Archive for March, 2008
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 17, 2008
I’m not a fisherman, nor even particularly fond of eating fish, but I have always been fascinated by the amazing migratory life of salmon. They start out in fresh water rivers, migrate downstream to the ocean, adapt to salt water, grow amazingly large, and then return to the same river where they started, swim an exhausting journey upstream to spawn, and then die after accomplishing their life’s mission. Surely there are lessons, inspiration and metaphors for human beings in this animal’s tale.
So this NYT headline caught my eye: “Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace.” Here’s the synopsis:
The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.
With the collapse of the fall Chinook, the questions have begun. Is our aggressive, meddling species to blame? Or were there natural causes at work? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Animals, Environment, Outdoors | Tagged: chinook, fishing, king salmon, sacramento river, salmon | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 17, 2008
I’ve needed glasses since about second grade, and in fifth grade I finally gave in and started wearing them all the time. Seeing things clearly trumped vanity. But as soon as I got old enough to get a job and earn the money to pay for a set of contact lenses, I did so.
Ever since, I have gone back and forth between contact lenses and wearing glasses. Neither is a great solution, especially now that my eyes are betraying me when it comes to reading. That means my contact lenses that correct my near-sightedness make it hard for me to read a restaurant menu. So far I have refused to pack a pair of reading glasses to put on as a second pair of corrective lenses when I wear my contacts. It’s just too much, but I don’t know how long I can keep guessing about what I am ordering to eat.
So, Lasik surgery has long intrigued me as a way to literally cut these issues out of my life. I would love to wake up in the morning and see the world clearly (and not realize that I have left my contacts in overnight by mistake). But I’m rather risk-averse when it comes to my health. I have this fear that Lasik has not been around long enough for us to truly know what the long-term effects of the surgey might be.
But more people I know have gotten it, and my fear has been feeling more paranoid than realistic. Why not go ahead and do this, I’m thinking, and enjoy the great change it would make in my life?
Then I read this article by Abby Ellin in the NYT, and my fear re-doubled its strength: “Lasik Surgery: When the Fine Print Applies to You.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Health | Tagged: contacts, corrective lenses, glasses, Health, Lasik, Science, side-effects, vision | 3 Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 16, 2008
I haven’t blogged as much recently, but I have been noting articles of interest on a daily basis, flagging them for future posts. As I looked over those news items this morning, I found several related to physical fitness, a subject that interests me.
When the weather is cold, it’s hard for me to get motivated to exercise, since my preferred venue for exercise is the outdoors. I know that’s a weak excuse (and I have plenty of indoor exercises I could do), but I am literally a fair-weather exerciser for the most part. Now, as the temperatures creep above 50 degrees farenheit, I am ready to get back into an exercise routine. And my waistline says it is about time!
So, here are some interesting findings about exercise. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Health, Sports | Tagged: fitness, Health, push-ups, Sports, weight-lifting | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 15, 2008
Still more SXSW music playing this morning from the NPR streams: My Morning Jacket played a great set. In this case, I have heard them before, on WXPN, but I can’t say I had any clear recollection of their music. It was just a name that I recognized. But after reading this account of their SXSW performance, “SXSW: My Morning Jacket Preview New Songs,” I figured I’d add them to my SXSW playlist:
Last night the band played a nearly two-hour set at the Austin Music Hall, introducing a bunch of slick, poppy and pretty irresistible songs from its new album, “Evil Urges,” due in June. The new songs, like the title track, “Thank You Too,” “I’m Amazed” and “Aluminum Park,” give Jim James plenty of opportunities to show off that haunting high tenor of his, and taut riffs drawn from classic R&B. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Music | Tagged: festival, Music, My Morning Jacket, NPR, South By Southwest, SXSW | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 15, 2008
Continuing to listen to NPR’s streams from SXSW, I heard a set that really rocked by Yeasayer. Again, not a band I ever heard before, but one that I’d like to hear more from.
I didn’t know quite what to expect before I listened to them, especially after reading this description on the NPR website: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Music | Tagged: festival, Music, NPR, South By Southwest, SXSW, Yeasayer | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 15, 2008
I’ve never been to South By Southwest, or SXSW as it is known, but the music festival in Austin, Texas is growing fast. I saw some accounts of the bands playing there (1700, apparently!) and then found my way to NPR’s website, where they offer recordings from many of the SXSW concerts.
Since I have rather eclectic taste in music, I like to keep an ear out for new bands and I gave the NPR audio streams a listen. After I hooked my laptop up to my stereo the music came alive much better, naturally. So, while folding laundry and puttering around the house, I exposed my ears to some new sounds.
Bon Iver was one of the bands I heard for the first time and liked. Why? I just did. But here’s how the NPR website describes him: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Music | Tagged: Bon Iver, break-up album, festival, Music, NPR, South By Southwest, SXSW | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 15, 2008
If you read my post about Brad Hennefer, a varsity basketball player with Down’s Syndrome, you already know I love stories about athletes who overcome adversity to succeed.
That’s the essence of amateur athletics as far as I am concerned: digging deep within one’s self to become the best you can. So I have deep admiration for athletes, especially young people, who refuse to be held back by the weak hand they’ve been dealt as physical specimens. They are inspirational proof that so much of success in sports derives from heart and spirit — and that’s a great lesson for succeeding in all aspects of life, as well.
So, here’s another heart-warming account in the NYT of a young man who fights the odds and is a winner in many ways: “With an Iron Will, He Finds a Way.”
Carter, 18, is a 103-pounder whose legs end at his hips, whose right arm stops just after his elbow and whose left arm is even shorter. He had the rest taken from him at age 5 because of a blood infection that required extensive amputations.
Take a look at the photo from the NYT — it’s astonishing that this young man can compete at a high level, with no leverage from his legs, no fingers to grip with, and arms that give him diminished reach.
Yet he qualified for the state tournament! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Human Interest, Parenting, Sports | Tagged: amputee, athletes, Dustin Carter, high school, inspiration, Sports, tournament, wrestling | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 12, 2008
Call center metrics are the source of so very many questions we hear at ICMI. What should be measured, how should you measure, what standards or benchmarks exist for each measure, how do you interpret and act on measured results — all of these and more are issues that trouble many call center professionals at one time or another.
So it should not be surprising that the March 2008 issue of ICMI’s Customer Management Insight (CMI), includes two articles that address call center metrics. Cliff Hurst, of Career Impact, Inc., offers his thoughts in “Identifying the KPI’s that Matter Most” and Fred Van Bennekom, of Great Brook Consulting, provides his own explanations in “Measuring Service Effectiveness.” I know both of them, as well, since they have been speakers at ICMI’s conferences and I respect the experience and judgment that each brings to the table.
It’s interesting, though, that Fred is in his “sweet spot,” since his area of expertise truly is in measurement, particularly statistical measurement, while Cliff is probably best known for his work on quality monitoring. I think this difference shows in the two articles and the approaches each writer takes.
You’ll see in Fred’s a precise organization, where every metric or method gets defined and then has its advantages and then its shortcomings explained in order. He knows in depth what he’s talking about and so can get to the point concisely. I like the graphic he included, too, which again shows the orderly way he has addressed his subject:
The Portfolio of Customer Feedback Research Techniques
What I like about Cliff’s approach, however, is that this material does not come across as routine when he writes about it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Call Center Management, Call Centers, Customer Sat, Customer Service, ICMI, ICMI Publications, ICMI's CMI, Metrics | Tagged: Call Center Management, Call Centers, Career Impact Inc., Cliff Hurst, Customer Service, Frederick C. Van Bennekom, Great Brook Consulting, ICMI, KPI, Metrics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 7, 2008
Mike has posted his photographs from our Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers trip to Costa Rica. He’s got one of the best group shots I’ve seen yet (click on it, to the right, to see the large version of the photo).
I recommend you check Mike’s photos out, as he’s got a good photographer’s eye and captured some spots/action that aren’t well represented in some of the other photo galleries. And his last picture is quite mysterious . . .
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Photographs, Travel | Tagged: Costa Rica, La Danta Salvaje, Outdoors, Photographs, preserve, Puerto Viejo, rain forest, swimming, waterfall | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 6, 2008
Another country heard from! Check out Maureen’s photographs from our Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers Costa Rica trip. Her pictures include the Volcano Irazu that she and Andrew visited when they arrived ahead of the rest of our group. Thanks for posting these, Maureen.
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Photographs, Travel | Tagged: Costa Rica, La Danta Selvaje, Puerto Viejo, rain forest, Travel, Video, volcano | Leave a Comment »
