The best of times, the worst of times

It's always a pleasant surprise when you experience one of those "red letter" days. I've often heard that phrase, but never really investigated what it meant. I understand now that it's a day of special significance. Appropriate for yesterday: a day when it seemed everything was going perfectly well. I could not have written a better script. Some might say that all the stars were aligned. Others might say that angels were in my corner. However, what's interesting about life, is that you really never know the course that a day will take. Yesterday was also one of those days.

There are often mixed feelings about a project close-out meeting with management teams. For this project whose review was scheduled yesterday, they took a big chance on it. There were many others who requested the funding, but were not chosen. However, just enough saw the potential and were instrumental in supporting the effort, especially as roadblocks were encountered. The project had lots of challenges, but all were overcome. A delayed start caused it to be simultaneously scheduled during the busiest and most demanding time of the year for the project that basically defines my job. However, it was a great success -- it's almost unbelievable what was achieved and how promising the results indicate. The time arrives when the project review occurs and the great news was shared. There seemed to be an overwhelming awe of what was achieved by the team and the possibilities ahead. Such great feedback from everyone and additional support was identified to explore how the innovative work can continue. On the same day, important data for my "real job" is needed for a colleague to meet an upcoming deadline. No time to celebrate -- just rush back and dive into the data to find just the morsel of data that might make a difference as plans are drafted to hopefully positively impact so many. Working late to deliver that data...just as it's needed. The celebration can wait. After all, I look forward to tomorrow -- the start of the weekend.

However, there's a little sting to the day. It's always sad to learn that a colleague is being laid off from the company, but it's especially worse when it happens to a friend. So surprising. There's also that nagging little concern about the greater unknown: who else might be affected by this unfortunate circumstance? Only time will tell. Unfortunately, some slip away and leave before you really know what happened to them. Then, the phone rings. Another dear person has received alarming news of medical test results. Although more investigation is planned, there's the possibility of an oncoming battle with the Big C -- something you don't even dare to mention aloud and you are really never prepared to hear. So, here I am...at 2:18 in the morning...with a nagging stomach ache. Is it because I worked feverishly today, skipping both breakfast and lunch for that project review and then eating very late after delivering that important data to my colleague (who has already kindly expressed gratitude)? Or, is it because I feel that my dear friend and loved one might also be up at this hour...wondering about their futures...and what is ahead for them. So much uncertainty.

Who really knows the right thing to say to someone at such a time? You struggle for the right words, but then you remember that most times it's just best to listen...and then tell them that you care, you want to help, and you'll be there for them. Although some think it's not the politically-correct thing to say at the office, you know that you'll add your friend to your prayer list.... because you know that they have been there to celebrate the best of times and to support you during your worst of times.

During the worst of times, I don't always know what to do, but I know what I should not do: worry. I know where to place my trust and regardless of my circumstance "it is well...with my soul"
Here's a YouTube video of Faith Hill singing a favorite:


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Hey, what's up?

A relaxing Saturday afternoon...enjoying this fun video to Santana's Oye Como Va today:

Man vs. Machine

On this date in 1996, IBM's Deep Blue became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov. You can view a short documentary about the 1996 and 1997 matches between Deep Blue and Kasparov on YouTube. Next week, another round of man vs. machine is scheduled. IBM's Watson, a computer that rivals a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural language, will challenge two Jeopardy! champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. The challenge begins on February 14. You can see an introduction of IBM's Watson on NOVA Smartest Machine on Earth on the PBS site. To find out when Jeopardy! The IBM Grand Challenge can be viewed in your area, visit the gameshow's site.

I'm a technologist -- otherwise fondly called a geek. I love gadgets. Where would we be without the great technology? I often wonder what my dearly departed grandparents would think about the gadgets of today.

