My Baby’s Got a New Pair of Shoes!

Shoes have impacted my life on more than one occasion and for more than one reason. One of the early stories I remember my mother telling me about the Depression included shoes. She said that growing up on a farm during the Depression wasn’t too bad because each year they got a new pair of shoes, a new dress and always had enough food! Some kids came to school with lard sandwiches and shoes lined with paper to plug the holes in their soles, but not my moms family.
Later in life, I saw shoe ownership become a limiting factor for children who wanted to attend school in many of the countries in which I have worked. This summer, the pastor of a local church raised enough money to provide new shoes for all the students attending a particular school in Kenya. Injecting shoes into the local economy is like injecting cash. You can bet that the shoes will be worn by someone until they are worn right out.

Although there are some, few people in Canada have to worry about being able to afford shoes. My daughter, however, has been unable to wear shoes for more than four years because of nerve damage. Summers are not so bad; capris and open-backed shoes are right in style then, but when it is forty below, they are not so stylish. More importantly, driving around the prairies in such flimsy attire in the middle of winter is just plain dangerous!
After more than four years of trying pills, creams, and therapy, she still hasn’t been able to get into shoes. At one point, I suggested a brace, but the product from the physio lab just didn’t work. This past Monday night, my daughter and I took a stab at creating one ourselves. Years of molding airplanes has given me some knowledge of fiberglass, carbon fiber and molding agents. Two evenings, some plaster of Paris and various resins and fibers later, we had a prototype as a concept-prover.
Here we have the lacing up of the first pair of real shoes to go on my daughter’s feet in over four years! She made it through half a day in the shield, but even more importantly, we have a new concept to try that will, I’m sure, lead to a more normal life and definitely to warmer feet!
So, here’s to a new start ‘cuz my baby’s got a new pair of shoes!

Running With the Herd

I first attended AutoDesk University (AU) in 2001. I remember walking into the registration area at the MGM Grand hotel in Vegas and looking around at all the other people wandering in to register. What I observed was that, for the most part, they were kinda middle-aged, kinda fat and kinda badly dressed, and I thought to myself, “Oh my God, I’m home!” The conference was the most incredible learning experience of my life. There were about 3500 techy people in attendance that year, among them the people who wrote the software I work with everyday and I met (and drank) with them. I listened and asked and absorbed and was generally overwhelmed. I left aware that I knew just shy of nothing—which, for me, was very motivating.

I’ve made the long migration back to the herd every year since, and each year I have come away with something great to put into classes and the rest of my life. This year, some 9000 geeks migrated to AU at the Sands Convention Center to wallow in the collective knowledge of our colleagues. As I have said in past blog entries, I know I tend to stand slightly to one side of normal, and I am okay with that. I am fine with being a zebra in a herd of horses most of the time, but I am just realizing how much I enjoy running with my own herd—even if it is only briefly.

Additionally, I make a point of spending time with some of the same individuals every year. Friendships and working relationships have developed over time. There are some people whom I only see at AU and others with whom I communicate, problem solve, debate, and prophesy all year. This year I even solved a problem presented to me by a true CAD guru—which only proves anew that it is better to be lucky than to be good. I have come to realize that it is not just the friends I have or the learning I do that makes me feel so good at AU. It is that when I am walking the halls, eating lunch, or riding the escalator, I am surrounded by people I intuitively know would understand me IF we had a conversation. It is not that I have to have the conversation; just knowing that I could have the conversation if I wanted to is important.

This year I seemed to have a greater need to run with the herd than usual, and I am happy to say that the herd did not let me down! Perhaps the herd is even a little older, fatter, and more badly dressed now or perhaps I have surrounded myself with some of the truly geeky gurus. Most of you reading this will not understand why I rarely leave the hotel even though it is in the middle of the Las Vegas strip, or why I never even dropped a nickel in a slot machine. Could you possibly understand why, after a great meal, I would rather talk CAD than go to the nightclub? Could you understand that one of the best days of my year ended with me going head to head on a laptop figuring out how to break the software just to prove we had the fix? The herd gets it! Every single member of the herd gets it, and once a year I need to be part of that. I am happy to run with the horses 51 weeks of the year, but please understand that I need to show my stripes for one week at least.

