300 days of retirement back brief

I hope this blog finds each of you well in every way – physically, mentally,emotionally and spiritually and respecting the 2M separation distance recommended by Health experts.

Well it has been 300 days since I gracefully exited the employ of P&WC. As I noted in my 200 day review , the plan started off well but came to a grinding halt on March 16 2020. 

Everything that happens to us is a learning / teaching moment. I went through my favourite books of learning / teaching including the 3rd edition Physics ( Haber Schaim, Cross Dodge and Walter) and I could find nothing there that could have prepared us for the situation that we find ourselves in today. So what are we being taught?

Well the rat race pace that was developed over 41 years of employment has now slowed to a snail's pace. My initial reaction was to B&C ( technical term) about everything that I could NOT do. The list was long .

After fuming for a couple of hours , the entrepreneurial instinct kicked in. This snail's pace allows us to focus on what is coming and going, '

We used to zoom past details that were just a blur in our rear view mirrors. Now we can see these things approaching , study them and take the details into our sensory receptors.

It seems my days were filled with emails, phone calls, texts and Facebook messages and other distractions. Yet I did not see nor acknowledge the presence of the people with whom I interacted.

Now in reality , I much prefer the face to face in person interaction and not a face to face on the computer screen . COVID 19 changed that.

After closing the schools and the Churches and being in a " state of Emergency" , I could have accepted that fate . Instead I developed a plan to engage with our neighbours and discussed what they are doing to retain their mental fitness. I also did the same for my family and their kids.

They all had the same response that I initially had in terms of the things that they could NOT DO. So I started to explain to them the principle of the thermometer and the feedback cycle that is the thermostat. The thermometer only tells you that in the last 3 weeks Canada was stinking hot . But the thermostat has a target set point that commands a series of "machines" that brings our environment to that set point . So what do you want to be ? Well they all wanted to be the thermostat.

Now that I got them to start thinking positively, they made lists of things that they all could do. These included basement projects , garden beds, cleaning chores and even some minor car/ electrical repairs. We had the skills matrix for all of this in our village. All of these tasks were done in the spirit of social distancing. Materials needed for that task were surprisingly readily available and delivered to your driveway in 2 days . Now these mature people started ordering things that their project plan needed. Then others saw what was happening and they jumped into the melee.

I kept my distance in terms of providing the labour . I did draw up plans as required /necessary and got the township inspectors to review and approve ( electronically) . When I was building the glass enclosure ( non load bearing) for my wife's office to separate the patients from the Admin / Nurse, I assisted with the development of the code required by the planning office.

It was such a joy to see these mature people adapt to new challenges . This newness ignited a will to succeed in their heads .

When things didn't go as planned (or even the things that worked like clockwork) we did a " back brief". This allowed us to identify what pushed us off / on the track and the Corrective Action that we could implement on the next project ( copied from one of my best PWC assistants BP).

As I passed each home and saw these projects materialize , I remembered growing up in Trinidad where we had to say good day to all of the neighbours. If we missed , the news would reach home before we got home ( that was without the internet).

Through the initiatives that we started here in our village in Cornwall, I can see the kids starting to speak to the adults. We were taught as kids to start to behave as an adult. This training given by your parents, teachers , coaches and other people in your village guided your passage into adulthood and formed the basis of your judgment. It gave you the thought pattern to decide what is important to you and the values that you want to live by.

Some have started to think I have found employment with the City as they see me walking my dog and picking up recycled things that were blown off the recycling truck. The kids started to ride along with me and they started to assist with the picking up . I sometimes wish that our elected leaders led by example. Our streets are now cleaner than ever without labour from the City

Unfortunately there are many who have forgotten this training. In 1 Corinthians C 13 V 11 it states " When I was a child I thought like a child and reasoned like a child . When I became a man I put the ways of childhood behind me".

As we look at the COVID19 data we see that the virus transmission is slowing in countries where scientific data is being followed. However in other countries ( fill in the name) the spread is accelerating. This is creating havoc . The scientific data tells us that we must test and ID the positive people , then isolate them to reduce the spread . Simple things that were recommended ( masks and distancing) seem to be very difficult for some to adopt.

I started to join my wife on her WEBCASTS for COVID19 training. Medical Doctors and Engineers have very similar thought patterns and I quite like their seminars.

On a personal note I started biking for fun and in this month (July) I have completed 1400KM . Last month (June) I did 1500 KM .. These KM were done alone as the group of max five riders is enforced by the Police.

My weight has dropped by 9KG ( 20 LBS) since I retired.

When I meet up with some other people whom I know , we ride and discuss challenges that this COVID19 has brought to us. I soon realized that we are all affected in the same way by this COVID19 virus. What is different for each of us is the way we choose to respond. So instead of sitting and waiting for instructions on what to do next , we can develop the plans for the things that we want to drive. Even the animals do it. We started getting tomatoes that are half bitten as the number of rabbits and chipmunks around our village has ballooned . This population explosion was not on any legs of the Ishikawa diagram.

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit accepted our proposal for re opening Church Service and this Sunday August 2 2020, I will lead the Service at St John's in Cornwall. In addition the service will be WEBCAST .So this is the new normal, a socially distanced congregation with only designated masked singers . Let us see how this goes. As mentioned before we will hold a Back Brief to see what worked and what bombed.

Our road to being fully recovered to this New Normal will be long and rocky and filled with political interjections . However you must follow the science and make a difference in someone else life everyday including your own.

Keppel