The point is apparently just beyond their grasp

Via the BBC: Advert for 'reliable' worker 'rejected' by Jobcentre

The logical endpoint of this sort of thought is a "help wanted" ad that states: "Job available" and nothing else.

How appropriate...

The Spanish word of the day from dictionary.com is "doler" - "to hurt; to ache, to be sore".

I visited my dad last night, and managed to shovel out his back gates and a two foot wide path out about half way to the house before I admitted that I'd have to come back and finish it later. Well, "shovel" is probably inaccurate. I was using a shovel, but what I was really doing was hacking the three foot deep, packed snow snow into manageable chunks, using a shovel as my implement of destruction.

So this morning.... "Me duele!"

Since TJIC isn't around to say it right now...

... I guess that I'll just have to step up to the plate.

Public school administrators using webcams in school-issued laptops to secretly monitor students in their own homes? Noooo. They'd never violate someone's privacy that way, would they? Or treat their students as if they were criminals?

This is either an example of sheer stupidity, or incredible arrogance. Yesterday, the primary debate I saw online wasn't about if something like this would be against the law, but instead how many laws may have been broken... ranging from computer hacking, privacy violations, and all the way up to possibly violations of child pornography laws.

If it's the former, then maybe the school district needs to bring in Fances Gallo to help advise them on a proper course of resolution.

If it's the later... well. Rope.

Consent

I have made, if not a conscious effort, at least a moderate effort to steer away from commenting about politics on this blog. I want the primary focus to be on faith, technology, and whatever else happens to catch my fancy at the moment.

That said... the latest Rasmussen poll has, well, caught my fancy. Some interesting tidbits... out of all voters:

• 61% think that the government does not have the consent of the governed
• 71% "now view the federal government as a special interest group"
• 75% "are angry at the policies of the federal government"
• 63% "say it would be better for the country if most members of Congress are defeated this November."

Ouch.

<insert snark>

TJIC has, once again, given up blogging for Lent.

Coincidentally, I've been thinking this week that I need to get back into the habit of blogging, since, you know, blogging is for old people.

While I doubt that I can even come close to delivering the same amount of humor, snark, and social/political commentary as Travis... eh. Why not? I'll give it a shot.

If nothing else, anyone subjected to my blather will just find the rest of the net seems that much more enlightening in comparison.

Should You Really Be Reading This Post?

That's the question asked by guest blogger Robert Brokamp over at Get Rich Slowly. There's an interesting reference towards the end of the article to another post over at the Lifehacker blog, which says:

Author of Never Check Email in the Morning Julie Morgenstern suggests spending the first hour of your workday email-free. Choose one task - even a small one - and tackle it first thing. Accomplishing something out of the gate sets the tone for the rest of your day and guarantees that no matter how many fires you're tasked with putting out the minute you open your email client, you still can say that you got something done. Once you're "open for business" and paying attention to incoming requests, it's too easy to get swept away into the craziness. So get your day started off on the right foot, with just one thing done.

It's an interesting idea; I've often noticed that my most productive days are ones where I can immediately dive in and start something. After that, the rest of the day just seems to go so much more smoothly. Brokamp also mentions the idea of "Most Important Tasks" (MITs). The idea is that you should have three MITs for the day, that one of those MITs should relate to a long-term goal, and that one of them should be your "starter task" for the day.

I think I'll give it a try. Not sure that I can get out of the "check email first thing in the morning" habit that easily, though... I may have to declare that my day doesn't start until I actually arrive at work, otherwise I'm likely to die from net withdrawal before the day even begins.