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Yesterdays was one of those days on a bike where there is endless drama. I am now in xining, the capital city of the qinghai region of china on the fringe of the tibetan plateau preparing for the tour of qinghai lake. The city is at 2400m altitude and the race will take us as high as 4000m so the need to arrive early and try to acclimatise as much as possible Is pretty important. Yesterday was to be my final hitout before the race begins with a 6hr easy spin with a little intensity to open up the lungs and legs. So to the drama!

It started out when I was pumping up my tyres and I managed to break the valve! Flat number one and delay to begining training as I headed out on the rd.

On the road and feeling really good, excited about my trip to qinghai lake 100km away when down when the same tyre about 45' into the ride. Another change and underway, still feeling great and assuming bad luck done with.

Next was a careless error when doing a u turn after taking a wrong turn, front wheel hit a small divide on the rd and I hit the deck!! No damage just pride. By this stage I could only laugh at what had transpired in the initial 1hr 45min of my ride, anyway I soldiered on. All went smoothly as I climbed up toward the lake and did a little interval around 3000m high to see how the lungs would react, certainly found out racing up there will be somthing I have never experienced before but that excites me. So just as I finish my interval it starts raining and gets a little cold so I do the sensible thing and turn around, I am now at 3200m altitude, an elevation I have not ridden a bike at before and figure I have shocked my system enough and being 80km from home and in foreign country turning around seems logical.

As I trundle back toward civilisation down goes flat number 3, I can't believe my luck and thanks my lucky stars that at least the rain has stopped. Quick change as I am getting pretty good at them now and 60km to get home, I am now out of spares so really preying I get most of the way home before testing the quality of my training rims!!

Just as I feel I have dodged the bullet and 15km from the closest bike shop down goes the rear wheel for flat number 4, I am relieved its the rear as at least I still have the front to ensure I can steer properly which is kind of paramount when dodging the chinese traffic!!

Clunk clunk clunk I go along the city streets with all the locals staring now more intensely than usual, not only is it strange to see a white man riding a bike but to be doing it on a flat tyre is even odder for them to witness. To make things even more amusing for them only 7km from the shop down goes the front to make it flat tyre number 5 and the epic day of misfortune is complete.

I limp into the bike shop after 5hrs on the rd and fortunately due to the state of my bike no need for any explanation, 2 flat tyres, one tyre destroyed and no more spares there was no need to try and exlain what I was there for. The local mechanics quickly rush to my aid like a ferrari formula 1 team as the photos shows and I am back on the rd in no time for the final 1hr of my adventure which quite incredibly heralded no more flat tyres or incidence.

After the ride I was a little tired after enduring a 6hr ride which took almost 8 so I went of to the blind massage joint that our team translator had told me about and I had visited the day before. The guys there are completely blind but give the most incredible massage to get me feeling like new again, infact the massage was so good my legs had completely forgotten the days ordeal, the only lasting memory will be the skill fullness with which I can now change a tyre on my bicycle!!

Still 17 more days in the region including the big race so and certain the unexpected adventure will continue!!

Cjw

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Day one, the Kscope12 symposiums

Hmm, it has occurred to me that perhaps I should have put in yesterday’s post that I am going to attempt a daily update on what I surely most awesome EPM/database/Apex/BI/you-name-it-we-have-it technical-plus-more-a-whole-lot-more conference there ever has been or will be.  Phew, that was a bit of a run on sentence.  Anyway, I am going to try (note the qualifications because this is the first day of the conference and I’m already tired) to do it.


Wouldn’t it be great if I could show you some pictures?  Why, yes it would, but alas I cannot because everything at the EPM Symposium is embargoed under a “We at Oracle are telling you the future, although we reserve the right to deny we ever had this conversation.  Or even thought about having this conversation.  Or even thought about the thought about having this conversation.  You have been warned.”  


In other words, if you want to know about and hear from:

• EPM Strategy, Balaji Yelamanchili
• Financial Close Solutions Futures, Janette Kosior
• Essbase, Gabby Rubin
• Planning and Budgeting Futures, Shankar Viswanathan
• Data Integration and Metadata Management, Rich Wilkie
• EPM Foundation and Common Services, Kash Mohammadi
• EPM Reporting and Integration with OBIEE, Mitch Campbell

Pretty big names, eh?  Only KScope delivers this.


I can’t tell you what I Shankar is (I am writing this post in his Planning session) talking about but trust me, and I really mean this, if you aren’t in the room hearing what’s coming you are missing BIG changes in Planning.  I am very excited and very sad all at the same time.  Why?  Because what is coming is awesome – that makes my inner geek excited.  But sad, because I can’t tell you one single word about it.

If you’re here, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you’re not here, you are missing out on BIG STUFF.  Yes, word will leak out eventually, although not from me, but I know about it now.  Do you?  You NEED to be here next year.  Come hell or high water, you can be sure I will.

