Gracetopher of All Trades

Becoming Captain Kirk

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or;

What Dragon Boating Taught Me About Leadership

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I don’t know about ducks, but at least I’ve got my dragons in a row.

Leadership is terrifying, but it’s important to face ones fears because it is through challenges that we grow. And so in an effort to face my fears, I was learning the ropes so I could be stand-in Captain on the Tuesday after Easter.

Well also it has to do with the whole broken back issue. I cannot paddle yet. Will not be able to until very near the end of the season I expect. I thought I’d try tilling this year, but it turns out the till is quite a bit heavier than I expected it to be, and overall I was only barely able to control the boat. It was agreed after that that I really shouldn’t till. And if I can’t till and I can’t paddle, then the only place left for me is at the front of the boat. But I’m still so new to dragon boating! This is only my second season, what if I don’t remember enough of the things to say? What if I mess up!

Well I messed up. And guess what? Nobody was mad. It was a simple enough mistake really, I didn’t cause any permanent harm to anyone. And in the process of making a mistake and being corrected, I learned something about leadership.

My mistake was in focusing on myself and the words that I had to say to practice calling a racing start rather than focusing on my paddlers and the pace that they were setting themselves. I may be the one calling the shots, but I’m not the one making the shots. The paddlers themselves make the shots, I just announce them.

Leadership is not about forcing anybody to do anything, leadership is about seeing people’s strengths and helping them use those to the best of their ability. Leadership is helping everybody move in sync. Leadership is facilitating what others create.

 

Happy Minoru Yasui Day

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Wednesday, March 28, 2017 will be the the second annual Minoru Yasui Day as officially recognized by the Oregon Legislature. Who was Minoru Yasui you might ask? He was a Japanese American lawyer who challenged President Roosevelt’s executive order 9066: aka the executive order which led the way to Japanese Internment camps.

On my way into the McMenamins Kennedy School to see a presentation of Stories of the Resistance to Japanese American Incarceration by Linda Tamura and George Nakata, I happened to come across a lovely cherry tree in blossom. The light was low, but I was able to capture this photo:IMG_0108

Inside I learned that this very tree that I’d snapped a quick photo of was in fact donated to the Kennedy School in 1939 by the Nakamura family who’s children attended the school. The Nakamuras wanted to give back to their community, but only two years after giving this gift the  larger community of our country decided they wanted more from the Nakamuras. In the name of safety and security, President Roosevelt signed an executive order which led to the imprisonment of the Nakamura family and thousands of others.

When we take freedoms away from one it is to the detriment  of all.

How to Not Install Your Dishwasher

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  1. Please do not try to replace your dishwasher without disconnecting the electricity first.
  2. You might want to turn off the hot water.
  3. Ok really you might want to turn off all of the water.

My back is broken, I’m not currently the best person to ask if you need help replacing your appliances, but my station wagon is helpful for transporting things. And Aunt Esther taught me how to fix the dishwasher we got for free off of craigslist, so that was cool. We managed to get the old dishwasher detached from the counter, and then we tried to turn the water off so we could disconnect the old dishwasher. Key word tried. I even pulled the handy-dandy WD-40 out of my car to help the attempts.

Decisions were made. An attempt was made to unhook the old dishwasher without first turning off the water… Which ended in a flooded kitchen. But then as my cousin’s outside calling the landlord and the plumber and my aunt is practically swimming under the sink, I see sparks.

Sparks! Oh shit! Aunt Esther I really think you should get out of there… How could I have forgotten to make sure the dishwasher’s electricity was turned off? Water+electricity=BAAAAAD

All I can say for myself is that I was more along for the ride on this particular adventure. And that I turned off the electricity as soon as I realized it was still on. And that while I was at it I managed to turn off the hot water, leading to a) less water spewing into the kitchen and b) non-scalding water spewing into the kitchen. Both of which made it a lot easier to finally get the new dishwasher connected and therefore end the flood.

Moral of the story: take the proper precautions when replacing your dishwasher or you might just end up sitting in your cousin’s apartment drying the carpets with a hairdryer.