Leadership the Marine Corps Way

Note: I was thinking about this as I was getting ready to go to work, instead of putting it off for later, I decided to write this all down now before completely forgetting about it. I noticed that when I get an idea for a blog post, it's never the same if I write it a day or two later than when I write "when it comes to me" Anyway.



The other day I was going trough my stuff looking for an old book, when I stumbled across my old notebook from the War, in it, I found minutia that's completely irrelevant now, checklists, packing lists, contact numbers for my guys, plans for raids an other combat ops. But one thing that got my attention was what I wrote on the first page right after the cover:








It's Titled "Principles of Leadership"

As you may or may not know, I had some sort of transformation as far as the way I look at the world and life in general, what it comes down to is that I must be one of those true to the core bleeding heart liberals down underneath, not because I can't pull a trigger, that's pure non sense, I am still a marine, and always will be, I know what I can do, and I know what I did out there, but one thing that nobody can stop me from doing is noticing the level of injustice in this world. That changed things for me, the truth is, there are people who go trough life feeling immense suffering, some of it their own doing, but not all, the thing that got to me was seeing children in the mess, the only fault of their own was not having the common sense to be born in a country like ours. How could they have been so dumb? oh that's right, you can't choose that. So seeing the whole spectrum of suffering made me change the way I see everything, a paradigm shift, so to speak. If you know me, you know what I think about religion, politics and that whole mess.

However, someone asked me, if I still buy into the whole "Honor Stuff" from the marines, for some reason, the question got to me, the answer is yes, I do, why wouldn't I? but the way it was asked rubbed me the wrong way or something, I don't think it was ill-intentioned, and the person that asked does not know me personally. So it's ok, I forgive any actual or imagined transgression. It's no big deal, really. But I do want to list out the thing that will never change, and I want to point out what I think it's the best thing about the Marine Infantry. Their training philosophy, which I am grateful for, and the reason why they say you are always a marine, because the values they teach can stay with you forever.

The Marines invests in their people

Besides the obvious physical conditioning and outstanding rifle marksmanship, the most important measure of a marine in the grunts, is his character. They of course do not phrase it that way, they like to call it "leadership". What it means, is that every marine is responsible for his own character development. Every month there is an evaluation done by his supervisor in which all the leadership traits are individually scored, but the thing is, leadership is built in the culture.


I just want to point out that the page in my journal represent my take away from my time in the infantry. This guidebook applies to everyone. So I thought I'd share it here. **edit: Just realized that this comes from an Army manual, but the marine corps version is pretty much the same**



BE

(a) Technically and tactically proficient, can accomplish all task to standards
(b) Posses professional character traits, Courage, Candor, Competence and Integrity


KNOW

(a) Four major factors of leadership and how they affect each other. The led, the leader, the situation and communications.
(b) yourself and seek self-improvement. Strengths and weakness of your character, knowledge and skills. Continually develop your strengths and work on overcoming your weakness.
(c) your soldiers and lookout for their well being, train them for the rigors of combat, take care of them.


DO

(a) Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
(b) Make sound and timely decisions
(c) Set the example
(d) Keep your people informed
(e) Develop a sense of responsibility
(f) Ensure the task is understood, supervised and accomplished
(g) Build the team
(h) employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities



The point is that these skills are transferable to all aspects of life. It's up to the individual to work on these though, some people go trough 4 years in the grunts without "getting it" but, it is part of the environment. Something that I strive for. It comes from the there. For that, I am thankful. I am proud of the Marine Corps and the Army as well, for that reason. The work ethic they posses is unparalleled.

That is all.

J.V.

I live my life in a quiet , constant struggle deciding what to do.

There are 4 things that I want to spend most of my "free" time doing.

1. Quality time with family

2. Read books for pleasure

3. Read technical books to "sharpen my saw" and improve technically

4. Do my own projects, work on the things that are interesting to me.

I spend most of my time doing #1 and #2. #3 and #4 suffering, lagging behind. I want to do something about it. It's tough because I can basically always sit back and do 1, and 2. (No, not that #1 and #2, jeez) 3 and 4 require a higher degree of concentration and a large amount of time. I can't just write code in 15 minute intervals. I need to figure out a way to do squeeze technical improvements into my schedule.

