Do things in your life seem to happen all at once? Convergence is a strange thing. Today I have two important meetings. They are unconnected. Both related to activities that I’ve been working toward for quite a while. I chose the date for neither. Yes convergence being what it is, I have had the first formal meeting with my new patent attorney this morning at 10, and the interview for that Lieutenant’s position on Engine 1 at 19:30.

I consider both meetings a success. Just to have an idea be considered unique and interesting enough to justify a patent is a success even if some prior art ends up being found and the process has to stop. At the same time, I can think of no higher honor than to be respected enough by other firefighters to be considered for a leadership role there. Either of these ventures may fail – but I’m sitting pretty today just having gotten there.

Life is full of these strange convergence periods. In 1993, my first child was born, we moved to a new state, bought a new car, bought a new house, my wife started a new job and I started a business.

Note: Not 1 hour after I wrote this, a long time business partner called me and said the VOIP provider who had been talking with them about hosting their inbound call center backed out. Convergence? Well, to ramp up my fire department app, I need to buy a bunch of inbound phone line capability. The problem is the buy in minimum is sufficiently high that its a bit of a risk -- I'll end up bleeding funds each month until I reach a minimum number of paying service customers. The amount I would be loosing turns out to be less than what this partner was going to pay for a VOIP provider. Synergy? You bet. On a golden platter. I can provide my partner with all the services they need at less cost, and by doing so I can pass the minimum hurdle where it makes sense to do the deal on the lines for the other tool.

What convergences have you had?