job search notes - Chris Brogan free e-book

For anyone looking for work, Chris Brogan has some great advice on how to use social media to find your new work.

Chris is a master at the use of social media. How do I know this?
I have had the distinct pleasure of working with him to help organize the PodCamp Boston conferences.

I half read this e-book this afternoon and have some things to work on (including completing the text, which I am sure wil add to the "to do" list). I think you will benefit from downloading this free e-book.

You can obtain the e-book here

Street of Shops, Lewisburg, PA

We visited the Street of Shops in Lewisburg, PA yesterday, cruising amongst some of the 125 stores available.



If you are in the Lewisburg, PA neighborhood, it would be good to count on spending a couple of hours here.

Penguins hockey - final

the last couple of minutes were intense as Philadelphia pulled their goalie to put the extra offense on the ice. The strategy worked as they closed the gap 5 to 4. It also worked against them as the Penguins managed a shot on the empty net to finish the game at 6 to 4.

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Penguins hockey - part 3

the Penguins are leading 5 to 2 with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd.

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Penguins hockey - part 2

the score is 3 to 2 at the end of the 2nd period with the Penguins in the lead. The zamboni's are doing their thing before the 3rd period begins.

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Penguins hockey

The action is fierce here at the Wachovia Arena where the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins lead at the end of the first period, 2 to nothing.

The Baslock reunion had seven individuals out to the game tonight. When the horn sounds for a goal, you'd expect the ship to come through the wall.

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Development 2.0: The Non-Profit Stock Exchange

My daughter Carolyn, a student at Northeastern University sent me this email:

I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a movement of citizens inspired by the presidential campaign who are now submitting ideas for how they think the Obama administration should change America. It is called “Ideas for Change in America”.

One idea is titled Development 2.0: The Non-Profit Stock Exchange. I thought you might be interested in getting involved and recommend you check it out. You can read more and vote for the idea by clicking the link here

Very interesting concept! Please click through to read more about it and consider casting your support for this initiative.

Christmas 2008

christmas_2008grandchildren, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Eleven of Jerry's thirteen grandchildren were present this Christmas. We sat 24 folks for dinner. There was enough room and there were leftovers. The eclair ring was a big hit for dessert, not much of that remained.

Rapid Fire Learning - December 2008

I wrote these in the comments to Joanna's post kicking off the Rapid Fire Learning for December.

1. The real work in painting your study is in the preparation
2. Time slicing requires focus
3. If "location, location, location" is the word for retail then "family, family, family" is really the word for the holidays
4. The first step is the hardest
5. Music touches more than one sense

You have my permission to click through to read the other learnings gleaned from looking back on this last month of 2008.

Joanna writes about December 26th being Boxing Day. Today is also the celebration for St Stephen.

What have you learned this month?

Merry Christmas to all!

SOBCon 2009

Are you going? Why not?

It could be a good thing for you to do.

If you do go, you may find that it was a great thing to do!

12 Days of Christmas from "Straight No Chaser"

Another good mashed up version, a capella style of the 12 Days of Christmas from "Straight No Chaser"

Enjoy!

Michael Graves Coffeemaker - updated

You may have noticed that Michael Graves has some designer goods at Target. I stopped in for only the second time to look for and pickup a new coffee maker as ours decided to quit.

His coffee maker was in the mid-price range and seemed to have some good features to make it worthwhile. It is manufactured by Hamilton Beach.

The water container comes out and makes it easy to load.
He still uses paper coffee filters so it is not very green on that front. And speaking of green, did you notice the blue oval! It is bright enough to light up the entire kitchen in the dark. You could use the coffee maker for the dual purpose of coffee and night light, that might qualify for a little green savings.





For all the Michael Graves designed items at Target click here or go to Target and search for "Michael Graves".

Updated:

I was pleasantly surprised to find this model rated by Consumer Reports as a best buy. I agree it is priced well for the competition. As we have now been using it for a few weeks, the one significant draw back that it has is that the coffee container doesn't sit easily into its slot. Once removed, it takes a minute or so to find just the right spot for it. Why couldn't it have been designed to only go back in one way?

Maybe the next model will do that!

Handel's Hallelujah Chorus

This version of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus is delightfully funny.



Enjoy!

Thanks to FUSF Interweave for the tip

Safe party guide from MADD

If you are going to be hosting a party during this holiday season, please check out the Safe Party Guide from MADD here.

It may help to prevent something that would spoil the party or the season!

Great seasonal music

The holiday season would not be what it is without music. Granted some radio stations start playing the Christmas music way too early, but then look at the overall commercial approach, Christmas items were up for sale along with Halloween candy this year. We'll go down that path another time, this time around I'd like to follow the musical notes.

I got to two concerts this season; one at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse here in Franklin and the second at Symphony Hall in Boston. Both were good and special in their own way!

