The phrase Spring Break conjures up images of partying in Florida that I never did in college. So when my kiddos had Spring Break this week, where that strangely came to mind, in reality it was a road trip to Ohio and a short but nice staycation. I even took a few days off of work, and actually unplugged from the office for most of it. Seriously.

No fooling – Thursday was the first day of April, often called April Fool’s Day. A couple of clever things I found were Synology’s FreshStation and the Nielsen Norman Group’s article on how much users love constant change. I opted to not write on this day, especially as something I wrote a decade ago on Google removing the search box from their home page not only fell flat but turned into a self-fulfilling prophesy with how mobile and home speaker devices listen to you constantly these days.

Capitalist tradition – Many times I have referred to the tasty meat products produced by Jacobs Meat Market, a local legend here in Northeast Wisconsin. This article tells well the story of the three-generations business tradition Jacobs is.

I gotta update what? – If you are a non-technical Web site owner and have gotten emails about updating Google Analytics code and don’t know what to do about it, you are not alone. Perhaps you may not even know what Google Analytics is, but that’s a topic for another time. The search behemoth has made changes to this free service of measuring traffic to your Web site. For those with Squarespace Web sites this article on how to integrate the Google Analytics changes is helpful as I needed it myself for some I help support.

Physics 101 – Not all doll heads turn. If you happen to force it to turn, good luck reattaching it.

You get a train station, and you... – Amtrak this week came out with a map of “aspirations” for how to expand personal train riding across the US. These are merely proposed ideas, and have no budget or approvals from governmental bodies or the conglomerates who own the train tracks. Where it’s nice to dream, until Amtrak can operate without heavy government subsidies per ticket, these new lines on the map may remain just in someone’s head.

All Things In Depth – A relatively new Web site in my area All Things Appleton has become a go-to for me for depth in news that is sadly missing from the newspapers of record. Just about every major newspaper in Wisconsin is owned by Gannett and is under the umbrage of USA Today Wisconsin. This goes beyond branding, and has consolidated printing facilities and reporters, leaving what I consider a poor overall product. Yet I still subscribe, as it gives me the headlines that I need to look into further elsewhere, like on independent Web sites like All Things Appleton.

Banked Billions – I finished binge-watching Billions. It’s fifth season was cut short due to COVID-19, and left me wanting more. In short, I liked Axe over Chuck, and Wendy over both. I have no idea if this is truly what it is like to be a billionaire hedge fund manager, but the optics are enticing.

How Are We Meeting? – Last week I took a class at work on effective meetings taught by Anthony Mersino of Vitality Chicago. The greatest thing I learned from him was to have meeting retrospectives. Often we have regular meetings and after a while they are so routine that we’re not sure if they even effective. By hosting an occasional retrospective, we may find ways to make the meeting more effective, efficient or perhaps decide to not have it at all. I plan to take this to task with regular meetings I facilitate and participate in.

At the corner of Style and Price in Chicago – A few weeks ago Irish discount clothing retailer Primark opened a store in Chicago at the corner of State and Washington Streets in the Loop. This space sat empty for years and was previously an Old Navy and Gap store. The kiddos give it high marks, and will certainly be a stop on our next visit back to the Windy City.

Partially righting a wrong in Chicago – Overdue news came this week as the Chicago Park District announced it was replacing a slide at Maggie Daley Park that has caused many injuries to people who went on it. Those injured include my kiddos, who both got scrapes and were bleeding after their first rides on the slide, prompting us never to return.

The playground was part of the new park which replaced the former Daley Bicentennial Plaza, a lovely park that needed to be ripped up to repair the parking garage below it. I lamented and paid homage to what I called the “locals park” when it closed. I felt the replacement park was too much of a showplace and not functional. A parent did not have complete line of sight over the entire park, and with little kids that can easily get lost (and did) it was problematic. Plus the bathrooms were too far away, requiring the placement of porta-potties by the playground. Add the slide to the mix, and it was a one-and-done visit for many.

Sanitary for your protection – For our staycation we went to a local hotel under the Hilton umbrella. I can count on one hand how many hotel night stays I have had in the last year, but I digress. When we arrived at our room the above-shown “seal” was on the door. This brought back memories of the 1970’s when you would stay at a wayside motel and there would be a “sanitary for your protection” ribbon on the toilet seat, causing me to wonder how clean it real was. The Lysol branding on this sticker put the image of housekeeping staff fogging the entire room. Once we entered we found a nice room and had no concerns of its cleanliness. Despite the thoughts of the chain’s CEO, we left a tip for housekeeping.

"To hold a pen is to be at war..." – Voltaire

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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