On the way to work today I saw a lawn service crew manicuring someone’s yard. Ever wonder what it would be like to have someone else mow your lawn? What would you do with the extra time? I was thinking that I might use that extra time each week to visit a gym. Then I began to ruminate on how there are exercise machines that simulate rowing, skiing, and biking, why not one that simulates mowing the lawn? Maybe I could visit a tanning booth too!
The picture on the left is where I usually work; except all the cube walls are missing. MakeMusic’s offices are in the process of being remodeled. Last week we had to remove all our belongings so the walls could be disassembled and the carpet could be removed. Then, over the weekend, the professionals came in and painted, re-carpeted, and put up some new office walls.
The photo on the right is what many of my coworkers were looking at Monday and Tuesday when we volunteered on a Habitat for Humanity build in Minneapolis. Oddly enough many of us were assigned to put up walls! I thought that irony might warrant my lawn service digression – please let me know if you disagree by clicking on “Comments” below.
If you’re not familiar with Habitat, their mission is to provide simple, decent, and affordable housing. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, they are able to provide low-cost homes with interest-free loans to eligible families who themselves invest hundreds of hours of sweat equity into Habitat projects. I worked alongside a future recipient on Monday and it was a bit humbling. A few times when I thought a measurement was close enough, he’d quietly suggest we could do a little better. His attention to detail (on someone else’s house) made me examine how I take for granted having a safe place to live, and how awesome Habitat’s mission really is.
L to R: Fred, Scott, Joy, Michelle, Paul, Tim, Lindsay, and Karen.
MakeMusic provided two dozen volunteers in all; see more on the SmartMusic blog.
I’m also really fortunate to work for an employer who continues to encourage projects like this. On behalf of my two dozen coworkers who joined me, I’d like to thank MakeMusic management for making it possible, especially our hardworking CFO who swung a hammer alongside us all day and spent her lunch break catching up on MakeMusic business calls.