George Carlin did a routine about moving stuff in our lives, how important it is, how we spend a great deal of time taking it from place to place. My spin on that is that we typically pack a bag with old underwear when we fly to Europe. My life, too, is overly encumbered with stuff, much of it misplaced, broken, unused, dated and of no real value. I think "the cloud" will solve much of that. Actually I've already misplaced, lost and stored a lot of worthless stuff in the cloud. The real advantage to that is when I die my family won't know the passwords of the URL's so that will be quick with no repetitive trips to Goodwill or the Salvation Army with all "my stuff."
Yesterday we checked on the status of our goods (from the small business) at a new account in Minneapolis. Last week we stood on our heads (I cannot, my father could) to deliver a large order. In the process I became an overnight expert on UPC-A and EAN-12 barcodes. During a quick walk through the store we found one category of our goods but not the other. While creating and printing the barcodes I did wig out a bit over some alignment issues and I thought that might be the issue (an perhaps a problem for the customer).
Placing a quick email to one of the contacts asking how it was going and where the product might be in the store he responded that they might not be out yet and that he was just a glorified stock boy.
That reminded me of the George Carlin routine and I responded back to the young man with "We're all stock boys in the life,, moving one kind of thing or another from one place to another, waiting for someone to tell us to move it again. At a point in life you will tell people to move stuff, and then to move it again, and it will all be fine. It all works out."
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Barn Finds, Mind Finds
Classic car collectors are always hoping to discover a treasure parked in a barn (or pole building) decades ago. YouTube is full of videos. Some of them are interesting, some contrived. Once in a while I have a recurring dream about of our first 'up north' cabin which is actually comprised of a simple 20 x 30 cabin, a simple 8 x 10 shed and a simple 4 x 4 outhouse.
The cabin proper was built by Glenn and Helen Miller around 1960. We purchased it in 1983. There are a lot of stories. It was built on a single layer of blocks with not really a crawl space unless you are a raccoon or coyote, both of which have inhabited the 12" crawl space. Around 1990 the floor rotted and began to collapse. Not often do you get to use a chainsaw inside your house. Removing the floor and replacing it with treated joists and flooring in ridiculously cold Minnesota winter was made interesting by the fact that the interior walls hung from the ceiling with the floor removed and the occurrence of the only break in.
Twice I've re-roofed the shed (the cabin once) which has a pitched roof and is built entirely of lumber milled from trees on the property.
I built the outhouse at our home (not 'up north') in the driveway. Neighbors could not understand the purpose of a hole in the floor of a garden shed. Built to be moved and re-assembled it's served it's purpose for 24 years. Glenn and Helen's outhouse lasted 30.
In the dream I'm wandering about looking in several other buildings on the property, finding a few treasures but no cars.
The YouTube videos always show someone with a bolt cutter taking off a lock and there there's the car or truck under decades of dust, mouse droppings surrounded by parts; someone long ago just walked away from making this car special, making it run just one more time.
Recently I've been thinking about people I know and people I've worked with. Certainly some of them have intellect, creativity, passion and enthusiasm; they show it and use it every day making their lives (their's and their friends and family) rich. What I'm concerned about are the circumstances that cause the doors to be closed and locked or simply left a bit ajar, too small to enter or leave.
The cabin proper was built by Glenn and Helen Miller around 1960. We purchased it in 1983. There are a lot of stories. It was built on a single layer of blocks with not really a crawl space unless you are a raccoon or coyote, both of which have inhabited the 12" crawl space. Around 1990 the floor rotted and began to collapse. Not often do you get to use a chainsaw inside your house. Removing the floor and replacing it with treated joists and flooring in ridiculously cold Minnesota winter was made interesting by the fact that the interior walls hung from the ceiling with the floor removed and the occurrence of the only break in.
Twice I've re-roofed the shed (the cabin once) which has a pitched roof and is built entirely of lumber milled from trees on the property.
I built the outhouse at our home (not 'up north') in the driveway. Neighbors could not understand the purpose of a hole in the floor of a garden shed. Built to be moved and re-assembled it's served it's purpose for 24 years. Glenn and Helen's outhouse lasted 30.
