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Caterpillar’s plans for new investment remain low by historical standards. Instead, the company has started using cash to repurchase its own stock as a way to return cash to shareholders, something it hadn’t done since 2015.

This is what companies did pre 2009 too with the Bush/GOP tax cuts of that time.

Yes... "shareholders" get paid. But middle class and poor people are minority shareholders if at all.

And the pot holes on the roads are still not fixed.

No wonder Caterpillar doesn't plan on driving more trucks around. Even if people had projects, are the roads there good enough? I have literally seen a NYC city bus stuck with 1 wheel having fallen into a huge pot hole/road collapse. On a normal day.

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Dev Note: Active Admin - Rails

Faster refresh times in development

At times I think ActiveAdmin is OK, at times frustrating and we would have been better off dog-fooding our customer facing dashboard displays.... (probably still better to do that).

But while we have ActiveAdmin, we should hould have figured this out earlier...

But when building views… your dev server refresh time is 1000% faster if you're editing views under /app/views rather than directly in the /app/admin/*.rb files.

This should be noted more strongly in the ActiveAdmin docs

# app/admin/model.rb - editing this file? slow refresh show do render 'show' end # app/views/admin/models/_show.html.arb - editing this file? fast refresh

Thats it. And your app/admin/* files wont be thousands of lines long.

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Validating saves

So one of the reasons Rails is so great, is Activerecord for database management. And part of that is complex model validations that get checked before committing to the db.

This is usually great. Its great for all sorts of things.

But User data sent from frontend forms should always be saved no matter what.

I had an issue where validation on an internal field, was blocking user updates. And we weren't alerted.

We weren't alerted because the current model validations are a mix of user-data checks and system checks.

And very fairly, the code had expected 'save' to work, or else, report the models errors to the frontend so the user can correct the data in the form they are trying to submit.

Since the reported error was an internal system error, this was non-sense. Since it was a seemingly user-data-issue, it wasnt logged as a hard failure to show up in bug reporting.

As a few ideas for managing validation which is 100% useful, but not loosing user data:

Loosen up the default validation, try to always capture user input. Specifically enable system validation/full validation.

And add analytics for invalid state attempts so you can track anomalies.

class MyModel validate :user_validation validate :system_validation, if: @system_validation before_save :report_invalid def report_invalid analytics.track("Invalid Save Attempt, self.attributes) # In a system worker class MyWorker def perform(id) model = MyModel.find(id) model.system_validation! model.run_thing

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The 0th amendment

Communication - it was first

The USA created the US Postal Service in 1971. Before that though America has maintained a postal service from the revolutionary war on.

The conveyance of letters and intelligence was essential to the cause of liberty.

200+ years of postal service. We have ensured that every American can afford to communicate with any other American, reliably and cheaply, for 200+ years.

Now, with digital communication, we have failed to preserve the spirit of what the USPS represents for Americans.

Cheap, reliable, trusted communication.

While a stamp is 35c or so... Internet drains the average American $80-100 a month. For a home connection. Another $30-50 for a cell phone. Both home internet and a cell phone are near requirements for most workers these days. Yet we pay, dearly, for them out of our earnings.

Event more crazy, with a stamp you physically send something over great distances with many hands and vehicles involved.

At this point the cost of a parcel and the cost of internet should be switched.

Especially since the companies profit by selling data about me.

Consider the FCC's decision not to back net neutrality. While allowing ISP's to collect and sell our data....

If the USPS was run the same, any letter you send would be opened, scaned, and sold. Pictures doubly so. And don't forget, for this priviledge, if you are sending to a personal or small business address, the shipment will take an additional 7-10 days to arrive. And will cost more to ship, and have a delivery charge to the recipient.

[twostepsleftofnormal]

Well. I am a fan. Next job I will apply to will be Space X. Or, the Boring Company. Because flamethrowers are cool.

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And some pizza pics I forgot about

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Epic Mac - Work Night Edition

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What would the West Virginia teachers do with Ben Cartoons $31k table?

With Tax Dollars?!

While teachers are on food stamps?

Teachers are on strike.

Ben Carson is going around having meetings at a $31k table w/ HUD money.

Carson saying recovery will be lonnngggg

I guess Carson must have gotten this table to help organize, as Ben Carson had previously said Puerto Ricans could expect help in one to one hundred years. Which I assume is not due to lack of money.

Interview

Ben Carson who did this in Congress?!

Refusing to admit he's cutting programs people rely on?

Isn't this like contempt of court?

back and forth example

Senator: What is the number you are cutting housing vouchers?

Ben Carson: Lets hear your number?

Senator: What is the number?!

