ACC expansion

I miss the days when an away game in the ACC was an easy drive.

Retail follows rooftops

Earlier this week I had to make a trip up to the car dealership to pick up a part for my car. This used to be an easier trip for me but the dealer recently moved a few miles further up Capital Boulevard, adding about 10 more minutes to the trip. As I drifted through traffic heading up Capital, I wondered what sense it made for the dealer to move farther away from the city center.

Was it because of the need for more land? Not likely, it seemed. Capital Boulevard is littered with plenty of former dealerships surrounded by plenty of available expansion space.
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WakeMed’s battle for survival

I and other leaders of Southeast Raleigh were invited to a luncheon today at WakeMed’s Heart Center with CEO Dr. Bill Atkinson. We were given a brief presentation on the New Bern Avenue Corridor makeover to start with before jumping into the heart (no pun intended) of the matter: WakeMed’s proposed takeover of Rex Hospital.

We were given a lot of facts and figures (including a hefty binder) and I’m still sorting through it all, but it was only this evening did I really hit upon the underlying point they were trying to make: this is a battle for WakeMed’s very survival.

I hadn’t gotten that from news stories I’ve read and I had to really sift through what we were told today to get to this understanding, but that’s how it seems to me.

WakeMed is a valued member of my community. Both of our kids were born there and our oldest owes her life to the outstanding care she received as a preemie. It’s hard for me to overlook all of this. I think WakeMed has brought up some pretty good points which deserve to be looked into.

Music to a parent’s ears

Yesterday, Kelly met with the kids’ teachers and got feedback on their performance thus far in the school year. Hallie’s teacher took note that she is “a very strong leader.” Travis’s teacher told Kelly “I love having him in my class. I wish I could clone him.”

If I get nothing else accomplished in this world, I will be happy to have helped raise two outstanding kids.

Parks Board chair

Tonight my fellow boardmembers elected me chair of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board. It’s an honor and a privilege to serve in this capacity. I am indebted to outgoing chair Jimmy Thiem for his leadership and mentoring. He’s a hard act to follow but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

When it rains it pours

While the cool downtown Raleigh business chose another person for their IT opportunity things are going very well for me. I’ve got three pending phone/in-person interviews over the next few days and will probably add another one soon, too.

One thing I was told from one of the companies I’ve already spoken with is that there doesn’t seem to be many sales engineers in the Raleigh area. Maybe that accounts for the attention I’ve been getting.

What should the White House do? Panic!

Here’s a CNN op-ed by James Carville. I think he’s on to something.

As I watch the Republican debates, I realize that we are on the brink of a crazy person running our nation. I sit in front of the television and shudder at the thought of one of these creationism-loving, global-warming-denying, immigration-bashing, Social-Security-cutting, clean-air-hating, mortality-fascinated, Wall-Street-protecting Republicans running my country.

The course we are on is not working. The hour is late, and the need is great. Fire. Indict. Fight.

via What should the White House do? Panic! – CNN.com.

Magic

Magic
Olivia Newton-John

Come take my hand
You should know me
I’ve always been in your mind
You know that I’ll be kind
I’ll be guiding you

Building your dream
Has to start now
There’s no other road to take
You won’t make a mistake
I’ll be guiding you
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Blogosphere fame

Out of all the thousands of people at Reynolds Coliseum today I was amused to see Shawn Rocco walking by, a day after the photo he took of me ran in the newspaper. I stopped him and said hello.

“Thanks for the picture, Shawn,” I told him. “That was great.”

No problem, he told me, and asked if it had led to anything yet. I laughed and told him no but I was staying hopeful.

“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t realize you were so big in the blogosphere!”

Well, that makes two of us! I chuckled and shook my head.

I’ve had others tell me that and it’s always news to me. Sure, my blog has a brag page and each of the things on it are most certainly true. My blog is but one of millions, though, and I really only write here because I love to write. It seems some people take it more seriously than I do, or at least consider it more seriously than I do.

And that’s fine. I enjoy sharing my thoughts here. Some of them I may even be proud of. But I do it really for me and if other folks enjoy my blog I consider it a bonus. For those of you who’ve been following along, thanks!

(… and don’t let the others know I’m making this up as I go!)