Don't forget to look around

Click to see the larger view

The screen saver on one of my less-used computers at work has a changing view of my old photos and the one here just came up. It reminded me of an earlier post from this year called Sometimes you need to take your eye OFF the ball. That post revolved around a funny story of someone taking a picture of his daughter with a celebrity and missing the fact that another celebrity was there, too.

In our picture, taken back in 2004, my family was so intent on getting a picture by this elf statue that they didn't notice that the man himself (we were at Santa's Village in Jefferson New Hampshire) was walking by. We'd see him later so it was no big deal but it just stuck me again how easy it is to miss important things around us. We get so intent on doing mundane things that we miss the wonders and miracles around us. Especially this time of year. We all have goals and for many of us it is preparing for Thanksgiving or buying gifts for Christmas or getting a project done at work. We focus on those things and miss the things not associated with the trip to the finish line. Nothing I am saying is new and you know it better than I do. I'm just writing this now because I was reminded of it just now. I'm not going to change your life or your mind - unless this reminds you of it now, too.

I'm going to be writing a post soon about another distraction we face and how it can have a more serious result.

One of the things I especially enjoy about riding my scooter to work is that I have a much better view of the road and the surroundings. I see more things. Partly because I have the better view but also because I am forced to notice things around me - my health is at stake if I miss a car coming at me. Yes, it was freezing this morning but I dressed warmly and scooted in. I find I am more alert and ready to go when I arrive at work. Sitting in a car lets you relax and remain less alert. Listening to the radio is the only real plus to driving the car to work. Well, that and not getting wet in the rain!

Everything is easy...

I wrote a comment on another blog where the post was about a change that forced the blog writer to change their schedule. The blog writer said that some people might question how hard it really was to simply change his schedule. Well, that made me think.

Very often at work, someone will come along with an idea for a change to the software projects I work on. More times than not, the suggestion will come with the line, "This should be an easy change." Nothing drives me crazy quite like that line does. I usually give one of two answers to this:

1. "If it is that easy, you shouldn't have any trouble doing it."
2. "Everything is easy when you don't have to do it."

That second answer is my favorite because you can take it two way.

One way puts the emphasis on "you" as in, "Everything is easy when  you don't have to do it." In other words, since I am doing this and you are not doing this, it's easy for you to say it will be easy because you will not be taking the time to look into all the possible problems it will cause or at all the difficulties we may find in accomplishing this.

The other way to look at the second answer is in questioning whether this should even be done. If there is no reason to change the behavior or add a feature, then it is easier to just not do it.

Too many things are done just because someone thinks a new feature is needed. This not only adds complexity for no reason. It also makes the project just a little bit harder to maintain or fix in the future.

Nothing improves if no one complains

Downloaded from
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net

No one likes a complainer. Especially someone who acts like no one has it as hard as they do. Some people act like the world is against them and use every opportunity to let you know. But those people are rare and I think that, eventually, they get the idea that they are not endearing themselves to anyone with their constant complaints.

But on the other hand, as I've said frequently:

Nothing improves if no one complains

So, it's a fine line - if you see something wrong, you need to know how to complain but in addition, you need to know how to help. And sometimes, complaining so other people can hear you is useful. Not all the time but sometimes. Like yesterday.

The network administrators for our company made an announcement a few weeks ago that they were going to tighten the rules on the passwords we use to log into our computers and get access to the company network. They said too many people were using simple passwords and we all had to start using longer and more complex passwords. We all forgot about it. Until yesterday.

All of a sudden, the program I use to prepare one of our major applications started to fail. I traced it down to the part where it tries to copy the updated application to the network so everyone can use it. I contacted the administrators and they reminded me about the new rules for passwords. "Well," I said, "this program is only used internally and no one else has access to it but me. Why should that need a new, fancier password?"It turns out the rules were not that flexible. All passwords needed to be upgraded. This meant I had a lot of work to do because this password was embedded in a number of smaller programs that prepared and loaded our application. It took me half the day but I finally did it.

But I couldn't just drop it. I had to make a big production of it and did a little hand waving and story telling to make sure everyone knew how hard I'd worked and how distressed I was! But in the end, it helped. Another engineer was having a similar problem and didn't know what the cause was. One of the fellows sitting near me had heard my tirade and mentioned to the other engineer what I'd been complaining about. The other engineer came to me to ask more about the problem and, sure enough, his problem was the same as mine. He would have been stuck for a longer time if our intermediary hadn't connected my rant with the other engineer's problem.

So sometimes, it's worth getting a little mad and maybe even getting a little too loud about an injustice. Something useful might just come out of it.

