Multi-facted Refractions – The Reboot

It has been over 13 months since I have added anything to this blog. It is not that I haven’t had any ideas that I have wanted to share. No, I have had many of those. Instead it has been because I have not carved the time out to do much writing in the past year.

So it is time for a reboot for this blog.

RebootOver the last 13 months, I have been going through many transitions. An 1100 mile move to a new school, a new position, and increased responsibilities. It was literally one year ago today, August 2nd, that I jumped in my car in the afternoon with our dog in our Volvo with its schizophrenic air conditioning to drive from Chicago to Houston. Yes, in all of the heat. I ended up getting a sunburn on the inside of my right arm, right where the sunlight rained on it through the open sun roof as we were trying to get cool. After arriving at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, I made camp and the next day headed to my first day at school, an administrative team retreat on the next two days.

Later that week, I began supporting my wife who obtained a position in a local public school district. The hoops and hurdles that she had to endure, from overseeing the packing of our house and then jumping on a plane to come get fingerprinted and return back to finish cleaning the old house all within a 24 hour period. It turned out to be one of the most challenging school years in her career.

We adjusted to becoming empty-nesters. My daughter moved with my wife only to move to Tucson, Arizona to begin her freshman year at the University of Arizona. That week she was home, we were frantically trying to wrap up last minute needs while trying to figure out just where everything was located – gas stations, grocery stores, local Targets, Bed, Bath and Beyond, etc.

Between August and November, I felt I was in a haze. Every issue took three times as long, as I had to learn what the problem was, sometimes learn the software, figure out what had been done in the past, understand the local community, and then, and only then, develop a strategy to solve the problem.

I wanted to transition into the position slowly. Take some time to get a lay of the land. Become the anthropologist and get to understand the people and the culture. But that is not how I am wired. I jumped into the deep end and we began to tackle a large number of projects. Thanks to the great team that we have, we have successfully completed or are on pace to complete nearly all of them.

Upon returning back to Houston after spending a week visiting family, friends, and favorite places in Chicago last week, this location is beginning to feel like home. I do miss family, old friends, and favorite places, but this is where I am supposed to be at this point in time.

Welcome back. It is my goal to post at least once a week, hopefully more frequently. I hope to share some of the wonderful projects we are involved in and some of the stories that I run across. I will share my experiences giving an ISTE Ignite talk, which was one of the most invigorating experiences that I have had.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *