By Will Strohl on 3/8/2010My 9 year-old son has to do his first science project at school this year on his own. Until now, his science projects have been a class project. Having gone through this before, my only requirement to the kids is that they come up with their own idea for the project. I don’t want them doing what their friends are doing. This forces them to use their brain to figure out an experiment using scientific method – which is the whole point of the project in the first place. I am not a fan of any child using their friends or siblings ideas. Be as unique as you can! :)
Well, the first part of the project is to turn in your idea of the project to the teacher. This involves handing over your scientific question, project title, hypothesis, and so on. The project he chose to do is about saving electricity. He wants to prove (or disprove) that you save electricity when all of your appliances that are not in use are unplugged. I love this idea! It shows that he cares about the environment, thinks about saving... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 2/18/2010Not too long ago, I mentioned on twitter how much I had accomplished in one day by multi-tasking. You never know what statements will return comments to you on the various social networks, and when they do, it is typically surprising. This was one of those surprises to me. As I remember it, at least 3 other people began sending me links and comments showing how multi-tasking actually makes you less productive.
Here are a couple of examples:
Multitasking May Not Mean Higher ProductivityMulti-Tasking Leads to Lower Productivity There are very valid points in every argument posed in this area. However, I do have to point out that studies like these are very subject to situational and contextual scrutiny. For example, multi-tasking is an entirely different proposition if you... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 1/7/2010If you don’t already know, I live in Orlando, Florida. This means different things to different people. First, most people think of the rat. Well, I guess that’d be Mickey Mouse or Disney to you. It’s the “RAT” to me, but that’s another story… Anyhow, it’s been uncharacteristically cold in Central Florida the last few days, and it’s supposed to last through the weekend. This morning, I got a real good dose of how cold it actually is right now.
I woke up and got ready for work like I usually do when I have to work from the office. This morning though, there was a small layer of ice on my windshield. Well, in Florida, we do something that you’d not normally do to fix this. We get a cup of hot water, and pour it over the windshield. Problem solved. Actually, we usually can just use our windshield wipers to get rid of the frost, but that wasn’t working this time.
I poured the hot water, and briskly walked the cup back into the house only to return to my truck windows already beginning to frost... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 11/25/2009The other morning, I was already running late for work. I noticed the gas gauge was at empty, but that I not completely unusual for me. I am very good at knowing how much gas I have, having only ran out of gas one other time in my life.
Stuck In Front of a School This particular morning, I was on my way to the gas station when I chugged to a stop just feet away from the entrance of an elementary school, just as parents were beginning to bring their kids to school, on an already busy road that led to a major toll road. I immediately whipped out my roadside assistance card and called them to have someone bring gas to me. I was still 2-3 miles away from the gas station, and being in front of a school, it was not a good idea to leave my truck there.
Yes… I own a truck. I used to have a relevant need to own a truck over a more fuel-friendly vehicle. I no longer need a truck, but having another car payment is not an option at this time either. :(
After a few moments of phone options... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 10/22/2009 In light of the recent changes in laws by the FTC, I felt that I should clean my slate to let you know about any and all compensation that I might be receiving for my content, links, words, and remarks. This includes, my blog, and my social network profiles. Even though I am legally obligated to mention these details going forward, you have no idea about my previous content, unless I have explicitly told you. (Something I try to remember to do anyway for credibility’s sake.)
... Read More »
|
By Will Strohl on 9/11/2009A while back, our house sprung a leak in the form of allowing water to enter the attic through the ceiling. The water does what all water does on earth, it made its way down until it found ground. On its way down, it made sure to soak the dry wall, and destroy the floor in my sons room. Fixing the roof was quite simple, as it just needed to be resealed at a joint. The room however needed a new wall and floor.
Both the floor and wall were going to be taken care of for us, but I decided to do the painting of the wall myself. And since one wall was getting painted, all of the walls needed to be painted. Here’s what the room looked liked once everything was torn out.
... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 6/19/2009Do you not know what a “headhunter” is? Well, let me school you… A “headhunter” in the professional world is usually referred to as a recruiter. Their job is to gather up as many contacts as possible into a network of people, and in turn, they use their network to generate leads for employers looking for employees, and vice versa. This sounds innocent enough. It does. The fact is though, that the list of recruiters that I will talk to is very, very, very short.
Over the past 8 months or so, recruiters have been getting more and more aggressive in their tactics of generating and building their networks. That in itself can be a good thing, but most often in this industry, it is definitely a BAD thing. This began for me as one or more annoying emails a week, asking me if I knew anyone who fit a profile for a job, or if I was looking for any new “opportunities.” I can tell from experience, I have never really had any luck using the services of a staffing company, from either side of the coin. I know... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 3/31/2009Right now, my blog’s RSS feed is having problems getting consumed at DotNetNukeBlogs.com. I have contacted the website administrator, and we are working on getting this issue resolved. Until then, my blogs on DNN will not show up on the DNNBlogs feed. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I will post again when it is fixed. Technorati Tags: Dnn Blog
|
By Will Strohl on 3/11/2009UPDATED! There is a video from a co-workers cell phone that captures me taking a picture of our CEO taking a picture of the commotion. Scroll down to see it...
I wear noise cancellation headphones most of my day at work in an attempt to block out unwanted distractions, and to get some great sounds from my Pandora stations. This afternoon, there was a sound that I couldn't block out. I kept hearing the fast clatter of high heels in the office. I even saw a few of the women here talking loudly, and running past my office. Curiosity got the best of me, so I got up and followed the noise to its source.
I made it to our back door, but on the way I began to get a whiff of a familiar smell. It smelled like electrical wires burning. Whew! Stinky! As I approached the back door, there were people circled around it, and it was clear that no one wanted to exit. I had no idea what was up, so I made my way out the door. Here is what I saw once outside:
... Read More » |
By Will Strohl on 2/21/2009Don't worry. Lowes is not on my boycott list yet, but they may snag you with a financial customer service snafu... Read More »
|