What do I miss?

A coworker asked if I missed the Board meetings, staff meetings, plant outages and contractor negotiations.

I guess the answer is no, not too much.

This is a fantastic opportunity, and I am very fortunate to be able to attend this program. The professors are great, the students are great, and everything is very intellectually stimulating. I am getting exposure to many different points of view. The coffee is great and I don't even have to walk to Starbucks. The more I concentrate on my studies, the faster the time passes by. I now have only 40 days left. Only 40 days, imagine that!

What do I miss? I miss talking to Americans sometimes. My classmates tend to criticize Americans as greedy and wasteful, but I noticed that they don’t seem to mind living our lifestyle. I also notice that they all didn't decide to get their executive education in business management in Europe, or Asia, or Africa, or Australia, or South America.

I also miss talking to Midwesterners. Boston is great but it is not the heart of America.

I actually did "miss" attending the AECI board meeting. This was the first meeting I have missed in over 10 years, but I got over it pretty quick. I will only get one chance at being here and I am going to make the most of it.

I have explained what the abbreviation “MO” means about 130 times (it appears on my nametag). No, I don’t know how the post office came up with that one, but it does give me a chance to pull out my business card with the map on the back and explain just where in the U.S. is Missouri, and what we do, and why we do it. I have also enjoyed explaining the electric cooperative business model to my classmates. It is a real mind-bender for them to hear that we sell electricity at cost, and that we are regulated by our customers, not the government. This is foreign concept to most of them.

Tom, Scott, Brent, Steve, Barbara, thank you for covering for me. This is what I really miss . . . working with great people like you.