Johanna Rothman over at Managing Product Development has been posting a series on management myths this week. Definitely worth a read, no matter what your field:
Management Myth #1: There is One Right Way to Manage
Management Myth #2: We Must be the Best
Management Myth #3: It's All About the Work
Management Myth #4: Managers Don't Need Training
I rarely make an impulse buy, but I HAVE to have one of these. And since I have a Home Depot gift card sitting in my wallet collecting dust, I think I'll make a little online purchase.
As soon as I decide on the color.
What do you think? Blue?
Remember that penguin baseball game? Well, Yeti is back, and this time, he has help. Wait for the whale to "flip a bird" and aim away.
From the same folks who brought us the blog-life crisis, a frank discussion of blog depression, which seems to be running rampant in Nashville...
Download the PDF.
We saw them filming speed boats (from helicopters) for this movie while we lazed on this beach.
We also stumbled upon a set for this show on Key Biscayne.
It would be nice to have something like this in Nashville.
City Furniture has the biggest stores I think I've ever seen. We're talking HUGE.
When you go to Key West, stay here. And by all means, DRIVE there.
This guy gave me the creeps.
As did everyone employed by this place.
If you enjoy going to casinos, don't go here.
Even though the part where plane travel is involved doesn't get here for another couple of days, vacation has officially begun!
Friday:
Heading to Starwood this evening for the Duran Duran show. I have to admit that even though I was one of the few girls at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Upper Grade Center who didn't carry around a Duran Duran Trapper Keeper and fight over which one of the Taylors I was going to marry, Decade came out when I was in college, and I quickly became a fan.
Saturday:
It's Race Day. Indy Cars and a hospitality tent. What more does a girl need?
Sunday:
Jumping on a plane and heading south. There will be no computer (maybe). There will be no blackberry (definitely). There will be no answering of my cell phone. There will be beach time. Catch you when I'm back.
I used to think it would be a good idea to have myself cloned at work so one of me could deal with the phone calls and emails and meetings and the other one could get my work done. I now realize that the need for real-time synchronization of data makes this practically impossible.
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I think I saw John Locke working at the Donelson Kmart.
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Whoever came up with the "mean people suck" bumper sticker had a good point.
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If you walk/run/rollerblade/bike the City of Brentwood's Trail System, don't use the blue trail. Especially if it has rained recently. Of course, the gate they've built across the entrance would probably be enough warning for most people.
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My vacation starts in 9 hours...
Went to see Madagascar this weekend. How was it? Well, at least the penguins were funny.
I was listening to the soundtrack on the way back from lunch and now I can't get this song (windows media) out of my head.
Anyone who has suffered through a class or training session and walked away with little or nothing gained will appreciate this article. From Creating Passionate Users: Ten Tips for New Trainers/Teachers
Although the title only mentions one, the article includes two different lists: Eleven Things to Know, and Ten Tips for New Trainers.
The intro:
Just because you've used lots of software doesn't mean you can write code. Just because you've been in lots of buildings doesn't mean you can be an architect. And just because you've logged a million frequent flyer miles doesn't mean you can fly a plane.
But if that's all ridiculously obvious, why do some people believe that just because they've taken classes, they can teach? (Or just because they've read lots of books, they can write one?) The problem isn't thinking that they can do it, the problem is thinking they can do it without having to learn, study, or practice.
I'm amazed (and more than a little disheartened) how many people believe that simply by virtue of their being skilled and knowledgeable in something, they're implicitly qualified to communicate, mentor, teach, or train that thing. It devalues the art of teaching to think that because you've been a student, you can teach well. That because you've experienced learning, you can craft a learning experience.
So, after agonizing over whether or not I should leave my mobile phone service provider of over 6 years just to get this phone, I decided it wasn't worth it. Even though the price of that gorgeous gadget dropped from ridiculous to reasonable, and I reached the end of my most recent service contract a couple of months ago and could have easily transferred my number to one of the 2 providers that offer it, I couldn't do it. The practical side of me kicked in (The last time that happened, I left my house determined to return with my first-ever brand new car, and returned with a 5 year-old Honda with less than 30,000 miles on it). So, I went ahead and took advantage of the free phone I'm entitled to every 2 years. Of course, I had to pay $50 for the phone, but will get that back once they process my rebate, and I had to pay an additional $50 for the "essential" accessories, so "free" is a relative term.
Anyway, unlike my old phone, this one has a camera. And as you can see, I'm happy. Well, not necessarily happy with the phone, just happy in general. Although, with the exception of the minor detail that the leather case just so happens to get in the way of the lens (See that black semi-circle-ish blob with white and red marks in the lower right? That's the lining of the case.), the things I'm not so happy with the phone should go away once I've gotten through the "new phone" learning curve...
So, even though this announcement was long ago, I've still been waiting for some news. Especially since my Blockbuster online relationship fell apart months ago (and my decision to cancel was sealed by the mis-delivery of an entire season of "Punky Brewster"), I'm ready to find out what this might be about...
March of the Penguins - As told by Morgan Freeman is coming to Nashville July 22nd. I think I just might have to catch it...
So. I'm getting tired of answering the same questions via email and phone calls and I'm bringing back the Q&A feature one last time.
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Q: What's up with all of your strange comments?
A: Well, they're not comment spam, since they're from a real person, and they're not technically from a troll, since I know who it is and he truly means no harm. You can reply to him or ignore him, but I wouldn't count on his random comments going away any time soon.
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Q: How's work?
A: Work? Let's not talk about work. Did you hear I'm leaving on vacation in 8 days? :)
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Q: Is "lindasis" really your sister?
A: Yep. She found her way here a few weeks ago, although, I've been emailing links to her for over a year.
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Q: Where's Julie's blog?
A: Good question. She started one and deleted it before going public. Jules???
Because I'm such a lousy typist, one of the things I like about Blogger is the fact that is has a built-in spell check. And, unlike Gmail's spell check (yet), you can add words that it doesn't already recognize (such as "blog" and "blogger").
If your blog editing tool doesn't offer spell check, try copying and pasting into Word to check your spelling (and grammar). Please note, no spell-checker is fail-proof, but it's better than nothing.
Two weeks from now, I'll be on vacation. A real vacation that lasts a week, includes a beach, and doesn't involve checking in with work.
So if anyone has any suggestions for fun in the Ft. Lauderdale area, let me know. We're already planning a day trip to Key West, and the mandatory over-eating of fresh seafood.
So, the other day, the subject of pi came up in conversation (Yeah, I know, I really need to quit bragging about my super-exciting life. Anyway...).
I don't remember the context, but I do remember being asked about the value of pi beyond 3.14.
My response? "One five".
I was accused of attempting to round up from 3.14 to 3.15 and was scolded for doing so.
My response was that I was not rounding, but that the next two digits of pi after 1 and 4 were 1 and 5.
Too bad this guy wasn't around.
Man, I need to get a life...
The state-of-the art scoreboard-video board will include four video screens, four video/scoring/statistics screens, one center-hung ProAd ring, five ProTable scorer's table units, four auxiliary portal scoreboards, as well as three-sided shot clocks and a new game timing system.And for a mere $1.99-million, you can have one too...
Finally a weekend that didn't fly by. Of course, that extra day helped.
From an evening of bowling Friday, to Saturday by the pool, Daisy's birthday fest on Saturday night, then downtown for some more fun. Sunday was the family cook out, and Monday's holiday activities started with the children's parade in Spring Hill, more pool time, then the fireworks downtown in Nashville.
I hadn't been downtown to see the show for a few years, and was absolutely blown away. You hear a lot of people saying the fireworks are for the kids, and I have more than a few friends who don't bother to head out on July 4th. They should be regretting it this morning.
Yes, the traffic was crazy (I'd be amazed if there weren't any traffic accidents with the number of cars lined up on the interstate last night), the crowd kept coming (including those people who showed up just before the show and thought it was a good idea to sit practically on top of us in the coliseum lot), but the show was more than worth it.
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
When's the next one?
The official announcement that our office is closing early has already been made. C'mon 3:00!
Be safe and have a fun 4th!
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