Chris​Hubbs​.com

It’s not too often that the national news runs an update that talks about someone I know, so when the alert came up on the NY Times app this morning, it was pretty cool: Kelly Ortberg is becoming the new CEO of Boeing.

Kelly was the CEO at Collins Aerospace (where I work) for several years prior to our merger with United Technologies back in 2018. I presented to him in meetings at least a few times when he was in a VP/GM role probably 11-12 years ago. Always thought he was a good guy. I’m have hope that he will be the right guy to turn things around at Boeing.

A milestone snuck up on me this weekend: as of June 1st I have been working at Collins Aerospace for 25 years. In 1999, fresh out of college with a CS degree, I moved to the Midwest to take a position in an industry that I knew almost nothing about. Still, a job was a job, and this Nebraska boy was ready to be done living in Texas. 25 years later, the name on the door has changed a few times, but many of the faces have stayed the same.

I started as a software engineer for flight management systems. Two weeks later, I got loaned out to our flight displays department, and FMS never got me back. After ten years doing software development, I got interested in airworthiness certification. Got my FAA DER ticket and for the next 13 years I worked full time in our certification group. For the past two years I’ve worked in Advanced Technology, trying to apply the lessons I learned from all my time doing compliance finding to help us do better, easier work during the design cycle.

I know I’m a little bit of an anomaly for my generation to be so long with the same employer. One of the advantages of working for a large organization is that at whatever point I’ve gotten bored in my current position, there’s been a new position I could move into, and the learning could start again. On the whole, I keep enjoying the job, and they keep paying me, so 25 years later I’m quite happy and thankful to still be here. I’d say “here’s to another 25 years”, but I sure hope I’ve retired before then.

It’s been a little over a month since I began using a standing desk at work.

So how’s it going after a month? Pretty well, actually. Some observations:

• My back, arms, and shoulders are a lot less sore at the end of each day. I’m tall (6-4) and squishing myself under a desk all day just wasn’t good form. Standing up is a lot better.
• My legs are slowly getting used to it. The first day I stood up all day I was definitely ready to get off my feet at the end of the day.
• I got a standing mat that helped a lot. Having 3/4-inch of foam between my feet and the floor really helps.
• I learned really quick which shoes are comfortable (my Merrell Road Gloves are awesome) and which ones are not (my cheap black dress shoes).
• My co-workers were amused, interested, and curious. I don’t know that any of them will take up the trend, but many of them observed that it might be a nice change. (It’s also possible they were just being polite and really think that I’m a weirdo.)

I’m planning on sticking with the standing desk for the time being. If I’m still gung-ho about it after, say, Christmas, I might start pursuing the possibility of getting a real standing desk via the regular work channels. I understand they have one that is electric and adjustable, which would be nice. It’d also be nice to bring all of my work surface (not just my monitors and keyboard) up to standing level.

I’ve been intrigued by the online discussion about standing desks for a while now. Heck, it’s clear enough to anybody willing to think about it that just sitting, all day, every day, can’t be good for you. Add to it that I’m 6-foot-4 (that’s 193 cm for my two Canadian readers) and it’s not so easy to cram my legs underneath the desk, and I end up needing to unkink myself every hour or so during the day. Even doing that I still end up with achy legs, a sore elbow from leaning on it too much, and a sore back.

(To be fair, the sore back could be more due to the slouching I do in bed at night reading and watching tv. And the fact that I’m not getting any younger. 35 still feels like it’s on the happy end of my 30’s. Next year ain’t gonna feel that way.)

There are some ridiculous cool standing desk assemblies out there, at ridiculously uncool prices. Not in this guy’s budget. Now, I work for $MEGACORP, so there’s probably some bureaucratic process I could go through to make the request for a standing desk, and some ergonomic person would eventually sign off on it, and 6 weeks from now I might have something. But I really wanted to try the idea out sooner. Here’s what I ended up with (click on it to see the full-sized pic):

I ended up spending just shy of $20 at Lowe’s for a nice piece of coated shelf board for my table tops, and then a chunk of 1x8 for the legs. My monitors now sit 20" above my desk, and my keyboard/mouse about 15". I’m about 3 hours into using it so far, and so far so good. We’ll see how sore my feet and legs are tomorrow. I’m actually sort of easing into it, since my all-afternoon meeting today and tomorrow means I’ll only be standing for half-days.

I figure if I decide I like it, later on I can make the ergonomic request and see about a “real” standing desk. For now, though, this’ll do.

I keep a notebook at work for scribbling to-dos and other things I need to remember.  I don’t go through notebooks very quickly - my short-term memory is pretty good and I use sticky notes and scrap paper when I’m at my desk, but a notebook is handy for carrying around to meetings. 

Back in February my notebook (a Mead brand 80-sheet 4/5-per-inch “quadrille”) was starting to fill up (read: it was maybe 2/3 full) so when I noticed a spiffy new National brand Computation Notebook was available in the supply cabinet, I grabbed it. 

About that same time I was applying for a new position here at work - a position in line with my long-term career goals, one that I’d been hoping to get for a long time.  I knew the manager of that new group wanted to hire me (I was offered the job!), and I was just hoping the process would work out and I could transfer.  So I set the notebook aside and decided that I would symbolically keep it in reserve until I got the transfer to the new position.

To make a long story short, senior management decided I was too critical in my present role to be allowed to transfer.  Both my boss and the manager trying to hire me assured me that they’d try to make it work out later on, but in March someone else took that position and I stayed where I was.  I was initially neither very patient or very happy about the situation, but what else was there to do?  So I waited.

Patience is one of those things you probably don’t really want to pray for.  The process of learning it isn’t fun. But it’s a valuable lesson to learn. My old Mead notebook got thinner and thinner through the summer, but I stubbornly left the new notebook on the shelf.  Finally at the end of August I had a moment of weakness and carried the new notebook to a meeting, but didn’t need to take any notes.  After the meeting I gathered my resolve and put it back on the shelf.

September 1st rolled around and I got a phone call.  Another job req was opening in that department.  I was welcome to apply again.  I applied.  I re-interviewed.  I waited.  It took nearly the entire month of September to get through the process and see if I would be allowed to transfer this time.  The notebook waited patiently.  Me, not so patiently.  Finally, last Friday, I got the official word: the transfer would be allowed.  And today I got the official phone call confirming that I would take the position, with the transfer effective in two weeks’ time.

When my transfer is complete and I start the new position, the old Mead notebook will find its way to a recycle bin, and the patient National notebook will finally take up the role it’s been waiting for since last spring.  It will be a happy day for both of us.