Some 32 years ago, I was working at Monitor Labs, a firm that did data acquisition equipment for measuring, recording, and transmitting data on emissions (e.g., at the top of smokestacks). We were developing a new product line (code-named Tabasco); as chief programmer/analysis, I was responsible for the architecture of the software (which would end up being written in FORTH). I spent three full weeks sitting in my office, feet up on my desk, staring at a corner of the ceiling. Every now and then, I would put my feet down, jot something in a notebook, and put my feet back up again. My line manager (the VP who was between me and the CEO) did not like this at all. He passed by my office a few times a day; as time went on, his smile at me became increasingly strained and eventually morphed into a glare. (My technical manager, Steve Goldberg, the VP of Engineering, was, as far as I could tell, completely unconcerned. But, then, he was an engineer, while my line manager was not.) After three weeks, I put my feet down for good, spent a day or so sketching out the architectural approach, ran it past Guy Grotke (my fellow engineering programmer) for his feedback and input, and finalized it. We implemented it, and it worked great. That came to mind just now because Im making progress filling up the first moving pod just in the past few hours. There were half a dozen or so large items in it, but I hadnt really started packing everything in. I know that Sandra has been getting increasingly nervous about the perceived lack of progress, but I just realized that I had been mentally running through different approaches to filling in the pod and tonight hit upon one that Im satisfied with: keeps the weight distributed well, should protect the items that are in the pod, and should allow me to clear out a lot of stuff downstairs. Its not perfect, but its good enough to have this pod sufficiently filled and ready to go when they come to pick it up on Friday. Breaks over; back on my head.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 03:37:30 +0000
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