All posts by johncohn

Wednesday night – as tall as they sound

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Hello from RTP NC.. ..where it’s actually cooler right now than back in Vermont.   Getting here involved leaving the boat max lives on  this morning at 4:30 after arriving their at 12:30.. at least I can say it was peaceful . I heard it was 103 degrees there today.. Oy veh !

 

 

 

 

I’m down here in NC on a quick trip to meet a few folks I’ve been working with face to face for the first time.. Call me old fashioned (I dare you).. but I absolutely need to meet the folks I’m working with at least once to get that human bond. Until you’ve seen where someone works, what they where, what kind of pictures they have on their walls (or cubicle)  . what kind of music they listen to, a picture of their family, ,how tall they are, etc, what do you truly know about them ?   I was astonished to find all the people today to be just about as tall as they sound on the phone..

How would I have known that if i had not shaken each of their hands ?  Anyway.. it was a really interesting and useful day work wise.. I learned a ton and met some folks who I’m bound to become good working freinds with  and met some super sharp interns. .. can’t ask more form a business trip.

 

After work , friend Pam invited me over to her house to meet her husband scott and son cody..
Pam has been one of the folks helping me learn the ropes since taking my new job. Pam , Scott, Cody and their daughet Maya (away at camp) live in a really nice part of Raleigh that backs up on a park thats several hundred acres big. Despite the heat and humidity, Scott, Pam and I took a two mile walk around the small lake there.. it was great being outside.. and getting to know scott and pam out of work…

After our walk.. we all went to a good pizza place and had a nice dinner.. Around 9:00 it occurred to me that I was  running on less than 4 hours o sleep.. and headed back to my hotel…   I tlked to Diane on the way.. she’d told me earlier that it was 90 degrees out in Jonesville this afternoon and 85 degrees IN OUR ROOM !!!!  I hope all you guys can sleep tonight…

The weather here reminds me so much of the weather I grew up with in houston.. .. hot and ‘soft’ air.. like a warm each. you step out of an air conditioned car.. and suddenly.. you’re covered in mist…

kind of a cool look .. no ?

 

more tomorrow..

 

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Tuesday night – out of gas

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Greetings from i91 south. Just about to cross the massachusetts / Connecticut border. Max, Dave’s and I are driving down to the boat , then I’m off tomorrow morning to points south. It’s been so great having max and his friends around this weekend… And it’s a rare treat to have this time it he car with him .. He’s driving which makes typing a little easier :-).
The one incident that has made this trip a little unusual is… (should I admit this ?) ok.. So, we ran out of gas… No good excuse.. Max was driving.. I didn’t think to fill up the car, nor did Max, nor did Dave… We were in the middle of no where on I 91 near Pitney vt… About 5 miles either way to an exit. I wasn’t really in a good position to get mad .. I did the same thing last year when driving between NY and Boston. We had a good hour to stew about our mistake until John from progressive showed up.. (thank you John)

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So.. Why would I publicly admit such a boneheaded collective mistake ? I’m wondering that myself… I think this is a public apology for all the folks that I inconvenience with my lateness and forgetfulness . This time it was just us that were inconvenienced . I’m better thn I used to be, but it still happens.. Each time it does, I beat myself up and swear not to do it again..then I screw up again.. Maybe I/we don’t beat myself/ourselves up enough ? Anyway.. That’s been the topic of conversation on this drive.. We’re still feeling stupid

Anyway.. Back to the drive..
Nite all, nite Sam
-me

Monday night – thinking fast and slow…

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Thinking fast and slow.. .What a great title for a book.. no ?  I’m reading a book by that name by Daniel Kahneman. and Israeli-American psychologist. He won the 2002 Nobel prize in economics for his work on Prospect theory.. that work is about human behavior in the face of known and unknown risks. This book is also about decision making .. its about how we make decisions between snap judgments and deep thought.. In some ways its like an academic version of Malcom Gladwells ‘Blink’.. but it also seems to take issue with Gladwell.  He implies that some of our snap decisions are actually based on mental laziness and boas. I have to confess.. the book is a bot low going for me.. Even though I read fiction pretty quickly …My brain can fill in the gaps you skim over in fiction (or so I believe) .  but  I read non fiction at about a tenth the speed. because i have to understand it before I go on..Kahneman would call that ‘slow thinking’..

I’ve been thinking slowly about thinking slowly these days. I’m finding that I’m not making enough time to think deeply all the time. I’ve been trying to schedule time to think about certain work topics.. I block my calendar for those periods, but I ind I’m lacking the discipline to follow my intent.. I often find myself talking on the phone or doing email during these precious periods of calendar freedom. Kahneman would say it’s because thinking is hard.. and because I (and probably most folks) are lazy. it actually takes more energy to think hard.. so our minds and brains are biased against it.

Anyway.. that’s what I was thinking about today when I should have been thinking about work..

how’s that for irony.. ?

 

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

 

Sunday night – Maxs 24th birthday and Fathers Day

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Today was Max’s 24th birthday. Max, Jac, David and Bridget are up here visiting which made it really special.
Max, you are such a great person.. we are very proud of you and love having you in our lives !..

 

 

What a great way to celebrate Fathers day having Max up here … and a quick shout out to my dad Hugh and Dianes’ dad Gabe.. We love you both !   Fathers day has never been a big deal for me..  though I do appreciate the several folks who checked in on me today..

 

Maxs birthday wish was to start the day with a Yoga class from Diane..

Then we had a great brunch with Diane’s homemade sourdough bagels. Yum.

After breakfast we headed u[p the Catamount trail for a dip in the stream up there.. It was freezing and clear as usual..

We had dinner around 9.. then birthday Rhubarb pie with Ben and Jerry’s that Gabe brought home from his second day of working there.

Max lit the Sam candle before blowing out the candles on his pie

 

I gave max 5 meters of RGB LED strip and an arduino which I know he’s going to like having

we also gave Max a funny present .. Last week when I went to Kenya I went with my freinds David and Karen  to a farm that took care of orphan baby elephants and rhinos / I’d found an adolescent orphan Rhino named Maxwell  We decided to sponsor him in Max’s honor.. Here’s max looking at the sponsorship docs

And here’s Maxwell.. He’s a BIG baby.. !I could have reached out and petted him.. but I was told that he could take off a finger wiht no trouble.. so I kept my hands outside of his paddock.. But it was still pretty cool only being about 2 feet away from him.



So.. it was a really great day.. now it’s 1:30 AM.. better get soem sleep.. I’m still kind of jet lagged..

 

Happy birthday Max !> We love you very much

 

and happy fathers day all you dads out there !

 

nite all, nite sam

-me