My new work has Office 2007, and one of the new features in Word is a blog post where you can draft the blog in Word and publish straight to the web. This has taken me < 5 minutes. Very easy process.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Folding Laundry: Two Memories
So apparently our dryer has a feature called Wrinkle Care, which means the dryer keeps fluffing the clothes until you pull them out. This gentle reminder from the dryer finally prompted me to get up and fold the clothes. As I was folding them, I recalled two memories.
1. When I was in high school, I was a idiot. Rebellious, immature, insecure, you name it. I had a felt need. For Abercrombie clothing. I was obsessed. Living in little ol' Idaho, we didn't have A&F stores, so my need went unmet. One Christmas, my dad got me an Abercrombie t-shirt. I can just imagine my dad walking into an A&F (not quite then what it is now with the shirtless male models, but nonetheless...) and scoffing at the $25-a-shirt prices. Anyway, I still have that t-shirt. A plain blue t-shirt, and it reminds me how much my dad loves me, that'd he'd be willing to face the preteen mob to go into a store he didn't like and overpay for something he didn't like to fulfill a flippant desire of his son.
2. In college, I had a friend, Mike Arthur. We took a computer engineering class together. I always envied Mike. He'd come in late, take one of the last remaining seats, right up front, and proceed to fall asleep. Classic Mike. Anyway, our prof was a big guy named Ken Noren, who had a little bit of a nasally Midwestern accent. Sometimes when he was diagramming electronic circuits, he would kind of chuckle to himself about something circuits related. And being a circuits prof, you must say the word "diode" somewhere between 300-5,000 times a day, and he had that familiar (to me, having extended family in Wisconsin) way of saying the long "o", so it came out "di-owed". Anyway, on Halloween, Mike went to every class (I would know, we had prob 4 out of 5 classes together) in a track suit as Steve Prefontaine. Of course, he was late to circuits, and when he walked in, Prof. Noren actually paused and asked him who he was supposed to be dressed up as. I've got to think that singular incident was at least 60% responsible for Mike passing that class. So, tie-in. I got a hand-me-down shirt from my buddy Adam that has Pre on the front with all the records he set and it reminded me of Mike.
Ah, nostalgia. You one of my favorite words to say and feelings to feel...
1. When I was in high school, I was a idiot. Rebellious, immature, insecure, you name it. I had a felt need. For Abercrombie clothing. I was obsessed. Living in little ol' Idaho, we didn't have A&F stores, so my need went unmet. One Christmas, my dad got me an Abercrombie t-shirt. I can just imagine my dad walking into an A&F (not quite then what it is now with the shirtless male models, but nonetheless...) and scoffing at the $25-a-shirt prices. Anyway, I still have that t-shirt. A plain blue t-shirt, and it reminds me how much my dad loves me, that'd he'd be willing to face the preteen mob to go into a store he didn't like and overpay for something he didn't like to fulfill a flippant desire of his son.
2. In college, I had a friend, Mike Arthur. We took a computer engineering class together. I always envied Mike. He'd come in late, take one of the last remaining seats, right up front, and proceed to fall asleep. Classic Mike. Anyway, our prof was a big guy named Ken Noren, who had a little bit of a nasally Midwestern accent. Sometimes when he was diagramming electronic circuits, he would kind of chuckle to himself about something circuits related. And being a circuits prof, you must say the word "diode" somewhere between 300-5,000 times a day, and he had that familiar (to me, having extended family in Wisconsin) way of saying the long "o", so it came out "di-owed". Anyway, on Halloween, Mike went to every class (I would know, we had prob 4 out of 5 classes together) in a track suit as Steve Prefontaine. Of course, he was late to circuits, and when he walked in, Prof. Noren actually paused and asked him who he was supposed to be dressed up as. I've got to think that singular incident was at least 60% responsible for Mike passing that class. So, tie-in. I got a hand-me-down shirt from my buddy Adam that has Pre on the front with all the records he set and it reminded me of Mike.
Ah, nostalgia. You one of my favorite words to say and feelings to feel...
