Some random but important things I want to say:

• Thank you to David Allen for his whole-of-life getting things done system. When I fall off the wagon and try to carry everything in my head, David’s approach is sitting there ready for me to engage again.
• Many happy birthday returns to one Eric Mack of Eric Mack Online. Given that you’ve had your 21st birthday more than 21 times now, let’s just stop counting! And given the paucity of posts in previous days, perhaps a new domain name is in order Eric: http://www.ericmackoffline.com. 😉
• Many happy birthday returns to my sister, Joanne Sampson. She doesn’t blog so I can’t link to her online persona … however, she’s a great woman and works quietly alongside people to help and inspire. Keep it up sis! I’m very proud of you.
• With getting up early to write, think and have “cave time”, whilst simultaneously not disturbing my sleeping wife and little Jonathan in the same room, a beeping alarm is a real stress inducer. I was desparately seeking a watch with a vibrating alarm, but none of the watch shops I visited down here in New Zealand had such a thing. A Google search for “vibrating watch alarm” led me to the Vibralite 3 which I acquired through Comfort House and I am reporting that it is just fantastic! I get to wake up without disturbing the others. Highly recommended if you are as strange as me in your early morning rising patterns (you listening Chris?)
• I have a number of keynote presentations coming up, and I was without a cordless presenter (the shock of it!). Since I want to present from my Mac, I sought the right device. Although the Logitech Cordless 2.4 GHz Presenter is apparently for Windows only, it works fine with my Mac and with Apple Keynote (with others have found too). Rock on!
• Ouch! Mike Drips, a SharePoint consultant has been trying out Vista. He’s less than impressed: “Sadly I still have Windows Vista on my PC. Windows Vista is just a dog of an operating system that smells as rank as a pile of skunk droppings.“