A couple thoughts this morning. One is that yesterday’s high of 50 really got me thinking of spring. I know there’s a good chance of one more big snowfall, and one more cold snap yet, but it feels like we’ve turned the corner on winter.
The second thought that bubbled to the surface is that sometimes I pay too much attention to things I probably shouldn’t (of course there are plenty of times when I’m completely oblivious too, but those seem to suck less at the time). That can be very handy in cases like the one I mention below where I found a new supplier for aloha shirts. But there are other times when I wish I didn’t notice things I do.
One example is at work. I’ve almost wrapped up my work for the next big release, just about on my self-imposed schedule, which is early compared to everyone else. And I noticed that the penalty I pay for being ahead of the game is that I get assigned bugs that other people have introduced, rather than being able to start thinking about the next release and getting a running start on that (which is why I tried to finish early). There are those who develop more or bigger new features more rapidly, but they tend to generate a lot of bugs. And they get noticed for being speedy. Those of us who play a more conservative game get less glory, and have to come by and clean up the mess left behind by the faster-moving folks. I’m pretty sure that noticing that fact isn’t good for my long-term job satisfaction.
But what the heck. It’s nice being able to think I’m close to done for the cycle, whether that’s true or not. If I have to spend a while following behind the parade sweeping up the elephant poo, well, that’s not all bad either. As the TV show theme-song says, It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. Besides, it’s only metaphorical poo, rather than the real thing.
- With my thoughts leaning towards spring, I decided it was time to buy some new aloha shirts last week. I ordered a half-dozen from An Original Kalakaua, and the service was great. They were out of stock on one, and Len called me up to see if I wanted to substitute another color. Nice. They arrived yesterday, and I’m happy. As a bonus, they stock 100% rayon shirts (which I prefer), and sizes all the way up to 6XL (which some vendors don’t).
- But when Len asked me how I’d found their website, I had to think for a minute. I’d been watching No Reservations, where Tony was in Hawaii. He went into Bailey’s Antiques and Aloha Shirts to buy a $3000 shirt (dude’s doing okay), and the store looked pretty cool. So I googled, and discovered that they don’t sell any shirts online. But at the bottom of the page were links to two other places. And there I was.