windenergy, originally uploaded by sherrykeating.

Self sustained wind energy.

My friend Chrissy and I went on a road trip, taking the back routes through the Karoo passing over the Witteberge mountains.

we walked through the field, that surprisingly wasn’t as green as you’d expect for the peak of spring.

the sun’s influence drew the soft outlines of the cloud’s funny shapes.

as the static filled the air, it almost became unbreathable, like being trapped in a glass cage.

each straw of grass had it’s own presence, and what a strange presence that was.

for the whole time, my hand hardly touched yours, and when it did, it felt like if there were unspoken words between us, struggling to burst out.

watching the fields in that strange afternoon with you, made me realize : we are nothing but pieces of dust drifting through our existence in Nature’s sarcastic flow.

the ones who are lucky enough to realize this can say with true belief, that even if for a mere moment in the eternity of time, they felt true bliss.

and even if you cannot feel overwhelmed with the afternoon we spent in that field, you have to agree with me… something strange happened there.

Mom picked me up this morning. We went to the bank, then out to the cemetery. I lover the ride out there, seeing all of the old farm houses and barns. All the fields are cleared now. Mom always tells me about when she was growing up living on the farm and at other places. She shows me where family used to live, and the old families.

She had made a few holiday arrangements and we placed them on the plot. Her parents and grandparent, and aunt and uncle are buried there, as well as her uncle Albert who was killed during the war. My brother was given his first name.

Went to the grocery store then out to moms. She already is completely decorated for the holidays. She has so much stuff and it always looks neat and tidy. She has a huge tree, and has kept the things that my siblings and I made when we were kids, and as adults. It is all very homey.

It was a good day.

Shannon

The one-year anniversary of unemployment is rarely a cause for celebration.

Every day I hear from executives — top men and women in their fields — who are going through extended unemployment. They have not had a bite … even a nibble.

Some of these people have had freelance or consulting assignments. Others dabbled with the idea of “reinventing” themselves. The plain truth is: The higher up the ladder you are, the longer it seems it takes to find work — much more so during a recession.

Unemployment and underemployment for top-paid executives is a sign of the times.  As a “jobconomist, ” I see it staying this way through 2010. 

The prolonged pain of this recession makes those unemployed for a year or more even more depressed.

Executives who are unemployed for such an extended term become understandably frustrated. Then that frustration turns into depression, and depression becomes bitterness. You begin second-guessing, questioning everything about yourself and your efforts to find work.

That’s the beginning of the cycle. Who wants to hire a depressed executive?

If you fit this description and are feeling hopeless, let me tell you it is possible to break this cycle of rejection.  

You can turn your fate around in your favor and get more interviews and eventually land inspiring, challenging jobs.

Stop blaming your tools

Have you ever noticed how $100K+ executives always blame their “resumes” for lack of interviews? Most of these same people have paid to have their resumes professionally prepared.

But it’s not them.

After their resumes, what’s the next excuse of these executives? Come on, you know: age…followed by money … the very fact that you were making $100K+. These are your (former) excuses.

It’s not them, it’s you

These are all excuses for what the real problem may be: you — and your attitude .

Your legitimately depressed emotional state has permeated everything you touch. Even the way you have crafted your resume or let it be crafted.

The way you network, the way you interview. After one year of being unemployed, you have bought in to the defeatist attitude. The only thing worse than being unemployed for more than a year is to be the spouse or partner of the person who has been unemployed.

When you have been unemployed for one year or more, the change will only come when you are willing to admit that you are helpless to find a job.

Once you face the fact that there is something about you that is holding you back from finding work, you can move forward with a new plan of action and a changed attitude. 

Keyword: attitude.

Here are my recommendations for positive change if you’re in the One-Year-Unemployed club:

Step 1: Admit you have a real problem finding a job.

Do not blame the resume; do not blame your age, past salary or the economy. Blame your attitude.

Step 2: Work to change that attitude.

Step 3: Work harder.

That means sacrifice and re-engineer your thinking process. No vacations. You should not be rewarding yourself for not finding work. Just the opposite.

