Something to Fall Back On?

I think I may have found a second calling if this software engineering stuff doesn't work out: writing recommendation letters for colleagues. Seems I am batting 2-for-2 in this endeavor over the last couple of months.

First, last October a colleague asked if I would write a Letter of Recommendation for her application to Graduate School. (She had decided to pursue a completely different career after 8 or 9 years in IBM.) I was flattered that she thought highly enough about me to ask and was glad to agree to her request.

After accepting the request, I did experience some discomfort when I read that among the attributes of a "Good Person to Ask to Write a Letter of Reccommendation" were that they:

• Be well known
• Be able to write a good letter

Yikes. So I went back to my colleague and told her that I would be willing to give it the old college try on the letter part, but I couldn't do much about that first qualification. (Who in the hell is Joe Nedimyer?)

Anyways, she recently learned that she was accepted to Grad School, gave her two weeks notice, and resigned from IBM a couple of weeks ago to pursue her new career.

Last summer, I mentored one of our College Interns for a couple of months. James was a blast to work with and bright as hell and did some really good work for my old team. (Our manager at that time, Dave, a Penn State grad and huge fan, would kid James (also from Penn State) about "watching out for Nedimyer since he went to Pitt").   Apparently, the Pitt-Penn State rivalry doesn't run as deep for these young kids as it did when Dave and I went to college.

He went back to Penn State last December to resume studies while continuing to work part-time for IBM. In February, I received a request from NASA for a letter of recommendation for James for their well-thought of summer coop program. On Friday, I was chatting with James and pleased to find out that he had been accepted into that program, where he will be working on genetic algorithms - cool stuff.

Up until I was about 24 or so, I used to think that my left-brain orientation would prohibit me from ever being a passable writer. Writing and composition were more art in my mind than anything else - those artsy Liberal Arts majors could have it and I didn't need it.  My thinking was such that at Pitt, I took "Calc 4 - Differential Equations" for kicks my senior year even though neither my Major (Computer Science) or Minor (Mathematics) required it. This was the safe choice for me - it was an easy 4 credits and I didn't have to sweat out some course with major writing requirements in it.

That thinking totally changed once I joined industry. It turns out that I learned quickly that writing is an important part of the professional engineer's job as all sorts of software development phases require the ability to communicate clearly with the written word. We develop all sorts of documents such as Requirements Specifications, Software Architecture Definitions, High and Low-Level Software Design Documents, and contribute to user manuals and guides. I took a really cool class, called Designing To Write, when I was working at IBM Rockville and learned that there are many parallels between designing software and writing and that any engineer, with some discipline, could be a passable writer.

Now before some anal-retentive blog reviewer pours through this site and finds some dangling participle or horrible use of tense in this blog, please understand that I am not implying that I write well - but for an engineer, I don't do too badly.

Sanctimony Part II

Random Thoughts from The Latest Big Ben Screwup....

1. I am sure I am on the contrarian side here - what's new! And I am always down for some cynicism, so here goes.
2. I think the guy is a stupid jerk but sorry if I don't jump in with the rest of the lynch mob. From the DA: “The crime of rape has three elements: sexual intercourse, which requires penetration, forcibly, and against her will. All three elements, I’ve got a problem proving all three of those”. The medical examiner isn't able to even discern that there was sexual intercourse. We have all parties involved drunk out of their minds including the sorority girls with their DTF shirts. We have a 500 page PDF file presenting one side of a he said/she said and the DA doesn't think he has a case. (I understand that the bar is pretty low to get an indictment from a Grand Jury?) But it really doesn't matter since Ben has already been convicted in the court of public opinion.
3. Enough about that - I am more entertained by Steeler's fans reactions.
4. Steelers Nation has always shared the "we are morally superior" attitude that some Penn State Football fans throw in your face. As a Steelers fan since 1972 when I conveniently shed the Minnesota Vikings after the Immaculate Reception, I have always found that highly annoying, but, geez, reviewing the various message boards and blogs (like Bob Smizik's excellent one at the Post Gazette) as well as talking to other Steeler's fans, this incident seems to have taken this ridiculousness to a new level. 
5. The Steelers have certainly cultivated and marketed this image - The Steelers Way. It is a convenient excuse for the team's fans when the team doesn't do well. I guess it provides some sort of comfort to fans be able to ridicule other franchise's success since they are doing it with thugs while (like Penn State) the Steelers do it the right way with only high character people.
6. These people have bought the whole Rooney pitch - hook, line, and sinker. If you actually buy this - that the Steelers (like Penn State) are somehow drafting from a different pool of character than the other franchises, then I suggest you google "Pittsburgh Steelers Arrests" or maybe do a little research into what team was at the forefront in leveraging PED and anabolic steroids in the 1970s. Or look at how the old man made his money in the first place. Or the strings Dan Rooney pulled for Ernie Holmes. Really it goes on and on.
7. The Steelers are successful because of:
1. Continuity in the Head Coaching Position.
2. Quality of Head Coaching
3. Talent Acquisition And Development
4. Salary Cap Management and an almost uncanny ability to avoid overpaying very productive players that have just started on the downside of their careers.
8. I would rank character down around item 87 as a reason for the Steeler's success.
9. I especially have no sympathy for those parents who somehow feel personally violated because they positioned  Big Ben as some sort of role model and now he has fallen short of their expectations. What will they tell little Johnny and Mary? I guess I am just amazed at any parent that, in the year 2010, still thinks that athletes are or (worse) should be role models. Jim Bouton's landmark Ball Four has been out for over 40 years and since then countless tell-all memoirs from various athletes have been published. What are these parents thinking? Why do they think there is some sort of correlation between wealth, fame, athletic ability, popularity, and character. My advice to these parents is to look in the mirror if you are looking for role models for your kids. 
10. Just like Penn State, the Steelers have their own system of Depth Chart Justice when it comes to discipline. Look no further than the Cedric Wilson and James Harrison cases for that. Maybe Mike Tomlin can take a cue from St Paterno and have the team cleanup Heinz Field after a game. 
11. The Santonio Holmes trade was ridiculous. A 5th rounder. Without even waiting to entertain draft-related offers in a couple of weeks. Wow. Should have let him play the 12 games this year after the suspension and then show him the door - has everyone forgotten that we still have the core of a team that won a Super Bowl 15 months ago?
12. Also, I guess Santonio just developed these character issues since joining the Steelers. Certainly nothing in his past at Ohio State should have given the Steelers pause from a character standpoint when they were originally evaluating his character. 
13. My guess is that the team didn't feel that they would be re-signing Holmes anyways, they saw the firestorm coming on Big Ben, and this was just too easy to pass up from a PR perspective. Batting practice fastball. Just smells like a panic move to me. 
14. The Steeler's Way, Paterno's Grand Experiment, and Success With Honor are marketing campaigns. At the end of the day, you are rooting for multi-million dollar football factories - don't make them out to be something that they aren't.