No More Travel; Lots More Writing
Last week, I had to cancel a class and rush home to take care of my wife, who had become unable to eat or drink anything. Turns out she needed emergency surgery to repair a blocked intestine. She’s recovering fine and I’m writing this from the chair next to her hospital bed, where I sleep and try to gain husband points by doing her bidding.
Thankfully it wasn’t cancer, but rather a condition called endometriosis. Apparently, she’s had it for years and didn’t know it. It’s kind of like having a strange recurring bug that suddenly gets explained. Lots of things make sense now that didn’t before. For instance, she has suffered chronic fatigue through most of her life, but when she was pregnant, 14 years ago, she had tremendous energy. Most women are tired during that time, but Lenore was voraciously reading and attending lectures and classes. It turns out that the endometriosis probably was the cause both of the fatigue and the cause of the energy.
Anyway, Lenore is my office manager and dispatcher, so in light of these developments, we’ve decided to cancel all my travel for the rest of the year. (So, no Eurostar. The certification fanatics will have to get someone else to wake them from their delusions.) Starting in January, I was planning to devote several months just to writing my book on self-education and finding a publisher for it (see an old draft at http://www.satisfice.com/hils.pdf). I also have a book on exploratory testing in the works. Now, that writing will begin right away.
If anyone has consulting they’d like me to do that does not require travel outside of the Seattle area, I’m willing to consider that. Otherwise, I have to write like crazy and see if I can make it pay off.
(And if you ever need major surgery, I can recommend highly the Swedish Medical Center in downtown Seattle. These people are fabulous. The customer service is much better than I expected.)
October 15th, 2007 at 12:09 am
James,
Sorry to hear about your wife’s health problems. I’m will keep both of you in my thoughts and prayers. I know that this turn in your live will work out well for you and your wife. My wife as well suffers from unexplained health problems, most likely blood circulation problems, and though there is nothing specific as yet, we both keep looking.
Having her problem explained finally, is probably a relief in itself. And understanding what the problem is will help her get through her current challenges.
I look forward to seeing your book sometime next year, and if you ever get to the Kansas City area maybe you’ll be able to sign a copy for me. Don’t spend all your time on your book, take good care our wife as well.
Steve
[James’ Reply: Thank you, Steve. Lots of complicated illnesses exhibit banal and similar symptoms to the outside observer. Endometriosis is only definitively diagnosable when a surgeon is actually looking around inside. In our case, they were pretty surprised to discover it was endo. There were no notes about it in the chart, just scary stuff about possible “neoplasms” and “metastates”.]
October 15th, 2007 at 6:17 am
I am praying for your wife’s early recovery. May she get well soon and also eagerly looking forward towards your ’still to come’ books.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:55 am
James,
I recently read a very good book on learning that you might find interesting too - http://www.amazon.com/Art-Learning-Journey-Pursuit-Excellence/dp/0743277457/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-3026529-7706461?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192463467&sr=8-1. The author based the book on his experience with Chess and martial art (he is accomplished in both) and I really liked it - well, it helps since I devote a big part of my spare time in both too. Good luck with your work - I glanced at your draft and it looks pretty neat!
yan
[James’ Reply: Thanks, Yan.]
October 15th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Hey James, I like hearing that you’re going to have more time to write, but I’m very sorry that it’s motivated in part by your wife being ill. My blessings for her thorough recovery!
Are you familiar with John Holt’s work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Caldwell_Holt He was was a school teacher who gradually became convinced that schools as organized run fundamentally counter to people becoming (or staying) skilled learners: “It’s not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go. It’s a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.”
He wrote an interesting range of books, from insightful observations on learning and schooling (How Children Fail, How Children Learn) to provocative manifestos against schooling (Instead of Education, Teach Your Own) to an inspiring autobiographical piece about his decision to learn to play the Cello late in life (Never Too Late).
When I think of ‘Buccaneer Scholars’ and their advocates, John Holt is the first person to come to my mind.
Cheers,
Jeff
[James’ Reply: I should look his stuff up. I agree with him. That’s why my son doesn’t go to school.]
