I got a rare treat last weekend - State played Ole Miss in hoops televised on ESPN Classic. It was some sort of promotional deal where the SEC wore "throw back" jerseys & ESPN Classic showed some games. Pretty lame idea, except I got to see the alma mater live!
It had been a hellacious end to the week - 2 sick kids home Thursday with the wife, I took Friday off with same 2 sick kids + a trip to the doctor. Then, the wife had a work event Friday evening, so I had been "on" for close to 24 hours straight. She took the kids to see her mother Saturday afternoon, leaving me alone to watch the game.
The Bulldogs completely dismantled the Rebels by 29 points. It was actually a little worse than that. State led by 30+ the entire 2nd half. One Clarion-Ledger columnist pointed to the death of the brother of an Ole Mis player as the reason they came out flat. I didn't know this before the game, so I spent the entire 2nd half watching closely to figure out if State had turned a corner or Ole Miss was flat or really that bad. I decided that State had turned a corner - few turnovers, tough defense, good rebounding, good shot selection against a tough defense, etc.
To quote Lee Corso, not so fast my friend. Played at Auburn Wednesday night & trailed by 20 early in the 2nd half. Tried to come back & lost by 4. This is a "what the?" moment. In the SEC West, it seems to me, State, Ole Miss & Auburn have been essentially interchangeable all season. If State comes out & is 29 better than Ole Miss, hitting on all cylinders, why are they essentially 20 worse than Auburn 4 days later?
I live in Univ of Maryland country. It seems like half my office are Maryland grads. This Wednesday, they lost at Fla St by 9. You would have thought they lost to a girl's school. The same coach who delivered a National Championship a few years ago & umpteen straight NCAA tournament appearances is no good & should be fired!
This has been an interesting year for both Maryland & State. Maryland has better athletes, but are 16-10 & 6-7 in the ACC. State is 13-13 & 3-10 in the SEC. The difference is probably the coach & these idiots at work want to get rid of Gary Williams?!?!?! I posed the question to a couple of them - fine, fire Gary, then who do you hire? I grew up in Fayetteville, AR & had this same argument recently with my sister. Fire Stan Heath, Arkansas' coach, & hire who? Neither of these groups had a viable answer. My sister got closest, Mark Few from Gonzaga. Yeah, Gonzaga is a better job right now, but Arkansas can offer hella lot more money. The Maryland fools came up empty with a replacement! They point to how Coach K worked under Bobby Knight and Roy Williams worked under Dean Smith. I said fine, hire Coach K's top assistant & take a chance. They didn't like that idea.
Rick Stansbury was an assistant at State for years before taking over the top job 7 or 8 years ago. He was a stud recruiter who is primarily responsible for State's success. This is the first time he's had such a young and small team. Did he turn recruiting over to the wrong guy? Did all the "graduations" & transfers hurt more than we thought they would? Who knows. He was my guy 8 years ago & he's still my guy today.
Maryland folks are speculating whether they make the big dance or not. I say no, but know they probably will, on the coattails of the National Championship & Gary's resume. That's what Gary brings to the table. Meanwhile, State closes out with Georgia, @ Arkansas and Alabama. I see 1-2 or maybe 0-3. We're not even going NIT this year, so why are Terps complaining?
I need to call my Philly boy Jack, the La Salle grad, to actually watch some games this year, instead of just talking about it!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
The Great Schism
I did it - I created new blog called "The Accidental Leader" for all the CSI stuff. Unfortunately, it'll probably have the twice or thrice the posts that this one will, but stay tuned!
Or if you like the CSI stuff, go to accidentaleader.blogspot.com
Or if you like the CSI stuff, go to accidentaleader.blogspot.com
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Big Split
I should be typing meeting minutes right now - I had a consultant meeting Monday and then an owner's meeting on Tuesday. I need to do both minutes today. However, I keep going back to look at past blog posts. Should I separate this into 2 blogs - one about CSI & the coming year and another about being a Father, Husband, Architect? I'm leaning toward the split right now. I wonder if I can easily copy posts over from this one to a new one?
