WFTND Blog Information

An emergency manager trying to make a difference.

The name of the blog comes from a conversation with my daughter, where she told me that I was always looking to help people be prepared for the inevitable emergencies in life.

I started this blog as a place to assemble all the information that I was getting every day and to share my thoughts and ideas on emergency management.

I had no idea how much of the blog would wind up being what's in the news. While it does not take a lot to add a blog entry, I just did not realize how much of my day was involved with simply keeping up with what's going on. All of the posts, whether what's in the news or comments or just a piece of information, have a purpose; to get us thinking, to get us talking, and to make things better - in other words, to make a difference.

Hopefully this blog will save you some time and energy, or help you in some other way. If you would like to see something, please let me know.

Posting an article does not imply that I agree with the comments in the article. In fact, in many case, I do not agree, but feel that the comments should be part of the discussion. All opinions are welcome. I only ask that you remain considerate and professional of other opinions.

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Favorite Quotes for the Emergency Manager

  • “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • “Failing to plan is planning to fail”
  • “Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.” Denis Waitley
  • "Station 51, KMG365."
  • “One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” Arnold H. Glasgow
  • “An ostrich with its head in the sand is just as blind to opportunity as to disaster”
  • “The powers in charge keep us in a perpetual state of fear keep us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real.” Douglas MacArthur
  • “My ideas have undergone a process of emergence by emergency. When they are needed badly enough, they are accepted.” Buckminster Fuller
  • “Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part”
  • "If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, ..." Rudyard Kipling
  • "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." Aldous Huxley

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

TECHNOLOGY TIPS: Lease those laptops

Most of us worry about how to keep up with the changes in technology, especially in computers. One way to battle the built-in obsolescence is to look at leasing. There are several issues to consider:

1. Costs: Initial costs are lower for leasing - think of how car leases work (or at least used to back in the pre-financial crash days.) The counter to that is just like a car lease - in the end, it will cost you more for the same thing. (Although in some cases, not much more, especially if you have to pay taxes on the purchase.) There can also be tax accounting differences.
2. Ease: Leasing is usually an animal of a different color. You may encounter resistance from your purchasing agent or administration if they are not familiar with the process. It may be easier to to buy it outright.
3. Logistics: Some organizations like to replace older computers, then move the older computer to another user. This can work, but it takes a lot of planning to ensure that you are not just pawning off problems on someone else.
4. Return: Purchased computers, if not reallocated inside the organization, will have to go somewhere. If they are at end of life, there may be disposal charges.
5. Support: Leases may include technical support, as the leasor wants something worthwhile at the end to sell. This could take a load of of your IT staff.
6. Replacement: At the end of lease period, you get new computers - how cool is that! But what if the organization is not financially ready to change, especially if the decision is to move from leasing to purchasing.

While I am a fan of leasing, it all depends on your individual situation. Most of the big computer companies have leasing programs, and can help you with the details, if your techies are not up to speed on the practice. Check with your purchasing and IT personnel.

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