Shower faucets are like relationships.
Yesterday was a fun day. Although it was a normal Thursday at work, there was also fun to be had. Not only was it a beautiful warm and clear day in the city, it was also the first day ever, San Francisco hosted a ski jump competition on its steep city streets.
It was going to be tough for me to make it there because the event was held in Pacific Heights, across town from civic center where I work. The bus rides alone would have eaten up my whole lunch break. But Shannon came to the rescue and offered to chauffeur me from work to the event and back and even brought me a sandwich to eat. She's so nice.
We made it up there along with thousands of others and witnessed what could be a once in a lifetime event, judging by the controversy surrounding the disruption it caused.
Here are some pictures
Later on, after work, Shannon and I were expecting guests. Her previous roommate, Sue, who now lives in Los Angeles, and her band, Tsk Tsk, have a couple of shows in the Bay Area this week, and we agreed to put all of them up for a couple of days at our apartment. We're so nice.
They rolled into town about two hours before they were supposed to go on stage last night. Since we have two bathrooms in our house, I offered to let a couple of them use my shower to save them some time.
They made it to the venue, put on a lovely show, and a good time was had by all.
This morning, when I got into my shower and turned on the water, I noticed that the previous occupant had pushed down the faucet handles really hard, using far more pressure than necessary. I felt bad for the poor little handles.
I imagined that whoever last used the shower must have a real problem with water continuing to drip out of their own home shower after shutting it off. Even though my shower does not have the same problem, that person applied their usual compensating solution anyway.
People do this in relationships also. Not that it has happened to me recently, but I think people have a habit of compensating for the issues of past significant others, even though it's not necessary with their current partners.
If you're in a relationship, try applying only the amount of pressure needed when shutting someone down. I know you'll try. Because you're so nice.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Points
One good thing about being the master of a tiny little domain in government is that I have the opportunity to apply my own personal values and opinions in the formation of public policy surrounding my little world.
The project I work on at the city was started as a pilot program to test the feasibility of taking city payments online. It seems like an obvious idea to improve efficiency and customer service, but everything has to prove its fitness in the real world. For the past three years I have managed the project and watched it grow slowly into a fit, soon-to-be self-funded, well-received corner of city government.
Then, just as I was finishing a forecast showing that in just 12 short months, the project would no longer require any city budget, funding itself solely on the small convenience fees charged on some payments, an article came out in the Chronicle. The article described a photo op the Mayor had been on the previous day at the Department of Parking and Traffic. The article mainly told how the department was a nightmare to visit for any reason, mainly due to long lines and long waits.
Since some of the people were there merely to pay a parking ticket, the question was asked, "why do people have to pay a fee to pay tickets online?". That question had the unfortunate consequence of causing a city official to go (trumpets please) "on record"... as saying that he and the Mayor would try to eliminate those fees. Once on record, my project and its funding became the focus of great scrutiny by those wanting to carry out the Mayor's wishes.
I am one of the only people on Earth who knows this project and its business model intimately. The other person is Marco, my client at the city. He and I unfortunately do not share the same outlook for funding this project. He believes in eliminating fees. I believe in retaining them.
Since I am mainly here to serve his needs as his consultant, pushing my own agenda is something I only do when particularly passionate about a subject.
I have two passions in this case. One is that I truly believe that services should, if at all possible, be paid mainly by those who use the service. The other is that I'd like to see this project continue without struggling for funding. We are just so close now.
My problem became how to try and see my own wishes carried out without causing conflict with my client on this very visible issue.
I wrote up an argument for my case intended for consumption by a city official unfamiliar with my project, someone like a county supervisor. I thought maybe I could get the ideas to them through a third party so that I could remain ostensibly impartial. However, the information is so detailed, I am certainly implicated as its author.
Below were my points:
------------
Facts:
Although eliminating convenience fees from online transactions gives the appearance of making the services more accessible and less expensive to the public, the expense to San Francisco citizens would be much greater overall and threatens the continuation of the service. Alternatively, if the fees were reduced little by little over time, the service is ensured continued growth, assuming DPT continues to use Online Services as a payment processor.
------------
So far, I have not sent these points directly to anyone influential, mainly to maintain my client relationship. However, I did get to meet yesterday with the city's Deputy Treasurer. Marco and I both met with her to discuss these issues. I was pleased to find that, although I didn't go the meeting intending to split from Marco's wishes, she was clearly receptive to my ideas and I was able to make most of my points, leading her in my preferred direction whenever possible. Since she will be making recommendations directly to the Mayor's budget office, I feel that I have made a real difference.
