Highlights of 2012: RCAC adventures

I spent 2012 chairing two boards for the city: one the Parks board and the other the Raleigh CAC (RCAC) board. The RCAC is a board made up by the officers of the city’s various CACs. It is a rather large board with 19 members: so many that there was often not enough chairs to seat everyone.

I had been a member of the RCAC during my time as chair of the East CAC but I never felt comfortable taking on another leadership role until I had stepped down as East chair. With the handover of the East CAC I could focus on leading the RCAC.

I held monthly RCAC meetings, not of all of which were televised as they usually are. Some of these took place at retreats where we discussed important topics in-depth. I made sure the members helped decide the agendas and gave each some time to discuss what was happening in their neighborhoods. It was quite flattering to have Dwayne Patterson remark about how well the meetings were going.
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Duke rate increase public hearing

Duke Energy will be going before the N.C. Utilities Commission (while it still exists) to argue for an almost 10% increase in their rates. This comes on the heels of Duke’s announcement that it’s closing its crippled Crystal River nuclear plant.

If you’d like to weigh in on this proposed rate increase, you can speak during the hearing. It will be held on Monday, February 11, 2013 at 7:00 pm before the NC Utilities Commission. The Commission meets in the Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh.

Transitions

Friday was my last day as a contract sysadmin at TeleTracking. It was a wonderful job with a great group of people. I enjoyed working in a small office and helping out with their occasional IT needs. Still, I have skills that I never got a chance to apply there because others were responsible for those areas. I was hired primarily to do the Linux system administration along with occasional Windows administration. I began to wish for more responsibility.

Near the end of last year, I was contacted by a company that I spoke with before my TeleTracking job. I turned them down back then due to the travel involved with that particular position, not to mention I didn’t have a clear understanding of the product. This time around there’s a position which doesn’t involve much travel. What’s more, I have a much better appreciation for the product’s value.

I start next Monday, working full-time again. Juggling my schedule (and Kelly’s) might be a challenge at first but it will be worth it. I’m looking forward to the challenge and am excited about my new opportunity!

The Baffling Economics Of The Island Of Sodor – Forbes

Having spent many nights reading Thomas the Tank Engine to the kids when they were young, I found this pretty amusing.

Being the father of a toddler, I spend a lot of time watching Thomas the Tank Engine. As a writer for a business magazine, my mind can’t help but be puzzled by how the economy of the Island of Sodor actually functions. It seems to me to be dreadfully inefficient, and for the life of me I can’t figure out how anyone on the Island turns a profit – especially the railways.

via The Baffling Economics Of The Island Of Sodor – Forbes.

Do-It-Yourself After-Death Care

Here’s a look at another way of dealing with death on your own terms: the home funeral.

Alison and Doug carried Caroline upstairs to the bathtub, where they washed her skin and hair, dried her limp, 45-pound body with a towel and placed her head on a pillow on the bed in her old room. Alison slipped a white communion dress on Caroline, turned up the air-conditioning and put ice packs by her daughter’s sides. She put pink lipstick on the child’s paling lips, and covered up Caroline’s toes and fingers, which were turning blue at the nails, with the family quilt.

Caroline stayed in her bedroom for 36 hours for her final goodbyes. There was no traditional funeral home service, and no coroner or medical examiner was on hand. Caroline’s death was largely a home affair, with a short cemetery burial that followed.

via Home Funerals Grow As Americans Skip The Mortician For Do-It-Yourself After-Death Care.

Gone in a flash

Gone in a flash


The picture above captures what has long been one of my favorite activities: riding bikes with the kids to school. It was 24 degrees when this photo was taken, but it was still fun. As you can see, I’m normally left in the dust on these rides.

I had been feeling wistful about this wonderful daily routine and how it will soon be coming to an end. Hallie graduates to middle school this fall and for the first time in a long time our morning schedules will no longer align. Travis still has two years of biking to school to be done but this glorious age when they’re both biking to school together will forever end.

How is it that when I was a kid life seemed to stretch on forever? How could it have ever seemed like one lifetime would be all I’d ever need to do all the things I wanted to do? Why didn’t anyone warn me how quickly life slips through one’s fingers, careening away like these cackling young cyclists?

With the kids growing inches every few months, it’s hard to keep up with all that’s happening in my life. I don’t want to miss a moment. I want to hug these kids and never let them go. I want to never forget what it’s like now, having such a wonderful family.

The kids will grow up, make their own way, and live successful lives. No matter where time takes us, though, I will always savor this moment in our lives.

Providence

For anyone who still doesn’t believe in divine providence, an instance this afternoon might change your mind.

This afternoon I checked my phone and discovered I had missed a call. Playing back a message that consisted only of a name and number made me wonder who I had ticked off this time with my blog posts, tweets, or body odor. With a little trepidation, I dialed the number and awaited my fate.

An older man answered the phone. It was Mr. John Snipes, the man who received a free home renovation from Builders of Hope. I had visited him during his renovation and left him my card, telling him to call me if there was anything I could do for him. He kept my card all this time and decided to put my offer to the test.
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Social grouping and crime

On my sleepy walking of the dog early this morning, I thought about the adolescence article in my previous post and also about Reggie Gemeille. It made me wonder if I had found the answer to my question as to what makes good kids turn bad.

The theory I’m working with goes beyond the fact that kids drop out of high school. The adolescent article talks about how schools are like big boxes where people with little in common are thrown together. People naturally sort themselves into groups and cliques, teenagers especially. What happens if you don’t find your group or clique? What if you aren’t a jock, or a rich kid, or a brainy kid, or a druggie, or whatever? What if the only tribe you’re left to identify with is that of a gang? What if that’s your only source of self-respect?
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