Freedom vs Commitment

It is not even mid December, and we are planning for the upcoming summer interns, and I am already panicking about how I am supposed to supervise six of them together this time!   We have six months to go, and I think I do not have enough time to define their projects, find them lab space, ....  Something is wrong in this bureaucratic system, or maybe perfectly fine.  Everything is accounted for and taken care of in advance.  Maybe it is just time's fault flying so fast, wrapping winters and summers around each other so quickly.  Can you imagine how hard it is for me to adjust from this world of rules and plans to the one that is not sure what time one would meet for dinner on a daily basis!?  It drives me crazy, pulls me to two opposite directions, and it never gets old.  Extreme rigidity and extreme flexibility do not mesh well together.  Not for me at least, and I am afraid my nature always leans towards the rigid planned world.  Even though commitment phobia people think planning steals their freedom, ties them to a certain plan and place for a certain time,  I find it liberating.  If I know when exactly I am doing a certain task, say 3-5 pm on Wednesday, it means I can do anything else the rest of the time.  If I do not know it, that 2-hour task is floating all over my thoughts and schedule, assigning a probability to every time slot, claiming them all and none, distracting me from focusing on other tasks.  I am happier, more productive, and energetic if I know what I am doing when, but that is just me.

Talk, Ask!

It is never too early to start talking.

There is no such thing as too much communication.

Just as you think you might be bothering your teammate, colleague, or partner, going over all the details of a task, how to go about it, when to get it done, what the mutual expectations are,..., just as you think you are mastering the task and handling it very well, there comes the surprise, some fact you did not know about, because you just never asked about it and they just never talked about it.

انگيزه

اگر فقط به خاطر اين كامنت هم شده، راديو كالج پارك رو بايد سر پا نگه داشت.  اينكه شنونده اى در ايران داره كه فقط براى شنيدن اين پادكست اينترنت رو ميخواهد.
"
سلام و صبح بخیر. من دیشب با این رادیو آشنا شدم وحالااینترنت را فقط برای شنیدن برنامه این رادیو میخواهم. البته پسرم میخواهد با افکار بچه گانه اش دراین رادیو برنامه های سن وسال خودش را گوش کند ولی من نمی گذارم و دنبالش میدوم واو هم فرار میکند.
"

شما هم گوش بديد :-)

Firemen

The next time your smoke detector starts beeping insanely,
Not because it needs new batteries,
In fact it is wired and works with electricity,
But because it so old that is has gone crazy,
And you need to remove it and install a new one
Correctly and safely,
Instead of dreading to call your brother, uncle, boyfriend, or neighbor for help,
Or trying to figure it out yourself if you are not an electrical engineer,
Call your local fire department.

In no time,
Three tall handsome men are at your door at your service at no charge with pleasure.
They remove the old one, install a new one, check all other ones, and drive back in their big truck.
You feel safe,
Have to never hear brags about it from anyone,
And you have used your tax dollars wisely!
It does not hurt seeing some good looking tall strong guys either, does it?

Checks and balances

As inefficient and frustrating government bureaucracy is, I believe government regulations and oversight on many tasks and projects are needed.  I have found a newly gained respect for it which makes me go through all bureaucratic hassles on a daily basis.  Without checks and balances, it is amazing what people are capable of doing!