Thirty-third excerpt from 'Twelve Towers'

When Gwilym awoke, Grainne was gone again. He was sorry to see this and wondered how long it would be until he saw her again. But meanwhile, he needed to complete some final preparations in advance of Sir Kay’s dedication ceremony. He dressed, went down to the river to perform his ablutions and met his team, who had assembled at the base of the tower.

“Gentlemen!” he addressed them in his usual manner. This used to elicited guffaws, then sniggers but had lately become expected of him. He noticed that it never failed to straighten their shoulders and bring their work to a higher standard. “Today we see the fruits of your labors. The Seneschal of King Arthur, Sir Kay, will come to inspect your work. And he will be impressed!”

The men cheered.

“The bridge and tower are beautiful!  The remains of Belinus are back where they belong, surrounded by the stones that originally entombed them. The bridge is strong; the tower will stand for a thousand years! You did that! I am proud of you!”

Another cheer from the men. They looked around at each other and shook hands, clapped each other on the shoulder, patted backs.

“Today, we clean up the site to look perfect for the ceremony. I don’t need to tell you what to do. You do it. We’ll meet on the bridge at Midday and watch Sir Kay’s reaction when he sees what we accomplished here. See you then!”

The men all scattered and were seen everywhere, picking up trash, placing stones, cleaning the tower, even pulling reeds at its base in the river. They first spruced up their area of focus, then moved to help others who had more work to do, finally ending up on the arch an hour before Midday. Fred and Gwilym appeared with a barrel of ale which they opened and shared amongst the celebrating men.

A cheer rose amongst the men as they saw the procession of Sir Kay wending its way through the streets of the city, leaving the old governor’s villa and heading their way. Gwilym noticed that it was composed of the same three men who had accompanied Sir Kay the last two times.

As before, one looked through the books, another inspected the foundation and construction of the tower and the third paid close attention to the capstone and its placement. The team watched in obvious pride as the men inspected their work. Finally Sir Kay closeted himself with Gwilym and Fred.

“You’ve done good work here again Gwilym. The tower looks great and I’m assured it will stand forever. You finished the job on schedule and the extra money you spent appears to be accounted for. But tell me, man to man, what caused the costs to go over what was planned?”

Gwilym was prepared for this question. “The foundations couldn’t be inspected until we had removed the tower and were much worse than we had planned. We had to sink new piles, then fill the space between the piles with large stones to assure the arch would stand strong. That caused most of the extra costs. Also, a lot of the interior stones were damaged and we couldn’t see these until we removed the outer stones.”

“Couldn’t you have predicted this?” Sir Kay asked.

“We planned for the most likely scenario. Not the most optimistic or pessimistic. So the costs were mostly in line.”

“And yet you come asking me for more money. Next tower I want you to ask for the right amount the first time.”

Gwilym smiled. “So it is to be another tower? Where and when?”

“I have a few in mind but they cannot be started yet. I will contact you at the end of the summer. But this time I want you to figure out exactly how much it will cost before you begin. Where will you spend the summer, Gwilym?”

“I think I will visit Huish again. I’d like to catch up with some old friends.”

“I will send for you there, Gwilym. Now, let’s dedicate this tower.”

“Halfway done, Merlin. Is the spell working?”

“We cannot tell until it is finished.”

“Does Gwilym suspect what we are doing?”

“They both do.”

“And yet they keep working on it?”

“He sees it as protection against what will come, she sees it as protection against the Christians.”

“And Grainne?”

“She is breeding again.”

“Gwilym again?”

“Yes.”

“Very interesting. She talks of fostering the first one with Gwilym. What say you to that, Viviane?”

“The sooner, the better. I am becoming too attached to my grandson. Is Mostyn happy with the results of each tower?”

“They are each aligned perfectly and he can feel the power increasing.”

“Where next? It must be Caernarfon.”

Merlin released a quick laugh. “You have been studying your maps, then.”

“He will have his hands full dealing with that mad prince.”

“Gwilym will find a way” Merlin was calm as always.         

“Arthur married that ninny, Gwenevere.”

“She is a nice girl, who was raised at Glastonbury and will treat the king well. She has no ambitions for the kingdom. The alliance strengthens Arthur’s hand in the fight against the Saxons”

“No ambitions for the kingdom? She forces her religion on the king.”         

“He indulges her in this but he is loyal to Avalon.”

“This will not end well. For any of us.”

Next time we start chapter four, Caernarfon.

To read the entire first draft in one shot, click here:

Leadership at Evernote



 Earl Wilson/The New York Times

Phil Libin, chief executive of Evernote, a provider of note-taking and archiving technology says the company has an unusual culture.

 I read this Corner Office column weekly and its usually a bunch of platitudes but this week's version was pretty amazing. Here's a leader who has used some radical techniques to shake up his companies. It was all the interviewer could do to keep asking him: "What else?"

Let's look at some of the things he has done at Evernote:

1. No offices
2. No phones
3. No lengthy e-mail chains
4. Institutionalized cross-training
5. Unlimited vacations and $1,000 in spending money to encourage you to take them
6. Free housekeeping
7. Continuous live-streaming video on big screen monitors between the two offices
8. Laser-shooting robots

I had never heard of Evernote before this but I was curious enough to visit their website. It seems pretty cool so I downloaded it. There are times I have an idea and want to capture it. I'll see if it works. Here's the full NY Times article.

Aussies Invented Wireless

Who knew? The humble CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, based in Australia, invented the technology behind all of the three billion wireless devices in use today back in the 1990's. And it has successfully defended this patent, winning another $220 million in royalties this week.

