When I was a teenager my family took a vacation in Pitlochry, Scotland – which was beautiful and amazing… except for the day we went mountain biking. The uphill part was okay. I mean, it was exhausting as you might expect, but otherwise passed uneventfully. No, it turns out the downhill is the tough part… Continue Reading
Network Ops
The Delicates of Delegation: Managing Like You’re Doing Laundry
I have a hard time doing laundry. In our family the laundry isn’t really assigned to any particular person – it’s just handled by whoever happens to get around to it. Or who gets the most desperate. I usually wait until the last possible minute, and then I am faced with a decision – do… Continue Reading
My unexpected trip to the ER – why expertise matters
Thursday February 9 started out as a pretty normal day. Our team gathered for our daily video call to compare notes on current work and then I began catching up on my overnight email. So far so good, but then I suddenly found that I couldn’t see properly. I wasn’t sure exactly what was wrong,… Continue Reading
Millennials are scared of phone calls
I recently read an article about a lady who “charges $480 an hour to help Gen Z and millennial workers overcome their fear of talking on the phone”. That’s an eye-catching headline, but on reflection I’m not surprised that this is a problem. I’m slightly too old to be a millennial, so I grew up… Continue Reading
Chess Boxing – yes, this is real
Would it surprise you to learn that I like playing chess? Probably not. I mean, I’m a nerdy English guy, and what’s more nerdy than chess? When I was growing up we had a grand total of 4 TV channels in England, and in 1993 one of those four channels presented live coverage of the… Continue Reading
Moonikins and MOPs
In September I had the privilege to attend a lecture at Duke University given by Dr Ehsan Samei, who last week had the unusual experience of watching his work get launched into space. One of my daughters is a space enthusiast, and so we pay close attention to anything that NASA is doing, and last… Continue Reading