the good, the bad, and the ugly

So today I had a very good chat with Sensei about some problems at work. He was in a very good mood and listened very well, and asked very good questions. We had a very good discussion. He promised to make some changes, and he understood what I said. A good moment of compromise. This particular path might actually move forward ok. But I also realized that some of the battles of late have drained a bit of my fire for work out of me. I don't quite seem to have the same drive and passion that I had before. But I also seem to have a bit more of a cold calculating air about myself. Similar thing happened at Sanger. I still did lots of work, but I also didn't just race race race. I was ok to let things dangle if people were being obnoxious. I think right now it is the practical side of me that I could code really hard for a week to try to speed up my system, or I could just let it run for the week and process the dataset. I will still do the development, but if the data is processed before the new code is in place, well then I can use it next time. A bit cold and calculating.

But the other side of this is that I am starting to get excited about doing things more outside of work: music, archery and golf. I went to a golf shop today and had them evaluate me to help me choose some clubs. I think I kind of impressed them. I had a group of the pro shop people watching me and encouraging me when I hit a good ball. They also checked my speed and power and a couple times they would make a 'wow' sound. I am too big and strong to fit into the Japanese ladies golf clubs so I will need unisex/mens clubs, and I fit right in the middle. But it also means no 'cheap' clubs. But I guess I am ok finally getting a properly fitted set of semi-professional clubs. They were so professional and did such a good job picking clubs, changing, refining, and so on, by the time we were getting to the end, the clubs were feeling very very good.

I don't want to give up my archery since I really love it and I did so well at it in England, but golf is huge in Japan with so many practice ranges and beautiful golf courses. I am really looking forward to taking a holiday at a nice golf resort in the countryside. So soon I sense I will be buying some golf clubs.