Month: May 2013

I was asked to give a talk in London for the yearly DevOps Summit. There were many interesting presentations and I had the opportunity to do some networking, meet people from other companies and share ideas.

A large international crowd showed up.

The title of my presentation was Walking the Tightrope, during which I recounted my experiences ramping up an agile software development team and the challenges working with a more plan-driven operations department.

While I was in London, I could do a little sight seeing. Actually, I arrived a bit later in the evening, so I dashed around the nearby area and had a very quick look. Here are a few pictures that I took.

Paddington	English pub	Tudor Hotel
Hyde Park #1	Hyde Park #2	Hyde Park #3

Proud warriors ready for battle.

I had a terrible day of golf, which is strange because when I started I felt in top form and was excited that I would shoot a fantastic round. So what went wrong?

You might say that it started on the first three holes after a bogie, double-bogie and bogie, shooting up to four over par right at the beginning. However, I kept my cool and felt that there was a good chance to finish off the rest of the front nine even par after that or even making a couple birdies for a thirty-eight. After a string of four pars and two birdie putts that just lipped out, I ended with two bogies for a respectable forty-two.

Considering that this was an important tournament, the monthly medal, and we were playing from the back tees, I could deal with the forty-two and finish off the back nine with a stellar performance. That was not going to happen.

Double-bogie (missed two footer), par (missed three footer), bogie (missed two footer), double-bogie (splash in the water), double-bogie (out-of-bounds), bogie, bogie (missed three footer), par (missed three footer), bogie (hit right trees). That's a stellar round gone sour quickly with no hope in the world. A forty-five, giving me an eighty-seven for the day. What a terrible round of golf.

Looking back on the day, there were only a couple of really bad shots, the rest was bad luck with missed easy putts, a water ball on an easy par three and a messy out-of-bounds on an easy par four, when I should have whacked the ball right down the middle of the fairway with an easy chip shot to the green. In general I felt like I was making pretty good contact with the ball, especially my drives, although as usual I was pulling my iron shots a bit to the left (my grip was too strong, but I did not feel confident enough to make it stronger, feeling like I could shank the ball). I held my temper pretty well, and only slammed my five iron on the tee box once, which is pretty good for me.

At the end of the day I felt terrible, but at the same time I had an irresistible urge to give myself a second chance and go out for yet around of golf. Was I crazy? By being tortured and made to look like a fool, I wanted to go out and risk making a fool of myself again.

Golf is very strange that way, but that's what makes it such an addictive and wonderful sport.

Way down the list at 20th place.