I was 19 years old the summer of 1969. Richard Nixon was president. The Vietnam War was raging and Woodstock would not happen until August 15. 40 years ago this weekend Americans waited eagerly for Sunday morning, July 20th, to arrive. NASA was going to fulfill a dream that President John F. Kennedy spoke of in 1961. Some of us are old enough to remember this day quite clearly and so I thought that today I would share with you my walk on the moon memories on this 40th Anniversary. And yes, I do consider this a technology post...I mean really, man walking on the moon, now that is technical!
As I said, I was 19. I had moved back to San Diego from San Francisco on Memorial Day weekend 1969. The reason I remember the exact weekend is that my first husband and I drove from San Francisco to San Diego and we got stuck in traffic in San Clemente (stop laughing, Darin) on Interstate 5 for six (6) hours that weekend. The good news about that trip is that we were driving our brand new 1969 VW Beetle (air cooled engine), so idling on the freeway was just no big deal. But I digress...
I worked for Wells Fargo Bank and my husband was in college, so he had a summer job of some kind. We lived in a really small, strange apartment that seemed to look more like a motor home and we did not own a television. A friend of ours loaned us a TV to use for the summer. It was a black and white RCA television. This is the same year that saw such summer movie blockbusters as Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider (both debuted in May 1969). If you have never seen either of these movies, rent them, they are classics.
As I said it was a Sunday morning and I don't know if NASA specifically planned this historic walk for a Sunday in order to allow more Americans to watch the show, but we got up early, the television went on and at exactly 20:17:40 UTC (GMT) the Eagle landed in our moon's Sea of Tranquility. That was 01:17:40PM PDT our time. Six and one-half hours later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon's surface.
I have two distinct memories from that day: First, while waiting for the Eagle to land, the radio played Oliver's rendition of Good Morning Starshine. The words were perfect. (see the 1st YouTube Video below); Second, we watched the CBS coverage with Walter Cronkite and shared another life-altering event with him. (see 2nd YouTube video below).
And so today, as we begin the 40th Anniversary celebration of our Walk on the Moon, we remember with great respect and sadness the passing of Walter Cronkite last evening at the age of 92. And I will think back to the day so long ago that I sat in that little apartment, watched with wonder and together we wrote in our diary: "Today, man walked on the moon!"
P.S. In 1999 a movie was released as a tie in to the 30th Anniversary, A Walk on the Moon. This is another movie that many of you will enjoy.
The iPhone 3Gs' new features are forces to be reckoned with! I have had an iPhone now for just under a year, in that time I have come to love and cherish it. The iPhone, in my opinion, had the most potential to revolutionize mobile technology as we knew it! Overnight, it quickly became the most useful piece of technology that I have ever owned.
After the initial infatuation period ended, I began to realize that there were things that disappointed me about the iPhone. I learned very quickly that with all modern marvels there will be glitches and hiccups along the way. Beta, Beta, Beta! The iPhone is a painting that has yet to be finished, always changing and always evolving; adapting to the needs of the people. Everything that disappointed me with with the iPhone 3G the 3Gs has made up for!
We now have the ability to: copy and paste, take video, send picture and video text-messages, and the list goes on and on. The 3Gs is faster and smarter, we have the capability to make our own applications and now that there is a digital compass we will never get lost! The possibilities are absolutely endless, and I'm pretty sure that the sky is no longer the limit. Here are the details on just a few of the new features:
"Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3GS. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes."
"Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask."
"Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop."
At noon Friday, March 27, 2009, Ticketmaster started selling Phish concert tickets for their August 7 and 8 performances at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. I am told this Amphitheatre holds 20,000 guests. However, I was on Ticketmaster at the appointed time and I was not able to buy tickets to this event. It was sold out within seconds. WANTED: 2 PHISH Tickets, The GORGE, August 7 and /or 8, 2009!
The tickets I am trying to buy have a face value of $49.50 each. So for a two people to enjoy a two day concert, the total ticket price should be $198. Current bids on EBay are up to $700! And if you really want to be shocked, go to eBay's latest auction venue StubHub. Do a search for Phish George WA. Unbelievable. So much for technology. Keep in mind Phish cautions all fans as follows: "We urge you not to purchase tickets through brokers or "scalpers." These tickets may be counterfeit in which case you will not only be overcharged but will also likely be denied entry into the show."
