The sky last night

Taken at approximately 10:15

5 minutes

As I receive mail I allocate it in a variety of ways (more of that in another entry). Something that I've been trying to introduce recently is my "5 minutes" folder. The idea is that if I think something will take a short period of time (5 minutes is a loose measure of time) and it's not urgent (most things aren't), then I put it in my "5 minutes" folder.

Throughout the day as I finish a task, have time between meetings or need a break from something, I turn to the "5 minutes" folder and deal with something from start to finish. It's quite productive and satisfying. By turning to it a few times each day I find that there isn't an accumulation of stuff in it - and if it is getting too full, I know it's time to concentrate on thinning it out.

It works for paper and electronic material, and also for reading stuff. In theory it should work at home as well as work - but somehow I haven't managed to get sufficiently organised at home.

5 minutes

As I receive mail I allocate it in a variety of ways (more of that in another entry). Something that I've been trying to introduce recently is my "5 minutes" folder. The idea is that if I think something will take a short period of time (5 minutes is a loose measure of time) and it's not urgent (most things aren't), then I put it in my "5 minutes" folder.

Throughout the day as I finish a task, have time between meetings or need a break from something, I turn to the "5 minutes" folder and deal with something from start to finish. It's quite productive and satisfying. By turning to it a few times each day I find that there isn't an accumulation of stuff in it - and if it is getting too full, I know it's time to concentrate on thinning it out.

It works for paper and electronic material, and also for reading stuff. In theory it should work at home as well as work - but somehow I haven't managed to get sufficiently organised at home.

The perils of interpretation

I was in Brechin for a meeting today, and after it had finished I went for a wee walk around the cathedral there. It was a beautiful day and a lovely spot.

Amongst other things, one gravestone caught my eye and attention.

If you can't read it, the inscription says:

1812

Erected by Ann Rose

in memory of her husband

George McBain

late of the Swan Inn

Brechin

My initial assumption was that George was the landlord or owner of the Swan Inn. But then I started to wonder if maybe Ann was making a posthumous point about where George had spent much of his time while he was alive!

The moral of this tale? Even simple things can be more complicated than they seem - but a little bit of research would probably clear things up.

Friday photo: Blue sky ... thinking

Dreams and reality

I once was with somebody I liked very much -- an older person, when I was considerably younger than I am now. That person said, "Spend at least fifteen minutes a day weaving dreams. And if you weave a hundred, at least two of them will have a life." So continue with a dream and don't worry whether it can happen or not; weave it first. Many people have killed their dreams by figuring out whether they could do them or not before they dream them. So, if you're a first rate dreamer, dream it out - several of them - and then see what realities can come to make them happen, instead of saying, "Oh, my God. With this reality, what can I dream?

-Virginia Satir

I know that blogging aficionados don't approve of posts consisting of quotations - but I don't care! I came across this recently and thought it was great, so I'm sharing it with you.

I also think that there's an alternative way of ending it - 'with this dream, what reality can I create?'

Loose change

His Girl Friday commented on my Friday photo that she hadn't seen a coin with a portcullis on it before. At the time I didn't think much about it... then I realised that I have (apart from the thrupenny bit!). The answer was right in front of me - lying on my desk.

Aye the 'new' penny also features the portcullis. ('New' is of course a relative term - these coins were introduced in 1971!) I hadn't spotted the connection before. In a sense it's not surprising that some of our coins feature medieval architetural features. Not because we're stuck in a time warp or we're always looking backwards (although a case can probably be made for each of these!). No, the reason is that the portcullis is the symbol/ icon of the Houses of Parliament.

On reflection, I wonder if I'm oblivious to the coins that I use (not very frequently) because of the general affluence and associated carelessness of our lifestyles or if I simply haven't noted the detail because of all the other nonsense swirling around inside my head?

This random musing begs another question - what else is right in front of us that we don't notice?