Twittering

I just recently discovered the wonderful world of Twitter (visit me at smudged on Twitter.com) and thought I would post a quick blog note about it. I was invited by a colleague of mine jedinite and I have to admit that at first I was a little underwhelmed by the whole experience.

With only one person following me, and only one person to follow, I thought... "This is stupid, I can just go over to his desk and tell him what I'm doing". Of course the whole purpose of Twitter is to share with your friends the mundane things that are going on in your life in 140 characters or less. It is non-intrusive, and they only get updates if they want to know "what's shakin'". It occurred to me that using Twitter was the same as using the status part of Facebook. So if I'm already using facebook, then twitter seemed kind of redundant.

The more I thought about it, the more I reconsidered my position. On Facebook, if I want to know what someone is up to, I have to visit their profile for a specific status update, or I have to wait for a notice that gives me the latest change in their status. Now if I want to check the status of several friends, I need to go to each one, which can get time consuming. However, with Twitter, I could follow multiple friends, and their status updates are collected for me in one spot! Neat! Now all I need are some friends to join Twitter and I can really take advantage of the "All in one status location".

*twiddling my thumbs* .... ok.... so this is where things slow down a bit for me.... none of my friends are on Twitter besides the colleage that invited me in the first place. Hmmmmm, so in the meantime, I check out the public feed on Twitter and check into what your every day person is doing.... *Yawn*.... ok that's a little boring too. drat.

Then I discovered that there are minor celebrities that "twitter". Ashton Kutcher for example (aplusk) and his wife Demi (mrskutcher). Cool!!! I quickly added them to the list of people that I follow (grand total of 3 now), and there I am, catching up on the mundane lives of minor celebrities. Very cool. Of course you can see who other people are following when you visit their pages, and eventually I found my way to William Shatner ( WilliamShatner) and Levar Burton (levarburton). They were quickly added to the list of the people I'm following and the next thing you know, I'm checking out 40+ people on Twitter!

Soon after that, people began to follow me!!

I KNOW!!!! That's what I said too.... "Shut the hell up! no one would voluntarily follow me!!".

This is quickly becoming addictive! So people who had read my posts in the "general" area thought I might be interesting enough to follow and started adding me. Others discovered that I was following someone else and wanted to know more about me as a result of the person I added to my own list. The coolest moment, was when MC Hammer (MCHammer) decided to follow ME!!!

I KNOW!!!!!! :)

Ok, so the guy has tons of people he follows, so I'm sure that I'm just automatically added to his list as a result of following him, but still.... I'm on HAMMER'S follow list!!!

Well, at least now I have something to do on Twitter, and it has definitely captured my interest. Hopefully some of my friends start to join Twitter so that I can follow them too! Ok, I'm off to check out all the shiny Tweeple!! ;)

Drop me Tweet if you sign up!!
Ciao.

The Greatest Road Trip so far…

This summer I am getting ready to take an adventure on the back of my bike that will take me to many great scenic locations in Canada and the U.S. I’ve started preparing my bike to make the trip more fun and already my new seat has arrived. This week I’ll find a sunny moment to put it on, and take her out for the first spin of the new riding season. I’ve also ordered a trailer from Eaglemate Trailers too, which I should be getting sometime at the end of May or beginning of June. It’s a single wheel trailer that will tow nicely behind the bike, provide locked covered storage, and will allow me to take a bit of extra gear for the trip. I haven’t really decided on a helmet communicator system yet, but I’m still investigating a couple of good options. My passport has arrived too. I really don’t need a passport to ride into the States with, but it will sure make things a lot easier.

The best thing about this trip is that I won’t be riding alone and I’ll have some company to enjoy it with along the way. A couple of my good friends Darren and Lori will be going along with their Gold Wing. Another good friend of mine Darren Britton will be bringing his Bandit, and hopefully my best friend Christian will have purchased his Goldwing before July so that he can join us too!! Together we’ll be hitting some of the most beautiful roads you can handle on the back of a bike. I hope we come back with some good stories and some great pictures.