 Step 4: Change your bitter attitude.

Eliminative negative vocabulary words like: “Just spinning my wheels,” “I am too old or experienced for this,” “I cannot take a job for less than ___,” or “I require this salary.”

Step 5: Stop blaming the resume.

Blame yourself. You own that document. Consider your resume, no matter who did it, only a “template.” Tweak that resume yourself to suit each job you pursue.

Step 6 : Look in the mirror:

Do you  look  like you are worth the $100K+ income you require.  Shallow but true. 

Do you need a Crest Whitestrips smile? What do those teeth look like? Men: Do you have inappropriate facial hair you could get away with when you were making $100K+ but can’t now?

Hair color? Clothes? Handshake? Look like a million dollars, and you can get a million dollars. Shallow, yes. …What happened to credentials? Working hard and all that? Well, you tell me! You’re the one that has been unemployed for at least a year. I am directing you as if you were in unemployed rehab. The “Betty Ford” of the unemployed. Re-engineer what you are thinking. 

Step 7 : Stop leaning or your spouse or partner.

No whining or complaining. Talk very little about your job search, and when you do, bring up only the positive aspects of what you have gone through each day. Your spouse or partner is supporting you.

OK. Got it? Now, you haven’t died. Erase that old anniversary date. That was actually a new start. Try it again. A fresh attitude, a fresh start is what we all need. Go ahead and make this Day One…all over again.

Let me know what you think.

Leahurst

Wirral, UK

If you thought life in the big city was crazy, wait until you get a load of the country life in Farm Frenzy! Daily chores have never been more entertaining as you cultivate your fields, feed your animals and gather the items they produce. You can spend the money you earn on upgrading your farm! Offering plenty of finger-clicking action, just enough strategy to keep things interesting and an amusing cast of characters, Farm Frenzy is a game the whole family can enjoy!

Fun farm animals to care for!

Great farm products to sell!

Cool buildings to purchase!

System Requirements:

OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista

CPU: 1.0 GHz

RAM: 256 MB

DirectX: 8.0

Hard Drive: 22 MB

It Takes Just A second To Say Thanks,

It Takes Longer To The Work On This.

Farm Frenzy

It was on the 11^th January 2009 at around 6pm when we had embarked on a tour of Gujarat. We had seen a few places like Lothal, Somnath temple, Gir forest, Junagadh, Porbandar etc. We liked the beauty and history of all the places we had visited thus far. The countryside was great and the weather was awesome. I had never seen such vast expanse of lush green fields wherever I had travelled in India.

We were on our way from Porbandar to Dwarka and all of a sudden, I exclaimed “Wow”. What do I see? ……… “INFINITY”!!!

Towards our right – Lush green fields with no end in sight!!!

Towards our left – The Arabian Sea with no end in sight!!!

In front of us – The endless road and the beach running parallel to each other towards Infinity!!!

On top – Clear blue sky which seemed to meet with the sea at one end and with the green fields at the other end!!!

There was not a soul on the beach. It was for the lucky six of us. We were at the right place at the right time. We feasted on this rare glimpse of nature for a few minutes until it was dark and carried on with our journey.

I will never forget this day – the day I saw “INFINITY”

Tonight I got invited to come and photograph this years grad class putting on their annual fashion show. It was so much fun! It is amazing how some of these guys I have watched grow up, even babysit for me! Congratulations Grad Class 2010!

We passed these fields of gold in Sussex County, NJ. Mustard greens perhaps?

Man, I love this tree.

Beautiful day!  Skies are clear, very little wind; temperatures are mild, in the mid fifties.

 Uriah was the first to notice the farm equipment pull into the field next door. He freaked! He climbed on the deck and cowered on the north side, farthest way from the equipment. 

The corn in the southern field was finally being  harvested. I stood outside and watched as the large tractor moved slowly into place. I could see the farmer in the cab and a child.

Farmer’s children will help them with the harvesting.  They watch for problems as their parent harvests the crops.The cab they sat in was sealed, heated and air-conditioned.

