Serving the Lord, helping the kids, and spending the last third of my life working my way back to the place where I can hang with the boy.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Don't Let The Door Hit You

My 28 year career in big business comes to a close today.  I got hired into a computer company called EDS (Electronic Data Systems) in November of 1984 then moved to Portland Oregon and started working on the Bonneville Power Administration account in January of 1985.

Over the years that followed I moved to Denver Colorado and finally to Dallas Texas.  I traveled to 49 states and countless countries spread over 6 continents.  I've worked as a software guy, operations guy, project manager, people manager, program manager, enterprise architect and technology teacher.

Four years ago HP (Hewlett Packard) purchased EDS and asked me to work from home teaching people how to do project management.  Later I started teaching them some hardware classes too (Servers, Storage, Cloud, that kind of stuff).

Today is my "official" retirement day.

Yesterday I crashed a lunch the Fujitsu account was having for my friend Bruce who is also retiring.  There were over 20 or 30 well wishers and I fondly remembered my days with EDS when we had many such events as people left the company.  It took Bruce a very long time to get out the door as the long stream of hand shakes, well wishers and slaps on the back ate up the better part of half an hour.

Today I got an email from my son.  It said "Happy Last Day of Work!".  It made me happy but it also made me realize that that was the full list of good bye messages.  Then looking at my HP email box one last time I saw I got a message from my boss.  I opened it up and rather than "have a nice life" it said I was to attend a manditory meeting on September 7th.  Apparently my boss doesn't know I'm retiring.  Maybe that explains it.  No lunch with my friends and colleagues, no string of messages from the folks I'm leaving behind.  Just that message from my kid, a handshake last week from a friend who works at another company, and some well wishes from a Canadian friend I used to work with back when we were EDS.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a declariation of sadness although there is a little of that.  The realization that prompted my post is actually one of a simple joy.  I'm glad that I could see it was time to move on.  I'm pleased that I had guts enough to take those steps.  Stepping away form 28 years of stability and walking into the unknown isn't a trivial move but the events of yesterday and today show me how right my decision was.

In about 12 hours they will turn off my email and HP will become a part of my past.  I expect I won't be looking back too much because it got dark back there.  It's hard to see into the dark with my eyes covered the way they are now.  You see, the future is so bright I've got to wear shades.

Monday, August 27, 2012

It's Not Just the Republican National Comittee

This week is the RNC convention.  Thousands of wild-eyed republicans have descended on Tampa Florida to have a grand meeting and decide how they would like to change things around here.

Apparent the RNC weren't the only ones having a meeting today.  I decided to get the mail and upon opening the front door I discovered there was a gecko convention happening in my doorjam.  The door opened and three of the little buggers took off into my house running three different directions.

At this point you need a wee bit of background.   I personally am kind of fond of lizards and I imagine geckos eat all sorts of insects that my wife really doesn't like.  My little daughter, on the other hand, hates them.  More than that she fears them, loaths them, and really doesn't want them around. 

Ok.  Back to the post.

Did I mention that one of Mandy's hobbies is to train dogs?  Of course I didn't, why would I.  This was a post about conventions.

Well, Newbie, my little Yorkie Terrior was right at my feet because I was in the house and if I'm in the house he feels a need to maximize the possibility of getting stepped on should I choose to quickly change directions. 

Did I mention that Mandy trains dogs?

For the first time ever I witnessed a puppy moving faster than the speed of sound. 

Three geckos going three directions and suddenly they are all connected by a brown and grey blur.

Now for a wee bit of additional background.  I always suspected my daughter was secretly training my little dog to kill geckos.  When he sees one he would instantly pounce.  The gecko would escape and he would jump to catch it.  It would dodge to escape, he would correct and be on it again.  After a few minutes of this cat and mouse routine the gecko would end up in his mouth.  A quick crunch and he would drop it on the floor for one of his minions to  pick up.

Ok.  Back to the post.

It was obvious to me that what I witnessed was well outside the dog training skills of my litter daughter.  Maybe a contract job but there is no doubt that the dog was actually trained to kill by 007 or Jason Borne.

Remembe the thing about pounce, escape, jump, dodge capture?  This wasn't like that. 

I open the door.  Three geckos take off in three directions.   Brown grey blur connects them and when I jump back after the sonic boom there are two dead geckos and Newbie has just pounced on the third.  The gecko escapes and he jumps to catch it. It dodges to escape, he corrects and is on it again. After a few minutes of this cat and mouse routine the gecko ended up in his mouth. A quick crunch and he would drops it on the floor for one of his minions to pick up.

I of course am chilled to the bone.  The pounce escape thing is just a ploy.  While out numbered he showed the result of his actual training and once he evened up the odds he went back into the "hey, look at me, I'm not very good at this" act.

So be impressed with Seal Team 6 if you want to but understand this, the well tuned killing machines in this country are not just subservient to government service.  The constitutional right to keep and bear Yorkshire Terriors will keep us safe if the country is ever overrun by tiny insect eating lizzards.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Phase 3


Life is better when you have an underlying philosophy that drives the direction of it.  Absent the philosophy, life consists of spending all your time on this earth just reacting to what happens around you.  Living that way can't possibly be as much fun as picking a purpose and working toward a clearly defined success.

