Putting ERP to Work in Higher Ed
with Jason Shaffner
Examining the ongoing challenges of delivering high-quality, value-added ERP services in Higher Education.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2014 in Review (Personal)
Once again, I set a few targets for 2014 in the broad categories of Reading, Writing, Running, and Cooking. If one measures one's life in new recipes cooked, books read, and miles run, then I really had a banner year in 2014... So here I'll use my blog to pat myself on the back.Two years ago my wife and I resolved to read more... Not that we weren't already doing a fine job relative to many other new parents who abandon the practice entirely (or those folks who never read in the first place), but we wanted to affirm a dedication to something we both love. This year I set a target of 10 work-related books and 25 regular books. If there is one misstep, it's that I only read two work-related books -- both were outstanding: The Lean Start-Up and Don't Make Me Think. But I absolutely killed it on the pleasure-reading front, reading a total of 74 novels or non-IT non-fiction works. The number staggers me... Granted, there are a lot of quick hits in the roster -- breezy books such as the outstanding Lew Archer series of mysteries by Ross MacDonald, dark thrillers by Jim Thompson, and a handful of Georges Simenon stories. But I also tackled Hilary Mantel (the remarkable Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies) and Henry James (The Ambassadors). Without a doubt, this was my most prolific year as a reader -- even now I sit surrounded by novels that I've started and hope to finish in the first month of the year -- a Jim Butcher Dresden Files novel, Tolstoy's War and Peace, and an 1800's gallows confessional for my next graduate literature class! (As if I weren't busy enough already, I pursued a graduate-level literature class this fall and will take another one in the spring semester at Harvard Extension.) My renewed goal for 2015 is to read 40 -- that literature class alone dictates seven -- and at least three having something to do with IT...
From a running standpoint, I had an official goal to run 350 miles -- that seemed like a reasonable target, more than I've ever managed in a year before, nearly seven miles per week... Well, that goal fell in May, as I took a more serious approach to the treadmill ahead of my 15-year college reunion. Ended the year having run 812 miles, on my feet 111+ hours. That translates into an insane (to me) 15 miles per week on average, the pathetic 3-mile weeks this autumn buoyed up by a few 30-mile breakthroughs last spring. Hoping for a more consistent 2015 and setting a time goal for the year (motivated by sub-par 5K in mid-December) to best 24 minutes for 5K in an actual road race!
As for cooking, I followed my 42 new recipes in 2013 with an unreal 81 in 2014. Sure, I gave myself credit for some rather simple dishes as I experimented with grilling and new vegetables, but I'm excited to have expanded my repertoire a bit beyond shake n' bake. As with last year, here are the best three new things I made last year:
1. Bucatini with Tomato, Guanciale, and Chile
2. Crispy Salt and Vinegar Potatoes
3. Scarpetta's Tomato-Basil Spaghetti
But really, the best tasting thing I cooked this year were garlic scapes, a vegetable I had never heard of but found at several farm stands in Maine back in July... So damn good.
And finally, we turn to writing. I wrote practically nothing again this year. 17 sad blogs, a handful of tweets, and two rather good papers for my literature class in the fall... Not a single sentence that I might seek to publish. Thinking long and hard about whether to set a goal for myself in 2015. At the minimum, I'll reaffirm a commitment (likely again to be broken) to blog more often!
1 Comments:
-
At August 22, 2024 at 7:03 AM,
ERP Software said...
-
Great insights on ERP in higher ed! It's clear how it enhances efficiency and operations. Thanks!
Optimize your manufacturing operations with our ERP solution. Streamline production, manage inventory effectively, and enhance overall efficiency.