Wow - time sure flies when you're having fun! I created this blog almost 4 years ago, put one post, and then completely forgot about it. So what have I been up to in the past 3.5yrs? Lots. But rather than give you a recap, I'll just update you on what's happening in my life right now:
I'm still working at Efficiency NB, although Gov't has announced that we will be shutting down in the near future. But things aren't as grim as it sounds - after 9 years of operation as a Crown Corporation that is 100% funded by Gov't, we are moving to a utility funded model. ENB is/was the only Gov't funded energy efficiency agency in North America and the funding model is not very sustainable given the province's ever expanding debt. So we will become part of NB Power, the province's electrical utility. Although it is sad to see the end of an award winning and ground breaking initiative, I am excited about the possibilities of what could be accomplished under the new model. Definitely exciting times in my professional life!
Volunteer wise I have slowed down quite a bit. I am officially not sitting on a single board or committee at the moment. By sheer coincidence, all of my terms of various boards and committees ended last fall; some organizations I had been involved with for as little as 2 years and others as much as 8. I decided that rather than signing up for multi-year commitments, I would pick shorter term projects. I was asked in January to join the organizing committee for The Originals, the City of Saint John's bi-annual Arts Awards Gala. So my project for 2014 was helping to organize, fundraise, and host an evening to celebrate local artists and arts supporters. We had a wonderful event on September 26th where we issued awards in 13 categories. Now that The Originals has wrapped up I'm waiting until the New Year to see what projects I may work on for 2015!
Oddly, my decision to slow down from doing volunteer work was due in part to having received a few recognition awards: a New Brunswick Day Merit Award from the City of Saint John (for work on PlanSJ), the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award (to recognize 'unsung heros' in the community) and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of NB Citizenship Award (for significant contribution to community). I know so many wonderful citizens and volunteers who have devoted their time and talents to worthwhile endeavors - who are much more deserving than I am - but who have yet to receive any recognition, so I was a bit taken aback to have received 3 awards within a 3 year time frame. It was sort of surreal, and felt very weird given that this was all accomplished in my early 30s. I started wondering: if I'm only 1/3 of the way through my life expectancy, what am I going to do next? So I 'retired' from boards and committees and decided to take a step back and think about what kind of impact I'd like my life to have over the next 30 or so years.
Which reminds me... big life altering news: having turned 35 this month, I am now middle-aged! My youth officially ended 5 days ago - ha ha ha. I am no longer considered to be a 'young' member of any professional associations, and by most executive standards have reached the age where my professional experiences and competencies can now be trusted. But don't worry, I'm not having any kind of a crisis! It's more just a realization of fact, and an interesting one at that. Now that I'm 'grown up' and 'responsible' I've been thinking more about my career and accomplishments and about the person whom I thought I would be at this age vs. who I am. I am fairly satisfied, but now it's time to start thinking about the next chapter and charting a course for 5, 10, 15 years from now.
A large part of who I am is my family, specifically my nieces and nephews. I am now up to 4: 2 girls and 2 boys. They are so much fun! My little buddies; I adore them and am in awe every day watching them grow and seeing how their personalities change and develop. And, let's face it: they are totally my excuse to do fun things! We travel together, go on adventures together, and learn and explore together. Thankfully they seem to enjoy many of the same things I do, and we are all somewhat curious, so they don't mind being dragged off to a museum, a hike in the woods, a visit to a farm or a road trip for some apple picking.
Well, that's all for now! I'll try to bring you another update... hopefully before I turn 40!
I've created this blog as a way for friends, family, or anyone else who wants to read it, to keep up with what's happening in my life. Not likely to be controversial, but hopefully insightful and occasionally fun/funny :)
Friday 28 November 2014
Wednesday 13 April 2011
Time to start blogging.
Years ago a relative suggested I should start a blog. Between work, volunteer activities and spending time with friends and family, my calendar is always full. I was told a blog would be a great way for people to keep abreast of my activities.So after years of procrastination (I never considered myself as the blogger "type") I've finally decided to start a blog.
My grandfather used to write daily logs. Each evening he'd sit at the dinning room table and write about the day's events. They weren't musings nor could you consider it a diary; it was mostly about business projects or what the kids had been up to: if someone was sick, had had a dance recital, or maybe an interesting function he'd attended that day. I always enjoyed reading his notes, and have decided that I would use a similar style for my blogging: depending on the day, I may just document the events that have transpired. But I will likely stray from my grandfather's style and throw in some personal reflections.
So here we go...
Today was a busy day at work. For those of you who don't know what I do, I am a Professional Engineer and am employed by Efficiency NB as their Energy Advisor. I help set policy and technical standards related to energy efficiency programs. It's a very interesting and rewarding job; I have been at ENB for over 4 years and in that time frame we have helped 10,000+ homeowners to reduce their energy consumption, manage their energy expenses and lessen their impact on the environment.
