Friday Donuts

Dear Members and Constituents, Where does the urge we feel -especially on Fridays- to have a donut come from? I would argue it's instinctive. Instinctive? The skeptic would argue donuts are too refined (refined sugar, refined flour...) to be associated with an instinct. That they have not been around long enough for our species to create an inherent disposition towards their consumption. I will not deny donuts have only been around for a couple-hundred of years or so (161 years for ring-shaped donuts). So, if I admit these tasty treats have not been a staple of our diet since the dawn of our species, then how can I argue the need to consume them is instinctive? It all comes down to what's inside these tasty circular treats. Yummy goodness an active body needs. You see, despite the prosperity we've experienced in this part of the world for the better part of the last century, the natural condition our species has existed in for thousands of years is one of scarcity. Our tast...

Dear members and constituents, What do laser, radar and scuba have in common? (No, the answer does not involve the plot to a James Bond movie). Give up? They are all acronyms... Laser = Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation Radar = Radio Detection And Ranging Scuba = Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus Sure, the world of telecommunications is fraught with them (try to think of the last five sentences you uttered, I'd be extremely surprised if at least one of them did not contain one or more acronyms), however they've been around longer than you may realize. Early Christian inscriptions in Roman catacombs used the image of a fish as a symbol for Jesus because of an acronym—fish in Greek is ΙΧΘΥΣ (ichthys), which stood for Ιησους Χριστος Θεου Υιος Σωτηρ (Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior). In case you're wondering, donut is not an acronym (although, understandably, geeky scientists and engineers have from time t...

Dear Members and Constituents, A recent visit to the BPMCOE (that's extended TLA for Business Process Management Center of Excellence) triggered an interesting idea: Donuts are the key to process improvement. I may be reaching a little, but hear me out. Six Sigma: The lower case Greek letter "sigma" looks like a donut with a little finger reaching for it Lean: Everybody knows that donuts contain less calories than, say, bagels... if instead of eating a bagel people would eat a donut, they would be a lot leaner Kaizen: Started by Toyota, whose logo looks like, yes... nested donuts Operations Science: Again, starts with the donut shape Theory of Constraints: Looks for process bottlenecks. If people were energized by the consumption of donuts, their productivity would increase, preventing them from becoming the proverbial bottleneck. Not convinced? Think of the energy a donut provides you. Now imagine that multiplied by all the company's employees... think of the product...

Dear members and constituents, I must admit I've succumbed to peer pressure (thanks a lot, Mack!). Yes, this morning I went to Carol Lee Doughnuts, a perfectly good little donut shop without a line of people going out the door, and purchased two dozen circular pastries. I would have plenty of time to question the wisdom of that decision as I stood in line at LaMar's, waiting to complete the other half of the magic quantity. Ever wonder why chains have taken-over America? As I see it, a battle line has been drawn between individuality and predictability (and predictability is creaming individuality). You know what you're going to get at Good Times Burgers, not so much at Joe's Burger Shack. Clean restrooms? Swept floors? Mom's secret sauce? And so it is that the weakening of the spirit of adventure has led to the rise of the franchise. So, what will it be? I have posted a survey on the blog http://fridaydonuts.blogspot.com/ to ask a simple question: Whose donuts wer...

Dear Members and Constituents, I believe over ninety nine percent of everything you've ever learned is based on trust If you rob a bank you'll go to jail... have you ever tried it? Cyanide will kill you... have you seen anybody take a cyanide pill? The world is round... have you been out to space and seen it first-hand? The universe is 12 billion years old... really? We trust that our parents, professors, schoolbooks and news sources are tellin g us the truth. We take these truths and create rules which generalize and simplify to our own little reality. Everything has an explanation and falls in its place. This makes it so we don't have to think about most things ordinary. It also, however, means that if one of these truths or generalizations turns out not to be so true after all, we need to re-think our reality and adjust to what we've learned. This year (today, in-fact) February does not have 28 days. That beer you're planning to drink at 5 o'something may not...

Dear Members and Constituents, Do you ever find yourself going through the same old routine when, suddenly, something unexpected happens? It hits you out of the blue and makes you see things in a different light. I find that, while these events don't happen as frequently as I'd like, when they do, they make my day. OK, I admit I'm easily amused, what else is new? Case-in-point 1 : This morning as I was walking from my car to my office (as routine as it gets), I noticed there was a bird singing. This beautiful blue sky morning had just gotten a tad bit better. I don't recall having heard birds singing for quite some time. I had not even been aware of the absence of that cheerful sound in days and weeks past, yet, when I heard it this morning it was like a void was filled. Case-in-point 2 : I had noticed some time back as I was driving to work that the field west of Simms and a little south of the airport has (for no good reason I've been able to decipher) no less tha...

OK, it's not Friday, however, the embedded video below was brought to my attention (so I figured I'd share it with y'all). We should all be so lucky!