1 - Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams did its thing at the Circle of Friends.

What is its thing?
Hard to really describe but it generally is taking two different songs and putting them together to make a third unique song.

For this Christmas show, they brought out some "sissy" classics and intermixed them with their blend of mashup. The best probably was "Angels we have heard on high" mixed with Van Morrison's "Gloria". Yes, something to be heard to be understood.

Note: You can go to Radio-Free Slambovia, navigate to A Slambovian Christmas and select "Angels - Gloria" to hear for yourself.

2 - The Boston Pops did its thing at Symphony Hall.

What is its thing?
Music played to its best in an acoustical gem of a hall.

For this Christmas show, they backed up a reading of "The Polar Express" by Will Lebow. Very well done. The big screen came down to show highlights of C Van Allsberg's illustrations. The way they were shown, it was if they were moving pictures. The life and light depicted by Van Allsberg is all that more impressive shown in this way,

The special treat for me (along with quite a few others based upon the applause) was the new rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Now, for a song that has been around as long as this one has, what can you do different?

Try singing each verse to the melody of another classic; for example the fifth verse, "five golden rings" was sung to the theme from Beethoven's Fifth (but of course!). From that they segued into "the Surrey with the fringe on top" from Oklahoma to do verse six and then to "My favorite things" from The Sound of Music for verse seven.

Don't worry I won't reveal them all. Not that I could remember, I was torn between amazement and laughter. The vocal performance by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus was simply awesome.

This version was commissioned by the Pops to feature the range of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and it does this very well. Kudos to David Chasse for the arrangement.

Do you enjoy the seasonal music?

What is your favorite?

My desk at Burroughs - circa1985

Burroughs_circa1988, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I started with Burroughs in 1982 and moved up to supervisor in either 1984 or '85. I recall this being the Supervisor desk at the Respond Center in the Springfield, NJ office.

The screen on the right was an MT983 (I think) to our B1900 system running the RESPOND application. The center screen was our ROLM call system supervisor view. RESPOND was the application used for taking service requests and dispatching the field engineers. It recorded the details, provided customer and engineering reports, parts usage, etc.

Ah, those were the days.

books at hand

I am continuing to set up the study/office at home. Here is what it looked like this afternoon:



A close up of the books on the shelf:

Image by shersteve via Flickr

The books within reach fit primarily into three categories:

1. have read, need to write a book review
2. high on the "to read" list
3. ready reference for the job search

What books are on your shelf?

Before/after shoveling today

The before shoveling scene:



The after shoveling scene (yes, it took awhile):



Now, time to get warm and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done!

Pawtucket Times 12/18/1971

Pawtucket Times 12/18/1971, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I knew there was a reason why putting things back together in the newly painted study was going to take some time.

I keep getting distracted by the stuff I find. Like this gem from junior year in high school.

Yep, that is moi. With the ball. So gracefully depicted here.

Those were the days my friend!

It's official

It's official, originally uploaded by shersteve.

There is more snow coming down now here in Franklin.
Like Boston, Summer and Winter Streets intersect.
As it is the first day of winter, how appropriate!

new lyric?

the slats are snow inviting,
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

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Snow sculpture

I love how the wind sculpts the snow.

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Quote for the day

“Better learning will not come from finding better ways for the teacher to instruct, but from giving the learner better opportunities to construct.”

Seymour Papert

Symphony Hall

Inside Symphony Hall, it is dressed up for the Holiday Pops performance. My ladies took me there Thursday evening as a delayed birthday present. A wonderful evening of music.

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teenage substance abuse

My mother-in-law once offered to take our daughter from us when she was a teen and give her back to us later. It was a tempting offer that we declined.

Teenage is such a rough age. The struggle between finding their own individuality and growing into a normal separation from the family circle is enough of a challenge. Throw in the barrage of media inputs about the good life with drink or drugs and you are putting fuel to the fire.

How should parents deal with their teens?

Communication. It is as easy and as hard as that.

Not just talking about the weather, but good honest open discussions on all the topics of the day will set the framework for appropriate growth and development of the teenage mind.

This has been reinforced in the past couple of weeks with the W.A.S.T."E".D. Information Session at Franklin High School on December 2 (recording and text available here) and the forum at King Phillip Regional High School on December 17 (notes captured here).

quick reminder

A quick reminder that if you really want to read all that I write, you should subscribe to my Tumblr feed. All my writing goes into this feed. It will save you some time checking each of the places that I do write.

DELL, Twitter, million what?

