I was surprised and mildly pleased this weekend to see my sister-in-law Karin give a quick reference guide or “cheat sheet,” as she called it, to her grandma for her birthday. The guide focused on accessing and sending email in Gmail. Grandma was grateful and elated to see the work and detail that went into the guide, which was laminated and narrow enough to prop … more »

I have mixed feelings about Christmas. People in our neighborhood have been bringing over treats all week — a chocolate pie, a peanut butter pinecone bird feeder, sparkling apple cider, brownies, rice crispies, honey, marmelade jam, Stephen’s hot cocoa, sugar cookies, and other food. They bring them with such pace and vigor you would think we were either starving or desperately in need of fattening … more »

Fortune cookies with fortunes rewritten as numbered lists. Bobblehead with favorite SME’s face pasted on the front. Stack of how-to manuals from everything you assembled for Christmas. Copy of that House episode with the agoraphobe tech writer and comment “Saw this and thought of you.” * “Certificate” of year’s achievements with typos on it. * Jigsaw puzzle of the current interface the tech writer is … more »