Skip to content

Follow Your Passion

I have learned over the years that doing things that you are passionate about is very important.

This was brought home to me earlier this week when I had lunch with a long-time friend of mine who I worked with during my time at Sun Microsystems. We were comparing job experiences and she remarked that every time she took a job purely because of the money that it ended up being a mistake.

Of course, I recognize that acting on that understanding is not always easy.Follow Your Passion

Reflections on the DOT Headquarters Move

While working on lesson plans for some of the classes I teach, I came across the summary and lessons learned I wrote up after we finished the move of the US Department’s of Transportation headquarters from L’Enfant Plaza to the Navy Yard. It original appeared in Federal Times, I thought some of it might be applicable to other large IT projects and have reprinted it here:

The Department of Transportation Moves to a New Headquarters

Daniel G. Mintz, Chief Information Officer

Department of Transportation

 “We’ve done the impossible and that makes us mighty.”

– Mal, Serenity Captain, Firefly TV Series

The weekend of June 22, the last employee was moved out of the old Department of Transportation headquarters building at L’Enfant Plaza and moved into the new building on the Southeast Federal Center.  That weekend the entire Office of the Secretary, including all of the communications associated with relocating a Cabinet Level Secretary were also moved.

Reflections on the DOT Headquarters Move

Ellen & Dan’s Excellent Adventures in Nova Scotia – Day 4

Tuesday was a leisurely day starting in Ingonish on the East side of Cape Breton about half-way down the coast, completing the loop we started yesterday, swinging back in a circle through Baddeck and ending up in the early afternoon in Mabou, at the bottom of the west side of Cape Breton.

The Lantern Inn & Hollow where we stayed overnight was on the Atlantic Ocean. That morning, we walked on the beach. Ellen & Dan’s Excellent Adventures in Nova Scotia – Day 4

Superman Doomsday

I finished Superman Doomsday, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superman_doomsday/, this morning. This was an animated cartoon based on the series where DC killed off Superman in the early 1990’s. At the time, it cause quite a reaction, getting coverage… Superman Doomsday

The Big Bang Theory Hearts Firefly

For those who knew me when I was the CIO at the US Department of Transportation, you will know that I held a monthly lunch with a small band of fans of both the TV show Firefly, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series), and the movie Serenity, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/serenity/.

For references to this, see the end of the interview I gave for the DotGov Buzz, http://www.usa.gov/Federal_Employees/USA_Buzz/Newsletter_0522.html#dotgovspotlight, and the reference from a column in Federal Computer Week, written by then rising star Chris Dorobek, http://fcw.com/Articles/2007/09/16/Circuit_633659049783559373.aspx.

I even ran into Firefly fans when in China this last summer when we went to see a solar eclipse, https://www.ourownlittlecorner.com/2009/07/21/serenity-on-the-yangtze/.The Big Bang Theory Hearts Firefly

Serenity On The Yangtze

  • by

For those who have come in late to the story, I am a member of what some might call a cult that worships Firefly and Serenity. 

Firefly was a TV show created by Joss Whedon, who among other things was the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which lasted less than one season. It was shown on the Fox Network who evidently weren’t exactly clear on what to do with a quirky, character driven, space western whose principals ran around in a spaceship, used six-shooters, rustled cattle, and whenever feeling strong emotions would rattle off a phrase or two in Chinese. 

The end result is that only 11 of the 14 filmed episodes were ever shown on TV and the show was canceled. 

I never saw Firefly on TV during that season. Serenity On The Yangtze