For love of the game

This entry comes to you live from Coloma, Michigan.  I’m catching a quick bite to eat on my way home from a meeting in Niles.  It was a night meeting that started at 1800 EST.

That’s 6:00 p.m. for those of you not used to military time.  I prefer using military time, as it spares me the toil of typing a colon and designating before or after noon.

Night meetings don’t have a lot going for them.  By their nature, they occur after hours, meaning I’m at least sort of taking one for the team, at least until I use whatever compensatory time I might earn for my labour.  In the winter, it means being out in the cold.  I don’t like cold.  I dislike it less than I dislike hot, but I’m by no means a huge fan of cold.  Even given all that, though, when I get to attend a meeting where the local agencies in attendance have a great vision in mind, and really need the help to make that vision a reality, going to a night meeting isn’t so bad.  Tonight was one of those nights.  The folks down around Niles have some quality ideas, and I’m interested in supporting them.  They were glad I was there, too.  It’s always flattering, a bit humbling, and sometimes a little embarrassing when someone (or more than one someone) thinks my attending a meeting makes a huge difference.  I like to think that the good ideas would find a way to get done whether I was there or not.  Still, if they feel like my being there makes a difference, or lends credibility to what they’re doing, then so much the better.  Really, it’s all about making good things happen, right?

That’s enough of that.  Ingrid and I need to get home.