I work with a lot of really nice people. We have very few people in our department that are just hard to get along with. In fact, there’s very few in the whole company. It’s a utility that has been managed well over time and there’s always been a family atmosphere no matter where you meet the employees. There are some people who are ‘less friendly’ but for the most part everyone gets along well.
When you’ve worked in that type of environment for a while you start expecting that kind of behavior wherever you go. That’s why rude people surprise me so much. When I try to do business with someone and they’re just rude or short in their responses it just knocks me back on my heels. I try to just smile and let it go, but sometimes I get my back up too.
That’s not really what I wanted to say actually. Today, I received an email from a guy I sometimes interface with that gave me some light praise for the way I handled a problem. He copied my manager, which was nice, and it really made me feel good and appreciate him more. It was just a small gesture that cost him nothing but a few minutes to type it, but it was important to me. What made it even more special is the fact that he’s not known to do that very often. I guess my action was so surprising to him that he felt compelled to note it.
Of course, it made me realize how important it is for me to do the same to those around me. It doesn’t take much energy or time to write a quick note, but it can really make someone’s day when you do. I think I’ll do that more often.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Kathy and Computers
KATHY AND COMPUTERS
There's an episode on Andy Griffin where Jerry Van Dyke plays a character who can do nothing right. Every job he attempts he ends up messing up more than he is supposed to fix. He's just an accident waiting to happen. And that's the way my wife and computers are. She can walk by one and the screen will start to twitch.
Well, it's not that bad, but it is pretty bad. She just doesn't understand them and I can't seem to help her with it. I admit I'm a bit impatient because I work with computers for a living and expect her to know stuff she doesn't. I've been trying again to help her learn more and I'm making myself sit back and let her do it. She's picking some things up now that will help her but she still gets very, very frustrated when she has to do more than read an email.
She called me into the office one evening and I could not believe what she had accomplished without even trying. She had apparently laid her arm across the keyboard which triggered a key sequence that caused the screen to switch sideways. I had personally never seen that happen and could do nothing but laugh. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to fix it back but still can't figure out how she caused it.
Another time she messed up her email view so bad that it took me nearly 30 minutes of pouring through the help files to get it set back up. I just sort of looked at her side ways with that old "what have you done" look.
Last night she was trying to print labels for her client base from an old laptop up in my computer area. She was using my printer since it was closest to the laptop. Well, the laptop is old and the printer doesn't feed right all the time, which led to a day of frustration for her. The first problem I discovered when I came home was that she hadn't plugged the printer into the computer's USB port. When I fixed that and she tried to print the printer fed 3 or more sheets of paper at a time. She decided to print one at a time but the print queue hung up on the computer. I can't get a command prompt or computer services to come up on the computer, so I couldn't get it un-hung without booting it. I googled the problem and found a script that would reset the print spooler but it didn't help. I tried deleting the files from \system32 directory but couldn't because the spooler had them tied up. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
At last I decided to boot the computer, take it to her office and print them on her printer. That sounds easy enough except the screen gave up long ago on the laptop so I had to move a monitor too. And it's an old piece of lead monitor that probably weighs 20 pounds. So, I lug it all down stairs and hook it up, set up the labels for her and hit print..........Yeah!!!!!!
Now, I really need to take the time to sit her down and teach her how everything works, sigh.
There's an episode on Andy Griffin where Jerry Van Dyke plays a character who can do nothing right. Every job he attempts he ends up messing up more than he is supposed to fix. He's just an accident waiting to happen. And that's the way my wife and computers are. She can walk by one and the screen will start to twitch.
Well, it's not that bad, but it is pretty bad. She just doesn't understand them and I can't seem to help her with it. I admit I'm a bit impatient because I work with computers for a living and expect her to know stuff she doesn't. I've been trying again to help her learn more and I'm making myself sit back and let her do it. She's picking some things up now that will help her but she still gets very, very frustrated when she has to do more than read an email.
She called me into the office one evening and I could not believe what she had accomplished without even trying. She had apparently laid her arm across the keyboard which triggered a key sequence that caused the screen to switch sideways. I had personally never seen that happen and could do nothing but laugh. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to fix it back but still can't figure out how she caused it.
Another time she messed up her email view so bad that it took me nearly 30 minutes of pouring through the help files to get it set back up. I just sort of looked at her side ways with that old "what have you done" look.
Last night she was trying to print labels for her client base from an old laptop up in my computer area. She was using my printer since it was closest to the laptop. Well, the laptop is old and the printer doesn't feed right all the time, which led to a day of frustration for her. The first problem I discovered when I came home was that she hadn't plugged the printer into the computer's USB port. When I fixed that and she tried to print the printer fed 3 or more sheets of paper at a time. She decided to print one at a time but the print queue hung up on the computer. I can't get a command prompt or computer services to come up on the computer, so I couldn't get it un-hung without booting it. I googled the problem and found a script that would reset the print spooler but it didn't help. I tried deleting the files from \system32 directory but couldn't because the spooler had them tied up. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
At last I decided to boot the computer, take it to her office and print them on her printer. That sounds easy enough except the screen gave up long ago on the laptop so I had to move a monitor too. And it's an old piece of lead monitor that probably weighs 20 pounds. So, I lug it all down stairs and hook it up, set up the labels for her and hit print..........Yeah!!!!!!
