On my way home to Vermont after a really fun and useful work meeting in Raleigh. As I’ve said several time this week.. it was great seeing old friends and meeting so many new folks… .. One thing that did keep happening though was that I kept getting lost.. Not just in all the acronyms that were flying around.. I kept getting physically lost. For some reason my iphone navigation cant find the IBM address.. It’s demonstrated that to me on several previous trips.. ..This time, like last time, I spent 20 minutes exploring the north carolina country side in an attempt to find the ibm site.. which is huge by the way.. Then.. after dinner, I came out of the building and spent another 20 minutes searching for my car… I of coarse had not committed the location. make, or model to memory.. I vaguely remember it having four wheels.. or something like that.. I ended up walking through a small woods and magically found it right before giving up…. Then today.. I got totally lost again on sight trying to find friend Jim for a meeting.. I think it’s like some sort of Heisenberg uncertainty principle at qwork.. It seems I etiher know where I am.. or where I’m supposed to be.. .. but never both at the same time..
It keeps life interesting !
One great thing that happened today is that I finally got to meet my admin and friend Uduak face to face for the first time
11 pm and I’m just getting back to my hotel room. I left here at 7am.I’m at at a several day work face to face meeting. The content has been great. So many smart people, so many ideas.. Better than the content has been the contact. As i said yesterday, its been really good… And useful re-connecting with many old friends/colleagues at both a technical and personal level.. Its also been really, fun and useful meeting new people in my adopted organization. My favorite thing, however, has been meeting folks I’ve been working with on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis face to face for the first time. I work with folks from all over the world that I’ve . Never met.. There’s just something powerful about sitting across from that same person over a beer, cup of coffee or mountain dew. I cant really put my finger on why its so valuable.. But it is.. The information bandwidth is certainly higher.. But it something more.. Somehow you. Really Grok someone better after sharing the same air with them, i guess…
Grok.. Now theres a word i haven’t used in a long time.. Its from a robert heinlen scifi book called strange in a strange land.. It means to really understand something or soemone at a new level .. You Grok ?
Greetings from RTP. I’m at a very cool work meeting with a ton of folks ice known forever and a ton of people I’ve never met. I sat in the back of the room all day staring at the backs of people’s heads..
.. And very intelligent heads they were . This is a new group for me. Many new people, new concepts, new priorities . It was exciting and hiking. Humbling because it makes me realize how much I don’t know.
I had some really good technical conversations and met some cool new folks today. Hopefully more of the same tomorrow .
I had a busy day today.. Back to back meetings then a plane to Raleigh. I had about 30 minutes without a phone glued to my head… I found myself with 30 minutes of quiet to grab lunch. The house was empty and silent and the sun was streaming in as i heated some leftovers ( Diane’s homemade mac and cheese.. the best !) i sat down with my meal and acknowledged, as i always do, the painting of Sam right behind the kitchen counter. Our friend Coco painted it based on a great photo of Sam from Camp Abnakei. I stared at the painting a bit as i ate…and thought of Sam…
It was so quiet.. Somehow i started to speak.. I began telling Sam about my day… And about our visit with one of his buddies last night.. I asked him how things were with him… Didn’t get an answer.. And didn’t expect one.. But it felt so good to be talking with him out load.. .. I looked at my phone and noticed i had a call starting .. So i said good bye quickly and ran upstairs and rejoined my busy day,, sorry to have to run.. But so happy not to have to eat alone now..