KScope12 Community Service Day

A day of service

The Saturday before KScope (or Kaleidoscope depending on how long you’ve been attending the very best EPM conference there has been) is traditionally a day when ODTUG gives back to the non-Oracle community.


This year it was a painting, building, sign erecting, cleaning, you name it, we did it day at Crestholme Boys & Girls Club of San Antonio.  


It was a tremendous amount of fun before what is after all a pretty serious week (I love KScope, but it is work) and of course one gets to meet people in completely other tracks that would be strangers otherwise.  I think it is one the many things that sets KScope apart from other conferences.  It is a great organization.

And now the photos

On the school bus to Crestholme

Andrei and I do construction

Yes, their sink is broken/I cause chaos

But it was all worthwhile

Thankfully I was not part of the basketball pole building

Foundation for the sign

Erecting the sign

 Mixing concrete

Set in stone

In the cafetorium

Isn’t this a nice gift?

This was our appreciation gift – what a nice gesture and so pretty.

Was that enough work for today?  Nope.

Here we are stuffing the bags that attendees get on KScope registration.  The fun never stops at ODTUG.

All in all quite a bit of fun

Oh my goodness, it was great, but I am tired.  As my buddy Tim Tow likes to say, “KScope is a marathon, run at a sprint pace.”  


Why aren’t you here?

I am holding it in my hands

Introduction

It came this afternoon.  Oh joy, oh rapture, it’s hard to believe but it’s true, true, true.

What on earth am I talking about?  Why, Developing Essbase Applications:  Advanced Techniques for Finance and IT Professionals, of course.

As I wrote, the delivery man knocked on the door this afternoon and dropped off a heavy box from Taylor & Francis.   With trembling hands (and a sharp Benchmade), I opened the box.

And there it was.  Hardbound.  2.1 lbs.  445 pages.  With an index.  Gulp.

On the floor of my office

And you can have a copy as well

Well, if you’re not one of the lucky (?) reviewers, you’ll have to buy it but it’s excellent value for money, at least in my not entirely unbiased opinion.  

If you want to be one of the first geeks to have this essential tome, you can lay hands on it this Sunday, 24 June, at booth #224 in the ODTUG Kscope12 Welcome Reception.  We have credit card processing ready to go and a special low, low, low conference price.  What’s not to like?

Thanks to all of my esteemed authors aka the herd of cats

Developing Essbase Applications has been a group effort from beginning to end.  I may have suffered the most (at least in my fevered imagination) but in reality we all did our bit.  

The book (and a not inconsiderable amount of potential knowledge transfer to you, oh prospective customer) is a joint effort of:  Dave Anderson, Joe Aultman, John Booth, Gary Crisci, Natalie Delemar, Dave Farnsworth, Michael Nader, Dan Pressman, Robb Salzmann, Tim Tow, Jake Turrell, and Angela Wilcox.  They all deserve a round of applause for a job exceedingly well done.

If You See Something...

Ever since 9-11 commuters on Metro-North have been told “If you see something, say something.”

One commuter recently did that, taking a smart-phone video of an engineer reading a newspaper while running his train at high speed, then posting that video on YouTube.

To their credit, management at the railroad reacted quickly, suspending and disciplining the 24 year veteran.  They also reminded every engineer on the railroad that this was inappropriate, dangerous and unacceptable.

How did those train operators and their union react?  With a cover-up, literally.

Since the video was posted, many if not most engineers have been covering their windows withnewspapers and cardboard to prevent anyone from seeing them at work.  They claim this is to reduce glare and reflection of interior lights, but we know better.

In my view, the only glare they want to avoid is the glare of public opinion for potentially being caught not doing their job.

How can commuters “say something” if they can’t see anything?

Metro-North says there is no rule forbidding such a “cover-up”, but they’re conducting a best practices review of other railroads to see how they handle this.  Whatever the results of that research, it will doubtless require union cooperation to take down the papers and reassure passengers about who is running their train and how.

Meantime, don’t worry, says Metro-North, we have inspectors on trains watching for misbehavior.  Oh, really?

Days after this YouTube video, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit showing that the railroad’s train inspectors were often web surfing rather than conducting on-train inspections.  While they should have been riding trains to see if conductors used seat-checks to prevent fare evasion or make surprise visits to engineers in their cab to see if they were reading, those inspectors were goofing off.

The audit says that the five inspectors and supervisor missed one third of their assignments while pulling down $832,676 a year. Four of the inspectors were paid $170,000 each for work not done.

As Bloomberg Business Week reports: “Investigators also found that an assistant vice president in charge of the unit referred a relative to a worker under her supervision. The relative was then hired, despite receiving a lower rating than two other applicants, and was given an $84,700 salary, about $27,000 more than was posted, auditors found. The employee and the assistant vice president had their paychecks deposited into the same bank account, investigators found.”

Since the allegations came to light, the inspection unit has been disbanded.  So who’s riding the trains, watchdogging the employees?

