I disappeared again for a couple of weeks, I have been way too busy and too stressed to sit and write. The bulk of the stress has been due to our WWAN connectivity project. The last post was an update on this and we are still without a site for the last link in the connection. We are working to solve this one still, and I am confident that we will achieve or ends.
Lately most of my stress has centered on getting our equipment out of customs. The whole tale began sometime back in November. Through the AMPATH affiliation with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), we can bring in things that will benefit the people of Kenya. Our networking equipment qualified for a waiver of charges because it will be used strictly for our health care operations.
It took a few weeks to get the waiver and then a couple of more weeks for the shipment to arrive in Nairobi. Part of the delay was due to the holidays, which was understandable from my point of view.
Everything seemed to be going to plan until well things went off the rails. I won't go into the details, but suffice to say that what we thought was under control wasn't. The result, well, we were unable to clear our equipment through customs and we had to simply wait. There was so much back and forth on this, and too often it seemed through the whole process the "failure to communicate" issues were rife.
This past Friday, our items were finally released from customs. Great way to go into a weekend, but that good feeling quickly turned sour when we received a pretty hefty bill for things that were supposed to be waived. I cannot yet explain the bill and given our customs waiver, to say that I am pretty upset with the whole process would be a major understatement.
* Okay so this post is not very uplifting or inspiring. It is not even an accurate account of what happened, I left a bunch out, no sense putting you through all that.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Connectivity Update
The WWAN connectivity project is still a big part of my life and we have reached a number of milestones in the last few weeks. The include getting the equipment into country, securing tower rights from Safaricom, securing approval for the network from the Communications Commission of Kenya, and nearly completing the solar panel installation.*
* We ran into two problems during the solar install. One of our facilities was flooded due to runoff from the last rainy season and due to a unexpected change at one of the sites. We will complete the solar installation as part of the next phase of the installation that should start in February.
There are a few issues that need to be resolved, the most critical is finding a suitable location in Eldoret to finish the network. We had an agreement to use one of the taller buildings in Eldoret to finish of our network, but the building management company pulled out at the last minute.*
* Tall buildings in Eldoret are not many in number and prized by radio, telecom and television companies. They need the structures to mount their own radio antennas and because they are for-profit companies, the building management can charge marked (or above-market) rates for roof-top access.
We are perusing three options and if successful, there is little in the way to prevent us from implementing the network. Our goal is to push this as hard as possible and have a resolution in the next two weeks.
It is going to be a fun couple of months!
* We ran into two problems during the solar install. One of our facilities was flooded due to runoff from the last rainy season and due to a unexpected change at one of the sites. We will complete the solar installation as part of the next phase of the installation that should start in February.
There are a few issues that need to be resolved, the most critical is finding a suitable location in Eldoret to finish the network. We had an agreement to use one of the taller buildings in Eldoret to finish of our network, but the building management company pulled out at the last minute.*
* Tall buildings in Eldoret are not many in number and prized by radio, telecom and television companies. They need the structures to mount their own radio antennas and because they are for-profit companies, the building management can charge marked (or above-market) rates for roof-top access.
We are perusing three options and if successful, there is little in the way to prevent us from implementing the network. Our goal is to push this as hard as possible and have a resolution in the next two weeks.
It is going to be a fun couple of months!
Looking Forward: The 2012 IT Work Plan
So 2012 is 5 days old and everyone at AMPATH IT is back at work. The holidays and 2011 are in the past. Time to look ahead, however just before that, I'll step back into the past for just two sentences.
As my New Year's weekend rolled to a close, I took some time to jot down a series of tasks that I hope will result in real noticeable changes.* I don't think we will accomplish everything, but I am confident that we can complete a number of them, if not most.
* Noticeable by inside and out of AMPATH IT.
The tasks range from enterprise projects, improving staffing, training, governance, organization, streamlining operations. We are organizing the list now and will spend the next few days prioritizing tasks. My hope is that we arrange things to maximize my remaining time and so when it is time for me to depart, the IT department will be humming along.
I am encouraged by the growth of the IT team as a whole. We are much stronger than we were a year ago and I think the guys here can handle most of the day-to-day things. There is still some work to do on the things strategic as well as getting the guys to tackle inefficiencies, imperfections and frustrations. Strategic things is really about positioning IT in away that can make measurable impacts. Some of this is through cost savings but there are areas where we can innovate and really be a key part of the health care mission.
The other parts are simply looking around and trying to make the place better. There are so many areas where a little imagination, problem solving, critical thinking and work can transform the IT operation. We don't necessarily need to spend lots of money, but figure out how to effectively and efficiently carry out the work.*
* One cheap thing that can be done is be more effective communicators. This costs almost nothing and the benefits can be enormous. It seems obvious, but really it isn't.
Over the next few weeks, I'll lay out parts of the 2012 work plan. My hope is that with each passing month folks at AMPATH will really begin to notice a huge transformation.
As my New Year's weekend rolled to a close, I took some time to jot down a series of tasks that I hope will result in real noticeable changes.* I don't think we will accomplish everything, but I am confident that we can complete a number of them, if not most.
* Noticeable by inside and out of AMPATH IT.
The tasks range from enterprise projects, improving staffing, training, governance, organization, streamlining operations. We are organizing the list now and will spend the next few days prioritizing tasks. My hope is that we arrange things to maximize my remaining time and so when it is time for me to depart, the IT department will be humming along.
I am encouraged by the growth of the IT team as a whole. We are much stronger than we were a year ago and I think the guys here can handle most of the day-to-day things. There is still some work to do on the things strategic as well as getting the guys to tackle inefficiencies, imperfections and frustrations. Strategic things is really about positioning IT in away that can make measurable impacts. Some of this is through cost savings but there are areas where we can innovate and really be a key part of the health care mission.
The other parts are simply looking around and trying to make the place better. There are so many areas where a little imagination, problem solving, critical thinking and work can transform the IT operation. We don't necessarily need to spend lots of money, but figure out how to effectively and efficiently carry out the work.*
* One cheap thing that can be done is be more effective communicators. This costs almost nothing and the benefits can be enormous. It seems obvious, but really it isn't.
Over the next few weeks, I'll lay out parts of the 2012 work plan. My hope is that with each passing month folks at AMPATH will really begin to notice a huge transformation.
The Ongoing BlogPress story
Okay, here goes a post using the most current version of BlogPress on my iPad. As you may recall, I like this app and have posted a few blog entries using older versions. Since upgrading my iPad OS to version 5, the app just became unusable. Two updates to BlogPress did little to make things work and frustration set in.
A new version was released today (v 3.0.1) and the developers claim that this version fixes the crashing problem. Well what better way to test than trying to post using the app.*
* You never really saw the test of the last update to BlogPress because the app crashed and made it impossible to use. Of course, if this version doesn't work, you won't see this either.
So, here goes the big test..... If it works, I'll continue this post online.*
* Online here and well, the app mostly worked. I was able to save a local draft of the post above on my iPad, edit and save local again. Then I uploaded a draft to Blogger. No crashes! Great. Of course, all is not perfect, when I opened the draft online, I notice that all the line breaks were not loaded. I guess BlogPress doesn't do WYSIWYG editing and I'll have put in all the HTML tags.**
** Honestly, I don't remember if the previous version was any different. I took a number of months off from Blogging.
Cool that it seems to work. Now I can blog on the go.
A new version was released today (v 3.0.1) and the developers claim that this version fixes the crashing problem. Well what better way to test than trying to post using the app.*
* You never really saw the test of the last update to BlogPress because the app crashed and made it impossible to use. Of course, if this version doesn't work, you won't see this either.