In the dream I'm wandering about looking in several other buildings on the property, finding a few treasures but no cars.
The YouTube videos always show someone with a bolt cutter taking off a lock and there there's the car or truck under decades of dust, mouse droppings surrounded by parts; someone long ago just walked away from making this car special, making it run just one more time.
Recently I've been thinking about people I know and people I've worked with. Certainly some of them have intellect, creativity, passion and enthusiasm; they show it and use it every day making their lives (their's and their friends and family) rich. What I'm concerned about are the circumstances that cause the doors to be closed and locked or simply left a bit ajar, too small to enter or leave.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Eagles, Ducks and Dead Fish
Ducks, Eagles and Dead Fish
Many years ago during the 27-year gig the organization began the process of strategic planning, bringing in one expert after another sort of randomly poking at perceived organizational roadblocks. Lou Holzt was the coach of the Notre Dame football team at the time and given that was our owners alma mater, Lou was one step below the Pope. Not making enough money as coach he was a traveling salesman, a carpetbagger of sorts, spreading his wisdom learned from coaching large, steroid-filled men to the corporate world.
Essentially the program talked about 'eagles' who soared above the rest, who saw things others did not, who were true leaders, people that others would follow, look to and follow as they forged new frontiers in the domestic and world centers of trade, business and innovation. At the other continuum were 'ducks.' They simply sat on the water, ate, migrated not because it was there idea but because it was a direction everyone else went when it became too hot or too cold. I guess Lou did not understand that eagles, too, migrate for more or less the same reason.
The planning session involved a football coach sort of introduction...go team, we can beat the competition, we have the guts, etc. Following that two large flip charts appeared at the front of the room and the challenge was to name people who belonged on the duck list and the eagle list. Obviously the eagle list started to fill first. The facilitator pressed the attendees to name ducks, people who held the organization back.
I was not very well known at the time and someone put my name on the duck list. Over twenty-seven years this person would periodically mention that he did not like me.
The program became interesting when someone named the owners executive secretary and office manager and employee #3 as a duck. I never found out who suggested that name but there was lively discussion and debate. This meeting occurred on a mandatory Saturday. Never again did the exercise of naming ducks and eagles occur. Over time I became the first person to win two 'eagle' awards' in two separate decades for dramatically different efforts.
This morning as I drove to Holiday for coffee I passed Lake Vadnais which was frozen last week but this morning had an inch of water covering it. Two eagles were sitting about 200 yards offshore, next to each other and in contention for a dead fish. An iPhone image capture effort would have been disappointing. I pulled over and watched as the eagles tussled. Both being mature, one finally gave up, not because of losing this particular contest but because there are always more dead fish.
Yesterday I was near my former office headquarters and made a call to meet someone for coffee. They were unavailable and I ran through the list of twenty or so people of seven hundred that I'd actually like to talk to. After a few moments I closed the door on that thought, looked at the eagle reflection in the windo and flew off to find another dead fish.
Morning Problems
During my gig I had a staff that did all the IT support and at a point they took away my screwdrivers and deleted my network and ERP administrator rights. My job was to work on the strategy and politics and budget and creative, innovative side of IT. I did that well.
We do a lot of printing for the small business, consuming large quantities of inkjet and laser toner. Over the years I've bought many OEM and aftermarket products. The bottom line is that OEM products work. Aftermarket products work, too, most of the time, just not all of the time.
Anyone with a brain scourers garage sales, auctions, etc., for USA manufactured tools (e.g. wrenches, sockets, etc.). For whatever reason I still feel compelled to use aftermarket cartridges. This morning I spent 1.5 hours screwing with a series of bad cartridges. Given that I used to make money I do that calculation of how much that cost. The small business really does well but my time is pretty much donated. I guess that means it has no cost or it's really valuable.
Given the likelihood of printers to fail and the importance of printing I have backup printing devices. In all likelihood, they are of Chinese manufacture, just like all the cheap tools at Harbor Freight. OEM cartridges seem to be the remaining holdout on quality. Later today I may simply put all my remaining aftermarket cartridges in the 'recycle' box, but then again I may not have fully learned this lesson.
