Lattice of Coincidence

Work Rant

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:48:50 GMT

My current boss was a colleague that was recently promoted ahead of me. We have been on an identical career paths for the last 10 years with many competitive stages but I was always a little ahead of him, that is until recently. When our department head left, we both put in for the job. Instead of having one of us leave when the other got the job, they split the job into two parts, partially because they were potentially going to lay us all off mid 2009 anyway so they did not care if they “split the baby.” When the Japanese company rescued us and helped us form a new company, they chose to promote my co-worker to an even higher level and made him my boss. 10 years of working in the same group and I saw how he micromanaged his staff and had a high turnover rate. But he succeeded scientifically- advancing his project to a later stage than my project (partially from luck and partially at the cost of some burned out staff). So it was not a surprise that they would favor him over me given that at this stage in the deal with Japan that his loss would be more problematic for them. I have been trying for months to develop a working relationship with him but he is so over the top in his micromanaging it is infuriating. He seems to think he knows better than me even with my 25 years in science. He has a huge ego and has lately been presenting my project to senior staff at the company and to executives in Japan without even asking me to do it. He initially claimed that it was more efficient to present all the science at once, we did not need to send a lot of staff to Japan, and it was easier for him to communicate with the Japanese because of his recent experience with them. More recently he presented my work to the board and claimed that these were closed door meetings where it made better sense for him to present my work. Then this week he presented my work at a meeting with the Japanese that I was also attended and which I could easily have presented (and with a better understanding of the work). Its clear that he is trying to advance his career and has no concern for my career what so ever. Today, he went line by line through my expense report for the trip to Philly that he also attended. He wanted to know about the most ridiculous minuscule items like a bottled water I bought at the airport. His excuse for this control freak behavior was to “make sure we are consistent in what we expense on our trips.” WTF?. He expensed a lot more beer that I did and he wants to know about a $3 bottle of water?!!! That conversation cost the company more than $3 in lost productivity. I am not sure how much more of this guy I can take before I start looking for another job. At least I will wait until January to start looking because the board promised us a end of the year bonus for getting the company sold to the Japanese.

Teen Citizenship

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:00:02 GMT

This story of the Miami team who was tortured for turning in the local kids who tried to steal his bicycle is horrific and tragic: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Teen-Dowsed-Burned-Over-Bike-64047032.html

Hearing this brought back an old wound I did not know was still buried:

When I was 16 and in high school, I worked at a K-mart as my first job. I was a math/science/chess-club geek but hung out on the periphery of the so-called “cool kids” in school via my shared interest in pot. My next-door neighbor was in the cool crowd and was a kind of buffer-zone for me to this group. He was the person who first got me high. He also worked at K-mart but was not in any of my classes. Some of the cool crowd were bullies so being at a distance was for the best. One of the bad boys at school stole a canoe from the K-mart outdoor storage area and brought it to school to try to sell it. I saw the canoe and knew of the theft so easily put 2 and 2 together. However, I decided that it was not worth the trouble to report him because he was one of the bullies and I was always trying to stay out of his field of vision anyway. I was torn between being a good citizen and protecting myself from trouble. In spite of not reporting him, he was later arrested for the theft. When he was released and returned to school he was convinced that I had turned him in, so in spite of my denials he gave me a brief public beating and many, many “road rage” encounters for the rest of my high school days. Years later my so-called “cool crowd” friend admitted that he was the one that had reported the thief.

Now I feel a bit ashamed for not having the courage to report him, especially because I took the blame as the snitch anyway and my friend who I assumed was also a bad boy had more of a sense of citizenship than I did (either that or he may have just thought the guy was jerk).

'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' Trailer HD

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:49:22 GMT

Looks like another Gilliam masterpiece!!!

SATORI

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:34:30 GMT

Flower Travellin Band Rocks!!

Eréndira, ikikunari

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:08:56 GMT

My daughter-in-law is named Erendira. She is a powerful lady too.

