I heard these words while I was making coffee here at the office (in downtown KC). A colleague asked me if I rode my bike this morning. I get that question a lot during the winter. But today, I’m getting it from everyone.
Today, it’s 10° F. And it’s snowing. There is less than an inch on the un-plowed surfaces. But it is all powder. I didn’t hit any icy patches on my ride. They did call for sleet before the snow, but we were spared that challenge. But back to the story…
I told my colleague that I did indeed ride my bike. And I told him that it was a lot of fun. I love it when it snows. Everything is so quiet and still. All of the normal background noises all seem to hold their breath while the frozen wonder accumulates. But I digress…
Per my normal routine, I got up and showered. I figured I’d better have extra layers. So I pulled on my silk undergarments. [Yes, they are long johns, if you must know.] Silk is amazing as an insulator. I can’t think of anything I’d rather wear when it gets really cold. Once I pulled on all my layers, i woke the dogs and we went out on our morning walk.
Wow, the snow was so beautiful. And the dogs loved the time outside. They jumped and rolled in the snow like little children. They pulled on their collars and they wrestled with each other. And they were cold. I could feel the cold on my face. Fortunately, everything else was covered. But all they had was fur. After about fifteen minutes, they were done playing and wanted nothing more of the snow. They are so very much like children.
We went back inside and I got them some food and fresh water. They were very eager diners this morning; they both got right down to the task of cleaning up their bowls. They didn’t even bother to notice the cats that were taunting them from the dining room table.
So while they feasted, I folded up my work clothes and stuffed them in the backpack. I didn’t even have a chance to log in and check the weather before I left. I just grabbed my reflective gear and helmet and I hit the road. I figured I ought to leave early, just in case the roads were dicey and I needed to walk some of the way.
But the roads were great. There was about a half-inch of snow on the streets. It was just enough to make that crunchy sound when the weight of my bike (and my fat ass) pressed down on it. But I had plenty of traction. And there were very few motorists to deal with. So the ride was still, quiet and very white.
When I got to the bus stop, I turned off my lights and waited. And as always, Noah showed up in no time at all. He had his mountain bike rig. So he was having fun in the snow. He stopped by fishtailing his bike and trying to throw up some snow. But the snow is a little wet for that kind of fun. Nevertheless, I could tell he was really enjoying himself.
The bus ride from the mall to downtown was uneventful. So was the ride to Starbucks from the bus. The parking lot was virtually empty when I pulled into the office. I locked my bike and went to the men’s locker room. Once I changed my clothes, I headed up to make coffee. The floor was quite empty when I dropped off my bag at my desk. So I had a quiet few moments to make some coffee.
And that’s when he asked the question. And my simple affirmative response was met with, “You’re crazy, man. You’re absolutely crazy.” I grinned. And I realized that what seemed quite simple and joyful to me was a marvel to this person. I am sure that there are any number of things that this man does that would seem to be marvelous to me. He may paint. Or he may be a carpenter. He may coach his kids sports teams. Or he may take care of an elderly parent. All of these things are positively marvelous.
But he saw my simple routine and marveled at it. I was quite astonished by this – and a little bit humbled. We have such a wonderful world. And I was hand-made by the God who created these wonders. And better still, he trusts me (and all of my fellow dwellers on this spinning rock) to be his faithful stewards of this planet full of wonders. I awoke to the still and the quiet of a beautiful snowfall. And God whispered in my ear. And when I finished all my normal “start-up” activities, He spoke to me again – through a co-worker. And his words were simple: “You’re crazy, man. You’re absolutely crazy.” And I imagined Him laughing with delight. Thanks, Lord. I’ll take that as a crazy compliment!
Author: Lorin Olsen
My Seinfeld Week
I look for a weekly theme each time I make a post to this site. And this weekend, I feel like I’m writing a Seinfeld episode; I’m writing a post about nothing – or at least nothing in particular.
This week has been incredibly busy, though I couldn’t say that I accomplished anything very substantive.
- I’ve been busy at work trying to shepherd an application into production. And while I’ve been busy ironing out firewall rules, database schemas, and system administration processes, I still feel like there hasn’t been a big “win” this week.
- I’ve fiddled with lots of widgets, gizmos, and doodads for the home system. This includes: a new version of Songbird, a beta version of Vista SP2, switching from Windows Media Player to the VLC Media Player, changing desktop themes and backgrounds, switching from Twhirl to Tweetdeck, and a host of minor (and utterly unmemorable) other changes.
- Adam and I spent a couple of nights ironing out his winter schedule. On Tuesday, we went to a lacrosse planning meeting. I am really excited to see Tanner Briggs taking on the coaching responsibilities for the Shawnee Mission Lacrosse club. And Adam is really focused on having a good year and propelling the team to a league chamionship win.
- On Wednesday, Adam and I went to a basketball planning meeting. This is an odd thing because Adam could be on the school’s basketball team. But he has some fundamental disagreements with the coaching staff at SMS. So he’s decided not to try out for the school team. Instead, he is organizing a team for the local boys basketball league. Traditionally, this league is preparatory for the high school programs. But this year, they are having a high school league – for kids who aren’t on their high school teams. And Adam has asked me to be the coach. I am honored – and perplexed. I know little about basketball – except what I’ve picked up from my kids. And I am legally blind. So I won’t be able to call any plays from the sidelines. I think this may actually be why he asked me. I believe that this team will be his winter lark. OK, I’ll accept that – especially since last winter’s lark landed him in trouble with the law! So everyone will get a few posts about the blind coach. Maybe there is a television script in this venture/fiasco.
- Cindy and I went to her company’s Christmas party. I loved the fact that a real minister had a real invocation “in Jesus’ name.” Way to go! Call me old-fashioned. But I am unashamed to admit that Christmas is about the Christ (not the presents and deorations). If someone is offended by prayers in Jesus’ name, they shouldn’t be at a Christmas party. And I got a bonus out of this party: I had to get a new two-piece suit. It looks sharp – despite the person wearing it. 😉
- My second daughter had a good game on Friday night. She even got interviewed on Atlanta radio. She finally seems to be getting in a groove. I’m still praying that her teammates start giving her the ball a little more.
