To work, to sleep, to write...

I find myself in Dallas tonight. I have a million things to do, some fun code to write, a class to get ready for, and a good book to read to help me get plenty of sleep. Yet instead of being stressed about what I cannot get done or happy with what I have gotten done, I am consumed with an email. It should have taken about 5 minutes to respond, or not to respond, and yet it took the energy out of the evening.

I was on the verge of not being overly productive due to a long disjointed travel day. So not accomplishing too much was not a surprise. But an email should not be the cause of the ruining of any one's day. Just to be clear, the email did not come from anyone reading this blog!

My dilemma is whether to spend 5 minutes zipping off a curt reply or 30 minutes crafting an appropriate answer. I may not think my 5 minute response is curt, but all too often when I want to express some emotion I do not usually express the quick answer does not work. So my 5 minute answer turns into a 30 minute analysis, "am I right", "are they wrong", "are we both right", and then figuring out how to write a response that is appropriate, tactful, clear, and, by the way, looks like it took 5 minutes. It is at the moment of realizing that 30 minutes has gone by and the response is no better than the tactless bit of froth I started with that I throw it away or put it in my draft emails to never see the light of day. Sometimes I actually do come up with an appropriate response but that is usually due to seeing whatever the issue is in the light of day and not while sitting alone in a hotel room waiting for sleep to come upon me.

The picture was not from Dallas. It was from home. In refocusing my mind, I thought I would start with a nice picture. My choices were the crashing waves of my beach (see note) or the serene beach with the mountains and the pier in the distance. So I decided to begin tonight's entry with the roar and foam and end with a more serene perspecitve, the view of my town from the beach (see note).

Note 1: In California we all own the beach - usually they say the state owns it but I prefer my perspective!
Note 2: In my town, I do own a piece of property, it is a part of the city, therefore I own a part of the city, therefore it is my town - to a degree.

More serious reflections will follow soon, just as soon as I deal with that email...