Back to Reality

This week represents my own start to the new year. It's not the first days I've worked this year, rather this week represents going back to my own normal patterns - get to the airport, to some city, work for a day or four and then home again, usually on a red-eye.

I can't say I've missed the lifestyle.  I'm sure all the folks working at airlines, hotels, taxis and the like will be happy to see my spend again once more, even if not actually happy to see me.

Let's see what the year brings.  I bet it brings change.

 

Any Given Sunday

Footbal this weekend reminds me that for some of us, it all comes down to one play, one catch, one tackle or one kick.  All of it, everything.   Win or go home.

And you thought you had pressure in your job.

The Price of Ego

There are times when we disagree.

That's normal.  What happens next though really defines who we are. (I have as a precept going into this thought, that we are social beings)  When we ackowledge different perspectives, and elect to resolve the issue it usually involves compromise on one or both parties behalf.  And we move on.  If we elect not to resolve the issue, a sign of maturity is to still ackowledge that differing perspectives exist, and a conscious decision is made not to adopt the other's perspective - in whole or in part.  And that's also ok.  After all, you disagreed at the outset for some reason.

When we don't arrive at a resolution, that's when interesting things happen in my opinion.

We can maintain that two varied perspective exist, and consistently not appreciate the other way of looking at things, but we can intllectually understand that a difference exists.  I happen to feel that way for example about some people's dispute about the legitimacy on evolutionary science, when they instead claim biblical accuracy for how we got here.  I have no intention of agreeing with that 'story', preferring what I think is proven instead.  But I don't condemn them for thinking that way. 

The other option is to bolster your own perspective as "the only truth" - a myopia of ego.  When people do that, they make situations black and white, and there is no compromise in sight.  The only way to get a dispute resolved then is to buy into their version of the truth, whether it is based in reality or not.  This is a zero-sum game and a trick we play on oursleves.   

Beware falling for this only truth - the price of ego, as it's often the last respite of those that know down deep that they're in the wrong.

10 days later

So - how are your own New Year's resolutions doing ?

We're 10 days into the new year.  Who has fallen off the wagon, or already indulged in that thing you said you would do moderately.  Been to the gym daily as promised, or already shed those pesky 5 pounds ...

I suspect not.

That's ok.  Resolutions aren't intended to be kept, they are too lightweight in the sense that often to make really big life changing decisions and stick to them requires some real thought, a basis in reality in how we really live our lives and some sacrifices.  The significance of the calendar change in and of itself often isn't enough motivation for many of us.

If you still want to change things, think about the whole situation and then decide the timelines, the metrics to determine success and look at the bigger picture of what you're really trying to do.  Is it viable, or not.  Don't over-reach, or at least don't over-reach and then beat yourself up about falling short.  After all, 2015 is only 355 days away.

Cool New Science

Yesterday, NASA released it's deepest view of the cosmos ever taken.  Sort of. I offer it here, but it's available here too if you want an even  higher resolution view.

I say "sort of" above as it was actually imaged using a phenomena known as gravitational lensing - that situation where gravity from a very large, heavy object bends light.  This effect had previously appeared in some of the Hubble Space Telescope's earlier deep space images and it mildly obscures what's 'behind' it. (I'm using very general language here, the scientific concepts are quite involved).

By harnessing that very same gravitational lensing, NASA has used it as a further amplification of the area behind the galaxies that were bending light / obscuring in previous images.  In this case it's the gravity effect of the Abell 2744 galaxy being used in this way.

This is interesting in a number of ways.  Firstly, some very bright person at NASA came up with the idea that what had previously been an issue in earlier images could be itself leveraged as a tool for them.  Brilliant.  

Secondly, in my mind at least. as extremely deep space images are also a trip back in time (the light captured here on the camera's sensors will have had to travel for 12 Billion+ light years to get here, based on it's distance from us), doesn't this point to the area in the sky where it all began ?  Stay with me here for a moment.  If the universe is expanding as was proven by Edwin Hubble in 1929, then in theory we should be able to locate it's origin point.  If we make the analogy that we're on a ballon that keeps expanding so all points around us are moving farther away, then in theory where we look and see greater density in the past, points in the general direction of where it all started.  Doesn't it ? I'll admit I'm at the limits of my own knowledge of physics and I may be 100% incorrect based on what I don't know - but based on imagery like NASA just released...it makes one wonder a little. And I think that's the point.

 

Toronto Airport - An Expensive Screw-up

In the midst of challenges, we tend to show our true character.

There was a sudden very cold snap this week that swept across the US and Canada. Major airports such as Chicago's O'hare, Cleveland and Minneapolis saw thousands of flights cancelled as airlines cited immobilized equipment such as re-fueling trucks with frozen nozzles.   But Toronto - the continent's fastest growing hub and 2nd largest international gateway in North America elected to introduce a ground stop overnight Monday-Tuesday when faced with the same weather.  Aircraft (except from overseas) weren't allowed to land or take-off until 9am local time Tuesday.

The result ?  People stranded on arriving aircraft overnight on the tarmac.  For 4-5+ hours.  When those that could get brought to a working gate arrived, their luggage stayed somewhere else.  Situations such as this reverberate across the whole air travel system, as when you clog the major connecting airport, the rest of the country feels it. Pilots are in the wrong locations, as are their planes. Today's passengers fight with those from the last few days to get onto the few operating flights. Sleeping on benches isn't the last resort, it's considerably better than sleeping on floors. It's an ugly travel experience for all involved.

So the question in my own mind was 'why?'

Toronto isn't the coldest airport in Canada, why did the others (including all similar US hubs) continue to cope with the cold, when Toronto collapsed ?

An airport is a community on co-dependance to function properly, so some parties fell down.  Was it airline reluctance to staff appropriately, or airport operations myopia ?  Beyond who failed, why did no party lead ?  In my own youth, I worked at Toronto Airport, and understand the logistics of aircraft movements.  It's not rocket science, just coordination amongst various parties to do their part of the bigger task.  Even if we accept that landing and de-icing wasn't optimal, towing aircraft to gates (even the wrong terminals) is more desirable than letting people sit on arrived aircraft for hours.  Cycle them in and out, deal with the people involved as a first priority.  Thank goodness no one was hurt.  Beyond the reputation of those that work at the Toronto Airport Authority as incapable fools.

No one dared lead in Toronto this week, and the results are pretty clear.  The expensive screw up didn't happen this week in the airport of  North America's 3rd largest city, it happened when the people at the airport authority were placed in charge.

Cold

It's cold.

Perhaps that's an understatement, but a little understatement isn't a bad thing at present. From polar vortex to the reactions of people with very short term memories, the low temperatures across North America seem to be coming with seriously increased hype.

A few gentle reminders:

1. It's winter, and it gets cold in winter. Some animals hibernate for a reason.
2. It's cold yes, but not at levels we haven't experienced prior to this. 20 years ago this week it was colder in many areas, and so what we're experiencing isn't as sensational as many have made it out to be.
3. It's a high deviation winter so far, meaning we're just as likely to see abnormally warm weather as soon as the cold snap passes.  It makes it a little more tolerable.
4. Infrastructure is failing due to the cold - Trains aren't moving into/out of Chicago, Toronto airport shut down, oil refineries have had issues.  Seems like the plot of some fantastic hollywood yarn doesn't it ?  This just means we didn't plan well enough for weather occurrences that are predictable within our experiences. Shame on the people that built those systems.  

So yes, it's cold. Bundle up and think about today when it's 100 degrees in the shade in a few months.