User:SFFrog

About me
SFFrog -- born in San Francisco in 1944, but ...

"Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional."

Happily married since early 2001 to Lauri, my soul-mate and (I am convinced) the world's most tolerant woman. ''In August 2009, we celebrated the 100th "monthiversary" of our marriage. In November 2009, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of our first date!'' I have three grown children, born in 1966, 1968, and 1974, and four grandchildren. I'm a former IBMer and a former Mensa member.

"I once was a handsome frog. Now I'm an ugly prince."

May 2008
I am very involved in politics as a skeptical critic of all major and minor political parties. I read as much as I have time for from all points of view. I consider myself to be a Democratic- and Green-leaning Independent, and I believe the current leaders of the GOP have proven to be enemies of true American ideals, as their disrespect for the Constitution has shown. Even if their leadership were to change (as it must if the Republicans are not to go the way of the dodo), they are still the party of big business and no friend to the non-rich.

I'd like to meet others who are passionate about taking America back from the neo-conservatives who have been destroying our wonderful country's reputation throughout the world, starting unjustifiable wars, creating millions of new enemies for the USA, ignoring human rights, raping the environment, spying on U.S. citizens, ignoring the U.S. Constitution, and ignoring the Bill of Rights.

I love talking politics with any intelligent person, regardless of political persuasion, who prefers a "brainstorming" approach to solving society's problems (as opposed to argument). I make no claims to be even a competent debater, but my experience has been that many of our disagreements come from misinterpretations of each other's words rather than from true differences.

I think, therefore I'm dangerous.

October 2009
The Democratic Congress has really disappointed me. Like typical politicians, most of them seem to care more about being re-elected than about fulfilling their mandate to move this country progressively rather than regressively. Just like Republicans, they knuckle under to the big, corporate contributors to their campaigns. Getting Democrats to work together in Congress is like trying to herd cats. What a lost chance for America!

The GOP has been even worse for America with their continued move to the Far Right and their deliberate, unthinking opposition to everything that is proposed by Democrats. Republican GOP Senators are the worst, voting as a block on everything, meaning votes by only a few Democratic Senators in opposition to any particular bill will kill it. Traditional, reasonable bipartisanship is dead. The GOP leaders refuse to allow any of them to vote their consciences. The general Republican opposition to reforming health care shows their support for corporate profits over the needs of at least 95% of Americans, since any serious illness, such as cancer, is usually a predecessor to bankruptcy and loss of retirement savings. Their opposition has been full of lies, such as the imaginary "death panels" they so often talk about. The Republican Party is the party of The Big Lie.

Religion
Nominally, I'm a classic WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and liberal Episcopalian, but I am also a fanatical supporter of freedom of religion as enshrined in our First Amendment. Although I have strong personal beliefs, neither I nor anyone else can prove either the existence or absence of God. Therefore I have no right to force my personal beliefs on anyone, and I despise those who think that they have such a right. Incidentally, I've noticed that white Evangelical "Christians" seem to have the least belief in the actual teachings of Jesus (peace & love; not war & hate).

Science has absolutely proven that evolution exists, but I don't think that negates any part of the Bible (e.g., Creation, as told in Genesis, can be thought of as an allegory for cosmology and evolution -- Jesus used allegories in his parables, so why not? Besides, how could people of Moses's era even begin to understand those concepts?). Albert Einstein, one of the most outstanding scientists of the 20th Century, stated that he definitely believed in God.

Since Christians compose, at the most, only about 1/3 of the world's population, does that mean that the other 2/3 are doomed by God? I doubt it. Perhaps God has created many paths to Him. Regardless of what name(s) is/are used for whatever deity/deities one worships (God, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Great Spirit, Krishna, Vishnu, Odin, etc.), your personal beliefs are just that, and I must respect them, even though you can't prove you're right any more than I can prove I'm right. Since humor is part of life, I believe that God may have even made both of us right (or both wrong), even when our views seem to be opposing. He's smarter and cleverer than we'll ever be. :-)

Irreligious joke follows, skip if you're easily offended – A bigot gets to the Pearly Gates where he is told that he's going to Hell. He asks, "Why?" Saint Peter tells him, "God is a black lesbian with a Hispanic surname and a Chinese accent."

Politics AND Religion
My wife and I were very happy in early 2007 that the California Supreme Court nullified a 2004 anti-gay initiative that prevented gays and lesbians from getting married — that law had codified homophobic prejudice.

We are straight, but not narrow, and see no threat to our marriage by allowing those of other sexual orientations from also being allowed to marry. Divorce and spousal abuse statistics show that the greatest threat to marriage in America comes from straight people. [May 21, 2008]

Nov. 2008 Update
The passage of Proposition 8 last week (Nov. 4, 2008) shocked us. Its bigotry codifies prejudice and discrimination, imposing the personal beliefs of the Religious Right and other homophobics onto a minority. Proposition 8 is the brutalization of a minority by a small majority, something the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were intended to prevent. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco elicited financial and organizational support from the Mormon Church's hierarchy in Utah. Both churches should lose their tax-exempt status for engaging in partisan politics! According to the First Amendment, no one's religion should impinge on that of others -- that's freedom of religion and even from religion. Those who voted for Proposition 8 are forcing their personal beliefs (religious or otherwise) upon the rest of us, and it's wrong! Everyone should have the right to love whomever they wish.

