Those long days
I got up this morning at 6 am, which is about an hour and a half earlier than usual. I had an all day meeting starting at 9:30 in Portland, and I was in Eugene. The drive teeters on the routine, which is sad. I try and remember that nothing is ever routine and there is always something to look at or think about in everything we do. You can’t enter the same river twice. That sort of thing.
These all day meetings can really bore you to drooling. This meeting was one we have regularly where the developers get together and work out the tasks for the next couple of weeks. I try and lead these whenever possible to avoid falling asleep, an acute danger after getting up at 6 am. So instead I stood up in front of people today and blabbed on about stuff I only half knew. Most of the time it was a conversation between three people, including myself. There were comments by others, but most were only a minute or so long. This is normal, but I wish people would be more active. More interaction always results in a better end product in these meetings.
So I scribbled on the whiteboard, asked a lot of questions and generally tried to be very involved. And really, when I looked around the room at the dozen or so people, I sometimes felt sorry because no matter how many jokes I cracked, or how engaging my questions, you always lose a few people. It’s just a fact. Not everyone can be on the ball every day, or even all day.
This morning in the car, I was pretty much on autopilot the whole trip. A few pretty moments, but nothing memorable: flat gray road, blurry steel cars, gray sky, construction barriers and overpasses. Except, late in the trip, after listening to news and pretty much living in my crusty head, I started seeing wedge after wedge of migrating Canadian geese. Such a great sight. I searched the sky for more and found a teeny line just clearing some trees nearby. Amid the big flappers in the line was a small young goose pumping at what must have been twice the pace of the others in the line, but still holding the formation. A big grin broke across my face. You always gotta root for the little guy, must be human nature.
These all day meetings can really bore you to drooling. This meeting was one we have regularly where the developers get together and work out the tasks for the next couple of weeks. I try and lead these whenever possible to avoid falling asleep, an acute danger after getting up at 6 am. So instead I stood up in front of people today and blabbed on about stuff I only half knew. Most of the time it was a conversation between three people, including myself. There were comments by others, but most were only a minute or so long. This is normal, but I wish people would be more active. More interaction always results in a better end product in these meetings.
So I scribbled on the whiteboard, asked a lot of questions and generally tried to be very involved. And really, when I looked around the room at the dozen or so people, I sometimes felt sorry because no matter how many jokes I cracked, or how engaging my questions, you always lose a few people. It’s just a fact. Not everyone can be on the ball every day, or even all day.
This morning in the car, I was pretty much on autopilot the whole trip. A few pretty moments, but nothing memorable: flat gray road, blurry steel cars, gray sky, construction barriers and overpasses. Except, late in the trip, after listening to news and pretty much living in my crusty head, I started seeing wedge after wedge of migrating Canadian geese. Such a great sight. I searched the sky for more and found a teeny line just clearing some trees nearby. Amid the big flappers in the line was a small young goose pumping at what must have been twice the pace of the others in the line, but still holding the formation. A big grin broke across my face. You always gotta root for the little guy, must be human nature.
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