Clean towel day (13) Jun 20, 2007
Wendy has a system when it comes to changing our towels:  After [x] number of days, put old towels in wash and bring out new towels.  That [x] is pretty small; somewhere around 7-10.  My system is a little different:  After [y] amount of smell develops, put old towels in wash and bring out new towels.  The problem with my system is that [y] is usually much greater than [x] (actually they can't really be compared unless smell can be quantified as an integer; but you get the idea).  Sometimes [y] reaches an overwhelming value in 7 days.  Sometimes it's more like 18.  I'm thankful I have a good sense of smell that prevents me from allowing [y] to get too large.  As soon as I notice a smell on my towel, it's over.  More than likely, it means it's been about 2 months since I started using the towel, and judging from the towel's heartbeat and limb growth, it's time to use a clean one. 

The cool thing about clean towel day is that it always makes me happy.  What can I say; I'm simple.  For an unexplainable reason, it gives me a small but noticeable amount of pleasure.  It's like getting your hair cut or getting your car washed.  Clean = happy.  I wonder if this idea isn't universal.  Maybe some people equate dirtiness with happiness?  Perhaps.  But for me, I like clean things.  And since today was clean towel day, it's a good day. #psychology
Work proximity (1) Jun 20, 2007
At times, it seems like it would be cool to live really close to work.  There'd be no commute, no traffic, less wear on my car, less money on gas, a greater likelihood of riding a bike to work, etc.  I could go home for lunch, be home when the Fedex guy comes, be home when the cable guy comes.  I wouldn't need to worry about forgetting anything at home or leaving something on my desk at work. 

But I think I reconsidered based on what I saw last night.  I was playing basketball at my church and left at around 9:45pm.  On my way out, I saw the church's youth pastor running around and getting some things done after hours.  He happens to live about 200 feet from the church.  That's when it occurred to me:  If you live that close to work, there's no difference between work time and home time.  It all kind of runs together.  You go back to your office after everybody leaves to get a little work done.  You show up on Saturday or Sunday for a few hours here and there just to work without any distractions.  You forget something on your desk, so you go pick it up and get caught up helping somebody fix their computer. 

That sucks.  The way my life works right now, there's work time, and there's home time.  They're very distinct.  There's no crossover.  I've never brought work home, and I never intend to.  I spend 8-10 hours of my day at work.  After sleep, it's the activity that takes up the greatest percentage of my time.  If things don't get done during that time, oh well.  If I forget something at home, I can live without it.  If I leave something at my desk, it can wait until tomorrow.  Work just isn't important enough to invade my personal life. 

I just read this Business Week article (via Kottke) about how Best Buy's new corporate philosophy is to "demolish [the] decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity ... [and] to judge performance on output instead of hours."  This sounds like a great idea at first, especially for me, because I always feel like I could complete a 9-hour-day's work in about 1 hour.  The other 8 hours consist of corporate junk mail, meetings, performance reviews, training, and blankly staring into nothingness.  If my job was geared towards performance instead of time, I'd have a lot more time to myself.  The article goes on to talk about several high-level employees who do their work while they're at home and/or spending their time away from the office.  These people get their work done, even if it's while hunting or going to concerts. 

But I see a striking similar to the youth pastor:  With a performance-instead-of-time system, you're never not working.  You're never off the clock.  Instead of going to the office from 8-5, you're working "whenever", which to me means "all the time".  There's no difference between work and home, especially if you often work from home.  This sounds cool on the surface, but underneath, it means more work and less home time.  And that sucks. #business