Live From Vegas

Well here I am at 7 a.m. on a Monday morning in Las Vegas, and something isn’t quite right. For starters, I got up at 6 a.m. whereas 10 years ago I would have still been up at 6 a.m. Worse yet is the reason for my early rising in ; during my stay in Sin City, I got up to go to work! As I write this, I am giving a CAD exam to my students back in Olds, Alberta—giving it live and interactively. Making these arrangements has been a very involved process and has made me realize that I would make a terrible hostage! Gunmen, remember my name, and if you find me in your grasp, just shoot me or release me, because you do not want to have to deal with me. (This statement might also hold true for controlling managers…)

If you cannot follow the link between these two events, then you just don’t understand my twisted mind, so let me explain. About four months ago, I knew I would be at this amazing conference and suggested that I deliver a class from here. Everyone thought it was a great idea, and it appeared that the necessary technology would be in place. But things do not always move at the pace I prefer, and three months later, it became apparent that, for whatever reason, the College would not be in a position to make my idea a reality. Those fateful words were uttered: “Sorry, it is not going to happen. We just don’t have the manpower.” And the new, more relaxed me said, “Shucky darn. That’s too bad, but oh well.”

Fast-forward two more weeks. It became obvious that I could not avoid having an exam during the week I would be away. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem as I would simply have the program I.A. proctor the exam, but the College eliminated that position this fall. We no longer have an I.A., so I asked my Chair if another I.A. was available. None were; it seemed at the time that everyone was busy. My Chair, bless her heart, offered to proctor the exam herself if no one else could be found!

Enter the old me!! He might be less relaxed and more stubborn, but he can always build the proverbial 'better mousetrap.' THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY! I cannot personally push the massive CLC machine to move fast enough to solve this problem with technology, but I recognize (and can’t understand why no one else seems to) that it is crazy to use a department Chairperson’s time to proctor an exam. What to do? Every way seemed blocked, but it has been my experience that if the front door is locked, the back door is often open. And, said the old me, firmly taking control now, if the back door is locked, climb the T.V. antenna tower, remove a section of soffit, and climb in through the attic (which is the topic of another blog--as soon as the statute of limitations is up!) But somehow there is always another way in! Do not tell me that it can’t be done!

At this point, my mind goes into the spin cycle. (Murray has learned over the years that it is best to step back because it often spins a little off balance.) I committed to myself that I would find a technical solution that minimized the impact on other staff—why should my problem be theirs, after all? I started bouncing ideas off people in the know, and I got answers like, “We could do that, but it would be quite a bit of work,” and “We would have to get Drumheller up and running first.” So I arrived at a solution that I could do mostly on my own, and—a few tie-wraps and a little cabling later—here I sit., in Vegas at 7 a.m. proctoring my own exam, answering my own questions, and doing my own job with very little impact on others. (As I type this, my first exam was handed in. Yes!). Robin, you have some great people!

The exam is over now, and my 20 students are carrying on with their day. We have great students at Olds College, and they will adapt to a new paradigm far faster than will we. My strength working overseas is that I am creative and cheap; those traits sometimes serve me well at home, too. A web cam, some tie-wraps, free software, and 20 feet of wire means I may never have to leave Vegas! Thanks to all of you who helped, gawked, offered advice, or pretended you didn’t know what I was up to. The new, calmer me is back now, and I will try to keep old me boxed up until I really need him.

Chapter 12 - All Things Green

Last week, I attended the Green Industry Show and Conference in Edmonton. You might ask yourself, “What is a CAD/survey/GPS instructor was doing at a Hort conference?” particularly after a colleague of mine made a bold statement recently that “’jerk of all trades, master of none’ is NOT a compliment!” (but that is the topic of a whole other blog soon to come!)