All this comes on top of other malfeasance uncovered by DiNapoli, including a 30 person Metro-North unit that abused overtime rules to pad their pay by $1 million and future pension payments by $5.5 million.

And last fall, eleven LIRR workers were indicted on charges of taking $1 billion in disability benefits for alleged on the job injuries.  Investigators tracked them only to see them playing golf and living the high life.

Who pays for these scams?  We do, through our fares and taxes.

So when Metro-North says they need more money because of rising costs, maybe we should ask its President, Howard Permut, just who’s running this railroad… managers appointing their relatives to jobs they don’t do… no-show employees abusing OT… or the unions covering up misbehavior at the controls?

Sign of the times

Introduction 

Will Developing Essbase Applications:  Advanced Techniques for Finance and IT Professionals be at Kscope12?  Yes indeedy, we will be at booth #224 in the vendor exposition hall.

So what? 

(Sigh, why do I have to ask these questions?  Ah yes, because I have no other way of segueing between barely-connected thoughts.)  Well, you’ll be able to buy the book at the conference.  This will be the very first place to buy the book as it is getting shipped direct from the Taylor & Francis bindery to the warehouse that stores booth furniture.  That means it is coming right from the printer to the conference and to you.  

And you’ll be able to meet us (hopefully at least somewhat thrilling or maybe mildly interesting), talk to us, buy the book (hint), tell us we’ve done a wonderful or horrific job, etc. 

Are these just the delusions of a raving madman?

This very day I received…no, no, not the divine prophecy of a wrathful God, that’s for later, but instead the sign you’ll see at the booth.  I have to thank the people at ExpoGo! for producing it – it looks absolutely fantastic, it’s big (like 7’ tall – that’s 2.1336 meters for those of you not on Imperial/standard), and it looks pretty darn awesome as you can see for yourself.

Right near the front door

 So it’s real?

Am I ever going to stop using this now-tired literary device?  Yes.  Just come to Kscopeand see the sign, the entire (just about) group of authors, and of course the book itself.  I can hardly wait.

Mega Projects of a Lifetime

If you’re lucky, you get to see one mammoth construction project in your lifetime.  Like the building of Grand Central, the George Washington Bridge or LaGuardia Airport.

But our generation is lucky enough to see two such mega-works:  The Long Island Railroad’s East Side Access tunnel to Grand Central and the New Britain to Hartford busway, now dubbed CTFastrak.

Recently the CT Rail Commuter Council was given a tour of the East Side Access construction site, bored out of solid granite 180 feet below street level. The size and scale of the project are hard to comprehend, extending from 37^thStreet in Manhattan all the way north under Grand Central, the existing Park Avenue tunnel and turning east at 63^rd Street to go under the East River to Queens where it meets the present LIRR tracks. (For hundreds of photos of the project, click here)

The main station at 42^nd Street will feature two football-field length platforms, two tracks wide and two tracks high, feeding banks of escalators that will bring LIRR passengers to their own mini-GCT under Vanderbilt Avenue, just west of Grand Central.

None of this will affect our existing service to GCT (except for the added throngs of riders heading to the Lexington Avenue subway).  But the hidden benefit for Metro-North, especially New Haven line riders, may be direct service to Penn Station.  Only when the LIRR can divert some trains from Penn Station will there be room there for Metro-North.

Meantime, the project is behind schedule and 30% over budget, the biggest problem being the soil in Queens which is too soft for tunneling.  The $8 billion project should be finished in 2018.

Here in Connecticut, ground has finally been broken on the controversial New Britain to Hartford busway, now known as CTfastrak.

This 9.4 mile long bus-only highway will feature 11 stations, carry 16,000 daily passengers and kick-start TOD (transit oriented development) along its route while offering a much faster ride to downtown Hartford than can be found today.

I’ve written before about this project which has been widely criticized.  My rail-fan friends say it should be a light rail system.  But that would cost considerably more than the current $600 million price tag ($460 million of that coming from the Federal government).  The pro-auto lobby says it’s all a boondoggle and that nobody will ever take the buses.  We should all know the answer by 2014 or so when the road is finished and the service begins.  (I think it will prove to be a huge success).

Both projects are way over budget and behind their time line.  But so too were many other mega-projects which were similarly scorned.  Robert Moses was widely attacked for his highway projects in New York City in the middle of the last century.  But without him there would have been no Tri-Borough Bridge, United Nations, Jones Beach or parkways on Long Island.

Some of Moses’ greatest projects were built in economic hard times worse than today.  But generations later, we’re still relying on them to get around.  They may have seemed then like engineering folly, but they turned out to be a solid investment in the future we call “today”.

Big dreams like East Side Access and CTfastrakcome with big price tags.  But if we didn’t think big, we’d still be in horse carts stuck in the muddy ruts of the Boston Post Road.  So tell your kids and your grandchildren that in your lifetime you saw not one, but two mega-projects turn from dreams into reality.