You Win This Time, Virus

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*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/.

Recipe: Curried Split Pea Soup

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This is a recipe I’m extremely proud of because I always wanted to make good vegetarian split pea soup.  Done right, it’s high in protein, nutritious, low in fat, and filling.  This is the 5th version of the recipe, and I’m quite happy with it – took nearly a year to perfect.

I think you’ll agree it’s worth it!

INGREDIENTS (Broken up in stages)

  • 3 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 6 cups water
  • 2 cups dried split green peas (picked over and rinsed) – This will be about a pound, but measurements are a pain.
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp Soy sauce (was 1/2 tsp salt)
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground thyme.
  • 1 tsp smoked  paprika
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice.

 

  1. Saute onion in 1 tbsp olive oil until it softens and browns.
  2. Add garlic, curry.  Stir in oil until fragrant (really 20-30 seconds)
  3. Add water,peas, soy sauce, pepper, oregano, thyme.
  4. Bring to boil covered, then reduce heat as low as possible  simmer until peas are cooked (should be al dente) – maybe 20-30 minutes.  Careful, near the end they swell up FAST.
  5. Puree soup in blender or in immersion blender.
  6. Return soup to pot (if you used a blender).  Add lemon juice, Paprika, rest of olive oil.
  7. Reheat the pureed mixture.
  8. Serve.

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An Interesting Little Experiment

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So I’ve spent the last year trying to improve my cooking and eat more vegetarian and healthy. It’s been pretty successful, so I’m at the final stage – an inventory.

What I’m doing is trying to track my basic nutrition day by day for a week to see if everything paid off, if I have any gaps in my nutrition, etc. It’s already pretty interesting (for instance I’m eating more low sodium than I realized).

Just a day in already has me thinking and noticing things. Going to be interesting to see where this goes . . .

– 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/.