You should know the tickets I am trying purchase are for my oldest son, Aaron and his girlfriend, Alli. Aaron has been a Phish fan for more years than I know and this week he asked if I would try to purchase tickets for him using my Ticketmaster account. The plan was Aaron would be on one computer, I would be on another, Alli would be on her computer, and two or three of Aaron's friends (in other states) would try from their computers. At the appointed time we were all ready...and 5-10 minutes later we all received Ticketmaster's equivalent to the blue screen of death: "Sorry, no exact matches were found, but other tickets may still be available."
The annoying thing about this screen message is that Ticketmaster seems to want to deliver a hopeful message. They give you about 4-5 reasons why your purchase attempt may have failed, encouraging you to try again.
Today is Saturday and it occurs to me that life may have been a lot easier when technology didn't provide false hope. So I will share a few photos with you. The first one is Aaron in 1982 enjoying some tunes and the second photo is Aaron showing off his first fish (Phish) 1984, Nome, Alaska.
In the meantime, let me know what you think about buying tickets through Ticketmaster. And, if by chance, you were lucky and got Phish tickets through Ticketmaster and find you can't use them...leave a comment and I will get back to you.
This past Monday, March 9, 2009, one of my former employers sent a company wide layoff announcement via email. Sadly some of my friends were impacted by this layoff. Given the state of the US economy we have all grown accustom to layoff news. It is happening everywhere, touching every industry; however, prior to this week Mercury Insurance Services, LLC, founded in 1962, had never resorted to layoffs. I could ask a lot of questions about this business decision, most of which are not answered in their press release. The one question that weighs on my mind is why did they choose to communicate this business decision via email?
Perhaps companies feel this is accepted email etiquette. For some companies, maybe. But you need to know that prior to mid 2002 90% of Mercury employees did not even have personal computers, they worked with dumb green terminals. That's right,no email, no word processing software, no internet access...they spent eight hours a day in their cubicles connecting to a mainframe to perform and produce their work product - underwriting policies or adjusting claims. In 2001 I was named the project manager to bring Mercury employees into the 21st century. One of the biggest project battles was convincing senior management that the employees should have and use email. I won the battle and this week I learned that senior management used email to announce a company wide layoff. What a difference seven years can make!
Generally technology is wonderful for the work environment, but have we technically progressed to the point that it is considered acceptable to deliver life altering news via a cold email? Let's remember that this startling news negatively impacted those who were not laid off, as well as those who were. I read an interesting article on this subject that I invite you to read: "Is There Such a Thing as a Good Layoff?"
Today I dedicate this blog post to all Mercury employees, those who were fired and those who were retained. In September 2004, when I resigned from Mercury I sent a good-bye letter to those whom I had worked with over my almost seven year tenure. And because I had managed many company wide projects this letter went to many employees. In that letter I shared the following thoughts, which ironically are still pertinent today:
---As I leave you, I tried to think of the best advice I could offer you as individuals and as a group. It came to me that what I have always tried to impart to you is to question each request as if your life depended on it. Do not be afraid to stand your ground for the betterment of your work ethic and the company. In other words, do the right thing. A few years ago, I saw a movie, "The Winslow Boy", and in the closing scene a defense attorney states: "I wept today because right had been done." When questioned by the defendant's sister, "Not justice?" to this the attorney replied, "No, not justice. Right. Easy to do 'justice'. Very hard to do 'right'."
In these difficult times, can we all just try to do right?
Good night and good luck!
March 10, 2009 5:14 PM EDT
In a Form 8-K, Mercury General Corp. (NYSE: MCY) announced that on March 9, 2009, the Company took action to eliminate approximately 360 employee positions or 7% of the Company's workforce in an ongoing effort to improve its cost structure. The Company expects to record a charge, in the first quarter of 2009, of approximately $8 million for severance and other employee termination costs in connection with the reduction in workforce, all of which will result in future cash expenditures. The total annualized pre-tax cost savings that are expected to result from the employee reductions is estimated to be approximately $22 million.March 10, 2009 5:14 PM EDT
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