Too many churches?

I took a long (very long!) scenic route to Florida today, across the fine state of Georgia. Let me say with deep authority that Georgia is one seriously long deep big state. 350 miles later, I crossed into Florida. I stayed completely off the interstates and it was very interesting.

I loved the pace and lack of pressure to go super fast that you have on the crowded interstate highways. The roads were basically empty! Of course this choice of highway requires frequent slow downs and small towns every 15-30 miles were very slow, but that was the whole point, to go slow enough to actually see the countryside and relish it a bit rather, than just barreling down the road at dangerous speeds and competing with other drivers and going insane with people in the passing lane using cruise control!

I have to admit that the towns were much more rundown than I had anticipated, although there were beautiful exceptions, like Madison, GA. But the one overwhelming constant, from top to bottom, were the churches. There are endless churches in rural Georgia. Far more than any other kind of store, brand, type, more than even gas stations! Far more in fact! This was very disturbing.

At first I was glad. Because where I live in the world, there are very very very few churches. But the farther I drove, and the more rundown everything was, the more the plethora of churches began to bother me. Where is the community transformation? Where is the visible impact of these Jesus-following communities? Where is the change that comes from redemption and forgiveness? It was not evident for a stranger driving past their boroughs. On the other hand I may be completely wrong, and things would be much much worse without all these churches?

In the groove

There are days when work feels like work, and days when work feels like pleasure. On the pleasure days, you are firing on all cylinders and you know you are making an important contribution. Your life matters, and all your experience comes into play in the conversations of that day. It is like a wonderful dance where you anticipate the music and the next steps, and so the flow and the elegance of conversation, and significance of the conversation, is so pleasing. It is great to make a contribution to events and processes much bigger than we are alone. I call it, being in the groove!

The cold and the wet of it

Spring in Eastern Europe is a really fickle affair, and from what I understand, the USA is experiencing a similar fate this year. Once you get about half way up the mountain next to our house, it is snow covered! It is simply cold and wet and there is nothing else that could describe it. And not only the weather.

Our experiences related to our aging parents and siblings could be described in exactly the same way. Every action of caring and concerned is seen and interpreted as the opposite. It is a very cold and wet experience. Dismal. Dark. Gray. Wet tears. No fun. No joy. Spring in Eastern Europe as we attempt to love and care for our parents from afar, negotiate with my wife's sisters about dad's care, is a very fickle affair. You never know what the weather is going to be like one day till the next.

This is all related to end-of-life decisions and dignity and who decides. Well let me inform you of one thing we have learned too well - if you don't make the decisions ahead of time about your end-of-life decisions, then someone other than you WILL make them, and you probably (read certainly) won't like what they decide for you. If you don't want a wet and cold experience at the end of your life, then you better make some decisions today.

Crashes number 2, day number three.

I am a little flabbergasted at how much the loss of my computer has thrown me off my workflow. I am thinking that I need to make sure I regularly work on the iPad and have an equal workflow in place here, as well as the laptop. On the other hand, I could have duplicated the workflow on the desktop computer - but why didn't I?

This is actually an important question! After thinking about it a great deal today, I have come to the conclusion that I become so involved in actually working, that I forgot about the beautiful structure underneath that keeps that workflow moving so seamlessly. In my humble opinion, that is the beautiful simplicity of owning a Mac. It has been my steady and consistent experience these last 10 years of having Macs rather than PC. I just take for granted all that is going on in the background, making my work days possible … until a crash happens.

I clearly need some redundancy here, and need to motivate myself to make this happen as I develop the actual workflows. Make certain that it is happening on at least two machines at all times, make certain that a failure on one machine, will not equal a failure of process and production. But the urgency and excitement of the immediate work thus far, has prevented me from successfully doing this, and it is something that needs change.

From a leadership point of view, we have to think of these actions as preservation of a future value, as ownership in the stock in our company, keeping the output working into the foreseeable timeframe ahead of us, as responsible actions of invested people. May there never be a “next time.”

crashes

You never actually appreciate some things fully, until you have to do without them. That happened to us when we moved to Russia 20 years ago and learned to live without always-available water, electricity and heat (water is by far the most difficult to not have always-available). And over the years we have also learned to drive less, walk far more, live in smaller spaces, live the night life, be less time conscious (in a less-American way), among other things.

