General

Wanda Hinkle, Step-Grandmother, In Memoriam

by

My step-grandmother passed away at 98.

Those are amazing words to say because few people LIVE to 98.  Wanda in fact lived on her own until 96.  She only stopped driving a few years before that.

It’s funny, the stereotype of someone who lives to a ripe old age is one of some ornery old person out of a sitcom.  Wanda was quite the opposite, polite and genteel and quiet.  Strong-willed, but strong more like a flow of water than iron – and very enduring.

She broke a door down with an axe to get to her husband when he had a heart attack.  I was young then, and it was a reminder of just how much there was to the woman.  The admiration stayed with me.

She got to live to 98, see her great-grandchildren grow to adulthood.  She was alive through wars and moon landings, the internet revolution and the Civil Rights movement.  She got to see the century that made the US what it is.  Quiet, and unassuming, loving wife and mother, she saw all of that, and kept going, raising a family and their families, keeping it all together.

I feel sad seeing her pass.  I’m on the other side of the country so I feel like I should have been there.  I feel sad for everyone missing her, the huge family that she was matriarch of.  I feel sad to see a life end.

But what a life.  What things to see.  What a remarkable woman, wife, and mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Here’s to you, Grandma Hinkle.  98 years, and every year worth it.

– Steve, your loving Grandson

 

You Win This Time, Virus

by

*sigh*

OK, I caught what was going around.  I resisted as long as I could, but I am sick.

I should clarify this, since there’s so many ways to get sick:

  1. I did not get the flu from what I can tell, but if I did it’s a mild one.  I know this as, based on what I’ve heard about the latest flu, I lack the desire to kill myself.
  2. It does not appear to be the new horror from Australia as I and the toilet are only experiencing a platonic relationship.
  3. It does resemble a lot of secondary infections I saw people getting – after having the flu.

So I kind of feel lousy, I’m not too productive, and I’m doing only about a half day of work because I want to sleep.

However note that “half day of work.”  It’s fantastic I can work at home if needed (which helps in having a cool boss and employer).  I dread to think what it’s like in places where people can’t – or won’t – take advantage of this.

Honestly, though I feel work from home has been overrated and overused, it’s also been vastly underused.  In short, work-from-home isn’t really being studied or used strategically.  Having seen viruses and colds rip through offices like a chainsaw through jello, having had friends with children discover they’ve birthed little plague carriers, I think work-from-home needs to be evaluated seriously.

Not a fad.  Not a dodge.  Not a reward.  A strategy.

We’re still married to the workplace via the shotgun of tradition.  Thinking a little differently could help.

If illness hits an area, why not make Work From Home manditory for some so you can avoid spreading disease in the first place?

Have work from home drills to see if people can suddenly shift gears?

Find out who can work from home and try them out.  I was once part of a study on this and found that A) I was 16% more productive, and B) I could really only work from home 3 days out of 5.

So let’s consider this.

Now I’m going to go feel miserable.  Yet, strangely productive.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Got To Love The Fans

by

I created Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers because I had seen fanartists do amazing things.  The mixture of passion, format, and disinhibition was wondrous to behold.  So I love sharing clever creations

This Fandon Alphabet is one.

It’s cute, clever, and clean.  Each letter gets one fan favorite character or thing.  The artist challenges herself, the artist gets a great portfolio, and we all get the enjoyment of watching her do it.  I hope she can do prints or something (I always get a bit confused over the proper way to handle that since I’m not an artist).

As I proudly have some Ukiyo-e heroes prints on my wall, you can guess my inclinations.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.