Let's NOT Bomb Iran

That would just be really dumb. That's it, I'm out.

Instant Karma

About 10 days ago, on a Saturday, I got up early to take the car in to get new brakes and rotors. As I turned 'round the corner onto Oakland and drove to the other end of the block I noticed police cars, a big crowd, a fallen tree and some smashed up cars. One of the biggest trees on the block had been felled by a storm the previous night. Oddly enough I was out with some friends until 230 and didn't even realise there was a storm coming! A couple of days later this story was on the front page of the Strib.

Naturally I parked the car and gawked in amazement with the rest of the neighborhood at three smashed up cars in a row from one side of the street to the other. And forwhatever reason the staff writer of that article had left a message on our voicemail over the weekend asking for our account - we live on the other side of the block!

While it really sucks for the true owner of the car, it is still cool to see karma dished out straight away!

Silly Office Policy

A few weeks ago we had a building-wide meeting where some high level execs flew in to yack at us about our division, goals, profitability and concerns. It went on for about an hour and a half I suppose, and I probably nodded off for about 25 minutes of it. Actually, there was a lot of talk about sustainability and "green" awareness. As I work in the chemicals business it piqued my interest, though most of it was blah-blah rhetoric and empty statements. Somewhere in the middle, Rich(ard) Whiteguy started speaking to us about our injuries and accidents rate and how it compares company wide. June had been our big safety month where just about every morning we received an email (OK, I didn't because they never gave me email to start with) giving us safety tips. At the end of the month a reward of sandwiches was given because of our clean record. We have a chemicals lab in our building, so it wasn't only about how not to give yourself papercuts. After an incident-free June, at our meeting, the office head congratulated and complimented us on our safety month success. Immediately following him, the division head yelled at everyone for our poor performance in the safety realm of our workspace. He got rather flustered and seemed very frustrated that things were not being complied with. Honestly, I didn't really know what was going on. I had been there for about 3 or 4 weeks at that time. When he finally stopped, two points came out to round up his conclussion: 1) if you injure yourself or happen to involve yourself in a recordable accident/incident, you may be subject to termination. 2) if either of the previous two things happen and you don't record it, you may be subject to termination.

During question time I thought about putting forward the idea that to achieve a zero incident rate for the division they could just fire everyone. I didn't think the mood of the meeting room was sarcastic enough though.

Same ol', same ol'

If you haven't been to the Brudaimonia lately, go have a look. Its been a hot summer and the posting has been off and on, but Jeff and I have put up a few decent posts lately. A lot of the time I read articles, op ed pieces and other commentary and think that an issue doesn't need to have another post written up about it. I've realised this is not so! So I'll get on that and just maybe there will be a few more posts on our quality rag.

I've finally gotten my Australia photos, developed, scanned, uploaded, tagged, titled and described on Flickr. They are pretty much in completely random order. I appreciate comments on them! So let me know what ya like and what ya don't like. There are also Europe pictures and some from around the states too, but those have been up for a while.

I settled in quite well over the last three months. Still feeling a strong urge to leave again, but not in the near future. So for now I go to my boring job, train for the marathon in October, try and find my ultimate skills that disappear over winter and working holidays, paint my dad's house when it isn't hot and humid (so, never) and flush my money down the drain on automobile expenses. One day I think I'll move out to live on my own and find a longer term job in Minneapolis and the next I'm thinking head to New Zealand come April '08 and the next day, who knows where, or what. NYC? So that's what I'm up to.

Things You Learn

Even at 23 you still find out new things about yourself and your identity. For example, I'm Jewish....err, well, not quite. Just keep reading. It's not in the religious, practicing and racial sense. When I lived in Sydney I had a Jewish flatmate and he told me my last name is a very Jewish family name. Not long ago I talked with my dad and also learned that while none of my immediate ancestors (going back 3 or 4 generations) were Jewish we do indeed come from a pretty strong German-Jew heritage. His side of the family was Catholic and didn't have that "look" people think of when people talk about who is Jewish and who isn't. So, obviously I am a long ways removed from direct connections, but it is interesting to learn new things about my lineage and ancestral past from generations ago.

Anyone got a recipe for some good kugle?