TAKEAWAY: As I sit by my mother’s side at a hospital in Miami (which has no WIFI environment available), I relearn and relive the days when we were not always connected. PLUS: Pure Design download: Working with Consultants
Disconnected and somewhat happy
As all of you who read this blog know, my mother had surgery last week, and she is still in the hospital here in Miami. She is making good progress, but at 80, it is one hour at a time.
It is also one hour at a time for me, sitting by her side at Metropolitan Hospital, which is not wired YET to provide Internet access to those who enter its environment.
So, for me, the week so far has been quite an education.
As a member of the culture of the “always on”, I was perplexed the first day we arrived there and I learned that there was “no way to connect,” as the friendly nurse informed me.
At the end of each day, when I return to my mom’s house, I connect. Yes, my mother does not own a computer, but she is very proud of the fact that I made her house “wireless” several years ago. I am happy I did that, too.
A day without computer or connection
I now have learned to go from the Internet to my own innernet. I think. I meditate. I focus on my thoughts. And, of course, I see the jets at nearby Miami International Airport land and take off constantly (for a guy who is always ON a jet, it is quite a switch to sit here and watch the planes come and go).
I have seen a small alligator emerging from the canal behind the hospital just to sit and enjoy the sun on the grass yesterday afternoon.
And I have reacquainted myself fully with the world of print. Yes, I read The Miami Herald, El Miami Herald, The New York Times and dozens of magazines in print, as I tend to the coming and going of nurses and doctors.
Do I miss the “connected world”? Of course, I do. Do I feel tempted to escape to get my Internet fix? Not really. The longer I stay there, the more I gravitate towards the world of printed objects, conversation, social networking by walking the hallways (as opposed to visiting Twitter or Facebook—which I do once a day now).
But, oh, mothers are so intuitive. My mother told me yesterday:
“Listen, if you miss your computer, just go home for a little bit and play with your computer”.
Play with my computer?
It is true. Mothers know best.
Dealing with the Consultant
UPDATE: What I would say today, if I were writing this 2002 Pure Design segment—- I would say that the best consultant is going to work in teams, emphasize multidisciplinary thinking across many platforms, and not arrive wearing a T shirt with a huge DESIGN sign on it.
The consultant who comes in to restore some cosmetic long gone glow to a newspaper probably does not belong there.
Happy coaches
Their teams qualified for the World Cup 2010!
Bild Zeitung of Germany todays carries two interesting sports pages, showing how two coaches reacted to their teams qualifying for the World Cup 2010, South Africa.
In one page, legendary Diego Maradona shows his happiness when the Argentine team beat Peru. The other page is a good headline play on words. German coach also exhuberant knowing that his team qualified. His name is Joachim Low, thus the We Low You headline.
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TheMarioBlog post #394