sometimes a decision is best made from a different perspective—a broad or abstract (even blurred) perspective. It’s often good to take a step back and determine if what you see as a whole feels right.

The best designers in the world all squint when they look at something. They squint to see the forest from the trees—to find the right balance. Squint at the world. You will see more, by seeing less.

I was seeing the forest from the trees; that’s why I would blur the basketball court. And that’s why I often get a better view of a design from standing at the doorway of my room. Sometimes, it’s the simple view that helps the most. “It [simplicity] feeds the mind’s natural hunger to solve puzzles and to find the right gestalt.”—John Maeda

I started a post on this a couple of days ago, but haven’t had a chance to finish it. After reading Chris’ Deployment woes on the slate blog, I figured I’d go ahead and post a few of my thoughts on deployment.

I’ve spent the last couple of years working in web development and I’ve loved (nearly) every bit of it. But there is a part of this field that I don’t like very much: moving an application into production. Typically, I end up in one of these three scenarios:

1. successful deployment on the first attempt—in fantasy land, maybe
2. unsuccessful deployment and knowing what the problem is—this is usually where I end up, where I’ve forgotten to do something, or incompatible versions exist, or whatever
3. unsuccessful deployment and not knowing what the problem is—this is what I fear and despise, and is the very reason for my pessimistic outlook on deployment

In the first case, life isn’t too bad. Still, whether it’s 10 seconds or 10 minutes, it’s always stressful waiting to see if the application is still alive after deployment. What a relief when everything goes smoothly.

In the second case, it’s somewhat comforting to have an immediate idea as to what the problem might be; but at that point I’m working in light speed trying to fix whatever is wrong. Annoyingly, I always make quick decisions which usually have consequences. But nonetheless, this case is just a matter of time until you crank through the things you’ve realized were wrong.

The third case is flat out sickening. I love problem solving, but that’s different. I get chills just thinking about number three. I’ve been in that situation more than I’d like, even with my own site. That type of troubleshooting is terrible. As soon as I resort to Google, I’m in a state of desperation. And of course, a lot of what works for other people never seems to work for me.

The other day I had about 2 hours worth of troubleshooting a live application after deploying (it could have been worse, I guess). Looking back, I don’t know why it took me that long to fix. Maybe it relates to how disoriented and frantic I get when trying to fix something in production. Unfortunately for me, I’ve yet to come up with a consistently smooth method of deployment. Capistrano looks ideal, but when I tried it the second time a few months ago, I couldn’t get everything working properly, so quit on it. The bottom line: deployment is by far the worst part of web development.

By nature I think most of us find really smart people to be fascinating. Of course Albert Einstein is among the list, but I’m not a physics major, so it’s hard to relate (even though it’d be hard to relate if I were a physics major). Those who probably intrigue me the most are the one’s who do what I attempt to do. Such as programming.

At a recent Ruby conference, a presenter had an abrupt situation that resulted in the presentation belonging to no one. With less than an hour to prepare, two members of the Rails core team (Marcel Molina, Jr. and Jamis Buck) were asked to do a live code review of an application they had never seen before. Whether or not the application code was hard to follow, it was entertaining to watch/listen to two very knowledgeable people, who’ve done so much for Rails, talk about things I can relate to. Maybe I’m alone on this one, but I think watching really smart people discuss what they know best is captivating and inspirational.

I read a post from Ryan Carson where he mentioned a tip from 37signals on how to use campfire to manage people and what they’re up to. When someone arrives at work, he/she types “[IN] this is what i plan to get done today” and right before he/she leaves, “[OUT] this is what i got done today”. It forces you to think about your daily activity before getting started and look back to what you actually accomplished when you’re done. Weekly review meetings might then become easier, since you could use the campfire archives to see planned vs. completed tasks for each day of the week.

It seems like a good solution to the problem of managing what’s getting done, but of course, it wouldn’t work for everyone. Some people prefer to not have to report or check-in at all, but the reality is there needs to be some sort of accountability for progress. I think it’s interesting (and clever) to use a chat room to manage employees and tasking. It’s unobtrusive, too.

