Upon Reflection

It's now been a week since I last looked at Facebook and, other than a couple of times that I felt a desire to check up on friends and family, I honestly didn't miss it that much.

What this tells me is that I rely on Facebook more as a time waster - when I'm bored, tired, etc - than I do for connections.

Shame on me.

This week-long period of "resetting" was good for me. My intention is to refocus on what matters where Facebook is concerned. So...less random checking and browsing on Facebook and more limited check-ins and meaningful reading.

Here's to the value of pushing pause.



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My REAL Running Watch

My team does a really neat thing for birthdays - we all contribute to a group gift (usually a gift card), plus bring treats and a nice card.

Of course, my birthday was last month and my team gave me a gift card to Luke's Locker. Shopping for running gear - YAY!!!

The other weekend when our friends were in town for the Brad Paisley concert, we stopped at Luke's for a shoe fitting (that's definitely a post for another day when either The Boy or I buy new shoes - it was like watching the Shoe Whisperer at work).

While J was waiting to see the Shoe Whisperer, The Boy and I did a bit of shopping, too.

 Thanks to the gift card, and birthday generosity from The Boy, I got my first real running watch!

I'm now the proud owner of a Garmin Forerunner 210.

I've gone through the basic setup, but my technical booklet reading inept, learn-by-doing self needs to do some on the pavement testing still. I have a 17 mile run this weekend, which will be an excellent opportunity see what the watch can actually do.

Either way, it's thrilling to know that I can start tracking my pace during a race. I think it will help me get closer to my goal of setting a PR (personal record) in my next marathon.

That's on my 101 List, by the way. Just like getting this watch was.

On Social Hiatus

I've been considering taking a break from Facebook for a while - that's why I put it on my 101 List.

It's not that I think I'm on Facebook all the time, overposting and oversharing. I just find that I surf over to Facebook when I'm bored, whiling away time in the news feed even when there's nothing really "new" to see.

Apparently I'm not the only one who finds Facebook to be a time suck. A couple of articles that spoke to me can be accessed here and here.

I highly recommend linking through to the Pew Research study mentioned in the second article.

Listen: I like Facebook. I like seeing photos, hearing news and keeping my finger on the pulse of my friends and family's lives.

But too much of a good thing is simply too much.

I'm not radical enough to deactivate my account. Honestly, that sounds like too much work and part of stepping away from Facebook is to reduce the clutter in my mind. I'm just deleting my bookmark to Facebook from my favorite browser and temporarily taking the app off my phone.

I'll still be on Twitter. This blog will continue to autopost to Facebook and I plan to catch up with any comments posted through Facebook later.

I'll be back in a week. Or so.




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Journalists: We Still Need You

A week ago, a hacker took over the AP Twitter account and posted a message about the US president being attacked. The stock market went on a nose dive.

A few weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people watched the Boston Marathon "live" via Twitter. Millions then followed developments regarding the horrific bombings via Twitter.

The same can be said for nearly any recent story. We're getting news in a new way. Television news continues to warp into entertain-news to fill the 24/7 news cycle and attempt to capture the fickle interest of viewers. Meanwhile, anyone with an opinion can post a comment on Facebook or Twitter, claiming it is "fact."

The interesting thing is that it's easy to be led astray by the entertain-news and pseudo-factoids online.

Until it matters.

When a bombing happens. Or a fertilizer plant explosion. Or the attempted assassination of a world leader. Or the outster of a controversial CEO.

Entertain-news and pseudo-factoids can't address the real news that affects real life. Sources that are checked and double checked before being shared. Accurate information in real time.

And that's why I follow real journalists on Twitter.

Despite the decimation of news rooms and discouraging outlook facing J-school graduates, I want to reiterate one thing:

Journalists - we still need you.

Maybe It's Time to Go on a Diet...Maybe

The Boy's been frustrated lately with phones. Smart phones, to be precise.

After a car cut us off the other day and he noticed the driver was on the phone, he exclaimed:

Cell phones and smart phones haven't made us better.

