Psst....

Sixteen candles, sixteen months. Have played elsewhere, but returned here after following an errant link from a YouTube video.

Fail for me. I shall return. :)

another year, another post, er.. orange barrel

I was recently surprised by a message I stumbled upon while cleaning up the 'to do' list on my palm pilot. Yup. It was a reminder to peruse this blog more frequently.

I haven't the time, premonition or opportunity to post anything remotely interesting at this time, but I did want to keep the account active. :)

Thus, a post to say, "Hey, y'all!" from those of us in the orange barrel state. Until next time!

(And yes, I own and drive a gas guzzling made in the USA GM vehicle! Uh, oh, there's a post for next time. We simply MUST buy what we make HERE to keep the economy going. No Walmart anything! Support your neighbors; support your local businesses; support your troops!)

dumb stuff

Guilty of goofing off once in a while? Me, too!!

You Are 70% Tortured Genius

You are smart. Brilliant in fact. And while it's a blessing, it's also a curse. Your head is filled with everything - grand ideas, insufferable worries, and a good deal of angst.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

captivating or.... what?

Sidebar: This blog has apparently become my personal reminder of how fast life is passing by my own existence on earth. Extremely unsettling. Not. It's simply just another day, but very similar to yesterday and tomorrow. Yet here I am, an annum past, and I haven't achieved the few short personal goals I'd set for myself. Ugh. [Note that professionally, I've excelled; what message does that convey?]

Back to the topic: I've been putting together presentations for several decades and have once again discovered myself craving more flair, pizzazz, oomph... There have been the occasional random experiments with presentation software and various plugins. I've purchased, installed, then uninstalled (and sometimes reinstalled) hundreds of dollars worth of software. Could my money have been better spent? Perhaps, but I look at *most* of my nose-crinkling research as education in its purest form. Take into account that I am considered to be knowledgeable on all subjects "techie," my experimentation into other realms offers additional fodder to pull from when dishing out advice. Best part? I have an excuse to PLAY!! :)

Crystal Graphics. Great stuff, but more eye candy than most business situations can handle. Indezine. Great freebies, and they've offered tutorials that have saved precious moments for me. ("Hey, have you ever looked at Indezine.com?") Someone asked me to take a look at DryFork - but upon my first ponderance (of the web site,) I'm leary.... The software to view DryFork presentations is a whopping 177 megs! There's no way I can expect a customer to throw something of that magnitude on their home or office machine, let alone download such a huge file for themselves. Good grief. But, I'm downloading it as I type... just so I can say I really did look at it and give the software serious consideration. And I get paid for this. Cool.

I'm straying from my original intent. I do training on a fairly regular basis, but use personal interaction to drive home points and make my training sessions casual and fun. I can challenge those who learn quickly and reinforce the basics for those who stagger. BUT. Now I'm pushed to develop an interactive ON LINE (intranet and/or internet) class so travel expenses can be curtailed. I like the idea of it, particularly because I've grown to enjoy coffee on the patio....

So what's best? Several years ago, I tried Macromedia Authorware. At the time, it was detailed but hard to nagivate. Has it improved? Is it worth the investment for an upgrade? Is there enough difference between versions to spend the money on the upgrade? What about Adobe Breeze? Or Adobe Captivate? I own and have used several Adobe products, but have no experience with their training line. Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Well, that's just bizarre. I forgot that Adobe and Macromedia have joined hands. I went to investigate the version changes on Authorware and discovered the information now resides on Adobe's web site. So I can effectively revise my earlier comment. "I have had experience with Adobe training products." Ha. So the query becomes more complex. Why does Adobe sell so many different types of training software? Which is best for my application/audience? Where is my magic eight ball for the quick and accurate answer? '-)

Have fun. It's show time.

no dust here

A year - can you believe an entire YEAR?!? has passed since I last had a moment to write...??

I happened to stumble upon a photo blog and thought to myself that I would love to be dedicated enough to keep a running diary of my life in photos. That will be another goal to attain, for I have the tools, it's merely the time that is lacking.

Have an audit scheduled for next week that I simply cannot wait to see to completion. Yuk. A week-long validation process that we actually do what we claim we're doing. Seems quite simple to me. Are we making money? Yes. Do we maintain or surpass safety and quality metrics? Yes. Are we keeping our customers happy so they will repeat business? Yes. We must be doing SOMETHING right. Ah, but I get paid well to bemoan the process. Yes, Virginia, there is an auditor approaching who very much resembles the wolf of Red Riding Hood fame.

Back to the photo blog. That trip during my web travels brought me here. Let's see if I can remember to return again or if we'll meet again in another annum. Interesting, no?

lost but not off the map

Just when you think life can't possibly get fuller, BAM! It takes you for one heck of a ride.

Feast or famine, you say. Yes, I do believe the famine has been stormed by sweet potatoes and more.

Life is a blessing. Live!

time for a change

It's interesting that time passes so quickly while thoughts filter in and are just as quickly forgotten. I've been wanting to take better care of myself, exercise more, get rid of the clutter in my life, and have I? Not yet. Why? Time. Is that really a good excuse or reason? No.

So what's a girl to do? I started taking vitamins today and took the cover off of the treadmill. Perhaps exercising my body will help exercise my mind. Perhaps.

I used to be able to eat anything I wanted and stay that svelt trim gal. Those days are apparently gone, as I've noticed my clothes not fitting as well and my shape is becoming something from a Michelangelo portrait. Classic beauty, maybe, but on me? I don't want to buy bigger sized clothes, and I prefer love handles on men. Ha.