Musings

General-purpose musings

There are 780 posts filed in Musings (this is page 28 of 78).

China punishes source of embarrassment

Shanghai high rises

There was a deadly fire in a residential high-rise in Shanghai yesterday. Over 60 people lost their lives in the blaze, blamed in part on flammable scaffolding.Today, the Chinese government arrested 8 people in connection with the blaze and began investigating claims of unlicensed welders on the project.

What I want to know is why the Chinese government chose not to inspect the construction before the building caught fire. As some news stories pointed out, there are thousands of similar high-rises in Shanghai. It’s an easy bet that a majority of them also cut corners. Will these get any attention? Not likely, unless they happen to catch fire or cause some other incident that can’t easily be covered up.

A friend once relayed the view of one Chinese-American who said “China [is] not known for safety.” I saw firsthand how this is the case. It’s sad that the Chinese government only seems to care after the fact.

Getting paid to have fun

Wow. Last week’s business trip was exhausting and very last-minute, but incredibly energizing at the same time. Before I left I was really nervous about the trip, which puzzled me as I’ve gone on countless similar trips before. This time, however, I was flying blind for most of the trip. Never before have I had to learn so much on the fly and maintain my cool. And you know what? I did it. It wasn’t perfect but I did it.

Now I think I’m addicted again to being in the thick of things. It’s becoming apparent that I could be very successful at this and it’s got me thinking about how I should prioritize my time. There are many after-work things I could be doing (the most important is being a father and husband, of course) and these activities will suffer if I am traveling regularly. Beyond the time commitment, I have plenty of creative ideas to add to my job: things that would keep me working well past a traditional 8 hour day.

In short, I think I have finally found another job where I get to exercise all of my talents. I’m getting paid to do what I like to do for fun.

That makes me an incredibly fortunate guy.

Veteran’s Day reflections

I’ve had plenty of reflections on Veteran’s Day but yet another revelation came to me on yesterday’s Veteran’s Day.

I work in a sales job, as a sales engineer. Success in that job (and other sales jobs) requires one to be very good at making friends and relating to all types of people. As I went about my work with a potential customer yesterday, I realized that a lot of my skill at relating to different people can be traced back to those four years I spent in the Navy.

When your home for three years is a ship only 563 feet long, you have to learn how to get along with folks. Thank you, Navy, for enriching my life in yet another, previously-unseen way.

Gays in the military

Defense secretary Robert Gates spoke at Duke University recently, urging the “best and brightest” to “step out of your comfort zone” and join the military. I thought that sounded fine until Gates bwhegan dragging his feet when a judge (temporarily) struck down the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy.

Allowing gays to serve openly “is an action that requires careful preparation and a lot of training,” Gates said. “It has enormous consequences for our troops.”

Bullshit, plain and simple. Gays have served in the military as long as there have been troops. Many have them have proven their valor and loyalty. Some have paid the ultimate price for their country, yet these soldiers and sailors must be dishonest to their fellow servicemembers about who they are. This is simply wrong.
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The sad story of Kenny Cross

I was searching the Internets today when I ran across this excellent article by freelance writer Emily Badger. Badger tells the story of Kenny Cross, a young black man raised in Raleigh in a loving, supportive, well-off home but who deliberately took a wrong turn in life. Cross had the potential to become an Olympic swimmer but fell in with the wrong crowd in college. Convinced he needed to prove he was “black enough,” Cross joined his criminal friends on an armed-robbery crime spree across the Southeast, holding up dozens of motels and check-cashing stores. He’s now in prison serving a 15-year sentence.

Though Cross’s mother is a doctor and his family apparently did everything right, Cross still chose a life of crime. As his father put it, “He’s stealing from people $300 when he could have called home for a thousand. It made no sense. It still doesn’t make any sense.” Cross had such a promising future but he threw it away. Why?
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Street smarts

My buddy Ken Thomas wrote about intelligence and wisdom in a recent post, pondering which one is acquired versus which one is inherent. It’s a good question, as is the question of which is more valuable to have, intelligence or wisdom?

I’ll add more to what Ken wrote by asking about a third type of wisdom, known as “street smarts.” Street smarts is wisdom and intelligence combined: applying the wisdom of an environment with the intelligence to figure it out. Situational awareness, really.

Early in our relationship, Kelly and I took a vacation to the mountains of Asheville. Domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph was still loose somewhere in the woods and I joked to the tourist-booth lady about the odds that I might find him.

The old lady chuckled at the thought. “You wouldn’t last a minute out there,” she scoffed without looking up.
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Moving quickly

I was just marveling to Kelly tonight about how quickly my life has been moving. So much has happened just in the past month that I would hardly recognize my life a month ago. Two months ago is even more of a difference, and the past year has been nothing short of transformational.

With the huge exception of Gerry’s passing it’s mostly been good, and even Gerry’s death has spurred my growth. These lessons are not necessarily the way I wanted to learn them but you have to take what life gives you, I suppose.

I guess I can stop asking the question “when does life slow down,” because to date it has only sped up for me. I have a hunch that the trend will continue!

So-called Illegals

Speaking of illegal immigrants, I have a hard time understanding the uproar over illegal immigration. You know what I call anyone who could dare to leave their dirt-poor families behind; travel hundreds of miles away; hurdle barbed-wire fences; wade across raging, shit-filled rivers; pay off any number of shady smugglers; and cross unforgiving deserts while dodging capture and deportation? I call them supremely motivated. Insanely motivated, even.

I can see why so many companies and individuals want to hire these people because they make such damn good workers. These are some tough, motivated hombres. Few native-born Americans are that willing to better themselves.

On the other hand, you’ve got a large majority of native-born citizens who are so lazy they can’t even be bothered to vote. Which ones are the lazy ones again?

No more divisions

There was a shooting last night not too far from my neighborhood. Three kids and one 18-year-old got shot, the 18-year-old fatally. Police are still working the case and haven’t released many details but they did let the neighbors know it wasn’t a random shooting and that the shooting had nothing to do with the neighborhood. The fact is, this could have happened anywhere. I followed the story as it unfolded on the local media websites, trying to assure folks that my area of town isn’t a bad one. Later this afternoon police arrested a suspect: a 24-year-old man, apparently Hispanic.

Because the shooting happened in East Raleigh, some forum commenters somehow assumed the victims and suspect were black. Out came the ridiculous comments deriding African Americans. Then when the suspect was Hispanic, even more heated comments appeared leaping to the conclusion the suspect was an illegal immigrant. Some went so far to say that if he’s illegal he should just be lynched!
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