They've made us worse drivers and disconnected people.

You can have four people in a room and no one is looking at each other.

True.

Probably true for laptops, tablets and the like.

I've thought about (and even gave myself a 101 goal to force the issue) going on a different kind of diet. A low-comm diet. Low comm = low communication.

It would look something like this:

• Check Facebook once a day.
• Check Twitter once or twice a day.
• Check personal email once a day.
• Go laptop/iPhone free in the evening, maybe even for a weekend.
• Go to dinner without my iPhone.
• Don't respond instantly to emails.
• Check email on a scheduled basis rather than having my email open all the time.

It's strange to say, but even contemplating such a diet is a little frightening.

That's probably a sign that I need to do it. Someday.

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It's All Mixed Up

Another interesting aspect of change is that it can bring some pretty unexpected things - things that you otherwise would take for granted.

For example, for nearly 14 years I worked every day on a Mac. I loved it. The Mac suits my way of thinking and is designed for the creative work that I do.

For-um-ever, The Boy has worked on a PC. It suits him - analytical and functional.

You might say that this is who we are by nature:

 

 

Then along comes change.

 

With that change came a PC at work for me. I feel completely out of whack while trying to design specialty pieces.

 

But I don't feel nearly out of whack as The Boy, who sent me a text on his first day as Senior Accountant at a creative agency saying:

 

I am trying to figure out this Apple.

 

That's right - he's working on a Mac!

 

So, as I said, along comes change and what we've taken for granted gets all mixed up. Suddenly, the Hayleys look like this:

 

Full disclosure:

• All thanks to good friend JuJBe who pointed out that this is what was happening to us, and
• I laughed like an evil scientist when creating these mash-ups...on my PC.

I Love Social Media

Once upon a time, I resisted Facebook. Now I love it.

I hated Twitter. Now it's fantastic.

I thought Tungle was a tangle to say. Now I've learned it saves approximately 22 emails.

I love social media.

I shared this chart - where else? - on my Facebook last week. I think it deserves to be posted again.

Time Management Tool

Perhaps I'm just a little slow to discover useful tools, but that's ok.

I've been using the stopwatch feature on my iPhone to keep myself from losing all track of time while reading during my lunch hour. The other day I noticed a handy feature under the same menu: a timer.

Set that sucker to whatever amount of time you want, enable a notification sound, press start and you're good to go. Say I want to work on a particular project for x amount of time before looking at my email and addressing problems there? No problem. Simply set my stopwatch and work away.

Genius!

Geeky Fun

It's no secret that the Hayleys are a little geeky. I don't care - I'm nearly 40 and I'll be geeky if I darn well feel like it.

{Hmmm...reading that makes me think I have some latent hostility issues regarding a certain upcoming birthday. Anyway.}

So, as I've shared before, we like to geocache. As a result, three of my 101 list items dealt with the sport. I've already hidden a geocache, but still needed to find 300 geocaches and go on a century run.

Finding 300 geocaches is self-explanatory: I wanted to find and log 300 geocaches. But what on earth is a century run?

A century run involves finding 100 geocaches in a set time period - usually one day or a weekend. I'm not insane (though some may argue that point), so I hoped to do a century run in one weekend.

The Memorial Day weekend and several East Texas Power Trails (short stretches of road with several caches set at the minimum 600 feet apart) provided the perfect opportunity.

Geocaching is more fun with a group, by the way, so we hit the trails with our good friends. They introduced us to the sport in the first place. The Boy, I might add, was very careful to avoid anything that looked like poison ivy.

And late in the afternoon of Day 2, we found cache #100! Success!!!

Let me tell you - finding 100 caches in two days was no small feat. Lots of effort and, since it was extremely hot that weekend, lots of water went into the 260+ mile trek.

Along the way, The Boy and I found our 300th cache. I love it when two goals are achieved at nearly the same time.

I'm almost embarrassed to show that photo. I was a sweaty mess. Sad if you consider that I spent most of the time driving the truck, not hunting for caches. Yes, it was that hot outside. I sweat just watching everyone else work.

And my decision to drive rather than hunt may or may not have been influenced by the discovery of a tick running down my front. There may or may not have been excessive screaming. I really can't talk about it - still traumatized, you see.

To celebrate, we ended our geocaching run at an East Texas institution - David Beard's Catfish King.

We were pretty dirty and gross after our geocaching effort - catfish (a dirty and gross fish, unless it's farmed) seemed the perfect thing to eat.

What a weekend!

Breaking Up Is Good To Do

Sometimes the most ridiculous goals are the healthiest.

I set a 101 goal to "break up" with the internet for 10 evenings. Little did I know how challenging that would be. We've definitely become an "I've got to know it now" society.

Before I realized it, most evenings I was doing a quick google search. Or verifying restaurant hours. Or planning our next trip. Or visiting my friend's Facebook pages. {Or blogging!}

Breaking up was definitely something I needed to do.

Finally, this weekend - more than a year into my 101 list project - I stayed away from the internet for a 10th evening.

Do you know what I discovered? It's fun to talk to my husband, to pet the kitties, to cook or to read instead of surfing. Life does in fact exist outside of the internet. {Shocking, isn't it?}

I think I'm going to enjoy taking additional breaks, but I don't want it to be a mandated "meeting a goal" process. After all, that's a "have to," not a "want to."

Who knew this silly 101 list project was going to have such an impact on my personal life?

Hide-and-Go-Seek

I've finished another 101 List item (with the help of The Boy and our good friends, J and S): Hiding a geocache.

I've written before about geocaching, so I won't expound on the sport here. But I will give you a quick how-to on hiding a cache (aka burying treasure to be found) based upon our experiences.

First: get a container for your cache. You can purchase these through the geocaching main website or you can use your own. The Boy had received a neat spice-themed birthday basket last year. After we enjoyed the Tabasco chocolates, I realized the tin made for a perfect caching container.

Second, fill the container. Every cache should include:

• A cache note - This note provides information on what a geocache is for any non-geocachers that might stumble across the cache.
• A log - This allows people who locate the cache to record their find. It's smart to put the log in a waterproof plastic sack to help preserve it from the elements. Moisture can seep in from anywhere.

Optional items include:

• Trackables - Small items with identifying codes that move from cache to cache. They usually have some sort of "mission," assigned by their owners. We included a trackable in our geocache. The trackable dogtag was a gift from our friends, J and S. We assigned it a mission of travelling to the various countries that we have visited.
• Prizes - It's nice to slip a little something as a prize for the "FTF" (First To Find). We included a small gift certificate to a restaurant in the North Texas region.

Third, hide your cache. It's important to check and double check your GPS readings to make sure the coordinates you post are as accurate as possible. Even then, your GPS might not read correctly (like ours). Such is life.

Fourth, fill out an online form to register your cache. This is a fast and easy process of providing all relevant information and clues to list your cache on the geocaching website. Before your cache lists, a reviewer will go over all of the details and either suggest edits or publish your listing.

Fifth, cheer when you see that your cache posts! Cheer even more when someone finds your cache! Feel sad when you hear that your coordinates, despite your best efforts to ensure accuracy, are not as accurate as you'd like.

Sixth, start planning where you'll hide your next cache...

Anyone up for finding the Hayley's first geocache, Sweet and Spicy?

Fat Fingering

I've always thought I had fairly skinny, though slightly knobby, fingers. See:

I should note that I took a photo of my hand and was so horrified by the dried-out reddish skin that I had to run and put on hand lotion. Getting older and the ill-effects of central heating...it's not pretty.

Anyway, apparently my fairly skinny fingers are no match for this Device of the Devil (aka, the iPhone):

I continually fat finger and send the most ridiculous messages, like this one from the other week:

Friend: I think you meant to say "bit."

{Note from Shannah - referring to a blog typo}

Me: Ed. Just saw that myself!!

Friend: I've been called many things in life,

but this may be the first time anyone has called me Ed.

 

Me: I shouldn't type on my iphone. I think I meant to say "Erg."