Job
I'm re-scheduling my search until after the first of the year and after tax season. That will give me about six months to leverage my outplacement service which has been of great value.
Many years ago during the 27-year gig the organization began the process of strategic planning, bringing in one expert after another sort of randomly poking at perceived organizational roadblocks. Lou Holzt was the coach of the Notre Dame football team at the time and given that was our owners alma mater, Lou was one step below the Pope. Not making enough money as coach he was a traveling salesman, a carpetbagger of sorts, spreading his wisdom learned from coaching large, steroid-filled men to the corporate world.
Essentially the program talked about 'eagles' who soared above the rest, who saw things others did not, who were true leaders, people that others would follow, look to and follow as they forged new frontiers in the domestic and world centers of trade, business and innovation. At the other continuum were 'ducks.' They simply sat on the water, ate, migrated not because it was there idea but because it was a direction everyone else went when it became too hot or too cold. I guess Lou did not understand that eagles, too, migrate for more or less the same reason.
The planning session involved a football coach sort of introduction...go team, we can beat the competition, we have the guts, etc. Following that two large flip charts appeared at the front of the room and the challenge was to name people who belonged on the duck list and the eagle list. Obviously the eagle list started to fill first. The facilitator pressed the attendees to name ducks, people who held the organization back.
I was not very well known at the time and someone put my name on the duck list. Over twenty-seven years this person would periodically mention that he did not like me.
The program became interesting when someone named the owners executive secretary and office manager and employee #3 as a duck. I never found out who suggested that name but there was lively discussion and debate. This meeting occurred on a mandatory Saturday. Never again did the exercise of naming ducks and eagles occur. Over time I became the first person to win two 'eagle' awards' in two separate decades for dramatically different efforts.
This morning as I drove to Holiday for coffee I passed Lake Vadnais which was frozen last week but this morning had an inch of water covering it. Two eagles were sitting about 200 yards offshore, next to each other and in contention for a dead fish. An iPhone image capture effort would have been disappointing. I pulled over and watched as the eagles tussled. Both being mature, one finally gave up, not because of losing this particular contest but because there are always more dead fish.
Yesterday I was near my former office headquarters and made a call to meet someone for coffee. They were unavailable and I ran through the list of twenty or so people of seven hundred that I'd actually like to talk to. After a few moments I closed the door on that thought, looked at the eagle reflection in the windo and flew off to find another dead fish.
Morning Problems
During my gig I had a staff that did all the IT support and at a point they took away my screwdrivers and deleted my network and ERP administrator rights. My job was to work on the strategy and politics and budget and creative, innovative side of IT. I did that well.
Anyone with a brain scourers garage sales, auctions, etc., for USA manufactured tools (e.g. wrenches, sockets, etc.). For whatever reason I still feel compelled to use aftermarket cartridges. This morning I spent 1.5 hours screwing with a series of bad cartridges. Given that I used to make money I do that calculation of how much that cost. The small business really does well but my time is pretty much donated. I guess that means it has no cost or it's really valuable.
Given the likelihood of printers to fail and the importance of printing I have backup printing devices. In all likelihood, they are of Chinese manufacture, just like all the cheap tools at Harbor Freight. OEM cartridges seem to be the remaining holdout on quality. Later today I may simply put all my remaining aftermarket cartridges in the 'recycle' box, but then again I may not have fully learned this lesson.
Job
I'm re-scheduling my search until after the first of the year and after tax season. That will give me about six months to leverage my outplacement service which has been of great value.
Write, right.
This is from a week, perhaps ten days ago. There was some point to the introduction but I believe I lost that under the snow and will complete in the spring.
Direction, North
It seems that I've been spending a great deal of time moving myself or things from one place to another
.jpg)
The "up north" property involves driving north. I'm doing the math in my head. Apparently I've spent approximately one thousand hours in the 2004 vehicle going "up north." Since August there's been a focus on everything that needs to be done before winter sets in. The last time winter set in with a big snowfall was 1991 with 18" or 19". This year it was yesterday with 12-15". There were a handful of things that needed to be done and many that could be done but it's deer season and every outdoor adventure includes a small risk of being a target so I guess the snow was timely.
