About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to outright terrifying, depending on your technical understanding of a problem and your willingness to argue with him.
Me, I was the newly hired Development Manager so I looked after the developers and testers, did the hiring and occasionally firing, and tended to inherit basket case projects to do the project management.
Different roads Steve and I. Where I’d slipped down the slope to management a decade earlier he’d stayed hands on with coding. There were times I looked enviously at developers who could focus on producing software without all the commercial and legal headaches that went with management.
For the most part Steve and I got on well. I had enough of a technical understanding to know when things smelled right but was realistic enough to keep my mouth shut when I had nothing useful to add. Sounds pretty obvious but I’ve come across a few blokes, they’re always blokes, who still think they know best and can tell coders what to do even when they blatantly don’t.
I guess you’d call it boundaries, Steve would hate that, or any of that touchy feely stuff. The one time I think I impressed him was when the two of us were interviewing an architect. Please note that’s a solution architect, not one who designs houses. Someone still vaguely technical but they draw boxes and lines and makes sales pitches instead of writing code.
Anyway this guy we were interviewing was using a lot of words but saying virtually nothing - not dissimilar to our current PM at a press conference. I pulled the guy up on it, gave him one warning and when he continued to waffle ephemerally I terminated the interview even though we were only about 15 minutes in, meaning Steve could get back to coding and we could both stop losing the will to live.
After a few years I left to do something that didn’t involve corporate registries, and ended up at a company that made DJ software - the cultures were quite different. At the former company if big wigs came visiting I literally had to send developers home for a proper business shirt if they were dressed smartly but casually. At the DJ company they’d suggest we might like to wear shoes that day.
Steve stayed with the company, but moved to Wellington. His son Sam was a very keen and talented footballer and had the opportunity to join the Phoenix so the family upped sticks and went. The things we do for our kids eh.
The reason I’m telling you this today is that young Sam, Steve’s boy, played for the Olywhites this morning at the Olympic games. There he is at #3.
You might not have realised that the Olympics have begun, it’s a couple of days until the opening ceremony - Saturday morning out time. With some of the team sports, like Rugby Sevens or Football they start prior to the official opening so they can get through something like a tournament in such a short timeframe.
For the record our lads won, 2-1, which judging by the statistics must have been a hard fought victory. We were behind in every stat other than the number of saves our goalkeeper had - and the final score.
Next up the team have the USA which will be an even bigger challenge, but what an opportunity for these young men to represent their country, no doubt with talent scouts aplenty watching on.
If you’d like to see some of the game there are highlights here. Look out for #3.
In our house there was football too, although when push came to shove dance won out. While our younger two have spent the last decade at dance comps with Fi as Dance Mum I’ve been something of a Football Dad. If such a thing exists.
For five years I was the manager of Johnny’s team, although that last year was badly curtailed by Covid. No doubt some of you have done similar volunteer roles over the years with different sports or kids activities.
Just basic organisation, letting people know when and where, trying to round up enough players if you were missing some. You’d borrow a player or two from a couple of grades down who fancied a second game with the “big boys”, on occasion I’d also rope in my younger boy Matty, despite him being four years younger than everyone else on the pitch.
They were a great bunch of kids to see grow up and inevitably you got to know the parents. You’d share a laugh when things were going badly, or the rain was coming horizontally, or sometimes when the parents of the other team ranted and raved with appalling sportsmanship you’d all tut and mutter disapproval.
Good folks but as with any group some were reluctant to put their hand up and help. Each week you’d have a huddle after the game and name the player of the day. With me picking of course everyone got a go, besides if you were the the POTD you had to bring the oranges next week, so you didn’t want to win all the time. Parents would be smiling and laughing, ready to get on with their days, until you asked for a volunteer and then they’d stare at the ground assuming someone else would help.
Simple things like taking the nets down and returning them to the club, or holding a flag on the sideline and helping the ref out. There were a couple who might help if you pushed a bit but most folks seemed happy to look at their shoes and assume someone else would step up.
Someone else.
I’m guessing this might sound a bit familiar to you, I reckon a lot of you would be the volunteering types. My wife Fi is an habitual volunteer. Always sewing costumes for dance things - often not actually involving our own kids. At every fund raiser with baked goods or cooking sausage sizzles. I’ve cooked a fair few of those myself.
There is a point to this so I’ll come to it now. An analogy between subscribing and putting your hand up to volunteer. They’re similar in that if enough people volunteer things work fine, but if too many people stare at their feet assuming someone else will do it, then it doesn’t really work.
I’ve always seen subscriptions as payments those who could afford a couple of dollars a week donate and if enough do it all works out ok if others can’t.