Last night we got together to talk about the trip details and planned out some possible routes, and stopping points along the way. It looks like we’ll be travelling for about 10 days, and make a round trip of almost 4000 kms.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=2552568513712189944,49.132600,-113.852810%3B11506055163212848822,49.015047,-113.670695%3B16048113562675985432,48.696020,-113.816400&saddr=calgary,+ab&daddr=longview,+ab+to:pincher+creek+ab+to:HWY-6+%4049.132600,+-113.852810+to:Range+Rd+282A+%4049.015047,+-113.670695+to:Going+to+the+Sun+Hwy+%4048.696020,+-113.816400+to:kalispell,+mt+to:kennewick,+wa+to:portland+or&mra=pe&mrcr=3,4&via=3,4,5&sll=46.739861,-117.509766&sspn=6.278761,13.271484&ie=UTF8&z=6

Day 1- Friday: We’ll be leaving from Calgary and heading down into the states through Glacier National Park and to Kalispell Montanna. Highway 22 down through pincher creek makes for a nice leisurely ride through southern Alberta. As we make our way through Glacier National Park we’ll have a chance to ride the “Highway to the Sun” and catch some of the most picturesque views on the back of a bike.

Day 2 - Saturday: We’ll then make our way to somewhere near Kennewick Washington on the second day and hopefully find some interesting things to see along the way there. I think they might have some Hydroplaning Races to take in if we can time our arrival right. There are also a couple of Water Falls and Hot Springs to visit along the way too. I’ll have to check into that more before we go.

Day 3 – Sunday: We will then head further west towards Portland. Along the way we can stop in at Multanomah Falls and snap a few pics there. Darren and Lori have some family in the Portland area so hopefully they’ll have time to stop in and see them.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=portland+or&daddr=florence,+or+to:tillamook,+or+to:astoria,+wa+to:longview,+or+to:seattle,+wa&mra=pe&mrcr=0,1&doflg=ptk&sll=43.927572,-123.563232&sspn=0.824868,1.658936&ie=UTF8&ll=45.981695,-120.234375&spn=6.36633,13.271484&z=6

Day 4 –Monday: Once we leave Portland, we’re hoping to take a bit of a pleasure cruise out to the coast and up the Highway 101 up to Astoria Oregon. Yup, the very same Astoria where “Goonies” was filmed. J I’ve had the chance to travel the 101 once before about 10 years ago. Wow is it ever beautiful driving down a highway that’s right on the coast. I hope the weather cooperates and we get some nice sunny weather for our detour down the coast. Oh man, I’ve probably jinxed it.

Day 5 – Tuesday: There should only be about 4 or 5 hours of riding to make it the rest of the way from Astoria to Seattle. I’m really looking forward to being there on July 2nd, since the Blue Jays will be playing the Mariners in Seattle on that day. Hopefully we get some good tickets down the 3rd base side. I’ve never been to a Major League Ball game before so this should rank right up there on my list of things to do in life. J I hope my cousin Marco will be able to drive down to meet us in Seattle and catch the game with us. A night in Seattle will be fun, and then the next day we might even have some time do some sight seeing. I mean, if you’re going to be in Seattle, you have to check out the space needle right?

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=seattle+wa&daddr=surrey+bc&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=47.571428,106.171875&ie=UTF8&ll=48.011975,-121.640625&spn=3.064643,6.635742&z=7

Day 6 – Wednesday: An easy day of riding. We will leave Seattle after enjoying some of the sights and take the two and half hour drive up to Surrey, BC. I hope to spend some time with my cousin Marco, and his wife and their daughter. He has a beautiful place in Surrey and I’m sure if we rounded up some fixin’s he’d let us bar-b-que with him in his back yard. There are a few friends I’d like to catch up with in Vancouver too so hopefully we can work that in on our trip too.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Surrey,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia,+Canada&daddr=gibsons,+bc+to:egmont,+bc+to:Powell+River,+Powell+River,+British+Columbia,+Canada&mra=pr&doflg=ptk&sll=48.719995,-123.35097&sspn=3.022352,6.635742&ie=UTF8&z=7

Day 7 & 8 – Thursday/Friday: Powell River BC offers us a chance to ride up the coast again and to see a great little community only a few hours up the coast. It is only a about a 4 hour ride in one direction but that doesn’t account for the 2 ferry rides as well as the waiting time and the occasional stop along the way to take photo’s. So we’ll probably take this ride in 2 days (even though I’m sure if you weren’t too concerned about sight seeing – you could do it in one!). I’m looking forward to this ride too. An overnighter in Powell River and then we’ll head back to Surrey for another evening (*fingers crossed*) with my cousin and his family. J

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=surrey+bc&daddr=revelstoke,+bc+to:calgary,+ab&mra=pr&mrcr=0&sll=50.27275,-118.44746&sspn=5.856085,13.271484&ie=UTF8&z=6

Day 9 – Saturday: Well by this point we’ll need to start making some miles back to Calgary. We’ve only budgeted a week for this ride and not everyone has the flexibility to stretch it beyond the 6th of July. So we’ll head back via Kamloops and make it as far as Revelstoke before spending the night. We might end up going in different directions on the way back to Calgary. Those that have the freedom to take more time may go Via Vernon, Nakusp and back up through Revelstoke. There are lots of nice twisty bits by going this route, but I’m hoping to enjoy this stretch of road later on in the summer so I’ll probably skip it this time out.

