mashby | The personal blog of Michael Ashby

April 3, 2007

You Can’t Get There From Here

I’ve had a project for the past few weeks in Downtown Nashville. The bulk of the hard work is over and I’m now in the maintenance phase of the project. Each day I arrive at 7:30am and wait for the users to arrive. Around 10:00am, I’ve done all I can do to ensure everyone is up and running and I head off to go to other client sites. This is the most routine that I’ve had in a long time, at least where I had to be somewhere at a specific time. This change in perspective has lead me to thinking more about my transit habits and how I get to and fro.

There’s always been a bit of envy when I hear about people who commute to work every day with the luxury of taking public transportation. Of course, those of you reading this who take a train/bus/metro every day are probably scoffing at my use of the word “luxury”, but for those of us who don’t commute, it does have a certain allure. Taking a daily train to work conveys to me a sense of peace and calm. Something about letting someone else drive, while you focus on something else seems rather rewarding to me. So seeing that my schedule was such that I had the opportunity to experience a daily commute into Downtown Nashville, I was excited. The thought suddenly popped into my head that I could finally scratch the itch and see if it’s all that it’s cracked up to be.

March 27, 2007

I’m All A Twitter

There’s a new web application that making all the rounds. It’s getting a lot of hype and some even say it’s “exploded”, meaning it’s the cool app that all the hip kids are using. Well, I’m not one of those kids, but after listening to a bunch of TWIT Podcasts where they go on and on about it, I figured I had to check it out. The application is called Twitter and I have to say, there a reason it’s become so popular – it’s a lot of fun.

March 19, 2007

My Recipe For Madeleines

I received an e-mail a few days ago from someone who wanted to know if I had found a good recipe for Madeleines. They had just read the article I wrote back in 2003 entitled “When Recipes Go Wild“, where I had recounted my mishaps in making these beloved petite cakes and how they tasted like eggs. At the end of the article I said that I was going to continue until I found a good recipe and indeed, I did find one.

Looking through my kitchen drawer I did find the recipe, but what I didn’t find was the source of recipe. My culinary skills are not to the level where I can make my own recipes from scratch. I rely heavily on recipes and I then tweak them to my tastes, or skill, whatever the case may be. After much googling and searching in my usual haunts, I can’t seem to find the recipe that I use. Granted, I have tweaked it a bit, but by no means can I lay claim to it being My Recipe — it’s just the one I use.

So all caveats and disclaimers aside, here is the recipe that I use for when I make Madeleines. I hope you like it.

March 5, 2007

Palm, You’re Killing Me

I’ve been a huge advocate for Palm OS for over 11 years. They may not be as hip and cool as Apple’s new iPhone, but I still use one every day and still think they are a must have device for any mobile user. That being said, it’s been harder and harder to keep my chin up as Palm OS has languished over the past few years. I’ve managed to keep the faith thus far, but then this morning I come across this article on PhoneScoop.com.

Palm, maker of the Treo line of smartphones, is reportedly wooing potential takeover suitors. Motorola, Nokia, or a private equity firm are the frontrunners in a potential sale.

After reading that quote, my heart just fell out of my chest. I can’t take yet another change in the company. I can’t. There has been so much turmoil throughout their history and if there’s another change, I don’t think the platform can survive, much less my passion for it.

March 5, 2007

Climbing Back Into The Saddle

It’s been over three months since my last posting, but I’m going to attempt to get back to my writing. As I indicated in the last post, things have been just crazy busy. For the last 6 months of 2006, there was at least one week a month where I was out of the office. That had a cascade effect that culminated in being behind in just about every aspect of my life.

Since the first of the year, my focus, or new years resolution if you will, has been to get caught up and after two solid months I’m finally starting to see the light of day. I’m finally starting to see the fruits of my two-month slave labor camp and I’m finally able to begin thinking about writing again.

So does this mean that I’m all caught up and life is back to “normal” again? Far from it. I’m still running to beat the band, but at least I’m past the drum line and running next to the trombones. Still will be another month until I see the flute section, but I’m still running!