These types of moments are rare in my world and I have taken note the satisfaction it brings. For all the frustrating, petty, political bickering in this city's crazy government, it feels good to see my own wishes carried out on a relatively large scale.
I'm not sure that alone is enough to keep me around city government too much longer. But we'll see.
The project I work on at the city was started as a pilot program to test the feasibility of taking city payments online. It seems like an obvious idea to improve efficiency and customer service, but everything has to prove its fitness in the real world. For the past three years I have managed the project and watched it grow slowly into a fit, soon-to-be self-funded, well-received corner of city government.
Then, just as I was finishing a forecast showing that in just 12 short months, the project would no longer require any city budget, funding itself solely on the small convenience fees charged on some payments, an article came out in the Chronicle. The article described a photo op the Mayor had been on the previous day at the Department of Parking and Traffic. The article mainly told how the department was a nightmare to visit for any reason, mainly due to long lines and long waits.
Since some of the people were there merely to pay a parking ticket, the question was asked, "why do people have to pay a fee to pay tickets online?". That question had the unfortunate consequence of causing a city official to go (trumpets please) "on record"... as saying that he and the Mayor would try to eliminate those fees. Once on record, my project and its funding became the focus of great scrutiny by those wanting to carry out the Mayor's wishes.
I am one of the only people on Earth who knows this project and its business model intimately. The other person is Marco, my client at the city. He and I unfortunately do not share the same outlook for funding this project. He believes in eliminating fees. I believe in retaining them.
Since I am mainly here to serve his needs as his consultant, pushing my own agenda is something I only do when particularly passionate about a subject.
I have two passions in this case. One is that I truly believe that services should, if at all possible, be paid mainly by those who use the service. The other is that I'd like to see this project continue without struggling for funding. We are just so close now.
My problem became how to try and see my own wishes carried out without causing conflict with my client on this very visible issue.
I wrote up an argument for my case intended for consumption by a city official unfamiliar with my project, someone like a county supervisor. I thought maybe I could get the ideas to them through a third party so that I could remain ostensibly impartial. However, the information is so detailed, I am certainly implicated as its author.
Below were my points:
------------
Facts:
- The Online Services Group within DTIS processes online payments for several city departments.
- If left alone, the Online Services Group will be self-funded by convenience fees in about 12 months, requiring no additional money from city budgets.
- Convenience fees are small amounts added to online payments to cover processing costs.
- Convenience fees are paid by citizens and others who actually use the online services.
- The Mayor wants to eliminate convenience fees for parking tickets.
- Most Online Services transactions are parking ticket payments.
- About half of convenience fees collected go to project expenses and about half to Visa/MasterCard fees, which are charged as a percentage of the credit card transaction.
- Eliminating convenience fees from transactions will require the city budget and, by extension, all San Francisco citizens to pay for Online Services whether they use them or not.
- 35% of online parking ticket payments are made by non residents of San Francisco.
- Eliminating convenience fees would transfer the entire cost burden of the project to SF residents and relieve the non residents of any costs.
- Eliminating convenience fees is expected to sharply increase online services volume since it would become the cheapest method of payment.
- Larger payment volume means proportionately larger Visa/MasterCard fees and some project expense increase.
- Currently Online Services processes about 10% of all parking ticket payments.
- For the past 3 years, online payment volume has increased at a rate greater than 30% per year, with no changes to convenience fees.
- Doubling the volume to 20%, which is conservative if fees are eliminated, will cost the city about $1 million more than current volume, much of that in Visa fees that would no longer be covered by convenience fees.
- Tripling or quadrupling of online volume over one or two years is not an unreasonable expectation.
- The actual reduction in check processing labor by DPT for a 10% reduction in paper payments is unclear.
- With forecasted growth and economies of scale, convenience fees could likely be reduced over time as costs per transaction fall soon after the break even point around 12 months from now.
- The city contractor that runs online services for the city does not receive a "cut" of the fees. They are paid a flat monthly rate. The city is the only entity benefiting from those fees.
- Eliminating this consistent funding source for the service makes its future less certain as its budgetary worthiness would continue to be reviewed each fiscal year.
