Is Instant Communication Too Instant?

I have three email accounts that I keep up with regularly. One is my work address, that I use to communicate with other employees and the occasional member of the public with whom I have business. Since we're on Microsoft systems here in my office, we use MS Office and I have Outlook open the entire time I'm at my desk. I could get an email at any time advising me of a system outage that might affect my company's websites, an error on a page that requires immediate correction, or feedback from the public on any of the 30+ feedback pages scattered about all the hospitals' sites.

It's also set to deliver me local and national breaking news stories emails, enewsletters, error notifications and of course spam. The company's spam filters intercept most of it, but sometimes it gets through. There are rare occasions I will access this email account remotely from home but it doesn't happen often. The vast majority of my work is done at work.

I also have a personal Yahoo account that stays open all the time in Internet Explorer, the same browser I use to build my websites. This account is mainly for communication with friends and acquaintances, a lot of personal newsletters and Yahoo Group post notifications, theatre communication, and freelance web design work I do here and there. I don't advertise that account on the blog but it does exist and several people I know have it.

Finally, I also have my Inn of the Last Home email account open in Firefox all the time. I use Firefox simulatenously to test sites in the other most popular browser, keep up with blog postings and post to this site (like I'm doing now). And email sent to me having to do with blog feedback or other of that type of online business comes through there.

Here's my point - all three of these email accounts are open while I'm at my desk, and any time someone sends me an email on any of them, I get it fairly quickly. When I'm at home the lag time increases but I frequently check both Yahoo addresses often during the evening and the morning to see if there's any personal business or correspondence that needs to be taken care of. Typically if I receive an email that needs a response, it will be sent out very shortly after receiving it. Sometimes in minutes. Since chat is blocked at my work, Big Orange Michael and myself have been known to let the emails fly back and forth at times.

None of this email attention affects my work productivity, as it's always answered or read during slight downtimes between tasks. Sometimes my wife looks at me funny when I'm checking my email first thing in the morning ("who's going to send you anything at 3am?") but I feel it's my responsibility to answer an email as quickly as possible. If you were standing in a room and someone asked you a question, you wouldn't walk away, take care of some business, eat a meal, watch some TV, then walk back in and answer would you? I feel it's rude on my part to not respond in due haste.

This is an unknown practice at work, as most of my marketing manager clients check and respond to email haphazardly. I may send an email linking to a test site for review and it could be days before I hear a response. Which throws my productivity schedule off, because I have to stop what I was doing waiting for further instructions and comment. This is common in the print world they're accustomed to, but in the online world where communication and decisions are made instantaneously and on-the-fly it can be maddening.

What is your email etiquette?

How many email accounts do you use regularly?

How quickly do you check it? How quickly do you respond?

Do you handle work emails and personal emails differently?

Do we have a responsibility, ethically - if we accept that our email accounts are as viable a way of reaching us as telephones - to respond with all due haste? Or do we treat them as Caller ID and answer when we feel like it? I admit I screen calls at home, but only when I can tell they're solicitors or political calls. I think it's also rude to ignore call from someone you know just because you don't want to talk to them.

That's My Girl

A few days ago, helping 2nd-grader Tink with study her spelling:

Me: Spell "turkey".

Tink: T-U-R-K-E-Y.

Me: Good... (searching for next word, but saying under my breath) "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly..."

Tink: (smirking, under her breath) "Oh, the humanity!"




Do I raise 'em right or do I?

Word of the Day

Because I coined the phrase preggerventures to describe what lies ahead for my in-a-family-way-friend Tiger at Tiger Babble, I've submitted it to the Urban Dictionary.

I'll let you know if it's accepted...






Try to remain calm.

Friday's Feast

Friday, January 26, 2007 - Feast One Hundred & Twenty Eight

Appetizer - If you could take lessons to learn any musical instrument, which would you want to learn?

I've always been fascinated by the tone and emotion of the cello. I've never attempted to play a string instrument before, and I'm unsure if I'd have the patience to learn but I'd love to give it a try. A cello has such a plaintive, melancholy sound that (to me) is much more expressive than any other string instrument (except the piano, of course). How much would a used cello go for, anyway?


Soup - Have you ever mistaken a person for someone else?

I don't recall a specific instance, but if you're caught staring at someone by accident and you feel like a fool you can always say, "Oh, I'm sorry - I thought you were someone else.."


Salad - On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?

C'mere...let me let you in on a little secret... Actually, I don't know very many secrets unless they're privileged information from my work or something like that. I suppose I'd have to be a 9, because there are sometimes I'll share information with my wife that I might not've been given strict permission to include her in the discussion - simply because I believe a married couple should not be considered separate entities in that regard.


Main Course - What's the closest you've ever been to a dangerous animal?

You mean, outside a zoo? :) Last summer we took a trip through the Everglades and came close to several gators - we were in no danger, but they were right there in the water outside our airboat. At Animal Kingdom in Orlando there are no cages separating your tour bus from the animals. I guess the closest would be the time I was bitten twice on the leg by a brown recluse spider. Oooh...big game hunter, me...


Dessert - When was the last time you lost your patience?

