Work-related quotes

I am a quote-a-holic. I love quotes because they distill deep wisdom into bite-sized pieces! Here are some of my favorites that relate to the world of work:

"Since the dawn of time, companies have hired people whose entire job is to tell you everything is all right and you can completely trust them and the company is as stable as a rock, and to do so until they, themselves are fired because the company is out of business."
-Jason Scott

"The traditional interviewing process is two people pleasantly lying to one another for an hour or two and then making a really big decision that they will live with for years to come."
(unknown)

"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind."
-Kurt Vonnegut

Regrettably, my first job was on a six year project to write a COBOL compiler. I lasted about three days. I didn't want to end up like my colleagues at HP, bored shitless and sitting around talking about their lawn sprinkling systems, as they toughed out another coffee break on the road to oblivion.
-Eugene Jarvis

"Money can be made later, but time is lost forever."
-Eugene Jarvis (programmer of the game "defender") on working at Atari

"It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t."
-Martin Van Buren

"Things may come to those who wait... but only the things left by those who hustle."
Abraham Lincoln

"The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything."
Theodore Roosevelt

"Drink Coffee. Do stupid things faster, with more energy."
-On coffee mug

If it is not useful or necessary, free yourself from imagining that you need to make it. If it is useful and necessary, free yourself from imagining that you need to enhance it by adding what is not an integral part of its usefulness or necessity.
And finally: If it is both useful and necessary and you can recognize and eliminate what is not essential, then go ahead and make it as beautifully as you can.
-from "the rule of thumb for Shaker creations", from ShakerBuilt by Paul Rochleau & June Sprigg

"Work should always be fun....
We all only have one life.
A third of life is work.
Without happiness and fun, work becomes hell."
-IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad,

"No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.'"
-Danielle Bunten Berry

Song of the Day: Spirit in the Sky by Doctor and the Medics

An excellent version of Spirit in the Sky (original by Norman Greenbaum) by Doctor and the Medics. I remember seeing this band live in the 80's. The highlight was the backing singers. Their moves were very eccentric and well-coordinated. According to wikipedia, it turns out they were trained as synchronized swimmers...!



Lyrics:

When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that's the best
When I lay me down to die
Goin' up to the spirit in the sky
Goin' up to the spirit in the sky
That's where I'm gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that's the best

Prepare yourself you know it's a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die
He's gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
Gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
That's where you're gonna go when you die
When you die and they lay you to rest
You're gonna go to the place that's the best

Never been a sinner I never sinned
I got a friend in Jesus
So you know that when I die
He's gonna set me up with
The spirit in the sky
Oh set me up with the spirit in the sky
That's where I'm gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
I'm gonna go to the place that's the best
Go to the place that's the best

Song of the Day: Bob Dylan, Knockin' on Heaven's Door

The original and (in my opinion) the best version:



Lyrics:

Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore.
It's gettin' dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore.
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

-BT

Rick Steves' guide to Marijuana

OK, so only a small part is about Marijuana - the ostensibly squeaky-clean travel guide guy gives a great interview about why you (yes you) should be traveling more...

Quote from the interview:

"If you spend your whole life thinking the good old days are ahead of you, you're going to wake up with regrets that life passed you by."

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/03/20/rick_steves/index.html

Is it OK to get mad yet?

OK, so people in the US are starting to face mass unemployment, losing their houses, their retirement (401Ks...), while still facing rising college costs and having to bailout financial institutions that have screwed taxpayers royally. How come nobody is doing anything - in terms of protests, etc? I wonder, what is it that will *really* piss people off and get them to the point where they actually stop watching TV and hit the streets (or would that be too "socialist" like the French?).

Wind Power in the US

I just got back from vacation - we traveled from Northwest Indiana to the Eastern side of Tennessee. I was looking out the window for a fair part of the ride and am sad to report that I spotted a grand total of ONE (1) wind-powered turbine during the entire trip. The one that I did see looked a bit small and pathetic as well. I would have thought that oil prices up at around $150 a barrel would have already led to a massive investment in wind and solar power, and possibly nuclear. Not so much, it seems.

Also when we got to Tennessee we read about the latest coal-related environmental disaster:


Q&A: Examining The Tennessee Coal Ash Spill (NPR)

So it doesn't look like "clean coal" is really very clean (just talk to some of the folks from this part of the country). We still have a long way to go, it seems.