Yesterday was our beloved guy night.  I didn’t have anything planned other than taking him to TaeKwon Do and then to Borders bookstore afterwards.  Jarrod was his usual easy going self.  He’s busy noticing everything around us on our way  to the dojo.  “Dad why haven’t they built any more on CVS?”  “Daddy why does the ambulance have its siren on?”  Constantly taking in his surroundings and exploring them.    It always so much fun to be a part of that.

As we got closer to the studio, he got quieter and I could see him looking at me in the mirror and thinking.  “What’s up bud?”  “Nothing Daddy.”  We drove a little further and I could see him thinking.  “Do you remember what tonight is Jarrod?”  “TaeKwon Do night.” “and…” “I get my hardcover Jack and Annie tonight!!!”  screams with the excitement that only a 5 yr old can summon.  The look on his face was just absolutely priceless.  The excitement in those eyes coupled with the coyish biting of his lip.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of it.

After class we did go to Borders and get his book.  He took his time choosing it carefully.  Going through each one that he didn’t have, looking at the covers and searching for the desired “Big” 2 page pictures.  Asking about each story line and weighing it against the pictures that he really likes.  There can’t be “too” many pictures though.  Too many, as I found out by offering other book series to him, doesn’t make it a real “Chapter Book” and therefore isn’t a big boy book.

He chose his book and we made our way to the front of the store.  On our way to the register he turns to me and asks, “Daddy can I still get a square tonight?”  Part of our Borders ritual is to stop at the front display and we each get to pick a square of chocolate and exchange a piece with each other.  “Of course Bud.”  We make our purchases and head out to the parking lot.

It is gorgeous outside with sun just starting to set.  He asks if we can go to the end of the parking lot where it overlooks the Rt 9 traffic and down into Worcester.  He offers me a piece of his chocolate and say its ok it yours.  He shakes his head and offers it again.  Looks into my eyes, nods and hands me the chocolate.  I could feel and see that his offering was very important to him and an important part of the ritual.  I gladly took and we walked to the fence and watched the sun, traffic, and life happen around us.

Jarrod, that quiet special bonding we shared last night capped an otherwise good day and made it a great day.  It was very important and special to both of us. 

Thanks bud.

Down economies and mergers tend to make people crazy.  They panic and fret over what’s going to happen to them.  How are they going to find another job and pay their bills.  Its a hard reality, but it is only part of the situation.

The company a friend (George) works for was just sold.  His coworkers are upset about what’s going on.  He has taken a very different and commendable attitude.  He sees it as an opportunity.  The company has given them warning that things might change in the future.  It would be foolish to think that things won’t change. 

George feels this is his time to shine.  With others fretting, he’s updated his resume, started blogging, and learning some new techniques and skills.  His feeling is that either he will become a bigger asset to the company or he will already be more valuable as a job candidate. 

It is work, but George is already ahead of the curve with his attitude. 

Forcing a new system and/or procedure on users is never a good or fun thing, but sometimes it is necessary to make the process easier and ensure consistency.

We have a client that has very specific needs when it comes to reporting. Their report is very different than anyone else’s that is generated. It always is a cause for confusion, delay, and concern for consistency and accuracy. My management, like other management teams, doesn’t want to spend too much resources developing small “outside” projects. I don’t blame them, the list of projects for my team is long.

I talked to my boss and explained what was going on. I explained to her that the value of doing such a project long and short term was that it would speed up the process immensely and ensure that the report was generated exactly the same way every time. She liked the idea, but was concerned about the time taken away from other projects. I had her sold on it, but she was concerned about the time. This is when I pulled the switchero.

I had already done the research and had most of a working concept done. I just need the stamp of approval to finish and roll it out. I had just received it. She loved my initiative and the fact that it had not slowed down anything else, as I did it over a period of time when I need a break from other projects.

Essentially I had pushed a system by building it before asking permission. It was a risk, but I knew it had great advantages to the company and to the user who generates the reports.

Sometimes a calculated risk is worth the effort.