At Buffalo Jackson Trading Company.
Friday, April 05, 2019
Thursday, April 04, 2019
First Paragraph
When you are getting on in years (but not ill, of course), you get very sleepy at times, and the hours seem to pass like lazy cattle moving across a landscape. It was like that for Chips as the autumn term progressed and the days shortened till it was actually dark enough to light the gas before call-over. For Chips, like some old sea captain, still measured time by the signals of the past; and well he might, for he lived at Mrs. Wickett's, just across the road from the School. He had been there more than a decade, ever since he finally gave up his mastership; and it was Brookfield far more than Greenwich time that both he and his landlady kept. "Mrs. Wicket," Chips would sing out, in that jerky, high-pitched voice that had still a good deal of sprightliness in it, "you might bring me a cup of tea before prep, will you?"
- From Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
- From Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
When Looking at a Proposed Course of Action
Consider:
- What could be the unintended consequences?
- Is the decision easily reversed?
- Could the process or product be simplified?
- Would an incremental approach be wiser?
- What are the downsides of inaction?
- What are the advantages of inaction?
- Will taking action reduce or increase your worries?
- Does its success heavily rely upon the cooperation or nonresistance of people who are unlikely to support the action?
- Is time on your side?
- Have you seriously considered the arguments against the action?
- Is there a single factor that can overwhelm all of the others?
- Is there any component that causes unease and yet has not been thoroughly analyzed?
- How much of the proposal is driven by ego?
- Will the consequences of a negative appearance overwhelm the benefits of the action?
- Have people felt free to surface their unfiltered opinions?
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
Business Trip Reading Fare
Some light reading to have at hand on business trips:
- City Primeval by Elmore Leonard
- The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman
- Chinaman's Chance by Ross Thomas
- Glitz by Elmore Leonard
- Ice by Ed McBain
- The Comedians by Graham Greene
- The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
- Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
- Vespers by Ed McBain
- Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
- Royal Flash by George MacDonald Fraser
- The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
- Seasons of the Monsoon by Paul Mann
- Christopher's Ghost by Charles McCarry
- The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst
- Blood of Victory by Alan Furst
- Bad News by Donald E. Westlake
- The Pusher by Ed McBain
- LaBrava by Elmore Leonard
- A German Requiem by Philip Kerr
- Bank Shot by Donald E. Westlake
- The Burning Ghats by Paul Mann
- March Violets by Philip Kerr
- Split Images by Elmore Leonard
- A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
- Bandits by Elmore Leonard
- Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson
- The Darkening Stain by Robert Wilson
- Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard
- Don't Ask by Donald E. Westlake
Proust Your Routine
What did Proust have for breakfast? Before his illness became too severe, two cups of strong coffee with milk, served in a silver pot engraved with his initials. He liked his coffee tightly packed in a filter with the water made to pass through drop-by-drop. He also had a croissant, fetched by his maid from a boulangerie that knew just how to make them, crisp and buttery, and which he would dunk in his coffee as he looked through his letters and read the newspaper.
- From How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alan de Botton
[Photo by Nathan Dumlao at Unsplash]
The Power of Drama
Not Kasper Gutman
Has anyone ever watched "The Maltese Falcon" without hoping that the character played by Sydney Greenstreet* escapes?
*Greenstreet played Kasper Gutman, a.k.a. The Fat Man, and narrates the trailer.
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