Merry Christmas

In a cheap hotel in Marion, Kansas, future news anchor Jim Lehrer's mother gave her sons a few words on Christmas Day, 1946: "I know this is awfully rough on you boys. None of our Christmases have ever been like this. Remember the others and try to forget this one. We're going to be alright. At least we're all together. That's more than a lot of families have". 

In the aftermath of World War Two, Europe and Asia laid in ruins, and millions of Americans were dislocated from their hometowns on account of military service and war work. Gifts and feasts were simpler- sugar was still rationed, and toy makers on a wartime footing.

But out of this war period came great Christmas music, including Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", and Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas". In lieu of many toys, savings bonds were given as presents: this new tradition continued until bonds went electronic in the last decade. 

In this present year, things have been stripped to basics for the Christmas season: few parties, less travel. I must say this is a good thing, as many stores, including groceries, have chosen to close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   Certainly a Merry Christmas for many workers, in spite of the year's challenge. I say this as someone who has worked in 24/7 environment at sea.

References:

We Were Dreamers, book by James Lehrer

Christmas in World War II - The Home Front (sarahsundin.com)

Still No Digital Office?

At the end of an intense had school semester, I tackled the piles of paper on my bookshelf, organizing them into a filing cabinet at home. Anachronistic? You bet. What is the hang-up from embracing full digitalization? 

Security- Those working for the government and in the defense sector find their selection of available collaboration tools to be limited. Marking up PDFs can be done, but third party applications like Slack are not used. 

Portability- Paper is more versatile when a file cannot be transmitted readily due to security concerns. It feels easier to work on a sheet of paper during a 5-10 minute interlude than it is to fire up the work computer. Also, wireless internet service - through WiFi or cellular - is still spotty in many places. 

 Kinematics- It still remains challenging to compare documents between two screens. Perhaps working with one vertical screen and one tablet is the best digital option. In the meanwhile, I continue to use a printout while scanning the computer screen for revisions. 

Cost of omission - I must say that the legal profession has mastered digitalization. For them, the slightest change in wording can tip a costly dispute. Eye fatigue remains a real issue with computer screens, but developments like the eye-friendly Kindle hold promise. 

Cost of software- Adobe democratized the PDF format, but as a business, retained certain controls. Their official, $60 per year software is the only tool that works across all update versions and computers. For information transfer, different databases require plain text, comma separated values, and so forth. Sometimes it’s easier to complete on paper and send it in. 

Incumbency- In my undergraduate studies, correspondence courses completed at sea were for the large part completed in pencil and paper, whether it was writing out nautical “rules of the road” verbatim or performing drawings of engine room equipment. This was meant to prevent cheating, and to eliminate the need for laptops in harsh shipboard environments. Autocad - design drawing software - was relegated to a drafting class instead of being integrated into the curriculum. In the workplace, I sketch on paper and use sticky notes- it’s hard to break old and effective habits.