Tag Archives: methodology

Two kids potty trained and not a clue how to accomplish it

Posted on July 21, 2013 by jrothmanshore

If you search on the web for “potty training”, you will find endless articles and guides with names like “Potty Training Guide” and “Potty Training – How to Get the Job Done”. It seems like everyone has the secret recipe … Continue reading →

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Fix it now or wait until it breaks?

Posted on July 14, 2013 by jrothmanshore

Most things in life get replaced at one of two points – when it breaks, or when it becomes obsolete.  Well, perhaps obsolete isn’t quite the right word.  I’ve owned seven or eight coffee makers in my life, but only … Continue reading →

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Rationalizing a subscription to Amazon Prime and finding it generally useful

Posted on June 9, 2013 by jrothmanshore

Amazon has designed their free two-day-shipping Prime subscription program well.  For any item sold directly by Amazon, you can just order it while you sit on the couch and know you will have it the day after tomorrow with no … Continue reading →

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Being a packrat finally pays off after 16 years

Posted on January 6, 2013 by jrothmanshore

I admit it… I’m not very good at throwing things away.  Ever since I left college 16 years ago, I have a hard time parting with anything that I think might be useful again some day. If you walk around … Continue reading →

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Word to the wise: pick a child’s lovey based on your ability to see it in the dark

Posted on November 27, 2012 by jrothmanshore

Like all good parents, we started manipulating our children when they were just newborns. For each of our kids, we introduced them to a lovey when they were just a few months old.  They became so used to having these … Continue reading →

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Abandoning my networking rolodex and relying entirely on LinkedIn

Posted on September 20, 2012 by jrothmanshore

My company is in the process of being acquired by IBM, and while this has many positives, it means that we will all be switching from Microsoft Outlook over to Lotus Notes.  This feels a little bit like switching from … Continue reading →

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If you never incur overage charges, you may be on the wrong mobile plan

Posted on May 7, 2012 by jrothmanshore

Long ago, I did some research and switched us to a $15/month 200MB data plan from AT&T.  I had determined that neither of us ever exceeded 150MB (usually closer to 100MB), so it was an easy decision to switch from … Continue reading →

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A Root Cause Analysis for a child’s skinned knee

Posted on April 12, 2012 by jrothmanshore

At various points in my career as a software architect at companies providing SaaS (software-as-a-service) offerings, I have found myself helping to write up a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) document in the event of an unexpected system issue, such as … Continue reading →

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A microwave needs just one button, so don’t over-engineer your interface

Posted on February 28, 2012 by jrothmanshore

For several years, I was very puzzled by one of the microwaves in our office’s cafeteria.  It had just two buttons: “Start” and “Cancel”. Each time I wanted to use it, I sat there baffled, wondering how I was supposed … Continue reading →

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Would I have been better off with the service plan?

Posted on September 18, 2011 by jrothmanshore

We just had to have one of the sump pumps in our basement replaced.  This is probably just bad luck, but you could make a good argument that I brought this on myself.  When Hurricane Irene passed through New England, … Continue reading →

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