Blogroll

There is something exciting about adding somebody new to your blogroll. I have done so today. 10 points to the first person to work out who it is and (with due discretion to secret idenities) describe them here.

Resolutions

Those who know me well would remember that I am still keeping to the New Years resolution I made in 1994. That resolution, if I remember rightly, was “I resolve not to make any more stupid New Years resolutions that just end up costing me money”. Now, 12 years is a long time to stick to a New Years resolution, especially when you consider all of the resolutions that don’t last five minutes. I, quite seriously, have not made a New Years resolution since then

This year, I’m leaning towards making some. Over the last couple of years I have taken to setting personal goals (not resolutions), and I really believe they have helped to make me a more driven and successful person. I will, over my Christmas holiday break (five weeks, yay!), set some new targets for myself, and probably write them down and put them somewhere that I can regularly refer to them. Apparently, this is something that more than 90 per cent of top executives do, and it helps them to remain focussed on their medium and long-term goals while they are coping with all of the day to day stuff. I like the sound of it, and the sound of being a top executive is sweet too. Maybe one day!

But back to resolutions, I’m thinking of resolving to do something difficult just to help with my own personal discipline and prove to myself that I can, indeed, do anything that I set my mind to. I do have one or two in mind, but I would be more than interested in the thoughts and suggestions of readers on the topic.

Cheerio!

The last day

The last day of just about anything has an air of excitement about it. I’ve just seen the kids do the last day of school. Now I’m about to head off for the last day of work before I have five weeks holiday. Yes….five weeks!

My last day will be fairly interesting, although I won’t be going to either of my usual offices. I’ll go to head office, have a meeting or two, chat with some important people about some of the strategic thingos for next year, pop out to lunch, go exploring more strategic thingos with the chief financial officer, then hopefully bolt for home after that. It might pay to get a haircut on my way home, since I’ve started to get that shaggy dog look happening again. Shall I go for an out-there, really create haircut? Probably, but you all know I’m not going to.

The spirit of sleeping

I’m tired.

I’m not just sleepy. I am bone tired, tired on the inside tired, worked my backside off tired and well and truly ready for a holiday. On the upside, I’m having a holiday – a good five weeks worth. I might have to pop in to work for a day here or there, but for the most part I will be spending time with my family, particularly quality time with my wife and children (which has been at such a premium lately).

Update on the Salvos morning – it was really good and rewarding (although we didn’t get a whole lot done when you see how many toys are in the warehouse). I got so hot, sweaty and dirty doing it though that I had to drive all the way home for a shower before heading back (across) town to the office.

And a really good thing? Today I clinched my first really big deal at work (like $125K worth) and it felt really good. May there be many more to come.

The spirit of giving

In my line of work I get to do all sorts of things that help people. I publish articles about fundraisers, people in need, political issues and generally things that, on occasion, make a real difference to people. Today, I am joining about 40 of my colleagues to make a small, but more direct, difference. We are heading to the Salvation Army warehouse in Brisbane to wrap presents for underprivileged children. We’re doing it in two shifts to spread the workload (and make sure we still get the papers out!), but it should be loads of fun.

Cheerio!

Money, fun, football, porn, beer

I now have a new theory on how to get hits on your blog. Include words that are commonly searched for on the Internet in the title of your posts and the hits will just keep on coming. It seems “Statistics” is a very common search item. My previous post of this title (in which I complained somewhat about finding it hard to reach a record number of blog visits in one day) attracted plenty of attention. No doubt many of the hits came from my many fans (yeah….good one!) but a few could well have come from well-intentioned statistics-nerds looking for the vital clue that was going to change their lives. Bad luck fellas, but the end result was 78 hits for the day. I shall not complain about this again any time soon.

The topics listed in the title of this post are not covered in this post. Now that will be a test of my theory.

Why statistics matter

An excellent question really, and one that I’ve been considering deeply. I’ve mainly considered this since I recorded my highest ever number of blog visits to this blog (it was 39 a minute ago).

I suppose there are some people out there who measure the worth of their blogs by the number of hits that they get. I might be one of them – not sure yet. Then there is the number of comments on entries (Brother Joe being the reigning family champion by this measure).

Ultimately though, us self-centred types go for a subjective, qualitative measure of whether our blogs are any good. That way we are the only ones making measurements that we deem important.

Meanwhile….back to me……………..

That couple of days between Monday and Tuesday

I’ve reached one of those crunch points where everything would be fine if there were just a couple of extra days in the first half of the week. I have lots happening at work (please, no vague allusions to what it is – it’s still a commercial secret), I have another one of those take-home exam thingos for my course, and it is Christmas, the time for hanging with friends and family and generally having a good relaxing time.  Relaxing my left foot! I think a good time is the best I can hope for at the moment. I’ll be happier when I know what my January is going to be like, even if my holidays are cancelled. Thanks for the understanding from my key fans (you know who you are) – I was stressing about letting potential visitees down. I will keep you all up to date as best I can.

 Cheerio!

Growing up

My little brother is growing up.

I say little, but he is, of course, a fully-grown man. Yesterday he made an offer on a house (I’ve seen it on the Internet – green but impressive) and is awaiting the result of the offer.

It is sometimes hard to reconcile the brother I used to live at home with to the one that makes interstate moves, teaches children the beauty of music and conducts himself with an enviable calm assurance. It’s also hard to live with the fact that, when he was about 7, I pretended to be dead (or at least unconscious) to try to teach him about dialling 000 in an emergency. Cruel – sorry about that. Hope it didn’t scar you too much.

My brother and my sister might not realise that they make me proud. Maybe that’s because I haven’t told them. How rude of me! Both of them have strength, commitment and an embedded sense of integrity that cannot be shaken – three things that are missing in a lot of people that I meet. I hope you people in cyber world get to meet them some time (although I know some readers already know and love them well) – you will be missing out if you don’t.

Brief note from the past number one – cricket was great; top lunch (seafood), a lovely glass of red to go with it (I know whites are for seafood, but I don’t like them overly much) and 14 gin and tonics too many through a very warm afternoon. Good company as well – a great day.

Brief note from the past number two – Work is very interesting at the moment, and incredibly hectic. There’s a suggestion that my January holiday might be under threat (because some things just won’t wait), so apologies in advance if that happens. For those far and wide, I apologise in advance if it turns out that way. More details when I can.