5 Days to Lift Off

When I was a kid, my dad was scout master. We went on hikes at least once a month (or so it seems.) He taught me not to look up hill when I hiked. Just take one step at a time and soon you will be at the top, looking down at the long-windy path you just climbed. That's what I've been doing for the past two months. This hill is so steep that it leaves me breathless. And now I'm nearly at the top. And, of course, I've been reflecting.



When I return from India, I won't be talking to all my friends on the phone every day. Yes, those poor, often angry people who call with computer problems are my friends. A friend in need is a friend in deed. That must be why I consider them my friends. Each conversation lately has been the last. But, because I've been just putting one foot in front of the other, it hasn't sunk in until today. Sad for the moment, but they will forget about us and I will be finding new friends.



Other than reflecting, I've been buying. Part of the steps up the hill have been preparing for 11 weeks away from home and familiar things. My purchases have been from the mundane (new clothes) to the sublime (a new camera) to the silly (a book bag full of chocolate.) First the silly: Suresh and Teena love chocolate and say the chocolate in India is not as good as what they can buy here. I love chocolate! They also just drink beer and hard stuff, not much wine. No chocolate, no red wine! Wine is too heavy to haul over there, but chocolate... that's a different matter. The woman who sold me the bars of Valrona and Scharffenberger and others thought I was crazy and was sure I was going to rush to the car and stuff the 3 dozen chocolate bars into my face. The goal is to make it last for 11 weeks. Or the duration of the flight.


The new camera is great. I took two pictures at work yesterday to try it out. This is the funny one that got me started about thinking about, really thinking about, leaving The Times. This goofy child is my great niece with goofy glasses. I say hello to her every morning when I turn on my computer. Nothing like a smile to get your day started right.



The second picture was of Dean. He graciously sat for a photo while we discussed how he cannot be sick in the month of April and will keep Bill informed about the health of the Help Desk while I'm away. Do you see this portion of my office? I like the holes in the wall. This was a series of offices and we really wanted to keep track of each other. It helps when problems occur in the network, you can hear bits of other's conversations. We became much more effective with holey walls.
So, 5 days until my plane leaves for India. Time to review the final documentation written by the guys from IBM, time to test the infrastructure from India to here, time to make sure that the new employee (from IBM) set up process has all the elements that I can help provide, time to make sure that the Citix environment that IBM will be using has all the elements that I can help provide, time to say good-bye to everyone. 5 days is not much time.