Disjointed Kitsch

Monday 02/20/2006

Took advantage of the “Welcome Breakfast” here at the resort. Basically it was an introduction to the staff and activity hightlights for the week followed by the obligitory pitch for touring their new resort, “Surf Watch“. The “Breakfast” was coffee, OJ, danish and bagels served “poolside” at 9 AM on an overcast day. As an added bonus I won one of the “door prizes”: A “Surf Watch” visor! I declined the invitation for a sales pitch at SurfWatch.

Took some time to walk down to the beach and capture some photos. It was a rather lonly beach due to the weather. I imagine the summer time just has this place packed. Back in the villa I straightened up, distributed clean towels, cleaned up from last night, made coffee for Yvette and sat down to finish off “Sins of the Father” by Lawrence Block, my new favorite author.

At 10:45 I woke Hannah to remind her about her “Shark Tooth Necklace” class at 11:30 AM in the Crows Nest. She had a bit of breakfast and we went over. For $5 you get a lanyard necklace with clasp, 1 shark’s tooth and 6 beads. Took all of 15 minutes. Hannah had a good time. Mostly families with smaller children. Hannah was about the oldest non-adult there. She’s at that “in-between” stage of acting like a young lady AND a child. I’m cherishing these days since I won’t seem them again.

Had some lunch when we returned and then Yvette, Hannah and I set out for some shopping. When we went to WalMart yesterday we spotted an “The Mall” at Shelter Cove. Deceided to return today. No Pheasant Lane or Holyoke, but nice. A few speciality shops, but nothing get too excited about.

Across the way was a TJ Max, a liquor store and a “Piggly Wiggly” market. This was a must stop. Yvette needed a TJ Max fix and I need a bottle of Scotch for the rest of the week, given that this was the first day I could actaully purchase liquor in a retail setting. One of these days these old “blue laws” will be gone and people can purchase whatever they want when they want. At any rate I found the “Cigar Malt” scotch that I like, which then ment I’d need.. a cigar.

Lit out for the “Coligny Plaza” to wander the shops and pick up some late lunch/early dinner. We walked around for a bit and decided on “Big Bamboo”, but it didn’t open until 4 PM. We ate at “Steamers Seafood Company” instead and muched on Fried Shrimp and Oysters. They hit the spot.

Back to the villa and time for more reading and a nap. Grilled burgers on one of the numerious gas grills provided by the resort. Met a nice gentleman from Mississippi who was vacationing here with his wife and 80 year-old in-laws. Bless him!

We all tuned in for our favorite TV program, “House” after which I took a scotch and soda and the next Lawrence Block book, “Time To Murder and Create”, down to the down to the hot tub. There were a few other couples down there but it was relatively quiet, except for the drainage system within the hot tub. Man what a racket.

Back in the room by 10 PM when the tubs closed down and was in bed by 10:30 PM all worn out by shopping and the hot tub. Hope tommorrow is warmer and there is more sun.

Saturday, 02/18/2006

Completed necessary chores before going. Rick picked us up in the Suburban around 1:30 PM and we were off to Logan. Arrived in plenty of time to check in, have an early dinner, move through security and be at the gate 45 minutes before boarding. This was our first time flying AirTran so we didn’t quite know what to expect from them. Push-back was roughly “on-time”. The full flight to Baltimore was smooth and uneventful. We were not scheduled to change planes, but a “tail swap” by AirTran necessitated a change in schedule. Although we had no problems boarding the new flight to Charlotte, we were about 30 minutes delayed in leaving Baltimore. The full flight to Charlotte was uneventful, but we got in later than scheduled at 9:40 PM. Getting our bags took almost 30 minutes, so we didn’t clear the airport until about 10:15 PM

Dollar rent-a-car picked us up right away which was great since the weather in Charlotte was quite cool and breezy, although I’m sure it wasn’t a cold and windy as Keene at that hour. It took a while at the rental counter since the Jeep Grand Cherokee wasn’t ready when we got there. We had our doubts about getting our 5 bags plus golf club bag in the back, but we made it fit. Left the parking lot around 11 PM with a 4-5 hour drive ahead of us to Hilton Head Island.

After a few minutes of trying to find an open fast food joint in Charlotte, we gave up and hit 77 South. We eventually found a Wendy’s with an open drive-through at around 11:30 PM. 77 South dumped us onto 26 East in Columbia and we followed that until is intersected with 95 South. Stayed on 95 South until exit 8, where we picked up US Route 278 East into Hilton Head. Got turned around a few times on the island looking for the Marietta “Welcome Center”, but we did find it. Checked in about 3:45 AM and were in our room around 4 AM. We quickly hit the bed. Quite a long day.

Sunday, 02/19/2006

Slept until about 10:30 AM. Organized our belonging and checked out the villa. It’s quite a large complex and the villas are equally spacious. Large entry area with the smaller of the two bedrooms just off the entryway to the left. Washer and dryer in a utility room on the right. Also on the left is an entrance to the smaller of the two bathrooms - shower, sink, etc. Down the hall and the villa opens up in to a spacious kitchen, with a bar eating area and a 6 person table beyond. The living room area is just beyond that. Deck area is off the living room. To the right off the living room is the master bedroom with a Jacuzzi style bath tub, double sinks, and a shower stall. The “bathroom area take up more than half of the master bedroom room area.

The villa we are in is well appointed. Furnishings are well maintained, with a few exceptions - 1 chair in living room sits odd, a few of the drawers in the dresser stick and the master bedroom closet sticks. There appears to be some rather serious water damage in the master bath area around the lower part of the door frame that leads to the toilet area. However, when that door is open, the damage is not noticeable. The kitchen is fully equipped with a stove, microwave, refrigerator, dish-washer, double-well sink, utensils, dishes, etc.. A blender, toaster and coffee maker round it all out.

