Yes...I'm back here again.
I'll get into the long woeful discussion on what happened to my site and the 60+ blog entries when I get in a better mood.
For now, bear with me until things get back to normal....
....whatever the hell that is.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Saturday, April 15, 2006
100 Years Ago Was a Minute Ago
In geologic terms, anyway. We’re approaching to the 100 anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. My great-grandmother was finishing her senior year at Stanford University when the quake struck. They canceled finals, sent the students home, and eventually mailed the diplomas to the graduates.
The U.S. Geological Survey has a bunch of interesting links about the earthquake, including the printout of the earthquake from the pendulum seismograph in beautiful Cartoon City. (Warning: You’ll need high-speed internet and Google Earth.)
The U.S. Geological Survey has a bunch of interesting links about the earthquake, including the printout of the earthquake from the pendulum seismograph in beautiful Cartoon City. (Warning: You’ll need high-speed internet and Google Earth.)
Friday, April 14, 2006
Company Policy
[An oldie from the internet]
Start with a large cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.
Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with ice cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result; all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water.
Soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.
Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. When all of the original monkeys have been replaced none of them have ever been doused with cold water. Consequently, none of the monkeys know why they are beating the newcomer or why they are not permitted to climb the stairs.
Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because, as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.
And that, my friends, is how a company policy begins.
Start with a large cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.
Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with ice cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result; all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water.
Soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.
Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. When all of the original monkeys have been replaced none of them have ever been doused with cold water. Consequently, none of the monkeys know why they are beating the newcomer or why they are not permitted to climb the stairs.
Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because, as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.
And that, my friends, is how a company policy begins.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Oh, this is just peachy
I wanted to move my blog to a subdomain so I could use the main domain as a real website. I emailed Tech Support, followed their instructions precisely and, despite best efforts otherwise, cannot display two months of entries.
Everything is there on the server. I will email them again and see if they can recover the files or restructure the WordPress MySQL database.
In the meantime:
- Classes are done for this week and all tests have been given. Less that half of the students in my Thursday night class did not show. Curious.
- Voices are whispering again that my new job is moving to Reno. I would lose the raise in salary just in refilling the truck if gas prices go up to $3+ a gallon, which media experts say is a sure thing.
- It’s beautiful out there and I’m thinking of riding the bike to work tomorrow. Oh wait. Thunderstorms are forecast for the morning. I may do it, anyway.
Everything is there on the server. I will email them again and see if they can recover the files or restructure the WordPress MySQL database.
In the meantime:
- Classes are done for this week and all tests have been given. Less that half of the students in my Thursday night class did not show. Curious.
- Voices are whispering again that my new job is moving to Reno. I would lose the raise in salary just in refilling the truck if gas prices go up to $3+ a gallon, which media experts say is a sure thing.
- It’s beautiful out there and I’m thinking of riding the bike to work tomorrow. Oh wait. Thunderstorms are forecast for the morning. I may do it, anyway.
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