More ruminations, rambles, rants and raves from the downhill side of the mountain.
Just so you know exactly where I stand vis-a-vis today's polarized politics, let me recommend this organization to you.
And I also recommend my gentle employer to you as well. The Barnes & Noble Affiliate Network, which seemed to have stopped working, is back in operation, so the links and banners are working again.
Now, go buy some books.
And I also recommend my gentle employer to you as well. The Barnes & Noble Affiliate Network, which seemed to have stopped working, is back in operation, so the links and banners are working again.
Now, go buy some books.
Links:
Fox Den: Creative (i.e. Fiction)Writing
A Pilgrim's Progress
Ian's Knowledge Modelling Weblog
Future Scan: Future Studies Department University of Houston at Clear Lake
PLSJ (aka Anne, the Anthropologist)
link
Lost in Transit
link
Coffee Grounds
Traveling in Style
Slacktivist Recommended with a bullet!
Hoofin To You: Bridgewater, NJ politics
Inadmissible Evidence
Big Black Van
Overflow
In Spite of Years of Silence
Metamorphosism (Mig's new blog)
Real Live Preacher
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Alas, A Blog
A Fistful of Euros
BuzzMachine
Eschaton
Pedantry
The Poor Man
Barefoot and Naked
Boing Boing
Craigblog
Fafglob
The Road to Surfdom
link
E-Mail Me
My Other Blogs, Journals and such
Fox Den: Creative (i.e. Fiction)Writing
A Pilgrim's Progress
Business/Economics/Future Studies and other Social Sciences
Ian's Knowledge Modelling Weblog
Future Scan: Future Studies Department University of Houston at Clear Lake
PLSJ (aka Anne, the Anthropologist)
link
International
Lost in Transit
link
New Jersey New York Pennsylvania and Delaware
Coffee Grounds
Traveling in Style
Slacktivist Recommended with a bullet!
Hoofin To You: Bridgewater, NJ politics
Inadmissible Evidence
Personal/General
Big Black Van
Overflow
In Spite of Years of Silence
Metamorphosism (Mig's new blog)
Real Live Preacher
Blogs with Attitude
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Alas, A Blog
A Fistful of Euros
BuzzMachine
Eschaton
Pedantry
The Poor Man
Barefoot and Naked
Boing Boing
Craigblog
Fafglob
The Road to Surfdom
link
E-Mail Me
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And finally, here are a few books I might recommend for your edification and amazement.
What's the Matter with Kansas?
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Every now and then, one should pull down old books from the bookcase and skim over a couple chapters. One will find all sorts of interesting things that one has buried deep in memory and which need a prod to float back to the surface.
One of the perks of working for a bookseller is the fact that one has access to free books. I get free books in three ways: first, there are the mass market strips (rather than send paperback books which have reached the end of their selling cycle back to the publisher for credit, all we send back is the front cover. The rest of the book is thrown away. My employer graciously allows its employees to scavenge such books for personal use. Note that "strips" cannot, legally, be resold since the author has not received a royalty on them,) secondly, we get advance copies of some books from publishers which get distributed on a "first come" basis, and, finally, there are some books which can't be returned and which (for one reason or another) don't sell even when they are marked down to $1.00. After the annual clearance sale, these are written down to $0.00 and thrown out. Once again, employees can take these as desired. I bring all this up because, in the past week, I have benefited from all three sources.
The most recent advanced copy I have received is a little thing called The Present by Spencer Johnson who also wrote Who Moved My Cheese". It is an "inspirational" book which took me about 90 minutes to read. However, it is not this book which interested me. After reading it, I was thinking about Og Mandino's sales motivational books since they are both "inspirational" in nature. When I went to look for Mandino's Greatest Salesman...", I happened to come across The Peter Principle. And that brings me back to my original thought today--that our memories need to be jogged every now and then. Upon rereading the first two chapters for the first time in at least 25 years, I marvelled at how...right...Dr. Peter was then and how timeless his observations really are. I can tell you that, at my dear employer, I can rattle of a number of names of people who clearly demonstrate the verity of the Peter Principle. As far as I can see, far too much of the real work of the company is done by those employees who are at the bottom of the hierarchy. As one moves up the firm's organizaitonal chart, less and less actual productive work appears to be accomplished.
I keep telling myself that I have one more 10-12 year career left in me. I approached this job with the thought that this would be it. Now, however, I find myself questioning whether this organization is really where I want to put my loyalties...and my diminishing resources of energy and enthusiasm. Don't get me wrong, I have more than enough of the two to get me through the next dozen years if I get some positive feedback. Now I have to weigh what I remember about Dr. Peter's Principle with what I've just learned from Johnson's book to see whether I continue here or make another move before my window of opportunity closes. And that last doesn't give me much time at all. I'll keep you posted...
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©El Zorro Viejo 2002-2005
