Jan 28, 2014 - Falling Into What You Love

When I was little I wanted to be a doctor or a scientist.  That's not what I do today.

I am a person who is always engaged, always asking questions and wanting to understand and improve my organization.  Boy Scouts, a singing group, my family, my coworkers, and my company as a whole.  As a result, I've been blessed with many opportunities to contribute: a job (first), a promotion, education, another job, and the place I find myself now.  Which is a job, of course, but I'm able to make connections with people in my company that get things done.  And they, in turn, are able to help me as I try to help them.

The message is hard to articulate in vague terms.  Let me try a different tack.  There is a project that I think my company really needs to devote some energy to.  I don't think it's incredibly expensive.  It will take a certain non-trivial amount of time and attention from some key players in the company, but it doesn't have to cost a lot of money.  My previous company needed the same thing, but I did not have the power to start the project myself.  And I did not have the proper partner to start the project there.

Here I have a partner.  I still have no power, no budget, no positional influence.  Just a passion for this thing, and the possibility that I may be part of making it happen.  It's something I care a lot about, and it will positively affect my company.  The more I talk about it with people who can make it happen, the closer to reality it feels.  And if it does, I'm fairly confident I'll be a part of it.

This is what I mean by falling into what you love.  I do what I do now because I love it.  I started out doing something I didn't love, then (as a complete blessing from heaven) was given a chance to do something I did love.  From then on, it's been a continuous round of doing what I love and talking to other people about it.  And what I find consistently is that if you love something, and you talk about it enough, someone who also cares about it and can help you achieve it will give you access to it.  Maybe not a promotion.  Maybe it's just a few hours of her time.  Maybe it's his endorsement on your budget proposal.  But eventually the opportunity will come.  And you will fall right into it.

And because you love it, you will excel at it.

Jan 28, 2014 - Random traveling thoughts

I'm in Austin, TX for a few days of training.  It takes a full day to get from NY to Austin, so I spent yesterday traveling.  When I travel, I notice things.   Here's a list of things I noticed, learned, and had questions about.

1) My original flight was cancelled, and I left at 12:30 instead of 7:30.  Turns out that the Mon morning 7:30 flight is cancelled "more often than not" this time of year.
2) I have lost all my frequent flier privileges, so sat in seating 3.  I thought it was the last seating.  I have been in seating 1 for the last 10 years.  I was expecting to have to check my carryon due to lack of overhead space.  Seating 3 has plenty of overhead space.  Seatings 4 and 5 don't have overhead space.
3) My earbud noise canceling headphones are still wonderful.
4) I left them in after deplaning in Houston.  I removed them after I had walked through the entire airport, and was almost to the rental car counter.  Turns out that airport also has a significant hum.  I will probably have them on all day long for my return trip.
5) On United, you no longer have to turn off electronics.  So I can put on my noise cancelers, turn on my MP3 player, and read on my Kindle from the time I sit down until the time I stand up.  I had no idea how much better this would make my travel experience.  Also, I can now take pictures during takeoff and landing, which is awesome.
6) There are some clouds at 30,000 feet.  I had never seen them myself before, so that was cool.  Several different layers of clouds are visible in this picture - and you can see some fluffiness just left of the wingtip.
7) When it's -2 degrees in Chicago, the runways are not 100% ice-free.  Mostly ice-free, but not 100%.  Evidently, it's okay for a 2,000-ton jet to hit the pavement at 150 miles per hour in 20 mph wind with ice on the runway.  Who knew?
8) Flightview is really a great app.  Annoying to enter a flight, but then you have everything right at your fingertips - what gate you arrive at, your connecting flight's departure gate, on time or not, airport maps, local weather.  Takes so much of the guesswork out of connecting flights.
9) It is cheaper to buy an entire 3-entree Chinese meal at the food court in Chicago than it is to buy 2 4.5oz bags of nuts at Hudson News.  I went for the Chinese and was glad I did.
10) O'Hare had drinking fountains set up to refill water bottles.  Awesome.
11) I'm an information maven.  Not to the extent of several of my friends (Jake and Nathan, that's you) but in several circles of people and for several different topics, I'm a maven.  I'm reading Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" (Chicago-Houston leg), and found the Maven/Salesman/Connector section intriguing.  This is why I'm not cut out for executive management.  I think they need to be more Connector/Salesman type of people.  I just like to learn things, get things done, and help people out along the way.
12) After years of wasting time playing Sudoku on electronic devices, my ability to do it on paper is severely curtailed.
13) "No impact" exercise is awesome.  This is from this morning - I hit the elliptical for half an hour at the hotel this morning.  I'd never used one before, and it was revelatory.  At the highest resistance settings, it really was a complete workout, my knee didn't bother me at all, and I was up at 150bpm for my heart rate for the last 20 minutes.  It was perfect.  The exercise bike is leaving my basement, and I have to save for a good elliptical now.  I hope Craigslist can deliver in April.
14) Uncle Tom's Cabin is a serious book.  I can't read it as a simple work of fiction.  While it's certainly about slavery, the details of mid-19th century life are stunning.  It's an incredibly dense study of the entire culture at the time, seen through the lens of a racist abolitionist.  I can only sip it.  Hopefully, I'll finish it before I fly home.  It needs to go into the "finished" folder on my Kindle.
15) In "We Didn't Start the Fire", Billy Joel lists "Bernie Goetz" as an important historical figure.  I have always wondered what his story was.  Turns out that he was a white guy who shot some black kids on a NYC subway.  He was acquitted of attempted murder.  It was a key point in the breakdown and subsequent rehabilitation of NYC's subways.  It's in Gladwell's book, too.





