I take a lot of ribbing for having a zune as my media player.  Wait!  Keep reading!  Yeah, I have one of the original brown zunes, and I still like it.

Why?

Maybe it's one of those funky, grows-on-you things.  Maybe because it's definitely an original - nothing made like it before, and certainly nothing will be made like it again.

But really, I don't think that much about the player -- it works well, has a great, bright screen, does video, podcasts, and music really well, interfaces well with my XBOX 360 and Media Center setup at home, and it wirelessly syncs when I cradle it in the evening.

But the thing I like most isn't really the player - it's some stuff beyond that.

The zunepass that we subscribe to -- one of the all-you-can-play music subscription services on the 'net and the only one that works with my and S's Zunes (hers is black, not brown) -- really has changed the whole way we purchase and listen to music.  Or rather, we don't really purchase music anymore.  Can't even remember the last time we bought a CD or track.

We just download music to my computer, hers, or our media center hub computer, and it plays anywhere in our home, or on any of our players, computers, or media center extenders.  Three computers/three devices and downloading/deleting/downloading again - it's such a cool set of features, all legal.  It's gotten me listening to music I'd never have tried out before, and exploring bands, singers, genres I'd not even have poked at in the past.

The other thing that was just sorta cool to begin with but has grown on me more and more is the zune social -- the online place where you see what your zune, windows live, and XBOX Live friends are up to in their music-scene worlds.  Badges (you get bronze, silver, gold, etc based on listening habits for artists and albums), recommendations, and other stuff I thought were interesting but unexciting at first are really helping connect with others in a way that you don't really ever talk about online or in person.

So that's why I like my (brown) zune.

http://social.zune.net/member/snosnap

Looking over my blog site, both this one and the family blog -- I'm just not happy with them.  Don't get me wrong, Spaces has been a more-than-great host.  Started the bog blog a while back following a class reunion, as a way to keep some of my old friends and some family up-to-date on what's going on with us.  And Spaces was a great place to start, with an easy interface, decent themes, and low maintenance.

But time have changed, I've changed, and what I'd like out of something I'm putting time into online has changed.

So I'm looking around for where else to host something.  I'm fine if it is part of the journey, and not really a final destination.  Just ready to branch out further in what I post, how it's organized, staying connected with others.

Have ideas? Suggestions?  Leave a comment or email me directly.  I'll be looking and hope to find something that works in the near future.

Until then, I'll just keep sharing incidental thoughts here (and being thankful for anyone who cares enough to check it out).

Staring at a pile of paperwork that's got to be six months deep.  I've been through it twice already, pulling out the important work streams each time, leaving the rest for later.  Today is the day I'm going to tackle this thing once and for all.

How did the pile get so old? Six months ago I was pulled out of my normal director role and into a project lead role, to help move forward four work streams that were doing well but needed a local manager on them.  Little did I know that four work streams meant four full time jobs.  Have never worked such hard, long, days/weeks/months with so little sense of accomplishment. For years my life has been filled with managing people and results, focused on keeping customer IT implementations thriving and running well, not grind-it-out, way-too-much-to-possibly-do, scope-of-project-expands-daily work. It's been a great, great challenge, and one that I probably needed badly, but it's taken a toll on non-essentials like paperwork piles.

So with spring still trying to break it's way into our home rhythm, once-in-a-while Saturdays have become the golden home project catch-up days.  Yeah.  Would rather be hiking, or goofing off, or bike exploring.  Not inside paperwork.

Thinking each time a peak/valley/peak/valley like this comes in it's a chance to learn something new.  This one's about simplifying things at home, being much much less of a pack rat and much more of a get-it-done, throw-it-out person.  And also learning to worrying a lot less about getting stuff just right; just going for it, call it good enough, and move on.  Not sloppy, just a little less idealism in the mix.

...that keeps people living in the pacific northwest.  I have to be honest, much of the year here is full of clouds and drizzle and cold and rain.  I've found many days over the past few years that I wake up and think "man, we have to move somewhere sunny and warm most of the year, not cold and rainy."

Then days like today happen, unexpectedly, a near-perfect day wedged in between long rows and layers of clouds and rain.

