One of the benefits for working for my current employer is that I get a ton of vacation days. Because if my tenure, I currently garner 120 hours of vacation a week. Three whole weeks, pretty nice. I also have the luxury of carrying over 80 hours of vacation from one year to the next. The first couple of years I quickly accumulated the 80 hours to carry from one year to the next. So now I'm faced with having to consume those 120 hours of vacation, otherwise I will loose them. Over the last couple of years this has posed a problem.
For me to take a vacation day, my preference would be to leave town. Here in lies the rub. Typically out-of-town trips the family takes are usually during the summer months, when schools aren't in session. Summer time is also the busiest time of year for my vocation, so to take three weeks off is unlikely. When I first started with my current employer, I typically could use up vacation during the week between Christmas and New Years. Several years ago my employer chose to eliminate this week in an effort to reduce overhead costs (lighting, heating, etc) and provided this week as holiday leave. This year my employer chose to do a similar thing with the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, again another day I typically take as vacation. So now I have less days in which to account against my vacation days.
I'm sure many do not feel the predicament I am in. My own brother-in-law is one who doesn't have the same number of available vacation days, and so was very stingy with his allotment since he had a new baby due this year. To compound my vacation day situation, I have like five months worth of six days. So when my bride had our kids, I simply counted these as "family sick" days and it didn't impact my vacation allowance.
My bride often tells me that I should just take a couple days off and go fishing or something. Given the fact we have one car and the cost of gasoline is averaging $3 a gallon, even this advice is falling on deaf ears. Of course her response is that she could simply provide me with enough "honey-dos" to consume my available vacation distribution. Again, not something I'd like to do on a day off.
I am thankful I have the availability to use vacation and the liberty to take it when I want, but finding the right fit of purpose and timing is what complicates the equation for me. I hate to loose these days, but I also would hate to waste the wonderful opportunity of a day way from the job. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, and just need to take a day of vacation to put it all into proper perspective.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Black Friday
For several years, my family has enjoyed a rich shopping tradition the day after Thanksgiving. As we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, we'd comb through the newspaper advertisement, and make our Christmas wish list. Then my mother, her sister, and my uncle (who loves to sniff out a great deal); would develop their strategic plan to capture as many of the wish list items at ridiculous low prices. This typically would involve rising before the sun on Friday, and waiting in line to enter stores at 5am, 6am, or 7am. Once I greeted my own bride to this strike team, the baton was passed to the next generation. List are made divided by stores and opening times, and assignments are handed out. Cell phones and SMS messaging has enabled enhanced communications in the event an item isn't available at one location, the other squad of shoppers can be notified in time to pickup an item at the secondary target. You may think the tactical analogy is taking this event too far, but I assure you it accurately depicts this family ritual.
In recent years the Internet has fueled this ritual. With websites such as bfads.net, the family no longer has to wait for the Thursday paper to determine what items can be captured on Black Friday. Beginning in late October, once a week I've found myself searching for leaks of what to expect in the full color advertisements destined to be delivered to us on Thanksgiving. With this bit of advance intel, we can be completed by 11am and ready to spend the remaining hours on Black Friday vegging out on the couch watching college football and congratulating ourselves on the amount of money we saved with our early morning exercises.
However this new bit of information, also robs us of the jubilation that can be found as we pour through the print ads in hopes that the kids toys or dad's electronics maybe available at lower than low prices. We still check the print ads, know full well that our intel may have been compromised or a legal order may have prevented our source from acquiring the goods for a certain big box retailer.
Last year one of my wife's friends, who got a kick out of this family ritual, got the last laugh when she bunked the whole system by taking the advertisements to her local big box retailer that offered price matching. At 11am, armed with the print ads, she simply waltzed into the price matching retailer, and collected the goods she desired at the advertised price of the other outfits. In one fell swoop she dismantled the tactical approach by using the published rules of engagement. She systematically refuted the whole system, and probably saved more because she didn't expend the extra gas running from retailer A at 5am, then retailer B at 6am, as well as not having to purchase the Cinnamon Dolce Latte to ensure she was prepared for the tactical exercise. Although she may have found a more efficient method, did she have the same euphoria of the hunt?