Stan Schroeder picked up on the VentureBeat headline I saw today and posted at Mashable

MG Siegler over at VentureBeat has an interesting proposition about Twitter’s monetization capacity. Quoting InternetNews, he digs up the claim that Twitter made 1 million dollars in revenue for Dell. Here’s the quote:

“Less altruistically, some businesses have discovered that Twitter is an effective way of communicating with consumers. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) says Twitter has produced $1 million in revenue over the past year and a half through sale alerts. People who sign up to follow Dell on Twitter receive messages when discounted products are available the company’s Home Outlet Store. They can click over to purchase the product or forward the information to others.”

Siegler goes on to propose that “If Twitter has made Dell $1 million in revenue, imagine how much it’s making for all of the companies it helps promote.”

I’m not convinced.

Nor am I. DELL was successful with Twitter only because that is where some of its customers are. (briefly, tech geeks who buy systems and such.) Other companies, if their customers happen to frequent Twitter may see some success with that tool as well.

Twitter is a tool. It is not a silver bullet.

If your customers are not on Twitter, don't waste your time on Twitter.

new desk for study

new desk for study, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Some assembly was required and it was completed without too much trouble last evening. I chuckled at the instructions:

"Only one person is necessary for the assembly of this product. However one or more step may need a second person to assist."

I was more concerned because the Allen wrench connections were to be hand done:

"Do not fully tighten Allen bolts until Step 17"

Guess how many steps there were?

Yep, 17. How did you know?

They also instruct on Step 17:

"You may need to go back through the steps to make sure you have tightened them all."

I don't see the need for the "flexibility" that they seemed to prepare for. The tolerance for alignment shouldn't be so loose as to leave the connections incomplete until the end. It would make much more sense to tighten the blots as you go along the way.

job search notes: get in the rhythm

Daily life has a new rhythm for me today.

Work recently had a rhythm based upon the budget and calendar year. The budget cycle was always important. Once it was set, then quarters had some significance but the monthly reporting cycle drove most of the weekly and day to day requirements. One of the responsibilities I had was program management for a set of security initiatives with a monthly read-out to senior management. The week of the read-out was busy as the read-out required the coordination of all the other project status reports (as well as my own). I had a great resource as project manager so he could do our presentation while I focused on coordinating the others to ensure that their story was crisp and to the point.

This was in addition to the normal work required for my own security project. The scope of our project was broad reaching and long term. The problem had built up over the years and wasn't going to be resolved over night. We were making good progress on keeping up with the day to day issues and implementing a more sustainable solution for the long haul. The cooperation and collaboration with dozens of folks made the work relatively easy to do.

All that is past now. The short term focus is on family, the holidays and determining my own work plan for the future. My father's health has required attention. His vision is failing and he shouldn't be driving. Doctor visits and trips to the local mall to do his exercise walks take time, but it is time well spent.

The study (now painted and newly carpeted) will start getting put back together to be the new home office and center point for the job search which will begin in earnest in the new year.

My own exercise routine has been re-established. Narcessian weight work twice a week, running three days a week, and walks with Dolores on the weekend (in addition to walks with Dad) are scheduled and completed.

The ankle brace has been successful thus far. I will face the real test in mid-January or early February when I get up to running more than 5 miles (currently doing 2.5 to 3 successfully). If I get past that 5-7 mile mark with no issues, then I should be able to plan the year with a good 5K a month and revisit my favorites.

Local blogging for Franklin Matters has its own monthly cycle of town meetings.

• Town council the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
• School committee the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays.
• Financial Planning Committee 1st and 3rd Thursdays.

The Energy $ense series and other special meetings like WASTED provide additional opportunities.

Bottom line, my time during the day is allocated amongst the family priorities, Franklin Matters, and social networking to prepare for the job search.

Do you have a rhythm in your life?

Do you set priorities for time allocation?

Circle of Friends: Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams

the next show
Saturday,
December 13th, 8:00PM

A Slambovian Holiday Show GANDALF MURPHY and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams

"Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is simply one of the finest American bands out there on the road. " -AllMusic Guide

with special guest Lindsay Mac

Tickets = $20

job search notes - paradox of learning

There is a paradox in learning. It is the paradox of the two tents.

On one side are those who are content. On the other dwell those who live in discontent. It appears that both have something to teach us about learning.

Before you click through to read the full article here think about which tent you live in? and why?

new carpet

new carpet, originally uploaded by shersteve.

2 hours later, the old is gone, the new has been laid out.

low clouds this morning

low clouds this morning, originally uploaded by shersteve.

couldn't see much out the back windows this morning

the rain was so heavy it brought the clouds down with it

soccer anyone?

soccer anyone?, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The space is available.

That is until the carpet guys arrive and put the new one in which means I'll then have to bring back the bookcase, put in the desk, chairs and generally make it livable with some space left over for moving about

5 for Friday

1 - First up, from Robert Fulghum

Anxitement.
This is a combination of anxiety and excitement.
He is appropriately anxious because all of the comforts of sensory familiarity are not present. Everything looks, sounds, tastes, smells, and feels different. His sense are provoked. His entire system is on urgent alert. Good. This is part of why he came - to be stimulated and revived. To get the juices moving again.
This is why he is excited.

