Quiet day.. not much to report. I new I’d be busy today so I snuck out or a snowshoe with Chai around 8:30. I had a call at 9.. which I took out in the woods as Chai and I puffed our way up the hills in the back. The nice thing about my job now is that much of it is on the phone.. why not do it while snowshoeing ?
The trouble is .. I had back to back calls all morning.. which didn’t get me a break to take a shower (which one needs after snowshoeing !) So.. I managed to take a shower during one of those calls… Thanks goodness that picture phones never caught on !
I did manage to get into work.. and had a fun meeting with Bill and Scott, too friends from a company we work with. I’ve known these guys for so long and through so many companies that mostly we just gossip. My field is relatively small, so everyone knows everyone else.. it was good to catch up.
My next meeting was an interesting experiment of a meeting held in a ‘virtual world’ All the attendees ‘met’ in a simulated 3d world.. The organizers are trying to figure out if dressing up your animated character (or avatar) and ‘attending’ a meeting in a virtual world is more valuable that a simple conference call. Today’s meeting wasn’t too convincing.. all of us kept bumping into each other and running into things.. But it was fun to see folks ‘gathered’ for the meeting. This technology is going to advance very rapidly over the next few years.. it may well be the way that some meetings and training sessions are held in the future.. though it won’t get my vote until you can all go out and have a virtual beer after the virtual meeting.
In the afternoon I had a real meeting .. not phone.. not virtual world… with the team at Champlain. We had a good talk about the shape of the project we’re doing together. I’m so impressed with these students. I’d pay to work with them .
Poor guys were all pretty beat. They’re all in the throws of final projects and exams.. I’m so glad that I no longer need to go through that..
After the Champlain meeting.. one more work meeting then a little manic holiday shopping.. The music and decorations didn’t trouble me too much today. I think I have a muted form of the holiday spirit in me. Sam’s in my thoughts every minute.. So are Gabe and Max… I want to give them a good xmas this year..
I guess I sort of am ….
Aspects of it surely are… .. but other parts … are too so, so sad
I managed to get to Queen City Steel right before they closed… I’m trying to make a few xmas presents for people.. Can you believe that these guys don’t gift wrap ?!
I met up with Diane and Gabe at Sikuras for dinner which was fun, then went to an IEEE meeting about hybrid cars. The Sales manager from our local Toyota place was the speaker.. it’s ironic.. that as he spoke, our poor Prius is spending it’s 3rd day at his shop undergoing ‘observation’.. and possible exorcism.
OK.. not much more to report.. more on the morrow…
Gnite all, Gnite Sam
-me
ps. I’v ebene trying to catch up on mthe many SamStone placements that folks have sent us since thanksgiving.. Many cool new places. You can now browse all the SamStone placement stories and pictures
here. I loved this picture of my friend Uwe’s daughter at Dante’s View in Death Valley, California
