Siftings
Jan
24
Steps
No Bulldogs are puking. That’s a plus (more here). Garland Ranch Regional Park is a shorter drive from home than TouVelle Stadium was, and there’s only the eight railroad tie steps leading from the parking lot to the starting point for fifty miles of trails. There’s 1,800 feet or so of elevation...
Jan
21
Taking Leads
Cindy Loo Who stops by. Or, at least, someone who looks just like her. A four or five year old girl peeks her head into the door, interrupting a conversation. She has locked onto the candy dish, as kids are wont to do. She looks at the candy dish, looks at me, and I give her the nod. It’s the...
Jan
19
1.19.16
Anonymous doesn’t work. It was early on in the Davenport experiment and there was a "team-building" meeting facilitated by the guy who did the strategic planning song and dance each year. We were all supposed to write down something we would say to someone on staff as an anonymous observation. ...
Jan
15
Craig’s Friday Countdown Visitors, Week 1
The open door policy is not just a policy – it’s an actual practice. This takes some (most?) folks by surprise, but not my favorite visitor in my first week. Before I get to him, let’s countdown everyone else who walked in the door.
Actually, let’s just say everyone else is tied, in second...
Jan
11
Uncaged
“Hang on back there.” I say it out loud and I’m not sure why. It’s past one in the morning on some curve after curve downslope between Barstow and Bakersfield. The Jeep is lashed to a trailer screeching and shrieking like a death metal (death metal fatigue in this case) band as it swivels and...
Jan
01
Craig’s Friday Countdown 2016 Resolutions
3. Apple a day.
2. More windshield, less rear-view mirror.
1. Get to the bottom of how Mr. Crabs' daughter Pearl is a whale.
Dec
30
Life Buffs Out
First tweet.
Second key to a city.
Thank you, Mayor Gluba.
Thanks all, who contributed to Davenport's success.
Dec
25
Have A Merry Happy
The front of the official 2015 card.
Some are adding to the collection.
Some are starting a collection.
Pardon the solar orientation, peace and goodwill to all.
Dec
25
Craig’s Friday Countdown 2015 iPod Additions
Not saying these are the best songs of the year, or the biggest songs (I hear that nice young lady from London has a new record). I’m not even saying these are from this year, though most are. I am saying these are my favorite fifty(ish) additions to the iPod in 2015. Enjoy or discard, as you...
Dec
22
Transformation > Transition
Four mayors and eight city councils. That’s a career in most places but, with two-year terms, its fourteen years in Davenport, Iowa. No City Administrator had come close to a double-digit tenure in Davenport before, so fourteen years was plenty. Enough to get both kids through school and off to...
