Thursday, May 26, 2005

An article that reflects my belief that most Americans (people in general, actually) have much more in common than they do differences. I feel like I should say something more profound, but the article does it better than I could.
posted by Unknown 10:08 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

I promised to clarify yesterday's post so I'll give it a shot. Apologies in advance if this is just as rambling or unclear.

It's flat-out expected that people put in well over 40 hours a week in most professional jobs (with anything above 40 usually unpaid). Why? Shouldn't productivity improvements mean less work to do? Innovation destroys that argument, as resources freed up from improved productivity have other uses to be put to. And that can forward individual and corporate wealth as well as the national/world economy. But what's the point of all of that wealth if it doesn't bring some kind of happiness or security to the people who make up these organizations?

That's what I think gets lost - that groups like companies and nations are intended to improve life for individuals, not as a sports team trying to win a game. The measurements of the game (GNP, productivity, Dow Jones) are supposed to approximate how life is for the people in the group; there's nothing good about their improvement once they're removed from what they're measuring.

Hmm, I might've gotten really obtuse with that one - let me stick in a sports analogy. If a basketball coach notices that better shooting percentage is the best predictor of which team will win, he might have every player take only shots they are certain they can make. So the shooting average might be 90%, but they would take so few shots that there's no way they could actually win a game. Productivity and all of these economic indicators are great, but when the indicators are the focus rather than the indicated, they lose their meaning.

I don't know exactly what I'd prescribed based on this, but I know that subordinating people's lives (i.e., their time) to these goals doesn't end up better for anyone. Definitely interested in any comments anyone has on this.
posted by Unknown 3:01 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

An interesting experiment on gender. Ignoring nature vs nurture for the moment, I was intrigued by his comments on what this could mean for companies of the future. I have this feeling, and it's just a feeling, that America's current white-collar work environment can't last. Just as individuals work themselves into the grave, so can a society, and that seems like our current vector. It's interesting that casual dress and free food and all our other perquisites are pretty much carrots to make us forget long workweeks. I've been fortunate (or obstinate) enough to avoid jobs that average 60 hours a week, but everyone seems to be expected to do it sometimes. Maybe at some point we'll remember that it is people, not corporations, that drive productivity and growth. And people are made to do so much more than earn money.

Kind of a rambling mishmash there - I'll try to clarify later.
posted by Unknown 9:21 AM | 0 comments

Monday, May 23, 2005

Just read: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. Yeah, it's a kids' book (probly middle school for maximum effect although elementary students could enjoy the pictures and imagery), but it's a nice collection of word plays and fun stories that is entertaining the whole way through. Thanks to the fiancee for the recommendation. Now back to Rabelais' Pantagruel.

In another reading note, Fiancee has encountered the productivity-killing experience of reading Harry Potter. She is valiantly resisting starting Goblet of Fire until our 8-hour-each-way road trip this weekend. Dunno how - I can't hold off on these books, especially the first time.

This morning was amazingly productive - hit the gym (only 2.5 miles in 23 minutes, but with the elliptical set to max elevation and 2/3 max resistance), got the car gassed up and inspected, reviewed some Oracle tuning material, and dropped off my dry cleaning. Then I got to work and haven't been as productive. Dunno why - I like the people here, and the work is a nice balance that's nowhere close to drudgery or impossible. Discipline's never been my forte.

Might be why I'm interviewing for another job Wednesday. My current company's just unstable enough to leave me open to interesting offers, and this might be one. Of course, I like my current company enough to make sure it's a better situation before jumping. If it happens, this would be my 5th job in a career that's just passing 7 years. I don't want to jump around, I'd like to find somewhere to put roots, but I've had 2 good opportunities start destabilizing (here and my first job), one lifestyle decision (leaving my second job since they shut down the office in Austin), and one indescribably awful environment. Most of my friends seem to have similar career paths thus far, so while I'm more extreme, I don't think I'm beyond the pale. And maybe this interview won't work out, the current job will, and it will be 4 jobs for 8 or more years. Who knows.

Woohoo! Darth Tater got here. A much-needed desk decoration.

Well, back to at least semi-productivity of the job.
posted by Unknown 1:48 PM | 2 comments

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Impressive. Most impressive. Out of respect to those who want to know nothing else, I'll just say that Jar-Jar doesn't speak and it was worth watching. Might write more next week - if ya don't see it the first four days, protecting you from spoilers is not my responsibility.

Anyone else watching the Senate (US, not Galactic) implode? I always thought the Republicans/conservatives liked measures that slowed down government action as a means to less (ie, better) government. The view changes from the top, I suppose. I really hope they don't overturn the filibuster, one of few longstanding traditions that actually serves a purpose, protecting the minority view. Especially when they've gotten 215 of 218 nominated judges approved (or would under the most recent deal I read about). According to this (admittedly not completely impartial but unlikely to use completely unsupported numbers), Republicans held up 50 of Clinton's appointments. I'm just saying.

(btw I love the phrase "I'm just saying" - it's utterly meaningless, ungrammatical, and useless, but it seems to enhance backhanded insults like no other. yea English, the most difficult language to learn!)

Still reading Rabelais. Admittedly it's going slowly as the style is vastly unfamiliar to me. One of the folks in a Yahoo! group reading the Great Books defended its inclusion as: 1) a satire of the overembellished one-sided "histories" of the time, 2) representative of the beginning of fiction for a story's sake without a need to investigate higher truths, and 3) a thumb of the nose to the Church, as this "natural man" (unchurched) is still an unequivocally good man who enjoys his body as well as his soul. Interesting points, and the book now makes more sense in its historical/cultural context.
posted by Unknown 11:15 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

11 hours left - I may just be reaching giddy.

