Overcomplexifying

An associate at work came up with the word "overcomplexifying" yesterday to describe the problem solving approach used by some people. I actually found the word "overcomplexify" in the Urban Dictionary. I think the second definition is really funny and too true, but I can't print it in my blog do to some raw language. So click the link and scroll down to the second definition. I think there are four definitions total, but the fourth seemed a bit redundant.

Overcomplexifying is actually so true that it is almost funny, if it weren't so tragic.

Some people have the gift of being able to take simple concepts and make them impossible to understand. 

In retrospect, overcomplexified was how I viewed my day yesterday. I am beginning to loathe Thursdays. They are my busiest day of the week. 

I had meetings at 8, 9, 10, 1030, 11, 12, 1PM and 3 PM. Ugh! I missed the 1030 meeting because I wasn't out of the 1000 meeting yet.

Is it Saturday yet? Maybe I can sleep in until 6 AM and get this week out of my head!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tail lights stretching into the morning fog

I pulled onto the foggy highway yesterday morning in my pick-up truck and was greeted by three rows of red tail lights stretching into the distance as far as I could see driving at a walkers pace.

Traffic was jammed solid. Three lanes across. Trying to survive in the fog.

It took an extra fifteen minutes to get to work, but I arrived alive despite the dense fog which was doing a good imitation of the mist in the movie by the same name.

The fog slowed the traffic and I am sure contributed to many ulcers among drivers who left too late and didn't account for the expected dense traffic conditions. 

We have had a lot of fog lately. The changeable weather has contributed to most of it. Cold ground and warm air. 

Maybe this morning will be better, traffic wise. Less fog and higher speeds.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Family, family, family

Jeremy, Patrick, Dad, and Nicole

I have been reminded this past week of the value of family.

Last evening, we had an unplanned, impromptu dinner with Mom and Dad, Jeremy, Nicole, Lucas and Patrick.

It was awesome for us to be together on Mom and Dad's last evening in Maryland before heading off today for Houston to escapee the cold months. 

Sunday, during the football games, I was able to snap an awesome image of my kids on Dad's lap. Wow. That hasn't happened in a long time. 

Memories. 

It seems to me that sometimes we spend too much time on other people and forget that families are the most important part of life. Yes, I have great friends, and I love them. I think of most of them as family, too. But our problem is that sometimes we place other people (who are not even friends) and activities before family and friends.

Families rock. We just need to spend time together to know that.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Picture on the Milk Carton

I remember when it was fairly common practice to put pictures of missing people on milk cartons. I wonder whatever happened to that practice? It seems milk is now delivered in plastic containers that are made up of mostly empty space and there is no place for a picture.

Antique Milk Bottles

It is kind of sad that we have lost touch with milk cartons. And I remember that before milk cartons there were milk bottles. I remember the bottles, both the half gallon size and the smaller ones that we drank milk from during school. They had little paper caps in the tops that with a small tab on them that I never could seem to manage to get off without pushing them down into my whole milk which usually had a layer of cream on top. Mmmm.

I was given the small sign in the picture this weekend as a remembrance of the milk carton days. It is really very true--I think there are more wine bottles around than milk cartons these days. Maybe we need to place a picture of a milk carton on a wine bottle.

But the truth is, more people of my friends will see a wine bottle than a milk carton. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - January 13, 2014

1. I'm still having some issues remembering that it is 2014. I guess I'm in denial that 2013 ended so abruptly.

2. Birthday celebrations, football celebrations--it was a weekend full of celebrations!  Celebrations are a lot better than the alternative!

Luke, Ethan, and Jax on Dad

3. What is cooler than seeing three of his great-grandsons on my Dad's knee? Now if I only could get them to sit still long enough for a picture.

4. People quibble about the strangest things. If they only could step away and look at the big picture.

5. One of the great things about wine is that there is at least one for everyone's unique tastes.

6. I listened to A-Rod's defense and was amazed. It sounded the same as a child's defense when accused of eating cookies from the cookie jar. You didn't catch me in the act, therefore I didn't do it. I'm glad that in the end, he will be nothing more than a sad footnote in baseball history.

7. On the baseball theme, if A-Rod only got effectively a one year suspension for doing something that definitely affected the outcome of baseball games, why is Pete Rose still suspended for life?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

I Thought Saturday was supposed to be a day off?

My work week, which is at least a classic work week, is a Monday to Friday affair. I use my weekends for relaxing and getting a few small projects done around the house, maybe attending a sporting event or a concert, and going to bed late and getting up later. The operative concept is- that weekends are for relaxing.

