Bragging Rights: Publications Referencing Adora Myers

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Living Amongst America’s Homeless published in 2018 by Perry Castillo, is a blog post about homelessness and the best way to find effective solutions to extreme poverty and homelessness. I am mentioned in the discussion under the blog post:

“One thing I’ve noticed in the past two years of living indoors is that I am far from being the only ex-homeless person who is airing their views on the matter. I’ve tuned in especially to Ms. Adora Myers, whose recommendations on this pinned Quora post seem to me to be well worth considering, as well as is the detail with which she answered an offensive question without bothering to dignify it: https://www.quora.com/Should-homeless-people-be-rounded-up-and-forced-into-work-camps.”

Thank you Perry Castillo for the compliment and the link to my Quora posting!

Bragging Rights: Negotiation Mastery Certification at Cornell University

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In August I completed the Negotiation Mastery Certification through Cornell University’s online professional certification program.

It’s a well-designed program that is reasonably easy to fit into a full-time working professional’s busy life. The focus is on negotiation with a heavy emphasis on the kinds of negotiations lawyers and salespeople participate in.

If you are looking for something to help with internal negotiations with coworkers and contractors already committed to a project, then the examples and exercises provided may feel like they don’t apply but the techniques being taught are solid and can be modified to suit any situation.

Truthfully, this was my own struggle in this class, because policy development requires a lot of internal negotiation with coworkers, which is distinctly different from a sale call or a legal negotiation over the acquisition of a large property (a common theme in the homework). However, after taking some time to process everything I learned, I realized that it’s all about working with people and most of the techniques are heavily focused on understanding how people behave during a negotiation and the best ways to navigate the conversation – it’s all about working and communication with people.

It’s an excellent class. I strongly recommend it.

Lessons from a Bike Thief

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Having our bikes stolen has taught me a few things about bikes. This is not the first time I’ve had a bike stolen, but it is the first time I’ve tried to address it through police reports and insurance claims.

Identification number: While I knew that all bikes had an identification number, across multiple decades of riding a bike (casually riding – not seriously or competitively) I have never been asked for the ID number or told it must be recorded and kept on my person. Vehicle identification and registration? Absolutely! Bicycle? Never. Things that no one told me, and I wish I’d thought of them myself before leaving on this USA-to-Canada vacation:

a) There are apps designed to register bikes in case they are stolen, such as: Bike Index and The National Cycle Database | BikeRegister and Bicycle registration for the life of your bike | 529 Garage (project529.com). If a bike is purchased new, the company may provide a registration service such as Bike Registration – Trek Bikes (CA). I can’t speak to the quality of each option; I just know they exist (NOW I know they exist!).
b) Do not expect the store that sold you the bike to maintain records or be particularly interested in helping, even if they do maintain records.
c) Allways include a hard copy of the bike identification number and registration details with the important documents that are required when traveling across national or international borders. If you are driving, then keeping a copy in the same location as your vehicle registration may be a good idea.
d) Even if a bike is recovered, if you can’t provide the identification number and/or proof that it’s yours, you won’t get it back. I don’t know what happens to these bikes but returning them to the original owner is wholly dependent on bike registration and identification numbers – even if you have video proof of the theft. This appears to be true for both the USA and Canada, possibly worldwide.

Insurance: My travel insurance claim remains under review, but all other avenues have come back with ‘sorry, we don’t cover bikes.’ Check your insurance before you leave. Consider purchasing insurance before leaving and/or keeping enough cash in reserve to cover the cost of replacing the bikes, new, if stolen.

Pictures: Take pictures for your paperwork and take more pictures before leaving. Photos of the bikes waiting to be loaded onto the bike rack and photos of the bikes on the rack, would have been helpful in this case.

Next time, I will have bike documentation ready. I will also change the bike rack to something more secure and/or ask about security and storage every-single-time I reserve a hotel room.

For now, the bikes are gone, a key aspect of my vacation plans are gutted, and I’m trying to find ways to modify (salvage) the biking portion of those plans. All I can do is learn from the experience and adjust in the future.

Eagle Dad – New Animated Family Film

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This story about This Bald Eagle Who Adopted A Rock “Egg” Just Had His Dad Dreams Come True (fatherly.com) has me fascinated and wishing someone would turn this into an animated book and/or family film.

Basic idea: Baby bald eagle is orphaned in a scary and sad scene, specifically: “…orphaned at only a week or two old, after a storm that threw him out of his tree.” Baby is given to middle aged (and never been a father before) Murphy, who becomes his foster dad and the only creature in the sanctuary who believes – really and truly BELIEVES! – that the orphaned chick hatched from the rock Murphy had been caring for like it was an egg. Add in Murphy’s friends Siouxsie, Lewis, Boston, and Mitch; each with kind yet wacky personalities; and the goal of getting the little chick back home, and you’ve got a fun story!

According to the Adopt-A-Bird Program – World Bird Sanctuary Lewis also fell out of his nest as a young chick, but was badly injured and could not return to the wild. In captivity, he discovered he likes begin around humans, is very curious in general and excels as a member of the sanctuary ‘flight team.’

