Over at Linux Journal, I do a weekly show. This week, I’m soliciting horrible computer stories from people, so I can pick the worst/funniest/most_interesting and give out prizes. Doesn’t that sound peachy?
The details are here — as of yet, the responses aren’t nearly as numerous as I’d hoped. Perhaps you could be the poor soul with the worst story. Head over to that link I supplied, and see if you’ve got what it takes to make me gasp, laugh, or a combination thereof. There be prizes you see..
Ok, not pickle farmers. Calendars and todo lists have been on my mind a lot lately though. Aside from making me think of The Wizard of Oz, “todo” lists have always been something I struggle with. Don’t get me wrong, I know how to make them. I have created categorized, prioritized, color coded, device syncing, auto-reminding, loads of todo lists. The problem is that I never check anything off. No, I don’t mean I never do anything, but rather I spend about 2 days getting my todo list loaded up, and then get back to my actual work — and never check off an item or add new ones. I have some theories and thoughts on the matter, and I’m curious what your thoughts are as well.
The Artsy Fartsy Argument
I’m not convinced that just because a person is creative, they have an inability to be organized. Granted, the evidence sure does support the idea that it’s harder for those people to keep in order. I see this in school classrooms all the time. Those teachers in the creative arts tend to have cluttered classrooms and a disorganized desk. It’s not a steadfast rule, but it’s common enough to warrant notice. There are, however, several fine arts classrooms that are impeccably neat, orderly, and precise. What makes those people able to be creative and organized at the same time? Well, quite honestly I’m not sure. Maybe it’s discipline. Maybe it’s just happenstance.
The Too Busy Argument
I guess if I had to pick an argument, this one would make the most sense for me. I often find that I don’t have the time to organize, don’t have the time to schedule, and don’t have the time to keep track of my comings and goings. This argument, by the way, is a total load of crap. Yes, it’s true that I know where most things in my messy office are — but there are days I spend hours looking for something that isn’t where it “goes” in my piles of junk laying about.
Being too busy to stay organized is like being too thirsty to drink, or too hungry to eat. It makes no logical sense, but at the same time, I find myself claiming I’m too busy to do just that. A clean office is awesome, I won’t lie. Anyone that tells you they prefer a mess is lying — they just don’t want to clean.
The “I Forget” Argument
I think this argument, while it sounds the least sexy, is often the most honest and targeted reason for lack of organization. I don’t mean it’s a good excuse, I mean I think it’s a real excuse. I tend to forget the very things that are supposed to remind me. Todo list? Yep, forget about it until I have already done a handful of items on it, and should have added just as many to it. Calendar? Yep, if it weren’t for beeps, emails, and SMS texts, I’d miss 90% of things I’m scheduled to do. Need me to do something? Better remind me over and over. It’s nothing personal, I just forget constantly. If you think it frustrates you, try being me for a day. The only upside is that you forget just how frustrating it can be!
What’s a Loser Like Me To Do?
If my above post rings true for you, you probably have a collection of Palm Pilots, Paper Planners, Sticky Notes, Online Calendars & Todo Lists — and have used each one for a day or so before it begins to gather dust literally or virtually. I’ll share the only sliver of success I’ve had with organization, and maybe it will help you too. Google Calendar (or any online one I suppose) is the only thing I’ve really kept around long enough to consider at least marginally successful. If you’re like me, which you should be pitied for BTW, perhaps a todo list isn’t really something you need. Track with me on this for a minute.
Why not take your calendar, and schedule your to do items? You won’t add another mechanism for failure to your already poorly executed organization plan. If you don’t get them done, just drag them to the next day, next hour, etc. And here’s the real advantage: If you create your todo lists as scheduled events, you can estimate the time it will take you, and if you can’t fit all your items in your day — you can visually see why you’re failing. If you can’t fit your todo items in your daily calendar, how can you expect to actually do them?
Anyway, it’s what I’m trying now. So far, it’s worked better than anything else I’ve ever tried. This very blog post is proof. It’s on my calendar to write and edit every day from 5AM – 7AM. I’ll keep you posted as to how well I do at keeping this up. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll schedule a time to clean my office. 🙂
The other day I was cleaning up some junk around the house, and threw out a lamp that got broken. OK, I stepped on the lamp and broke it. As I gathered the pieces to throw in the trash, I instinctively cut off the power cord, and began to wind it up for storage. See, for most of my life, if an electronic device went bad, I’d always clip that cord so it could be reused somewhere else. Oddly, I would almost always find a need for the power cord, and so it justified the simple act of clipping it from the lamp.
As I look back over the past few years, however, I see that trend going away. Even with all the hype about the need to recycle (which I agree with, don’t get me wrong), we’re being forced into a more disposable product mindset. Now, the lamp I stepped on needed to be thrown away. Trust me. But what about the broken VCR sitting on the top of my closet shelf? What about the television with a built in DVD player in my daughter’s room that will no longer play DVDs?
Unfortunately, we’re at a place in the development of our society, that it’s often cheaper to buy a new product than fix the old one. Do you even know where a television repair shop exists near you? I sure don’t. If you could find one, it would seem likely they’d charge $40-$50 and hour to work on electronic equipment. If you’re talking about a broken DVD player, there’s absolutely no reason to spend ANY money on repair when you can buy a new one for less money. Yes, there are more expensive models that do warrant a repair job, but those are almost always warranty issues that are fixed by the manufacturer for free.
