Category: Observations

Citations: If We Had A Chance To Do It All Over Again

by barbstruestories, posted in Observations, Writing

I have been working on a report that is to include citations.  I am more of a big picture person and citations seem very detailed and finicky.   They slow down the whole writing thing. 

Citations a.k.a. references may appear in much of what you read-particularly if what you read is in academic areas, in research studies or professional journals.  References cite a source, a paper, a study, a book or another author and they tell the reader that the comment or idea or fact came from somewhere else.   You can even cite yourself if you’ve written and published something beforehand and wish to reference it in an article.   It’s really giving credit where credit is due.  The area of copyright is right up there with citation.  If it’s someone else’s work, art, image, idea, music originally then there is likely copyright to consider.  

My knowledge of citations and references is limited .  One could say it is more like a poor understanding or conversely one could say I am unencumbered by knowledge and able to look at things in a new light.  And it is in this new light that I offer up the following thoughts on citations.  If we were going to do this all over again and I was the President and CEO of Citation in the World Inc, there would be two levels of citation and you would choose your desired level before you write the article.

Level I:  Game changer

Criteria:  This article/research/report will make a huge difference to mankind. An example would be the discovery of the Higgs boson particle.  

Requesting this level would be very expensive.  You’d pay a large fee to Citation of the World Inc.  The author(s) must follow the academically sanctioned format for citations.   Permissions for copyrights must be requested and granted.  All citations will be checked and sources will be verified by Citation of the World Inc. (to justify the large fee).

Level II-Everything else. 

Criteria: This article/research/report will add (we hope) to a body of knowledge, perhaps lead to some action.  Oh, and when it’s published and I can add it to my resume! 

There would be no charge for requesting this level.  Instead of citations, there would be a standard disclaimer at the end of the article or report.  It would read:  I read a lot of background and research when I was writing this work.  I used the stuff that was relevant and good and the rest, while mostly interesting, didn’t make the grade.  I thank those people whose work has been used here.  If you are interested in knowing who they are and which work of theirs I used, give me a call.  I have it all written down on a piece of paper.  It’s not in any special format though.  

An Excellent UK Adventure

by barbstruestories, posted in Beyond full time work, Friendship, Observations

There’s a song that begins with the phrase: I love to go a wandering

The reason things have been a bit quiet on this blog is the past 2 weeks I was hiking in England.  Four of us (women friends) teamed up and after a few months of planning off we went!  We hiked in Cumbrian counties (the Lake District)northwest England generally.  

On, not off, the wall. City of York

Two people in the group had hiked before and they gave the remaining two some great advice on what to pack and what not to pack.  If I was going to sum it up it would be: pack  light, take lots of things that can be layered, waterproof gear is essential and be prepared to wear the same things over and over again.  There were no fashion forward sightings on this trip. And as the lyrics state in the song above, we did have knapsacks on our back.

We stayed in and visited the city of York, the village and surrounds of Kirkby Stephen (pronounced Kirby Stephen), the city of Carlisle the town of Windermere and the city of Manchester.

 

 

 

 

 

We did our own booking and basically followed the motto:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I’d do a few blogs on the trip.  

Stats and facts from our trip

  • Weather-wettest April on record (we did have many nice days too)
  • There is never enough room for luggage on the trains
  • Personal losses-one pedometer, one tip from a walking pole (in some awful muck going up a ‘fell’), one camera battery and no weight
  • Personal gains-getting to know people better, a new appreciation of waterproof gear, enjoying the hospitality and friendly manner of the Brits (speaking of hospitality, when I lost my pedometer Mary, proprietor of the Warwick Guest Lodge in Carlisle gave me hers to keep as she said she didn’t use it!), varied and beautiful scenery
  • We hiked a total of 157 km in 14 days-an average of 11.2 km/day.
  • Total steps 250,000!
And another thing that is important when traveling in a wet cool April/May in northern England is a hat that you can tie on!  One that will remain down and locked when the weather forecast calls for “gale force” winds.
Do you have any retrospective advice for hiking in England in late April/early May?  Or perhaps an experience to share?

Snow plows and cinnamon rolls

by barbstruestories, posted in Happiness, Observations

A while ago I wrote about Snow Plow Happiness and the joy of pushing the snow off ones driveway and onto the street BEFORE the snow plow arrives.    The plow pushes the snow away to some far off place rather than me hoisting it up and onto our already large pile of snow on the lot.

We had quite a bit of snow Friday night and Saturday morning last week.  I got up Saturday morning early.  The driveway would need shovelling today.   I had a hankering for cinnamon rolls and had just put a batch in the oven when I heard the snow plow on our block.  Drat-I would really have to rush to get some snow out there before he got to our house.  It’s not fair to the driver  keep pushing the snow out after they have passed your house.   Out I go, madly pushing snow down the driveway and then sticking my head back in the house to listen if the oven timer has gone and the baking is ready.  When the rolls were done, I put two of them into a bag and out I went.  I flagged down the snow plow driver said thanks for great job and handed him warm baking. He seemed surprised and was very thankful.  

We had more snow yesterday and today.  After dinner tonight I went out to push snow onto the street-no snowplow in sight.   Just as I started shovelling the plow came around the corner.  Drat again-I’ll never get this out onto the street on time.  I had a few swipes pushed out when the snowplow turned into our driveway and in two fell swoops and 45 seconds cleaned what would have taken me 15 minutes.  It was the same driver as Saturday.

The power of cinnamon rolls.  And the kindness of a driver.

Good for a smile for a week.  And an incentive to share baking another time.

Opposite Directions

by barbstruestories, posted in Observations

One Sunday morning, not so very long ago, I went to church.  Going to church is something I have done with decreasing frequency over the past several years.  

In the afternoon of that day I finished Christopher Hitchens‘ book “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”.  

When I told someone about the day, they said paradoxicality is the ability of adults to hold seemingly contradictory notions in mind at the same time.  

You’re not kidding…at least on that Sunday.

Have you read the book and if so, what did you think? 

Warning Light: Anti-Freeze

by barbstruestories, posted in Barb's "best"..at this moment, Happiness, Observations

I have a theory about a human “anti-freeze” phenomenon .  It is based on my experience with winter and living my entire life in the northern hemisphere.  Those of us who live where the snow falls and temperatures can drop into -30C to -40C range (and colder if you factor in windchill), well, we learn about dressing warmly.  We have anti-freeze in our car’s windshield washer fluid.  We buy fleece lined vests and woollen socks and down-filled gear.

The Theory

When winter first takes its place out our front door we shiver and shudder.  We find it very cold and we begrudge putting on the layers and the winter boots and the scarves and hats and on and on.  Then gradually, we become used to it and it doesn’t feel so cold.  My theory is we have some human anti-freeze that builds as winter progresses.  It makes the cold tolerable.  

The Bad News

Due to a design error, our human antifreeze does not have a very long shelf life.  It starts to dissipate somewhere around the end of January.  Slowly it ebbs away.  If our bodies came with fluid level lights (like our vehicles do) the low-level anti-freeze light would start to flash.  And then it feels cold no matter whether the temperature is moderating or not.  I recently read an article that put forward a hypothesis about why it feels colder as winter starts to exit.  It wasn’t an “ah ha!” moment for me.  I prefer my anti-freeze theory. Those of you have lived or do live in colder climates-do you think you run out of tolerance for cold as winter ebbs?  Tell me it’s so.

What can you do?

Think of something else: here’s a few pictures of some things that took my mind off thinking I was cold this past week.

A sunny day, mid-week snowshoe with a friend and a tremendously tasty dinner cooked by my husband.  Oven roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts along with a braised beef tenderloin topped with a blue cheese/thyme/breadcrumb dressing in a red wine reduction sauce.

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What can I say? It was outstanding. Who cares about the temperature outside. It’s likely all in my head anyway.

A (Perverse) Benefit of Life Beyond Full-Time Work

by barbstruestories, posted in Beyond full time work, Observations

This is a true story:

  • When one is beyond full-time, flat-out office work, you may partake in a more lingering lunch with friends….during the week.
  • You may slip and fall on your rear but you can go home without feeling guilty about work undone at the office
  • And find the ice pack and situate it on affected parts (difficult to do that in a team meeting)
  • And read about how to treat a bruise-take that ibuprofen
  • But then it says it’s best to elevate bruised area above heart level-and that would be difficult in this instance, no matter where you are-office or home.  Please don’t ask for the pictures on this one.

Christmas Greetings and IT Solutions

by barbstruestories, posted in Christmas greetings, Observations

It’s That Time Of Year

The above is a line from one of the many Christmas songs we hear on the radio at this time year.  For many of us this time of year is filled with shopping, cooking, visiting and sending greetings to family and friends.  The tradition of sending Christmas cards has waned from years gone by but it is still ever so nice to get mail that isn’t junk or bills.  That said, at this house we’ve left it too long to do much in paper-at least anything that would be on time, so I thought I’d do something in the electronic media.

You’ve Heard of Drug Interactions.  

It is my experience there are adverse technology interactions.  Just as you shouldn’t take drugs together unless you have gained knowledge of the expected outcome, the same goes for using too many new-to-you programs, websites, mouse clicks and such in any one project.  Anything that says “easy to use” is likely not.  If you have questions about taking drugs-ask your lovely, knowledge and trusted pharmacist.  If you have questions or problems about mixing the instructions of one program with the information from another website-you’re pretty much on your own.  Frustrated and on your own.

Off I went, then to do something simple but hopefully a little creative for our Christmas greeting.  I used the Movie Maker/Xtranormal site to make a little movie.  That wasn’t too bad.  I’ve used it before. Then I thought I’d try to find some stationery.  I found Pages on my iMac and played around with the templates and found something that could work.  

When Is A Download Not A Download.

