Cheers

practice...art...design...steps

Deanne

Day 14: Winter Wonderland is chilly

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Just a quickie. These are allowed. No one is reading yet.

Went for a walk in parc Lafontaine. I re-learned what it means to freeze one’s ears off. At least my fingertips went numb. But what I also learned is that focus can come from all kinds of directions. In this case the specific north-east wind blowing snow and the -19 temperature (celsius), plus wearing glasses that fogged up, and being surrounded by a landscape of pure white snow meant that the persisent dizziness I’ve been having (inner ear imbalance/virus) was temporarily gone. How brilliant this was. My body had to focus on literally not freezing to death and so my brain focused solely on that and the pesky imbalance was vanquished.

I’ll have to find out other ways to focus that are a tad warmer.

Day 13: Bargaining…12 minutes without the internet

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broadvisiongroup.com levitra without prescriptionThe house we are catsitting has an impressive volume and breadth of books. Most of them are in French, of course, and  lot of them are art books. One is called “12 mois sans  “- wait, just burst into hysterical laughing as while looking at book title more carefully realize it is called interet, not internet, donc, interest, not internet, sub-titled a journal of depression by illustrator Claire Lepage.

There’s something delicious about the sub-title and my misinterpretation which had me fantasizing about giving up being on the web for 1.2 months ( a little compromise bargaining with the devil.) Mr. O was laughing saying I couldn’t go 12 minutes without the internet. We  agreed to split the difference at 12 hrs.  Gee, I wonder why it is I have a bad shoulder again?

I started this post thinking about how when we start to change something in our lives, there’s always a little negotiation at the beginning. “Well, I’ll just change this one thing”, for me it’s, “Well, I’ll do neck rolls every 20 minutes, sounds good”, or “Ok, I’ll start being aware of how stagnant I am sitting here, so every 40 minutes is good at the start”…and so on. Just like the great singer Peter Tosh said “Everybody want to go up to heaven, but nobody want to die”.

A concession here, a concession there. And pretty soon, no change has occurred, just a lot of bargaining. Good skill to have if you’re in the law business, not so great for personal growth I’m thinking.

I’m looking forward to the snowmaggedon that is on its way here as well. We’re well stocked up, I have holiday cards to write and knitting to pursue.

Cheers,

Day 12: on the edge of snowmageddon

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[ On Wednesday, Environment Canada outlined predictions for a series of snowfalls in a weather bulletin, adding “could this be snow-mageddon?”] via globeandmail

Being 6 hours away from T.O., is close enough to wonder if s-m will occur here. It’s most definitely bordering on the point where Celsius crosses Farenheit with the wind chill factor. There is something to embrace about the crisp, ardently cool weather. Wait. I’m writing about the weather. Full stop.

I’ve knit 10 more rows in my hat, and am ready to cross over to working on 4 double point needles (which I’ve never done) and I just discovered I brought the wrong size set with me.  Which means I get to discover if there are any delicious wool shops in Montreal. Suggestions, mes amies?…

What I like about knitting is the same thing I like about the sharp weather. Both provide you with an intense focus and a clear and precise goal. The first is something long term, an object you can wear or use measured in years. The latter is more instant to instant. Dash indoors, quick. “If wearer if found shivering, administer hot chocolate immediately.”

It’s the same thing I like about travel. Time is suddenly restructured into a new framework, even though with the whole “mobile office” aspect of it, work is still happening. Again, in a more focused way.

I wanted to write about the Word of the Year post which may or may not appear in the fabulous Ms. Kane’s site, but I am still mulling them over.

Here’s a few rolling around my tongue:

  • grace
  • strength
  • poise
  • allow (seen on CK’s guest post)
  • courage

First I need to banish my apprehensions, or convert them into their possible French ancestors (apprendre?) and actually learn something from them.

This is an all over the map post, I’m down with it. This is about practice, not outcome.

Day 11: je rentre à Montréal

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First hit on youtube for this great song by Ariane Moffatt (just called Montréal – I always think of it by that bit of refrain).

