Well, you can't say that I don't like a challenge in my career. Been through the dot bomb looking for a job, been through a number of recessions over the years and I have the bright idea to move to a region of the country that has one of the highest unemployment rates. And how does it feel? Sometimes a little scary, yet also hopeful. One thing that I've been lucky in looking for new jobs is that the general good nature of people always seems to come out. The trick is asking for help and letting people know that you are out there looking for a new opportunity to make a difference.
Last week I met an icon in the adventure travel business. Eddie Frank, the owner of Tusker Trails (www.tusker.com), has been leading treks to Kilimanjaro for over 30 years. The business has also recently added packaged trips to the base camp at Mt. Everest and to Mongolia. He has dedicated his adult life to showing his clients some of the truly epic destinations on the planet. If you have any inclination to take a true trip of a lifetime, check out their website and read about the collective expertise that his company has amassed, then sign up for a true adventure. A big thanks to an old friend, Pam, for helping me with the introduction.
And yesterday I met with an organization in Reno called ProNet. This member-based organization is one of the most unique job search preparation companies that I have ever seen. Entirely free to the job searcher and the employer, this federally funded group looks to help its members find positions in the hidden job market through networking and being properly prepared. It's the only place I have ever seen that works with professionals looking for management level positions that doesn't charge for their services. All they ask is that you participate in workshops to prepare you and to spend time volunteering in the office. I am eagerly anticipating the support that ProNet and its members will provide. And I'll keep in touch here and elsewhere. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Defiant message or ammunition?
With a Christian pastor getting everyone fired up (pun intended) about burning copies of the Qur'an on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, are there really a couple of sides to this inflammatory issue?
So the pastor says that this is in retaliation for the planned mosque and community center in lower Manhattan. Yes, the planners of the Islamic community center in New York should be labeled as insensitive yet they are within their property rights that are part of our Constitution. When is enough, just plain enough? How far does someone have to be pushed before they just say "STOP"? It's plain to see that this gentleman has had enough. And he is willing to take whatever heat is out there from anyone domestic or foreign. And he has others that are similarly fed up with what they perceive as inroads to their way of living. Yes, freedom is at the core and is this the best way to show it? Is this what we show our children and grandchildren? We all have a breaking point just like we all have a price. Which begs an interesting question - how much money would it take for the pastor to cancel his book burning?
I do have a couple of questions for him and others that may be trying to attract attention to their defiance and anger. Do you not see that you are committing the same crime as those in totalitarian regimes when you burn a book? Do you not see that you are suppressing freedom of speech? (Note: Shame on the local politicians for trying to limit the right to assemble for the pastor's event.) And most of all, do you not see that you are fueling the fires of fear and loathing among our enemies overseas (and some domestically too)? Why are you choosing an obviously emboldening event for our enemies instead of demanding that we as a country be brought up to speed with the progress (or lack of it) in finding Osama Bin Laden? Why are you not questioning the billions of dollars and lives lost in distracting efforts when we apparently have forgotten that we appear to have given up looking for one responsible for the greatest crime on US soil?
Note to the "Christian" pastor: As much as we are all frustrated with our economy with it's lack of jobs and the growth of Islamic influences around the world feeling like a constant threat, why propose an event that gives the imams and Islamic leaders more ammunition for recruitment both domestically and overseas? You may as well just give them a ticket on an airplane in Boston with a free pass through security. And you completely undermine the brave and courageous efforts of our military now in Afghanistan. You put them even more in harms way because you have no idea of the global implications of what you are doing.
Again, as a country are we really putting our best foot forward when someone stands up for his beliefs and whitewashes the rest of us with his righteous paintbrush? Oh, and don't forget all of Americans currently traveling overseas too. It sure is nice of you to put a bulls-eye on their backs too.
So, please, before you go through with your knee-jerk reactionary event this weekend, think again about the big picture and how in the end, your 15 minutes of fame will put real American lives at risk. There has to be a smarter way to get your point across.
So the pastor says that this is in retaliation for the planned mosque and community center in lower Manhattan. Yes, the planners of the Islamic community center in New York should be labeled as insensitive yet they are within their property rights that are part of our Constitution. When is enough, just plain enough? How far does someone have to be pushed before they just say "STOP"? It's plain to see that this gentleman has had enough. And he is willing to take whatever heat is out there from anyone domestic or foreign. And he has others that are similarly fed up with what they perceive as inroads to their way of living. Yes, freedom is at the core and is this the best way to show it? Is this what we show our children and grandchildren? We all have a breaking point just like we all have a price. Which begs an interesting question - how much money would it take for the pastor to cancel his book burning?
I do have a couple of questions for him and others that may be trying to attract attention to their defiance and anger. Do you not see that you are committing the same crime as those in totalitarian regimes when you burn a book? Do you not see that you are suppressing freedom of speech? (Note: Shame on the local politicians for trying to limit the right to assemble for the pastor's event.) And most of all, do you not see that you are fueling the fires of fear and loathing among our enemies overseas (and some domestically too)? Why are you choosing an obviously emboldening event for our enemies instead of demanding that we as a country be brought up to speed with the progress (or lack of it) in finding Osama Bin Laden? Why are you not questioning the billions of dollars and lives lost in distracting efforts when we apparently have forgotten that we appear to have given up looking for one responsible for the greatest crime on US soil?
