Tidy desk, tidy mind?

Having written previously about my battle with clutter, I was interested to find this post by the Closet Entrepreneur on the subject. I thought it might have been discussing big stuff - stacks of printer paper, cases of beer, dead-but-might-be-repairable computers, etc. Not quite, but it is a strange and compelling, if possibly Utopian, view of what can be achieved with pegboard & cable ties.

Declutter the mess under your desk

I've no time for this

Time management: there's a knack to it, I'm sure - one that I never seem to have had. Or so I thought ... I now suspect the Universe is just against me in this regard.

I realised today that, in addition to having recently bought a wristwatch with a dodgy strap (so it's not very wearable), and my mobile phone having suffered an accident that renders much of the screen unusable - including the time display - the recently-bought 2nd hand car has a clock that resets every time the ignition is turned off. Someone doesn't want me to know what the time is. Now, perhaps all I need to do is work out the significance of this, and there might be a profound revelation that positively affects the course of my life henceforth.

Or it might just be proof of the adage about unwelcome things coming in 3s. But then again, as I write, I realise also that the new digital camera doesn't seem to preserve the precise time of exposure in the downloaded filename, just the date. AAaaargh! I don't have time for paranoia!

The Dictionary Effect

One of the perils of life online is distraction. You want some information and go looking for it; you might or might not find what you want, but you will almost certainly find other things that you don't want either, but which are very tempting. You know how it goes: one query spawns five links worth looking at; each of those leads to five others, and so on. Within minutes, you can forget what you went in search of, and spend an obscene and distressing amount of time looking elsewhere at undeniably fascinating sites. Then, when you try to retrace your steps from the final page you dare look at, you will find it's next to impossible.

I always used to have this problem with dictionaries (still do), as they can be similarly engaging with serendipitous disovery. Dictionaries are safer though - each new link takes but seconds to read, and probably only leads you on a single trail, instead of an almost infinitely diverging set of possibilities.

xkcd expresses it thus...

Subtitle: "'Taft in a wet t-shirt contest' is the key image here."

Bad dreams

For many years, I worked in an environment where procedures had to be followed very precisely, processes had to be rigorously tested and monitored, and where cleanliness (the workplace, not personal) was of paramount importance. The fact that I grew tired, not so much of the need for such tight control, but of the monotony of it all, meant that I baled out when the opportunity arose. About a couple of years afterwards, I returned to a similar role on a temporary basis, which merely served to confirm that I was right to leave in the first place.

Ever since that time, 12 years ago, I have had occasional unwelcome dreams that I am back in the old place, finding that all is not as it should be; the clean room is filthy, a vital part of the processing chain has not been turned on, I have forgotten to attend to a task until far too late, or I am simply back in purgatory, doing a job that has lost all of its appeal. Whatever the circumstance, it is usually a minor disaster, and fills me with feelings of utter dread.

The other night though, came a new variation: the entire facility had been dismantled, leaving only a leaky water supply. Does this mean that I have finally laid the ghost? Will I be able to sleep in peace from now on? I live in hope. Or perhaps I will be like Tantalus, where the waters recede every time I try to mop them up, and flow again when my back is turned. That I could cope with!

You can't do nuthin'

We've had a fair bit of rain lately (he says, using traditional British understatement, since Northern NSW and parts of Qld have copped enough to float the navy). In a land enduring a protracted period of drough, it is however, generally welcome. Not all of it has fallen in the right places though, and hereabouts - which has been a lush green for a long time now - this particular natural bounty is somewhat surplus to requirements. Further than that: being school holidays, it is less than welcome as the clouds dump on us for the umpteenth day. Too bad, but we'll survive.

However, I hopped on a bus recently, and the driver greeted an acquaintance with "You can't do nuthin'," as she bemoaned the continuing precipitation. I had to wonder how people get by, with such a limiting outlook. The good citizens of Coffs Harbour are demonstrably doing a wide range of things. Few of them, I grant you, are connected with chasing a ball about, pursuing piscean prey, or lying on a golden beach, cultivating melanoma, but that still leaves many other possibilities. In a few days' time, the same people will be complaining that it's too hot and humid.

PFTHRRPPPPP!!!

Obsession

I've been away, speaking figuratively. Same desk, same PC, different bit of cyberspace. RedBubble, it seems, is somewhat addictive. However, I do have a life beyond it, and part of that life encompasses astronomy from time to time.

In doing a bit of research for a talk last week, I came across Galazy Zoo. This is an online project that encourages people to assist with the massive task of classifying distant galaxies. As the site says, it's a: "project which harnesses the power of the internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you'll not only be contributing to scientific research, but you'll view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky."