Although eliminating convenience fees from online transactions gives the appearance of making the services more accessible and less expensive to the public, the expense to San Francisco citizens would be much greater overall and threatens the continuation of the service. Alternatively, if the fees were reduced little by little over time, the service is ensured continued growth, assuming DPT continues to use Online Services as a payment processor.
------------
So far, I have not sent these points directly to anyone influential, mainly to maintain my client relationship. However, I did get to meet yesterday with the city's Deputy Treasurer. Marco and I both met with her to discuss these issues. I was pleased to find that, although I didn't go the meeting intending to split from Marco's wishes, she was clearly receptive to my ideas and I was able to make most of my points, leading her in my preferred direction whenever possible. Since she will be making recommendations directly to the Mayor's budget office, I feel that I have made a real difference.
These types of moments are rare in my world and I have taken note the satisfaction it brings. For all the frustrating, petty, political bickering in this city's crazy government, it feels good to see my own wishes carried out on a relatively large scale.
I'm not sure that alone is enough to keep me around city government too much longer. But we'll see.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Sick
I have a crummy immune system. I think I always have. It's not that I get horrible diseases. I just get all of the little ones - mainly colds and flus.
It's a familiar cycle:
Over the past year, I have been trying a new strategy that has worked very well. Wanna know what it is?
Sleep.
Previously, I would only stay home from work if I was too sick to work. This was my major mistake. By the time I feel that bad, there is no amount of rest or remedy that will break the sick cycle.
Now, when I feel like I am certain the sick is coming on... I just don't get out of bed. Even though I'm able to work, I set out to kill the virus as a first priority. I just call in sick, albeit a little guilt ridden, and sleep until I am totally unable to stay in bed anymore.
The result: One day off of work... and then.... nothing. Totally fine. No sneeze, no sniffle, no cough.
I wonder why no one has ever pushed this remedy on me before. I suppose because you can't bottle it and sell it in a health food store.
Someone get me a Nobel prize.
It's a familiar cycle:
- Do something bad for my immune system (e.g. drink too much, get no sleep, etc.)
- Start to feel a sore throat
- Sit by helplessly as the sore throat turns into an inferno
- Get sniffly, sneezy, achey, and stuffy headed to the point of disfunction
- Cough for about three weeks.
Over the past year, I have been trying a new strategy that has worked very well. Wanna know what it is?
Sleep.
Previously, I would only stay home from work if I was too sick to work. This was my major mistake. By the time I feel that bad, there is no amount of rest or remedy that will break the sick cycle.
Now, when I feel like I am certain the sick is coming on... I just don't get out of bed. Even though I'm able to work, I set out to kill the virus as a first priority. I just call in sick, albeit a little guilt ridden, and sleep until I am totally unable to stay in bed anymore.
The result: One day off of work... and then.... nothing. Totally fine. No sneeze, no sniffle, no cough.
I wonder why no one has ever pushed this remedy on me before. I suppose because you can't bottle it and sell it in a health food store.
Someone get me a Nobel prize.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Paper
Paper is so important to our culture, we can't live without it.
I had a realization in the men's room stall at work today. It occurred to me while I was trying to unwind a wad of TP from the roll, that our public and home bathroom tissue expectations are wildly different.
When one goes to the supermarket to shop for home supplies, the TP aisle is an abundance of luxurious, pampering goodness. Cushioned, multi-ply softness dominates. Generally, even if you buy the cheapest generic store brand, the products are by and large very useful and satisfying.
In public restrooms, however, it's a whole 'nother scene. The paper is sometimes so thin, that the inertia from the rest of the roll is just too much for the poor micro thin fibers, causing a single square to vaporize while exerting the gentlest pull humanly possible. Sometimes it takes two hands. One to turn the paper roll, and the other to gingerly catch the coveted prize as it is revealed inch by inch. Other times, the paper is thick like paper towel material, making one wonder if someone made a mistake when pulling packages from the supply closet.
Whatever the deficiency, two things strike me:
Just follow the paper.
- We use paper to write love letters.
- Agreements between people are practically null and void unless they are written on paper.
- We exchange paper money as currency that has no other real value except for our own acceptance of it.
I had a realization in the men's room stall at work today. It occurred to me while I was trying to unwind a wad of TP from the roll, that our public and home bathroom tissue expectations are wildly different.
