All Posts Tagged: ‘People’

People's Effort Part 2

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Last night we got hit with 4 inches or so of snow. Thankfully either the new gas or my dad cleaning the spark plug over the weekend worked…and the snowblower started up like a champ. As I finished up my driveway I noticed the neighbor that left the small strip of snow next to me the last snowfall – was out shoveling.

I glanced over at him and turned the snowblower the opposite way and did the other neighbor’s entire sidewalk. When I finished with that, I looked at Amy and asked her if she thought I should do the neighbor’s sidewalk on the other side (the one I have issues with) and she nodded yes and we then cleared his sidewalk as well. We got a “thank you” after it was finished, but I will not hold my breath for him to clear the foot or so of my sidewalk next time. Not everyone can sink to the levels of others – thank goodness!

Exchange of Services

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Just to let everyone know, now I have seen it all. (Thanks to Ken for pointing this out!)

Almost Two Months Out…What's New?

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It has almost been two months since I got on a commuter train, worried about having a lunch packed, or making it in to work on time. How has my life changed? I am much more calm and patient. I no longer try to make traffic lights at all costs and I really do not rush anywhere. In fact, I almost feel like I have moved into the southern way of life. Me…yeah, me. I tend to drink more Coke Zero, listen to music louder, and really enjoy what I do 90% of the time (compared to about .05%). I have enjoyed working on numerous projects – big and small, and building new relationships. Thanks to iChat and iSights, I have a weekly conference video chat with some of my old co-workers and IM keeps us in touch as well. My weekly conference calls with old co-workers have become weekly enjoyable conversations about stuff we enjoy instead of what we hate – and I no longer have to worry about what train to catch or where to park. If I teach my kids one thing, it will be that we all have choices. Some will help us, others will hurt us, but ultimately we always have a choice so excuses are out of the question. Life on the outside is good. I finally made the choice to move onto doing something I loved and wanted to do. Now, what the heck took me so long?

Ninja Warrior Marathon

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I am not sure if anyone else caught the Ninja Warrior but I was pretty worthless between that and having out of town guest here (who I also made them watch it too). This show contains so many great qualities: impossible obstacles, stories of the competitors and one really excited announcer. I am so happy I found this show!

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Book

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I absolutely love the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm so when I recently saw a commercial that showed a new season on the horizon, I got all excited. I just went to the HBO web site to get more information and found out that there is now a book available on the show! If you even slightly enjoyed Seinfeld this is the show for you (and one of my favorites)! After working on insane CSS positioning all day, I am going to sit back, watch some old episodes and have a glass of wine. Thank goodness it is Friday!

Project Management

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I recently finished up a web site (using WordPress as a CMS of course) for a client who besides being a client is an amazing writer. He has a best selling project management book (The Art of Project Management) and has another one coming out in the next month. If you have a few minutes, take a look at his web site and read his blog or some of his essays to learn more about design, project management, working with others, and all kinds of smart tips.

First Days Working From Home

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Well, the first two days of working at home have gone great. I have gotten more stuff done before 8am than I can usually do by the time 8pm comes around. I am able to get up, spend some time with my son, workout, shower, and then start working all in the time it would usually take me to get to my office. During lunch, Triscuit, Evan, and I go on a nice walk and then come back for some more work. Not to mention, I can now also stop working much earlier and enjoy some time with the family. Good times. Why did I not “retire” (as Dad Muller would say) earlier? All the while, I get to work with interesting clients on really cool projects which forces me to keep building my skill set.

the end of an era.

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Yesterday marked an end of an era for me. As of Monday I am going to do web development consulting full time under my company name Sandbox Development and Consulting Inc. As most people can guess or know, I specialize in WordPress content management systems and blogs. I also do a lot of general CSS, XHTML, web standards, and PHP/MySQL development. So – if you ever need any help or are looking for a web development constultant, contact me!

what will your legacy be?

  • Written by: Jen on March 30th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
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There are somedays when I blog about something new I have learned about CSS, PHP, MySQL, Apache, etc. There are also somedays I come home, unwind, and realize I have much bigger life lessons to share. Although life is not all fun and games I always try learn something from each experience. This is what I learned/realized today:

It is human nature to be liked and loved by all yet there are sometimes when you are faced with a choice. You can either take the path of least resistance and go along with the majority all the while knowing what you are doing is not right, or you can take a stand and try and do something different. As a history major in college I often studied and read about such “difficult” people: the Pilgrims, Mahatma Gandhi, MLK Jr, Rosa Parks, etc and had great respect for them. Why? Because they decided not to go with the rest of the pack…they wanted change and they would not accept the status quo. They exposed themselves in order to try and make change happened even if it pissed people off and left them open for criticism. Apple had a brilliant marketing campaign titled “Think Different” in the late 1990s which summed it up perfect:

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, quote them, disagree with them
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing that you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can
change the world, are the ones who do.

Where am I going with this? Change is made by trying something different – not doing the same over and over. If you are unhappy with something in your life, take a chance…break out of the mold. It is ok to be unpopular. In fact, I would much rather be unpopular and strive for change, than to sit quietly while life passes me by. We all have choices, so what will your legacy be?

Doing What's Right

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I would like to think we all have standards of some sort. I expect people to treat me with respect as I will treat them with respect. Other people demand to be catered to at all costs – all the time. This morning at the train station the police were out and about issuing tickets for all people who crossed the tracks (there are 3 sets – closest: from Chicago, middle: express trains to and from Chicago depending on the time, far set: local to Chicago). Anyone who has ridden the Metra for a few days/weeks/years has crossed the tracks (after looking both ways of course) to catch their train (and we have also seen people get killed doing the same thing too). It is not always smart, but when you know the schedule, you also know what other – if any – other trains are coming and going. This morning, I was trying to catch an express train. Unfortunately, the train showed up early, and after seeing the police there, I was not going to cross and get slapped with a $250.00 fine. Don’t worry, some idiot did…and got fined. What I loved best about this situation came after the guy got issued the ticket. The people who could not cross the trains (where I was standing) starting yelling and swearing at the police officers for “not letting them cross”. Not only did the people yell at the police as the train sat at the station making up for it’s early arrival, when it passed, a mob of people went over and got in the police officers’ faces and began complaining. As frustrating as it was to miss my train, at least I could see the point of the exercise. The police were trying to help prevent careless crossers from being killed.

I felt pretty good about myself not getting all flustered and patiently waited for the next train…until an express train was on it’s way through and someone started crossing the tracks just as the bells started to go off. The crowd of people started talking and yelling at the police to ticket him. No ticket. The crowd then started talking about ok – it was like a yellow light. Then…after the express train made it past our stop – bells still going off and lights still flashing, the “yellow light guy” crossed the other set of tracks and the police did not blink. You can imagine the crowd…yelling at the police to give him a ticket , etc and I have to say at that point I also joined in. Did the police officers even attempt to ticket him? No. Double standards? Yes. I have always said this…I can understand and appreciate standards…but double standards drive me crazy! Fun times. Happy Birthday A!