The importance of a sense of purpose

Since graduation, I've been reading a lot of good books just for the fun of it. However, I am starting to feel like I need something else, like a big project. A few months ago, (actually, now that I think about it, it was more like a couple of years ago) I was thinking of a startup, after taking that entrepreneurship course at UF, I prefer to do project that won't consume my whole life. Something like doing apps or creating a nice web page. Learn a few programming languages a year, write a serious, interesting tool or application. That kind of stuff that requires some effort, but can be put down in case something else comes up.

I enjoy myself more when I have a sense of purpose in my day to day routine. For me is simple, yet not easy. I live in constant struggle to better myself. I understand that I have limitations, but I strive to get past them. How do I better myself? By working on my character, by working on being a more decent human being, specially to those that are close to me. I attempt to understand what makes a good husband, to be a good parent, and a good friend, this is difficult, yet it's important. In fact, I consider this The Most Important Thing.

The other personal challenge I have is that I want to become number one in my field, that's also a difficult task, being an engineer is hard enough, being a great engineer requires constant effort, it's not enough to do one's job right, one must also push the boundary.

So that is the reason for my inner struggle, on one hand I have this engulfing desire to better myself, on the other hand, there are pleasurable things that I can be doing that don't necessarily help me improve but that are just as important. Spending time with my family doing nice things is super important to me. Watching movies, enjoying a quiet dinner with Martha. Curling up with a good novel. Playing soccer with friends, all these things sum up to what I call "the good life"

That's all I have.

J.V.

Recharged

Just got back from a nice, relaxing vacation with the family. What I loved the most is that the kids and Martha were very happy. Although Anthony thought that the animals you see from your window at the Animal Kingdom Lodge were "boring", I had to laugh at that one, damn, they have no idea about how good they have it.


I have been reading that book "Founders at Work" Stories about startups' early days. I have learned a lot from it. I know a few things about starting something. However, I know that I am not ready from the technical point of view, to take the plunge, I might do it someday, everything depends, I am glad I don't have an MBA though, business types think that the hard part of a business is the analysis, figuring out if there is a market for something, all these things of course are important, but the thing they don't get is that they think that implementing something is trivial, that the execution part is straight forward and the programmers are in the back just doing their thing while they (business people) run the company and make it rain or something. The fact is, that the engineering matters. Making a high-quality product that matters is hard. Good programmers that know how to write quality code quickly, who understand the business and the technology, those people are invaluable, that's what I am planning on becoming. I am more than a code monkey, I understand the customer, the business, the product, the science and the math. Having this knowledge yields the power to start a whole industry all in one person. That's how strong an engineering education is. I know that I can get there, that's why I keep investing in my education, because this gives me the freedom to create whatever I want.


Anyway, right now I must focus my energy and effort to COP5555, one of the projects is to write a lexical analyzer ,which I knew it was coming, but the challenge seems good, I feel ready for this battle, all I have is the summer, the fall, and I'll be graduating in the spring, FSM willing.

Black Friday

This morning I did something I thought I'd never do. Something that I've criticized in other people. I went to a store in the wee hours of the morning, stood in the cold waiting to buy a stupid gizmo. In this case it was a 32' HDTV for $246. Showed up at 0345 hrs and there was huge line already, I stood there overhearing conversations people were having around me, I was trying to read my book but could not help hearing about how this chick was trying to quit smoking and about how hard it was to fool her husband, who is a cop, I tried to butt in the conversation, but probably came across as the biggest creep, I don't care, I was just trying to be friendly. Anyway, finally the doors opened and people started rushing in, I wanted to get out with my dignity intact, so I did my best not to run to the Electronics section, once I got there I watched in panic as everyone was running in the opposite direction with the LCD TV's in hand, once I got the stash there were only like 3 left, I am not sure, but I think I may have grabbed someone's TV, but I didn't stop to make sure, by the time I had mine in hand, the TVs were all gone. Yes, at 05:03 there were none left. None.

