Thursday night – farewells

Tomorrow is the last day of work for many of my friends here in Vermont and New York. After the recent resource action several hundred people many of whom are very good friends I have known for decades are going to have to start a new chapter in their lives. It's hard for those who are going… And it's hard for many of those who are staying. This morning I took a walk over by my old area and saw all of the empty offices. It had a very heavy feeling. I just walked around and took it all in.

I understand the shifting needs of the Industry and the company. In fact, I believe the company is doing well. The strategy is compelling, and I sense a new spirit of innovation. at the same time it hurts to see all of this churn in everyone's lives.

For the last couple of days I've been getting tons of emails from people with the subject line Farewell. It's a funny word, not one in common usage. Farewell to me is more specific than goodbye… There's a hint of sadness and a hint of optimism In that word. I truly hope that all of my friends do 'fare well'.

These letters are all pretty touching. Many of them are long accounts of admirable careers. Some call out names of people who I meant something to them. Many call out projects that they were proud to have worked on. Some are philosophical… Some are bitter… And a surprising number are optimistic and positive. For some this is a welcome transition to a slower pace of life. For others this is a An opportunity to do something entirely different. But there's no escaping that for many, this is a major unplanned disruption it's for those of my heart goes out.

All week I've also gotten lots of requests from LinkedIn and request for letters of recommendation. I actually love doing anything. So if you have reached out to me, I actually appreciate it. It's never a bother to try to help

I only wish there was more I could do here.

Nite all, nite sam

-me

Wednesday night – nerdcraft

!2:30 AM and I just finished my 3rd meeting of the evening.. the last two were with friends in China and India.. the first one was a fun face to face meeting with the team we have working on ‘Lake craft’.. that’s where we took the topography of the entire Lake Champlain basin and put it in the video game MineCraft.. The idea came out of the Echo Water Summit a few moths back.. The team which includes Nina the genius overlord, the outreach person from Echo, Nick , a GIS and Minecraft whiz and Will and all around server/software guru.. I’m the mascott, i think. We met at our house around 6:30 and got to see the new model that Nick has developed.. and hear from Nina on her experience with the first Minecraft camp at Echo last week..   What a wonderful nerdfest.. we should call this NerdCraft !

We also cooked pizza on the grill. yum..

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Ok.. im gonna jump in the pool now.. too hot to sleep.. more tomorrow

nite all, nite sam

-me

Tuesday night – sunrise, sunset

Woke this morning at sunrise on the roof of the boat. I'd had a great nights sleep.. Albeit a short one. . It was beautiful.. But it was 5am and id gone to bed around 2.. I managed to get an hours more sleep but it was hard sleep.. For some reason there a a ton of planes taking off from jfk at that time of the morning and every one of them flew right over my head

Heres sunset

And heres sunrise
And heres the view between my feet as i woke up.. Not bad for a big city !

I had an early mornign meeting in the city to do a short video shoot. My friend jenny was calling the shots.. They had this cool interview system that allowed you to see the interviewers face in front of the camera… It was fun and a little creepy

As soon as the shoot was done i was back on the road to vermont. With a full day of phone meetings.

 

I didn't make it home in time for yoga.. But just in time for post yoga dinner.. Diane picked a new kind of beet and a new kind of radish from the garden.. Both were magically colorful !

 

Nice to be home !

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Monday night – on the roof



Greetings from Brooklyn… It's hotter than hell here so I am Trying to sleep on the very top of the roof of the boat to try to catch a breeze I'm just trying to use a sheet hopefully bugs and rain will stay away.

I don't have anyway to post pictures or anything but imagine this:

I'm lying under the radar antennas on this hundred and 50 foot boat right behind the Searchlight. I'm half naked sitting in one of the worlds largest cities and I swear I cannot see another human being. I see buildings in the distance but most of what I'm looking at is the back of warehouses and Just polluted canal. The sky is a milky gray green… Unnatural but kind of beautiful there are about four stars in the sky. There's a breeze that smells somewhere between pizza, garbage, gardens, jasmine, diesel fuel… And believe it or not it smells wonderful

i think I'm hearing garbage trucks backing up but they're moving forward and backwards beeping is kind of like a lullaby.

Also, I'm right under the flight path from JFK Airport in the planes going over some like waves crashing at the beach very big waves and a very nearby beach… But soothing nonetheless

My toes are hanging off the edge in between them I can see the buildings of Manhattan.

What a beautiful spot to sleep

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Night all, night Sam

– Me