As usual when you don’t hear much from me, there are a lot of things happening at the moment. And they’re good things, really. Can’t complain.
On the work front things are cranking up. I was busy with a few projects which have expanded my knowledge of the product. I was expecting to be traveling south to Orlando next week for a trade show but my plans changed abruptly today when the company realized I should be in New York state instead. So rather than enjoying high temperatures of 80 degrees I’ll be looking at 55 degrees instead. Oh well: at least the work will be interesting! I will be far more active in NY than at any trade show, so my product knowledge will increase exponentially from this change of plans.
Outside of work my community involvement continues. I nailed down the East CAC’s November agenda, and through the magic of Le Calendar I have proclaimed this month’s to be the last meeting of the year. We’ll have a holiday social event and hobnob this month. It’s always one of my favorite meetings.
On the Raleigh CAC front, I’ve been asked if I would like to become chair. I’m not really looking for any more feathers in my cap but I don’t want the organization to lose ground, either. Still trying to figure out if I want to take something else on, though as of now I’m leaning towards “no.”
My parks board stuff is getting interesting. One month after attending my first meeting as the new Vice-Chair, I will be conducting my first Parks board meeting this month. The agenda will be a doozy, with four major topics to discuss and likely a lot of public comment. It will definitely be a trial by fire, but the board knows what to do so I’m not too concerned about it. One of the topics involves the proposed Falls Whitewater Park: an innovative park where release water from the Falls Lake Dam could provide a place where paddlers and kayakers could try their hand at some real rapids. I went to the last public hearing on this park Wednesday evening and learned all about it. Many residents near the proposed park (who already enjoy river access) have concerns about it but many of my friends who’ve learned about the park think it sounds incredibly cool. As long as it doesn’t harm the river I think it is doable, though any park would have to go through many environmental studies before being built and the park would have to be funded. No one, including the city, is flush with cash at the moment so this might be something that gets built five years away or more, if ever.
Oh, and I was invited to join the advisory board of the Raleigh Digital Connectors, a partnership between the city, the business community, and the community to teach folks how to use the Internet and computers. I don’t have much free time as of now so I’m mulling over whether to accept or not. If I choose not to I have some friends who might be good candidates.
I’ve also jumped into assisting my friend Guy Caprioli in securing new space for Music on the Porch. The parking lot that has served as the home of MOP is being torn up to make way for an apartment building this winter, meaning the event needs a new home. We’re looking at Mordecai Historic Park as a possibility, though there are other areas that might be in the running. You wouldn’t think that simply finding a new location would be so challenging but the loss of the current venue makes everything much more complicated. Up until now Peace China has provided the permits and sponsorship to make the event possible but now that the event won’t be at Seaboard it’s not clear if Peace China can continue to help. The show will continue to go on, I’m sure, and Guy and Will Spence will continue to do Herculean things in the background to make it happen, but in some visible and invisible ways it will be a different MOP next year.
Family-wise we’re as busy as ever. The kids brought home stellar report cards yesterday, which is in keeping with their history. Kelly and I also watched as Travis was honored as being a “Conn Achiever,” just like Hallie has been. Hallie is busy with violin lessons and swim team and Travis is busy with piano lessons and tennis lessons. There are a lot of trips between the four activities to keep Kelly and me busy but we manage. The kids are into it, too, so why not?
The cold I seemed to have gotten Tuesday is still hanging around. It hasn’t kept me from exercising but it has provided me sneezing fits on a regular basis and sapped some of my strength. I think that I’ll be free of it by this weekend, though, so it won’t drag me down much longer.
That about brings you up to speed on life around here. Now you can return to Facebook.