As a software engineer, I’m fortunate that my job lends to telecommuting. I’ve been doing so in a formal capacity for almost 9 years and dealing with telecommuting in some manner or other for my entire professional career.
Often when people hear I telecommute I get two responses: 1. Wow that’s so cool, I wish I could do that, 2. But I couldn’t do that because of distractions. Do you want to know what I’ve found to be the keys to successful work at home?
I was sent the following video:
It appears to be from Morgan Freeman’s appearance on “60 Minutes” in late 2005. Here’s a transcript should the video disappear:
Mike Wallace: Black History Month you find…
Morgan Freeman: …ridiculous.
Mike Wallace: Why?
Morgan Freeman: You’re going to relegate my history to a month?
Mike Wallace: Oh come on…
Morgan Freeman: Well, what do you do with yours? Which month is White History Month?
Mike Wallace: (flustered, stammers)
Morgan Freeman: Well… well… come on… tell me.
Mike Wallace: I’m Jewish.
Morgan Freeman: OK! Which month is Jewish History Month?
Mike Wallace: There isn’t one.
Morgan Freeman: Oh! Oh. Why not? Do you want one?
Mike Wallace: No. No.
Morgan Freeman: No, I… I don’t either. I don’t want a Black History Month. Black History is American History.
Mike Wallace: How are we going to get rid of racism?
Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you “a white man”, and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me “a black man.” I know you as Mike Wallace, you know me as Morgan Freeman.
And when I went looking for the date of the video, I found the accompanying article from CBS. The video clipped off at the end, but according to the CBS article the quote continues: “I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn’t say, ‘Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.’ You know what I’m sayin’?”
I’ve long felt this is the answer. If you want to stop people caring about race then you need to stop caring about race. Period.
So long as we continue to divide, then well, we’ll be divided. If I’m forced to check a box on a form that says I’m Asian or White or whatever I it is that I am (mutt?), that’s dividing me. If we must hire or promote a certain number of people from some particular group because of some arbitrary quality about that group, then we have to care and divide and delineate and discriminate along that arbitrary quality; that implies that others from other groups may lose out because they don’t have that arbitrary quality when in fact they may possess more of the relevant quality. Is that right? How does such division unify? Maybe it’s that “new math”….
Does this mean we should flat out ignore race? No. We are what we are. My skin is darker than my wife’s skin, and our children have various shades in between. My eyes have more slant, my wife’s more oval. My wife is what she is, I am what I am. Morgan Freeman is what he is. Mike Wallace is what he is. We should not ignore race because it does comprise part of what we are, and it’s impossible to deny what we are. But we need to stop caring about it so much.
On a related note, in watching that video YouTube gave a related suggestion of this video:
It bugs me when people see a “No Soliciting” sign and take it to mean “no selling”. Sorry. Go learn what “solicit” means. If you want my money for your product, my signature for your petition, my soul for your church, or even my time for your troubles, sorry… you’re soliciting.
Go away.
From Dale Gribble:
I’ve taken two oaths in my life: one to the NRA, and the other to Nancy Hicks Gribble, née Nancy Hicks. I stood in front of God and all my friends vowing to be an honorable and truthful man. So I’m not going to lie to you [Sheila]; I have felt a small, insect-like attraction for you. But my wife is the greatest woman there ever was!
Love you, Sug.
The “Page 56” meme:
The closest book to me is Principles of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper. Page 56 is blank, so I’ll use what’s on page 57.
Self-control is one thing the sociopath does not usually possess.
I was reading this article and one line in there reminded me of something I saw the other day.
Out with the family, finishing up dinner. I’m waiting for my kiddos to finish up, so I’m doing a bit of people watching in the restaurant. Our table was situated by the main route to the exit doors, so of course I get to watch lots of the people going in and out of the restaurant. One group that struck me was a family, Mom & Dad leading the way, then the kids following up behind… each with their iPod ear buds in, their noses buried down in the iPod’s watching some video, and the kids playing bumper cars with the tables and chairs as they make their way to the door.
I had a Sony Walkman when I was kid. It was a great companion during my morning paper route deliveries, blasting ZZ Top’s Eliminator and throwing the papers up on the porches with an arm circle like Rev. Billy and Dusty Hill did in their videos. Do my kids have iPod’s? Nope. Not just a matter of hearing damage (which I suffer from due to years of loud music and early years of neglecting things like ear plugs), but a matter of being unaware of your surroundings.
I’ve experienced it many times. People walking around with their eyes pointed at the ground or just oblivious to what’s going on around them. Couple that with things that either deaden or overtake your senses (e.g. your vision distracted by a book or a video, your hearing dominated by the music that comes out of the iPod). Furthermore, if you’re listening to music or watching/reading something, you’re mentally engaged in that and not other things. So you can see, there are many layers that add up to a rather unaware state of being.
I realize it’s your business if you choose to tune out the world. But if you do choose to do so, don’t be surprised if you’re viewed as a ripe target for someone willing to take advantage of you… and your first post-situation thought is “they caught me by surprise… I wasn’t aware of them until they were on top of me”. Be pro-active, don’t let it happen to you, stay aware of your situation. And teach your kids the same.
My daugther just came up to my office with some bread in hand. And not just any bread. It’s a recipe she found herself. She made it, baked it, everything. I’m having a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (never had one before, very hoppy), and the taste of that in my mouth, the fresh-baked bread… and it just needs something like apricot or peach preserves. Mmmmm.
