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February 28, 2006
Finished: The World is Flat
I have mixed feelings after reading TWiF. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an excellent book, and as you'll see in a moment, I believe it's an important read.
The problem, if that's what you want to call it, is that it didn't really challenge me. I pretty much agree with everything that the author is saying. I found myself thinking, "yep, yer right" over and over again.
The premise of the book is simply that due to our advancements in technology - most notably the internet - the world is getting effectively "flatter". More people in more diverse regions of the planet are being empowered to collaborate, and compete, in the global market.
I've remarked to several people in recent years that the world is getting smaller - essentially the same thing. I regularly get tech questions from around the planet. My wife regularly sells dolls and ships them around the world - not infrequently back over the very ocean that they came across in the first place. I communicate regularly with family and friends over seas - often more that friends a mere fraction of the distance away.
I've had to start thinking about time zones. (Haven't you?)
So naturally, while it's easy for me to endorse this book, because it echoes so much of what I already believe, as a personal read ... while I felt validated, I didn't really feel educated.
I will say that I am probably an aberration. Folks who are concerned about globalization, the world economy and forces that are playing out as the world gets flatter (or smaller) should read this book.
Or, to put it another way, more people should believe what I believe. :-) Or at least think about it. Certainly Friedman puts together a package much better than I ever could.
If any aspect of TWiF stretched my thinking it was the analysis of Islam, and the role it does, doesn't, can, could, but often chooses not to play in the world economy.
Most definitely food for thought.
Posted by Leo at 05:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2006
Expedia just lost me as a customer.
And it really hurts me to walk away. Unlike most customers, who'd probably have walked away long ago, I have an emotional attachment.
I worked on Expedia. When it first went live, I was the guy who installed the "final bits" in the MSN datacenter where it was housed at the time. My account is one of the first on Expedia. Somewhere within the bowels of Expedia, it's quite possible that some of my code remains.
And yet, no matter how hard I try, Expedia refuses to take my money.
Here's the story. Last week I finally decided to book a trip my wife, a friend and I would be taking to Austin in September. Very simple, three adults, Seattle to Austin, and a car at the destination. I laid out my itinerary, and went to purchase it. Several screens later, Expedia finally responded with "We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
And for the record, it's a Visa, and very valid. I used it today for other things, and no, we're nowhere near my credit limit.
Fine, I try again. I reenter the credit card information, since it's on file. Make sure the expiration date is current, and so on.
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
OK, fine. I'll use my American Express card. In fact I even have another trip already booked and paid for on Expedia using it, so that should work, right? Wrong.
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
Same story, I double check all the information, reenter the number and expiration date.
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
OK, ok... I get software. I even understand credit card processing can be a pain in the behind at times. I'll let it sit a couple of days so any transient problems can work themselves out. If it's a widespread issue, you know they'll be all over it.
Today I go to try again. You can guess where I'm headed:
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
Fine. We'll call customer service. To their credit, it was relatively easy to get to a real person, with whom we repeated the process and the results.
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
OK, we'll try the other (Amex) card again. This time she put me on hold when it failed, presumably to get help from someone.
She came back, and indicated that perhaps one of the flights in my itinerary wasn't available any more, so she wanted to rebuild it from scratch. Why an unavailable flight would manifest as a denied credit card is beyond me, but what the hey. Like I said, I'm patient, and wanted to cut my beloved Expedia some slack. Sure enough the return trip was no longer available, so she booked a different flight. Cool. No. You know where this is headed...
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
Back on hold I went.
After a couple of minutes she came back on and indicated that the airline (American Airlines) "was in the database" and that could be causing the trouble. Again, why a database issue like the would manifest as a denied credit card is beyond me, but I carried on. Her suggestion: wait 15 minutes and try again. So I did.
Actually I waited longer. Three or four hours.
"We are unable to authorize this credit card. Please use a different credit card."
Two different credit cards, that I know are good, work elsewhere, and use different back-end processes.
Apparently Expedia doesn't like me any more, and doesn't want my business.
Sigh. I feel so ... rejected. And as silly as it sounds, sad. Expedia was one of my "kids" :-).
Maybe that roaming gnome will have me.
(Postscript: yep. The gnome likes me. First time, without a hitch. A double pain for me, since Travelocity was "the competition" when we were building out Expedia. Sigh.)
Posted by Leo at 08:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2006
My Father Turned 90 Today
February 16, 1916. That's 90 years ago, and the day my dad arrived on planet earth. Actually, to be more specific, a small farmhouse in The Netherlands.