Onyx Northwest Tour Days 10-14

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:50:38 GMT

Day 10:

Had breakfast with the wedding party. Got a great picture of Puck seeming to be hung-over or rolling his eyes at something. Next we all drove 30 minutes to Multnomah Falls with the grooms and the rest of the gang. Place is amazing. We saw the beautiful Multnomah Falls then hiked to Wahkeena Falls about a half mile away. Coming back I was alone on the trail from one fall to the other and stopped to look up into the ivy and fern covered corridors leading up into these fey woods. The wind blew through the leaves and time seemed to slow significantly. I suspect it was a doorway to the fey realms, but I did not take the invitation. The rest of the gang left and I drove to the more distant Latourell Falls that required you hike for 1 mile up into the forest. It was worth it because no one else was there and I could stand underneath and be bathed by the falls like a water nymph.

Left Portland for an all too brief visit to Seattle to see Niklas and Willow for the evening and next morning. Heard great stories about the progress of Niklas’ research and Willow’s Chinese medicine. Had great Thai food take out for dinner and Willow’s humongous skillet omelet for breakfast. Wish I could have stayed longer but they are both very busy.

Day 11:

Drove to Eugene to hang out for a few days with my friend Rob who retired at age 35 with his dotcom fortune. Several of the rooms in his 3 bedroom, 3 car garage has be repurposed as a pulp room, a home brewery, and home theater. Had an amazing microbrew sampler at Hop Valley and loved their Natty Red, an old ale. Spent the evening digging through 1000s of pulps and numerous pulp art books while drinking his home brews.

Day 12:

Had lunch with Rob’s girlfriend and then on to local comic shop and used bookstores (sadly not as good as Powells). Met Alley Valkyrie at Eugene City Brewery which had some amazing Rogue beers like the Mocha Porter and Old Crustacean barley wine on tap. Rob and Alley gave me an education in Eugene politics and the “scenes.” Might consider coming back for the crazy outdoor festival The Oregon Country Fair. Before departing Alley gave me one of her unique felt “Gnomes” which I am sure Anaar will love. Capped the evening at the “Nile” as a counterpoint to my Portland bar visits last Friday (you have to guess what happens at the Nile). Rob served me a few ounces of his “Sammy Claus” high alcohol content, aged x-mas ale and I was out for the count.

Day 13:

Spent most of the day and evening listening to and copying German and Scandinavian Heavy Metal music from Rob’s vast collection. Did spent an hour at a local comics artist friend’s house Michael T. Gilbert who does a comic called Mr. Monster that I am a big fan of. Oddly he lives on “Onyx Street,” knows David Spurlock (brother of DRGN) from pulp art book publishing and knows Cat Yronwode (Lucky Mojo) from her days as a comics editor. Had more great Thai food and more high octane home brews before calling it a night.

Day 14:

Left Eugene with a trunk full of great beers and headed down hw 5 to haul ass home to spend my Freya day with my lovely wife Anaar. Driving through Medford there was heavy smoke from a forest fire which was clogging my lungs so did not stop for gas or lunch but blazed on to Yreka. Hope the Medford folks are dealing with it OK. Got home by 7 PM and had dinner at Anaar’s favorite old time restaurant Dino’s. Then cuddled with the wife whom I had not seen in 3 weeks because she had been in Germany well before I left on my road trip. “Last stop” on my tour is Web of Wyrd on Sunday (Today!).

Onyx Northwest Tour Days 6-9

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:50:54 GMT

Day 6:

Got to Medford and stayed with Puck and Emily’s family for a couple of nights. Thursday morning went to The Rogue Creamery to buy delicious beer flavored cheeses like Stout Cheddar and Rogue Brews, then drove to Crater Lake for a bike ride a quarter of the way around Rim Road, the rim of the Crater Lake volcano. Park Ranger offered without any suggestions to take a photo then warned me that by wearing all black that I might blend in to the asphalt and be killed by Winebago-driving tourists. Also drove to see The Pinnacles a volcanic formation that look like faerie castles. On the way back stopped at Rogue River Gorge overlook and walked around the white water falls. Drove to nearby “Natural Bridge” and jumped the kiddy fence so I could actually walk over the natural bridge. Made it back to Medford to have dinner with Puck and Emily’s family and discussed Yurts and scented oils as “bottoms.” Puck never misses an opportunity for snark ;).

