Wired Presentations

A picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth 20 degrees, or less.

It is just as cold as it looks

Well, it’s not only about PowerPoint. It is about slide design.

Slides that stick

Follow Jan on Twitter

It appears that not everyone is a “Jeff Fan.” Take a moment to read how wrong I am.

On the other hand, some find my advice useful.

Fortunately for all of us, everyone is entitled to their opinions!

[Update] It looks like Angela DeFinis is on the side of sometimes you are REQUIRED to read a presentation (or speech).

I am too tired to write. Here are some photos from today’s trip to Carolina Beach State Park.

Audie Murphy

Being in the military is tough. There is no doubt about that. Everyone who enters knows that dying is a possibility. Fortunately, when you’re young you know it isn’t going to happen to you. It always happens to the other person.

Back in the mid-80s I was in the United States Air Force working in the dental clinic at Little Rock Air Force Base. I was pulling call (carrying a pager so that I could respond to emergencies) and the pager went off at 3:00 AM. I called the emergency room and they said to come on in, in uniform, and that the dentist on call wasn’t coming in. This was odd since the dentist always comes in. I put on my uniform and walked to the clinic.

I climbed the one flight of stairs and opened the clinic door. In the waiting room was a general and many of his staff. This was extremely odd; at the time there were no generals stationed on the base. The general walked over to me, looked at my name badge and said, “Sergeant Bailey do you have a security clearance?”

“Yes, sir” I replied.

“What I am about to tell you is Secret — do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you. Can you do that?”

“Absolutely!”

“I am going to give you a list of 12 names. We need their dental records.”

I knew what this meant, but 12? That’s a lot of people.

He handed me the list and I went about pulling the records. It isn’t as easy as it sounds and not near as easy as it should be. Some of the records were in the dentist’s offices and in treatment rooms. Sometimes it took a day to find a record. I was hoping that this wasn’t one of those times. As I found the records I looked through them to see if I had cleaned their teeth. It was amazing. I knew most of the folks or had met them.

In one fell swoop 12 people from our base died — during peace time. Flight crew members know and accept the risks. Some of these folks were clerks and support people who never imaged that they would be asked to give their lives for their country.  Yet they did.

As you light your grill today remember what Memorial Day is really for. Thank a veteran.

Me USAF 83-87