Employment Chatter

Football League wrote the the blueprints 14 years before that, and the USFL was taking advantage of technology that had been completely internalized for fans and coaches because it had been invented 30 years before that.

Tactical implementation will not been a significant barrier, only the comfort of the existing standard operating procedures. And baseball’s approach is not going to been very informative for managers in all fields. I only wish Sandy Alderson was still at MLB-HQ to implement it — he is, as Ive mentioned before, North erica’s superstar management-from-any-field practitioner. But they’ll get it right sooner or later regardless.

BEYOND BASEBALLguitar string
instrument string

The comfort of not-changing is not endemic, even in the best, kaizen-drenched organizations.

I’m doing a consult right now with a logistics and transportation company in Seattle, one of my oldest clients, and certainly my cleverest about change. Four of their companies use independent contractors as couriers to pick up and deliver all kinds of objects around the state. Their processes have evolved over time, but mutate in response to how heavy demand is not at a given time, how much time each of the jobs has left on it, how many drivers are on the road and where, and a half-dozen other factors.

Garlic-Olive Oil Bread Dip

1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. course grind black pepper (or freshly ground)
3 cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/8 - 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
So, I decided I would go back to plan A where I would find the secret cache where Linksys technicians hid all the good bits they use to make bad products work. I called customer service again and spoke to a friendly technician in some far off land. I was able to understand most of what he said and he directed me to an ftp site which had all sorts of useful downloads. I downloaded the firmware I needed for the wireless router in several different formats, because by now I was expecting the worst.

And He got it. Linksys’s marketing department deserves a bitchslap for this one.

I can’t count the times that this sort of thing has happened to me with wireless gear. I will cut holes in my walls and pull cable before I install any wireless gear.

One time I needed to connect two buildings 275 feet apart. Bought wireless gear, set it up, and it worked right up to the point you tried to move any traffic across the network. The Solution? We moved 40 wrecked cars, dug a 2′ deep trench, installed 700 feet of industrial grade underground PVC, and installed over a thousand feet of glass fiber(we made two runs), with real expensive terminators on either end. Glass to Cat5 conversion is expensive. Works fine now.

This sort of thing happens to me on a regular basis with computer products. Take two weeks ago…
Bad Day bad day redux I had to download and flash the BIOS of a motherboard that had been on the market for 8 months, to get a CPU that had been on the market for 18 months to work. And I do this for a living!
Combine all ingredients and mix well. the longer this is allowed to set the more intense the flavor. It can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator, but let it come to room temperature before serving. Serve with nice crusty bread or any Italian type bread. It is also wonderful drizzled over pizza or spaghetti.

with a car! I was saddened to turn in my rental car earlier (yesterday now I guess). What joy! What freedom! I went all around the island and only used up half a tank of gas!

The car was a Ford Focus hatchback. Before this, I would never have considered buying a Ford, I mean, Found On Road Dead. However the car handled splendidly and had plenty of zip. The leather seats helped the experience as well. My phobia of driving over overpasses and emerging from the Pali tunnel nearly disappeared. Parking in the ubiquitous compact spaces here was super easy. Best of all, when I was parked next to Kealoha’s similar sized hatchback on Sunday I realized the Focus was long enough to hold a surfboard (I’m really trying to get up the gumption to try surfing and make it a life habit). My friend Leslee has the non-hatchback version of the Focus and she said that it is definitely not a lemon and very easy to maintain.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
New Dragonflies and Ladybugs Store

Hi! Well it is Finally HERE!!! Our new store has been launched! We still sell on Ebay, but we are slowly moving our products over to our prostore account.
We have our newest inventory listed and our NEW fall items are in! We have both NWT and Used Gymboree, Janie and Jack, Hanna Anderson, Baby LULU and much much more.
Great Prices!

Check us out when you get a chance: Dragonflies and Ladybugs

posted by The Mom’s Cafe’ @ 2:26 PM 18 comments links to this post
How Do You Define Success

How do you define success for yourself, for your life and your home business.

Well, I would say that I feel most successful whenever I can survive a full day with my girls without any major “breakdowns”. I felt successful when my 3 1/2 year old decided to start going potty after 6 months of me tirelessly trying to get her to wear regular “big girl” underpants. In fact, the day the light bulb went off, and she finally started going into the bathroom on her own and decided to retire the pullups and use her big girl pants…. I felt more successful as a mother than I ever did in all my years in business and in graduate school… funny how those things turn out.
I feel successful in my business when I make my customers and website visitors happy. Honestly, I do not make a huge or even significant income from my home based business, but I feel successful when I get an email from a customer that is happy with my site or our products.
Best of all, the Focus gets 32 mpg. It makes paying $3.35/gal seem not so unreasonable. Right now I don’t think it is the best idea to have a car - I’m uneasy about the oil supply and feel better about making a stab at being green. Parking in downtown is costly plus there is all the money that would be spent on insurance and maintenance. The only time I would want/need a car is on weekends so I can get out and really enjoy Hawaii. Leslee suggested that I could rent one weekend a month, and I’m beginning to think that’s a fantastic idea. It would certainly be affordable.

posted by KaOs at 5/29/2007 05:28:00 AM 0 comments links to this post
Story-a-Day
Lately I’ve felt that I haven’t set aside enough time to write fiction (and that was the point of moving to Hawaii). So, inspired by my mother’s crazy habit of writing in her journal every single day for 35+ years (I am not kidding), I’ve decided to write a story a day. Fortunately, I’m not making myself write very long stories. I probably won’t post anything longer than a 1000 words. The point of this is to mature my writing. Writing so much non-fiction kind of puts you in this weird non-fiction voice where you sound like thousands of other writers. You conform to be understood - but fiction is also about having a unique voice, and I want to develop mine.

Teachers and childcare workers know the miracle that a busy child produces. Suddenly, while a child is still and occupied, time is available to get other work finished, clean up after snacks or simply sit down for the first time in hours. Finding the activities to occupy the child, however, can definitely be more challenging than figuring out what to do with the quiet time. One of the favorite activities of all time requires a little hand-eye coordination and a lot of creativity – Coloring Pages.

Arts and Crafts

Kids love arts and crafts, and one of the best quiet time activities is the coloring page. Provide younger students with a coloring page and minutes tick by while children select the right colors and very carefully work to stay in the lines. The problem with these pages is so many copies must be run and the stacks of paper can be a hassle to deal with. Fortunately, some arts and crafts are going online.

Online Coloring Pages

Websites are beginning to produce online coloring pages for kids. These pages can have any style of artwork imaginable and can be colored using the computer. As most children already love the computer, this is a perfect mix for a quiet time activity as well as a way to avoid more paper stacks in a classroom.

Simply sit a child in front of the computer and pull up a coloring page. The child will stay occupied while building up the critical computer usage skills so necessary in the world today. When the picture is complete, it can be printed out or cleared for another try.

Online coloring pages aren’t just for young children, however. Older children may enjoy the coloring pages, too. School age girls especially enjoy doll coloring pages from websites such as TheDollPalace.com where favorite teenage celebrities and other dolls make the perfect online coloring pages.

Coloring is More Than Fun?

As any parent or teacher can tell you, coloring can be more than simply a nice time-filling activity. Practicing coloring helps to develop fine motor skills and the actual pictures can help children develop insight or knowledge about a particular item or theme. Sometimes, however, it is more fun than anything else.

When a girl sits down to color an outfit on her favorite singer or a boy is able to give life to his favorite cartoon character, it is simply a pleasure to watch. The world that we live in life moves so quickly that sometimes a gentle break can make a tremendous difference in a child’s stress level and productivity.

If students are pushed every minute they are in the classroom, regardless of age, they will eventually burn out, especially at a young age. Older children live frantic lives between school and extracurricular activities. thedollpalace.com/coloring-pages - coloring pages help soothe the psyche for many children and give a respite in the middle of an otherwise chaotic lifestyle.