For whatever reason things are not going well with subscriptions right now. Where for two and a half years it has been a slow climb over the last couple of months new subscriptions have largely dried up and with turnover it means the total number is going down rather than up, which as you might imagine is quite concerning to me.
It’s not that I want or need the number of subscribers to keep rising forever but I’d like to make a modest living doing something I work hard at, and I’m only about half way there.
The feedback I get on the writing seems very positive, but times are tough and that may be part of the reason. I’ve mentioned it before but if you’re a paid subscriber and you lose your job, or find yourself going through a difficult time, do let me know. I’m happy to suspend your payments, a subscription holiday, until things are sorted. I know that feeling of being made redundant and panicking about every outgoing, so I’m very happy to give you one less thing to worry about.
For everyone else who’s not already a subscriber, if you’re enjoying the writing and thus far you’ve been an observer now would be a great time to help. I’ve never raised the price so it remains at $8 per month or $85 per year.
My apologies for that stuff, it’s been on my mind a lot and one thing I’ve learned writing is that just coming out and saying what you think seems to be the best approach. I mean what’s the other alternative?
Ok enough with the sales pitch, back to the things we do for our kids…
I really like 90s Aussie movies like Priscilla and Muriel’s Wedding. You might recall this quote from the latter, “I do see them now, they’re over there”. Here’s a clip to jog the memory. Hold that thought.
Recently you might have seen publicity for the TV series Time Bandits, a remake of the classic movie from the early 80s that was a real favourite of mine as a kid. It’s been made here in Aotearoa and my son Matty has a small role in it, although not until episodes eight and nine which haven’t been released yet.
If you haven’t seen it here’s the trailer - it looks pretty awesome, although I might be a tad biased.
At the time Matty and “Actor Mum” Fi spent a couple of weeks down in Wellington. It might’ve been a small role but both he and his chaperone were given five star accommodation and looked after very well. They met and talked with some pretty famous people. Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords was the director of the episodes Matty was in.
They both spent time with Lisa Kudrow from Friends, which was a bit of a holy shit moment for me. Friends was new when Fi and I got together. In London on rainy Sundays we’d wander down to the local video shop and get DVDs of whole seasons and watch them in bed in our tiny studio. Now there she was chatting to her.
About the same time as this you might recall the comedian Jimmy Carr was travelling around provincial centres like New Plymouth and Palmerston North, stirring things up by gently gibing at their dubious merits. One afternoon while I was missing Fi and Matty I checked out prices in Wellington and messaged her asking if she’d like to see Jimmy Carr. This is where the Muriel quote comes in. She replied that “she could see him - he was over there.”
So there she was, my wife, in a room with famous actors, directors, Lisa Kudrow from Friends and Jimmy Carr popping in and I couldn’t tell anyone. That’s not a good predicament for a writer.
Apparently I’m still not allowed to talk about Matty’s role because they haven’t advertised the episodes he’s in. So more on that at some point in the future.
This morning I woke up a bit down thinking bugger it if people aren’t subscribing I’ll just move it behind a paywall, people in other professions don’t simply give most of their work away in the hope that enough people like it that they choose to pay.
Yet I still don’t want to do that. It’s a beautiful day and I know folks enjoy what I write and it makes them smile, and on other days cry, and sometimes feel like I see things and say thing the way they do, and that’s mostly why I do this. I hope it doesn’t sound too egotistical but the thought of taking that wee bit of joy from people sits heavily - I don’t want to do it and yet it remains that I need to earn a living.
So yay the Olywhites and look out for Time Bandits. Hope you have a good one and if you’re in a position where you can help then today would be a good day. 🙂
To end with a different kind of Time Bandits, from the same era as the original movie. A classic 80s track.
A very honest and open Korero this morning Nick. Thanks for sharing like you have. I, for one, appreciate the platform you offer every morning for us to vent our frustrations about pretty much all that's wrong with the world. My thinking is that if someone wants the liberty to express their thoughts and feelings in a public arena without fear of reprisal, provided by someone dedicated to the cause, then a few dollars here and there is very small price to pay. I hope enough of your readers will understand and continue to help you produce the great opportunity for speaking out you give us every morning.
It's also not egocentric to be proud of the family you and Fi have brought up. Your obvious pride in them is very refreshing in a world sadly lacking.
Another enjoyable article Nick as far as the subscription goes the thing is what you do well is your intellectual property & it's worth something so don't feel bad $8 a month is nothing these days for all the information that you work hard at to get to us so good for you I know it's hard asking for money I'm the same but what you do is well worth it.