Less attitude; more bike paths, mountains and beer.

I finished my last job on Friday, and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to start the new one the following Monday. Guess that means I start my new job tomorrow, and to say I’m excited would be an understatement.

Today was a study in change, an awakening of a dormant mind. I realized I had been on autopilot for months, if not years, and was unhappy about it. Sure, I chose to do something about it a couple months ago, but today I realized just how unhappy I was, how frustrated I was with my old bosses, how disillusioned I had become with my current work. Part of that stems from the way my bosses chose to handle my departure: with a sad display of childish ranting, and then, the silent treatment. I am still wondering how a couple of guys who built a company over 27 years can still behave like children, but no matter. They do not matter any more. Not to me, and not to my former co-workers, as a new CEO has been named (I have high hopes for the future of AEC, but alas I will not bear witness from the inside). Time to move on.

Today I went for a bike ride, the first of the season for me, I’m afraid. It was a nice easy spin along the foothills of the Rockies, and also took me past the Boulder Municipal Airport, which was buzzing with activity. This brought home the realization that I have not been enjoying my favorite activities, like cycling, flying, being in the mountains — hell, even just looking at the mountains. Then I came home and Brenda & I took Hooper out for a ride and then a bite to eat at our favorite pizza joint in Boulder. The couple next to us were in town from Madison, WI, househunting. The guy just got a job with a cycling advocacy outfit in Boulder and he was excited about moving to such a cycling-centric mountain city. I was excited for him too. It reminded my of my mood four years ago, and all these things started me wondering about what lies ahead:

My commute goes from a five minute bike ride to a 45-hour-plus drive or bus ride. My workday will lengthen, and my ability to come home for a lunchtime dog walk or dr appointment or whatever just went out the window. I know, I KNOW, that this commute cannot possibly be anywhere near as bad as my commute from Metropark to Penn Station in NYC, but it will still be an adjustment. One thought Brenda & I have is that ultimately we will move to Denver, which will make the commute shorter, place Brenda in much closer proximity to more work in the Denver area, and open up the possibility of us finally getting an actual house with an actual yard. So long term, that’s the carrot on the stick for me as I once again board the commuter “express” train to hell.

Commute aside, today made me realize how much we would be leaving if we left Boulder. The mountains, the mountains are just fucking spectacular, ok? It’s just not the same looking at them from Denver, when you can even see them from there. In Boulder, they are right there, you feel like you can kiss them from anywhere in town. The bike paths, the breweries, our friends, they are here. And yet, moving to Denver would enable us to buy a proper house and walk to Rockies games.

In the short term, Brenda has the Colorado Shakespeare Festival to attend to, and that is right here in Boulder. So we will mull this big decision over the summer and I will try to adjust to working at a national lab after being a consultant for fifteen years. Should be an interesting few months.

Almost as if to commemorate my new direction, I discovered Wolfram Alpha today, which is a mind expanding little playground that I have been having fun with this evening. Check it out. Talk to ya soon.

I know, it’s been a while. Here’s the thing: I got a new job!

After almost four years at the firm I work for, I am moving on to a new job, in a new town. It’s still a lighting/daylighting/sustainable design job, but it’s in an entirely different setting for me: a national laboratory.

To say I’m excited understates things a smidge.

In a few weeks, I (and my co-worker) will be the new resident daylighting “experts” at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, down the road in Golden, CO. I’ll be applying my skills as a lighting designer and simulator, hopefully assisting research aimed at helping us bring light into buildings in more sustainable and useful ways.

I’m gonna have access to a supercomputer; can you say petaflop–oh wait, I JUST DID, beyotch! Ka-PoW!

I’m also going to become a commuter again. The upshot is that my posting frequency on this blog will likely increase.

Knowing I am extracting myself and my favorite-co-worker from an increasingly untenable work situation is one thing, but realizing that my career is not only intact but branching off into a new direction–a totally new direction–is just too good for words.

Yes, this means I am putting dreams of vet school on the back burner, but the burner is still on a simmer. After I ace Biology 2 in a few weeks, I’ll keep taking classes toward my vet school prerequisites, but the pace at which I take them will likely become even more glacial than it is now. I’ll keep going, I just may also mix in some thermodynamics now. And that’s OK.

