Man Caves and other middle aged things

They creep up on you, those “middle aged guy” things. Seeping into your life. Maybe examples will help.

  • Coffee addiction
  • Sore lower back
  • Exercising for fitness reasons
  • Listening to jazz or classical music

One massive desire I have is for a room to be used by me as a place to relax and pursue hobbies away from the rest of the family. I want a Man Cave really bad.

With this realisation I concede to middle age. Now excuse me while i spend my day grumbling about what’s on the radio, and discussing the state of politics.

Not really. But my back is sore. And I do want that man cave.

Co-ordinating technology

I feel anxious about technology that is not co-ordinated.

I feel this at a personal level with my phone if it doesn’t sync with my laptop. Apple’s ecosystem thrives on this angst. Buy the Iphone then you have to buy the Ipad and the laptop and the TV just to make sure everything is in sync.

Lately I have taken on some more operational tasks at the day job and I feel the angst at a company level now! Co-ordinating people on tech is like herding cats. Nobody is using the same system. Nobody else seems to feel the angst!

Microsoft, Google, Apple are playing tugofwar with our company’s attention and resources. Some hard and fast decisions need to be made – but they can’t have too much of an impact on operations or clients.

Herding. Cats.

Series complete

I am celebrating completing my first mini series of podcasts! I have learned a lot about how to set up an interview and how to make it sound decent. I am proud I followed through on publishing one a week for a month.

I have really enjoyed talking to some interesting people in my network of friends. Exploring their stories has given me a creative outlet where I had none. I need to continue!

I plan to have plenty more podcast episodes in the future, and I will keep writing here on weekdays in the meantime while I plan.

I even managed to upload the feed to iTunes Spotify and Pocket Casts so you can search for chimpwithcans and listen there!

If anyone has any suggestions for me after hearing my podcasting efforts I am all ears. I have already been told I grunt too much and continually interrupt the guest with my “mmhmm” and “yep” habits!

Anyways, I love the process.

Viva podcasts.

Complicated or Complex?

The two words are often used interchangeably, which is wrong.

If a system is complex, it means it has many components in the system. The complexity makes it hard to apply any hard and fast rules for problem solving. Think of a large company or organisation.

If a system is complicated it can be hard to solve, but they are addressable with rules and recipes. Think of a machine.

My next guest on the podcast, Dan Rogatschnig, did a masters degree specialising in this stuff and he laid it out for us during our chat.

Come and have a listen on Friday.

Systems thinking

The next guest on my podcast has not one but two masters degrees.

I worked with Dan for a couple of years in a corporate, and since then I have always been curious about his LinkedIn bio which reads as follows: “Thinking in curved lines of interdependence rather than straight lines of causality”

I pinned Dan down recently to explain himself. We had a nice long chat which I will release on Friday as the fourth episode in my podcast series.

Valentines day post

Or as my daughter puts it: “Ballet-tines day” – she wants to wear a leotard and tutu all day in honor of this special occasion. I’m sticking with my shirt and pants combo.

Valentines day is supposed to be romantic.

So is travel to a far away land. More so, when you travel to be with the person you love. Alas, it is not all sunsets and roses.

Tune in to the podcast tomorrow to see how Rachel has managed a massive move from Africa to Scandinavia.