Read the full posting here.

2 - from Nick Hornby writing about the "boo-boys" at the English football stadiums (our soccer)

... when I first started watching football, I was always reading about players who, as the sports-journalism cliché put it, had become “a target for the boo-boys”. These players were hapless individuals who, usually through a whole string of undistinguished performances for an underachieving team, would always attract the wrath of their own fans, no matter what they did – and what they did was usually inept, partly because their confidence had been shot to pieces.

Read the full piece here. There are "boo-boys" in American sports as well.

3 - and from Paul Graham insights to discuss on start-ups vs establishment

Part of the reason—possibly the main reason—that startups have not spread as broadly as the Industrial Revolution did is their social disruptiveness. Though it brought many social changes, the Industrial Revolution was not fighting the principle that bigger is better. Quite the opposite: the two dovetailed beautifully. The new industrial companies adapted the customs of existing large organizations like the military and the civil service, and the resulting hybrid worked well. "Captains of industry" issued orders to "armies of workers," and everyone knew what they were supposed to do.

Read his full essay here

4 - from Ronni Bennett where she writes today about the political scandal in IL and corruption in general

A majority of people go through life working hard for living, do their best to raise their children to become morally responsible adults, pay their bills and their taxes and do it all by the rules. It’s hard to know if politics attracts those who are already corrupt or if politics corrupts those who were once honest, but that short-list above tells us the kind of government we have, have always had. And it is not to anyone’s benefit but politicians and their corporate cronies.

Read her full posting here.

5 - and finally from Seth Godin (actually just finally because it is the fifth for today) appropriately talking also about the newspapers and the power structure that results in Pulitzer Prizes.

What an opportunity (for someone) to start taking advantage of the huge pool of talent and passion that is moving online, and to work to raise the bar. We don't need more gossip sites from celebrity magazine editors. We need to identify and reward voices that push hard against the status quo, that report eagerly and accurately and that speak truth to power.

Read his always thought provoking posting here

job search notes: imagination - Bingo!

The lesson I'm hinting at is larger than Rome: examine any legend of innovation, from inventors to scientists to engineers, and you'll find similar natural omissions by history. History can't give attention to what's been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that enable success. Without at least imagining the missing dimensions in the stories, our view of how to make things happen in the present is seriously compromised.

From Scott Berkun's book The Myths of Innovation

I think daydreaming is a distinctive mode of cognition especially well suited to the complex, 'fuzzy' problems that characterize a more turbulent business environment. ... Daydreaming is an effective way of coping with complexity. When a problem has a high degree of complexity, the level of detail can be overwhelming. The more one focuses on the details, the more one risks being lost in them. ... Every child knows how to daydream. But many, perhaps most, lose the capacity as they grow up. ...

From Dov Frohman - Leadership the Hard Way

Imagining = daydreaming!

Yes, you now have a good reason to daydream. Not that you can do it all day but it is allowed and should be granted a reasonable amount of time.

How much is reasonable?

That depends upon the kind of fuzzy logic problem you are attempting to solve.

Do you have a time to daydream in your day?

job search notes: the moment of insight

The magic feeling at the moment of insight, when the last piece falls into place, comes for two reasons. The first reason is that it's the reward for many hours (or years) of investment coming together. In comparison to the simple act of fitting the puzzle piece into place, we feel the larger collective payoff of hundreds of pieces of work. The second reason is that innovative work isn't as predictable as jigsaw puzzles, so there's no way to know when the moment of insight will come: it's like a surprise. Like hiking up a strange mountain through cold, heavy fog, you never know how much further you have to go to reach the top. When suddenly the air clears and you're at the summit, it's overwhelming. You hoped it was coming but you couldn't be certain when or if it would happen, and the emotional payoff is hard to match (explaining both why people climb mountains as well as why they invent new things).

Innovation, very much like finding new work.

Do you agree? or disagree?


Quotation from Scott Berkun's The Myths of Innovation

Hey, guys! The word is out

Check out this and avoid the doghouse this holiday season! (The link will take you to a 4 minute video, well worth the viewing.)

Book Review: The Celebrity Experience

Cover via AmazonNo matter what business you are in, you deal with customers. Some companies have reputations for good service, others have lousy reputations. Good customer service is not guaranteed, in fact, bad customer service is talked about more often. How can that be changed?

If you looked at the businesses that do good customer service, not just once or twice, but consistently, they might have something to share on what helps them deliver their great service. Donna Cutting started with that idea and did the leg work for all of us. She talked with many of the top customer service organizations to find out their secrets. Donna shares them in her book, “The Celebrity Experience; Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service”.