Air Canada flight and general journey in brief:

  • crying wee baby behind us (poor lass) bawling her head off for take off , landing and in-between. Her 2 yr old sister’s ears probably hurt and she joined in on the landing. feel for the parents – they are clearly wiped.
  • guy beside crying baby drinks too much, falls asleep and starts sneezing uncontrollably for 10 or so sneezes. remarkably, doesn’t wake himself up.
  • try to muster some sympathy for the dude as he got a little baby puke-up on him
  • cab driver on way to flat is large chap from Haiti, cheerfully grooving to Neil Diamond and other such songs. He waves his hands (hopefully one is still on wheel) around, and I turn my head towards to the window to avoid looking at Mr. O otherwise would burst into hysterical laughter.
  • lots of snow on ground, and cool
  • the kitty kat here is being the most friendly we have ever seen her. 3rd time housesitting cat (first she had another chubby, lazy but beautiful cat whose name is now my nickname – sadly, cat passed away before we housecat again). GM is being playful, and purring her fur off. literally, all over black pants.

In short, life is sweet.

cheers et salut,

mlle d

Day 10: About to travel, how not to panic

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In allowing myself an extra 2 days for this 30 day posting gig because of travel, I forgot that the day before travelling was pretty darn intense. Coupled with doing a server upgrade recently, which meant I temporarily lost the database for this blog, and then had to go “under the hood”, way outside my comfort zone, well, let’s just say the dizziness I’ve been experiencing due to inner ear imbalance has quadrupled!

However, I’m happy to report I seem to have successfully done the restoration of the database, following a modified version of these instructions: http://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress/restore/
Modified because either their phpMyAdmin is older or vice versa. Mine also had an “Import” tab, which I needed to use, plus as the db existed already I had to actually go in and change the mySQL file. Aaargh.
I’m only a wee tech head, not an uber geek.

But I did it. Following the list system. I made a list and checked it thrice. That’s what I’m doing for the rest of travel planning. Mundane lists to follow perhaps. I haven’t made a point here, that I wanted to.
Perhaps the basic message is always the clearest: KISS and take lots of deep breaths.

Days 8-9: How to get better at estimating time

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Of course, I’m being facetious. Even when it comes to estimating how long I’ll be sick for, I’m off.

I think underestimating how long you’ll be sick is healthy however, and allows for the optimism of radiant health to help you get better.  But, underestimating how long a project that you’re being paid for is potentially very bad news indeed.

I’m still sick, not lying in bed, but fuzzy headed and cranky, so not really up for a major analysis. Here are a few thoughts:
Incidentals: When estimating the number of hours something will take, don’t forget the incidentals.

  • CASUAL communication: The 25 emails that take 3 min each to write, but actually took 10 minutes to think about. The 25 emails that were just cursory replies, that took no time to think about, but that took up time nonetheless. Same goes for uploading mockups or any ftping.
  • UNOFFICIAL Review / Problem Solving of Project: This takes a lot of mental time too. That you might be thinking about a client project while walking the dog, taking a shower, doing the NY times crossword puzzle on Sunday morning (with hopefully croissants and jam at the ready). Of course, you have allotted official review  time for  any project you take on. But, I find anyhow, you can’t just shut your brain off while chowing down on croissants. In fact, the unique combination of sugar and fat and the challenge of the NYT puzzle may be just what it takes to bring that shining “AHA” moment into being.  But on your spreadsheet, you forgot to add in that hour.
  • VALUE – Last night I saw a youth symphony perform the Nutcracker. Delightful. The conductor said what a pleasure it was to conduct for young minds for whom it was their first introduction to this music. And that , having performed it over 300 times himself, he liked being on the conducting end better. I don’t know what his salary is, but I bet it’s not only contingent on the 2 hours he conducted that specific concert. The value he brings, is of course, those 300+hours. That’s true for any kind of expertise someone in the design or any services industry brings to a project. Not exactly sure how to quantify value into a number that relates to how much time it takes, but I’ll let you know when I do.
  • Add up how many hours you think it will take and double it. Or, if you’re the type who tends to underestimate, then triple them.

Off to take various vitamins and whatnot to get rid of this congestion.

Cheers,

Days 6-7: time-out

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I’m sick. Some kind of viral infection, inner ear gig which has me dizzy, exhausted and irate.

So, I have to take a time-out to rest. Future topics on the brain:

  1. The Zen and the art of knitting stuff / review of the said Zen motorcycle book
  2. The terribleness of finding out about someone’s death online, or via Facebook
  3. Invisible illnesses and why having a regular cold is comforting.

Off to nap now.