The second day of meetings, in the same room. To a large part, many of the same people. The two day-long meetings dealt with different topics, their synchronicity largely an accident of scheduling.

Interestingly, the first day's meeting, including representatives of several different agencies and a handful of private citizens, found people intermixed around the tables, stayed with its agenda, and got more done on that particular project than has happened in the past 16 years.

Really.

The second meeting, with only two agencies attending, ended up pretty much with them sitting on one side of the room, and us on the other. We kinda covered the agenda, but bounced from item to item, skipped a couple, and disintegrated into a couple chattering groups at the end rather than actually dismissing.

Near as I can tell, the big difference between the two meetings?

The big bosses were at one, and not the other.

Guess which meeting was run by bosses?

No. Really. Guess.

Yeah, you guessed. The second.

At that second meeting I found myself between two co-workers who used to be work partners, but have each moved on to other positions. Less than two minutes into one boss's soliloquy, the guy on my right asks me to pass a note to the gal on my left.

What are we, in high school?

I pass it on, unopened. And she smirks at the message. The guy on my right insists she show it to me...

"Kill me now!"

As the afternoon session begins with yet another speech of administrative good will and intent, the guy on my right takes out a knife and starts to caress the blade against his wrist.

I offered him one of my Sudoku puzzles I carry around for boring meetings, but he declined, not knowing how to do it.

Oddly, the second meeting also was productive, and a couple good points and decisions were made.

It just coulda been done simpler, faster, and with not quite so many people mandated to be in the audience, you know?

There were a couple chuckling points:

When describing the difficulties in completing one project that straddled between two ranches, the agency rep explained, "They're brothers, so naturally they don't get along."

And when a field tour of other projects was scheduled for the 17th of March, the slightly diminutive fellow sitting next to me with his knife complained, "But that's Saint Patrick's Day!"

From across the room came the retort, "Maybe you'll meet a Leprechaun!"

To which came another retort, from our side of the table, "He can be the leprechaun!"

Problem is, these folks don't know this fellow like we do. We've seen him wear a diaper in front of hundreds of people. Taunt him too much, and he'll show up on the field trip in green shoes, green shorts, a green top hat and sucking on a pipe.

Be warned.