Jerry Weinberg used to say something like this. This is what I remember. I don’t know if this is the actual quote: “You paid the tuition for the experience. The learning is optional.” The paid tuition part is about either choosing to go to school or choosing an experience—a workshop, a job, any experience at …
I had a great day yesterday. I had some meetings that went well. I heard from the guy I’d asked to write the foreword to Agile and Lean Program Management. He said yes, and wrote a terrific foreword. Then, I received an email with the edits from an editor for an online magazine. When I write, …
Create an Adaptable Life Vol 4 # 3: How Do You Flex? November 2, 2015 How Do You Flex? There’s a discussion on LinkedIn about an agile team with a deaf developer. The respondents—many of whom are fully hearing—are debating what they could do. There are plenty of opportunities: Make sure everyone faces the deaf …
I’m deaf in my right ear. It’s aggravating, because I speak at conferences, and I have lunches and dinners at round tables. Can I hear the person on my right? No. Irritating! I have to explain, “I’m deaf on that side. Please nudge me if you want to talk to me.” And, then what happens? …
Mark and I take ballroom dancing lessons. As with many couples who’ve been taking lessons for years, we are working on different problems in our dancing. We have different strengths, different weaknesses. While we both have great frames, he has a much better frame in promenade than I do. I have much better leg action …
Incident #1. I travel a lot. TSA loves to see how my vertigo is doing. At least, I think that’s what they are doing, because they ask me to go through the body scanner about half the time I travel. I have seen more patterns when I travel during the day. When TSA is not …
I promised a few posts ago I would answer the question, “Why did it take you so long” when Daniel asked me about using a cane. You see the same behavior in other situations: Widows who can’t clean out their husband’s clothes after 20 years, the woman who’d been laid off for several years who …
Being deaf in my right ear makes for some socially awkward moments. They often occur on airplanes, especially if I’m sitting on the left side of the airplane. Planes, even before takeoff, have plenty of background noise, so I often don’t hear people talking to me. I figure if I’ve stowed my stuff and have …
When I first was coping with my sudden hearing loss, I had a number of conferences. I thought I was coping really well. I was trying to take care of myself, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, trying to eat properly. I gave my talks, carefully walking from my room to the conference rooms and …
Ordinarily, I would not say that being deaf at all is useful. But there is one time when it is very helpful—when my husband is snoring :-) My husband is a snorer. He can’t help it. He’s tried lots of things: antihistamines, nose sprays, nose strips. Nothing works. He can snore on his side. (Yes, …