ReVisions' most current newsletter. Comments on content? Send 'em to Merryn Rutledge of ReVisions. Comments on layout? Send 'em to me. The funny URL is because we use MailChimp for our e-newsletter service (quite happily too). Subscribe if you like; she usually writes about leadership and other management concerns, and sends 3-4 issues a year.

• 10:44 Ideas for Leaders 12(4): Meta Leadership Across Organizations - eepurl.com/esbh

• 10:46 Involved in conversation about God, world as it is...I find I can discuss this without having same belief in God as my friend has. Cool.
• 12:04 Did I mention it's SUNNY??!! Glorious!!
  (Must rest now; was stacking some wood in lovely sun + breeze. Slowly, I promise! Very slowly!)
• 17:05 Uncut version of client newsletter finalized, as are newest contacts. Phew. Now to make website version, cut version, & get it mailed.

Re that God bit: One thing I found interesting was how in the course of responding to some posts recently is that many of us responding felt it needful to clarify our own lack of similar belief. Some of us, not so much. So I was wondering: is it necessary to say you don't share the same ideas (full disclosure sort of thing)? If someone asks for "your thoughts and prayers be with us" or something like that, do you find it needful to explain that you can't quite do as they ask because your beliefs are different? What if the requester is a believer in Faeries, or Norse Gods, or Christian God, or Judaic God? Does how you respond change? What if the believer is sort of similar to you in belief, but not quite? What if you are vastly different? What if the requester is atheist or agnostic, and asking only for well-wishes, and you want to also pray for them?

I'm perfectly happy to talk about my beliefs, but I'm not always sure that mine are particularly relevant to a conversation. This leads me to wonder: can one discuss, debate, analyze, and tease out theological ideas without getting into one's own beliefs, and still do this honestly? I hope so, since that's what I've been doing...I feel like I can ask relevant questions, suspend (as it were) my own disbelief (if any) long enough to say "if so, then what about...?"

Anyway, this natter is mostly an outgrowth of thinking about stuff jaipur has been posting, but not just there (of course); my family has a fairly diverse range of beliefs from member to member, and I'm often interested in exploring the consequences and ramifications of a set of beliefs without wanting to get into who's got the truth of it and whether or not we should agree. I suppose this ties into my sense of a sort of independence of validity (someone's feelings about a circumstance can be valid and appropriate regardless of whether I would have the same feelings about or in those circumstance).

Clearly, I am beginning to ramble. Ooops. Better head off to bed. Or to watch some very silly TV streaming on Hulu. (jere7my, thanks for the recommendation for FlashForward. I like the characters less than in Fringe but think (so far) the story has more interesting layers. Fun combo.)

• 16:15 tweaked twitterfeed (maybe) + events at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Huntington-VT/Birds-of-Vermont-Museum/127640858328 ; edited their website, http://www.birdsofvermont.org/ .

Also: Become a Fan!

Again with the ping-posts getting expanded

Updated the VT Herp Atlas with new milksnake pics: http://www.vtherpatlas.org/spp_pages/sppL-triangulum.php (also behind-scenes stuff) 3:05 PM Jul 7th from Ping.fm
     And I made 'em a slideshow (unless you mouseover to pause it). It's already improving identification for submitted sightings! Yay!

(Then there was a vacation with camping, and I did work, but no work posting...)

I have more reasons to loathe FrontPage. SIGH. Cluttery stupid half-hidden scriptcrap. 11:58 AM Jul 21st from Ping.fm
     So this host was bought by another which was bought by another. Sometime later, I inherited the site maintenance and had to beg said host for FTP access as well as FrontPage access, since I don't use FrontPage if I can help it. We got it, but of course periodically the FrontPage extensions crash and the contact form fails, and I have to solve it somehow. I keep thinking about php and cgi replacements, but the host is testy about this...
     On top of this, they did some serious permission screwup where I could, briefly, look at (and possibly edit, I did NOT try) other people's site files. Ah... bad. Very bad.
     Upshot: host change immanent.

