April 2009
6 posts
Shutting the blinds
I’ve come to the sad realization that I don’t have time to feed my tumblr. Many reasons, busy with work, busy with kids, busy with house…
But the real reason is I’m spending more time over on fb. I just don’t have time for both.
So for now, take care…if you are on fb, you can find me as Aaron Jacobson. In the Milwaukee network.
CNNMoney article on tech jobs
Found here.
Gartner predicts a 3.4% rise in spending in 2010, after a decline of 1.2% in 2009. 2010 can not get here fast enough.
Honesty
True Confession time. I have to admit this…it’s almost like some sort of recovery step….what I’m recovering from I have no idea.
But, last night my iPod was having a really poor string of songs on random shuffle. Skip, Skip, Skip, Skip…if I have to skip one more song…I’m re-shuffling, skip…ughhh.
So on the new random shuffle…the first song...
A lot has changed over the past 8 years
Hey Dad -
So it’s been 8 years since you slipped into your forever nap. Hard to believe. Quite stunning actually.
Besides the ups and downs of various sporting events that would have been fun to share with you…most notably the Iowa Hawkeye Football squad…you have missed out on:
September 11, 2001
The horrible tsunmai of late 2004
Iowa City experienced a tornado that ripped...
March 2009
15 posts
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way...
Wagoner’s out.
The Big Read
Sheri went to the library to pick up “To Kill a Mockingbird” for me. The database told her it was in repair so she asked the librarian about it.
It was true, the book was not available. However, “To Kill a Mockingbird” happened to be the current book in The Big Read.
The program from the National Endowment for the Arts is basically a program designed to get more people...
The "Competitive Analysis" Meeting
Today there was a meeting on my work calendar. 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. A 6-hour meeting. On a Friday.
But alas, this was a good thing.
“Competitive Analysis” was bringing our laptops up to the meeting room, where a non work computer was hooked up to an LCD projector…and broadcasting the NCAA tournament games.
Not only was this a most excellent way to finish out what has been...
I love data presentation
Most excellent NYTimes map of unemployment rates per county available here.
The Ides of March
Rumor mill a churnin again.
1/3 of all contractors were let go between Dec - Jan.
Supposedly, by the end of March another 1/3 of the original 300 of us will be gone.
Yesterday, my account manager left me a voice mail. No details, just a somber “Jake call me back on my cell phone”…I thought for sure I was taking the walk up the gallows.
But no, he wanted to know about a guy...
February 2009
11 posts
Learning to Drive
I realized something last night while I was driving home.
As I slowly drove past the eleventh car that was in the ditch, many of which appeared to be totaled because they slammed into trees…
I realized that 49 days (Jan. 9th was the last snowfall around here) is greater than the max days that people forget how to drive in slippery conditions.
Attention Insurance...
Alice // a FREE gift from Carnegie Mellon
In late 2008, I read the late Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture”. In it, Randy talked about one of his favorite teaching techniques being “the head fake”. In other words, getting people to do something without them realizing that they are learning. I’ve thought about, and tried various head fake techniques for coaching football and teaching martial arts.
One...
Tufte paying off
I recently published a report at my job where I used Tuftian principles in presenting the data. I presented this report for the first time about 3 weeks ago to a director who ended the conversation by saying “Jake, you are my favorite person of the week”.
Anytime a director says anything positive about you…well, it made my week (heck, my year so far).
Now today I’m...
My little yellow car is 1 year old today
I’m celebrating by not seeing it because it’s in the shop getting fixed. Again.
Did I ever mention how much I hate Rick Wagoner Jr.?
Teaser.
I’ve kept all of my gas receipts and will soon post a stunning visual annual report on my fuel consumption. Just need some time, and my car back…that’s where my last batch of receipts resides.
So a year ago I buy a...
January 2009
14 posts
World News Hour with Jim Lehrer
I don’t know where I’ve been for so long. Over the past couple of months I tune into PBS for my news. It is so refreshing to see news presented with journalistic standards again. I love how they can bring in two “experts” on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and they civilly debate. Nothing like the style of CNN, FauxNews, MSNBC with the Yell Yell...
24 first impressions
This weekend we jumped into both 24: Redemption and the first two hours of Season 7.
Entertaining. Glad it’s back. Overall.
We are having fun making fun of it also.
1 - During the scenes of the air traffic controllers and the dialogue on the phone.
Air Traffic Controller: I can’t believe you are following the script of Die Hard 2
2 - Jack mouthing off to FBI agents, not caring...
Surviving the blast
All of us in the upper midwest are surving the artic blast that has our (males) scrotums up in our belly cavities…sorry for the visual…
But I actually survived a real blast this week. I was eight feet away from my air compressor when it exploded at 5:15 on Tuesday morning. I was shielded from shrapnel by the 4-wheeler.
I will post pictures when:
a) My satellite internet thaws...
Some exceptional Holden Caulfield thoughts"
As I read The Catcher in the Rye, I ear-tagged a few pages that I really got a kick out of. I did notice that as while this is my 4th time through this book, it is the first time through as a parent and well into my career. The book has a different meaning to me now than it did the 3 previous times I read it (once in high school and twice in college). Here are just a few passages from Holden...
December 2008
19 posts
Closing out 2008
To close down 2008, I’m finishing one of my all time favorite novels “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. This is perhaps the 4th or 5th time I’ve read it and each time there are new things I pick up.
In 2009 Salinger turns 90 years old and hasn’t published anything since 1965.
My hopes are that he has been secretly writing in his reclusive state for the...
Surviving the cut
The last few weeks have been ridiculously stressful. The company I contract at was tasked with reducing their contracted workforce. For two weeks rumors ran rampant…would it be all contractors? would it be half? would it be all domestic?
The axe came down a week before Christmas and Domestic Contractors were reduced by roughly 30%.
All the firms were given the list, which we...
Last morning of 2008
You know the magic two words to pull you out of your funk…
LAS ASADAS
You think that’s depressing? Try having your 6 year old son beat you at Madden ‘09. That was a fun wake up. Flippin’ Devon Hester catches 7 passes for 375 yards and 4 td’s on me. It wasn’t until the 4th qtr. when I figured out how to defend that. Then he goes to other side of the field...