I paid for the TV and went back to the store to see if I could find a $3 toaster or a good deal on an espresso machine, but no luck, everything else was marked up at a regular price, so I came home and went to sleep until the kids and the cats climbed into bed and woke us up.

Lesson learned: I don't think I will do this again, unless it's a really good deal and it's something I really wanted to get anyway. It's ok to try it once, however, people behave strangely when they are grouped into mobs. Crazy. Crazy.

Be Good to each other.

J.V.

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for having a great family and for having the pleasure of knowing so many amazing people. If you are reading this and we've shared a meal or a drink together that means I think you are an awesome person. Thank you.

I am thankful for every breath of air. Being alive is a great gift, as much suffering, struggle, and unfairness we have in life, it still beats being dead. I am not thankful for war, but I am thankful for the lessons I learned from that experience.

I am thankful for living. That is all.

Saturday Morn

It's six in the morning, still tired, sleepy from staying up late the night before, (watching Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino) I hear sounds, what is that? The theme for Mickey's Clubhouse? wow, yes it is, I hear knocking on the door, is Anthony, and he is ready for a new day, next thing I know the bed gets overrun, Gaby, Anthony, the cat, Martha and I are crammed up, Anthony is constantly jumping, Martha is checking her email, and I am trying to squeeze another 15 minutes of sleep. It's futile, I wave the white flag and prepare for a brand new day.

There's so much to do, I have to pack for tomorrow's trip, I have a research paper, a midterm, homework questions and a programming assignment, not to mention the fact that we need to pick up around the house, do laundry, and watch Anthony while Martha goes to yet another baby-shower. So many babies that we know, must all our acquaintances have kids at the same time?

In any case, here I am, deciding what has priority, and I think I'd rather spend the day doing Fatherly stuff, I am going to miss Father's day, Martha's b-day, and a whole week of interaction that I am never going to get back. The school work can wait for my hotel room in Chicago. (well, it's Schaumburg to be precise)

Of Books and other Projects

Two weeks ago I finished reading "Journey through Genius, a history of Mathematical Masterpieces" a look a Mathematics's greatest theorems from a historian's perspective, it went over the lives of the world's most influential math masters, I was fascinated with the elegance of the greek's Geometry, the simplicity and genius of their proof. Archimedes proof of the Pythagoras Theorem is breathtaking. The amazing skills of Newton and Euler left me in startled. 500 years from now, our computing and communication technology will be obsolete but their theorems will still be sound and relevant. Math theorems are forever, we can always add to the knowledge but we can never make it obsolete.

Take Euclid's proof that there is an infinite number of Primes, he uses redutio ad absurdum.

1. Suppose that there exists a finite number of primes, and the largest prime is Pn.

2. Now take all the primes up to Pn and multiply them together and then add 1.
1 * 2 * 3 * 5 .......Pn + 1 = N

3. Now, this number N by construction, is either another prime or divisible by a prime number larger than Pn.

4. Q.E.D.

Thousands of years have passed since Euclid's time and nobody has been able to put a dent on his proof. It's simple, concise, elegant and pure genius. If you can appreciate that, then you can see why so many say that math is the language that god speaks. I don't know about all that, but it's the best language to describe natural phenomena and it's the best tool to model and understand our world, not to mention that it's beauty is captivating.

I have also been reading Bart Ehrman's books, Jesus, Interrupted, God's Problem and Misquoting Jesus, and studying the bible from a historical perspective. I am interested in knowing what's in the Bible. It's good to know the circumstances around it's many authors, the story of the people who wrote them and why it matters. I have learned a lot about the New Testament, things that you don't learn in Sunday school. I don't think that knowing about the Bible is necessarily a stumbling block for people of faith. Although it can open up the doors for more doubts. It'll let that be for now.

I have so many side projects that I have started and left open...

***Breaking****
Just found out Gaby has a 100.4F temperature, so I have to go to deal with that. No worries, I am sure she's going to be fine, but I am going to have to cut this short.

Be good to each other.

J.V.