 

Friend: So, you meant to call me Erg?

That makes even less sense.

 
I.Don't.Like.The.iPhone.

It's a Miracle

I thought I was doing well to get my work email inbox under control yesterday - from 40 emails to 8. That's impressive, my friends.

But not nearly as impressive as what I was able to do with my personal email inbox:

It's a miracle. And I didn't even have to visit Miracle Max!

What Do You Think of the New Me?

Yesterday, when I opened my blog I discovered a floating "photo removed" window. Very irritating. After a bit of digging I finally realized what had been removed - my blog background!

Well, fine.

I'd been intending to update my blog anyway. Now was as good a time as any!

One thing led to another...tweak a background, insert a new column, hey - why not create a custom header? Too much fun.

So now I've gone and done it: I've complete restructured my blog. Another 101 list item done (though quite unplanned) and (in my humble opinion) a fresh, new fun blog ready to go.

Disclaimer: The following statement is purely for my vanity's sake.

Drop a note in the comments here or on Facebook and let me know what you think of the New and Improved Hayley Daily!!!

Technology is Driving Me Mad

I had a hysterically frustrating experience the other evening.

The mailbox at the new Hayley Home has been overflowing with junk mail these past few weeks. It caught Marathon Man and I off guard as we'd been so diligent about reducing junk mail at the apartment last year.

I rang up the Opt-Out line to remove the new address from the files and promptly fell into Voice Recognition Software Hell.

Computer: Greetings! I will assist you in removing your information from the credit and insurance data system. There is not an operator to assist you.

Me: This is going to be interesting.

Computer: I didn't understand. Please speak clearly into the phone. Tell me your address. There is no need to spell, I recognize words.

Me: Longbow Lane

Computer: I heard, Brangmow Land. Is this correct?

Me: No.

Computer: I'm sorry. Let's try again...

Me: Longbow Lane

Computer: I heard, Langmore Main. Is this correct?

Me: NO!

Computer: Please speak clearly into the phone. Tell me your address...

On this went for nearly 20 minutes. Kelly laughed so hard in the other room that I couldn't help laughing myself.

And that did nothing to help me speak clearly into the phone.

Hello Old Friend!!!

It's no secret that I've been bereft without my camera these last two months. After (unsuccessfully) begging for a new camera, I did a bit of googling and found a guy who could repair my camera for 1/4 the price of buying new.

This time I was more successful in begging! Off the camera went to Master Tim's Casio Repair.

My camera arrived via priority mail last night and I am just thrilled. It works so well!!!

Kelly handed the camera to me - by the wrist strap - and said: Now, there some rules for this camera.

What are they? I asked.

He laid down the law: You must use the wrist strap. Every time I see you using the camera without the wrist strap, I'm going to take the camera away from you for a week.

Hmm...am I a child? Well, since new camera suggestions included a Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Camera, maybe I am.

** Important note - the above self-portrait was taken with the wrist strap firmly in place!

What's New is Still What's Old

This year is really an anomaly. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a prepared person. I buy cards and gifts for birthdays a month in advance. Baby and wedding showers are purchased and wrapped a week before the event.

Christmas is where I really excel. I make a list (and check it twice) for every person I intend to buy for in January. I also set an overall gift budget. Throughout the year, whenever I spot a perfect gift, I buy it. I'm usually finished shopping by October.

Not this year.

It's embarrassing to admit this, but Christmas caught me by surprise. It's Thanksgiving in just two days and I could swear that we just had our Halloween Cookie Decorating Competition a couple of weeks ago. Where has time flown?

So, while ill this weekend, I spent time surfing the internet to look for both gift ideas and purchasing sources for this year's gifts.

Ugh. How time-consuming to do all of this in a short time span. The only thing saving my friends and family from Gift Card Christmas is the mini-meltdown in the retail sector.

But I did realize something while visiting one shop's site after another. In reality, I was shopping in 2008 just like I shopped in 1989.

Sure, I'm using the internet and that wasn't around (at least not in its current iteration) when I started university. But seriously, how is shopping online that different than shopping from a catalog?

