I am out in Emmitsburg, Maryland this week at FEMA's annual Emergency Management Higher Education Conference. I have come to this conference every year since 2004 - nine years straight now. Every year when I first arrive on the campus (at the Emergency Management Institute-EMI) I take a deep breath. It is like breathing in the rarest air [...]
Tag: emi
You light up my life…
My new favorite thing is motion-sensored lights. They have installed this type of lighting at the Emergency Management Institute (where I was last week). Every time I walked down halls or into rooms where the lights were out the lights turned on. In the halls the sensors picked me up from a few paces away, [...]
Splashes of happy color…
I have been in Emmitsburg, Maryland at the Emergency Management Institute since Sunday evening. I have been here teaching a class for FEMA with my ever-pleasant colleague David McEntire from the University of North Texas. The class was only a two day class so I'll be headed home bright and early tomorrow morning. That means [...]
The $64,000 Question
I purchased a new magnet for my fridge when I went to Zozo (my favorite airport store) as I traveled home from Maryland the week before last. It asked a very important question and one I would very much like an answer to as I prepare to venture back out to Maryland again to the [...]
The travels of the little blue guy continue…
I have been out to the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland more times than I can remember. Each and every time I have visited that facility it has been fulfilling. I am truly a lucky duck to be able to do what I love and to be able to share some time [...]
Putting the wabi back in my sabi…
Last year about this time I wrote about wabi sabi in my blog. Wabi sabi (which comes out of Japanese ideology) focuses on the beauty in imperfection and the wisdom in being satisfied with what you have (as opposed to wishing for or always striving for more). My wabi sabi focus tends to be one [...]
What do blintzes and karaoke have in common?
I love Wednesdays at EMI for two reasons – blintzes and karaoke. They are both guilty pleasures and both well-worth the investment. It am a bit ashamed to admit that I can actually tell you what is on the dining hall's breakfast rotation. It isn't really a function of how long I have been coming to EMI - it is [...]
THE NEW FORTY 