A catch-all, catch-up post
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Kayaking at Eklutna Lake
The drive was a scenic one as the weather cleared out for the first time we’ve been here. Sunny skies surrounded us as we drove north to Eklutna. After an hour’s drive or so, we pulled into the parking lot at Eklutna State Park and wandered over to get our kayaks.
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At the top of Flattop Mountain!
We arrived a little before noon, having taken a variety of clothing since we didn’t know what the weather there would be like. It was overcast and in the low-60s when we arrived, so layers were the rule of the day. After a stop at the trailhead’s pit toilets, we set off for the summit.
Difficult? No kidding!
Next stop, Anchorage!
The family and I made it into Anchorage Saturday afternoon after an 18 hour day of preparing and travel. Getting here took a long time (only slightly less than flying to London, Kelly says) but was surprisingly smooth, all things considered. Our Expedia booking put us on different airlines for each leg and the outgoing one was on United through Houston. I’ve complained before of how airlines are going out of their way to make flying as miserable as possible, squeezing every last cent out of its customers, but our flight didn’t suck as bad as I thought it might. The leg from Houston to Anchorage got us there in under 7 hours, though we weren’t treated to the spectacular views of the area that I’d been told about due to the cloud cover.
Waiting an inordinate amount of time for our baggage at the carousel gave me some time to people watch. I saw a number of bearded young men there, all in the Alaska uniform of the day: ball caps (preferably camo) with cheap sunglasses propped on top. In Raleigh, bearded young men are considered hipsters. In Anchorage, they’re rednecks. It made me wonder what it must be like to be so rigidly conformist, if these guys ever felt trapped in the routine.
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Yesterday I worked from home and had the occasion to take Travis home from his camp at N.C. State. As we approached by the Bryan-Lee Funeral home on Wake Forest Road, I spotted a number of motorcyclists standing around near the street. Passing by, I saw a number of flags planted in the lawn of the funeral home and several motorcycles in the parking lot.
“I wonder what’s up with the flags,” I said to Travis. “It’s not a patriotic holiday. No famous politician died today. I wonder who this is for?”
Tonight I was sad to learn that the honoree was none other than my neighbor, Victor “Vic” Spence. Mr. Spence lived quietly and alone in the home that he built with G.I. Bill money at the corner of Monroe and Madison. I would sometimes see him as I walked the dog past his home. He would always smile and say hello and I’d do the same. Other times I’d see him driving slowly down the street in his dark blue Ford Crown Victoria, wearing his Marine Corps hat and on his way to his usual stool at the Fenton Street Dunkin Donuts. He was there so often that when the Dunkin Donuts finally closed last year the first thing I thought was “what will Mr. Spence do now?”
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A lot of people have been asking me when I’m going to run for Raleigh City Council. It’s humbling to be considered for such public service and I appreciate all of the interest and enthusiasm for my potential candidacy.
While I considered it strongly, I have decided this is not my year to run. My family is not ready for me to devote the level of time and attention needed to do the job right. I also want to hang on to the few years left that our kids are at home. They are growing so quickly if I blink I’ll miss it.
I’ll still be involved – you know you can’t keep me from meddling! I just will do so as a civilian for the time being.
Thanks for your support and encouragement. When the time is right you’ll be the first to know.
A backhoe digging in this ditch ruptured a gas main this morning
I was driving to work as usual when I turned off of Hillsborough Street onto Ashe Avenue, a spot where a new apartment building is going up. As I go by, I see a construction worker leap off a backhoe and race across the road. Others scurried away as well, eyes wide with fear. It was then that I smelled natural gas and realized the deafening roar I was hearing was the sound of a busted gas main. Yikes!
I rolled down the road for a moment or two while frantically fumbling to unlock my phone to dial 911 (I temporarily forgot I can do this from the locked screen, but whatever). I blurted out what I saw and heard to the dispatcher and gave my name and number. Though the dispatcher told me they were already sending someone out, I didn’t see or hear any first responders so I took matters into my own hands. I figured I might not be trained in how to direct traffic but any idiot can block traffic, so I pulled my car across the oncoming lane and got my geeky yellow safety vest and my emergency light out from the trunk.
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Microsoft has acquired a startup called BlueStripe Software today and shuttered it. It will take BlueStripe’s technology and add it into some of Microsoft’s major enterprise products like System Center.Most of the small BlueStripe team will be joining Microsoft. Microsoft would not confirm the number of employees involved, but according to LinkedIn, about 25 people worked there. When we asked for details, Microsoft sent us this statement:
“Core members of the BlueStripe team will be transferring to Microsoft. Microsoft is not sharing further details on BlueStripe personnel. BlueStripe brings both a talented set of personnel and a strong set of products.”
Source: Microsoft acqui-hires, shuts down startup BlueStripe – Business Insider
I decided a few weeks ago to complete my term as PTA president of Ligon. Leading a PTA is an enormous amount of work and a good deal of stress, in addition. Right now I need to be reducing the stress in my life, so I opted to hand the reins over to someone else.
Was I a perfect PTA president? Hardly. I made a lot of mistakes and learned some hard lessons in the process. Still, I was the best PTA president Ligon had. I was willing to step up when no one else did.
Overall, it has been incredibly rewarding to do the job, though. I might not have heard much from the parents but I did get a huge round of applause from the Ligon staff today during their staff luncheon. The assistant principal told me he’s seen a lot of PTA organizations during his career as an educator and Ligon PTA’s by far the best he’s ever seen. It meant a lot to hear that!
I leave the PTA leadership in good hands with the incoming president, Terri Hart. I wasn’t able to pull off a PTA election at the end of the year, so I’ll stay on as the official president until the first meeting when we can make it official for Terri. She will hit the ground running over the summertime, though, with me showing her the ropes.
I also plan to continue playing a role – after all, how could I not? We’ll have both kids at Ligon next year and I will continue to play a role in the education of my kids and their classmates.
Volunteering gets into your blood, you know. It’s not easy to give it up.
Chancellor Angela Merkel got on the phone with President Barack Obama with a message that was coldly blunt: We cannot go on like this.Her government had just sent the CIA chief packing after German intelligence uncovered a spy in its own ranks. It was the second big shock to the relationship after the Edward Snowden document dump disclosed that the U.S. had been spying on her cell phone. German media was filled with daily pronouncements about the worst rupture in the U.S.-German alliance since the Iraq War.
Source: How Obama wooed back Merkel – Edward-Isaac Dovere and Matthew Karnitschnig – POLITICO
I disagree with this premise. My boss calls her colleague her “work husband.” In this case it means they work very well together.
I certainly don’t condone treating women like assistants but many men (like myself) hold their wives in very high regard and to be called a “work wife” does not necessarily mean they are seen as less than equals.
I have already provided my thoughts on equal pay, so I won’t even go there.
Litigators— lawyers who work to help clients win, or survive lawsuits—can have high-stakes careers. One female litigator’s job, however, came with a less thrilling description. “She had always been the self-appointed ‘detail-oriented task manager on the team, scheduling meetings, keeping the calendar and taking notes,’” wrote the author of a broad study on workplace inequality in law, released by American Lawyer magazine last week, about one of the lawyers who journalists interviewed. The lawyer’s male colleagues called her their “work wife.”
The “work wife” badge is a symbol of a culture in which women are seen as supporters of, rather than equal to, their male peers.
Source: Top Female Lawyers Say They Are Treated Like Assistants at Work – Bloomberg Business