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Photo testing
Some recent family photos....
Our 1 yr old enjoying his cake
My lovely wife & our youngest son
Big brother & big sister helping with birthday presents
Bid Opening Results
I'm sure you're all sitting on the edge of your seats - the bid opening went VERY well yesterday! We had 5 bidders and 2 were under $7M so it looks like the University can award the Contract and start construction!
The only hitch is the site will not be ready until sometime at the end of March. We had massive amounts of rock to blast out & that Contractor is about 50% through.
The only hitch is the site will not be ready until sometime at the end of March. We had massive amounts of rock to blast out & that Contractor is about 50% through.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Bid Openings
Bids are due today for a building I was thrown into. I joined my firm this past October and the drawings for this building were about 35% complete. I lead a team to complete the drawings by December in order for the bids to be due by the end of January. Due to some site work issues, we delayed the bid due date to today. This is a dysfunctional team and a dysfunctional project. The budget is $7M and I am not hopeful that we'll hit that number today.
For those who don't know the design & construction process, the Architects, Engineers and other designers design the building and its systems and then produce drawings and specifications to tell the building contractors how to build it. The traditional method is called "design-bid-build" in that the Architect's team designs it, a group of contractors prepare bids or the amount of money each requires to build the building, and then the firm requiring the lowest amount of money gets to build the building for that amount. That's how this project will be delivered, so the bids are due today.
I love bid openings because of what contractors put themselves through. I began my career in Mississippi, where all projects with public funding are administered by the State Bureau of Buildings. Their offices are in the big State office building in downtown Jackson, the capitol. Regardless of where the project is to be built, bids are recieved and opened in Jackson.
To get to the Bureau's offices, you stepped off the elevators into a large lobby. At one end of the lobby is a pair of dark-stained wooden doors with no windows. Those lead into the Bureau's reception area. The bids are due at 2:00 PM precisely on either a Tuesday or a Thursday, never any other day or at any other time. Bid are delivered to the reception desk where they are date & time stamped. Off to one side is the large conference room where the bids are publicly opened.
I frequently attended the bid openings and enjoyed one for a project with an $8M budget. On this bid day, a particular contractor that my boss knew well had sent his son to the bid opening. His son, probably just under 30 years old at the time, was learning the ropes from his old man. As my boss & I got off the elevator, the son was in a corner of the elevator lobby having a heated conversation with the father via cell phone. Finally, he put the phone down, walked over and asked us the budget for the job. My boss played his hand by saying "7 and 1/2 million." The kid gets back on the phone & relays this information. Instantly, he starts yelling, "NO! I'm NOT going to f-ing do that!" This exchange goes on for several minutes with several other profanities as 2:00 PM approached. Finally, the kid writes something on the bid form, seals the envelope & turns it in. When the bids are opened, his price was $7,100,000 and he wasn't even the low bidder!
For those who don't know the design & construction process, the Architects, Engineers and other designers design the building and its systems and then produce drawings and specifications to tell the building contractors how to build it. The traditional method is called "design-bid-build" in that the Architect's team designs it, a group of contractors prepare bids or the amount of money each requires to build the building, and then the firm requiring the lowest amount of money gets to build the building for that amount. That's how this project will be delivered, so the bids are due today.
I love bid openings because of what contractors put themselves through. I began my career in Mississippi, where all projects with public funding are administered by the State Bureau of Buildings. Their offices are in the big State office building in downtown Jackson, the capitol. Regardless of where the project is to be built, bids are recieved and opened in Jackson.
To get to the Bureau's offices, you stepped off the elevators into a large lobby. At one end of the lobby is a pair of dark-stained wooden doors with no windows. Those lead into the Bureau's reception area. The bids are due at 2:00 PM precisely on either a Tuesday or a Thursday, never any other day or at any other time. Bid are delivered to the reception desk where they are date & time stamped. Off to one side is the large conference room where the bids are publicly opened.
