"We" are "pleased" to..
Email from [company I have investment with]:
We are pleased to let you know that there is a new document for you to review
Translation,
Can I get the job done by doing nothing?
Over the years you pick up useful ideas from people. One of the most useful “project management” ideas I’ve ever encountered is Can I get the job done by doing nothing? Use the code you already have. Use existing slide decks. Time is scarce. Don’t waste it creating something new when something you already have will do the job. Don’t spend hours getting a slide deck to %100 perfection when what you really need to do is talk over some ideas and the existing material is sufficient to spark conversation.
Marcus Aurelius was right
I’ve been reading Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. I’m trying to have a positive effect on the things and people I can actually change (myself and my own reactions in this moment). Below are some quotes along those lines from Longfellow, Bob Dylan, the Apostle Paul and Reinhold Neibuhr, some of classics of “Don’t worry, be happy”. Now if I can just internalize some of this…
Figure 1: “The cannon thundered in the South,” by George Jones is licenced under CC SA 4.0
Spring Creeping Up The Mountain
This is the view from White Rocks 13 miles north of Harpers Ferry. In the fall you can see the colors (leaves changing) creeping down the mountain because it’s colder as you go up. Here you can see spring creeping up the mountain.
Figure 1: “Spring Creeping Up The Mountain” by George Jones is licenced under CC SA 4.0
Shared Experiences
Shared experiences bring us together.
This is some (possibly obvious) introspection involving the Appalachian Trail, the moon landing and the Beatles.
Life! Carpe diem! Carpe viam! Carpe vitam!
I am listening to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road - Wikipedia. What a rant! What a stream-of-consciousness-grab-life-by-the-horns-drink-until-it-kills-you peaan to not missing a single moment or experience in life !
Figure 1: “Upward and Onward” by George Jones is licenced under CC SA 4.0
Hope springs eternal.
- The sun is always shining.
- The flowers are always blooming.
- There are no bugs.
- The trail is always flat.
- There are no rocks.
- It never rains.
- It’s never too cold.
- It’s never too hot.
- There’s never overcrowding.
- Your gear always works.
- Your physical conditioning is always good.
Figure 1: “Sun on lake” by George Jones is licenced under CC SA 4.0
New Cars
Cars have changed. Back in the day you could “pop the clutch” to start a car by letting it roll down hill, putting it in first gear with your foot on the (manual) clutch, let the clutch out (“popping the clutch”) and often the car would start. Handy if you had a car with a dead battery at the top of a hill.
Cars are full of electronics now, and that can be good, and it can be very bad…
I close my eyes, only for a moment, but the moment's gone
When you’re on a world tour following COVID lock-downs, nominated for 3 Grammys, scheduled to play at the Grammy’s this year … and your drummer dies….
It will be done when it's done
Steve Wilhite died last week. Yes, he created GIF, but that was just a side project among mountains of mostly single-handed coding projects that were a large part of what kept CompuServe going for years in the face of AOL and the Web.
…many times when asked about a delivery date Steve would answer “it will be done when it is done.”
I laughed when I read that. It was so Steve. It would have been said authoritatively, matter of factly, and any poor project manager involved would have to take that as the final word, because Steve was right … and consistently delivered.
Figure 1: “CompuServe Languages and Tools Group c.a. 2019” by George Jones is licenced under CC SA 4.0