Caffeinated Gonzo!

Looking for advice on personal time management?  Check out the time-tested advice and strategies from dozens of writers and participants in inspiration bit’s 2007 Group Writing project on Time Management.  Quoting:

These 33 time management strategies will cure every workaholic in the world, will motivate any procrastinator and encourage the utmost pessimist to get things done in no time and still have time left to enjoy life.

There is some good advice here for all of us human-types.

Read more at: inspirationbit.com

Listening to NPR in my car this weekend, on my way to and from somewhere, some errand, I Michelle Norris’ profile of the GTD phenomenon, David Allen and others. Not able to listen intently at the time.  I replayed the story this evening (thank you NPR online).  The profile is a decent overview and provides a decent background of the phenomenon.

Read about and listen to the NPR story here.

Bottled water seemed like a great idea when it first was introduced.  After all, who could argue that crisp clean clear water in a nice portable plastic bottle wouldn’t make water more convenient, and possibly even more palatable? 

Now that the craze is in full swing for some time now and those convenient plastic bottles litter our landscape and water ways, many people are beginning to see the devil is in the details.

Setting aside the awesome litter issues for a moment. Just how much healthier can bottled water be if there is very little difference between the bottled stuff and the water coming from the city tap? 

 Also, many people find it hard to swallow the mere fact that bottled water costs three times as much as a gallon of gasoline.  This is especially hard to take when gasoline itself is running damn near $3.00 a gallon on a “good day.”

It’s time for trendy consumers such as ourselves to ponder this issue over  nice cold glass of water and come to our senses.  Raise a glass and abandon the bottle.

Better yet, save those last few bottles you have in your fridge and gym bag and when you finish with them, wash them out and refill them with a few ounces of your favorite water authorities’ finest. 

One of the goals that I have set for myself this year is to wake up earlier. I don’t want to just wake up, stumble from bed to my coffee, to my shower, growl at my family and the dog, and stumble again out the door an hour later; I want to be up, productive, energetic, and happy to be alive at sunup.

The trouble I am having with this goal is my lifestyle. The key to accomplishing this goal, it seems to me is a consistent sleep pattern. Getting a solid block of sleep is not always possible for me, as I am on call all-hours as a volunteer fireman. As a firefighter I am often responsible for getting up at all hours of the night, leaving home, going to the fire station and responding to emergency calls any time the fire radio or pager alerts. Some nights we don’t get any calls, or maybe one or two, and other times we are slammed. Last night for example we had three calls: the first beginning around 10:00 p.m., a second at 11:30 p.m., and a third and longer call at 12:30 a.m., which I did not get home from until after 2:30 a.m. So much for getting up early today… Fortunately it was holiday, but I didn’t get up and do anything productive until almost 11:00 a.m.

My grandfather was up every day at 5:30 a.m. and the tasks he set aside for himself for a day were half accomplished by 11:00 a.m. I am still looking for my second cup of coffee by then.

I can get up for a job and be there at 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00a.m., like everyone else; I am just not myself until almost 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 o’clock in the morning. It would be great if I could figure out a way to exist on cat naps and be able to approximate being human at sunup; if anyone has any advice on how to do this (legally) I would appreciate hearing from you.

See more progress on: wake up earlier on 43things.com 

I am convinced that Classical music helps me maintain connections in my brain to past events / memories, creative moments emotional peaks that I would otherwise lose touch with.

See more progress on: Listen to more classical music

Well by now anyone who follows NHL hockey knows that the Stanley Cup teams are set and that the Buffalo Sabres aren't in it this year. Last night Buffalo lost in the seventh game to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. It was a heartbreaking loss for Buffalo fans and more so for the players.
That being said…

Buffalo has a lot to be proud for regarding it's team this year and should take heart and a lesson away from the experience. This year's Sabres team was one of the hardest working class of players I have seen Buffalo produce in a long while. The lessons to take away from this season are many but the one I feel Buffalo as a city and it's people needs most is:

If you work hard, make no excuses and show yourself some respect, the world will come to respect you.