I lose my patience with my kids sometimes when they take forever to finish a task, like cleaning their room or picking up toys. I've lost patience with people at my office before, when they take too long to get back to me with information or complete a project. But I usually keep a good handle on my patience and temper.

Boring?

My daily readership has gone way down. Am I just that boring? Do I need to post something controversial to get the interest going?

BlogFest Coming Up

Rich has announced a Blogfest get-together:

Where: Calhoun's on Kingston Pike at I-140 (that would be near Pelissippi and Mabry Hood Rd.)
When: Saturday, February 10 starting at 5:00PM
Who: Everybody
Why: Because.

I may have a band gig that night, but if not I hope to be there. Anyone in Knoxville who blogs or reads blogs or even just reads is welcome!

The New Ferret Face and Hot Lips

Aren't the pretty much filling the same role as characters in their respective shows? Dwight/Frank is the second-in-command, always wanting more power and abusing it when he has it, rival with the smarter and funnier co-worker, gets pranks pulled on him all the time, rigid and by-the-book. Angela/Margaret is the "secret" lover everyone knows about, very disciplined and whiny, looks down on her coworkers, plots with Dwight/Frank against everyone else.

The True Basis for Theological, Cultural and Political Differences Between Shia and Sunni Muslims

Does this answer part of your question, Rich?

Congratulations Colts!

And on to Super Bowl XLI!!

One More Reason to Subscribe to Netflix

I get Netflix's RSS feed for New Releases - coming up this week:

• Pride FC: Shockwave 2005
  
  Shockwave 2005 presents every no-holds-barred match held at Japan's Saitama Super Arena. Relive the bone-crushing thrill of matches featuring top-rated Pride fighters such as Wanderlei Silva, Takanori Gomi and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic as they face off in this premier mixed martial arts event. The Pride championships showcase a unique form of extreme hand-to-hand combat incorporating elements of judo, karate, jujitsu, kickboxing and wrestling.
  
  
• The Best of Hooters
  
  Get ready to enjoy plenty of toned, tanned and exceptionally endowed talent with this scorching hourlong compilation of highlights from five years of the legendary Miss Hooters International Swimsuit Pageants. Previously unavailable raw footage supplements traditional clips of these vivacious young beauties as they take to the runway to model some of the sexiest -- and scantiest -- swimwear around.
  
  
• Mystery of the Megavolcano
  
  Join "Nova" science detectives as they journey to Southeast Asia to reveal details of one of Earth's most destructive volcanic events. Known as the Toba eruption, this cataclysmic explosion that occurred 75,000 years ago is considered one of the most devastating natural occurrences in history. Watch scientists reconstruct this monstrous catastrophe as they ponder the fragile nature of Earth's crust and the power of the magma within its core.
  
  
• Monster of the Milky Way
  
  The award-winning science series "Nova" explores the galaxy for evidence of astronomy's most foreboding monster: the supermassive black hole. Though historically scientists have scoffed the black hole's existence, recent data points to the startling reality of the universe's most destructive objects. Computer imagery helps illustrate the creation, structure and movement of this cannibalistic phenomenon that sucks up everything in its vicinity.
  
  
• Hooters: How Sweet It Is
  
  You'll travel to one of the world's hippest hot spots -- Miami's famed South Beach -- with this sizzling collection of highlights from the Hooters Swimsuit Pageant week. More than 100 Hooters girls from around the globe display their ample assets as they take to the runway in the skimpiest swimwear you've ever seen. After the winner is crowned, you'll join the ladies on the beach for some extended party action.
  
  
• Abba: In Performance
  
  In this video critique (which includes archival concert footage), experts and insiders discuss the legacy of Swedish sensation Abba -- who burst onto the pop scene in the 1970s and quickly became one of the world's most commercially successful bands. With such catchy tunes as "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo," combined with marketing smarts that led the group to record in several languages, Abba remains popular long after disbanding in 1983.
  

Wow, something for everyone!

And the Old Get Older...

Everybody join me in wishing Big Orange Michael a very happy birthday!!! Go visit his site and leave him a comment, he lives for that stuff...

Gave Up

I just gave up on a project I was working on, trying to figure out how a new piece of equipment can be used here at work. I couldn't get it, our IT guy couldn't get it, so we've submitted the equipment to a higher power.

I hate it. I should've been able to figure it out, but I couldn't. So now once again I let someone else take up my slack. I hate this.

Why Not - Everybody Else is Doing It?

Since everyone else in Knox County has apparently decided they want to be one of the new County Commission appointees, I figured it was my turn. I'm officially throwing my fedora into the ring for 5th District County Commission. I figure my singular lack of experience in any sort of governmental protocol is more than outweighed by the fact that I'm a) nonpartisan, 2) not beholden monetarily or by political or business relationship to any entity, party, group or individual, c) have slightly more common sense than the average water mollusk, and 4) probably have more personal integrity than all politicians combined.

What the heck, I'm not doing anything important these days, except raising a family, holding down a full-time job, working part-time at my church and now supporting two full grown after-hours hobbies in theatre and my band. I should be able to give the job more real attention even with all those conflicts than most any other Knox politico ever has...

