What having 2 boys can teach you about yourself
I recently had my second child. As recently as 11 days ago, on October 23rd. Felipe weighted a healthy 9 ponds, 4.15 oz (4.2kg for those of us who use more modern measurement systems).
Felipe, 3 days old.
The new member of the family couldn't be more different from his brother. Whereas Agustin was quite prone to cry -and still is, to an extent-, Felipe is hardly ever heard. Agustin has always been quite active. At only 20 months he sleeps almost as little as I do; goes to bed at 10:30, wakes up at 6:30am and naps from 1pm till 3pm, he's always getting himself into trouble, climbing things and falling down from every conceivable and inconceivable place. I've seen him hit the ground hard and not shed a single tear, whereas if he wants me to hold him he can cry me a river.
Although it is too early to tell Felipe appears to be a lot more relaxed. He sleeps and stares, always quietly, and he prefers to be in his chair than being held in arms (except when his stomach hurts, which only happens quite seldom).
Truth is my youngest seems to be easier to raise than the eldest. Yet I found myself more "useful" with Agustin. The thing is I can quite handle a noisy boy and a chaotic situation, but when facing a seemingly-perfect scenario I'm stalled. I'm too afraid I'll break something.
My children have demonstrated something I already knew: I'm a fixer, not a maintainer. I prefer tough situations to settled things.
I wonder if this is something that will change with time or if it is wired into my system.
Jump!
Today is my last day as a Lenovo employee. It has been one of the toughest decisions of my entire career, but one that I had delayed quite a bit and that had to be done.
For the most part I have nothing but appreciation for all the time I spent at the company. Sure enough, things were not perfect (or I'd still be working for them), but I was allowed to learn and grow, to do amazing stuff and with the experience of trying to build a multi-billion worldwide company almost from scratch.
Amongst the things I've gained I depart with some good and lasting friendships, some of whom left the company before I did, some are still there. I wont name you (because I would certainly forget about someone and hurt some feelings), but you certainly know who you are.
Final tip of the hat goes to David. He was my mentor within the company, the one to deposit quite a bit of confidence in a South American dude he barely knew and the one providing all the opportunities to do fun things. I have nothing but appreciation for you.
So, what's next for me?
I've decided to make the jump and join a startup company called AbilTo. In words of our own website Abilto:
[was started] in 2008 with the mission of providing a better option for millions of people seeking to overcome the difficulties resulting from commonplace behavioral disorders and life transitions.
That means that I'll be hopefully applying my knowledge to connecting people at various life crossroads with a little help to get them past the bumpy road from my humble position of VP of Web Operations.
In practical terms that means that all web development and marketing will ultimately fall under my responsibility.
I'll also devote more time to my Digital Marketing & Social Media consulting gig. I will certainly keep myself busy.
What this all means for the readers of this blog is that I'll keep posting about the same things I have not been writing about plus some more new and interesting stuff.
I can hardly wait.
This blog is not dead
This blog is only undergoing a temporary hiatus.
There are a lot of things happening in the industry.
There are a lot of things happening in my personal and professional life.
Stay tuned. Ye shall be back.
Time off, health, other stuff.
I just returned from the first 4 days worth of vacation in about a year.
Thanks to my brother we headed over to Pinamar. Despite being winter we were blessed with springlike weather. I blame global warming.
Agustin had a blast. Luciana had her birthday by the beach.
This time off came as a response to burnout. And to health. My body was starting to evidence the kind of abuse I was putting it through.
4 days ain't nearly enough to recover. But it helped to put things in perspective. And they haven't been in perspective for a while.
Troublemaker
For as long as I can remember I've been regarded as a troublemaker. In High school I often found myself the subject of my teacher's punishments. I was even "expelled" from one School. (Long story short: they wanted to get rid of me, but couldn't find a good argument to do so. The principal approached me and said "we're going to make your life miserable". I had to leave -besides I was just 14-. Funny enough that has happened to me twice ever since under different circumstances, the difference is I never quit again).
That "tag" stick to me all through out my life, even in my professional life.
Question is: am I really a troublemaker? Yes and No.
I have 2 curses:
- I always speak out what is on my mind, and I don't care if it is "good for my career" or anything of that sort
- I have a very critic point of view on most stuff that I come upon.
Do the math, I don't like most of what I see and I'm vocal about it no matter what. This has headed me in the way of trouble more times than I dare to disclose publicly in this blog.
That being said I must admit I am quite proud of being tagged as a troublemaker. "Why would you?" you might ask. There are several reasons.
