it's at the office, and i'm NOT jones-ing ...

[from PINK magazine -
which i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
by joey reiman at thinkbrighthouse.com.]

i'm sort of alone today (tho' it's o.k.) ... i left my mobile phone at the office. (i know. shock!) moreover, my phone is a blackberry, so i don't have my little trusty e-mails following me around when i'm in the field. and yet, i do not feel crippled, as i would have once totally felt - lost, alone, incomplete, naked.

hmmmm ...? why do i not have that freaked-out feeling that i've had in the past when i've forgotten my mobile? i dunno. thinking through ... may be a result of relocating to the bay area? i have less clients and vendors? carrying around the squirrelinator (aka my laptop) 'cuz i tend to be on the road, out in the field, working at wifi places, etc. and still feel connected? perhaps it's because i know i can make a call if i need to do so - albeit i've not used a pay phone in years? (there are pay phones around, right? and i have my purell with me. ha!)

i'm a rehabilitated phone/e-mail junkie ...! those who know me, know that verizon totally hearts me. i have had an outrageous number of minutes for my phone plan, which i have used comfortably. and with the blackberry, i've been known to be frequently checking e-mails, text messages, etc., as well as sending them out. no more am i that hooked. my blackberry is a tool i use to monitor what i'll deal with when i get back in the office. most recently, i have reduced my number of outrageous minutes to the next "not so outrageous" number of minutes. now, i can say that i don't jones (at least as much as i used to jones.)

side note: one other set of commandments (WTF?!) ... as a side note, a couple of days ago, friends of mine were totally riffing off (while e-mailing/IM-ing like mad-dogs!) of these driving commandments from the vatican.

how is this related to my not having my mobile ...? i had my mobile with me while these e-mails were flying back and forth. even without the context (e.g., not being able to pull up the web site reference), the read on the blackberry was hilarious ... one of the riffers said ...

And if I have my cell phone in one hand and rosary beads in the other, how can I drink my coffee and apply my makeup, for pete's sake? That's simply not practical.

another said ...

I’ve had sex in a Volkswagen on a number of occasions, which I believe sort of ruins your “small car negates the sin” theory. Of course this was when I was younger and a lot more flexible, but still…

my contribution when i was back in the office (after reading the link) ...

i guess i should jump in and say to you all ... THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU .... for hilarious reading of these e-mail messages while i was on the freeway, in traffic, heading across the bay bridge. interestingly enough, i didn’t pull up the link on my blackberry because viewing web pages on the bberry sucks. so i didn’t quite get the chance to read the link. now that i have done so (in the privacy of my office) ... i am BUMMED that i didn’t take the time to pull up the link – and violate the 11th commandment that didn’t make it on the list

11. thou shall not text message and google while driving

the vatican has scruples. it doesn’t cross-promote and advertise.

(btw, [riffer] – i’ll join you in hell – 2nd base in a sunbird, 3rd base in a mustang, and home run in a 280Z, while promising the police officers we would scurry along and NEVER fornicate in a car ever again. no volkswagen or SUVs ... so you may need to add some more cars for [riffer's daughter's] list.)

everything is connected somehow, eh?!

[and once again,
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE PINK magazine.
check it out. it's fabu!]

read it again, just in case ...

let's all learn about the importance of reviewing documents (aka QA/QC) BEFORE they are issued for public review and comment.

idea 1, author clarity ... if you are going to write something in draft form that may be ... oh - say - misinterpreted or ambiguous OR entertainingly awesomely wrong ... perhaps being a smart ass witty is not the best way to compose your draft language.

idea 2, line-by-line ... documents that are in draft form should be carefully reviewed - line-by-line - even if the document is 20 bajillion pages (or maybe just more than 300 pages) in length.

idea 3, reviewer responsibility ... if you are actually paid to review and comment on content in draft form, you are likely expected to edit (AND develop in final form) content that may be misinterpreted, ambiguous, or awesomely wrong.

idea 4, public responsibility ... if you (the reader, such as the public) read a document that has information that is oh - say - awesomely, entertainingly wrong, you must pass it along for others to enjoy.