Wanted to share some of the source/inspiration for the recent overly-introspective post. I've been reading a few blogs that have some interesting things to say - they're all Christian ministries, but even if you don't believe, I think you'll like some of what they say: Wade Hodges, happytheman, and Larry James.

Also, a couple of people have asked why I'm promoting smoking with the title of this blog. Er, I'm not - I think it's a foul way to passively attack the health of those around you. But I read Lord of the Rings as a kid, and I've always had this image in my head of Gandalf and Bilbo (or later Frodo) sitting on the porch with their pipes, having conversations deep and shallow. So while I detest tobacco, I like the porch concept, which is my frame of reference for this hopeful diablogue.

10 hours, 46 minutes.
posted by Unknown 1:06 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

It feels kinda odd - I know there's as much hype out there for this Star Wars movie as there was for the last two, but I don't feel as over-hyped. Maybe I'm less exposed to it, watching less TV or less movies or something (one of the best things about books - no ads!). Or maybe my friends are moderating expectations after double disappointment.

I've noticed how much I enjoy something depends a lot on who I'm with at the time and/or who I discuss it with. Bad movies are infinitely enjoyable (seeing Mortal Kombat with a dozen dormers who stood up and danced every time the theme song came on - fortunately the 2 other people in the theater could see around us), or movies with something good about them can be remembered as boring. I suppose it's another instance of the simple rule I first learned in the video game Civilization - the important thing is the people, everything else is just gravy.

Trying to step back and consider principles, whether for Sameer's government overhaul or just life in general. I still cling to one solid principle - loving God and loving people is the source of everything that's good in life (for people who don't believe in the first, the second is still usually what brings out the best in them). But what the heck does that mean in a daily manner? In the Gospels, everything in Jesus' life is about meeting/helping/talking with/teaching people. I can't imagine a job/life like that, but I can't help thinking it's worth investigating.

For the moment, I think I have these as general principles:
Love - not just romantic, although that's being more fun than I ever expected :-), but by default valuing and respecting all people brings out the best in them and me
Social - if you're not interacting with the people, the love's kinda empty
Active - if you're not doing something, you're wasting time/space continuum
Informed - gotta know what's going on around you at all levels
Educated - it's so easy to get lost in the minutiae, even the minutiae of good and valuable things, that it takes effort (for me, at least) to return to the bigger things for more thought and outside enlightenment

But all things are subject to change.

Wish me luck - 2 hours until 2 older guys punish me for pretending I belong on a racquetball court.
posted by Unknown 8:49 AM | 1 comments

Monday, May 16, 2005

Called a computer company that might remain nameless last night to address an issue on my fiancee's computer (I'm so ready to be married - wife is much easier to type than fiancee, and I a typo of a missing 'e' won't change my sexual orientation). The card bay doesn't work - we've verified that 2 cards work in another laptop but not this one. So I talked to "Richard" (I'll believe that one the next time I run into a drawling good ole farmboy named Rajiv) for 2 hours as he had me download diagnostics (poorly as the many files overran the desktop) and run them, and implied that only an idiot wouldn't have every CD that came with the computer right there available, and tested everything including the BIOS only to come to the conclusion ... that the card bay doesn't work.

And this is the service we get with a warranty. No offense to those I know who work there, but if they have so much customer service to do that they put up these kinds of roadblocks on my time and effort, maybe there's something wrong with the product. If only its rivals didn't have more wrong. Go quality!
posted by Unknown 1:32 PM | 0 comments

Sunday, May 15, 2005

First off, if anyone's interested in a little political experiment, a friend of mine is considering running for Congress, and is using a blog to explore his ideas - check him out here. He's smart and (usually) funny, so I'm looking forward to this online conversation.

Still reading Gargantua - I'm not sure how this is considered a Great Book. There's clever wordplay (much of which I'm sure I'm missing in the translation from French), but it's mostly the medieval equivalent of fart jokes (including some actual fart jokes). I'm only 30 pages in, so hopefully I'll understand more of its timelessness as it continues.

Saw Crash this weekend - it was a great movie. A little gimmicky in places, but I never rolled my eyes. Good writing - both the dialogue and the overall plot threads, good acting, interesting subjects. Probly the best movie I'll see this week, even (especially?) with Star Wars 3 at midnight on Wednesday.

And, of course, it's proof that some people don't deserve good art. One person was overheard gushing on her cell phone "It's the most important movie I've ever seen! You must see it, and all your friends! And you can't just think about it for a day and leave it behind - you must always remember it!" It has some great thoughts worth remembering, and far more worth serious consideration, but it outlined a serious problem in all of its shades of grey, it didn't recommend anything to solve it. Maybe that would be a better use of time than rote memorization. And then, this morning show genius talked about the plotline with the "Iraqi" when the first piece of that plotline was about his being mistaken for Iraqi when he was actually Persian (didn't establish his nationality, I don't think). Sorry for the rant - it's a good movie, and I'd enjoy hearing anyone's thoughts about it. Personal communications will not be published on the blog without permission, if anyone's afraid they could end up in a rant.
posted by Unknown 10:32 PM | 0 comments

Friday, May 13, 2005

Here goes nothing. Previously I haven't had the best luck keeping this thing up, but we'll give it a try.

Currently reading: Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel as part of the Great Books set

This will work great until Senator Binks suggests granting President Palpatine supreme executive power.

As for what else to say, I'll keep working on that.
posted by Unknown 2:25 PM | 0 comments