Day 7:

Headed up north from Medford but changed my plans to join the grooms for their stag party night out on the town in Portland. Stopped at Deschutes Brewery to sample a few of their amazing brews then over to the groom’s friend’s house for the meet up. Three other heterosexual men joined us on a crawl through gay bars and gay male strip clubs. One of the grooms drank an odd cocktail given to him by the “cowboy” who was hitting on all of us and that put him “over the top.” Fortunately the other groom was driving. The male strippers were very “pinchy and cuddly.” I was not shy about putting a tip in a stripper’s shorts, but that is all I will say.

Day 8:

Awoke in Groom’s friend’s spare room to the surprise of his talkative 3-year old son. He was very cute and used my “goth” belt as a train track for his toy trains. Left to spend the day in downtown Portland. Started at Stumptown in the lobby of the Ace Hotel and had amazing cappuccinos and lattes while lounging on big comfy sofas. Next went to Powell’s books for a few hours and spent too much money in the rare books room. For lunch went to Deschutes again to finish out the samples, get a growler filled with their Belgian Ale, and bought sampler glasses for happy hour at work. That evening helped one of the grooms cut ivy to decorate the arbor at the wedding, then had an amazing sushi dinner at Bamboo Sushi a sustainable restaurant. Met Puck and Emily for excellent gelato and then to the groom’s friend’s house again for homebrews.

Day 9:

Spent the morning at Stumptown and Powell’s again. If I lived in Portland, I would spend every Saturday repeating that formula. Drove in early to the amazing McMenamin’s Edgefield hotel, brewery, Distillery, Winery, Tobacconists, Restaurants, spas, etc to help decorate the arbor for the wedding. After decorating it with ivy, ferns, and roses went around the complex to find little shacks everywhere selling amazing brews. Got back in time for the lovely wedding that brought a few tears to my eyes. Great food and drink at the reception was followed by soaking in a giant heated soaking pool that was a wonder to see. Wandered the halls of the Hotel photographing the murals and found a mural that seemed to be inspired by the Star Goddess vision of Victor Anderson. Another painting was inspired by the stray cat that had been named after misspelled graphitti that was supposed to say that “Satan Lives Here.” Kept going late in the evening with drinks, pizza, and darts with the gang in the pool hall.

Wedding Arbor:

The Grooms plus back-up husband:

Satan Lives Here:

Ruby's Spa

Star Goddess:

Onyx Northwest Tour Day 5

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:17:41 GMT

Started up hw 199 toward Cave Junction with no fixed plan. Drove into Smith River National Forest to discover a redwood grove called “Stout Grove.” Could not resist the pun that really Stout represented the goals of my trip combined: passion for nature and passion for dark beer. Half mile hike was worth it to see these impressive trees. Many had been charred by fire and I of course wondered whether you could use that wood to flavor a homebrew stout. Hit the highway again and not far up the river found a beautiful white water section with falls and blue pools that could be seen from the highway vista point. Decided to climb down the dangerous rocks and take a swim. Found a pool to swim in and have a “perfect moment.” Drove to the cave near Cave Junction and took the tour with a guide that had a pretty amazing history with the park himself having discovered adjacent caves and ways to preserve the formations. Loved the white heart shaped formation that was secreting “moon milk” a natural antibiotic and the phallus formation (but our guide did not call it that).

Onyx Tour Day 3 and 4

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:05:24 GMT

Onyx Tour Day 3: Drove past the Mendocino Brew company pub in Hopland but is was not yet open for the day :( Got to Avenue of the Giants and drove thru a Redwood (what the hay) . Humboldt Redwoods Founders Grove was amazing. Nice hike surrounded by ancient trees, not too bad. Beer sampler at Eel River Brew was good. Picked up some Barley Wine to age at home. Ferndale was nice but got lost and ended up at Lost Coast Overlook (appropriately) . Walked down to the beach through a thistle field (ouch) and played a bit before noticing the lovely riptides (ouch again). Drove to Arcata and had dinner at Six Rivers Brew. They had an amazing kona coffee porter that the barmaid gave me by mistake. She was horrible but at least one of her mistakes was tasty. It was karaoke night (joy @#$%) Oddly saw a friend of my son's from Fremont where we lived 10 years ago, weird...

