In the early 1970s, not long out of medical school at the University of Kansas, I took my first medical post in a small town on the plains of northwest Kansas. Norton was supposed to be a stepping stone—a place to gain experience and save money before my residency in Seattle. Little did I know that instead of starting a career, I was finding my calling. Family medicine … [Read more...]
The Admiral Who Came Back at Sixty
When machines take over more of our work, the question of what we do with our hours becomes personal. A father looks at the women around him and sees the answer. In 1966 the United States Navy retired a commander named Grace Hopper. She was 60, and by any ordinary measure her working life was complete. She had programmed the Harvard Mark I during the Second World War, … [Read more...]
The Notion of Time Travel Has Always Fascinated Me
My appetite for reading about places where historic things happened, and then getting the chance to stand in those very places myself is insatiable. I’m always up for a good time slip, but I want to go really far back. I was into the Tudors long before Netflix existed, and I’ve been known to rabbit my way down any hole that brings me closer to William Shakespeare. I’d be … [Read more...]
How to Stop Waiting and Start Saying What You Feel
For most of my career, I was focused on the next goal, the next deal, the next milestone. I was good at achieving things. What I wasn't as good at was pausing long enough to tell the people who helped me get there what they actually meant to me. I assumed they knew. I told myself I'd say it eventually. And then one day I realized how close I'd come to never saying it at … [Read more...]
How AI – Artificial Intelligence – Can Benefit You
Curiosity is one of humankind’s greatest gifts. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of curiosity’s greatest gifts. While there are reasons AIs may need forms of containment, for us casual users they are wonderful tools or toys. When I want to explore information or find specific data points, I find AI tools are the best thing to reach for. I’m a bit like a little kid, I … [Read more...]