Bradley P. Beaulieu

My manager called a meeting today, and this was when we already had one scheduled for Thursday. Plus, he hates meetings in general, so this was pretty strange. IBM (including Tivoli, which is the group I work in) has already had a layoff this year, and I’ve been very wary about our group being put on the chopping block. So this meeting had the hairs on my arms raised up.

We got into the call, and my boss starts talking about a long talk he had with his boss over the weekend. I was just waiting for it: the word that we were all being let go. I was already trying to figure out how I was going to pay for insurance, my mortgage, where to find a new job, etc., etc. But getting let go wasn’t the end of his story. Long story short, the small group of eight guys I work in is getting broken up and split across several different products in Tivoli’s stable. We are currently in an enablement team, and anyone who knows anything about big business knows that enablement doesn’t produce dollars, and in an economy like ours, they look very, very closely at things that don’t directly pay their own way when it comes time to make cuts.

I feel fortunate not to have been let go outright. I’ll be working with a new tool called Maximo. It’s an asset management tool meant to help medium- to large-sized businesses track their stuff, virtual or real. It’s apparently a growing segment, so hopefully I can fit in and be successful. I’m worried that it’s going to mean a lot of travel, but right now that’s only a fear. I don’t really know what the job will entail at this point.

I just met with a fellow at the house who conducts solar assessments for residential homes. I’m hoping that my budget allows me to put some up. The payback is a long time, but I’m not looking strictly at that. I’m hoping to go a bit more green, to offset some monthly bills, and to perhaps help further the technology. Some have to adopt the technology for it to lower in price and eventually out-compete more traditional forms of power generation. I’ll post the assessment once I have it, just in case anyone is interested.

To get things started, I called my local power company, which happens to be WE Energies. They forwarded me to FocusOnEnergy, an outfit that is paid for via a levy that was forced on Wisconsin power companies by state law. In other words, the power companies pay for FocusOnEnergy, but they wouldn’t be doing so if they weren’t forced to by law. They paid for 50% of the solar assessment, which is great. It only cost me $200 to get it done. And the assessment itself gives me detailed information about what sort of panels would work for the house, where they should go, how much power I can expect them to generate, and what rebates and credits I’m entitled to.

I’m also paying for a home energy audit. That guy’s coming tomorrow, and I’ll share info about that process as well.

This is an interesting article from TreeHugger, but what I found really interesting were the graphs near the bottom about Community-Supported Agriculture.

Here’s another story: in January I paid $325 for vegetables that I won’t see until June, and I’m tickled pink over this great deal. That chunk o‚ money bought a 25-week prepaid subscription to Siena Farms‚ produce for the entire season. Siena Farms are in Sudbury, the next town over (in the other direction). By paying up front in the winter months, the time when farms most need the investment income to support the next growing season, I’ll helping ensure there’s a viable organic farm in my community. Farm-fresh vegetable subscriptions are called community-supported agriculture, or CSA. Currently there are more than 2200 CSAs in the USA, and a bunch are still taking subscription sign-ups. For $13/week, I get half a farm box of locally-grown-and-picked-that-day, organic, heirloom vegetables will feed my household through Thanksgiving (the other half is shared with two of my Earthwatch colleagues).

I’d never even considered such a thing. A subscription for fresh, organic produce. What an awesome idea. I looked at the CSA website and found two local growers. One was already sold out (180 subscriptions). The other has not yet sold out and I’ve sent them an email to find out more of the details. Specifically, I’m not sure if you really have a choice of what your subscription basket contains. I realize they can only supply what they’ve already grown (i.e. what’s in season) but I wonder if I can load up on stuff I like and drop the stuff I don’t or if they fill a basket and I get what I get. I’m curious to learn more.