I have an overdue library book.

The title is: Getting things done : the art of stress-free productivity

I haven't read it yet.

So I'm sitting in the kitchen eating lunch at the table near the patio door. The patio door is open, screen closed.

Suddenly there's a loud bang in the backyard. Not quite a gunshot but close.

I stand at the door and look around to find the source of the sound when something falls on the ground just on the other side of the patio door -- as though it were thrown against the upper part of the house and fell down along the wall.

I don't see anyone or any other movement. I step out the door and look at the thing that fell. It's half of the butane barbecue lighter that I used to light the barbecue last night. And then left the (black) lighter on the shelf on the side of the barbecue. To sit in direct sunlight all morning.

I've got a new pet peeve (aside from finding potentially fatal doses of dangerous drugs on my doorstep)

I don't know why this is happening to me alot lately, because the technology involved isn't new, but it has -- especially when calling small businesses.

Here's how it goes:
1) I have a complicated problem, so I call and leave a detailed voice mail giving all the necessary info and asking several questions.
2) The person on the other end is (apparently) paged with my phone number (from caller ID, I guess).
3) They call me back with a poor mobile phone connection from a noisy environment, without having listened to the message I left -- they don't even know who they're calling.
4) Communicating the information (that I've already given them) is painful and getting proper answers is near impossible. I didn't need to be called back right away -- I would prefer to have a complete answer once they got back to the office.

Anyway, I stepped outside the door with my two-and-a-half year old son this morning and there was a large-ish red pill lying on the front porch. I scooped it up and pocketed it to keep it out of little hands. Didn't look at it until early this evening. It says HYDROMORPH-CONTIN on it. Hmm, "contin", that sounds familiar, eh?

Googled. Did some reading. Sounds like morphine with nastier side effects. The red ones are the maximum dose 30 mg.

The only person that I know of who would was on our front steps in the time period in which this thing appeared was the mail man. (The front yard is fenced all around and the steps are about 30-40 feet from the sidewalk).

Not sure if I should report this to someone (or who) (especially as I've now flushed it). Someone who would have a legitimate reason for taking this stuff wouldn't be in our yard.

So they're saying that Canada is the country with the most nationals to evacuate from Lebanon. They're being taken to Cyprus.

Today the Prime Minister was in Cyprus. There were seats available on the PM's plane for a free ride back to Canada for 100 evacuees. 63 people accepted the offer.

1) If you do what you've always done, you get the results you've always gotten.

2) Someday never comes. I majored in Theatre Arts. Everyone in the department had plans for their professional theatre career, the theatre company they were going to start, etc. 90% of them never even attempted to get a job related to theatre, it was still something they'd do "someday." But someday never gets any closer. I've seen it again and again since then -- people often seem in awe of others who achieve their goals, but they key thing that those who achieve their goals have that others lack is the fact that they actually made the attempt. If you're planning to do something "in two years or so," (for example) start telling yourself you'll do it "around June 2008," or else two years from now, you'll still be saying "in two years or so."

eh, I'm tired and can't be concise right now. I've got some more but they'll end up three paragraphs long each. (random half-remembered quote: Mark Twain once said, "A 15-minute speech takes a week to prepare. If you want the 3-hour version, I can do it right now.")

Google Spreadsheets is a limited test. If you fill in your email address below, we'll send you an invitation - first-come, first-served.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/

Update: I've got in, thanks to grub. See his journal entry or e-mail or reply here to get in (You need an existing Google account -- e.g. gmail)

Do (did?) you like Spandau Ballet? I'll bet that you don't have one of these.
(Bidding starts at one cent, no reserve.) I'm curious to see what the demand for this item will be.

BTW, if you're wondering about the results of the clumping cat litter poll: out of 16 comments, 2 or 3 appear to be responses from people who own cats.

Oh, and if you're feeling bad about mistakes you've made on you job, read this.

Clumping cat litter or the old-fashioned kind?

There once was a man known as John
Who always arose with the dawn.
On slashdot he'd post
-- He liked poetry most,
As befits a modern Don Juan.

"Being able to 'think out of the box' presupposes that you were able to think in it."
-Robert A. Lutz, vice-chairman, GM

The recent news story involving a 24-year old PR guy at NASA, who is reportedly a political appointee, has me wondering what positions can be politically appointed in the USA. Is there a set of rules that someone can describe or point me to?

Here in Canada, you have the cabinet of ministers appointed by the prime minister. Under them you have deputy ministers who may be political appointees. No government employee below the level of DM can be a political appointee. The board and president of agencies and crown corporations (e.g. the post office) can be politically appointed but not below that.

A friend of a friend runs this online invoicing service called Second Site (they are reportedly soon changing the name). I've just recently signed up and it's definitely far better than the system I had put together myself. Not to mention that (under the current pricing scheme) you can manage invoicing for up to ten clients (unlimited invoices) for free -- for me, that will cover nearly all my invoicing.

I just got a notice that they are changing the pricing on February 7th, but that current customers will continue to pay the current price. So I thought I figured now was a good time to tell people to check it out (nothing to lose, etc.).

[Yes, that's a referral link up there, but FWIW I wrote the JE first and then decided to check whether they had a referral program.]

It's the constrained writing thingy. Here are the rules.

And here is my story (I also tried to make it as short as I could).

The thoughts and memories descended suddenly upon her, like spacecraft, as she worked in the kitchen. They had called her a parasite. She was a refugee, fleeing the past. But the past churned in her like a volcano, an overheated boiler ready to explode.

She fumbled through the fridge. At least the generator had prevented all this food from spoiling. A jar of jam smashed to the floor. She found herself staring at a picture on the wall.

She cried. Was it because of the photograph of the boxer or was it the onion?

The boiler/volcano bit is a little purple, but overall not bad for a few minutes work, if I do say so myself.

Curveball