I frequently attended the bid openings and enjoyed one for a project with an $8M budget. On this bid day, a particular contractor that my boss knew well had sent his son to the bid opening. His son, probably just under 30 years old at the time, was learning the ropes from his old man. As my boss & I got off the elevator, the son was in a corner of the elevator lobby having a heated conversation with the father via cell phone. Finally, he put the phone down, walked over and asked us the budget for the job. My boss played his hand by saying "7 and 1/2 million." The kid gets back on the phone & relays this information. Instantly, he starts yelling, "NO! I'm NOT going to f-ing do that!" This exchange goes on for several minutes with several other profanities as 2:00 PM approached. Finally, the kid writes something on the bid form, seals the envelope & turns it in. When the bids are opened, his price was $7,100,000 and he wasn't even the low bidder!
More days in Paradise
Had a crazy weekend with both boys' birthday parties & my sister in town. To top it off, our van wouldn't start on Sunday morning. I diagnosed it as the starter, wrestled the old one off, put a new one on & it didn't work. Then, we lost some of the dashboard lights, so I gave up. After dropping my sis off at the airport, I rented a Taurus, since I drive a Ford Ranger pickup that only fits myself & 2 kids.
Had the van towed yesterday, locked myself out of the house, kicked in the back door & broke the front door lock. Bad day. The dealership called & said the van needed a new starter. I said no way, that one is brand new. I went & picked up the starter from the dealer & took it back to the parts store. The kid tested it - bad starter. Dad says that's fairly common with starters, he doesn't know why. Parts store gave me my $150 back, so I called the Ford dealer this morning & said put a new one on. That way, its his deal if its a bad starter or it doesn't fix the problem, etc, there's no finger pointing about where the starter came from & who "owns" it.
Took over control of the CSI Chapter web site yesterday. Don't have a lot of confidence in the guy I took it from. He used some strange ftp method of uploading. I tried it last night & it seemed to work. Problem is, I altered his "index.html" file & reuploaded it. The edited info came up like its supposed to, but I lost some of the background graphics! Very strange.... Should be exciting in the coming weeks as I become Web Master. My wife looks to be a HUGE help with it, as usual.
Spoke to the President. He's starting to get nominations in order for next FY. We're supposed to notify the Institute by the end of April as to next year's officers. He shares my concern that the 1st VP won't move up. I told him, after the last discussion I had with her, she can't decide, so if we let her, she'll take til June to decide. Pres said that's not acceptable, so we'll push her to make a decision in February. I suspect, I'll be President next year. Hence, one reason I started this blog.
Had the van towed yesterday, locked myself out of the house, kicked in the back door & broke the front door lock. Bad day. The dealership called & said the van needed a new starter. I said no way, that one is brand new. I went & picked up the starter from the dealer & took it back to the parts store. The kid tested it - bad starter. Dad says that's fairly common with starters, he doesn't know why. Parts store gave me my $150 back, so I called the Ford dealer this morning & said put a new one on. That way, its his deal if its a bad starter or it doesn't fix the problem, etc, there's no finger pointing about where the starter came from & who "owns" it.
Took over control of the CSI Chapter web site yesterday. Don't have a lot of confidence in the guy I took it from. He used some strange ftp method of uploading. I tried it last night & it seemed to work. Problem is, I altered his "index.html" file & reuploaded it. The edited info came up like its supposed to, but I lost some of the background graphics! Very strange.... Should be exciting in the coming weeks as I become Web Master. My wife looks to be a HUGE help with it, as usual.
Spoke to the President. He's starting to get nominations in order for next FY. We're supposed to notify the Institute by the end of April as to next year's officers. He shares my concern that the 1st VP won't move up. I told him, after the last discussion I had with her, she can't decide, so if we let her, she'll take til June to decide. Pres said that's not acceptable, so we'll push her to make a decision in February. I suspect, I'll be President next year. Hence, one reason I started this blog.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Another day in Paradise
My sister flies in from Arkansas today for the boys' birthday parties. My oldest son's birthday is January 9. On alternating years we seem to get his party close to the day. That was last year. This year, his party is February 4. My youngest son's birthday was February 1, so we're hitting his the weekend following the day.
