Crazy

I came across a crazy article recently, about the problem of overfishing. It says fishing crews often accidentally catch large amounts of fish such as cod after exceeding their cod quotas (while they're looking for some other kind of fish). They then have "no option but to dump them..." even though the fish are dead.

Ministers are pushing for a quota increase to help solve the problem. But environmentalists have called for a change in practices, such as avoiding areas with large numbers of white fish.

Fish in places where there aren't very many fish... Huh?

The M&M Van

I drive past a construction site every day on the way to work, and almost every day, this M&M van is parked there. I finally remembered to snap a photo of it as I drove past (in my characteristic, gritty/urban/fuzzy-cell-phone-camera style).

Some of the logos have apparently been removed, so I don't think it's an official M&M van anymore. I'd love to know the story behind how a construction worker ended up with a van like this...

Brian's Book

Brian Brewington is a buddy from high school - he, Matt Kahle, Andrew Figel and I used to hang out and play cards, see movies, and what ever else we did for fun back then (mostly playing cards and the occasional hockey game). Brian and I also ran cross country together... and by "together" I mean he was usually way, way, way in front of me. We were on the same team, not exactly the same league.

Anyway, Brian has a book out, titled September Sojurn. It is "a photo essay of autumn in Colorado," and it's gorgeous. He captured intimate closeups of golden leaves, enormous mountain range vistas, and shots of footpaths through aspen forests - all with equal skill. Certainly makes my fuzzy camera phone shots look even sillier than they already are. September Sojurn is a striking book, and looking at the photos made me miss Colorado a bit. OK, more than a bit.

I hope you'll check it out - you can see a preview at the link above.

All you need is...

This hangs on the wall of the church my parents attend, back in NY. I think it's cool, and always make a point of stopping to admire it every time I'm there..

Fuzzy Garden Photos

Yes, my fuzzy camera phone strikes again - this time, in the back yard, where my garden seems to be making a comeback. Here's a zucchini seedling poking up through the ground.

And some lettuce seeds (I think... I hope... I'm pretty sure)


And a couple of the raspberry bushes I though were dead are showing some signs of new growth. This gardening thing might work out after all! It's so amazing to see the seeds I planted come to life.

Adventures In Censorship

We're researching a real-life Broken Arrow event in one of my classes. It's an interesting story - back in 1969, a B-52 from Plattsburgh AFB carrying nuclear weapons crashed on Greenland. But that's not what this post is about.

In the course of our research, we came across a document that struck me as so odd I had to take a photo and publish it here. I felt like a spy, using my camera phone to take a picture of a document about nuclear weapons, even tho it's all unclassified. In fact, we found this doc thanks to Google. But take a look at this page and see if you can figure out what word they blacked out...



Hmmm, "the B-52 with four #### Weapons" - what could fit there? I'm thinking, "conventional?"

Coffee, Local Food, and Seeds (Earth Day)

Coffee isn't coffee.

That is, coffee beans from one part of the world make quite a different cup than beans from another part of the world. Starbucks knows this. Coffee Fool makes a pretty big deal about it. And I can tell from personal experience that yeah, coffee isn't just coffee. Beans from Brazil don't taste the same as beans from Ethiopia... or even from Honduras.

I bet the same is true for lots of other foods. That's one of the things I'm learning from The Omnivore's Dilemma. All beef isn't the same, all chicken isn't the same... you get the picture. The author (Michael Pollan) suggests that local food (as in, food produced in your area) is, well, different, depending on where you live. Pollan suggests it's worth checking out.

So, I'm hoping to pay some visits to local farmers markets this summer. And as I've mentioned earlier, I'm also growing my own veggies (hopefully) in my back yard. Most of the first round died - probably my fault - but there are hopeful signs as I try for round two. Lettuce is popping up, and just tonight I discovered a zucchini seedling poking its way through the earth.

Flower Pot Redux

Longtime readers might remember the adventures of the blue "flower pot" toilet I've mentioned several times. Well, after it cracked, things went downhill. It ended up falling over / getting knocked over, it broke into several pieces, and eventually someone cleaned it up and hauled it away.

And now, as you can see from this photo, it's back! That is, it's been replaced, this time by a pinkish-tan colored toilet.

Who does this?

Mentoring

Many years ago, I sat down with a Colonel for an official mentoring session. We didn't work in the same office and didn't really know each other, but I'd been assigned as his mentee. I showed him my career plan, and I'll never forget his advice:

"I don't see a Pentagon assignment here. You really should go to the Pentagon. It would be terrible for your family but great for your career, so you should do it."

I almost got up and walked out right there, Colonel or not. In my opinion, terrible for my family + good for my career = Don't do it.

And that's the day I began to formulate my opinion of what mentoring should be like. I've concluded that a good mentoring relationship is organic, not assigned. It develops naturally, and can't be mandated. Mentoring is about chemistry, mutual respect, listening, and shared values. The guy who I'd been assigned to did not have an appreciation for my values, interests or priorities. He did not ask questions - he tried (and failed) to convince me to conform to his own formula for professional success.

And now, here I am, getting ready to head off to a Pentagon assignment. His observation rang in my ears when I got the offer a few weeks ago. But this particular job seems quite family friendly and flexible, on everything from work hours to my reporting date. So, we'll see...