16) I'm still fascinated by ice.  We headed West from White Plains, and crossed the lower Hudson, where ice rafts are floating down the river.  And as we left Chicago, the frozen landscape showed the city's downtown skyline against a frozen Lake Michigan.

 17) There were some other things, too, but I forgot them.
18) When you rent a car in January in TX, they don't give you an ice scraper.  When you have a layer of sleet on your car, it takes 10 minutes to defrost it off.  And even though you planned for it, when you get to class on time, class will be pushed off for 4 hours and you'll have all morning unexpectedly free.

Jan 24, 2014 - Reflected Glory

Last night, Katrina and I had a surreal experience.  I finished a normal workday, and when I got home the family was busily preparing dinner for the local missionaries.  We ate and chatted, and when dinner was over, they left.  Katrina and I followed them out the door and went to a parents' meeting for the cast of Aria's show.

We were 15 minutes late to a 30-minute meeting.  It was in the choir room, and the door is at the front of the room.  As we walked in, the director was saying, "...the parent's of Ariel asked that the date be moved into April..."  He noticed us and chuckled.  "Speak of the devil.  But that can't happen..."  We took our seats, and were shocked to find other parents react to us like celebrities.

Comments came from all around the room during and after the meeting: "Your daughter is stunning."
"I got chills when she sang."  "The girls were all good, but she was head and shoulders above the rest."  And it was odd, like she was some statue we had sculpted, or were somehow to be credited for her success.  It was a very strange experience.  She earned it on her own - she happens to be intelligent, talented, and an over-achiever.  She's pretty, too, but why would that matter to cosmopolitan adults?  It was a very 21st-century thing, I think.  I can't imagine my parents or those of the casts I worked with as a teen expressing themselves that way.  All the good things Aria is, she has earned. The only thing I am comfortable taking credit for is giving her an environment where she could become the person that could achieve those things.  No more than that.

And how does one react to such a thing?  Do you accept the compliment?  Do you deflect it back to the kid?  Do you ignore it?  And I felt bad because everyone knew who we were.  I don't know who anyone else is, and I should.  Every member of the cast is just as important.  

Modern parenting oddness.  Hm.  I wonder how many times we'll encounter this over the next 10 years.

We had a nice chat with Tracy (I think that's her name, I'm so bad with names) afterward, and we may end up auditioning for a summer show as a family.  It would be fun, we'll see if the schedule works, and if the other half of our family (Christian, Jake, and Libby) are interested at all.  There's lots of opportunity, just don't know what would work for us.

Jan 22, 2014 - Choir! 21-hr workday! Record (for me) cold!

On Sunday, we were finally able to restart choir.  I love the choir.  I do wish there were more of us, even if the larger numbers mean some people aren't as talented.  I just want people who love to sing to be able to sing.  My plan for the choir this winter was to sing "Come Thou Fount" in March, and an arrangement of "Where Love Is" for Valentine's day.  I was certain I had seen a copy of "Come Thou Fount" in the music cabinet, but when I got to church, I couldn't find it.  I'm working on an arrangement of the other song, and I wasn't done with it, either.  So I had nothing.

But the choir is great, and we had exactly a double-quartet.  2 of each part, if I sang Tenor.  So we put the chairs in a circle, picked up hymnals, and sang songs by request.  One of the choir members suggested 102, which I had never heard before.  It turns out that "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" is a lovely song.  We sang through it a couple times, sang through it a capella, and I asked if the group was up to perform it this coming Sunday.  They were, so we did it a couple more times, and then we moved on.  It's a lovely lovely thing to spend 20 minutes on a piece to make it nice instead of 6 hours.  It's wonderful and simple.  This week I'm working on my arrangement, and I found a royalty-free arrangement of "Come Thou Fount" from Sally DeFord that we'll use.  So we're back in full swing.  It's going to be a little lighter this year, and we'll do more, simpler pieces, instead of a couple hard ones.

And I'm done with my weird work schedule, which means I have a weirder one.  I spent mid-Dec to mid-Jan working 12-hr days for one half of the week, and having a lot of days off.  Now I'm back to M-F, but I meet with my night shift team at midnight every other Tuesday.  So yesterday morning, I got up at 4, like I always do when I have certain responsibilities at work, and hit the office at 5.  I worked all day, and then stayed through until my team meeting ended at 1:30am.  I missed meeting with them while I was on my other schedule, and it was really nice to have an "air your grievances" session with them.

When the meeting was over, I sat in my car and turned the my car thermometer read -3deg F.  This was a now record cold for me to be out in.  It didn't feel that different from 15.  I got home at 2 and went to sleep.  When I headed back in to work at 9:20 this morning,the car temp was 2 deg.