You Know Your Day's Gotten Off to a Bad Start When...

You notice the cat has jumped up onto the sink and is gnawing on your toothbrush...



Needless to say it was discarded. The toothbrush that is, not the cat.

Although it was close...

Just in From NetFlix

• Disk 1 of the first season of The Office
  
  
• The first (and only) season of Leslie Nielsen's Police Squad
  

Although with Galactica, Studio 60 and 24 starting up again, who has time?

Um, I guess I do.

So Long, Valencia...

...we hardly knew ye (*sniff*)

Gone:

Six Flags Magic Mountain
CalArts, home of the Walt Disney Modular Theatre
(CTU Estimates) 100,000 people.



Does the fictional nuking of an American city bother anyone else besides me? This is the reason I haven't been able to watch Jericho and why "The Day After" still resides in a dark place in my memory...


UPDATE: Just a point of order, after Season 3 of 24, Jack's daughter Kimberly was said to be living in Valencia with ex-CTU'er Chase and his daughter. After Season 4 and Jack's faked death, Chase left her for parts unknown - presumably she stayed put. During season 5 she is in a relationship with her psychiatrist, but no mention (that I recall) of marriage or moving. Therefore, with a lack of evidence to the contrary Kimberly Bauer may now be so much nuclear vapor.

It may never be mentioned one way or the other, but the one residence that was referred to for her was Valencia, so I would imagine that could be a very devastating plot point very soon for Jack Bauer.

Plus they'll never get to go to Magic Mountain together again...

Zombie Commisioners

If you don't live in Knox County, you won't get this at all. And for that I envy you...

Randy Neal asks:

If someone is appointed and then stands for election and wins, does their appointed term count against the two-term limit?

Michael Silence answers:

No.

Which leads me to ponder:

If it's true that appointed commissioners won't have their abbreviated term count against them should they decide to run for office in 2008, doesn't that logically also mean the term-limited Commissioners could simply be appointed back to their old seats - since the abbreviated terms won't count against term-limits?

They wouldn't be able to run again in 2008, but they would still serve out the remainder of this term.

I can totally see, politically, the Commission doing this "to ensure a smooth transition of power" and to "not disrupt the efficient running of Knox County government services" and to "thank all the outgoing commissioners for their years of outstanding service", etc. etc.

Zombie Commissioners - rising from the dead to eat your brains...

24...Up to its Old Tricks

It's like slipping into a ratty old robe - worn and frayed, but still comfy and satisfying:


One perimeter set up - fails.

Another mcguffin (the mysterious package in the wall).

Wild-eyed Arabic-quoting "your-family-will-be-notified-of-your-heroic-sacrifice"-jargon-spewing Islamic terrorists (although they're so less interesting than Victor Drazen and his Chechnyans or Vladimir Bierko and his Russians..)

Disgusting torture/assault methods - Jack biting the neck of his captor (should we now call him "Jackula"?), shoulder nerve cluster severed, spinal cord skewered, Muslim traitor's kneecap muscles sliced..

Jack miraculously survives and recovers from his wounds (see previous shoulder nerver cluster sever and flat-lining after spinal cord skewering).

American citizens becoming paranoid.

FBI throwing its weight around.

Chloe getting involved in a hair-brain scheme (she would've fit right in with the Scooby-Doo gang), almost compromising the mission, then all is forgiven as Buchanan gets involved.

Shady, weaselly White House personnel...

Over-their-head CTU managers.


Did I miss anything?

And in the "Don't Let the Door Hit You..." Department:

Supreme Court upholds term limits

Sheriff Tim Hutchison, eight of 19 county commissioners and other officeholders must leave office under a ruling issued today by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The court upheld two-term limits approved by voters in 1994 for all government officials except court clerks and school board members. Politicians who have served more than two terms therefore must leave office.

Affected are Hutchison, Register of Deeds Steve Hall, Trustee Mike Lowe, County Clerk Mike Padgett and commissioners Mark Cawood, John Griess, John Mills, Diane Jordan, Larry Clark, Billy Tindell, Phil Guthe and John Schmid.

Question about "The Office"

Who else watches "The Office"? (counting show of hands) Ok, good.

Laura and I just started getting into this show regularly for just a few weeks now. We're divided on the concept of the show - are we supposed to assume there's a film crew taping the antics of Dunder-Mifflin for some unnamed, long-term documentary (i.e a similar concept used in Christopher Guest's amazing "Waiting For Guffman"/"Best in Show"/"A Mighty Wind" set of mockumentaries)? Or are just supposed to assume we're another worker in the office there with them, watching everything that's going on?

If it's the documentary option, I found it hard to accept(even for the purposes of sitcom satire) they had five different "film crew" that would go out and cover each sales team as they made their visits around the city in last night's episode. Nor do I find it easy to believe the "film crew" would be allowed to film some of the more intimate, emotional or embarrassing moments - at least without some interaction between the characters being filmed and their imaginary documenteers.

Maybe on earlier seasons this whole concept is addressed, we've just missed it. Any assistance?