For starters it means I wont settle with what is instated or accepted as a practice. At least not if I see defects or possible improvements. This is bound to create all sorts of trouble with those who find themselves comfortable with the status quo. People who are comfortable with how things stand are, quite usually, quite boring.
Usually I not only rant about stuff I dislike but engage in the task of trying to change it. Now that is the single thing that gets me into trouble more often. A huge percentage of the people that I encounter are too comfortable living in mediocrity. I hate that. I'd rather fail a thousand times than walk down the beaten path.
I also have a bit of a problem with authority. I don't believe in authority. at least not as Authority is usually understood. Just because someone makes more money than I do or has higher position than I do, does not mean they have any sort of authority over me. If you want me to regard you as an authority you'd better prove you are smarter, more experienced, better connected and with a broader view than me.
Bottom line is: being a troublemaker is an advantage for anyone who wants to hire me, fail to see that and you are probably not worth of my services.
More idiotic by second
I was Investigating on the evolution of Argentina's Foreign Debt over the past 150 years or so (history is a pasion I tend to keep offline, for reasons unknown), when I came across CIA's World Factbook entry on this country. Upon other interesting (and rather unbiased) facts one can read this tidbit:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% based on non-official estimates; the much lower official rate lacks credibility (2008 est.)
The official rate (as measured by INDEC) was 7.2% for that same period.
I can't help but wonder how is it that we, Argentines, can allow a government to systematically lie to us. It is plainly unacceptable.
Yet there are many people who benefit from this double standards situation. No one on the middle class does, but Argentine governments have proved a serious expertise on slaughtering Argentina's middle class.
As part of a global community, and part of a global (or worldsourced) company it is very difficult to explain this kind of crap to people in places that make some more sense.
Oh, and before I forget, according to the same CIA factbook, Argentina Ranks #211 out of 224 in inflation. Hey! lets look at it from the bright side, at least this is not (yet?) Zimbabwe with a 11,000,000% inflation in 2008.
Also, we are in good company with countries such as Venezuela, Iran or Nicaragua.
I know I repeat myself, but here's the twist: there are several pressing matters in Argentina today. The one that makes the most headlines is the lack of security. As in going out to the street and being mobbed, robbed or killed. That has started an idiotic discussion on installing the Death Penalty.Needless to say I oppose it without any contemplations.
The thing is, such discussions are nothing else than mere distractions of the real issues we face. insecurity is nothing else than a by-product of the lack of serious and permanent policies. Each government is more interested in trying to be as corrupt as they can, instead of trying to make life better for the same people that voted them.
How can we even suggest giving a state that lies on a permanent basis the power to kill? It is plainly stupid. We are being idiotic.
Is Argentina beyond saving? I fear so. The only reason we are not Ethiopia or Afghanistan is because we are blessed enough to have an abundance in natural resources.
Until we realize as a nation that changin reality is something that needs to be done collectively we will be lied to, stupidized, and led to think irrelevant matters we will not surge from the downward spiral we've been in since the 1930s.
We are corrupt, at all levels. We are all corrupt. We like the easy way out from all situations. Nothing can be built until we extirpate that from our national DNA.
Returning to activity
Quick post.
After the recent personal events it is only today that I return to a somewhat normal life. Incredible ammounts of emails to reply to. Tons of things to do.
I want to write stuff. I have several things on the queue, now it is only a matter of finiding the time to do so.
Keep tuned-in. This ought to be fun.
Disenchantment
One of the reasons accountable for the lousy number of posts in this blog in Jannuary is probably disenchantment.
Let me frame the picture.
For starters I'm not a summer person. I was born and raied in Patagonia, cold is my game. If it is hot I don't function, I can't think, I can barely react. Air conditioning helps to a certain extent, but it is not 100% effective.
Recent events have also shifted the perspective in which I see many things. My job and my line of work included. I have been sort of forced to re-evaluate priorities, and the result is not that nice for Social Media. There are things far more important than that in my life.
With that in mind and the fact that I'm not too fond of where parts of the Social Media industry (is there such a thing?) are heading builds up my disenchantment.
I am still a believer. Heck! I'm more than a believer I'm a friggin' idealist, thus, chances are, I'll be back to my normal mood soon.
In the meantime I'll pay some attention to my family's needs (which I've neglected way too much) and divert some thoughts to different places to look for inspiration. I need to rest the mind, rethink plenty of stuff and get back to doing breaking ground stuff.
I'll be back, realoaded, and more of a smartass than ever before. Watch out.
(Editors note: bare in mind that disenchantment is not the same as disappointment)