Roger Bikes

Category: Off the Bike

  • In praise of the 👍 emoji

    We use Slack at Kinsta and one of the things I enjoy about Slack is the use of Emojis as reactions. Not everything posted in Slack needs a typed response, at least not from everyone in the company. Emoji reactions allow you to respond without creating a notification that the poster then needs to review. Instead they can glance at reactions to their posts in Mentions & reactions view.

    There are a lot of emojis in Slack and you can add as many as you want. These are great and allow you to react with a wide variety of reactions that communicate nuance and personality. However there are times where nuance and personality are not needed. Instead I need to give a strong affirmative reaction and that is where the 👍emoji is my workhorse.

    The 👍transcends language and emotion. It shows approval and support for whatever was posted. If someone reacts with the 👍there is no doubt as to what they mean. There are other emojis for other occasions that do the same and maybe someday I will talk about those too.

  • Essential Oil mixes for Work

    Essential Oil mixes for Work

    Kate bought us an essential oil diffuser a few years ago and I have been hooked on having nice smells around the house ever since. The best part was that Kate took care of making all that stuff happen. Now that my office is in the basement I have to fend for myself and figure out what oils to have in my diffuser.

    I ordered one diffuser with oils but had to send that back for 2 reasons: First the power connector to the diffuser was not plugging in well and the power would switch off often. Second the oils that it came with were not good. They smelled like over the top soaps and I had to shut if down after a few minutes.

    I then got the same diffuser we have upstairs which came with better smelling oils. I understand that there are a variety of levels of quality when it comes to essential oils. Maybe someday I will invest time and research into finding the best oils, but for now if they smell nice I am all set. I do not apply any of these oils to my skin.

    After some limited Googling I found the list below for office/work specific options. It is interesting to see how different scents and blends can change my mood. I really enjoy having some type of citrus in the mornings to wake me up and smile. Anytime things might be intense at work I take a deep breath and somehow the energizing brings a sense of calmness. I am enjoying #5 in the list below at the moment.

    10 Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for the Office

    1. CITRUS CLARITY 

    • 1 drop lemon
    • 1 drop grapefruit
    • 1 drop lime
    • 1 drop wild orange

     2. LET’S FOCUS 

    • 5 drops cedarwood
    • 4 drops lemon
    • 2 drops rosemary
    • 5 drops cedarwood
    • 4 drops lemon
    • 2 drops rosemary

    3. HEADACHE RELIEF 

    • 3 drops lavender
    • 3 drops peppermint
    • 3 drops lemongrass

    4. MONDAY MOTIVATION

    • 2 drops grapefruit
    • 1 drop wild orange
    • 1 drop lemon
    • 1 drop lime

    5. PRODUCTIVITY BOOSTER

    • 5 drops wild orange
    • 3 drops peppermint
    • 2 drops lemongrass

    6. GET SOME WORK DONE 

    • 4 drops bergamot
    • 3 drops lavender
    • 2 drops ylang ylang
    • 1 drop patchouli

    7. ENERGIZE 

    • 2 drops peppermint
    • 2 drops rosemary
    • 2 drops lemon

    8. TAKE A BREAK BLEND 

    • 3 drops bergamot
    • 2 drops frankincense
    • 2 drops lavender

    9. STRESS BUSTER 

    • 3 drops bergamot
    • 2 drops geranium
    • 1 drop ginger

    10. MOOD BOOSTER 

    • 2 drops wild orange
    • 2 drops ylang ylang
    • 2 drops lavender
  • Rest day

    Rest day

    Sums it up well.

  • New TV Series: Severance

    New TV Series: Severance

    I started watching Severance last week on Apple TV and I am hooked. The photography, set design, and lighting are great. But the story and acting are what make the show worth watching.

    The show opens to a woman laying on a conference table in a windowless room. It’s a jarring scene and eventually the episode loops back to it from another perspective. Disorientation is a strong theme in the series.

    We learn that these characters are employees of a company where they have agreed to have their work memories severed from their non-work memories. The reason why this is done is not clear as of episode 2. The third episode came out today and I’m looking forward to learning more.

    The employees are all grown adults but when they undergo the severance procedure their work memories start from almost nothing. They understand English and how to use a computer but they have no idea of who they are on the outside, aka their outies. They work underground and come and go to work at staggered times to avoid their other selves from meeting each other.

    The story is very original and so far very well done. Ben Stiller’s production company is making it and Ben directs multiple episodes. On this mornings Pivot podcast they interviewed him about the show. Episodes are released on Friday’s like all the streamers are doing now.

  • Heavy News Day

    Russia invaded the Ukraine today. Its been coming for weeks if not longer but now it has happened. Putin has ordered his people to take over the Ukraine or parts of it anyway. They have captured the infamous nuclear power plant Chernobyl and are apparently holding the staff hostage.

    Yet I went to work like every other day and did my job like every other day. The war was mentioned by a few people in Slack and all agreed that it was terrible and sad news. Maybe there were fewer meme’s posted in #random today. I posted a photo of an icicle that looks like Cthulhu.

    Sign of the apocalypse?

    My desire to doom scroll about the war is incredible. It’s the main story on every news site. The Guardian has at least 12 stories above the fold on the homepage. The coverage is going to be non stop over the top for days and weeks. I can only imagine how social media has exploded.

    It’s sad and terrible news. I feel horrible for the Ukrainian people and all of the soldiers involved. I hope that it ends as soon as possible.

  • Winter: part deux

    Winter: part deux

    When it snows and the snow stays on the ground for more than a week, it is winter. We had that happen in early December and then got hit with a couple more snow storms into early January. In total we got close to 2 feet of snow in that timeframe. We cross country skied on the property there was so much snow.