Look at these proud Aussies:

Growing up in Australia, I rode my bike past the local office of the CSIRO and one of my high school friends ended up working for them. They are a government-backed organization, similar to NOAA but with broader scope. Probably closer to the old Bell Labs but run by the government. Check out their website.

I left Australia, partly because I felt research being done there wasn't on the cutting edge. But every once in a while they pull out a coup like this and I'm proud to be an Aussie.

Round number estimates

I've managed a lot of projects in my life and have dealt with people making and then living up to, (more often not) those estimates of duration. I have found some people better at making and living up to estimates and some worse. Usually, those who live up to their estimates are not better at making them, just more dedicated to completing them within the time they estimated.

I once worked with an excellent woman who lived up to all her estimates. This was rare, but what made it rarer was the estimates she provided. She would be in the same room as the rest of the team making their duration estimates but when others would say a task took five, ten or fifteen days, her estimates were always six, twelve or eighteen; always some multiple of six.

I initially suspected that by giving herself an extra day of buffer she was more able to meet her deadlines but, after looking carefully around the room one day, I thought there might be a deeper-seated reason for her strange estimates. It took me a few years before I was able to verify my suspicions but finally, at a company picnic, I caught her unawares with her gloves off.

Just as I'd always suspected. People will estimate task durations based less on the complexity of the tasks and more on the numbers of fingers on their hands.

Tappan Zee Bridge Park

The Tappan Zee bridge across the Hudson has reached the end of its life and will be replaced soon. A few groups have sprung up to turn it into a park. Just like those who have created other walking trails and parks out of abandoned railroad lines and bridges, this ambitious plan envisions a park stretching over three miles across the Hudson with magnificent views of the Palisades, Manhattan and the mansions lining the river.

Se the full slide show in much greater detail in the website for this group.

This all sounds lovely but I hope it becomes a reality. In this Times article, the author explains all the difficulties facing the project: The bridge needs $50 million in maintenance annually and has serious long-term structural and seismic concerns, including the threat of marine borers eating into the underwater wooden pilings that support the bridge.

What do you think of the plan? Will you walk it when it's done? I will.

There's no 'I' in 'Team'

This week's Celebrity Apprentice showed an example of how a selfish player can cause much conflict within a team. The men vs. women format was broken up and Arsenio was stuck with Aubrey and Teresa. Aubrey had previous experiences with the women's team that showed her selfishness but it became quite apparent in this episode.

Arsenio was right about the way she handled the box. Watch this brief video below to see how he catches the box, then immediately places it on the table in front of the rest of the team. Aubrey picks it up, looks it over and tosses it aside. The two men to her right, who had been eager to look at the box themselves and sat back while she examined it, looked shocked when she tossed it aside, not giving them a view.

Pretty soon, Arsenio called her out for not being a team player and the rest of the team backed him up. Watch her dig herself further into a hole.

Finally, she reveals how little of a team player she is when, after her team wins the challenge, she stalks off by herself rather than trying to console herself amongst the rest of her winning team.



Her last words were telling: "I just don't know if this is the right place for me." Yes! A team is NOT the right place for you. You need to be on your own. 

Oh, and I found the 'I' in team here.

Thirty-second excerpt from 'Twelve Towers'

From the almost finished tower, Gwilym could see the few Beltane fires glowing in the distant fields across the river but could make out nothing going on nearby. Londinium was a city and the folk there thought little about fertile fields. Life in the large town seemed to go on as any other evening. It was a warm night and Gwilym worked shirtless, the sweat cooling him off in the warm breeze. As he hammered in and out the wedges that allowed accurate placement of the river-jade, he kept an eye and ear out for Grainne’s arrival. He wondered how he was going to approach this evening.

The first time, two years ago, he had been overwhelmed by pure, animal lust. The lovemaking had been selfish and savage on his part. The second time she had set the tone and the lovemaking was more mutual. Afterward he had attempted to talk with her about this but Grainne had used her priestess powers to cast some kind of enchantment over him, forcing him to lose control and to sleep.

This time he wanted something different. The conversation they had held earlier today needed to continue. She had given birth to a son of his, a thought that filled him with joy and longing to see the boy, brother to Bleddyn, Jac and Llawen. When would he get to foster the child? And this enchantment she was casting, with his towers and their lovemaking and the Beltane timing as key elements; what was the meaning of it?

They certainly differed on their approaches to religion. She thought of Christianity as an evil, opposed to her Druidic teachings, something which must be fought. He saw it as another, similar religion that was being used cruelly now but had at its core the same basic tenets of the older religion, with some added concepts that made it beautiful. How did this spell help him in his own research? Did it go against the life-course he had set for himself when his father died, or did it move him forward? He must talk further with Grainne.

Merlin would give him no answers, but he might ask the right questions if he could get the old man into another conversation. That would have to take place tomorrow. Tonight, he must stay awake and learn more from Grainne.

Grainne- who was, even now, standing in the center of the rune on top of this capstone, barely visible in the new moon. Once again he hadn’t heard or seen her climb onto the top of this tower, yet here she stood, barefoot, wearing a simple white shift. Again he couldn’t see the color of her hair in the starlight; all were shades of grey.

This time he knelt before her, his head at the level of her breasts, and wrapped his arms around her. He moved his hands down her back and rear and caressed the backs of her legs. On reaching her feet, he slipped his hands under the hem of her shift and then caressed his way back up her calves, the backs of her thighs and buttocks, then up her back to her shoulders. By spreading his arms to their full extent, he was able to pull her shift off her completely and place it on the stone next to them. His hands then caressed their way down her neck, shoulders, breasts, belly and privates, parting her hair to perform his own ministrations, the way he had been taught long ago in Jerusalem.

Grainne threw one leg over his shoulder and enjoyed the treatment,