90 years and many miles later, he's living comfortably in a nursing home about 20 miles and 30 minutes from my home. He's a long time victim of Alzheimer's disease. We joke that he has the "good kind" of dementia, because he's content, even happy at times, and still has a positive outlook. "We keep on trying" is something he's said for many years, and told me once again today.
He still remembers me, and my wife Kathy. It's unclear how many other faces he might recall, but then ... there aren't that many faces left. I'm an only child. My mother passed away close to three years ago. His brother died many years ago, and his sister passed away just last year. In fact, he is my only remaining blood relative of that generation. Most all of his friends have gone on before him as well.
Perhaps it's for the best that he has that "good kind" of dementia. The kind where his wife still seems to visit him regularly, and he takes trips to visit some of those friends, or make business trips to facilities long gone. Occasionally he talks about getting a car again, but then thinks better of it. He lives an active life in his dreams or his dementia.
He doesn't remember, of course, that his wife has passed. As I said, he tells me occasionally that she'd just been there before I arrived, or that she "must be out shopping" and will most likely return soon. I actually like to hope that he might be right, and that my mom is, in fact, keeping him company and watching over him. It's what she did.
He's deaf as a doornail, so "conversations" are somewhat one-sided. Even then, it's sometimes difficult for him to complete a thought. I just listen. Even as a family in earlier days, it was enough to just be together - conversation wasn't always required anyway.
I debated about getting a birthday card, concerned that it might confuse him, but not so. It took him a minute to grasp that the words I was pointing to on the inside of the card said "Happy Birthday", at which point he said "Whaddaya know? I forgot!"
Indeed. :-)
"So how old am I?"
90! (using my best from-the-diaphragm projecting to a crowd LOUD VOICE - the staff always know when I'm visiting)
"Wow!"
Wow indeed. :-)
Though to be fair, it was last year he was telling everyone he was 100, so I wasn't sure how he'd react to the truth. Apparently he'd forgotten his earlier mis-remembering. 90's impressive enough, for so many reasons.
As I've said to many, I have a great deal of respect for, and am very grateful for, the staff at his nursing home, Providence Marianwood in Issaquah. I can't conceive of a better place for him.
Comfortable. Content.
We could all wish for as much.
Happy Birthday, Dad.
(I'll also use this to recommend to anyone who's read this far to consider A Letter To Myself.)
Posted by Leo at 05:51 PM | TrackBack
February 09, 2006
Hopelink
I'm on the board of a local non-profit agency, Hopelink. There's a surprising amount of poverty and families in crisis in what most assume is a very affluent community. Just because you don't always see it doesn't mean it isn't here.
So, what is Hopelink? The one-sentence version:
Hopelink helps homeless and low-income families get out of crisis and become self-sufficient.
The slightly longer "elevator speech"
Hopelink helps homeless and low-income families and children [and seniors and people with disabilities] throughout north & east King County. Hopelink focuses on helping people move out of crisis and become self-sufficient. Services include foodbanks, shelter, transitional housing, childcare, adult literacy, case-management, transportation, emergency financial help, and more.
For those longer elevators in the downtown Seattle high-rise's, we can continue with a little more detail:
Hopelink has centers in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Northshore, Sno-Valley and Shoreline. Hopelink has 32 units of transitional housing, in Redmond and Bellevue, and the Adelle Maxwell Child Care Center, in Bellevue, serves children from homeless and low-income families.
We know that if a family comes to Hopelink for a single need like food, they almost certainly have other needs too. Hopelink's goal is not just to provide a handout, but to help the family become stable in all areas of their life, and then help them become self-reliant. Hopelink focuses on concrete, long-term solutions.
As an agency, Hopelink believes that poverty is the community's problem, and the community has the power to solve it. Hopelink's strength and success comes from the tremendous support of our community. From the volunteers who help run the six food banks, to the business owners who sponsor annual events, to the community leaders who help provide vision, to the donors whose gifts support Hopelink's efforts, it's community support that makes it possible to help over 50,000 individuals each year.
Hopelink has been around since 1971; it used to be called "Multi-Service Centers of North & East King County." Hopelink started because of the Boeing lay-offs: some people decided to form a job-referral service for former Boeing employees. Of course, then it was clear that when someone loses their job, they have lots of other needs too, like food, shelter, etc. So gradually services were added to address those needs, and the agency branched out throughout the Eastside and north King County. Now, Hopelink is the Eastside's largest private non-profit human-services agency.
Posted by Leo at 01:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack