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Archives For April 2009

Don’t catch the Swan Flu

April 30, 2009 — 1 Comment

swanfluIn the last four weeks I’ve been in Dallas, New York City, San Antonio and Savannah. Somewhere along the way I picked up a bit of a cold.

My nose has been running consistently for more than a week, I have a little cough and my ears have been bugging me. I’m missing the most important swine flu symptoms (nausea, dizziness, fever). And like the “real man” I am, I’ve been completely ignoring it in the hopes it will just go away.

Until Monday, when swine flu frenzy made us all rethink the sniffles. Except I hanging at MSP Airport, blowing my nose and sneezing while people crowded around CNN televisions in terminal E and listened to the media fear monger them about cold and flu symptoms.

Fast forward three days, my cold is fully kicking my butt, I’m filling tissues like a firehouse, and now people at both the Savannah and Atlanta airports are wearing respirator masks and literally jumping at every cough and sneeze like they’re gunshots.

This morning genius VP Joe Biden said what we were thinking as the cabin door closed, “It’s not that it’s going to Mexico — it’s that you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft.”

That’s probably how I got this cold in the first place. All kidding aside, I’ll admit it was freaky seeing civilians wearing masks, especially after I landed at MSP and was still seeing them.

I headed to the Minute Clinic this morning, explained my symptoms and my hunch that I had an ear infection. I was correct and got myself some nice antibiotics. I will say the nurse practicioner seemed reassured I wasn’t asking for Tami Flu just in case.

So the parallel to this story is that my friends at work have been talking about Swan Flu — to the point that the #swanflu hashtag went viral (with a little help from CNN), and they quarantined me in my office.

Swanflu Quarantine

It’s not that we’re making light of the people who have died or become very sick. It’s more that the overwhelming fear mongering and nonstop media coverage is making us so crazy we have to make light of it.

Then they busted out our workplace-issued emergency kits, including respirator masks, flashlights and space blankets, and…well…the video speaks for itself…

Maybe Swan Flu is more contagious than I thought.

UPDATE:
http://doihaveswanflu.com/

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Greg in Savannah

April 30, 2009 — Leave a comment

View from Hilton DeSota room 707
This week I was in Savannah, Georgia. I stayed in the historic district and had a couple free nights to walk around. It was just as gorgeous as people say.
Historic Savannah

I absolutely love traveling to places that have a rich history, even if I only have enough down time to read commemorative plaques and pretend I know history. I’m also a big fan of the prevalent spanish moss that eclipses streetlights and mutes traffic noise in the multitude of centuries-old park squares one encounters every other block.

Historic Savannah

In my three days there, I saw only two groups of people: 1) hipsters hanging out at coffee shops and 2) a couple hundred gray-haired couples getting on and off tour buses, river boats and hotel shuttles. They waddled up and down River Street buying tourist crap and salt water taffy. The lack of children (babies, toddlers, kids under 20) was downright eerie.

Some pics from walking around:
Dean Martin

Swine Flu Graffiti

Oh, and this way to South Carolina…
tosouthcarolina

At Wade Rockett‘s recommendation, we dined at Paula Deen’s The Lady and Sons Restaurant.
The Lady and Sons

My wife is a huge Paula Deen fan and took it upon herself to send me nasty text messages throughout the meal to reinforce how unfair it was I was there and not her. It was justified. I had the Steak and Pie, which includes a tomato pot pie surrounded by steak tips. Really great, actually.

Steak and Tomato Pie

Liz had the Crab Stuffed Shrimp wrapped in bacon (three animals in every bite!), and we split the double deep fat fried friend green tomatoes.
Fried Green Tomatoes

Angie had the signature Chicken Pot Pie, which was made with enough butter that the sauce was separating before she took three bites. Now that’s southern cookin’!
Chicken Pot Pie

My hotel this trip was the Hilton Savannah DeSoto.

Hilton Savannah DeSoto Room 707

The desk chair was boringly functional with little to no adjustments and no lumbar support. However, it had arms and a high back. I give it a C+.
Business Chair, Hilton Savannah DeSoto

And here’s a TP folding report for my pal Ed:
TP Folding Report, Hilton Savannah DeSoto

More pictures here.

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Jason Cam: sponsored by PerfectPorridge.com

April 23, 2009 — Leave a comment


It’s not what you think. Read the post here.

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The stars at night are big and bright: Greg in San Antonio

April 23, 2009 — 1 Comment

Before arriving at San Antonio this week, I had no idea there even was a river in SA. Haha. Turns out there is quite the riverwalk, plus we were there during Fiesta:
San Antonio Riverwalk

And here’s the obligatory Alamo photo. Yes, there was a huge gift shop:
Alamo, San Antonio

Here’s the view from my hotel room (1815) at the Grand Hyatt. That’s the Alamo Dome.
Alamo Dome from Hotel

This is the desk and chair:
Desk Chair, Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, TX

The chair had quality lumbar support, height and tilt. Truly an A-…
Desk Chair, Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, TX

Here’s a TP Report for my pal Ed:
TP Report, Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, TX

AND…while visiting Brooke Army Medical Center, I had the chance to see a sweet demo of the “Chung-bot,” a RP-7 remote presence robot used to care for patients remotely by its namesake, Dr. Kevin Chung….