So I am back to the point where I began this post. I really don’t have a nugget of wisdom to share or a specific topic to highlight. I don’t even have an inspirational anecdote to share. Instead, I am left wondering why I have not been able to focus on something crisp and pithy. But I think that this is true of most of life. It’s not always about meeting a goal and achieving some grand purpose. Instead, it is about doing the things that need to be done for yourself and the ones you love.
-Roo
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
I love the holidays. I love the joyful time with my family. I love the good cheer in everyone’s heart. But my cheerful heart is troubled this holiday season. The litany of challenges need not be fully itemized. But here are a couple of the things that leave me apprehensive:
- Our economy is in one of the greatest upheavals that it has ever experienced – at least, during my lifetime.
- Families across the nation are struggling to survive this upheaval. Thousands of hardworking and dedicated people now find themsleves without jobs. And it is horrifying to realize that you can no longer meet the needs of your family – especially during this overly-commercialized time of year.
- We have seen desperate people take desperate steps just to overcome their economic bondage. In Africa, these people have seized ships on the high seas – after all, they’re pirates. But they live amongst the normal fishing villagers of Somalia. And the fishing villagers seem willing to protect and defend them. They have felt econimic despair for generations. And that despair has been transformed into anger and hatred.
- We are still mired in international conflicts against a shadowy foe who seeks to extinguish our very existence.
- We have seen that foe kill almost 300 people in an orgy of hate and despair during the past week.
As I write and read this list, I am very frightened for the future that may await us. I see how legitimate concerns and fundamental inequalities can be transformed into irredeemable despair. Indeed, it is despair that has transformed a number of Afghans, Pakistanis, Somalis and Palestinians into the agents of terror which the West so easily demonizes.
These and many other challenges now face this world and the peoples of the world. In the last generation, many nations of the world turned to communism as the means of righting these wrongs. Indeed, even today, nations like Venezuela have turned to agrarian “communism” in a vain effort to transform their circumstances.
And a generation before that, we saw the Nazis exploit the fear and despair of Europe in a murderous effort to seize control of the world. A horrific economic tsunami led to the collapse of Germany and the rise of Nazi Germany. In the warm confines of our comfortable houses, we wondered why the German people would ever despair and turn to such evil. But we are now faced with an economic tsunami that may well challenge every one of us.
But amidst the chaos, fear and mounting pressure of despair, I also see the transformational power of hope. In the United States, the people have voted to “hope” and work for a better future. Don’t misunderstand these words. I did not (and do not) support the politics of Barack Obama. But President-elect Obama has revealed one of the most fundamental truths about America: we are a hopeful and a decent people. I certainly pray that his message of hope will be the start of an amazing resurgence of America’s good will.
Yes, there are inequalities in our nation. And there are some indecencies which boggle the mind. But at our very core, we are a people that rise to challenges rather than shirk them. We embrace a fair challenge. And we will fight against indecencies that we see around us. As a people, we are uniquely willing to look in the mirror, recognize our own shortcomings, and strive to overcome them.
But while we can change much, the fundamentals of this world have never changed. There have always been inequalities. And every one of us can be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses. Despite the grand and noble gains that America has represented, we are only a representation of the best that can be achieved by fallen man.
And thus enters the infant. At this time of year, we are reminded that one infant can transform the world. And this is such an upliting message: one child CAN transform the world. But if we leave this as a story of hope triumphing over despair, we miss the real point of the story. There was something extraordinary and special about this child. This is not the story of ANY child making a differnce; it is the story of one special child making the difference. If the story of the virgin conception wasn’t enough to proclaim the uniqueness of this child, then the host of angels proclaiming His birth might remind us of the fact that this was not any ordinary child. This child was unique and unrivaled in the history of the world.
While the world of Israel was under siege from the cruelty of Rome, God delivered His own solution. He did not rely upon the warm-hearted good cheer of the dozens of messiahs that arose throughout Israel. Instead, God chose to enter a world that had willingly and intentionally spat into His face. His children had abandoned Him – and then cried out to Him when their despair became too great.
Are we not in the very same situation? For generations, God has blessed us. And God has used us to help others. But we have come to rely upon ourselves and not rely upon Him. We see our own greatness and fail to remember that God is the only truly great one. Whatever we have achieved is because we have trusted Him to guide us. God led people to this nation. God cared for those people. Indeed, the Thanksgiving holiday is a testament to trusting God for our daily bread.
But now we are at a crossroads. God is asking us to trust Him (and not ourselves). God is asking us to care for one aother. God is asking us to set aside our own selfish sense of accomplishment. We need to let our glory pass and remember the glory of the Child. We must remember that this child came to die on our behalf. The birth of this child is hope. But the death of the Christ is victory. If we want to become all that God has in store for us, we cannot stop at hope. We must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves – and we must accept the sacrifices of others. And we must accept the most important of all sacrifices: the substitutionary death of the Christ.
Every time you hear the bells ringing this holiday season, remember the promise of hope – and remember the responisbility of the Christmas child.
-Roo
Homecoming for the Holiday
What’s missing from this picture? My second daughter would say that the green bean casserole is missing – even though there are fresh green beans in plain sight. My son would argue for a different pie configuration (with more whipped cream). I would wonder where the pearl onions and pork sausage were. But everyone sees the most important thing missing from this table: the people.
When the Pilgrim’s were in the new land, they had one another. They didn’t have their family. Nor did they have the things that they were accustomed to from their homeland. But they had one another – and they had new friends. And for me, those are the most important things to remember as the holiday approaches. I will probably post some sappy and maudlin missive on Thursday. But for now, I’m thinking about one thing: how we’ll get the family assembled for this week.
Meredith is coming home today. She lives about ninety minutes east of here. But she is headed home for the week. She’s had a great year – so far. She is doing well in her graduate program. And she has a good job on campus that is paying for most of her education. What little is left is being paid for by a student loan. And I am so grateful that there are people (beyond Mom and Dad) that are willing to invest in her future. Their investment will be repaid with interest – of course. But it is nice to remember that others believe in the importance of education – and the transformational effect it can have on our culture.
