Environment to Thrive

When Carrie and I bought a house over 4 years ago, we had two rose bushes in the front of the house. The house faces north so these roses never really got the sun they needed. During the first summer we were there, they pretty much didn't do anything. We had a few leaves and the bushes themselves were about 12" x 12" x 12". There were no blooms. In the fall I transplanted them into the back yard where they got the sun. That next summer they did a little better. I got one bloom per bush. After a bit of pruning in the fall, the next summer they only had, yet again, two blooms. I was like what the heck!? That fall I added some compost and fertilizer to the soil. I again pruned back the tall canes in the fall. This spring I added some more fertilizer and compost. Wouldn't you know it, they went crazy this summer. I had so many blooms on it that the canes bent over and were touching the ground. Needless to say...its about time!!

I can equate these rose bushes to my working life. 4 years ago I started working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. It was a good experience. I hated the work but it taught me what I wasn't good at. I am just not a salesman and can't deal with pressure very well. I want to be able to work on my own time at my own pace. I quit two years ago and started a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I was 26. A littel late, but better late than never.
In my second semester I was fortunate enough to have a class with an Engineer. Come to find he was the Systems Engineering Manager at Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems. This is geek speak for overseeing a lot of people and projects. About half the way through the semester, I asked him about an internship. He went on to say that I would have to give him my resume and he would pass me on to the HR dept and jump through the hoops. He came back the next day and said, "You know what I'll just take you resume and see what I can do." By May he had hired me as an intern with the hopes that my performance would necessitate a full time hiring. This past May he did hire me full-time!
Similar to the rose bush, my working career is thriving. I am working at my own pace with no pressure. I feel like for the first time, I am in an environment to thrive.

See Carrie's post about this exciting news

Hydrogen Economy: "Yeah I think it's possible."

So a friend on mine in class today gave me an article about an extremely feasible means to produce hydrogen. Here is the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18700750/
Being in the fuel cell industry and even working for a company that uses fossil fuels to create hydrogen, my interest immediatly piqued.
This would mean a great deal to the environment, the energy industry, and, well, me.
To sum up the article:
Take recylced aluminum, mix it with some other metals, dip it in water, and then: hydrogen. So good. This has the potential to mean that you could power everything from hydrogen. Since this is a chemical reaction, the reaction itself could heat your home, the hydrogen could power your car. Build a fuel cell power plant for you house and use the hydrogen to give your house the necessary electricity it needs. No nasty emissions!

I also wanted to point out that the Energy Blog that I've listed to the right is a good resource if you are interested in more of this stuff.

On to conquering the world...

Fast Lift or Lift Me Fast

Upon scaling the mountain top, I was amazed. The ice and snow had covered the bare trees. They glistened from the rays of the setting sun...enough of the mushy crap.

So this weekend Carrie and I went skiing with my sister and brother-in-law. The main lift at Bristol ski resort was freaking fast. It was cool because as the lift came back down to pick up passengers, the benches would disengage from the cable and be carried by a machine to where you were standing. The bench would scoop you up move a little ways and the re-engage with the cable. It felt alost like when the chain on the roller coaster would start to lift you up the first big hill, but faster. We scaled the side of a hill in about 5 minutes to ski down a 2 mile run.

Since going back to school to study things mechanical, I was truly amazed at the contruction and evolution of a ski lift. Before we went, Troy, my brother-in-law, told us about the first time his dad went downhill skiing. This guy used leather straps to attached his work boots to his skis. Then he would grab onto a rope to pull him up the hill. Now we sit in a chair and take a ride. But this ride is amazing. This 2 inch thick cable holds thousands of pounds to let us enjoy skiing.

The morality of the circumstance is what really got me. Should I be amazed at how fast this lift was and enjoy the fact that God has enabled us to create things like this? Or how do I handle the stuggle with "I want this now and I want it faster". The contruction cost of this lift and the thousands of dollars we pay to be entertained could be helping starved people. At the same time, I was also able to build a closer relationship with my wife, sister, and brother-in-law. Maybe some of the workers worked there to raise money to become missionaries.

My resolution: To continue to struggle with this. That's all, just struggle...

The Million Dollar Question

Remember back in 7th or 8th grade when you took those personality tests to figure out what you wanted to do when you grow up? Or the time in college when you were taking psych 101 and they asked you, "If you had a million-gazillion dollars, what would you do?" And the answer ultimately meant that that was what you were supposed to do for a living.

This brings me to a conversation I had this week. It really wasn't a conversation, it more of a day dream. I was sitting there listening to my coworkers chat. They were talking about one of their son's needing to make a decision about what they wanted to do with their life. In my mind I had all the answers for this son. Based upon the five minutes of information I had it all figured out for him. I didn't say anything because this would have come across as rude and pompous.

So the point: I caught myself. I caught myself giving great advice without really having any direction for myself. I sat at Panera later with coffee and wrote till my heart was content about the million dollar question. I wrote about how great it would be to help business and home owners get off the grid. The grid being the electric grid and and coming off of it creating renewable electricity. I would come up with specific designs based upon specific needs in specific areas. It would be great because each method of getting these businesses or homes off the grid would be different. Now on to saving the world.

See the Ideal Energy Conservation post.