    Then it decided to be spring for about a month. There were no snowstorms and the snow on the ground almost completely melted. We had a frozen culvert and a temporary reflecting pond. We went on a couple of bike rides. It was nice, but we really need it to snow.

    Thankfully this week we are back to winter. It started snowing Monday night and I was shoveling and blowing snow Tuesday morning and evening. It kept snowing and I shoveled this morning. It slowed today and I soaked in the hot tub after work. I did have to shovel a little bit to clear the path to the hot-tub, but nothing serious.

    As the winter storms have come and gone our snow management strategy has evolved. Kate clears the upper and lower decks. I clear the driveway, and clear a path to and around the cabin and hot-tub. Its a good division of labor and we stay out of each others way.

    At the start of the season I only had a small shovel. I have upgraded to a more substantial push shovel and the beast Cub Cadet snow blower. Initially my plan around the garage was to clear the path for the cars to leave. This meant I was piling snow up on each side of the driveway.

    The problem with piling snow is that it gets compacted which means it takes longer to melt. Anytime you pile snow somewhere its going to be there for a while. It will melt and re-freeze and become solid where you cannot shovel it again. Eventually it will turn to ice which requires a pick axe or blow torch to remove.

    My new plan is to clear all snow around the garage door/driveway area to the ditch on the other side of the driveway. I push and blow all the snow completely off of the road. This makes it possible for us to drive our cars and also means that in a couple of weeks the entire driveway will be clear of snow. The pile in the ditch will take the longest to melt.

    The good news is that with all of the rowing I have been doing I am in pretty ok shape for shoveling snow. It is amazing how quickly you start sweating even when its below freezing outside.

  • Frozen Culvert: Defrosted

    Frozen Culvert: Defrosted

    Yesterday I mentioned one of our culverts had frozen. This resulted in a temporary pond that has been driving me a little crazy the last few weeks. We have an impending snow storm coming tomorrow and I really wanted to get this drained before then.

    The main way I’ve seen for clearing frozen culverts involves steam and machinery I do not have access to. But I do have access to hot water and hoses. What if I run a hose down the culvert to where the ice blockage begins, and pour boiling hot water down? Would it melt the ice and let the water flow?

    I mentioned the idea to Kate and she said she had been thinking the same thing. So we got the gear together and started pouring boiling water down to the ice blockage. After a couple of pours it didn’t seem like anything was happening. Then we noticed water slowly puddling up on the downhill end of the culvert. Then I noticed the whirlpool in the pond.

    Eventually the ice cleared enough and the remaining ice flowed out:

    See ya!
    All clear.
    Drained and ready for snow. Moving forward I will be sure to keep the culverts clear of snow and ice.
  • Frozen culvert

    Frozen culvert

    Drainage is an important consideration when building anything. When it rains or snows the water eventually flows downhill. If the downhill is blocked by a road you need to place a culvert to drain the water under and past the road.

    This is from almost 4 years ago shortly after we had the driveway built. We had a culvert added just about where the water is widest.
    Culvert installed. This is the downhill end ready to let water drain away.

    This year we have a new issue. The culvert froze up and created a similar pond to the one above. I have been trying to figure out how to clear ice from inside of the culvert but short of having a high pressure water system that can also heat it up I think I’ve just gotta wait it out.

    You can see the uphill end of the culvert in the center of this shot. There is ice blocking the pipe a few feet inside.

    One nice advantage of having the uninvited pond is the killer night shot.

  • Asking for the Manager

    When someone asks to speak with the manager it is because the customer experience is not going well. Whomever they are currently speaking with no longer has their confidence and going to their boss feels like the only option. There are cases where people ask for the manager way to early or over something very minor.

    However there are definitely legitimate times where asking for the manager is the only option. Rather than blaming the individual whom the customer has lost confidence in it may be best to look at everything leading up to the loss of confidence.

    I posted about Dave Weiner’s public lashing of Apple over their inability to get him his iPhone. It turns out that in the end he did have to ask for the manager, though in this case it was Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, aka Tim Apple. In Dave’s post titled My email to Tim Cook he clearly states the issues and problems he has experienced.

    Within an hour of sending that email he got a call from someone at Apple who was taking care of the issue. Shortly afterwards he got an email from FedEx with details about his iPhone’s delivery.

    Clearly there are some problems with Apple’s internal system for handling issues and this case points out a number of them: the automated phone system, the changing of Dave’s credit card to someone else’s, but most damning is the passing of the baton from Apple to UPS. The ol’ “it’s out of our hands” excuse is one that never goes over well with a customer.

  • Prep

    Prep

    I grew up working in my mom’s deli shop. I was a terrible employee for many reasons, being the boss’ son didn’t help any of them. Regardless I did learn a few things while working there: make the customer happy, be quick, smile, and prep.

    Before any restaurant, deli, cafe, or food truck opens there is prep. Prep is short for preparation and the shortness also implies speed. When you are doing prep its not for final presentation to the customer. At the most its a pasta salad in a bowl which is then scooped onto a plate or bowl. At the minimum it is dicing onions, and more onions, and always onions.

    You do prep so that when you open you can give the customer their order real quick. You make the sandwich fresh but the ingredients may have been prepped up to 3 or 4 days ago (depending on the health codes in your area it may be more). The point is that the customer needs to get their food and get back to work.

    It took me years to realize how important prep is. One thing I have learned to prep is my morning routine. Before I go to bed I try to have the kettle full and the coffee maker ready. My dry smoothie goods are next to the blender. I have my workout clothes ready to go.

    When I wake up I know where everything is and I just go. I don’t have to think, which is good cause it takes me a few hours to fully wake up.