That, friends, is only a concept that does not often apply to real life. 

Take yesterday as an example.

The planned day:

9:00 AM - Basketball game - Jax
12:00 Noon - Basketball game - Ethan
4:00 PM - Birthday Party - Lucas
6:30 PM - Annual Wine Club Dinner - Friends

An aggressive schedule for a Saturday.

Wine Club Dinner Table

Now lets look at the actual day:

8:30 AM - Depart for Basketball game
9:00 AM - Basketball Game - Jax
10:30 AM - Unscheduled brake job on Son's vehicle
11:30 AM - Mount and install a large television on the wall in my bedroom
12:00 Noon- Oops, missed the second basketball game and seeing grandson score - Ethan
2:30 PM - Emergency trip to the store for cilantro, chips, pick up medications, and fill the truck up with gas
4:00 PM - Lucas Turns 4 Birthday party!  Yay. Great food and fun. Caught a few minutes of the Seahawks-Saints playoff game.
5:45 PM - Race home, change clothes and head out the door. 
6:30 PM - Wine Club Dinner -- which was awesome!!
10:30 PM - Return home, catch a few minutes of the Patriots-Colts game
11:30 PM - Fall into bed asleep before head hits pillow

I can't wait for Monday so I can go back to work. Lol.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Dad's Birthday--A Celebration

Birthday Cheesecake

Celebrating 86 years, last evening Mom, Chris and I went out for a celebration dinner of Dad's life and health. 

Although it was raining and chilly, it did not dampen the spirit of the celebration as we visited a local eatery and engaged in cell phone free conversation and memory making for over two hours. 

It was interesting to see the restaurant fill up with other diners and then begin to empty as we had chosen the busiest dining hours to enjoy our meal.

Dad Enjoying his Cheesecake

It was a nice, relaxed paced evening for the four of us to enjoy along with more food than we could eat. 

The conversation ambled through many topics of the day, but mostly it was aimed at deepening the ties that bind families together as we appreciate each other's points of view on the topics of the day--carefully avoiding the taboo topics of politics and religion.

The cheesecake, as it turned out, was the hit of the meal! Even Chris got into the spirit of the evening by helping the birthday boy finish his man-sized portion.

Dad and Chris Sharing Birthday Cheesecake

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Ceilings

Sistine Chapel

Have you looked up lately?

I did, yesterday, while sitting in a leadership class. I looked at the ceiling of the classroom and wondered how it could be so abused.

Then I looked at the ceiling in my office when I got back to work.

Yecch!

My Ceiling--A Good One

Dirty and well loved.

I have some ceilings at home that I'm trying to fix--I found out that I am not good at mudding ceilings. It looks pretty bad. Well loved.

I checked out some store ceilings. They sometimes don't even exist. No ceiling at all just the roof overhead with a lot of mechanical "stuff" in between.

Good ceilings should not be noticed. When ceilings become a topic of conversation they are either in poor repair or are something akin to the Sistine Chapel.

Take some time and look up. Then, wonder why?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Cat's in the Cupboard--Too much help

Riordin in the Cupboard

With the impending end of the Christmas Season, we decided to retire out Christmas dished for another year the other day. Little did we know that our faithful Riordin, the cat that came back, would immediately discover a different use for the transitional space. 

Seems that as soon as we removed the Christmas plates he decided to check out the vacant space as new hiding/play area. He seemed quite excited about the prospect of having a secret place off the floor and away from the dog's traffic pattern.

Too bad for him! We had other plans for the space and his occupancy was soon terminated. 

He was no worse for the wear--but we know now that he is searching for a new hideout!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

How Cold Was it?

The thermometer at my house recorded 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit at 7:32 AM on 7 January 2014.

That is how cold it was.

Too cold.

The rain before the cold snap made most of the snow go away and so it is just too cold to think about anything other than how cold it is.

It is warmer this morning. It is 7 degrees. Still single digits.

I guess it is important to recognize how cold it is so that during the summer I can better enjoy the warmth. It is supposed to be 63 degrees here in Saturday. That is 61 degrees warmer than the coldest I recorded during this cold snap. It will feel like summer. It will feel awesome.

I may start up the convertible and take it for an afternoon jaunt, except that it is going to rain.

Weather is and there is little we can do except prepare for it.

I hope you are surviving the cold and for those of your with livestock and outdoor pets, I hope they survived. I talked to one guy yesterday and he said that all he really could do was to bring the animals into the barn where at least they were out do the wind. I guess sharing the kitchen with a goats or chickens or larger livestock is not an option.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD