Working from Home

Some of you have already heard portions of these thoughts. . .My chair isn't as comfortable as I'd thought. . . I do a lot less laundry in a week. . .I get even less exercise than usual. . .The distractions seem to be increased, but I don't think that's quite right. Instead I think they're just different. . .Isolation becomes an issue. Not just checking in with people, but knowing what is going on with projects. Collaboration tools will become very important. . .Since this is turning out to be an extended period, I think companies that do well with solving these challenges will end up with a lot more associates being remote. Those companies will realize a cost savings in office space expenditures. But the costs involved with being able to do remote working well are not insignificant.

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Hutchinson, Kansas

KItty and I took the new Hyundai out for an adventure to the salt mine in Hutchinson. The car exceeded expectations and will be a welcome companion on future trips.

So we made it to Stratica Salt Mine for a tour. We've been to Hutchinson before for a couple of visits to the Kansas Cosmosphere, which deserves its own note. Stratica is a working mine, but uses previously mined spaces for mine tours and for long term storage.

Once you're in the elevator going down, remember you'll be passing through the layers of the Ogallala aquifer on your way down 650 feet. It is at that level the salt layer is the thickest and least contaminated with eon's old silt layers.

Absolutely worth touring.

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Call of the Wild by Jack London

I watched the movie trailer for the new Harrison Ford movie, and thought "that's not what I remember" or something similar, so I've reread the book. I have to say the book is much better than I expected. Some books do not age well, but this one does.

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Topeka, Kansas

We spent the weekend in Topeka so Kitty could participate in some Kansas Democratic Party meetings, and I took the opportunity to visit the Great Overland Station Museum. I can't say enough about how beautifully renovated the building is and how great the various displays are. Lots of photographs showing Kansas history.

Before departing the city, we ate at the near-by Bradley's Corner Cafe. It is a not-to-be-missed destination.

The real surprise of this trip was Iliff Commons. The day was far to pretty to just drive home, but too early in the year for the trails through gardens and arboretums to be really neat. So we found Iliff Commons, a privately owned 80 acres, never settled or plowed, and available for hiking, running or biking. There is a replica of the Topeka Founders Cabin that makes you realize how tough the founders were. Their 12 by 14 foot cabin provided shelter for up to 21 people in during the winter of 1854-55.

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A Daughter of the Snows by Jack London

Ok I've gotten on a bit of a Jack London diversion. "A Daughter of the Snows" is his first novel. My initial thought is that perhaps the new Harrison Ford movie is a combination of themes and characters from "A Daughter of the Snows" and a "The Call of the Wild". I guess I'll see.

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Quotations

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." William James

"When in doubt go to the library." Hermione Granger by J. K. Rowling

"Keep your heart with all vigilence, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23