After 5 years of offering the same program, we decided to shake things up a bit and on April 1st we re-launched our residential programs. Financial incentives have been tailored to reflect both the amount of energy savings and the cost to perform the upgrade; the higher the potential for energy savings, the more money you'll get. I had a lot of fun over the past year doing an analysis of the program's previous structure and figuring out how we could get a better return on investment. By offering higher incentives for products such as geothermal, solar water heating and insulation, (and lowering incentives for items with the least potential for impact) it will be easier for homeowners to achieve their desired energy efficiency targets. And the government will be getting a better bang for their buck: for every dollar invested in home retrofits or a newly constructed energy efficient building, we will see greater reductions in energy consumption and therefore more savings back into the pockets of homeowners.
After spending the day working on technical documents for the revised program and finalizing a reference sheet for translating technical terms, I went for my allergy shots. I have monthly shots to help combat my dust allergy; I can't go anywhere without a box of tissues for my stuffy nose! I've been getting shots for about a year now - they appear to be helping, but it really takes about 18 months before you can be sure. Fingers crossed that things improve over the coming months...I'm sure my co-workers will appreciate the absence of nose blowing!
After my adventure at Allergy NB, I went to the Citizen's Advisory Committee meeting. The CAC is made up of 10 citizens of the City of Saint John and we provide input to the development of a new municipal plan. The process has been dubbed PlanSJ. I'm very excited to be involved in this project - tonight's meeting was to preview the presentation for tomorrow's workshop. Each phase of PlanSJ involves workshops to get feedback from the public. Now that we have a Growth Strategy in place (where we will/won't grow), it's time to talk neighborhoods: some are residential, others commercial, some mixed-use and others industrial (it wouldn't be SJ without an over abundance of industrial lands!). The conversation will focus on appropriate density (urban vs. suburban neighborhoods), use (residential vs. commercial) and the type of buildings appropriate in each area. The results of tomorrow's workshops will set the tone for the by-laws to be developed and enforced under the new plan.
After PlanSJ I was off to Churchill's Pub with some fellow CAC members to talk hockey, politics, waterfront development, and whatever other topics came up! (The Sea Dogs are now up 3-1 in the 1/4 finals...by the way)
And now I must go to bed - another busy day tomorrow!
My grandfather used to write daily logs. Each evening he'd sit at the dinning room table and write about the day's events. They weren't musings nor could you consider it a diary; it was mostly about business projects or what the kids had been up to: if someone was sick, had had a dance recital, or maybe an interesting function he'd attended that day. I always enjoyed reading his notes, and have decided that I would use a similar style for my blogging: depending on the day, I may just document the events that have transpired. But I will likely stray from my grandfather's style and throw in some personal reflections.
So here we go...
Today was a busy day at work. For those of you who don't know what I do, I am a Professional Engineer and am employed by Efficiency NB as their Energy Advisor. I help set policy and technical standards related to energy efficiency programs. It's a very interesting and rewarding job; I have been at ENB for over 4 years and in that time frame we have helped 10,000+ homeowners to reduce their energy consumption, manage their energy expenses and lessen their impact on the environment.
After 5 years of offering the same program, we decided to shake things up a bit and on April 1st we re-launched our residential programs. Financial incentives have been tailored to reflect both the amount of energy savings and the cost to perform the upgrade; the higher the potential for energy savings, the more money you'll get. I had a lot of fun over the past year doing an analysis of the program's previous structure and figuring out how we could get a better return on investment. By offering higher incentives for products such as geothermal, solar water heating and insulation, (and lowering incentives for items with the least potential for impact) it will be easier for homeowners to achieve their desired energy efficiency targets. And the government will be getting a better bang for their buck: for every dollar invested in home retrofits or a newly constructed energy efficient building, we will see greater reductions in energy consumption and therefore more savings back into the pockets of homeowners.
After spending the day working on technical documents for the revised program and finalizing a reference sheet for translating technical terms, I went for my allergy shots. I have monthly shots to help combat my dust allergy; I can't go anywhere without a box of tissues for my stuffy nose! I've been getting shots for about a year now - they appear to be helping, but it really takes about 18 months before you can be sure. Fingers crossed that things improve over the coming months...I'm sure my co-workers will appreciate the absence of nose blowing!
After my adventure at Allergy NB, I went to the Citizen's Advisory Committee meeting. The CAC is made up of 10 citizens of the City of Saint John and we provide input to the development of a new municipal plan. The process has been dubbed PlanSJ. I'm very excited to be involved in this project - tonight's meeting was to preview the presentation for tomorrow's workshop. Each phase of PlanSJ involves workshops to get feedback from the public. Now that we have a Growth Strategy in place (where we will/won't grow), it's time to talk neighborhoods: some are residential, others commercial, some mixed-use and others industrial (it wouldn't be SJ without an over abundance of industrial lands!). The conversation will focus on appropriate density (urban vs. suburban neighborhoods), use (residential vs. commercial) and the type of buildings appropriate in each area. The results of tomorrow's workshops will set the tone for the by-laws to be developed and enforced under the new plan.
After PlanSJ I was off to Churchill's Pub with some fellow CAC members to talk hockey, politics, waterfront development, and whatever other topics came up! (The Sea Dogs are now up 3-1 in the 1/4 finals...by the way)
And now I must go to bed - another busy day tomorrow!
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