The Physics Behind Organizational Management

This comes with due apologies to Sir Issac Newton and all the other great sages before, during and/or after.

Everyone talks about the Chemistry within organizations and people. This post doesn't. If still not convinced, please read the title of the post again or as many times as required for further proof.

My basic premise here is that if these laws can explain (most) things going on in the Universe, there may still be hope for figuring out why organizations do what they do. Everything else can quite possibly be attributed to some ‘universal constant’ or the other.

All Math equations, laws etc have been provided not just for context, but also with the express, and altruistic I might add, intention of improving the reader's skills with the <page-down> key or equivalent on the keyboard or equivalent.

Coulomb's law

The magnitude of the Electrostatics force of interaction between two point charges is directly proportional to the scalar multiplication of the magnitudes of charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distances between them.

A good rationale for collocation of teams. The further they are apart, the lesser the forces of interaction amongst team members. More parties anyone? 

Even in face-to-face situations, where two team members are engaged in a conversation that appears to be going nowhere, my hypothesis is that the same rule may be in play; they may both think that the other party may be on/from a different universe or at least a different planet, thus contributing to the distance factor...

In the spirit of full disclosure, I may need a 'real' physicist to tell me how stuff works in/on a different universe.

Coulomb's law

If the two charges have the same sign, the electrostatic force between them is repulsive; if they have different sign, the force between them is attractive.

You definitely want a mix of people on your team. (Yet) Another reason for managers to avoid the natural tendency to hire people whose thinking mirrors theirs. Every team needs folks who won’t shy away from a good old brawl…I mean… conflict to get the best out of each other. 

Potential Energy

Potential energy is the energy of an object or a system due to the position of the body or the arrangement of the particles of the system.

Just as a drawn bow (half of the famous bow-and-arrow duo) stores energy, so does a loose cannon in an organization. You never know where or what’s going to come out when released. 

Work and Potential Energy 

OK this one is a tad elaborate for the gnats reading this...read on to the blue lines below if in a rush.

What is the attention span of a gnat? The attention span of a gnat is about .210005 of a second. :)

The work of force acting on a moving body yields a difference in potential energy when the integration of the work is path independent. The scalar product of a force F and the velocity v of its point of application defines the power input to a system at an instant of time. Integration of this power over the trajectory of the point of application, d=x(t), defines the work input to the system by the force.

If the work for an applied force is independent of the path, then the work done by the force is evaluated at the start and end of the trajectory of the point of application. This means that there is a function U (x), called a "potential," that can be evaluated at the two points x(t₁) and x(t₂) to obtain the work over any trajectory between these two points. It is tradition to define this function with a negative sign so that positive work is a reduction in the potential, that is

In any organization, it takes collective effort to help realize the potential in people. 
People tend to rise as high as their potential allows them to, as long as the effort is made. The higher, one rises, the lesser (reduced potential) room for growth there is at the top.

A (maybe) ‘corollary’, the Peter Principle, says people tend to be promoted to the maximum level of their incompetence. 

The law of conservation of energy

It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time. For an isolated system, this law means energy is localized and can change its location within the system, and it can change form within the system, for instance, chemical energy can become kinetic energy but it can be neither created nor destroyed.

This one is a bit easier to put into an organizational context. Your typical organization has an enormous amount of creative energy. Of course some of it is put to productive use, while the rest stays unrealized. This never goes away unless the organization is subjected to catastrophic circumstances. Things like bankruptcy court, when the energy gets diverted toward paying lawyers. In which case the money goes to the lawyer and the law (energy conservation) still prevails 

OK, on to some of Sir Newton’s pearls of wisdom. No not the teeth, never seen a picture of the Great One smiling.

First law: An object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by a force. An object in motion remains in motion, and at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by a force. 

Next time the boss says, ‘Get going!’ you know Newton had the original Intellectual Property rights on this bright idea. 

Second law: The acceleration of a body is directly proportional to, and in the same direction as, the net force acting on the body, and inversely proportional to its mass. Thus, F = ma, where F is the net force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object and a is the acceleration of the object.

Organizational acceleration tends to be in the direction where Leaders want to take them.  Agreed. Also makes a case for ‘lean’ for organizations in a hurry to get somewhere. Next time the company announces reductions, you know where this came from!

