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This is monorailmike.com, the personal Web site of Mike Devine since 2001.
[ mikedevine.com | Facebook | LinkedIn | Wallpaper credit: Wikipedia ] What’s new? Feb. 7, 2010 Old Man Winter certainly isn’t pulling any punches, is he? On Dec. 19, 2009 (two days before winter officially began!), Philadelphia was socked with 23.2 inches of snow. At the time, it was the second-largest storm in Philly history, and it was reasonable to assume that we wouldn’t see another blizzard like that for a long time. But this past weekend’s storm of Feb. 5–6, 2010, packed even more of a punch, dumping another 28.5 inches on the city. This means that the second- and third-largest Philadelphia snowfalls on record have taken place in the same winter. According to the Inquirer, Philly had never previously recorded two storms of more than 14 inches of snow in the same season, and we’re already up to 56.3 inches for the winter of 2009–10. (And spring isn’t exactly around the corner, either.) Two related observations: 1. On Thursday night, I noticed a problem with my cable TV service; my DVR’s display kept automatically reverting to EAS, a routine and typically brief test of an emergency signal. Given the forecasts for a huge snowstorm, the timing couldn’t have been worse. But as the first flakes began to fall on Friday evening, I contacted Comcast through their Live Chat service, and before long, my TV was back up and running. I know Comcast isn’t known for stellar customer service, but their online support works quite well — it certainly beats the misery of waiting on the phone for an hour. 2. Some people will point to this winter’s huge storms and say, “This is proof that global warming is a hoax. How can those crazy tree-huggers explain away such a harsh winter?” Although I’m certainly not an expert on such matters, I do know that long-term climate trends cannot be proven or disproven by a single storm or winter, and it’s increasingly difficult to casually dismiss other global evidence such as melting glaciers and rising sea levels. And either way, conserving resources and using energy efficiently is simply the right thing to do, especially for the sake of future generations. [ # 563 | Link ] Jan. 27, 2010 I’m always a bit surprised when I approach an ATM and notice that the previous customer had left behind their receipt. It’s a fairly harmless oversight, since a printed receipt never reveals its owner’s full ATM card number, let alone the four-digit PIN. Yet, every so often, you can learn a lot from the limited amount of data on a discarded slip of paper. Yesterday morning, I found an abandoned receipt for the ages:
WITHDRAWAL Good gravy. Why would someone invest well over $130,000 in a regular savings account, which earns less than 1% in interest? And have the guys from Office Space found a new way to round off fractions of a cent and deposit the funds in a new account? [ # 562 | Link ] Jan. 23, 2010 Over the course of my career, I’ve learned some difficult lessons, and now I know that such painful truths can extend to late-night talk show hosts and college football coaches, too. Lesson 1: All employees, regardless of their work ethic, talent, and loyalty, can be the victim of foolish, shortsighted reorganizations. Six years ago, Conan O’Brien signed an agreement with NBC to take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno, and the transition took place last June. But after a brief, failed experiment with a nightly Leno show at 10 p.m., NBC proposed to create a new 30-minute show for Leno at 11:35 p.m., which would push The Tonight Show back to 12:05 a.m. — a surprising decision, given that O’Brien had been sitting behind the Tonight desk for a mere seven months. Understandably, O’Brien rejected NBC’s proposal (tantamount to a public demotion), reached a $45 million settlement to leave the network, and taped his final episode of The Tonight Show last night. The executives at NBC share the same myopia that permeates so many corporate boardrooms today. In the face of a big problem (low prime-time ratings), the network took a huge gamble (The Jay Leno Show) and lost, then quickly returned to their old formula regardless of its disruptive, negative impact on other people (O’Brien). Conan O’Brien worked hard at NBC for 17 years, but ultimately, NBC pushed him around like a low-level employee, and for that, the network should be ashamed of itself. I look forward to seeing O’Brien return with a successful show on another network soon, and when Jay Leno comes back to The Tonight Show on Mar. 1, I hope David Letterman finally destroys him in the ratings. Lesson 2: Surprisingly often, management rewards poor results and behavior. Starting in 2001, Lane Kiffin worked as the offensive coordinator at USC for six years. Then, with zero experience as head coach at any level, Kiffin was hired to coach a professional team, the Oakland Raiders. While there, he posted a miserable record of 5–15 before getting fired in the middle of his second season. For some reason, his performance with the Raiders was enough for the University of Tennessee to hire him as their new head coach. With the Volunteers this past season, he went 7–6 while making false accusations against his coaching rivals. And if that’s not enough, after Pete Carroll abruptly left USC for the Seattle Seahawks, Kiffin’s mediocre results at Tennessee were rewarded with the head coaching job at his old employer, USC — one of the most elite college football programs in the country. How could Kiffin possibly deserve such a prestigious job? As head coach, the man has won 12 games and lost 21 — that’s a winning percentage of only .364. Compare Kiffin’s meager record with that of former Nebraska coach Frank Solich, who went 58–19 (.753) over six seasons but was still fired in 2003 — an equally ridiculous staffing decision, by the way. To quote a scathing column by ESPN’s Pat Forde, “Paris Hilton has paid more dues than Lane Kiffin.” And personally, after watching far too many frauds get ahead in the corporate world, I can only conclude that many more undeserving dilettantes like Kiffin will somehow find a way to prosper, even if their résumés are woefully thin. [ # 561 | Link ] What’s not so new? Want to read more? Check out the archives! Video clip of the moment
Most infomercials tend to irk me, but having already enjoyed the ad campaign for the ShamWow, I have to admit that I’m mesmerized by the frenzied, Brooklyn-accented showmanship of pitchman Vince Offer — yes, that’s his stage name — and his latest wonder product, the Slap Chop (running time: 3:10). Previously featured clips: 1. Sesame Street’s Pinball Number Count, brought to you by the number 8 (1:07). 2. Family Guy patriarch Peter Griffin wears a mustache and tries to speak Italian (0:43). 3. The music video for Röyksopp’s “Remind Me,” a song from recent GEICO ads (4:15). 4. The superheroes from Super Friends perform key scenes from Office Space (2:54). 5. John McCain and Barack Obama star in JibJab’s “Time for Some Campaignin’” (2:30). 6. Derrick Williams scores a Penn State touchdown on a 78-yard punt return (1:58). 7. Homer Simpson demonstrates the theory of evolution through the ages (1:29). 8. A gorgeous VW Cabrio ad, featuring Nick Drake’s ballad, “Pink Moon” (1:00). 9. A clever, intricate Honda commercial that required 606 takes to complete (2:01). 10. Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang dance to OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” (4:07). 11. Old-school Sesame Street revisited: a lost boy finds his way home (1:38). 12. More classic Sesame Street: a pair of Muppets imagine shapes (3:22). |
