by Sue Horner | Apr 10, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Writers should never fall in love with their own words, because the pleasure in capturing exactly what you wanted to say can disappear faster than a jerky treat in front of a Lab. I was reminded of this when my client called with the bad news that Big Executive wanted...
by Sue Horner | Apr 8, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Although the calendar says it is officially spring, the local weather is decidedly unspringlike — factoring in windchill, it felt like minus 9 C (about 15 F) on my one-hour walk this morning with my dog. So although I have put away my skis for the season, it...
by Sue Horner | Apr 5, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
At one time, radio ads for Workopolis (“Canada’s biggest job site”) featured various people talking about “the job that changed my life.” It was a great series, with both inspiring tales of jobs that led to interesting careers and...
by Sue Horner | Apr 3, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I just love those Nerds on Site. After my local Nerd, Graham, came to the rescue when I had problems getting on the Internet last week, I filled out a follow-up survey. (The top rating is “Nerdtastic!”) Today, I received a note from the head Nerds, John,...
by Sue Horner | Mar 27, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The freelance life is a true rollercoaster ride. There are stretches of calm, measured work, maybe even not too much work. I like these because I know they won’t last and I use them to run errands, organize my office or occasionally goof off. The quiet times are...
by Sue Horner | Mar 22, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Have you run across this one? “SSEWBA” — it’s short for “someday soon everything will be acronyms.” (It may already be happening in companies you and I know!) I thank Ragan Communications (their now-defunct Grapevine e-newsletter)...
by Sue Horner | Mar 21, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
There surely is proper etiquette for visiting the dying, and I recently had an occasion to try to figure it out. My elderly neighbour, a widowed Scot in his eighties, knew he was dying of cancer and had just been moved to Ian Anderson House. This is a warm, homey...
by Sue Horner | Mar 17, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Did you know that there is another “holiday season” approaching? I know this because a weekend flyer from a local grocery store mentions it several times. It was a little puzzling, at first, because it’s March. The only “holiday season”...
by Sue Horner | Mar 12, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Jakob Nielsen’s latest post on usability pointed to an interesting article on cellphone “function fatigue.” The USA Today article reports: “Manufacturers have become so enamored of cool features — including cameras, recording devices and...
by Sue Horner | Mar 7, 2007 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Here’s another tale from the customer service (or should I say, disservice) files, this one from my internet service provider. I was away for five days, and I mean AWAY — no laptop, tablet, not even a cell phone. My voice mail message was clear that I was out of...