Personally, I couldn’t come up with an ideal fix for task management. There are too many variables, and someone will always be somewhat disappointed in the solution. I’ve tried several different methods, and they all have their ups and downs. The one thing I do know is I don’t really like meetings.

...I’ll be a married man. I’m not going to lie, I’m nervous. I’m not at all nervous to be married to Amie—I’m looking forward to that part. I’m nervous for the actual ceremony. The feeling is comparable to giving a presentation to a bunch of important people. I’m sure things will go smoothly, but I can’t help but think I’m going to mess something up (forget what to do, stutter, etc.) I hear that’s normal, though.

People also tell me the day will go by so fast, it’s not worth worrying about. Hopefully when it’s over I’m thinking “I had no reason to be nervous,” instead of, “I knew I was going to mess something up.” We’ll see—wish me luck!

Also, I’ve been somewhat dormant online for a while. There’s been a lot going on lately, on top of the wedding. Things are finally coming to a close, and I’ll be back to normal again. I don’t care so much if I don’t post a lot, but for whatever reason, I enjoy taking a break from things and writing a bit. I hope to get the motivation to do that more when I return from the honeymoon on May 21st.

And when I do return, I’ll be a husband. That’s crazy.

I have about 3-4 post-it notes stuck to my desk at home. They irritate me. I think that’s why I typically never use them. But at the same time, that’s probably why a lot of people find them useful. They’re irritating enough to do whatever it says to do so it can be thrown away.

I’m reasonably good at balancing my tasking, but sometimes there are things that I slip up on. I’ve yet to find a solid way to keep track of reminders and to-do’s. We use Basecamp at work, but sometimes stopping to go find the to-do list for a specific project doesn’t feel like the most efficient thing. So I often resort back to my notebook, but once the page gets turned I’ll rarely go back. I started putting my reminders on Google calendar, but that doesn’t really work for to-do items (i.e. programming tasks).

I’d really like to come up with a better way to keep track of this stuff. I would claim electronic means to be the best way, but having to open a browser or some other application just for a to-do doesn’t seem reasonable for me. If nothing else, I’ve eliminated the post-it note from my list of possibilities. But given my issues, it seems to be a solid solution, unfortunately.

Back in January, I posted about my plans for the new year. Number five on the list was to learn a new programming language. I thought it would be good for me to grasp how other languages handle the things I’ve come to learn in Ruby/Rails. I still agree with that, but I’m having a terribly difficult time prying myself away from Ruby. I’m so infatuated with it. For Christmas, I got a Python book. I’ve yet to read one single page, but since January, I’ve somehow managed to read three more Ruby/Rails books.

I know I’ve mentioned this numerous times, but Ruby is my first real attempt at a lot of things (OOP, Extraction, DRY code, MVC, etc). I did a little VB.NET and C#, but never had the desire to go home and read books about those technologies. So, being part of projects that involved those languages, mixed with the design aspects that I was more-so responsible for, I didn’t get too much out of it. I do remember having to explicitly write out the “getters” and “setters” for each attribute in .NET (which is ridiculous when compared to attr_accessor). And I can’t even begin to tell you how sloppy my PHP code was, as that was my first attempt at something on my own. I just made it work, so I don’t really know what PHP is capable of. I do know I’m not crazy about the syntax (I knew that back then, though).

I keep coming back to the thought of learning a new language. And now I’m considering Erlang (examples: 1 and 2). I read something on it (or watched a video) over a year ago. But when my time is limited, I’d rather reinforce and learn a language I know I love, rather than start over with something new. What’s your take on being a well-rounded programmer? Can that help you learn the language(s) you know you love? If so, is it worth it?

I haven’t had much time to post anything for the last few days, but it seems like I’m not the only one. All of the sites I normally read have been laying low lately, and my other feeds have slowed down a good bit, too. Honestly, I don’t really feel like writing anything. I have a few things that I could post about (and normally would), but I’m just not in the mood. And that could just be my reaction to the lack of posting that has been shading the internet lately. Maybe everyone else simply isn’t in the mood to post, either. Or maybe the internet is finally dying. Or maybe, like I said, I’ve just been too busy. Oh well—I suppose I’ll snap out of it in a day or two.

