Not universally true....................

 

The more the Internet exposes people to new points of view, the angrier people get that different views exist.

-Benedict Evans

Lord willing, we will do this..........

 

Counting the shooting stars in the night sky above the Mogollon Rim in Arizona.

-Michael Wade

image via

File under "good questions"................

 

   more fun here

just for an instant.....................

 

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?

-Thoreau

The view from my desk...........................

The view from my desk.......................

View from my desk..............

The view.............................

.......................................from Planet Earth:

Points of view...........................

        If you're like most people, you have no clue how other people see things and aren't good at seeking to understand what they are thinking, because you're too preoccupied with telling them what you yourself think is correct.   In other words, you are close-minded;  you presume too much. This closed-mindedness is terribly costly;  it causes you to miss out on all sorts of wonderful possibilities and dangerous threats that other people might be showing you - and it blocks criticism that could be constructive and even lifesaving. 

-Ray Dalio,  Principles

The chimney............................

 
     In the old days, the Old School was heated by a coal-fired boiler.  Part of that heating system was a 70' + high chimney (pictured below).    Coal eventually gave way to natural gas.   The first winter we owned the building we shut the boiler down.   When the gas meter spins fast enough to be audible, you know you need a bigger check book than we had available.  We knew that the conversion to apartment units would require air conditioning, which the Old School did not have, so the boiler system would have to be replaced anyway.   So, the chimney sat idle for the past six years.   While overall the brick work is in pretty good shape, there was a corner near the top of the chimney that had deteriorated and some bricks had fallen out.  We proposed to the historical folks that, rather than repair that brick, we lower the chimney about 30'.   They said, "nope."   Fix it we did.

The tall brick thing is the chimney in question

If you squint your eyes you can see the missing brick near the upper corner

Missing bricks replaced.   The remaining bricks are more solid than they look.

Once washed down, the replacement brick will hardly be noticeable.

So, while repairing the chimney, the question was asked, "what happens to the rain water that falls into the unused chimney?  And should we do something about it now, while we have a super tall lift on site?"   Hmm.   Let's cap it.

While the chimney cap is in surprisingly good condition, the decision was
made to put a sheet metal cap over it.

Suspecting the original architect called for lightning rods at each of the
corners of the chimney cap

Super high lift in action.  Sheet metal for cap is visible
on the left side of the lift

The answer is yes, I put on the appropriate harness and
rode up to the top of the chimney.   Pretty good views of
Newark from up there.

The view from my office desk..............

...............as the sanitary and storm sewer separation project in downtown Newark comes to our neighborhood:

 

The view from my home desk.............

Only three...................................?

“The purpose of a good education is to show you that there are three sides to a two-sided story.”
-Stanley Fish

The Strategic Learner takes a look-see at viewpoints and his "learning path."   Good idea.

The first step is a doozy.................

After taking almost a half-a-year break, our friend Rick Platt re-surfaces in the blogosphere with this photo.  Can you guess where and what it is?   (A hint:  the feet pictured are 103 stories above the street level)

Welcome back, Rick.

Didn't read any of this in my History textbooks...

.......................or, maybe I just wasn't paying attention that week.  Anyway, here is another way of looking at John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil, anti-trust, and history.

thanks craig

Costa Rica................................

Casual observers of this blog may have figured out that our family recently spent a week in Costa Rica.  The occasion was the wedding of my wife's best friend's daughter.  They thought it would be nice if 125 of their closest friends spent a week together celebrating life before celebrating the wedding.  They were right.  In planning the event, the nearly newly weds learned that if they wanted a really good band for their reception, they should bring one with them.  So they did.  Ryan Tennis and The Clubhouse Band, true sons of Philadelphia, were enticed to make the trip.  All I can say is, that if you ever want a band to make you want to dance the night away, bring Ryan Tennis and his friends.  Only because of the wonder of the Intertunnel, you can watch the band work through one of their songs while sitting on their front porch just prior to the wedding.  Nice view, eh?