This was my very first attempt at blogging. Since then, I have begun a new blog at http://maryslittleblog.wordpress.com/
It has much more in the way of content, and I hope, quality.
Please do drop by!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tell Me a Story
A story has a beginning a middle and an end. Short stories are my favorite.
The best short stories grab you with the first few words, and keep you planted in your seat until the last punctuation mark. Good stories entertain, and like Aesop and his fables, they often share a lesson with their readers.
I am not a writer by trade, but in my profession, I need to tell a story or two every day. I look at businesses processes and try to figure out how we can make them better.
To do that, my staff and I have to study those processes and identify the things that work and the things that don't. When something doesn't work, we need to tell explain why, and suggest ways to make it better.
As a manager, I see how people struggle with this. They don't know where to begin; they muddle through the middle, with no sense of direction, and inevitably stop short, never getting to the moral of the story.
When sitting in your next job interview, do not underestimate the impact of your story-telling skills. Inevitably you will be asked, "Tell me about a time when..."
This is your opportunity to show me what you've got, on several levels. Of course, I'll want to confirm that you know how to do the job, that you have the knowledge. I want to know how you calmed that irate customer, or how you saved the company money by finding a hidden accounting error.
More than that though, I want to listen to the story. Make sure it has a beginning, a middle and an end. Get my attention from Word One. Make the middle clear and concise; do not confuse lots of words with lots of syllables as automatically descriptive, or interesting. Keep it short. End the story on point.
The moral of this story-
Share your insight; teach me a lesson, and tell me a story.
The best short stories grab you with the first few words, and keep you planted in your seat until the last punctuation mark. Good stories entertain, and like Aesop and his fables, they often share a lesson with their readers.
I am not a writer by trade, but in my profession, I need to tell a story or two every day. I look at businesses processes and try to figure out how we can make them better.
To do that, my staff and I have to study those processes and identify the things that work and the things that don't. When something doesn't work, we need to tell explain why, and suggest ways to make it better.
As a manager, I see how people struggle with this. They don't know where to begin; they muddle through the middle, with no sense of direction, and inevitably stop short, never getting to the moral of the story.
When sitting in your next job interview, do not underestimate the impact of your story-telling skills. Inevitably you will be asked, "Tell me about a time when..."
This is your opportunity to show me what you've got, on several levels. Of course, I'll want to confirm that you know how to do the job, that you have the knowledge. I want to know how you calmed that irate customer, or how you saved the company money by finding a hidden accounting error.
More than that though, I want to listen to the story. Make sure it has a beginning, a middle and an end. Get my attention from Word One. Make the middle clear and concise; do not confuse lots of words with lots of syllables as automatically descriptive, or interesting. Keep it short. End the story on point.
The moral of this story-
Share your insight; teach me a lesson, and tell me a story.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Preparing the The Big Storm
A speedy crescendo has built among Southern New England weather forecasters regarding this weekend’s storm. I think it is fair to say that relatively few people thought there would be any hiccups in this weekend’s weather before yesterday, or even this morning. Now people are scrambling to rearrange weekend plans.
My own family has our annual Christmas Party and Yankee Swap on Saturday. A collection of family members driving 2-3 hours each, in order to share some eggnog and Christmas cookies, and watch a half dozen toddlers pummel each other for an afternoon. Of course, with the changing forecast there has been a volley of emails flying back and forth, changing start times, decisions on whether to stay-over or head home in the evening.
It’s the kind of forecast that is sure to put a damper on many a last-minute shopping trip or office holiday party. What to do? Well unfortunately, despite all of the miracles of technology, we still have not discovered a way to change the weather.
My advice, accept the things you cannot change, be prepared, and sit back and enjoy the ride.
As of 11:00 pm Friday night, there is a winter storm watch in effect for Northern Rhode Island, including my own town of Cumberland. A winter storm watch means more than 6 inches of snow is possible, but not certain. A local television station just predicted about 9 inches. There has also been some mention of blizzard conditions on the South Coast of RI.