That’s the only bird among Murphy’s friends that has a profile posted to the website or World Bird Sanctuary (@worldbirdsanctuary) | Instagram. I love how Lewis’ life story fits perfectly into the rest of the (potential) narrative.

It could become an excellent book and a good movie.

Star Wars and Bad Physical Security

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While watching the Mandalorian I am, once again, struck by how profoundly bad basic physical security for IT network access is handled throughout the Star Wars universe. All it takes is a willing droid and a hole in the wall. All droids are able to plug in and all buildings, ships and technologies have the same holes. Amazingly, there are no variations in size or shape, so an old model droid can easily plug in to cutting edge systems and access all data, download anything they want, modify top secret files and technology, open or close walls, turn on or off shields, stop or start trash compactors – pretty much god rights to do anything and everything, just by plugging in to one of the thousands of little holes scattered everywhere, like real-world electrical sockets.

Image source: Scomp link | Wookieepedia | Fandom

Using AI to Draw My Name

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I decided to give a few AI drawing tools a try, just to see what all the fuss was about. Out of curiosity, I just typed in my name, without an image or description, and clicked generate. Here’s what I got…

Site: craiyon.com
Generation term: Adora Myers

Site: craiyon.com
Generation term: Adora

Site: starryai.com
Generation term: Adora Myers
Art style: Pop Art

Site: starryai.com
Generation term: Adora
Art style: In the style of Banksy

Bragging Rights: Publications Referencing AdoraMyers.com

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“The concept of craft is present in many aspects of everyday life, even if it is not actively recognized as such. The importance and impact of independent artists studied by this dissertation is depicted in people’s everyday lives through widespread engagement with art. On her blog, Adora Myers offers this explanation, “Fine art transforms a building into a museum… Folk art enters a place, warms the colors, softens the edges, and plays in the yard. It is the tipping point, the key element transforming a house into a home.”9 While Myers is not an art historian, this quote perfectly highlights the commonly understood relationship between fine and folk art and emphasizes the value of folk art through its
existence in our homes and everyday lives.”

Folk Art on the Internet: Artists Building Community and Marketplace on Social Media

Russell, Anna McCrea.Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New YorkProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Degree Year2020. 28264556.

Blog post referenced: Fine Art vs Folk Art | Adora Myers

“How do we go about saving them? American blogger Adora Myers suggests there are several steps we can take, either as individuals or as corporate bodies, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, churches and other charities.

First, those who are fit enough need to find a permanent job that provides them with full benefits and can cover their cost of living. This is especially important for those who have young children. Next, is long-term shelter, but they should not be exploited under these circumstances; that is, do not put them to live in substandard conditions like a backyard shed, or abuse them sexually or otherwise for the rent money”

#BTEditorial – Just another day in Paradise. Amid the homeless.

Barbados Today, July 10, 2019

Updated version of the blog posts referenced: Part 1: How to Help Someone Facing Homelessness | Adora Myers, Part 2: How to Help Someone Facing Homelessness | Adora Myers and Part 3: How to Help Someone Facing Homelessness | Adora Myers

“Folk art enters a place, warms the colors, softens the edges, and plays in the yard. It is the tipping point, the key element transforming a house into a home. – Adora Myers”

Banner and Sail: May 2019

Blog post referenced: Fine Art vs Folk Art | Adora Myers

Yet Another School

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BUSES ARRIVING IN front of the Sleep Inn could mean one of two very different things: a field trip that might be the greatest day of a young Scout’s life, or the dreaded return to PATH, which meant you were getting bounced out of one shelter and moved to another. One prompted joy; the other served as a reminder that being poor meant having little or no control over where you would rest your head from one week to the next. Even if the decision to move families from one shelter to another wasn’t arbitrary, at the very least it seemed that the transfers were carried out with indifference. Someone somewhere—a caseworker or management at a hotel or in the Department of Homeless Services—had decided that it was time for people to pack up and move. Genesis, Brithani, and their mother and little sister were moved from the Sleep Inn to a more traditional shelter that had a regular-size refrigerator and a stove in each room so that families could make home-cooked meals. In their new space, Genesis was grateful to see her mother stirring pots, not only because that meant far better food than they’d been able to eat in a long time but also because the packaged lunches and dinners handed out each day at the Sleep Inn had been meals that could stretch to satisfy an empty stomach—filled with starches that could also exacerbate diabetes, which Genesis’s mother had developed. So having a stove and a refrigerator was good, because it meant healthier food. But the move came with consequences, too. Their new shelter was deep in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, about forty-five minutes away from the Sleep Inn. Genesis and Brithani had to start at new schools—again.

–Troop 6000: The Girl Scout Troop That Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World by Nikita Stewart

Expensive Repeat

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This short-term response to long-term desires is alive and well in the corporate world also. A management consultant friend of mine was hired by a billion-dollar company to help it fulfill its goals and aspirations. The problem was, she explained, no matter the issue, the company’s managers were always drawn to the quicker, cheaper option over the better long-term solution. Just like the habitual dieter, “they never have the time or money to do it right the first time,” she said of her client, “but they always have the time and money to do it again.”

-Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek