LNC in the news

Leadership North Carolina got a brief mention from WRAL today when news spread that Governor Perdue will not run for reelection. Now-declared gubernatorial candidate Lt. Governor Walter Dalton was scheduled to speak at today’s LNC forum but canceled upon news of Perdue’s decision.

I Tweeted earlier that Dalton wasn’t there and I wonder if WRAL used my Tweet as its source. Anyway, the mention was here in an earlier revision of this story:

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton canceled a Thursday morning appearance at the Leadership North Carolina Forum in Raleigh after news of Perdue’s plans spread. He was supposed to speak on the state’s transportation planning and policy.

The LNC mention was posted long enough for me to show it to Kelly. Dalton later convened a press conference and formally announced, after which the LNC reference was removed.

Unqualified Progress Energy workers caused fluke mishap at nuclear plant

Yikes! I’m not going to sleep so soundly tonight knowing that Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear plant is nearby and its hapless crews can’t bolt a reactor lid properly.

Makes me wonder why the NRC is still so chummy with utilities.

Emphasis mine:

Nine of the 12 workers who performed the reactor vessel assembly were not qualified. Some received “just-in-time” (i.e., last minute) training before the Fall 2011 refueling outage, but not specifically in stud tensioning.

The workers didn’t know how to read the instrumentation and torqued the reactor vessel lid’s studs at 1,300 pounds per square inch instead of 13,000 psi. In other words, there were off by one zero, and screwed the studs at 1/10th the required pressure.

Some the bolts were left so loose they could be turned by hand, the NRC said. Others turned easily with a wrench.

via .biz – Unqualified Progress Energy workers caused fluke mishap at nuclear plant | newsobserver.com blogs.

Leadership North Carolina Forum

Leadership North Carolina Forum

I spent the day today at the Fifth Annual Leadership North Carolina Forum. While the panels and speakers were fascinating and informative, what captivated me the most was watching my lovely and talented wife while she was working. Kelly held herself with grace and aplomb, seeming so comfortable conducting the question and answer sessions with a roomful of hundreds of participants. I smiled as I thought about just how quickly she got up to speed in doing what she’s doing, yet you’d never know it from how confident she seems.

I’ve known for 14 years how special Kelly is. Now everyone knows it, too.

Meet Isaiah Richardson

Isaiah D. Richardson

Here’s a look at the gentleman arrested in our neighborhood yesterday for breaking and entering. His name is Isaiah Dominique Richardson, age 16. It’s easy to see why police were so familiar with Richardson: he was arrested just last month for possession of stolen goods.

In the pic above Richardson isn’t wearing the diamond earring that he had in when I saw him. Though he was arrested about 9:20 AM he was booked at 7:50 PM. That makes me think he might have spent the day being interviewed by detectives, by which time he probably had his earring taken away.
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Neighborhood watch nabs burglar!

That burglar never knew what hit him. This guy rides a bike into our neighborhood, thinking things are easy pickings here, and he rides out in the back of a police car.

My neighborhood is quickly gaining the reputation of being the place crooks go to get caught. The hapless crook must not have gotten the memo.

It all began a little after 7 AM as I was out walking the dog. As I neared home, I saw this guy riding towards me on a bike. Since I walk this way every other day, I’m usually quite familiar with the people I see this time of day but this kid was a stranger. Nevertheless, as he approached I gave him a friendly “good morning,” and he cheerfully replied. Cheerful greeting or not, I decided to get a close look at the clothes of this stranger – just in case.
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Raleigh raises fees for youth sports, park rentals

In addition to the Mordecai article, I was also quoted in a separate Midtown Raleigh News article on the new parks fees.

Many parks fees had not been raised for several years, parks board members noted. For example, the citywide youth sports registration fee has been $12 since 2004.

“This is an opportunity to make adjustments that have been needed for a while,” said board chairman Mark Turner. “I didn’t feel they were necessarily drastic … The variety of programs and offerings are still a very good deal for the public.”

via Raleigh raises fees for youth sports, park rentals – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

New option emerges for Mordecai park center

I was quoted in today’s Midtown Raleigh News on the new option for Mordecai Historic Park’s Interpretive Center. (Also, see the parks fees story. Two articles in one day!)

An earlier proposal involved using part of the park’s main lawn for a contemporary, window-lined building to house the center. Opponents banded together to fight the proposal, saying the building would clash with the historic charm of the park, home to Raleigh’s most significant antebellum plantation.

“We heard it loud and clear: Nobody wanted to put more buildings on the property,” said Mark Turner, chairman of the city parks board. “This solves that problem.”

via New option emerges for Mordecai park center – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

It’s better with a dish

Though it was being shown locally on over-the-air TV, I decided to hunt for the N.C. State-Miami basketball game on satellite today. When I found it I was amazed at how much better the satellite signal was from the OTA signal. Players in motion seemed blocky as the compression artifacts piled on, but the signal direct from Miami was crystal-clear.

Whenever you compress a signal that’s already compressed, you really start making a mess as the tricks that compression schemes rely on get broken in the process. Given a choice, I’ll tune in the satellite signal every time if I want a quality signal to watch.

Highlights of 2011: the tornado

Worn out but happy!


In a year full of big events, the biggest one for me was the tornado of April 16th, 2011. While the damage to our home was a 6-inch shingle, the damage to our neighborhood was significant. It also gave me a chance to really help my neighbors when they needed it.

I vividly remember growing up in Atlanta and my siblings and I being awakened by my parents and piled under a mattress in our home’s hallway as a tornado warning. The winds would howl, the rain would pound, but the tornado would remain more of an idea – an after-bedtime reason to play with my brothers and sister in the hallway – rather than a real threat. That is, until April’s tornado rolled around.

I’ve already blogged about the tornado and the cleanup efforts I participated in. Looking around the neighborhood now I see only a few homes still covered with blue tarps. Some damaged trees still abruptly end 30 feet from the ground. A ride on the Millbank section of the Crabtree Creek greenway still shocks me when I reach the path of the tornado. I dubbed that portion “Tornado Trail” and it will likely live up to that name for many years.
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Highlights of 2011: job changes

Last August ended with a bang as Kelly and my job situations changed dramatically. I was let go from my job at Monolith the very same day Kelly accepted a position with Leadership North Carolina.

How things happened for me is still a mystery. I received a favorable performance evaluation in June and completed the personal objectives which would’ve qualified me for a bonus. It was at this point where things got murky and other executives took issue. Rather than being paid my bonus, I was told I was no longer performing to standards even while my manager reassured me that he had always been happy with my work. But whatever . . .
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