Thoughts

“People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead.”

I was walking home the other day trying desperately to find this quote. I had read it in “Before We Get Started” by Bret Lott the night before. He did not say it; it is a quote from James Baldwin. But this quote renewed my introspection and review of my current job. To sum things up: Not only do I not believe in the mission, I actually believe that the work we are doing might be harming the mission; I love my co-workers but hate the management; I feel under valued, under utilized, and under paid.

As a sage co-worker pointed out to me however, most people feel under paid and under appreciated their entire career. (Read: get over it.)

But after reading this quote, I realized that my working at my job meant that I was becoming toxic. And I was going to have to pay for this or get out.

As is often the case, just when I was at my wits end, I was offered another position. And while I am not as enamored with my new position as I would like to be, I know that my new job has something to teach me, the people are nice, and after 11 months of work I finally received a compliment on my work. What a little positive reinforcement will do to the ego.

If you are so inclined…please leave me a note about your thoughts on the quote.

Book Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma

Wow, what an interesting, scary, and fact filled book. Only three hours into the 12 hours long audio book, I feel like I need to reorder my eating habits.

Having lived in Germany for two years, I recognized that the act of living in Germany led me to lose weight. But now I think I understand why: corn, or the lack there of.

45,000 products in the American supermarket are made out of corn. So whether corn is good for humans or not, I think we are eating too much of it, especially the form that we use to sweeten everything. A summary of the book's thesis (I think) can be found in the article he wrote about it in the New York Times a few months ago (click here to link to the article).

Pollan also explains in a succinct manner why making ethanol from corn to fuel our cars does not make sense: it is the fertilizer. To make the fertilizer, you need natural gas, and more natural gas than you end up producing thorough from the ethanol.

More on this as I listen...