Each chapter of “The Celebrity Experience” stars with an inspirational story of outstanding service. The process to provide that outstanding is summarized in 5 or 6 actions. Donna then develops the details for each of those actions over the remainder of the chapter.

Stanley Marcus, founder of Nieman Marcus which is well known for their excellent customer service said:

“There are only two things of importance. One is the customer, and the other is the product. If you take care of customers, they come back. If you take care of your product, it doesn't come back. It's just that simple. And it's just that difficult."

Read Donna’s book and you'll understand how delivering red-carpet customer service can be executed successfully! It's just that simple.

Donna blogs at The Celebrity Experience

Adjectives are your friend

Continuing our "friend" theme today, two great American writers are quoted by a Scottish writing coach.

Must be good advice!
It is.

You have my permission to click through here to read Joanna Young's advice on the use of adjectives

Enjoy!

job search notes - "your very best friend"

I re-read Seth Godin's The Dip over the weekend and found a number of parts in the book that could be applied to the current job search effort. I wrote about the concept of Bingo here and leaning here.

Here's the good news: The fact that it's difficult and unpredictable works to your advantage. Because if it were any other way, there'd be no profit in it. The reason people bother to go windsurfing is that the challenge makes it interesting. The driving force that gets people to pay a specialist is that their disease is unpredictable or hard to diagnose. The reason we're here is to solve the hard problems.

The next time you're tempted to vilify a particularly obnoxious customer or agency or search engine, realize that the failed interaction is the best thing that has happened to you all day long. Without it, you'd be easily replaceable. The Dip is your very best friend.

So what does this have to do with searching for a job?

It determines how you look at "problems", how you can turn problems into opportunities! Utilize your skills to your advantage. Turn a dead end into a new avenue.

The power lies in your choice.
The power lies in the attitude you bring to the table.

Would you add anything to this?

Did you find a problem and turn it into an opportunity?

Not quite Jackson Pollock

Not quite Jackson Pollock, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Yes, I prefer to use a roller on the walls. It leaves a nice smooth finish.

Jackson would probably agree. It would leave him a good base coat to work with.

Should I do a Pollock?

Or leave it a standard off-white?

What do you think?

Painting the study, continued

Work on painting the study continues today. The room is now completely empty (well almost, the cable connection is in the corner bucket).





The patchwork of drop clothes has been laid down. The door removed for easier access and navigation within the room. Trim edges have all been taped. I'm ready to prime the walls this afternoon.

job search notes - lessons from "The Dip"

I re-read Seth Godin's The Dip over the weekend and found a number of parts in the book that could be applied to the current job search effort. I wrote about the concept of Bingo yesterday.

The Dip is flexible. It responds to the effort you put into it. In fact, it's quite likely (in almost every case) that aggressive action on your part can make the the Dip a lt worse. Or a lot better. Let's try for better.

When the pain gets so bad that you're ready to quit, you've set yourself up as someone with nothing to lose. And someone with nothing to lose has quite a bit of power. You can go for broke. Challenge authority. Attempt unattempted alternatives. Lean into a problem; lean so far that you just might lean right through it.

So what does this have to do with the job search?

If you have not done the preparation to be sure the track you are on is the proper one, be careful how far you lean.

If you have done the preparation and are convinced that you are on the right path, it is good to lean. Don't quit! This could be the break through you were looking for.

Is there anything you would add to this?

desire line

One of the take away points from Patti Digh's book Life Is A Verb, is the human factor of desire lines. While developers and designers can put in cross walks, sidewalks and defined paths of crossing from point to point, people tend to make their own path. These paths are called "desire lines".

Pictured here, the corner of Summer St and King St in Franklin. The sidewalk shown in the distance curves around to the right. This desire line makes the long side of the triangle and cuts the corner.




Have you found desire lines?

Where?

I am curious to know, drop me a comment or an email (shersteve at gmail dot com).

Bingo: What comes next?

Did you ever play the game Bingo? It is associated more with elderly fund raising events today than the kids game from once upon a time. There is a sphere filled with marked balls. One person spins the sphere and draws out a ball (kind of like the lottery) to read the letter number combination on it. The players all have cards. Each card is marked with a 5x5 grid where the spaces are filled with similar letter/number combinations. If the player has a match between a square and the letter number called, s/he marks the square with a token or a colored marker. As the squares are filled, the first player to complete a row up, down or full diagonal calls out "BINGO".

Wikipedia has a more detailed explanation here (includes pictures of the cards used).

