The memories we shared comfort me every day (Unknown).
Things were going relatively well on the project.
Lynda was happy and busy with the sorority sisters. She had invited a couple of them with their husbands for a meal, and we all had a nice time.
We took mom back to her place in Brampton after she had been with us for a while.
Adam was turning out to be an asset for the company. I thought I should get him involved with making presentations to the user group again and again to make sure that they understand how the process modelling works.
I was working with the senior users, continuing to talk about BPR.
At the same time I was also managing a couple of other projects.
One Friday afternoon, I decided to come home early and take Lynda out for a ride. I wanted to find a restaurant just outside of Ottawa where we both could have a nice supper.
We ended up in our favorite restaurant in Merrickville.
Merrickville–Wolford is a village-status municipality in Eastern Ontario, Canada, located in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It spans both shores of the Rideau River.
As far as the history of Merrickville is concerned, William Merrick, a United Empire Loyalist settler originally from Springfield, Massachusetts, founded the village of Merrickville in 1794. Attracted to the site by water power, he constructed a dam across the river and then built grist, saw and carding mills. It was not long before a community sprang up around the milling activity. In 1821, Merrick built a stone house overlooking his mills.
We had been at the restaurant several times with friends and we always liked the food a lot.
Once we ordered, Lynda said she had something to talk to me about. I said I am all ears.
She said, Adam has an opportunity to go to France as an exchange student with other selected students. The French university is affiliated with Ottawa U. Every year they exchange students for a period of six weeks.
I said where in France is this university located.
She said she didn’t know exactly where the university was located but she was told that it’s just a few miles out of Paris.
I didn’t know much about the exchange programs that the University of Ottawa had to offer, but I did know that the universities maintain a robust network of student exchange programs with several esteemed French universities across various disciplines. These partnerships offer students opportunities to study abroad, immerse themselves in different academic cultures, and enhance their educational experiences. As I understood, not every student was offered this opportunity. Perhaps one of the selection criteria purely focused on individual performance in the class.
We continued to discuss it while having our steaks, which were done to our liking. In the end I said I have assigned Adam to do an important task to train folks in DND to use the modelling tool effectively. Unfortunately, I don’t have anybody else with the same level of expertise as Adam, nor with the knowledge that Adam has acquired about BPR. In other words, I would have to go back to doing that job while Adam was away, which will put a lot of pressure on me. Furthermore, Adam’s current per diem rate is significant enough to think about how much money the company’s going to lose. Plus, we will have to finance his trip which could be expensive.
Lynda listened to me with patience. When I was finished explaining, she asked me if I was speaking as Adam’s boss or his father.
I found it hard to answer that question honestly. To avoid answering the question, I said can we talk about this some other day?
She said, not really. Monday’s the last day for him to take a cheque and register himself. Moreover, she continued, it wasn’t an easy decision for Adam to go away for six weeks when he is really enjoying working with you.
I thought it wasn’t fair to put it that way, but that also demonstrated to me that she supported wholeheartedly the idea of Adam going on this exchange program which left me with almost no choice but to agree with her.
I said why don’t you write him a cheque to take to Ottawa U on Monday and later you can buy him enough currency to support himself in France.
She said, the money we are paying to the university includes his tuition as well as his accommodation for six weeks, but he will have to have some money to spend while he is living there.
When we got back, I was still thinking what’s the best way to deal with Adam’s absence from the project. There was always a possibility that he might not have any opportunity to continue to work on that project. I could always find another project where he could work, but I wasn’t sure if that would be BPR modeling.
Nevertheless, I didn’t feel comfortable to discourage him from going on the exchange program. Indeed, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Adam.
Finally, before we went to bed I told Lynda to tell Adam to go ahead without worrying whether he would have an opportunity to continue to work with me. I would make sure that he would have an assignment waiting for him here in Ottawa.
Lynda was really pleased with the decision.