I have two such philosophies.  One needs to be in a different post but the other is that Life, done well, is separated into three distinct phases. 

The first phase starts at birth and is all about self focus.  You are learning things.  You are growing and developing and for the most part you are self serving.  I don't think we plan the first phase, it just sort of happens to us. 

The second phase starts when your priorities change in such a way that you allow someone else to become more important than you.  Typically this is some kind of a family connection and often starts when choosing a partner for life.  For some it includes having children, for others it does not.  During the second phase you work in a support role with a focus on THEIR success rather than yours.  Done correctly, you find your definition of success has much less to do with what is best for you than it has to do with success for your loved ones.   Phase two teaches you about service.

The third phase should start around the time your phase 1 family members are moving into their own second phase and your own service matures to a point where your life mission is about serving others beyond the inner circle of the folks who love you.  This phase is about serving others simply because service is right.  It's about showing love to people who may or may not love you in return.  It's about trading in your "what would Jesus do" bracelet and moving forward in a plan to live it rather than wear it.

Unfortunately there are many people pass from the first phase into the second, but then following the second phase, they go backwards into the first rather than growing into the third.  

For the last few of years I've been watching my kids transition from phase 1 into phase 2.   I've been amazed to see how devoted Mandy is to her husband Jack's success.   Her loving posts, her willingness to work two jobs, and her desire to have dinner at 10 pm each night so she can make his life easier can teach us all a few things about how marriage is supposed to work. 

Meanwhile I watched Cassandra and Shane walk away from the surreal dream life they were living in Boston.   Their love for sports and the multiple championship rings they collected became secondary to their desire to create a world that would be the perfect environment for Devin.  Now that they are parents I am stunned by the selfless choices they constantly make.  I'm amazed and impressed with how natural it is for them to make all the right choices in their second phase.  Devin may never figure out just how good he has got it, but he is lucky beyond anything he could imagine.

Meanwhile I get to watch my little grandson begin to work his way through phase 1.  He's learning to laugh and control himself well enough to grab things on purpose (and not bonk himself in the head with them).  Watching Devin, I get that during phase 1 this first phase isn't selfish, it's necessary.  If he wasn't focused on himself at this point he would never be capable of moving on to the future phases.

Watching my children and grand child move into new phases I realized it was time for me to stop talking about phase 3 and start living it.  To that end I have been making preparations for the last 3 or 4 months.

Today I finished the last task of my career in big business.  Next week I'll go into the office for the last time.  They will give me a trinket with my name engraved on it, wish me well, and I'll leave this company that has been such a massive part of my life the last three decades.   As soon as I finish publishing this post I'm going to hit my knees and reach out to God with a prayer asking for guidance and direction.  When that's done, I'm going to get up and start planning the next steps of my new career working for Cookson Hills Christian Ministries, an organization that serves at-risk kids between of 5 and 18 years of age. 

The waiting is over and so is the second phase of my life.  My third phase has begun.  Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

A Thousand Isn't Enough


I have to admit, I struggle some to reach the end when we do the Bike MS ride each year.  With the exception of the crazy biker athlete people who knock the 84 mile first day ride off in two or three hours and are home for lunch, it's a bit of a challenge for all of us.

During the 10 hours that I was on the course this year I had conversations with a number of people around why we do the ride.  There are plenty of stories about why people want to do this ride.  I want to tell you about the one that impresses me the most.

The picture is of my wife, and this is her story (as told by me).

Michelle was diagnosed with MS around 17 or 18 years ago.  Around a decade later I decided to start riding the MS-150 and our team captain talked Michelle into riding too.  The first year I rode the whole thing but each year after that I always rode with Michelle.  When she couldn't go any farther we would stop.

In the early years we typically made it the 20 miles to rest stop 2.  Two years ago we went 10 more miles to rest stop three and last year she made it all the way to the lunch stop, 43 miles away, and then broke 50 for the day when we rode the last 7 miles and crossed the finish line.

In the beginning Michelle had a bike with an electric motor on it to help her get up the hills.  A few years back she decided she didn't want the extra help and started riding Mandy's old touring bike.  Last year we got her a nice lightweight Trek bike and every year she goes farther.

This year was a milestone.  The CFO from the company where she works asked her how far she went last year and then told her he would donate an extra $100 if she would ride more than 60 miles this year.  No request for a committment, just an offer.

She made to lunch again then she and Mandy sagged forward to a rest stop far enough out to allow her to achieve the 60 mile goal. 

By that point in the day the wind was over 20 and the temp was over 100.  Heat exacerbates MS symptoms and it was hot enough that day that Michelle's legs weren't working correctly.  It was time for her to stop but her heart was set on that promise to donate an extra $100 if she broke 60 miles.  Michelle decided she was going to get that money for the MS Society and Mandy couldn't talk her out of it.

The final 9 miles took them the better part of 2 hours.  They would ride a couple of miles until Michelle just couldn't go any farther, Mandy would talk to her about quitting, Michelle would refuse so Mandy would pour ice water on her head and spine which calmed the MS lesions down enough that Michelle could go another couple of miles.

Finally a little after 5 PM my wife and daughter straggled across the finish line (and Michelle collapsed again before she could make it to the team tent.

We all work hard to ride the distance but I now see that there is no real sacrifice in that.  Not once during my effort did I need ice water on my brain and spinal cord.