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Big Time Mistake
Posted on November 16th, 2006 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc.
Today I got into work just before 6:00AM. I got in that early because I had a conference all at 6:00 with a client and colleagues in India. I could have done it from home but had another call at 8:00 and so figured it would be easier to get in early that to rush later in the morning.
At 5:58, I started the call and was the only one on it. At first, I was annoyed. Then I looked at my calendar. The call was at 7:00AM Central Time . . . I had subtracted when I should have added. My 8:00 call was at 9:00AM Central, again, I had subtracted instead of added. So here I am, looking out at a fog-shrouded Charles River at 6:30AM, way earlier than I had to be and wishing I had slept a little longer.
I think I need to start using UTC to avoid situations like this in the future.
Technorati Tags: time zones, UTC
Friday Hijinx
Posted on November 13th, 2006 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc.
I met Dave Evans from Online Dating Insider and The Progress Bar on Friday to talk about ways we could collaborate on social media and whatnot here in Boston. Three hours and three dozen oysters later we had a few good ideas and had had a pretty good time. Staggering back over the river, I took the opportunity to take a few photos along the way. My faves are one of the inside of the handrail on the Longfellow Bridge:
and of the controls of a boat docked on the Charles:
We’ll see what comes of the ideas and plans Dave and I discussed; but if nothing else I had fun.
Technorati Tags: Dave Evans, Online Dating Review, The Progress Bar, Boston, Oysters, Longfellow Bridge, Charles River, Handrail, Dock, Boat, Controls
iTunes vacation
Posted on November 12th, 2006 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc.
It is the middle of November and here in New England, even though it is mild today, Fall is here and Winter is on its way. This morning I saw the first cardinal of the season and there’s no mistaking what that means. I’m at an event today on kids and behavioral issues and the rain is just pelting down outside. It’s lunchtime and everyone has braved the elements to get food. Everyone except me. I’m sitting along in the empty hall and listening to warm and languid sounds from Texas in the 1940s. The Cantu Sisters are serenading me with words I don’t understand but which take me away from where I am to a place I’ll never be able to go. I feel pretty lucky.
Technorati Tags: New England, music, Fall, Winter, Cantu Sisters, Texas, Spanish
The effortless friendships of technology
Posted on November 6th, 2006 by GregPC.
Categories: Technology, Misc.
I remember once, when I was a kid in the sixth grade, my teacher asked in anyone wanted to participate in a pen-pal program. Being naturally curious my hand shot up. A few weeks later I received a letter and a small address label with the name and address of a girl my age in Nybro, Sweden.
Her name was Carina Karlsson and for a few years we exchanged letters and small gifts. Our notes to each other we filled with the mundane (yet terribly fascinating) details of our lives. She sent me a small painted horse, a wooden flagpole with a Swedish flag, a leather coin purse and a photograph.
I can’t recall what gifts I sent to her (although I do remember shopping for at least one) but I still have all three that she sent to me almost 30 years later. Our letters were special to me. First because I got so little mail, and second because this was a connection that without effort on both of our parts would never have happened.
I was reminded of Carina yesterday while reading John Schwartz’s story on “Friendbombing” in the New York Times.
But Facebook’s use of the word “friend” is a little troubling in a world where true friendship is hard to find and even harder to sustain. The idea of getting friends wholesale seems to be part of that element of the Internet that can render life virtual and a little pallid. In many ways, the Internet strengthens relationships by allowing easy communication over a distance. But without a human touch, it’s hard to keep the conversation going beyond niceties. Facebook seems to be saying: “Sure, we might be seeing less of our real friends face to face. But we’ll make it up with volume.”
A Son’s Revenge: ‘Friendbombing’ - Facebook.com - New York Times
Technology allows “friendships” to be made so easily and effortlessly that I wondered if pen-pals even exist anymore. My search for “pen pal” online returned things very different from what Sister Marie Roberta had trotted out when I was a kid.
Maybe it is the nature of the communication, or maybe it is the fact that I’m not 12, but few of my emails or IM exchanges carry the same weight those letters did when they arrived at my home from half a world away.
Technorati Tags: pen pals, Carina Karlsson, Nybro, Sweden, Facebook, Friendbombing, John Schwartz, New York Times
My Brain
Posted on October 30th, 2006 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc.
As is the case with my stupid eBay story, I’ve decided to consolidate all of the info on me and my brain on a separate page. You can find all the details there if your interested. The bottom line for those looking for the Cliff Notes version is that I am OK and know little more than I did when all of this began back in early September.
(You have to go to the end for the latest news.)
The Stupidest Lawnmower Accident Ever
Posted on August 31st, 2006 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc.
Like it or not, I have to mow my lawn every week. I really don’t like it. Yesterday I got up and decided to get it out of the way early. I was out there mowing away when I came to the kid’s swingset. They have a two-person swing and I drive right into it assuming it would go f to one side or the other. It didn’t. Instead, it got caught on the front of the mower and before I knew what was happening I was at a 45 degree angle. I stopped the blades and the engine and hopped off. The mower was just hanging there, the front three or four feet off the ground - suspended by a one inch dowel and two pieces of nylon rope.
It took a while to figure out how to get it down. The front of the thing has the engine so it’s pretty heavy and I didn’t want it to drop. The tension on the swing was pretty good and I didn’t want that to come swinging back and hitting me in the face. In the end, with the help of my nephew and his dad, I wedged a ladder under the mower and held it in place with a set of portable steps. They were able to life it while I unhooked the swing and then rested it on the ladder so I could back it down. It was one of the stupidest things I’ve seen.
There are more pictures in my Flickr account.