Writing Into the Sunset

Dear Members and Constituents,

I think corporate America’s obsession with efficiency is generally healthy. Companies create competitive acumen as waste goes by the wayside. Product prices drop as productivity proliferates. Granted, it’s not all goodness. Change can be disruptive and it seems people seldom stay in the same post for long. Institutional memory can easily evaporate and re-formed teams can sometimes struggle re-building their chemistry. Standing as an affront to the unintended negative side-effects of continuous improvement is Level 3’s own Friday Donut Club. It was 489 weeks ago today that I started this ragtag band of sugar seekers. Although the club has moved up (one floor) and around (four offices) and grown from fifteen to fifty members (with a hundred and fifty having gone through the ranks at various points in time), it has always had two constants: donuts and my fingerprints. For the past nine years and change it has been my honor to preside over this “vice”. The time has come for me to take a break from managing the affairs of the FDC and make room for a new “vice” president (get it?). This morning, as Laura Serna Macia makes her debut as “donut girl” (donuts are here!), Ed Stocker has gracefully agreed to take-over our beloved club’s reins. Before you protest or inquire about my plans, let me assure you I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here at Level 3, in the same office (and I reserve the right to “guest write” the Friday Donut e-mails from time-to-time). Please join me in thanking Ed for stepping-up and keeping this tradition going.

Happy trails!

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Donut Doodle Dandy

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Bring your own Geiger counter!

Friends, This week’s news were literally radioactive -and I’m not talking about the fallout from the Trump-Putin summit. I’m talking mutate your DNA-exciting news. I’m talking Marie Curie-worthy news. I’m talking Geiger-counter-tilting news. I’m talking… well, you get the (glow in the dark) picture. A study about a lone wolf collared near Chernobyl and tracked on a long trek spawned the headline “ Could Chernobyl Wolves Be Spreading Mutations? ” While one can be forgiven for envisioning a flying wolf with laser eyes and a green aura about it, the disappointing story basically says most mutations are harmful to an animal’s health -and unhealthy animals are unlikely to travel 250 miles and mate with other wolves, contaminating the gene pool. So, much ado about nothing. The desire to open Rocky Flats (a nuclear weapons facility turned wildlife refuge) to the public has triggered some litigation from an environmentalist group. At st...

Friday Donuts

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