What a Difference a Decade Makes

This decade is going to be different. It will likely not even come close to the change, both good and bad, that has occurred over the last decade and the one preceding it, nonetheless, it will be different.

I'm looking forward to a new decade with only a few, minor changes. It's not like I plan to become a new and improved version of myself. I just want to take the time to think-out, or dare I say plan, where I go and what I do a little more carefully. Thoughtfully.

This is a start. I mean, the simple act of thinking about it and writing this down is the start.

There are several work-life decisions that need attention over the next several months. And, then, some longer-term plans that need to be worked-out. The entire ten-year-plan will end this decade as we become empty nesters when the little boy finishes high school and leaves the house to start his life as a young adult. Then, the following decade will be full of big changes in my life - I'm very excited even now for the change to arrive.

I hope that in ten years, this new and promising decade, I can look back and think of how today made a difference for all of the tomorrows to come.

Stack Overflow

A given task will usually get completed if I write it down. If it isn't written down, it will simply get forgotten - well, at least until it recurs as a random and usually fleeting thought - and simply will not get done.

I have a black, pocket-sized Moleskine notebook that I try to keep an "To Do" list in. I'll make a fresh list each Monday morning and add to or check off items as the week progresses. Extra-important tasks get a space on the whiteboard in my office for all to see (and a big check mark when they're completed). I'll sometimes resort to a Post-it label slapped on the computer monitor so I'll be sure to see it staring me in the face as a stark, yellow reminder. So, this is not really one of those GTD-style systems that you read about but it works for me. Until recently...

Lately, my lists and notes have not helped to get through all the items that need to get done. What has usually resulted in a First-In-First-Out list has become a Last-In-First-Out stack. It should come as no surprise that the items at the bottom of the list never get the attention they deserve and remain at the bottom. Some of these are important, and often time-consuming tasks yet there they stay at the bottom of the stack as more important "priorities" hit the top of the stack. The stack is growing and it feels like everything just can't get done.

I'm suffering a stack overflow, really and not even in the metaphorical sense. There is a limited amount of resources and an increasing number of items.

How does one correct a stack overflow?

There are several answers, of course, but the one that doesn't work is avoidance. I need to turn the stack over and work from the bottom back to the top, one item at a time. It will be a long and arduous process but it's the only way.

Here goes...

Love in My Life

Watching the Oscars last night, I heard this quote for the first time by Paul Newman playing Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth:

"The big difference between people is not between the rich and the poor, the good and the evil. The biggest of all differences between people is between those who have had pleasure in love and those who haven't."

Nicely put... reminds me of how grateful I am for the love in my life.

Gut-Wrenching, Part Deux

It happened again yesterday. This time it wasn't so much of a surprise but still left everyone with that empty, sinking feeling. Let's hope that the feeling doesn't last.

Once again many colleagues, many of which I truly consider my friends, were lost and, again, possibly forever.

So, once again, I must bid, "Farewell!" to them as they move on and pick up the pieces.

Farewell, my friends, and let hope be your guide.

-Danny

Gut-Wrenching

This week I lost several friends.

Not lost as in "at sea" or "to the sin of gluttony" but, nonetheless, lost. Possibly, forever.

You see, this week I saw how it really doesn't matter in the end how hard you work, how loyal you are, nor how great the accumulated values of you're contributions are. It just doesn't matter because, in the end, you're not even so much as a line-item on some bean counter's spreadsheet but, merely, a bean.

This week several of my fellow "beans," of whom I sincerely refer to as friends in addition to being trusted colleagues, were shown the proverbial door. In many ways they just seemed to have lost the job lottery - nothing more, nothing less.

They're hurting. I'm hurt. And..., this sucks.

Alas, life will go on. So, farewell, my friends. Farewell and let hope be your guide.

Your Constant Friend and Now-Former Colleague,

Danny

Update Day

I updated my iPhone with the 2.0 Software Update.  Relatively slow going (more or less a total factory reset and reload of all music, audiobooks, and videos) that took about 1/2 hour to complete but no issues at all.

Immediately downloaded Sega's Super Monkey Ball from the AppStore and handed it to the little boy to play while I activated a new MobileMe account.  Initial reaction was overwhelmingly positive - I had to promise to let him play again as soon as he wakes up tomorrow morning in order to get him to bed on time. "No, Dear, I am not buying the kid his own iPhone."

And I thought that the iPhone upgrade was slow!  Apple is having severe performance issues with iPhone activations that appear to also be impacting MobileMe's debut.  Some of the features aren't even working - I couldn't even get to the Account preferences page on my account.  Curiously, it seemed to perform much faster on Firefox 3.0 than on Safari 3.1.2 - makes me wonder if there's dependency on WebKit's SquirrelFish update to the JavaScript engine that isn't yet baked-in to Safari.

So far my experience, not unlike some of the quirkiness in the initial OS X Leopard release last fall, feels more like a beta than a fully-baked product.  I have every confidence that things will get better but it pains me to see Apple behaving badly.

To Blog or Not To Blog

So, two years and four months have passed and, still, nothing seems worthwhile of posting.  This, by no means, suggests that blogging, per se, is not worthwhile - I follow several blogs on a daily basis.

Somehow, though, it just doesn't seem right for me even though I have often thought of starting (again) several times, even literally writing it down on one of my "To Do" lists.

Maybe later...