Thirty years ago, I used to work at Toys’R’Us. I really enjoyed that job and sometimes consider returning to a life of stocking shelves. It’s become a bit cliché at this point to hear another tech bro wax on about how they’re going to quit and open a coffee shop, start woodworking, or become a janitor somewhere. This post isn’t that post.

About once a week, an 18-wheeler would back itself up to the truck bay, and then two or three of us would unload every box on that truck as quickly as we could onto a bunch of skids—usually in about 3 hours or so. The store was divided into three sections: the very memorable A, B, and C sections. Everything coming off the truck would be quickly sorted into piles for each section. Work there for a little while and the size and shape of boxes become easily identifiable without even needing to look at labels.

From there, all of that inventory needed to be moved either to the floor (ie: onto store shelves), overstock (the piles of inventory packed 4–6ft high on the very top shelf), or thrown into the back, aka the 500s (the ancient term used to refer to the storage hidden from customers).

I used a specific approach of grabbing the largest boxes from the bay and putting those away first. This created the illusion of faster progress—I could visually see the piles shrink rapidly until all that was left was a small pile of tiny boxes. Selfishly, this created the illusion to management, too, that I was working faster.

To this day, I still do the tasks that look like they have the biggest impact.

When I do the dishes, I do the plates and bowls first, then the glasses, and then the utensils. Doing the big stuff clears off the counter and makes it look like I’m getting the dishes done more quickly. (It’s not an unheard of thing for me to “let the utensils soak”, to be dealt with later.)

When working on an app, I’ll build out the bulk of the front-end before I jump on the backend. I’ll get the easier data types editing and saving before I work on the more complicated form interactions.

They say the last 20% takes 80% of the time and I chalk it up to the big boxes and small boxes. Putting away all the big boxes might look like I did 80% of the work but it’s a visual trick. In reality, there are a lot of small boxes that still need to be put away.

Sure, I might be able to get something that a client can see and interact with within a day or two but the reality is that a quality product means putting away all of the small boxes. That takes time, time that might visually look less impactful but in the end is just as important as everything else.

Today’s coffee is tasty—different tasty. It feels thick on the tongue, like a high percentage chocolate, with a bitterness bordering on sweetness. Subtle notes are difficult to find, hidden amongst the clouds of creamy, frothy whole milk that blankets—nay, marries—the espresso. Today is not a day for subtlety. It is a day to be consumed.

And this pain au chocolat ain’t bad, either.

There’s a certain simplicity to the life of the harried and married with children: the nuclear family with two and a half kids. The day to day is predictably unpredictable with its routines: breakfast, lunch, dinner, work, meetings, daycare, changings, sports, mid-night feedings, music lessons, and so on and so on, day in and day out.

And then we split.

Divorce established two worlds. In one world, I was a parent, taking care of two kids and all the aforementioned duties and then some. The other world, I was single and child-less, relatively free from parenting responsibilities.

That other life was like another dimension: a life spent in the future but only for a few days at a time—days that were often spent in another city, another country, another continent. “Once the kids are on their own, I can travel farther, for longer. Maybe I’ll move somewhere.”

Pre-pandemic, deep within a relationship with a woman from one of those other cities in one of those other countries, I was at the peak of being split in two—being asked to rearrange schedules—defragging the calendar, as it were—to maximize the segments of time in this alternate dimension.

Fifteen years post-separation, I find myself on the cusp of the past meeting the future and returning to a one-dimensional world. My eldest is planning to move out soon. My youngest has one more year of high school left. My ex has relinquished control of the rigid schedules we clung to for a decade and a half.

I still have commitments and obligations. There’s still school and work drop-offs and pick-ups. The schedule has become like a Rorschach test, unclear from week to week or day to day.

Eventually, shortly, the two lives will converge back into one. The nest will be empty and I’ll no longer be split.

After a couple years of not putting any revenue into the business, I realized that it was time to say goodbye. I have officially dissolved my corporation, Snook.ca Web Development, Inc.

My personal blog, Snook.ca, marches on.

Deventer, December 2008

Photography taken at the Charles Dickens Festival in Deventer, The Netherlands.

Pictures taken with Olympus E-3 ~ Leica D Summilux 25mm 1:1.4

Postprocessed in Photoshop CS4.
--
© Copyright 2008 Rick Wezenaar Photography ~ photo@mitranet.nl. All rights reserved.

To all of you a (belated) Happy Christmas !

I had a fabulous Christmas in London with my boyfriend this year, and I even managed to make some photographs while I was there.

Please have a look at my photostream for some interesting shots.

For now I wish everyone a great 2009 !

~ Rick

More information about Rick's Photography:
Photography website
Official Portfolio
Rick's Flickr Photostream

INDONESIA
Landscapes & Culture


INDONESIA Landscapes & Culture is a book devoted to Indonesia and its breathtaking landscapes, the warm people, and its rich and diverse culture.
Rick Wezenaar was born in 1968 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. At the early age of 11 he started with photography and has never stopped since.
In 1989 he started making professional photography. One of the things Rick really likes is travelling. Especially Indonesia has caught his photographic eye. Therefore, during a 4 year 'quest', Rick has travelled the countryside, villages and cities of Indonesia, capturing its beauty and culture. A small part of all these photographs taken during those journeys have found their way into this book. We really hope the viewer will enjoy this publication of Rick's stunning and breathtaking photography!

Book information:

INDONESIA Landscapes & Culture
ISBN: 978-0-557-11430-6
Publisher: Lulu
Copyright: (c) 2009 Rick Wezenaar
Language: English
Paperback, 102 pages, 8.5" x 8.5", perfect binding,
white exterior paper, full color exterior ink,
white interior paper, full color interior ink.

This book will be carried by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bol, Ingram, Bowker,
Nielsen, and Lightning Source.

Order a copy of this stunning book here !

Rick

Hiya fans,

For my general photography site (including personal photography, please visit

Rick Wezenaar Photography

For my official Portfolio, please visit

Rick Wezenaar Portfolio

For my flickr site, please visit

Rick Wezenaar Photography on Flickr

Enjoy !

~ Rick

If you like castles, check out our weekend trip to Bissendorf, Germany.

Photos from my weekend trip to Dublin, southern Ireland.

Friends :)

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