Being in technology, I get a number of documents in PDF format. Each time I have to open Adobe Acrobat I might as well walk away and come back in 5-10 minutes. Add to that the nuisance that is the Adobe Updater and you have a great example of bloatware. I know I am probably late to the game on this, but I just discovered Foxit Reader. I love it. I have uninstalled AA and will hopefully never look back.
Last year about this time, Dawn and I started focusing on getting our finances under control. We both have some goals for a family and for our lives. In order to accomplish them we needed to stop some bad habit and start some good ones.
A couple things that we started doing was using an electronic envelope system to help with budgeting. This is a variation of the classic envelope system. We use a program called Mvelopes to do this. Another thing we did was moving our checking and savings to INGDirect. Now instead of just having our money sitting and earning the bank interest and us none, we actually earn some decent interest on our money. I also have a separate account at HSBCDirect that we use for longer term savings and a rainy day fund.
Let me know if you interested in either institution. I can get you some free money and earn a little extra myself.
Thanks to Uptime Solutions , Dawn and I were able to attend a Columbus Blue Jackets game last week. Uptime has a corporate suite through their affiliation with Liebert. It was great to spend the evening before Valentine’s Day with her and the suite was extra special. Just wish the CBJ had performed a little better.
Should organizations look for areas that they can constantly improve;What can we be doing better? Or should they be asking a different question, What should we be doing that we currently are not?
The former certainly has the potential to bring about efficiency, but is it a differentiator? The latter, when thought out properly, certainly has the potential to give an organization a competitive advantage and more than likely add something to their value proposition.
What about in our personal lives? Sometimes we get in the rut of doing what we have always done. Occasionally, we ask ourselves how can I do what I have always done better? I am going to start asking myself what I should be doing that I am not.
Twelve questions that Marcus Buckingham thinks we should ask regularly. A number of these challenged me as both an employee and a leader at work. I think I will digest these over the next few weeks and possibly write a few more posts on the ones that intrigue/challenge me the most.
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the equipment and tools I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my work make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the past 6 months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had the opportunity at work, learn, and grow?
Noah decided he wanted to take a little bite of spaghetti yesterday at lunch. As Dawn will tell you, he is becoming more and more like his dad every day.
This is a picture I captured while in Cleveland. This is inside the Arcade which houses the Hyatt. The building’s architecture was neat, but the hotel room was nothing to write home about. I guess we were paying to stay in the heart of historic Cleveland. The meal and networking time at the House of Blues the night before the event was fun.
The biggest take away from the event, which was a regional event for a business group my company is a part of, was that despite us being a small company in a semi-rural area our issues and challenges are the same as companies that are large in major metro areas. In fact, in many instances we are ahead of the curve and are providing people direction. So despite many frustrations throughout the weeks, these events typically recharge my batteries a bit.
Need I say anymore?
