Somebody Else's Problem

It’s amazing how differently I look at problems these days. When I hear that a new complicated test is to be fielded in September 2007, I immediately wonder what I am going to be doing in that time frame. The responsibility for the test will be someone else’s. So while others around the table are getting those inevitable tense strained looks on their faces, I am slipping into fantasy land.

Let’s see... by September I hope to have a major trip in the making. Maybe Patagonia around the end of the year when it’s warm in the Southern Hemisphere. Maybe I’ll renew some of my old contacts in Chile and stop through Santiago on the way down, introducing David to one of my favorite countries in the whole world. That might mean the need for brushing up on my Spanish. Why not?

We are getting structured to death in my office. I’m a firm believer in minimal bureaucracy, just the infrastructure that is absolutely necessary to get the work done. But instead they are inventing new titles for things we’ve been doing all along. So when the urgent need to identify a "Data Custodian" came up, I said to my colleague, "I guess it’s you since I’m out of here." There will probably be a weekly meeting of data custodians added to the already overburdened schedule of meetings. I see the whole organization getting tied up in bureaucratic knots. But I am figuring out how to disentangle myself from the bureaucracy – to cut myself free. What a good feeling.

My biggest order of business is scheduling lunch these days. I put out the call to "do lunch" with those I care about. It has been so heartening to hear back from all these people. My "lunch card" is quickly getting filled up between here and May 3.

I love being a short-timer. I love counting down the days!