And don’t get me started on computers. Especially for those people running low-end hardware, which means a huge portion of the population, buying a new computer is almost always more economical than having their current model repaired. If you only spend $400 on a computer to begin with, why would you even consider spending a few hundred dollars to have a repair man fix a computer that is a generation behind what’s currently for sale at Walmart? You just go buy the new computer, and throw out the old one. (Actually, you usually donate the piece of junk to a local school, where the tech staff has to decide how to best dispose of the thing anyway…)
I don’t have an answer to the problem. The lamp cord just got me thinking, and this is the result. 🙂
Our new van (2007 Dodge Caravan SXT) has one of the most annoying features in any vehicle I’ve ever owned. I don’t say that lightly, because there are many vehicular things that bother me. Things like the idiotic power sliding doors. Or my truck, for instance, has an extremely sensitive, “Oh you must have already turned, let me shut of your blinker for you” switch. I turn on the blinker, and then think about turning, and the blinker clicks off. (It’s a 1991 Ford Ranger, and they’re actually known for this. I’ve researched.)
Anyway, our van. If you sit in the front, either side, and neglect to buckle your belt, there is a “ding ding ding” that reminds you to buckle. I know, every car since the 70s or so does this — but our new van never stops. It will ding, and ding, and ding.
And ding.
And ding.
And never ever stop. This annoys me. It also annoys certain in-laws that ride with us and prefer to never buckle. The cool thing is, I’m really REALLY glad it annoys me. I have to buckle. Granted, most of you don’t know me terribly well, but I’m forgetful to a legendary degree. I often don’t buckle due to little more than chronic brain farts. Our new van is awesome in its mechanical persistence. I love it.
And oddly, like a dog with a shock collar, I’m learning on a subconscious level as well. I now buckle up in my truck almost every time. How awesome is that?
And now, I’m just waiting for autopilot. Because THAT will rule. 🙂
If you’re not doing the Manic Monday challenges over at Aff The Fang, you really should. This week’s mission was to write our own obituary. Being still alive, I had to guess as to what mine will read like, but I think I estimated fairly close. You’ll have to go there to read the rest. It’s worth the click. 🙂
Biological Portion of “The Powers” Dies…
July 21, 3115
It is with great regret the Global Powers Collective announces the passing of the biologic remnant of 21st century historical figure “Shawn Powers”. While his all encompassing consciousness continues to rule over known space, the death of his meat bits will be mourned by all. Forcefully if necessary. Aforementioned mourning will begin at noon, Earth Central time, and continue for 12 Martian sols.
Mr. Powers is survived by 627 trillion cybernetic implants spanning 12 galaxies, and 3 dimensionally phased universes. While the preservation of biologics has largely been a nostalgic choice for The Powers, there is some concern that along with the body will die the compassion. Any citizens concerned of such things will be detected and terminated immediately.
At the closing of the 12 Martian sol mourning, The Powers has decided to extinguish the sun (Sol) as a memorial to the death of Mr. Powers. This will of course mean the slow painful demise of billions in the Solar system, but the Global Powers Collective thinks it will be a fitting memorial. Any residents of the Solar system will be considered heros, and honored as such.
Look and listen to the wonderful day I’ve had during our town-wide brownout…
I have nothing interesting to say. That’s never stopped me before, so I figure we make this a participatory thread. Here’s the deal: I like hot beverages. A lot. In the morning, I prefer coffee, and in the evening I prefer tea.
I’m also absurdly picky about what coffee and tea I like. Note, I’m not picky about what I drink, I’ll generally drink any swill put in front of me. I really do have a picky palette regarding my hot mug of goodness though.
Coffee *must* be Arabica to really make me savor it. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll even drink instant if it’s given to me, but to really LIKE it, I need a very strong brewed, medium roast, Arabica bean. Oddly, I don’t mind reaching for a cheap cup of Robusta (often the large commercial “brands” use Robusta) coffee. I wasn’t sure why that was for a long time, but after doing some research, I found that Robusta beans tend to have more caffeine. That would explain why I don’t mind it for early morning drinking.
Tea, on the other hand, I prefer in the evening. Red Rose is my favorite bagged black tea. If you haven’t tried Red Rose, I really suggest you do. It’s amazing. Where Lipton can be harsh, Red Rose is comforting. Plus, you get a cute ceramic figurine in the box. I mean, how can you not like that? 😉
I also like flavored teas, but really consider it more of a separate beverage. When I think of tea, I think of black tea. The other flavored stuff, herbal or otherwise, are somewhat separated in my brain. The one exception to that is Earl Grey. Earl Grey and straight black tea are both my “comfort tea” for the evening. The other stuff, even girly fru-fru teas are fun, but I don’t really drink them very often.
Lastly, additives. Coffee, for me, is black. If I’m ordering a fancy latte or something, sure I’ll let them doctor it up — but then it’s really more like hot cocoa than coffee. 🙂 Tea, on the other hand, I generally put a tiny bit of sugar into. I think it draws out the flavor, and really makes a good cup of tea grand.
How about you? Are you nuts over hot beverages too? Do tell. I’m curious.
I’m out of town this week, but Linux Journal Live is still going to be great! But don’t take my word for it, you can listen to this crazy guy in his truck:
Mobile post sent by trunkboy using Utterli. Replies. mp3
Another Manic Monday post over at Aff the Fang. 🙂
UPDATE: Is anyone else disturbed that all my character voices sound suspiciously like Lady Elaine Fairchilde from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood?