April 22, 2009 · 1:36 pm

Photos from the SEED Event

We had 81 people registered for the annual Spring Event by the

SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring program.
Fewer actually participated (I think Monday’s

“Oracle to Buy Sun” announcement caused some sudden schedule rearrangements).
However, the event went well and feedback so far has been positive.

A group of mentors and mentees had dinner on Monday night at
Mike’s Cafe
(150 Middlefield Road at Willow, Menlo Park, CA) just a few miles
from Sun. Yesterday, we heard two speakers and a panel in the morning,
then went on two afternoon tours.

Speakers for SEED’s annual Spring Event:

Greg Papadopoulos

Greg Papadopoulos, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		Greg Papadopoulos

Greg Papadopoulos, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		Open Source Panel

Open Source Panel, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		Meenakshi Kaul-Basu

Meenakshi Kaul-Basu, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson
Valerie Fenwick, Sreeram Duvur

Open Source Panel

Valerie Fenwick, Sreeram Duvur, Open Source Panel, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		John Beck, Durgam Vahia, &

Lynn Rohrer, Open Source

John Beck, Durgam Vahia, Lynn Rohrer, Open Source Panel, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		Steve Uhler

ePBX Project, Sun Labs

Steve Uhler, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson
EBC – Executive Briefing Center

EBC - Exec Briefing Center, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		EBC Black Box

EBC Black Box, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		EBC Tour for SEED

EBC Tour for SEED, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson
ETC Tour for SEED

ETC Tour, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		Rob Snevely, ETC Tour

Rob Snevely, ETC Tour, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson 		ETC – Enterprise Technology Center

ETC - Enterprise Technology Center, SEED Event, 21 April 2009 photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson

Images Copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson

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April 20, 2009 · 5:00 pm

SEED and PreSEED Mentoring Applications

Since 14 April, SEED
and PreSEED have been receiving applications from Sun Engineering
staff to join the worldwide mentoring program. All application materials
are due 30 April 2009 for both terms. What we have so far:

    • PreSEED term
      • 35 PreSEED applicants
      • 15 complete applications
      • Applications from: China (Beijing, Chengdu), Czech Republic (Prague), India (Bangalore), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (St. Petersburg), USA (California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, & Texas)
      • Applicants’ Origins include: Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Laos, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, USA, VietNam
    • Global Sales and Service SEED term
      • 6 GSS SEED applicants
      • 2 complete application
      • Applications from: Belgium (Zaventem), France (Velizy), Italy (Padova), USA (California, Maryland, Virginia)
      • Applicants’ Origins include: Belgium, France, Italy, USA

The GSS term participants will be chosen by an executive Selection
Committee. PreSEED has a time-based acceptance process: we will take
the first 50 with complete and verified applications. During the most
recent PreSEED term in 2008, the first 50 applications were completed
by the 12th day of the application period.

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April 18, 2009 · 10:22 pm

John in the Paper

My husband John Plocher
was quoted in the newspaper today!

The
Mercury News published the article:


      Silicon Valley unemployment rate jumps to record 11%

      By Pete Carey

      Posted: 04/17/2009 10:32:21 AM PDT

      “Silicon Valley’s unemployment rate jumped to a record 11 percent last month, and more than 100,000 people are now unemployed and looking for work in the area, the state reported Friday. The question now is how many more will join them before the recession ends….

      It can’t happen soon enough for John Plocher, a 47-year-old software engineer who was laid off from struggling Sun Microsystems in November after about 20 years with the company. ‘It’s just staggering how many people are out there looking,’ he said Friday.

      Job-loss shock

      ‘All the big companies seem to be shedding,’ Plocher said. At regular lunch meetings of his networking group, ‘I just look at their name tags: ‘I used to work at…’ and it’s all the big names in the valley.’

      Plocher, who has a son in high school and daughter in college, said socializing and networking are important, especially to get over the first shock of losing a job. ‘The first month was really, really hard.'”