This week has been a lot of house work. We're not the neatest people in the world, plus with both my wife & I working full time & handling the 3 kids, housework is an afterthought. We did it a little better this time, by 11 o'clock last night, I was vacuuming & that was pretty much the end. Then, the belt on the vacuum broke! Before going to the airport today, I get to stop by Sears, get a belt & hopefully finish vacuuming. Oh, that's after picking the kids up because they have noon dismissal from school today.
But, we get up this morning & find concrete in the bottom of both upstairs toilets. My wife had bought this bleach powder to help clean the toilets. In the past, she's dumped a bunch in, it scrubs all night, you flush in the morning, done, clean toilets. This time, for whatever reason, the stuff set up like concrete in the bottom of the bowl. So, before showering & dressing, I had to take screw driver & hammer & beat the stuff out of the bottom of the toilet!
This week has been a lot of house work. We're not the neatest people in the world, plus with both my wife & I working full time & handling the 3 kids, housework is an afterthought. We did it a little better this time, by 11 o'clock last night, I was vacuuming & that was pretty much the end. Then, the belt on the vacuum broke! Before going to the airport today, I get to stop by Sears, get a belt & hopefully finish vacuuming. Oh, that's after picking the kids up because they have noon dismissal from school today.
But, we get up this morning & find concrete in the bottom of both upstairs toilets. My wife had bought this bleach powder to help clean the toilets. In the past, she's dumped a bunch in, it scrubs all night, you flush in the morning, done, clean toilets. This time, for whatever reason, the stuff set up like concrete in the bottom of the bowl. So, before showering & dressing, I had to take screw driver & hammer & beat the stuff out of the bottom of the toilet!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
State Hoops
I am an alumnus of Mississippi State University and I grew up in Fayetteville, AR, home of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. My parents are not sports fans by any stretch. Dad used to watch baseball occasionally, having grown up listening the St. Louis Cardinals games on a transistor. We always followed Razorback basketball. I can still remember several exciting games in the NCAA Tourney with Sidney Moncrief and the crew. There's also the matter of Larry Bird almost single-handedly beating Arkansas on the way to his National Championship.
When I arrived at State in the late '80's, our hoops team wasn't that good & student tickets were FREE! As my college career went on, the team got better, but the tickets were still free. I can probably count the number of home games I MISSED on one hand, the entire 4 years I lived on campus. I did happen to miss one memorable 4 overtime game against Ole Miss because I had a project due.
This year, our team once again is not very good. I can't quite put my fingers on it, but an SEC season-opening win against Arkansas has been followed by 7 straight SEC losses, 6 by double digits. We're a young team, I get that, I think we start 4 freshman. At some point though, these kids have to grow up & have some self-respect and actually beat a team. 1-6 Auburn visits "The Hump" on Saturday. Let's hope we can get the job done then, but somehow, I am not optimistic. I can usually sense when I team is on the cusp on doing something, and I don't get that vibe here.
I love college basketball season, but there's not much joy in Mudville this year for State fans. I have a trip to Vegas scheduled for Final Four weekend, but we're coming back Saturday, so I'll miss those 2 games & won't be able to bet on them! Not that I'd put a ton down, anyway, but still!
I guess there's always next year when our 4 freshman are 4 sophomores...
When I arrived at State in the late '80's, our hoops team wasn't that good & student tickets were FREE! As my college career went on, the team got better, but the tickets were still free. I can probably count the number of home games I MISSED on one hand, the entire 4 years I lived on campus. I did happen to miss one memorable 4 overtime game against Ole Miss because I had a project due.
This year, our team once again is not very good. I can't quite put my fingers on it, but an SEC season-opening win against Arkansas has been followed by 7 straight SEC losses, 6 by double digits. We're a young team, I get that, I think we start 4 freshman. At some point though, these kids have to grow up & have some self-respect and actually beat a team. 1-6 Auburn visits "The Hump" on Saturday. Let's hope we can get the job done then, but somehow, I am not optimistic. I can usually sense when I team is on the cusp on doing something, and I don't get that vibe here.
