I do an terrible amount of soul searching from time to time.
Questions of why I do what I do surface – I answer them and go back to work. Some days I get a lot done – some days I don’t. Some days I get easily distracted. I can truly say that the data has gotten boring. Not the work or the clients – it’s the story behind the data I care about. I could care less why you are sharing your data out on some godawful piece of software – but I do care why the data exists and why you are sharing it out. Why is it important to you?
I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people. A month or so ago I actually got to stand with this man and his wife while a very good friend snapped the picture. Yes – I finally met Atanas Entchev. If you’ve paid any attention over the last few years Atanas has quite the story to tell. If you get the chance ask him. We drove down the street in New Jersey and Carol asked “Where does he live?” and I said “I think it’s right where the guy is standing out in the street recording out entrance”
Through a random bit of happenstance during one thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel I live tweated the entire event. On a good day my family can be quite the event – this day proved extraordinary. One man took note and laughed the entire time. Today he announced an addition to the family:
I love QGIS – one of the guys who has went out of his way to answer questions and just talk to me from Australia has been Nathan Woodrow. The man is a coding machine. The man is a father and today I learned of a subtraction to his family.
Like I said – it’s the stories that are so much more valuable than the data these days. Read away – make notes. Remember why you do what you do.