In recent years the Internet has fueled this ritual. With websites such as bfads.net, the family no longer has to wait for the Thursday paper to determine what items can be captured on Black Friday. Beginning in late October, once a week I've found myself searching for leaks of what to expect in the full color advertisements destined to be delivered to us on Thanksgiving. With this bit of advance intel, we can be completed by 11am and ready to spend the remaining hours on Black Friday vegging out on the couch watching college football and congratulating ourselves on the amount of money we saved with our early morning exercises.
However this new bit of information, also robs us of the jubilation that can be found as we pour through the print ads in hopes that the kids toys or dad's electronics maybe available at lower than low prices. We still check the print ads, know full well that our intel may have been compromised or a legal order may have prevented our source from acquiring the goods for a certain big box retailer.
Last year one of my wife's friends, who got a kick out of this family ritual, got the last laugh when she bunked the whole system by taking the advertisements to her local big box retailer that offered price matching. At 11am, armed with the print ads, she simply waltzed into the price matching retailer, and collected the goods she desired at the advertised price of the other outfits. In one fell swoop she dismantled the tactical approach by using the published rules of engagement. She systematically refuted the whole system, and probably saved more because she didn't expend the extra gas running from retailer A at 5am, then retailer B at 6am, as well as not having to purchase the Cinnamon Dolce Latte to ensure she was prepared for the tactical exercise. Although she may have found a more efficient method, did she have the same euphoria of the hunt?
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Making Your Mark
This evening I took my lovely bride to a college theater production. It's been sometime since we ventured to a theater arts production. We once had season tickets, an outgrowth of my bride's experience in college as a theater major. Kids helped to refocus our finances in other areas, and season tickets were some of the collateral damage. As we took our seats, we looked up to see an old professor of mine with his wife. Now this specific professor is famously known around campus for his effort to know each of his students by name. For 15 weeks each semester he crawls the aisles of his four classes to greet each student by name.
As we conversed prior to the opening curtain, I offered that I used to be one of his students. At this point the professor seemed a bit embarrassed that he didn't remember me. The reality is that I've been out of college for eleven years, following the completion of my master's degree. I also only had one graduate course with this professor, so I didn't really expect him to recall my name.
On the drive home, my wife and I commented on how embarrassed the older professor appeared to be. I added that I didn't really think he'd remember, because I never went out of my way to be memorable. Then I recalled a conversation with one of my old bosses, which he declared that I needed to toot my own horn from time to time. In many ways the evening's encounter highlighted the fact that in certain circumstances I tend to blend into the crowd. This defense mechanism could be construed as a weakness. There are times when being a face in the crowd is acceptable, but at other times there exist a need to be noticed. The difficulty as I see it is determine when to do either.
As we conversed prior to the opening curtain, I offered that I used to be one of his students. At this point the professor seemed a bit embarrassed that he didn't remember me. The reality is that I've been out of college for eleven years, following the completion of my master's degree. I also only had one graduate course with this professor, so I didn't really expect him to recall my name.
On the drive home, my wife and I commented on how embarrassed the older professor appeared to be. I added that I didn't really think he'd remember, because I never went out of my way to be memorable. Then I recalled a conversation with one of my old bosses, which he declared that I needed to toot my own horn from time to time. In many ways the evening's encounter highlighted the fact that in certain circumstances I tend to blend into the crowd. This defense mechanism could be construed as a weakness. There are times when being a face in the crowd is acceptable, but at other times there exist a need to be noticed. The difficulty as I see it is determine when to do either.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Birthdays aren't ordinary days
It has been my experience that at some point in my adult years, birthdays loose their significance. Whether this is by design because we don't relish the thought of growing older or it's a factor of inconvenience given the breath of busyness that we are involved with, birthdays just don't seem to be as big a deal as they were when we were kids.
Or at least that was what I thought. Thankfully my children haven't surrendered to this notion. Last week I celebrated a birthday. The night before my six year old approached me with the information that tomorrow would be my birthday. I responded that this was true, but that it would be just an ordinary day. Apparently this was a challenge for my children, and one that I am thankful they took on. The morning of my birthday, my wife rolled over at 7am to wake me up, but cautioned that I was to remain in bed because my children had something special for me. Fifteen minutes later, I was greeted with a tray of waffles, coffee, and blackberrys. It was most unexpected, first that my children were up that early and secondly because I'm not normally a breakfast eater. So with tray in hand, all three of my children accompanied by my bride climbed into bed to observe me partake into this birthday breakfast. As they watched wide eyed, I consumed the entire breakfast.
For lunch, I was called home again to a special birthday luncheon with the family. My wife pulled out all the stops preparing a special entree, and for desert the children had assisted in making some yummy cup cakes. Not to be out done, there were candles on most of the cup cakes. I had a hint that something was up when my eight year old made the comment that she hoped I could blow out the candles. So you guessed it, after the traditional birthday song, I attempted to blow out the candles only to have them re-ignite. All three of my children were beside themselves with laughter, although I think the two year old was just mimicking his older sisters.
That evening we had a church event, but my children continued to tell everyone they saw that it was my birthday. Several people inquired my age, at which I responded, "I younger than I look, but older than I feel." Such a vague response didn't pacify some and my children were glad to provide the requested information.
To say the least the day was not ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. All thanks you my children who firmly believe that birthdays are special. Honestly I agree with them, but too often the demands of job, chores, and a litany of other items seem to usurp the priority of celebrating my own birthday. To my kids I am thankful that they saw fit to provide me with a reality check.
Or at least that was what I thought. Thankfully my children haven't surrendered to this notion. Last week I celebrated a birthday. The night before my six year old approached me with the information that tomorrow would be my birthday. I responded that this was true, but that it would be just an ordinary day. Apparently this was a challenge for my children, and one that I am thankful they took on. The morning of my birthday, my wife rolled over at 7am to wake me up, but cautioned that I was to remain in bed because my children had something special for me. Fifteen minutes later, I was greeted with a tray of waffles, coffee, and blackberrys. It was most unexpected, first that my children were up that early and secondly because I'm not normally a breakfast eater. So with tray in hand, all three of my children accompanied by my bride climbed into bed to observe me partake into this birthday breakfast. As they watched wide eyed, I consumed the entire breakfast.
For lunch, I was called home again to a special birthday luncheon with the family. My wife pulled out all the stops preparing a special entree, and for desert the children had assisted in making some yummy cup cakes. Not to be out done, there were candles on most of the cup cakes. I had a hint that something was up when my eight year old made the comment that she hoped I could blow out the candles. So you guessed it, after the traditional birthday song, I attempted to blow out the candles only to have them re-ignite. All three of my children were beside themselves with laughter, although I think the two year old was just mimicking his older sisters.
That evening we had a church event, but my children continued to tell everyone they saw that it was my birthday. Several people inquired my age, at which I responded, "I younger than I look, but older than I feel." Such a vague response didn't pacify some and my children were glad to provide the requested information.
To say the least the day was not ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. All thanks you my children who firmly believe that birthdays are special. Honestly I agree with them, but too often the demands of job, chores, and a litany of other items seem to usurp the priority of celebrating my own birthday. To my kids I am thankful that they saw fit to provide me with a reality check.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Will the iPhone generate sales for other PDA-Phones?
So today is the day. Folks have been talking about it for months. The manufacturer has been teasing us for longer with glimpses, snippets, an promises. But today at 6pm local time the world will no longer have to wait with baited anticipation for Apple's iPhone. Or will they?
Industry analysts are skeptical about supplies, the exclusive contract Apple has with AT&T as the preferred wireless service provider, as well as just the iPhone itself. Of course curiosity and techno fanatics will consumer hundreds of thousands of these devices, but my question is whether the iPhone will fuel a resurgence of the PDA-Phone combo devices?
In the last year we have seen several manufacturers begin pumping PDA-Phone devices into the market. Motorola, Samsung, Treo, even the huge business PDA player RIM has introduce some snazzy Blackberry additions prior to Apple's big release. Is all this activity a beacon to a new PDA-Phone age, or simply each manufactures' attempt to generate some sales in the wake of Apple's big splash.
Personally, I believe Blackberry sales will increase through the third quarter of 2007. Whether it's because folks aren't happy that the iPhone isn't available, doesn't work as promised, or simply because current blackberry users are willing to upgrade their devices to compete with the "cool" factor that the iPhone is obviously generating. I believe the same will be true for Treo sales as well, for similar reasons.
So while all the current blackberry, treo, and blackjack users out there are comparing the feature sets and battery life cycles; we should be celebrating the iPhone's release. Again I believe that the whole PDA-Phone market will benefit from the iPhone's introduction. This also means that I will benefit, since I've been a PDA-Phone user for several years now.
Industry analysts are skeptical about supplies, the exclusive contract Apple has with AT&T as the preferred wireless service provider, as well as just the iPhone itself. Of course curiosity and techno fanatics will consumer hundreds of thousands of these devices, but my question is whether the iPhone will fuel a resurgence of the PDA-Phone combo devices?
In the last year we have seen several manufacturers begin pumping PDA-Phone devices into the market. Motorola, Samsung, Treo, even the huge business PDA player RIM has introduce some snazzy Blackberry additions prior to Apple's big release. Is all this activity a beacon to a new PDA-Phone age, or simply each manufactures' attempt to generate some sales in the wake of Apple's big splash.
Personally, I believe Blackberry sales will increase through the third quarter of 2007. Whether it's because folks aren't happy that the iPhone isn't available, doesn't work as promised, or simply because current blackberry users are willing to upgrade their devices to compete with the "cool" factor that the iPhone is obviously generating. I believe the same will be true for Treo sales as well, for similar reasons.
So while all the current blackberry, treo, and blackjack users out there are comparing the feature sets and battery life cycles; we should be celebrating the iPhone's release. Again I believe that the whole PDA-Phone market will benefit from the iPhone's introduction. This also means that I will benefit, since I've been a PDA-Phone user for several years now.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Where am I?
Have you ever had one of those instances, whether it be an evening, day, week, or month; which you look up and realize that despite all the activities you have been engaged in little progress has been made. It's that realization that despite being able to cross off one item on the ole "to do" list that an additional four items have been added. It's the overwhelming feeling that you are treading water, or worse yet no matter how much exertion you continue to sink. I'm sitting in my office and on either side of me are reams of "to be filled" papers, and some of which I don't even remember placing there. You want to take a breather and tackle things linearly, but neither time nor energies are available to be dedicated to task of catching up. So you continue forward, hoping and wishing for an opportunity to simply catch up. If time does present itself, you are faced with the choice of taking said time to clear the clutter, or do something for yourself. If you clear the clutter, well then you haven't really taken a break, rested, or relaxed. However if you take time for yourself, sure there is a fleeting period of rest, but then you return to the clutter and to do list that never seems to reduce in volume. It's a catch 22.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Blink & You'll Miss It
In retrospect, this past week has been a blur. I have traveled almost 4,000 miles this past week, have spent at least over an hour in at least three states, and only spent a total of 12 hours in the office this week. Looking back it just feels like the week has breezed by.