Each bedroom has a television in addition to the TV in the living room area. The living room TV has a DVD player hook up. Grant was able to hook up his PS2 to the television in the room he and Hannah are staying in. There is also wireless internet access!

As a trade-off for the washer and dryer in the unit, there is no housekeeping service. We’re responsible for washing towels, making beds and taking out trash. Different levels of housekeeping services can be purchased for a nominal “daily” charge, ranging from $9/day for trash removal and fresh towels, to $40/day for the “works”. I think I can keep up with the trash, towels, and cleaning for a week. This is in contrast to our stays in Cancun and Hawaii where housekeeping was included with the resort visit.

Kids were up by 11 AM and Hannah and I went off exploring the resort around 12:30 PM. We walked the resort sidewalks and visited ever pool and hot tub in the complex (4 outdoor pools, 1 heated; 1 heated indoor pool and hot tub; 5 heated outdoor hot tubs). There are a number of gas grills available for use, a fitness room, bike rentals, a putting green, beach access, and out door dining and drinking spots, although the outdoor refreshment areas were closed in February.

Not having stocked the kitchen yet, we opted to visit the “on site” store, which includes a Pizza Hut. We opted to get a couple of pizzas for our 2 PM lunch. Yvette, Hannah and I took off for Walmart and Publix, returning at 4:30 PM with our supply for the week.

We all “crashed” when we got back. Hannah and I went to the putting green around 5:30 PM but didn’t stay too long. The cold wind and cool temperatures were a bit bracing for being out. The day was actually in the mid-50’s for most of the day, but the chilly wind made a light jacket a “must have”.

Today it was necessary to decide not to update a set of code in order to make it backwards-compatible with a new system. The estimate to fix the code was 3 weeks. The work to fix this at the source had been done. That took care of 98% of the issue. It wasn’t a hard decision to not invest the 3 weeks and fix the remaining 2% at the source.

I had my doubts about not investing the time, however. Oh, it was clear that I was inviting legacy to make a home in the code, but it’s nice to say we’re “backwards compatible”. I’m glad I made the decision the way I did. I’m glad I asked the questions I asked in order to get a clear picture. I’m glad I “abandoned” the work and had the resource move on to other things.

My “Drucker” reading for today talked about “abandonment” in mostly the same context. From a business point of view we need to be able to shake off the unproductive/unnecessary work and systems and position our best resources in work that invites new growth/opportunities. Applied to the larger company we need to make sure that we purposefully abandon outdated activity before its resource consumption disables new growth.

I was struck by Drucker’s thoughts on “Organizational Inertia”. Although it was pointed at “non-profits” and their inability to stop doing “anything” vs. “for-profits” and the market feedback that necessitates stopping unprofitable business, a certain amount of what he says can apply to all institutional processes either “for” or “non” profit and rings of the “Golden Hammer” syndrome.

In my line of work it is quite common to set up agreed upon processes for performing tasks when more than one department is involved. Often one department sets up the process for the other departments to follow, mainly because that department manages a critical resource that’s involved in the process. This in and of itself is not bad. It enables us to get the work done in a predictable manner. What happens, however, is that process become a “Golden Hammer” for the other departments. They will apply (and abuse) that process to any other task that comes along that looks like it should fit from their perspective. The managing department is never consulted as to the new application of the existing process. Hence, the ability of a “for-profit” intuition to stop using a successful process is not limited by market feedback (i.e. revenue). Only if that process impacts the bottom line does it become a concern (in a “for-profit” setting).

The missing element seems to be a “feedback” loop (which is what revenue is for a “for-profit”). Instead of applying the same process to new problems, a discussion should take place on the application of the existing process to a new situation with all interested parties. Certainly this will take longer than “just doing it”, but in the long run, the right system will be built or adapted for the right process and for the right reasons.

Got myself “The Daily Drucker” for Christmas and hope to read at least one entry each day. The first three were about “Integrity” (Jan 1), “Identifying the Future” (Jan 2) and the “need for Management” (Jan 3).

The one on “Identifying the Future” was interesting (I’m guessing this is a rather notable quote from him since it was mentioned in the intro). It’s not about how accurately you predict change, but how you react to the “change in the current future” in terms of using that change to create new opportunities. It’s a way of looking at and reacting to change. You can either get rolled over by it or look at it as an catalyst for creating opportunities.

The “Indispensable Management” reading was also interesting in that it’s the first definition of Management that I’ve read. I found myself once again in the position of using a term that I though I knew the definition for. I never really looked it up. For Drucker, Management is:

…the organ of society specifically charged with making resource productive, that is, with the responsibility for organized economic advance

Having been in “management” for 5 years now, it’s the first time I’ve really looked at my position in the company, put the definition next to it and realized that I’m not putting a lot of effort into making my folks “economically productive” for the company. I’ve been making them work together as a team, to be better developers, to advance their knowledge and build their skill sets, but those don’t always line up with being economically productive. There’s more to it and I’ll need to figure that out.

Taking these first 3 reading together (Integrity, Change, and Indispensable Management) it’s important that the organization “see” the integrity with which management responds to changing conditions. The level of integrity that is shown at each and every critical change point has a direct impact on how economically productive the organization continues to be (or not be) during that time of change. If change happens often (as it does in the software business), then the level of integrity must be on display often.

Right now the company is in a time of change. Acquiring new business and attacking new markets with new product introduces ripple changes across the board. The integrity I show my team during this time will influence how “economically productive” they are during this time period. It won’t be the only factor, but it will be an important one.