When the sunshine does appear like this, I go to great lengths to savour it.  Today was "baseball jamboree" day so it was a built-in excuse to push aside all home projects, work that I'm behind on, taking care of the yard, and any other bully-in-the-mind thought.

We packed up and headed to the baseball fields near us in the Snoqualmie Valley and just basked in the warmth as it slowly at first and then with more and more intensity melted the chill and the dampness and the gray, and turned it into a cascade of yellow and greens and blues, still surrounded by snow-capped mountains proclaiming their protest, not yet willing to surrender the shimmering spectacle of their peaks.

And the air - I stopped several times today just to breathe in the growing scents and richness of spring, with nothing on my mind but to sense a mixture that no alchemist can dream of duplicating.

The showers that we are so famous for here may meander their way into our sudden paradise tonight, but we have had our perfect day, enough to satisfy our souls until we're surprised once again.

• Getting a new laptop at work.  I know -- bo-ring.  But really, who can pass up a nice shiny new laptop?  My tried and trusty Toshiba really does need a refresh - moving over to HP after S got one and spurred jealous glances from me each day.
• Flowers are out in the yard.  Daffodils, tulips.  I don't know why, but I really like this.  We need to plant some seedlings indoors and watch them grow. <g>
• After last week's near-80 degrees in the pacific northwest -- this weekend?  Snow in the forecast for the foothills.  Bring it on.
• Seattle SuperSonics played what's likely their last game here.  I'm done with the NBA.  No more.
• I read about and hear about friends and colleagues who are more and more into 5K, 10K, half-marathon runs all the time.  I'm such a slug.  I love to run and I just don't do it.
• My favorite books lately?  Star Wars novels.  Total geek-read.  I need something historical and sublime, like something you'd see recommended in the front window at B&N.
• Have begun to treat email like twitter - optional reading, optional action.  No, this is not good.

Have had a great end-of-week meeting with our managers and engineers in Toronto.  Every time I come to Toronto and almost anywhere in Canada I'm amazed at the energy, optimism, and passion that the teams exude.  I don't know if it's being in Canada and having a common camaraderie that's just a little harder to develop in the sprawling, we're-from-everywhere U.S., or what it is, but like just a few other places and events each year I can always count on coming away from Toronto full of enthusiasm.

One other thing -- heh -- it reminds me that mid March is still winter in some places and that the springtime I see so early and often in Seattle isn't like that everywhere in North America.  Home?  Daffodils, crocus, tulips either budding or blooming.  Toronto?  Cold, wind, snow.

Not that I minded.

Excellent late-summer post by Laura Fitton of Pistachio Consulting that sums it up well.

http://pistachioconsulting.com/blog/?p=134

And great mention of Hugh McLeod in the post - if you don't know Hugh McLeod, be sure to check out his stuff.  Summarizing his own words, he helps companies turn "... [A] complicated products and [B] complicated ideas..." into "...digestible form."

http://www.gapingvoid.com/

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I woke up this morning a little late, after staying up late to work on some mandatory training (all comments on that left for another post).

For me, usually "late" and "latte" go together, meaning, as long as I'm a little behind to start, why not make up for it by catching up on work at the local coffee shop while I wait for any traffic to die down?

But what was on my mind?  Of all things, my conscience kicked in because it's one of those weeks where we're encouraged to take alternate commuting options in to the office.  Usually this isn't even an option for me; my days are so fragmented and I'm running to different campus locations, off-campus meetings, etc. that I need a way to get around quickly and on my own schedule.

Today though?  No excuse.  8 am, company-provided, environmentally friendly bus all the way in to my main office and back, as long as I could make it.

Rushing around I made quick work of getting ready.  Felt a little guilty about the quicker-than-normal hugs and kisses to the kids, only half-way changing my daughter's diaper and asking my wife to take over, and scrounging a very piecemeal breakfast that I'm sure everyone on the bus can smell wafting out of my backpack.

Honestly, though, I'm sitting here thinking and typing, with no commute hassle, and I'm realizing "I could do this."  Free wi-fi on the bus. Relaxing.  Not bad at all.

(Government environment planners listen -- carrots always work better than sticks.)

