Tabled Ideas

Putting it all on the table

Tabled Ideas Blog

4

fitness

Running With Purpose

I AM RUNNING THE DISNEYLAND DUMBO DOUBLE DARE FOR THE TEAM FOR LIFE, AND I NEED YOUR HELP. At the end of August, I will spend two days at Disneyland in Anaheim running: on Saturday, August 31st I will run the inaugural DIsneyland 10K, and on Sunday, September 1st I will run the Disneyland Half Marathon. That’s a total of 19.3 miles over two days, and I’m doing it with the Team For Life and the Lazarex Cancer Foundation in memory of my grandfather, Michael Innello. This is where you come in, because I need your help to raise money...

0

philosophy

Searching For Something Meaningful

I’M NOT SURE WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR, BUT AT LEAST I’M CLOSER TO KNOWING WHAT IT IS NOT. I’ve often had a bit of a tortured relationship with my career. More so since I became a husband and father, I’ve been taking a more critical look at my life because some days I think it’s OK, but most of the time it seems like there’s something wrong. I know it’s not my wife, and it’s not my kids: those are things that are definitely right. It’s hard to put my finger on, because by most measurements I should be happy...

1

fitness

It’s the Last .2 That Gets You

IT USED TO BE THE ONLY MEANING I KNEW FOR “MARATHON” WAS WHEN FOLLOWED BY “DUNGEON CRAWL”. A year ago I never would have believed that I was capable of actually running 26.2 miles. Even 6 months ago, when I started this journey to lose weight and get fit, I still would have told you that you were nuts if you thought I could run a mile, never mind finish a race. But after running a 5K, a four-miler, and now an 8K, I’m completely sold on running. So much so that I just signed up for the 2013 Walt...

1

fitness

Personal Records Have to Start Somewhere

I RAN MY FIRST 5K RACE ON SATURDAY. There’s actually a lot more to this story than completing a race, but just like my PRs, I have to start somewhere. I came to the race expecting to run most of it and walk about 3 or 4 minutes in the middle, and left with a very different result that amazed me.

1

family

The Failure of (Our) Public School

I BELIEVE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. I think it can succeed, educate our children, and be the best choice. But what we have now is just a political leftover: something they slice a little more off of whenever they need to reduce a budget number and something the affluent, which most of our politicians are, rarely remember is not a choice for most people. I was educated in a public school system, but my children will not be after this week.

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work

An Open Letter to the CEO of Carbonite

DEAR MR. FRIEND, I appreciate that you had a prompt public response to the complaints from your customers about the behavior of Rush Limbaugh on his show that you advertise on. I would like to address a few of your points.

1

food

Fry a Turkey, Safely

I’M NOT SOUTHERN, BUT I LOVE FRIED TURKEY. My father-in-law (and hence the wife), turned me onto this many years ago, and now we typically fry up at least 3 turkeys every fall and winter. I took the instruction that Jim gave me in this art, refined it over the years, and have put it all down in writing so that I can pass it on. Fried is better than any roasted turkey I’ve had, and we’ve brined a few and roasted them. And it is not hard to do it safely, as long as you follow some basic procedures....

1

work

A Different Kind of Space

SITTING IN STARBUCKS, I’M COMPELLED TO DISCUSS WHY. I mean, it’s the middle of the work day, and I “should” be at my desk, but there are some things that I can’t do as effectively there as I can when I remove myself from work (and home) environments, such as writing or really being creative in any way. One of the vice presidents at work likes to tease me about how much time I spend over at Starbucks, but he knows as well as anyone the amount of work I get done. I call it my remote office, but others...

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philosophy

Wheel Stop

I GREW UP WITH THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM. Tomorrow morning, at 5:56 AM, that program comes to an end. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, as I posted previously, it is time to move on to the next thing. On the other, there are a lot of people, both at NASA and at contractors, who have been losing their jobs, and that is going to significantly accelerate tomorrow morning at wheel stop.

1

philosophy

Innovation Through Osmosis

SOMETHING ABOUT SMART PEOPLE INSPIRES INNVOATION AROUND THEM. Since I’ve started spending more time in the space community online, and among some really creative and intelligent people, I find that I’m coming up with more ideas for “stuff to do” than ever before. Or maybe it’s just that I’m more motivated to do something about those ideas because of the energy of the people around me. Either way, I’m suffering from an overload of creative ideas right now with not enough space to track them or execute on them. So what’s the logical solution? Another idea!