Okay, so my move to the new server has broken the wireless blog for awhile. Along with a bunch of other stuff, like danielle’s whole website. So until i get some other stuff fixed, no wireless posts for a while. You’re just gonna have to wait for me to find a computer and do it the “old fashioned” way. ;)

Back on track with something interesting for you to think about, beyond just “what is Brian doing right now, at this very exact moment”, although i know that captivates and amazes you to no end.

Today’s link-to-discuss is from the Seattle Times, a torrid rag of a paper that seems determined to deliver sunday issues to me incessantly despite my protest (i have neither the time nor inclination to read it and don’t like to see things wasted), and which occasionally spews forth something of contentious value. Such as this piece that, despite being somewhat long (i skimmed a bit, i must admit) got me thinking. After you’ve read it, you’ll find it funny and/or ironic that i thought the article was too long and skimmed it.

Anyway, this UW prof, David Levy, is researching what all this beeping, buzzing, yammering technology is doing to our brains, and more importantly, what we’re letting it do to our brains as we attempt to deal with it all. He predicts we might be entering the next phase of our information age, where we begin to realize (as a society) that just because we can be reached by cell at every remote corner of the world doesn’t mean we should, and just because it only takes a few seconds for an email to cross a continent doesn’t mean we are required to read it with that same immediacy. Despite what we may think of ourselves, our brains are not great at multitasking, but as our world has made that more possible we’ve adopted it as our new mantra, and we spend more time doing more things instead of less time doing the same things.

It’s not the technology to blame, it’s our philosophical approach to the technology. We feel like because there is an opportunity to accomplish more in a day, that (as the length of the day has not changed) we should assign ourselves more action items and promise more of ourselves to others. Instead of achieving the same per day as we did before and retiring early to relish our new technological efficiency, we push ourselves a little harder every day. The UC-Irvine study’s 12-minute maximum concentration period sounds about right for the modern workplace; i think mine is significantly less than that. It usually takes me more than an hour to compose something to share with you all, and that’s not for lack of something to say (i think we all know i rarely fall short of words). It’s because something beeps or flashes, or somebody knocks, or Ian says completely out of the blue “hey, what’s that?” or “wow, what’s going on there?” and calls my attention to something i was otherwise happily ignoring.

So if you haven’t already, go read the article, and think about that the next time you’re checking your web forums in the middle of the night or desperately trying to find an internet connection on vacation. It’s OK if you skim a bit; those of us in the “thumb generation” have remarkably short attention spans.

Warming up my truck, headed to work. Merry Christmas everyone! May there be peace today.

Good thing i have the wsdot webcams to keep me in touch with reality. They are supposed to be for monitoring traffic, but i use them to tell if the sun is shining, if it’s snowing in the mountains, or just to remind myself what the world looks like outside.

It’s my second day back to work after a nice, relaxing week in Montana with the family. I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in, eating more than my fair share of Mom’s wonderful cooking and wearing slippers and flannel pants through the majority of the day. There was also time to visit with some extended family that i hadn’t seen in a long time, spend a day baking holiday treats with Danielle and Grama Polly, meet Lance for lunch at Hoagieville and even catch Ann for coffee at Starbucks. Yes, Missoula has a Starbucks, although it’s kind of strange - they don’t seem quite as polished or quite as… caffeinated… as baristas in Seattle. See, coffee is one addiction where you want your dealer to also be a user. I would hypothesize that a significant percentage of baristas are simply addicts seeking their fix at a discount.

Since i’m working the next several days and am, obviously, no longer in MT with the folks, we held our Christmas celebration early, complete with gift-opening and our traditional feast (fondue). It was kinda weird but cool, and as Danielle and i will be back that way for Dad’s surgery in two weeks, the calendar holidays this weekend and next kind of blur into the work week and seem rather normal. In an effort to show some Christmas spirit even though it seems belated, i’m wearing red and green today, although the skeleton crew still in the office today are the only ones who might notice, and very few of those will come behind my locked door or happen to cross my path. Whatever, it makes me feel more Christmas-y.

Only three more hours and then i can go home and enjoy some new Christmas gifts, and continue to relish solo living and the consequent liberation. My wishlist worked, apparently, as Grama thought the Dukes of Hazzard on DVD sounded like fun, Mom induldged me in a similar box set of Knight Rider discs, and Danielle and Miguel went shopping on thinkgeek.com. Big thanks to my great family for such a fun, stress-relieving Christmas. Too bad it only comes once a year!

So i guess i should get back to watching CSI, trying to look like i’m working, and praying for snow. The nice kids over at client services brought us a gift box filled with goodies - including full post with comments.....

My first vacation in a while, Danielle and i are headed to montana tomorrow to spend a week with the folks, see our grandparents and extended family, and have a fun, relaxing (early) Christmas - since we’re both working thru the actual holidays. I decided it would be a good idea to procrastinate packing until, oh, about an hour ago, and also to knock back well more than the legal limit of gluwein (hot spiced wine) as i’m scrambling around the house alone tidying up, wrapping presents and rummaging for things i wanted to bring - most of which seem to be in boxes i haven’t even unpacked yet. Being noticabley lit didn’t make packing any easier (i kept tripping over stuff) but i think i am done quicker than usual. I’ll probably get there tomorrow and realize i forgot something like socks or a winter jacket, but right now i’m just concentrating really hard on typing… must… keep… fingers… on the… home keys…

My iPod is pumping out a punk cover of “99 Luftballons” - not exactly holiday music, but music with a ferocious beat helps me move quickly. Plus i’ve been listening to that
same Christmas playlist for the last month or so, and it’s the same playlist i made *last* Christmas and listened to every day and nite on the bus, so it’s getting pretty tired. “Make a new one” you say? Well, funny you should suggest that, since my iPod is *broken* or at the very least has developed some sort of aversion to my computer, as the two refuse to speak to each other. I know they’re connected - cause the iPod’s battery charges - but they just won’t resolve their differences and engage in their little digital conversation so i can add songs, edit playlists, and remove those couple of stinkers on my fav playlists that always seem to pop up when i’m least in the mood for them (ahem… Beyonce). Other than that, things work great - i play the music all the time, no issues there. But it’s a real bummer, cause i bought a bunch of great tracks with an iTunes gift certificate from Lindsay and Adam, and then got carried away and bought a bunch more (plus i’m in there every week for the free track like the handout-seeking bum that i am) and there’s no way to add them to my iPod, which really squashes all the fun. So if anyone has $299 they want to spend on me for Christmas (or only $7 a month on the Apple credit account - now who can’t afford that?) you can just run right over to Apple and pick that up for me. I’d do it myself, but i’m still making payments on the busted one…

Okay, i’m starting to do the sleepy head-bob, as it’s currently two hours past my bedtime and alcohol is, after all, a depressant. I think i should go to bed, since i have a 600 mile drive ahead of me tomorrow, with Danielle, her cat Ferris and a truckload of Christmas gifts and baked goods. So while you’re all headed to work tomorrow, we’ll be getting fat on cookies on I-90. And i may not chat with you kids until i get back - there’s usually no GSM service anywhere in montana unless i climb a tree wearing a tinfoil hat, and i think that freaks Mom out (she already thinks i’m strange, so i really don’t have far to go until she starts shopping for used straightjackets on ebay). Mom and Dad have internet (broadband, actually!) but i’m really just trying to set low expectations so i won’t disappoint my loyal readers (either one of you!). I’ve learned this past year that having high expectations of people only ends in frustration or disillusion, where if you presume only the worst from everyone, you will occasionally be pleasantly surprised that some people aren’t totally useless, or complete weasels, or flagrant attention-whores. There are actually a few good ones out there. But you don’t always know which ones they are at first, and it’s more fun to be astonished than disenchanted, so i suggest that as a course of action. It may even be my new year’s resolution…