If you've ever been involved in any sort of home construction, you know it always takes longer than the contractors say it will. For the past 10 weeks, the Tobaks have been doing a swimming pool project. So far, so good.
Last night, as the Bay Area cooled down from a three-day heat wave, my wife said, "It would sure be nice to get water in the pool in the next two weeks."
"What do you mean?" I exclaimed, "You know the pool company is scheduled to come out tomorrow and fill it up on Tuesday. Two weeks? We'll be swimming in two days!"
"Uh huh," she said.
The next morning, my wife pulled the pillow off my snoring head and announced, "We have no water."
I replied with a blank, bleary-eyed stare.
"The pool guys are all here and we have no water."
"Okay," I replied, "I'm getting up."
Apparently, a stuck check valve in our irrigation system had been dumping precious water faster than our well pump could pump it. Our holding tanks were dry.
No water meant the pool guys couldn't do their thing. An hour later, the whole gang packed up and left.
When you live in a rural mountainous area, this sort of thing happens from time to time. That means every few years.
So I'm sitting here trying to figure out how my wife knew something was going to happen. She couldn't possibly have known. Wait, I know. She sabotaged the irrigation system just to appear prescient. Nah, that's just crazy.
When I asked her about it, she said she'd just had a feeling.
That got me thinking: Is there such a thing as intuition? And if so, what is it and how does it matter to you and me? ... Read more
A couple of days ago, I posted a story called "Why does the media love Apple and trash Dell." In an honest attempt (really) to explain a gap between the reality and perception of Dell's tech support, I somehow managed to denigrate the noble profession of news reporting and blogging.
What I was trying to say was that the media - as an industry - generally covers what will get them the most eyeballs, since that's how the companies (not the individuals, mind you) get paid by advertisers.
Of course, I never meant to imply that the industry as a whole or individual writers sacrifice integrity for eyeballs. I've had a long, long relationship with the media and that's simply not the case. ... Read more
After describing a particularly exciting consulting opportunity, a friend called me "lucky." That got me thinking: Is he right? Is luck a component in business success, or is it all about knowledge and experience. And if luck does play a role, how important is it? Can it be influenced, or is that taboo by definition?
To answer those questions I first did a little research. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines luck as "a: a force that brings good fortune or adversity, or b: the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual."
Gee, "luck" sounds a lot like "competition" to me. ... Read more
A friend once told me there are two reasons why people don't retire, and both are tragic: they either want to retire but can't, or they have no other interests but their work.
In July, Bill Gates will cease to be a full-time Microsoft employee. While he will remain the software giant's chairman, philanthropy will be the world's most famous geek's new full-time job.
With super-rich high-tech executives like Dell, Ellison, and Jobs still gainfully employed, who pegged Gates to opt out on the "other interests" clause? Not me; I thought he'd work at Microsoft until he keeled over. And philanthropy? That was doubly unexpected.
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