November 27, 2006

Just Surfacing For A Quick Breath

Things have been absolutely insane for the past 30 days or so, which explains why I haven’t posted anything recently. I think there is light at the end of the tunnel, but I fear that it’s not going to appear until 2007.

In time I hope to fill in the blanks a bit and get some articles posted that I’ve been working on, but until then here’s just a quick update of what’s been going on:

Day Two & Three of my San Diego photos have been posted. You can find them at this link.
Holly won, for the second year in a row, the Halloween contest for her office building. I posted a clip of her performance on YouTube.
StreamerNet.com redesign launched
NPUG held a meeting on the topic “Walking Down The Upgrade Path“. (presentation posted)
I found a new hair stylist that I really like.
Vegona.com redesign launched
Interviewed Voja Lalich, the CEO of Motion Apps for Computer Outlook Radio Talk Show (MP3 Download | Show Notes)
Rewired the offices of Business Nashville Magazine.
Drove to Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving, and as usual, didn’t have time to see everyone. Sorry.

October 30, 2006

On The Hunt For A New Stylist

I don’t know why it is, but in my experience with hair stylists, I’m unable to get a good cut after more than a year. Around that time, the cuts I get range from not-so-hot to down right bad. Eventually I give up and have to move on to someone else. It frustrates me to no end because I usually get a really great cut at the start of the relationship and I have to wonder what makes it go sour? Well, after my last haircut, it looks like I’m at that point again. What started out great is now as sour as curdled milk.

It’s at times like this that I wish I had hair like George Clooney. His hair style is more conservative than mine and it looks as if a barber cut it, but Clooney’s hair always looks great. If I could get away with that look, I’d run to a barber in a New York second. Unfortunately my hair is a bit too fine in texture and Clooney’s look wouldn’t translate to my head. In fact, I haven’t been to a barber since I was a child. The moment that I wanted to have my hair “feathered” back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it was off to a hair stylist and I’ve been with one ever since.

October 21, 2006

Day 1 Photos From San Diego Posted

For my birthday, my family whisked me away to San Diego for an extended weekend. I really couldn’t ask for more, because this place is fantastic! We head back home tomorrow, but I was able to get the first day’s photographs posted to Flickr. You can view the gallery at this link, enjoy. 🙂

October 13, 2006

Nashville Palm Users Group Turns 7

NPUG Logo This month, the regular NPUG Monthly Meeting is going “On The Road”, which means that we’re holding our meeting in a different part of town. Usually we meeting every 2nd Saturday at the Edmonson Pike Library, but this month we’re off to Franklin! We’ll be meeting at the , Williamson County Public Library [Google Map]. Will that be a bit of a drive for most of our members? Sure, but it’ll be a welcome relief for our members that live south of Nashville and drive north for every other meeting. We have quite a few that drive 30+ minutes to attend each meeting, so for once in the 7 years we’ve been having meeting, they’ll have the shortest drive. 🙂

This month’s meeting is pretty special because it marks our 7th anniversary/birthday. That’s right, I’ve been running the Nashville Palm Users Group for 7 years now. Think that’s bad? I started the Kansas City Palm Users Group (now defunct) the year before that. So I guess you could say I’ve been “PUGgin'” for over 8 years now. 😛

October 3, 2006

The Bubba Miller Show Is Smokin’

I’ve written before how much I enjoy hanging out at Tobacco Road, especially when they’re having a cigar tasting like they did a few weeks ago. Enjoying a cigar amongst friends is the best smoke there is and friends are never in short supply at Tobacco Road. Unfortunately, having time to hang out there has been in short supply this year; however that may all be changing thanks to a new thing they’re doing every Tuesday evening — The Bubba Miller Radio Show on WSNR AM 560.

At the last cigar tasting, Mike, the store manager, mentioned something about a radio show broadcasting from there live, but I thought it was just some kind of radio promotional thing. You know, a one shot deal. About a week later, Tobacco Road sent out an e-mail giving all the details.