So, here goes the big test..... If it works, I'll continue this post online.*
* Online here and well, the app mostly worked. I was able to save a local draft of the post above on my iPad, edit and save local again. Then I uploaded a draft to Blogger. No crashes! Great. Of course, all is not perfect, when I opened the draft online, I notice that all the line breaks were not loaded. I guess BlogPress doesn't do WYSIWYG editing and I'll have put in all the HTML tags.**
** Honestly, I don't remember if the previous version was any different. I took a number of months off from Blogging.
Cool that it seems to work. Now I can blog on the go.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year
Happy 2012 folks, I really wish for a great year for the world and just about everyone in it.*
* Despots and really bad folks, sorry, I hope the world turns badly for you all.
It has been a few days since my last post and in that time, I tried to relax a bit and let things just settle. In that time I read a couple of books, poached some eggs, ran a bit, and took a few naps. Not as productive as I could have been and not as lazy either. In that time, here is a rundown of some things I have accomplished or have been exposed to.
* Despots and really bad folks, sorry, I hope the world turns badly for you all.
It has been a few days since my last post and in that time, I tried to relax a bit and let things just settle. In that time I read a couple of books, poached some eggs, ran a bit, and took a few naps. Not as productive as I could have been and not as lazy either. In that time, here is a rundown of some things I have accomplished or have been exposed to.
- Read the books "Mao's Great Famine", "Born to Run" and "For the Love of Physics". All were great reads. "Mao's Great Famine" (MGF), was a really sad, sad, sad story. I cannot imagine the horror of the Great Leap Forward and then to follow it with the Cultural Revolution. The story was so disturbing and sad that I had to stop briefly to read "Born to Run" (BTR).
BTR is a great read, well written and inspiring. I am not a huge fan of running, I always thought it kind of boring and not very fun. The book showed me a different way to think about running, essentially have fun and don't treat it like work. I returned to MGF after finishing BTR and after finishing that I felt very sad for the darkest parts of the human species.
I have since started "For the Love of Physics" (FLP). I readily admit that I am not the most brilliant person on the planet. I do love science and trying to understand how the universe works. I am a frustrated engineer.* When I come across a good layman's book on science, I tear into it. Great read and you'll definitely get a keen insight into the everyday world around you. I now know why snorkels are only about 1ft in length.
* This is similar to most guitarists (myself included) being frustrated drummers.
- Organized and posted some of the many photos taken while away for Christmas at the Rondo Retreat. If you are ever in Western Kenya and need a place to relax, I highly recommend Rondo.
The photographs taken at Rondo have inspired me to acquire a new camera lens and head back out to nature. I am hoping to time all of this with a (thus far) unplanned trip to Masai Mara. - One thing I am trying to sort out is the best way to poach an egg at high altitude. I have never poached an egg before this past week and have been using various techniques found on the Internet to help me through this. That I am at 2100 meters (~7000 feet) above sea level and things take a bit longer to cook out here. I have not quite figured out the timing and the proper application of heat, but I do appreciate cooks who live anyplace higher than sea level.
- In the wake of reading BTR, I have started running again. Trying to keep a more positive outlook and remain happy. I started running back in September and made a good go of it until I suffered some nasty shin splints in October. Since then, I healed up (and ran in the course of playing a weekly soccer game) and I have swapped out my normal running shoes with some New Balance Minimus trail shoes that more simulate running barefoot.* I don't know if this will make a huge difference, but I am hopeful.
* Funny how the marketing folks can sell shoes that mimic running barefoot. If I could run barefoot, why would I spend any money on shoes?
Combining the new shoes and trying to find a sort of Zen-like state where running is fun again, I just want to see how far I can run. I don't expect much more than that and I am not going to make this a job.
I am confident that positive things are ahead. A great number of things can happen over the next year. I do look forward to Christmas 2012, just so I can look back on what exactly happened. I will do this for the past 2011 and do my best to share in the next few days.
Once again, Happy New Year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
