That's Just The Way It Is

Yes my friends - I saw one of my all time fave artists, Bruce Hornsby up close and personal this week. I didn't even know he was going to be in Des Moines until my buddy Deb mentioned last weekend that he was going to be at Nitefall on the River Wednesday. She and Larry were planning to go. I talked to Pablo and we hatched a plan to attend, since I've been a big fan since the 90's.

BB (Before Bruce) at lunchtime Wednesday, DNR had a dunk tank. We were raising money for the Foodbank, something we do all year round. The new director Chuck Gipp went for a dip early - I missed that, but I went out for a hot dog (price - 2 canned goods) when the deputy director took a dive. He's Bruce Trautman, a former USDA NRCS Area Conservationist - a friend of Paul's. For a new guy, he seems to already know quite a few people...at least several employees wanted to put him in the water! He's a jokester, and he heckled people in between throws.

Trautman drops

Rogue's gallery watches

After lunch, I forked over $5 for my pal Scott to toss a few balls at the big red dot to mess up our co-worker Tom's hair. Our supe Jen's sister Cindy works in Admin. Her sons even got in the act - their mom was dressed like a witch! It was a fun time for a good cause.

Jen, at right, coaches her nephew to nail the target, dunking her sis who is dressed like a witch

I'm not quite sure why Mel was decked out in a sailor outfit. Tom looks damp.

 

Scott waits for another shot at dunking Tom

Later that day, Paul rode up to DSM with Larry and Deb, and we met at Culvers on Jordan Creek Parkway. I was sad that out of the whole week, this one day turned out rainy - just our luck! I got an email that the concert venue was switched to the Val Air Ballroom, kind of a dumpy old place. But somehow it's got character - it has seen a lot of shows in its day.

Violinist was good!

And now Bruce was here - his first time in Iowa in 25 years! When we got there, Cornmeal was playing - a string band from Chicago. I know - doesn't seem like it goes together string band - Chicago. A string band should be from Nashville or Montana. But I enjoyed the songs I heard them play. People were sitting all around the sides, but the middle of the floor was open, so that's where we headed after getting a couple beers.

with mondolin

Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers came on about 8 PM. He's such a talented musican! That guy can tickle the ivories. Makes me wish I would have stuck it out with piano lessons. Plus he plays mandolin and the accordian too - a could never dream of doing that. He asked the violinist from Cornmeal to play along with the band. She was great and I loved the interaction between all the musicians.  



see how close we were



I dig live music - so the versions of Mandolin Rain, and Just the Way It Is were great of course. I heard some new songs that were great too. We were so close to him in the Val Air - I got some pics and video. They played for a couple hours. Then Deb and Larry dropped us off back at our car - Pablo stated the night at Joan's. It was a fun night!  

Iowa City Site Visit

Bits and Pieces

At left is their stom water handling system - it has a green, growing roof.

I was in Iowa City yesterday for a site visit. They're participating in the Environmental Management System Program that I am lead on. The consultant we work with, Cory, flew in from Ohio to attend. We met at their brand new Education Center at their East Side recycling collection facility. Too cool!

They planted two biocells - and there are solar and wind elements!

They're going for LEED (top environmental stuff!) certification

Brooke and Cory chat about compost - scintillating!

I had a twelve hour day - had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to take off an hour later. We met at 8 a.m. at the Ed Center, and moved to the landfill at 9, working though lunch - slogging through identifying the environmental impacts stemming from the operations the Iowa City Landfill is in charge of. Because once they do that - they can work on controlling them.

It's exhausting work. The eight staffers who participated were really good sports though, so that helped. And Cory is like a coach - he draws people out. I am the scribe, typing stuff on my laptop. Plus I chime in when needed. We had a great meeting.

But I was tired last night, woohoo coach. And damn those migraines have been a bitch this week - the weather, hormones? Don't know. But I've been doomed to take Frova each day which also adds to my exhaustion. Today I was pretty worthless at work until about noon. My Supe Jen and I hiked down across the river for lunch at Big City Burger. My first time there. I had avocado on mine, and homemade chips. Good food!

We sat outside on a lovely day at Big City

Glad to be home in Creston today. 

Age 53, maturity age 10....

Some people will never grow up! And I'm one of them. I made myself laugh today. Several times. By myself. Just now again....

Today the two sections that I work in - Solid Waste and Financial and Business Assistance (FABA) of Iowa DNR met at Walnut Woods to do a Strategic Planning session  - all day. The leader of the Land Quality Bureau, Brian Tormey lead us in several exercises to help set up how we'll move forward through the next several months. In order to get started, we did an "ice breaker".

The purpose of the little exercises was to solve 30 questions - figuring out what numbers the statements stood for (the answers were the numbers 1-30). Our group of some 22 or so people was broken up into three groups. I was with Becky, Laura, Theresa, Matt, Kathleen, Jeff - and our FABA supervisor Jen chimed in once in a while. The questions started out easy - stuff like "A typical round of golf is this many holes."  Answer 18.

They quickly got hard! There were things like the square root of 256. And the British race track is the M____.

But the one that got me laughing at me and my big juvie mouth was: The number of planets in the solar system is? I asked Jeff, who was sitting beside me the answer. He said - 9. Without thinking I said, "Did you include Uranus?" It still makes me laugh. Out loud. Jen heard me say it and laughed too. Sometimes I can't help myself...it's like a little evil witty person lives inside me. Turned out the answer was 8 - they tossed Pluto out not so long ago...not Jeff's anus...I mean Uranus.

We grilled burgers and brats (supplied by the managers) for lunch along with potluck. I took calico beans that I put together yesterday with Paul's help and lots of good salads and desserts. It was all very good.

Walnut Woods was a cool place to meet - though the wooden benches got a bit hard after a while. And the walnuts hitting the wooden roof of the lodge was a bit distracting at times. Glad one didn't hit me in the head (though I prolly deserved it..) The walnuts reminded me of our old house - the walnut tree and the shed out back. Bam!

Let's hope the day away from the office translates to a great plan for our two sections.

***********

On a totally unrelated note, my sis Bets sent us this cute framed print last week, as it made her think of Odie, my darling dachshund. Thanks sis!