This was on the waterfront in Queenstown. It was Jan 26 so we'd been in NZ 3 weeks or so, and we were about to have our first mediocre meal. The place looked nice. We thought eating and watching the world go by would be a good way to recover from a longish drive. We watched the world go by for a long time. A very long time. It was interesting, but not THAT interesting. The guy busking the electronic music started to repeat. The weather got colder and windier. Eventually the food came, and it was only ok and on the expensive side. I think they were really short staffed.
We did not do any of the jet boat rides. I saw one boat coming in where it was clear one of the passengers had vomited. Glad I wasn't there, it couldn't have been much fun for anyone. This is also where I briefly chatted with the most unfriendly photographer in all of New Zealand. He was selling his photos at a market, which is a tough gig. But he barely talked to his paying customers, seemed to think anyone carrying a camera was going to take a photo of his photos and was really blunt about asking them not doing that, and even asked one guy to show him his camera roll because he thought he'd snuck in a photo of his work. Maybe he was having a bad day. His work was nice, maybe a bit overcooked but I guess you have to think about your mass market. I didn't feel the slightest desire to buy any of his work.
I've never been particularly good at multi-tasking, or even switching from task to task before completion. This job is just killing me for that. There is a mental effort to switching, and I can feel it. Today was bad for that.
(Optional paragraph.) Much of the work I do involves holding a starting data set in my head, and aiming for a finishing data set ready to load to another database. There are two aspects. One is to make sure that the queries bring in the proper data, related properly, and include all the data you might need for intermediate steps, or for checking the final results, even if you don't need a particular column for the actual data migration. The other is organizing the data in such a way (since it's really easy to shuffle data around at the query stage) that you can just drop it into the load template when complete. Usually there is an intermediate step where some data manipulation happens in excel, as opposed to SQL. The problem comes when someone asks you something part way through, or you need to revisit the previous chunk of work to explain it to someone, or trouble shoot the load, or something. Then you have to get your head back into that chain of data and manipulations, which means the current stuff is gone, gone, gone. Then you have to get it back again. Too many of those and your brain turns into tapioca pudding. I'm just glad the aliens that like tapioca pudding brain haven't come along lately.
So yes, there was a glass of wine with dinner, and there will be another with the movie tonight. It's Conan, the Jason Momoa version, not Arnie. We expect it to be bad, and that's ok. I'm in the mood.
An update. It wasn't just bad, it was BAD! We giggled all the way through.
Driftwood of the Day
Some turkeys on some days have their redeeming elements, or they match the need of the moment and are strangely appropriate. Then their are the turkeys that are so gobbled you wonder how they ever got baked. PS The other day I was reading yet another article on the fallacy of multi-tasking. The scientific fact that multi-tasking is a myth, and the cost of interruptions has not yet registered in some of the minds of those who should know better. Cheers, Sean
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