It’s been a crazy month or so. I’m relieved to be able to let this out. Onward.

- Rob

P.S.
Here’s where I’ll be in a few weeks:

http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/

Been a while, I know. Will have more to say later. For now, we are having us a nice little blizzard here in Colorado. The best part is that my favorite bar is on top of things. Here’s an email I received today:

From: mtnsun@mountainsunpub.com
Subject: Cold Rain and Snow won't close us Down!!
Date: March 26, 2009 5:47:49 PM MDT
To: rpg@rumblestrip.org

Happy Spring Blizzard Phamily and Phriends
We ARE open today at the Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery. (11:30 AM till 1 AM)
The Southern Sun Pub will be open regulars from 4 PM till 1 AM.
The Vine Street Pub in Denver is open from 4 PM till 1 AM.(1700 Vine)
Please DO NOT drive! Walk, Snowshoe, or ski in!
Please tip well...Many of our folks are working doubles to stay open!
If anyone got any extra Phish tickets...We have 100 hardworking employees looking for extras!
Enjoy the snow!

(yeah, Phish; whatever. You take the good with the bad, right?)

Man, I’m wiped out. So’s my dog.

This weekend I racked up a whole bunch of great experiences with Hooper, and we (and Brenda) are all tired out! Hooper ran with Jasper and Jackson for about an hour straight Saturday morning, which warmed my heart as I watched him interact with other dogs instead of just playing fetch. Last night, pissed that I didn’t have my camera to document the aforementioned morning trot with the cattle dogs, I brought my camera and got some nice pics of Hoop and the local pack having their usual fun. And today, Brenda, Hooper & I hiked up to Lost Lake near Eldora and enjoyed being outside, the three of us. I love this guy.

Brent Graber was a guy I casually knew, a co-owner of a fun little dog named Delaney.

Brent and his brother were regulars at the ballfield near my house where Hooper & I spend many an evening. Last month, while Hooper was recuperating from his knee injury, Brent got hit by a car and had been in a coma ever since. I found out about Brent’s unfortunate predicament a couple weeks after the fact, when Hooper & I returned to the ballfield. Ever since learning of Brent’s unfortunate turn of events, I had been keeping tabs on him through a website his family had set up, and silently held out hope for a recovery of any kind.

But tonight, at the ballfield where I had collected all of my personal experiences with Brent, I learned of his death. His injuries proved too great for his body and especially his mind; he passed away last evening, after spending the last month in a coma.

I am mostly sad for Brent’s family and close friends, as I was but a peripheral acquaintance. But at the same time, I am pissed off about the way his death came about, and at the way it has been reported and dealt with.

Brent was hit by a car from behind while riding his bicycle a mere quarter mile from my house. He was hit at night, by an 82 year-old. The newspapers reported the age of the driver, but also mentioned that Brent was not wearing a helmet and that his bike did not have a taillight or reflector. What was not reported–in the initial story or the initial “death report” news story– is whether or not the driver was in the shoulder, or in the lane she was supposed to be keeping her fucking car in, when she plowed into this 30 year-old guy and killed him. The papers mention that the driver was not ticketed, in a single sentence paragraph. I would assume that is an indirect way of saying Brent was in the middle of the lane when he was hit, but based on the way most bike-versus-auto accidents are reported, investigated and prosecuted, I seriously fucking doubt it.

The age of the driver and cyclist, the lighting conditions, and the fact that the cyclist was not wearing a helmet or that his bike lacked a taillight are important points. But so is the location of the 2,000 pound motor vehicle when it struck the cyclist. I would argue that that last fact is the most important one in fact, and it really pisses me off that that little detail has been consistently left out of the discussion. Why is that? Seriously; why the fuck is that? Seriously.

Brent was always smiling at the ballfield, always laughing at his and the other dogs whenever they did something silly, which is to say Brent was laughing all the time. He seemed to be enjoying himself in his life, and at 30 years of age, his ended too quickly.

I am pissed off about the way his horrible ordeal has been reported in the local papers and suspect we don’t know the entire story, but knowing the way Brent approached everyday life, I’m going to simply toast him now, and say “salut”.

