As it is a certain first of December morning, it’s time for my annual rereading of my all-time favorite Christmastime book from childhood, The Littlest Snowman.

In the spirit of the season, and as a diversion from the usual multi-hundred paged tomes that I have been reading throughout the year, the nearly two-dozen pages of this classic is a welcome treat. As I gently paged through this Wonder Book I couldn’t help thinking of what I do with every other book I read – writing my takeaways from them. In the spirit of The Hot Iron as well, here’s my takeaways from this winter tale.

Selflessness at its core – What is a holiday book without a feel-good story? This one is about the annual tradition on a town where a small boy, who is the only one who knows how, makes the Littlest Snowman along with his neighbor and several anthropomorphic animals. The Littlest Snowman then lights the town’s Christmas tree, followed by the local weatherman declaring it will be a white Christmas. Only that the forecast doesn’t pan out, and it’s up to the Littlest Snowman to save the day by sacrificing himself. Fortunately the story has a happy ending with his remaking.

Why am I the only one I know who knows about this book? – When I tell people about The Littlest Snowman, which was originally published in the 1950’s, nobody has ever heard of it. I have always wondered why, and even did Internet searches on it to no avail. Once again I am either in the minority, or am once again leading a niche.

Why wasn’t this made into a TV special? – With all of the TV specials out there and new (but not necessarily better) ones being created every year, why hasn’t anyone made this book into an animated feature? Or even a live action special? Perhaps it’s because nobody knows about it, or who knows why. As I am not in the position to do so, anyone reading this can feel free to do so.

The process of rereading The Littlest Snowman is a delicate one. As the copy of it I read as a child is long gone, I was able to find a used copy online several years ago. It’s an original print of the story, and is a little fragile. Each year I search for other copies online and find them, but I have decided to make this version the replacement of the one from my youth. You can find your own copy of The Littlest Snowman on Amazon using this affiliate link. That way we can both benefit from making this tale part of your holiday season.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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As I compiled these I watched the movie The Christmas Chronicles 2 starring real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn as Mr. and Mrs. Claus. It was a nice movie, and the portrayal of Boston’s Logan Airport was spot on. Though a million elves was a bit much.

Take Me Out to the Thanksgiving Dinner – We tried something a little different this year and had our Thanksgiving dinner catered by the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. For those unfamiliar, they are the Single-A Minor League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers... who just happens to have a banquet facility and catering business at the ballpark. We picked it up at the stadium the night before and heated and served the next day a delicious meal, with a lot less fuss.

A Faster Thanksgiving? – Had we not hit a home run with the T-Rats for our Turkey Day meal, we could have gone to the drive-thru of several fast food joints and used these recipes from Riot Fest of all people. It’s a good thing we didn’t need this Plan B.

Plan C could have been for Churkey – I was intrigued by this promotion by Popeyes chicken for a Churkey – a plastic container shaped like a turkey and filled with a fried chicken meal. After further review, Popeyes wasn’t actually going to offer this to the public and it was only a media event, especially as most of their restaurants were closed on Thanksgiving. In my mind this was a huge opportunity lost for them in the fast food “chicken wars.”

Fool Me Once – In a recent email from my kiddos school system they eluded to the possibility of holding in-classroom classes starting in January, after being fully virtual all school season long. It was déjà vu all over again for many people as we heard similar messages through last summer about in-classroom learning before not going back at all. I’ll believe it when I see the kids walking into the school building.

Slanted Arrival – This week the book I pre-ordered in April finally arrived, Slanted, by Sharyl Attkisson (yes, it’s an affiliate link). It is a chronicle from one of the most straightforward journalist I follow, discussing the state of journalism and its political coverage over the last 4 years. As of the writing of this I am half-way through the book, as it’s a page-turner. Now to start thinking about who I will be passing along this book to when I finish it. In the meantime, you can get taste of what’s in the book from Attkisson’s latest podcast, on how a fair news media would have covered the 2020 election.

Scrum Decor – Following the release of the latest Scrum Guide last week, there has been a plethora of webinars, documents and even posters released to support the enhancements. You can order or download posters from Incrementor and The Liberators.

Not Sur – This week I got prompted to install the latest version of MacOS called Big Sur. After looking into it, the design of Big Sur is more iOS like, drops all Flash support (yea, it’s still out there) and has been known to have upgrade issues. So for now I will wait.

Bubbly Promotions – Soda Sense, a Green Bay, Wisconsin-based provider of cannister refills for home soda machines, released a new commercial this week but I am partial to one of their older ones.

Cyber Monday Comedy – But the best video I have seen has come from domain name registrar and Internet services provider Name.com and the comedic genius of Jared Ewy. If the video inspires you to register domain names, use my affiliate link and earn $5 credit. Ok, I earn $5 too.

Making Verification Great Again? – Twitter is apparently rethinking its verification program, known as the blue checkmark you can see on verified accounts according to reporting by Gavin Heaton. To me, what difference at this point does it make? I am barely on the platform anymore that I once couldn’t promote enough. But with divisiveness at an all-time high there, it’s nothing like it used to be, and a blue checkmark on a few people’s profiles isn’t going to change anything for the better.