When one goes to the supermarket to shop for home supplies, the TP aisle is an abundance of luxurious, pampering goodness. Cushioned, multi-ply softness dominates. Generally, even if you buy the cheapest generic store brand, the products are by and large very useful and satisfying.
In public restrooms, however, it's a whole 'nother scene. The paper is sometimes so thin, that the inertia from the rest of the roll is just too much for the poor micro thin fibers, causing a single square to vaporize while exerting the gentlest pull humanly possible. Sometimes it takes two hands. One to turn the paper roll, and the other to gingerly catch the coveted prize as it is revealed inch by inch. Other times, the paper is thick like paper towel material, making one wonder if someone made a mistake when pulling packages from the supply closet.
Whatever the deficiency, two things strike me:
- That the people in charge of choosing products are clearly more cost conscious than, let's say, "customer service" conscious. Obviously, these public papers are not the type anyone would like to use themselves. But they somehow feel justified in inflicting them on the faceless masses.
- This cruel stinginess is so widespread and institutionalized, that commercial restroom supply companies stock and sell heaping masses of these tortuous products even though no supermarket wouldn't dream of carrying such substandard toiletries. These products are conceived of and manufactured purely to satisfy the cheapskate commercial world.
Just follow the paper.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Ideas
As if I'm not busy enough, I like to fill my tiny bits of free time with website hobby projects. These sites only occasionally get finished and rarely get used by anyone. Though I usually have a glimmer of hope that a substantial number of folks may someday find the fruits of my work useful, I doubt I'll ever make any real money from them. But you never know.
My lyrics website, Lyricsbeat.com, is probably my best success story and actually does get a fair amount of traffic - about 4,000 page views per day. Not only do that many people find the song lyrics they're looking for, it makes enough money with Google AdSense advertising to pay for its own hosting and will probably subsidize my next, more ambitious project. So I can chalk that one up as a success.
I tend to like to build projects I would want to use myself. That way, the worst case scenario is that I have a useful tool that will at least be used by me and any pliable friends I might recruit.
Lately, I've been wanting to work on a project that might do some actual good in the world. Short of volunteering for someone else's project, I haven't come up with one yet.
Past projects have included:
- SpeakUp.com - A website that matches users with their elected government representatives at all levels (do you know who your state senator is?), then takes surveys of current events and routes users' sentiments to their matching elected officials in nice summarized constituent reports. Outcome: Keeping the current event surveys current was a daunting daily task and there was no indication that any elected officials actually wanted these reports.
- FilmPal.com - A website that helps circles of friends pick movies (theatre or rental) to watch together. By emailing new release titles to members and having them rank new releases by desire-to-watch and already-seen, a quick visit to the website could pick the most wanted movie for a given group. Outcome: Keeping the new releases current wasn't a huge job, but big enough for me to slack off. Also tough to find users.
- EzWF.com - A workflow and task manager tool that a group can use to communicate, track, and assign task list items to one another. Outcome: I use this for my current project at the city. I had a few hundred users try a free trial, but I suspect that it was too complicated for most to use without training or consulting.
Now I have some new ideas I may work on:
News recommendation website - A website that would use collaborative filtering technology to create a single website users could visit and view blog entries from many blogs ranked by the recommendation engine that would use their own rankings of blogs they read to determine other articles they would be interested in. The articles would all be displayed on a single website, not linked around to others. It's not as hard as it sounds - I don't think. Possible domain names: newzer.net, newsface.com, newzo.com, bloghog.net, customfitnews.com
Online Checklist - A website on which one could build a daily checklist of recurring tasks that may recur at different intervals. The items are similar to recurring calendar reminders, only this would create a record of those tasks actually accomplished and when. It could also be used by a group who shares tasks. Possible domain names: cheqlist.com, cheklist.net, checklistmaker.net, taskcheck.net.
Wish me luck... and motivation.
My lyrics website, Lyricsbeat.com, is probably my best success story and actually does get a fair amount of traffic - about 4,000 page views per day. Not only do that many people find the song lyrics they're looking for, it makes enough money with Google AdSense advertising to pay for its own hosting and will probably subsidize my next, more ambitious project. So I can chalk that one up as a success.
I tend to like to build projects I would want to use myself. That way, the worst case scenario is that I have a useful tool that will at least be used by me and any pliable friends I might recruit.
Lately, I've been wanting to work on a project that might do some actual good in the world. Short of volunteering for someone else's project, I haven't come up with one yet.
