John Hendow

Yesterday two of my co-workers were looking at picture on the internet of a jet (apparently) breaking the sound barrier. It’s an amazing picture and one worth admiring. My contribution to the conversation was “oh, that’s a great example of a Prandtl-Glauert singularity”. Both of my co-workers did a slow head turn in my direction and gave me an accusing look. And so I went to the white board and drew the classic compression-rarefaction-recovery curve, showing how the negative pressure can result in condensation. I pointed out that this phenomenon is not limited to transonic jets, citing the classic bullwhip example, and that this can also occur at speeds below the transonic threshold. They both called me a pathetic paste-eating geek for having that term in my head and for being able to explain the physics behind it. Yum. Paste.

Yesterday I attended my first Seattle Sounders FC match, and I’m hooked! It was a great game and I’m impressed by both the team and the fans. It’s amazing that Seattle has such a huge soccer fan base, and the level of support is very high. It helped that we had tickets to a great match in which (1) we won and (2) my seats were out of the sun! I’m excited about seeing more matches this season and may purchase a ticket package for 2010. Go Sounders!

The final step in porting my cell number away from my previous cellular carrier was to get a final bill and close my account. Apparently they decided to do this in reverse order. So I received an email from them (which is how they have always notified me) indicating my current bill is now ready for review and payment online, and they include a link to their web site where I log in and complete the payment. Except… I can’t log in any more. I called customer support and they explained “You can’t log in because you closed your account with us”. I countered with “But if I can’t log in, how can I pay you? Can I just pay right now over the phone?” Their answer: “No. We no longer have an active account for you so it’s not possible for us to accept credit card payment over the phone. You need to go to one of our dealers to make payment.”
So today I need to go and find a local dealer. Hopefully they won’t send me back to the web site… You’d think there might be a more efficient way to do this.

Today I completed the process of porting my cell number to Number Garage. Throughout this effort I’ve been receiving excellent communication from Number Garage, and they succeeded in making the transition very smooth for me. My previous cellular carrier was a little slow in releasing my number, and I spent a long time on hold with them waiting to verify my account had been closed. Telecommunications companies seem to have mastered the art of preventing customer satisfaction, and this was a classic example of last-minute customer retention tactics… if they “valued my business as a customer of good standing for over 8 years” perhaps they shouldn’t wait until I close my account before offering any flexibility. Their cellular service is very good but with success comes the peril of becoming too large to manage customers as individuals. The good news is that I’ve successfully freed myself from an unneccessary monthly bill. And I’ve found a valuable service with Number Garage. If you haven’t checked them out, I’d recommend them. My previous cellular carrier could learn a lot from them: excellent value, great communications, solid customer support. SCORECARD : Number Garage = awesome. Previous cellular carrier = buh-bye.

In July I’ll be sitting in for some shows with the Dudley Manlove Quartet. They’ve been playing together for 13+ years, performing hits of the 70’s and 80’s, and they have a high degree of musicianship. Their set consists of around 30 songs, most with fairly tight arrangements. So I’m doing a lot of practicing to ensure I’m prepared. This has meant listening to their live recordings and the original artists’ recordings, and making notes on my copies of the charts. I’m always up for a challenge musically and this definitely fits that description. Since the band is an established group, my responsibilities are

1. Be prepared – this means practicing the songs, programming my patches, and learning any cues that are part of the live performance.
2. Be a good fit – the band is accustomed to working as a unit and has an internal culture. My job is to be a part of that unit with minimal disruption.
3. Be alert – the absolute guarantee in live music is that something unexpected will occur. Being present in the moment is crucial.
4. Be the Walrus – if given the choice, always go with the Walrus. I mean, who even remembers the other three characters?

It’s interesting to note that this is the same approach I’d recommend to aspiring Project Managers. It’s a slightly different profession, but the same rules apply.

I attended college in Bellingham with Steve Okimoto – the band’s bassist – but this is the first setting in which we’ve played together. All the members of the band are talented, easy-going, funny guys. I’m looking forward to these shows and will be spending the next week continuing my preparation for the gigs. If you happen to attend any of these shows, give a shout or a wave.