A Sign of Hope – This week a sign with large letter spelling HOPE was installed at Houdini Plaza here in Appleton, Wisconsin. And not soon enough.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Despite what those who interact with me on a fairly regular basis may think, I am truly thankful for a lot this Thanksgiving. Yes, emotionally this was a rough year for me. As a full-blooded Italian-American I wear it loudly on my sleeve. And arm. And hell, my whole body.

But when I get off the never-ending merry-go-round that has been 2020 and gain firm footing, I can reflect on positives. Note this is by no means a thorough retrospective of the year that was, simply some of the higher points.

My family, and that they are healthy. Beyond none of us getting tabulated as a case, we had no other physical ailments either. As for sanity, that remains to be seen.

Sadly I know some who have not been as fortunate health-wise and have lost loved ones to the virus or otherwise, or have had other dreaded illnesses. In my thanks I am also praying for all of them.

Employment. Throughout all of this both my wife and I have been employed. I almost thought of putting this first, as many people are not so fortunate, but seeing you need to be alive to work, it came in a close second.

Where of course this was good for sustenance (not to forget VISA) for me it was a very busy and stressful time at work. The demand for the technology I manage spiked along with the cases, in addition to a plethora of technical issues which I choose not to elaborate on. Taking into consideration how I wear my emotions, I wasn't always the most agreeable soul, and I had zero interest in working on the puzzles the rest of the family were making during the spring and summer. I make no apologies for not being into them, for after some of the days I had I just wanted to turn off my brain. The occasional dining room table ping-pong was fun though.

My kiddos are back in the pool. And on the soccer field for one of them. With everything shutting down in the spring, this included the swim team, which is a big part of their lives. On the first day the pool was reopened for simple lap swimming, they were there. Practices resumed over the summer, and now they are finally getting back to meets. Plus the general consensus has been submerging in a chlorinated pool for hours a day is good for whatever could be plaguing society.

Living in Northeast Wisconsin. There were a lot of reasons for why we moved here 3 plus years ago and in general it has been a good move. One thing about this area is that it is "purple" politically – there is a big mix of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and people like me who don't consider themselves any of the above. Being confined in close quarters and hearing all of the noise about the US Presidential election drove me off of Twitter almost completely. Closer to home the balance was refreshing. I only had to look outside my front door as one neighbor flew a Trump flag and next door was a Biden flag.

The escapes we made. We did a getaway for a week to a lake house this summer, as well as some get-togethers with friends and family. Yea, yea – distancing and masks were involved. These interactions were direly needed; even the pontoon boat misadventures the first day of the lake house that were eclipsed by the second day of me actually getting the hang of driving one of those things was welcome.

NCIS. I couldn't have any such list without including the TV show we binge-watched from beginning to end. Where I don't think I personally watched every episode, and was mildly disturbed at how many "dead Marines" there were, it was a good drama for all in the family to watch together.

Deconstructing Thanks at Thanksgiving

When you actually stop and look for something, you may find it. I did this here in briefly reflecting on the year. I hope if you do as well, there will be some good for you to discover.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Better late than never, though it wasn’t necessarily because I didn’t have the time. As I edit the things that passed my mind over the last week I am looking out over a beautiful lake, though sheltered from the elements inside. It’s opening weekend of hunting season here in Dairyland, and I was again invited to my friend’s hunting camp. I don’t hunt, but that’s not why I am here. Though altered a bit this year, it has been an overdue respite and good way to burn vacation time I would otherwise lose at the end of the year.

Sing it, San-ta Claus is Driving Through Town – Where I live there’s an annual tradition of a Christmas parade preceded by the Santa Scamper, a running sprint down the route the parade will take. Said Scamper has gone virtual this year, and instead Santa will be taking to the streets. The latter will be reminiscent of my kiddos (and heck, my wife and I) watching Santa riding the El trains in Chicago.

Digging Too Deep – Every so often I hear of an app that, upon the surface, sounds like a great idea, but upon further review is lurking a privacy nightmare. Once such app is Tiller. Not only do I not want an app mining my financial data, I certainly don’t want it handing it over to Google either. Talk about a one, two knockout.

Head My Way – Just when you thought (or likely didn’t) the calculation of latitude and longitude was difficult, you can simplify it with the Maidenhead Locator System. This is by no means nothing new, rather new to me, and has its roots in HAM radio. You can easily determine any short code with this lookup site as I did by determining Fenway Park in Boston is at FN42ki. Hat tip to the PodcastIndex podcast for once again unleashing more of my inner geek.

DRYV She Said – I learned of the acquisition of DRYV, a Chicago-based dry cleaning and laundry delivery service by Rinse. If you search here at The Hot Iron you will see several mentions of the previous service, as I was one of their first customers and a huge fan of the startup. What was once a new thing to me is all I do these days as my current cleaning service went all-delivery earlier this year. Congrats to all involved, and hopefully the unique DRYV brand will continue on somehow.