Now, I really need to take the time to sit her down and teach her how everything works, sigh.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Point Of Purchase
Our new band, Point Of Purchase, played at our former church Sunday, the 24th and had a really great time. We are a 4 piece and are still getting used to playing together in this configuration. I’m on vocals and rhythm guitar (mostly acoustic), George (normally a drummer or bassist) is on lead guitar, Jeffrey (usually on percussion) is on drums, and Dennis is on bass. Jeffrey is also doing vocals and we’re both doing harmonies for each other. I love having someone else doing vocals too because I like to do harmonies and my voice doesn’t hold up as well as it used to. Jeffrey has a great voice and a lot of experience in the sort of thing we’re doing, so he is great to work with.
Sunday was our first engagement in our present form and we were a bit nervous even though we were in friendly and familiar surroundings. We did songs we all know fairly well, but still felt a little uneasy for some reason. I was my usual addled brain self and forgot some of the lyrics but I think everyone is used to that by now. This cancer medication is making it worse and I struggle a good deal trying to remember the most familiar stuff sometimes. But, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the cancer at bay.
We set up in a line across the stage with me on the far left (viewing the stage from the audience), George, Jeffrey and Dennis. Jeffrey was on his kit and, since he was doing some of the vocals, we wanted him out front with us. He did such a good job on the drums, adding just the right amount of fill and keeping a steady beat. Dennis was his usual steady and colorful self on the bass and George, of course, was superb on lead guitar. I can never understand how George can play so clean while not using a pick. And he is very creative and inventive while he’s playing live.
We intro’d and closed with a little instrumental I had written, which also blended right into the first song. We were a little shaky on it but it came across all right I think. It’s always more fun to do your own music when you can, and although it was just a short instrumental, it was still fulfilling in a way playing other stuff isn’t.
We built the band in order to play restaurants and such and are still working on pop/rock/blues music, but we’re also at our very core a Christian band that plays worship and special music (of our own). It’s been a big job for us to get the pop stuff off the ground because only one of us has experience with that. We also are struggling with work schedules and deer season, but we’re still committed to that goal.
This is our current lineup (stuff we can do pretty well):
1. Ain’t No Sunshine
2. Anyway The Wind Blows
3. Authority Song
4. Lyin’ Eyes
5. Mellow Yellow
6. Oh, Pretty Woman
7. Peaceful Easy Feeling
8. Seven Bridges Road
9. Take It Easy
10. Tequila Sunrise
11. Blackbird
12. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
13. Free Fallin’
14. Good Love Is On The Way
15. I Love A Rainy Night
16. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Christian
1. Awesome Is The Lord Most High
2. Beautiful One
3. He Reigns
4. Surrender
5. Your Love Never Fails
6. It Is You
7. For The Lord Our God Reigns
Sunday was our first engagement in our present form and we were a bit nervous even though we were in friendly and familiar surroundings. We did songs we all know fairly well, but still felt a little uneasy for some reason. I was my usual addled brain self and forgot some of the lyrics but I think everyone is used to that by now. This cancer medication is making it worse and I struggle a good deal trying to remember the most familiar stuff sometimes. But, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the cancer at bay.
We set up in a line across the stage with me on the far left (viewing the stage from the audience), George, Jeffrey and Dennis. Jeffrey was on his kit and, since he was doing some of the vocals, we wanted him out front with us. He did such a good job on the drums, adding just the right amount of fill and keeping a steady beat. Dennis was his usual steady and colorful self on the bass and George, of course, was superb on lead guitar. I can never understand how George can play so clean while not using a pick. And he is very creative and inventive while he’s playing live.
We intro’d and closed with a little instrumental I had written, which also blended right into the first song. We were a little shaky on it but it came across all right I think. It’s always more fun to do your own music when you can, and although it was just a short instrumental, it was still fulfilling in a way playing other stuff isn’t.
We built the band in order to play restaurants and such and are still working on pop/rock/blues music, but we’re also at our very core a Christian band that plays worship and special music (of our own). It’s been a big job for us to get the pop stuff off the ground because only one of us has experience with that. We also are struggling with work schedules and deer season, but we’re still committed to that goal.
This is our current lineup (stuff we can do pretty well):
1. Ain’t No Sunshine
2. Anyway The Wind Blows
3. Authority Song
4. Lyin’ Eyes
5. Mellow Yellow
6. Oh, Pretty Woman
7. Peaceful Easy Feeling
8. Seven Bridges Road
9. Take It Easy
10. Tequila Sunrise
11. Blackbird
12. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
13. Free Fallin’
14. Good Love Is On The Way
15. I Love A Rainy Night
16. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Christian
1. Awesome Is The Lord Most High
2. Beautiful One
3. He Reigns
4. Surrender
5. Your Love Never Fails
6. It Is You
7. For The Lord Our God Reigns
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