Keith and I work differently.
Whenever I have a task, I see if I can finish it now; or at least before the end of the day.
Keith (left) always asks, "What is the deadline for this?" He works off of that date and often waits to the last minute to start a project. The reason for this is that he thinks about it for a LONG time.
Sometimes we'd be walking and I'd ask him a question and he wouldn't respond. I'd ask him, "Are you programming?" and he'd smile. Yes, that is the reason why he waits to start a project; he starts programming it in his head for days. I instead, start outlining the project and create a planning document of the steps I need to do. I work with deadlines also, but rarely wait until close to the deadline to start the task. Yes, I was that person in school that asked, "Can we start on this now?" I like to get things done early and there is a problem with that. If you don't spend the time to "program" it out in your head, you might miss some valuable ideas.
We recently went to the Magic Kingdom to see the progress of the new Tron ride. We found this sign with Walt Disney's quote, "Everyone needs deadlines." I thought it was so fitting for Keith and took this picture. Disney is a big part of our lives today. We both grew up going to Disneyland since it opened right after we were born and our grandparents lived up in Orange/LA area - so that made trips there special. After we got married, we'd go there at least once a year and then when we moved here to Florida over a decade ago, we became Florida Resident Annual Passholders. This means we pay one annual fee and can go as many times as we want. We currently go twice a week but when we fully retire in two more years, we'll up that to three times a week.
Guess what? We don't like to ride most of the rides. Instead it is a great place to walk. Keith had a stroke over three years ago and lost his balance. Instead of the more common, ischemic stroke, Keith had the very dangerous, hemorrhagic stroke that only has a 26% survival rate. It happened at a training seminar that we were presenting for our software and across the street was the hospital. The wife of our General Manager insisted on taking him over there (he wanted to go home) and we think that saved his life. If he had gone home, he would have gone to sleep and probably died. It was deep in his brain; in the cerebellum area that controls balance. It took many months of physical therapy to get him walking again and now years of continued walking therapy to increase his balance to prevent falls.
My favorite place is Disney's Animal Kingdom that has uneven walkways through winding paths and lots of things to look up and see. This is great for Keith's balance therapy. Going to the other parks when they are crowded provides a whole other challenge; dodging little kids, strollers, and ECVs. Now about 4 years later, he is about 99% recovered and has lost almost a 100 pounds. He can go up ladders again, although I'm always next to him for safety. Next month, we're walk/running a 5K at Disney which will be a challenge since it starts in the early morning dark. But we've been training for it all year and we're excited for the challenge. We knew the deadline of the run, and worked backwards on what we needed to do. So, yes - everyone needs deadlines; it helps get you to the finish line.
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