Ode To A Wild Flower - NOT!

I fancy myself a good photographer and usually have a camera with me most places I go. Take enough pictures and some fantastic photos ought to come about. Such as this photo of my son seven years ago at a bench near Plumb Beach in Brooklyn's Sheepshead area. I used a rather simple 2.2-megapixel Kodak digital camera, my first one ever. The result is quite good - you see the ocean in the back, there's sand, and the innocence of a child hold some wildflower.

Fast-forward to 2009 and I was equipped with a fancier camera. Still a Kodak, but now the camera has video capability, many modes, timer, 10x zoom, etc. Yet the photo came out not as good. Somehow I totally replaced the ocean on the left side with a washout white area. Probably too much sunlight. And the child, same one as before, is now one active 9-year-old who would not sit quietly to pose for the camera.

The Longer Commute

What would you do if your company move you to another office that is further away from where you live? It is a longer commute, you just have to adjust to it. Not a bad enough reason to switch job, at least not yet.

I used to have breakfast at home before leaving for the office. Now with the longer commute, I don't have that luxury any more. I even have to carry my briefcase, with the work laptop, with me when I walk my son to school. No need to stop by the house for breakfast any more, so might as well head straight for the subway after trusting my son to the school.

I used to spend my commuting time napping or listening to music/podcasts, perhaps more with napping. The longer commute involves transferring to the PATH train and a lot of time the wait is almost as long as the ride itself. After a day staring at the computer screen, I think it is best not to give the eyes a rest so reading is out. Listening is the best solution. I have two iPods, a second-generation 10-GB iPod and a first-generation 16-GB iPod touch. The batteries in both are not so great after all the years. The iTouch even losts its Wi-Fi capability and the sound output is mono only. The old iPod lacks the fancy touch screen but at least its sound is still stereo. Yesterday, I carried both iPods to work, but as usually is the case, the old iPod's battery died on the way to the office, even though the power meter showed full charge. So much for old unreliable wares. Similarly, the iTouch's battery died on the way back, again, even though it was supposed to be fully charged. I'll just have to bring along chargers for the two devices. Free electricity courtesy of the firm, why not.

If I want to unwind I would listen to music from the Relax playlist. To get charged up on the way to work, I would use the Wake Up! playlist. Most of the time, though, I listen to podcasts. The programs I listen to are NPR Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, This Week In Tech (TWIT), MacBreak Weekly, and This American Life. I may add MacObserver Geek Gab back, too, if my longer commute results in having insufficient podcasts to listen to. I even started to listen to podcasts while washing the dishes. It made the chore less boring.

Do you listen to podcasts? Which programs?

Fuhgeddaboudit!

Days before my office moved from Downtown Brooklyn to Newport, Jersey City, I went around the area to snap a few photos for memories. Apologies to the sculptors but I don't have any names to associate them to.

Reading Not Done

After joyfully completing a book on clutter control, I thought I would give David Allen's famous book Get Things Done book a try. I regularly proofread articles for ATPM magazine and GTD appears in almost every issue. My life is so busy and my work is so depressing I thought I can use some help in organizing the two.

I couldn't finish the book. Despite Allen's attempt to be abstract so that his ideas can be applied to any situation, not just in cubicleville, I am so entrenched in the idea that my work stinks. Cutbacks, even before the economy was declared in a recession, resulted in the remaining bodies taking on more work. There may be new bodies to help out, but they are on the other side of the globe working at a cheaper rate, always a menace to some day taking over our jobs. Not just them, mind you, as there are others in U.S. cities where the living standard, thus salaries, is lower than the Northeast. Even if you overcome all the obstacles and clean your plate, you just end up getting more. We all are supposed to lend out some free cycles whenever we have them. There is only so much efficiency the poor corporate grunt can do.

In drawing this cartoon, I got a kick out of applying cartoon physics. With real-world physics, as we know, gravity pulls everything down to earth. In the world of cartoon, it is possible to be in midair for a few seconds before actually dropping.