Meow?

Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 4:50 pm (Yawns, about me, career development, health, work-life balance)

Flicka Mawa stretches a paw out from under the furniture she’s been hiding beneath. Slowly, the sleek adult cat inches her way out, yawning. It’s clear she is waking up from a lengthy nap.

Now more alert, she raises her tail and turns her head, surveying her surroundings. Cocking her head to one side, she looks thoughtful. After a short pause, she bounds toward the window ledge, leaps up to her perch, and peers outside at the world. It’s almost as though you can see her thinking, enjoying the view and her new perspective on it. Her subtle body language suggests her contentment, and it’s hard not to feel at peace as you watch her. Flicka Mawa is happy.

Readers, friends, passersby: I have been absent for a time now, but I’ve thought of you, and of my home here, in this nook of the blogosphere. Life has been busy and there have been many adjustments as I’ve settled in to my new job. There have been changes, some welcome, some not as much, but nonetheless the days and weeks have gone by.

I find myself here now, ready to write again, hoping that I’ll find the time now that I’ve got this wonderful toy, a shiny and beautiful new iPhone. I say toy because it is incredibly fun to use, but for me it is practical and productive as well. I’m composing this post, in fact, while travelling – and it is during my hour long subway commute that I most love this device and it’s many capabilities.

This time, however, I’m travelling home from my mother’s house in Pawtucket, RI. She spent the early part of the week in the hospital, but is better now. It seems there was some type of blood flow problem in her brain, possible a transient ischemic attack (commonly known as a mini-stroke), but none of the tests were conclusive. Luckily on the day she was discharged from the hospital my bosses let me take off and travel to take care of her. I cooked her wholesome balanced meals and encouraged her to rest and relax, which she’s not at all prone to do on her own. It was great to see her, even under less than ideal circumstances.

The break was nice for me too, as life has been quite stressful lately. I really enjoy my new job, but my days are often filled with short deadlines and complex projects. It makes the days interesting, exciting, and even fun for me, but I often arrive home completely drained. Adjusting to a new lifestyle has its challenges, and this is my first 9-5 job. On top of that, many of our friends have been experiencing tough times, and Husband and I try our best to keep our hearts open to them.

With the new schedule and often tired state, I’ve struggled to keep in touch with my friends, and it leads me to worry how many times I can decline an invitation before they stop coming. I’m managing ok with my closest friends, I think, but it’s all the more casual relationships that threaten to fade. I do hope to still make it out to spend time with all of the fun and interesting people that I call my friends. I believe I’ll get out more as my energy levels adjust to the new routine.

I’ve caught up on a few of my favorite blogs, and I look forward to reading more blogs now!

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Love the new EPA ruling on greenhouse gas emissions

Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 11:53 am (American politics, Green, Yawns, politics)

This past week the EPA formally declared 6 greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, to be pollutants.  This clears the way for needed regulation of their emissions, and I couldn’t be more pleased.

I’m nearly finished reading an excellent book on environmental policy by Steven Cohen, director of the environmental policy program at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and I’ve got an improved understanding of the political issues involved in trying to fight global warming.  The global nature of the challenge really does present lots of new issues that policy-makers hadn’t dealt with before, but it finally seems that the amount of social learning in our American society has risen to the level we’ll need to begin to seriously tackle this problem.

Republicans are still clinging to the argument that it’s either environment or economy, and not both, but I think Americans are finally beginning to see past that.  With the advances in understanding and technology that we’ve made, particularly in the last two decades, we now see that not only is it not a one-to-one tradeoff between protecting the environment and growing the economy, but that we can use this immense challenge to grow our economy and our jobs.

Furthermore, continuing to ignore the environmental challenges that are rising poses significant threats to private enterprise and the global economy, and that should matter to Republicans too.  The article describes further threats to our infrastructure and public, threats that are large enough to interfere in our industry and impact our economy:

Among the ill effects of rising atmospheric concentrations of the gases, the agency found, were increased drought, more heavy downpours and flooding, more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires, a steeper rise in sea levels and harm to water resources, agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems.

As our nation’s scientists and policy-makers lead the way in finding solutions to the problem, our workers, including unskilled, skilled, and knowledge-based, will have plenty of work to do.  And that is work that has to be done here and cannot be outsourced.  It involves working in our buildings, in our parks, and on our infrastructure.  It represents what can become a significant source of economic growth for the country and its communities, and it is the best way forward that I can see.

I am so glad that America is finally joining the rest of the industrialized world in a quest to tackle the 21st century challenge of global climate change.  And, as ever, I am proud to have Obama as our leader.

