Sunday, March 27, 2005

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I watched a couple of hours of commercial TV last night for the first time in ages (years), other than a handful of sporting events. The commercial breaks are really intolerable. Not only because of the time they devour, and inanity they subject you to, but because of the havoc their interruptions play on the dramatic flow. If I were any kind of regular TV watcher, I think TiVo would be a must-have. 11:52:58 AM    comment []

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Low fifties, partly sunny--just about as nice an easter as you could possibly expect in the Twin Cities. Particularly considering it is a fairly early date. 11:50:44 AM    comment []

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Good article in the NYT about early risers vs late risers.  In the course of the article, it confirms with research something I have always strongly suspected: people who claim they need little sleep are exaggerating: "In a study in which subjects claimed they could get by on just five hours' sleep, he said, researchers found the subjects were sneaking in long naps and sleeping in on weekends to make up for lost z's." I have equal doubts about claims of excessive work hours. Putting in a true 60 hour week--commute time, lunch and personal errands at work don't count--is a pretty tall order. Especially if that is completed over a five-day week. When you throw in the "transaction costs" of a workday, that would typically mean leaving at 6:00 a.m. and not getting home till nearly 8:00 p.m. I just don't know too many people who do that regularly. When I was in my early twenties, I was just about the most junior non-secretarial employee (they were secretaries back then, not Admins) on the third floor of Otis' North American headquarters. Because I was getting my MBA at night, and didn't own a computer at the time, I sometimes came in extremely early (before 6:00 a.m.), and stayed quite late (past 8 p.m.). In all that time, I very rarely saw anyone at work before 7 a.m., and almost nobody was ever there past 7 p.m. So, even if the same people were at both extremes that is about 12 hours, before deductions. In my opinion, few people have the stamina to put in 12 productive hours on anything like a regular basis. Claims of endless 16 hour days, in the cases of people I have met, strike me as utterly preposterous.  I know there are a few people who can pull this off, but I think this ability is about as common as being a world-class athlete.  I do believe that the ability to put in long hours, partly replacing time lost to sleep with productive time, is relatively much more common among people who rise to the very top position of executive leadership (e.g., CEOs). It would be a big advantage to gain 3-4 hours in your productive waking day if you didn't have to spend it sleeping!   7:48:08 AM    comment []

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Mapping software (Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, Streets & Trips) is largely a godsend. Over the years, however, I have read of various anecdotes relating to mishaps with the software, and encountered one or two myself, such as being routed along a road through a military post that was actually a dirt trail, and in any event, closed to outside traffic. Beth encountered a good one the other day. She and the kids are in upstate NY, visiting her parents over spring break. So anyway, she calls me at work and says "I think Streets and Trips has led me astray". I inquire as to why, and she replied "Well, I thought I was being virtuous, I printed a map from Glens Falls to Burlington before we left [no PC at her mother's house]. I've been on the road an hour, following the signs to Burlington, and now I've come to a ferry crossing!" I looked it up quick and, sure enough, the default Streets & Trips route involved a ferry across Lake Champlain (a very long, skinny lake dividing much of NY state from VT). My first thought was "uh-oh, is the ferry going to be running this time of year?". I looked it up quick on the web, though, and it was running, and the price wasn't too bad. So it turned out to be a fine adventure (they drove back the overland route), but I definitely think S&T should WARN you that the suggested route involves "unconventional" transportation! I just checked it on MSN Maps, and interestingly, their default route does not involve the ferry. 7:33:53 AM    comment []