Forcing the issue on GTD

OK, so I bit the bullet on this one. 

Surmising that nothing would improve my understanding of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (known among my fellow geeks as GTD) AND improve my public speaking skills faster, I volunteered to give a lunchtime talk on GTD.

So far, my theory has been validated.  I’ve gone deeper into the GTD material than ever before, taking time to really think through the aspects that still seem to elude me.  As to whether the experience will help me improve as a public speaker, well, the proof will be in the pudding.  Certainly it hasn’t cured me of my tendency to still be preparing late in the game, though I was really glad when Scott Berkum’s hysterical and practical book, Confessions of a Public Speaker validated and solidified my vague belief that it was more important for me to understand what I thought about a topic than to know exactly what I was going to say.

Below I’ve posted the announcement that went out, written with valuable input from speech pathologist, verbal communications coach, and speaker Deborah Boswell.  I didn’t know what kind of response we’d get, and was shocked to find out that 61 people signed up that afternoon.  I think we were close to 80 at last count. 

But what really floored me was the survey results.  One of Deborah’s great speaking tips and practices is to get some information about the audience whenever possible.  Well, I have easy access through the organizer’s email list, so I created a survey at SurveyMonkey, and got almost 70 responses.  What shocked me was that over 60% had never heard of David Allen and less than 17% had read or bought the book.  I had assumed that Allen’s name and fame had drawn in lots of folks, but it turns out that productivity is a genuinely hot topic.

So score one for signing up for things that make you nervous as a good way to learn and get over it.  Announcement below.

Lunch & Learn

Thursday, December 9, 2010

11:30 am – 12:30 pm

LifeSize conferencing will be available for Mountainview, Phoenix, and Ottawa employees

Topic:  Cult, Gadget, or Game-changer: Is David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” Worth the Trouble?

                                       

Speaker:  Josh Russo, ADTRAN Project Manager

After a decade managing projects across multiple industries, you’d think that Josh Russo, Project Manager at ADTRAN, would have productivity (personal and professional) down to a science. No such luck. After 5 years of studying and imperfectly implementing Allen’s ideas, Josh believes in the effectiveness of the tips and techniques promoted in Getting Things Done.

Join us at our Lunch and Learn when Josh Russo will present an overview of Allen’s productivity system. Most importantly, Josh will share some of his own implementation struggles and successes. If you want to learn more about being productive on a daily basis, join us for this informative Lunch and Learn. You will walk away with productivity tips you can use right away and possibly inspiration to give David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, a closer look. 

Lunch will be provided.  Please enroll no later than Tuesday, December 7, 2010.

Instapaper

Instapaper is a super-simple way to set aside a web-page to read later. To get started you sign up with your email address (and a password, if you want), then drag their bookmarklet to your browser toolbar.

Then, any time you see an article of interest but don't have time to read it, simply click on the bookmarklet and forget it.

The service employs a text parser that lets you view only the article text and select images from the page, and you can print it out this way, too. Work well. This is the digital version of my habit of tearing articles out of magazines and putting them in a folder to read when I'm flying somewhere, and I love that. The only thing missing is a link that'd automatically print to a PDF.

You could say, "just bookmark it, lazybones." But you'd be right. I'm lazy. Bookmarking takes multiple clicks, even in Chrome - not worth the trouble for a lot of articles that I'm interested in, but don't need to remember long-term or read at all if I'm short on time. Besides which, I think I'm more likely to go to this page than to go to my bookmarks to find these links.

What pushes it over is the iPhone app (and I hope an eventual Android app) that'll let you access your "Read Later" list on the go. There's a free, ad-supported version and a $5 pro version that adds higher capacity and a bunch of other features, best being remembering where you left off and integrating with your email program for sending the link to a friend.

Cabbage is my friend. And yours. Part 1

Two new cabbage dishes this month.


