::Leader Board:: Ahnko Honu Takes The Lead Chapter 23!

Desperately seeking gumption in a cup of coffee.

I bought a bag of pre-ground espresso roast for the Nanopresso. That stuff packs in tight once you start pumping (even if I don't really tamp it at all) and stops the machine up. I guess it's my punishment for buying pre-ground (as a coffee snob, this is an act that has the potential to get me kicked out of the club). I had a fairly light roast Hawaiian bean in the grinder and didn't think it was suitable for espresso (tried it once - I was right), so I just got the pre-ground. I have a better bean for espresso back in the grinder now so I'm switching back.
 
Errands to run today. Piping lesson for RL Kid. He and Mrs Pere are then getting their hair done. After that we will pop in on B V-B at work.

Can’t yet say I’m thrilled to be back.

Well...at least he's at work. Will you see your grandchild (sorry, I don't remember if boy or girl)? I bet RL Kid is happy to be having the piping lesson.
 
Just another government agency that siphons money at the top to people they appoint.


(I'm becoming that grumpy old guy.)

I've only had very positive experiences with TSA agents. I appreciate the job they do - I cringe when stories come through when a reporter successfully smuggles contraband through security and then tries to blow the thing into a whole "the system is broken!" story. It's a hard job to be perfect. I know as someone who has the power to take out an entire company's network with one mistake that holding someone to a perfection standard is just not realistic. We do our best and hope that everyone is better than if we didn't try at all.








(No, I haven't taken out the entire company. Yes, I have taken out entire facilities for specific functions. I shut down all the printing at a clinic in Atlanta for a couple hours once and I killed staff scheduling for an entire clinic here in town once. I had a coworker take out all of San Diego for a few minutes once - that was probably the biggest sphincter-clincher I've seen.)
 
I've only had very positive experiences with TSA agents. I appreciate the job they do - I cringe when stories come through when a reporter successfully smuggles contraband through security and then tries to blow the thing into a whole "the system is broken!" story. It's a hard job to be perfect. I know as someone who has the power to take out an entire company's network with one mistake that holding someone to a perfection standard is just not realistic. We do our best and hope that everyone is better than if we didn't try at all.








(No, I haven't taken out the entire company. Yes, I have taken out entire facilities for specific functions. I shut down all the printing at a clinic in Atlanta for a couple hours once and I killed staff scheduling for an entire clinic here in town once. I had a coworker take out all of San Diego for a few minutes once - that was probably the biggest sphincter-clincher I've seen.)

I don't think they're unnecessary but I do thing there is a lot of waste, especially at the top. I think education is the worst or maybe it's just what I know best.
 
Errands to run today. Piping lesson for RL Kid. He and Mrs Pere are then getting their hair done. After that we will pop in on B V-B at work.

Can’t yet say I’m thrilled to be back.

Where do you stay when you are there?
 
I don't think they're unnecessary but I do thing there is a lot of waste, especially at the top. I think education is the worst or maybe it's just what I know best.

There is probably a lot of waste. There is probably a lot of waste in any large organization. Waste is probably never generated intentionally - the build up of rules and regulations over time, leaving old systems in place when new ones are adopted, abandoning old systems but never cleaning them up...all of it happens when organizations try to evolve. My whole job for the last 5 years or so has mostly involved cleaning up the waste and mess of a huge system that changed multiple times over its history but never put in place ways to decommission the old methods when the new ones were implemented. In the last week I have deleted 1.4 terabytes - with a T - of unused data from employees who no longer work here but nobody ever bothered to clean out their personal files when they left. That's just in the last week. Nobody ever intended this data to pile up, but I've found over time doing this that it's a lot easier to end something and move on than it is to end something, clean it up, and then move on. The same thing happens with new systems - it's a lot easier to end an old way of doing things without cleaning it up. Easier, that is, until you realize how much you're actually paying for the residual of the old system. So yeah - it's easy to look at something and say "what a waste!" until you realize that waste in a system is unintentional and that its cleanup can be more expensive than just allowing it to continue.
 
