Quick Reads (Under 5 Minutes)

Interesting that PJM is releasing a tool intended to help project managers know the viability of their projects as they enter the interconnect queue. Most of these projects are sustainable energy sources and it’s part of the reform of changing from a FIFO interconnection approval queue to “first ready, first served”. We should all want projects with renewable/sustainable sources and viable business models get past the starting line.

Working in an un-airconditioned apartment in the current heat crisis. Fan on my face. Neck cooled by damp cloth. Grateful I usually have access to heating and AC. That weather extremes don’t represent a threat to my health. Reminded that is not true for many people.

Hi, the nice thing about this is we’re not just talking about things everyone is talking about trying, we have repeat reps doing this LLM jumpstart for paid clients.

I know this is somewhat obvious, but for those of us not in the enterprise license space, in ChatGPT you can turn off your chat history. This means OpenAPI won’t save your history - so you have to copy out each chat as you conclude it. But it also means your chats won’t be used to train the LLM. Seems safer than remembering to delete chats that contain info you don’t want going into the world.

Talking to my barber. He’s reading a book on pessimist philosophy. He hasn’t finished it yet. Hope it has a happy ending.

My work life begins to take some focus. Now, I have to gear up for it. I have three missions:

Use the expertise and context we’ve acquired over two years of custom software project work for a major power utility to find more work in the renewable/sustainable energy sector

Gather support both internally and externally to start a fellowship program modeled after the brilliant Baker and Cook program by Atomic Object for BIPOC students of computer science.

Follow through on my ICF training. Continue to build my coaching experience and capabilities.

All represent alot of work and the first two, if not all three, represent a real possibilty of failure. All mean alot to me in terms of creating meaning out of my work.

I just have to take a moment to suck up my courage.

Revisiting the financial growth model I made last year. The approach still works but the calculations needed a rethink because the inputs have become more complex over time. All things must adapt to change. Especially abstractions built by and for people.

Average life expectancy didn’t reach my age until the 1940’s. My multiracial makeup wasn’t accepted when I was born. My parent’s marriage was illegal in 14 states. I am privileged yet I would not be but for the arc of the moral universe. Let’s bend it farther towards Justice.

The software RFP process involves an absurdist exercise in prediction. “Before our conversation I’d like you to produce a transcript with timecodes. Further, I’d like you to note how I will feel about it when and what you will be surprised to learn from it when - with timecodes.”

I spent the day composing a book length response to an RFP. I found some amount of joy in the drilled precision of the effort. Sometimes we gaze at the forest. Sometimes we scrutinize a single leaf.

So far, I’ve a lucky and privileged life. I’ve found sponsors. Adversity’s been an indifferent teacher not a tyrant. Time has smoothed some unformed edges. And I hope that has made me more capable, resilient, and giving. What I make from what I’ve been given, that is a question.

Ordinarily, I focus my work into my home work area. Today is about working everywhere but. Sitting on comfy couch. Lying on comfy bed. Walking in comfy outside.