[just another one of the gems
found while un-pack-ratting.
this is a keeper.]

r|office: the gig last month ...

at this event.

the presentation is available on the organization's web site.

uh ... enjoy???

r|office: it's tomorrow ...

... this is tomorrow. i received this e-mail note from an officer in the baesg organization ...

Just to give you a heads up on the planned attendance for tomorrow's BAESG meeting. It is about 40 people, which great ! We usually have 5-10 walk ins and some no shows.

Looking forward to hearing you tomorrow ! thanks again for speaking !

... after speaking to him, i have learned that the audience likely are more "voc-friendly" and maybe "nox-not-so-interested"? i s'pose i'll have to bring them over to the "nox-side" of the world (not to be confused with the "dark side").

[bill n, there will be coffee. i asked.
and thanks to (p) for ideas about subject matter.]

r|office: i'm coming out in mid-april

well ... i'm coming out on april 18 at this bay area meeting over in santa clara. it's for the bay area environmental safety group (baesg), which is a new group to me. it's not quite the same kinda panelist thing with the alumni/student thing at rwe '07. pretty excited i'll get to meet new folks!

(thanks to ralph v.
back in SD for thinking of me.
gotta get ralphie some r|wear!)

r|wear: 1st '07 siting - skiing in tahoe

yes! yes! yes! r|wear makes it skiing this season at mt. rose - this past weekend (wah-wah-wah on the sh***y road conditions that caused major delays, but it was good to talk w/you while you were ... sitting on a mountain not going to the airport.).

dz says "p.s., see me wearing my rcat fleece jacket in the photo?" (i say - "yes.")

thanks, dz, for the fun pic.
(apple cider?)

the r|wear beginning - in r|office with r|intern in the r|distribution center. (thanks, chi/alina, for our order fulfillment! you also are a fun friend!

so far, we also have had sitings at a SD chain brewery, moving out of SD, our nation's capitol, SD sushi bar, wine country, SD golf course (during a work day?), client's office, and vendor's (and friend's) office.

more sitings, please,
so i can re-cube-i-li-cious.

i will never ever (!) leave the side of ...

... my work colleague and dear friend, pjb, who figured out how to work a david lee roth (former lead singer for van halen) quote into a communication piece for members of a professional organization being asked to vote on changing the organization's name, and mission and vision statements. (dry stuff? not after the inspirational quote)

the quote that pjb pony-upped ...

“We don’t act this way because we’re in a rock & roll band. We’re in a rock & roll band because we are this way.”

... and for this reason, pjb is so my hero! i will forever read EVERYTHING (EVERYTHING) pjb writes up, and i will stalk him.

[i don't know
if the above quote is bullsh**.
i don't care.
i will stalk pjb.
(belt loop boy - move over!)]

later this evening at Cal ...

... i'll be on a panel

and then i will meet students, meet other panelists, munch on food, pass out business cards, and maybe - just maybe - i'll find some potential intern(s)/apprentern(s) for r|intern.

r|office: ND has two time zones?!

when it comes to time zones ...

... this is all i need, sort of.

i work on projects with folks in four time zones (no one in hawai'i, yet). (when i was in san diego, it was either pacific or eastern time zones.) when scheduling meetings or being asked to attend a meeting by one of the listed folks on the respective index card, i'm no longer 1-hr late or 1-hr early. i've considered whether to post pics of the people listed on the index cards; for now, not so much.

visual - i'm visual this way. (while i'm sure some would say auditory, i say also visual. NLP has me at preferences for visual & auditory, with feelings on the heels of these. smell & taste are on the lower end of preferences. working on developing some flexibility in all areas!)

now i don't have to memorize the time zones in relation to the left coast. cute clocks, eh?!

[and does anyone really use GMT?]

last days in sd digs

during my last days in sd ... i lived in my office space. this is a pic of the office "deconstructed" - where an air mattress was in the corner where a desk return is upright on its side (see top right of the pic). the following pics (an attempt at panoramic-ish pics) are taken from that l'il corner ...

Cool Slideshows

... where i shared my space with ... office equipment, some borrowed sleeping gear, a few memories still hung on the walls, project folders, and ... well, just random stuff. i'll eventually post pics of my new office, but until then, thought i'd share some memories.