Day 4: Left Eureka with a new growler full of Lost Coast 8-ball stout (for consumption at a later date). Stopped at College Cove beach in Trinidad which was beautiful but picked the rough trail down not knowing there were stairs at the other end. Drove through awe inspiring redwoods with the Mermen blasting. Got to Orick, parked, and headed out on my mountain bike on the road to Fern Canyon in Redwood National Forest. The fork came dangerously loose half mile out which sucked but at least is was not 5 miles out. Plus it was more of a challenge than I expected so driving it was for the best. Fern Canyon was amazing. I understand why they filmed Jurassic Park here. Felt like going back in time. I continued up into the canyon after trail ended and was bombarded with foliage with leaves of 3 (let them be). Coming back to the parking lot the ocean was nearby so walked to a secluded beach in order to wash off potential poison oak exposure. Emerged from water (sans clothes) just as ranger lady drove by in her offroad vehicle. Yikes where were my shorts? Coming out of the woods stopped at a field called Elk’s Meadow to find a huge buck putting on a show for the tourist. Walked right passed my car so I could get some good pictures and video (thanks dude). Drove to Crescent City to check in and found that the local brew pub had closed. Drove up to Oregon briefly to Wild River Pizza to get my microbrew fix and then back to Crescent City for the night.

Updated Road Trip info

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:22:55 GMT

Mon. Sept 14: Arcata, CA and Humboldt Redwoods Park via Fort Bragg and Ferndale
Tue. Sept 15: Crescent City, CA and Redwood National Forest (Mt. biking to Fern Canyon)
Wed. Sept 16: Medford, OR, via Cave Junction and cave visit
Thur. Sept 17: Medford, OR, Ashland, Rogue River, etc
Fri. Sept 18: Portland, OR, Bachelor Party
Sat. Sept 19: Portland, OR, Homebrew tasting
Sun. Sept 20: Portland, OR, McMenamins-Edgefield
Mon. Sept 21: Day hike, Columbia Gorge, OR
Mon. Sept 21: Evening, Seattle, WA, special one night only engagement with friends
Tue-Thur. Sept 22-24: Eugene, OR, Doomed Planet Records, home brews, Metal, Pulps, and Mythos jam session
Fri.-Sat. Sept. 25-26: Hayward, CA, Onyx and Anaar reunion
Sun. Sept. 27: Walnut Creek, CA, Web of Wyrd, a Gotha event (www.anaar.info/events.html)

Onyx Tour Day 2

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:05:58 GMT

Delivered the statue for the Star Goddess Shrine to Stone City during one of their work parties. Set Her up in a temporary spot near the Labyrinth because I want the Shrine to be close to the Labyrinth. Scoped out places to build the Shrine and then joined the work party. I cleared Bush (I mean brush) and helped assemble a gazebo-type roof for one of the hot tubs. Tired now, but the real driving starts tomorrow.

On the drive back from Stone City at dusk I saw 2 stags and 1 doe ( and did not run over any). I also saw this giant black spider crossing the road that looked as big as a crab and seemed to move like a crab...wtf?

Onyx Tour Day 1

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:40:39 GMT

The Killers with New York Dolls was amazing. I have not been to a "stadium" show in over 10 years and it was "Shoreline" then as well. Music was great, lightshow and pyrotechnics was cool. Most shows I go to now are smaller venues where that is not possible and most bands I will see don't do it anymore anyway. Good beer is sold "on the lawn" now so thats cool. Lots of teenagers gave it a good energy.

Onyx: The Northwest Tour 2009

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:13:44 GMT

Sat. Sept 12: Mountain View, CA, Shoreline Amphitheater, audience member for The Killers
Sun. Sept 13: Stone City, CA, work party and Goddess statue delivery
Mon. Sept 14: Arcata, CA and Humboldt Redwoods Park via Fort Bragg and other microbrew stops
Tue. Sept 15: Crescent City, CA and Redwood National Forest
Wed. Sept 16: Medford, OR, via Cave Junction and cave visit
Thur. Sept 17: Medford, OR, Ashland, Rogue River, etc
Fri. Sept 18: Seattle, WA, special one night only engagement with friends
Sat. Sept 19: Portland, OR
Sun. Sept 20: Portland, OR, McMenamins-Edgefield
Mon. Sept 21: Columbia Gorge, OR
Tue-Thur. Sept 22-24: Eugene, OR, Doomed Planet Records, home brews, Metal, Pulps, and Mythos jam session
Fri.-Sat. Sept. 25-26: Hayward, CA, Onyx and Anaar reunion
Sun. Sept. 27: Walnut Creek, CA, Web of Wyrd, a Gotha event (www.anaar.info/events.html)

y'all let me know if you live near these stops and want to try to meet up....