Be Prepared –
1) 9 inches is no Blizzard of ’78, but there will be snow on the ground in Rhode Island on Sunday morning. You won’t be able to sweep it away. If you don’t already have one, get a shovel! If you do have one, bring it into your house. Don’t make the mistake I have made so often, and leave it in the shed, or in your car. Leaving the thing in your car is the equivalent of locking your keys in your car. So near, yet so far.
2) If you are lucky enough to own once, test out the snow blower! If you haven’t used your snow blower since last year, don’t assume it will start right up. Just like your car, your snow blower requires regular maintenance. Review the owner’s manual, at minimum you probably need to change the oil, check the spark plugs and examine moving parts for wear & tear.
3) Batteries, flashlights and radios. Snowstorms, especially heavy, windy snowstorms come with power outages. If you’re lucky, you’ve already stocked up on batteries for the various electronics to go under your tree, but don’t forget those C and D batteries most flashlights require. We always keep a scanner on hand for storms like this. If the power goes out, it’s a great source of information. Even without a power outage, my husband and I secretly enjoy listening to the conversations between the plow drivers and road crews throughout the storm.
4) Got water? As with any event where power outages loom, you should stock up on some staples, water, bread, peanut butter, cereal bars (basically anything edible that can be safety stored and eaten at room temperature). A power outage of less than 2 hours shouldn’t threaten your perishables, but it is certainly wise to be prepared for an outage of a day or more. If you have small children, think about things like formula, diapers, juice boxes, etc.
5) Think about purchasing a generator. They run anywhere from $100 to well over $5,000, depending on your needs. They can be a great stopgap to protect your food, and provide heat to your house, while waiting for the power to come back on. Just be safe! Do not use it indoors and risk Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Get advice from a professional, like an electrician, and hook it up properly.
Finally, you might be spending a few more hours than you anticipated with Auntie Ellen or Uncle Joe, quality time by the dim glow of your Coleman camping lamp. Have a few decks of cards, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit on hand. The board games, not the digital versions. In my own experience, a game of Scrabble is much more enjoyable than getting into a political debate with Uncle Joe.
The American Red Cross provides some great tips for winter storm, and power outage preparedness. Check it out at:
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d229a5f06620c6052b1ecfbf43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d1ef3acde6b4e110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
My own family has our annual Christmas Party and Yankee Swap on Saturday. A collection of family members driving 2-3 hours each, in order to share some eggnog and Christmas cookies, and watch a half dozen toddlers pummel each other for an afternoon. Of course, with the changing forecast there has been a volley of emails flying back and forth, changing start times, decisions on whether to stay-over or head home in the evening.
It’s the kind of forecast that is sure to put a damper on many a last-minute shopping trip or office holiday party. What to do? Well unfortunately, despite all of the miracles of technology, we still have not discovered a way to change the weather.
My advice, accept the things you cannot change, be prepared, and sit back and enjoy the ride.
As of 11:00 pm Friday night, there is a winter storm watch in effect for Northern Rhode Island, including my own town of Cumberland. A winter storm watch means more than 6 inches of snow is possible, but not certain. A local television station just predicted about 9 inches. There has also been some mention of blizzard conditions on the South Coast of RI.
Be Prepared –
1) 9 inches is no Blizzard of ’78, but there will be snow on the ground in Rhode Island on Sunday morning. You won’t be able to sweep it away. If you don’t already have one, get a shovel! If you do have one, bring it into your house. Don’t make the mistake I have made so often, and leave it in the shed, or in your car. Leaving the thing in your car is the equivalent of locking your keys in your car. So near, yet so far.
2) If you are lucky enough to own once, test out the snow blower! If you haven’t used your snow blower since last year, don’t assume it will start right up. Just like your car, your snow blower requires regular maintenance. Review the owner’s manual, at minimum you probably need to change the oil, check the spark plugs and examine moving parts for wear & tear.
3) Batteries, flashlights and radios. Snowstorms, especially heavy, windy snowstorms come with power outages. If you’re lucky, you’ve already stocked up on batteries for the various electronics to go under your tree, but don’t forget those C and D batteries most flashlights require. We always keep a scanner on hand for storms like this. If the power goes out, it’s a great source of information. Even without a power outage, my husband and I secretly enjoy listening to the conversations between the plow drivers and road crews throughout the storm.
