Top Ten Signs Colleagues Aren't Focused
02/11/2006 19:01
You probably saw the story about how New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire, had a lowly desk jockey making $30k a year fired for playing solitaire on his computer during work hours... leaving the father of a three-year-old without a job. "The workplace is not an appropriate place to play game,” said the mayor, who claimed he wasn't over-reacting. But we've all seen people goofing off during work hours. Here are ten ways I've seen people goof off, or signal their full effort wasn't in the job any more.1. Colleagues set up a multi-player online game, and the only calls are to say "it's your move!"
2. Every time you walk by their cube, you can see them minimize their browser window.
3. AOL Instant Messenger seems to be the majority of their typing.
4. They're on their cell phone more often than they're on their office phone.
5. The IT guy would rather finish his hearts game than change the printers' ink.
6. Your colleague in the next cubicle has told his old college buddies how he got engaged so many times, you could tell the story with the same emotion.
7. They're making calls for a charity she works on the side, but won't answer your e-mail.
8. You ask about an e-mail you sent, only to find it's in their In Box, in Bold. Meanwhile, eBay and Monster.com are minimized.
9. The commissioner of the company's fantasy baseball league has more adds and drops than everyone else combined.
10.Your boss gets grouchy when you interrupt his online game to ask about edits on collateral.
We've all seen stuff like this. If Bloomberg were roaming the halls of your office, how many would make it through the whole day?
|
March of the Penguins
02/11/2006 16:44
Netflix can be great - if you (ab)use it well. My wife signed up for Netflix about a year and a half ago, and at times, we've enjoyed having three DVDs out at a time, and had the time to enjoy quite a lot of good movies, only to see them replaced with new ones just days after the old films are sent back to company headquarters. Of late, we haven't maximized the service to its true potential - as we've been busy, and during downtime found other ways to be entertained.Yesterday, we opened one of the trademark red envelopes and saw March of the Penguins, a documentary which chronicles the Emperor Penguins' march across snowy, icy, Antarctica in search of a mate and family-building. The trek is amazing - to see the animals make tremendous sacrifice to extend the population and braving the most harsh conditions on the planet is something to behold. In the US version of the DVD, actor Morgan Freeman narrates and walks us through the journey. I understand the original documentary, in French, has the penguins talking, without the narration, and were I to understand French, that would have been an interesting take as well.
It might not have a 200-million budget, guns blazing, with sex and violence, but it's worth seeing despite all that. Watch it - you might learn something.
Insomnia - I Can't Get No Sleep
02/10/2006 00:42
It's not that I can't sleep - it's that I don't want to. Sleep is such a waste of time, after all. There's plenty to do, but in theory it's too late to do it. Even worse, I still have to wake up at the same time, whether I go to bed now, or in an hour, so what's the point? Might as well stay up, catch up on things that haven't been getting done, and reduce the sleep element. There's no real good reason to lay stationary and inert for such a significant time anyway - how horribly inefficient!Speaking of "Insomnia", the very best song ever with the word Insomnia as the title has to be from Faithless.
Download it now on iTunes
Sample lyrics:
Deep in the bosom of the gentle night
Is when I search for the light
Pick up my pen and start to write
I struggle, fight dark forces
In the clear moon light
Without fear... insomnia
I can't get no sleep
The full lyrics here.
Go Bears!
02/09/2006 22:22
Cal wins over Stanford, 65 to 62. Leon Powe scored 32 points, while everybody else scored 33.A win is a win, but it's always so much better against Stanfurd.
Car Envy
02/09/2006 20:47
Living in the Silicon Valley, I am surrounded by others who had better timing than me, and managed to make a good bit of money. I pass more BMW's and Mercedes on the freeways and side roads than it seems I do Volkswagens or Chevys. In an environment like this, my green four-door 1998 Mercury Tracer, sporting more than 113,000 miles of history, doesn't really stand out - unless you mean in a bad way. The peer pressure to upgrade my car - even though this one works fine - is enormous. If I don't own a BMW, Lexus, or even a high-end Audi, I might as well not even drive, but should take mass transit and save myself the gas money.When I bought the Mercury Tracer, I didn't really have any kind of expectation for how long I would keep it. In 1999, I was working as the Web Marketing Manager for 3Cube, and with my boss out on his honeymoon, I had to visit our Web design firm in San Francisco with him away and get us to the next stage. But the Ford Escort I'd been driving between Berkeley and Burlingame for a year-plus wasn't going to make it with me. The engine had cracked, and it had to be refilled with water to and from the office.
