Musings about politics, movies, music, art and all the other important things in life.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Time Travel and Other Scary Stuff

I've been a fan of science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid, largely because my older brother was such a huge fan of the genre (or genres, depending on how much of a sci-fi purist you are). Time travel was always a favorite theme and I loved getting lost in plots that involved a paradox, or two or three. Now that I'm a little older and time passes much more quickly than it did when I was 15, I am dealing with a different kind of time travel: the time travel that involves disappearing time.

Today is a very good case in point, or as Rod Serling would say, "Submitted for your approval." I usually have a To Do list for most of my day's work, a list I rarely complete. This morning, I had a couple of conference calls and a meeting; this afternoon was pretty open. So I figured I would get through several items on my ever-growing list and maybe make it shrink for a change. Hah! I did complete several projects, but somehow during the day, I managed to lose three hours of time. I felt like I was getting a lot accomplished, but I looked at the clock on my computer at about mid-afternoon (or so I thought) and it was actually 4:57.

It may sound like it isn't much of a big deal. We've all had those really busy days when you are running from one thing to the next and barely have time to eat a bite for lunch. But this was scary. My time gauge went completely out of whack.

See, I spent so much of the first part of my working career being acutely aware of time. Television news producers live and die by time. You are always aware of impending deadlines - the next next big story, the next newscast, whatever. You're always balancing chunks of time to fit your 30 or 60-minute news "hole." Here's a minute and a half for a story on a kidnapping, here's 30 seconds for a car chase (more if there's good video!), here's two minutes for the weather report and 20 seconds for the heartwarming tale of a duck being rescued from a storm drain. You always know how much time has passed and how much time is left. It's an occupational hazard that didn't go away when I left television news.

Until today. Blame it on too much to do in too little time or getting wrapped up in my work. I guess my biggest fear is that it really is a sign of old age. Ouch! That means it can only get worse from here on out.

Monday, September 20, 2010

I Love Technology

I've been working in the information technology industry for nearly a dozen years and I love almost every aspect of it, especially the toys. I'm not one of those people who can't live without technology, in fact, I relish the feeling of unwinding and unplugging on the weekends or on vacation. But when it comes to getting my job done, or even staying connected with friends and family, I just adore the tech toys.

So today, my bosses gave everyone at work the latest (and for many, the greatest) tech toy: a 62GB iPad. I've only had a chance to play with it for a few hours and I already love it. Not only can I read and write e-mail, browse the Internet and play games, I can watch movies from my Netflix account, read e-books (not that I will EVER give up my "real" books) and even write blog entries. Yup, I'm writing this on my new toy.

The on-screen type pad is a bit frustrating -- just like the one on the iPhone, so I've ordered a bluetooth keypad to go along with it. I am sure I'll find other issues with it. But right now, I like it so much, I think I may leave my laptop at home when I travel from now on, unless it's absolutely necessary. Have I mentioned how I love this new toy?

If you have one and would like to share tips and tricks, I'd love to hear them. I'll keep you posted on whether I still love my new toy in a few weeks or months. Right now, it's like Christmas morning -- for the big kids.