Lead Thoughts, Volume 7
Very nice weekend. Good company, good baseball (little league), great BBQ, and a lot of reflection.
I feel like I've altered my path a little. I don't wear glasses so I have no personal relation to this analogy but think of it this way: It is as though I'd been wearing contacts and, though I could see clearly and was not in danger of misjudging distance or a sign, my 'prescription' could have been better. Things could have been more focused and I could use to see things more accurately. I feel like my prescription has been altered and the world through my eyes is now in better color, shape, and perspective. And, of course, one never knows that the old prescription was out of whack until a new one is put to use. Then you wonder, "How could I have stood to not see this clearly before?"
I think sometimes we're very slow to teach ourselves the lessons we most need to learn. Or something...
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Over the course of the next 9 months to a year I am sure you're going to read a lot about Portland... as in, packing our little tribe and moving north. An actual move itself is still a ways off and I really like having the time between now and then to do a lot of homework (housing markets, schools, etc.) and take some day trips up to the region and really get a feel and vibe from various communities.
We're not likely to actually live in Portland. I just think suburbia will be a less drastic adjustment for all of us. I'd rather have a (hopefully) short commute into work and be able to live in one of the various suburbs surrounding the Rose City then to be right in the thick of things. I certainly appreciate that Portland -- the city itself -- ranks very high for livability but, at the same time, I'd rather take advantage of the great things a city can offer (sports, arts, music, etc.) from afar then have those things just around the corner.
The extent of our research so far has been positive. There are several areas that would offer a reasonable commute and have housing for sale that is similar in age and size to our current home. In fact, our market actually seems a bit more expensive so, in theory, we might be able to see our place at Price X and be able to buy into a comparable home up there for Price X minus 5 or 10 percent. That would actually be very nice. Either way, I don't think we're going to have to stretch our finances too far to make this a good transition.
Obviously I'm very excited about the work part of it. Being at our HQ is going to be tremendous. There will naturally be some adjustment period and each work environment has it's own dynamic, so I will need to be mindful of that. But on the whole I think the timing for this is very good and that my professional life will take very positive steps in that environment. I've always been a team player and, up there, it is going to be a bigger team. I don't need to be the star. To borrow a hockey term, I'd rather be that shutdown third liner that every team needs to be great. He never scores a ton of goals, doesn't sell a lot of jerseys with his name on it, but he has the respect of the coaches and teammates who, when asked, will tell you they wouldn't be the same team without his contributions. That is always the guy I've wanted to be. If I was an Avalanche player I'd be want to be "Lappy" (Ian Lapperiere).
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I think we'll finally see the election shift gears this week, as I think by this time next weekend Barack Obama will have the nomination. The conventional wisdom seems to suggest that by the end of the South Dakota and Montana primaries on Tuesday, Obama will need less than 30 superdelegates out of the 201 who still haven't declared their support to either him or Senator Clinton.
To put this all in perspective, as of this writing Obama is about 46 delegates (pledged and/or super) away from the new, post-Florida/Michigan deal magic number of 2118. Even if he and Senator Clinton split Montana and South Dakota 50-50 (note: he is expected to win both states) that will net him another 18 delegates. So that takes him to a need of 28 superdelegates to get there. That means he needs just about 15 to 20 percent of those 201 uncommitted superdelegates to break his way. She would need 80 to 85 percent of them, and even then she might still need some superdelegates who have pledged to him to change their minds and come over to her.
I'll give Senator Clinton this much: She has been better down the stretch than Obama has. She ran a better second half of the primary season then she did the first half. But, that said, her ever twisting logic regarding the popular vote and her selective evidence of how she is the "stronger" nominee is irritating and insulting. She leaves out that 1) She is still counting her votes in Michigan to her total and leaving him with none and 2) She is not counting people who came out in caucus states. Her metric is not legitimate and, as an educated adult who was never very good at math but can still actually... I don't know... use a calculator (!) I find her argument as a play to people who support her no matter what and/or people who aren't paying close attention and may, if she repeats the lie often enough, believe her and then repeat it.
I'm also a 34 (soon to be 35) year old man who, for his entire voting adult life, has not had the chance to vote for President where the name Clinton or Bush didn't appear somewhere on the ballot. It's the end of an era!
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Music fans... if you can hunt it down (file share if you must) you really should find a copy of Love at the End of the World, the latest release from Sam Roberts. Roberts has always been good but the new disc is killer; one of the best I've heard this year. Since his first two albums didn't take off in the U.S., the new album has only been released in Canada. I got an affordable hard copy (CD) via Amazon but, no matter how you go about hearing it, I highly recommend it.
Oh, and if Green Day fans for some reason are not aware that Foxboro Hot Tubs are Green Day then you really should add Stop, Drop, and Roll!, the new album from this "side project" to your collection. I think it's a great move for the band. Following up American Idiot is a challenge because that album really redefined the band. Kudos to them for letting the tape roll, crafting some very garage rock meets 60's pop meets punk tunes, and just blowing off some steam. If they can find a way to balance the smarts and skills they showed on American Idiot with the loose, fun vibe they've got with the Foxboro Hot Tubs project then they're going to be just fine.
--------
The Stanley Cup Finals aren't over but they may as well be. Hats off to Detroit and blah blah blah... barf... credit where it's due... bleck... great team... you fans still have to actually live in Detroit... chuckle...
