It seems like everywhere I look impediments have been erected to keep me from getting my work done. I have grown weary of the rules obviously meant to keep me from working my very contented life away. Sure some folks do need to be told to put their cell phones down and drive and others need to be told to sit in their tubs with toasters, but I think we are all wasting a great resource if we don’t try to refine how we can use the productivity tools we have. I have become an iPhone junkie!
Someone needs to stop all those “Rose Sniffers” from telling me to slow down. I find myself shooing them off like chickens in a barn yard. IF I SLOW DOWN I WILL LIKELY FALL ASLEEP, hell I’m old what else do I have to do? I mean, I lived through the 60s, 70s, 80’s and 90s I have seen and done everything so stop telling me to slow down and smell the roses. I have smelled every damn Rose, Poppy, Herb and odor there is on this planet, so stop honking at me when I am composing emails on my iPhone while driving down the highway. With my iPhone I can listen to my music and carry on a conversation while composing an email and driving 80 miles an hour still balancing my cup of tea on my knee all at the same time. “Rose Sniffers” should be impressed that at my advanced age I can still talk without drooling, much less do all the above while off my medications! I am impressed by the technology and would hate for it to go to waste. Hell if I don’t use it who will! Do “Rose Sniffers” want me to start carrying pockets full of change, pulling over to use pay phones to get business done like they did in the 50s? It’s true that most phone booths do smell but there are never any roses planted near them.
This past week I was playing golf at the DuPont Country Club a really great course I have wanted to play for years (HELLO, it was supposed to be my day off). I warned my threesome that I would miss a hole or two on a conference call so they should continue to play on as I rode along in my golf cart. When the call came in I put my headset on and thought I was done playing for the next 2 or 3 holes. I was easily connected to my boss Charles on Victoria Street in London along with the rest of the crew and a large Cisco partner from San Jose. After listening in on the call via my iPhone for a bit I decided I could mute the call and continue to play; basically sneaking in a few holes. I teed off and actually landed nicely onto a par three green. I was pleased by my work. I proceeded to par the hole and felt great; this was going to be easy. At the next hole I was faced with a long par four. I was still listening to the call and teed off again landing in the deepest bunker ever built outside of Scotland. As I began to rappel down into the grand canyon of all sand traps I was distracted by a comment made by our host in San Jose, tripped on a rake and stumbled into the hole (landing on my pride). This tumble was accompanied by catcalls from my group, thankfully I had the mute on as I returned several profanity laced retorts. After picking myself up I proceeded to prepare for knocking my ball out of the sand. Beginning my backswing I was asked a question about numbers of available CCIEs in California. This question took my attention away from my swing and I threw sand up on the green while my ball remained in the sand trap with me. After three more attempts I finally hit the green and scored a triple bogie. Since I was still flirting with breaking 90, I took it all in stride. I went on to the next hole still feeling very positive, I mean come on; here I was playing golf and making money at the same time. I moved on to the next hole a tough par 5. I was really disappointed to see my ball sail into the next deepest bunker in the world. I was delighted (as I connected my rappelling harness in preparation to descend into the next bunker) to hear my conference call come to an end. We seem to have won the deal and I went on to enjoy my game, as if I had never been interrupted. I think a “Rose Sniffer” might think I was pushing the edge of envelope and should have taken my day off to unwind and relax. They probably would not understand the altar in my back yard dedicated to sacrificing small animals when I am working on really tough deals either.
Recently I wrote about receiving emails inviting me to attend a CCIE party at Networkers. I was in my car minding my own business driving down interstate 95, when I heard the chime on my iPhone demanding that I read an email. I put my PDA in the middle of my steering wheel and engaged the cruise control. I really hate it when the folks using their cell phones cannot keep up to speed so I decided to nip that one in the butt and continue on with business. Next thing I knew I was on an exit ramp going 75 miles an hour. What the heck happened? It was only a slight distraction which resulted in no loss of life, but that’s a story for another time…
Work Work Work, cheers!