Well, I just went back to that site to look a bit further, and ended up registering. That process led me very quickly through the tutorial & test, and straight on to the work itself. No fuss, no ceremony, no tedious application or PhD thesis, just lots of pictures, as fast as I could work through them. And therein, I think, may lie the success of this project: as soon as you've done one, another image appears. Well, you can't possibly leave that one, so you do it. Then, there's another - which will only take a second or 2 - and then ... and so on. Oh, go on, just one more, it might be an interesting one. Here's a screen grab:


And so, obsession rears its ugly head once more. Have a go, you might enjoy it!

Lovely bubbly

I'm a RedBubbler now; discovered the site a few days ago, and have just started uploading images. I've been looking for an online outlet for a while, and this seems to be a good one. Check out the images and leave a comment.

Twinkle, twinkle

Sitting in the car tonight, waiting for my daughter, I opened the window and looked skyward. A beautiful night, warm, with as many stars as one would expect, this close to a sizeable regional town, and a crescent moon high in the west. A typical scene, yes? Well, it is here, Down Under (notwithstanding the wet season's first substantial cloud-bounty). However, I was taken back to my first experience of Australian skies, after first arriving here from Scotland 20 years ago. I was captivated. Not surprising, giving that I'd left a freezing northern land in January, complete with snow-turned-to-ice on the ground, and embarked on a delightful sojourn (it was supposed to be work, but was too much fun for that to be relevant) to the sub-tropical antipodes.

From 0° C to 40° C in the space of about 5 days, was quite a change. Temperature is just physics though; it required some adjustment, but it was what it was: hotter than I'd ever imagined. The sky however, was something else. Seeing Sirius nearly overhead, its brightness undimmed by the low altitude of a Scottish viewpoint, was the first thing of note. The second remarkable thing was that this scene was to be observed night after night - such that, after 2 months of unremitting sunshine and blue Rayleigh scattering, I was delighted to see a cloudy sky for a change. Anyone accustomed only to the perpetually grey skies of Britain would probably find that hard to imagine...

Back to tonight: it's easy to become blasé about the beauty of the sky, when it's always there, being ... beautiful. And even as an amateur astronomer of some 35-40 years, I am as affected by that as anyone else, and need to take a longer second look sometimes. Having said all that, what appeals so much about the night sky here - at least, between spring and autumn - is the fact that the whole experience is so damed comfortable. I don't have to put on 3 inches of insulation, before heading out to discover that it has now clouded over. There is such a sense of blissful relaxation to be had, looking at distant beacons gliding ever so slowly overhead, while crickets, cicadas etc sing their song.

I have to admit though: I'd exchange a few of these balmy, almost unchanging nights for a few displays of aurora under a crisp heaven with fiercely-twinkling stars. Of all the sights in nature, there can be few as awesome as the northern (or southern) lights. With that thought, here's a pic taken some years ago: a green rayed band over the orange glow of Edinburgh. It's a sight I will never tire of.

Image copyright © Duncan Waldron, 1992. All rights reserved.

Hydrangea

It seems I have a minor - but possibly growing - obsession with a hydrangea. We have one in a large pot on the back verandah, which is enjoying exuberant growth. It was somewhat abused a couple of years ago, being fairly sunburned and drought-afflicted. After being moved to a better spot and being treated more tenderly though, it is thriving once again.

I am drawn towards it with camera in hand; there's something about the leaf shape and texture that is so appealing: well-defined veins and bold serrations, with a satisfying sheen on at least some of the leaves. There is also a slightly unruly quality to the leaves, with unexpected twists and curls. The pink flowers, pretty though they are, don't interest me so much; possibly because I am inclined to render the images in monochrome, and they don't present enough of a graphic form to be worthwhile. Maybe I should take another look, and see if I can create a pleasing image from them as well. I might surprise myself.

Images Copyright Duncan Waldron 2007. All rights reserved.

Look what I found

I have spent several days, on and off, tidying my home office. It was in desperate need of it, for 2 reasons: 1, I am perpetually under-organised; 2, I have just moved the contents of an external office into the home, which made the floor disappear. Today was substantially the culmination of the process, in that it now looks organised, and ready for business. Indeed, SWMBO came in a few hours ago and said "what's that?"
"It's a piece of MDF", I replied.
"No, that," she insisted, waving her hand over the empty space (specifically, a desktop covered with said MDF).
Ah, yes, empty space. I have been the proud possessor of such a thing from time to time, but it invariably fills up with all manner of detritus as soon as my back is turned.

I realised some time ago that paper is the bane of my life. Copy paper, printed paper, brochures, forms, magazines, interesting snippets, etc etc... Once I had come to that realisation, I felt I had at least taken a step forward. Realising it was one thing though, dealing with it was another.

This time it will be different. I will be the master, and paper will be my servant; on call for when I need it, and despatched when I don't. It will be ephemeral, discarded on a whim, and only retained if it will serve a purpose. This will begin tomorrow, when my new assistant starts work ... a ruthlessly efficient filing system, coupled with In/Out trays that actually function as they are supposed to.

Tomorrow is a bright new morn...