Homeward

Written on the plane last night

I’m seated by the window of a Boeing 737-400 on our way back to the Boeing mother-nest, Seattle.  The SPC went very well, I think.  The workshops, especially those presented by Steve Ives, did justice to what is without any hype the most significant release in the 30+ year history of the Synergy/DE product line.

As for me, I avoided getting hammered the night before my presentation. Back in the day, I could party all night with customers and give three or four presentations the next day on four hours of sleep and some Tylenol, but for better or worse I’ve gotten unused to that behavior in my advancing age.   I got to bed rather early that night, and I prepared better for that session than any I have ever presented before.  So I had no excuse for a bad performance other than by own ineptitude — but I think it went off well anyway.

I also had the opportunity to say a few words in honor of Ken Lidster, my mentor, who is retiring this year.  Ken was one of the two original creators of Synergy/DE (then called DBL), and his understanding of programming language theory and design continue to inspire me.  I’m hoping that Ken will find it difficult to stay uninvolved in the language, and that I’ll have plenty of opportunities to work with him in the future.

Besides Ken, Inge King is also retiring this year.  She’s my sales representative (I’m also a customer of Synergex), but more than that she’s a great friend of both my wife and I.  But I expect to see even more of her and her husband in the future, as they have a daughter and grandchildren living in the Seattle area.

Liz Marmins interviewed me on tape regarding Synergy/DE version 9 and the SPC.  No doubt they’ll edit out my repetitious babbling and make me look like I know what I’m saying.  When it gets posted on their web site, I’ll link to it — no matter how embarassing it turns out to be.  I’m such an exhibitionist.

It was good to reconnect with so many of these people after all these years, but I’m glad to be heading home.  After the two-hour flight, I’ll catch a ride  to downtown Seattle where I’ll take the 35-minute ferry ride to Bainbridge.  There I’ll catch a cab home — probably after midnight.  I’m hoping that I was missed and will be appreciated, but I fear that revenge may be in the cards instead.  We’ll see.  Maybe a combination.