That Middle Ground

I had the opportunity to have a meeting with a former grad today. He is one year out of college and came to ICC with three senior people from his firm. They met with a group of us on the faculty to propose a joint venture. The meeting lasted well over an hour and then we all went to lunch. As a new engineer in a real business environment it is hard to know where to interject into a group meeting. Some young engineers lack confidence and stay too far in the background or have to be drawn in. Some young engineers are overconfident and dominate. What absolutely impressed me today is how this ICC grad played right down the middle. He confidently stated his views, asked his questions, and then listened to what everyone else had to say.

TBL: Be conscientious in group meetings. Know your appropriate place and participate to that level.

Ethan Came Home Today

Yay!

After a nearly two week ordeal our little guy is home to begin eating and growing like a normal baby should. We couldn't be more thrilled.

On the Grand Rapids front, it is FREAKING COLD! Today being the 13th, I pulled my 13th day in a row of 43 minutes or more of cardio when Bart and I went for 1 hour+ snowshoe in our frigid climate. It was beautiful scenery.

ICC classes started up yesterday and here is a new one. Thermo is at 7 AM. It turns out this engineering subject is so exciting that even 29 college students will get up that early to learn it. Quote of the day as class was wrapping up and I was writing the hwk assignment on the board a student says "hey it's starting to get light out".

Engineering Academy update: The snowball of excitement is starting to roll down hill. We have a 4 year university chomping at the bit to be our partner in this new pedagogy. Lots to be done, but the time is ripe to try a new model for learning and we may be the one's to try it.

Daughter Liz started her first semester at Mankato State yesterday. She has her own apartment, is meeting new friends, and is excited to dance in a new program. I'm excited that she has to walk through the engineering building on the way to other classes. I told her the nerdy looking guys will make the most money!

Congrats to all of the college seniors who have recently passed the FE. Thanks for sharing your good news. Start your job searches yesterday. This will probably be the toughest year in all that I've been in this business.

And Then an Upturn

After nearly of week of living on pins and needles and wondering what the next hour would bring, it appears as though our crisis may be nearing an end. The clot in Ethan's aorta has responded to the drug TPA and is completely gone. He is off of his breathing tube and will soon be transferred to recovery where, over a few days or as long as it takes, he will be weaned off of his medicine and sent home.

My life lesson in this has been the power of prayer and people. Hundreds of friends, relatives, and their friends and relatives brought our family into their hearts and prayers. This power of humankind is overwhelming.

Thank you.

Grandparenthood Takes a Down Turn

As some of you may know and others are probably just learning, my grandson Ethan is hospitalized in a pediatric intensive care unit with a blood clot in his aorta.

Ethan was born on December 21st and was a happy healthy big boy (9lbs 15 oz). We enjoyed one week of cuddling and snuggling before coming back to GR on December 28th. On December 31st Ethan was dehydrated and having circulation issues. He was admitted to the Oklahoma University Medical Center for Children on January 1st and has been there ever since.

The clot has caused significant issues as you can imagine, though Ethan has responded well to all medications and he is staying strong. The issue is simply that there is a clot blocking 90% of flow in the 1 cm diameter aorta and the clot is one inch long. The plan has been to administer clot reducing drugs. If that doesn't work, a heart surgery will be performed to remove it.

Angie is in Oklahoma, she flew down on January 1st and will be there through at least this Saturday. Colin's parent are also there (Dad is a pastor - he has already baptized Ethan and Mom is a cardiac physiologist professor).

It is very hard to have something like this happen to someone so young and so special to my heart, but the pain compounds as I watch my daughter and son-in-law have to struggle through the scariest of experiences as young parents.

43 Minutes for 43 Days

Well, here we are into a new year. Happy New Year by the way. Every year as I turn the corner in January I try to set a reachable goal. A few years ago when I was 39, my goal was to run at least 3 miles per day for 39 days. I met the goal and it got me off to a good year of running.

Because of a foot injury, running hasn't been a part of my regular cardio plan, but things like walking, snowshoeing, skiing, exercise biking, and some basketball are. So this year, my 43rd year of life, I am doing at least 43 minutes of cardio every day for the first 43 days of the year. On day 5, so far so good.

Ron's Annual Book List

I have once again reached (barely) my goal of reading 50 books during the year. Reading is one of the important lifelong hobbies that I try to instill in my students. By reading 50 books per year, I come close to my goal of reading one hour per day, every day. Here is this year's list:

In order read -

T is for Trespass - Sue Grafton
Your Cabin in the Woods
The Choice - Nicholas Sparks
Without Fail - Lee Child
Tripwire - Lee Child
Freefall - Kyle Mills
Echo Burning - Lee Child
The Enemy - Lee Child
Pursuader - Lee Child
Lady Killer - Lisa Scottoline
Stone Cold - David Baldacci
The Appeal - John Grisham
7th Heaven - James Patterson
One Shot - Lee Child
Hardway - Lee Child
Running Blind - Lee Child
The Shooters - W.E.B. Griffin
Die Trying - Lee Child
Nothing to Lose - Lee Child
Whiskey Island - Emilie Richards
What the Best College Teachers Do - Ken Bain
Parting Glass - Emilie Richards
Killing Floor - Lee Child
Bad Luck and Trouble - Lee Child
Whole Truth - David Baldacci
Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich
Blight Way - Patrick McManus
Mortal Allies - Haig
Galileo's Daugther - Sobel
Dead Hotshot - Victoria Huston
Sail - James Patterson
Lucky One - Nicholas Sparks
Conspiracy Club - Jonathon Kellerman
Heat Lightening - John Sanford
Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
Moving Waters - Sam Cook
Transcontinental Railroad - Stephen Ambrose
The Other - David Guterson
Phantom Prey - John Sanford
Sunday at Tiffany's - James Patterson
Winter Study - Nevada Barr
Degrees of Separation - Sue Henry
Out of Sight - Elmore Leonard
Pagan Babies - Elmore Leonard
Bandits - Elmore Leonard
That was Then this is Now - S.E. Hinton
Hunted - Elmore Leonard
Marley and Me - John Grogan
South of Shiloh - Chuck Logan
My Sister's Keeper - Jonathon and Faye Kellerman

Top 3:
1. Power of One (hands down no contest - if you haven't read it, do)
2. Marley and Me (I haven't seen the movie, but the book is great)
3. Whiskey Island and The Parting Glass (a good two book series)

As usual, the top 3 are out of my normal genre - mystery. I have read so many mysteries that I cannot remember plotlines from hardly any of them during the year, but I still love to read them.

Best new author (to me) - Lee Child
Best character - Jack Reacher (Lee Child)

Best Bookstore - Powell's in Portland - an absolute must for your bucket list.

Happy New Year's Eve - Angie and I are heading to the North Shore for a snowshoe into a backwoods cabin for an overnight.

Stay safe...and warm.

Merry Christmas

Greetings from Oklahoma City.  In 43 years I have only been out of Minnesota for two Christmases. The first in 1991 was a few months after Ronnie was born and we stayed in Orlando. The second is today.  It is weird to celebrate Christmas and not have the temperature cold with snow on the ground.  Today though, I could careless. Through the miracle of life, I now have a new little grandson. The feeling is mostly overwhelming joy.  When my own kids were born, there was great joy, but it was tempered by even greater feelings of responsibility. With a grandchild it is just pure joy. I hope your Christmas is as great as mine. Merry Christmas.