If you don’t know how to cook, you should learn. If you do know how to cook, you should teach someone else how to cook. If you know how to cook and have kids, you should teach them how to cook. You don’t have to be a gourmet, just as long as you like and eat what you cook. With kids it teaches so many things: chemistry, safety, following directions, creativity, self-sufficiency. When you cook together, it’s great time spent together. So much goes into worrying about building up a kid’s self-esteem… teach them how to cook, watch that self-esteem grow. Don’t believe me? Try it.
I’ve been encouraging the wife to buy different things at the grocery store. Doesn’t necessarily matter what, just let’s break out of ruts and try some new things.
So this past grocery shop she came home with a duck. This isn’t the first time we’ve eaten duck, but is the first time we’re prepared it at home. We figured to start with a simple recipe: stuffed with apples, some onion, wrap it in bacon, roast it in the oven, and it turned out ok. Gave us a lot to think about for the next time (e.g. gotta make a sauce).
When the Mrs. told me the price of the duck my jaw hit the floor. You know, I can buy a couple boxes of birdshot for my 12 gauge for that. I could come home with more birds and have more fun doing it.
Yeah, I’m about “this close” to starting hunting.
Update: I forgot. I was corrected. Birdshot and duckshot aren’t the same thing (lead issues). Duckshot’s more expensive. Still tho, it’ll be more fun and more satisfying. 🙂
Yes I know, sugar and butter — the root of all evil in foodstuffs, right? We want all the delicious goodness they contain, but we want none of the bad they contain. Yes… we want to have our delicious cake and eat it too, but not get fat or anything like that.
So we have our long list of artificial sweeteners, which are well-known to have their side-effects. And the latest savior for the sugar-lover is Splenda, because it’s made from sugar, right? Must be good for you!
Check out the latest from PubMed.
Splenda alters gut microflora and increases intestinal p-glycoprotein and cytochrome p-450 in male rats.
Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. donia@duke.edu
Splenda is comprised of the high-potency artificial sweetener sucralose (1.1%) and the fillers maltodextrin and glucose. Splenda was administered by oral gavage at 100, 300, 500, or 1000 mg/kg to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 12-wk, during which fecal samples were collected weekly for bacterial analysis and measurement of fecal pH. After 12-wk, half of the animals from each treatment group were sacrificed to determine the intestinal expression of the membrane efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and the cytochrome P-450 (CYP) metabolism system by Western blot. The remaining animals were allowed to recover for an additional 12-wk, and further assessments of fecal microflora, fecal pH, and expression of P-gp and CYP were determined. At the end of the 12-wk treatment period, the numbers of total anaerobes, bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, Bacteroides, clostridia, and total aerobic bacteria were significantly decreased; however, there was no significant treatment effect on enterobacteria. Splenda also increased fecal pH and enhanced the expression of P-gp by 2.43-fold, CYP3A4 by 2.51-fold, and CYP2D1 by 3.49-fold. Following the 12-wk recovery period, only the total anaerobes and bifidobacteria remained significantly depressed, whereas pH values, P-gp, and CYP3A4 and CYP2D1 remained elevated. These changes occurred at Splenda dosages that contained sucralose at 1.1-11 mg/kg (the US FDA Acceptable Daily Intake for sucralose is 5 mg/kg). Evidence indicates that a 12-wk administration of Splenda exerted numerous adverse effects, including (1) reduction in beneficial fecal microflora, (2) increased fecal pH, and (3) enhanced expression levels of P-gp, CYP3A4, and CYP2D1, which are known to limit the bioavailability of orally administered drugs.
PMID: 18800291 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
Other links talking about the same.
Look folks. I’m not saying you should sit down and eat a sugar-encrusted stick of butter, or twenty. But generally speaking I’ve found that the closer the food remains to nature the more it tends to work out alright. The more we process it, the more it’s engineered in a laboratory, the less good for you it really is.
But whatever you do, just do it in moderation. That’s really the key.
I carry a SureFire E2L flashlight. Yes, I carry it with me everywhere. I did realize what a Good Thing™ it is to carry a flashlight until I started carrying one. I use it frequently. I carry a Leatherman Wave too. My wife says I have a Batman utility belt. You may laugh, but tools are more useful when they’re around when you need them. Being on my belt, I’ve got tools on hand when needed. It’s that whole Be Prepared thing.
Last week my flashlight broke. I was unscrewing the tailcap and the spring that goes against the battery was tilted and fell off. I noticed one of the plastic retaining clips in the tailcap had broken off and then fell into a crevasse within the tailcap rendering it impossible to screw the tailcap back on. I couldn’t get the plastic bit out, and while trying to do so pressed the tailcap button and parts flew everywhere. Ick. I have no idea how the retaining clip broke in the first place.
I telephoned SureFire’s customer service. The man listened to my explanation, double-checked the model, took my address and phone number, and said a new tailcap is on its way. The UPS man just dropped it off. I have my flashlight again. Yes, I need to buy another (2 is 1, 1 is none… redundancy is good).
So let’s hear it for SureFire. No questions asked. No b.s., no runaround. Polite, friendly, helpful, and fast service. And of course, their products are great.
Stuff From Hsoi 