efficiency

matt and i got to talking about cars and horsepower tonight.  i wondered, how efficient is a horse compared to a car?

we did some very rough calculations: 

a horse and car are about the same. but, a person is way more efficient!

catch up

it's been a busy month:

• megan visited.  we hiked around muir beach; ate delicious things -- off the grid, blue plate, lolo; and barbequed twice.
• caught up with friends.  papusas with lisa; heart & dosa with jimmy; boxing room with hongmai & co.; lasagna @ home with eugene & alicia; thai with drew; zaytoon with stephen.
• camping in the sierras with matt.  a stunning & secluded hike near sonora pass.
• camping at hendy woods with matt & 6 other couples.  great hike, great food, great people.  driving back through anderson valley, we picked up hard apple cider at an apple farm, tasted great wine @ navarro vineyards, and tasted beer @ anderson valley brewing company (they make boont).  
  

latest relationship thoughts

i've developed a cold, rational view of romantic relationships:

• commitment device.  i don't believe a commitment is real unless you "pay" something.  weddings and rings are a form of payment.  the "celebration of love" part is just pr.
• project management.  i think goals and milestones are important.  so is developing a time line and plan of action to achieve those goals.  i get it now, when people talk about relationships as work.
• high expectations.  i used to think that being relaxed and undemanding ("low maintenance") was a good thing.  now, i feel like being "low maintenance" means you don't respect yourself enough.  i'm realizing that you have to hold your partner to high expectations.
  

summer thoughts

i love my internship! 

i am:

• learning a lot about a variety of topic areas:  agriculture, energy, climate change, finance, waste
• meeting and interviewing lots of stake holders:  local, state, and federal government, non-profit, trade groups, businesses, entrepreneurs, bankers. 
• playing financial forecaster.
• dairy farm tour! 
• attending interesting and relevant talks: cool roofs, ties between ag & climate change, germany's experience with the feed-in-tariff, and carbon offsets workshop
• great people, great group.  my supervisor and mentor are super-knowledgable, communicate well, and are very nice.  i'm sitting with one of the most interesting and innovative groups at Region 9's EPA -- its clean energy & climate change office.
• generating, hopefully, useful work products -- papers overviewing the industry, financing issues, and maybe an article. 

i feel like it's given me a good sense of what public policy is about -- translating everyone's interests into a common goal.  also, it's been nice to get a taste of working for the government  -- messy, unfocused but relaxed.  it's been good to be in an organization that is the exact opposite of CR.

i think, though, that i need more structure.  i want to work in an organization that thinks and acts strategically.  and while i'd like to be an expert, i'm not ready for that yet.  i want to be around people who are smarter and more knowledgable than me.  i still need mentors. 

most importantly, i've found some career ambition -- i want to have an interesting and challenging career, not just a series of jobs to finance my life.  that, is a new and exciting feeling for me.