There is probably a lot of waste. There is probably a lot of waste in any large organization. Waste is probably never generated intentionally - the build up of rules and regulations over time, leaving old systems in place when new ones are adopted, abandoning old systems but never cleaning them up...all of it happens when organizations try to evolve. My whole job for the last 5 years or so has mostly involved cleaning up the waste and mess of a huge system that changed multiple times over its history but never put in place ways to decommission the old methods when the new ones were implemented. In the last week I have deleted 1.4 terabytes - with a T - of unused data from employees who no longer work here but nobody ever bothered to clean out their personal files when they left. That's just in the last week. Nobody ever intended this data to pile up, but I've found over time doing this that it's a lot easier to end something and move on than it is to end something, clean it up, and then move on. The same thing happens with new systems - it's a lot easier to end an old way of doing things without cleaning it up. Easier, that is, until you realize how much you're actually paying for the residual of the old system. So yeah - it's easy to look at something and say "what a waste!" until you realize that waste in a system is unintentional and that its cleanup can be more expensive than just allowing it to continue.

I'm watching a documentary about the history of Afghanistan. What you just wrote parallels the wars that have been fought on Afghan soil.
 
I bought a bag of pre-ground espresso roast for the Nanopresso. That stuff packs in tight once you start pumping (even if I don't really tamp it at all) and stops the machine up. I guess it's my punishment for buying pre-ground (as a coffee snob, this is an act that has the potential to get me kicked out of the club). I had a fairly light roast Hawaiian bean in the grinder and didn't think it was suitable for espresso (tried it once - I was right), so I just got the pre-ground. I have a better bean for espresso back in the grinder now so I'm switching back.

I'm a firm supporter of 8 O'clock coffee. You can get it whole bean or ground. Great flavor, not too dark, inexpensive.
 
I'm a firm supporter of 8 O'clock coffee. You can get it whole bean or ground. Great flavor, not too dark, inexpensive.

I went through several bags of 8 O'Clock. It was good, and cheap, but not quite what I like. I don't have a problem with cheap coffee if it's good and the style I like; the 8 O'Clock just wasn't quite the thing. There's a Seattle's Best roast that I like a lot that frequently goes on sale for a good price. I cringe that it's "Seattle's" best, because being a Portlander I have to have that attitude. But whatever. It's good. I'm trying a Trader Joe's roast right now that is VERY good but a little more expensive than I usually spend. I just need to get a solution worked out for my roaster so I can do my own more consistently. Ever since I turned my workshop into my study for school I have been reluctant to roast beans in there - it gets VERY stinky!
 
My neighbor just came over to leave off some donations for the rummage sale at Elaine's church this weekend. I was surprised to see a guitar amongst the other stuff.

It's a Fender Squire six string acoustic, made in China. It appears to be virtually new. I gave it a quick look-over, and I see that the action appears to be high. Also, the bridge is beginning to lift a bit. I think it looks fine, otherwise.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to make a donation to the sale and keep the guitar. I'd have to have the bridge reglued, and have it set up. Maybe give it to my granddaughter?

I'm off to the interwebs, to see what it sells for, new....

Couple of years ago we got RL Kid a Fender Squire kit with amp & gig bag. $179 at Costco.
 
Well this morning I got even closer to a B-2!
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How are your knees holding up?

They're doing very well! I always wear braces on both knees for pickleball now, and it seems to be working. My knees aren't an issue playing, but my lack of flexibility due to my back surgery hurts my game. It do what I can, get to the ones that I can, and just try to have fun....
 
My lunch today would be Shane approved if I used lettuce instead of bread.

Poached (1/2) chicken breast sandwich with only a freshly roasted red bell pepper. The bell pepper adds a ton of flavor to an otherwise super bland meal.
 
Lately my Lana'i day lunches are just two PB&J sandwiches.
My fancy lunchbox has gel ice chillers that I cannot get through TSA. So I just go with a lunch that does not need refrigeration.
They have some good stuff here on the island, but it is pricey and I have to find a car to borrow, so I just pass.

I still eat yogurt and a banana for breakfast.
 
Lately my Lana'i day lunches are just two PB&J sandwiches.
My fancy lunchbox has gel ice chillers that I cannot get through TSA. So I just go with a lunch that does not need refrigeration.
They have some good stuff here on the island, but it is pricey and I have to find a car to borrow, so I just pass.

I still eat yogurt and a banana for breakfast.

I need to start losing weight again. I'm holding at 228lbs but I'd like to get below 220lbs and maybe shoot for under 210lbs depending on how I feel.
 
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