Today is Hooper’s second birthday–sort-of. I mean, today is the day Brenda & I selected to represent that milestone for him; since he was a stray, we really don’t know the day, but we know the general vicinity of the day based on his development when we adopted him a year and a half ago.

And what a year and a half that’s been. Hooper is my buddy, my dog, and I love him. It hurts to leave him behind when I go to work in the morning, every single time. He has me studying biology for chrissake. He has, quite literally, changed my life.

Happy birthday buddy!

I’m listening to The Evens here while studying bacteria, and the song “Everybody Knows” just wrapped up. It occurred to me that I should have rigged up some loudspeakers to the roof of my car and rolled around town blasting this song at maximum volume on Inauguration Day. I doubt I’m the only one who still thinks about January 20th and smiles. The last lyric is great to listen to, now that the door has indeed hit Bush on his tired, phony ass.

“Everybody Knows”
- The Evens
You arrive with empty duffel bags, hungry eyed
You looked around taking measurements to move inside
The capital it is your proving ground, your centering
You and yours can keep your scores, but Washington is our city

Everybody knows you are a liar
Everybody knows you are a liar
Everybody knows you are a liar
Everybody knows you are a liar

Too much technique with no texture below
You fabricated your way in here and everybody knows

Everybody knows you are a liar
Everybody knows you are a liar
Everybody knows you are a liar
Everybody knows you are a liar

Too many distractions just obscure what should be shown
Stop with the abracadabra ’cause everybody knows

You return via machinery and public lies
You broke to break, you’re breaking everything, it’s no surprise
The capital it is your playground now, your center ring
You and yours can keep your scores, Washington is our city

You and yours and all your wars have run your last campaign
You’re fired from a job you never should have had
That hideous strength absolutely sinks
You better watch your back

Let the door hit you on the ass

Someone please tell me what the fuck this is. I mean, I know it’s a Ford Windstar with “Ford Windstar” in cursive script, the comedy and tragedy masks, and a pair of mudflap girls adorning the rear window. This, this is known. But, WHAT THE FUCK.

I don’t know that I did much more than allude to it, but Hooper hurt his knee a few weeks back, and we’ve been walking on eggshells ever since.

He wiped out chasing a ball in the ballfield, and when he came up he was holding his right hind leg up for several seconds. I started running over to him and he immediately began to “walk it off”, in a manner that would have impressed Mr. Tezak, my ninth grade gym teacher. Thinking I’d dodged a bullet, we kept playing but I could see that when he would run around he would “bunny hop” with his hind legs, favoring the injury. Brenda & I backed off of his usual 2 hours a day exercise regimen, but he did not really improve. You could see an oddness to his gait, and every once in a while he’d even be standing there holding his hind leg up like he had when he initially injured himself. So a couple of weeks ago I took Hoop in to see Dr. Adams, and she conducted a thorough exam. She detected some tenderness, and based on my explanation of what had happened at the park that day, as well as all the lameness since, she concluded that he MAY have ruptured his CCL, or cranial cruciate ligament. Kind of the canine version of the football player/ACL injury. Great.

Since soft tissue damage doesn’t show up well on an x-ray, Dr. Adams was hesitant to spend my money on radiographs, and instead sent us home with some anti-inflammatories and strict instructions to limit his activity to a couple of walks a day, no longer than five to ten minutes in length; enough to pee and poop, and not much else.

Now, the last two weeks have been hard enough, watching Hooper literally slump when, five minutes into our walk, instead of heading right toward the ballfield–where all the neighborhood dogs are frolicking–we head left back towards home. But on top of Hooper’s frustration, I have been rolling the idea of major knee surgery on my dog around in my head. Despite Dr. Adams not wanting to “go there yet”, I of course started doing research on Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, and I was not pleased with what I was seeing. Sure, the four grand the surgery would cost would be a drag, but mostly I was concerned abut the idea that my dog, a week shy of his second birthday, could be cut up and never be the same dog again.

We ran out of anti-inflammatories on Monday, and I got an appointment today for Hoop’s follow-up exam. Dr. Adams is on vacation, but I got Hoop in to see Dr. McCormick, the owner of the whole hospital. As has been the case with every single doctor Brenda & I have dealt with at the Alpine Hospital for Animals, Dr. McCormick was very courteous, thorough, interactive and honest. With prompts and treats, we both got Hooper to submit to a full exam of his leg, knee, spine and hips. She brought in a model of the canine knee joint for explanations.

The final explanation: Hooper did not tear his CCL, and is not a candidate for surgery! The fact that I screwed up my ankle so badly last spring really helped me to understand what Hooper did do to himself. He probably pranged his knee pretty good, and that kind of tissue damage just takes a lot of time to mend. So now Hooper has been cleared to go for longer walks, but he’s supposed to remain on the leash.

Naturally, we went to the ballfield tonight so he could take a celebratory lap around with his pals. Naturally, again, he immediately rounded up Lanni, Mattie and Jocko and organized them into a chase group while he proceeded to blaze a few laps around the field at what appeared to be close to the speed of sound. Afterward, he wrestled with Mattie, flinging her over on her back more than once (did I mention that Mattie is a 100lb Mastiff?). But I could see two weeks of frustration escaping from his soul, like steam from a manhole cover. What was I supposed to do?

He seems none the worse for the wear, or the land speed record attempt. Right now he’s draped across his bed and just stretched, looked at me, and let out a heavy sigh. Life is good.

I read a recent post on Lifehacker this morning about resume writing (no, I’m not looking for a job, I just read Lifehacker religiously), and readers were encouraged to post their own tips and peeves in the comments. I thought I’d share my thoughts here. (Can you smell the rant coming from there?)

First of all, when did listing your undergraduate GPA on the resume become fashionable? I have discovered, much to my chagrin, that there is a huge emphasis on grade point average in the veterinary school application process, but these people are reviewing applicants for the job of student, essentially. Further, it costs the grad school money to wash people out, so I can see how past performance on test taking is going to be a primary yardstick for a vet school applicant. But when I read a resume from someone looking for a job as a lighting designer and they point out to me that they got a 3.7384 GPA getting their friggin’ undergraduate degree, it makes that person look like a brown nosing, whiny little pest, and I don’t need that shit. I realize that people fresh out of school need to dig deep for stuff to put on a resume, but babe, look elsewhere.

My bigger issue is with people who list worldwide travel destinations under the “Other Skills/Interests” sections that these resumes always seem to have. Listing other skills and interests isn’t inherently bad; doing so can make you seem well-rounded, provide a peek at the rest-of-you and not just the worker bee, and can provide conversation starters for the interviewer. But I’m thinking more like “cycling, photography, playing guitar, travel”. Travel, not where you traveled. Travel is mind expanding, educational, humbling. You tell me you enjoy traveling, I’m gonna assume you are an open minded person who, unlike half this nation, sees that there is a world beyond the USA that should be explored. But you tell me you went to all these exotic places as a sidebar on your resume, well, I’m gonna assume you’re a giant dick. Here’s why:

First off, if you traveled the world and scored a 3.7384 GPA all during your undergrad career, there’s a strong possibility that you are a spoiled rich brat who doesn’t know what work is to begin with–not a good quality for a job applicant. But you also open yourself to the possibility of making yourself look like a fucking idiot who gained nothing from the travel experience. For example, when you list Chili (sic) as one of your globe trekking destinations, I’m assuming you learned absolutely nothing from your trip except how to find a McDonald’s in a foreign land. (Hey, anyone know if they have Chili’s in Chile?) By the way, the fucking idiot who wrote that he’d been to “Chili” on the real-live resume that he handed to me, in a real-live interview, for a real-live job–and who continued to prove my point here throughout the interview–did not get an offer. Fucking idiot.

Oh, and if you’re gonna have an “Other Skills/Interests” section, don’t let that be what makes your resume bleed to yet another page, and don’t list just “Music” as an interest. “Playing guitar” I will accept, but “Music”? Come on man, show some heart. It’s like putting “Food” down there. Might as well put “Air” and “Masturbating” in your skills and interests section, while you’re at it. “Family” and “Friends” are two other curious entries often seen in this section; are those skills, interests, what? Or are you just trying to tell me you’re not the next Son of Sam?

So. Drop the GPA bullshit and let potential vet students worry about that one, use that Skills/Interests section cautiously, and don’t be a giant dick, kids. I’m reading. And judging.