Dana is headed of to Clemson today. She will be playing a game against the lady Tigers. It will be her first game against an ACC school. I guess I’m going to have to root for her rather than the home conference. We’re praying that she has a great game. Once the game is over, she will be spending the holidays with a friend of hers in Georgia. We’ve told her that she needs to bring food. So I’m guessing that she will make her favorite: green bean casserole. For her, green beans come from a can and go well with mushroom soup and fried onions. And she does a fantastic job of this. Truly green bean casserole is her comfort food. It’s always great to have a little comfort in your life. And it is so ironic that core comforts can be assembled from parts you get “off the shelf.” Joy is found in the little things – not just the elaborate things.
Bailey will be coming home from KU as well. At this point, Meredith is probably going to meet her at KU and they will both come home together. Then Bailey will be off to see her high school friends perform in the “Sweeney Todd” musical. In many ways, she has her feet in different worlds. I’m loving to watch as she gingerly moves both feet to her new world. And I am so proud of her as she continues to make some very tough decisions. It’s important to know that while most decisions are minor, some decisions actually impact other folks. And some decision can even hurt. But she is still making these decisions. And as long as she keeps Jesus as her wing man, I’m trusting that she will grow into the person that God has envisioned.
And at this time, Adam will be home – as much as a teenage boy is wont to be. Like most young men, he doesn’t think very far beyond the end of his nose. But he has had a unique set of circumstances that have helped him to realize that there are consequences for the good and bad decisions that he makes. And not every consequence is as desirable as the “choice” that you made. While I can prattle on and preach about this ad nauseum, I’ll summarize: Adam is learning the lessons he needs to learn in order to become a good man. And while I wouldn’t have chosen the path he is pursuing, I am glad hat he is beginning to understand that choices and consequences are part of the eternal dance that comes with free will. Most people avoid the consequences of free will. But people who are truly alive relish the reality that life is complex and uncertain. And we must learn to always take others along with us on our voyage through life
So the kids are assembling. And Mom and Dad are so very grateful for this. And I will list all the “thanks” on Thursday. But in the meantime, we are setting the table. And everyone knows that a good Thanksgiving feast requires a lot of preparation. So we are preparing a feast even as we have been preparing as the feasters.
-Roo
Let’s Set Our Music Free
I am not someone who believes in music piracy. I buy music. And if I download a song for some reason, I have to go out and buy the music at some point in the near future. I guess I have a finely tuned inner voice (call it the Holy Spirit) that doesn’t let me get away with stealing. But I do believe that I should be able to listen to music (that I have purchased) anywhere and everywhere I go. For this reason, I rip every CD I have into MP3 format. And when I download music, I try and buy music that is not encumbered with DRM technology.
But like most music enthusiasts, I have had to settle with Apple’s music ecosphere for far too long. I do love iTunes. But it is a very pretty walled garden. I can have anything and everything that Steve Jobs wants me to have. I can even have video and games – as long as I buy them from him. And I can even have “DRM free” music (called iTunes Plus) – as long as I buy it from the iTunes store.
But if I buy content from other sources (or rip it from obscure CD’s I own), it is dreadfully difficult to add it to my iTunes library. Yes, I can use Amazon’s store and install their add-on software. And I can use MusicPass (from Sony/BMG). But both of these technologies have an uneasy feel about their integration with iTunes. It’s all getting better and better. But integration advances are under the control of Apple. All they have to do is change iTunes versions and unilaterally disable anything done by other people (or organizations).
And that’s where Songbird comes in. Songbird is an open source media player that is based upon the Mozilla foundation. And this week, the Songbird team is getting very close to offering a competitive product to the iTunes ecosphere. This week, they released the second release candidate for Songbird 1.0. And while they ask bloggers and editors to refrain from comments until the software is stabilized, I still have to provide a glimpse into what will soon be available – a world free from the rules of Steve’s Matrix.
Songbird does the basics with ease. You can organize all of your music/media files with ease. And the interface is familiar enough. I am a little concerned that too much of iTunes’ “look-and-feel” may be incorporated. And with that, there is risk that Apple may take legal action against the Songbird team. But there are enough differences in “look-and-feel” that this will be difficult to prove in a court of law. And I hope that Apple will not challenge Songbird in court. Rather, I hope that Songbird will be seen as the competition that Apple needs in order to make their product even better.
While Songbird gets the basics down cold, it is the new and innovative touches that are so much more impressive. Songbird is trying to make a competitive ecosphere to the iTunes ecosphere – and they are doing a pretty good job of it so far. So what is the Songbird team doing rght:
– There is an add-on / plugin architecture that is showing some initial success – and a whole lot of promise. If developers start creating new add-ons, the future promise of the platform will be amazing. As new technologies are developed, they can be plugged straight into Songbird. So we won’t have to wait upon a new mega-release from Apple. Rather, we can incorporate those changes that we need from any number of competing software developers.
– The core HTML rendering engine (Gecko) is quite an improvement over the rendering that is based upon the Safari engine. Yes, there is a great deal of similarity between Gecko and Webkit. And there is a lot to like about Webkit. But Gecko is still a superior application infrastructure – at least, for now.
– Using the add-on foundation, there is some excellent Last.fm integration already available. There is insufficient room to discuss all the cool things about Last.fm. But here is the short version: Last.fm is an exceptional system for collecting immense amounts of metadata about personal music libraries. And I can use Last.fm to build a community around the music I listen to, the music of my friends, the music of my favorite bands, and the music of bands I might like to listen to. And whereas the Last.fm folks do have a plugin for iTunes, the integration in Songbird is “out of the box” – and can be revised/extended via the add-on / plugin framework.
– There are a couple of very good add-ons for the Twitter community. Unlike the iTunes add-on (from Last.fm), I have direct control over which songs I want to tweet about. So I can send an occasional tweet about who I’m listening to – rather than flooding my Twitter feed with every song every few minutes. This is incredibly important as I want folks to know when I’m listening to music – but don’t want to swamp them with a flood of tweets. When I was scrobbling all 5500+ songs in my library (over a two-week period) this would have been catastrophic to my followers.
– There are some very cool add-ons that are still a little bit unstable. For example, I really like having access to a lyrics database that is online. But at this point in time, the lyrics add-on is a little unstable. So I’ve turned it off. But the fact that I can enable and disable this features with very little effort is so very encouraging to me. It shows that the plugin framework is robust and manageable.
– I can’t wait to see the next series of plugins that will show up. Personally, I am very interested in seeing Musicbrainz integration. Musicbrainz has a very nifty song fingerprinting system that can be used for obscure CD’s that might not be in Apple’s library. And up until a few months ago, this included Beatles CD’s. So I used MusicBrainz to determine which album art and which ID3 tags to associate with CD’s I couldn’t get recognized by iTunes. Again, I would rather work with a community source of metadata rather than a corporation that seeks to “provide” and “manage” metadata about my music.
There are a couple of things that still need to be ironed out before the final 1.0 release. Some of the add-ons that are available need to be stabilized. And some of the core needs some performance tweaks. And I still think there are some race conditions present in hte Vista code. But I’m sure that will all get ironed out in the next couple of weeks.
But the single largest element that is missing is the tight integration of a music store. I’m a little conflicted over this item. Songbird really needs this to be competitive. But it needs to be done in a way that any number of stores could be used. I would love to see integration with Wal-Mart, Amazon and a host of others. But I wonder how that can be done in short order. In any case, I really would love to see cleaner and sharper purchasing capabilities. That way, I can buy new songs I find. I don’t want to go through ridiculous hoops in order to purchase and import music into my library.
Bottom Line: Songbird is an exceptional platform for building an entire music ecosystem. And its architecture is fundamentally extensible in a way that iTunes never will be. I can’t wait to see how my new media player evolves.
-Roo
Let's Set Our Music Free
I am not someone who believes in music piracy. I buy music. And if I download a song for some reason, I have to go out and buy the music at some point in the near future. I guess I have a finely tuned inner voice (call it the Holy Spirit) that doesn’t let me get away with stealing. But I do believe that I should be able to listen to music (that I have purchased) anywhere and everywhere I go. For this reason, I rip every CD I have into MP3 format. And when I download music, I try and buy music that is not encumbered with DRM technology.
But like most music enthusiasts, I have had to settle with Apple’s music ecosphere for far too long. I do love iTunes. But it is a very pretty walled garden. I can have anything and everything that Steve Jobs wants me to have. I can even have video and games – as long as I buy them from him. And I can even have “DRM free” music (called iTunes Plus) – as long as I buy it from the iTunes store.
But if I buy content from other sources (or rip it from obscure CD’s I own), it is dreadfully difficult to add it to my iTunes library. Yes, I can use Amazon’s store and install their add-on software. And I can use MusicPass (from Sony/BMG). But both of these technologies have an uneasy feel about their integration with iTunes. It’s all getting better and better. But integration advances are under the control of Apple. All they have to do is change iTunes versions and unilaterally disable anything done by other people (or organizations).
And that’s where Songbird comes in. Songbird is an open source media player that is based upon the Mozilla foundation. And this week, the Songbird team is getting very close to offering a competitive product to the iTunes ecosphere. This week, they released the second release candidate for Songbird 1.0. And while they ask bloggers and editors to refrain from comments until the software is stabilized, I still have to provide a glimpse into what will soon be available – a world free from the rules of Steve’s Matrix.
Songbird does the basics with ease. You can organize all of your music/media files with ease. And the interface is familiar enough. I am a little concerned that too much of iTunes’ “look-and-feel” may be incorporated. And with that, there is risk that Apple may take legal action against the Songbird team. But there are enough differences in “look-and-feel” that this will be difficult to prove in a court of law. And I hope that Apple will not challenge Songbird in court. Rather, I hope that Songbird will be seen as the competition that Apple needs in order to make their product even better.
While Songbird gets the basics down cold, it is the new and innovative touches that are so much more impressive. Songbird is trying to make a competitive ecosphere to the iTunes ecosphere – and they are doing a pretty good job of it so far. So what is the Songbird team doing rght:
– There is an add-on / plugin architecture that is showing some initial success – and a whole lot of promise. If developers start creating new add-ons, the future promise of the platform will be amazing. As new technologies are developed, they can be plugged straight into Songbird. So we won’t have to wait upon a new mega-release from Apple. Rather, we can incorporate those changes that we need from any number of competing software developers.
– The core HTML rendering engine (Gecko) is quite an improvement over the rendering that is based upon the Safari engine. Yes, there is a great deal of similarity between Gecko and Webkit. And there is a lot to like about Webkit. But Gecko is still a superior application infrastructure – at least, for now.
– Using the add-on foundation, there is some excellent Last.fm integration already available. There is insufficient room to discuss all the cool things about Last.fm. But here is the short version: Last.fm is an exceptional system for collecting immense amounts of metadata about personal music libraries. And I can use Last.fm to build a community around the music I listen to, the music of my friends, the music of my favorite bands, and the music of bands I might like to listen to. And whereas the Last.fm folks do have a plugin for iTunes, the integration in Songbird is “out of the box” – and can be revised/extended via the add-on / plugin framework.
– There are a couple of very good add-ons for the Twitter community. Unlike the iTunes add-on (from Last.fm), I have direct control over which songs I want to tweet about. So I can send an occasional tweet about who I’m listening to – rather than flooding my Twitter feed with every song every few minutes. This is incredibly important as I want folks to know when I’m listening to music – but don’t want to swamp them with a flood of tweets. When I was scrobbling all 5500+ songs in my library (over a two-week period) this would have been catastrophic to my followers.
– There are some very cool add-ons that are still a little bit unstable. For example, I really like having access to a lyrics database that is online. But at this point in time, the lyrics add-on is a little unstable. So I’ve turned it off. But the fact that I can enable and disable this features with very little effort is so very encouraging to me. It shows that the plugin framework is robust and manageable.
