Sometimes I feel inappropriate

Sometimes I feel as inappropriate as a bike with square wheels.

I have to ask those with whom I do life to forgive me more often than I like. But it's the right thing to do. Jesus said that if we realize we've hurt or wronged someone, we are to put things on hold while we search them out to ask for their forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-24). It's hard to do, but it's important.

The amazing truth is that as foolish as I sometimes am ('often' might be more accurate...), the Lord continues to choose to work through me! He can miraculously round out my square wheels and use me to actually move things forward! His grace and mercy is so wonderful.

Earbud Silicon Tip Stuck in Ear!

I never saw this one coming. I took my earbuds out of my ears, and was bummed to see that one of them was missing the silicon tip. Thinking it must have fallen on the floor, I looked around but couldn't find it. Disappointed, I planned to go on with my day. But I noticed my hearing in one ear was a little off, and discovered the tip was still in there!

This happened just before takeoff on a 3-hour flight. So, after we were up in the air I approached the flight attendant and asked if they had tweezers I could borrow. Saying they didn't, she asked me why I needed them. I told her, and she offered to page for a doctor or make an emergency landing. I declined both offers, figuring I would wait until we landed and take care of it then.

After landing I retrieved my bag, got my tweezers, and was able to remove the silicon tip. Boy, was I relieved.

Lesson learned: no more earbuds! I'm switching to over-the-ear headphones!

How to Set an Early End to Your IT Career

While at a conference this week I spoke with a church about needs their current IT vendor weren't meeting. The main issue was that the vendor will not support any workstation platforms other than Windows. I suggested they talk with the president of that firm before making a change in case they were working on a solution they hadn't yet announced.

One of the key issues those of us in IT focus on is the rapid change of technology. But we cannot limit ourselves to any single platform or software solution for very long if we want our opportunities to serve to grow. We must constantly look for trends that are meaningful to our clients and, anticipating them, have solutions ready when our clients request them.

I have said many times when speaking to IT groups that restricting oneself to a platform or software solution is a sure way to put a horizon on one's career.

My path went from DOS to Windows to Mac; from landlines to cellular to Palm PDAs to Blackberry to Android and iOS; from Everex to Compaq to HP to Compaq (which HP then bought) to Dell and Apple; from AmiPro to WordPerfect and Lotus 123 to Word; from standalone computers to Novell NetWare to Windows Server to our private cloud. You get the idea.

If you're in IT, I encourage you to look at your client base, get a pulse on where they're headed, and begin researching and testing solutions they'll be asking for so that when they do, you'll already have expertise in that space.

New Article About Backup Strategy & the Solutions We Recommend

I just released a new article for publication that briefly works through backup strategy and recommended solutions. If you'd like to read a free copy, click here!