Random Thoughts, Notes, & Incidents

This is probably the longest I've gone without posting, but damn things are insane.

Here's an example from last weekend:
- Friday, right after work, we went to Leslie's work holiday party. From there we went to the airport to catch a flight to L.A.
- Saturday morning was my brother's graduation from Pepperdine (more about which, later *), then to my parents house for a combined celebration for the graduation, late Thanksgiving, and Hanukkah.
- Sunday, after a quick bite for breakfast, it was back to the airport to fly back to San Jose, and then drive right up to Oakland for my work's holiday party.

And then it seems like we haven't stopped running yet since getting off the plane. Tuesday after work I spoke to a group of City Year volunteers about a career in nonprofits and applying for grad school. Yesterday after work was a holiday reception dinner of one organization we work with. This evening is the annual dinner of another group I'm involved with.

Sure, much of what we're running to and from are "parties" but it's exhausting never-the-less.

* OK - The graduation:

My brother graduated with his MBA in technology management from Pepperdine's Graciadio School of Business Management. The commencement address was given by the president of Raytheon - a major defense contractor (over $17 billion in profits).

It being the business school, and it being the year of Enron, the address was of course about Ethics. Most of the group assembled failed to notice the irony of hearing a lecture on ethics from a man who makes his living creating missile guidance systems.

Or, how about the note in his introduction about how he serves on several advisory boards for the various services (Army, Navy, Air Force) - not that that would imply any conflict of interest when bidding on government contract - no!

While the $17 billion in profits was so proudly hailed in his introduction, the fact that it came from our tax dollars was not. Still, this gentleman assured us that nobody was cooking the books at Raytheon, the way they were at Enron - and that makes them ethical.

Finding more efficient means to kill people and advising to the same people (well, bureaucrats) that you sell to leave no blemish on Raytheon's ethical record. Ethics have been reduced to simply accounting practice (and getting caught cheating on the accounting).

Aren't you glad I'm back?