October 15th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
I hope your wife gets better soon
October 17th, 2007 at 2:02 am
James, Very sorry to hear of your wifes health problems. These kind of problems get you thinking though and I expect to see some of your best work out of it. Stay positive, help her heal and I hope you enjoy the time you’ll spend together. Times like these help us realise just how important our loved ones are to us. My own wife has gone through the mill on health problems, as have I and it has been both a scary and wonderful time. Some of my most cherished memories have come from experiences neither one of us had ever wanted or expected. I guess the expression “Whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” fits the bill nicely.
All the best, my regards to your good lady, Ivor
[James’ Reply: Thanks, Ivor.]
October 17th, 2007 at 6:35 am
Hi James,
I’m sorry to hear about what has happened to Lenore. I hope that she’ll get well soon.
What a loss for the Eurostar conference that you are not coming. I was looking forward to see you argue against the certifications fanatics =).
However, knowing that you are writing new books is off course so much better.
Best regards,
Petter
October 17th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
James…
Along with the others, my hope for improved health for your wife is sincere. My hopes for you to sustain good health during this tedious process are with you as well. The correlation to finding the just of a bug compared to your wife’s health was comical and I’m glad she (being your office manager and dispatcher) can get the joke or a lot we have been said in hindsight.
OK… So I’m basically writing to thank you and other in your field of thinking for providing ME with additional, numerical and definitive facts of knowledge in the area of exploratory testing. Having a hardware and software background I have always been in the position to meld the experiences from both worlds to find issues rapidly. (I also, always ended up being the lab architect as well because of it too. Long story) Digressing, I now have a better understanding of the range of exploratory testing from the information provided to me during STPCON. It helps solidify aspects of my knowledge and gives me a better since of confidence when relaying my thoughts and feeling to my director and up instead of just numbers parse from a tracking system for review.
Anyways… Thanks again, GREAT HEALTH to you and yours, break an appendage on the book(s)…
CIAO,
Joseph
[James’ Reply: Thanks, Joseph.]
October 17th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Called James a few minutes ago … Lenore is doing well and has checked out of the hospital!
After staying in Seattle tonight, they will be home tomorrow on Orcas Island.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Hello James,
I tried to leave a note at your blog, entered the password “tulip” but somehow the password must have gotten garbled and “poof”. Will figure this out later… anyway here is a second draft:
Had been away for a while - some typical trials and tribulations at work. Doubt and depression descended like a fog. A time of desperation. Suffice it to say that your Exploratory and RST teachings are the major factor pulling me through this (and these
problems do have gifts for us in their hands for sure).
So I did not learn about your situation until now…
So very thankful that Lenore is on the mend and that you are returning to your lovely Orcas Island. I do not just feel *for* you James, I feel *with* you. I have experienced the paradigm shift of being mired in technology and endless problems - then
suddenly Lydia is in danger - or even just in need… We simply do whatever we must to be there. It is so very fascinating to ponder the parallels between Rapid and Exploratory Testing and medical testing and diagnosis - and this is tasty food for
thought - but when our loved one is in crisis, we just want it to all work out OK.
When I’ve been with dear ones in the hospital, the medical staff has mentioned that they tried to figure out whether I was an engineer or a minister. I am honestly not sure which is closer to the truth.
In situations like this, we think, we analyze, but most of all we pray. We call upon Something beyond Thought to help us through it all.
Sounds like a happy ending for this chapter - Lenore is healing and you are led by love to vector time and energy from Teaching to Writing (which is, after all, really crystallized Teaching). So a terrifying drama leads to a promising Alternate Future.
A terrifying Problem with a wonderful Gift.
Thanks for the link to “hils” - I’ll really enjoy checking out how this is evolving. Just a thought… Bruce Eckel wrote a wonderful book “Thinking in Java” and published it on the Web. Friends thought he was nuts… giving away the store. But…the physical
book was a best-seller! So perhaps publishing samples on the web will help to bring people to your literary works… but then again, you’re already doing this!
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and Lenore…
Wishing you health, peace and adventure!
