This will make you think twice about any professional photography you see these days.
Self-Serve. My new grocer is an older store in a neighborhood that’s seen explosive growth in the last twenty years. As a result they’ve taken some major steps to attempt to keep up—some of which are questionable. They narrowed the aisles some time back, so that pushing a cart anytime between the hours of 7AM to 8PM is like being in the backfield of a NASCAR race. If someone takes a minute to review a product in an aisle, the store closes down like a clogged artery. Despite this, and the walking proximity of the Wal-Mart, they stubbornly keep the junk aisle open (that huge area directly in front of the entrance where they stack useful items like beach chairs, Halloween candy, and cooler chests) instead of razing it and opening up the layout.
My new complaint—and this applies to other stores as well—is the idea that self-serve aisles will save money. Notice I didn’t say “speed up customer service”, but save money. Store Management, in its infinite wisdom, decided that putting customers in front of a series of touchscreens, card-swipers, reciept printers, and speakers instead of a catatonic checkout employee would be cost-beneficial. Nevermind that most people still can’t program the clock on their VCR, let alone navigate the crap UI on the kiosk. I have no figures to back up my claims, but I would estimate that it takes at least twice as much time to check out as it did before—this in a store I want to spend as little time in as possible. Where do we stand while we’re waiting for Grandpa to figure out where the barcode is on the box of Mini-Wheats? Oh, right. In the middle of the tiny aisle. Where other folks have no way to get around us.
Here’s a memo to you, folks: At some point, continuing to push the work in the lap of the consumer (think: ATMs vs. tellers, phone menu systems vs. operators) is going to piss us off to the point where we don’t use your company any more.
Our friend Rob sent me a link to this website yesterday: www.mediainspiration.com. I haven’t had time to really dive into it, but it looks pretty good so far. Thanks, Rob.
We got a dozen crabs last night, covered the coffee table in paper and tore into them; with a sixpack of Coronas and some fresh corn, life was very, very good. I’m paying for it this morning, though—between a slight hangover and a steady diet of C02 fumes from the Scout’s broken exhaust, I feel like a doormat.
I did get the front door cleaned up and primed for painting yesterday; There’s some caulking and carpentry to be done but it should go smoothly. I’m also going to be a nice guy and build a simple storm window for the front… maybe.
Nate is out of the hospital and convalescing fine; donations can be sent to your favorite charity.
God damn it. I just want to be moved already.
Friday night, I was about as depressed as you can get. I got back to the house and Jen greeted me with a beautiful bouquet of gladiolas, a thick spicy steak, a glass of red wine and a plate of dark, choclatey brownies. I ate a full meal for the first time in a week, helped finish the bottle, and was asleep from 11pm to 10 the next morning.
Saturday we threw together a small party with a bunch of different friends; With a few exceptions, everybody was able to make it, and we were up until four in the morning talking, laughing, and enjoying the company. Thanks, everybody!
And, stupid me, I was having such a great time, I didn’t take a single picture.
For the past few days, while all the legal, financial, structural, and scheduling issues sort themselves out, I’ve been restless and distracted. There’s plenty to do around the house, and I’ve begun some of it, but I’ve not been able to finish much. I’m ready for change. I guess my current mental state really shows how ready I am to get out of the city, start my life with Jen, and generally get things going. I’ve been searching for shiny things to distract me temporarily from sitting around the house wondering and worrying, and yesterday’s post really reflects that.
It sucks when all the bones in your body are asking you to be creative in some way and you have the debilitating problem of not knowing what to do or where to start. I’m trying to bottle that up for when we move, but it’s hard not to get discouraged.
Hot on the heels of my VoIP post from yesterday, C|Net posted this article, Is VoIP Ready For Prime Time? They don’t seem to have such a rosy outlook for the technology, but for people like me, with two sets of parents outside the local area code and friends scattered about the country, [their estimated quote of] $20/mo. doesn’t sound too bad.
Todd did a little digging around and found this link to an article about our friend Terry Tate. I coulda swore he was a pro, but it appears I am mistaken.
Investment in the Future. Jen and I signed up for a class last November at Bin 604 for a pair of wine-tasting classes as our anniversary present. Yesterday we had our first class, learning about the different regions of Europe and their specific varietals. There was so much to cover it basically illustrated how much more there is to learn instead of making things clearer. (From what I understood, you could make a graduate program out of some of the larger French regions.) After getting a little tipsy in class, we visited the Barnes & Noble downtown to spend some money on design publications, picking up the Print Regional Design Annual and some other magazines, as well as a book on design typography/color/mood and a beautiful leather-bound journal for Jen.
Last night I found myself in front of the TV, trying to decide between a slew of bad programming choices, when my remote happened upon a Frontline report on the Gulf War. Now, I like PBS, but the Maryland equivalent of Public Broadcasting used to equate to a guy with an aluminum foil antenna powered by his car battery. Somewhere in the last six months they upped the juice on the transmitter and I can finally see the Antiques Roadshow, as opposed to listening to it through a squall of white fuzz.
What was interesting was that it had been produced sometime after the war and sometime before the current administration (the site says 1996), so the viewpoints were not skewed in any noticable way towards the current situation. At the time, I was still in college, and without cable TV, so most of the coverage was new to me. The timeline of events and behind-the-scenes information was fascinating. When the program was over at midnight, they left it off at the beginning of the ground war, with much still to cover. I’m definitely tuning in tonight for the next chapter.
We are laying on the warm bed with the fourth quarter of the Superbowl playing between our feet. Jen is sewing a bed for the cats with yarn and chamois and trying to ignore my goofy new haircut by telling me she loves me. Teller is asleep between her feet, oblivious to the Raiders getting schooled behind him. Penn is downstairs somewhere, probably on the hassock, his belly full of tuna.
Staying up until 2am to proofread for your baby.
Working out some client issues, doing some edits, some illustration, and some Christmas stuff as well. Hoping everybody likes the cards. Enjoying the season.
I stink of chlorine. I mean, I reek of the stuff. My skin feels like it’s shrunk about two sizes. However, the pool was great fun last night; we spent a lot of time just swimming, floating and spinning. Clearing my mask is a simple task now. I did note an alarming consumption of air, though- I have to focus on slowing my breathing and conserving oxygen when I’m at depth. I burned through about 2100 psi of air in an hour and a half.
I found a fantastic roundup of interface design criticism here via Matthew Thomas. Hmmm. How might I use this information to kill videogame designers educate video game designers?
Nate let me, um, borrow some Dirty Vegas stuff today, and I really am digging it. I will definitely buy this one.
Some days you wonder whether or not you’re getting anywhere at all, and some days you get a sign that perhaps you are. Yesterday I got one of those signs, and for that I am grateful. Thanks, Julia.
Wow. I’ve been kinda down the last few days, and I’m not really sure if it’s a cold (which Jen and I a re pretty sure I’ve been nicked by) or seasonal mood swing disease (which I’ve been known to get stomped by) or just lack of quality sleep. My concentration is nonexistent, attention span is about 5 seconds, and on top of that is the guilt associated with not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Which makes me get even less focused. Anybody else feeling the same way these days?