So What?

So what have you accomplished this year? Never mind what you have done, but what have you actually accomplished? There is a huge difference of course.

Oh, and by the way, depending on how you count it this is the end of the decade as well.

Renege

One of the exceptions to FedEx’s refund policy relating to their commitment to on time delivery. This is listed deep in their downloadable service guide. They do not refund the shipping cost if…

the shipment was scheduled for delivery on the Wednesday immediately prior to thanksgiving or during the seven calendar days before christmas day via any FedEx Express U.s. or FedEx Express Freight U.s. service, and was delivered within 90 minutes of the published delivery commitment time for the selected service and destination.

When the going gets tough FedEx needs an extra 90 minutes. I wonder who figured that out? Why not 100 minutes?

You can’t just arbitrarily change your promise to people, especially during a time when it’s more likely to be important to keep it. What good is it?

For the Sake of….?

I opened a recording studio back in 1987. It’s still going along today, but most of my direct involvement in it ended in 1992. During that five years I did a lot of projects I’m proud of, and some projects I’m not as proud of, though they still paid the bills. It was a disturbing realization for me recently when I looked back and realized that nearly all of the records I loved the most are completely dead.  The bands broke up, some people stopped making music, etc.

A couple of years ago I remastered a project that never quite got released. They broke up just as it was about to get the finishing touches. It was to be their third release (I had done the prior two) and tt was a great record — easily their best one in my opinion. I felt it was important to finish it and get closure on all that (we spent weeks and months on it). They barely seemed interested. I think they appreciated that I did it (of course at no charge), but it didn’t and doesn’t change the fact that they’ve all moved on.

Those projects, no matter how great I thought they were and how much promise the artists had (in part because of my work), when they grind to a halt, that’s it. They aren’t coming back, and apart from the lessons learned, the character building and friendship building, it kind of doesn’t matter whether they ever happened or not. For me it’s nearly my whole discography.

That’s a tough pill to swallow.

Greener Grass

People look for things to make their lives better, when in fact “better” is just a relative perception that comes from within. Maybe a new job/career will do it. Most young people bounce around quite a bit in their careers looking for that greener grass. Some never stop. You hear remarks like pursuing dreams, new challenges, growth, avoiding stagnation, etc. All of those things are valid to some extent. Depends on how you are wired. Ultimately it’s just a perception that comes from within.

Enter Facebook

 

Regarding the slow death of e-mail… Not that Facebook is the ultimate answer, but it provides an interesting utility. Every person has his own web page. He can let strangers see as much or as little of it as he wishes. They can contact him through that portal, or if more info is published, through some other medium. People he wants to let in get access to more info and more direct communication.

So, if I want to communicate with someone should I perform the redundant effort of keeping up with all of their contact info, or do I let them do it through some interface like Facebook? Likewise if I would rather limit who can communicate with me (and how) then I never have to share my personal information. I can always use Facebook as a front, and cut anyone off at any time for any reason I deem necessary.

Think about the power and utility of all that. Is it any wonder Facebook has exploded? E-mail seems pretty stone-age by comparison.