It's certainly more eco-friendly.

But think about it. Catalogs and websites allow companies to stock a wider variety of goods without being subject to the whims of particular markets or the need to carefully edit shop floor selections.

It's the catalog, but even better. I can look at multiple views of an item, read reviews by users and literally buy an item from anywhere in the world. If I can't find something, I can have it custom made for me - take Etsy, PSA Essentials, Blurb or Spreadshirt for example. The only limitation to my selection is finding a provider's site.

The shake-up in the retail sector doesn't doom the world of shopping as we know it, though maybe it does mean an emphasis shift from "one store serves everyone" big-box mentality back to well-edited brick-and-mortar stores and a vast catalog-like online selection.

I love it! The old is new...and improved!

I Need a Teenager

I never thought I would say this, but right now I wish I'd had kids when I was in my early 20s.

I've always been fairly happy about our decision to wait on children. Being child-free, particularly in your 20s, gives you a certain amount of freedom while you still have energy and desire to go and do anything and everything.

Friends who started families early are always quick to point out the value of having kids while you're young: you have energy to enjoy them (be honest - it's energy to keep up with them), you will be young enough to enjoy your grandchildren, and the like.

But they've never mentioned the one reason I now wish I'd had kids 15 years ago: they understand technology and can help me manage my i-Life.

I'm not an idiot. Nor am I a dinosaur. However, I have reached the age where technology can baffle me. 

Why does it take two remotes to watch television (TV and DVR)? Why does the Bose remote work some times and not others? Why do I have problems listening to my iPod on the home computer after listening to it on my work computer? Why does the computer sometimes reassign drive letters and why can't I remember how to fix it?

And, to the point, why is the RAZR cell phone I ordered completely different from the RAZR cell phone I had before?

The menus are completely different. The go back, cancel and send keys are in new locations. I have no idea how to record a new voicemail message. Kelly used to be speed dial #1. I don't know how to make a speed dial number. My friend John tells me I can voice dial numbers - how can I do that if I don't know how to make a speed dial? And don't even get me started on the "intelligent type" messaging. 

From reading the messages that I sent post-marathon, you'd think that my cell phone has determined that I am unintelligent.

Text 1, 11:40 a.m.: JKelly is

Text 2, 11:48 a.m.: Darn this pgone. Meanmt tmno say, Kd5ly is tired 2.

Text 3, 11:55 a.m.: Tghis is hard. Can't type vepy wekl.

Text 4, 12:02 p.m.: Bam i cajj u?

A Quick Note on the Subject of Friends/friends

A Friend sent me a great MSNBC article after reading my post about Facebook. Apparently I'm not the only one who struggles with this!

I knew I wasn't a grouch or a loner!

Friends vs friends

I just learned last night that my warm feelings for Facebook are not shared by my husband. Honestly, it caught me a bit off guard at first to learn that he's deactivated his Facebook account.

Why?

Well, it's just another obligation. Check this, report that.

But you had several friends there! They'll miss you.

No they won't. They know where I really am.

Now that I think about it a bit more, this makes perfect sense. And not just because my husband is more of an introvert than I am.

When we first explored Facebook, Kelly commented on individuals who have - literally - hundreds of friends. How is that possible? he wondered. And why would you want that many friends? How can you keep up with them all in a meaningful way?

What he's really saying is this: In life, you have Friends and you have friends.

friends are people you've spent some time with. They are people you interact with on a regular basis, or did at one time.

Friends are people you cry with. They are people you spend significant time with. You share your lives, your struggles, your hopes and your dreams. Friends know you.

So which would you rather have? 227 friends on Facebook or 5 truly great Friends that you can count on for everything?

In deactivating his Facebook account, my husband made his preference clear. So don't be offended if you were one of his friends in Facebook. Odds are, you actually are a Friend and he won't let you lapse.

And to tell the truth, I think I would much rather be loved by a truly great Friend the way my husband cares for his Friends than to have 227 people in my Facebook account and not much else.