– I can’t wait to see the next series of plugins that will show up. Personally, I am very interested in seeing Musicbrainz integration. Musicbrainz has a very nifty song fingerprinting system that can be used for obscure CD’s that might not be in Apple’s library. And up until a few months ago, this included Beatles CD’s. So I used MusicBrainz to determine which album art and which ID3 tags to associate with CD’s I couldn’t get recognized by iTunes. Again, I would rather work with a community source of metadata rather than a corporation that seeks to “provide” and “manage” metadata about my music.
There are a couple of things that still need to be ironed out before the final 1.0 release. Some of the add-ons that are available need to be stabilized. And some of the core needs some performance tweaks. And I still think there are some race conditions present in hte Vista code. But I’m sure that will all get ironed out in the next couple of weeks.
But the single largest element that is missing is the tight integration of a music store. I’m a little conflicted over this item. Songbird really needs this to be competitive. But it needs to be done in a way that any number of stores could be used. I would love to see integration with Wal-Mart, Amazon and a host of others. But I wonder how that can be done in short order. In any case, I really would love to see cleaner and sharper purchasing capabilities. That way, I can buy new songs I find. I don’t want to go through ridiculous hoops in order to purchase and import music into my library.
Bottom Line: Songbird is an exceptional platform for building an entire music ecosystem. And its architecture is fundamentally extensible in a way that iTunes never will be. I can’t wait to see how my new media player evolves.
-Roo
The Customer Is Always Right
According to Efrainm Turban, “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.”
The Setup
I worked at home yesterday. That is not the normal way I meet my executive’s expectations. Instead, I was staying home to meet my family’s expectations. And so begins a trail of disappointment…
When we bought the house (over twenty-one years ago), it was a relatively new house. And it had Anderson-built casement windows throughout the house. Since the house is aging, we are starting to notice that some of the windows are starting to deteriorate. And two casements in particular absolutely needed to be repaired/replaced. So a few weeks ago, we invited a sales representative from Home Depot to our house. Our desire was to have Home Depot replace the two deteriorating casement windows.
We chose Home Depot for two reasons. First, the sell Anderson windows. So we figured that they would be able to match the windows as closely as anyone else. Second, we had some experience with Home Depot acting as our project manager on a small household project. Last year, we had Home Depot replace the guttering on the entire house. And they did an excellent job. So when we determined that we needed to start replacing some of the 30-year old windows in the house, we decided to let Home Depot have a crack at the first few windows.
When the salesman came to the house, he measured the windows twice. And he highlighted the window that would best match our existing windows. This was critical as we weren’t replacing all of the windows at the same time. So a close match was important. He gave us a bid on the spot. And it was a fabulous price. So we accepted the bid. When he left, we were feeling quite exuberant about the situation. And then the other shoe started to drop.
Within thirty minutes, he called to tell us that he had made a horrible mistake on the price. He had charged us $900 less than he should have. We gulped and then told him to come back so we could fix the situation. I kinda thought that the original offer he made was a little low, but I gladly accepted a good deal. Now, we had to decide whether or not to fight. Since the salesman had made an honest mistake, we decided to accept the amended contract.
Once signed (again), the orders went into motion. We got a call from an admin assistant to the project manager. She informed us about who they were subcontracting to do the installation. And she told us about the amount of time we would need to wait since the windows were custom-sized to our household measurements. Once we got through all of this, we had to wait – about three weeks.
Yesterday, the appointed day of installation arrived. I took off work so I could meet the contractor and let him in the house. I got the typical call from the admin assistant who informed me that the contractor would be late. Since I always expect this, I wasn’t too upset. However, I was a little peeved that I had yet to hear from the project manager. After all, I was really paying Home Depot to be my project manager.
In this transaction, Home Depot arranged financing, hired the contractor, managed the manufacturer and scheduled the project. They got a very handsome premium for performing this service – and I got the luxury of trusting a professional to manage the project. This is the kind of project that either my wife or I should be able to handle in our sleep. But we didn’t want to. We both work hard at our jobs. And sometimes, it’s nice to pay someone else to do the management for you. Well, my cautionary tale to everyone who reads this is to never let someone else do something that you can do by yourself. But that is water under the proverbial bridge.
When the contractor measured the first window (to validate it), he realized that the window was the wrong size – it was an inch too big. When he told me this, I started to get a little frustrated. This should have been handled by the project manager who is responsible for ensuring that the manufacturer produces a product to our specifications. The PM failed. Fortunately, the contractor noticed this before he removed the original window.
So the contractor and I tried to get in touch with the project manager. He was not available. So we spoke with his admin assistant who apologized for the error and promised that everything would be taken care of. So we decided to focus on the second window. At least we would have one new window!
Wrong again. After removing the old casement, the contractor noticed that the hinges on the window were in the wrong place. The two frames were supposed to be hinged on the outside of the window frame. Instead, the were hinged on the inside. Indeed, this was something that we specifically mentioned to the salesman. And he had scribbled something to ensure that it was properly noted. But now we had a problem: we had a hole in the wall of our house. And we had a window that would fit – but was otherwise unacceptable. So we had to call the office once again.
We called the office to discuss the entire situation. We were told that they would install the errant window and then replace it when a proper window arrived. We decided that this was alright. At this point in time, I was quite short with the assistant. I wasn’t rude – but I wasn’t polite either. At this point in time, we had experienced the following errors: 1) a bad price quote, 2) a late contractor, 3) a wrongly sized window, and 4) a wrongly configured window. Throughout this entire process, we had yet to speak with the project manager. In any event, the contractor installed the temporary window so we wouldn’t have air infiltration (when the temperature dropped below freezing later in the day). He took one old window and the one wrongly sized new window and left.
At this point, I figured that we were done for the day. I figured that nothing else could go wrong. Boy, was I ever wrong. When my wife cam home, she immediately noticed that the frame itself was not even close to the one that was installed previously. We expected minor differences. But the difference between the new window and the windows throughout the rest of the house was alarming. [Note: I would never notice this as I am not very visually adept.]
So now we need to call Home Depot and have them get their salesman out here again. We have to ensure that he orders the right style of window as well as the right size of window. And we need to do this today.
