3 ms·

This is like a family of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants. The 1st generation (the managers sending down gibberish instructions) use language that most pe

This is like a family of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants. The 1st generation (the managers sending down gibberish instructions) use language that most people don't understand and refer to people, places and customs from the old country that have no meaning to anyone here. The 2nd generation (you) are responsible for keeping communication going in both directions, and making substitutions and translations in both directions, sometimes changing words and orders into something that makes sense even though it wasn't at all what was asked for.

losethos 15y ago
Sometimes, I say naming things is the most overlooked programming skill there is. Being well-read probably helps you to use standard names. (Probably makes you a copy-monkey, though. I just made that word up.) A bit of wisdom is... at some point an entirely fresh word is useful. The alternative is encumbered words that mislead and make things worse. I shamelessly groom names in LoseThos by renaming globally across files. I behave as though I have no users. I get pissed because I get no emails. I guess there was no reason for a new word. "Copycat" exists. However, they speak of "Aping" someone as copying. I wanted to capture some of that, possibly throwing-in planet of the apes. The standards NAZIs would prefer "copycat". "Surrender-monkey" is a good word. I'm a surrender monkey and you're a copy-monkey-planet-of-the-apes-unix-nazi-heathen. God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\WEALTH.TXT scarce any thing but some miserable pasture, just sufficient to keep alive a few straggling, half-starved cattle; the farm, though much overstocked in proportion to what would be necessary for its complete cultivation, being very frequently overstocked in proportion to its actual produce. A portion of this waste land, however, after having been pastured in this wretched manner for six or seven years together, may be ploughed up, when it will yield, perhaps, a poor crop or two of bad oats, or of som
Mz 15y ago
That's an excellent analogy but I don't agree that it should be on me to clarify instead of on the better paid, more powerful "first generation" folks to stay current and make their instructions legible and coherent and stay in touch with the processes of their people, especially since those new processes get handed down from on high. I assure you, we folks at the bottom aren't making them up for shits and giggles. Suffice it to say that if I could find a means to monetize my websites, I would be gone. And it's a good company to work for. It really is. I occasionally note that if this is an excellent workplace environment, god help the world if you put me in a bad one cuz I will go postal and show up with a machine gun one day. I have little patience for such things. I was a homemaker, full-time parent and homeschooling mom for years. I am used to an environment where I am in charge and I have the power to effectively implement my "unreasonable" (high) standards and expectations. "A reasonable man conforms to his environment. An unreasonable man expects his environment to conform to him. Therefore all hope lies with the unreasonable man." The Fortune 500 company I work for seems disinclined to bend to my will (what with me having an entry level job and zero authority). If I can cross the chasm between here and monetization, I will be happily on my own at some point. Take care and happy holidays.
- a_a_r_o_n 15y ago
  "I don't agree that it should be on me ..." Oh, not at all. It just reminded me of the many immigrant families I've known, especially how the middle generation acts as a bridge between old and new. "Take care and happy holidays." The same.
  - Mz 15y ago
    My mom is a first generation immigrant. I often let her assumptions and misunderstandings of my sons simply stand. My sons tend to get a lot more of those explanations out of me, though sometimes only months after the fact (long, machiavellian story there). A similar pattern is emerging at work. I do explain stuff at work when asked. But I guess my policy at work mirrors my policy at home: I explain it to people I trust and who ask nicely.

losethos 15y ago

Sometimes, I say naming things is the most overlooked programming skill there is. Being well-read probably helps you to use standard names. (Probably makes you a copy-monkey, though. I just made that word up.) A bit of wisdom is... at some point an entirely fresh word is useful. The alternative is encumbered words that mislead and make things worse. I shamelessly groom names in LoseThos by renaming globally across files. I behave as though I have no users. I get pissed because I get no emails. I guess there was no reason for a new word. "Copycat" exists. However, they speak of "Aping" someone as copying. I wanted to capture some of that, possibly throwing-in planet of the apes. The standards NAZIs would prefer "copycat". "Surrender-monkey" is a good word. I'm a surrender monkey and you're a copy-monkey-planet-of-the-apes-unix-nazi-heathen. God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\WEALTH.TXT scarce any thing but some miserable pasture, just sufficient to keep alive a few straggling, half-starved cattle; the farm, though much overstocked in proportion to what would be necessary for its complete cultivation, being very frequently overstocked in proportion to its actual produce. A portion of this waste land, however, after having been pastured in this wretched manner for six or seven years together, may be ploughed up, when it will yield, perhaps, a poor crop or two of bad oats, or of som

Mz 15y ago

That's an excellent analogy but I don't agree that it should be on me to clarify instead of on the better paid, more powerful "first generation" folks to stay current and make their instructions legible and coherent and stay in touch with the processes of their people, especially since those new processes get handed down from on high. I assure you, we folks at the bottom aren't making them up for shits and giggles. Suffice it to say that if I could find a means to monetize my websites, I would be gone. And it's a good company to work for. It really is. I occasionally note that if this is an excellent workplace environment, god help the world if you put me in a bad one cuz I will go postal and show up with a machine gun one day. I have little patience for such things. I was a homemaker, full-time parent and homeschooling mom for years. I am used to an environment where I am in charge and I have the power to effectively implement my "unreasonable" (high) standards and expectations. "A reasonable man conforms to his environment. An unreasonable man expects his environment to conform to him. Therefore all hope lies with the unreasonable man." The Fortune 500 company I work for seems disinclined to bend to my will (what with me having an entry level job and zero authority). If I can cross the chasm between here and monetization, I will be happily on my own at some point. Take care and happy holidays.

a_a_r_o_n 15y ago
"I don't agree that it should be on me ..." Oh, not at all. It just reminded me of the many immigrant families I've known, especially how the middle generation acts as a bridge between old and new. "Take care and happy holidays." The same.
- Mz 15y ago
  My mom is a first generation immigrant. I often let her assumptions and misunderstandings of my sons simply stand. My sons tend to get a lot more of those explanations out of me, though sometimes only months after the fact (long, machiavellian story there). A similar pattern is emerging at work. I do explain stuff at work when asked. But I guess my policy at work mirrors my policy at home: I explain it to people I trust and who ask nicely.