Begin Again

I wrote this for another blog today, but I am re-posting it here.

Inspirational posters, clever quotes, goal setting, resolutions & short motivational books.  I’ve used them all in the pursuit of improvement.

Failure is often overlooked in the tool chest of productivity enhancements*.   Not the fear of failure as that is an entirely different thing.  Experiencing failure and the discovery of boundaries/limits is specifically what I am talking about.

Woody Allen talked about the correlation of not failing and risk taking.  There are management principles about failing fast to determine if something has value.   And these are useful concepts, but I think searching for failure is a misguided pursuit.

Some of my most memorable classes are when I try to do a technique and fail.   Honestly and sincerely fail.  It could be for any number of reasons, but the divide between what I thought I could do and what I was able to do is often unexpected and stings.

And as much as it hurts the ego to fail, it is a great motivator for me.  It is a good re-set to achieve the mind of a beginner. 初心 After all, who couldn’t use a little more openness and eagerness?

*Look up ‘surviorship bias’

Achievement Unlocked: Soldering

We bought Cole a quadcopter for his birthday.  I did a bit of research on model we bought was affordable, and reasonable easy to fly, but very small.  It can fit in the palm of your hand.

They are notorious for burning out engines, and I bought extra engines right away in anticipation.  The first thing we broke was a propeller and the second thing I broke was an engine - taking off the old propeller.  Pro tip: use a small flat head screw driver to lever between the propeller and engine.  I ended up ripping out the entire engine in my zeal and pulled off the wires to the engine in the process.

That was six weeks ago.  

To replace the engine, I needed to remove the old wires and re-solder on the new engine wires.  The problem is that I have never soldered before and I was a little afraid of destroying the circuit board in the process of learning.

We found a good soldering iron at the hardware store and it took a few weeks to find a solder sucker to remove the old solder; and then a few more weeks to find a good time to have both of us sit down and complete the project.

Fortunately, Cole was cleaning his room and we came across an old remote control car that was no longer working.  We disassembled it and used the car's circuit board as the test board to sharpen up on our skills.  After a few tries, we were confident enough to give it a shot.

It was not perfect.  I put quit a bit of heat into the board, in an effort to clean out old solder and that deformed the plastic cover a little, but I was able to get the new motor connected.  It is alive.  It works.  We were both surprised.

I don't think either of us will be manufacturing our own home electronics in the near future, but after the test flight of the quadcopter to confirm it was in working order, he came back to the bench and started practicing soldering again.

The thing I want to give him at this age is the fearlessness of learning something that looks complex, but just reduces to another form of craftsmanship.  I like to say "if you can design one thing, you can design anything."  The fundamentals of design apply to many different design activities.  The same thing goes for craftsmanship. If you are careful, deliberate, informed and willing to mess up a few times to learn the process - craftsmanship is a method.

I can't wait to learn welding with him.

Update:

Less than 18 hours after fixing it, Cole took it to a park and was flying it near a tree and it got stuck in the branches.  He then listened to his sister when she suggested throwing her boomerang at the drone to dislodge it.

Eventually, they realized this was a bad idea and got it down with a stick.  It is somehow remains in working order.

I feel like I am being punked when stuff like this happens.

prodigy progeny

I know what you are thinking:  there has been a dearth of Cole photos and information in my writing of late.

The problem I have writing about Cole is the same reason I don't write about my own accomplishments.  It sounds, to my ear, self aggrandizing.  The guy is a superb example of how to be a boy.  See?  That sounds like a pretty big call, but humor me and read on.

This is one of my favorite photos of Cole and me (2006).

I like it because it represents much of the time we spend together.  Cole and I can take anything simple and amuse ourselves.  We can delight in the details of the ordinary.

At the age of nine, he already has a fantastic sense of adventure, mad Uno skills, and an almost diabolical ability to convince me to incorporate chocolate into whatever meal I am preparing.  He is far ahead of me when I was his age in every way - origami, drawing, athletics, lego, design, and being a good brother.  He is quick to help out around the house and will give Gabe a piggy back ride whenever asked.

It seems like most of my family members merely tolerate my incessant rambling, but with Cole I feel like he is actually trying to understand.  He listens with a look of deep concentration, searching for the reason why I feel it is necessary to discuss mathematical limits with him during my introduction to the wonders of Calculus.  It is not one sided though.  We share mutual passions.  Seeing each other excited about something creates this resonance that makes whatever we are obsessing about much better.

The thing I love about parenting Cole is that I know he is going to be okay.  He is on a good course.  Whatever happens in his life from here on out, he will be able to handle and he will thrive.  I am normally adopt a worst case scenario view of things, but with Cole I can be an optimist.  He has a way of bringing that out in people.  That sweetness and sincerity is his charm.

Currently listening to:  Django Django - Django Django (I highly recommend the song Wor)

Welcome home, kill this please

[Text conversation with my wife as I pull into the driveway]

Mary: Come inside quickly.  There is a massive spider in the dining room. Your department!

Joe: I don't do spiders.  I will come in the house when you tell me it is gone.

Mary: Yes you do.  Suck it up!

Joe:  Once!  One time I killed a spider for you!  I will take care of all the snakes you want.

Mary:  Good to know.  Now it will be twice.

Joe:  I'm going back to work.  It is safer in my car.  Spider proof even.

Mary: I don't think it is a huntsman, or I would put a bucket on it.

Joe:  There is a car in the garage for you.  The kids can fend for themselves.

Mary:  Come in now before it crawls away and disappears.

Joe: I wish.  This is your fault.  You warned me.

Mary:  It might just be a huntsman.

Joe:  THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT ANY BETTER!  I do not like any spiders, regardless of their species or creed.

Mary:  It is now crawling towards the garage. 

----

At this point, I came in the house.  If the thing fortifies itself in our garage, it will have a massive tactical advantage and I risk finding thousands of mutant spider babies in my camping gear.  Which, now that I think about it, is still a high probability.

Mary was not amused.  The spider had made it into the garage and when she peeked her head through the door and looked around the corner, this is what she came face to face with.

For perspective, each of those legs is three inches long.  I measured the door jamb in the photo to make sure I am not exaggerating. 

It is a bad photo because he was crouching in the corner and I wouldn't get any closer than than a broom's length to him.  Most of the photos I took of him are blurry; a product of me shaking violently in anticipation of him leaping off the wall and attaching to my face.  

He moved further along the wall.  Mary handed me the can of Spider Napalm and I sprayed him which did no actual damage, it is just a courtesy shot to let him know the duel has commenced.  I then put thousands of hours practicing with my sword to use and beat him into a pulp with the broom.

----

When relating the story to a friend (an American friend, because any Australian I would tell this story to inevitably ends up telling me a more hideous spider story and nobody wins when exchanging tales of near death arachnid experiences), he asked me if I identified the spider.  No!  I have not.  Identifying a spider involves looking at a large selection of spider photos.  I would rather jamb blunt objects into my eye sockets.  If you want to know what kind of spider it is, use the above photo and enjoy yourself.  We live in southeast Queensland, near a river, if that is any help to you.

To cleanse your mental palette, here is a picture of my lovely wife and Gabe.

Currently listening to:  Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man