Skizness is my Bizness!

2009-02-12T11:00:00.001-08:00

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Trials and Tribulations

2008-05-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of trials and tribulations of late.

Since getting my Dad to use anything new on a computer is like pulling teeth with your bare hands, I decided that I needed to use the Dovetail software first. The catch being is that in the current version it's not set up spread the second account across multiple machines. I called tech support and they called back -- very personable and friendly. The next version will support this feature, and I was offered a beta, but I don't like messing with beta versions. So I figure I'll just fiddle with Dovetail on my parent's machine first.

In other tribulations, my Dad also accidentally severed the cable line while gardening. Since they have their phone, cable and Internet services all through Rogers Cable... that means that right now communications are restricted to cell only.

It's going to get fixed today at least.

Working Food in London Ontario

2008-05-12T06:54:00.001-07:00

Still haven't made time to really play with Dovetail. And this is despite the fact I think I organize my time pretty well. Of course, Mother's Day made things just a wee bit more complicated this weekend. (That and I had a CIPS meeting this week -- the Canadian Information Processing Society, to which I used to be on the executive for, had an anniversary meeting so I naturally wanted to be there)

Stop updating, people stop coming to your blog, and I don't want that. So I thought I'd post on another favourite subject: FOOD.

No, it's not going to be about the "Strike It Healthy" program that I'm involved in either, although I will post about it soon. This is going to be about one of the places I visit for lunch (I only eat out once a week as a treat)

The Budapest Restaurant (Hungarian & European Cuisine)
Owned by: Marika Hayek
Operating: 50 years and counting
Location: 348 Dundas St., London, Ontario
Website: www.budapestrestaurant.com

While I've heard it's constantly packed during supper, lunch is far more relaxed. If you're looking for a filling, satisfying and delicious hot lunch in London, this is one of the best places to be. There's a reason why it's still going strong after 50 years and is part of Ambassador London.

The lunch menu includes various sandwiches, but if I eat out I want to eat out well, so I get one of the $10 lunch items. Home-made soup and coffee is included with each hearty meal. The soups are incredible; full of flavour and with a different selection every day. Goulash Soup is my personal favourite, but it's basically impossible to make a mistake with any of the soups (unless for some reason you hate soup or must eat bland food only) It's not a vegetarian eatery, although you will get a healthy serving of veggies with the meal too.

If you're eating there for the first time, I recommend getting Goulash or the Blintz. The Goulash is a spicy, lively combination of meat and vegetables, with a sort of pasta side (I'm not quite sure what it's called). The beef is marinated in something I'm not familiar with but it makes it very tender and flavourful. As to the blintz, I can't help but love anything that is wrapped in a crepe.

And if you get dessert, you won't be disappointed by the Cheery Cake. (I don't normally get dessert, but one time I took a very late lunch after some exceptional effort so I gave myself a special reward) Presented wonderfully with drizzled chocolate and icing sugar and served warm.

If you catch Marika working, (which is frequently) she only adds to the experience. I have to admit, I have a hard time understanding her because she still has a heavy accent but she's friendly and fun. The restaurant is definitely old-school and old-world, which is one of its main charms.

Some other time I'll blog about my other lunch regular: The Zen Garden. (It IS vegetarian)

A New Tool

2008-05-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

I've recently gotten my hands on the Dovetail Organizer, a software organizer that's also supposed to act as a safety deposit box. The nice thing is it was free, since Dovetail is currently involved with my present company. It comes with two accounts.

I'm neither a professional organizer or security expert, but the product looks good. If you're curious about it, you can find out more about it here: http://www.dovetailorganizer.com/.

I'm about to put it to the ACID TEST: "Can my Dad use it?"

My Dad is intelligent but technologically challenged. He's also got a lot of important information in various categories, but few of us know where to look for it. So if the product does what it promises it could help a lot if anything should happen to him (and we've had a few close calls in the recent past)

Given that I don't have a lot of time, this is going to be an incremental experiment, the results of which I'll post on my blog.

The package I got gave me two accounts -- normally, that'd be all any family would need (primary user, spouse) but since I need to be familiar with the program first (and because my computer is the one with the scanner) I'll be using one.

The only downside is if this thing's really good I might have to shell out for a copy for my Mom.

Wish me luck!

Organize Time to Organize Space

2008-04-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Have I become any more organized? I am embarrassed to admit "No". I just haven't been able to organize my time well enough to have time to organize my space.

One of my co-workers suggested that I try the "Dovetail Organizer", which seems to be both an organizer and digital safety deposit box. The website is here at http://www.dovetailorganizer.com/ but have I even made time to look at it?

