December 2005

Famer Meditation

At one time, where I live in North Carolina was within 2 hours of 5 different NASCAR race tracks. Since I'm not originally "from around here", I summarize NASCAR as "A bunch of good ol' boys. Drive fast. Turn left." The locals tend to have a different view, so I usually keep mine to myself. However I have borrowed the "turn left" for my benefit.

See, I have a basic problem. When I meditate, get comfy, and calm my mind, I fall asleep. While this is restful, I don't seem to do much undirected thinking. I needed to find an activity that required me to stay awake, but didn't require a lot of "brain power" to execute. I developed an activity I refer to as Farmer Meditation.

In a nut shell, Farmer Meditation involves "going slow and turning left." To do this I attach the bush hog to the tractor, head out back, and find a field that needs bush hogging. A bush hog is basically a 6 foot wide mower that will mow just about anything, including small trees. My operating philosophy is: If I can drive the tractor over it, the bush hog will eat it. You can see the basic equipment here. At full "hogging speed ahead", I'm traveling just under 8 MPH.

This activity minimally occupies my conscious mind, leaving plenty of processing power for the unconscious mind to wander where it will, and ease the information into consciousness. I keep 3x5 note cards and a pen in my zip pocket. When I notice something I want to remember, I stop the tractor and make notes.

How do you stay awake while meditating? Drop me a note: don@donaldegray.com

The Software Cynic

I found the following in some notes from October 2000. I don't remember why I made the observations.

Requirements

The bad news: it's just has hard to define small project requirements as it is large project requirements.
The good news: since there are fewer requirements, there are fewer interactions between poorly defined requirements.
Cynic: It's as easy to poorly define a small project as it is a large project. And it takes less time!

Tools

Tools are not a substitute for good judgment.
Cynic: Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.

Tools used on small projects must be flexible enough to be used for several different projects, or tools won't be used at all.
Cynic 1: A fool with a tool is still a fool.
Cynic 2: A fool with a tool can foul up projects faster than a fool without a tool.

Communications

The problem owner and the solution provider must share a common vocabulary.
Cynic: I know you think you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

Got a favorite cynical observation? Let me know: don@donaldegray.com