Harrison Square

Paula and I went to the public forum on Wednesday. Unforunately we got there just before 6 and all of the seats were already filled, so we had to stand. There were 250-300 people in attendance.

The panel members started off by talking about the project and what they hope to accomplish. During this time, the facilitators were collecting written questions. When the panel members were finished, someone started reading questions.

Since we didn't have a seat, we didn't feel like standing around for the full time, which would have been 9 PM (it started at 6 PM). But we did hear a few questions and their answers. Some questions were not answered very well, but the format of the session did not allow the public to ask follow-up questions. I can understand the need to do it this way, otherwise it would go on all night. I'd prefer to have more of a discussion back-and-forth.

Paula is planning on writting a letter this weekend to send off to city council members and others involved in the project. I don't know if we'll get a personal response, but that would be nice. We both still have many questions.

It isn't that we think it will fail, or that it is a horrible idea. I think there might be better ideas out there and this baseball park seems to be the only one getting any attention. Paula questions some of their answers and numbers they're using.

For example, they compare Fort Wayne with Atlanta, since Atlanta is also trying to revitalize their downtown area. That hardly seems a fair comparison.

The panel members were asked directly, "For how many cities has a ball park downtown worked, and for how many cities has it failed?" The answer was a bit vague: they've looked at about 20 cities where it has worked, but there was no mention of how many cities failed. They did say that the ones where it didn't work out had not done things very well from the start. It would have been nice to know some exact numbers, and surely they know the exact numbers if they've been studying this project for years.

I could write a whole lot more, but I don't want to get too carried away. We'll work on a letter this weekend and maybe I can prune it down for a post here.


-- C.

Weekend

This was a fun, busy weekend. Saturday I got up early and went to a seminar hosted by YLNI. They provided a DiSC personality assessment and then spent most of the morning and some of the afternoon talking about it and how it applies in the work place.

If you're not familiar with it, it categorizes your personality into a combination of four different characteristics, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. (I'll give my interpretation of the traits, which may not be in full alignment with the test's definition.) The "D" trait is what you would associate with "Type A" personalities. They are direct and in a hurry to get things done quickly and move on to the next. Rush-rush-rush. The "I" trait gives an indication of how energetic and social you are. They like verbal interaction and finding out personal details. The "S" trait is related to loyalty and steadiness. They are usually calmer, quieter, and easy-going. The "C" trait has to do with precision and following rules. They tend to ask "Why?" a lot. (A better definition)

Of course, there are many combinations of these traits. Some people have an even balance of all four. Different personality types are not good or bad; they are just different!

In the workplace, you need a good mix of personality types. You need the "D" types to drive the workflow and make sure things are getting done. You need the "I" types to champion your cause. You need the "S" types to slough through the work and make sure it gets done right. And you need the "C" types to check the details amd sure they are correct.

Overall it was fun and informative. I look forward to more YLNI gatherings.

After that, my wife and I went to the Home & Garden show. They had a speaker lined up to talk about moles and how to catch (read: kill) them. He is appropriately called The Mole Hunter (his real name is Jeff Holper). I found him to be a good speaker and very funny ("I guess I just like killing things"). He offered T-shirts with outlines of moles, so you could check-off an outline each time you kill a mole. I'll post more on moles when I get around to tackling the problem in our back yard.

We left the Coliseum around 7:30 PM and discovered that the roads had really iced up while we were inside. It was horrible driving. It took about twice as long to get home and I don't think we saw a dry patch of road the whole way. I was getting pretty frustrated that the city had let the roads get so bad. We made it home safely, but we did see a truck spin sideways. Fortunately there was no one next to him; he just righted himself and kept going.

Sunday morning was church and brunch with my parents, as usual. This time my brother and his daughter joined us. When we finished, Paula and I went to Glenbrook to walk around a while. In the afternoon we went back to my parents and hung out for a couple hours. We also got to see my sister-in-law and her new baby (what a cutie!).

We haven't seen a movie at the theater in a long time. There are several we were interested in, but settled on "Wild Hogs" for a bit of fun. I liked it a lot. Sure it was predictable, but it was laugh-out-loud funny. Don't expect a deep plot, just sit there and enjoy it for what it is – four buddies go on a road trip but things don't turn out quite like they planned.

Next we did our weekly shopping and got home in time for a late dinner. As we walked in the door, the cats were there to greet us, which is pretty unusual. I suddenly remembered that we were in a hurry that morning and left without feeding them, thinking we'd be home around lunch time and feed them then. They had a little left in their bowls, so they weren't completely starving. We fed them a little left-over chicken to assuage our guilt.

I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable weekend.


Mood: Cautiously optimistic.
-- C.

Speaking of Star Wars

This artist/blogger re-envisioned some Star Wars characters in a Steampunk setting. Check it out:

Star Wars via Steampunk


-- C.

Harrison Square Q&A session

I don't know if it has been widely advertised or not, but there is a Harrison Square forum at the downtown library on March 14th. I think it's just hosted by YLNI, and I don't know if they are planning on a big crowd or not. I figured some of you might be interested. Mark Becker, Deputy Mayor, and Steve Brody, project manager, will both be there. After they talk there will be an open Q&A session.

Paula and I plan on going. Let me know if any of you are interested.


-- C.

Star Wars convention in LA

I heard about a Star Wars convention coming up in March in LA. They'll have such notable actors as Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, David Prowse, Peter Mayhew, and Ray Park.

In addition to these, the actors of the following parts will all be there: Greedo, "Yak Face and Mon Calamari officer", "Snowtropper, Rebel soldier, tauntaun", Bib Fortuna, "Logray, Ugnaught", "Kabe, Jawa, Gonk", "Biggs Darklighter", "Wes Janson, Wedge Antilles' tailgunner."

Yay! Do you know how long I've been waiting to meet the actor who played Wedge Antilles' tailgunner? Holy cow, I gotta save up money for that trip!

No offense, but aren't they stretching a bit there?


-- C.