The role I'm in right now at work has me in more than a few early morning calls.  Meaning, since I usually work late into the night most nights, that I end up rolling out of bed, a quick get-myself-together routine, and then hop on a call with cool folks from around the world focused on a project.

Between those calls and my mid-day meetings is my productive time.  And there's the dilemma.

• Work from home office?  Potentially lots of interruptions on the home front.
• Go to my office building?  I'm on "the main drag" so I have a ton of walk-by's.  All good, just inhibit that creative productivity I need for a couple of hours every day.

My solution to this has changed over the years, from simply closing my office door (I hate doing that) to working from various places.

Among my favorite productivity-zone places lately has been Zoka, a coffee and tea shop in Snoqualmie, Washington.  I'm a lover of good coffee.  I mean, I really, really love good coffee.  Brewed well, with just a little cream and sugar.  And the good folks at Zoka are known as "artisan roasters," winners of some very nice awards.

Unbelievably good coffee, they rotate their roast every day, they have great snacks to go with it, the crowd is cool but not pretentious, and there's good music to go with it (Ramsey Lewis' "The In Crowd" is playing right now).

In the land of Starbucks and Tully's, located in and near Seattle, they are sitting as a gem among giants.  In fact, there's a Starbucks just around the corner that I could go to but I rarely frequent.  Zoka stands out, and with complimentary wi-fi (thank you - I don't take that for granted), it makes it easy to grab an excellent java and somethin'-somethin' and make the most of increasingly-rare focused productivity time.

I've been meaning to post something about this for a while, but really to do twitter justice I need to form my thoughts a bit more.  In the meantime (and found thanks to a tweet by Hugh McLeod) there's a nice blog by solo bassist Steve Lawson on how he uses my favorite stay-connected tool.

http://steve.anthropiccollective.org/archives/2008/03/managing_inform_1.html

And recently, (also found via a tweet from Mr. McLeod) Bill Thompson from BBC's Digital Planet provides an excellent summary of the service and how it dramatically expands our daily network of interaction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7287536.stm

I admit it - I've been a terrible blogger.  There, whew.  Feels a lot better.

Like more than a few folks who are involved in technology and have been for a while, I've dabbled in new computing and Internet stuff as it's appeared.  Some things have worked out, others haven't, and still others it's taken me a while to figure out how to make work best for how I do stuff.  But it's really hard to keep up with everything with a growing family and a desire to just get off the computer when I'm not working.

One of those things has been figuring out how to keep two work blogs, a family blog, and a family picture site up to date and relevant.  Who reads or looks at this stuff anyway?  (In fact, who will read this? [asking myself as I'm typing])  For the work blogs, everyone is busy, so reading a colleague's blog is usually extracurricular.  For the family & personal, maybe the occasional friend or family member around the holidays or a major event - but that's about it.  And new sites, styles, and technologies are constantly appearing, so investing a lot of time in any one is more than a bit of a commitment.

So, I probably mostly maintain them for my own peace of mind -- and for the family blog and pics, because where else are we going to scrapbook what's going on over the weeks and months and years.

Lately I've been finding that mixing the family blog where we share photos and what's happening in our lives in Snoqualmie and beyond has mingled a lot with my interests in technology, the outdoors, traveling, what's happening in the world, and all sorts of other things I like to investigate.  And honestly, if I were a friend or family member, would I really want to read Dan's take on the etymology of the latest cool word I've heard someone say, or my excitement about what new technology is now connecting to what old technology?

It's past time to separate the family-o-rama site from the personal interest random-nimity.  I may regret trying to separate things like that, and if  I do, I suppose I'll combine them again later.

So -- here's where I'll be spending my time on the 'net, for the half dozen or so who will ever read this post <g>

• interest site -> that's this one
• zune social
• xbox live
• twitter
• facebook
• family sites & photoshows -> contact me, I'll send the link!
• work blogs -> they're on corpnet; contact me if you work at Microsoft and want to read 'em
• email & IM -> dangrady@live.com

(I've kept my non-work posts on Live Spaces, just to keep things clean and simple.  I like to use Live Writer for blogging and even though it will post well to any blog site, the email-IM-spaces chain hooks well together with the setup I have... and the support escalation engineers work on the floor above me, not that I'd ever go to them directly.)