Keeping One's Bearings

Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to get my bearings in the work I am doing. Working on several projects is not easy, especially when one needs to dive deep and lead several initiatives in each individual project. Just keeping track of the tasks in each project, with several to-do lists, is a challenge. Using the latest tools like MS Planner is a lifesaver.  The mind has to multitask with the workload that one is subjected to. The tools that help one in this daily struggle will ensure mental peace.

One project is regional catastrophe planning, where several simulations are planned to transfer applications to a fail-safe environment. This entails coordinating meetings and workshops with multiple groups, including the customer support team, the application support team, and the external backup company, which has members worldwide. Another project is the ongoing obsolescence project, where app locations are moved to a more modern and secure environment.

This project also entails working with the customer support organization, application support, and the external infrastructure organization. This involves scheduling meetings, writing emails, planning workshops, and so on. A third project is a Logistics one where some programs need to be revised so that one's shipments to other countries are not hampered by incorrect documentation. This endeavor involved working closely with business leaders, stakeholders, and application developers.

Other smaller projects exist and are mixed into this stew of multitasking and further confusion and complexity. Decommission servers related to a previous project, coordinate backup testing for two applications in Central America and North America. Further adding stress is the ongoing request for funding for these projects due to the recent slowdown in markets that require the reduction of working budgets. Under this complex working environment, one has to stay afloat, attend department meetings, and log one's time entry before the end of the month. One has to be aware of the individual quirks of personality of the people one works with.

This is not the dreary and boring workspace of a large bureaucracy but the hot house of a major global company where initiatives come and go, crisis happens, and politics need to be played. Personal interactions are important, as one needs to be polite and follow the prevailing rules, go to the office at least for the majority of the work week, while trying to stay focused while working remotely and doom-scrolling on one's phone. Under this personal backdrop is the cultural and political chaos of the presidential office, the infighting and several divisions, which only causes more stress and confusion. It seems like a Russian plot to sow disorder in Western societies has now come to pass.  Hence, the need to get one's bearings, to restore a sense of equilibrium and balance, mainly to keep sane and continue functioning as a competent cog in the global machine of commerce.

Windy City

We spent the first week of July in Chicago, arriving on the 1st and leaving on the 5th with a day trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The weather was beautiful and the city was glorious. We spent the first morning on an architectural boat tour along the river, the guide an expert on the history and styles of the buildings. It was a very enjoyable trip under a brilliant blue sky, and as hot as we expected. After the boat trip, we explored Grant Park, listening to a free classical concert at Millenium Park. Dinner was a Poke bowl of tuna, salmon, rice, avocado, seaweed, and lettuce. 

The next days were spent visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, which had a great collection of Impressionist paintings and a short history of European history focused on the Catholic reign of Ferdinand and Isabel and the combination of the Habsburg empire with the marriage of their daughter to a Habsburg scion. It was a very large and substantive collection, and it was tiresome to look at the exhibits and, afterward, continue to explore the city and parks. The museum had great views of the Frank Gehry concert hall at Millennium Park, where we enjoyed free concerts.

The Chicago skyline and the architecture of the building were exceptional, especially the intriguing Cloud Gate sculpture commonly known as 'the Bean' and the Frank Gehry bridge crossing from Millennium Park to the Maggie Daley Park. The Cultural Center and the Design Museum were the common man's venue to display 'folk art', and I particularly enjoyed the Blondell Cummins dance exhibit 'Dance as Moving Pictures'. The center was the former City Library with impressive high-ceiling rooms, majestic staircases, and magnificent domed ceilings.

• Day 1: River boat tour on Chicago architecture
• Day 2: Art Institute of Chicago, Maggie Daley Park, watch fireworks along the shore
• Day 3: Walking tour of Art Deco buildings,  Cultural Center of Chicago, Design Museum
• Day 4: Visit Milwaukee via Amtrak train, Pabst Beer Mansion, Milwaukee park near shore, downtown, return to Chicago, 4th of July Concert at Millennium Park   

Armtrak train ride of Milwaukee oferred glimpses of the countyr side of Illinous and Minesota and a good brak and contrast from the grand urban city scape of Chicago. The Pabst mansion had incredible intricate interiors with impressive delicate wood work, great attention to detail and offered a glimpse of welath at the turn of the century. It was a large mansion but drawfed by the huge palaces that came at the turn of the 20th cenutry. We saw an NCAA fencing chanpionship as we explored the city , walking near the shore with a view of the Art Museum designed by Earo Saarnisen.

The 4th of July concett was a blast with an entertaining Irish conductor. I had brought beer and I enjoyed the music, beauty and grandueer of the concert hall and the surrounding sky scrapers. Dinner was our usual Poke bowl and Ramen soup. I did not have time to enjoy the penthouse pool in the evening as we had to pack for the early morning trip to the airport. Chicago offered a welcome break and a chance to discover something new, to see a different part of America and admire the breath of the American experience.