Anyway, with that as an intro, I think life is like a BINGO game. We all have a card. The contents of the squares are what we were genetically born with. Some of the physical attributes are instantly recognizable. For example, I stand 6 foot 2 inches. I can't do much about growing taller, so trying to play in the NBA was not an viable option. Serving on a submarine was also not an option. There is a height restriction of 6 foot. Some other attributes, we discover over time. My love of music, writing and collaborating are things I have recognized along the way.

In the midst of figuring out what comes next, I find David Zinger has a post today with that very question. The comment I left there I want to expand upon here.

David, this is a great question. When I am in project management mode or process re-engineering mode, this question is almost overused but with great purpose. In any workflow, what does come next is critical to understanding where there are improvement possibilities.

For our own personal lives, if we don’t know what comes next, then it is quite possible we could be doing the wrong thing or going the wrong way.

I re-read Seth Godin's The Dip this weekend. When I had read it back in March, I realized that Seth had summarized his book with a sherku:

Quit the wrong stuff
Stick with the right stuff
Have the guts to do one or the other

If you figure out what comes next, then you can determine if it is the right thing to do, or the wrong thing. Then making the decision to proceed, or quit comes to play.

Your choice!

What comes next?

BTW: Re-reading The Dip and finding David's post was a BINGO!

Do you come across BINGO's in your life?

Simply the best of 2008

What was the best posting I did here this year?

I'd have to say the interview with Patti Digh as part of her "Life is a Verb" blog tour in September.

Why?

This post is simply the best because finally talking with Patti on the phone after correspondence for years was a delight (why did I wait so long?). I also learned a lot making the recording.

If you happened to miss the interview, you can listen to it here.

You can also check out the sherku that were created from the book "Life is a Verb" here

job searching notes - keep 2 docs

One of series of tips from a local networking group of folks who are or have been at one time looking for new work. These are considerations; one might provide a disclaimer that the mileage on these suggestions may vary. Through the sharing and collaboration, these may at least spark some useful thought process that will ultimately lead you to a successful position.

Write your cover letter for the position being applied for. Keep two resume documents. One with your "master" listing, all the details so you can talk to the specifics as you need to. One with the short story; the "readers digest" version, highlighting the relevant points for this application. What you have done that supports your case for this position.

Front door - wreath (updated)

Front door - wreath, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Hung the wreath yesterday and upon second thought realized in needed a little more color.

Before discarding the wreaths each year, I remove the ornamental pieces (berries, pine cones, etc.) I went into the archive to find a few appropriate pieces of color to add.

Dolores gave me a "double thumbs up"! I guess I did pretty well.

Smile - wreath time

time for the wreath to be hung on the front door. The evergreen circle: reminds us of the seasons of the year, the cycle of life, the blessings of light that come appropriately at this time of short days, long nights, and dreary news.

Keep the spirits up!

Smile, make someone's day richer.

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Northeastern University Symphony Orchestra

Dolores, Allison and I got to the Northeastern University Symphony Orchestra concert at the Fenway Center on the NU Campus last night. Conducted by Prof. Evan Bennett, they performed two works:

• Symphony No. 2 in D, Op.36 by Beethoven
• The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh (Suite) Rimsky-Korsakov

Here Carolyn was intently tuning for the second piece:



Here the "eyes have it" as all are very intent on what they are about to perform:



An enjoyable evening!

A welcome sign?

this is placed on most of the tables in the food court at the Prudential Center. On the one hand a practical reminder of what you should always do. On the other hand not a very welcoming sign!

Mobile post sent by shersteve using Utterli. Replies.

The cost of now

More than ever, there's a clear relationship between how new something is and how much it costs to discover that news.

Seth Godin, always a thought stirrer in my book, has an interesting post today. You can read the full posting here.

There is also a cost to deliver the news. Some of you may be aware that I do "live blogging" for Franklin Matters. I do this for as many School Committee, Town Council and other town meetings of events as I can. Oh and this is when I don't forget to bring my power cord with me. The combination of the live network connection and taking notes drains the battery in less than an hour. Simply taking notes without connection to the internet extends the battery life closer to the two hours it should be.

The live notes while they are real time, generally are a straight capture of the transactions, conversations, whatever is going on. Very little editing or commentary is added. I am too busy keeping track of what is being said by whom, etc.

The post meeting notes are better written, there is a definite flow or line of thought to them as I have had time to sort things out no matter how the meeting went or who said what when.

This is not a new discussion for me. I have been thinking about this quick a bit. I want to make a decision based upon the readership. Do I get more activity from live blogging or from the post meeting notes?

The jury is still out on that one.


If you would like to share your thoughts, please let me know via comment or email (shersteve at gmail dot com).

job search notes: "networking doesn’t function like a light switch"

...unfortunately, I’ve learned that networking doesn’t function like a light switch. Instead, it’s more like gardening: Consistent care and maintenance are the only way to make your garden grow–or in this case, consistent networking is needed to yield results.

