Sat, 06 Mar 2010

Nothing to say . . .

If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Remember when your mom told you that? In these days of social media, having nothing particular to say seems to make people feel nervous. Like, if they don't say something, no matter how inane, their head will explode. Well, I have nothing to say, nice or otherwise, so I'll just take my mother's advise and keep quiet.

posted 17:31 [/Social_Networks] permanent link

Sun, 21 Feb 2010

Task lists are pockets, not attics . . .

Take a look here -- quoting:

. . . our inbox/outbox trays (physical or digital) are not filing cabinets. The idea is that data goes in one tray, and out the other, and the goal is to keep both trays empty (meaning you’ve processed the data as it came in, and then shipped it on its way once you’ve finished with it).

It's frustrating when a supervisor, co-worker, business associate does this. You send an e-mail requesting information or action and later, follow up on it, only to find that they have missed it in the thousands that they have in their in box. I just can't work that way.

The first thing I do in the morning is "morning review". I go through my inbox and quickly go through my e-mail to categorize it, create tasks from it, and move it out of the way into the appropriate folders. It takes about 15 minutes maximum and makes sure that new e-mails are noticed when they arrive. Throughout the day, I try to mark and organize my e-mails to keep the inbox as empty as I can.

One other trick is the answer simple e-mails. Often, it is easier to quickly reply to an e-mail when I have the knowledge at my fingertips than to move it around, file it and, later, come back to it.

This helps me. Perhaps I'm just not a multi-tasker, but it works to keep me organized and working toward what is needful.

posted 09:29 [/SimpleThings] permanent link

Mon, 15 Feb 2010

Nothing Much to Say . . .

It's Presidents' Day here in the U.S.; the last day of a three day weekend and a three-fer holiday weekend:

• Valentine's Day
• Lunar New Year
• Presidents' Day

Valentine's day is not much of a holiday -- no time off or anything -- unless you're a greeting card manufacturer, chocolateer, or jewler. Sure, we tell people we love them -- something we should be doing every day, some, who are not in diets, gorge on chocolate, and we send cards with someone else's sentiment on them. Treating other nice is something we should be doing every day of the year, anyway, I'm not certain why we are supporting the greeting card and chocolate industry, but what the heck.

President's day is one of those manufactured holidays to give workers in the U.S. three day weekends. It combines Washington and Lincoln's birthday anniversaries into a single day. Pretty neat concept to get a three day weekend, but it's not like we actually go out and celebrate the legacy of these two great presidents. Stores are open and hoping to take advantage of idle Americans by offering sales. Government services and most offices are closed. Not much else.

Lunar New Year is one of those celebrations, like St. Patrick's day when everyone is oriental, or at least wants to party like they are. This one, at least, is significant to the large oriental community in Sacramento. 2010 (4704 in the Chinese calendar) is the year of the Tiger (Geng Yin). Chinese New Year is the second new moon after the winter solstice. Gung hee fatt choi (Congratulations and be prosperous).

OK, I'm outa here for a walk on a beautiful day. After all, at least I'm on holiday!

posted 09:01 [/bloids] permanent link

Thu, 11 Feb 2010

Share the Road ...Motorcyclists, take note

This morning I saw a sign which said:

Share the road, give motorcyclists a second look.

It seems to me that it should have said:

Share the road, motorcyclists, cutting between cars, squeezing into the tightest spaces you can find, ignoring all rules of the road at high speeds is stupid.

Just a thought . . .

posted 10:43 [/bloids] permanent link

Sun, 31 Jan 2010

A Weekend of Projects . . .

. . . and I thought I had left school years ago. This weekend, I spent time in eighth grade and high school -- with my kids -- doing projects. All three had project work to do and we spent the time together doing them. At least it was "family time".

posted 16:44 [/bloids] permanent link

Fri, 22 Jan 2010

The Corporations as the American People . . .

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The corporation you work for is now more a part of the "the American People" that the political demagogs rant about than you are . . . at least in the view of the conservative majority of the Supreme Court. That's because they are allowed to contribute as much money as they wish to political campaigns while you are not and we all know what influences politicians. It's not the voice of "the American People", but the money of the special interests. And what segment of the country has the most money? The insurance companies, the pharmeseutical companies, the defence companies, . . .

For politicians, money talks -- corporations have it, you don't!

posted 06:58 [/Politics] permanent link

The American People, Reprise . . .

How do you know when a politician is lying? His lips are moving.

I have said it before and will say it again, there is no phrase more irritating from the mouth of a politician than one that starts,

The American People want . . .

When I hear this, all the words come out, "bs . . . bs . . . bs . . . ". It's like the old Charlie Brown cartoons where the adult voices we are
"waah...waah...waah". What do these self-serving insolated demagogs know about the American People and what we want!?

I have one thing to say to THEM, STOP IT!

posted 05:35 [/Politics] permanent link

Mon, 11 Jan 2010

Detecting the Crazies

With the increased use of bluetooth headsets, its difficult to tell the crazies from the cell phone users.

This morning at 6:15 while filling up my car, I spotted a lady next to her car gesticulating wildly and talking in a loud voice. About 10 years ago, people would have been avoiding her like the plague, assuming that she was talking to unseen spirits. Now, it was just another annoying person sharing their cell phone conversation with the world. She was, obviously, someone who spoke with her hands and she continued this quirk while on the cell phone.

Telling the crazy ones from the cell phone users . . . maybe there isn't all that much difference.

posted 07:01 [/bloids] permanent link

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Cosmeticize . . .

. . . to make (something unpleasant or ugly) superficially attractive

[source]

This word describes what we tend to do a lot. People tend to want to make something look good rather than fixing the underlying problem which makes it "unpleasant or ugly". This applies to all sorts of activities from programming to politics. I say, let's get under the skin and fix the real problems in all sorts of things.

posted 08:29 [/Thoughts] permanent link

Fri, 01 Jan 2010

I'm at Blogspot

I'm trying a different blog approach at Blogspot. The link is at the left. The new blog gives me some advantages that I can make entries using Microsoft's OneNote and upload them to the blog (see my trial with this blog here) and I can also blog using just the browser. I may end up going there, but I'm going to give both of them a try for a bit to see what works best. It really shouldn't make much difference, since I don't think anyone's reading this anyway, but what the heck. Here's wishing a happy and prosperous 200910 (shoot, that's going to take a while . . .) to the world!

posted 08:10 [/WebSite] permanent link