Some of the resources which have been of most help to John in his job hunt:

    • There is a networking and lunch group in Cupertino, California,
      called CSix where job hunters share ideas
      and leads.
    • The book What Color Is Your
      Parachute?       by Richard Nelson Bolles is excellent. This book is available in
      many languages (French, Korean, Russian, Turkish…). Also check out the
      resources on Dick Bolles’ web site:
      JobHuntersBible.Com
    • LinkedIn – a social networking
      web site for professionals who want to extend their contacts.
    • For more, see my
      January 15, 2009       blog post.

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April 18, 2009 · 10:00 pm

New Walks of Old Brick

The prior owner of our 1930 home in Willow Glen (San Jose, CA) passed on to us a large number of bricks and garden stones which I have been using for the last ten years in my landscaping. Most of the bricks are very old and worn, some are half-melted clinkers, others are still new-looking with crisp corners.  Several years ago, when we replaced the old leaky swimming pool with WP668, our 1916 backyard caboose, we had to take up several long brick walkways. Since then, we have been re-using the bricks in new walks. Some of the original walkways are in the Jack-on-Jack (or Stacked Bond) pattern, others are in a Basket Weave classic brick pattern.

To get ready for our annual Easter egg hunt and garden party, we installed several new walkways using old bricks. The new walks went in places where the walking surface was uneven or hard to roll a cart or wheelbarrow over. In the new walks, we used both Jack-on-Jack and Basket Weave patterns to match what was already there. Most are set in sand on top of weed cloth with wood borders. On one high-traffic section, we used concrete borders and mortar. Even though it took a week of work and what we have now is very different from what was there before, none of our thirty party guests noticed the change. The advantage of using old bricks in new walks is that if you are careful, they look like they have always been there.

2006 – Removing Pool and Bricks
2006 - Removing Pool and Bricks, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson		 . April 2009 – installation
April 2009 - new brick walk installation, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson
April 2009 – new walk finished
April 2009 - new brick walk finished, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson		 . another new walk
April 2009 - new brick walk finished, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson
Daniel at work
Daniel at work, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson		 . Daniel and WP668
Daniel and WP668 caboose, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson

WP668 Caboose, April 2009
WP668 Caboose, April 2009, San Jose California, photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson

Images Copyright 2009 by John Plocher and Katy Dickinson

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April 17, 2009 · 6:30 pm

$163,613

If you have read my blog since January, you may know that my 16-year-old son Paul has recently developed chronic and debilitating headaches and dizziness.  Despite the capable and dedicated care of Pediatricians, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, Pain Specialists, Psychologists and Psychiatrists, Occupational and Physical Therapists, and Nurse practitioners, Paul’s situation is stable but not improving. We continue to work with the Pain Management Clinic at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). Paul is still attending the Hospital School at LPCH, so he will not have to repeat his Junior Year in High School. Thanks for your prayers and good wishes – they have been been a great support and blessing to our family.

This blog entry is about the financial side of this experience. I am not pointing my Finger of Blame at one organization or another as being Bad. I think that in general America’s medical care is excellent. But I am presenting a specific example of how very broken the financial side of America’s health system is.

When Paul first went into the hospital, we did not consider the financial side. We approved the recommended treatments and stayed focused on supporting Paul and each other. Over the months, this situation has evolved from a crisis into a new schedule: six sets of pills a day, drop off and pick up at doctors’ offices – hospital – school, walks and stretches and massage, time in the sun, and of course regular homework and chores. Almost every day, we receive medical bills or insurance Explanations of Benefits.

Explanations of Benefits are cryptic and offer a very narrow view of a small set of medical charges. The first bill which gave us any overview of what our medical adventure cost was the hospital bill for Paul’s brain surgery, for $163,613.70.