The Service Paradigm
This entire fiasco started with a fundamental failure in communications. First, the salesman did not properly record what the customer wanted. Second, the salesman did not record the proper pricing/cost of materials for the project. Third, the project manager did not validate the manufactured goods when they arrived. Fourth, the project manager did not properly schedule the contractor to ensure timely arrival on the site. Fifth, the project manager was not available to rapidly address and resolve problems. Finally, no one really spent the time to ensure that the customer’s expectations were met – or adjusted as the situation changed. Instead, this entire situation has become a blog posting about customer service.
As companies like Home Depot move from a traditional retail delivery model to a service-oriented model, they must adapt to the needs of the customer. And they must create a communications and feedback-rich environment. And the person to do this was the project manager. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.
But it did start to happen in a different way. I decided to tweet my frustration. I noted that I was struggling with Home Depot to resolve some customer satisfaction issues. I didn’t say bad things about Home Depot. I just tweeted what I was doing. And within fifteen minutes of posting the tweet, I had a response from a Twitter account associated with Home Depot customer service. Home Depot gets high marks for this.
And it gets a little better. Sarah (the person associated with the tweet response) hooked me up with the right customer service queue (via email). So I think I am on the path to getting this resolved – at least, I hope so. We will soon see. But a person was using scanning technology to find customer service complaints. That person contacted me and directed me to a different service channel. Brilliant. They didn’t try and solve it on Twitter. [BTW, that would have been horrible because public outbursts in 140 character chunks cannot be good for brand image.] It is this process of blending technology and the personal touch that impressed me the most. Let’s hope that the next steps by Home Depot are equally as adept.
And then I did a little research myself. I had called the PM – or attempted to reach him. I had tweeted my issue. I had sent a summary email to Home Depot. I began writing a blog post. And now I decided to look for social media channels for customer service. And I quickly ran across GetSatisfaction.com. This service is a social networking web site that is tailored for customer service. It links customers to company contacts (or employees that want to help their customers). It stores data on other customers’ troubles in a searchable infobase. And it can cross-post to Twitter and other services. In many ways, this service is the start of something quite innovative. If it were fully realized, I would readily use it as a primary channel for getting feedback to Home Depot. But the service is still evolving. And it really needs strong linkages to formal support teams within companies. But it is a great start. I can’t wait to see how it evolves.
But in the meantime, I am forced to manage this incident myself. I sure hope that I can get the Home Depot project manger to be fully engaged as he should be the one locus of support for the customer. Indeed, involvement of a professional project manager was the real reason that I spent a premium for Home Depot’s involvement. Let’s hope that their PM can get fully engaged and can resolve these issues post haste.
-Roo
^ Turban, Efraim (2002), Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131854615
Social Media Schizophrenia
It is Saturday afternoon and I’m spent. This week has been full of lows – and highs. Here is the brief rundown:
1. My Country – The lows: The election has confirmed my belief that conservatives are now in the wilderness. The Republican party got thumped in the election – and deservedly so. The only thing the Republicans didn’t lose was the ability to conduct Senate filibusters. Everything else was washed away in the tidal wave of anti-Bush sentiment. And if I could have voted up/down on Bush alone, I would have joined the masses. But I was unwilling to cede all power to the Democrats simply to send a message to the Republican party.
The highs: As I noted last week, the rejection of the current Republican party establishment is a GOOD THING. We need to purge ourselves of encumbrances like “party affiliation” and “reaching across the aisle” to embrace watered-down policies. Don’t misunderstand me. I am in favor of embracing our fellow Americans – even when we disagree. But let’s not be so willing to compromise our principles in order to be loved by all. The prophets of the Old Testament dd not worry about whether their message was accepted by their listeners (and readers). Rather, they spoke truth to power. And that is what the conservatives in exile must begin to do.
I think I may be writing a whole lot more about this in the future. But for now, know that I am both disheartened as well as elated. I don’t believe that conservatism has been rejected. Indeed, we haven’t seen real, honest-to-goodness conservatism for quite a while. So now is our chance to proclaim that truth.
In the meantime, I am so incredibly proud of my country. First, there was tremendous participation in this election. Second, we took one huge step towards erasing a legacy of social schisms. Our forefathers struggled about whether to include emancipation of slaves into our Declaration of Independence. The first step towards John Adams vision of equality came with the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln. The second step came with the US Civil War. The third step came with the civil rights efforts of the fifties (esp. the US Armed Forces) and the Civil Rights Act of the sixties. And the most recent step came with the election of an African American President. This was truly a remarkable election that every American should be proud of. It demonstrates all of the best things about America.
2. My Family – The lows: My middle daughter has been having a very tough time at school. I really don’t want to go through all of the details as this blog is publicly available – and her challenges are very private. But suffice it to say that she started the week very disheartened.
The highs: After several days of struggling with herself and seeking the counsel of others, she has come to some decisions. In candor, I do agree with her decisions. But I am still brokenhearted as I don’t know if she is fully invested in her decisions. Indeed, I suspect that she is only grudgingly accepting he unanimous counsel of others. But she has taken the first steps towards returning to the mission that God has set out for her. I’m praying that God speaks to her in intimate and affectionate ways. I’m praying that she sees His hand guiding the way – even while His other hand is lifting her up to keep her from stumbling.
My third daughter came home for the weekend. And she brought seven friends with her. They came to KC so they could experience First Fridays in the KC arts district . They were all thrilled to walk around art exhibits, munch on appetizers and act all artsy-fartsy. OK, that is harsh. I can’t truly appreciate the visual arts because of my poor eyesight. But I really shouldn’t discount the joy that some people receive when looking at a wonderful piece of art. Fortunately, they all enjoyed the art and the joi de vivre they experienced.
BTW, Bailey has some great friends. They spoke with us. They laughed with us. They discussed politics with us. And they ate our food. So a good time was had by all.
And the biggest family high point this week was my wife’s return to full-time employment. Three months ago, her previous employer had to terminate a large number of employees. And my wife was assigned to projects that were being reduced. So she was released. And while I know exactly how Cindy felt, I couldn’t really help bear her burden. She has had to bear a lot of the emotional burden herself.
But as of this past Monday, she is now fully employed. And her work is both more challenging and more rewarding than her previous assignments. In almost every way, she has been kicked up the work ladder. For this, I am so very grateful to a God that has met our family needs while He guided her to the right interviews with the right people. Now I’m paying for her success with a new team and a new company.
3. My Job – The lows: One of the projects that I was working on was halted. The software worked. The inter-corporation communications worked. But the product was still canned. And the basic reason for the project termination was the general economy today. Our key financial partner declined to under-write the loan instruments that were pivotal to the product. So the product has been suspended – at least for now.
The highs: While the one product was terminated, the overall system will be used for other products this season. So work proceeds. And even if it didn’t, I have so many other projects that I am working on. I’m not worried about my continued employment. Nor am I worried about my standing in the eyes of executive leadership. In many ways, I have the privilege of being considered a “go to” person in the organization. So I am quite pleased.
4. My Twitter Egosphere – The lows: About a week ago, I was reading a note from Jennifer Leggio (a freelance writer for Ziff-Davis) about her philosophy concerning following and unfollowing people on Twitter. Actually the article was about Qwitter, an app to track who quits following you (and what the last posted tweet was before they quit following you). It is a true vanity app.
Early in the week, I got a note from Qwitter that Jennifer had unfollowed me. Normally, I don’t care about who follows me. But this time, it actually struck a raw nerve. After everything else that happened this week, I actually felt a little upset that someone I respected had unfollwed me. I didn’t feel so bad that I sent Jennifer a note. But I did feel bad enough to tell Noah about it.
The highs: Noah sent a quick note to Jennifer and asked her what had happened. It turns out that I hadn’t offended her with anything I had said. Rather, she was having Twitter problems and inadvertently unfollowed a ton of people. So Jennifer sent me a very heart-warming note apologizing for unfollowing me. That was truly unexpected. But it occurred at the same time that everything else was swing upward as well. So this warm note and ego boost came when everything else was on an upswing.
5. My Social Media Metaverse – The lows: I have way too many social media networks that I am part of. The current list includes: Twitter, identi.ca, Friendfeed, Brightkite, Del.icio.us, Google Reader, Flickr, GoodReads, StumbleUpon, GMail, Jabber, GTalk, AIM, Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Last.fm, Blip.fm, and a few other services. I am often overwhelmed by all of this. So I’ve focused on Friendfeed as my social media aggregator. And the folks from Friendfeed have now added the ability for Friendfeed posts to be sent to an IM account. In my case, I’ve decided to try this with my GTalk account.
The low associated with all this integration is that I have so much social media stuff and it is now funneling to one place – me. I can’t just turn stuff off. I have grown accustomed to the buzz. I hate being swamped. But I love being informed of all sorts of things at the same time. I have so many inputs now arriving at my frontal lobe. And every beep, tweet, blip and alert is begging for me to switch focus. It’s great to be connected. And it is a real pain to be connected. But as of now, I can’t imagine not being connected. I feel like an addict that just needs one more hit of stimulation. Arghhh.
The highs: After the addict comment, I don’t need to repeat the highs associated with social media and networking . But I am quite excited about the levels of integration that are starting to coalesce into something almost discernible. As everything begins to congregate through Friendfeed, the link to IM poses an amazing integration point. With XMPP based IM integration, it will be possible to set up processes that run on my system – and under my control. These processes can be intelligent agents that will consume XML from an XMPP server. And as XMPP and OpenID are starting to come closer to one another (see http://openid.xmpp.za.net/), the possibilities become quite mind-bending.
Whew. That list just skims the surface of highs/lows for this week. There really was so much more. But amidst all the sensory and emotional input that is causing my “virtual” schizophrenia , there is one thing that remains constant. No matter how much is going on in this world, I know that my God loves me. And I know that however I feel (whether high or low), nothing can separate me from that love.
Romans 8:38-39 – For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things yet to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Welcome the Wilderness
We stand at a pivotal moment for all conservatives in America. In the past, social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and pro-military Republicans banded together and elected Ronald Reagan as a standard-bearer for our vision. Since then, we have “held our noses” while voting for a string of moderates: President George H.W. Bush (in two elections), Bob Dole and two elections with President George W. Bush. [It is important to note that many conservatives thought they were electing a kindred spirit in George W. Bush. Time (and a few trillion dollar programs) has proven this hope to be quite misplaced.
But the true conservatives in America now have a chance to consider who they truly are – and what kind of future they will strive to build. It is time to reject the pleas of political party leaders who urge us to elect someone who is “acceptable enough” for them. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that we vote for Obama. Heaven forbid. Nor am I suggesting that we not vote for McCain. That choice must be made in the solitude of the voting booth. Instead, I want us to be prepared for a future that I fear awaits us.
In fairness, liberal Democrats have been waiting for their chance to shape the future of America. They have waited since Hubert Humphrey and since George McGovern. Carter was not a liberal Democrat. He was an ineffective moderate who was ill-prepared to lead this nation. And Clinton was definitely not a liberal Democrat. He was a calculating and politically successful pragmatist. And for the last eight (8) years, liberal Democrats have had to wait through successive Republican victories for their next chance. But now, liberals can rejoice as they are on the cusp of achieving a watershed change – albeit with a stealth candidate.
And conservatives should take heart from the example of the long-suffering liberal Democrats. Since Ronald Reagan left office, the Republican party has been led by moderates, pragmatists and more than a couple of scoundrels. Some might argue that there have been conservative Republicans in power. And this is true. But at the highest levels of government, conservatism has not been practiced for a very long time.
Indeed, it is absurd for anyone to think that George W. Bush was a conservative. He and his Administration have been responsible for several of the largest government expansions ever. This includes the following major “accomplishment”: the largest health care program ever (in the form of prescription drug coverage), and the largest governmental takeover of private property ever (in the form of the most recent mortgage bailouts).
Similarly, liberal Democrats have had to “hold their noses” while Clinton systematically dismantled the programs of the Great Society. They saw welfare programs disassembled in favor of pay-for-work programs. And liberals have seen affirmative action and social justice programs transformed into watered down versions of the original programs launched in the sixties.