Happy Birthday Anaar!!

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:48:06 GMT

Got her the iPhone for her early birthday present a few weeks ago then spent most of Saturday on the phone to tech support at ATT about DSL and Belkin about the router in order to set up her Apple mail and then sync it with her iPlague. Tech support was frustrating (Language barrier and ignorance of Macs) and a huge time suck but I did it as another birthday present for her. Now she is fully assimilated into the Apple Borg hive.

Today I am off to shop for a Black Forest cake cause I didn't have time to make it from scratch.

Les Paul RIP

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:52:26 GMT

Oh no!!!!!
The man was a national treasure:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=40991

Happy Birthday Puck!!

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:50:15 GMT

Happy 7-21 day puckdecoyote from your friend the 1-27.

Sadly we will be celebrating your farewell as well as your birthday. But don't worry you are still in my lattice-of-coincidence ;)

-Onyx

Buffy vs Edward: Twilight Remixed -- [original version]

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:45:41 GMT

Jonathan clued me in on this awesum remix. Read the post about the remix as well:http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/?p=1272

Biotech Drugs Need Only 7 Years Protection, U.S. Says

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:53:21 GMT

-----Biologic drugs should be subject to generic competition in the U.S. after seven years, the Obama administration said, calling it a “generous compromise.”----

This "compromise" may be appropriate to Roche, Genentech, and Amgen but this will kill inovation in small biotech. Maybe I am in the wrong business.....

Three 's a charm

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:02:54 GMT

Years that is.

Its been 3 years today since I had 3 cervical vertebrae fused with donor bone and a metal plate. Its only just recently that I could stop the vicodin and can work out extensively in the gym (may have something to do with how well I feel).

I am glad I had the surgery and grateful to be this well even if its never going be the flexible neck I once had.

Its an odd time for anniversaries. 10 years at the same biotech company. 20 years since tanks rolled into that square in China.

I Am A Scientist

Sun, 31 May 2009 02:28:24 GMT

I can do science me!!!!!!

The Lost "Smoke Monster" is in the Entertainment news

Fri, 29 May 2009 19:55:43 GMT

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/smoke_monster_from_lost_given_own

Paul Rucker is Awesome

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:21:19 GMT

http://paulruckerart.com/pages/g-gds-twins.html

My first lolcat

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:49:47 GMT

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Coldplay metaphors

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:43:11 GMT

I have Coldplay's Viva la Vida on my workout playlist so listen to it almost everyday. My first impression of the song's meaning (and it is good enough to be open to multiple interpretations) was that it was the confession of a man who had got so powerful, arrogant and controlling in his life that the one person that kept him honest (his lover perhaps) had left him and now he is out of control ("once you go there was never an honest word"). This morning I googled for the most common interpretations and found them all very literal and specific (i.e. its about Napoleon, etc.). This is really a mirror on me that I would even be worried about staying balanced in a position of power, while most folks listen to the song without reflecting on themselves at all.
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/coldplay/viva_la_vida.html

Catalysis

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:09:31 GMT

Magick is the catalyst in the chemical reaction. It is the enzyme in the biological process. It is the symbiosis in the ecological process. Magick is the booster rocket, the accelerator. The end result is possible but more difficult without the catalyst. A protein will breakdown to its component amino acids given enough heat and time, but an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown will release that energy at an incredibly accelerated rate.
I use magick as a catalyst. However, I still must work hard for results. By applying a catalyst I increase my odds of success. I must work hard in my garden to get a bountiful harvest, and by incorporating magick (techniques, potions, prayers, etc) I can be more successful. I must do the hard work as well as the magick because without hard work I will not get a good result. Of course hard work is magick as well.
This approach of hard work with a magickal boost has proven useful in my lab work and in all aspects of my life.