A few books linger on my office bookshelves.I’ve tossed many of my business books into the recycling bin, including unread 1980’s editions of In Search of Excellence. Managers passed out copies, and it would have been impolite to decline.In the absence of competent leadership, it seemed futile to spend time reading a book about leadership.…… Continue reading Seeking Order in a Chaotic World
Author: Tom Wilson
DV: Delta (Airlines) Volente
DV is usually taken to mean “Deo Volente, God willing.” It’s a great excuse to avoid personal responsibility, as in, “I’ll met you at 6:30, God willing.” Or, more precisely, “If the road is congested, it’s not my fault if I’m late.”I’ve been happy with Delta Airline’s MSP-PDX on-time performance while traveling that city pair…… Continue reading DV: Delta (Airlines) Volente
Travel Gear: Mesh Stuff Sack
On a train or plane, it’s good to have stuff immediately to hand. My solution is a mesh stuff sack that closes with a drawstring and toggle. It’s light and durable, it keeps things together, and I don’t leave random possessions behind when I disembark. My partner and I have been traveling with the same…… Continue reading Travel Gear: Mesh Stuff Sack
Trains and Planes and Earworms
I don’t know how road warriors do what they do, year in, year out. My temporary home, Portland, Oregon, is a wonderful place, but I’ve been experiencing an earworm filled with loss and longing as I walk to work. Wikipedia defines an earworm thus: An earworm, sometimes known as a brainworm, is a catchy piece of music…… Continue reading Trains and Planes and Earworms
Road Warriors
Tomorrow, I’ll be sitting in an airline club, tuning out the other road warriors. “Just checking in” phone calls to the home office shouldn’t last twenty minutes.Extreme road warriors cluster around departure gates. One may be begging for an upgrade, others are making sure they board ahead of the next-lower class. A common topic of conversation…… Continue reading Road Warriors
Immersion Blender
We have a simple rule in our kitchen: if we buy a new piece of equipment, something has to go. We go a long way with good knives and a couple decent pots, and we don’t use many gadgets. But I do like my immersion blender, and have been using it for over ten years.…… Continue reading Immersion Blender
Palm Springs Hiking
Palm Springs, CA, is surrounded by mountains and lovely trails: good reasons to be there last week. There are downsides to hiking in the Palm Springs area: Too much driving to trailheads. It took one to two hours. Days are short at this time of year. When my partner and I were hiking around Palm…… Continue reading Palm Springs Hiking
Urban Hike: Early Nordeast Houses
If I didn’t know better I would walk right past this unassuming house. It looks to be about the right size and style for Nordeast (Northeast Minneapolis), and it’s in a typical neighborhood.A typical Nordeast neighborhood has a bunch of churches and bars. There’s five churches within a couple blocks of this house, and plenty…… Continue reading Urban Hike: Early Nordeast Houses
Northumbrian Beauty
When I tap “beauty” into the Google search box for my photo collection, I get a flood of too-easy, stereotypical beauty. There’s enough sunsets and mountaintops to induce indigestion in even the most hardened tourist. But the picture at the top of this post is top of the search results. It’s October 2015. I’m standing…… Continue reading Northumbrian Beauty
The Remains of a Tree
In the past few days, a sculpture has appeared on my running route around Lake of the Isles (Minneapolis, MN). It’s a defiant sculpture, but it’s not the creation of an artist.The remains of the tree wait to be felled and chipped: it was diseased, it has to go. New trees will be planted for…… Continue reading The Remains of a Tree