Я вас любил – Pushkin

Loved this English translation of Я вас любил by Alexander Pushkin. One of my most favorite poems in Russian. Thought Robin Kallsen did a great job of translating it into English.

Original – In Russian

Я вас любил: любовь еще, быть может,
В душе моей угасла не совсем;
Но пусть она вас больше не тревожит;
Я не хочу печалить вас ничем.

Я вас любил безмолвно, безнадежно,
То робостью, то ревностью томим;
Я вас любил так искренно, так нежно,
Как дай вам бог любимой быть другим.

Translation – In English

I loved you once, and love, perhaps, has not
Within my soul yet wholly lost its flame;
But please do not be saddened or distraught -
To trouble you would drench my heart in shame. 

I loved you once, though lacking hope completely,
By envy and timidity worn thin;
I loved you so sincerely and so sweetly -
Ah, may God grant you be so loved again!
April 26, 2020 by Literature 2

Overheard : Return on investment from a book

Quote from “The Rebel Allocator” by Jacob L. Taylor on the return on investment from reading a book

For around ten dollars, you get to have an in-depth conversation with an expert who dedicated years to distilling all the information about a topic. For the cost of a mediocre dinner, you get access to years of another human’s effort. I did the math. If it took the author one year of work, you’re paying them about one penny per hour. How much time does this penny-per-hour investment save you in culling through information? We’re talking lifetimes.

February 27, 2020 by OverHeard 0

Overheard : Giving your best

A power quote by Abraham Lincoln. Ran across it while reading The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World . BTW, the book itself it a great read on history and leadership.

I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right won’t make any difference.

December 31, 2019 by Management OverHeard 0

Why ADP?

ADP is a $70B+ (by market cap as of August 2019) company and yet cannot get a simple redirect correct. If someone that is asked to use it’s employee performance management system types in tms.adp.com (like most people would do), they get this nice friendly error

If by some magical and mystical reason, they type in https://tms.adp.com, they get this login page

I find it mind boggling that such a mature company cannot figure out

  1. Customer experience
  2. 301/302 http redirects
  3. HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

End Rant and sorry to all my friends that work at ADP 🙂

August 14, 2019 by Rantings Technology Web 0

Overheard : Unexpected, Unanticipated, Unfair

Caught this on a whiteboard at work 🙂

In business, just like in life, we are going to have to deal with the unexpected, the unanticipated and the unfair. Those who deal most successfully with all of it are the ones who have the attitude that indeed whatever happens is normal. That doesn’t mean that whatever happens is acceptable or pleasant. But it does mean that changes and surprises are part of life, and we can choose to either roll with the changes or the change rolls over us.

June 25, 2019 by OverHeard 0