Showing posts with label CHF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHF. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Lunch with Bill Nye the Science Guy: We Talked About Bicycles


In 2004 Bill Nye, the Science Guy, spent an entire day at the museum and library where I worked until I retired: The Science History Institute in Philadelphia. He was filming part of an episode for his (then) new series "The 100 Greatest Discoveries in Science."

The founder of SHI, Arnold Thackray, spoke about the discovery of atoms, the benzene ring and oxygen for the episode on chemistry. 

In the middle of filming we took a lunch break. Nye had a film crew from the Science Channel and several staff members of SHI were helping with filming.  When we had our box lunches, Nye suggested he and I sit at the end of the table.  He is a bicyclist and I told him I had just bought a Trek Madone road bike.  

Nye had been thinking about getting a new carbon bike, so he asked me dozens of questions about the frame, the drive train, the wheels, tires, every part of the bike.  Nye is a nerd down to his bike socks. He really wanted to know every detail about the bike.  When I told him I raced, he wanted to know about that too. 

After we were finished filming, Nye came back to the atrium at the center of the building on the third floor. It has a skylight its entire length four floors up.  Nye told us we should install a sundial at the center of the atrium.  He then talked about how his father was a Prisoner of War in the Pacific in World War II. He maintained his sanity by making sundials in the POW camp.  

Some media stars play a role on camera and are someone else when the lights go off. Bill Nye is a science guy all the time.  It was a delight to spend the day with him--and very tiring. 

 

Friday, March 18, 2011

Boss Goes Extra Mile on Army Guard Service

My employer has always been great about my service in the National Guard--although very surprised that I signed up.

Last month I talked with my new boss about my vacation plans and said I was planning a couple of weeks away with my kids plus unpaid leave for summer camp.  She didn't know sumer camp was unpaid leave.
She said she would talk to our leadership team about changing that.  Today she told me they agreed and beginning in June I will be on paid leave for summer camp.

Wow!!

Serving on active duty in the states is a very big pay cut for me, so paid leave is quite a big deal.

We had a ceremony several months ago when the Army gave CHF a thank you certificate for supporting the Guard and Reserves.  I'll have to see if there is a new category they fall into now.
From the left:  SFC Albert Newman (retired) ESGR Representative;  Tom Tritton, CHF President and CEO; Denise Creedon, Vice President (my boss), and me.

Not So Supreme: A Conference about the Constitution, the Courts and Justice

Hannah Arendt At the end of the first week in March, I went to a conference at Bard College titled: Between Power and Authority: Arendt on t...