My week started at 4:30am on Monday with an arrival at the local airport to begin a west coast journey to attend a meeting that was scheduled to begin at 9am Pacific time. Since I can't catch a direct flight, I'm forced to connect in Dallas. There's a whole story related to why I'd subject myself to an early flight out, but this opportunity allowed me to fly first class from Dallas to the west coast in the company of other high rollers like Michael Irvin. Unfortunately the early time tabled was conducive for me to catch a hour of sleep in my first class recliner, so I didn't really even get a chance to fully appreciate the luxuries afford me. Monday evening found me at a beach side seafood restaurant in Malibu dining on Chilean Sea bass. Tuesday found me again traversing the country returning home with a diversion to Oklahoma City because of weather in Dallas. For the hour and half we spent on the tarmac in OKC, I passed the time listening to the young lady next to me fretting about her ability to make it home to Alabama. So to assist I pulled out the treo and navigated the airlines website checking on flights in an effort to comfort this young lady. Upon arriving in Dallas, I watched two other flights scheduled after mine, leave for home. I did get home after 10pm that night exhausted and curious if my trip scheduled next month will allow me to get into Chicago in time to make the first pitch at Wrigley Field (I arrive in Chicago at 10:30am and the game starts at 1:20pm). Wednesday saw a normal day at the office, normal given the fact that I've been absent for the two previous days. Thursday I spent the morning in the office, and the afternoon driving to Dallas. This drive was prolonged by an hour because of construction that diverted (see a theme developing?) east bound traffic to the frontage road and a extreme backup of vehicles. Friday I spent the day in a workshop visiting with other educational technology professionals. Saturday I returned home, so that the rental car could be checked in by 1pm.
I'm not sure how people do this business travel. One of the guys I met out at the west coast on Monday, was also in attendance at the workshop in Dallas on Friday. I know for a fact that he was in Arizona on Tuesday, and who knows where else Wednesday and Thursday. At one point the wife and I decided that if I ever changed careers, I would be allowed to travel one week a month if the job required. After a week like this, I'm not convinced that I'd want to pursue opportunities that required this.
Thankfully I'm home for a couple of weeks before I jet off again. Of course the next time I fly the friendly skies, it's for a guys weekend away that includes the mentioned Cubs day game.
My week started at 4:30am on Monday with an arrival at the local airport to begin a west coast journey to attend a meeting that was scheduled to begin at 9am Pacific time. Since I can't catch a direct flight, I'm forced to connect in Dallas. There's a whole story related to why I'd subject myself to an early flight out, but this opportunity allowed me to fly first class from Dallas to the west coast in the company of other high rollers like Michael Irvin. Unfortunately the early time tabled was conducive for me to catch a hour of sleep in my first class recliner, so I didn't really even get a chance to fully appreciate the luxuries afford me. Monday evening found me at a beach side seafood restaurant in Malibu dining on Chilean Sea bass. Tuesday found me again traversing the country returning home with a diversion to Oklahoma City because of weather in Dallas. For the hour and half we spent on the tarmac in OKC, I passed the time listening to the young lady next to me fretting about her ability to make it home to Alabama. So to assist I pulled out the treo and navigated the airlines website checking on flights in an effort to comfort this young lady. Upon arriving in Dallas, I watched two other flights scheduled after mine, leave for home. I did get home after 10pm that night exhausted and curious if my trip scheduled next month will allow me to get into Chicago in time to make the first pitch at Wrigley Field (I arrive in Chicago at 10:30am and the game starts at 1:20pm). Wednesday saw a normal day at the office, normal given the fact that I've been absent for the two previous days. Thursday I spent the morning in the office, and the afternoon driving to Dallas. This drive was prolonged by an hour because of construction that diverted (see a theme developing?) east bound traffic to the frontage road and a extreme backup of vehicles. Friday I spent the day in a workshop visiting with other educational technology professionals. Saturday I returned home, so that the rental car could be checked in by 1pm.
I'm not sure how people do this business travel. One of the guys I met out at the west coast on Monday, was also in attendance at the workshop in Dallas on Friday. I know for a fact that he was in Arizona on Tuesday, and who knows where else Wednesday and Thursday. At one point the wife and I decided that if I ever changed careers, I would be allowed to travel one week a month if the job required. After a week like this, I'm not convinced that I'd want to pursue opportunities that required this.
Thankfully I'm home for a couple of weeks before I jet off again. Of course the next time I fly the friendly skies, it's for a guys weekend away that includes the mentioned Cubs day game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)