Or, in other words, customer service via mandatory services. I’ve been struggling with Direct Loans in order to get a recent payment to apply to a specific loan (which I was told I could do, by Direct Loans). I won’t go into the details, but basically an unsubsidized loan found its way into my balance (they accrue interest from the moment you get them, rather than starting 6 months after graduation). I decline every single one, but nonetheless, I have one. So I made a payment to get rid of it, as well as the interest it had gained. That payment was made on January 23, 2007. Guess what? I still have that unsub loan balance, along with more interest. Anyway, it’s been 5 phone calls and 6 emails later, and it’s still there.

Somewhere along the “submit a payment to a specific loan” path, there is a flaw. And while they act like they care, they don’t. Because they know I don’t have a choice in the matter; it’s officially out of my hands. All I can do is keep emailing and calling, only to hear “we will re-submit the request” each and every time. It’s no different than any other service that ultimately leaves you with no choice but to suck it up. Take the Post Office, for instance. They can be as rude as they want to be, but you still have to stand in the line extending 100 feet because they are the only one’s who can mail your package. Sure, you could leave, but where does that get you? Irritated with a package that didn’t get sent.

These attitudes and inefficiencies may not always be intentional, but there’s definitely no effort (or incentive, really) to fix them. Either way, I still have to pay my loans back plus interest, and I’m sure I’ll be standing in that Post Office line again. Oh well, I suppose—there will forever and always be annoyances with customer service.

I stumbled across a video tonight before going to bed, and although it’s 6:06 minutes long and 1:30 AM, I couldn’t stop watching it. It’s interesting, but disturbing at the same time—check it out if you get a minute:

• Did You Know?

Numerous times today, I’ve heard things like “I sure do miss that hour of sleep.” I don’t really get that. To me, it’s only a problem the day the clocks are changed. I should start replying by saying, “Yeah, but doesn’t that mean you really went to bed at 10:00 PM instead of 11:00 PM?” Then maybe I would realize their logic. Daylight savings doesn’t only apply in the mornings. Personally, I feel just as tired if I get up at 7:00 AM or 6:00 AM. For me, it’s fighting the snooze and taking that first step regardless of what the clock says.

I didn’t go to work today. I woke up with full intention to go, but the traffic out front was backed up and I assumed it was because of the weather. I walked outside and took a few pictures to capture the mess; it’s much easier to just show those than try to explain how bad it really was. I made a set on Flickr:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpheath/sets/72157594575260450/

I’m not too fond of snow (because I have to commute in it), but solid ice on a really steep hill is much, much worse.

I mentioned my desire for a new camera. Well, that desire hasn’t left me yet, so I’ve still been doing my research to find which one would make the most sense. For a number of reasons, I’m nearly 100% for the Nikon D80. Making it through the last few weeks of all of the technical and ergonomic research, I’m now starting to look at the available bargains on this jewel. I’m interested in the kit with the 18-135mm lens. Here are a couple of my options:

1. Ritz Camera ($1,300)—I’m very comfortable with buying this camera from Ritz. Mainly because of warranty perks and I would know what I was buying. Definitely my first choice, aside from the cost. Plus I get the camera the same day.
2. Best Buy ($1,300)—Really no benefit over Ritz, just another option.
3. Butterfly Photo ($1,169)—It does get good reviews, and it’s a reasonably good price (the extra money would let me get a nice carrying case and a 2 GB larger compact flash card. But it’s a place I know nothing about, and only exists online. And I’d have to trust that it would ship in one piece.
4. eBay ($1,129)—I feel fairly confident putting a little trust in the eBay feedback system, but a $1,000+ purchase on eBay sort of freaks me out. Plus Amie once got ripped off from a seller who had great feedback, until she bought the item. Then the terrible (real) feedback was listed, along with the “this person is no longer a member” statement. Scary.
5. Express Cameras ($749)—I’m really starting to like this price. However, it’s almost too good to be true. I don’t really trust this site, and I really don’t want to wait forever to receive it. Plus, it would be painful to go through the returning process with a crappy (non-credible) company.
6. Shop Cart USA ($574)—How could this be right? There’s no way I could trust this, and I’ll stop here. But I’ve found them as low as $350 for the whole kit, which is far too risky for me.

So my dilemma is this: do I fork up the $1,300 (plus tax) and go with the comfort of knowing I’m buying a quality, brand new camera? Or do I use my knowledge of online purchasing and try for one of the sites that would save me $200 (or more)? I wouldn’t want to wait on a delivery, but I could. I don’t like the thought of it being shipped, but it’s shipped to Ritz, too. I love the thought of a face-to-face purchase on this one, but I don’t like the extra $200 or more. What would you do?

Have you ever had one of those days where everything you tried to do didn’t work? Or went wrong? Yesterday was that day for me. I had what was probably one of the worst days I’ve had yet this year. I woke up with a headache. I get to work and started the morning off with a 3 hour troubleshooting task that should have taken about 15-20 minutes, moving on to realize I didn’t do my homework that was due by 5:00 that evening, I then found out I left my allergy pill bottle at home so I couldn’t call in a new prescription, and ended the day with a broken, torn apart application that I couldn’t commit. I would have stayed until I fixed it, but the person I carpool with had to leave by 4:30, so I had no choice but to leave that mess for the next morning (I hate leaving something open-ended like that). What a day.

But today I woke up with a clear head, which aided me in getting about 2 days worth of work done by noon (including 5 solid commits), and my teacher let me turn in my assignment a day late. Everything seems to be going smooth again, which is how I like it.

Inspiration comes at you from all directions. Everyone (hopefully) finds inspiration in his or her own way. Often, for web design, you’ll hear some designers claim that they never use the web itself to find inspiration, while others say that’s the only true way to keep new designs fresh. It’s debatable because it’s an opinion—a feeling. And what matters most: using that inner feeling to drive you to put your efforts into something meaningful.

Just tonight, I came across a site called Investing Talents. It appears that they put out a quarterly magazine developed by creative Christians, covering all sorts of topics relating to creativity: design, writing, poetry, etc. Their mission seems to be a good one, in that they promote you to use your gift toward a common good in support of an overall purpose—to bring glory to God.

This is the purpose for Investing Talents: to encourage the investment of our talents so that we may never lose our ability to bring glory to God through their use.

The magazine sort of caught me off guard. I found myself inspired, but not just to come up with a new design; but to design for a purpose other than my own satisfaction—something bigger, something with meaning.

When a muscle is not used, it weakens. Our creativity is a muscle, also a gift, which if not used and exercised for good, can weaken and possibly disappear. In the same way, someone who makes good use of his talent can reap the rewards of his investment for many years as it grows and strengthens. It is this pulling back and reaping that is the picture of God taking and giving. God “takes” “talents” from the unwise investors and “gives” those “talents” to the ones who have been wise with their investment.

So far, I’ve found a lot of inspiring statements and remarks. It’s a different kind of inspiration than what I’m usually seeking, but undoubtedly in a good way. I enjoyed the read and I’m looking forward to the second issue.

Investing Talents is courtesy of Godly Creative People (I love their search box).

Being a programmer, I’m exposed to a lot of things that make my life easier. At least, things that can make my life easier. It seems like the programming world has a never-ending goal to seize the pains of managing and maintaining code. Version control, object-orientation, frameworks, abstraction/extraction, etc, all have the common goal to make life easier and more efficient for programmers. This effort shouldn’t stop with programmers.

