Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

Via the power of cell phones, my brother and I discovered that our parents are apparently without power and phone up in Maine. Ice storms are messy, messy things.

My cold is drifting away. Slowly. Somewhat painfully. The coughing is going to kill me.

I shopped for holiday goody baking. I’m behind schedule compared to last year since I’ve been sick all week but I won’t have that pesky work stuff in the way this week. (My gift shopping, on the other hand, is a lost cause. I’m going to have to go to… the Mall.)

Venice, Italy is a peculiar place unlike anywhere else on the planet. One of the things that makes it particularly peculiar is “acqua alta” – high water – when astronomically high tides flood the city. This month’s acqua alta is the deepest the floods have been in 22 years. Boston.com’s “The Big Picture” features some incredible photos. One of the lowest areas of the city is St. Mark’s Square. Coincidentally, this is also one of the most popular tourist zones and a bustling retail area. Lisaf and I were in Venice for acqua alta in 2003 and it was indeed really peculiar. You can get some really interesting photos of St. Mark’s and the various architecture of the square reflected in the pools of water. Venice is not warm this time of year – being on the water gives the air a damp, brutal chill to begin with. Having the water this high, well that must make that chill even worse.

In other news, we have Teddy Bears in Space. How cool is it that students made space suits for their little bears and then sent them almost 20 miles up into the atmosphere? The photos at the link above are really remarkable. Beyond that, how cool is it that middle school aged students are launching things nearly into space? They are currently “designing a system to launch a rocket from a balloon platform to out space for under £1,000 a go.” Incredible! Don’t you wish you’d thought of that?

Photos: 1. St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice as reflected in a puddle from the acqua alta in November 2003. 2. A lion overlooks the canal in Venice.

acqua alta, baking, cooking, health, holidays, ice storm, maine, miscellany, random, space flight, teddy bears, venice, weather, weekend

Taking a little break from zoo pics. Here’s a shot of Venice. There are many things I like about Venice as well as many things that make me never want to live there. This picture embodies much what I like: varied architectural styles, a startling amount of greenery, various docking and moorings, foot bridges and incredible light. I also love water doors, but you can’t see one here. I took this from one of the small ferries that loop all the way around and through Venice. It’s totally worth whatever small amount we spent on the trip. I can’t think of another city where you can get such a comprehensive “bus” tour with so little traffic and such unobstructed views. Of course, it was really really cold on the boat, but that’s a minor detail.

Congestion sucks. It sucks more when it causes massive headaches and persists through doses of Caritin. Today is somewhat better than yesterday – no active headache, but there’s definitely one waiting to swoop in if I’m not nice. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I suspect a diagnosis of an on-going sinus infection that has finally become unbearable.

Technical Project Management – talk to people!
In other news, my work projects are moving right along though one of the project managers I’m supposedly assisting is ignoring my e-mail. Astounding. There’s a peculiar mindset I keep encountering in project managers, that is very insular, secretive and territorial. This is an utterly counterproductive attitude to have. You end up repeating mistakes, having to relearn alone everything your colleagues could help you figure out more quickly, and hitting all the pitfalls and delays along the way. Oh, and you end up alienating people from other departments who are supposed to be supporting you. I may pester my DBA or disk storage guy a little much, but they appreciate that I ask questions and make them clarify things until I understand things fully. I try to ask my stupid questions intelligently at least and I almost always take notes so I don’t end up asking the question again. It helps that I come from a technical background and can grasp what they’re talking about fairly quickly but I think even the non-technical project manager working on a technical project should be interested in some of the geeky underpinnings of their project.

Some project managers are afraid of tech-speak or technology concepts or just don’t want to get bogged down with the details. Me, I love the details. The details not only hold intellectual interest and provide additional perspective on my project but they give me a way to bond with my tech folks. Building a good relationship with the tech folks can be more valuable than you ever imagined. First, if you show that you value their input, skills and opinions, they are more likely to raise their concerns sooner and in a constructive manner. If crisis hits, they’re more likely to put in 110% for your project because they feel like part of your team.

Of course, communing with technical people doesn’t always work. Sometimes you just don’t click or accidentally take too much of the person’s time with your questions. Honestly, I’ve found most people respond well to a genuine, intelligent effort to learn more. Some people, regardless of field, are too bitter and jaded to care that I’m interested but I try anyway. About half the time I get through their sharp and pointy exteriors and forge an alliance of some sort. The other half of the time I end up with more information than I started with so it’s still a win.

Technology just seems to be the most common phobia I see but there are many others. Asking questions is a great way to form a relationship with your finance people, quality control team and process folks, to name a few. By learning more about what they’re doing for you and what you need to do for them you are making their jobs easier as well as your own. A 15 minute conversation may save everyone a day’s work. It doesn’t get better than that when you’re trying to deliver on-time and under budget.

venice, italy, canals, project management, technical project management, communication, technology

An icy branch
Originally uploaded by cce_photography.

It’s slightly artificial Winter, but it’s Winter all the same! The morning after the Yule bonfire we found beautifully iced trees. Water sprinklers had been setup (and moved around) to keep the brush and scrubs damp to lessen the chance of additional, accidental fire. The ice storm effect was simply a bonus. Today it was 70° F out side. It is still January, right? This weather is absurd. I’m wearing wool socks as a protest.

Speaking of socks, was la Befana good to you this year?

Epiphany morning is the last hurrah for the holiday season for Italian children. Since the Middle Ages children have eagerly anticipated la Befana’s goodies. Epiphany also happens to be the 12th day of Christmas when everyone shows up at the stable to say ‘hi’ to Jesus-in-the-manager.

Who is la Befana? Well, that depends on whom you ask! I was introduced to la Befana when I lived in Italy. She’s a witch that travels around the night before Epiphany (aka the eve of January 6th) and fills children’s socks with toys and candy. She leaves coal for the bad kids of course. She comes down the chimney, just like another stocking stuffer we know, and families leave treats out for her to snack on as well. Okay, she’s not exactly a witch but she does ride a broomstick, has a big nose with an ugly mole on it and wears a lot of black. She might even sweep the floor on her way out because she’s just that flavor of OCD. And children might see a hand print left by la Befana if they look carefully at the ashes in the fireplace.

According to legend, la Befana provided the Wise Men a place to stay during their trip to find Jesus-in-the-manger. She couldn’t actually provide them directions but she did put them up in a fabulously neat house. (Alright, according to some versions of her story she actually thought they were so silly she provided them the wrong directions!) Being kind gentlemen, they asked her if she’d like to come with them. La Befana declined saying she had too much housework to do. Realizing her mistake later, la Befana set out after the Wise Men. She didn’t actually catch up to them nor did she find Jesus-in-the-manger. She wanders and seeks them still, leaving good children treats in their socks because you never know which might turn out to be Jesus-in-the-manger!

Important detail: Children hang out both socks for la Befana, not just one.

One reason la Befana is cooler than Santa: The Italians leave her a bit of wine and bread or cake instead of cookies and milk. Of course, this may be why she doesn’t make transatlantic flights to fill socks here in North America.

Other origins of la Befana: And don’t tell the Catholics, but this traditional is also likely derived from pre-christian rites around the beginning of the new year. An old woman, symbolic of the old year, bestows gifts upon the children for the new year – nah, that doesn’t sound pagan at all. In European folklore the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany are a period during which magic, witches and the other-worldly are more real. In the pre-christian calendar, this was the period at the changing of the year when the old year (often represented by a wicker old lady doll) was burned and the new year was welcomed in.

folklore, italy, la befana, photographs, photography, weather, winter