Month: June 2003

Chocolate Raspberry! Of all the flavors of flavored coffee, this is my

favorite. It puts a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, it does. Well,

as close to a bounce in my step as I ever get.

Just a couple of bullet points this morning:

* The new Rolie Polie Olie movie, the one about the baby bots? Very cute. Thumbs up from junior who watched it 3 times in 2 days. He liked it much more than the last movie. And I don’t want to spoil it for you, but this movie introduces a major change to the regular show (apparently).

* Chris (it’s a person who wishes to remain anonymous so Chris could be a boy or a girl, eh?) had all Chris’s CDs stolen out of Chris’s car yesterday. It would probably cost $600 to replace them all. Is this an instance where copying CDs or downloading MP3s is “legal”? Chris OWNED the CDs, paid for them once. And if you say yes, which site/software would you use to do downloads that doesn’t put any of that crappy hidden tracking file stuff on your system (a la gator)?

* What is up with 4pm meeting times?

Changed the archives back to weekly so they’ll load faster for folks. Also so it will be easier to find an entry when it’s linked from Google, etc.

Junior, who last year at this time wouldn’t let his face get wet, has started taking showers on a fairly regular basis. I like it when I’m in a hurry because like all kids, he can stretch a bath into an hour-long activity. Some nights spending an hour in a steamy bathroom is about 50 minutes too long.

But overall I think I will miss it because after I get him scrubbed down (showers may be faster but he’s in charge of the washing so you can imagine he gets cleaner in the bath when I help) I get to sit on the toilet and do my nails. And it’s not like it’s cutting into something else I should be doing, I have nothing to do other than prevent drowning (which is probably not going to happen unless he stands up and falls and smacks his head, really. I think we’re past the danger zone for him being in the tub, and yes, I have been known to actually step out of the bathroom to answer the cordless phone. (Parents everywhere will understand why I say this as if Child Protective Services is going to sweep down on my house and take him away). So I’m going to enjoy his bath time until he kicks me out of the bathroom, and I’ll enjoy my fancy nails. (Sort of a neutral color – a pinkish/tannish color today.

Okay, I made that up. It’s a good idea, though, isn’t it? If you implement this at your place of business, I’d recommend passing out free face painting kits and using masking tape to put hopscotch games on the floor. Maybe you could hand out a prize for the person who brings in the oddest item for show and tell. And remember, odd doesn’t have to mean gross. Jim-Bob brought in a unicycle? Bingo!

It’s harder for me to implement this kind of program, being a contractor at “individual contributor” level. But the second I manage someone, I’m going to make them do this because they are part of my team. Even if she (or he) is the only person in the organization walking around with a ViewMaster around her neck.

(For the above paragraph I was going to say she’d be the only person with a _____ , but I can’t remember what the thing is called. Does anyone remember

this sort of entertainment box with a turntable on top and a slot in the side where you fed in a film strip, and then as the 45 played (telling a story) the film strip automatically fed up? Or something like that? If you

remember, even if you don’t know the name, can you at least let me know I’m not losing my mind? Thanks. Oh, the other thing was the kid’s record player with the needle in the lid. Was it called a “Close and Play”? I’m just blanking today, obviously, and can’t look it up on the web from here.)

Exactitudes

People being unique together!