Day 10 – Sunday: Last day of riding on our 10 day trip. We’ll leave Revelstoke in the morning and travel the last 5 hours and try to make it into Calgary by the early afternoon. It will be a lot of riding and by the time we make it back to Calgary we’ll have gone almost 3900 kms. Whew!!

Let me tell you, I am stoked about this trip! I can’t wait and I hope everything falls into place. I really hope Christian manages to find a bike to take with us too. We are going to put in some long miles but the riding will be so worth it. Check back here in about 4 months and you’ll find some pictures of our adventures!!

This bugs my ass…

Our company recently did a survey to see how they were doing among the staff – you know - to see how employees enjoyed working here. The results were not what the company was hoping for. They found that the biggest problem was with “employee engagement” which roughly translates into employee satisfaction. The numbers were not good which means the staff is not happy.

A ‘big’ effort has been made by many departments to try to improve this rating and some progress has been made. Evidence is shown by one business unit that sat down with their staff, laid out the concerns listed in the survey, and then asked for suggestions on how to fix it. Our business unit, however, decided that they knew what the problems were and exactly how to fix them without working with those that are pissed about the company in the first place.

So initiatives were put in place to correct some problems. Admittedly they do correct some problems in our department, but they don’t do much to address employee engagement. They fixed a problem with goal setting and now every person my properly complete their goal setting for the year. They also fixed some bugs with some software we used (but not nearly enough) and they hold more quarterly meetings for the general staff with the upper echelon to tell us how the company is doing. They of course are patting themselves on the back for having nearly completed all their objectives. Yet still many in our IT group don’t feel the “love” from higher up.

An example of where the company could make easy strides if they wanted to is the following. The tools we have to work with are gradually falling apart due to a policy of “run to failure”. “Run to failure” translates to this - basically you use your computer or software till it breaks. Then the company will fix it or replace it. Unfortunately, they don’t supply you with a replacement as quickly as the original fails. It creates a huge sense of frustration, especially when it’s a server that crashes and you need a new one right away. Panic fills the air and you had better work quick to get it fixed or someone’s job is on the line.

We used to have planned obsoletion - where a product would be replaced close to the end of its predicted life cycle. This way you were always using something that worked and no one’s job was on the line because a server crashed that you told your boss was about to fail any day. He of course says we can’t replace it till it actually breaks. Which means of course, that you’re on the hook for someone’s critical server and you are the lucky one that gets to fix it when it breaks. The same server that would have been swapped out in an orderly fashion with planned obsoletion. The stress continually creeps up as a result. Not a happy way to do your work.

This problem with equipment has not only been applied to computer gear but to our office furniture as well. We work on a floor with a conference room for about 10 people and in it are chairs that are about 6 or 7 years old. They were resurrected from the basement to fill the conference room temporarily but no one ever put in an order to have them swapped out with proper gear. The arms started falling off the chairs and I even cut myself on one of the exposed screws. So we put a request in to have them replaced (back in May) citing safety reasons.

Now if you knew anything about our company, you would know that ‘Safety’ is a buzz word you can’t ignore. Usually when someone cries foul in the name of safety, things happen in a hurry. Apparently not when it comes to office chairs. Our request came back with a promise for new chairs by the end of June. In the interim, someone came by to “glue” the arms back on the chairs to compensate for the safety concerns. Well, at the end of July we still had not received the new chairs so another request was made. We asked for 10 replacements. They brought us 6, stole 2 chairs from one of our break out rooms to make up some of the difference, and called it a day. The laughable part is that they didn’t even use conference room chairs. What we received in replacement was steno chairs that you might use in a pinch to put around a worktable or as a temporary guest chair when someone comes to visit your cubicle. What a joke.

Our company is a multi-billion dollar organization. They can’t afford to supply proper chairs to a conference room? What the hell is going on? If they paid attention to details on these sort of items, then employee engagement wouldn’t be so low. If they do another survey then I don’t expect that they will earn any more points than they did the first time around. Now … where did I put my resume….