Bicycle

When I was ten years old, on Christmas day I woke up to the best Christmas gift of my entire life. As soon as I opened my eyes, there was the nicest bike, right in my room! From then on, I would spend my days after school riding around Barcelona, that's how I remember my childhood, racing my buddies, going places too far for my parent's comfort, I would head out there, just myself and the bike, and I would savor the day, feel the hot breeze of the Venezuelan East Side, I would stay in the sidewalk the whole time, but the rides could always be dangerous, there's no such thing as a pedestrian right of way down there, and I almost got hit many times, but I learned to be careful, to be alert on the road. When you are riding a bike it's the exact opposite of patrolling in the infantry, the key is to be seen. So I would make sure that I was in nobody's blind spot.

I liked to ride so much because it gave me time to think about stuff, I would ponder upon the things that seemed so important back then, plans for the future, questions about life, about school, friends, later about girls that I never had the courage to speak to. I remember the last time I rode the bike in my town, I knew I was about to come to the United States and I was conscious of the fact that this would be the last time I would see my neighborhood like this, I tried my best to take a mental snapshot of the park I used to ride trough, my park, it was basically a wide sidewalk lining up the main avenue that connects Barcelona to Puerto La Cruz. I don't remember what else I did that day, all I can recall is how it felt, to know that life was changing, to be aware that after that day things will never be the same. It hasn't.


Today, I rode a bike again, not trough the old park of my childhood, but trough my current neighborhood. Today was one of those nasty hot muggy Florida Summer days, the thunderstorm clouds lurking nearby, threating with rain and lighting, the multitude of little bugs hitting my eyes, the fiery hot air that burns my lungs. Sweat sticking to my shirt, and I am loving it, I traverse all the streets in my block, looking at all the houses, all the palm trees, mango trees, the local dogs, rednecks working on their cars, teenagers hanging around, people fishing in the canals, (will they eat whatever they catch?) I ride around, feeling like I am twelve again, I swear I must have been smiling the whole time, although I am sure I must have swallowed a bug or two.

I think I am going to do this more often.

J.V.

Chicago

I'm in Schaumburg IL, in a work-related trip to the Mother Ship (Company Headquarters)thankfully, work has been uneventful, which means things are going according to plan. It's interesting to see other sides of the business doing their thing. I am at one of the factories doing some quality control work, actually, my job is to standby, in case a major catastrophe or something comes up. The thing about that is that I am there representing my whole department. People here are not shy to tell me their opinion of the Development team from Florida. I think it's natural, because the feeling of love is mutual. Other than that, I am having a good time. I kind of like Chicago, it seems like NYC with a Mid West mentality. Everywhere you look there are people with Cub's shirts, hats, etc, and you can't help but to smile and sympathize, for a city that still loves their baseball team after 100 losing seasons can't be all that bad.

The only thing missing is Martha and the kids. I know they would love it here, the weather is nice, and there are a lot of things to do here. It's too bad they could not make it. In the other hand, it's nice to wake up in a quiet room. Lately I've been starting the day with a hyper three year old and two cranky women, one is two and the other 24, they both act the same in the morning. The funny thing is, I can't live without any of them.

Well, it's time to go to work.

J.V.

The Curious Case of The disappearing Milk Bottle

This morning we lost a milk bottle. It must be in the same place where all the odd socks go.

There's not much of a story, really, the last time I saw the bottle was this morning after the kids got out of bed, we have one for each child. Gaby was asking for milk so I took one down to fill it up, when I came back upstairs to get the second one it was gone. Just like that. I thought, no big deal it probably rolled under the bed or something. So I started to look for it. It's been 12 hours, we turned every piece of furniture, searched every imaginable place, questioned each other's sanity, integrity and method of birth, (not really, actually it has been a civil search, it's amusing really) but we have not found the bottle. The mystery remains to be solved. It has to turn up eventually, I can't wait to find out where the thing is. I am not sure I am going to be able to sleep soundly until the bottle turns up.

J.V.

Stress can take the joy away from anything

I truly enjoy figuring out how things work. That's why I am in grad school, I find all of mathematics fascinating, elegant and beautiful...(just like my wife). However, It has been difficult for me, I keep taking these test where the problems that are given to me take me by surprise. There's nothing more discouraging that sitting in a test with a question you have no idea how to answer, not even how to begin to approach the problem. Somehow, that hasn't stopped me from trying. In this grueling process, I have learned a thing or two here and there. Here's what I'd like to share.