Gregbot 4000

More photos from the trip here.

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Greg in Dallas

April 18, 2009 — Leave a comment

I stayed at the classy Joule Hotel in downtown Dallas this week. It was my second time at the hotel (this time room 901), and once again, the turn-down service came as early as 5 p.m.

The room artwork showcased giant portraits of kids playing on the famous grassy knoll:
Art at the Joule

When I travel, I spend a lot of time sitting at my hotel room desk and have been chronicling the quality of desk chairs for quite awhile now.

Here’s the desk:
Desk at Joule

And here’s the desk chair:
Desk Chair at Joule

It was entirely aesthetic: no lumbar, no height adjustment, no arm adjustment, etc. I pity the business person who has to sit at this desk and actually work. Straight up F.

And in the spirit of a TP Fold Report for my my pal Ed, I have a follow-up report from my October stay at the Joule….

Better or worse? I report, you decide…

TP Fold in October 2008
TP Fold at Joule Hotel

TP Fold in April 2009
TP Fold at Joule Hotel

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Chaska Easter Egg Hunt, 2009

April 11, 2009 — Leave a comment

Chaska Easter Egg Hunt
It’s our first year in a new town for Easter. It’s also our first year with a toddler who is old enough to experience Easter. We dyed Easter eggs Thursday night, and I think he had fun. Watching NASCAR races on TV was his preferred evening activity, however (the kid likes racing).

So this morning we walked the two blocks to the city park for the 56th Annual Chaska Easter Egg Hunt. 56th!?! This town definitely has some history.

We guesstimated about 250 people total were lined up on all four corners of the park. The hunt officially started at 10 a.m. sharp and all the eggs were claimed by 10:02. I looked.

Here’s junior’s ginormous egg pail…

Egg Bucket

Those four eggs he found are a very big deal at our house right now.

In Chaska, Family
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Faxbook: The Fax-Based Social Network

April 9, 2009 — 1 Comment

Faxbook: The Fax-Based Social NetworkMy friend and UK colleague James Warren has been evangelizing his concept of Faxbook: The Fax-Based Social Network for about a month now.

So if this social network is going to get get going, I decided to make us a cover page to get things started.

Get the Faxbook Cover Page Here (pdf) — http://bit.ly/FAXBOOK

I suggest you print it out and fax your contacts a friend request immediately.

If they will fax you back to accept, then you can start faxing each other status updates as frequently as possible.

If they don’t, well then maybe Faxbook is not for you.

UPDATE:
The Faxbook friend requests and status updates have been rolling in today. Here’s today’s archive thus far.

It’s a fairly straightforward system. I essentially create a separate pile for each friend’s updates.

Not only does this help keep my desk clutter-free from an organizational perspective, it also makes “search” much easier.

What’s your Faxbook system?

Update 2:
Like Faxbook on Facebook

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Productivity vs. Facebook

April 5, 2009 — Leave a comment

Via SmartBrief:
Workers who Twitter or connect with friends on Facebook while on the job are about 9% more productive, research at the University of Melbourne suggests. Short breaks to browse let the mind rest so that when people get back to work, they can concentrate better, said Brent Coker, the study’s author. “Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos, using social networking sites or shopping online under the pretence that it costs millions in lost productivity,” Coker says. “That’s not always the case.” Reuters (4/2)

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Greg in NY

April 4, 2009 — 1 Comment

NYC, April 2
Was in New York this week, had a great steak at the Capital Grille and stayed at the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Terminal.
Business Chair, Grand Hyatt, NYC
The Hyatt’s hotel room desk chair was a B-.
Business Chair, Grand Hyatt, NYC
The chair had great lumbar support (my primary measurement of a desk chair), arms and 4-spoke wheels. Premium webbing on the chair back is always a plus.
Grand Hyatt, NYC
Grand Hyatt, NYC
Drawbacks included no height adjustment, no arm adjustment and these ugly rub marks where the chair has scraped on the desk over the years.

And a quick TP report for my pal Ed. I call this the “tuck and roll.”
TP Report, Grand Hyatt, NYC

But here’s the craziest, most backwards way to receive a hotel fax I’ve ever encountered:

  1. I got a voicemail in my hotel room informing me I had a text message.
  2. In order to retrieve this message, I needed to call the operator.
  3. I called the operator and nobody answered.
  4. Upon my automated checkout at the lobby kiosk, the system again informed me I had a text message and printed out this slip of paper.

    5. Text Message for a Fax?

  5. The paper told me that I had a fax and to get it at the front lobby desk.
  6. At the lobby desk, they called the business center to inquire about my fax.
  7. I was told to walk up two floors to the business center to retrieve my fax.
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