I love college basketball season, but there's not much joy in Mudville this year for State fans. I have a trip to Vegas scheduled for Final Four weekend, but we're coming back Saturday, so I'll miss those 2 games & won't be able to bet on them! Not that I'd put a ton down, anyway, but still!
I guess there's always next year when our 4 freshman are 4 sophomores...
Monday, January 30, 2006
Circular toddler logic
Yesterday was Sunday, so we went to our usual 9:30 AM Mass. This Mass is held in the "lower church" or the former parish hall fitted out with altar & folding metal chairs for Mass. We like it because the Contemporary Folk Group provides the music & they are fantastic.
Anyway, the space utilizes a more contemporary 3-sided seating design - there are 5 rows with a center aisle directly in front of the altar & then 7 more rows perpendicular to the altar on each side. There are also traditional wood pews against each wall. Between the seating arrangement & dodging various columns, there are triangular shaped areas of no seating at the intersection of both perpendicular sections with the center portion.
Mass has been a treat since my youngest, who turns 1 this week, began to crawl & now walk, instead of sleeping through Mass. Yesterday, he had a sippy cup with him. This particular cup design is fatter at the top than the bottom. Therefore, if you lay it on its side & bump it, it will roll in circle about 3' in diameter. This is the game the baby was playing yesterday at Mass. We were sitting near one of the triangular open areas on a pew. He was crawling fairly freely in the open area. At first, he merely bumped the cup & it, of course, rolled away from him. After a couple of times of this, he figured out what was going on & then it became a game to him to make the cup roll away so he could crawl after it!
Anyway, the space utilizes a more contemporary 3-sided seating design - there are 5 rows with a center aisle directly in front of the altar & then 7 more rows perpendicular to the altar on each side. There are also traditional wood pews against each wall. Between the seating arrangement & dodging various columns, there are triangular shaped areas of no seating at the intersection of both perpendicular sections with the center portion.
Mass has been a treat since my youngest, who turns 1 this week, began to crawl & now walk, instead of sleeping through Mass. Yesterday, he had a sippy cup with him. This particular cup design is fatter at the top than the bottom. Therefore, if you lay it on its side & bump it, it will roll in circle about 3' in diameter. This is the game the baby was playing yesterday at Mass. We were sitting near one of the triangular open areas on a pew. He was crawling fairly freely in the open area. At first, he merely bumped the cup & it, of course, rolled away from him. After a couple of times of this, he figured out what was going on & then it became a game to him to make the cup roll away so he could crawl after it!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Proud parenting moment or what the ????
My 6 year old son's birthday is January 9 - right on the heels of all the holiday madness. As he's gotten older, its been more & more difficult to execute a party anywhere near his actual birthday. We always celebrate it on the day - whatever he wants for breakfast & dinner, open his presents, cake, etc. This year, I took him to Arenacross the weekend after his birthday. Couple years ago, we had a party with his friends from pre-school in March. Had a blast, but got funny looks from parents when they asked what day his birthday is & we answered January 9th!
He's been wish-washy this year about where to have the party, flip-flopping between a volunteer fire house, Chuck E. Cheese's and a gymnastics gym where he had it last year. He finally decided on the gym & my wife & he made out the guest list last night. He has invited 3 of his older sister's friends who happen to have younger brothers -2 of which aren't in his grade, but are a year older. This has caused a numbers problems & he has stuck to his sister's friends over several friends from his own school! Proud parenting moment or what they heck is he thinking?
He's been wish-washy this year about where to have the party, flip-flopping between a volunteer fire house, Chuck E. Cheese's and a gymnastics gym where he had it last year. He finally decided on the gym & my wife & he made out the guest list last night. He has invited 3 of his older sister's friends who happen to have younger brothers -2 of which aren't in his grade, but are a year older. This has caused a numbers problems & he has stuck to his sister's friends over several friends from his own school! Proud parenting moment or what they heck is he thinking?
