I have the solution to BPs mess!

From what I understand, BP et al, are taking suggestions from any Tom, Dick or Harry.  With that being said, I’ve had some inspiration circa 1998:

NASA discovered that there is an asteroid roughly the size of Texas heading towards the Earth, and when it does hit the Earth, the planet itself and all of its inhabitants will be obliterated, worse, the asteroid will hit the Earth in 18 days. Unfortunately, NASA's plans to destroy the asteroid are irrelevant. That is when the U.S. military decides to use a nuclear warhead to blow the asteroid to pieces. Then, scientists decide to blow the asteroid with the warhead inside the asteroid itself. The only man to do it, is an oil driller named Harry Stamper.  Harry says he can't train men how to drill in ten days, so he brings in his own team of roughnecks to learn to become astronauts and get the job done. 

- Armageddon

Did you recognize the movie plot?  Doesn’t hurt to play Aerosmiths "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" in the background which I heard yesterday on the radio.

Loss of life is no laughing matter, and I am about to put myself out on a limb here with a controversial line of thinking, but here goes…

Don’t we have any patriotic roughnecks that we could send down in James Cameron’s private submarine to fix what a diamond drill bit can’t?

The crew might be on a suicide mission, but sacrificing a few white collar criminals with engineering backgrounds feels okay to me in order to save the rest of the Gulf.  And they don’t even have to be criminals. How about just a few bonafide heroes – willing to do whatever it takes?

Let’s take a page from J. J. Abrams wonderful screenplay:

Harry Stamper: None of you have to go. We can all just sit here on Earth, wait for this big rock to crash into it, kill everything and everybody we know. United States government just asked us to save the world. Anybody wanna say no? 
Chick: 20 years. Haven't turned you down once. Not about to start now. I'm there. 
Freddy Noonan: Guess I can't let you go up there alone. 
Bear: I'm with you. 
Oscar: Man, this is - this is historic. Guys, this is, like, deep blue hero stuff! Of course I'm in. 
Rockhound: While I don't share *his* enthusiasm, you know me. Beam me up, Scotty! 
Harry Stamper: You all right, Max? 
Max: I-I don't, I-I don't... Whatever you think. 
Harry Stamper: [to A.J] How about you? 
A.J.: I'm in. 
Harry Stamper: All right then. We go. 
Rockhound: I don't mean to be the materialistic weasel of this group, but do you think we'll get hazard pay out of this?

And don't worry Rockhound, I'm pretty sure if your mission is successful that Barack will earmark a substantial hazard pay package for you and the crew.

LOGO-riffic

Our PreK teacher gave us a few summer tips in order to prep our 4.5 year old for reading.  While we've been introduced to Bob Books (great starter books for beginners) and some LeapFrog DVDs, I'm already impressed with what my daughter can already "read".

"Are we going to eat at Grapes?"

"Mama, when we go to the mall, can we park near Star?"

One of our more popular grocery stores down south, or as my daughter likes to call it: "Fish, Bread, Apple"

NASCAR sponsorship helps with recognition on these, combined with seeing them in our neighborhood each and every day:

One of her favorite places to shop:

What brand of car her Nana drives:

When she's really engrossed in a brand, she will also give me a jingle. "Nat what would you like for lunch?" - "$5 footlong... SUBWAY, Eat Fresh!"

Part of me cringes with all this consumerist recognition, but another part of me feels as if the identification of logos and letters will aid in her actual ability to "read". Obviously, with a marketing background, I'd also give a nod to these corporations who have built strong logos that support their brands.  

As long as we're 10+ years off from her recognizing

 

and/or

... I think we should be fine.

10 Hottest Careers in America

After years of service in the pharmaceutical industry, a number of my former colleagues are starting new adventures.  Some are opting for early retirement, others are focusing on new careers that they are passionate about, and some well- weren't expecting to have free time on their hands.

It's with great pleasure that I share the 10 Hottest Careers in America via CBS MoneyWatch. 4 out of the 10 are health-care related.  Good news for my blind sighted com-padres.

10 Hottest Careers

1.  Healthcare information technology. Technicians are needed for such emerging jobs as healthcare integration engineer, healthcare systems analyst, clinical IT consultant, and technology support specialist.

2. Clinical Trials Design and Management for Oncology. Biopharmaceutical drug companies have more than doubled investment in research and development in the past decade. Managing clinical trials include choosing appropriate dosages, designing treatment plans and recruiting patients.

3. Data mining. Data mining is the technique for extracting specific types of information or patterns from large databases. A study from the University of California, Berkeley, found that data in the world doubles every three years.

4. Embedded engineering. There are career options for software developers willing to learn some new tricks. Phones, appliances, televisions, automobiles and iPods all use processors to run. These complex digital processors are embedded systems, often built around a microprocessor core, that are designed by software engineers.

5. Feature writing on the web. Is this where all those newspaper reporters who lost their jobs will end up?

6. Geriatric healthcare. Hey, everybody is getting older which means there are more opportunities for jobs for pharmacists, geriatric care managers, geriatric nurses and managing facilities for seniors.

7. Mobile media. Graphic designers, videographers, video editors, app developers and software engineers are needed to design and provide all the stuff that we now cram in our cell phones.

8. Occupational health and safety. More specialists are needed to cope with technological advances in safety equipment, changing regulations and increasing public expectations.

9. Spanish/English translation and interpretation. There are 250 million Spanish speakers throughout the world and the US has 31 million. The strongest demand for Spanish speakers is in the health care and legal fields.

10. Sustainable business practices and greening of all jobs. Green collar jobs can be found in every profession - even those you wouldn’t suspect. For instance, accountants are needed who understand what carbon accounting is.