• My iron automatically shuts itself off
• My phones show me who is calling -- there is no longer that surprise when answering
• If I'm on the phone, I can send a text message to the waiting caller without interrupting my discussion
• I can schedule multiple automatic wakeup calls at my home and also pre-record reminder messages for automatic delivery to me
• A gadget tells me how many steps I've taken and a gadget tracks my heartrate and total calories burned during exercise
• I can see a report of the current weather and future projections for basically anyplace from my computer -- my Grandpa could have used that for planting his fields
• I often can view the street, neighborhood, and house from my computer for addresses that I plan to visit -- excellent when househunting
• My car tells me how many miles that I have traveled on a tank of gas and how much farther I can go
• I can view missed episodes of many TV shows when I choose, either on my TV, my computer, or phone
• I have several little gadgets that easily fit in my purse or on my keychain and hold hundreds of documents and files that I may need to reference or to share
• I have a tiny little gadget that stores hundreds of songs that I frequently like to hear -- no more narrowing down the list of CDs to pack with my CD player on trips
• I have a tiny little gadget stored in my camera that allows me to take and store hundreds of photos. I can view them immediately and delete what I don't want -- no more waiting for film to be processed to find out that the Kodak moment was not really captured.
• A single item on my desk rotates digital copies of photos throughout the day.
• A navigator tells me what restaurants or shops are in the area and then gives me turn-by-turn instructions to the location.
• I can logon and see thousands of recipes online wherever I am cooking
• I can view my grocery store sales paper online, select the items I want to purchase, and then print the shopping list from my computer.
• My printers warn me when the ink is low and let me see the levels.
• A tiny gadget attaches to my music stand to give me feedback on my tuning as I play and will keep the beat for me too. Those functions are now even phone apps.
• I receive text messages when billing statements arrive to my e-mail and when bills are automatically paid.
• I get notices of email received by text message on my phone to view and to even respond
• I can login to securely see the results of all medical tests ordered by my physician
• My exterior lights are programmed to come on at dusk, off at dawn, and vary while I'm on vacation.
• I have controllers in most rooms to control the lights in that room (or in any other room)
• A controller easily programs the times to water my lawn and is smart enough to not start after it has rained or a freeze
• My refrigerator signals when the water filter needs to be changed
• My crockpot can automatically switch from high to low temp, saving me a trip to the kitchen
• A small gadget will warn me in advance if there is a leak from my air conditioner before water gets near the new flooring in the hall
• I receive a notification if anyone updates a webpage on my wiki website and I can easily remove vandalism to restore content with a single button
• I have a new gadget to set up automatic file backup for all the computers on my home network
• I have a new gadget that uses speech recognition for my shopping lists -- and it even automatically sorts and prints the items in similar groups for the grocery store
• I have a new gadget that will weigh my food and even show me its nutritional value

I'm always on the lookout for new gadgets. My family thinks that it's difficult to buy for me at Christmas, although they know my love for gadgets. There are some gadgets that I would like:

• I'd like a timer on the shower for my nephews when they come to visit
• I need the gadgets to put on opened containers in my refrigerator to track expiration dates, based on my prior blog post.
• I'd love a refrigerator that would order supplies when out, or at least make a list.
• I need the gadget that scans and helps to organize paper items to help me tame the paper tiger in my life
• I'd love for my car to automatically parallel park for me -- I totally avoid that
• I would love for my clothes washer to store and automatically dispense the right amount of the detergent, bleach, and softener needed
• I would like a compactor feature for my shredder to automatically compress the paper
• I would like a sensor in my mailbox to notify me when mail was picked up or delivered
• I would like the 'getback' feature that was previously on a mainframe-based email system to automatically return to me email that I mistakenly sent or sent too early
• I would like a text message to warn me that the garbage truck is in my area so that I can get the trash out to the street in time (since a critter has torn into the bags at night).
  

As great as my gadgets are, there are times when there are woman vs. machine challenges at my house. At times the smart machines seem rather dumb (or at least stubborn) or get the best of me.

• I can't successfully enter decimal weight when defrosting items by weight on my microwave
• My dishwasher program often freezes if I open the door prematurely to quickly toss in one more item after it starts
• My sprinkler system does not automatically detect daylight savings time schedule changes
• My phone is on the old daylight savings time schedule
• I still have at least 5 gadgets whose time must be manually reset after a power outage -- those flashing lights annoy me
• My visiting family does not understand (and has expressed annoyance) with the light controllers -- I usually disconnect them on long family visits
• The gadget my Mom bought me for Christmas to easily turn off the bedroom lamp across the room (an advanced version of the Clapper), annoyingly turns on the lights during the night if you cough in your sleep. That was quite a surprise.
  

Today I hope that you're winning in the man vs. machine challenge. I've also just set an automatic reminder to watch Jeopardy! The IBM Grand Challenge next week.

Seal it with a kiss and a smile

Today I'm celebrating Hershey's chocolate.

Although Godiva and Ghiradelli are wonderful, in many ways I'm a country girl who enjoys many of the simple things in life, including Hershey's Great American Chocolate Bar. I also especially like Hershey's Kisses. You likely are familiar with their slogans: There's a smile in each Hershey's Bar and Say it with a kiss. Reportedly on this day in 1864, Hershey's Chocolate was founded.

I've been a loyal Hershey's customer for most of my life. I basically love most things chocolate. I prefer milk chocolate over the more healthy dark chocolate that has even won Bob Greene's Best Life seal for its healthy antioxidants. Although I been have accused of acting like a nut, I prefer Mounds and the Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar, over a Mr. Goodbar, Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds Bar, or Almond Joy. I know it seems odd, but I don't want chocolate on my glazed doughnut.

I generally can't keep chocolate in the house because of the temptation, with the exception of the Hershey's chocolate syrup for my nephews and the Hershey's Cocoa for baking my Mom's best chocolate pie recipe, my brownie recipe and a nice cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter night. My chocolate cake with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is to die for! I typically will bake the cake when my nephews come to visit, eat a piece with them, and then send the remaining cake home with them. During the recent snow and ice storm we baked a delicious chocolate cake.

I believe that February is Chocolate Lover's Month. In 2009 Nielsen projected that consumers would buy more than 58 million pounds of chocolate candy, ringing up $345 million in sales and accounting for 5.1% of total annual sales during Valentine's week. Chocolate is popular at my house in February, but we also enjoy it all year. Hershey's chocolate products are featured in the Easter baskets I fill each year. There's generally a bag of Kisses in the car on our annual summer trip to the farm. Many of the snacks in my annual movie gift box at Christmas are Hershey's products. Also, Santa always leaves a bag of Hershey's Kisses under the tree just for me. Sometimes I often walk down the Target candy aisle, dreaming of taking the Hershey's bars or Kisses home, but I generally have the willpower to walk away. However, there are times when chocolate is absolutely necessary. I know that chocolate cannot solve every problem, but it definitely makes all things better.

As much as I love Hershey's chocolate, I'm concerned about two things. One is the reformulation of several Hershey's chocolate products to replace cocoa butter with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil as an emulsifier to reduce production costs. Those new versions no longer meet the Food and Drug Administration's official definition of "milk chocolate" or "made with chocolate" and are relabeled to "chocolate candy" or "chocolaty." Secondly, as a sometimes obsessive shopper of products Made in USA, I'm always saddened to learn when American manufacturing plants are closed and American jobs are lost in the global transformation programs implemented by so many companies. Although the Hershey, PA plant is the largest chocolate factory in the world and 80% of Hershey's manufacturing takes place in the USA and Canada, approximately 1500 (or 11%) of Hershey's jobs were lost over 3 years due to the global transformation program. Who would have thought that outsourcing would be an issue for such a great American company? Hershey outsources production of low value-added items in addition to building a plant in Monterrey, Mexico to meet growing demand there. I love the Hershey's great American chocolate bar, and I hope to never see "Made in Mexico" on that great American product's label. You can hear that chocolate bar's theme song at TelevisionTunes.com and can see a neat video where the world's largest Hershey's Kisses is built.

A lot of people have much to say about chocolate. Here are some quotes that might amuse you:

• There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate -- Linda Grayson
• All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt -- Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts by Charles M Schulz
• Anything is good if it's made of chocolate -- Jo Brand
• I never met a chocolate I didn't like. -- Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation
• And above all... Think Chocolate! -- Betty Crocker
• Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food -- Michael Levine
• My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&Ms and a chocolate cake. I feel better already. -- Dave Barry
• You know an odd feeling? Sitting on the toilet eating a chocolate candy bar -- George Carlin
• Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies. -- John Q Tullius
• Make a list of important things to do today. At the top of your list, put "eat chocolate." Now, you'll get at least one thing done today. -- Gina Hayes
• It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man. -- Miranda Ingram
• Any sane person loves chocolate -- Bob Greene
• The 12-step chocoholics program: Never be more than 12 steps away from chocolate -- Terry Moore
• Chocolate: Here today ... Gone today! -- Anon
• Life is like a box of chocolates ... You never know what you're gonna get -- Forrest Gump
• There's more to life than chocolate, but not right now. -- Anon
• Nothing is more romantic than chocolate -- Ted Allen
  

A shortcut to my heart -- say it with a smile and seal it with a kiss, plus a bag of Hershey's Kisses

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