October 2017 Archives

[ This entry continues from » Page Two (23.Oct.2017). ]

» Better to Fail than Never to Try

This is one of the reasons why I pursued writing. I mean, I could have easily went to another nuclear plant .. if I wanted.

I was running the show there at the best-situated nuclear plant in the country .. making decent bank.

Most nuclear plants are built out in the middle of nowhere .. so that few as possible are affected if the thing melts down, like what happened at Three Mile Island.

(I know contractors who worked at TMI and who told me, "That place was a disaster waiting to happen." )

And I had a decent handle on this thing .. but after a few years, I was no longer challenged by/with this position. I'm talking after the few years that it takes to work out the kinks in the scope and parameters of this newly-created position.

[ While I was still learning exactly what I could do and what I couldn't do .. I would sometimes just do things .. without asking permission.

When your bosses see how well things work .. they are not going to say, "You ought not done that. You shouldve asked permission first."

Though I admit there was one time when I got my ass chewed serverely .. when I spoke to another dept's boss and got a job for the girlfriend of a friend.

I never did that again. Some things are regarded as territorial. Things that you might never recognize .. as long as you stay within your own territory. ]

For the first few years, yes, I worked hard at dialing in this thing and I was learning new shit left-n-right. Social skills come into play prominently here .. in addition to the technical skills that you must wield daily.

But I had dialed it in. Nicely.

» Challenge Thyself to Better Measure Thyself

There is a thing in the human heart that wants to measure itself .. not necessarily against others, but certainly against its own potential.

If it doesnt challenge you, it doesnt change you (at t=3:36)

I was already bored at what I considered the ultimate contractor position.

Better to fail at the bigger challenge .. my thinking at the time was .. than never to try. I bet that Roxane would agree with me here.

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[ This entry continues from » Page One (23.Oct.2017). ]

» Reactor Refueling Outage

Refueling outages are balls-to-the-wall 24 hours a day, 7 days a week .. for months at a time. Everybody is working 12-hour days, 6 days a week.

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)

It's a controlled chaos where nobody wants to look like they dont have their shit together. Anticipation and quick responses definitely play a part.

You cover your bases. You set your people up for success and you keep your bosses out of trouble .. by managing them.

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Previous page » When Justice Comes Out Perverted for a Very Long Time (5.Oct.2017).

» The Nuclear Dudette

Back when I was running a complement of a hundred nuclear dudes, and even a handful of nuclear dudettes .. my boss let me run things in the plant.

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station | Southern California

He was more of a business man than a technical type. Certainly I would keep him well-informed and often ask his opinion on things.

» Autonomy, Nuclear-Grade

So I had a degree of autonomy .. industrial-strength autonomy. Nuclear-grade autonomy. A nice degree that kept growing larger over time .. for a number of reasons.

The term autonomy is defined as »

  1. Independence.
  2. Self-government, self-determination.
  3. Greek roots of the word essentially mean » "being a law unto oneself."

My experience with autonomy has been that .. the better you are at doing your job, and the better your social skills .. the more autonomy they give you.

This has been my experience .. over a number of years.

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[ This page continues from here » Establishing the Pre-Conditions Necessary for a Trump to Rise - Part One (20 Jan 2017). ]

» Dubya Comes Out of Retirement to Warn Republicans of the Dangers of Trumpism

Oh, look at you go here, George .. coming out of retirement to lay the presidential smack down on the Donald. Here is the full 16-minute transcript.

George W Bush gives speech in New York to warn Republicans about the dangers of Trump October 19, 2017

That was very unexpected .. I think that Cenk would concur. It may take me a few days to process the seismic reverberations. But good for you. I bet that your daughters are proud of you.

This says that you wrote the speech yourself. Did you? Bannon says that a speechwriter wrote the speech for you. I get the impression that he doesnt like you, George.

I hate to admit it, but my spidey senses agree with him there .. that you are not capable of writing such a speech. (I hope that I am wrong.)

What is the difference, George, between being simply misguided and downright evil? (Take your time with that one.)

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First Days of the Transition to Starving Writer

[ This entry originated » here. ]

» Backing Track for Laguna Beach Vibes

Have you you seen this video titled Laguna Beach Vibes, which uses your song as a backing track?

This is actually a great little video that was put together by this dude named Matt Roche. Good quality. Good shots. Good locations.

I know all these locations in this video. My feet have been on all these beaches. Many times. The video actually had me waxing nostalgic.

I lived in Laguna for 10 years. My son was born in Laguna. I met his mom in Laguna .. before she was his mom. (She was tight with the wife of the city manager.)

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Doing the Work

[ This entry originated » here. ]

» You Still Need to Continue to Do the Personal Work Toward Growth

One of the things that I caught myself thinking about .. regarding girls like you and Ariana .. is something that I found true in my own life.

Just because you have this thing .. doesnt mean that you dont need to continue to do the personal work involved in personal growth .. which includes (among other things) educating yourself, and becoming a student of what you do.

When you have the thing, then you can't help but think, "Oh, I have the thing .. I got it made. I got it made forever."

But in practice, it does not work this way. 'Fraid not.

[ One of my 'things' .. is that I experiment with such things. "I wonder what happens if I do this."?

Oh, I see .. I get this result. Very cool.

Joyce knows what I am talking about. ]

I mean, you certainly can avoid doing the work .. because sometimes it is not so much fun to do the work associated with personal growth. (More than just sometimes, actually.)

It requires that you take stock of yourself in an honest way. And some people would rather you stick needles into their eyes.

Everybody knows that the end of growth represents the beginning of death. So you either grow or die. Or at least continue to develop in some meaningful sort of way.

Artistically speaking, you eventually come to the end of the line .. if you just run with your thing .. without doing the personal work .. then you sort of come to the end.

I feel confident that you know exactly what I am talking about. There is an element of public-life vs private-life at play here. You need balance.

» Personal Growth is Non-Linear

I have found the growth thing tends to come in spurts. You do much work .. and then something happens that triggers the growth. It's not a linear thing.

But you can definitely feel all that work that you did coming into play .. when it is triggered. And, yes .. it is a very fucking cool feeling.

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When Justice Comes Out Perverted for a Very Long Time

[ This entry continues from here » Doing the Work (05 Oct 2017). ]

Most surprising is how one man was able to continue to do such bad things to so many young, vulnerable girls for so long.

Some of the women to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Harvey Weinstein

For so, so long. For a shockingly long length of time. An embarrassingly long time.

This 8-min video from the Washington Post, titled » Hollywood's Greatest Betrayal: How sexual predators operate in plain sight .. is simply outstanding.

This is the best single piece that I have seen yet .. that shines a light on the inner-workings of an otherwise unbelievable phenomenon.

Does not this news introduce an element of shame into the entire industry? Seems like everywhere you look, justice is coming out perverted.

The sheer scope of it suggests a systemic contamination on a level that is truly unfortunate. Sad for sure. And for many reasons.

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