Friday, August 21, 2009
Reppin' the W
No, this isn't a early 90's music reference, like this. Eric Champion, btw, led worship occasionally at our old church in Orlando. When we were up in Idaho, I went on a hike with my best friend from college, and I had a Watermark hat with me, so I wore it up to Chimney Rock. It's over 7000 ft. elevation, and even though you drive almost all the way, it's a moderate hike to an awesome view. Anyway, after I had Joel take my picture, I thought it'd be cool to see where else people have worn WM gear. Enter, this post. Send me pictures of yourself wearing something WM-branded and I'll put together a blog of all the pics.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Summer Playlist
I got on the topic of summer playlists with some friends the other night, and I just got an iTunes gift card for my birthday, so I went out and bought some songs, as follows:
Rich Mullins - Creed
Rich Mullins - The Color Green
Elton John - Rocket Man
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John - This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
Elton John - I Want Love
Kings of Leon - Be Somebody
Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
Shai - If I Ever Fall in Love (Original Acapella Version)
Bebo Norman - Perhaps She'll Wait
Bebo Norman - All That I Have Sown
Chris Tomlin - God of This City
Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
If you have anything better to do, don't read this...
In the course of human existence, it is only natural to ponder the possibility of possessing powers beyond the normal. On the micro level, we may envy an athlete's ability to perform certain feats. This is not what I'm talking about. I mean superpowers. I have long held that the greatest superpower is teleportation. I must confess, I have been wrong. The greatest superpower is omnipotence. Done and done. However, for the sake of argument, I'll outline why I think that, when one considers all traditional superpowers, teleportation is the best. Teleportation is close to mine and Veronica's heart too, as we are both far from our families and love to travel. Not only would teleportation allow us to see our families (say, have dinner with my parents in Idaho on Tuesday and spend the next weekend in Florida) with virtually no travel time (assume teleportation is instantaneous), we would get to see any part of the world we desired.
The problem is that what makes for a practical superpower makes for boring comic book reading and vice versa, that which makes for a good comic book reading is generally horribly impractical. If a superhero had the power of teleportation, he would just teleport into wherever the heroine was being held, grab her and return to safety. Wouldn't sell a lot of comics. To examine the more common super powers:
So, now that I've convinced you that teleportation is the best, I'll establish the ground rules:
*Disclaimer #2 - In the course of my own research for this blog, I came across this, which does a far better job of evaluating superpowers.
The problem is that what makes for a practical superpower makes for boring comic book reading and vice versa, that which makes for a good comic book reading is generally horribly impractical. If a superhero had the power of teleportation, he would just teleport into wherever the heroine was being held, grab her and return to safety. Wouldn't sell a lot of comics. To examine the more common super powers:
- Spiderman - agreed, it would be cool to be able to climb walls and perform various acrobatic maneuvers, but once the novelty had worn off, it'd just be messy.
- Superman - flight would be awesome. Super strength would be cool, but again, once the novelty wore off... I think I could sequentially teleport an inch at a time thousands of times in a row to simulate flight. Also, seeing through buildings? There is no practical use for this that is legal/moral.
- The Incredible Hulk - do I even need to go into this? Not only is it incredibly destructive, it's uncontrollable.
- Force Field - let me say this, any time in my life I (or anyone else) would need a force field, short of war or nuclear holocaust, I didn't have time to establish one, like in a car wreck.
- Shape shifting - circus sideshow at best.
- Mimickry - okay, this one would be tons of fun, but no real benefit other than amusement.
- Invisibility - this is comparable to being able to see through buildings. No morally defensible use.
- Magneto - I can think of a small handful of times I would want this (drop something metal, need something metal that is out of reach). I'm not wasting my one superpower wish on this one.
So, now that I've convinced you that teleportation is the best, I'll establish the ground rules:
- Anything that is touching my skin goes with me wherever I am going. If I am touching someone else, the power of teleportation is extended to their skin also. This enables me to transport large numbers of people at once.
- Assume that the destination or "landing place"is safe. If I want to teleport to Australia, there is some check in place so that I don't end up in the middle of the Outback or underwater or something.
*Disclaimer #2 - In the course of my own research for this blog, I came across this, which does a far better job of evaluating superpowers.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Veronica Netzer, CEO
Before Veronica and I even got married, we knew we wanted her to be able to stay home once we had kids. Through God's surpassing provision, we have been able to do that. One thing I have asked her to do is to be the CEO of our home. By this, I mean she is responsible for managing the household activities. She does the grocery shopping, plans and coordinates activities, manages the budget, etc. That said, I thought I'd have some fun with this extended metaphor.
CEO: Veronica Netzer
Chairman of the Board: Mike Netzer
Key Shareholders: Mike Netzer, Veronica Netzer, Brooks Netzer
CC: Einstein, Edison
Summary: FY08 was marked by significant changes in our corporate structure. There was one key acquisition (Edison) and the launch of a new brand (Brooks). This was accompanied by an overhaul of one of our key roles (V), which carried an associated revenue reduction. That said, the Netzer brand remains strong and we feel we are poised to take advantage of several growth opportunities in FY09 and beyond.
