Sunday, August 15, 2021

3 weeks off grid - no internet, no cell, no electricity, no plumbing, no mosquitos (well not everything you read is true)

 I am just back from a 3 week camping holiday.  This is the first time I have ever taken 3 weeks off.

Lots of wildlife - foxes, bears, deer, mink, fisher, otters, beavers, raccon etc.  The most interesting thing I saw though was not those more "exotic" animals, it was a chipmunk that stocked a frog - caught it and ate it.  I never knew chipmunks ate frogs and certainly never thought of them as hunters.  Photo is not good but zoom in and you can see the frog.

A company would be dysfunctional if the leader could not take 3 weeks off.  So thanks to the Danby team for holding everything together!!

I learned a lot about myself:

1 - I work hard.  I pointed this out to a friend whose insightful comment was "what are you going to do about that?".  Now I have thinking to do.  My work ethic was my competitive advantage for the first part of my life but can it now be that?

2 - I waste an hour daily on things I do not need to do.  Mostly reading things like news, looking at the stock market, looking at covid stats, reading economic outlooks.  When I did go online, I found I could just delete those headlines rather than read the articles.

3 - I feel healthier/stronger because my day had so many natural exercises built in - paddle a bit, cut some wood, hike, swim, move some branches, carry water etc.  I am thinking how I could build more natural work into my day.

4 - The greatest thing I can do for Danby is to think.  Strategize.  Plan.  The actual doing does not add as much value.  That said, of course, execution is key but that is what a team is for.

For the first few days, there was a low level haze caused by forest fires far to the north of where I was (like almost 1,000 km).  I worry about the world climate crisis.  We need to all act to help solve this one.  A good article on the warming we are seeing here.

I am troubled by Haiti earthquakes and what is happening in Afghanistan.