Kim planted some gorgeous flowers in our front yard this week. I don’t know why we don’t do this more often. Having flowers around the yard and house make everything seem so much more alive with their vibrant colors and wonderful scents.

Tonight, the ice cream man was driving up and down the streets of our neighborhood which give me an idea. I need to find a mobile flower delivery service. Every few weeks or so I’d be willing to purchase a round of new flowers to plant around the house or display in our house. The times I see flowers for sale at the store or Pikes Market are the times when it’s the least convenient.

I don’t want to have to go online and browse through hundreds of options. I want someone to pick out the top 5 or 6 of the season and just bring them by the house.

That sounds really lazy. But it can’t be any worse than grocery delivery service can it?

Here are a few of the flowers now found in our yard

Most companies I’ve worked for have talked about maintaining a work/life balance. In other words, do whatever it takes to get the job done regardless of family, friends or outside hobbies. I’m always skeptical when I hear a company preach balance because they can’t possibly know what “balance” means for every single employee. It’s an HR buzzword.

I used to believe it was the job or company that dictated how much balance, if any, existed. If I could just find the right position or the right company, magically everything would come into focus and my family would be given the same priority as my work required.

I was dead wrong. It’s not the company. It’s not the position. It’s me. It’s how I manage the job, not how the job manages me. It’s setting expectations right from the starts with my manager, my reports on when I’ll be available and what hours I will work. Over the past few years I’ve found that nearly every manager has been accommodating to my desired schedule.

Some weeks I do better at managing my work load and family time. But now I know I’m in charge rather than the job or the company.

Conditional answers don’t work with kids. If I attempt to give them an answer such as: “We can go outside and play if it doesn’t start to rain”. They just want to go outside now!

I wish more adults were like this. I can act on a yes or no. I know where I stand and what I need to do. I can move on or get back to work. It removes the gray areas.

This is one trait I like about my current boss. I don’t get a long-winded story that ends in ambiguity. I never leave his office wondering what the answer was. I know straight up whether I got a yes or no.  Even when the answer is no, at least I know to move on and find another solution. It’s oftentimes hard to say no, but it’s the right thing to say when it’s the honest answer.

I like the whole experience of visiting Fry’s Electronics. I like the young man or woman who stands near the entrance greeting everyone who enters. I like the newspaper ads plastered on the wall near the entrance. I love the “wall of motherboards” and the sheer number of external USB drives available for purchase. There are entire rows and sections of products which I have no clue what they do or how they are used. Maybe it’s a medical device. Maybe it’s a piece of the Space Shuttle. I have no idea.

I like it all. But I really enjoy the random impulse item located next to the cash registers at Fry’s. I can always count on finding a totally useless item in this area, and today was no different. Next to each register was a stack of UBS Beverage Chillers.

 Now it’s one thing to head to the checkout with a game, a monitor or printer and come home with a pack of gum, Snickers or even Chapstick lip balm because my impulses got the best of me.

But how does one explain the desire to add a USB Chiller at the last second to a spouse? It makes sense for Fry’s to put them in this area because I can’t imagine anyone enters the store thinking, “I gotta remember to pick-up that USB Beverage Chiller”.

Some people say they will have arrived when they are able to buy a Mercedes Benz. Or a vacation house in Park City. Or a Steinway Grand Piano.

Not me. My goals are little less lofty.

I want my very own pinball machine. Preferably a basement full of half a dozen pinball machines. When I’m able to drop $4500 on a pinball machine, I’ll know I’ve arrived. 

I came across Mark Andreesen’s post tonight and he brings up some excellent suggestions for retaining the best employees.

THINGS TO DO

Focus: In a technology company, focus on retaining the great architects and managers — the people who are the magnets for retaining other great people and hiring more great people…You have to retain the magnets — or at least a critical mass of them — because without them, you’re going to lose everyone else.

Promote Your Best People: especially into the jobs vacated by the more senior of the people you just fired — and give them very interesting challenges.

THINGS TO AVOID

Don’t create a new group or organization within your company whose job is “innovation”:

This takes various forms, but it happens reasonably often when a big company gets into product trouble, and it’s hugely damaging.

First, you send the terrible message to the rest of the organization that they’re not supposed to innovate. Second, you send the terrible message to the rest of the organization that you think they’re the B team.

The last company I worked for did exactly what Mark says to avoid, and it was very destructive.

It’s tough to get excited about much when you’ve been relegated to the B Team. As tempting as it sounds to only include a chosen few, it’s best to widen the input and brain-storming meetings to anyone, regardless of title, to those who show an interest.

Things that just work:

1. DirecTivo
2. WordPress
3. Windows Live Writer
4. Nikon D40

Things that work most of the time:

1. iPod Video
2. Motorola Q
3. Qwest DSL
4. Microwave Popcorn

Things that sometimes work:

1. VOIP Phones
2. NBA Lottery
3. iTunes
4. BitTorrent

 Things that cause more frustration than help:

1. Self Checkout
2. Windows Vista
3. ActiveSync
4. Sirius Satellite Radio

On my way into work this morning I drove past two signs off Interstate 90. The first said, “Amber Alert in progress. Tune to radio for details”. A few miles further I drove past the second sign that said, “Amber Alert in progress. Tune to local radio“.

Two questions:

1. What station should I turn to? There are many local stations on AM and FM in the Seattle area
2. Someone took the time to put the notice on the signs which is great but, they are not much help without more information such as the license and description of the car.

I just checked the Seattle Times website and found this article on a missing 12-year old girl.

Three customer focused sites. These guys get it. These sites just work the way you think they should work.

1. Netflix – no check out, just the right amount of detail
2. Tirerack – more than just tires, excellent customization
3. Orbitz – displays lots of data in clear manner

Three sites that used to be customer focused but recently added something annoying.

1. Cnet – trying too hard to be hip
2. ESPN – cluttered, enough with the auto-launch videos
3. Technorati – someone hijacked our useful homepage

Three sites that are proud to be old school.

1. Maddox – avoid if you’re easily offended
2. Craigslist – we can’t get enough text
3. NewEgg – terrible search, drab, fantastic service

Three surprisingly helpful sites.

1. IRS – well organized, good search, easy to use.
2. Kayak – not fancy but very quick search for airfares
3. Ask Maps – skip the big boys and try this one 

Three sites you didn’t know you need.

1. TinyURL – send your friends short links
2. Polarize – make any digital picture look like a Polaroid
3. Slacker – How internet radio should be done

One site where you can do anything at all…..

1. Zombo