Ben Carson: I dont want to open the book and look at the numbers

Interview

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...says the man who dodged the draft with a bone spur (TERRIBLE)...

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The Volume on Advertisements is TOO DAMN HIGH

Mike

I'm listening to a show, at a volume I can hear. Which happens to be "max volume" on my current headset for the content I am watching.

And then an advertisement for some crap comes on, and I feel like my ears are suddenly bleeding from noise damage.

WTF.

Laws have been passed about this, why do ads still blare compared to content?

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We need to give teachers concealed carry... If they defend students, we need to give them a little bit of a bonus.

Trump/GOP/Fox News

So, our solution is to ask Teachers to be Soldiers?

How many Teachers go to college to learn to educate and kill, both students?

And after Teacher's, when the next shooting is on a Train, are we going to say all Train Conductors must carry?

And what about Nursing homes, and then Hospitals with Doctors and Nurses?

Fucking insance. Get rid of the guns. At least the big ones and huge clips.

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One would think that with the Olympics going on, and many tourists from around the world in South Korea, that the President could wait a few more days to announce yet more tensions with North Korea?

Couldn't the President in the name of the Olympics wait a few more days to keep the global collection of minds at ease.

Or is it a distraction from the fact that he's

doing Nothing on gun control

rejecting SANCTIONS on Russia... cause obviously

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Just watched Thor: Ragnarok.

It was awesome.

Though you've gotta love cringing a bit at one of the final scenes of heroic redemption... where the guy used machine guns to just slaughter forever.

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Hope in dark places

When the President and GOP are, at worst, possible traitors to our country, and at the least: widely inept, sexual assaulters, pedophile supporters, and nazis....

I find a surprising degree of hope from the saddest of places...

A crying child railing against the institutions and elders that have refused to protect them for years.

Compared to trump's nonsensical, fear & anger laden, grammatically challenged, yelling and tweeting... This compassionate, coherent, and powerful statement from Emma Gonzalez fills me full of hope for better leaders in a better future. An America where children don't have to call adults to task.

[twostepsleftofnormal]

A "White" Pizza

Settled down to watch some Olympics on a fine Sunday night with a champion pizza.

Dough

Small size, wheat, as always picked up from the my local shop, Da Nonna Rosas.

Sauce

All blended together in a cuisinart, then smeared thickly onto the crust:

Basil pesto

Caramellized chipotle onions

Crispy bacon (1/3lb)

Toppings

Just some classy, slightly lazy, pre-shredded Cabot mozarrella.

Dipping

If you noticed the red sauce in the picture, it was because I started with intent to dip this crispy creation of a pie into red sauce on the side.

[twostepsleftofnormal]

Work From Home Manifesto

A rough draft

Benefits

Save Money

fewer commutes

less laundry (by rewearing sweatpants and flannels)

less time commuting

more time working (earn more)

Green (and You)

It's good for the environment and your body & soul.

less commuting and consumming

better food at home

less laundry

on breaks, you can

clean, and have a great home always

exercise, and be healthy and strong

enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast while diving into work

like a civilized person not rushing into the rat race

Exercise

Easier to do when you don't have to commute, and can work out over lunch, at home, a local run, etc.

Easier to do on work days when you only have 1 day in a row of long hours and a work out to cap it off. Less of a grind.

Housing ROI

Most people in America these days, as 1 factor why savings have dwindled, spend ~25% of their income on housing.

For that much of your budget, it is well worth your time to both make your home nice, and, spend more time around it doing cool things.

Downsides

isolation (cause you're at home)

internet is slow

laggy videochat is so frustrating

laggy audiochat is even worse

Moderation is Best

Semi-Remote

The ideal solution I have found to balance quiet hours and enjoying my home while I work, with subway commuting and office time, is doing a spread of office and home days.

To have a consistent schedule, I keep M/W/F in the office, to start the week meeting with people and getting the agenda straight.

And because taking M/F at home consistently is easy to extend the weekend longer than you should. Even despite the best work ethic and starting intentions at home.

That being said, when I actually have cause to travel, and get out of town the night before or come home a day later, a Monday or Friday is greatly appreciated.

Other Requirements

videochat = use the video to talk as often as possible

"hangout" - actually sit with chats open for a couple hours while doing independent work

talk through the work/product, the changes, how to test it, and future work

tickets - everything commented in tickets

trello/github/asana/jira

regardless of the rest of the week, start the week as a team on Monday in Office, or with some good hangouts at the least.

[twostepsleftofnormal]

World Series Baby!... Whenever there's a potential riot I'm gonna be getting blasted on grain alcohol!

It's Always Sunny in Philadeplhia

Years old. But still relevant. Gotta love it.