Saturday, April 4, 2009

Is 80% good enough

So according to blackpetero I am it for Sunday April 5th. This is Arnie - brother to BPO and I have been nominated to be your blog-person of the day while our chief protagonist is away enjoying himself in Hungary.

Let me start out by saying that after BPO asked me to be one of the guest posters I did my best to ignore his request, I figured if I ignored it he would find someone else - but no! He was quite fastidious and 3 requests later here I am. Since being asked I have spent at least the last 2 to 3 minutes pondering about what to go off about. BPO had suggested we talk about what is 8o% in our lives as if 80% is a problem.

Well, I am a great believer in the theory of 'good enough' and in many cases I think that 80% is quite adequate. I find that the 80/20 rule that says that it costs 20% for the first 80% of a project to be applicable in many cases and that elevating the quality past that point is unnecessary overkill. So is 80% is good enough? I think yes. Of course there is a time and place for everything and I would not be too happy if I only got 80% of my gall bladder removed or 80% of the hole in my roof repaired.

Enough with the editorial. We have just returned from an extraordinary family trip to South Africa. 14 of us travelled from the USA to visit with our South African family. Our group consisted of my 2 sons, their wives, my 4 grandchildren and my son's in-laws. What a treat! I have been fortunate enough to visit South Africa regularly and each trip is filled with many nostalgic moments. This time, having the whole group together was particularly nice.

Somehow after each trip we end up coming home with overstuffed bags. This time other than the standard load of chocolates we also brought back some Peck's Anchovette - I had forgotten just how good that is - they clearly surpass the 80% standard. Along with Marmite, Anchovette is one of those things that you can only eat and enjoy if your first exposure was before the age of seven. I am fortunate enough to fall into that group (and not be vegetarian).

BPO - hope you and your family enjoy the rest of your trip - I am done!

2 comments:

blackpetero said...

Thanks A. I have to say that a HÜngÁrián keyboard is about 16%. The ; is only reached by a combination of three keys, a real problem when you have one in your passwd.

oliviao said...

Hey...is 80% sufficient for my books, AO?? So why are you always exasperated??Tonight it was only 80cents discrepancy - I'd say that is a lot better than 80%! Maybe there's one set of rules for wives...mmm?