Stremf in Numbers
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday Thought Exercise
How many hours would be required to do your job if you could line up all of your meetings back to back, always receive necessary support in time to meet deadlines, and never spend time on the job loafing (No internet, no distracting emails, etc.)
(Calm down, it's a thought exercise.)
Qualifiers:
- This is average hours per week over the course of the year, if your work is seasonal
- You cannot get ahead by working more hours, but if you don't maintain your current output, you do fall behind.
I think I could do my work in 20-25 hours a week if this was the case.
(Calm down, it's a thought exercise.)
Qualifiers:
- This is average hours per week over the course of the year, if your work is seasonal
- You cannot get ahead by working more hours, but if you don't maintain your current output, you do fall behind.
I think I could do my work in 20-25 hours a week if this was the case.
Labels: so lazy and surly
¶ 4:42 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Great Moments in Neighbor Relations
1) A college neighbor playing Cher's Believe at full volume for an entire day in retaliation for our apartment making noise early one morning.
2) Our family owned a low-rent apartment complex in Pocatello, Idaho for a while. The apartments were built in a U-shaped layout, and some of the units faced each other. Two families in facing apartments were in the middle of a years long feud and would sometimes hurl insults back and forth across the parking lot.
One day one of the families had affixed a note to the other's living room window, with the query "Why are you the worst mother in the world?"
3) My parents moved into an apartment complex that advertised first month free with no lease. (We ended living there for 60 days, but that's beside the point.) At the time we were very poor and, literally, eating beans for every meal, and tempers were quite frayed. The neighbors beneath us would sometimes call the superintendent and complain that we were "dropping shoes".
One day as we sat down to Taco Bell factory surplus beans, we scooted our chairs and the neighbor below started banging on the roof with a broom end. Without missing a beat, my dad stomped furiously on the floor like Fred Astair meets Andre the Giant, stormed down the stairs and pounded their door so hard he broke a hole in it.
The neighbors moved out the next week.
2) Our family owned a low-rent apartment complex in Pocatello, Idaho for a while. The apartments were built in a U-shaped layout, and some of the units faced each other. Two families in facing apartments were in the middle of a years long feud and would sometimes hurl insults back and forth across the parking lot.
One day one of the families had affixed a note to the other's living room window, with the query "Why are you the worst mother in the world?"
3) My parents moved into an apartment complex that advertised first month free with no lease. (We ended living there for 60 days, but that's beside the point.) At the time we were very poor and, literally, eating beans for every meal, and tempers were quite frayed. The neighbors beneath us would sometimes call the superintendent and complain that we were "dropping shoes".
One day as we sat down to Taco Bell factory surplus beans, we scooted our chairs and the neighbor below started banging on the roof with a broom end. Without missing a beat, my dad stomped furiously on the floor like Fred Astair meets Andre the Giant, stormed down the stairs and pounded their door so hard he broke a hole in it.
The neighbors moved out the next week.
Labels: Probably not the best way to handle that
¶ 12:30 PM 2 Comments
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Smoke Screen!
An interesting article on prices.
The arms race between consumers and producers to divide economic surplus is fascinating.
Places consumers are losing: Airlines, banking and health care
Places producers are losing: Music, pornography
I'll call it a wash.
¶ 4:15 PM 0 Comments
The arms race between consumers and producers to divide economic surplus is fascinating.
Places consumers are losing: Airlines, banking and health care
Places producers are losing: Music, pornography
I'll call it a wash.
¶ 4:15 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Lies, Damn Lies, and Resumes
http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2010/01/a-rant-about-women/
No, this has nothing to do with relationships. It has to do with the things women don't do that are required to achieve upper echelon business success. To put a fine point on it: Being egotistical.
A few years ago, when a Big 4 audit partner was the most successful person in my proximate universe, I tried to think why other individuals who were just as intelligent and disciplined were less successful than the partners I was surrounded with.
I don't think it was hours, social skills, connections or ultimately even luck. I think it was an unfailing belief that they were the best and were entitled to the perks that came with being the best. This go-to-hell outlook on their own entitlements versus the needs of others made them wildly successful.
You don't find many women with that kind of selfishness.
Side note: I think this same point helps us understand why women aren't funny. The effort to be funny requires more than a little rejection.
¶ 10:55 AM 0 Comments
No, this has nothing to do with relationships. It has to do with the things women don't do that are required to achieve upper echelon business success. To put a fine point on it: Being egotistical.
A few years ago, when a Big 4 audit partner was the most successful person in my proximate universe, I tried to think why other individuals who were just as intelligent and disciplined were less successful than the partners I was surrounded with.
I don't think it was hours, social skills, connections or ultimately even luck. I think it was an unfailing belief that they were the best and were entitled to the perks that came with being the best. This go-to-hell outlook on their own entitlements versus the needs of others made them wildly successful.
You don't find many women with that kind of selfishness.
Side note: I think this same point helps us understand why women aren't funny. The effort to be funny requires more than a little rejection.
¶ 10:55 AM 0 Comments
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Disingenuity
- An agricultural executive complain about subsidies to other countries' farmers.
- A tax accountant complain that government regulation is, prima facie, bad.
- Anyone, anywhere say that tax cuts are stimulative. ¶ 11:15 AM 0 Comments
- A tax accountant complain that government regulation is, prima facie, bad.
- Anyone, anywhere say that tax cuts are stimulative. ¶ 11:15 AM 0 Comments
Monday, January 18, 2010
Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics
A "No on 66 and 67" ad I saw yesterday claimed that the measure would cost 70,000 Oregon jobs.
Oregon labor force: 1,797,753
Impact of 70,000 lost jobs on the economy: 3.9% increase in unemployment.
Added to the current unemployment, Oregon's unemployment rate would be 15%.
To provide perspective, consider that Detroit's unemployment rate is 15.4%.
Does anyone genuinely believe that passing this measure will turn Oregon into Michigan?
¶ 1:51 PM 0 Comments
Oregon labor force: 1,797,753
Impact of 70,000 lost jobs on the economy: 3.9% increase in unemployment.
Added to the current unemployment, Oregon's unemployment rate would be 15%.
To provide perspective, consider that Detroit's unemployment rate is 15.4%.
Does anyone genuinely believe that passing this measure will turn Oregon into Michigan?
¶ 1:51 PM 0 Comments
