milos topic

Back home from an amazing day at Alba Vineyards (our favorite). We did some wine tasting paired with cheese, fruit and chocolate.

While there we also visited a local organic winery, Villa Milagro. It’s a small place little over a mile down the road from Alba’s along a narrow gravel road in the middle of nature (we saw 6-7 deer not far from their barn). As it was something new, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity of tasting their vino as well. It was very good, we even got a couple of bottles to bring back, but still (for me at least) nothing beats Alba’s.

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Some folks are still in the kitchen while I’m trying to breathe and watch Inter vs. Juventus. Sleepy…

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A part of Montclair State University campus at 10 AM. Somehow I have a feeling that as the day progresses, most departments will end up closing earlier than usual.

While social networking sites can be valuable as a gathering, news and resource venues they can never beat an in person conversation. Being able to meet someone in person, talk with them and see their facial expressions in real time is priceless! Social networking sites are great complements and tools, but should never be confused as substitutes.

Getting into a warm car this morning was a great feeling and it made me wonder why on earth did it take me this long to have a remote car starter installed. It took way too long, but I finally got it done this past Friday. This on its own is no feat of great accomplishment, but once you hear a bit more about this “never ending” process you will understand why I am very happy today.

The actual unit (starter and alarm) was purchased back in July of 2007. Yes, it took me 16+ months to get it installed. Here’s a part of the receipt as confirmation:

As you can see, even the receipt faded away.

At some point in 2007, my cousin had the same starter installed in his car and I found it to be very valuable for both extremes, hot and cold days. It was nice to be able to walk into a car that is already warmed up and at the temperature of your choosing. So, in July of 07 I bought my own and planned on installing it within a week or two. From then until now something always came up, I was busy, I forgot about it, I didn’t think that I actually needed it and so on. There is no valid excuse as to why it took this long, I simply kept postponing it (with among my family already famous words, “I’ll do it tomorrow“).

I generally don’t procrastinate on major things, but there have been several instances when I had to work on getting things done last minute. I’m not sure if I do this because certain things are less important than others or the fact that I (at times) enjoy working under pressure and pulling it all together as the finish line is fast approaching.

In any event, it took a bit of ridicule by my cousin little over a week ago while we were watching 24/7 on De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao for me to get into action and schedule the installation. Him challenging me is what make me do it…I simply don’t walk away from challenges.

Having used it for the past three chilly days I’m a bit annoyed that I haven’t done it sooner. Oh well, we live and learn and so will I one day.

Ever since I got an iPhone as a birthday present (thank you Courtney!) in July of this year I have been using Twitterrific as the Twitter app of choice. At that time, it was one of the first apps to market and it worked fairly well. Plus, it’s FREE!

However, over the past several weeks the application started crashing, being slow and at times fairly annoying to use so I started my Google search quest for a better alternative. Last night, I came across a post among my RSS feeds (a bit behind on those as you can tell) from Yoast.com (btw, a great resource for WordPress plugins and tweaks) that suggested TwitterFon as an alternative.

I gave it a try and absolutely love it! Great app, responsive, allows fast scrolling and it doesn’t freeze (unlike the above mentioned app), it allows you to see your “Friends” (time line), @ replies and direct messages. You can even search from the app as well as look up the people you are following (no need to remember their @cRaZyunIquEnaMe nomenclature). Also, FREE!

Now, if I could only find a good Plurk app…any suggestions?

What do meetings bring to those who attend? Are most of them annoying, boring and a waste of time or is there a valuable component to them?

As I look through the sea of WordPress plugins to test and potentially add to this blog in order make my life easier, generate more useful data and make it more interesting for visitors I’ve realized that this could turn into a fairly complicated process. Considering that the number of plugins keeps growing almost daily there are several things one should consider when selecting a plugin:

Here are some of the plugins I use (alphabetical order):

The above listed plugins are in use now with another 5 or 6 currently in testing. You have seen my favorites, now it’s time for you share your favorite plugins.

How do you decide on a plugin, how do you determine that it is valuable to you? What are your favorite/must have plugins and why? Please share them and I will compile a list for everyone to see and will take a look at them myself.

While driving around over past week or so I have noticed a free (unlocked/unsecured) Wi-Fi network called “optimumwifi” pop up along Rt. 23, Rt. 46 and Rt. 3. I have noticed this in towns of Riverdale, Pompton Lakes, Wayne, Totowa, Little Falls, Clifton and Paterson in northern New Jersey. I know that someone will ask “why are you on your phone while driving,” well I’m not really as that drives me crazy, I was simply checking the whether (as seen above) or one of the “brief info” apps (i.e. Currency) I use on an iPhone.

I don’t remember hearing about this getting announced or marketed anywhere so I’m wondering if this is a test of some sorts or Optimum’s plan to deploy their network throughout the area before announcing it and possibly securing it in order to charge for usage.

What do you think, have any of you (NJ people) notice this as well?

While I was thinking what I should write today I got a phone call from my boss, which set the theme for today’s post. Coincidentally, it is closely related to my previous post (video), people matter.

We ran into several issues while getting some well deserved and a bit over due paperwork through certain channels, but it is nice to know that we have internal support at least. Our vertical chain of support is very strong, it’s when we have to work with some horizontal departments (which don’t have insight into our daily operations) that we run into difficulties. This relates to the previous post of “people matter” and goes a step beyond selecting right employees for the job. Having a great manager in place who understands employees, works well with them and is there to provide support in every way possible is the final component in building and sustaining an amazing unit.

Once you have a well functioning team and things are working smoothly it is important to maintain that group and do what’s needed to help these professionals achieve personal and professional satisfaction and recognition. It is the manager’s responsibility to promote their employees throughout the enterprise, fight for more resources and recognize their accomplishments.

Having a great team which is poorly managed will eventually cause one of the two (or both) things to happen:

1. Team will start falling apart (performance wise or literally), and/or

2. The manager will be severely disliked (poor working environment) and in some instances even pushed out.

It is essential to understand that everyone works together towards a common goal. Each of the team members have different rolles and responsibilities, but are equaly important to the success of the team. While a great group of individuals is essential to productivity and efficiency, the significance of a well repected, qualified and knowledgable leaded should never be underestimated. That leader must manage his or her team, focus their energies in desired direction and fight for that team every step of the way.

All managers must understand that once you give up on your team, they will give up on you.