Timeline

We all measure time in different ways.  Some measure it minute-by-minute as they anxiously try to get a tired child to sleep at night or wait for the arrival of a loved one after a period of separation.  Some measure time hour-by-hour - as they slog through another day at work; just hanging on till quitting time.  Some measure it month-by-month as they plan and count down to that special day they have longed for their whole lives.

I realized this morning that one way I measure time is season-by-season.  The coffee mugs that adorn my office tell that story.  My timeline progresses from left to right in the picture below. 

First, was a generic red coffee mug I must have picked up at Crate and Barrel or some place like that.  The mug was purchased shortly after taking my most recent job years ago.  It features a huge capacity - which was required to keep my caffeine levels high while I chased my kids through high school and college.

The second mug is like an old friend to me.  It is a Guinness mug, purchased in Ireland while we visited Joel as he was studying abroad. It reminds me daily of Joel. When I look at that white band around the rim and the deep caramel color I can't help but smile as I recall sitting in a pub in Galway Ireland while sharing a bittersweet glass as he regaled me with stories of his adventures there. It warms my spirit to have it around.

The third mug is a visual reminder of my red-headed spitfire daughter. It is big - like her personality; a metaphor for her endless potential, and has served me well for the last few years. This mug has been the impetus for a thousand questions (e.g., 'did you go to Cal?') and provides me endless opportunities to dote on my daughter with my colleagues and customers.

And finally, this is the newest mug on my unique timeline:

I purchased this mug over the Christmas break in Ann Arbor, Michigan when I returned to my alma mater to watch a women's basketball game and hang with my future son-in-law's family. This mug is just the perfect size and its shape - jutting out at the rim - makes it feel so comfortable in my hand.

This mug represents a juxtaposition of old and new;  my past and my present. Going back to this place stirred up strong emotions for me. This was the place I worked hard to receive an education that would form the basis of my professional life. It was the place I cheered my beloved Wolverines; watching them vanquish all foes.  It was the place I proposed to my lovely wife of 30 years after an exciting win over Notre Dame.  It was the place I bought my first personal computer. It was the place Julie and I first lived as a married couple. It was the place we left to embark together on an unknown life in California. And this was the place God placed and prepared my future son-in-law so that he could meet Hannah during a summer internship at Stryker Endoscopy in San Jose, California.

Yes,  I look at that hot cup of coffee and it serves as a poignant  reminder of the hours and hours I spent working to pay my way through college - and studying to create a future for myself.  Believe me - I drank a lot of coffee to get through those lean years and sleepless nights.  Those years formed a solid base for the rest of my life.

But after I filled it this morning with piping hot coffee - it was the wisps of steam that caught my attention; dancing just above the liquid for a moment and then rising to disperse. The present is fleeting. It is like vapor - here for a moment - then escaping into the wind - never to be experienced again.  My hope is that this mug keeps me focused on that reality; grounded in the past but focused on the present.

An Ode to Number One

As you know if you've been reading the blog - our company is going through some layoffs.  The first people affected (temporary employees) are unfortunately leaving today. 

I sit relatively close to HR so I've had a chance to build relationships with these folks over the last 6 years.  And, if you know me - you know I absolutely hate paperwork - so I find these people invaluable.  A joke I have going is that whoever helps me the most (meaning gets me out of doing the most paperwork) I designate #1.  So, I walk around talking to them kind of like when House (the TV show character) numbered a bunch of job candidates and still refers to one of his colleagues as '13'.

The current #1 is being escorted to the doors at the end of the day.  Sad.  I have been asking God to allow me to be an encouragement to my colleagues as we go through this transition (which will be ongoing for months).  Yesterday and this morning He put on my heart to encourage #1 in writing (as well as verbally) as He moves her down the path.  Here's what I came up with.  Is there someone you work with that could use a kind word today?

An Ode to Number One

Hear ye, hear ye, all who have ears

I’ve recently heard news that leads me to tears

For one who brings joy and smiles and delight

will be banished from our lives and whisked from our sight

It’s criminal at times the folks they let lead

who choose against people and focus on greed

Their minds may be nimble at profit and loss

Frankly, I prefer more compassion in a boss

But, alas, their decision is made, sealed and signed

and so it’s your farewell to which I’m resigned

With hollow words of hope to the door you’ll be led

and then to a sound sleep they’ll repose in their bed

A pox on the decision makers who brought us this blight!