I hate it when "service" tickets don't explain the issue correctly to the next-level-up guy (who wasn't the one who talked to you). 6:17 AM Jul 22nd from Ping.fm
     This is a continuation of the contact form failure situation that is resolving into Change Hosts, Dammit. Note: STILL no reply to my emails.

Up early enough for yoga and coffee by myself; not quite enough time to read /connect online and still do some work. Maybe later for that! 8:23 AM Jul 26th from Ping.fm
     Actually, yes; I was able to finish two alternate newsletter-template drafts. We're trying to improve readability of this client's newsletters, and make it easier to have long articles without cluttering inboxes and preview panes. If you want to be a beta tester for these, let me know and I will add you to the list.

Does your client need FaceBook? Maybe. Some thoughts: http://news.gilbert.org/SocialMediaHAH and http://news.gilbert.org/OutsmartingFacebook 11:35 AM Jul 26th from Ping.fm
     Been thinking about which of my clients might find FB useful for marketing, and which not. And why. I think I got these links from supergee actually, and they made for good food for thought in conjunction with a Burlington Free Press article from June 29th Business section.

Archive to DVD on hold b/c not enough room to install write app. More room on hold til HD backed up. Yet not enough room on backup drive! 6:45 AM Jul 27th from Ping.fm
     We were replacing a failing CD drive on our desktop. The backup step finally did get done; R is looking into more memory for the machine; not sure whether he's tested the new DVD writer yet.

Working on rebuilding a deleted ZenCart: database transfer, recustomizations, restore from backups, phew. Steadily making slow progress. about 1 hour ago from Ping.fm
     A site got hacked (on a shared server) and our shop vanished. Data appeared untouched, thank gods (different server; we discovered it very quickly; and no suspicious logins. Permissions and passwords changed as soon as we saw it!). This is stupidly slow to fix, because I have still a lot to learn, for all that I had backups of most things. (I haven't been doing the pics, so I didn't have those). On the other hand, slow, yes, but very do-able also, which is a Very Good Thing.

(LoudTweeter's server went down, so I'm collecting these notes from my Tuesday (yesterday))

Advertising/Social Justice responding to viewer: http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2009/06/high-tech-anti-domestic-violence.html
     This was a link recommended by MG on FaceBook. It raises a lot of questions and ideas for me, but mostly reminds me in a way of a scene in a movie--was it Gattica? ruthling called FaceBook a brilliant way for friend to serve advertisements to each other, and I think there's some truth in this. I can see tech like this poster (yeah, you gotta go look at the link to see what I mean) being tied to reading the "blink" technology on people's credit card(s) or "smart" passports and such, and relate that to other ad-relevant info in databases. While officially, "they" aren't supposed to be able to get personal info from blink tech (IIRC from a Scientific American issue a couple months back), I don't buy it for a second that such data won't get leaked or sold.

Messing around with print layouts: balancing readability, whimsy, pictures, relatively efficient inkjet printing (ink use, page counts). Hm.
     That would be me experimenting with my SWAPA and other newsletters. I want more clue!

Sunday, July 5: Bug Walk at the Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, 10:30 – 12. Free admission to the Museum that day for BugWalkers!
     Just a ping to suggest folks come. More details on the Birds' events calendar: http://www.birdsofvermont.org/events.php

Updating Birds of Vermont Museum site. They have an Art Contest for kids! http://www.birdsofvermont.org/art_contest.php
     Ditto; part of what I was working on at E's while she and her stepdaughterM played with Mojo.

• 22:55 Recommended (food for thought at minimum): http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shop-class-as-soulcraft

Back from vacation (we went to Philadelphia). It was good to be gone; it will be good to get back into the stride of things, but won't happen fully this week as I'm off again Thursday (back to Philly, more or less -- how the hell do TWENTY years pass so ... so ... fast and interestingly? ).

Trying to not take on anything new until I've FINISHED some stuff, and trying to figure out what work to bring (I'll take train for part of it after all) since Thurs & Fri are my usual work days and I can't do no work for 2 weeks in a row. (Also, if I wait on trying to get new stuff, someone else will do it/be hired and I won't screw it up and I won't screw up what is in my hands. This sounds weird, and is phrased negatively, but I think is good planning for me now and I'm just now to sleepy to phrase it better.) Wishing as always for my time to set up and do some of my own projects and sites, but must do the agreed-to/paid-to-do stuff first still.