4) Got water? As with any event where power outages loom, you should stock up on some staples, water, bread, peanut butter, cereal bars (basically anything edible that can be safety stored and eaten at room temperature). A power outage of less than 2 hours shouldn’t threaten your perishables, but it is certainly wise to be prepared for an outage of a day or more. If you have small children, think about things like formula, diapers, juice boxes, etc.
5) Think about purchasing a generator. They run anywhere from $100 to well over $5,000, depending on your needs. They can be a great stopgap to protect your food, and provide heat to your house, while waiting for the power to come back on. Just be safe! Do not use it indoors and risk Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Get advice from a professional, like an electrician, and hook it up properly.
Finally, you might be spending a few more hours than you anticipated with Auntie Ellen or Uncle Joe, quality time by the dim glow of your Coleman camping lamp. Have a few decks of cards, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit on hand. The board games, not the digital versions. In my own experience, a game of Scrabble is much more enjoyable than getting into a political debate with Uncle Joe.
The American Red Cross provides some great tips for winter storm, and power outage preparedness. Check it out at:
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d229a5f06620c6052b1ecfbf43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d1ef3acde6b4e110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
Thursday, September 17, 2009
5 Reasons We Love Tortilla Flats in Providence
My husband and I have been frequent visitors to Tortilla Flats for years. We would go for margaritas and a bite to eat before we were married. Now, we bring our two small children there for our Friday Night outing two or three times a month. It just keeps getting better. Here are a few reasons why:
1. The Margaritas. Plenty of kick, plenty of salt. The real reason we started going to the Flats, and at least one reason why we kept coming back.
2. The Salsa. Hot, mild or mixed. We get the mixed salsa, with a basket of chips to start every meal. The mixed blend has just enough bite to it to make it nearly impossible to stop dipping that chip.
3. The Menu: It's been updated recently, and has plenty of eclectic dishes, like BBQ Bison Burger, to complement the traditional Mexican Fare. We tend to stick to the traditional stuff though. I particularly like the pork enchiladas. Yumm! Great mix of sweet BBQ sauce topped with a spicy enchilada sauce. Took me a few years to try it. Now I am hooked. The menu is budget-friendly too, with most entrees less than $15.
4. Family-friendly. The staff at Tortilla Flats just gets it. Most restaurants have crayons for the kids. The Flats has little magna-doodles. My kids love 'em. All the kids meals come with a side of sliced apples. Not only are they a guilt-free side dish, the apples give my 2-year-old something to do while she waits for her meal to cool a bit. (That little princess will only eat her food at room temperature. Makes for long meals at home, but that's for another blog.)
5) Grown-Up Friendly. We started coming to the Flats long before we had little ones in tow, sipping a couple of margaritas at the bar before dinner. It's still our favorite place for "date night" when we have a sitter. A super casual, relaxed spot, with a nice local mix: grad students from nearby Brown, neighborhood residents, etc. Even though we've aged ten years since our first visit, each visit makes us feel like we're back in our college days.
Tortilla Flats is located on Hope Street in Providence RI
1. The Margaritas. Plenty of kick, plenty of salt. The real reason we started going to the Flats, and at least one reason why we kept coming back.
2. The Salsa. Hot, mild or mixed. We get the mixed salsa, with a basket of chips to start every meal. The mixed blend has just enough bite to it to make it nearly impossible to stop dipping that chip.
3. The Menu: It's been updated recently, and has plenty of eclectic dishes, like BBQ Bison Burger, to complement the traditional Mexican Fare. We tend to stick to the traditional stuff though. I particularly like the pork enchiladas. Yumm! Great mix of sweet BBQ sauce topped with a spicy enchilada sauce. Took me a few years to try it. Now I am hooked. The menu is budget-friendly too, with most entrees less than $15.
4. Family-friendly. The staff at Tortilla Flats just gets it. Most restaurants have crayons for the kids. The Flats has little magna-doodles. My kids love 'em. All the kids meals come with a side of sliced apples. Not only are they a guilt-free side dish, the apples give my 2-year-old something to do while she waits for her meal to cool a bit. (That little princess will only eat her food at room temperature. Makes for long meals at home, but that's for another blog.)