Third law: When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body.

Clearly explains that there can be no such thing as unilateral or unidirectional forces in an organization. Even a rock exerts force in the opposite direction when pressed. Throw a verbal barb at a subordinate and be ready for a reaction. Something for every Manager to remember! 

My apologies in advance, if this has done little or nothing to help enhance the reader's understanding of organizational management. There may be fuzzy logic or neural network theories in play, requiring further analysis.


References: Wikipedia for some of this material

-- Srivatsan Krishnan 

A Tale of Two Civilizations - Part I

During this year's summer holidays, we made two trips -  one to Belur/Halebid in Karnataka and the other to Siem Reap in Cambodia. The experiences, more similar than I had expected in many ways. Both involved visits to temples and ruins, about a thousand years old. Talk about building something sustainable!

We went to Belur/Halebid in April as part of a Karnataka trip, covering Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi, Mulliyanagiri, Sringeri, Agumbe, Udupi, Marudeswarar, Dharmasthala, Sakleshpur and Belur/Halibed in 6 days. An unforgettable road trip and one that I highly recommend.

As far as the kids were concerned, they would probably say that four things stood out. First the home-stay in Chikmagalur, trysts outside by themselves, mountains and hills, lakes, picking fallen coffee beans, pepper and oranges. Second, running around unrestrained in Malpe Beach near Udupi. Third, eating ice cream and pizza for lunch at the beach site restaurant in Marudeswarar.  And fourth, taking an ad hoc break between Agumbe and Udupi and playing in one of the little streams near the road on a really hot afternoon! Can't argue with any of those now can we ?! I personally remember something called Mangalore bun that we had for lunch at a road side eatery on the road down from Agumbe.

As far as I was concerned, while Chikmagalur was very relaxing, Sringeri was awe-inspiring in its own way with the ambience of reverence, Agumbe an eye-opener in terms of what the Western Ghats must have looked like many years ago, Udupi was even more than what I had expected. One knew what the Amar Chitra Katha had told the unitiated 10 year old many moons ago about the Lord Krishna idol at Udupi turning around to give Sri Kanakadasa a view when the priests wouldn't let him have one. Then of course, the story about how Sri Madavacharya found the Sri Krishna and Balarama idols in a cargo of sandalwood from a merchant vessel that he rescued on the stormy seas. The temple was more than appealing enough to warrant a couple of visits, very distinctive with its temple tank, layout and of course the deity himself. We also heard about a temple dedicated to Lord Balarama in the Malpe area. Other than the priest, there was one other devotee in the temple. Talk about two siblings, one getting all the attention with the other out-of-sight and away from the main scene of action!

I'll mention a few things about my Belur-Halibed experience. Both being significant symbols of temple architecture from the Hoysala empire period. As much as one has seen temple art, sculpture and architecture - I had described my Melkote/Sravanabelagola experiences previously on this blog - this one was special considering the size and scale of things involved. All within a 20 mile radius. Almost like a modern-day Special Economic Zone for artisans a thousand years ago developed by the Hoysala kings ! Simply incredible to see so much beauty and life created out of stone, by so many anonymous.

The Chennakesava temple at Belur, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and still functional, left one in a daze. This one was supposed to have been built in the 12th century during the reign of King Vishnuvardhan . The original, not the modern day superstar from Karnataka ... The king was a follower of Jainism originally who converted to Vaishnavism and apparently promoted both in his kingdom. One got to see sculptures of numerous dancers in various Bharatanatyam poses. Queen Shantala Devi was apparently the inspiration for many of these pieces. My head was literally in a spin while I looked left, right, front, behind, at the ceiling and all other kinds of acute and obtuse angles on the protractor, admiring all the creativity. A perfect place for one looking for a shot of the creativity Kool-aid. Really! Not to mention, the film making going on near the entrance, the heroine being a fellow guest at the local hotel we were staying in.

After Belur, we went to Halibed to see the Hoysaleshwara temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, but what the heck, this was yet another awe-inspiring experience. While the inside was impressive enough, the exterior was even more so. Other things that stuck to my mind were the presence of multiple structures in the complex, the use of soapstone, intricate designs depicting scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the fact that the temple was built on a platform. Not to mention the use of elephants pretty much everywhere, perfectly lathed pillars and exquisitely carved balustrades. Standardization maybe ?!

Other temples that we visited in the vicinity included temple structures at Belawadi, Holikeri, Jain Basti, Marle and Doddagaddavally. Marle was interesting for the wrong reasons. This was a small temple complex in a little village off the beaten path. When we found it and went in, the only folks inside were a couple of seedy-looking guys playing cards who ran when they saw us. The temples themselves were in quite a decrepit state. Sad. There were a couple of really exquisite elephants holding Lotuses in their trunks. Doddagaddavally, again, not mainstream, still in use for worship of Goddess Lakshmi among other deities, was interesting for the Betala figures that we saw.

We did all of Belur/Halibed and their environs in about a day and a half. Pretty soon, Aneesh's refrain 'I'm never going to a temple again', became more and more frequent!

One of the more nicely planned road trips, I might add, without being too much of a strain on any of us. In spite of the numerous signs of vandalism, the temples seemed to be in decent shape for the most part, with renovation and maintenance by the Arch. society of India. The lack of facilities for tourists, although one saw many non-Indians, was a disappointment.

We took Aneesh's feedback to heart, when we planned our visit to Cambodia. It was just us, without the kids.

A Tale of Two Civilizations - Part II

Angkor Wat, Cambodia is one of those places that has been on my list for quite some time. So we finally decided to make it happen this summer.
Cambodia offers visa-on-arrival. If one chooses to, one can get an e-visa electronically as well, prior to arrival. Our travel agent had booked us hotel accomodation and a tour guide plus car.

And so, off we went, the missus and I, e-visa in hand, via Singapore.

Siem Reap was our port of arrival, near to the Angkor temples. We had decided to skip Phnom Penh the capital. Siem Reap was pretty even from the air, with a view of a reservoir near the airport. The airport had a very welcoming air about it, small in size. About the size of Tiruchy airport for those of us familiar with Tiruchy. The afore-mentioned tour guide plus car stood waiting for us at the airport.

And so, off we went, excited to be in Angkor country!

On first look, the roads from the airport were very nice, no traffic worth mentioning. Made a good first impression on us, who are still not used to the mayhem that passes off for traffic in Bangalore. Our hotel had a nice welcoming feel to it, on a road that I can only describe as 'avenue of the hotels'. Seems there's been quite a bit of hotel/resort building going on, thanks to the tourism boon in that region. Modern day works of art for the weary traveler, there to see their ancient temples.

Once checked in, we were quickly off within the hour, to go to our main item of interest - Angkor Wat temple. Our guide suggested that we eat at a restaurant overlooking the temple. A tempting suggestion that we lapped up quickly. Angkor Cafe had enough veggie fare on the menu. With hunger pangs quickly satiated, off we went.
First agenda item required getting a sunhat for the missus. This was quickly checked off the list, with some deft negotiation with a road side vendor (kid) getting us an 80% discount on the list price. Only kidding! No such thing as list price. There was another business establishment where I asked why they did not list the price of the item for sale. After repeating the question a few times, pat came the response.
'You tell me what you pay and I tell you what it cost!'

And that seemed to be the business model. Crystal clear.

Our first view of Angkor Wat brought one word to mind. Big.
The complex had a moat around it. The causeway leading up to the entrance had stone sculptures depicting the story of churning of the ocean of milk by the Devas and Asuras from the Puranas, using Mount Meru as the churning rod and Vasuki the snake God as a rope. Wow! This was a common welcome theme at all the temples we visited.

You can look at the details here about the Angkor area. The Khmers ruled over this area for a long period between the 9th and 15th century, much of it prosperous, with an abundance of rice and water. One kept hearing about all the reservoirs built by so-and-so king. Seemed very similar to all other civilizations that had developed near water bodies. Temples seem to have been a reflection of the ruling class' urge to build heaven on earth, with Kings seeing themselves as Divine. Saw a few instances of multilevel temples symbolic of Mount Meru on earth. The dynasty seems to have been a mix of kings following Hinduism or Buddhism. Much of what we saw seemed more Buddhist than Hindu, but the Hindu influences were pretty clear. So many instances of stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and other Hindu mythology depicted on these stones. Would be pretty amazing to get on a time machine to see these places in action during those times.. how globalization must have actually happened in the ancient world!