This week though, yesterday in fact, I had something happen, that has not occurred for over 10 years - my computer crashed. I mean it died a complete and significant death. Can't use it at all, is now a paper-weight, kind of crash. I just have never had this happen to me in my Apple world, until yesterday. Fortunately I am heading to the states in 10 days and so I can get it repaired, but unfortunately I am not heading to the states for 10 days!

It is amazing how much you don't realize where your work is centered, in terms of tools, until you are scrambling to get those tools back in other ways!

Perhaps I should examine my work processes more carefully, and think "crash!" and what that would mean, as a precautionary work of implications? By the way, I have a current backup of my computer, but I just don't have a hard drive (evidently) any longer, onto which it can be restored. So what other processes, tools, and methods need some redundancy in my work, and in yours?  

Here is to crashes and the lessons they may teach us.

Why being cheated bothers us so much

As someone who has been living abroad for most of the last 20 years, I think it is safe to say that I have been cheated far more than the average person. Since I am “the foreigner” it is like I have a golden bullseye on both my forehead and in the center of my back which makes everyone feel complete freedom to take advantage of me as much as possible as frequently as possible. This is not the cheating on a test, or the passing to the front of the line without waiting like everyone else, or even the paying too much for a competitive opportunity.

No I am talking about the systematic and automatic reaction that non-Westerners have to Westerners. They perceive me to be both stupid and rich (how they reconcile a person being both at the same time is beyond me), and thus fair game for any possible overcharge, extra payment, etc etc. When we lived in Russia, there was a local charge, and a foreigner charge, with the foreigner charge being at least double what the locals pay. Here in Asia, even at the temples, there is a charge for foreigners to enter, but no charge for the locals. Taxis quadruple their prices, vendors double the cost of their goods, when groups go out the foreigner is expected to pay every time, and this gets old very very very quickly! It has been my life for 20 years.

In fact, one of my “friends” tried to double his money at my expense yesterday! So what is really going on? Well first of all, when a taxi driver in Istanbul charges me $30 to drive me one kilometer it is plain and simple extortion. But that is unusual even for me. So it is not extortion most of the time, but rather that I actually CAN afford to pay so much more than the locals. I actually am so much richer than the locals - and I resist. I don't want to acknowledge or admit or live with the daily shame that I am far richer than most of the people I live among and work with on a daily basis. Second of all, in my home country I am on the poorer side of the scale, and so inside myself, I feel poor too! I hate that I am expected to pay more than the locals I live among - and that is my problem - not theirs.

Ex-pats argue that they have far more expenses than do the locals, that they have to live in (at least) two worlds at the same time (their host country and the country that they come from - and I actually currently live on three continents!). This is true to a point. Ex-pats argue that the more money they lose the less they have to give. This too is true to a point. But the reality that we don't want to own up to is that we are far richer than we admit, and we usually want to pay the local going rates for all services and products. It ain't gonna happen any time soon.

The flow of life, making it matter

There is a flow to life on the road that is very different than the flow of life when you are largely stationary in one location most of the time. The flow to life on the road is filled with hurry up and wait. Starts and stops. Standing sitting or walking are determined by the mode of transportation or the limitations of your transportation. Most of your choices are punted away in favor of getting from A to B in the most timely or cost effective way possible. It takes a different attitude to navigate this flow on the road with finesse and panache. This attitude is one of delicate anticipation of all the variables that travel can throw at you whether on the open highway, or in the airport or at the train station. The more Western or rich Asian your situation, the more dependable or predictable the variables. The more Eastern, poor Asian or Slavic the situation, the less predictable the variables in my opinion. But you have to keep a good attitude and know that no matter what happens, it makes sense to someone, or it wouldn't be happening. Now whether or not it makes sense to YOU is another story altogether.

The flow of life at home or a long term stationary point is completely different. You are far less vulnerable to the whims and arcane rules and ideas of someone else. You can set your own schedule and expectations. You can make choices that are impossible if you are on the road. You can predict with a high degree of certain events and schedules and expectations coming your way. A calendar is even possible!

But regardless of which life you find yourself in at the moment, it is your one and only life. Live it well, create, build, shape and design. Make a life that is worth living! Make the best of your flow!