Category Archives: General Ramblings

The Care and Feeding of Email

 

In 2012, I started my year with approximately 800 messages in my inbox alone!  That is a LOT of email.  I would go through spurts throughout the year when I would try and reduce the number, but don’t think I did better than a few hundred.

Well, this year, I’m going to do much better. Thus, I began the process of cleaning up my inbox.

 

 

This meant:

  • deleting email messages I no longer needed
  • archiving email messages that had labels but were still in my inbox
  • applying labels to emails + archiving them
  • putting my “To Do” label to use and archiving those messages

In less than a month, I was able to reduce my inbox from 800+ messages to around 30.  I am pleased to report that for the past two weeks, I’ve been able to maintain around 30 messages in my inbox on average.  The ones that are there, are ones that I REALLY need to address and don’t want to lose sight.  It also helps that I’ve been using an application called “The Other Inbox” to help move messages out of my inbox and into a separate folder.  Now, when I check my email, I check my regular inbox, then I check my “Other” Inbox. It really helps!

Aren’t you proud of me?

Over the next few months, I want to continue decluttering and plan to do the following:

  • organize my Google Docs account
  • whittle my “To Do” list emails down from 400 (this may take awhile….)
  • transition to cleaning up my email address that I use for the NCGenWeb Project – I have about 300 emails in that inbox.

Progress report in a few more months.  Meanwhile, this does not help the fact that my gmail account is 94% full!

Conversation with Tavis Smiley

Tonight our family went to go see Travis Smiley speak at a local church.  Hosted by Riverside Chapel Seventh Day Adventist Church, the speech was excellent and I am glad to have had an opportunity to see him in person.   He spoke on a number of topics and touched on education, politics (namely Obama), gentrification, finding your true passion in life,  and of course, black history.   We resonated with much of what he said, and he had the audience crackin’ up!

After the speech, Tavis answered questions from the audience which made the experience even more personal.  It’s been awhile since I’ve listened to Tavis on a regular basis, but I just may have to tune in now to keep up with him.   The turnout was a nice size, and there were some familiar Nashville faces in the audience.  State Senator Thelma Harper was there (we go to her family restaurant, Harpers, quite often), and local media reporter, Justin McFarland was there also.  It also turned out that I have served on a committee with the pastor’s wife! Small world :-)

Thank you Tavis Smiley & Riverside Chapel for a motivating and inspiring evening!

Fire & Snow

Last night as I was about to go to bed I heard noises outside the window so took a look.  Saw a news truck outside and then noticed fire engines – there was a fire near our house and I could see the smoke coming from the building.  Since I’ve newly discovered that I can listen to Fire & EMS radio with an app on my phone,  I quickly connected and could hear the conversations going on.  The fire fighters rescued the guy who lived there, but he ended up dying later in the hospital.   They also rescued a female pit bull and her 10 puppies – one of those puppies died.  Very sad indeed.   The news story is here (be sure to watch the video clip).

Then, this morning we wake up to more chaos on the streets because of our snow yesterday.  Kelli took some pictures and the situation is just crazy.  Doesn’t this look like a line of cars in line waiting to go somewhere? Well, there’s no waiting – these are all stranded in the driveway of an apartment complex.

Birmingham Sunday

BIRMINGHAM SUNDAY
(September 15, 1963)

Four little girls
Who went to Sunday School that day
And never came back home at all–
     But left instead
     Their blood upon the wall
     With spattered flesh
     And bloodied Sunday dresses
     Scorched by dynamite that
     China made aeons ago
     Did not know what China made
     Before China was ever Red at all
     Would ever redden with their blood
     This Birmingham-on-Sunday wall.
Four tiny little girls
Who left their blood upon that wall,
In little graves today await:
     The dynamite that might ignite
     The ancient fuse of Dragon Kings
     Whose tomorrow sings a hymn
     The missionaries never taught
     In Christian Sunday School
     To implement the Golden Rule.
Four little girls
Might be awakened someday soon
By songs upon the breeze
     As yet unfelt among
     Magnolia trees.

 

Poem by Langston Hughes

 
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