Ignore What I Said – The HBO Max app is now “legitimately” on Amazon Fire TV devices. So you can ignore what I previously said about sideloading it.

Happy 25th Scrum – This past week marked the quarter-century anniversary of the Scrum framework, a better way for managing all kinds of projects. To celebrate this, its co-creators Dr. Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber released an updated version of the Scrum Guide which states the core principles of the framework. Among the changes are the inclusion of all members into one Scrum Team and an overall product goal. For more you can watch the recorded Webinar presentation of all of the festivities.

Golden Attitude Change – Over the years since I graduated from college I have had an indifference with it. At every turn the school was not talking to me about what I wanted to know about – the major and school I graduated from, nor its radio station – rather it was just hitting me up for money. This week the school previously known as Western New England College and now a university released a video from its new president, Dr. Robert Johnson, with a holiday greeting. This is the first time in decades that the school has actually spoken to me and I was interested. Maybe it’s the start of something more? Who knows, but I will take it.

Do You Apologize? – After having to spend some of my “time-off” centered around work and reflecting on the time spent, I posted this question to Linkedin with a simple query – do you apologize in the workplace when a mistake is made? So far I have a few thoughtful responses, and I welcome yours too.

Stubborn But Tasty – I happened to come across the Stubborn Brothers Brewery in Shawano, Wisconsin by simply driving by it. What was a former theater is now a gleaming, beautiful space producing some great beers (I’m partial to Whiskey Fugitive) and food. As part of the artistry is the respect for the original design elements of the theater and some new ones, including the unique restroom sign pictured above.

To The Hunt!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Have you ever had a major event happen and when it was over there wasn’t great satisfaction from it? That happened to me this past week. But at least I can look back at some lighter learnings over the last seven days.

Keeping It Real Human – I get a lot of comments on my blog. Unfortunately most of them aren’t real – not from real people, not real comments, and a combination of both. This week I was able to integrate Google reCAPTCHA on the comments form for each post thanks to the Hinder add-on. But don’t take my word for it – leave a comment and say hi!

Sweet and Guilt-Free Season – I have been a fan of the tortilla chips by Siete Foods for a long time. These Paleo grain-free chips taste great. Buñuelos are a traditional Hispanic treat for the holidays, and Siete has adapted a version of them to be grain-free and equally tasty. If you can’t find them at your local store you can order them online. It’s nice to find guilt-free holiday treats, as I did when I adapted my Mom’s pizzelle recipe to be grain-free a few years ago.

Honorable Nonetheless – I caught the “acceptance speeches” by Depeche Mode and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Where there was no musical performances, it was cool to see these music legends I have been listening to since college.

Web Site Unseen – I was referred to a local restaurant this week and went to check out their Web site. The SSL certificate (for the non-technical, the thing that puts the S in HTTPS and displays the lock symbol in your browser) had expired, thus I got a warning message that the site was unsafe and the world was coming to an end… ok, I am exaggerating, but it display the warning. So I tried calling the restaurant and left them a message. Several days later the site is still throwing the error and no call back. This unfortunately was another case of trying to contact a business about their Web site problems with no resolution.

Breaking Thru As An Author – I met Mark Boeder several years ago. He is an executive search pro and leads WarHorse Executive Search, and over the years has been a great career resource to me. He offers more of that great advice in the new book out this week he has co-authored Brilliant Breakthroughs For The Small Business Owner Vol. 4: Fresh Perspectives on Profitability, People, Productivity, and Finding Peace in Your Business. I ordered my copy and am looking forward to reading his and the other author’s wisdom for small businesses.

End of a Great Era – Ken Smith, the long-time Executive Director of YouthBuild Boston, has announced his retirement, and will be succeeded by Brian McPherson. YBB offers young adults in Boston training in the building trades, as well as the support they need. I met Ken almost 2 decades ago when I was back in Boston, and have been honored to help with their Web needs over the years. He is a leader in the truest sense, and his impact on the community is immense. Best of luck to Ken and his family on whatever is next, and to Brian as well – he has big shoes to fill, but I am sure he will make an equal mark on Boston.

Moneywise Advice – When I was in Chicago I had the good fortune to have connected with Jonathan Hoenig. He is a successful hedge fund manager and a TV business commentator. I got word this week he is giving a presentation next week Tuesday, November 17 on How to Buy A Stock. The presentation is free, and I am sure will be valuable way above and beyond.

Belated Trick – Just before Halloween I decided to unsubscribe from the Omni Hotels rewards program newsletter. I have only stayed at an Omni once, and though it was awesome, getting messages about hotels these days when I likely won’t be staying in one isn’t desirable. Interestingly, when I did I got an error, and of course in these days of marketing Big Data they knew it. The next day they sent me an email with the graphic above saying that I would be getting a “treat” if I stayed on the list. But I never did, so I decided to unsubscribe after all. Not sure why they would make such an offer and not fulfill it. But as I indicated above, contacting a business about their technology is futile.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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