Especially in today’s job market, I need to have all the resources to maximize potential. Right now it’s really not what you know, it’s who you know.

read more on the WSJ Blog: Laid Off and Looking

This quote came from the entry on Finding Your Networking Edge

Thanks to CK for the pointer!

job searching notes - don't go negative

One of series of tips from a local networking group of folks who are or have been at one time looking for new work. These are considerations; one might provide a disclaimer that the mileage on these suggestions may vary. Through the sharing and collaboration, these may at least spark some useful thought process that will ultimately lead you to a successful position.

Don't go negative on your former employer. You want to convey what you have done for them in a positive manner as that is what you can and hope to do for the company you are interviewing with.

Another look at how to define your job

Tactic 1: Try to tell a story that complements an existing story rather than calling it out as false.

Tactic 2: Try to make the 'proof' as vivid and immediate as possible. Like an apple falling on your head.

Big ideas often demand a marketing strategy that is a lot more difficult than marketing gravity. Sometimes results do take a long time. Sometimes the consumer has been wrong all along. Sometimes you do need to replace an existing story. I hope you will. But this takes time and patience and resources.

When in doubt, market gravity.

read the full posting by Seth Godin here.

So how do you use this?

• What kind of work are you looking for?
• What do you do well?
• How big is the market for what you do?

If you'd like more of an explanation than my hop-skip-jump line of thought process has just laid out, send me an email (shersteve at gmail dot com) or leave me a comment and we can talk about this.

job searching notes - keywords

One of series of tips from a local networking group of folks who are or have been at one time looking for new work. These are considerations; one might provide a disclaimer that the mileage on these suggestions may vary. Through the sharing and collaboration, these may at least spark some useful thought process that will ultimately lead you to a successful position.

Pepper your resume with appropriate keywords, like tool names (pareto), or processes (Six Sigma); being careful of abbreviations.

Mother, moi, Dad: May 1976

One of the side benefits of clearing the bookshelf to paint the study is the opportunity to discover some envelopes of pictures that had previously just been collecting dust, almost forgotten.

Well, now a few of these pictures can see the light of day.

Oh, my! Yes, that is I in the center with Mom to my right (your left) and Dad to my left (your right).

Mother had one wish for my graduation. She wished that the beard that I had grown for the production of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I that we did on campus, and the beard that I subsequently grew quite fond of, would be shaved off for graduation.

Mother did get her wish.

I grew it back shortly after and it has been part of me ever since. Even my wife and kids have only seen pictures like this of the before-beard days. And now you can say that you have also!

Did you ever do something like this for your mother, father or someone special?
Was it a one time thing or something that lasted?

job searching notes - Craigslist

One of series of tips from a local networking group of folks who are or have been at one time looking for new work. These are considerations; one might provide a disclaimer that the mileage on these suggestions may vary. Through the sharing and collaboration, these may at least spark some useful thought process that will ultimately lead you to a successful position.

Keep positive. Treat the search as if it were a job. He has had more luck with CareerBuilder than Monster. Don't overlook Craigslist. Folks such as Harvard posts positions there.

Michael Graves coffee maker

You may have noticed that Michael Graves has some designer goods at Target. I stopped in for only the second time to look for and pickup a new coffee maker as ours decided to quit.

His coffee maker was in the mid-price range and seemed to have some good features to make it worthwhile. It is manufactured by Hamilton Beach.

The water container comes out and makes it easy to load.
He still uses paper coffee filters so it is not very green on that front. And speaking of green, did you notice the blue oval! It is bright enough to light up the entire kitchen in the dark. You could use the coffee maker for the dual purpose of coffee and night light, that might qualify for a little green savings.





For all the Michael Graves designed items at Target click here or go to Target and search for "Michael Graves".

"One is never alone if size is not important"

On reflection, they were fine guests. They came on time, ate with enthusiasm, and went away at a decent hour. They were quiet but lively. They cleaned up after themselves. There seemed to be only cooperation among them - no unpleasant fights or passive aggression.

Who were these guests?

Click through to read about Robert Fulghum's Thanskgiving guests.

Double nickels of link love!

I have a tradition of running a mile for each year I have been around on my birthday. As I get older, that gets harder to do by the mile. But one can change the measure to minutes and be successful. This year that would be farther than I can do on the comeback trail so I settled for 2.55 miles. Cute huh!

But I was still thinking about what I could do for double nickels.

Send an email? might be considered s*p*a*m... not good

Send a tweet each minute? might be inconsiderate of my followers... not good

Give link love? ah, the gift that everyone appreciates!

Now how do I get 55? Since my bloglines feed listing exceeds 800, this by nature will be selective. Let me count the ones I most frequent or find the most good stuff on. In somewhat alpha order since I started with Blogrolling listing. If I left you off, it may have been an oversight or a sign of my new age. :-)



800 CEOReadBlog
37 Days
A Clear Eye
Bernie DeKoven
Blog Brothers

Brand Soul
Chris Brogan
Chris Owen
Christopher Penn
Confident Writing

Dark Reading
Dan Ward
Dave Rothacker
Doc Searls
Drawn

Dwayne Melancon
eHub
EM Sky
FAST Company
gapingvoid

gillianic tendencies
Good Experience
Greg Balanko-Dickson
Hamguin's Hideout
Hobopoet

How to Save the World
John Richardson
Joy of Six
Joyful Jubilant Learning
Karen Wallace

Learned on Women
Make it Great
my topography
New Charm School
Occupational Adventure

Ptak Science Books
Pause
Phil Gerbyshak
PureLand Mountain
Robert Fulghum

Seth Godin
Simplicity
Songs of Experience
Talking Story
Terry Starbucker

Tim Millburn
Time Goes By
Tom Peters
Tomorrow Today
WonderBranding

World Changing

Sanders Says

Ze Frank

Beach Walks with Roz

Limerick Savant

Enjoy!

Who would you add to this listing?

Speed limit 55

speed limit 55, originally uploaded by TheTruthAbout....

The body is constrained, especially by the laws of gravity and age.

The mind however, really has no limits other than what you place upon yourself.

As you wake up each day, a new birth each day, it is your choice.

What limits will you test? Learning doesn't come from the safety of the center. Learning comes from exploring along the edges.

I will run today and set about enjoying a wornderful milestone.

What will you do today?

How is your radar set?

Gift idea: Handcrafted Wine stoppers

I had the good fortune to meet Keith Burtis at PodCamp Boston 3 (PCB3). He usually does live video but in this clip he shows the steps to make one of his wine stoppers.

Now that would be a good gift idea for someone who likes wine!

Do you know someone who likes wine?

Check out Keith's craftsmanship here

Care to Connect

Image via Wikipedia

Recognizing that we all have special charities that we support during this time of the year, however, if your charity includes supporting our men and women in the military then, you may find this AT&T program interesting.

AT&T Care to Connect

AT&T Inc. has announced the launch of "AT&T Care to Connect" in all AT&T retail locations nationwide. The program allows shoppers to give $1, $5, or $10 toward prepaid phone cards for military members. AT&T will match the total dollars collected by the program through Dec. 21, doubling the amount of phone cards issued to the troops via customer giving alone. Phone cards generated through AT&T Care to Connect will be distributed to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas regions between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

• For more information, log onto www.att.com.
• Note, the cards can only be purchased at an AT&T Retail Store location.

Thanks to CK for the information on this.

job searching notes - use your network

One of series of tips from a local networking group of folks who are or have been at one time looking for new work. These are considerations; one might provide a disclaimer that the mileage on these suggestions may vary. Through the sharing and collaboration, these may at least spark some useful thought process that will ultimately lead you to a successful position.

Use your network, schedule lunch or coffee with someone everyday!

Bookshelf down

I have dismantled the book shelf in the study in order to clear the room for a fresh coat of paint and new carpet.

Partly because the room needs painting, partly because I'll need a formal desk, partly because it was just time to do it.

Taking the books and other stuff off the shelves took the longest amount of time. Once the shelves were clear, taking it apart was easy. My grandfather, Armand Joyal, had helped me craft this. He was a cabinet maker and a real craftsman. The simplicity of the design: steel dowels to support the shelving, the reuse of the two outside poles from my family's basketball hoop, the two angle brackets to tie the shelving to the wall, all marvelous.


Here is a condensed view of the dismantling:





What work around the house do you like to do?

Painting, cleaning, gardening, cooking, ???

World AIDS Day

Thanks to Christopher S Penn for the prompt via Twitter

take the civics quiz

Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.

The 35 question quiz can be found here

Let me know how you did and we can compare scores.

Send an email to me (shersteve at gmail dot com) or leave a comment.

job searching notes - information interviews

One of series of tips from a local networking group of folks who are or have been at one time looking for new work. These are considerations; one might provide a disclaimer that the mileage on these suggestions may vary. Through the sharing and collaboration, these may at least spark some useful thought process that will ultimately lead you to a successful position.

Once he developed his business plan, he was abandoning resume posting and instead spending time with informational interviews. He felt this was was working better.

empty nest

When the trees shed their leaves, you get to find out where the birds nested. The empty nest will not be used again. It will remain nestled in amongst the branches until the weather brings it down.

The birds do this properly, creating a new nest each year. Think of all the stuff we would leave behind, or even better, not accumulate if we did likewise! Nothing like getting a clean start each year.

Do yo have anything you are hanging on to that you should put aside?

When are you going to empty your nest?