Miami in summer?!?

Family business offered me another opportunity to test out my skills at 'working on the road.' I want my business to be portable, but that takes practice, foresight, and creativity.

I was surprised at the number of unsecured wireless networks my laptop identified in the area where we stayed. Do you know who's accessing your network?

On this trip I found I worked best in the local café that offered a free wifi hotspot. The folks at Solero on S. Miami at 10th Street were gracious and welcoming. The café con leche was great, the sandwiches excellent, the atmosphere comfortable. I felt a part of the Miami scene and still got a good deal accomplished.

I printed the few materials I had to have in hard copy by emailing them to local family and picking them up at lunch or dinner. It took a bit more planning, but it worked.

Not everyone would find working in such a public spot energizing. I did and that was a blessing. The change of scenery refreshed my psyche. All that Spanish made me feel I had traveled to another country. New ideas flowed.

I think I'll keep practicing. Working on the road is great fun. Even in Miami in summer.

Gen X & Gen Y Profiles

Whether or not you're interested in marketing, you may find this article profiling Gen X [27-39]and Gen Y [14-26] folks intriquing. Jane Buckingham, author of "The Modern Girl's Guide to Life," and a Gen Xer, paints an interesting picture.

Of their noted slacker image, Buckingham explained that Gen Xers "went through their midlife crises 25 years too early."

Now that they are emerging from those midlife crises, they are remarkably susceptible to marketing that "helps them figure out what is happiness..."

Take a look at the article. Does this fit your experience with Gen X & Y?

Take a Breather

I finished the last grant in the current queue - finally no deadline hanging over my head. I love the work, but the pressure of drop-dead deadlines takes a toll when you roll from one to the next. It's nice to take a breather.

And, my in-box brought great news. The NY Center received the award for the YABC and Learning-to-Work Center for Staten Island. It's a joint project with the Department of Education. They worked hard on the proposal (and I wrote the application) -- it's a contract worth $1.8M, so they're very pleased.

This break gave me a day to work on my own site. Finally. Take a look.

WordToys - making life easier

About a month ago I installed WordToys.

If you're like me, your life is entwined with WORD. It's as essential as a pen and pad. But sometimes very frustrating.

WordToys offers a raft of enhancements --some I've been dreaming about (makes a copy to another disk at the same time it saves to file), but some I never even imagined. Like, saving all my open documents to one work space and reopening them all exactly as they were.

If you want an easier life, try it out. I'm still discovering the benefits.

DMNews.com | News | Article

DMNews.com | News | Article

So age doesn't matter. Time does. And Americans work more - and have less free time - than folks in every country but South Korea.

This marketing analysis from Visa USA offers an interesting perspective on what's important to their market.

Wood Stove Ghost Photo

Wood Stove Ghost Photo

Our friend Donald sent us this 'ghost stove' picture and the story behind it. Take a look. It's pretty interesting.

Antique Wood Stoves - WOW!

I worked on the antique wood stove page this weekend. Boy, these old stoves are beauties. Cast iron stoves that look like Victorian wedding cakes and Gothic churches. Ceramic tile towers in use for centuries. I looked at sites from all over the world.

Even if you aren't interested in wood stoves, you might want to take a look.

Image Change

I promised myself I'd do something on my own website this weekend - enough of this under construction. Make something happen. It's far easier to work on someone else's material than my own. Ditto for marketing.

Well, let me know what you think. It feels a bit calmer.

The Skinny on Wood Stoves

No progress on my own web site, but I've been writing the copy for several others. Take a look at one. Here's Glenn's site on wood stoves- www.the-skinny-on-wood-stoves.com

He's building an informational site about wood stoves. We've been doing a lot of research on them for our own use but found the information was scattered hither and yon. They say find a vacuum and fill it - so we did.

Great Surfing

This month I learned about Robert Fenton, a 19th century photographer, listened to some Gerry Mulligan jazz, and contrasted that with some 17th century lute compositions and the art of Gerard ter Borch. Phew, I love this culture stuff! And then, all that science!

You might enjoy visiting the sites listed on the ed.gov listserv, too. It comes about once a month with an assortment of links to online resources sponsored by various government agencies and institutions. The Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, National Geological Survey, and the National Gallery to name a few. Arts, sciences, and social studies (want to know about the history of voting machines or listen to a lecture by Stephen Ambrose?). It’s great that the magic of the Internet now makes all those Washington resources available to us all.

Their instructions to subscribe:
To subscribe to EDInfo, address an email message to: listserv@listserv.ed.gov Then write SUBSCRIBE EDINFO YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME in the message, (if you have a signature block, please turn it off) Then send it!

(The link in the title takes you to their archives.)