Over a 3 day period, we covered Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom , Bakong, Bapuon, Bayon, Banteay Srei, LoLei, Preah Ko, Preah Khan and Ta Proehm. Quite a bit of walking involved in the hot sun. Most of these were built using soapstone and seem to have been dedicated to Lord Vishnu and/or Lord Shiva. All of them seemed to be built on elevated platforms, quite unlike many temples that I've seen in South India. Read my previous post on this blog about Belur/Halebid and the similarities are spectacular. Elephants, lathed pillars, beautiful balustrades and all! Amazing to think that these were built so long ago and to think how privileged we were to actually be able to visit.

Also an amazing feat of archaeology, engineering etc. considering how forests had pretty much taken over these monuments and how these have slowly been reconstructed over the last 70 plus years with a lot of International help to the Cambodians. Vandalism and theft of such works of art were also very much on display.
Sad.

Our last leg on the trip was a boat ride on the Tonle Sap, the largest fresh water lake in South East Asia. This lake apparently swells by up to 5 times during the rainy season, relative to levels during the dry season. Quite amazing to see folks living in these floating villages. Imagine the fortitude of the people living in these communities, if one has to literally pack up and leave 3-4 times a year in search of higher ground, when the lake floods the area. Every year!

All in all, a wonderful experience. A poor country no doubt, economically speaking. A rich one, no question, when it comes to its past, culture and traditions. The people we encountered - very warm and friendly. The hotel staff did their best to ensure that we were fed with whatever veggies they could drum up for us. I've never had so much Thai veg curry in my life! I remember this incident when we visited Preah Khan. A couple of kids were trying to sell us post cards. Suddenly one of them said to the wife, 'Indian Lady. Can I get dot from your head?'. She wanted the Bindi (pottu)!

Overall, a pretty unforgettable summer experience for us, visiting such amazing ancient places in Karnataka and Cambodia. Great civilizations. Also left one thinking about how temporal things can be...
I can't but remember the kid during the boat trip, who sidled up to us, with a python wrapped cozily around, asking me 'Picture with snake? 1$ '.

The Sad Boy Who Became Happy

These drawings are by Aneesh. The narrative is by Aneesh as well. The (crude!) MS Paint  efforts - are by yours truly.

The Sad Boy Who Became Happy

This is the story of a boy named Aggy who really wanted to meet real and angry aliens from outer space. But that did not happen for some reason. In spite of his calling for them, the aliens never came. This made him very unhappy. So he went to the room where little children go to become happy!

He left his shoes at the door and went inside. When he stepped into the room, he was greeted with a shower of yummy food! This made him happy. The healthy food was a gift from the aliens. Upon eating the food, he became bigger and happy! His hair grew too!

He then got into his fire car – number 723 and 615 human years old – and left to go to his Independence Day party. As the picture shows, these types of cars are very fast and spit out fire from the back! At the party he was met by his brother and they both had a good time eating delicious sweets!

The End

Mangu the Elephant Who Could (really!) Fly

Here is a (really short) story that came out the other day, a collaboration between Aneesh, Ananya and myself.  I was working with Ananya on her school work. Unbeknownst to us, Aneesh was busy doing some art work. After some coaxing and cajoling he showed us his work. Aneesh convinced me that he had not drawn helicopter-like blades on top of the elephant's head, that they were trees.

Acknowledgements: Ananya provided the facts about what makes birds fly, Aneesh the picture below, while I pulled out an old riddle from my childhood days and did the 'integration'.

Mangu the Elephant Who Could (really!) Fly

Once upon a time, in a jungle far, far away lived an elephant named Mangu. He was of a very joyful disposition, ever willing with a smile, always helping other fellow creatures in the jungle. One day, he was talking to his friend, a talkative bird named Yakity-Yak.

“Yakity, how do you fly?” as innocent and naive a question as one can expect from a five year old elephant.

“Mangu, there are special things that birds have that help us fly. I have wings and feathers, a tail, a streamlined body, strong muscles, light and hollow bones, that help me. All I have to do is to flap my wings hard and I can fly up in the air”, responded the all-knowing Yakity.

