[This is part 3 of my journey into triathlon over the last 2 years. You can read the first two parts here: Triathlons: A story in gradual change and Triathlons: Persevering in Gradual Change] Several months ago, after completing an olympic length triathlon, I signed up for a Half Ironman length triathlon (1.2mi…
In a probably apocryphal story, a scientist places a group of 5 gorillas in a cage. At the beginning of the day, he puts a banana on top of a pedestal. Whenever a gorilla attempts to climb toward the banana, he sprays all the gorillas with water, which they hate. This continues…
A couple weeks ago, I attended my high school reunion and saw several friends I haven’t seen for many years. One of them is now a mother of four and a missionary in China. Almost immediately after exchanging initial greetings she said, “Back in High School, we got in an…
Back in the 1990’s, Yahoo concluded that they understood where the market was going — they needed a curated index with a good portal. So they built one. During that time, Yahoo was offered to buy Google for $1M but turned them down because it’s not about search, it’s about…
A few weeks ago, I went down into our basement when no one else was home. It was dark and I had this thought come to mind suddenly: “What if someone was living down here and I didn’t even know it?” Images of someone coming out of the darkness filled…
Recently on a trip to New York, we were going to the Staten Island ferry on the subway. About three stops away, the conductor made an announcement: “If you want to get off for the Staten Island Ferry, you must move to the first five cars of this train!” Have…
So this guy walks toward a bar and he steps over a curb that was 6-inches high, or maybe it was 7-inches, 6 and a half?, anyway, there was an empty can of Coke next to his foot, no wait it was Sprite, er 7-up… This is not a story…
Several weeks ago, while eating lunch with some friends from work, a coworker I had never met walked into the restaurant. To tell me who he was, my friends told me a story: He’s the go-to guy when you need a design finished. Many years ago, there was a design…
During my stint in EDA software, I had a lot of dinners with sales guys and their friends. Inevitably dinner conversation turned to comparing Rolodexes* . What ever happened to Soh Insoh, one would say? He’s at Apple working with Frank. Frank left Azul? etc. Every industry is a small world.…
“This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out.”A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you. Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.…