Slow Mornings

One of the things I used to pride myself on was being able to get up & out quickly. I could get up, do all the normal morning stuff including showering and getting dressed, repack my bag, and be rolling out the door in 25 minutes. That was huge when I was traveling frequently. I say "used to" and "was", though, because I've drifted into a different morning habit over the past year-plus.

Now I find I've habituated to a slow morning routine. I swat the snooze alarm a few times, sometimes several times, and then sit up in an armchair for 30-45 minutes catching up on personal mail and web surfing while gradually waking up fully. Then I shower and dress. It's often 90 minutes from the time of my first alarm until I'm ready to roll.

What's changed? The obvious things. And no, I don't mean "getting older". Coronavirus has killed business travel. Travel was always one of the occasions where speed and efficiency was important. I haven't traveled for work in nearly 18 months. (And it looks like even when business travel returns post-Covid it'll be way less frequent than before. But that's a topic for another blog.)

Coronavirus has also meant working from home. I only worked in my company office sporadically for the few years prior to the pandemic, but it was just often enough that I kept the habits of morning efficiency. Now with WFH being the new normal I've made different habits my new normal.

This morning I tried doing it fast to remind myself that I could. My "fast" wasn't really. I still snoozed my alarm a few times; then once I did get up, I still took 40 minutes until I was seated at my desk. Well, it's good enough for now. If and when frequent business travel or working in a company office becomes the new-new normal I'll re-readjust.

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Resigns

Today New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat, will serve the rest of his term when the resignation becomes effective in 14 days. Example news coverage: NBC News article 10 Aug 2021.

Hoisted By His Own Petard

Cuomo has been under fire for months with allegations of improper touching and sexual language against female staffers and others in state government, and retaliation against one woman who filed a complaint. For months he vigorously denied the allegations and resisted calls to step down. He even authorized NY Attorney General Letitia James to conduct an investigation of the matters, boldly predicting that the probe would exonerate him.

James's report proved to be his undoing. The findings released one week ago (link to actual government document[1]; 860KB) were damning. Elected leaders in Cuomo's own party, an increasing number of whom had already joined opposition politicos in calling for his resignation, turned against him en masse. Faced with the real prospect of being impeached and removed by force by the New York State Assembly, Cuomo resigned today.

Guilty or Not Guilty?

A big question on many people's minds is, "Did he do it?" As in, Is he guilty? Some assume Cuomo's resignation is an admission of guilt, but it is not— legally, or otherwise. Cuomo continued to dispute the allegations in his press conference today, characterizing them variously as politically motivated, opportunistic, misleading, and patently false. In fact, after he began his press conference with several minutes of proclaiming his innocence, reporters audibly gasped in surprise when Cuomo uttered the words, "And therefore [I resign]."

It's possible we'll never know the truth of Cuomo's guilt or innocence in many of the charges. The NYAG's report was not a criminal investigation. It does not make a conclusion about whether criminal charges are warranted, nor would the office of the NYAG be the body that directly files any such charges. Criminal charges would have to be investigated and prosecuted at the city or county level. To date one of the allegations is being investigated by a county sheriff's office. More cases may be opened in the future... or not. High-profile resignations such as Cuomo's have a way of blunting calls for prosecution. Right or wrong there's a sense of "We got him!" combined with "He's been punished already" that makes many feel criminal prosecution is unnecessary. Though that's unsatisfying to those of us who want to know the truth of these serious allegations and want that truth to help drive critical changes in clean government.

[1] Yes, I cite primary source documents in my blog. This isn't the first time.