James Woosley’s Blog

I can’t hardly believe it’s been one year since I last flew on an airplane. It isn’t a big deal for most people, but I’m not most people (do I really want to use that line?).

As a travelling management and technology consultant for the past five and a half years, I logged more than half a million miles flying the friendly skies. It started before September 11th and through the aftermath. But last year I got off my last flight in preparation for a new position.

I was still traveling, but by driving 100 miles instead of flying 1000. Still a road warrior, just a bit closer to the Mel Gibson version (wheels on the ground, that is).

Now I mark yet another end and beginning. On Monday, I officially start a job that is just over 50 miles from home. For the first time in almost six years, I’ll be sleeping in my own bed every night. I’ll be able to tuck my kids into bed every night. And I’ll be able to fight with my wife over who owns the remote control every night.

Won’t it be grand!?!

Still, after this much time on the road, it’s going to be a major transition for all of us. I have to give up a lot of late hours at the office and peaceful/quiet nights in hotels/apartments on my own. They’ll have to deal with a husband/father and my view of the world beyond weekends.

Heather will have more help around the house and with the kids. Anna can complain to her dad about doing homework. Ian can fight with dad about going to sleep.

Overall, it’s a good thing. But there will be moments. Maybe I’ll share some on the blog. But I probably won’t.

It’s selfish, I know, but there’s a part of me that’s going to miss the travel and time to myself. It wasn’t glamorous travel, as I rarely did anything but work and sleep. And the time alone was too much at once, often leaving me feeling lonely and longing for home (try walking down the baby aisle in a supermarket when you’re a thousand miles from home).

But I’m a bit of a nomad and a loner. That part of the job fit my personality well.

I’m also a bit of a family man. Can’t imagine being single again. So that’s going to fit me well too.

Gotta run now…I need to carve my name into the back of the TiVo remote before Heather gets home!

Time for one of my favorite cool tools…CutePDF.

The PDF document format (Portable Document Format) was created by Adobe and is a great way to store and share information. The files can generally not be edited, so you can easily control both the content and layout yet share the files with users on multiple computer systems without any special expensive software (just a PDF reader).

Here are some of the things I like to use them for:

• Tax Returns — Using most tax software and even the fill-in forms available from many state governments, you can do your taxes, get the math done automatically, and print a legible return. I’m horrible in storing paper files, but great with the electronic ones. So every year when I do my taxes, I simply print my returns to PDF and I always have easy access to past returns!
• Online Receipts — I don’t do a ton of shopping online, but when I do, I always make sure to print the online receipt to PDF. I don’t have to keep the paper, but I have all the data I need to remember the purchase or process a return. This is also nice when you don’t have a printer available.
• News Articles — A lot of times when I’m surfing the net, I’ll run across an article I want to keep forever. And since articles sometimes disappear from the original owner’s site, I’ll just save it as a PDF and it’s mine whenever I need it. It’s also great for storing articles to read later when you’re not online (very helpful when I was flying every week).
• Complex Screenshots — Sometimes you need to take a screenshot of a web page or something and MS Paint just can’t handle it (like the page scrolls more than your screen can handle). There are specific programs that do that well, but sometimes a simple PDF is good enough.

CutePDF is a free program that sets up a printer on your computer. Whenever you have a document or web page that you want to turn into a PDF, you simply print it to the CutePDF printer. It then prompts you for a file name and location. Instant PDF!

It’s a rare occurrence when I can’t create a PDF I want, and the format should be good no matter what computer I’m using and will likely be usable good for decades to come (unlike your operating system).

Later, I’ll share a tool that lets you split and combine different PDF files…

Well, I think my days of 2% milk are over. I’ve been slow to change, but after five years of airports, hotels and rentals cars (aka fast food and bachelor chow), my belt just doesn’t fit the way it used to. So I’m making the healthy sacrifice and moving from 2% to 1% milk. I just can’t do skim. Not yet at least!

I made the decision while shopping for groceries on Monday night for my work apartment. I thought about it last week, and this week decided to try it. Honestly, I was busy watching 24 (my favorite show) while eating and didn’t realize the change until the next night. That’s a good sign.

But when I realize what I’m drinking, I do notice a slight change in taste and a bigger change in texture. That’s what I’ve always hated about skim milk. It’s like water with chalk mixed in. Way too thin.

Of course, if I don’t change my eating and exercise habits, I’ll be way too fat!

I’m back. Actually, I was never really away. And there’s probably no one visiting yet so it really doesn’t matter much.

I’m at the end of my typical Christmas lull. I don’t know what it is, but I always get down during the holidays. Too much to do, too many plans that get left behind. It normally starts a few weeks before Christmas and lasts through my birthday in January. There’s a lot of stress this year, but a lot to be thankful for too. I’m blessed…I just have to open my eyes to that more often.

Christmas was good this year, except for Christmas Day. I woke up at 1 am with a stomach bug, and spent the whole day feeling rotten. Managed to open some presents, but honestly, I didn’t even feel up to it at the time. If it wasn’t for the kids, I’d have delayed Christmas by a day!

The next day I felt better, but weak. Still, we managed to haul ourselves 13 hours across the country to visit my family in Missouri. It was a good trip, and the kids handled themselves much better than they possible worst they could have performed. Did fine on the way back too. Thank God!

Now I’m transitioning from a job in Maryland to a job in Mississippi. It’s a better commute, but still too much time away from home. I’m praying it’s a stepping stone to a truly local job. My road warrior days are numbered. (It’s either that, or my marriage, and I love my wife more than my job.)

The winter lull has ended. I’m communicating with the outside world again. I have some things in my files to write about on the days I don’t feel like writing, so hopefully I’ll be posting new messages often.

Tell your friends!

James

I travel a lot…more than 500,000 miles in the last four years. So I see a lot of people talking on cell phones in the airport and various other locations. Sometimes I’m one of them.

Last night I was boarding a plane in Baltimore (BWI) and the guy in from of me had one of those Bluetooth wireless ear things (the Borg have arrived). He was chatting with a friend and talking about the upcoming weekend. I could hear everything he said, and nothing from the guy he was talking to.

He was going on about his kids sporting events for Saturday morning and that he and his wife were going to some cabin for the weekend. They were going to meet a couple of couples there and have an “orgy”. That’s what he said! An ORGY!

Now, it was most likely a crude joke. But do these Borg-people not realize that there are other people around them? Or have they simply gotten so used to their “implants” that they no longer think about it?

I’m all for technology and frankly, I think the wireless headset for my cell phone would be great to have. I just hope if I had one I could resist the assimilation enough to notice the audience around me.

But the problem isn’t limited to those with electronics in their audio orifices. I don’t know how many times I’ve been on the rental car shuttle and heard a couple of businessmen (normally men) dropping F-bombs like it was World War III. A lot of the time there are women and even children around (though some seem to contain themselves if a child is present).

I’m not perfect. I’m not always proud of the words that erupt from my mouth. But I’m aware of my surroundings (most of the time).

Are you?