We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Bulgakov died before completing his final revisions, but he worked on the book for 20 years. A NYT reviewer says "Every time I read, it, it's a different book." Like Moby Dick in that way.
Always a treat to listen to very high IQ people talk. This is a Wow of a conversation. It's not about Creationism, but about Darwin's likely errors (he didn't have the info we have now). The discussion about the emergence of new proteins is especially interesting.
All too gloomy in my view. The good life is not so elusive. Love thy neighbor, etc, and quit focusing on oneself. The Lord will not judge us on our earthly achievements. It's like the Eulogy vs. Resume thing when you die.
This post represents a major effort by a friend who wanted to share his career's worth of accumulated knowledge and wisdom from the opportunity-seeking end and from the hiring end. He warns that it is not a final draft. He doesn't know when he will get around to polishing it up (because he does have a day job).
Enjoy it, and send it around to those who might find it handy - young or older.
Over a long career, I have been a job-seeker and I have been a C-suite boss. The last time I went looking for a job it was more of an undertaking than I’d anticipated.
Up until then, I’d pretty much walked easily from opportunity to opportunity. After all, in the beginning there were not many skilled professionals in computing and the IT world, and demand far exceeded supply. At the last time I found myself looking for work, I’d nominally retired but had been requested to stay. During the financial meltdown however, all extensions were cancelled and I was summarily out of work with virtually no notice. I was already over 60 and the economy was unfavorable. I landed what I think is a wonderful, challenging, and interesting job but the process took over a year.
The reason I mention this is because at the conclusion of my search, an experienced recruiter said -more or less in passing - that “You ran a great search.” I’d never thought of myself as even doing “a search.” I thought I was looking for a job. These are much the same thing, but I learned that a search is a disciplined way of looking for a job and doing it right makes a big difference in the outcome.
These are my notes on how to do a great job search. For the more experienced reader to get something from this, I’ve had to write to the executive level. If you’re less senior (more junior?) or just starting out, some of this will be overkill, but it is maybe helpful to know this material in advance of needing it. The principles are the same. And while my vantage point is business/corporate, these basic principles should apply to any sort of work or career pursuit.
Other than obvious stuff on dress, I don’t think there is any overtly male/female, but I admit I may used ”he” more than “she” just from habit.
The Swan 48 from the 1970s is an iconic blue water sailboat, perfect for trans-Atlantic races (try not to bump into a whale and break your rudder) or for sailng to Bermuda. 2 people can sail her, but she requires extra hands for racing. It's a lot of boat for day-sailing, but people do it.
It's about the limits of Materialism and the limits of experts. He is mind-expanding. (His bio here. He is a polymath.) This is what high IQ looks like to me.
Christopher Guest has made some iconic, quirky moves. AVI reminded me about A Mighty Wind, a faux documentary about a 1960s folk group. It's only a satire if you want to think of it that way. As with Guest's hilarious This is Spinal Tap, all of the dialog is improvised, and all music is written by the actors.
Both movies - or all of Guest's movies - are good for a rainy day.
For anybody who had fun with Chaucer during high school or college, this essay, CHAUCER’S DIVINE SERIOUSNESS, will be a delight.
Chaucer, the Londoner who is credited with the invention of modern literary English, was well-educated and became rich importing wine from France. Writing was his hobby. He invented English iambic pentameter - all credit to him for that gift. He had read Bocaccio too, which probably gave him ideas.
I fondly remember reading Chaucer out loud in class, using the dialect our teacher thought was most likely accurate. Great fun. It still rings in my ears.
Lots of footnotes were necessary. Word meanings change.
Good inspiration for all. He cut his food volume drastically and lost 60 lbs after his quad bypass 3 years ago. Eats tiny meals and feels much better for it. A once- "hearty eater", he learned to say "No" to unneeded food even if he liked it. Two slices of steak and some steamed spinach with garlic is now good for him for supper. One soft-boiled egg for breakfast with a glass of V-8. It only took him 90+ years to learn how to eat in proportion to his needs.
He is recently back from a 10-day tour of Normandy with Mrs. BD, now spending a week, with a WW2 paratrooper vet-pal from the old folk's home, staying with our cousins on Nantucket. (Which my daughters term "Nan-f-it.")
Knowing the old Irishman well, I predict a whisky, clam, and oyster diet, and lots of hiking around. He will regale anybody in reach with stories from the old days. A Blarney Stone gift, endlessly amusing with stories and jokes. Everybody who meets him loves him. What a blessing for him to make friends wherever he goes because everybody wants to hang out with him. I suspect they will go fishing for Stripers for supper this week, offshore. Can no longer kayak due to bum shoulder.
In a couple of weeks, he will join us for 2 weeks in Wellfleet, also in seach of perfect oysters and fun waitresses to flirt with. He looks great, dresses well (new updated wardrobe due to weight loss - no old man clothes). Yes, he drives very well too - strong and steady with his brand-new Outback. Lots of guys in their 90s do not buy new cars, or even green bananas. Or are even alive.
Age is a state of mind, or so they say. If you are not dead yet. Arthitis is the challenge, but that's the price paid for an active life. He has always been very strong and athletic (100 pushups with my wife on his back) and a history student at night. Plus a tennis fan, Giants fan. I used to run 10 miles with him. Good times.
Another fun thing about the guy is that he is always up for a NYC adventure. Worked there for 30 years, but it is still a dopamine fix for him. Theater, music, a walk, a restaurant - whatever. If a long walk, best if he carries a cane. I swear he would do Mt. Washington if I challenged him.
To top it all off, he and Mrs. BD are planning a cruise around the Magellan Straits, BA to Chile. How cool is that? Amazing bird-watching. Carpe diem.
May he live long and prosper - even though he can no longer help me split logs as we used to do. I need help with that. I guess that's why we have a son.
When New York began to build its public-housing system, by far the nation’s largest, it made two ill-fated decisions: not only would the city demolish existing working-class neighborhoods; it would also put into practice a modernist vision of towers-in-the-park architecture. NYCHA residents live in an environment conceived by the city’s political and intellectual leadership, promoted in a famous 1934 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and deeply influenced by the French architect Le Corbusier. “The plan must rule,” Corbusier decreed, and in his designs, it did. “There ought not to be such things as streets,” he wrote. “We have to create something that will replace them.” That something was the superblock...
Where we planted my dear brother-in-law's ashes on Saturday afternoon, in the family churchyard next to my parents. Typical of the Bird Dog family, his widow's first words: "Let's make this quick, everybody, cuz I'm paying the gravedigger by the hour." We all got an F in Solemnity class.
Damn, I miss that good guy, and will miss him terribly in Cape Cod this summer. Navy vet, outdoor-lover, running buddy, fishing buddy, beer-drinking buddy, body-surfing buddy, hiking buddy, farm work buddy. Always up for anything energetic or challenging. Wry, dry humor.
It sucks, as my sister says. Yep. Happy trails, Uncle Bob, and maybe catch ya later in the great unknown.
For anybody who had fun with Chaucer during high school or college, this essay, 