Since starting this blog almost two months ago, the posts have been all over the map, literally.  The underlying thread is our continuing relationship with computers and Unix in particular, but, since we work primarily from “home,”  and often from “the road,” who we are and what we do is all-inclusive.  Computers and the craft of keeping software, hardware, and networks running are infused with how we approach everything, from home repair to textile and fiber arts, metalwork, health and fitness, and travel.

Take our recent trip to Canada.  This was, in the traditional sense, a “vacation,”  but the first thing we did on arrival was to hook up our computer to the Internet.  Sure, we used it to find restaurants and map out our daily excursions, but we also used it to keep in touch with clients and work on web sites, as well as update friends and family on what we were up to.  We had an agenda for our trip, but also some contingency plans to take into account the variable spring weather in the Pacific Northwest.  So, our “vacation” wasn’t the travel agencies’ vision of being pampered and indulged, but a reflection of our ability to make plans and execute those plans.  And, have a bit of fun doing it.

I remember the ads from the early 1990s, when the Internet was just getting notice among the general public and non-computer businesses.  The tagline went, “FAX from the beach?  You will.”  At the time, it looked like it might be another one of those “flying car” or “smart house” ads from the 1950s that never quite happened.  But, the computer is one of those machines that isn’t bound by moving tons of earth and concrete, legislation, and public funding, so anything one can imagine doing with it can actually be tried.  And easily copied.  In the 1990s, I did actually “FAX from the beach,”  but it involved dragging a thermal-paper FAX machine to the resort, a computer with dial-up modem, and patching through to my servers at home through the resort switchboard.  Today, FAX is one of those old-fashioned technologies, like telegrams, and even the most rustic of B&Bs have wireless networking.

So, you can take your business with you, and most of us have, connected to the office or our clients through smart phones or wi-fi, 24×7.  Inevitably, our daily life becomes part of our business, and vice versa.  We’re not going to hide the fact that we’re out on the trail, or remodeling the laundry room when you call for a project update.  When video phones were first proposed, people wrote about having to have fake backdrops so your caller would think you were in your office cubicle instead of on your patio or at a beach resort.  The reality is, people have found that business and pleasure do mix–it’s healthy to be active and social, and, thanks to modern computer and communications technology, you can still be in touch with business projects, and even bring a fresh approach to solving problems, because you are more refreshed and relaxed, and open to new things if you are in a dynamic setting.

We look at these travelogues and non-computer project articles as a reflection of our approach to getting things done, that directly relates to how we approach solving business problems, without going into case studies.  OK, maybe we’re not “on the job” eight hours a day–sometimes it is more than that.  I can’t count the number of times over the past 30 years of bike commuting that I’ve come in from a long bike ride with a fresh insight on solving a problem or tackling a project design.  The kind of “head work” that is necessary in a problem-solving and creative profession doesn’t turn on and off when you sit down at the keyboard, but is the total sum of life experience.