The winds were blowing away from me, so as the tractor passed by most of the dust spread out to the south.

Just as I thought, “Wow,  I am lucky the wind isn’t blowing in this direction.” The wind changed!  I started coughing, and blinking rapidly as the dust settled in over my head.

I choked out Uriah’s name and we headed towards the path to take a walk. The trees in that area blocked some of the harvesting dust. Well, sort of..

I crossed my fingers that the farmer would only be working on the lower part of the field at this time. I smiled, when I saw him hit the half way point near the drainage tiles and turn around.

 Uriah and I stopped sneezing long enough to watch the harvester.

With all the bare fields, the animals have been congregating in our trees. Last night, every hour, I was yelling out the doors for the coyotes to leave. There must have been close to a dozen howling and yelping very close to the house.

Coyotes don’t understand windows.  So, I had to insure the indoor cats stayed away from the glass. I really didn’t have to worry; they hid under the bed when the howling started.

Uriah, on the other hand, was whining and barking wanting to chase them. A dog barking won’t keep coyotes away from the house. It has the opposite effect. So, between trying to calm down Uriah, petting the cats and yelling at the coyotes, it was a fun night.

Halfway through the walk, Uriah disappeared with hackles raised, into the trees. Stupidly I walked in after him, calling and getting tangled in leafless under brush. After a short time, I headed back to the house. When Uriah reappeared  his tongue was trailing on the ground.  

The farmer took a lunch break and finished the back half of the field; I stood out on the deck and enjoyed the view.

This scene has to be a little boy’s dream.  A large tractor harvesting corn slowly chopping, crunching, and roaring through a field, as an equally large dump truck waits to be filled with the corn; such an impressive, unobstructed view of a real mid-western farm life.  

I love it out here.

]]> http://braindumped.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/vinayak-shenoys-book-is-out/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:15:31 +0000 braindumped http://braindumped.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/vinayak-shenoys-book-is-out/

Just happened to add one of my old school friends Vinayak Shenoy (We didn’t have colleagues then!) on Facebook. Went through his profile and realized that he has co-authored a novel  called Field. Cool hai! Will definitely pick up a copy! See Scottishiites do cool stuff like this not consultants and all! Oh,uh, wait a minute!

They got a review from the Mumbai Mirror too ! Finally, a reason to like that piece of crap paper !

Anyways, check out the book here and it’s blog here! Congrats Shenoy! And all the best !

205341     คลื่นและสนามแม่เหล็กและไฟฟ้า I     Electromagnetic Fields and Waves I

การวิเคราะห์เวกเตอร์ สนามไฟฟ้าสถิตย์ กฎของคูลอมบ์ ความต่างศักย์และพลังงาน ตัวนํ าและไดอิเลกตริก ความจุกระแสแบบพาและแบบนํ า ผลเฉลยของสมการลาปลาซและสมการปัวซง สนามแม่เหล็กความเหนี่ยวนํ า กระแสกระจัด สนามแม่เหล็กและไฟฟ้าที่แปรค่าตามเวลาและสมการแมกซ์เวล และคลื่นระนาบ

(Vector analysis, electrostatic fields, potential and energy, conductors and dielectric, convection and conduction currents, solution of Laplace’s and Poisson’s equations, magnetic fields, inductance, displacement current, time-varying electromagnetic field and Maxwell’s equation, and plane wave.)

(205341 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

]]> http://davidohh.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/ahhh-theres-water-everywhere/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:53:39 +0000 David Olsthoorn http://davidohh.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/ahhh-theres-water-everywhere/

Il let the photos talk..

Somewhere deep in this field theirs a small stream which as you’ve probably guessed has overflowed.

Like this next shot.. Intresting and it tells the story,

That’s that really.. Wish i had more shots of this epic rain storm but that’s all i have.. Tomorrows meant to be worse too so hold on to your hats ladies and gents!! Hopefully il get some shots!!!

Here’s two portraits i took of Ferg this evening for my on-going project.. There only alright but i got better ones for the real thing!