Monday, January 23, 2006
Dad
I like Country music for a number of reasons. First, most of it has an honesty that you don't find in a lot of other music. I mean what's honest about rapping about the N word & degrading women? What's honest about singing about partying & drugging which is what rock stars are supposed to do? Hey, I grew up on Van Halen, but as a 35 year old, its not the same.
Phil Vasser sings a song "Just Another Day in Paradise" about getting the milk out & its sour, the washing machine breaking, being late for work, the kids having nightmares. That's been my life lately, but I would not change one thing. I have a beautiful, funny & intelligent 9 year old daughter, a funny, sly and smart 6 year old son & a handsome and charming 1 year old son.
Its the baby that's been a challenge lately. He's been to the doctor 3 times in 2 weeks. With the other 2, the first winter was always the worst. He's had 2 ear infections & a case of bronchiolitis in the last 2 weeks. We picked him up early from day care Friday with a fever. My wife had a meeting Saturday morning , so I was at the pediatrician's with him at 9. That was an adventure in itself. I had to call for an appointment starting at 8:30. The nurse asked how soon could I get there? At 8:35, my daughter is the only one dressed & we live a solid 25 minutes away. I gambled & said we'd be there by 9!
Its funny, several people saw me, the only adult with 3 kids & commented on me having a "hand full." And the big kids were being PERFECT. They were playing & laughing & taking care of themselves. And helping with the baby when I asked. According to my wife, no one has EVER said that to her! Is it a hand full if its a dad & 3 kids, but normal for a mom to have the 3 by herself? That makes no sense to me. I mean, if my wife has something going on, either personal or professional, I don't "babysit," I take care of my children. What century is this?
Anyway, the scary part for the baby is its the end of January & in Baltimore its one of the warmest January's on record. How bad is February & March going to be?!?! His older bro was one ear infection away from tubes. The dr told us one more & then April arrived & he hasn't had one since. Do I get to spend part of March in the hospital while the baby has tubes in? I hope not!
Phil Vasser sings a song "Just Another Day in Paradise" about getting the milk out & its sour, the washing machine breaking, being late for work, the kids having nightmares. That's been my life lately, but I would not change one thing. I have a beautiful, funny & intelligent 9 year old daughter, a funny, sly and smart 6 year old son & a handsome and charming 1 year old son.
Its the baby that's been a challenge lately. He's been to the doctor 3 times in 2 weeks. With the other 2, the first winter was always the worst. He's had 2 ear infections & a case of bronchiolitis in the last 2 weeks. We picked him up early from day care Friday with a fever. My wife had a meeting Saturday morning , so I was at the pediatrician's with him at 9. That was an adventure in itself. I had to call for an appointment starting at 8:30. The nurse asked how soon could I get there? At 8:35, my daughter is the only one dressed & we live a solid 25 minutes away. I gambled & said we'd be there by 9!
Its funny, several people saw me, the only adult with 3 kids & commented on me having a "hand full." And the big kids were being PERFECT. They were playing & laughing & taking care of themselves. And helping with the baby when I asked. According to my wife, no one has EVER said that to her! Is it a hand full if its a dad & 3 kids, but normal for a mom to have the 3 by herself? That makes no sense to me. I mean, if my wife has something going on, either personal or professional, I don't "babysit," I take care of my children. What century is this?
Anyway, the scary part for the baby is its the end of January & in Baltimore its one of the warmest January's on record. How bad is February & March going to be?!?! His older bro was one ear infection away from tubes. The dr told us one more & then April arrived & he hasn't had one since. Do I get to spend part of March in the hospital while the baby has tubes in? I hope not!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Musings on the Nature of the Volunteer
I feel that volunteering some of your spare time is an important way to give back to your community the blessings that you have recieved from God.
I volunteer my spare time in a number of significant ways. I coach soccer and until this year basketball. It started with my daughter's teams at school. When my oldest son started Pre-K, I coached his Friday night soccer clinic for 2 years.