At the beginning of the year, no one (outside, perhaps the Buffalo organization) expected the Sabres to make it to the playoffs, little alone the Eastern Conference Finals. They got there just the same. They got there playing one game at a time.

It would have been great to see the hardest working men in show business give the business to their critics by making it to the Cup, but in my opinion they proved themselves already — one game at a time.

The Eastern Conference run was some of the toughest series in the NHL Playoffs this year. Buffalo stood up and played their best. Despite a fair amount of adversity and injuries along the way, they pushed on and kept the effort going until the very end

The Buffalo Sabres worked hard, made no excuses along the way when things got tough and their fans should be and indeed are, very proud of their team.

Along the way the Buffalo Sabres through team effort, individual sacrifice, and shear will gained the respect of a lot of people on and off the ice. Although this team won't see their names etched on Lord Stanley's Cup, their names and their efforts will be etched in many a fan's memory for a long time to come.

As proud as we are of our team, it's now time for Buffalo to stand up for it's own sake and be proud! … Take a lesson from your team and be proud of yourself, your history, and your people!

Tags: Buffalo, sports, hockey, wiredgonzo

I walk every day. That is my dog, a Labrador Retriever named Riley walks me. I call it walking it’s more like we “wander.” What we really do is roam the neighborhood and the adjacnt park and trail, while Riley sniffs everything in “sight.” We do this once or twice each day, rain or shine for 20 – 40 minutes at a stretch. It’s realy not as much excercise as it is a comnination of male bonding and a continuing struggle between a man and his beast.

What I really need is less bonding and more excercise.

See more progress on: walk more

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jane M. Von Bergen in her blog gives shovel after shovel full of advice, encouragement and a spade full of sympathy to those in need of "Digging Out." Bergen brings hope to other fellow disorderedly types (of which I am, most definately one) who wish to bring about organization to their busy lives.

Grab your shovel and dig in.

A simple trip to the doctor at this point in my life is enough to remind me that I am not 21 anymore and better start watching my diet. I am not much of a cook, my wife is a great one. Fact is I probably haven't cooked in years. Still, I love food and frankly it wouldn't hurt me to try a little cooking now and then. I am seriously thinking about it cause it's about time that I contribute more in the kitchen than doing the dishes.

The problem with food at my age (40ish) is that not much of it is good for me any more and not eating is worse. One food that I love is brown rice and beans. It's good for you when you need to live and breath low fat and reduce your cholesterol intake while increasing fiber like I do. Here is one such "easy" recipe that looks worth a try that I found online:

Easy Brown Rice and Beans
4 tbsp Brown rice
3/4 cup water
7 oz can stewed tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped celery (1 stalk)
1/3 cup chopped onions (1/2 medium onion)
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (1/2 medium)
7 oz can red kidney beans or (1/2 14 oz can)
Pinch of garlic powder
2 drops hot sauce
Dash of pepper.

Cook rice in water until water is absorbed. In skillet cook chopped celery, onion, and green peppers slowly over low heat about 10 minutes. Add drained canned beans, stewed tomatoes and seasoning. Bring to a boil, and then simmer uncovered about 10 minutes. Add cooked rice and mix. Makes 2-3 servings.

I wonder if my wife would trust me in the kitchen long enough to give this recipe a try?

Another Found Tomatillo Sauce recipe

Tomatillo Sauce

(makes 3 cups)

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked
1 cup oven-roasted (page 104) and chopped onion
1 cup vegetable stock
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced serrano chili
1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar
Pinch of ground cumin
Pinch of sugar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, roast the tomatillos for 30 minutes,
or until very soft but not split. Coarsely chop them.

In a large saucepan, combine the tomatillos, onion, vegetable stock, garlic, chili, vinegar, cumin, and sugar.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Add the chopped cilantro, and transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt.