A Manly Saturday

Okay so the title is a bit misleading, today was actually occupied by a trip to the Woodenshoe Tulip Farm for the annual Tulip Festival.

Being from the Antelope Valley I am used to the Poppy Festival every year, but that happens miles from any actual poppies, this happened at the farm. Woodshoe Farms is about a 45 minute drive from us, which was partially freeway and partially back roads that gave a nice view of some old school farmhouses. It really is a gorgeous area, especially a little ways off the beaten path.

When we first arrived at Woodshoe Farms we debated on getting our money back and just going home, as their didn't appear to be any Tulips in bloom. Turns out the front of the farm gets used to grow grass, a quarter mile walk or so later we came to the actual tulip fields and wow. The amount and variety of tulips was really breathtaking. As a bonus a nice clear day made for some pretty views of Mt Hood in the distance as well.

It was a nice way to spend a Saturday with the girls, and also another notch in my proverbial bedpost of wanting to get out of the house more.

So without further ado, some photos from the day:

Professionalism

Working in the line of work that I do I send emails, lots of emails, and everyday I find myself thinking the same thing at least once.

Why do people not seem to grasp the fact that their email address has an impact on how they will be percieved by others in a professional context?

I understand when I am quoting a 17 year old kid that I may run into an email address like snowboardpunk1994 (yes people born in 1994 can drive now, scary isn't it?) or the like. My first email address was chaoslord99 for christ sake (and I really was neither chaotic or a lord of anything in 1999 "I don't care if they're facist anarchists it still doesn't change the fact that I don't have a car" <---that really didn't have much to do with anything), anyway what was I saying? Oh yeah, I remember now...

What drives me crazy is when I run into someone who is a doctor and has the email address "crzychick", or a business owner using something like "hemilover65". There is no reasonable explanation for not having an email address that either A) is your name @ someplace or B) is directly related to the name of your business or your occupation. Email addresses are easy to get for free, chances are your name is available, and chances are if you work in any sort of actual profession you are GIVEN a professional email address.

If your email address is joe.smith@bigaccountingfirm.com I will respect you more than if it is golf4life@hotmail.com, I know it shouldn't matter, it's the person behind the email, "honest she has a great personality", I get all that...bottom line is it does matter, so stop it.