Note to the "Christian" pastor: As much as we are all frustrated with our economy with it's lack of jobs and the growth of Islamic influences around the world feeling like a constant threat, why propose an event that gives the imams and Islamic leaders more ammunition for recruitment both domestically and overseas? You may as well just give them a ticket on an airplane in Boston with a free pass through security. And you completely undermine the brave and courageous efforts of our military now in Afghanistan. You put them even more in harms way because you have no idea of the global implications of what you are doing.
Again, as a country are we really putting our best foot forward when someone stands up for his beliefs and whitewashes the rest of us with his righteous paintbrush? Oh, and don't forget all of Americans currently traveling overseas too. It sure is nice of you to put a bulls-eye on their backs too.
So, please, before you go through with your knee-jerk reactionary event this weekend, think again about the big picture and how in the end, your 15 minutes of fame will put real American lives at risk. There has to be a smarter way to get your point across.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Are we fearful or hopeful?
So two weeks ago I went on about a few questions that I have about our American life. I know it may have sounded a bit fatalistic and pessimistic but the reality for many in this country is that we are headed in the wrong direction as a country, as a society and as a leader in the global community. That leaves me thinking about some answers to my burning questions.
Fear has almost become a national pastime. Forget baseball, apple pie and winning the war. That's old school. Too simple for this new century. Too boring for our fast-paced, phone app-driven world. At the risk of sounding too old school, I do remember starting my information systems major in undergraduate school and liking the instant gratification of watching a program actually work. I'm sure that many in the trades get this same feeling. Sweating pipe and seeing no leaks. Building a block wall with your bare hands. Seeing the light turn on and brighten a room, making it more of a home. Yet today, we have an insatiable thirst to know everything right now. And yet we are willing to find the information source that supports our own personal belief structures. If we think that another 9-11 style attack is imminent, then we listen and watch to find support for that construct. If we think that there is a conspiracy of global corporate megalomaniacs making the world dance like Pinocchio, then we'll look to the Illuminati and Knights Templar to support that we have no control over our own lives.
While Americans have collectively lost $1.2 trillion in wealth over the past couple of years due to the housing bubble annihilation, most of us are still working, many still have a house over our heads and have food on our tables at the end of the day. Amazingly, businesses are still being started, restaurants are still packing them in and yet we whine. Government is doing too much, too little, not the right thing or definitely the wrong thing while lining their own pockets. Here's the thing - everyone is probably right and yet we operate and have opinions that we think that majority rules in this country. Wake up America - this is a republic not a democracy! We elect officials that represent us. If you don't like them, we all have the right to vote for someone else. But I digress - what are we really afraid of?
For many decades we have been "a little people, greedy, barbarous and cruel" (Lawerence of Arabia, if you must ask) and we have ingrained in our psyche that all of our problems are due to the other guy, the other organization, the other company, the other politician, the other country - all making it so hard on us. I say it's time that we stop spending our energy blaming others and start looking within. How many families are fractured over relatively small issues? What has happened to forgiveness? If we can't resolve our family issues, how can we expect to solve bigger issues? I say look within to find the courage, the strength, the know-how, the smarts to figure it out for ourselves, our families and our communities. Only then will fear of the outside world begin to fall away and can true prosperity be returned to our country and our world. I challenge you to look to the sacrifice that Marines made on Iwo Jima in 1945 (over 20,000 casualties) and then I think you will see that you really don't have much to fear in these amazing times in this promising century.
Fear has almost become a national pastime. Forget baseball, apple pie and winning the war. That's old school. Too simple for this new century. Too boring for our fast-paced, phone app-driven world. At the risk of sounding too old school, I do remember starting my information systems major in undergraduate school and liking the instant gratification of watching a program actually work. I'm sure that many in the trades get this same feeling. Sweating pipe and seeing no leaks. Building a block wall with your bare hands. Seeing the light turn on and brighten a room, making it more of a home. Yet today, we have an insatiable thirst to know everything right now. And yet we are willing to find the information source that supports our own personal belief structures. If we think that another 9-11 style attack is imminent, then we listen and watch to find support for that construct. If we think that there is a conspiracy of global corporate megalomaniacs making the world dance like Pinocchio, then we'll look to the Illuminati and Knights Templar to support that we have no control over our own lives.
While Americans have collectively lost $1.2 trillion in wealth over the past couple of years due to the housing bubble annihilation, most of us are still working, many still have a house over our heads and have food on our tables at the end of the day. Amazingly, businesses are still being started, restaurants are still packing them in and yet we whine. Government is doing too much, too little, not the right thing or definitely the wrong thing while lining their own pockets. Here's the thing - everyone is probably right and yet we operate and have opinions that we think that majority rules in this country. Wake up America - this is a republic not a democracy! We elect officials that represent us. If you don't like them, we all have the right to vote for someone else. But I digress - what are we really afraid of?
For many decades we have been "a little people, greedy, barbarous and cruel" (Lawerence of Arabia, if you must ask) and we have ingrained in our psyche that all of our problems are due to the other guy, the other organization, the other company, the other politician, the other country - all making it so hard on us. I say it's time that we stop spending our energy blaming others and start looking within. How many families are fractured over relatively small issues? What has happened to forgiveness? If we can't resolve our family issues, how can we expect to solve bigger issues? I say look within to find the courage, the strength, the know-how, the smarts to figure it out for ourselves, our families and our communities. Only then will fear of the outside world begin to fall away and can true prosperity be returned to our country and our world. I challenge you to look to the sacrifice that Marines made on Iwo Jima in 1945 (over 20,000 casualties) and then I think you will see that you really don't have much to fear in these amazing times in this promising century.
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