Barman therapy and five score meeting attendees

Sometimes the best way to get a clear picture on the problems that are troubling us is to just speak about them. By simply stating the problem it is often the case that we get insights that we could not grasp by simply mulling over them. That is the reason why so many people find therapy in a bartender: even if they do not have any other talent or formal education, as long as they are able to listen patiently and show some empathy they will be able to help.

I forgot to mention it, but after my tirade on Thursday my mom called on Friday to have me talk about it: she gave me the "bartender therapy". Of course, my mother will never be as detached from my troubles as a barman, but she managed to let me talk and vent out my frustration without meddling to much, so at the end of almost one hour of conversation I was less itchy about the outrageous moral position of my brother. I never truly considered cutting him off, but I was not keen on facing him again. Now I am little bit less reluctant.

Photo: gimballica at PxHere.com

As I mentioned yesterday, I had a massive video-conference this afternoon were more than 100 attendees were connected. It ran for almost four hours, and it was admittedly not worth devoting all my attention to it all the time, but the good thing is that I was there half-listening and really tuning in whenever it was necessary. When you work in space projects, requiring so many different parties to work together, this kind of events become commonplace and you get used to the way they operate, so they are not a burden anymore. Of course, you occasionally get too absorbed in your "alternative" task and a colleague has to give you the elbow so that you listen in at the right time.

The meeting continues today and tomorrow, so I will not be doing much progress these days. Still I hope I will be able to get started on my presentation of the paper for the PhD group. Stay tuned!