(looks down)

No.

Granted, I've been busy. Of course, I'm always busy. There's always something to do, whether it be my web comic, personal projects (there's a long list), my health -- I try to hit the gym regularly -- and today I'm giving blood. I also have a girlfriend and I enjoy spending time with her, so that helps to explain why I never seem to have time to organize, although I do spend about an hour checking on other blogs for ideas. I've also been reading up on security, too. After all, some of the things I need to organize includes governmental personal information crap that simply can't be compromised in this day and age.

If anyone happens upon my blog, please feel free to post comments with suggestions for further reading, blogs on similar topics, etc.

In Case of Death, Break Glass

2008-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this article here: http://willknott.ie/2008/01/31/4-ds-of-information-loss-%e2%80%93-death/

Very interesting article. There have been several times when I wondered what could be done in case something happened to me. My girlfriend and I primarily chat over net and phone due our long-distance relationship, but the first contact is usually via phone. If something were to happen to me, I've got no way of guaranteeing anyone I know will necessarily have her contact information to let her know. I don't know if anyone would be able to contact me if something happened to her.

Death is inconvenient that way.

Unpleasant thought, but one thing I should have is some sort of "In Case of Death, Break Glass" contact sheet that would contain the how's of contacting people who should be notified in case of untimely demise. That might even include passwords for stuff... but I'm paranoid about letting information like that slip out in any form.

Granted, if I had more in the way of estate I'd rather have that stuff secured first -- and in comparison, family and friends in the flesh are more important that on-line friends. However, my girlfriend is a flesh-friend I'd very much be concerned about and the information to contact her isn't all that convenient or available.

I'm going to leave this thought 'round the back-oh-my-head area, but it's still something to keep in mind should I ever stumble upon some sort of secure-info storage item that people can break in case of death. The catch I can see is that I'd have to make sure it was up-to-date as it was secure. Something to ponder for later...

Online Income Streams

2008-04-23T07:01:00.001-07:00

I found this blog: http://www.anywired.com/why-diversification-is-a-winning-strategy/114/ and that probably neatly explains how anyone can live off the income of their on-line ventures. That's the key point -- ventureS with a great big capital, bold and italicized "S". One alone isn't enough, but multiples is how ya do it. Just something I always wondered about, that's all. Heh.

The Answer to All My Questions, or the Questions to all my Answers?

2008-04-22T12:49:00.001-07:00

I just found this site, http://www.blurtit.com/, which might just provide me with some of the answers that I'm looking for.

Or provide me to answer all the questions that I'm looking for, if I get so inclined! Heh!

Organizing Truth: You don’t have to persist.

2008-04-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

I found this here at http://www.myorganizedbiz.com/3-organizing-assumptions-debunked/.

I am a Type-A personality person and Burn Out is something I have to be careful of. I think that it's a great article and something I should definitely try to remember and do so I don't wind up dead from a heart attack.

Office Zoning Issues

2008-04-21T09:18:00.001-07:00

http://www.declutterit.com/2008/04/07/office-zoning-issues

Two reasons to check this one out:
1. The cartoon is awesome.
2. Excellent advice. Especially for people like me with desks with 'issues'.

Get Happy, Get Organized (Outside Blog)

2008-04-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

http://community.centredaily.com/?q=blog/573

While it doesn't really match my particular organization needs as far as key documents go, it does offer some good advice and I swear I'm a heterosexual male.

My personal focus for the article was about the dresser. My dresser currently holds stacks of DVD's, some paperwork with reference items of interest, a pencil/pen can, change, a gyroscope, some small, plastic toys, a really cool 3D tick-tack-toe game, a 'box o' crap', a couple of video game cartridges, some Easter wrapping stuff that's in good condition but doesn't belong on the dresser... and some other sundry items that I can't name off the top of my head.

The article recommended getting some 'attractive containers' to store and organize things in, but I'll settle for anything that might allow the wood to show again.

Zen of Organization?

2008-04-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering if there is a Zen quality to organizing oneself. I didn't do any sort of organization this weekend. I was busy setting up my web comic which has a prompt and regular schedule -- that was Saturday -- and then on Sunday I mostly goofed off and talked to my girlfriend. Not saying there's anything wrong with talking with my girlfriend, but I didn't do anything terribly productive with those 48 hours of time as far as organizing myself went.

When I do get things in order though, there's a feeling of satisfaction and there's almost a zen-like quality to the organizing itself. Is it me, or is it like one of those little Zen gardens with the rake? You set things up just so... put things into piles... turn the piles into organized stacks... and then promptly realize you don't have room for the stacks so they have to be put someplace both 'safe' and 'out of the way' which usually means 'somewhere that you won't find when you're looking for it'.

