The American worker, one of the “fundamentals” of our economy, is often referred to as innovative and hardworking.  That’s a wonderful thing to say, but how is it rewarded?  I’ve seen time and again that so much of our society lives to work rather than working to live.  Think about the last time you were with a mixed group of people where you didn’t know everyone.  What’s probably the first or second question that’s always asked?  “What do you do?”  Sadly, it’s not “what do you do for fun?” or “what do you do that makes you smile?”  Instead we’re preoccupied with what is people do to pay the bills.  As if anyone really enjoys thinking of those.  I digress.

My favorite reward for great performance has to be when you’re told you did such a good job that we’re going to heap more responsibilities upon you.  Or, you did such a great job with a difficult project that you’re now rewarded with being assigned the latest cluster %$&#.  That makes a person feel really valued, right?  No, I do NOT believe that.  I was being completely sarcastic.  I would agree that being assigned the difficult projects is basically demonstrating their confidence in your work.  However, at what point is it determined that other rewards are necessary?  Everyone always thinks of monetary rewards — who wouldn’t like to find bigger numbers on their pay check?  But what about rewarding great work with additional vacation time?

When you’ve spent weeks, months, or even years going from one stressful assignment to another is money really what you need?  I would say that perhaps some, but more importantly would be time off.  That allows a person to relax, step back, and focus their energy on things that make a difference in their lives.  It could be spending time with family or friends, visiting somewhere new, or whatever.  I have a few clients that after every four years you work for them you must take a mandatory 3 month sabbatical.  Seriously, you are required to be away from work for 3 straight months; no email, no voicemail, etc.  You’re even stripped of your Blackberry.  (I can see you Crackberry addicts clutching your chests!)  I think that’s probably one of the greatest ideas I’ve ever heard and wished would be implemented at my own company.  Heck, every company!

I’m not sure where I’m headed with this.  Perhaps some of the problems that face society today might be resolved if we just took a vacation.  Clocked out, turned off our phones, computers and asked, “Who am I?”  Not, “What do I do?”

As an aside…

Do you ever think your writing is more passionate and meaningful when you’re riding high on an emotion?  That could be anger, joy, fear, whatever.  I sometimes think that but then you might come back to it a few hours, days, or weeks later and think it’s total bollocks.  I’m riding the waves right now.  I wonder if my rambling will be believed to be insightful?  Yeah, it’s probably bollocks.  I don’t know if it relieves any of my anger and frustration, but it kinda feels good.

So it’s time to replace my five year old digital camera that has reached its end.  Taking multiple shots just in hopes of getting one in focus isn’t productive nor my idea of fun.  However, it’s really hard to decide what to get.  I’ve read countless reviews but in the end I’m still very hesitant.  I’d feel much more confident in my decision if the reviews and/or recommendations were from people I actually knew in some manner of speaking.  With that in mind, I’m hoping that many of you that are foto extraordinaires might take a moment to lend your own personal recommendations.

Here are the guidelines I’ve been using when doing my search in order of importance.  I realize maybe I have a long list of desires but I’ve decided I’m ready to move beyond a simple point and shoot.

1. Shutter speed — I want to be able to take multiple shots quickly without great delays between shots.
2. Predetermined settings but with the potential to allow for manual choices if desired.
3. Auto focus option as well as manual.
4. Non-proprietary removable memory format with preference toward SD.
5. Good battery life using the LCD rather than viewfinder alone.
6. Durability — I take my camera hunting, camping, etc. and prefer it to be somewhat rugged.
7. Somewhat compact — I like that my old camera would easily be put in a cargo pocket so I could lug it with me hunting, etc.  The old camera’s dimensions are 1.5″x 5.5″x 2″.
8. Remote — I’d really love to have the ability to take photos with a remote.

And with that, I thank you in advance for your input!

Just a quick update.  I like lists.  The positive and the negative.

1. I have a computer that works.  At times it’s slow, the battery doesn’t last long, the lcd nearly falls off.
2. The weather station is still working wonderfully.  I’m unable to get the box working so it’ll ftp updates to the web.
3. My website/blog works well.  I can’t get the formatting and display a way that satisfies me.
4. I have a digital camera that still takes okay pictures.  It doesn’t always focus so I’m forced to take several shots in the hopes that one is clear.
5. I have the means to buy a new digital camera.  I’m hesitant, indecisive, and otherwise unable to make a decision on which camera I shall purchase.

So…  things aren’t progressing very well.  At this point it seems I may have succeeded in turning the slug into a pretty box of plastic and metal which is completely useless.  I’ve attempted many options but they’ve so far been unsuccessful.  I even tried a different utility but that only rendered my laptop’s wireless card completely useless.  Thankfully, after reinstalling the LAN card drivers it is working again.

Not sure what my next step will be.  Going to probably try a few more things before giving up for the weekend.  If all else fails, I’ll call Linksys on Monday and see if they have any suggestions.  From what I’ve read on several forums they’ll be less than helpful.  My last resort will simply be sending it back to Amazon and tell them it stopped working.

This really frustrates me.  Time to go mow for a while.

As some have noticed, the weather station has been down for a few months now.  The computer that ran the software and did the uploads to Weather Underground started dying in July and had to be replaced.  When that happened I decided to find a green alternative to running a PC 24/7 just to support the weather station.  After some research I found an option that would support the station and run on 10W which is a dramatic drop in comparison to what is used by a PC.  Next was to decide if I could do it on my own or if I’d be better off spending $400 to buy an out of the box solution from another company.  I opted to do it myself which meant my out of pocket expense was less than $100.

It took some time but all of the pieces to get it up and running finally arrived last week.  I’ve spent time each of the last few days reading up on the steps I need to take in order to get it operational.  The slug is now running and I’m about to take a leap into Linux in order to progress further.  I have to install the Debian, then a new Linux version of Weather Display.  If all goes well, v3rnon dot weather may very well be online tomorrow.

Wish me luck!  I’m a Linux virgin!!