In the past, I was involved in Habitat for Humanity. More recently, I particpate in Rebuilding Together, Baltimore (used to be called Christmas in April). These great charities help provide shelter to the needy. The last Saturday in April is Rebuilding Together. My CSI chapter goes to one needy persons house, usually an elderly person, and performs minor home repair and maintenance.
My CSI Chapter itself is a volunteer organization. I've served as chair of a couple of committees, a director and now 2nd Vice President.
At our parish, we have a new Pastoral LIfe Director. We were without a pastor (priest) for several months before the Archidiocese assigned a lay woman to be our PLD. She is WONDERFUL and has done many good things for the parish.
However, I've been watching from the outside some troubling developments with the Buildings and Grounds Committee. This is a governance committee charged with overseeing the Church, Rectory and School property. The chair is not so much a friend as an acquaintence of mine - former fire fighter, now a sprinkler inspector. Seems to know a lot about buildings and construction. Last fall I reached out to him because I had been asked by separate parties to help prepare some documents in pursuit of grant money to repair/replace restroom facilities at the school. The chair, let's call him Barry, had been looking for an Architect for the committee, so I volunteered. The holidays prevented me from attending a single meeting.
Beginning in January, Barry began a fierce e-mail writing campaign, railing against the PLD, Parish and School for being non-communicative and obstructionist to his goals and the committee's work. Like many things, I saw the truth to lie somewhere to the left of his claims. He and I had disagreed on some security issues earlier in the fall, so I knew chances were good he was being unreasonable. I mentioned to a friend of mine, also very active in parish community, this campaign. My friend went to the PLD, and today, Barry resigned as chair of the committee, taking some harsh parting shots on his way out the door.
Now, 6 pages later, I get to my musings - I think one of the most difficult things to do is to get people to dedicate their energies and intellect to their volunteer activities. Many of us with education, who perform professional services 5 days a week for pay, either refuse or simply do not bring the same rigor of thought and action to our volunteer activities. For example, with our CSI Chapter, many of our members hide behind work travel, work hours or work stress for not getting even the most basic tasks performed for the chapter's good. In the past, I have been guilty of this, but have tried to change my ways.
By rigor of thought and action, I mean preparing an agenda for a meeting. I can't tell you how many meetings, Board or committee, I've attended where the meeting ebbed and flowed and rambled on with seemingly no agenda or pathway. This leads to a.) boring meetings b.) long meetings and c.) participants making excuses for not attending. I would never plan and organize a meeting for my job without agenda, time length, course of actions, decisions needing to be made, etc. Why would you not do the same for a volunteer organization where you're spending your free time, not your paid time?
Secondly, how do you convince people to pour their hearts into something and not have them crushed if things don't go well? I guess this point is mostly moot, as most well adjusted adults wouldn't let this happen to them.
I volunteer my spare time in a number of significant ways. I coach soccer and until this year basketball. It started with my daughter's teams at school. When my oldest son started Pre-K, I coached his Friday night soccer clinic for 2 years.
In the past, I was involved in Habitat for Humanity. More recently, I particpate in Rebuilding Together, Baltimore (used to be called Christmas in April). These great charities help provide shelter to the needy. The last Saturday in April is Rebuilding Together. My CSI chapter goes to one needy persons house, usually an elderly person, and performs minor home repair and maintenance.
My CSI Chapter itself is a volunteer organization. I've served as chair of a couple of committees, a director and now 2nd Vice President.
At our parish, we have a new Pastoral LIfe Director. We were without a pastor (priest) for several months before the Archidiocese assigned a lay woman to be our PLD. She is WONDERFUL and has done many good things for the parish.
However, I've been watching from the outside some troubling developments with the Buildings and Grounds Committee. This is a governance committee charged with overseeing the Church, Rectory and School property. The chair is not so much a friend as an acquaintence of mine - former fire fighter, now a sprinkler inspector. Seems to know a lot about buildings and construction. Last fall I reached out to him because I had been asked by separate parties to help prepare some documents in pursuit of grant money to repair/replace restroom facilities at the school. The chair, let's call him Barry, had been looking for an Architect for the committee, so I volunteered. The holidays prevented me from attending a single meeting.
