Musings, Vol 2
September 08, 2020
- A personal deadline is an arbitrary date that must be ignored if at all possible. An internal deadline, as in to your organization, is an arbitrary date that can be ignored, but only if no one else knows about it. An external deadline is an arbitrary internal date that somehow got out, and must be obeyed at all costs.
- When one is getting started on a new project, it is often a good thing to lower expectations. Over time, expectations should increase in proportion to the amount of mastery one sees in the new project. At no point is it useful to use high expectations as a bludgeon.
- Some activities are fun now and painful later; some are painful now and fun later; some are fun now and fun later; and others are painful now and painful later. Where possible, it is best to choose activities that are either fun now and fun later, or painful now and fun later. In some cases, pain cannot be avoided. In some cases, pain is a part of the fun.
- At the time of this writing, there is no small doubt that the current president of the United States will attempt to maintain his office no matter what this fall. I could not have believed such a thing were possible ten years ago. Or even, possibly, one year ago. Now it seems naive to have ever believed otherwise.
- During a worldwide epidemic, when it is complicated or impossible to see people that I love, I should not expect myself to be having the time of my life. That said, while this time is shitty, there are some things I can do to make it less shitty. Or at least, not shittier.
- Unspoken expectations are evil. In other words, when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.