Bittersweet Return

I am in NJ with Drumaster. My trip out of Jacksonville was a pain in the behind. The bus to the airport left at 5:30 AM. Many of my classmates were late and loading eighteen sets of bags onto a bus was not easy.

Continental moved my departure up by an hour. Sadly, I was on a plane with four infants who seemed intent on crying and stinking up the cabin in order. The smell in the cabin brought back memories of Vermont.

I did not enjoy the classes, but at least they are over. I was issued a shield and retook the oath of office. It was a nice end to a sad event.

Those of you who are long term readers know that I was a manager in the private sector prior to working in government. My style is called the Israeli method. In other words I lead from the front and tell my workers follow me. Administrative functions are delegated to an assistant or a senior workers. This style keeps everyone on the same page and does not allow a manager to hide behind their desk. It also does not allow individual failures. The unit achieves or it fails as a team. The approach has always worked in repeated applications. Sadly, this approach did not work this time.

For whatever reason studying has always been easy for me. I read the material once at high speed and walk away with a B plus. Many people have to work harder to get the same result. In some ways this is a curse as I sometimes forget this. I also have a desire to overcome whatever is out there and get the job done despite overwhelming odds. I also insist upon going down fighting even if the odds are long.

The bottom line was I did my best. Yet sometimes your best is not good enough.

Beamish in 08