“Hmm..I think I have an idea that will help me fly”, said Mangu with a look that was all-knowing yet revealed nothing.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, he trudged up to the top of the mountain from where he could see things far, far away.  From there, he climbed up to the top of the tallest tree he could find. Then he sat on a leaf and waited for his friend the wind to blow. When the wind blew, the leaf broke free from the tree, flew up into the air carrying with it a joyfully squealing Mangu!

The End

 

A boy and his hair are not easily parted

What is it about haircuts that make young boys cringe? Is it the clickety-clack of the scissors or the lighting or the smell of cigarettes or the chairs?

I for one, remember this being a traumatic exercise as a a kid. Our father was one of those who had to have the shears out on the dot every month. All excuses - have a cold, have a fever etc - were to no avail. The lead up to the event had an almost-funereal air to it. It meant a ride in the good old Premier Padmini to the salon as soon as the sun was out, in order to beat the queue at the destination. In silence. This was one of those places on Lloyds Road ably manned by a crew of 3. I remember vaguely, admittedly, the scent of talcum powder, the sound of the hair blower, the old weathered fans and the rustling of old magazines and newspapers. Much like a visit to the dentist, one had to wait for their turn at the 'chair', while watching other victims go through the routine.

The walls had photographs of famous personalities posing with the chief barber. Thengai Srinivasan's photograph comes to mind. The other memory is one of a corner area in the barber shop which used to have a bed sheet draped over a make-shift curtain rod, serving as a curtain. Took me a visit or two to figure out that this mysterious corner was where they stored all the brooms, cleaning materials etc. Not where they put little boys refusing to get their hair cut.

When it used to be yours truly's turn, Appa's instructions to the head-barber were the same every time. 'Off with the hair!' Summer-cut style was in vogue year-round for the male of the species in our household. While the first few cuts with the scissors were akin to Gavaskar, the skillful artisan, negotiating an opening spell at a Lords test during a wet English summer, the rest of the strokes were brutal, if one were to ask a teary-eyed five year old for a post-innings report. Samson of why-did-you-do-this-to-me-O-Delilah fame would have empathized surely!

A silent prayer of 'please God don't make me go back there ever again' was not an atypical neurological response.

Fast forward, thirty five or so summers and things seem to have changed, but not by much, in nature's scheme of things. Accounting for evolution as an explanation for the evermore-confident five year old these days, the general inputs and outputs of the hair cut process remain the same. When it is time for Aneesh's hair cut, its coaxing and cajoling by the chaperon during the ride that saves the day, while the five year old in this case, rides kicking and screaming in the back seat of the automobile.

There is a look of Generation Z defiance as he takes the last few steps into the barber shop.

When it is time to get him to sit in the hot seat, bull-fighting seems like a stroll in the park. The peice-de-resistance is when the locks over the forehead go. Much like an Ali vs Frazier rope-a-dope affair, it is Aneesh vs the barber as the poor barber is forced to make those quick adjustments as he gets his feedback at the speed of light. Or whatever light that there is in the dimly-lit salon. Each round usually tends to end in a guffaw as if the barber is expending all the tension building up in his muscles during the fight. And when it is time to call the fight, the usual response from Aneesh tends to be a primal scream, followed by, 'I'm not leaving until you put the hair back !'

An expert opinion of 'it will grow back as soon as you wash your hair' from the accompanying parent usually does the trick as one tries to get the minor away from the scene of the crime and head back home.
Once at home and after a shower, the mirror is the next port of call as Aneesh starts his analysis of how much the hair has grown back.

Once he realizes quickly that society has lied to him about the mechanics and typical growth rate of human hair, his response is 'I'm never going back there again!'

-- Srivatsan Krishnan 

Road Trip

We took an impromptu trip to Melukote yesterday.

Melukote is about 3.5 hours away, near Mandya, not far from Mysore. The roads were pretty good as one got into the interiors, better than what Yours Truly is used to in Bangalore or Madras. The weather was really awesome, about the right temperature with the sun as if jousting with the clouds for viewing the sights below. 

It was a perfect day for someone to catch a few new sights for sure!!

