The World According to Mitch

In 1625 King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden ordered his shipyards to build (among others) a mighty fighting ship called the Vasa. He gave very specific instructions for what he wanted in this ship, how he wanted it outfitted, and made it clear that it should be the mightiest ship on the seas, and it was...

I had two separate conversations with two individuals who have nothing to do with one another over the past few days that has made me remember the old army adage: 'We can hang together, or we will surely hang separately.' Who is allowed to do what? I was chatting with a colleague this afternoon...

An interesting post appeared in a newsgroup that I monitor today. A desktop support technician in the United Kingdom lamented a colleague who had attended a two week MCSE boot camp and indeed earned that certification. Unfortunately he later encountered a number of simple issues that he could not resolve...

As I sat with a friend and colleague the other night I asked him if he had read a particular book. He told me that it had been months or longer since he read a non-technical manual of any sort, and it got me thinking. Now it should be noted that this friend is a very successful, well-adjusted guy. He...

I get a lot of questions about my lifestyle. I spend most of my time traveling, and people seem to think that it is glamourous. I suppose I did too, at the beginning. That wears off after a while, and doubly so when you have a comfortable home. So a question was asked recently in a newsgroup: How do...

I called my car dealership last week to make an appointment because that’s what the sticker on my dashboard told me to do. Admittedly my odometer was a little past the number on the sticker so when the rep asked I told them precisely how many kilometres were on the car. She confirmed that all I needed...