Unfinished business

Program lingers on linearly while project has its own bell-shaped form.

Beginning and ending.

Life is constituted of both programs and projects.

Child-rearing is not a project. Schooling them is (until they come back and take over the couch).

Warring is a project.  At least when we could get out and not sink deeper into the quagmire.

When I finished Assassin Gate, I felt a striking resemblance to what the US had encountered in Vietnam (not knowing who the enemy was – the Perfect Spy – as case in point).

People form interesting alliances in war.

For now, world attention has shifted else where e.g. Syria, Iran and Israel.

Should they be classified as programs or projects?

We would hope for the latter.

If we take a zoom-out view of  history, we will find that one man’s failure is another’s victory. Innovation came about in clusters, in Europe during the Industrial Revolution. Scientists competed to file patents and announced findings.

Medical and mechanical surprises ( Marie Curie and Marconi).

Which leads to our present dilemma: we are more aware of vaccine and virus, wireless and wire line technologies. Since those are money-making business, we  give them more street’s cred and credits over low ROI projects.

Our life style has evolved to the point where we express ourselves in terms of technology (I am low on bandwidth, I need to be reboot, I can’t copy you, I am unable to process what you have just said).

We keep tweaking and tuning. To stumble upon that optimal-efficiency point.

When we left our phone (hardware) at home, we feel “naked”.

Out of the blue, we got “Drop Box” (the equivalent of train-station locker).

So on and so forth. Keep id the problems, we got the solutions. As long as we can monetize it. If not, we drop it (Blue tooth).

It’s not too long ago that Facebook was an unknown “face”.

Then everyone knows Mark (as if he were our son-in-law). Not sure between him and Justin Bieber, who is more  popular.

I am sure of the difference: Mark , in the language of this blog, is a program, a work still in progress. Justin would be a project, whose stardom has hockey-stick beginning and definite ending. That’s how the world works. I know this. I have just finished listening to “I’ll Be There” and remember how we all loved Michael and the Jackson 5. Then I realise we all were babies in our families. What has happened? (Babies turned burden).

The flow of life floats away relationships. Then what yesterday’s program has become today’s project (papa turns patient).

First we use relationship language to address one another (uncle, brother). Then we use machine language (leaving me a message on my answering machine).

Finally, we call them “patient”, “pupil” “inmate”. Institutional language that dehumanizes people. Turning them from “program” to “project”. My friend, you will forever remain my life-long program. Unfinished business. Work in progress. Not just a Contact, or Data Point.