You don't know crap until you've done it

That's true, Anyone can read and memorize technical jargon until they are blue in the face, but to really know something, you have to put it in practice. You can't become a good runner without running. You can learn all you want about painting, but nobody can call themselves a painter until you actually paint something. Same thing with engineering, you have to put things together, try things out, make it work, and then the theory solidifies in your head.

Grades don't really mean crap

Ok, it's funny that I say that now that I am no longer getting good grades, but it's true. Yeah, I used to get good grades in my undergrad, but I wasn't trying to get an A, I was really trying to get to know the subject. I knew people who would try to do just enough to get the grade, and not more, any "wasted" effort learning something that wasn't necessary to get a good grade on the class was in their eyes, an inefficiency, the whole point was to get the degree so they could check that box. I, in the other hand, became thrilled when I realized how much there is to know about computers. I had to work hard for the grades, but usually the more effort I put in a class, the easier it was to get an A.

Not Anymore.

These days I study, I memorize, I read, I try to comprehend, but there's so much material, and it's all so new, I feel I've met my limit, however, I am not defeated, I will keep going. I will not give up. I am trying new things, for example, (and this may sound obvious) but I am going to try to concentrate on solving problems, practice, practice, practice. Also, I am going to try this thing I heard somewhere, I am going to try to write all the theory concepts in my own words, that way it forces my brain to process it. It's tough to do with the abstract math, but it helps.

Anyway, I have to go now, Gotta help pick up the house we have visitors coming.

Later ya'll.

Be good to each other.

J.V.

Academic Battle

I have been trying to learn a brand new professional skill for the past 12 months. It's called Digital Signal Processing. About this time last year I made the decision to focus my Master's Degree on Electrical Engineering as opposed to Computer Science. Ironically, that decision was based on the assumption that a degree in C.S. would be too much work (because of the programming assignments) and that DSP would be easier because it's math based, after all, how hard can the math be?

Well my friends, on retrospect I could welcome programming projects, I have been reviewing and learning math, math, math for the past 12 months. I think I am finally getting it, but only because of rote determination, by the sheer power of my fear of failure, I have been spending my evenings and weekends trying to know, and understand the material in the books pictured above.

From Calculus I am reviewing Integrals: Integration by parts, the number e and its properties, logarithms and logarithmic functions, Taylor Series, Fourier Series, Power Series, Trig identities.

From Signals and Systems I had to teach myself the Convolution Integral, something that I never saw my undergrad and something that was truly meant for computers to calculate, I don't know how on earth mathematicians knew these things before the age of electronics. Kudos to them.

From Probability and Random processes I realized that I am a math chump, an inferior being who can't grasp the simple concepts of combinations and permutations, who has trouble setting up probability densities and distributions. Random variables, Random functions, Random sequences and Random processes nearly took my sanity away last semester.

This semester looks more promising, since we use all the math in the foundation subjects to apply them and come up with working systems that transmit and receive information using electromagnetic fields, binary or M-ary signals. We learn about the signal to Noise ratio necessary to have a low probability of error. It's kind of rewarding to see how all the material comes together to make something do useful work. I never thought so much about something we take for granted on a daily basis. We expect cell phones to work, our laptops to get flawless wi-fi signals, our long distance phone calls to sound crisp and instantaneous. Behind all these things there were industrious engineers making things happen.

So I have been studying. I take a break every now and then, but I can't think of much else, just the family, the job, and the math.

I am glad I took this break though, after this a little more work and then put the kids to bed, and watch a movie with my lady.

Be good to each other guys.

J.V.

Busy Week

Last week was non-stop craziness. Hopefully things will get back to a slower pace now. School is finally picking up, Work has been ramped up for a while now. I've also made new commitments that I feel are important. So as a result, now new post this week. No worries, I'll be back soon. I always come back.

Take care. Thanks for reading.

J.V.

25 Random Things about me

I got hit by the meme in facebook, and, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I thought I'd reproduce it here.


