📝 Meticulous preparation and the art of precision
Ep 62: Getting a little help from AI, the pleasure of a perfect pint, and a tale of painting from long ago.
I've got a confession to make. Today's newsletter wasn't solely penned by yours truly. I had a bit of assistance, thanks to
’s post on using ChatGPT to "swiftly review, correct, and create better content." I wrote the article and had ChatGPT polish it up. Now, as you peruse these lines, I'll leave it to you to be the judge. Can you discern the collaboration? Is it an improvement or a departure from my usual writing?A Tip for the Modern Worker
Create a communication covenant. Agree as a group on where different types of communication happen and where you persist content. Email should play only a supporting role in communication. Important documentation should never be relegated to a local hard drive. It’s far better to rely on asynchronous cloud-based approaches, since they encourage sharing, searching, and good access control. When you agree on tools and create habits using them, your team won’t ever wonder where something is documented.
This tip is one of 365 in my Handbook for the Modern Worker. I've encountered numerous stories of fragmented approaches to collaboration and communication. If your team has multiple options at their disposal, communication may become dysfunctional. I'm thankful to work in a place where a specific set of tools has been chosen. From the top down, there's clear communication that these tools should be utilized, and the leadership sets an example by adhering to that directive.
#365DayDraw
I drew this and wrote the accompanying annotation as part of my #365DayDraw project 7 years ago today.
Today's requirements are attainable: get served a perfect pint. Heck, I'll settle for an imperfect pint if the timing's right
Amy and I hosted a chilly group run in Trumansburg on Saturday. Three is a group, right? Afterward, we indulged in a perfect pint—and some delicious dinner fare—from Garrett’s Brewing.
Commentary
I continue to invest a fair amount of time in home improvement, primarily focused on painting. As I toiled this past week, my thoughts meandered toward the nature of learning and how our education equips us for various tasks in life, such as painting.
How did I acquire my painting skills? Ironically, it happened at school. I spent several summers working on painting projects with Melanie Ahouse-Thomas at Trumansburg Central School's maintenance department. She imparted to me everything I know about painting, from meticulous preparation to the art of precision in cutting, and the knack for efficient and effective cleanup.
This is an excerpt from my book, "The Art of Working Remotely," where I reflect on this experience and the life (and work) lessons it instilled in me.
On our first day, Melanie asked if I’d ever painted before. “Never,” I said. My parents had a house full of wallpaper. Melanie gave me a huge grin, saying “Well, you’re gonna learn.” She was patient and kind. She taught me everything about painting, both technique and mindset. To this day, I think of her every time I grab a brush and dip it into a can of paint. We painted classrooms, steel doors, bathroom stalls and outdoor railings. We used latex and oil-based paints. We cleaned paintbrushes to a pristine condition more times that I could ever count. We pondered whether walls needed two coats of paint … or not. I listened to (and gained an appreciation for) classic rock. Melanie wouldn’t have anything else on the radio and in hindsight I wouldn’t have it any other way. Whenever I have to do some work that requires a long stretch of focus, I reach for classic rock. Melanie taught me about teamwork, kindness, and a ton about painting. I’m so grateful to her for taking me under her wing.
Miscellanea
💵 So, Mint is shutting down. I was surprised to learn about this, and it wasn't even from Mint but from Bloomberg. I've been a long-time user of the service. Before Mint, I used Microsoft Money. Does anyone remember that? Ironically, Mint sent me an email on Saturday to formally notify me about the transition. They artfully used the term "reimagining" to describe their planned migration of users to Credit Karma. “When the time comes, you can easily opt into joining Credit Karma in just a couple of taps, and your entire Mint net worth history and up to three years of Mint transactions move with you. And while Mint will be going away in the future, you will still be able to see expenses and account balances in one place within Credit Karma and monitor monthly cash flow, get category spending insights, and track your net worth.” Well, that's what I need, so I imagine I'll follow the prescribed path and see what another version of free has in store for me. With only three years of migrated transactions, though, I'll be sure to download that for posterity beforehand.
🏠 What's in a name? We've been in New York City the past few weekends, so when this New York Times NYC Neighborhood Map popped up, I knew I had to share it. It's a fascinating map of neighborhoods, cultivated by the people who live there. What do you call home? I love how the Times described it: “A name has power. It can foreshadow who will be moving in. By itself, it can conjure so much: gentrification, displacement, inequality, status. When we argue over names, or even invent new ones, we may be trying to exert some of that power — or lamenting that others have more power than we do.”
🧋 We stopped at a convenience store on the way home from our first New York trip. We were in the mood for some seltzer but were sorely disappointed with the selection. Opting for a few bottles of Celsius because it resembled seltzer, we soon found ourselves facing disappointment. Our verdict: it tastes awful! It carries a strong "chemical" vibe and is excessively sweet. Had we known it's considered a Red Bull competitor in the market, we might have anticipated what we were getting into before purchasing it. I'm bringing this up because the company recently posted its third straight quarter of triple-digit earnings growth. It stands as one of the world's fastest-growing businesses, selling a product described as a healthy, athlete-endorsed energy booster. If anyone's up for trying one of these, we have a spare, unopened can in the fridge. The next round's on us.
Just fyi, there's a Quicken option: https://www.quicken.com/blog/welcome-to-mint-users/
Quicken, the personal finance tracking software/site, was spun off from Intuit years ago, and is still run by Intuit's employee #4, who I worked for directly. It's not free and might not be what you want, just wanted to make sure you knew.