On the other hand, although no work was done today (true about 2/3 of Tuesdays at present), I was the kind of Mom I want to be (basically cheerful, moderately organized, sharing attention, with my kid, instead of being too wrapped up in my own head/projects/chores). We mowed, tidied, planted marigolds, lettuce & spinach seeds, played with AuntieE, got haircuts, had ice cream with lepi. Mojo knows that marigolds help keep the bugs away from other plants, now!

'Nuff tags, Kir? Sheesh.

• 14:50 Swam again -- errands -- Orca & I worried a goose -- tea and Field Farm updates (http://www.thefieldfarm.com/westportchair.htm) at library.
• 16:45 Time to get the squitch. Later must print an invoice; print a draft of another (and tweak it: over estimate, will report on first phases)

It was really fun to worry the goose. I mean, the worry bit was accidental, but the rest was fun. I'd pulled over in this little pullout on the side of a road near a small pond, to nap for a bit, then to let Orca out for a walk/pee/etc. As we got out of the car, a Canada goose landed in the water and then proceed to swim about, honking at us in a "My pond... really!" sort of way. he (I assume) was delightful to watch, and clearly concerned about us without being terribly scared. We walked back and forth and Orca kept perking her ears at him, and obviously was considering trying to get down the bank and wade in the water (she didn't) (wisely).

• 09:16 Waiting on client feedback to send final newsletter. I sure do like MailChimp ( www.mailchimp.com ).
• 10:06 Mojo + I Are dancing 'round the house to random-play songs from "Dog Train", Re-Bops, Gaelic Storm, and "Little White Duck". Whee!
• 14:19 Kids with auntie, so I got the newsletter finalized and scheduled to go. Will link to it when it's archived.

from ping to twitter to LJ with LoudTwitter
This newsletter is for ReVisions, a small company that does leadership coaching, strategic planning, and suchlike. The principal, Marryn Rutledge, is one of the nicest people I have ever met, and is a joy to work with.

• 11:27 Went swimming again this a.m. Ran into a fellow self-employed mom! I may have to buy a membership. Now to work and work and work...
• 11:55 Newsletter phone call made; draft needs edits (to do tonight), all is well there. Next task/client!
• 12:30 OK, hosting set up, though not the files. Next!
• 14:15 Fixed, I hope, a permissions bug in an online shop. Hope I didn't fix too much! But we will see, no doubt...
• 16:10 Paper piles are still so HIGH.... sigh.

from ping to twitter to LJ with LoudTwitter

It's really critical that I get more exercise. I am not 100% sure that paying to do it is wise for us, but what the hell else do I do? Walking the dog isn't sufficient. I really do like to swim, and it's sort of a hoot swimming in a slightly warm pool while seeing the cold wind smack the trees around outside (as it did today). It's frickin' pricey though. They do have onsite childcare (if I went days I had the kid(s)). But I'm not walking enough, and I am too uncomfortable in legs and breasts while running or jogging; I always give it up within a week or two and never miss it.

I jumped around from client to client and task to task from around 11-4:30. It was surprisingly effective; I got some small things done: a, and some are old and it's always helpful to get slightly caught up. But for one of them, it's just not even slightly yet. I need to figure out how to be both more efficient and fast. Or have more time. I wish I knew which. (I also wish I could change that office around to make the space/layout more efficient as well, but I can't, it's not mine.)

• 09:47 Getting my 4 needed work hours, and a little more. PHP, data, pulling 'em together... Yay! +2 Eastern Phoebes on the back balcony this a.m.
• 13:30 PHP/MySQL queries, filling in data to be queried, and Dresden files. And purple finches out front!
• 17:19 Still plugging along... I so desperately underbudgeted this one. Damn.

from ping to twitter to LJ with LoudTwitter

I finally finished almost all the product entries -- 1 to go. I am still surprised it took as long as it did, but it did... I will have to remember this for next time. The guys came home safely 'round dinner time.