Blog
Well, okay Synovus
I work in the web development and hosting industry, and this error is probably just thrown because I attempted to look at the payment screen, i.e. the screen I would go to if I made a payment. Still – funny.
read moreGoing Real Places; Meeting Real People
If the story of my life is doing too much, today was the story of my life. I attended a Vantage lunch meeting in Huntsville, then drove down to Birmingham to a “Tech Thursday” gathering in Vestavia Hills. Mexican food for lunch, BBQ for dinner. The food was good both places; time will tell whether the combination wreaks some kind of havoc on my constitution. The evening event was mostly outdoors. The temperature was in the 90s. There were plenty of tents and liquids, so this wasn’t as bad as it might seem. In both places I...
read moreKnee-Deep in the Hoopla
I keep thinking it would be nice if I got off social media altogether and got back to blogging. It’s all narcissism; blogging was a different, more early-20th century flavor of it. Facebook and Twitter you know (used to know?) that there were eyeballs on it; the question was – could you get a few shallow likes, comments, follows, etc. It’s like going to Wal-Mart and running into your friends from high school – not really all that satisfying but reminds you you’re alive. Blogging is more WORK, for one thing, and...
read moreScary Nights
Scary nights thinking about who owns social media platforms these days. I’ve never been the most consistent blogger, but I did a lot better job before Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit ate my brain, or at least the free-time part of it. I am considering putting up a message on these accounts (Facebook and Twitter, anyway) saying “moved to new location” and referring people here, but I thought I’d post some content here first. A fun time last night with some folks from church. Costumes say a lot about people’s...
read moreDe-Trumpifying America
The violent events of Wednesday, January 6 at the US Capital has caused many former allies to turn away from Trump. The usual expression is “in the 11th hour,” but this is more like 30 minutes after midnight. How late is too late? Life-long progressives have (understandably) gotten angrier over the past decade or so. Or perhaps we’re just seeing it better. It’s easy to oversimplify and conflate technological change with a change in people’s minds. When we see more people angry on social media, and wonder if...
read moreBoundaries (book discussion)
I read part of this book a few months ago when it was apparently on Kindle Unlimited. Guess I should have finished it then, because I apparently turned it back in, subsequent events renewed my interest in it, and now I had to buy it. But it’s worth the purchase. I have become more aware of the issues of boundaries in the recent past. Paradoxically, a great job where reasonable demands are made of me has strengthened the feeling that in the rest of my life well-meaning people sometimes ask too much. I’ve had a difficult time...
read moreAnother still-alive post
It’s been an eventful year (in addition to the usual): went to work for Nexcess, a hosting company I’ve worked with in former livesregistered the domain garysmith.us – this site will be a bit more personal-brand-and-work-oriented.In the process of moving (at least partially) to Huntsville, AL, in that I’m getting an apartment big enough for one of my sons to live in AND for my wife/his mom and I to stay from time to time (yes, this is with his blessing – we didn’t set out to ruin his college experience. 🙂 )...
read moreThe Problem of the Imperfect Church
Based on a recent discussion, I have been contemplating the problem of fellowship in the church, given that we don’t all agree on doctrinal or behavioral issues. There is a tacit tendency to fellowship those whom we agree with on important doctrinal or behavioral issues, but this raises the issue – what is important? Practically speaking, most mainstream protestant churches appear to fellowship other mainstream protestant churches, at least in terms of recognizing each other’s communions as valid, and accepting...
read moreThe Lemonade Stand Problem
Dealing with Small Business Situations that Get Complicated Because You’re Too Big and Too Small at the Same Time. This is a rough draft describing an issue that has come up a few times in my consulting practice at Nectar Bridge. Country Time Lemonade made the USA Today this summer with an offer to pay fines for kids running lemonade stands. In the manner of HOA presidents and other kill-joys everywhere, it seems that “unlicensed” (in quotes because, by definition, lemonade stands are unlicensed, ad-hoc efforts) lemonade...
read moreThe Free Consulting Problem, Part II
In a previous post I left an issue hanging, and true to form left it hanging about a month (maybe more).* I meant to just hyperlink it, but WP does this trick now where you get a whole block preview of it, like this: The Free Consulting Problem And to quote myself on that issue to save you from going back and reading it (although you really ought to, it’s pretty good), I said: I’ll give you my thoughts on how the proposal should promise resolution and define the methods, NOT be a fleshed-out plan. G. Smith, consultant So...
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