When does free agency begin? ;)
J
I feel like I've altered my path a little. I don't wear glasses so I have no personal relation to this analogy but think of it this way: It is as though I'd been wearing contacts and, though I could see clearly and was not in danger of misjudging distance or a sign, my 'prescription' could have been better. Things could have been more focused and I could use to see things more accurately. I feel like my prescription has been altered and the world through my eyes is now in better color, shape, and perspective. And, of course, one never knows that the old prescription was out of whack until a new one is put to use. Then you wonder, "How could I have stood to not see this clearly before?"
I think sometimes we're very slow to teach ourselves the lessons we most need to learn. Or something...
-----------
Over the course of the next 9 months to a year I am sure you're going to read a lot about Portland... as in, packing our little tribe and moving north. An actual move itself is still a ways off and I really like having the time between now and then to do a lot of homework (housing markets, schools, etc.) and take some day trips up to the region and really get a feel and vibe from various communities.
We're not likely to actually live in Portland. I just think suburbia will be a less drastic adjustment for all of us. I'd rather have a (hopefully) short commute into work and be able to live in one of the various suburbs surrounding the Rose City then to be right in the thick of things. I certainly appreciate that Portland -- the city itself -- ranks very high for livability but, at the same time, I'd rather take advantage of the great things a city can offer (sports, arts, music, etc.) from afar then have those things just around the corner.
The extent of our research so far has been positive. There are several areas that would offer a reasonable commute and have housing for sale that is similar in age and size to our current home. In fact, our market actually seems a bit more expensive so, in theory, we might be able to see our place at Price X and be able to buy into a comparable home up there for Price X minus 5 or 10 percent. That would actually be very nice. Either way, I don't think we're going to have to stretch our finances too far to make this a good transition.
Obviously I'm very excited about the work part of it. Being at our HQ is going to be tremendous. There will naturally be some adjustment period and each work environment has it's own dynamic, so I will need to be mindful of that. But on the whole I think the timing for this is very good and that my professional life will take very positive steps in that environment. I've always been a team player and, up there, it is going to be a bigger team. I don't need to be the star. To borrow a hockey term, I'd rather be that shutdown third liner that every team needs to be great. He never scores a ton of goals, doesn't sell a lot of jerseys with his name on it, but he has the respect of the coaches and teammates who, when asked, will tell you they wouldn't be the same team without his contributions. That is always the guy I've wanted to be. If I was an Avalanche player I'd be want to be "Lappy" (Ian Lapperiere).
---------
I think we'll finally see the election shift gears this week, as I think by this time next weekend Barack Obama will have the nomination. The conventional wisdom seems to suggest that by the end of the South Dakota and Montana primaries on Tuesday, Obama will need less than 30 superdelegates out of the 201 who still haven't declared their support to either him or Senator Clinton.
To put this all in perspective, as of this writing Obama is about 46 delegates (pledged and/or super) away from the new, post-Florida/Michigan deal magic number of 2118. Even if he and Senator Clinton split Montana and South Dakota 50-50 (note: he is expected to win both states) that will net him another 18 delegates. So that takes him to a need of 28 superdelegates to get there. That means he needs just about 15 to 20 percent of those 201 uncommitted superdelegates to break his way. She would need 80 to 85 percent of them, and even then she might still need some superdelegates who have pledged to him to change their minds and come over to her.
I'll give Senator Clinton this much: She has been better down the stretch than Obama has. She ran a better second half of the primary season then she did the first half. But, that said, her ever twisting logic regarding the popular vote and her selective evidence of how she is the "stronger" nominee is irritating and insulting. She leaves out that 1) She is still counting her votes in Michigan to her total and leaving him with none and 2) She is not counting people who came out in caucus states. Her metric is not legitimate and, as an educated adult who was never very good at math but can still actually... I don't know... use a calculator (!) I find her argument as a play to people who support her no matter what and/or people who aren't paying close attention and may, if she repeats the lie often enough, believe her and then repeat it.
I'm also a 34 (soon to be 35) year old man who, for his entire voting adult life, has not had the chance to vote for President where the name Clinton or Bush didn't appear somewhere on the ballot. It's the end of an era!
-----------
Music fans... if you can hunt it down (file share if you must) you really should find a copy of Love at the End of the World, the latest release from Sam Roberts. Roberts has always been good but the new disc is killer; one of the best I've heard this year. Since his first two albums didn't take off in the U.S., the new album has only been released in Canada. I got an affordable hard copy (CD) via Amazon but, no matter how you go about hearing it, I highly recommend it.
Oh, and if Green Day fans for some reason are not aware that Foxboro Hot Tubs are Green Day then you really should add Stop, Drop, and Roll!, the new album from this "side project" to your collection. I think it's a great move for the band. Following up American Idiot is a challenge because that album really redefined the band. Kudos to them for letting the tape roll, crafting some very garage rock meets 60's pop meets punk tunes, and just blowing off some steam. If they can find a way to balance the smarts and skills they showed on American Idiot with the loose, fun vibe they've got with the Foxboro Hot Tubs project then they're going to be just fine.
--------
The Stanley Cup Finals aren't over but they may as well be. Hats off to Detroit and blah blah blah... barf... credit where it's due... bleck... great team... you fans still have to actually live in Detroit... chuckle...
When does free agency begin? ;)
J