Beginning in January, Barry began a fierce e-mail writing campaign, railing against the PLD, Parish and School for being non-communicative and obstructionist to his goals and the committee's work. Like many things, I saw the truth to lie somewhere to the left of his claims. He and I had disagreed on some security issues earlier in the fall, so I knew chances were good he was being unreasonable. I mentioned to a friend of mine, also very active in parish community, this campaign. My friend went to the PLD, and today, Barry resigned as chair of the committee, taking some harsh parting shots on his way out the door.
Now, 6 pages later, I get to my musings - I think one of the most difficult things to do is to get people to dedicate their energies and intellect to their volunteer activities. Many of us with education, who perform professional services 5 days a week for pay, either refuse or simply do not bring the same rigor of thought and action to our volunteer activities. For example, with our CSI Chapter, many of our members hide behind work travel, work hours or work stress for not getting even the most basic tasks performed for the chapter's good. In the past, I have been guilty of this, but have tried to change my ways.
By rigor of thought and action, I mean preparing an agenda for a meeting. I can't tell you how many meetings, Board or committee, I've attended where the meeting ebbed and flowed and rambled on with seemingly no agenda or pathway. This leads to a.) boring meetings b.) long meetings and c.) participants making excuses for not attending. I would never plan and organize a meeting for my job without agenda, time length, course of actions, decisions needing to be made, etc. Why would you not do the same for a volunteer organization where you're spending your free time, not your paid time?
Secondly, how do you convince people to pour their hearts into something and not have them crushed if things don't go well? I guess this point is mostly moot, as most well adjusted adults wouldn't let this happen to them.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
New Territory
I asked my daughter, who's 9, if she knew what a blog is or anyone who has a blog last night. She sort of knew what it is, but didn't know anyone who has one. I've been thinking about starting one for sometime, but really decided to do it this morning while driving to work. I haven't told my daughter or wife I'm doing it. I'll see how it goes & then maybe let them in on it.
I named my blog Father, Husband, Architect because these are the things that define me right now. I have 3 wonderful children, a beautiful & loving wife and I am an Architect. Not the silly software engineer type, but the artist who builds buildings. My children like to tell me I don't really build the buildings, I only draw them. I don't really see it that way...
Lately, my life has seen some interesting twists. I hope to use this blog as something of a journal to help work through some of the issues in my life. A little over 1-1/2 years ago, we found out my wife was expecting our 3rd child. A shock to say the least. Since then, my job has gone away, so I changed firms. I coach soccer, but was excluded from coaching basketball this season by a mean-spirited mother who wanted it all her way. Had some issues with my new job that seem to have straightened out & now I find myself 2nd Vice-President of a professional organization I belong to. The 1st VP has informed me that she cannot step up to President next FY, which means I'll probably end up doing it. That's a small taste of what you'll be reading, should this not bore you too much and you decide to stay tuned. I'll also mix in some sports, politics and other topics.
I named my blog Father, Husband, Architect because these are the things that define me right now. I have 3 wonderful children, a beautiful & loving wife and I am an Architect. Not the silly software engineer type, but the artist who builds buildings. My children like to tell me I don't really build the buildings, I only draw them. I don't really see it that way...
Lately, my life has seen some interesting twists. I hope to use this blog as something of a journal to help work through some of the issues in my life. A little over 1-1/2 years ago, we found out my wife was expecting our 3rd child. A shock to say the least. Since then, my job has gone away, so I changed firms. I coach soccer, but was excluded from coaching basketball this season by a mean-spirited mother who wanted it all her way. Had some issues with my new job that seem to have straightened out & now I find myself 2nd Vice-President of a professional organization I belong to. The 1st VP has informed me that she cannot step up to President next FY, which means I'll probably end up doing it. That's a small taste of what you'll be reading, should this not bore you too much and you decide to stay tuned. I'll also mix in some sports, politics and other topics.
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