Civil Unions are not the same as marriage because far too many laws and legal contracts use the words marriage or husband or wife or spouse in their language, thus preventing partners in Civil Unions from obtaining the same legal rights as those who are married. In spite of the false claims of those supporting Proposition 8, the word "marriage" has a legal, civil meaning completely apart from the Religious Right's claim to exclusive use of the word by religious institutions. Although we're thrilled that Senator Barack Obama was elected President by a huge margin, we're unhappy that a large number of African-American voters were willing to ignore the civil rights of non-heterosexuals. Not many years ago, interracial marriage was illegal in California and most other States, and that was also obvious discrimination. The African-Americans in California who voted for Proposition 8 should be ashamed of themselves. [Nov. 11, 2008]

Environment
Please leave this planet as you would wish to find it.

This Earth isn't ours -- it was loaned to us by our kids.

Business
In my adult lifetime, I've had careers in multiple categories: Information Technology, Music, and Construction.

IBM and other companies
I first worked professionally in IT fixing problems in large mainframe Operating Systems for IBM Field Engineering Division in San Francisco from 1969 through 1972, then moved to Wells Fargo as a Senior Systems Programmer. Later I worked as lead Systems Programmer, Systems Consultant, and Systems Programming Manager for various IBM clients in the S. F. Bay Area and as the Western Region Technical Consultant for a now-defunct IBM competitor based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Cost-Effective Solutions InfoTech
Since late 1983 I've been an independent consultant in IBM large mainframe Systems Programming (z/OS, MVS), Operations, and Data Security, working at large corporations in the San Francisco Bay Area. (I may add more here at some future date, but for details now, please go to the website for my business, www.cesols.com. My résumés (online and downloadable) are here.)  I am a former IBMer (Field Engineering).

There are only 10 types of people in the world:

Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

A Short Music Business Bio [[Image:Eighth_notes_and_rest.png]]
Beginning in late 1966, and for more than 20 years (two of them full-time), I worked in the San Francisco music scene as a band manager, booking agency owner, live sound engineer, sound system troubleshooter/designer/builder, speaker system designer/builder, and (a little bit) as a recording engineer. My specialty became mixing live music anywhere, from small nightclubs to huge stadiums. I was young enough to work full-time during most of those years at a paying job during the day and still work in music several nights per week. When I got too old to do both, I dropped out of the music scene except for occasional gigs when a band or club needed help on short notice. Now that I've passed my sixth decade, my hearing range (formerly up to above 20kHz) is too limited (only up to about 7.5 kHz) for me to do a good job mixing, but I still love live music, especially tight, professional, rock.

The "big break"
In late 1984, I was drafted into being the live sound engineer for a 3-man vocal group, Dancer, that introduced me during every gig as "the 4th member of our group." Dancer performed only original music and realized that a good live sound mix was vital to them in getting recognition. Bill Graham Presents must have agreed, because after their booking agent, Bonnie Simmons, saw the group gigging at the now-defunct Major Ponds nightclub in San Francisco, they booked us into the BGP club, Wolfgang's, as the opening act for Steven Stills. After the gig, we learned that Steven and his road manager definitely liked us and wanted us to go on the road with them as his regular opening act -- our big break! The next day, our primary songwriter/lead singer told the rest of us that he didn't want to quit his day job with the IRS (apparently, he only performed to get the groupies). The band broke up that day. :-(

Drugs and Music
"NOTE: in spite of what many musicians wishfully think, drugs do not improve your musicianship -- it just seems like it at the time. When I worked with musicians who disagreed with that, I'd ask them to come to a rehearsal completely sober, but to bring their favorite smoke for later. After they'd been playing a while, I'd record them, then tell them it was time for them to get stoned, following which I'd record them again.  The next day, the whole band and I would compare the two recordings.  Inevitably, the difference in performance would be obvious enough to convince that person to stay sober at gigs; if not, we'd soon drop him/her from the band for lack of dedication to the music.  Because the music was what really counted, my bands and I always avoided 'illegal substances' and excessive alcohol before or during gigs; afterwards was often a different story (Thank God for the Statute of Limitations!)."

Summary
I never made any appreciable money in music, but I loved being part of it, especially mixing live sound when those "magic" musical moments occurred in which everything came together perfectly; the "high" from that was better than any from even the best drugs, anytime.

Construction Industry
When the economy faltered early in the Bush-Cheney Administration, I discovered that the backlog of available contracts for IT consulting had dried up, and few people were willing to quit their jobs as no others were available (a main source of contract work for me). For many years I'd had more work available than I had time for, and I was often turning down work; this was the opposite. After trying for nine months to find another IT contract after my last one ended, I decided it was time to change careers.

Cost-Effective Solutions
My decision was to start working at something I also knew somewhat that was recession-proof. I did handyman work at first, but eventually, after buying and studying several Code and trade books, I became an unlicensed "inside" electrical contractor and electrician (something I'd learned the basics of as a teenager). I still do occasional handyman work to fill in between electrical projects. I've continued studying, so as to earn an Electrical Contractor (C-10) License and, eventually, a General Contractor (B) License.

As with my Information Technology work, my emphasis is on doing things properly the first time (no "quick &amp; dirty" fixes!), maybe not being the cheapest person, but instead being the one delivering "the most value for the dollar". The bulk of my work will come from this source until the economy recovers.

My website for this business is www.costeffective.us (Cost-Effective Solutions "Solving business and home owner problems properly"). Please go there for more detailed information.