On the cusp of the most dramatic shift in the political landscape since Reagan, conservative Republicans need to reflect upon what is still to be done – not what will be undone in a liberal administration. We need to be energized by the things they truly believe in. Indeed, we need to learn not to settle for “good enough.” We need to strive towards the unassailable goals of limited government and personal responsible. In my mind, the best palliative for a possible liberal victory is in knowing that we can survive exile under a “liberal tyrant” – just as we survived the tyrannies of George III. We can survive the tyrannies of a liberal Congress just as we survived the tyrannies of fascism and communism last century. And we can emerge from such an exile with a renewed fervor for the things that really matter.
In many ways, we must be forced to realize the errors of our ways. Like a repentant sinner sitting in the pews, the conservative culture in America must “step forward” and admit its sins. We must ask for forgiveness from our fellow Americans. Indeed, we have not given our best. We have been willing to settle for “good enough.” We have been willing to compromise our very essence. But that time is over. Like the repentant sinner, we must first confess – and then we must put our new-found commitment into action. We must decline the temptations to seek minor advances via compromise. Instead, we must stick to our principles and forge ahead – despite the short-term costs.
If we don’t win next Tuesday, let’s welcome the crucible of the wilderness. It is there where God molds prophets and leaders. We must seek to build a moral argument that was plainly understood by our founders: “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” (Thomas Paine)
From Vanity to Transformative Energy
It has been invigorating – and startling – to see how social networking has been used during this election cycle. When our presidential campaign began (over two years ago), the pinnacle of Internet technology (in politics) was the static website, the email distribution list and the online cash register. Basically, it was a testament to first-generation web technologies. Yes, there were exceptions (like some of the forays of Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign). But the de rigeur Internet investments were fairly pedestrian.
Since the last presidential election cycle, there has been a whole lot of maturing that has occurred. First, the technology itself has matured. We have gone from unidirectional content publishing to multi-channel advertising and bi-directional communications and involvement. Today, a supporter can subscribe to any number of channels and/or feeds that interest them. Followers can: provide their email address, read a candidates’ positions published on a website (or on Facebook or MySpace), or even see speeches on YouTube. Most politicians have a presence on Twitter (or Friendfeed, if they are truly forward-thinking). In short, politicians have many ways of getting their message to current and future supporters.
And this is a great start. But to go from broadcasting information to building a community of involved activits, a candidate must successfully blend Web 2.0 technologies with some personal “connection” to his or her supporters.
Like Howard Dean before him, Barack Obama has been able to capitalize on personal charisma and a fundamental “distrust of the older generation” to build his support base. If you are active on Twitter, it doesn’t take long to see the “personal” attachment that people have with Obama – regardless of the positions that he espouses. Indeed, I have seen many “conservative” people who have decided to vote for Obama because he has “connected” with them on more than a policy level. In many ways, this sense of connectedness is the same thing that Ronald Reagan was able to do with the “Reagan Democrats” during the 1980 campaign.
On the flip-side, John McCain has had little success achieving a sense of connectedness with his supporters. Most of his supporters are not “connected” to him or the campaign. Rather, they currently support McCain because they oppose Obama. In many cases, Republicans support McCain as their second choice candidate; many Huckabee, Romney and Giuliani supporters are only grudging supporters of McCain. And in many ways, this is so reminiscent of the 1976 campaign where many conservatves only grudgingly supported the candidacy of Gerald Ford.
But there have been two events that have altered the course of the McCaign campaing. The first was the nomination of Sarah Palin as the party’s vice presidential candidate. In many ways, Sarah has been able to “connect” to dissatisfied and disillusioned Republicans. At the same time, she has been able to reach a number of independent voters. Much of this reach beyond the party failthful is due to her energy, vitality and personal attractiveness. Indeed, she has been able to reach many people on a personal level. Indeed, many of the GOP faithful talk about their support for her rather than their support of McCain.
The second event was the elevation of Joe the Plumber. Through an odd set of circumstances, an “everyman” in Ohio has captured the hearts of many Americans. Many folks see him (or the ideal he symbolizes) as someone who represents their interests. They saw an indifferent Obama making decisions that will fundamentally alter their futures. And many folks don’t like that. Uncertainty often breeds the kind of fear that can affect elections. And the Joe the Plumber issue has created a great deal of uncertainty about Obama.
Fundamentally, both events demonstrate the simple fact that people want to support the familiar. They want to connect with their leaders. When McCain can offers two surrogates for their need to connect, many folks will gravitate towards those surrogates. When Obama offers himself as the person that can relate to mainstream America, then the polls swing in his favor. In short, people want to connect with their leaders.
And modern technology is all about “connectedness” and community. When systems and technolgoies draw folks together, they foster this spirit of community. And most Americans will willingly invest in communities of shared interests – whether they be Sunday School classes, churches, local school booster clubs or even political parties. People want to belong. And they will work for that sense of belonging.
In many ways, the use of technology in politics has finally moved from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. In the first generation, technology was used to fulfill the vanity of the candidate (or his/her followers). But with the advent of social networking and Web 2.0, we are truly seeing involvement of the citizens – and unleashing of their effort and energies.
In the final analysis, we have been created with a need to join together and serve one another. The rock band Switchfoot says it well: “We were meant to live for so much more; have we lost ourselves?” There is a fundamental part of the human heart that needs to be part of something bigger than our own selfish interests. We want to tell our children and our grandchildren how we were part of something transformative. Indeed, I believe that this is part of what made “the greatest generation” so great: they overcame econmic hardships as well as the tyrranies of totalitarian dictators. They were transformed from their pety and selfish concerns into a community of shared purpose and vision.
In politics, we can reach beyond ourselves – if we try. And with technology, we can reach others in amazing and innovative ways. But it is not the method that matters. In the end, it is the message that must transform us. In our current election, I pray that everyone takes a step back and asks whether they are supporting the position or the package. If we are supporting the package, please understand that we are often disappointed when we unwrap a package and learn that it is not everything that we had hoped for. Nevertheless, the act of reaching beyond yourself is one of the most transformative acts you will ever intitiate.
So get involved. Think and pray about your vote. And always remember to be grateful for the awesome privilege of getting to decide your own future.