Past projects have included:
- SpeakUp.com - A website that matches users with their elected government representatives at all levels (do you know who your state senator is?), then takes surveys of current events and routes users' sentiments to their matching elected officials in nice summarized constituent reports. Outcome: Keeping the current event surveys current was a daunting daily task and there was no indication that any elected officials actually wanted these reports.
- FilmPal.com - A website that helps circles of friends pick movies (theatre or rental) to watch together. By emailing new release titles to members and having them rank new releases by desire-to-watch and already-seen, a quick visit to the website could pick the most wanted movie for a given group. Outcome: Keeping the new releases current wasn't a huge job, but big enough for me to slack off. Also tough to find users.
- EzWF.com - A workflow and task manager tool that a group can use to communicate, track, and assign task list items to one another. Outcome: I use this for my current project at the city. I had a few hundred users try a free trial, but I suspect that it was too complicated for most to use without training or consulting.
Now I have some new ideas I may work on:
News recommendation website - A website that would use collaborative filtering technology to create a single website users could visit and view blog entries from many blogs ranked by the recommendation engine that would use their own rankings of blogs they read to determine other articles they would be interested in. The articles would all be displayed on a single website, not linked around to others. It's not as hard as it sounds - I don't think. Possible domain names: newzer.net, newsface.com, newzo.com, bloghog.net, customfitnews.com
Online Checklist - A website on which one could build a daily checklist of recurring tasks that may recur at different intervals. The items are similar to recurring calendar reminders, only this would create a record of those tasks actually accomplished and when. It could also be used by a group who shares tasks. Possible domain names: cheqlist.com, cheklist.net, checklistmaker.net, taskcheck.net.
Wish me luck... and motivation.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Playa
I returned to the Black Rock Desert last week. There is something about that place that is beyond words. There is of course the art, the interesting people, and activities that make Burning Man what it is. But the desert itself, the playa, the landscape, the vastness of the blank canvas is what makes one feel as if he or she has left the earth. The dusty, cracked, and completely flat white soil and cold nights evoke a sense of what the moon might be like.
People return there every year for different reasons. For me, I really enjoy the human painting that spreads across miles of the desert in a cooperative, organized manner. Most of the people are coming to help paint it, not merely to come see it. Everyone is an artist there in his own way. Some people contribute to large art installations, while others decorate themselves and their belongings in such a way as to add to the overall visual experience. At times it appears to be an enormous petri dish with life forms at all levels, from tiny sand robots, to bikers, to giant animal machines, to even larger art cars carrying scores, to giant raves hosting hundreds. The occupants organize into small groups and large groups, often in response to some rumored stimulus like a parade, a popular DJ, or free sushi. There is a schedule of events, but people rarely heed it. Instead there is a collective wandering. The serendipity of experiences are part of the fun and memories.
It's a painting. It's a petri dish. It's a circus. It's a party. It's a city. It's at very least a spectacle.
It's also a lot of preparation, time, energy, and money to make it there. It is miraculous that people keep returning. I'm not sure I will. It is a common sentiment during the recovery period known as decompression. That time when we all return from the moon and re-enter the earth and wonder which place we like better.
This week, I'm choosing Earth. We'll see what I say in a few months when tickets go on sale again.
People return there every year for different reasons. For me, I really enjoy the human painting that spreads across miles of the desert in a cooperative, organized manner. Most of the people are coming to help paint it, not merely to come see it. Everyone is an artist there in his own way. Some people contribute to large art installations, while others decorate themselves and their belongings in such a way as to add to the overall visual experience. At times it appears to be an enormous petri dish with life forms at all levels, from tiny sand robots, to bikers, to giant animal machines, to even larger art cars carrying scores, to giant raves hosting hundreds. The occupants organize into small groups and large groups, often in response to some rumored stimulus like a parade, a popular DJ, or free sushi. There is a schedule of events, but people rarely heed it. Instead there is a collective wandering. The serendipity of experiences are part of the fun and memories.
It's a painting. It's a petri dish. It's a circus. It's a party. It's a city. It's at very least a spectacle.
It's also a lot of preparation, time, energy, and money to make it there. It is miraculous that people keep returning. I'm not sure I will. It is a common sentiment during the recovery period known as decompression. That time when we all return from the moon and re-enter the earth and wonder which place we like better.
This week, I'm choosing Earth. We'll see what I say in a few months when tickets go on sale again.
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