Statement Date: 03/02/2009
Service Date(s): 02/05/2009 – 02/09/2009
Total Charges $163,613.70
Patient Payments $0.00
Insurance Payments -$25,921.32
Insurance Adjustments -$136,324.50
Other Adjustments $0.00
Balance Due Upon Receipt $1,367.88

When I reviewed the statement, I was equally amazed at the total price and the 83% insurance adjustment. I know if I did not have a good job which includes health insurance, I would not be eligible for either the $25,921.32 insurance payment or the $136,324.50 discount. I would have to pay $163,613.70. Please understand, with my husband still looking for work, I am quite happy to pay only $1,367.88 for Paul’s brain surgery. However, I know there are growing numbers of people who have no job and little or no health insurance such as mine. It feels very wrong that the privileged pay the least.

Paul-Hospital SchoolPaul at LCPH Hospital School, Palo Alto CA<br /> photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson Topiary ElephantLPCH Topiary Elephant, Palo Alto CA<br /> photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson LPCH GiraffeLPCH Topiary Giraffe, Palo Alto CA<br /> photo: copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson LPCH Daffodils and PansiesLPCH Daffodils and Pansies, Palo Alto CA<br /> photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher

Images Copyright 2009 by Katy Dickinson

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April 17, 2009 · 3:52 pm

SEED Event, Plus SEED and PreSEED Application Periods

The annual SEED
mentoring program Spring event starts with a dinner on Monday
night, followed by a day of talks and tours on Tuesday, 21 April.
We have 70 registered to participate so far:

    • 51 will be there in person, traveling from Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Russia, Spain, USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas)
    • 19 are participating remotely, joining the meeting from France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Singapore, UK, USA (Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas)

Since 14 April, SEED
and PreSEED have been receiving applications from Sun Engineering
staff to join the worldwide mentoring program. All application materials
are due 30 April 2009 for both terms. What we have so far:

    • PreSEED term
      • 31 PreSEED applicants
      • 12 complete applications
      • Applications from: China (Beijing, Chengdu), Czech Republic (Prague), India (Bangalore), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (St. Petersburg), USA (California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, & Texas)
    • Global Sales and Service SEED term
      • 5 GSS SEED applicants
      • 1 complete application
      • Applications from: Belgium (Zaventem), France (Velizy), USA (California, Maryland, Virginia)

The GSS term participants will be chosen by an executive Selection
Committee. PreSEED has a time-based acceptance process: we will take
the first 50 with complete and verified applications. During the most
recent PreSEED term in 2008, the first 50 applications were completed
by the 12th day of the application period.

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April 16, 2009 · 2:24 pm

Tax Day at SMUM

Santa Maria Urban Ministry
(SMUM) hosts a variety of community support programs in San Jose’s
inner city, including food distribution, a preschool, Studio 17 (the
homework and computer club at which I volunteer on Thursday afternoons),
and clothing distribution. The small building is thoroughly used!
Last night, Lewis headed up the
VITA volunteer team at
SMUM, helping to prepare and electronically file income tax returns
on America’s Tax Day.

In VITA’s own words:

      “Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteers provide FREE Income Tax Preparation Assistance to low-Income, elderly, disabled and limited English speaking people. Volunteers get FREE classroom training during the Saturdays in January at the San Jose
      IRS Office in Santa Clara County, and certification by the IRS after satisfactorily completing an open book exam.”

John was at SMUM last night taking pictures for their newsletter.
He guessed there were 150 people speaking many languages in the very full
computer lab, waiting area, and parking lot. Only a few people arrived
too late for the electronic filing deadline (9 pm California time =
Midnight East Coast time).

VITA at SMUM

VITA at SMUM San Jose California photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher VITA at SMUM San Jose California photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher VITA at SMUM San Jose California photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher

Studio 17 at SMUM

Here is the same SMUM computer lab being used by the kids of Studio 17:

Studio 17 at SMUM San Jose California photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher Studio 17 at SMUM San Jose California photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher Studio 17 at SMUM San Jose California photo: copyright 2009 John Plocher

Images Copyright 2009 by
John Plocher
and Katy Dickinson

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