This book provides a straightforward approach to improving help desk performance. The foundation, as the title proclaims, is service goals and metrics. My first reaction when the book arrived was mild disappointment because it was little more than a pamphlet. However, it is packed with excellent information, a lot of which has guided me in developing service delivery and service level measurement processes. I like the way the author stays focused on service goals and his choice of metrics with which to measure the attainment of those goals. Therefore, despite this book's page count it provides excellent value because the content is so well thought out. If you follow the guidelines you will have a good starting point for a service delivery process that is based on measured performance. I highly recommend this book to help desk managers and consultants who are assigned to service delivery projects.

My problems started in March. I had a sharp pain that lasted for two weeks and then a general ache that lasted several weeks. After two chiropractors, I went to a Sports Therapy Clinic, and they help resolve the initial problem using cold/heat, ultra-sound, TENS. By mid May I felt fine, and was back lifting weights, as I am a body builder.

In September the ache returned, and I went back to the clinic. After several weeks of traditional therapy, the Orthpedic doctor prescribed massage therapy. The nurse practitioner immediately noticed I had a posture problem, but after a couple of weeks of therapy, I still had an ache.

I stopped the therapy, and began reading several books on the problem. I purchased this book as a last chance, before exploring the possibility I needed surgery. I got the book on a Wednesday, and began doing the exercises over the following weekend.

Now I had been doing all sorts of exercises for several months to no effect. This book proposed extension as compared to flexation exercises. I write this on a Monday. While I can't say I'm healed, I am significantly better.

If you have lost hope, that you can get better, read this book before having surgery. I now believe that I may not need surgery at all, and may be able to resume my life.

A few years ago I suffered a minor accident that resulted in progressive and long term back and hip pain. The orthopedic surgeon diagnosed severe sciatica. He put me on prescription pain meds, muscle relaxants and lots of bed rest. Actually, bed rest was about all I could handle as all of the prescription meds kept me in a constant mental haze (but did little to relieve pain). The doctor also referred me to a physical therapist 4 times a week (who has time for this - each session lasted hours). After 4 months of this with not much improvement I'd had enough. I stopped taking the prescription meds, switched to OTCs and began chiropractic treatments. A year and two chiropractors later the improvement was small but pain was manageable. Unfortunately the last session with the chiro left me feeling worse than when I began the treatments. Then I found Robin McKenzie's book. I could not believe the improvement I experienced after just two days of following his emergency exercises. After several weeks I had complete recovery. I have given this book to friends and relatives with back or neck problems and they have all found relief from pain and have gained full mobility. The funny thing is that the positions and movements that Mr. McKenzie prescribes are exactly what the chiropractors and surgeon told me not to do!
Go figure!

I bought this book in October of 2001 and have considerably reduced the lower back pain I have suffered with for nearly 20 years. After years of doctors, spinal manipulations, drugs, xrays, MRI's, physical therapy, the pain was intolerable and nothing doctors did was helping. Rather than have an epidural steroid injection (research the side effects of those!) I decided to buy this book. It took a few months before I was pain free, but I noticed improvement right away. Using a lumbar roll, always sitting with good posture and doing simple exercises once a day has changed my life. You certainly do want to be under a doctors care and have approval before doing this or any exercise program, but do not be afraid to try this it does work.

Gary Gygax weaves a very interesting and intricate plot of magick and intrigue. The book kept you guessing until near the very end. However, the ending left something to be desired. It abruptly changes gears and leaves issues unresolved.

The Great Reckoning is a long but great read. It will NOT appeal to those who focus on 30 second sound bites and 120 second interviews on Good Morning America. If that's your bag, forget this book. It also requires thinking, so if you don't like to think about things in general, or dismiss history and the liberal arts in general, this book will be a total turn off.

A number of people bought this book when first published as a "trading" strategy book. I don't know where they got that idea from, perhaps they simply assumed to much. Rather, it is about probabilities and possibilites in the 1990's on the macro level with plenty of caveats.

In retrospective hindsight, the authors had some outstanding hits, and some complete misses. However, on the whole, those who dismissed this book during the tech bubble are now looking at themselves in the mirror and wondering how stupid they were to dismiss it out of hand.

If you think through what they have to say, you begin to realize that some things will take longer to work out than others. A "must" book to read if you enjoy looking beyond the daily "noise".

All those who, in 1999 and 2000, rated this book 1-star should sit down and re-read this greatly informative and prescient book! Because its "timing" was off by a decade does not render this book useless, though it may indeed have cost investors lost profits. For this reason only do I give it 4-stars. HIGHLY recommended read!

This book has enough truth to make you loose sleep at night. What I found most interesting was that this country can't possibly continue much longer the way it is: Keeping people of african descent down. People in this country actually think that they are independent from the poor people in this country. Those same people they're oppressing will one day rise up and bite them in the [butt]. We all didn't come over here on the same ship but we're all in the same boat!