Got to see some real villages, not the 'halli' type one sees around Bangalore these days. As the car motored its way up and down the winding hilly roads with quite a bit of green all around, Ananya had her usual quota of questions. This time the one question that stayed in my mind was,

'Appa are the Buffaloes that we saw really small elephants without trunks?'

The drive reminded one about some of the sights we saw last summer in Kerala and less touristy to boot! Glad to see that these places seem to have access to a school, even the little hamlets along the road. Not much traffic other than a few motor bikes and buses chugging along with the odd bullock cart thrown in.

We finally reached Melukote, a town steeped in traditions and culture based on history and mythology.  We parked the car at the bottom of the steps leading up to the hilltop temple.  Off we went climbing and once we reached the top, the views from the Narasimhar temple on the hill were awesome.

One never ceases to wonder about what kind of vision and people it took to build such magnificent edifices up so high in those days! Aneesh had his thought-for-the-day while we were up here.This time it was

 'Appa, how did the goats get up the hill into the temple?'

On the way back, we saw the temple Pushkarini - Kalyani - which was a very pretty sight. The pond was in the middle of a quadrangle, the sides of which were corridors with very artistically crafted pillars. Mandapams.  Not so welcoming amongst all of the old world charm around was the sight of a few tourist buses serving food to people, which explained the heaps of garbage one got to see.

We then reached the main 'attraction' in Melukote, the Vishnu temple, which seems to have quite a bit of history and mythology associated with it.

As we entered the temple, we were greeted with music.  It reminded one of a typical South Indian wedding. Turned out to be a birthday! Folks were celebrating Sri Ramanujar's Birthday. The temple itself, if one took the time to look around, was filled with figurines and artifacts with workmanship that were clearly indicative of the passion and the attention to detail paid by those many, many anonymous artisans.

There were a few pillars the visuals of which linger on in one's mind. They seemed to have what looked like balconies made of fine string around them! If one could close their eyes for a second, imagine a base of Vanaras holding up the pillar, a 2nd layer with the afore-mentioned balconies, a 3rd layer of more human-like figures and a 4th layer of Lord Vishnu. Throw in a few artistic, imaginative flowery designs that boggled the mind. You get the idea! Quite incredible considering this was the type of view available to anyone interested, in any number of permutations and combinations, from all 4 sides of these pillars! Of course, there were many that seemed to have felt the effects of father time or the brutal hands of people who shouldn't have had any business being there to begin with.

Then it was decision time being around 1.30 pm and all... To eat or not to eat. To not, was the final decision.

Our 'Sarathy' then suggested that SravanaBelagola was only 30 kms away and was worth a visit. The verdict was reached pretty quickly and off we left on a jaunt to see one of the largest statues carved out of a single piece of rock. The roads this time seemed even more remote with nary a sight of other visitors or other travelers. The greenery was a sight to behold, especially for someone coming from the concrete jungles of Bangalore. Imagine a bit of the English country side with coconut palms thrown in and there you have it! After all we were near lands watered by the Cauvery.

As we neared the town, we could see the head of the statue of Gomateswara from afar, as though lording over all the nearby hills and villages. Once inside the town, we saw a magnificent temple pond in the middle of the town. Soon off we were climbing up the steps. About 600 of them this time as Ananya announced at the end of the climb.  Once on top we were, yet again, greeted by fantastic views!

The entrance to what seemed like a small fort on top, had shrines to the Jain Thirthankaras. In line with the fact that Hindu kings seemed to have had quite an influence on this place, there were also many Hindu gods and goddesses. We also saw quite a few inscriptions some of which appeared to be in Tamil.

The ambience reminded me about the Jain temples of Girnar in Gujarat although I remember those as being more elaborate and on a larger scale. And that one had many, many more steps to climb too!

But the main agenda item was Gomateshwara. One could see his head jutting above the walls. A phenomenal piece of work!  Soon it was time to clamber down the steps and bid adieu to a place that was in the vicinity of what is said to have been Chandragupta Maurya's final resting place.

Our first visual of Bahubali was greeted by a plaintive sounding Aneesh asking the question 'Amma why is this Omachi shame shame?'. I don’t recall any of us answering his question. Kids have a way of not mincing words for sure.

While we may have had more questions than answers, overall a mighty fine way to spend an early summer's day.