OK, so maybe there's a point lacking in my Zen of Organization. Maybe it's like a mini Japanese Rock Garden, but with the added challenge of having too many rocks so you barely have room for your little rake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_garden

After doing some research, apparently some scholars will bemoan my mis-use of the word "Zen", but I still think there is a "Zen" to organization -- or at least it's part of it. Trying to figure out where things fit and removing the clutter seems symbolically appropriate to Zen.

Getting back to my original point -- my organization stops RIGHT DEAD at my lack of space. I don't think this is a purging moment, because this is about the stuff I need to hang on to for taxes or other governmental record-keeping purposes. At the same time, I don't want to spend hours searching for the things when I need them. So I want to organize my stuff, and then put it away, but be able to access it when I need to without having to move a bunch of crap or sort through things.

Since this is a brand new blog, I don't expect the answers to come to me in the form of comments. But, what I CAN do is go out and try to get answers from others and then post my findings here so others might benefit.

E-Waste?

2008-04-18T13:38:00.001-07:00

OK, I just found an interesting link here. Doesn't really help with my kind of organizing but it's certainly interesting:

http://getorganizedtips.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-organized-purging-e-waste.html

Get Organized! is an attractive blog and certainly worth reading up on. I have two baskets full of old tech which I won't get rid of because you never know when you'll have one of those oversight moments when you need an "X". Plus some of them still work and I've got really old data that I might want to visit again someday...

... or should I be purging?

Dun dun duuuun! My New Blog!

2008-04-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

What is a Skizness?
OK, first off -- I'm gonna answer the first question. Skizness is my business. What the heck is a Skizness? Take "Business", misspell it to Bizness, and the sub in my initials... and you got yourself a SKIZNESS. Skizness is my (SK's) business.

Anyhow, this blog is all about my business, although by business I mean more along the lines of "None of your business" except for the fact that apparently I think it IS some of your business since I'm posting this on the Internet. What I'm saying (in my own convoluted way) is that this is my blog, and I don't intend it to get personal or political, and I'd like to use it to share stuff that is hopefully either entertaining or informative to people.

Taxes and Safe Places
I just got done with my taxes a few weeks ago. I had made sure all the relevant pieces of information were ready and waiting for me when it came time... but I made one mistake. I had filed the government-issued result from last year under last year's taxes... not for this year's, when I needed it.

The additional catch? When I say "File" I mean "Put in a large envelope with '2007 Tax Stuff' written on it in pencil, and store with all the previous years' tax information in some place safe".

Let me explain something: When I put something somewhere safe, believe me, it's safe. The problem being is that 'safe' is a place that made sense at the time, and even makes sense at the previous time, but is the place I will NOT THINK OF WHEN I NEED IT.

"Safe", in this case, meant it was stored with the college books I figured I might need to reference some day unexpectedly. But I wasn't looking for my college books. I was looking in places I figured would make sense to put tax information. Places like filing cabinets. Or in some unlabelled box under my bed. Not neatly in the new large black storage bin I had gotten to store various things too valuable to toss but could be forgotten about until needed.

In the words of Bill Cosby: "Now, I told you that story so I could tell you this..."
It made me realize that I seriously need to get more organized. I have enough 'important papers' to make a paper maché decoy of myself if I had to. (A very important paper maché decoy... well, actually a formally very important paper maché decoy)

The really funny thing is that I'm really an organized person, but only in short bursts. Things like text documents, projects (I've been told I'm a talented project manager by my boss), and information I excel at organizing in a clear, meaningful way. It just stops dead right as soon as the rest of my life gets involved. I'm not so bad that I need professional help, but ... well, a LITTLE help might be nice. I am afflicted with a minor (in my eyes) case of pack-ratisson's disease, but it's not filling up a garage or anything. (Mostly 'cause I don't have a garage)

The things that give me problems are the ones that are really important -- like say a birth certificate -- but you don't USE them so you forget about them. The killer thing is that when you need them, and you don't have them, you're hosed. These are usually the same sort of things you shouldn't carry around with you either because they're a pain to replace if something ever happens to them (you can't replace them at all).

And why don't I just put it in my filling cabinet? Uhh...
... because my sock drawer is closer?

Well, regardless... I need to start getting organized. I have personal and business stuff, and I'm going to have to file it in a way that it's easy to find, safe but not so safe that I can't find/get to it in under an hour, and out of the way because my space is at a premium right now.

Time to start look'n around. I'll post if I find anything.