The Kate Chronicles

Your Email Is Not Your To-Do List!

How's that for a concept? I didn't make it up, but came across it on a podcast. It's kind of brilliant.

Because somehow email has become a job in itself. "Ugh, I've got to get through my email."

Of course you are never finished with your email. Clear out ten of them, and 15 news ones have already come in. Somewhere along the line, I let dealing with my inbox become my priority.  Actually it's worse than that. My inbox became my boss, because it was deciding what my priorities were.

Maybe I want to get a few hours of solid writing in. But all those messages are beckoning. So I better respond to this one, delete this one, save this to deal with later ... wait, 80% off sale? What if something great sells out? Suddenly an hour and a half goes by. Was reading those emails the most important thing I had to do? Of course not. I should have been writing. Everything in that inbox could have waited for hours.

I'm not saying that I don't need to check it. In addition to the personal emails that I want to answer,  there are notes from editors, possible assignments and a handful of pressing things. But is there anything that actually can't wait? There is not. 

So as of today, I am taking charge of my inbox. Not by going through it, but by putting in its proper time and place.

Sigh. That little red circle with the number of unopened emails is beckoning. It's hard. There are only 27. Nope. Later. Ugh. Maje that 30.

Well, at least after I check that nothing really important has come ...

 

 

 

Breaking Up With Facebook

The breakup seemed sudden, but the relationship problems must have been simmering below the surface for awhile. 

And I didn't delete my account - only suspended it. Call it a trial separation, though at this point, I can't see us getting back together.

Here's the bottom line: Facebook was bringing me no pleasure. My feed featured the same group of people, a string of political rants, and ads for things I didn't need and sometimes clicked on.

As to seeing the same people over and over, I know that FB has an algorithm. Every six months or so, someone posts a way to outwit it,  and it never, ever works. 

But the bigger issue is social media in general. I'm as guilty as the next person of only posting news or photos that make me look good, or that depict a happy family, a lovely place I've been, whatever. (That's probably why I only post a few times a year.) But the cumulative effect of scrolling through all those curated images  week after week, year after year,  just makes me feel bad.

Face it, or better yet - Facebook it - we know we aren't seeing the truth - or at least the full picture - of other peoples' lives. But we compare their outsides to our insides anyway.

One of the lessons of the pandemic has been to cut the crap. The relationships that don't sustain us, the activities that didn't bring us fulfillment - we don't have time for that anymore. To me, Facebook represents the worst of the worst of superficiality. 

 Not supporting Mark Zuckerberg is just icing on the cake.

I know that I'll continue to nurture the relationships that are important to me.

And  I think I can do better than this: 

The Dogs Bark But The Caravan Moves On

This is an old Arabic expression - scholars believe it dates back from before the 8th century: "The Dogs Bark but the Caravan Moves On."

Evidently, human nature never changes.

The phrase is my new mantra, especially as I watch videos of Rudy Guliani screaming about voter fraud (makeup melting down his sweating face), and as I watch the White House's extraordinary and unprecedented efforts to overturn the election results, and the particularly brazen attempts in Michigan....

Lot of dogs barking out there. But history moves on. 

Let's hope. 

In other news, I continue to lose my battle with technology. Now, in addition to the malware that took down my last computer, a printer that refuses to acknowledge a new laptop, a new laptop that refuses to find my documents, the washing machine debacle with my iPhone, the troubles continue.

With the audio book judging deadline approaching,  I'm desperately trying to stay on top of my assignments.  That means listening to books at any opportunity, including with I'm brushing my teeth or doing ...uh...other things in the bathroom. 

Let's just say one of the earbuds fell out of my ear and went for a quick swim. We'll leave it there. Not the earbud. The story. 

I think I'm the barking dog in the proverb today. Time to change my focus and focus on gratitude. 

 

 

Is This Weird?

This morning I got a Facebook friend request from the waitress who served us dinner at a local restaurant last night. She was very friendly, and when she told me her name, I said, "Hi, I'm Kate."

But....did she look at my husband's credit card and then find me? Or was it because the table was wobbly, and I carelessly pulled some paper out of my purse to stick under the table leg to steady it? The paper, I later realized, was a receipt from Lens Crafters, and probably had personal information. I'd meant to pick it back up, but forgot.

Like most women, I get a stream of strange men sending FB friend requests, which I promptly delete. And of course, people from every phase of my life pop up - most recently my camp counselor from 1968. (That was a delight.) But this just seemed a little off.

My love/hate relationship with the app continues.

 

 

 

 

Say what? Part 2 - the legal version.

Awhile back, I wrote a post about using an online transcription service to convert my mp3 interview recordings into text.  That was for this story about opioids, which involved many interviews with police. 

The technology is not yet perfected, and my transcript was full amusing goofs, like translating "some narcotics" into "summer cottage."

Today, I present the legal version. I'm profiling a famous lawyer, and went to hear him speak last week. He referenced some major cases and talked about his practice. Here are a few of my favorite transcription gaffs:

"Bush v Gore": Grocery Store

"It's now constitutionally required to enable anybody to get married, regardless of sex." : "It's now constitutionally required to enable anybody to get at the better car for us, sex."

"There was too much ferment out there." : There was too much for men out there.

"As it might have been." : A vitamin

"Posterity" : "Pasta Veggie."

Despite its limitations, I still am grateful that I no longer have to transcribe a recording word for word. Your honor, ladies and gentleman of the jury, I rest my case.

 

 

I Already Bought One

Maybe this already exists but if not, someone needs to invent it: the "Already Purchased" click.

It happens to everyone who shops online. You're browsing for a pair of shoes, comparing prices and then you make your choice. In the days and weeks to come, every time you Google something, dozens of pairs of the very shoes you already purchased parade across the screen, following you from site to site.

For me this week it's the parade of washing machines. I bought one a few days ago - actually at my local appliance store which gave me the best deal. Nonetheless, options for top loaders, front loaders, commercial and apartment-size washers and continue to show up. 

I know, I know - it's an advertising algorithm, "cookies" and more. 

But wouldn't it make more sense for everyone if you could click on something to say "I Already Bought One." The companies are wasting their advertising dollars and the consumers are getting annoyed.

On the other hand, it's creepy enough how much the Internet tracks everything about us. Maybe they don't need to know this too.

So, just a personal heads-up to Whirlpool, Sears, Maytag, Kitchen Aid, Best Buy, and the rest of you: I no longer need a new washer. I already bought one.