-john
October 19th, 2007 at 4:20 am
Hi James,
My best wishes to your wife. Having seen the photo of the view from your office, and having visited Orcas Island I can’t think of many better places to recover. I hope that you guys have some awesome quiet time together.
Attending the Self Education tutorial at CAST was one of the outstanding highlights of my career thus far and I am tremendously excited at the prospect of a whole book on the subject… and hopefully lots of blog entries in between!
All the best
regards
Louise
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:58 am
Hi James
This is not good. First the your wife is sick, it is however good that she is recovering and I really hope she gets well.
Second, that you are not coming to the Eurostar since this was one of the main reasons to go there. I was really looking forward to the discussions between you and the certification people. I was attending a meeting called “future test management” in Stockholm this spring and I think you made some really good points, regarding certification among other things, that made me look at this in new and different ways.
Once again I really hope that your wife gets well, looking forward to your books and I will have to try to find another occasion to hear your thoughts about testing,
Best Regards
//Tomas
[James’ Reply: Canceling was painful for me, but I’m trying to make it into a positive. For years I’ve been wishing to have the time to really get into a writing project. Now, I have no money, but at least I have the time.]
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:52 am
James,
All my best wishes for your wife’s recovery & well being.
All the very best for your new books…
This is an opportunity for you to be innovative, you might come across new ways of doing business (like without much of travel or on similar lines). This, I’m sure would impact positively on our testing community…in a big way…..
Cheers,
Shankar
[James’ Reply: I’d like to do online training, but my Internet connection is pretty slow and unreliable. I’m trying to upgrade it.]
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Yes, John Holt is pretty much the father of unschooling.
I think James is going beyond testing, pressing into the area of adult learning. James, I think you would get a lot out of John Holt (or Maria Montessori), but I suspect it would be similar to what I got out of reading Testing Computer Software by Kaner “man, It took me years to bumble around and figure this out for myself and how to articulate it … I wish I had read this ten years ago. Hey look, there’s an anecdote I hadn’t heard before. And another one. cool …”
[James’ Reply: Yeah, actually my son is being unschooled. I’m running my own private Summerhill Institute here in my living room.]
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Hey, James!
So sorry to hear about Lenore’s illness. As you know, I can well relate to the torture of intestinal blockage unusual symptoms and, my doc’s favorite term, abnormal presentation.
Having heard some of your thoughts on self-education, I am confident your book will be successful!
All our best,
Deb & Robert
[James’ Reply: Thanks Deb. Intestinal blockage is a rare effect of endometriosis– which is why everyone thought it was cancer (they didn’t say “cancer”, but they wrote cancer-like comments in her chart.)]
October 26th, 2007 at 9:24 am
James,
Sorry to hear about your wife’s health problems. Hope she gets better quickly and will soon be on the mend. I am here in good Old England and have just been diagnoised with Bells Pasly (facial paralysis) but have taken the edge off the feel bad factor by watching your google seminar. What a great relief to hear you say you don’t need qualifications to be a good tester. I have been a tester now for just over a year but have had over 9 years experience with web technologies and consider myself to be something of an expert (obviously still have a long way to go…) but so refreashing to hear what you had to say on testing overall. Great work and look forward to watching more of what you have to teach you soon.
[James’ Reply: Thanks. I hope your palsy clears up quickly. I understand it sometimes does.]
October 31st, 2007 at 3:12 pm
James, I got really hooked on your draft of the book on self-education. Eagerly waiting for the rest of the story. I feel that many of my 16 years in school could have been spent better. Now I try to find time to read what I really want which is partly inspired by your book-list suggestions. Too bad you will not visit Sweden in December, however I have high expectations on Michael Bolton’s Starting keynote. //Tobbe
November 15th, 2007 at 9:57 am
James,
Glad to hear that you wife is getting better Thank Gd. May she have a full recovery.
Regards,
Mordechai
-Jerusalem
November 20th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Hi James
Hope your Wife has recovered and she is fine now. Hope and pray things would would get back to a normal state.
PV
December 9th, 2007 at 4:01 am
Hi James,
Warm regards and lot’s of good health to Lenore!
Asaf