A quiet pox, however, as we cower in fright

But let us be fearless and boisterous in praise

as we lay down our tribute in this simplest of ways

A smile in the workplace does wonders indeed

for joy is the harvest that comes from that seed

Now you, more than others, have offered this gift

with laughter and kindness our spirits you lift

Our days have been brighter because you are here

Your quiet, unsung value to some is quite clear

It speaks to your character that you will be missed

You're more than a name that populates a list

A path is a journey that’s not always straight

it carries us to people with a vicariousness of fate

Yet as we look backwards and see all the signs

it sometimes is possible to see a design

The pattern we see as we reflect on you here

is of beauty, warm-heartedness and uncommon good cheer

So for all your great work and laughter and fun

I officially designate you:  Permanent Number One!

Musings On Work These Days

I rarely spend any time or energy on the blog talking about my work life. It’s not that I have a rule of the sort “let’s not talk about work on the blog” that keeps me from doing it. And up to now Julie has not ‘banned’ me from talking about it (haha). I think it’s just a reflection of a couple facts. First, I’m 49 years old and have arrived at a time and place in my life where friends, family and being in community dominate my brain-space and my communication. They are what I want to share with people. Secondly, I think it’s a reflection of the fact that I love what I do and where I do it. I must admit to being a content employee. That’s not to say there are not things that occur that rile me at times. But, by and large I am very happy with where God has placed me, I find my job intellectually stimulating, and I find many opportunities to love people in God’s name among my colleagues. I guess I just have very little to complain so I don’t say much about work – except how thankful I am for it.

Awhile back our company was purchased and became a part of ITT. At the beginning of the year ITT Defense, of which I am a part, announced a re-organization. Last Thursday afternoon we got a good taste of what that means. In an effort to increase our viability and profitability our new management team told an impromptu all-hands meeting audience that they were obliterating most of the support staff at our location and turning our facility into an ‘engineering center of excellence’. In simple terms, that means most of the engineering staff will be retained to develop and support our products. Most everyone else will be out of a job by the 3rd Quarter or so.

I’ve started a business. I’ve acted as a business consultant. I’ve written business plans. I’ve traipsed all over the world marketing products for businesses. I’ve stood in front of countless potential customers attempting to articulate a solid value proposition while asking for their business. I also am an avid student of economics. So, I can appreciate the business motivations behind these moves. They are solid in many cases; difficult to argue.

So why is my heart so incredibly heavy? Why is it that explaining the economic advantages of dispatching my colleagues so that I might endure and benefit doesn’t excite me? Why is it that because I was fortunate enough to earn an engineering degree I don’t now feel some satisfaction in my safety (I have been informed that I will be ‘ok’ for the foreseeable future) from this storm?

The book SuperFreakonics may expose the answer. The author explains in this book two ‘norms’ or ‘realms’ in which we, as humans operate. The first is within a ‘social norm’. It is within the social norm that I feel it is acceptable to ask my friends and colleagues to ‘do me a favor’. I can ask a neighbor to help me move some heavy objects, or to help me with a home project. It is within the social norm that my company can ask me to ‘work late in order to achieve an important goal’. Social norms allow us to ask each other for charity. The second ‘norm’ is a ‘market norm’. Within the market norm I pay people to serve me or provide me products. It is the market norm that allows me to insist that people do things the way I want them done. It is the market norm that allows me to complain about the help I am receiving. It is within the market norm that I can insist on being paid if I am going to stay late to help my employer achieve a business goal.

Great businesses operate, as much as possible, within a social norm. They expend a lot of management energy and corporate resources to maintain a corporate culture that emphasizes social norms (time off with pay, emergency leave, comp time, community involvement, etc.).

Interestingly, the author points out that once a relationship (personal or professional) transitions from operating within a social norm to operating within a market norm it is almost impossible to go back. In practical terms this means once you pay your electrician friend to help you do a project at home it is almost impossible to then ask him next time to just do it as a favor. The same applies at work. Once a company clearly starts operating strictly on a market norm (e.g., issuing furloughs to employees, having them pay for their employee benefits, etc.) it is nearly impossible to turn back.

