a dabbler's journal » Bureaucratic Whimsy

ExpressSOS

joel — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:10:07 +0000

Stand in line no more.

BAM’ll Fix It

joel — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:04:23 +0000

After years of missed targets, it's fair to say we've proven that a system which took decades to build cannot be easily replaced. I'm reasonably comfortable with that, but my opinion's not universally shared. Moreover, recognizing that the problem is difficult is very different from accepting an inadequate solution, which remains a real danger.

Bureaucratic Whimsy

joel — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:12:52 +0000

When I began this journal, my main purpose was to document the things I did for a living. I wrote these work-triggered essays so for about a year, then stopped. A few months later, as I moved the site to a new server, I removed most of the work-related pages, leaving only a handful of job-related pages which didn't directly touch on my job. I always planned to recover and repost the removed pages at some future date, and have now done so. They can be found in the site's Bureaucratic Whimsy category. A few have minor edits, and I've added an occasional explanatory note. Please be aware that all names (except mine) have been changed, though in most cases the identity will be obvious to folks who worked with me.

Computer Decide

joel — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:53:17 +0000

An unavoidable reality of DMV life is that the Legislature rewrites the Drunk Driving laws every two or three years. The Legislative package typically includes well-intended amendments to other driver licensing laws. The Legislators rarely give much thought to the new act's impacts on the driver's prior record, nor to their predecessors' attempts to improve traffic safety. This routinely gives rise to odd interactions which need to be implemented in the workflow--and written into the programming supporting that workflow. A side effect is that Computer Decide has grown quite complex. Mainframe programs supporting other departmental operations have similar issues, and have grown similarly complex.

Pensioned Off

joel — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:06:47 +0000

Many of us were planning to retire in the relatively near future, with or without incentives; inevitably we'd be exchanging experience for youth in the process. On the whole, this is a good thing. But this incentive distorts the hiring pattern, as well as the retirement plans, and the effects will be more obvious than they might otherwise have been.

LeMay by Warren Kozak: a review

joel — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:52:50 +0000

What the book does well is round out LeMay's biography. Like most Vietnam vets, my memories of the man begin with his time on the Joint Chiefs and end with the 1968 Wallace campaign. There's much more to this man than that, and the book is worth reading just for that.

One of These Days

joel — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:49:16 +0000

A day full of good-byes....

Glimpses of Grand Traverse Past by Richard Fidler: a review

joel — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:35:47 +0000

Fidler cautions us, unnecessarily, that he's not a historian by training and that the book is not serious history. But it's extremely well-researched, well-written, and interesting. In that sense, this is serious history. A wonderful read.

Government RSS

joel — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 14:18:44 +0000

This, as Phil says, should be routine.

Examining Dabbler

joel — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 16:23:00 +0000

Now cycle back to the top of the page and remind yourself that the essays about work are the reason for the website. I've quite certain that these readership levels don't justify the effort and the risk those essays entail. While I could address this in a number of ways, I've decided to reclaim the time and put it into another activity.