Flipper TV show

Tonight the kids and I watched an Imax movie called Dolphins, which follows scientists studying dolphin behavior. It was quite an entertaining movie, but it was not as entertaining as my story to the kids of the dolphin show I used to watch as a kid called Flipper.

The kids got a kick out of my description of the show’s typical plot, where these two boys could magically communicate with Flipper. The dolphin would pop up from the water, make dolphin gibberish sounds, and convey the most sophisticated messages.
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Mordecai board splits Interpretive Center vote

I’ve served on the board of Historic Mordecai Park for over two years now as part of my Parks board service. At most meetings we have few things of importance to discuss. Tonight, however, we were presented with location options for the new Interpretive Center. This was the biggest decision I’ve yet had to make as a boardmember.

The problem was, however, that a boardmember quickly put forward a motion to recommend approval of the location, which staff recommends to be adjacent to Wake Forest Road. In the discussion phase of the motion I made it known that I was not comfortable supporting this recommendation and needed more time to think it over. A vote was taken anyway and passed on a 3-2 majority.
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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.

Progress Energy’s SunSense rebates for residential solar

Photo by Gray Watson

There is good news today for homeowners who’ve been considering adding solar panels to their homes. Progress Energy received approval today [PDF] from the N.C. Utilities Commission to provide up to $10,000 in rebates for residential solar power installations. The program would begin January 1st and provide a $1,000 rebate per kW of solar capacity, up to a $10,000 maximum. According to the N&O’s John Murawski, a 10 kW solar installation that would normally cost $75,000 could be bought for $35,000 after the rebate and state and federal incentives are included.

I’ve been waiting for this program to materialize since fall of last year, so I’m finally glad it’s been approved. As for our home, I’ve been thinking a 6 kW system would be about right for our needs, though our large, southern-facing rooftop could host quite a bit more. I think 2011 will be the year to finally go solar!

Rochester

I wish I could’ve seen more of Rochester, NY this week. I was locked in a conference room most of my time there and after work officially ended I was going out to eat with my sales guy and the consultants we were working with. Still, I caught a few glimpses here and there.

Rochester has about half the population of Raleigh, so the scale is smaller. It has seen days as a boomtown, though, through the power of the Erie Canal, the Kodak film empire built by George Eastman, and the success of the Xerox corporation. Those boomtown days are still evident in the public places named for the giants of that time, and the stately brick buildings that have stood for a century.

And yet, Rochester seemed to me to be down on its luck. Though my hotel was in the heart of downtown there didn’t seem to be many restaurants or bars nearby. People wearing hoodies seemed to be hanging around, waiting to hassle some unsuspecting tourist walking by. My coworker got hassled the same way on a walk over to visit a client. During my last night in town, I heard multiple sirens go by the hotel, yet during the day I saw few police patrolling the sidewalks. I’ve been through some rough cities and towns before from my Navy days and from business travels, but even I did not feel comfortable walking around outside my hotel.

It’s a shame, too, because there are so many interesting things to see in Rochester. I have yet to see the High Falls, or visit the George Eastman house: a mecca for photographers. Or look around Lake Ontario, or the finger lakes. Or the rolling countryside, for that matter. All that will have to wait until next time. And I hope there is a next time, because Rochester offers so much to see. Maybe next time.

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.

Trial by fire

Well, I pulled off a miracle yesterday and today. At least it seems that way to me.

I’m on my first sales call with my new employer, I have been with the company all of two months, have conducted one training session with them, and have been on NO sales calls with them before. There is the sales guy and there is me, and no other technical resource onsite. In spite of all this, today I was able to conduct a technical demonstration of our product that lasted eight whole hours and I did it without once sounding like an idiot.

I had no idea when I took this gig that I would be on the front lines within two months. Judging by the product’s sophistication I would’ve thought that was sheer madness. And yet here I am after Day Two, riding high. I’ve got years of experience doing the sales engineering thing under my belt, but I was skeptical I could pull something like this off – all the way up until I actually did it. Now I feel I can handle anything!

We’ve got one more day here in Rochester before we wrap up. It’s all downhill from here for me, and I’m greatly looking forward to a relaxing weekend before things get crazy for me with my Busy Third Week Of The Month.

Smoke alarm times it right

Public safety officials always tell people to check their smoke alarm batteries at the same time they change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. This is a practice that hopefully gets people used to routinely checking their smoke alarms.

I’ve long been in the habit of checking our smoke alarms at the time change but this morning offered a bit of a surprise. Around 6 AM, our “extra” hour of sleep was just beginning when we hear a chriping sound. It seems the battery in one of our smoke detectors picked this morning to quit: the very day it would’ve been tested, anyway.

In less than 10 minutes I had a new battery installed and was snoozing again. Being a bit superstitious, though, I made sure rest of our smoke detectors worked today, too!