Last Thursday ITT made it clear to its employees at my location that they are operating within a predominantly market norm. For a person that has consistently sought out employment at companies that foster a social norm culture that was quite a shock.

I’ll be okay. I remain extremely grateful to God for bringing me here and preserving me here – for whatever time remains in His plan. I will adapt to the new management approach. However, it will be with extreme sadness. While I may have intellectual respect for many of the business decisions that were made I have very little excitement about the new culture. And it will take some more time to grieve for those that were impacted.

Thursday Tweets - Barely!

Okay.. weird day today. Someone intentionally cut some important communication lines in San Jose and San Martin - near where I work. The result was that we had a) no cell phone coverage, b) no incoming or outgoing phone calls at work and c) no internet access at work. Can you believe a $90 Million a year business unit with no phones or internet?! Crazy! It's like 1972 all over again!

Anyways, props to me for making it through a day without browsing the web, talking to someone on the phone or sending a text message! Whew!! BTW... How did Tiger do at the Masters???

So - that explains why we're late getting started with Thursday Tweets. Feel free to slide right into Friday Tweets if you feel the urge!

Do you know what a tweet is? If not.. check out this earlier post for more information! What is a Tweet?

Please feel free to tweet away.

Tod: survived a day without cell phone or internet access. how'd I do it????

Tod: is looking forward to the stations of the cross and worshiping this Easter weekend!

Demo Time

One aspect of my job that I love is getting out of the building from time to time to demonstrate and test our system. Luckily for us - builders of radar detection systems - we have a ready made test facility called San Francisco Bay right near by. Every day there are commercial and pleasure craft with radars fired up on the bay as well as air traffic, weather and other airborne radars present. It's a great place to play.

So, from time to time we pack up our system and head for the bay. All we need is a mobile home (to provide shelter, power and a bathroom) and trailer (to hold our stuff) and off we go. The location we set up in is called Fort Baker; a former military base located just past the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. As you can see from the first couple pictures our setup site is just opposite from and provides a beautiful view of San Francisco. And from the pictures you can see we picked an awesome day for the trip.























This next picture shows the trailer where our system resides as well as our antenna (at the top of that portable mast unit on the left). The details would bore you to tears.. but all you need to know is that the antenna is like a really good radio antenna and the stuff in the trailer is a really good radio for listening to radars. The software stuff I do simply tells the listener exactly what they are listening too. Simple huh!? Oh.. and you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background which I'll talk about next.



















It's hard to show pictorially, but we are just down the road from the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. This picture is taken just around the corner from where we park and is a unique view of the bridge. In this picture San Francisco is in the far view (far or south side of the bridge) and Marin (the north side) is nearest. You can literally keep walking down the road I was on when I took this picture and walk underneath the bridge. At the bottom of the hill is the primary Coast Guard facility used to monitor activities on the bay and to provide search and rescue resources (and additional targets for our testing).





























Here's a picture of a container ship (target) that entered the bay through the Golden Gate and now is passing underneath the Bay Bridge (SF on the right end - Oakland/Berkeley on the left end) bringing the west coast lots of stuff to buy. There's also a smaller commuter ferry (target) just crossing it's wake (behind it).















Fort Baker was originally the location of canon encampments used to protect the SF bay from enemy naval attacks. You can see some of the original canon-mounts (they would have been mounted on top of the buildings, and powder rooms (below) at the top of this next image.















Recently, Fort Baker was de-commissioned or turned over from the military to the public sector. As part of that, the old military housing has been beautifully restored by a private company that now runs a resort and spa called Covella Point. The next couple pictures give you a snapshot of the historic buildings that were restored. These are now either split into individual rooms that can be rented - or some remain as guest houses that can be rented in their entirety. The insides are as wonderful as the outsides.




























Here's a picture of the old enlisted barracks that now includes a restaurant and bar (where we took our client for a nice post-demo debriefing (or drink as we non-military types call it). Not at all an unpleasant way to end a work day.















This is kind of random.. but when I was down by the base of the Golden Gate a helicopter appeared very near the northern bridge tower. It was literally loitering right next to the tower for a relatively long period of time. I don't know if they were conducting some type of visual inspection of the tower or what.. but they were way closer than I would have liked to be. Though, they got a most unique view of the bridge!