Direction, South
.jpg)
Random, Overhead
From Mad Men:
1) "Don't spend your time dining on the drama of other people's lives."
2) "My podiatrist went to Hazelden."
Direction, North
It seems that I've been spending a great deal of time moving myself or things from one place to another
.jpg)
The "up north" property involves driving north. I'm doing the math in my head. Apparently I've spent approximately one thousand hours in the 2004 vehicle going "up north." Since August there's been a focus on everything that needs to be done before winter sets in. The last time winter set in with a big snowfall was 1991 with 18" or 19". This year it was yesterday with 12-15". There were a handful of things that needed to be done and many that could be done but it's deer season and every outdoor adventure includes a small risk of being a target so I guess the snow was timely.
Direction, South
.jpg)
Random, Overhead
From Mad Men:
1) "Don't spend your time dining on the drama of other people's lives."
2) "My podiatrist went to Hazelden."
Saturday, November 8, 2014
A Guy With A Good Job
The white van that stopped at the small business simply said "Nielsen" on the side. The driver bought four large salads (all different), a grilled chicken wrap and a kiwi drink, all to go. While my daughter did the real work I asked the customer what he did.
"Nielsen does cellular network testing for the three major carrier networks. I service seven major markets."
"What exactly do you do?
"I drive fixed routes in each market sending and receiving data and then I upload it at night. It's been a good job for nine years."
"So just drive around? What is your background?"
"Yes, I just drive around and let the equipment do what it needs to do. I have a Masters in electrical engineering. Previously I was a contractor doing exactly the same thing. Now that I'm 67 I like the benefits."
Who would have thought there were jobs like that? He's sixty-seven. At sixty-four I think I might still warrant the compensation of a c-level guy but then I'd be doing budgets, managing people that don't want to be managed or annoying those that don't need managing, working on strategy, cost-effective process and system improvements, politics, etc. Theoretically let's say the c-level job pays six-figures responsible for all those previously mentioned tasks versus a job that pays '.5 x six-figures" and involves getting in a nice van and driving around.
As much as I like driving I don't like sitting for extended periods of time and I do enjoy impossible tasks for commensurate pay.
Training Day
Today my daughter trained me on some of the things she does at the small business. I've avoided being good at some of those because of the obvious. The real upside to the experience was finding out she is a very good trainer, something I did not know.
Mobility & Embarrassement
.jpg)
My better half was out of town and I had to fill in on another small business activity at another location at five PM. Being unusually early gave me the opportunity to use my phone as a hotspot, sit in the car and start a blog post (this one). Any good mobile user has to futz with their headset or earbuds, find the right tunes,
check their email account(s), monitor Twitter and look at Facebook before doing any real work.
Sitting in a car doing all this with a notebook propped on the steering wheel and your gut is weird and it always makes me feel like a creeper. It was an opportunity for a good quick Facebook read or short non-dancing cat post but I was distracted by the advertisement "Manilow." Being greatly embarrassed I have to admit that I've actually seen Barry Manilow three times in concert. One of those concerts was a fundraiser for children with no homes or some incurable disease or their parents were ultra liberal or ultra conservative. Certainly that makes my three concerts somewhat less pathetic. After the third one even my wife said "enough."
I Cannot Work At Bruegger's or Caribou
At three-ten PM the Bruegger's/Caribou doors open and fifty middle-school kids flood in. They are very noisy. Apparently while I'm on the budget plan for artisan coffee the thirteen/fourteen crowd has money for that and it does not make them quieter. They're not totally obnoxious but the staff looks pained. The young boys look like they are ten and the young girls look like they are fifteen and they all have similar voices. Combined with the really poor wireless internet bandwidth I gravitate to sleezy locations where no twenty-something or thirty-something or even older mobile workers would be seen. Burger King has good internet and the few patrons simply sit and stare or read the paper leaving me the bandwidth. I always buy a beverage just to "pay my way," but Burger King is so awful that I usually throw the contents away.
"Little Miss Sunshine" was written by a Twin Cities woman who sat at a coffee shop for a year or two. I'm not sure if it was the coffee, the duration or the location that caused her to create such a sad but happy and thoughtful film. OK this is wrong. My movie viewing has been off for at least a decade. "Little Miss Sunshiine" was a very good film and I would recommend it to almost anyone. It's not a movie for kids. The filmwriter/movie writing scenario was Juno, a film about a young girl unexpectedly pregnant. I've seen the film but not read the screenplay. As much as I promote remote/mobile working I'm not sure that much really gets done but I'm not sure much gets done in the formerly white collar office environment either.
Why This Post About Not Having a Dumb Job is Lacking Today.
Whipping Post by The Allman Brothers is simply too overwhelming today. Lacking, overwhelming, blah, blah, blah.
"Nielsen does cellular network testing for the three major carrier networks. I service seven major markets."
"What exactly do you do?
"I drive fixed routes in each market sending and receiving data and then I upload it at night. It's been a good job for nine years."
"So just drive around? What is your background?"
"Yes, I just drive around and let the equipment do what it needs to do. I have a Masters in electrical engineering. Previously I was a contractor doing exactly the same thing. Now that I'm 67 I like the benefits."
Who would have thought there were jobs like that? He's sixty-seven. At sixty-four I think I might still warrant the compensation of a c-level guy but then I'd be doing budgets, managing people that don't want to be managed or annoying those that don't need managing, working on strategy, cost-effective process and system improvements, politics, etc. Theoretically let's say the c-level job pays six-figures responsible for all those previously mentioned tasks versus a job that pays '.5 x six-figures" and involves getting in a nice van and driving around.
As much as I like driving I don't like sitting for extended periods of time and I do enjoy impossible tasks for commensurate pay.
Training Day
Today my daughter trained me on some of the things she does at the small business. I've avoided being good at some of those because of the obvious. The real upside to the experience was finding out she is a very good trainer, something I did not know.
Mobility & Embarrassement
check their email account(s), monitor Twitter and look at Facebook before doing any real work.
Sitting in a car doing all this with a notebook propped on the steering wheel and your gut is weird and it always makes me feel like a creeper. It was an opportunity for a good quick Facebook read or short non-dancing cat post but I was distracted by the advertisement "Manilow." Being greatly embarrassed I have to admit that I've actually seen Barry Manilow three times in concert. One of those concerts was a fundraiser for children with no homes or some incurable disease or their parents were ultra liberal or ultra conservative. Certainly that makes my three concerts somewhat less pathetic. After the third one even my wife said "enough."
I Cannot Work At Bruegger's or Caribou
At three-ten PM the Bruegger's/Caribou doors open and fifty middle-school kids flood in. They are very noisy. Apparently while I'm on the budget plan for artisan coffee the thirteen/fourteen crowd has money for that and it does not make them quieter. They're not totally obnoxious but the staff looks pained. The young boys look like they are ten and the young girls look like they are fifteen and they all have similar voices. Combined with the really poor wireless internet bandwidth I gravitate to sleezy locations where no twenty-something or thirty-something or even older mobile workers would be seen. Burger King has good internet and the few patrons simply sit and stare or read the paper leaving me the bandwidth. I always buy a beverage just to "pay my way," but Burger King is so awful that I usually throw the contents away.
"Little Miss Sunshine" was written by a Twin Cities woman who sat at a coffee shop for a year or two. I'm not sure if it was the coffee, the duration or the location that caused her to create such a sad but happy and thoughtful film. OK this is wrong. My movie viewing has been off for at least a decade. "Little Miss Sunshiine" was a very good film and I would recommend it to almost anyone. It's not a movie for kids. The filmwriter/movie writing scenario was Juno, a film about a young girl unexpectedly pregnant. I've seen the film but not read the screenplay. As much as I promote remote/mobile working I'm not sure that much really gets done but I'm not sure much gets done in the formerly white collar office environment either.
Why This Post About Not Having a Dumb Job is Lacking Today.
Whipping Post by The Allman Brothers is simply too overwhelming today. Lacking, overwhelming, blah, blah, blah.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Morale Compass
Once in a building they simply kick the sheetrock out from space to space. Those are walls for people who have some level of values, at least as we conventionally define them. In Iraq the citizenry pulled the copper wire as quickly as the US Dollars put it in place. That was the value there as conventionally defined. You did not leave you home empty because someone would come in. We leave our homes empty all the time. This year we're all going to grandma's house but you, Bobby, get to skip that, stay home and watch TV w/ your AK-47 at hand.
No "they" have not caught them and if they are caught it will probably be a year on probation.
Fall
For at least twenty-five years I've been planting trees each spring. In many
.jpg)
Pre-colonial white pines could be as much as 230 feet tall. From about fifteen years of age on they grow approximately three feet per year. Some of my early plantings are growing at that rate, now. Along the lakeshore I put up wire fence to discourage the beavers. Conventional wisdom indicates that beavers will not take down pines because the sap gunks up their teeth. I've not found that to be true.
The leading portion of the white pine produces a bud cap which deer love. Once they eat that the trees destiny as a 230' Tree of Peace (Iroquois) has ended. The bud capping process needs to occur each fall to discourage the deer. Here in MN I do this before deer season. Typically we'll get at least one wet snow which requires doing it all over again. I've had very good luck using 3M Post-It notes.
This tree stuff all falls into the category of work for which there is no pay, there will never be any lumber harvesting and for which many simply say "why?" For some reason, perhaps because of being a midwestern flatlander, I think adding height to the other four dimensions of our morale compass is good.
Time
The small business calls.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
A Few Random Thoughts
.jpg)
- The small business has taken a lot of time in the last couple of weeks. Our part-time person turned in her notice. That's a good move for her and not so good for us but like most businesses it all comes down to managing your most valuable resource, that being your employees (or you if that's are there is). Leveraging the time and knowledge for the demands of the day and the strategic demands of tomorrow requires discipline.
- Although the 27-year gig was all in IT and the eleven years before that were also in IT my home computing environment has always been a bi shaky. Everything worked and there have been no major data losses. It's simply that system performance lagged a bit, font management was quirky, etc., etc. Several changes have been made in storage, backup and printing. Not that it matters but I use www.mozy.com and www.backblaze.com for backups. On the less than optimal configuration platform we had adequate printers in the office but you had to get the files to the he direct attached PCs. Now I've implemented wireless printing which is more about catchup than anything else. There was another wireless printer that's been sitting in a box on the floor for three or four years, long enough that it's probably just good for donating rather than implementing. Everything has it's time.
- On the art platform there have been a few projects. Austin Kleon, a young guy, an artist, who's captured quite a following in the social media world offers the position that all art is theft; there are feworiginal ideas. This afternoon I dug into www.youtube.com. For a number of reasons the 1970s are a bit unclear so I enjoyed the Grateful Dead doing Stairway to Heaven and The Immigrant Song and then chased the chainsaw art world. I gravitate to the folk art world because I like quirky. I'm going to steal another artists words about fold art..."Folk art is just short of fine art. It lets the viewer finish the piece (in their head and find a place for it)." Surprise. That's not theft, simply my re-wording of someone else's idea. If you want correct colors, textures, proportions and technique, a piece of fine art you should just go to art school. This is a different route.
.jpg)
- Re-training & re-work. This next week I'm going to make a couple of commitments on the re-training front, focusing on a couple of technical certifications that would allow some short-term consulting. A large national company about a mile from home continuously hires in those categories. It's walking distance and now in my post-C-Level career I would not have to be concerned with politics or managing people. I'll schedule a meeting or two w/ my outplacement guy, harass him about his unfinished book, make excuses for mine and start to wrap that relationship up.
- In the database world data does not normally go away. Deleting a record simply marks it as deleted. Most often, especially in this day and age of unlimited storage, it's still there. Everything you've every done or looked at on the internet is probably recorded and while not necessarily easily connected withyou, some sort of security group could put is all together. Trees, this fall, have been beautiful. As the leave have been deleted I'm reminded of the form and shape of trees, hidden for five or six months. For the next two days I'm going to be changing the form of a couple of oak trees that have fallen during the summer. This has been going on for thirty-one years, my changing of standing trees to not-standing trees. In one sense they remain standing.
.jpg)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)