Desktop Archaeology

I promised myself I would clear some of the backlog of work from my desk over the weekend, but Monday has come and gone and the mounds of paper are still there.

I know how long I've had something by its position in the strata on my desktop. The longer I've had it, the deeper it's embedded in the layers. I regret to say that there's still a pile from the Prechristmas Era to be dealt with.

Those of you on r.a.sf.c. will be familiar with the term 'cat vacuuming'... It's what you do when you find something, anything, to do so you can pretend to be too busy to get on with stuff you really don't want to do. On r.a.sf.c. it's usually used in terms of cat vacuuming to save you from writing. In my case the cat vacuuming is just saving me from piles of paper. I'd be happy to write if I didn't feel guilty about the archaeology on my desk.

Today my cat vacuuming actually took the form of transferring old TNG Star Trek videos to DVD (has to be done in real time). I intended to set the machine going and put my timer on for 40 minutes... but I ended up watching the double episode 'Encounter at Farpoint', the first TNG story. I was struck by how stiff the actors were in those early days and how terribly obvious the intended sexual-attraction storylines were flagged up between Crusher and Picard and Troy and Ryker. Their overdone looks of longing were almost pantomime in style, especially Troy and Ryker.

She loves you. Oh no she doesn't. Oh yes she does.

Desktop Archaeology

I promised myself I would clear some of the backlog of work from my desk over the weekend, but Monday has come and gone and the mounds of paper are still there.

I know how long I've had something by its position in the strata on my desktop. The longer I've had it, the deeper it's embedded in the layers. I regret to say that there's still a pile from the Prechristmas Era to be dealt with.

Those of you on r.a.sf.c. will be familiar with the term 'cat vacuuming'... It's what you do when you find something, anything, to do so you can pretend to be too busy to get on with stuff you really don't want to do. On r.a.sf.c. it's usually used in terms of cat vacuuming to save you from writing. In my case the cat vacuuming is just saving me from piles of paper. I'd be happy to write if I didn't feel guilty about the archaeology on my desk.

Today my cat vacuuming actually took the form of transferring old TNG Star Trek videos to DVD (has to be done in real time). I intended to set the machine going and put my timer on for 40 minutes... but I ended up watching the double episode 'Encounter at Farpoint', the first TNG story. I was struck by how stiff the actors were in those early days and how terribly obvious the intended sexual-attraction storylines were flagged up between Crusher and Picard and Troy and Ryker. Their overdone looks of longing were almost pantomime in style, especially Troy and Ryker.

She loves you. Oh no she doesn't. Oh yes she does.

Feeling Efficient

I'm finally clearing some of the backlog of work. My desk isn't clear yet, but the archaeology is much reduced.

On the r.a.sf.c. group someone, Gruff, I think, suggested that working in 40 minute (or was it 45 minute) bursts was a good way to stay at peak efficiency, so I'm putting it to the test. I'm recording episodes of Star Trek TNG from bulky commercial video tapes to DVDs. (I've found some cases that take up to 10 disks in a case so I can get a whole season into the shelf-space previously occupied by one videotape - thus reducing shelf space by 8x). How does tape transfer affect my time management? easy. Episodes are approximately 40 minutes long, so I press start, set the kitchen timer and get a burst of work done for 40 minutes... and then another 40 minutes... and another.

So far it seems to be working.

Feeling Efficient

I'm finally clearing some of the backlog of work. My desk isn't clear yet, but the archaeology is much reduced.

On the r.a.sf.c. group someone, Gruff, I think, suggested that working in 40 minute (or was it 45 minute) bursts was a good way to stay at peak efficiency, so I'm putting it to the test. I'm recording episodes of Star Trek TNG from bulky commercial video tapes to DVDs. (I've found some cases that take up to 10 disks in a case so I can get a whole season into the shelf-space previously occupied by one videotape - thus reducing shelf space by 8x). How does tape transfer affect my time management? easy. Episodes are approximately 40 minutes long, so I press start, set the kitchen timer and get a burst of work done for 40 minutes... and then another 40 minutes... and another.

So far it seems to be working.