A dispatch from the Great White North

Yes, I know I've been a very bad blogger. But on a Friday night, with a few flurries flying through the air and a few Fat Tire's in my system it seems like a good time to take you on a little tour. Chances are pretty good there will be a more personal post coming later this week, but for now you'll have to settle for the tour. All of these photos were taken this morning...


Here's an exterior photo. No, the top part of the roof is not going to stay purple. That's just insulation. It will be enclosed in the spring.


Another exterior shot... this one from the shoreline of Lake Bemidji. The convention center portion of the building is closest, with the arena behind it.


Here's an interior shot of what will eventually become the Administrative Office suite. My office will occupy the second window from the right. It will have a nice view of the spacious parking lot and Lake Bemidji will be off to the right.


This will eventually become one of the permanent concession stands. The conduit that you see arising from the ground are for power, water, and the beer lines from the keg coolers. There will be three permanent stands on the concourse level with more on the club/suite level in addition to portable carts.


Here's a shot from the west end of the arena showing the entire arena bowl. The permanent seating concrete has been cast. The 25 suites and press box are starting to be constructed. It will be about 50 feet from the low steel to the arena floor when finished. The load capacity will be over 100,000 pounds so we can do a majority of touring concerts. As you can see, there is no concrete on the arena floor yet. Once major construction has concluded in this area, the chilling pipes for the floor will be installed and the concrete will be poured for the ice rink floor.


Another view from the arena floor... this one of workers making progress on the suite/club level.


This is a photo of the area dedicated to Bemidji State. There will be individual locker rooms dedicated to both the men's and women's hockey teams as well as four visiting team locker rooms for tournaments.


This is the Convention Center Ballroom. It is approximately 10,000 square feet and will be divisible into three separate meeting spaces. Once the heavy ground work is completed, there will be thermal floor heating installed into the entire Convention Center space.

These will be the four meeting rooms in the Convention Center. With portable walls, these four rooms will be capable of being combined into two large meeting rooms. The windows you see look directly to Lake Bemidji. It will arguably be one of the most scenic meeting spaces in the entire Midwest U.S.


Last photo for this tour... Fish houses are springing up all over Lake Bemidji. The ice is thick enough in most places to support the weight of vehicles as you can see. Eventually by the time January 1st rolls around the lake will look like its own separate village.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this quick tour.

Please Stand By

The Essence of Bobness is taking a hiatus during the big move to the Great White North. Things will return to their semi-abnormal, but more positive, routine once I get settled.

A Salute to The Captain

I said my good byes to The Captain last night. He's a reservist in the US Army and will be going away on training my last week of work. There are many people I won't miss when I leave California, but I don't think I'll ever forget The Captain. One of my employees, he truly is a super co-worker and more importantly a wonderful human being. He is always reliable, professional, a great leader and mentor for the part-time workers in his department. He has a tremendous personality and a terrific teacher for the younger staff. In fact, I wish some of the older employees could have followed his example and demeanor.

The Captain will be shipping out overseas following the holidays, bound for Iraq or Afghanistan. With the uncertainty of our direction in those two wars, it could be either of those. It will be his second tour to the Middle East and he leaves behind his wife and 10 year old daughter once again in defense of our country. With his usual preparedness, the people The Captain manages at work are already prepared for his absence. Youngsters of college age growing right before my eyes ready step right in and take the reins of the department with vigor and enthusiasm. He's transformed many lives in just the short two years I've known him.

He's promised to stay in touch. We've traded email addresses. On his way out the door, The Captain told me to be careful and wished me well in my new life. I reminded him I was just going to Minnesota and won't have enemies lobbing bombs, grenades, and bullets at me. In his reliable sense of humor, he turned and said "Don't worry, I'll duck." I gave him a big hug, and slap on the back and assured him, "I know you will."

I'll miss having The Captain around, and even as busy as life is going to get I'll never stop worrying until he comes home safe in 2011 or sooner. A salute to The Captain, everything you could ever want in a soldier representing this country.

Office Space

They've already got my temporary office ready in Bemidji.

I'm a little bit jealous

It's been a strange couple of days since I announced to the staff and others on the campus that I was leaving. Some people have been very supportive and excited about the move. Some have been upset, even to the point of tears in one case. Most have been apprehensive about what will happen next, who will take over, when will the position be filled, etc. For those people, I've tried to be supportive in return and give them as much information as I have gotten from my boss. Overall it is the kind of reactions I have seen other places and I haven't really been too surprised by any of them.

The reaction that I have received that has been unusual is the "I'm a little bit jealous" reaction. I don't mean jealous of all of the positives that this new job brings like opening a new building, having all the latest technology, and hiring your own staff from scratch. I think most everyone would love to be in that situation. The "I'm a little bit jealous" reaction has been to leaving SJSU. Many of the people here realize that things are messed up. Anyone who has read this blog for even a little while knows some of the issues to which I am referring. It is a non-positive work environment that has been unhealthy (at least to me) and at times can be worse. People are jealous that I am escaping. Some people are sad that it is this exact atmosphere that consistently drives talented people to seek out opportunities elsewhere.

But yet they choose to stay. Tied here by necessity, or reluctance to change, or nearing retirement age and just putting in their time, they choose to stay. They wish something could be done, but don't have the confidence the boss can make it happen. Some know the boss can't, or won't, change the atmosphere so they play their games and make the situation untenable. But yet they choose to stay and be a little jealous of those who leave. Privately they share their plans and intentions with me, safe in knowing that I am leaving and won't pass them on to others. "Only X years until my retirement," or "my plan is to only stay until (fill in the blank)." They want to escape, they know what is here can not be fixed, but they only make plans or dream to leave.

Perhaps I'm braver than I think I am. Perhaps I don't fully realize the magnitude of picking up and moving on. I do know that I refuse to work in the environment that exists here. I do know I am extremely fortunate not only to be escaping, but also in finding a dream job in a dream location (winter not withstanding). I know I will feel sorry the good people who remain here and are left to feel a little bit jealous. But they choose to remain.