Pitt biplane

Aloha!

Flew this yesterday with a friend at the controls. A couple of rolls -
it is a Pitt biplane for acrobatics. Gorgeous yes?

A two hour ride today. Stopped at the dock on the lake we think was
created by the 1906 earthquake. The San Andreas fault is right here
and less then a mile from my house.

It always bothers me that Bush denied stem cell research 'to protect human life but then invaded Iraq. Hundreds of thousands Iraqi deaths, Americans die and he wants to protect human life? We contribute less than 1% of our national budget to foreign aid and he wants to protect human life?

Now at long last, the corrupt, idiotic and misinformed policies of the past will be consigned to the ash heap of history.

My Rejection by Medincines sans Frontieres

Aloha - I realized I had not written that Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF or Doctors without Borders) had rejected my application. I flew back this last January (2009) and interviewed. I watched a very good half hour video of life in the field which resonated greatly with me. I was interviewed for another 45 minutes by one person who was a Water/Sanitation engineer and then given a chance to ask some questions. I left and heard from them approximately a month later that I was not considered. The letter was sloppily written (printed crookedly) and was a form letter consisting of three sentences.

I knew within the first ten minutes that she (the MSF interviewer) did not like me. It should not depend on that but there you have it. No panel interviewer, no interviewer that had anything to do with medicine or nursing. When asked for feedback, her response was to say, "We don't give personal feedback". Nothing? I asked? "Correct". Well, how about non personal feedback then? Her response was, 1) Learn French, 2) Get more management experience and 3) Get more developing country experience.

All good advice but difficult to get very quickly. As you may have guessed or wondered, she was French. I know the American's can be offensive but really, her attitude was horrible and very unprofessional. With the three things she said, they knew ALL of that before I ever went back to New York, even paying my own way! If that was the cause of my rejection then they should have rejected me and saved me a trip to NYC.

I am in touch with an MSF staffer in the field. She does not know French and was never told she MUST learn French. She also has Peace Corps experience.

All in all, it was an offensive experience to be treated without much respect or kindness. All organizations have their challenges and perhaps this is the best approach they have found over time. Nonetheless, I am not convinced as to its efficacy or professionalism.

My plan is to learn French as best I can, get more management experience and somehow get the developing country experience that is more fresh than my Peace Corps service some 23 years ago. I also am in touch with James Orbinson and hopefully he can put me in touch with someone in MSF that can independently review my qualifications. Even if rejected, it would be nice to know exactly why.

I am open to suggestions and constructive criticism. Thanks for reading.

David

Visitors from Hawaii!

John & Peni Gibbs, visiting from Hawaii. Among my closest friends on
this planet. We had a grand time!

Words upon a Distant Shore

I'll see thee upon a distant shore
Not of thine own imagining
Yet as real to me as you are to fate
Caught between the real imaginings.

Do not let the distance between us
Lessen the bonds of humanity
For those ties that bind
Give us our humanity.

David McCullough
February, 2009

Would Love be Mine Again?

Would love be mine again
And thou mine heart
Betwixt love and hate,
Sundered no more?

I would thee love again
If thine hate transformed,
Would'st renounce thy hate,
To hate all else
Cept it's own reflection.

So these words I scribe upon thine heart,
To set free and adrift
To hope it lands
Upon thy heart
Thine soul
Alone
No
More.

David McCullough
February, 2009