1. Deep down, I am just a curious person. I love to learn things just for the fun of it.
2. I am the definition of a nerd, dork, etc. etc.
3. When I was a kid, I was very shy.
4. I love books, baseball and science.
5. I used to think I was good a Math until I got to Calculus.
6. Computers fascinate me.
7. I have an awesome family
8. I never thought I could love my kids as much as I do.
9. I still feel like a kid.
10. I love Spanish food.
11. I must have spent 20% of my childhood riding a bicycle.
12. At the age of 12, I started reading Stephen King novels.
13. I was born and raised in Venezuela, lived there until I was 13.
14. I learned English by watching T.V.
15. My middle name is Ali.
16. I don't like Sea Food.
17. I love Italian food. Specially lasagna.
18. I put my foot in my mouth a lot.
19. I still drive my first car, and after ten years, can't find a reason to get rid of it.
20. Thanks to the Marines, I have been to more countries than states.
21. I have been to 14 states.
22. I love to travel.
23. I honestly and silently admire my son's courage (At 3, he has more balls than most adults I know)
24. I love math, but math doesn't love me back.
25. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a baseball player and a Pastor/Missionary in the off season.

Miami Heat Game

Low Bowl Seats at the AA arena: $66

Parking: $10

Cotton Candy for Anthony: $5.75

Spending quality time with my son: priceless.

I wasn't planning on taking Anthony to the game since I thought he was too young to enjoy it. But he behaved surprisingly well. Plus we enjoyed watching the Heat explode in the third quarter, I think Wade made the best play of the year tonight. I have no words to express the sweetness of the slam dunk he pulled. When I find the youtube video I'll post it.

Good Times, Good Times.

****EDIT*******

Here's the video, you could see me high-fiving Wade right after...well, not really, but still, it was awesome, the fans went wild right after this.




J.V.

Busy Weekend

This weekend I will be:

1. Moving furniture for a friend.
2. Working overtime.
3. Studying Maximum Likelihood Decision Rules and Maximum A Priory Detection Probability for my Dig. Comm. Class. (Joy!)
4. Spending quality time with the Monkeys.

The last one will not be a chore at all. The kids are at that age when they are actually fun to be around. They are not as helpless as babies, but they still have uncomplicated behavior. (unlike older kids)

So it's really easy to have a good time, just go to a park and let them run wild.

Anyway, that's all for now. Be good.

J.V.

Trivial fact about my self

You know how sometimes you could have a song stuck in your head?

Well, I spent all 13 weeks of Marine Corps Boot Camp with the song Swallowed by BUSH stuck in my head.


And for the whole second half of my tour in Iraq, I was singing Bonito, by Jarabe de Palo.

J.V.

It is NOT good to be a Gator

Ok, I need to calm down, I know. I am really upset.

one.

two.

three.

four.

five.

six.

seven.

eight.

nine.

ten.

Ok, better now.

I applied for a private, student loan last September, not a Grant, not a subsidized loan, it was a private loan. It was between me and my lender. They told me they had everything they needed from me, that they were waiting for my University "to confirm my status".

My employer reimburses me, but I have pay tuition first. UF got my application months ago, but did not bother to inform me that they were not planning on approving the loan until I finally got to speak to someone today. Today, after tuition was due last week, two weeks before I get dis-enrolled for not being able to pay tuition.

Is not like I was cavalier about it. I called the financial aid office numerous times, asking what was going on with my money, NOT ONE PERSON COULD TELL ME what was going on until today.

The reason for denying my loan? Bad Credit? Nope. Information missing? NOPE, They are a bunch of retards? no, I don't think so, even though it's debatable.
It's because I am only taking 3 credits, so I am not a full time student, so therefore, I must not need the money. Thanks for telling me in advance, UF.

/*******EDIT***********/
I feel better now.
Ahh, the therapeutic powers of blogging.

J.V.

Tomorrow

So much free time, don't know what to do

I've got an extra free day today and I don't know what would be the best way to spend it. I've got good quality time with my family, I am covered when it comes to school (but I could always be doing doing SOMETHING with school) there are many side project that I'd like to partake. And of course, I could write a deep, meaningful blog post.

I think I am just going to relax.