bentangle

The teeth are in the flesh. The poison is coursing through my veins. I’m hoping this will act as a vaccination – an exposure I can coast through and move on – rather than a first step towards the downward spiral of the disease. I’ve taken on at least one stripe of the Apple (two if you count iTunes).

You see, this week I traded in my company-issue BlackBerry for an iPhone. As I write this, its glossy touch screen is giving me its come-hither look, occasionally shivering with the arrival of new emails (a definitively more feminine form of vibration than the BlackBerry ever seemed to give off). I’m doing my best not to invest more into it than necessary. Sure I’ve downloaded my iTunes music library into it as well as all of the Ask a Ninja podcasts I have yet to watch. And I’ll admit that I’ve acquired a good number of apps to help me with various things such as finding restaurants, keeping up with Facebook, listening to Pandora, and watching the various Woot sites. But so far I’ve avoided purchasing anything for it – all my apps are free and the rubber sheath I have was lent to me by a c-worker (thanks, Ray).

But I have to admit, I understand the draw and I will likely get drawn further into it. I already had an unhealthy attachment to my BlackBerry and that barely had anything on it. Now I can access all of the same things, but better, faster and more. So it is inevitable that I will become enthralled and entangled with this device in no time (assuming I haven’t already). The only defense I have in my favor is that it doesn’t seem to have much staying power. While I found myself charging my BlackBerry once every other day, this iPhone needs to be charged at least once a day and occasionally needs a midday boost (it was previously used, so perhaps its battery isn’t what it used to be). That is enough to keep me from being completely enamored with it.

So the conversion that I previously foreshadowed has taken hold. Hopefully I can avoid it spreading deeper. After all, I have a desktop and laptop at home that could stand to be upgraded and those MacBooks and Mac Minis are very tempting … NO! I can resist. I WILL resist. I have no choice (after all, they are pretty damn expensive).

This week at work I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes the change that you’ve been wanting to happen and supposedly was supposed to fix all of your problems … may bring more problems than it solves. In truth, it IS a positive change for me and my team (and the company as a whole) … in the long run. In the short term, stress levels will be reaching new highs and I’m sure there will be struggles to adjust to where we need to get (and battles with those who want things the way they were). But the past is the past. The present may be crazy, but I will just take things one at a time and keep my eye on the future (for it will be bright).

Today is my Dad’s 55th 21st birthday! Dad – your gift should either be there already or in transit to arrive tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it.  Below you can see him teaching my daughter the art of using chopsticks (hint – the plastic joint makes them a lot easier).

Today a member of my team left the nest.  One of my colleagues, a woman named Maggy, opted to leave in order to go to grad school.  She was quiet, she got her work done and did it well, and she will be missed.  But I cannot fault her for her choice – higher education is, in a way, a higher calling and I can appreciate that.  I wish you the best of luck, Maggy.

My wife recently had an interesting post on her blog that I found myself rereading, and I feel the need to address the topic from a male perspective.  To sum up, the issue at hand was women in business and the use or their “femininity” to get their feet in the door.  My wife, being a modern, down-to-earth feminist, found this concept insulting and degrading (as did numerous commenters to her post) since talent and merit should stand independent of gender.  And I agree with her.  But working in the world (and happening to be a guy), I felt like throwing in my two cents on the topic. (continue reading…)