So maybe a bit of a misleading title, but there is no question that I have very thin line between work and home life, not only because I take work home too often, but because the things that interest me and that I studied in university (urban studies essentially) are vaguely tied back to my job. About the only things that are clearly separate are the "high culture" books I read, along with the theatre and concerts I go to. So in a way, engaging in this culture chase* does keep me slightly more balanced. At least it provides certain time points where I have to disengage from thinking about work.
There are really a number of ways this post could go, but I find most of them are not really that interesting as I try to get them down into words. It would be nice to have clearer lines and more time at home when I am not thinking about work, but that would mean being a different person essentially. For all the ups and downs at work, I have the fortune of doing one of those high end intellectual jobs that supposedly will remain after everything else has been off-shored (symbolic analysts in Robert Reich's terms) and it means it engages my brain most of the time, even when I am off work. But the flip side is that I take work far too seriously and when a project isn't going well, then my sense of well being also suffers. In terms of those personality tests, I come out as one of those deep blue analysts who basically do feel that their work and work products are an extension of themselves. It's a tough way to be. I see flashes of it in my children, but I don't know how to steer them clear of the rocky shoals. I'm sure they get mixed signals from me about how important grades are, for instance, where my words are belied by the stories I tell about how I did at school.
What is somewhat intriguing is how engineering, even more than planning, has changed. The math behind it (while generally not that difficult) is still too hard for most people, and the shortage is essentially filled by students and then later young adult immigrants, primarily from China and India. This brain drain has been going on for so long that there is finally a bit of a reverse movement for some enterprising souls to go home and try to apply what they learned in the U.S. and Canada to their home countries. The bottom line is that engineers are going to work with and be friends with people from a more varied background (at least if we are talking about country of origin) than most social scientists, though on the other hand, engineers tend to share a fairly pragmatic, slightly conservative world view (and they may even discount the fact that they know people from a variety of cultures). It's a bit of a paradox. In some ways I am sorry that I didn't work for RAND in the U.S. for at least a couple of years, since it would have been quite interesting to see such a collection of intellectual talent organized under different principles.
As ever, I do need to sign off and catch up on at least a few things and then catch another cat nap. I am kind of depressed that I have not managed to read much these past few days, but on the other hand, I rode my bike to work twice, and I might even ride in today. It's been months and months since I rode 3 days in a row. I figure I have to try to get back into it before it starts getting dark and cold. If I am at least somewhat in shape by then, I'll be more willing to keep biking later in the season.
* A weak reference to The Paper Chase, which features a law student who is torn between his workaholic ways and his personal, indeed love, life. What I never understood is how he seems about to chuck it all away at the end of the movie, but then he makes it through the Harvard grind in the TV series. Was this a parallel universe essentially?
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