Linking the movie into the Christmas message shouldn’t be a problem.  I add links to this blog all the time.  Not so.  There should be standardized ways of linking-world wide standards.  If we can all agree on the shape of a stop sign, surely the way we add links could be standardized.  Add to that my inability (until I read Q&A’s and chat forums) to effectively download the movie in a reasonable format and well, let’s just say, I was feeling challenged.  I was to not simply download but it had to be a HQ Download..oh yeah…well what’ s that?  And there was something about an MP4 file-remember I’m the one who still owned the now-recalled 1st gen iPod and now there’s MP4?

All’s Well That Ends Well

Here’s the Christmas message, ultimately.  I will spare you the Pages document.

Breakthrough IT Solution!

When I stepped aside from full-time work earlier this year, one of my special gifts was from an IT colleague who was more than aware of my IT (in)abilities.  This gift sat next to my computer desk.  Good think I had taken a picture of it before embarking on the Christmas message-it’s gone missing.  My husband mentioned something about removing from the computer area, any objects that might be used to pummel technology.

Universal IT Problem Solver
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and May All Your Technological Efforts Be Effortless in 2012!  Please tell me I’m not alone.

MASS MoCA-Not a Large Specialty Coffee

by barbstruestories, posted in Arts and entertainment, Beyond full time work, Observations

Not all that long ago we took a road trip.  We journeyed quite a distance into and across the states of New York and Massachusetts.  We were well inland during the trip.   It was late fall and there was some colour left in the trees-all in all a pretty drive.  Parts of the drive that were not so scenic were the many deserted warehouses and factories-sitting derelict and sometimes vandalized.  They tell of a time, decades ago, when those building housed vibrant industries and employed many people.  One building that has been rejuvenated and beautifully so is the former factory that now houses the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art or Mass MoCA  in North Adams, MA.  It is the largest museum of contemporary art in the United States.  The museum is on the site of a former textile printing factory.  As you walk up to the museum you come upon trees in an unusual spot.  

Larger than the patio upside down tomato plants

There are several buildings and floors of exhibits.  The exposed brick and hardwood floors provide a wonderful background for art.  

The exhibit One Floor Up More Highly by Katharina Gross was housed in a space that is as large as a football field.  

One Floor Up More Highly exhibit

Three floors in the main building displayed wall art conceived by Sol LeWitt.  The exhibit will be at MASS MoCA for 25 years-you have plenty of time to see it.  LeWitt‘s wall drawings were usually executed by people other than the artist himself.       I compare it to designing Vogue sewing patterns and then others make the outfit.  He would use teams of assistants to create his works. Between 1968 and his death in 2007, LeWitt created more than 1,270 wall drawings.  The art and the manner in which it was created is remarkable.  We thoroughly enjoyed the museum and plan to return to MASS MoCA.  A good to do that might be after May 2012, there will be an exhibit of Canadian contemporary art – Oh, Canada .  If you plan to go to North Adams, let me know, we have some thoughts on accommodation.  

Have you ever seen Sol LeWitt’s art?  I think we may have seen it in other galleries.

Sol LeWitt


Sol Lewitt

Attempts at printing double sided-aka-it’s not me, eh, madam

by barbstruestories, posted in Observations

I have a long-standing love/hate relationship with technology.  Truth be known, that relationship extends to anything mechanical.   It’s interesting to observe the jargon that each trade/profession uses too-is that necessary?  Is it to keep the rest of us in the dark?

Issue:  The issue was simple, straightforward-to print a Word document double-sided using my iMac and HP printer.  (In these days of trying to minimize the use of scarce resources, it seemed like a reasonable goal.).  I can print double-sided from web pages..why not Word?

Action taken:

  • Scroll through all relevant items on the menu bar, look under system preferences-oh look-a box to check off that says double-sided.  Use the administrator name and password and make the change.  Nada-no double-sided option appears when I go to print.
  • Spend 2 more hours looking for things-search on the internet-there’s a forum-others have had the same issue-try those suggestions.  Nada-no double-sided option appears when I go to print.
  • Call AppleCare-we verify versions and lots of other stuff-check for upgrades-and in the end he says-it’s not Apple-“we’ve done what we can do”.  It’s not me, eh, madam. You should call Microsoft. 
  • Call Microsoft-we verify versions and case history and look at drop down boxes. (After he asks if my printer has the capability of printing double-sided!) The double-sided option is greyed out and in the end she says “we’ve done what we can do”.   It’s not me, eh, madam.  You should call HP. 

Future:

  • Hard as it is to predict the future-this is my go at it….should I decide to pursue the challenge of printing double-sided from Word rather than just going single sided and using a bunch of paper:   I call HP-we verify versions and look for upgrades.  There’s no solution-and in the end, they say-we’ve done what we can do.  It’s not me, eh, madam.  It’s the paper-I should call the paper company.  I call the paper company… and end up finally barking up a tree…likely the wrong one.  Ah now I’m just getting silly.