Author: neil

How long before this keels over?

I spent the day with an infrastructure specialist colleague who works in a satellite office about an hour further up north. Despite us having spoken nearly every day for the last 18 months, it was the first time we met in person, and it was every bit as fun as I expected it to be. I got an education in his area of expertise: the technology, the processes, the tools. I also got a perspective about the people, the motivations and incentives that drive behaviours.

Like the tree in the picture above, for all practical purposes, the infrastructure is functioning and delivering great value to most of those that depend on it. At the same time, for any one observing, the problems at the foundation are visible, the inevitable outcome predictable. Yet, the obsession to maximise returns to shareholders means that there is no room for resilience. A tweet from Ryan Petersen that I saw today, in the context of the supply chain fragility that CoVID has exposed sums it up:

To show great ROE almost every CEO stripped their company of all but the bare minimum of assets. Just in time everything. No excess capacity. No strategic reserves. No cash on the balance sheet. Minimal R&D.

— Ryan Petersen (@typesfast) October 28, 2021

I see these frailties in so many areas of everyday life in Australia: healthcare, agecare, childcare.. the list goes on. No money gets invested in these real human needs, and the media rails against the technologists’ obsession with the metaverse or alternate realities.

So many opportunities for anyone keen enough to make a difference, and more importantly, cares enough to do so.

Today was a particularly heavily overcast day, and slightly colder than the forecast weather. The wind picked up a little towards the evening too. My promise to myself is a walk every day, so despite the bleak(ish) circumstances, we got to the beach.  The tide had just turned from its high. The sand was wet. There were a few dozen Scouts & Guides kids with their Scoutmaster building sandcastles and digging trenches.  A couple were walking their dog – or perhaps it was the other way round? The dog was fetching the ball that its master threw every 30 seconds or so, leaving it near his feet and running away again.  A woman just ahead of us was drowning in her music/podcast, earphones plugged in.  My wife was describing her day to me.

Mid-her-sentence, I noticed how the waves were hitting the shore in a pattern I hadn’t seen before. I stopped, pulled out my phone, knowing well that my camera skills would not capture what my eyes were perceiving and took a couple of photos nonetheless, while my wife walked on. I turned back, at there it was, that incredible smorgasbord of color, a painting unravelling in the sky, the perfect moment/ angle/ light.  More photos, none doing the scene I was witnessing any justice.

As I put the phone away, the thought that stuck me was how many such glorious sights I might have missed, metaphorically and literally, for want of a mere stop to look back.

Today’s walk was at the flea markets; for over 2 hours, I trudged along carrying stuff and occasionally loading it into the car. I didn’t bother taking any pictures so there’ll be a gap in today’s daily walk pic.

It was an interesting experience at the flea markets. People had certainly had enough of the lockdown. There was a mood of celebration in the air, the vendors were cheerful, the size of the crowds indicating a revival in economics of that market. The ‘controllers’ were bravely trying to get everyone to comply with Covid requirements – mostly unsuccessfully from my observation.

The last twenty four hours have been exhausting, yet provided some much needed respite from months of lockdown.  Visiting friends, lots of food and drink, festivals and celebrations adding to the sweets-excuses. I need a day or so of fasting to get over this feeling of having overindulged.  The pressure to try out “food I made, you can’t not eat it!” was certainly part of the reason, but my own inability to say no when I was full is to be squarely blamed 🙂

I did manage to listen to at least an hour or so of this conversation between Tim Ferris, Chris Dixon & Naval Ravikant this afternoon, after that overindulgence at lunch. I’m going to have to rewind a bit and listen to it in its entirety.