by Kathy | Nov 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
Maribou Stork – by Bird Brian on Flickr
This is the Maribou Stork, the “ugliest bird in Uganda” not my words, that’s just what everyone tells me. I think its kind of cool, this picture doesn’t show the wing span but it is a very large bird. There are many of them and they hang out in a tree by my office. They look like pteradactyls flying around which gives a prehistoric feel to the neighborhood. This weekend I’m hoping to get out of the city and see more nature but so far this is my favorite animal.
by Kathy | Nov 13, 2012 | Uncategorized
After a 24 hour or so journey I made it to Kampala last night. That much time on airplanes is really draining, though sleep helps time pass. It also sets up a surreal feeling which the jet lag keeps up. I went through Amsterdam and swapped planes. That was my first time in the Amsterdam airport and it was really nice. Great to take a break in the lounge and see the internet. It is really sad that I seem to go into withdrawal without it, I really barely looked at my email, but just having it there helped me feel connected. My next flight took me through Kigali, but we didn’t get off the plane, just waited for others to get on and off. Does it count as my having been in Rwanda? Or do I have to get off the plane to make it count? After an hour wait we moved on to Entebbe. Getting my luggage off the carousel was a relief. I always stress a little when I check bags even on a non stop, but this time I checked three bags and my luck held out because they all showed up on the carousel! This put me in a good mood as I walked out into the crowd to look for a sign with my company name on it. Sure enough, there was Max waiting to pick me up. That was my second stress, what if no one picked me up? I’ve never been so happy to see a stranger.
Max took me out to his car and I started around to the passenger door to get in when he said “no, no, not unless you’re driving.” Because, Uganda follows the British driving rules and the passenger door is on the other side. Max is a great driver, mind you they aren’t as lane conscious as we are in the states so that caused me to close my eyes a couple of times and hit my imaginary break. He took passing slow cars to a new level for me. I think it will be a while if at all before I drive here and if I do I’ll be one of those passed I’m guessing, as opposed to doing the passing.
by Kathy | Nov 11, 2012 | Uncategorized
People who know me well know that I know how to pack light. For the last three years I’ve traveled with one 22” carry on and I’ve used that for most of my trips even if they are two weeks long. If I’m going away on a really short trip I go with a smaller duffle. I make all my clothing choices up front and plan my outfits and I wear any heavy stuff on the plane. I’ve gotten good enough that I don’t find myself wishing I’d brought more or something else, unless I forgot something entirely like socks and then I just go buy it.
But now I find myself packing to go to Uganda and it’s really stumping me. I’ll be there for 6-12 months. I know my carry on is not going to cut it. I want to bring things I use regularly so I don’t have to hunt for them at the start and I have to pack for business as well as exploring. And apparently sharpies and stickies (a ThoughtWorks mainstay) are not so easy to come by so I need to bring some of those along. My first attempt at packing was an abysmal failure. Three bags packed to the gills. I feel that I should at least be able to schlep them myself 20 feet. So I pulled everything out and started weeding (mostly clothes). Now I still have three bags to check, but at least I can manage them all (though it will be entertaining for people to watch). I just don’t know how much lighter I can make it without buying everything all over again once I get there. And I don’t really know why I’m so disappointed to have three bags. I think I just like the feeling of being unencumbered by my things. But I’m about to embark on a 20 hour journey, I appear to be ready and I hope I can find someone to help me schlep my bags when I get there because it just won’t be pretty.
by Kathy | Sep 27, 2012 | Uncategorized
I’ve got my blog set up so I can start blogging about my latest experiences. I’ve strayed from my public blog while doing only internal to ThoughtWorks posts and being really busy, but now I think its time to put my mind back to it and start sharing with my friends again. But I need to fuss with the look and feel a little so its not too boring.
by Kathy | Dec 30, 2008 | WFN Defined
The idea of Workforce Nomad has been rolling around in my head for some time. As I look back on my career, varied and broad, I begin to see the pieces come together to form something much greater than a first glance can comprehend. For a long time I felt frustrated with the seemingly disjointed turns my path has taken and even thought that I was heading nowhere slowly. I’ve always felt envy for the person who knew since an early age exactly what trajectory their career would take. How fantastic to be so good at and so obsessed with one thing that you don’t have to spend time wondering what you should be doing. I’m sure that is an idealized view and that everyone spends some time questioning their path, but having that one bright beacon to follow seems very enticing.
A short time ago I came to the realization that my path does have some consistencies in it. Over the years, (companies and roles) I have unintentionally developed a set of skills of which I am very proud. I could never have set out to do this on purpose but if I had known that I was collecting them I would have collected more. Putting the pieces of this puzzle together isn’t easy and if it isn’t easy for me it is even more difficult for the world of business, which counts on being able to put resumes in buckets. In business we spend so much time defining roles and then trying to find the person who fits into them that we frequently don’t know how to capitalize on the great people standing before us.
I wanted to start this blog to talk about issues facing people like me and the companies who hire or would like to hire people like me. How can a Workforce Nomad keep from becoming a Workforce Wanderer? How can a company tell the difference? How can we continue to grow in a world that insists we should fit in a bucket? And how can a company keep fantastic employees growing and contributing, which is why they hired that nomad in the first place.