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City dwelling & CO2 production

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 12:31 pm (Green, New York City, Yawns, apartment living)

Today I looked at this cool slideshow from Scientific American.  In particular I liked this image:

City dwellers produce, on average, less CO2 from fossil fuels than suburban or rural residents, who use vehicles and outdoor equipment more.

City dwellers produce, on average, less CO2 from fossil fuels than suburban or rural residents, who use vehicles and outdoor equipment more.

This is one of the things that I love so much about living in New York City.  I use only public transportation, mostly subways and occasionally buses, which are part of a clean vehicle fleet.  The taxis, while not yet upgraded by and large, are at least beginning to be overhauled to clean vehicles as well. I don’t own or drive a car, I never buy gasoline, and my husband, a life-long New Yorker, doesn’t even know how to drive.

Admittedly, my apartment building, which is not a designated “affordable housing” unit but is nonetheless mostly low income residents, is woefully wasteful in its degraded and leaky plumbing system.  But I don’t have a yard, a lawn mower, a need for sprinklers, or many rooms to heat, cool, or keep lighted.

While I sometimes consider what it would be like to move to a house with a yard for raising our future children, I can’t imagine making the transition to living in a sprawled community that requires a car to go anywhere.  I like it better here, in the city, where I can use only public transportation, and enjoy the many public parks with the rest of my community.

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Cat Wisdom Wednesday

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 7:30 am (Yawns)

In honor of the job I start next Monday, I’ve chosen a new cat wisdom quotation:

When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.

~Theodore Roosevelt

*4/10/09 correction: I originally wrote that I started this week, but I only did processing, I will actually begin on Monday.  I’m really looking forward to it!

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Results from the NYC Panel on Climate Change

Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 2:19 pm (New York City, science)
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I haven’t started the new job yet, but I’ve been reading up on various aspects of city government and the state of environmental protection and sustainability in New York City.  There are a lot of great reports available on the city’s web site.  Today I took a look at the recently released report from the NYC Panel on Climate Change.  Their predictions aren’t pretty:

  • Temperatures are expected to rise, 1.5-3 degrees F over the next 30 years and as much as 7.5 degrees F by the 2080s.
  • Annual precipitation is expected to rise 5% over the next 30 years and up to 10% by the 2080s.
  • Sea levels are expected to rise 2-5 inches over the next 30 years and 12-23 inches by the 2080s.  According to models that include ice-melt, sea levels may rise by as much as 55 inches by the 2080s.

But what do those things mean? As we’ve already begun to see over the past few years, these climate changes can make for uncomfortable and dangerous conditions.  According to the report, “short-duration climate hazards” can lead to these extreme events:

  • Heat waves are very likely to become more frequent, intense, and longer in duration
  • Brief, intense precipitation events that can cause inland flooding are also likely to increase
  • Storm-related coastal flooding due to sea level rise is very likely to increase
  • It is more likely than not that droughts will become more severe

And what will this mean for the city infrastructure?

Temperature-related impacts may include:

  • Increased summertime strain on materials
  • Increased peak electricity loads in summer & reduced heating requirements in winter

Precipitation-related impacts may include:

  • Increased street, basement & sewer flooding
  • Reduction of water quality

Sea level rise-related impacts may include:

  • Inundation of low-lying areas & wetlands
  • Increased structural damage & impaired operations

I already thought the city was too hot in the summer.  And the drainage system hase some serious problem spots.  This is going to be just great…  At least the silver lining is that we recognize this and are planning for it.

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Saturday Readings & Viewings

Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 7:37 pm (American politics, Yawns, feminism, politics)
Tags: ,

I spent some time reading various articles on the internet today, and thought I’d share the interesting ones with my readers.

    Voting for Obama on the WFP Line

    Voting for Obama on the WFP Line

  • Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous – Those AIG executives receiving bonuses whose names were leaked are receiving visitors – some organized by the CT Working Families Party.  Speaking of WFP – I am an e-active member of the NY Working Families Party – I even voted for Obama in the WFP column, as did nearly 160,000 other New Yorkers.
  • Fashion designers are having a tough time figuring out what fashions to push during these tough economic times. Some have tried looks reminiscent of the Great Depression, but that didn’t turn out too well.

    • Obama on Jay Leno

    Obama on Jay Leno

  • After a nice walk and lunch with Husband, I was given homework to watch Obama on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  So I accessed it on the web – the full interview is available on nbc.com.  I loved what he had to say about “commen sense regulations” and making sure the the average consumer and the average taxpayer aren’t taken advantage of.  I especially loved what he said about the pseudo-growth in the financial sector, and the real steady growth we need instead:

    And what we need is steady growth; we need young people, instead of — a smart kid coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide they want to be an engineer, they want to be a scientist, they want to be a doctor or a teacher.