You can have it all

"Having it all," is a phrase we've all heard over the years. It was usually used for the growing number of women getting jobs while they were also taking care of children or were thinking of having children. In the past, the phrase implied, women had to choose between having a career or starting a family. But now, they were free to "have it all". They could balance the time it took for work and for the family. It was nice that this freedom was available but it missed a few troubling things. For one, there was also an increase in stress. The women doing this were not magically given more time in the day to handle all of this. In some circumstances, the woman's husband would step up and help with more of the family side of the equation. Good luck with that.

The other thing this phrase misses is that this was not new. It has been going on for centuries. For women with children who lose their husband, there is no choice. They have to do it all - all the time. The same goes for single women who have children and the man doesn't follow through and marry her or help raise the children. These women have it all for sure  - all the responsibility, all the worry, all the time.

Then this morning in church, we were singing a song called You Can Have it All, Lord. Our pastor had just preached a sermon on John 13:1-11 where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. Jesus has to explain to them that they cannot wash his feet. He must wash their feet to cleanse them. It is grace that he is talking about. No matter the problems we have, the troubles we cause, the sins we have committed. Jesus takes it all and forgives us. Now, he "has it all". It's hard to imagine but that's the way it works. There is nothing we can do to deserve it. It's his free gift to us.

Having it all could mean you're having all the problems. It could mean having all the worry. But we can give it all to Jesus and the freedom is wonderful. In this case, having it all is a choice but in the reverse. It's more "giving it all" and then receiving salvation.

Here is the link to our pastor's message. He says much better than I can.

Another great "Humans of New York" post

I've mentioned Humans of New York before but there are so many good posts there, I could almost just repeat every one here. But what's the use of that? You can just go and see them for yourself. But every once in a while, there is one so good that I want to point it out.

This one is from a few months ago but it has stuck with me. The man in the story is down on his luck but what he says shows that wisdom is often hidden in despair and trouble. This picture and interview were taken in a park in New York. That's all I know about it.

"When it starts to get crowded, I’ll leave.  Because I can’t stand the looks.  You know how many people were gonna sit on that bench over there, but decided against it, because of what’s sitting right here?  I drank myself into homelessness.  So I’m not looking for violins or tissues.  But I used to be in the mainstream.  I was somebody once, and people used to look at me without any barriers or animosity.  I can tell you this: when John Lennon sings Imagine, it’s complete bullshit.  He was living in the Dakota when he wrote that, overlooking Central Park.  Imagine no possessions?  He should have written a song about all the wonderful things that he had.  Imagine nothing to live or die for?  No Yoko?  No career?  No child?  No fame?  No status?  Well here I am.  There’s no peace here."

Here's the link to the original post.

Directions

Yesterday, we went to visit my mother-in-law in the hospital. Before I go on - she's OK and we brought her home with us. She is 83 and has some problems but yesterday ended up OK.

But the hospital she was in is old and has been renovate many times over the years. Building after building was tacked on or multiple buildings connected together. The main parking lot is on one side but most of the nice, new patient rooms are on the other side. So, when you go to the main lobby from the parking lot looking for the patient, they hand you a card with directions. Here is what it says:

Go thru door at rear of lobby. Turn right, then turn left. At end of hall, turn right. Go thru door at end of hall & turn left. Take next right down the art corridor to the inpatient building. Elevator on right.

Good grief! Notice they left out most of "the", shortened "through" and replaced "and" with ampersand. Otherwise they would have needed two pages.

By the time we got to the art corridor, we were too tired (or afraid to get distracted) to look at the art. We did get to see my mother-in-law but had to wait about two hours until the discharge papers could be written up and signed. We all had a nice nap when we got home - after a 45 minute drive home from the hospital.

Broccoli

Ahh - good broccoli

This is going to be a short rant. I like broccoli. I didn't used to like it when I was young but back then, I liked very little that was green - except pickles and olives. But now I like broccoli. I might even say I love broccoli. Except...

I don't like broccoli when the stems (or is it the stalks?) are included. When we buy fresh, whole broccoli from the store and use it in meals and cut it up ourselves, we don't use the stems (stalks). When you buy prepared packages of sliced broccoli or you get it as a side dish in a restaurant, you invariably (it seems to me) get the stems (stalks) included in the mix. This is when I don't like broccoli. As a matter of fact, I hate broccoli like that. What would you think if you ordered sliced apples and half of it was sliced branches?

Yuck - stems, too!

I know some people have ways of preparing the stems (stalks) by slicing it and cooking it for a longer time. I'm sure you can add enough spices to make them taste better. But they should not be cooked the same as the florets. The stems (stalks) need longer cooking so if you include them with the florets, either the florets are overcooked or the stems (stalks) are under cooked.

It seems to me that when you get packaged broccoli, it should have to say on the label if the stems (stalks) are included. That just my opinion but you know I'm right!