Financials: As a result of previously mentioned revenue reduction and the increased cost of doing the family business, all non-essential spending has been cut. Travel has been limited to key client (immediate family) meetings. Expense reimbursement will no longer be available for personal meals. iTunes purchases are no longer made using the General Fund. All non-budgeted items must be pre-approved by a unanimous vote of the budgetary committee. A cash-only system of purchasing has reduced overages significantly.
Process: We brought in strategic consultants (Community Group) to assess the role change of the Chief Executive Officer. After a lengthy discussion regarding expectations, we've seen measurable process improvement in day-to-day operations. Due to some quality assurance measures that were implemented, errors and omissions are down 43% from the same quarter last year and customer satisfaction is up 70% over the same period.
Growth: The acquisitional strategy for FY08 was to pair a new youthful partner (Edison) with an existing senior partner (Einstein) in hopes that real synergy could be achieved in the recreation sector. Despite countless planning meetings and several verbal warnings to the newly added partner, the hoped for synergy has not been realized. Our hope is that these two distinct partners can look beyond their inherent differences and develop into a viable business unit.
We launched a new brand (Brooks) in Q408 upon whom we are pinning the future livelihood of the business. We've made significant investment in this brand, financial and otherwise. Our CEO is in charge of day-to-day talent development in this brand. We've also enlisted the help of our parent company (God). The Netzer Family Corporation lacks the senior leadership experience to fully develop this newest brand. We will partner with our parent company in this development so the end result is something all shareholders will be pleased with.
Q209 Shareholders Report, Netzer Family Home
CEO: Veronica Netzer
Chairman of the Board: Mike Netzer
Key Shareholders: Mike Netzer, Veronica Netzer, Brooks Netzer
CC: Einstein, Edison
Summary: FY08 was marked by significant changes in our corporate structure. There was one key acquisition (Edison) and the launch of a new brand (Brooks). This was accompanied by an overhaul of one of our key roles (V), which carried an associated revenue reduction. That said, the Netzer brand remains strong and we feel we are poised to take advantage of several growth opportunities in FY09 and beyond.
Financials: As a result of previously mentioned revenue reduction and the increased cost of doing the family business, all non-essential spending has been cut. Travel has been limited to key client (immediate family) meetings. Expense reimbursement will no longer be available for personal meals. iTunes purchases are no longer made using the General Fund. All non-budgeted items must be pre-approved by a unanimous vote of the budgetary committee. A cash-only system of purchasing has reduced overages significantly.
Process: We brought in strategic consultants (Community Group) to assess the role change of the Chief Executive Officer. After a lengthy discussion regarding expectations, we've seen measurable process improvement in day-to-day operations. Due to some quality assurance measures that were implemented, errors and omissions are down 43% from the same quarter last year and customer satisfaction is up 70% over the same period.
Growth: The acquisitional strategy for FY08 was to pair a new youthful partner (Edison) with an existing senior partner (Einstein) in hopes that real synergy could be achieved in the recreation sector. Despite countless planning meetings and several verbal warnings to the newly added partner, the hoped for synergy has not been realized. Our hope is that these two distinct partners can look beyond their inherent differences and develop into a viable business unit.
We launched a new brand (Brooks) in Q408 upon whom we are pinning the future livelihood of the business. We've made significant investment in this brand, financial and otherwise. Our CEO is in charge of day-to-day talent development in this brand. We've also enlisted the help of our parent company (God). The Netzer Family Corporation lacks the senior leadership experience to fully develop this newest brand. We will partner with our parent company in this development so the end result is something all shareholders will be pleased with.
Pronouns
I have noticed with increasing frequency a phenomenon in how people interact with each other. More specifically, people tend to be dropping the pronouns from their salutations. For example, instead of saying, "I'll see you later", people are will say "see you later". This is not new, but it is spreading. In Christian circles, "I'm praying for you" or "I'll be praying for you" has become "praying for you" or "be praying for you". Maybe I am being over-sensitive, but I think it de-personalizes the message. It's a defense mechanism to withhold that part of the message that says, "I care about you" for fear that your feelings won't be reciprocated. Are people weirded out by having someone else say "I will be praying for you"? Do people feel less committed to actually pray for someone by casually saying "be prayin' for ya" versus a definitive "I will be praying for you"? I think so. Prayer is a big deal, to us and God. All of our speech, however subtle, should reflect that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