    And if we’re rewarding those kinds of things that actually contribute to making things and making people’s lives better, that’s going to put our economy on solid footing. We won’t have this kind of bubble-and-bust economy that we’ve gotten so caught up in for the last several years.

    That spoke to me so strongly, as a recent graduate with an excellent NYC-based degree in chemical engineering, I believe I could have easily gone straight into the financial sector and made 6 figures right out of school. I know a number of people who did. I chose, instead, to be a research scientist, and more recently to move to environmental engineering. I did this because I care about a lot more than just money, but I often felt alone in my decisions. I believe we need a system that rewards the agents who do positive things for society, not just the people who can push around numbers all day on Wall Street. Apparently Obama believes this too, and it makes me feel so optimistic and confident in our country’s current leadership.

  • On Thursday First Lady Obama celebrated Women’s History Month by bringing together inspiring women leaders and sending them out to disadvantaged schools to share their stories.  The First Lady herself visited Anacostia:
    Michelle Obama hopes to inspire in celebration of Womens History Month

    Michelle Obama hopes to inspire in celebration of Women's History Month

    At Anacostia High School, the site of a violent melee in November that sent several young people to the hospital with stab wounds, Mrs. Obama gave hugs, slapped knees and sat down in a semi-circle with 13 students, who were all juniors and seniors. (All but three were girls.)

    And when one girl asked, “How you get where you are now?” the first lady told her story.

    “There’s no magic to being here,’’ Mrs. Obama said. “What I want you to know is that my parents were working class people.”

    • Eco-Button sends your computer to sleep

    Eco-Button

  • Buying Green: 9 Environmentally Inventive Products.  I think I’d like an eco-button to put my computer to sleep easily and awake it quickly.
  • The House approved a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed out firms.  This is an interesting way of getting the money back and restricted executive pay and bonuses, but I’m glad they found a way to do so.

    Its backers said the companies had forced Congress to act by inexplicably handing out generous rewards to employees after tapping taxpayer funds to survive an economic calamity brought on by irresponsible and risky executive decisions.

    • Battlestar Galactica

    Battlestar Galactica

  • Finally, I’m really looking forward to watching the final episode of Battlestar Galactica later today.  Husband and I watch all of our tv using the internet, so our viewing party will be tonight instead of last night.

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    Snippet of Goodness

    Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 2:21 pm (Yawns)

    I just finished reading The Green Collar Economy: How one solution can fix our two biggest problems, by Van Jones, founder of Green For All. It was excellent!  It was filled with great ideas and inspiring examples, including some I am particularly interested in from the (relatively) nearby  neighborhood of the South Bronx.  Two organizations, Sustainable South Bronx and the Green Worker Cooperative, have been doing some great work combining clean green development with needed jobs and training for the community’s unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled laborers.  Not only do these types of projects infuse the local neighborhoods with money, but they raise spirits and morale as men and women find good jobs that can lead to careers.  At the same time, they get to be leaders in the green movement – taking ownership and pride in working to retrofit our buildings, clean up damaged sites, plant green roofs, and more.  I’m excited to get involved and help to promote projects like these!

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    Cat Wisdom Wednesday

    Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 8:37 am (Yawns, cat wisdom)

    It’s Wednesday, so I figured it was an appropriate time to put up a new Cat Wisdom.  I’ve chosen this quotation by Helen Keller:

    Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

    Here’s to living the daring adventure!

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    A new career direction

    Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 4:07 pm (New York City, about me, academia, career development, science, women in academia, women in science)

    I’m extremely pleased to share that I may have found a new job.  A regular day job, with a salary, benefits, and vacation time.  It even has a 35 hour work week and a good helping of holidays.  What I’m most excited about is that it’s doing something good for the city of New York!  So what is it?

    Well, I’ll tell you this.  It is in environmental engineering.  This is a shift for me, as I’d studied a broader, related field.  I’ve found myself wondering, over the past year, why I chose to study the field that I did.  And the answer, most clearly, is that I love the material covered in it.  But in choosing that field I neglected some other factors that are important to me: societal impact and geographic location of jobs.

    I’ve always felt that the fundamentals of the field were principles needed and worthy of understanding and study, but the ends to which these principles are put to use left me feeling something lacking.  While society could not function as it does without practitioners of this field, they most often are found in corporations working towards profit, profit which is mostly seen by shareholders and executives.  Meanwhile these corporations often have large lobbying components and are parts of industries that I see as being corrupt or under-regulated.

    So as I dove further into the subject and the field, I found myself drawn towards continuing academic study or teaching.   By working in that part of the field, I could work in a city (industry jobs are largely in rural or suburban areas, where there is land for the sprawling corporate campuses and industrial plants, but I am uninterested in living outside of a city).  By working in academia or teaching, I could make an impact by helping future generations, or by moving the edge of science along.  But I found that I don’t like much of the culture and requirements of academia, nor do I care for the scarcity of jobs and low salaries available in teaching.  I came to this realization mostly over the course of 2008, when I left graduate school and, in the fall, taught lab courses at a local college.  There were parts of that which were great, but, as a full career, I’m not sure that it’s quite right for me.

    In December, I found myself looking back at a year in which I’d seen a lot of changes.  Husband and I, working hard at our startup company, were living sparsely.  Bill collectors were calling often, we were constantly declining when our friends proposed nights out in the city, and we found ourselves once again unable to share more than love, friendship, and thanks during the season of giving.  We had, and always have, our love and companionship, and I was still happy. But I was also tired and stressed, and by the end of 2008 I finally felt like it was time for me to start planning what was next.

    I was in the fortunate situation of having multiple directions to choose from, and I barely knew where to start.  I perused job postings and the career website from my Alma Mater, looking at a few different career paths that seemed possible and at least somewhat interesting.  And I discovered that environmental engineering might hold what I was really looking for – the interesting topics, rigorous problem solving, and teamwork that I found in my previous discipline, but with the important added aspects of a positive societal impact and jobs in urban areas.  On top of that, the field looks poised to grow as the green movement gains strength and political support. I’m enthusiastic about the potential in this new area, but I still only know a little bit about it.

    Nonetheless, I had the good fortune of a successful job interview a little over a week ago, and now have a tentative job offer, which is going through the steps of paperwork approval.  It even appears I negotiated for a top salary in the department for my position!  I’m very excited and immensely looking forward to learning about this new area for me.

    Readers, does anyone have any advice about the field or great books to recommend?

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    You can’t live on $500k in this town? Bull.

    Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:27 pm (American politics, New York City, apartment living, business, politics)
    Tags:

    I just read this article in the NY Times, on the effect that a plan by Obama to cap top executive pay at $500k for banks accepting bailout money will have on these executive’s lifestyles.

    And I just had to write a post, because nothing pisses me off more than some of this crap. The author nears the article’s conclusion with this:

    The total costs here, which do not include a lot of things, like kennels for the dog when the family is away, summer camp, spas and other grooming for the human members of the family, donations to charity, and frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity, are $790,750, which would require about a $1.6-million salary to compensate for taxes. Give or take a few score thousand of dollars.

    I read a NY Times magazine article during the election season on Obamanomics, and found that I really felt good about his economic policies, ideals, and views.  His positions are probably the closer to my own than those of any other politician, and certainly any president or even major presidential candidate, ever.  One of the things in the article that stood out to me was the tenet that society functions the best, driving production and increasing economic success, when the top executives of a company make about 25x more than the bottom employees.  So if the lowest employees at the bank make $40,000 a year, then the top employees should make about $1 million.  In that case, the $1.6 million/year that the article is claiming is needed to lead the common lifestyle of a bank executive is roughly 50% more expensive than it should be for all of the employees and the company to perform their best.

    The article goes on to explain the need to fit in with other bank executives:

    Does this money buy a chief executive stockholders might prize, a well-to-do man with a certain sureness of stride, something that might be lost if the executive were crowding onto the PATH train every morning at Journal Square, his newspaper splayed against the back of a stranger’s head?

    The man would certainly not feel like himself on that train, said Candace Bushnell, the author of “Sex and the City” and other books chronicling New York social mores.

    “People inherently understand that if they are going to get ahead in whatever corporate culture they are involved in, they need to take on the appurtenances of what defines that culture,” she said. “So if you are in a culture where spending a lot of money is a sign of success, it’s like the same thing that goes back to high school peer pressure. It’s about fitting in.”

    My response? Ok, but the point is, your bank failed and is looking for a government bailout.  You need to suck it up.  Top executives are supposed to earn the pay that they receive, and banks that need bailouts, regardless of how common that may be, failed in their jobs.  So what’s the harm in instating laws to encourage them to work towards success in order to earn the money they make?  That’s what capitalism is supposed to be about.  When they’re able to give themselves huge salaries regardless of whether they lead their companies towards success or complete failure, capitalism isn’t working the way it was meant to, and I’m pretty sure that’s not the capitalism that people like my father hold so dear.

    Even if they’re rare, there are a number of chief executives who lead successful companies without living such extravagant lifestyles.  As far as I know, Warren Buffett, one of the most successful men in the world, is one of them.  Obama’s plan would be hoping to help change the culture of the self-absorbed members, not trying to sink companies in need of a bailout by sinking the self-esteem of their chief executives.  Maybe when they lead their companies to overwhelming success through good decisions and leadership, they can start making over $1 million again.

    These people can’t live on $500k in this town?  I live on $50k in this town.  Maybe I should be teaching them a few things.

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