where does time go?

really, a week ago!

Yes, it has been busy. A little travel last week to visit some friends in Flemington, NJ for the 4th. Then to Philly for nephew Mark's wedding with Jessie on Saturday. The drive home on Sunday was uneventful. All the major traffic was going the other way.

Washington's Crossing

Along the way, I ran a 5K race on the morning of the 4th in Washington's Crossing Park in PA. It was a warm day but the race went off at 8:30 in the morning so it was not bad at all.

Where does your time go?

Red bush shedding

It is a good thing I took this picture when I did.



Going by the bush yesterday, the red leaves lie in a ring around the ground below the bush.

Life can be fleeting. Make your moments count.

Start today

A year in 40 seconds

From the OnBeing blog, I find this brief video showing a year reduced to 40 second. Time elapsed with a single spot of grass and woods over the seasons.

How close is tomorrow?

Distance in time is negative. This might be hard to view before you are fully awake but the closing is key and only a minute away!

<iframe width="400" height="255" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/s5S-hA9uKEM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Are you ready for today?

Choice of language colors the conversation

"in the cross of two shadows, there lies a darker diamond" I wrote that many years ago. I come back to that from time to time. Recognizing patterns, recognizing intersections.

Kate Rutter writes:

Here’s the skinny on what I call Page Rage. Page Rage is the emotion that overwhelms you when you realize that continuing to use the term Web Page curdles opportunities for evolving user experiences. Why? Because the word is an artifact of the woefully outdated book metaphor — a metaphor that limits thinking.

The word “page” means paper and books. And although it never made literal sense, it was a helpful metaphor when the digital stuff on the web was mostly about static content…when it behaved more like books. But the capabilities and possibilities for digital interfaces have shifted dramatically.

You can read her full explanation in this weeks Adaptive Path Newsletter here.

Bill Glynn writes:

Equally disconcerting is the union’s rejection of the Superintendent’s plan, not based upon the plan’s potential effectiveness, but based upon selfish and misplaced priorities. It’s impossible to determine from this article exactly how the union came to its position and whether or not that position actually reflects the view of the faculty at large. However, the union’s position is troubling. When demands to negotiate take priority over the overwhelming need to work together, that’s a problem. When more time is spent searching the fine print of a contract or seeking a legal opinion than researching best practices for motivating and connecting with students, that’s a problem. When education is waning and students are suffering and the voice of the teacher goes unsolicited or is organizationally silenced, that’s a problem.

I suggest that you go and read the full posting on the Franklin School Committee blog here.  The Central Falls High School teacher situation is not good. It will not be solved (if it can be) in the newspapers and blogs. Especially when the readers are presented information where the words chosen are already coloring the points of view. Negotiations can not be conducted in a public discourse when the goal of newspapers is to sell papers or the goal of TV is to attract eyes to sell advertising.

The darker diamond that I opened with indicates where the two articles (Kate's and Bill's) come together. Kate is struggling with describing a website in page references where the page is not reflective of the "thing" itself.  Bill is assuming that there was no negotiation and that the teachers priorities are misplaced and selfish based upon what has been written in the papers. I read between those same lines and see a different story. I see negotiation. I see desire to help. I see a breakdown due to a miss understanding of an issue that has played here in Franklin and may indeed return.

The real issue is time. The teachers did agree to the extra summer work. They did not agree to the extension of the school day as the compensation was insufficient.

Yes, Bill can apply all sorts of adjectives to the situation. He has. Just be aware that there is an inherent bias in the words chosen. Just like Kate's issue with talking about web pages. The web is so much more than a page but continuing to talk about a page is limiting. Accusing the teachers of "selfish and misplaced priorities" assumes one takes the higher road. Taking a higher road will not resolve a negotiation that requires coming to a meeting of the minds in the middle.

What language would you choose to use?

not quite a wasteland

I was going to do "history of Pete's listening over the years" or some such nonsense. This would mean musicians you probably all know about and would include in your own histories. I was born and bred in Australia so I've decided to include only Australian music this time.

Follow the link to catch the remainder of Pete's walk through the past with Australian pop bands. Wonderful reminders of times gone by!

Spring forward?

I trust you turned your clocks ahead one hour to stay current on Daylight Savings Time

Time zone

I took my father to the Veteran's Hospital in Providence for his annual check up recently. I was pleasantly surprised by the overall experience having heard some weird stories beforehand.

The reception was pleasant and efficient. Dad had not yet received his VA card so we were directed to an office to get one. We waited a few minutes out the office for the woman to finish with the person she was working with.

When we entered the office, I noticed the daily calendar over her desk was still showing that the day was Friday, November 7th. (Yes, we were there several days later).

As I checked the clock on the wall, it was also one hour later than it should have been. I guess it had not been set back for Daylight Savings (now 2 weekends prior).

Fortunately, these were the only two oddities. The remainder of the visit was efficient and well done.

End of year findings

New year's eve, walking around the net before going out for a real walk in the snow covered world, I find:

The final thing to remember is that, Social Objects by themselves don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Sure, it’s nice hanging out with Lee talking about Star Wars. But if Star Wars had never existed, you’d probably still enjoy each other’s company for other reasons, if they happened to present themselves. Human beings matter. Being with other human beings matter. And since the dawn of time until the end of time, we use whatever tools we have at hand to make it happen.

Read the remainder of Hugh's posting on social objects here.

And speaking of time:

She gathered bunches of leaves in her arms, threw them high in the air and ran through them squealing, storing up days worth of wish-fulfillment in no time at all, then I suggested that since it was growing dark we should get busy on another big want of hers and use a bunch of these leaves to roast some potatoes, so we got lots of leaves together in a pile and Kaya lit them like a little priestess at an altar; then we got some oak twigs and threw them on, then more leaves and in very short order the heat was ready for potatoes, which in 20 minutes of additional leaf-cavorting were perfect for eating with some salt while sitting on warm rocks by the embers in the falling dark.

Find out more of Kaya's adventures here at PureLand Mountain.

And speaking of priorities I find:

... my starting point is always less, less, less. Simplicity is the core of my approach to financial liberation. Learn to need less, and you automatically become freer. Learn to need a smaller and cheaper living space. Learn to need a smaller and cheaper car... or better yet, a motorcycle,... or still better, no vehicle at all. Learn to need fewer gadgets. Learn to need fewer and less expensive clothes.

Simplify, simplify, simplify. This is the core of my "method". Before you worry about building a micro-business, before you worry about debt elimination, before you worry about working fewer hours or making more money-- Simplify every aspect of your life--- persistently, continuously, relentlessly. Pare away all that is unnecessary, distracting, and fashionable. Go to work on your cravings.

Read more at HoboPoet here.

and speaking of insights I find:

While history or years of experience certainly serve a purpose in the future of marketing, the most powerful results often occur when history and experience are combined with a little humility and acknowledgment of limitations - whether individually or within a marketing team. With such an understanding, you can then get out of your own way to gather the great insights that come from consumers and outside-industry thought leaders.

Read more of this from Learned on Women here.

Enjoy!

South Station - Clock runs on time!

South Station - Clock runs on time!, originally uploaded by shersteve.

While this clock runs on time, I found out as Friday night progressed that I had indeed made it out of Boston while the getting was good.

Apparently there was a switch failure at South Station after my 4:30 train left for Franklin. The 4:50 train to Norwood Central was canceled. No word on T-Alerts as to what happened to the 5:10 but the 5:40 ran 40 minutes late, the 6:15 was running 20-25 minutes late, then about 7:30 the announcement was that all trains were running 15 minutes late.