Beautiful

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”

-R. Buckminster Fuller

I have been an advocate for energy efficiency as long as I can remember. For me, it just makes sense. The human race is going to eventually run out of oil and gas, and while there is plenty of coal to last for hundreds of years, even with our current population growth rate, there is also plenty of evidence suggesting that the more we burn the warmer the planet is going to get. Regardless as to whether or not you buy-in to Climate Change or your political affiliation, it is hard to argue against being prudent with your resources and simultaneously saving money doing so.

I have had the most energy-efficient house within a mile radius for some time. It isn’t hard. I have compact fluorescent light bulbs in every fixture (even my utility lamps for when I need to crawl around my attic) and I have a programmable thermostat that doesn’t allow the heating and cooling to run unless I’m home. There is no difference in comfort at all, and yet by my own estimates I save several hundred dollars a year on energy costs because my house simply doesn’t heat and cool when nobody is home and because I use light bulbs that put out the same amount of light as regular bulbs, yet use 25% of the energy.

That’s it. The level of effort is really quite minimal.

If everyone in the US followed such practices, we would save so much energy that the nation could put all of the electric plants currently under construction now on hold for the next ten years and we would still have enough power in ten years, even with our current construction rates.

However, as I learned this week, such ideas are boring, dull, not practical and not followed. That was, however, until Tony Fadell, the famed Apple inventor who came up with the concept of the iPod, decided to start his own company and start making… thermostats.

As I read articles from the New York Times and several tech blogs, I learned what I already knew… Only 6% of programmable thermostats in the nation have a program. Most people try to hide their thermostats. Nobody has any idea how their HVAC system works let alone how to make it work more efficiently. Personally, I have found the world ripe with need for education in these matters, and I have tried to help many of my friends and family make their HVAC systems work for them instead of work against them.

Apparently, the reason why these concepts don’t catch on with those I speak with is because I’m not as sexy as an iPod.

Hopefully, the new Nest Thermostat can (finally!) entice some people to conserve their energy because they are interested in hanging something that looks more like a contemporary wall-hanging than a thermostat. I find it almost insulting that this is the case, but the well-polished and well-known iPod guy will attract a following much greater than the engineering community will.

It goes to show you that no matter how much time, effort, passion or pride you put into your work, nobody buys it (and it isn’t done well) unless it is beautiful.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!

Nothing to Say

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”

-Your Mother

I missed the Gun’s Quote last week.

I’m not sure what to write about this week. The ideas that came forward were critical of events in the world and leaders whom I feel have not done their jobs. I don’t want to talk about either.

I seem to be having a weird case of writer’s block and, combined with a cold, am not feeling up to the task of being inspirational this week. Sorry!

I guess I should take this opportunity to remind all of us that we all need a break sometimes. We will get sick, we will get tired and sometimes we just need to stop and take a breather.

For now, I’m going to take my break. We’ll see what happens next week.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!

BOOM!

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“When was the last time you broke your finger nail on a computer monitor? That's right... BOOM!”

-Jeff Brann

So I sit in the back room of church every Sunday watching the sound board and helping teens in my youth group run “lyrics.” (They put lyrics up on the projector screen during Mass for the music) One day, Jeff, who is outside the room and reaches in through the window to shake my and another teen’s hands, accidently rams his hand into the back of the computer monitor sitting in front of us. He jumps back and starts to shake it off, and then as to make it look intentional and make the situation even more hilarious, drops the above line on us.

You’re right, Jeff. I’ve never broken a nail on a computer monitor before. You’ve got me there.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!

Tenacity

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“Few win on the first try. Success is never easily and quickly won.”

-LLIC 2010

The Kansas City Chiefs today.

The Yo-Yo Ma Concert in January.

The project thrown on my desk on Thursday.

All of these things are thematic with this week’s quote and speak to the great power of tenacity. All of them continue to prove that life gives opportunities to those who refuse to walk away defeated.

I love the Chiefs, but with their key injuries in the first three weeks of the season, fans have little to be excited for. Jamaal Charles’ knee. Tony Moeaki and Eric Berry. Gone. Arrowhead was so empty today I thought for sure the game would be blacked-out. Nevertheless, the boys in red had some fire in them today and wouldn’t stand to be defeated again on their home turf. Certainly not the prettiest win, and certainly not against the best team, but a win nonetheless. It’s good to see that my team hasn’t given up!

While I whined last week about that missed opportunity to see Yo-Yo Ma, I didn’t give up. After all, the concert is in January. I checked the symphony website. Daily. I checked E-Bay, Craigslist, wandered the internet almost aimlessly to see if I could catch any news whatsoever. Finally, last week the symphony website opened up a single-seat in the nose-bleed section of the Kauffman Center. Somebody had refunded their season tickets for whatever reason. Yeah, it cost a pretty penny, but you know what? I got a ticket. I’m in!

Work spoke to the theme as well. From out of nowhere, a project landed on my desk on Thursday morning. A client needed a design for a new warehouse done by Monday. I was the only engineer in the office who didn’t have a deadline at the end of the week. I stayed late on Thursday and tripped over myself a few times as I tried to decipher the notes and other work started by others in the office who couldn’t take on the project any longer because they had their deadlines to meet.

Almost a year ago it would have taken me two weeks to have done the same job. My boss wanted me to learn efficiency, and he did it by piling work on me, forcing me to make decisions quickly and to worry about the things that mattered and not about the things that didn’t. Those first few weeks on the jobs were maddening and I must admit that I thought about going back to my old job. Yet, I told myself that I had a lot to learn and that this was the way to do it. To see the progress that I’ve made in such a short year because I decided to stick-it-out is jaw-dropping. I didn’t think it was possible to learn so much in such little time.

I’ve preached it a million times and I will preach it again. Never give up. Just never give up. Never. People who win and succeed do so only because they failed time and time again. The moment that you give up, you end all opportunities to succeed.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!