I've loved sauerkraut since a high school exchange trip to Goettingen, Germany and replaced shredded lettuce with shredded cabbage in my tacos a decade ago after trying the Rico's Tacos at El Cid in the Missus' hometown of Oakhurst, CA. I cook with cabbage because I love the crunch and the slight bitterness. I've even garnished soups and the odd bowl of rice & beans with fine shreds of our humble leafy friend. But there's plenty of more substantial reasons to love cabbage. Alton Brown's Head Games episode of Good Eats clued me in to some of the health benefits of cabbage, and this article is the best-cited list I found of clinical findings that scream out "eat cabbage, die less!"


Then this month a sale on bone-in pork chops combined with the gift of a big butt (Boston Butt, that is) left me with lots of pork-centric meals to plan. Cabbage to the rescue!


First off, the chops. Out of propane for the grill, so planning to pan fry the suckers. The Missus LOVED these chicken sausage patties from Rachel Ray that led me to cook Granny Smith apples for the first time. Since apples and pork are a natural fit, it seemed like the Granny Smiths would cross over quite nicely. Here's what transpired...


1 med Granny Smith Apple (Diced)
1/2 Head Green Cabbage (Finely Shredded)
1 Med Sweet Onion (Julienned)
3 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)
Butter
Lots of Salt & Pepper to Taste


In the pork chop pan (with grease and burnt bits still intact) melt a tablespoon of salted butter and then added the diced apple and onion. Cook that until the onions are soft and almost translucent then throw in the garlic. Give the garlic 30 seconds or so (just till you can smell it cooking) then add another tablespoon of butter and your cabbage. Add some salt and pepper, toss things to get the cabbage coated, and cook it long enough for the cabbage to barely wilt. You want it warm and pliable, but with a good crunch left to it. Salt and pepper to taste and serve warm with the chops.


The Missus raved about this one on the first try, so that's a good sign. Alton Brown made his cabbage with some coriander, and I would have done the same if I'd had any handy. My favorite sandwich place in town adds coriander the Reuben sauerkraut, so I know I like what it does.


For part two, my twist on a classic to save the side dish that saved my Boston Butt. (Hint: The Missus can't eat mayo)

Build a Pizza Oven Out of a Weber Grill - Pizza - Lifehacker

Oh yeah, this is happening.

Build a Pizza Oven Out of a Weber Grill - Pizza - Lifehacker

Not my tweets

I feel dumb, but I've got someone else's Twitter feed on my blog.  Trying to fix it, for now, just know that's not me.

Pintos round II

OK, two key discoveries in round two with this recipe.

1.) Turkey Bacon does not fry up nice like pork bacon for the exact reason that most people eat turkey bacon in the first place - not enough fat!  But I don't care about reducing fat, I care about nice, crispy, smokey-tasting goodness (minus pork and nitrates).  Obvious solution? Add fat!  When you first start cooking turkey bacon, it releases some water (instead of the fat released by pork bacon).  Thankfully that water quickly evaporates, but unfortunately, you're then left watching dry strips of turkey quietly turning to jerky despite your hope that they'll somehow end up crispy and tempting.  In the midst of this travesty I got the bright idea to spray a little canola oil on there and, wouldn't you know it, I was fryin' again!  I had nice dark, crispy strips in minutes.

2.) I overcooked them last time - they were yummy, but a little too squishy.  What went wrong?  Cooked them just the way I wanted them, turned off the burner, and walked away.  Duh, they kept cooking!  This time I stopped at about the same point (maybe a bit earlier, even), but then took the pot off the hot burner for about five minutes then iced the pot in a sink full of ice water.  There may be a more elegant way to stop the cooking process, but that's what I learned back in the Bertucci's days.  I'm especially prone to "ice" food I intend to reheat later.

Hope this helps!

Just don't lose it with the ringer off!

OK, this is awesome, especially for those that don't have a land line.  Either way, you can tell I'm a fan of simple service websites, and WheresMyCellPhone is one I'll definitely need someday.

(Via Download Squad)