Wall Art

My office walls are bare. I need to put something up, but I'm not really sure what. I think if I could have access to any painting in the world, I would like to try out this Rothko for a while:


I wonder if the BY has this in their collection and would let me borrow it . . . .

Pandora Plug

I'm lucky enough to be able to listen to music quite a bit at work. I always have my trusty iPod with me (actually it's KT's because my old iPod finally bit the dust - it still works as an external hard drive, but the wheel doesn't work anymore - sorry to see you go little buddy). I dig the iPod and have loved holding my entire music collection in my hand which still amazes me. The problem with having all of your music right there is trying to figure out what to listen to. I have playlists set up, but sometimes I just want something new and random. Enter Pandora radio. You can pick a band or a particular song to start from and then it will set up "stations" based on the music DNA of the band or song you picked. It's like your own personal radio station where you can add songs and rate what comes up to further customize the station. Right now I've been listening to a station that I started with Black Flag. I've realized that there is a lot of hardcore punk out there yet to be discovered for me. I have always enjoyed Punk, but this has been focusing a lot on earlier bands (Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Vandals, Rise Against, etc.) which has taken me beyond my old favorites like the Misfits, Ramones, Clash, etc. Pretty good stuff.



Other stations/seeds I have enjoyed: Muse, De La Soul, Soda Stereo.

Note: this post in in memoriam of Checkers - my iPod that finally gave out on me. We've had some good times - but it's time to upgrade . . .

Great Time Mgt Lecture

I've been meaning to watch this video from Randy Pausch for a while. I was able to squeeze it in a few minutes here and there, but it really is a great lecture about time management. I blogged about the Last Lecture before that you can check out too. When it comes down to it, time is the most important commodity we have, so why not manage it well? I have a lot of work to do in this area. After watching it, I have several things am starting to do today. Check it out:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758&hl=en

Bad Sign?

Is it a bad sign when you show up for work and the florescent light bulbs have all burned out above your desk? Just your desk - nobody else's. I'm a little worried about today . . . .

Update:

The union guy came and replaced the bulbs above my desk/table. I have been working with only 1 out of 3 bulbs for months and now I have 3 VERY bright ones going. It's like the sun is beating down on me now. I might have to bring in a pair of sunglasses. I definately feel more awake now - so that's good. I'm going to say that going from dark to light is certainly a good sign. Now if only we could do something about that snow outside . . .

Office Commandments

1) If you work in a cube farm of any size, thou shalt respect thy neighbors. This can't be emphasized enough. That means that is you are going to carry on a long phone conversation or conference call, you will do your best to find a conference room to make that call. If you can't physically remove yourself from the space you are occupying with your co-workers, please lower your voice. The whole office does not want to participate on all your calls. Respect doesn't end at calls, but we'll start there.

2) Thou shalt not bring all thine candy to work to unload it on thy co-workers. It's nice to bring a treat once in a while, but please don't just unload all of your old candy and junk on the office. We can't help but eat it so you are making us fatter. Please just toss it out.

3) If thou buildest an office space, thou shalt not make thine employees have to go through security and/or make them check out a key (like a hall pass) to use the bathroom. If a key is necessary, thou shalt give a key to all thine employees, not just management. Everyone needs to use the restroom during the day and you shouldn't make your workers feel bad for having to go. Unless you provide adult diapers so they don't have to miss work - in that case it's cool.

4) Thou shalt not overly use jargon of any sort. I am done touching bases because we are not playing baseball. No, I don't know what kind of bandwidth I will have tomorrow because I am not a telecommunications mediem. And I am not going to acknowledge that you are going to be "heads down" for the whole day unless we are playing heads up 7-up at work, in which case I'm totally in.

5) Thou shalt wash thy hands before leaving the bathroom. This sounds like it wouldn't be necessary, but I just saw a guy enter the bathroom, wash his hands, then pee, then leave. Um do you want to try that in the right order fella? I have also seen guys go #2 and then leave without a washing. Not acceptable. Always wash before leaving the bano.

That's all I'm sayin'