I went to a music cabaret tonight which was supposed to start at 7, and no one was there. I sat in the pub, read my book — the first few chapters of George Monbiot’s Heat, which states that our carbon emissions actually need to be reduced by 90% for us to avert the catastrophe caused by the “positive feedback” loop that a rise of just two degrees will likely trigger.
I had a pint.
After a while, the bartender turned the volume up on the football, making reading impossible, so I necked the pint, packed up, and went downstairs, where a few people were straggling in, but nothing was really set up.
I went back home.
I wasn’t going to sit with three or four people I didn’t know trying to ingratiate myself while they assembled their instruments, or sit in a corner trying not to look like a killer.
This afternoon I had a test-call with the assistant of someone I’m going to interview for a Strategic Coach article. I used SkypeOut to call her and it was utter rubbish. Normal Skype is about 85% successful when I talk to my mum or my editor, but this was just awful. As I wrote to Skype’s support desk, “I felt like Alexander Graham Bell calling to Mr Watson, except Watson was being filtered through ‘The Matrix’.” It was embarrassing.
These two experiences underscored something odd about me: I’m comfortable standing up in front of a large audience and presenting to them, but I get shy about making phone calls or showing up alone at other people’s events (which I normally do because my friends here generally aren’t into the stuff I am).
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Today I ordered a new OS for my [#$%ing] computer as well as office software. I now own a legal copy of almost everything I use. This has been important to me for a while, and I’m almost there.