Work is really fun and challenging still.  I do love it.  I always hope for the best, and work to make it even better.

Jan 18, 2014 - Reason #2 I love NY

I love the weather here.  The unpredictability drives a lot of people crazy, but I love it.  I've seen sheet lightning, been in a hurricane, driven through a white-out, slept in my cozy house during a -7 degree night, hiked through a 10-degree morning over an inch of fresh snow, sweated through a muggy hot summer, and this morning I took my little electric chainsaw to some fallen trees during heavy snow.  The snow flocked the trees heavily.  This is one of 3 evergreens on the property.

It's lovely.  The pounding rain, the sun that blinds you on so many bare-leafed winter mornings, the wind that makes the trees creak, snow sneaking down the back of your jacket collar.  It's majestic.  And it reminds me regularly of how inconsequential I am in the grand scheme of things.

Today was a relaxed day - did the wood cutting, stacked it on the porch, and then went for a walk while the snow coated my stocking cap.  The snow did that creaking thing it does when the flakes are large and it's in the high 20s.  Then lunch, and took the boys to get their hair cut, returned an item to the Amazon seller, and then a nap.  No Saturday is complete without a little Rock Band and video game football.  Took down the huge Christmas snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, and finally bought a decent watch.  I've been wearing a watch I bought at Wal-Mart for $11.84 nearly 2 years ago with a velcro wristband.

And then I registered Aria and me for the Warrior Dash in July.  I'm excited.  It's going to be super fun to climb obstacles, wade through muddy water, climb muddy hills and stuff with her.  I'm smiling just thinking about it.

Got a bunch of stuff to do tonight - Sunday School lesson to prepare, music to arrange for choir, need to make some more progress on my Japanese course materials.  I think I won't get it all done.

Jan 17, 2014 - The cast list is up!

Aria had call-backs for The Little Mermaid on Thursday.  After I was home from work, she told me that there were 4 girls being considered for Ariel, and those who didn't get Ariel would be her sisters.  So she was very pleased to know after call-backs that at the very least she'd have a good role.  But she was confident in her performance, thought it was likely she'd get Ariel.

The cast list was posted during 1st period on Friday, which was a half day.  I was at work.  No phone calls, no FB posts, no emails. Nothing.  Noon.  1pm.  2pm.  Finally, I called Ari's friend Maggie.  I was happy to learn that Maggie got Scuttle (the Seagull).  And then I was able to talk to Aria, and she told me that she did get the part.  My girl got a lead role, and all on her own.

She has been very fortunate in many ways - she's made it into everything she has auditioned for, unheard of for any girls I knew growing up.  And she's done some good stuff.  Not a lot, but some.  She has worked very hard at her school for over a year in choir, and built a solid reputation with the choir director, and of course she nailed her solo at the concert.  Hard work, talent, and encouragement.  And she got it done.

I couldn't be prouder of her.  I have a lot of pride in her academic achievements, but I feel for some reason, that they are more attainable for more people.  An artistic achievement like this one is something she'll never forget: the one person cast as Ariel for the show.  The lead role.  She may never get another.  I have never had the lead in my career.  And I'm proud of her for trying again, and so very glad she'll be working with this director, who is an excellent acting director.  It will be such a good experience for her.

So I finished work, came home, ate, etc.  Finally I went to pick her up.  We were all on media blackout until she called her grandparents.  Once that was done, we posted away.  This is her "I got the part!" face.  I've never seen her so happy, it was really a special night to share as a family.

And now I hope we have the same kinds of experiences with the other kids.  They are all just as special and wonderful as Aria is.  We're hoping she doesn't cast too long of a shadow.

Jan 14, 2014 - Auditions and training

Today Aria had her first set of auditions for The Little Mermaid.  From what I've been told, she did really well.  Callbacks are Thursday, and the cast list is due on Monday.  She really wants Ariel, and she's been singing her heart out for weeks.  She's certainly in (we're not worried about that) but we're hoping she gets something juicy.

We all tried to encourage Christian to audition.  He'll make up his own mind, but he certainly has a supportive family.

Work today was a day of class about transition from individual contributor to a leader.  It was quite good.  I must say, the training stuff we have in place at work is consistently useful and relevant, and the entire management team actually uses the concepts.  Highlights from the training today for me was a reminder of how important team meetings are, and the realities around the importance of employee engagement and the facts of employee engagement.  Some research shows that 21% of all employees are "actively disengaged" at work, while only 18% are "engaged".  The phrase I hear at work that refers to these disengaged people is "they don't care".  I hadn't thought about this phenomenon as a measure of engagement, but rather as a measure of dedication or commitment.  Maybe the frame of reference will help me find better strategies to coach and invite them to move at least into the middle 61%.

And then tonight at home, a quick 5K run, writing some materials for my Japanese class, and now some reading time and sleep.  Katrina has been working on a new filing system for household finances and things, and it's nice to see little things in our lives get under control.  Last night, the last of the Christmas decorations went to the basement.  Little by little, we're making progress on the projects we've had on the list for a year.