badmigraine
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Posts posted by badmigraine
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Another question...does anybody really use and enjoy all those features of Outlook or Lotus Notes that were explained to me at my company?
You know, the features that allow you keep your schedule on it, it rings a bell tone to remind you of meetings, people can check on the network to see whether you're available, you work on documents as a group, and all that other "enterprise productivity" stuff?
The IT people told us confidently it would save us a few million a year by increasing our productivity.
But I and my associates found it an annoyance and it left us cold. The whole thing seemed a mysterious directive from the beginning. It was hard to figure it out because its purpose was opaque, the user interface was yet another pandering set of buttons, drop-down menus and puzzles to navigate while busy and trying to get real work done, a struggle to find time to update and maintain every day, and a frustrating distraction in the workplace.
I never had a schedule that stayed put for more than a day, so my personal situation would have required obsessively updating my schedule online every time it changed, or else only doing it once per day which meant most of the time an innacurate schedule was posted for others to rely on.
I tried checking on the network to see who was supposed to be available for meetings, but half the time the info wasn't correct so you always just had to pick up the phone and call anyway. Look, phoning up a couple of people to set a meeting was never a problem in the first place. OK, maybe if it was a 40-person meeting, but then you just send out an e-mail to a mailing list or something.
As far as group markups of documents, this was a tragically ridiculous idea for the legal dept., because it led to various corrupted versions of the same 80-page agreement that could not be distinguished except by a thorough read and compare of all versions...rather than a time savings, this was a veritable nightmare with huge potential risks for the company in its $800 million contracts.
As for the reminder bells for meetings, well... if you don't wear a watch to work or can't look up at the clock and make it to your meeting, then no computer noise is going to help you in your career. In fact if you are that type of person, then you probably failed to set the alarm correctly in the first place. Maybe you should consider a new career in gardening or house-painting.
In retrospect the utter failure of all these features can be ascribed to lack of user interest and user incompetence. But even if you managed to teach everyone in the building to operate the damn software, then managed to convince or force them to actually use it all day long, then said goodbye to the time it takes them to do so, well...this expensive turkey was not going to save us any money. Quite the opposite in fact.
As far as I could tell, nobody had perceived any problem with scheduling, meetings, document markups or alarm clocks in the first place. So why this million-dollar license for a giant chunk of software that we didn't need?
How did this costly gewgaw get foisted on a hurting company that was supposed to be in turnaround? The company was hurting because of scandal and poor product, not because we didn't know each other's schedules for pete's sake.
And who are all these handsome, flashy-dressed people in the MS and IBM commercials who are saving millions by using software known as enterprise solutions? Do most workres at most companies really need anything more than e-mail and a network server where documents can reside?
Maybe a few depts. in a few companies need this stuff. But most people can't be bothered and this stuff is just an imaginary solution to a bunch of problems that don't really exist. If these "problems" are really problems, then so are bathroom breaks, breathing, the time it takes to get from floor 3 to floor 7, the need to eat food and of course the incredibly slow transfer of information called "speech" (we need MS to jack our brains into a network to save time and millions for giant corporations, right?).
Well, I hope the guy who sold this enterprise solution to our company got a nice bonus out of it.
Does anybody have a different take on this stuff? I am only one guy at one company. There has got to be more to it than I saw.
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Do you mean Outlook Express, or the bigger Outlook itself?
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I've used yellow lenses for overcast, snowy and night riding. They were excellent in all of those conditions.
I've only wished for clear lenses once: it was when I was night riding away from the main, lighted part of the course. In those semi-dark conditions, it probably would have been easier to see with clear lenses (it was nighttime), though the yellow ones weren't bad there either...and if it had been snowing, the yellow ones would have been the best choice for that spot and that time anyway.
Clear lenses don't do much for you in flat light or snowy conditions, but the yellow can really bring out the surface contours amazingly well. It even seems like magic sometimes.
In fact I think the only use I would ever have for clear lenses is in very low light conditions when there is no falling or blowing snow.
Just my own personal opinion/preference. It's different for everybody so "your mileage may vary".
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This one is a longish Real Media clip from a Swiss site, showing some carvers of varying skill levels having a fun session on a bluebird day at Lech am Arlberg. More than the riding, the snow and the edging and the feel made me just want to be there and blast mach-speed turns on my soft setup. Is it snowing yet?
And this link here is many Windows Media vid clips on the Japanese carvingmachine.com site. Their Team Edge carvers are pretty serious about carving. This made me want to go boarding in Japan at mach speed, then have a giant plate of curry rice for lunch and a beer or two, then some slugs of Jaegermeister on the lift from Mogski's flask followed by idiotic tree runs, bad choices of line and spectacular wipeouts and then a satisfying soak in the Kandatsu onsen to cap off the day! Is it snowing yet?
Take that, Mr. Grinch, you humorless green anti-carving frog.
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Yes, applying for a Green Card directly through the US Embassy in a foreign country is usually much quicker. In Tokyo, it only takes 2-3 months for the entire process...or did until very recently I think.
The problem is, both applicants must be officially resident in Japan in order to process through the US Embassy there.
We're living in the US, so are not allowed to go through the US Embassy. Strange eh. Very ironic. You have to leave the US to get the best US govt. services.
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I've developed a squeeze-bulb full of malodorous gas. I bring it to meetings at my company.
When somebody lights up a cigarette (normally done without asking permission of others, and frequently done in closed rooms clearly marked "no smoking"), I get out my squeeze-bulb and, every 20 or 30 seconds, I squeeze a few clouds of bad-smelling gas over the table and in the general direction of others in the room.
Sometimes I waft the gas directly upward, sometimes I actually direct it in a great cloud toward people at the other end of the table. At other times, I let the bulb sit on the table and I squeeze it gently, over and over.
"Uh excuse me, but what are you doing? What is that thing?"
"It's a bad-smelling gas that I am intentionally releasing into the room..."
""What?! But why--?"
"It's my habit. I do it all day. You'll notice that the smell permeates your hair and clothes, and after a week or so, your closet at home will begin to smell like this gas. Oh and um...it might also give you a headache, clog your sinuses and irritate your eyes..."
"WHAT?! That's outrageous! I must ask you to stop it immediately!!"
"Um...did I mention, this gas also causes cancer?"
"WHAT?!?! You must be crazy!!"
"Um...this may not be the best time to ask, but boss, may I be excused from work 8-15 times per day, for 2-3 minutes per time, to visit another room and stand around blowing this gas all over the place? I have some friends there who enjoy the same habit..."
Ha-ha, just an imaginary story folks.
Who in their right mind would ever inflict foul-smelling, carcinogenic gas on others without even asking their permission? Ha, ha! And even if such a person existed, I doubt he would ever ask specific permission of his boss to be excused from his desk several times each day to visit another room to pursue this habit! Ha, ha!! All fiction, folks, but I hypothesize that such a person would probably not ask permission to do this.
And of course nobody would ever consent to sit in a closed room with such a dangerously thoughtless person...ha ha! Sorry for my silly fictional story, which is beyond imagining!
It really is unimaginable. Makes a great funny story though, doesn't it?
Well, thanks for reading this far and sorry for the crazy bizarre totally impossible fictional story here!
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2 I guess, if going back to the same one twice only counts as 1.
Going back to a job I'd already quit...
Doesn't the bible say "Truly he is a fool who goes back like a dog to lick up his own vomit"?
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5.
"The Transcendental Phenomenological Reductionists"
4.
"The Steven Bloody Penobscotts"
3.
"Otherworldly Blemms"
2.
"Meatchipper"
1.
"The Johnny Brainspatter Project"
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I dropped my password on the ground in Tokyo, and someone returned it unread. Japan is a safety country.
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Siren, five stars for the enthusiasm! But November in Whistler is just too early. Once in awhile they may have some dump or other so people can slide, but I wouldn't even book an advance trip their in December. Just too risky, esp. with the bizarrely different weather we've had in the US/Canada these past few years.
Better stick to January through mid-March, if you want the best snow. Abnormal dumps may change things, but the peak season is the peak season, and if you are betting a week and an international trip on it, you should go for the peak season. This is why your HIS tickets are seeming to be a good deal.
Cheers!
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Come on, folks, let's have 'em!
I've got several myself. If there are any Americans who think they live in a privileged first world country, then for an eye-opener they should visit their local INS office. It operates with all the efficiency and class of the Soviet Post Office. In fact, the INS front-line staff makes US postal workers seem like Ivy League professors of particle physics.
America...in what other country could your foreign wife--due to processessing delays alone--apply for a Green Card, then conceive and bear a child (who'd have US citizenship because born here), then conceive and bear a second child (also gets US citizenship), all before her Green Card petition is even approved, let alone the actual visa or adjustment of status is issued.
And no traveling out of the US during this several-years-long pendency of her application--not even to Mexico or Canada.
You wouldn't believe how bad it is. You wouldn't believe it!
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Yeah, I'm with Slow on this one.
84,300 sounds a bit steep, even if everything is included. That is one of the pricier dates to go. Can you reschedule to later in January? Even a week later?
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Uh...twenty whats per day?!
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The only performance enhancer I envision using with glee is Viagra. But I am not yet ready for it. Check back in a decade.
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Aha!, and by the same logic, YOU are badmigraine--unmasked!!
Wheels within wheels.
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You're not taking away MY carving, you mean old grinch. I haven't even learned to do it yet!
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I reckon you could jerry-rig a skate deck onto one of these machines, with big-wave-surf type foot loops on it, and work out your thighs to get massive tree-trunk power for snowboarding.
I reckon you could do that.
Or you could maybe just pick up something heavy and do 10 squats a day in your living room.
Or, I could put down this bag of Doritos and meet you down the bar, to discuss it all and wait for snow.
Well, you see the issues! On to the next post then.
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Hear they're putting TV into them next.
Problem is, there's almost nothing on the TV or radio I care to spend time with...the Internet and several large, close-by libraries have ruined me for that non-clickable, fixed-rate MOR pablum.
Boy do I have a short attention span now for things that aren't my favorite.
I have 8 other pages/sites open and cycling as I write this.
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Not at all! I just found it this morning and had exactly the same question as you. I wouldn't mind having hard boots that I could use for both skiing and alpine boarding...it's all about the money I guess.
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And here I thought Osmathus was that kid who starred in "The Sixth Sense".
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Peaker, click on the blue "here's an interesting thread" link in the post immediately above yours...seems ski boots do fit but there are a lot of issues including sole length, forward lean and slippery soles.
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Thanks Miltie! Great info.
Siren, to complete your research, you might want to read the detailed, opinionated guides to boots, boot fitting and bindings available on the Carver\'s Almanac site . There is so much info there, after you read it the only thing left to do is fly into action.
And here\'s an interesting thread from the BomberOnline site about ski boots vs. alpine boarding hardboots.
Hey, this is getting pretty good. Is it snowing yet?
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YYYEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!
Most annoying thing about computers
in General off-topic discussions
Posted
That may be true, Pierluigi, but I would rather be using a computer in Italy than in Michigan!
You're doing OK in my book.