Three. Three is the running count of items that are currently not with me.

1. Wallet: Stored in the correct place, but I did not perform my usual check before I left the house
2. Key: Placed in a shirt pocket and not returned to its usual storage location at my work desk. The key should not have made it to my house.
3. Food item: Intended to bring for lunch. I did bring two out of three things that I intended to bring, but I am frustrated that I did not verify what I had with me before I left the house. I am easily vexed by doing things out of order, by the simple placement of items outside of normal locations, and by my internal dialog which distracts or confuses me from whatever my intended course may be.

While I did leave the house fully bathed, fully dressed, and arrived to work on-time, I still need to work on systems that result in more consistent execution.

Blog idea: The Continuing Saga of Items I Have Left at Home

I hope that 2019 brings lots of opportunities for positive change in your life.

Happy New Year!

The Good Earth

It’s the 50th anniversary of the Earthrise photograph, and the shift in perspective it provides.

I don’t have an ugly Christmas sweater, but I did find this hat… @chrisgzuger

Makes me feel like a kid!

Merry Christmas, from Saint Paul, Minnesota!

Tonight we fed the reindeer, we watched The Grinch, Rudolph, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, and The Polar Express. Then we read The Grinch, and The Polar Express before Sofia gave in to exhaustion. She was very concerned that everyone should get to bed because the NORAD app showed Santa was as close as Michigan.

Santa enjoyed some cream cheese mints, a rice crispy bar, and some milk before he moved on to the next deserving family.

Elving complete for one more year. Next year I’m sure we’ll need to up our game to keep the magic alive. I’m excited!

Sunset marks the start of the first day of Christmas.

Many preparations made. Many to go.

Here’s to plans going as expected, and to making Merry and Bright!

Leveraging Joy is a thought provoking post by my friend Paulio. It dovetails with thoughts I have been having about my own influence in the lives of people I am connected to.

My mom always used to sing “Over the River and Through the Woods” when we drove to her mother’s home in Wisconsin. Now it’s my turn as I drive my daughter to my mother’s home.

Via Nicolas Bate

• He starts with a VERY BIG PLAN for the year.
• But-having studied Covey-he begins with the end in mind (H2).
• He builds a team about as diverse as you can get.
• He never loses sight of his clear and present mission despite the sacks of mail arriving on the hour, every hour.
• He knows age is just a number.
• He invests in the best, the very best, thermal underwear. And always wears a hat.
• He never lets it bother him that many people don’t believe in him.

Hmm…

Parallels Acquired by Corel

I’ve been recommending Parallels for about 10 years by now. Change is interesting.

Rebel Yell remixed by Crystal Method

I’m casting my lot with Things at the moment.

I’ve been lost for a long time after I moved away from Palm Pilots. I never really got traction in Outlook or PlanPlus on the software side. I have flirted with Things, OmniFocus, Microsoft ToDo, Wonderlist, Informant, ToodleDo, Evernote, Tasks and Notes.

On the paper side I’ve tried Franklin-Covey methodology, I’ve carried Midori travel notebooks and I have tried Bullet Journaling.

I love paper. I love pencils. I love fountain pens. I found a roller ball pen that I like using that won’t explode or break in my pockets.

I found out I like grid-lined notebooks but I love dot-grid even more. I found out I don’t love the shape of Midori paper, I prefer A4 and A5 sized notepads and notebooks. Leuchtterm and Scribbles that Matter make notebooks that are wonderful companions. Skip the decorative layouts from YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. Stick to The System.

I’m good at capture on paper but really bad at follow-through and prioritizing. And especially bad at keeping important things from previous days in front of me. This is my biggest opportunity.

So, wow, tools have really become much better. I understand what I want to accomplish better. And and ideas from Bullet Journaling really translate to software in ways I wouldn’t have understood without taking my second Oddyssey through journaling on paper. This makes me happy.

I still have to do the work, but I’m excited.

The next quest is for software I can keep in my phone to help with habit-tracking, tracking meals, tracking moods and other health characteristics. I have a lot of changes to make.

I’m open to suggestions on places to look and methods to explore.

I’ve been thinking a lot about supporting technology. In my career, my tendency to experiment and to follow my curiousity has been rewarded. Experimenting has enabled me to understand where there are real limits and risks, and has helped me to understand steps I can take to protect myself and steps I can take to recover. Going through these kinds of exercises repeatedly has removed fear and uncertainty and increased confidence.

Even though we all click on things and type, experimentation with technology is not a part of most professions. Some only deal with technology in a strict, procedure-driven sense. Failure to follow procedure leads to negative consequences.

Until recently, it didn’t occur to me that one reason that people will not reach out for assistance with technology is the fear of being perceived either as ignorant or incompetent to perform their jobs. These are people who otherwise have great amounts of experience, expertise, and wisdom in their vocation, but who feel thwarted by tools that seem impenetrable or incomprehensible, yet are presented as critical.

As technologists, we are just not trained to understand there are very human and emotional reasons that technology might not work. Emotions and culture affect all of our interactions, from simple break-fix support to the largest enterprise projects.

I’m interested in changing what I do, and how I do it, to increase the benefit. I’m interested in starting with that awareness, instead of compensating with re-work later, or wondering why a project failed if the technology was seemingly rational or the right thing to implement.

Playing with the #tintypeapp

Mmm. Fruit juice and fruit snacks!

#bloodselfie

I should have watched The Voice

Found a bunch of review-later web links that clearly pre-date my use of Evernote and Instapaper. Several pointed to URLs and domains that no longer exist. Ugh.