That Saturday, I drove it to the Ford dealership and told them they would have the easiest sale ever - I was leaving my Escort there, and would go home with something else. Really didn't matter what. After trying a Ford Contour (too big) and looking at other things, the Mercury Tracer (used, with 28,000 miles on it already) seemed like an okay option. I test-drove it, and it felt remarkably like the Escort. That's really what made me sign off on it - not any kind of research or pushiness from the sales guy. I was an easy sale. Yet the car still works. It's been paid off for who knows how many years, and still gets from one place to another without breaking. The only question is - for how long?
I Hate Stanford
02/09/2006 19:49
I attended college at the University of California at Berkeley, and in my four years there, I learned many things - some of which that ended up helping me in the job world, and a great many things that had no impact. One thing I learned there that I will never forget, even if was never on any midterm, was the clear and unquestioned truth that Stanford sucks. The school openly panders to affluent families willing to overpay for their children's education - and over-grading is rampant. Students are capable of dropping classes even after having taken the final, if they think it would poorly impact their A- average. Their campus is like open farmland with no personality, the surrounding city has no history, their sports teams are mediocre with the worst band in the history of the universe, and - in contrast to Cal, they have no named elements on the periodic table - that's a big one.Why do I bring this up?
Cal and Stanford (Stanfurd) play tonight in Men's basketball at Berkeley. The two teams are battling for the second position in the Pac-10 conference, and how well they play each other could have significant impact on which team makes the tournament, and which makes the NIT - and it's no guarantee both will make it, with so many other good teams out there - especially on the East Coast.
Cal won the Big Game this year, handily, but it'd be great to double down on those Cards and take them out tonight too. Go Bears!
Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton
02/09/2006 07:21
An article in the New York Times this morning highlights the closeness between former president Bill Clinton and both current and former presidents Bush. The two-somes or three-somes can be seen at public events or enjoying one another privately. In fact, in a recent TV interview, W postulated that if Hillary were to run in 2008 and win, the presidents in order would read "Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton".In fact, when asked about her chances, W called her "formidable".
I read Bill Clinton's "My Life" biography over the last few months (off and on - it's not that I read slow), and through the book, gained more admiration of Hillary, her background and strengths. Surely, it's a husband discussing his wife, or a sly political move, but I came away with significant respect of her roots and ambitions. Hillary is a very intelligent, focused individual with high expectations for herself. If she doesn't get smeared and slammed by a right-wing PR machine, it'd be very interesting to see if she gives 2008 a shot.
And... go buy the book. I really enjoyed it.
2006 American League Predictions
02/07/2006 20:51
As AthleticsNation blogfather Blez points out in his story today titled "The Season Has Started", it's now becoming time to look at the Major League Baseball calendar and prognosticate just how each team will end up at the end of the season. With the Super Bowl behind us, and the Bay Area enjoying moderate temperatures - especially for February, the thoughts of Spring are in the air.First and foremost, I'm an A's fan. There's no doubt of that. As a result, I wish they could go 162-0, and live and die alongside them for every bad call, bad play, bad pitch and bad game. As a result, any guess I take has to be given a grain of salt, as I am likely overestimating how well they will do in 2006. But with the team picking up Esteban Loaiza, Milton Bradley, and Frank Thomas and not losing any marquee players, things are looking up. In fact, in an ESPN chat today, Rob Neyer said "Right now, on paper, the A's are the third-best team on the planet (after the U.S.A. and the D.R.)"
So, throwing out any statistical analysis and not having special insight, while also ignoring the National League, because the situation over there is too dire, I suggest the following to be how the American League will look at the conclusion of the 2006 season:
American League West
Oakland 94-68
Los Angeles 86-76
Texas 77-85
Seattle 76-86
American League Central
Cleveland 87-75
Chicago 83-79
Minnesota 82-80
Detroit 77-85
Kansas City 67-95
American League East
New York 91-71
Boston 87-75
Toronto 85-77
Baltimore 73-89
Tampa Bay 71-91
Divisional Playoffs
Oakland over Boston, 3 games to 1
Cleveland over New York, 3 games to 2
League Championship Series
Oakland over Cleveland, 4 games to 1
Three And Out Takes Fantasy Football Title
02/07/2006 19:52
Sunday's Super Bowl didn't go as I had expected, but it went well enough to avoid any calamities in our little fantasy football league. Somehow, despite finishing with the 4th seed going into a 4-team playoff, I managed to win the title, on the back of Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward, and picked up my second trophy in the last five years, becoming the third person in KODL league history to have multiple first-place finishes.KODL Playoff Results | KODL History
I got into the league at the request of a former boss (who finished last in the 12-team league this year), but have enjoyed the competition. It's even more fun when you win, of course.
Now comes the darkness before Spring Training, where we don't have football to fall back on, and the never-ending NBA season continues to eke forward without any intrigue. It's time to send the pitchers and catchers any day now, right?