5) Grown-Up Friendly. We started coming to the Flats long before we had little ones in tow, sipping a couple of margaritas at the bar before dinner. It's still our favorite place for "date night" when we have a sitter. A super casual, relaxed spot, with a nice local mix: grad students from nearby Brown, neighborhood residents, etc. Even though we've aged ten years since our first visit, each visit makes us feel like we're back in our college days.
Tortilla Flats is located on Hope Street in Providence RI
5 Reasons Why Providence Prime Seems to Have Lost its Shine
> We ate at Providence Prime over Labor Day weekend with another couple. I wish I could say we dined, but that term implies a bit more refined experience than we enjoyed. It was our second visit to Prime. Our first visit was a little over a year ago, in the dead of winter, and we loved it! The place was hopping. The bar was full, mostly couples like us enjoying a cocktail while waiting for their table. The atmosphere was energetic.
Here are my 5 reasons why we were disappointed in our second visit.
1) The Quiet: Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend was beautiful. DePasquale Plaza was packed with diners, tourists and locals enjoying the live music on what would likely be one of the last warm evenings of the season. Atwells Avenue was a 1/2-mile long parking lot as we inched our way toward the restaurant. A perfect evening for a night out with good friends.
On entering Prime, we were struck by the quiet. We had 8:00 reservations, and had been told the restaurant was completely booked for the 7:30 slot. We arrived there just before 8:00, and decided to have a drink at the bar before taking our seats. Almost no one was sitting at the bar. When we took our seats, we couldn't help but notice that, while most tables were full, the room was very still. None of the white noise you might expect at a popular restaurant. The background music was so low that guests seemed to be speaking in whispers. Odd.
We attributed the quiet inside the restaurant to the gorgeous evening outside. In all likelihood, Prime's normal crowd had opted for al fresco dining at one of the many other spots on the Hill.
2) Please, write down the order: Our server, Mike, was very pleasant, but we got the sense that we either got him on an off night, or prime time dining might not be his forte. He certainly tried to get our orders right. In fact, he confirmed our orders, again, and again.
I suspect that Prime has a policy against having their servers write down their orders. As a customer, I would much rather have my server write down it down, than have to repeat it once, twice, even three times before the food arrives. We gathered that Mike was drawing on every mnemonic device in his toolkit to remember our appetizer order. "S- Salmon, W-Wedge, C-Calamari” ... “Sally, Wally, Callie … got it!"
3) The first course: We had plenty of time to catch up with our friends while we waited for our appetizers, which included another visit from Mike to confirm of our orders. We talked about our vacations, our summer, our kids starting school, plans for the Holidays. Then our appetizers arrived, or at least a couple did. Mike once again asked my husband what he had ordered, before running back to find a wedge salad for him.
Despite the wait, the first course was quite tasty. I loved my smoked salmon, prepared a bit differently than I’ve had before, refreshing. My husband enjoyed his salad when it came.
4) The main course: We had little time to enjoy our salads before our entrees arrived. Many restaurants would take pride in getting the entrees out promptly, but I personally enjoy a “fine dining” experience that is a bit more 'paced.'
Our entrees themselves were a bit disappointing. We each had different types of steak: filet, rib eye, etc, but we all had the same thought. Fine cut of beef that tasted like it had been sitting under the warming lamp for 10 minutes. Based on the long wait for our appetizers, we suspect that our entrees were ready before our appetizers even arrived. Our steaks fell victim to the first-course bottleneck.
5) The dessert? I can’t really comment on the dessert, except to say that we enjoyed it on our first visit. After finishing our meals, we continued our conversations: the upcoming Patriots season, speculating on the Red Sox, contemplating home renovations, all while we waited for our plates to be cleared.
After acknowledging that we all had babysitters at home, with curfews, we realized that trying dessert just wasn’t meant to be that night. Time would not permit it.
In short, Prime should have been, by all standards, a superior dining experience that turned out to be rather dull, and drawn out. Even US “Grade A Prime” filet mignon loses its sizzle when it arrives at the table a bit cold.
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