Working on Christmas

It is kind of nice to work on Christmas.

Everything is a lot more calm and laid back. Only the essential people are there, and there were a lot less distractions. This morning, the freeways were very sparsely occupied. Tim Horton’s was closed, so I didn’t get my early morning coffee and donut fix. (it’s good to give your islet cells and your insulin receptors a break every now and then.) I was able to find a parking spot with no hassle. The staff were all generally in a good mood. Things went very smoothly. They were even giving away free lunch in the cafeteria to hospital employees.

The whole process was distilled down to the main objective, taking care of people.

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was how things normally worked? The multiple layers of bureaucracy serve only to weigh things down and cause unneeded stress. The competition and trying to prove yourself cause unneeded stress. All of the meetings and paperwork cause unneeded stress. Why do we insist on making things more complicated than they actually are?

The downside of working on the holiday was being away from my family. While I covered for my colleagues, they were relaxing at home and enjoying their families. I need to make sure that I take some time to do this as well.

Explaining black holes

Tonight, my 7 year old daughter was asking me about the black hole recently discovered at the center of our galaxy. It’s great that she is taking an interest in science. I want to make sure that my daughters both have an appreciation for math and science. First off, this will help them to be good problem solvers, no matter what they do. Second, the job markets of their generation will likely favor those with these skills. The other part of this, is that I had some difficulty explaining black holes to her. I know the basics, but started to trip up when she wanted more details.