Ouch

The Kindle International will not be available in a few countries. Singapore proudly joins that list.

Ouch.

Bind

I am in a bind about bound books. The Kindle goes international. Question for self: Is it that I love books? Or, is it that I love reading? Or, both?

As it was pointed out to me, there is a subtle difference. The neon signs always say Books, Music, Cafe. Not Books, CDs, Cafe.

For now, let me say Woohoo !!!

Presence

Here I am again, writing a tribute to a colleague. This time, it's not about someone who is leaving. But, about someone who is present, just the right way.

I could say that I am largely pleased with my job. Its outcomes are within the reach of my abilities, yet I do have to stand on tiptoe and reach out over my head, once in a while. It puts what I know to good use, yet requires me to look out the window once in a while, to pick up a different point of view and to spot something new. It excites me without making me obsess about it. It keeps me occupied without becoming my preoccupation. It keeps me on the rails to where I tend to vaguely point as my career destination. It pays the bills and some.

Then, there is someone who takes all this and makes it all the more worthwhile. This person: trusts me; believes me; believes in me; likes to teach me; wants to learn from me; cheers for me; chides me; rudely wakes me up when I start to doze off on my feet; leaves me to my work; congratulates me on a job well done; is a bit like me; thinks like me; knows what I am thinking; reminds me to stretch out a little bit; convinces me that I can achieve more by stretching out a little bit; watches out for me; protects me; challenges my ideas; opens up my perspectives; tells me that I am doing well; knows that I am not happy with just doing well; gives me opportunities; gives me second chances... in many ways, is the most important person at work.

In these difficult times, that is a little more than I could reasonably hope for. And, a lot more than I should be allowed to waste.

Underwater

I am so happy that I have resumed diving - after a four-year break. Tioman is beautiful, and the five dives over the weekend were great. More importantly, they were incident-free; except the first dive where I made an uncontrolled ascent. Fortunately, I did not panic, I continued breathing and I was more amused than anxious. It was actually funny to look down at my dive buddies trying to find me, while I was gently drifting up away from them, trying to get their attention, with no way of contacting them.

We were even fortunate enough to spot turtles on the last dive.

I made some interesting acquaintances, and listened to some interesting stories. The weather was perfect, except on the way home. We rode a private speedboat across the open sea, in pouring rain, with apocalyptic lightning and thunderbolts all round. We waited on a park bench for two hours for a chartered bus that never came.

Diving has a sedative effect. An intoxicating effect, even. It gives you the space that you crave for every moment of your cramped life, and fills that space with perfect aquamarine and beautiful sealife. It leaves you suspended in every dimension. It makes you feel like you are performing only the basic functions - breathing, being present, existing. I did not take easily to water in the beginning. Now, I thrive underwater. The Great Barrier Reef, here I come.

Underwater. Is how my fiance's family found their house over the weekend. A particularly strong typhoon, record rainfall in decades and eight feet under. Cherished property, irreversibly damaged. Precious keepsakes, irretrievably lost. Fortunately, that was the total extent of the damage. The house will live again. The home will return.

Nature's fury continues. The Philippines. Viet Nam. American Samoa. Underwater.

Disruption

In the year of our Lord 2009, or the year of the gasoline-powered automobile 123, a reputable energy research firm writes, "Petroleum will still be the dominant fuel for the transportation sector 25 years from now. No truly disruptive technologies are yet on the horizon, and today’s alternative fuels and technologies can only gain market share slowly owing to the slow turnover of the capital stock of cars, trucks, and airplanes that use petroleum." Fair enough.

Nevertheless, I am very worried. I work in the oil business. I know how to operate machinery that makes gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel from petroleum. My fiance's skills are not very different from mine. If the prediction above turns out to be just wishful thinking, we can kiss our careers good-bye.

One well-regarded business personality, Andy Grove, has suggested that gasoline and automobiles are headed for a divorce. Another rather dynamic business personality, Shai Agassi, has made it his life's mission to help that divorce along on its way, through Better Place. The sage of Omaha has at some point invested in BYD.

I am beginning to be convinced. One really smart or really persistent inventor comes up with a cheap, long-range battery, and the gasoline house comes tumbling down. Even otherwise, today's batteries will grow into cheap, long-range batteries over time. Electrification moves the pollution from an untamable mass of individual voters to a power plant that you can point at and shoot. It comes with potential improvements in efficiency of energy use, carbon capture and carbon subsitution. It is easier to build a solar power plant than to put a solar panel on everybody's car. Guilty drivers who can afford it will gleefully swap a smoky tailpipe for a zero-emission battery electric.

Something is afoot. Our kids will drive to their jobs in cars that are very different. Perhaps, we will drive to our jobs in cars that are very different. Perhaps, my fiance and I will need jobs that are very different.

Anybody buying the Tesla Roadster?

Focus

Start Task A; Work on Task A; Finish Task A;
Start Task B; Work on Task B; Finish Task B;
Start Task C... and so on.

That would be ideal.

vs. Start Task A; Check email; Work on Task A; Reply to email; Start Task B; Work on Task A; Work on Task B; Check news; Start instant message conversation; Check email; Start Task B (oops, I have already done that); Blog a bit; Finish Task A... and so on.

And, that is a skill that I need to pick up soon.

Compliment

She thinks I am a cockroach. I am always there.