I don’t know how many people own multiple computers, versus how many try to sync multiple computers. But there’s a big difference. Just because you have multiple computers, doesn’t mean you try and sync them. I’m definitely a sync-er. I like to have everything the same, on all computers I use (even work). The only environment shift I want to experience is relative to hardware (bigger monitor, faster processor, etc.) So many times I’ve wanted to check random things into a version repository, just so I’d have access to the most recent copy across all three computers. For instance, a configuration file for the Rails editor I’m currently using. I don’t want my editor to be different at all. And depending on my ability to fine-tune it exactly the same on each computer (and having to change all three if I change one) doesn’t seem to fit with me. I could always email it to myself, then save it over the original, but you know how that is. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your entire hard drive under version control? So if I randomly delete/add folders and/or files, restructure my folder tree, or whatever, it’s no problem; I’d just run “hd update” on my other hard drive(s) to reflect all of the changes. There are certain pieces to this puzzle (such as Google Browser Sync), but I’m not buying the online file storage to have multiple access points for my files. I still want them to be on my local computer, I just want an easier way to update them. And tagging content on the web helps to define and categorize that content, why can’t I have the ability to tag my files among my computer(s)? Would that not make sense for the very same reasons? Maybe I’m being too irrational, but it seems like there are a lot of options that simply aren’t considered in places where it almost makes the most sense. And yes, I’d complain about something else if that were ever to become a reality.

A few months back, my boss signed us up for the RailsEdge Conference in Reston, VA. Well, it’s here. We’re leaving this evening after work, and it extends out to Saturday at 3:00 PM. While some people don’t really like conferences, I think I’m looking forward to it. However, I do agree with Chris when he mentions meeting people. I’m not interested in the “networking” that a lot of people enjoy, either. I’m just there because I’m fascinated with web programming and love to learn new things. And based on the session titles, I’m assuming the conference won’t be too fundamental, and I should come out of it with a few good tips and tricks. If nothing else, I’ll learn best practices and how to improve upon some of the things I’m already doing. We get a binder with all of the source code, presentations, handouts, etc. when we get there, so that’s cool. And of course we should, considering the cost.

The part I’m not looking forward to is leaving Amie here with nothing but her thesis to distract her. I know she has a lot to do and will stay extremely busy, but there’s something about not being in our “office” (basically a room with two desks and a love seat—plus a tv and mini-refrigerator) 10 feet away from her for 4 days that I don’t like. I’m sure it will pass by quickly, though. In the meantime, I’ll have to figure out how to make it all that time without her cooking! It’s going to be tough.

I hate to be one of the 50 million people who’ve mentioned the iPhone within the last 36 hours, but I’m going to anyway. Clearly, Apple has done something amazing for the mobile space. You can feel the innovation just by looking at this thing. Watching the video series on the iPhone site is impressive. But I’m really referring to this post by Jason Fried, it just happens to involve the iPhone.

Across the web, 37signals is known for innovative thinking, and it shows not only by their products, but their everyday blog posts. With the iPhone, a lot of people (including myself) got blown away by “its ability to do this and that,” (and that’s not to mention its visual appeal), and forgot about what truly matters: usability. Sure, it’s cool, but is it practical? Probably so, but while the rest of the world is wooing over this new toy, Jason Fried doesn’t lose focus. He goes straight at the core by mentioning an interface that requires you to stare at. He’s not necessarily claiming that as a flaw, but an interesting observation. But the fact that he’s looking past the bells and whistles, focusing on the usability of the iPhone (even though it’s Apple, and we’re supposed to just accept what they give us as perfect) says something about the way he thinks. He doesn’t let Apple’s reputation influence his thoughts.

Innovative thinking requires you to not be easily impressed, look past aesthetics, and find the true reasons for a product to exist; what problem(s) does it solve? Then again, if the design is talented enough to carry itself, and out-weigh usability issues, you may be in an entirely different category. And probably the same category Apple is in.

It’s hard to believe it’s 2007. My sister is exceeding in her second year of college, and that in itself is crazy. Overall, it was a good year. I graduated from WVU and started graduate school in something I enjoy: software engineering. I also started working full-time as a software engineer with IRC, thankfully giving up my old job at Coca-Cola (which consisted of 10-14 hour days on weekends and holidays only). But I’ll have to admit, the most gratifying news of the year was my engagement to Amie. Like I said, it was a good year. While I’m not really the type to set a new years resolution, this year there are a few things I’d like to change and/or do.

1. Read more books. I got a few for Christmas, so we’ll see how it goes.
2. Use a calendar on a daily basis. I’ve come to learn that my life is getting a little busier than I’ll admit, and a calendar would help me out tremendously. I like Google’s calendar, but it’s the only one I’ve used. Any other recommendations?
3. Keep a consistent workout schedule (yes, with cardio).
4. Increase my frugal ways and live on a reasonable budget. I’d like to learn more about investing, too, and do the most with my money at a young age. As expensive as life seems to be, I have a feeling I’ll need it.
5. Learn a new programming language. This will be extremely tough, as there’s little motivation to do it. I just think it would be good for me if I’m honestly going to pursue this field.
6. Take more pictures.

I guess that about sums it up. I’m sure there are other things I’d like to accomplish this year, but honestly, I’ll be lucky to get through 20% of what I’ve just listed. But that’s the idea behind resolution’s, right? Spend some time the last week of December and the first week of January deciding how you want to be introduced to the new year, and once you’re acquainted, you can give up. Well, that’s how I do it, anyway.

While I’m not that good at it, I’ve come to love writing. Over the last year or so, I think I’ve learned a lot from writing. The fact that I publish some of the things I write, helps me to evaluate and think a little more about what I’m saying. Not only for contextual purposes, but also for presentation. And I think that’s a good thing. Writing helps to refine the way I think. And maybe more.

Each time we write our voice becomes clearer, more focused, and stronger, until our writing is inseparable from our voice. Everything we write is written about us. —Liz Strauss

I think that’s a good quote. This article explains a lot of the things I think I feel related to writing. It lists ten reasons to write and publish those writings on a daily basis. I think it’s interesting, and for me, somewhat captures why I post. And just because it seems to fit here, I think Seth Godin is one of the best and most inspiring writers I’ve come across.

I very rarely participate in these type of things, but there’s really no reason not to. I’ve been tagged by Lee Kraus, so here are five things you probably don’t know about me:

1. I hate all instant messenger applications, with the exception of Google Talk. If I had it my way, it’s the only one I would use. But other requirements (i.e., work) don’t allow me to do so. Instead, every morning I startup 3 IM services (one of them being MSN Messenger—puke). Google Talk is smart, simple, and unobtrusive.
2. I’ve never been on a plane. That’s not to say I haven’t traveled, I’ve just never been on a plane. I’m willing, but believe it or not, the opportunity never really presented itself.
3. I’ve been hit in the face with a baseball more than five times. And not because I’m uncoordinated. I’ve played so much baseball in my life, those things just happen. For the record, a baseball isn’t as easy to see when the sun goes down.
4. I don’t like talking on the phone. In fact, I despise it. I think I’m too impatient or something. I get irritated quickly. For example, if I’m on my cell phone and I lose signal, I’m done. I close my phone and put it my pocket. Phones are just annoying to me. Maybe that spawns from my anti-social side.
5. I’m engaged to a wonderful girl named Amie, and our wedding is planned for May 12th, 2007. And she’s my best friend.

So there you have it. I think I’m supposed to tag 5 other people, but I probably won’t. I don’t know who it would be, anyway. Oh, and I still hate the word meme.

Just recently a friend of mine got a new phone. He first mentioned the ignorance of (some) salesmen and how unfriendly they can be. I agreed. Everyone enjoys a salesman who knows what he’s (or she’s) talking about, and can answer the questions you ask. But even more so, being nice can cover up what they don’t know.

Radio Shack is commonly known (around here, anyway) to have poor quality of service and employees who don’t really know what they’re saying (at least that’s been my experience). You know, the kind who answer your questions by reading the little description card back to you. Yeah, the one you just read. The one that didn’t have the answer to your question, giving you reason to ask. Well, this Radio Shack was in Florida, and he said the sales rep knew exactly how to sell something. Not so much how to sell the phone, because he was already partial to a certain one, but how to get him to buy from her. All she did was her job. She knew all about the options among all of the phones, had quick, accurate answers to all of his questions, and surprisingly, she was friendly. Needless to say, he bought the phone there and is now converted back to a “willing to buy from Radio Shack” customer. And that’s just one person. Just think if every Radio Shack employee took up this kind of attitude.

Kindness can go a long way. I get immediately annoyed with a rude salesman who doesn’t have a clue. And it’s not just with salesmen. Even at restaurants—a rude waiter (or waitress) doesn’t benefit me at all, except by saving me money on the tip, of course. My favorites are the one’s who act like you’re bothering them, when it’s their job to help. It’s really not that hard to be nice.

Unless, of course, it’s executed. I just finished re-reading Getting Real (yeah, it’s that good), and I forgot about this. It’s an interesting point:

Awful idea = -1
Weak idea = 1
So-so idea = 5
Good idea = 10
Great idea = 15
Brilliant idea = 20

No execution = $1
Weak execution = $1000
So-so execution = $10,000
Good execution = $100,000
Great execution = $1,000,000
Brilliant execution = $10,000,000

Multiplying the two gives you your pillar of success. I suppose that’s why a lot of good ideas get flushed down the toilet: no execution. I recently read that MySpace is now worth $6 Billion. Would you consider that to be brilliant idea/execution? While the majority of pages on MySpace are ugly and unruly, I guess the execution lies within the freedom given to each member to make those pages ugly and unruly. Personally I think it’s the most obnoxious place on the internet, but apparently it’s working.

There are two kinds people in the world: those who use RSS and those who don’t. I know, there are those in between who know what it is but simply don’t care. Or what about those who have 5 feeds versus those who have 1,000 feeds. However, I’m going to stick with the binary-esque approach, and claim that you either do or don’t. But that’s not the point. The point is sometimes I get labeled as a “nerd” or “geek” simply because I’m an advocate for RSS. When, really, all it means is I choose convenience over inconvenience. Sure, it’s a relatively new technology, but so what? Technology is what drives the world, and it’s only going to keep advancing. The way I see it, staying on top of that is an extreme advantage. Plus, it’s not only the highly technical, very nerdy (and geeky) web companies who have RSS feeds. Look at USA Today for instance. Surprisingly, they even support mobile RSS! Like it or not, over time, RSS will eventually play a role in the everyday life of the average person. Not everyone liked email when it first showed its face, and now I don’t think I could find a person who doesn’t have one.

[Scenario: At my high school reunion] “Yeah, I’m subscribed to 75 RSS feeds, and I read them through my aggregator everyday.” I believe it’s safe to say I’d be within the minority.

But what if I found a way to convert my RSS feeds into a bi-weekly book? A real, physical book. With a cover and all. And every three days or so, I had a new book to read. If I waited three days before reading what I read via RSS, I’m sure I’d have at least 200-300 pages of content. Now, if I were to tell the same people that I read a new 300 page book every three days, things would be different. All of a sudden I’d become “really smart” because I read 2-3 books per week. I guess people tend to criticize what they don’t understand. I don’t have any regrets about turning out as nerdy (or geeky) as I’ve turned out; in fact, I actually like it.

Today, I’m just not in the mood to program. Or do homework. Or think at all. Ever get like that?

Sadly, Amie got ripped off by a scheming eBay/Half.com member. Before the fact, the person had a very respectable feedback rating, as well as a respectable number of items for sale. This transaction seemed to be no different than any of the others I’ve dealt with. So, Amie bought the book for around $60-$70. Later, she found out the person was no longer a member, and the real feedback rating(s) all of a sudden appear. 100% of the feedback was negative—things like “This person is a THIEF!!!” or “Don’t EVER pay this person!” After a couple of weeks, we knew the book wasn’t coming, but since Media Mail gives like 20 days for delivery we had to wait until time was up. We tried to contact this person, but got nothing. So we filed a claim with eBay. I’m not sure if Amie had high hopes, but I was very pessimistic about the situation. I figured she had lost her money. We didn’t get a direct response from eBay, but no more than 2 weeks later they credited her account with the exact amount she had paid for the book. I was impressed. I deal with eBay/Half.com enough (sold 10-15 items, bought 40+) to say I’m really relieved to see they are taking care of their customers and responding to the claims in a reasonable manner. And for the record, the user was (is) sandy.juju3.