IVR Cheat Sheet™ by Paul English
How to navigate voice-mail hell to get a human as quickly as possible.
[Update: the response to Paul English’s efforts overwhelmed his blog; an expanded get-a-human database has moved to gethuman.com.
So I changed the photos – the top is Jekyll Island, Georgia, about two and a half years ago, and the little pic is some flowers in a planter at Seaside, Florida. Thinking about warm weather!
Ellen doesn’t remember where she got this recipe, but every time – every time – somebody tries this, they wig out, it’s so good. I gave it to a friend before Christmas over a year ago, and she still talks about it. Some people moan when they try this the first time.
(more…)The New York Times > Travel > Choice Tables: Quirky Spots the Locals Love But Don’t Reveal
NYT’s travel writing about restaurants in Paris.
(more…)Bloglanta: Why More Cities Really Means Another County
I discovered this site about Atlanta in Atlanta magazine (doh!) on the newsstand, and found this post about the city of Dunwoody proposal. Read the comments too; thoughtful.
Now that’s a post title that most spam detectors would bite on. I made the Spicy Roasted Chicken Thighs the other night, and they were good, though I didn’t follow the recipe precisely. Variation: I forgot to put in the tomato paste, though I got some for the recipe (three cans of it on sale, actually). The thighs marinated for a whole day, but the single jalapeño I used wasn’t very hot; so we ended up with Seasoned Roasted Chicken Thighs. Next time, and soon: use the tomato paste, and rev up the peppers to make it actually spicy.
More Moleskine Hacks | 43 Folders
Everytime I pick up a new Moleskine, I’m reminded how much I freaking love these things. I got a fresh one the other day at Flax, so why not mention a few new Moleskine hacks?
I just got my first Moleskine, and I’m working to set up a GTD system with that and with the HPDA to make this new year’s work go more – smoothly? Efficiently? Productively? I don’t know the proper word to put here, but I want my work, my chores at home, my life, to feel less haphazard, based less on distraction and more on planning, less on reaction and more on response. This post covers some ideas from Merlin’s 43Folders for making use of the Moleskine in this system.
Why did I choose a Moleskine? Coolness factor for one reason, and unity for another, and mutability for yet another. It’s adaptable for whatever the user wants to do with it. That’s one of my difficulties now, to figure out how to use it productively. So, for that reason, away from the site now and back to the ToDo list!
First in this category, and first of the new year, of words to avoid: somewhat.
After reading around the web, looking for guides to implement a GTD system, I kept finding this word, and realized it’s indistinct, overly cautious, and a sign of authors backing off their own opinions. I also realized I’ve used it in this unintentionally ironic phrase: “somewhat vague.”
...with crab cakes! Ellen and I had the house, and New Year’s Eve, to ourselves last night. We had homemade crab cakes, asparagus, salad, and peach sorbet, with a nice 2003 merlot. We welcomed the new year listening to H. Johnson’s Jazz Classics on our public radio station. His show has been on for more than 20 years, and it’s one of the many things that make Atlanta a great place to live. First song of the new year: Ray Charles’ America the Beautiful. Nice.