Well, to answer your question, I was there to start yet another chapter in my forever-changing life. This conference was for industry owners and managers, not the general public, so it was a nice mix of techy stuff and marketing stuff and personal growth/management stuff.

I was amazed at what the industry, with a very small budget, is doing with research projects. Being from Saskatchewan, I place a high priority on trees, (I always thought the Caragana was a big tree) so I hope that Olds college will join up as a partner on the new prairie tree trials that started this year. (hint, hint)

I was interested in the talk on the marketing challenges facing market garden centers. They have lost a huge slice of the market to the big box stores (interesting, then, that a large part of the whole conference was sponsored by Rona). I was pleased that the speaker did not digress into a pity spiral but chose to focus on the niche his store can fill. He provided an excellent focus on what true service is, and I agreed with his comment that people will pay more if you truly provide them with great service.

For me, the most interesting—or perhaps scary—sessions were on personal management and personal health. These sessions were applicable to anyone but were a big part of this conference because many of the attendees were small business owners. The session on health just reconfirmed that I am fat, I eat badly, I exercise too little and have increased my chances of dying from all the major killers of my age bracket except PMS (you had to be there). The truly enlightening session for me, though, centered on stress and measuring its effect on you. You will be happy to know that when I completed the self diagnostic test, it indicated that I am completely stress-free—mostly because you attended my funeral three years ago! Perhaps I misunderstood a question or two?

At any rate, I learned a lot, and I spent some time in the Olds College booth, meeting people and answering questions. I spent some time with my new colleagues, getting to know them better. And I got a shrub out of the deal; what more could a guy ask for?

P.S. I also fulfilled a lifelong dream to fly an airplane in a hotel room. I am aware that this is not the dream most men want fulfilled in a hotel room, but I am different—and I am OK with that!!

Cookies

I would never think to buy a cookie. In fact, if you asked me, I would say I don't particularly like cookies, but when offered one, I can't ever remember saying, "no.” I have come to the conclusion that it is not the cookie itself I like, but the fact that someone gave me the cookie. That is what makes me feel good. Why? I have fond memories connected to cookies. My mother and I would often make cookies—just she and I—though I was never good at spooning them out onto the baking sheets. Sometimes she make them herself and have them just coming out of the oven at the time I got home from school, so perhaps I have a connection with cookies and freedom?
A couple of cookie incidences have occurred this month that started me thinking about this. Two days after a particularly stressful meeting, I was alerted to the presence of a package in my mail box. Because I was not expecting anything important, I neglected to check my box on my way out that evening. Early the next morning, however, after a particularly bad nights’ sleep, I discovered the wonderful package in my mailbox—four homemade cookies! No note, no name attached—just these great cookies. It was the perfect way to start my day, and my students truly appreciated it, too, because my jokes were better (or at least more frequent), my demos were far more lively. Perhaps it was all explainable scientifically with blood sugar spikes and chocolate euphoria, but I prefer to think that the good mood was caused by the conjuring up of warm memories of better times. True to my conclusion, it was not the cookies I appreciated most—delicious though they were—but the kind, friendly gesture. It was not the first time that cookies had appeared, and I was finally able to confirm my suspicions of their origins; I wholeheartedly thank the baker.

It has occurred to me that I may not be alone in this reaction to cookies, but times are changing and may be leading to some variations on the theme. Making cookies is not a time consuming process, but the baking of cookies is. A mother I know still takes the time to make cookies with her children—something for which she should be commended, in my opinion—but with her very busy life, more cookies get made than baked. On more than one occasion this month, she has confessed to eating cookie dough! At the time I chalked this up to her having no chips in the house or no time to make popcorn, but, upon reflection, I believe that it might be the new time-pressured adaptation of an old mood-lifting technique. We all need someone in our lives to give us cookies when we need them. Let me challenge you to make cookies for a friend in need—or at least buy the homemade looking cookies from the store and repackage them! Let’s strive to create a world where no one has to eat cookie dough!

(Until next week, keep the cookies coming to keep the ravings positive.)

Learning to Crawl

I spent much of Remembrance Day watching my two grandsons—3 years and 8 months. Most interesting to me was watching my youngest grandson try to crawl. He has rolling down pat. As a matter of fact, he figured out how to roll his way over and out of the barricade set up to contain him in the living room. His mother and I just watched in amazement, and then his mother retrieved him. But crawl? As much as he tried—desperately tried, many times—he just can’t do it…yet.

So, why is he so driven to learn to crawl? Movement is important to get what you need and what you want. (At 8 months old, he is already striving for what he wants—for him this is mostly whatever his brother has—and not only what he needs.) But, it is not just movement he craves—he has that—but rather more efficient movement. He is seeking to improve upon the skills he already has. Why? It seems that the desire to learn is not just driven by our needs; there must be a hard-wired component to it, as well. I am sure there are many Ph.D. dissertations on this topic, but I am almost positive that he has not read any of them. He doesn’t know why he wants to, he just does.

The whys might still be a mystery, but it is fascinating to watch him try to learn so desperately. At 8 months old, his motivation to learn is mostly internal, I suspect; I hope he is not worrying about meeting his grandpa’s expectations just yet. Watching him made me think about the last time I worked that hard at learning something and what so motivated me. And it made me think about my students and how they look at learning.

I have always said that I cannot teach anyone anything, but I can give them good reasons to want to learn. What I mean by that is that, as a teacher, I try to stimulate that hard-wired part of each student that creates the desire to learn. I have seen that same determined drive that I see in my grandson in some students when they try to solve a problem or complete a task. They, too, possess that same desperate need to “do well” or to “be successful.” Problem is, of course, I don’t see it often enough.

Stimulating a student to be motivated is ¾ of my job; the other 1/4 is helping them acquire strategies and techniques. If I can create in them the desire to learn and if I can teach them how to learn to learn, then I know I’ve given them a life skill that goes way past any memorization of facts or information. After all, information today is free or cheap. Wanting to learn and knowing how to do it is far more important.

How I wish I had that single-minded drive to learn new things that I see in young children! Perhaps we would be better off if, instead of always looking ahead, we could look back in our own lives and remember what it was that motivated us so.

Collaborating All By Myself!

I love to work in a collaborative environment—especially if I do it on my own! This is most easily achieved if the tools for collaboration are difficult to access or, better yet, nonexistent. I can be very productive in this type of environment because no one bothers me with input or other points of view.

I once read that IQ is the measure of an individual’s ability to adapt to a new environment, and my experience bears that definition out. As I’ve travelled all over the world, I have seen that those who are most intelligent will maximize whatever environment they are in. They know intuitively that our environment is what we experience it to be, not what we are told it is, and so they also know that they have the ability to change it.
Why does it matter what kind of environment we have? I’ve learned that if I, as a teacher, change the learning environment in my class, students may change the way they learn. If I create an environment valuing rote learning—where memorizing is all that is required and is rewarded with success—then most students will only invest themselves in practicing the given recitation. If I create a learning environment—where students have to collaborate and problem solve to be successful—then those students can invest themselves in the more useful skills of being creative, cooperative and resourceful. Every year I get at least one “smart” student who does not want to work with others. The frustration level for that student rises very quickly when they see their less “academic” classmates out-achieve them because they find solutions collaboratively. By nature, I am not all that collaborative. I work on my own in the classroom. I develop learning materials often in isolation. But I have learned that, through collaboration, I can be much more effective and certainly a much better teacher. I thank Murray T. for patiently mentoring me to work with someone whose strengths cover my weaknesses—a lesson I learned as he and I collaborated, which in turn was only possible when our environment leant itself to partnership: I was accidentally placed in the office next to Murray. Our offices are no longer together, and accordingly our collaboration has been significantly reduced.

Create the environment for collaboration and teachers, instructors, community members, students and staff MAY work together. Do not create the conditions conducive for collaboration and the rebels will often find a way (perhaps out of spite!)