Whether you be man or woman
you will never do anything in this world without
courage.
It is the greatest quality of the mind next to
honor.
James Lane Allen
Follow-up Odds and Ends
- A Day in the Life. In a sense, things I write are like my children. People might ask "how do you do it?" It's difficult to explain; the mind is not a copy machine. I don't know if any readers have noticed but for example, in my QOTD, I don't simply cut and paste; I'll often parse the quote for effect. I have a streak of perfectionism and sometimes tweak a post further the following day. I think some of my daily commentaries are better than a number of syndicated columns--including those of people I admire. So when one of my one-off posts gets 10 times my normal readership, I wouldn't say I'm surprised (my ego obviously gets a boost), but I wish my children were loved equally.
But just to follow-up: my appointment was today. What I didn't realize was that the applications were done at a dedicated station, I thought maybe someone emerged from a back office at the appointment time; here's a hint, USPS--if you have week long waiting periods, you open up new lines--and/or you identify a clerk station, e.g., "Passport appointments serviced here" (I went to a different station.) There was a couple being serviced during my appointment time.
Now to explain the next piece I almost never do snail mail or cash transactions (beyond auto tolls, haircuts, occasional greeting cards, etc.) And there are no posted fees for related transactions. I never carry $150 in cash. and I hadn't realized until recently my debit card had expired. I think that some places (maybe the state of Maryland) will accept credit cards with an additional service fee. I usually carry one or two checks in my wallet and briefly unsuccessfully looked for my checkbook before leaving this morning. The bottom line is when the clerk got to the point of the $110 State Department fee, she would only accept a debit card, check or cash; that may be USPS and/or State Dept policy, but payment specifics (fees and methods of payment) should have been printed on the application and/or attached to the form. I had no alternative but to go home and look for blank checks. I lost my appointment/place in line.
I decided to bring 2 checks "just in case". When I returned I was told I would have to wait while she processed an Asian family of 6, which seemed to go on for another 20-30 minutes.. It's a good thing I brought 2 checks because apparently they don't do agency transfers and I only got a receipt for the ancillary $40 in post office charges. Plus there's an extra fee if you need the passport earlier than the 4-6 week period (even though she attached my original 17-year passport).
To be fair bureaucracy occurs in any large organization. For example, I once did a gig for a well-known credit card company in the St. Louis area where during the entire gig (over 3 weeks), I never got access to a network account or voice mail. because of the former, I had to work at a distant workstation; any phone calls (including from Oracle support) went into inaccessible voice mail; Oracle escalated the fact I wasn't returning their calls, which of course the client blamed on me.
Large organizations are not focused on consumer time and effort. I'm different from most DBA's because first of all I listen to my users (their diagnoses are typically off base-the database is frequently scapegoated for coding or network problems, but I never argue that they are not experiencing a problem); you would be surprised how many clueless idiots will say something like "You're the first person ever to experience this problem." Many people won't report problems precisely because they don't want to deal with idiots. I also do follow-ups with users to ensure their issues have been resolved.
One of the reasons I love Mitch Daniels is because he's anal-retentive about user-based metrics-e.g., average wait times at the DMV. In what I have explained about dealing with a simple passport extension is the Procrustean approach--I have to accommodate bureaucracy-oriented processes--it isn't oriented to user performance and satisfaction.
Literally with Reid among the most unpopular members of Congress, after leading the Dems to a second consecutive loss in the House, Pelosi will remain Minority Leader.I think it's something in those chocolate chip cookies (you'be got to eat the cookies before you can read the recipe, but Cookie Monster has a terrible case of the munchies).
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| Courtesy of Reuters |
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| Courtesy of Zimbio |
Entertainment Potpourri
Hallmark Channel (and to a lesser extent Lifetime) have already started running their and other acquired holiday movies. I've published some of my favorites in the past, but here's an annotated update.
All-time favorites (a select list):
- Scrooge the Musical: One of the best musicals ever with catchy, glorious tunes
- Miracle on 34th Street: I generally hate Santa Claus movies; as in the case of adult movies, I like leaving something to the imagination. For me, the best scene in the movie is embedded below, involving a newly adopted Dutch sweetheart orphan whom can't speak English yet.
- One Magic Christmas. This is an imaginative twist on "It's Wonderful Life" in the context of a struggling middle class family. No heavy-handed moralizing about greed here; unemployed Jack wants to open a bike shop, his dream, but Ginny, a supermarket cashier, is too practical. Santa plays a role here, but like the previous movie, the mythology plays second billing to the touching storyline. I wonder why a libertarian likes this movie...
- White Christmas. A wonderful musical, a broken romance when a girlfriend misjudges the motives of her boyfriend, whom is actually trying to rescue a retired general's failing hotel business.
- Prancer. This is just a novelty pick to tease my dad. Jessica's off-key singing in the movie annoys him. The real gem of the story here is of the evolving relationship between the widower father and Jessica; the story of Santa's fallen reindeer is not overstated mythology
Cable/Newer Movies (a select list):
- Farewell, Mr. Kringle. To me, this movie is an imaginative updated twist on Miracle on 34th Street. The Dutch girl part is Amber, a painfully shy little girl whom he reaches by singing the lullaby she sings to her doll, "All Through the Night" (see this transcript at about the 25 minute mark). The tragic secret of why he's been playing Santa for decades and why he's going to give it up soon follows. Like other stories there's a struggling romance to be resolved.
- Christmas Magic. This is the story of career-oriented young woman whom becomes a victim in a tragic accident. As an angel, she tries to help a grieving widower, a talented songwriter whom has given up music, and his daughter. Obviously the angel has no future with the widower (?).
- Angel in the Family. An elderly widower in failing health is trying to cope with feuding grown daughters with troubled romantic lives, one whom feels she's carrying too much of the burden of looking after the father. The widower talks to his late wife and wants one last full family Christmas, but that's impossible.
- A Season for Miracles. The college-age sister of a single drug addict mother of two is willing to do anything to keep the kids out of foster care.
- November Christmas. The family and town of a young girl dying of cancer decide to move up the holidays for her benefit.
- Holiday Engagement. A young woman in a struggling relationship uses tickets from a radio contest to hire an actor to play her serious boyfriend to placate her meddling mother wanting to meet him. Suppose the worst happens, e.g., the actual boyfriend shows up unexpectedly.
- The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Widower and newly retired cop Uncle Ralph flies to visit single mom and successful businesswoman Jennifer whom was raised by her aunt and uncle and meets up with a chef on his way to open a Denver restaurant. When Morgan's flight to Denver is cancelled, Ralph talks Jennifer into inviting Morgan whom knows how to roast a turkey to die for.
The Carpenters, "Please, Mr. Postman." The two-time, two-time #1 hit, originally by Motown's Marvelettes. Even the immortal Fab Four covered the tune. For the sake of the lovely Karen, signed, sealed (with a kiss), delivered, I'm yours.
