... or something like that...  The title comes from an old song by Simon & Garfunkle, a "folk-pop" duo from the 60s and 70s...  They gave us a LOT of hit records in their years together - and Paul Simon certainly had a string of hits after they split.  Art Garfunkle didn't do as well, but he still stayed busy and active in the recording industry. I always think of the old adage about "stopping and smelling the roses" when I think of that old song (BTW, it's "FEELING GROOVY")...  Which then leads to thinking about "tunnel vision"...  And all of this came up today because of a comment made to a previous post that fairly SCREAMS "sales pitch!" and ... well, I've never been a fan of the heavy-hitting sales pitch. Years ago, I actually was in sales - I was selling new (and used) Chrysler and Plymouths for a dealer in the San Francisco Bay Area.  This was in the late 80s and I only did it for a few months.  I had to get out of there because, while I love cars - I'm a certifiable car nut - I couldn't deal with all of the high-pressure tactics that so many sales people used.  It actually kind of shocks me to think about how ...

Ah, yes, another song, another title, and another blog for your reading pleasure.  Maybe what the Jackson Five were to sing back in the 70s (but the song was released by The Osmonds, instead) – when they were dominating the charts – much like young Michael would do many years later until he got too … eccentric … and started with skin-lightening, reclusive living, sequined gloves and nose-jobs – doesn’t seem like it would have too much to do with EDI, but stay with Me; you know I can deliver on the goods… Or, maybe better yet, I could have used Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”… There’s another fitting analogy. What got Me started on this concept was a simple breakdown of a simple part.  Or, rather, the simple part’s interaction with another part… If you don’t know (or even don’t care), I live in Southern California.  However, I live in the desert regions of Southern California – near the resort areas of Palm Springs.  And, as you might imagine, it can be HOT there.  Like 115 degrees in the shade – if you can find the shade…  OK, maybe it’s not THAT bad, but even in September – on the 15th – just a week shy of the first official day of autumn – we can ...

If you were alive and watching TV through the 90s, you probably saw - or at least heard of - ABC's long running "Home Improvement" - starring Tim Allen - and giving a start to Pamela Anderson (Lee) - whose career nearly EVERYBODY should know.  It was a show about "Tim 'the tool man' Taylor" and his family.  Tim was the "host" of a TV Show called "TOOL TIME" - a fictitious handyman show that was sponsored by the equally fictitious Binford Tools. But one of the things that Tim was ALWAYS looking for was "MORE POWER!" from his tools - and just about everything else in his life.  Tim's tinkering with tools would often lead to disastrous results - with an over-powered tool that did far more than it should and was usually pretty destructive. The other day, I wrote a bit about the power of DETAILS in our EDI world.  But this morning, I was reminded that - even with all the details in the world - we're nothing without the tools to use them.  And how our actions and all the details we can monitor and provide, how they're for nothing if the users don't use the tools we provide them. This concept of TOOLS and how we should use them was pushed to the forefront of My ...

“Your mama don’t dance and your daddy don’t rock n roll”…  Loggins and Messina (Kenny and Jim, respectively) wrote (and sang?) a bunch of years ago.  It was the year of the Bicentennial, no less.  30 years ago…  Wow.  I remember yesterday. But I digress – like that’s anything new…? But they sang that so many years ago about somebody that was kind of un-cool, un-hip, not-with-it and behind the times.  Or, rather, their parents were. But this can also be used today - right now - when talking about EDI.  We all know that EDI has been around for a number of years now – since the 80s.  A few years later than we heard about non-dancing mamas and daddies not into rock n roll…  Many of the standards we use today – ANSI/X12, UN-EDIFACT and TRADACOMS (to name a few) – all started out in the early to mid eighties.  And, in reality, none of them have changed drastically in the intervening years. Sure, they’ve updated and changed some, but, again, not drastically so.  The basic concepts still exist.  There have been some new documents, some new segments and elements; and there have been some documents, segments and elements that have left, for sure, but they're still pretty much the same.  For example, ANSI/X12 is updated almost every year, with changes, deletions and alterations made.   ...

The old saying used as a title for this blog relates back to an earlier and simpler time – before EDI, that’s for sure – and relates to British currency.  They have the Pound and the Penny and even a Half-Penny, too.  But this was all brought about by topic in the Inovis Trusted Link group (over on Yahoo!) that got Me to thinking about AS2 and costs and related things – again.  Not that I think about AS2 a lot, but… But what being "penny wise and pound foolish" means (basically) is that your so concerned with the pennies and how they're being spent, you kind of lose sight of how you're spending your pounds.  Or dollars and cents...  It's all pretty much the same.  But it's all about being so concerned with the small stuff - the petty details - that you lose sight of the BIG picture - the final outcome. Anyway, the original poster over there was wondering on where he could receive some “AS2 training” – and everybody then kind of went off into the “oh, we use ______ for our AS2 connection and love it!” kind of comments – but very few seemed to offer an answer to the poster about his question – AS2 TRAINING. Like there is such a thing! “But, ...