ID Traits Elucidated
Foreign Countries
Foreign cultures and countries have had a resounding effect upon my personal development.
For me, foreign cultures have allowed for new ways of thinking and using my mind. I have found that
when you must learn a new way of thinking it is very painful at first, but becomes addictive,
due to the sheer amount of knowledge gained by being thrust into an altered state. The mind adapts --
and then it is able to process information more efficiently than before because it has new tools.
Experience With Foreign Cultures
| Place | Time At Location | Language Learned | Proficiency |
Puerto Vallarta
Mexico | Five years
Age 11 to 16 | Mexican Spanish Dialect | Expert |
Austria and
Western Europe | Two Months in 1998
and father is Austrian | Austrian German | Can understand and
Speak a little |
| Cuba | None, mother is Cuban
was my 1st language | Cuban Spanish Dialect | Mother Tongue |
| Japan | Three years in Japan,and
two years with Japanese Roommates | Japanese | Intermediate |
Environmental Issues
I worked in the environmental field for over three years, working directly
with or within private corporations and governmental agencies. I am very glad that these
entities exist, for those who are fortunate to live in a first world country,
not a third world country. I can say, living in Mexico was worlds apart from living in California.
We are striving for improvement,
however, for the system is far from ecological perfection. In this section, I do not address
the issues of large scale energy consumption or waste production,
but how we are dealing with immediate environmental problems on a smaller scale. It would be nice if
everyone took personal responsibility in the environmental problems we all face,
for example, taking trains and buying in bulk. But what I am referring to is how the
system deals with environmental challenges through legislation.
I would prefer
never to work for a private environmental consulting corporation again, unless
the laws regarding Third Party Evaluations change. The very nature
of the situation involving private entities
is corrupt. They are hired to do so-called third party evaluations by the
very party that is hiring and paying them. Thus, they cannot be fully honest about
any concerns they might have about projects. This results in a biased system and
whichever company is best at politics wins the game. There is a new system being
enacted in some local government entities in the US, wherein the Consulting Firm is hired through the
local government entity to do the work for a private party. By having the government
entity handle the money and choose the company, the hiring party has no power
over the environmental firm, that is, the environmental firm can be honest about
a situation without having to fear that they will lose work from this client again
if they say something that is not what the hiring party wants to hear. This is an almost
flawless system with regard to honesty, for the consulting firm does not have to
be deceitful in order to stay in business.
Government Agencies are good to work
for, especially the small ones. The larger a Government Agency becomes, the more
complicated and convoluted their systems. Really, an agency or company is like a
living organism. The older and more developed it becomes, the more difficult it
is to clear out unnecessary systems, the old and obsolete. Perhaps this
is the gripe that so many people have with bureaucracy, and it is even difficult
for those who must work with it.
For those of us having studied HTML, think
back to when the 3C was trying to clear the unnecessary things
out of HTML and streamline it. Its the same issue. Think about how hard it is
to clean out your garage, or your closet, get rid of things you don't need.
Then, imagine living with 4 friends and having all of you put your important
documents in the same place, and all your stuff together in the closet. In
order to go through and develop a system for cleaning it out, the most logical
method would be to either all get together and develop a new system or for one
person to be elected to do it, but then, What A Job!
| Environmental Issues |
| Hazardous Materials Management |
Involves toxic materials in industrial, commercial and even household
settings. Making sure that these materials are properly labeled,
handled and disposed of. |
Since the tragedy in Bhopal, India and Love Canal, this has been an
integral function of environmental policies. Learn more at the
Cal EPA Home Page. |
| Pollution Prevention |
Must know hazardous materials management practices, as well as new and traditional
methods for preventing pollution from toxic materials, dealing with pollution
from everyday nonpoint sources [such as stormwater pollution (NPDES)] and finally
recycling methods for preventing pollution in the end point. |
This is a relatively new practice. Go to
DTSC web page and your local agency representative for more information. |
| Water Recycling and Saltwater Intrusion |
Water, strangely enough, is
disappearing for human consumers. Sure, it rains, but concrete and the
cleansing filtration of the soil itself prevents much of it from penetrating
down into the water table. Humans consume A LOT of water. We are quickly
draining our underground supplies of water. Not only that, counties next to
the ocean are sucking the ocean water into places where fresh water once
abounded. To cope with this, some counties in the United States have implemented
pilot programs. Desalination plants produce copious amounts of salt pollution and
degrade the quality of the ocean around them, not to mention destroying habitat.
So, the counties are doing what is called water recycling or water reuse.
The water goes through the treatment plant and, once clean, is used again in landscaping
and agricultural applications. |
This is tentatively being implemented, because people are uncomfortable with the
idea of using water that was sewer water. What people don't understand is that if
a positive course is not set now, their children will be very thirsty in 30 years.
Plus, the water that comes out of a sewer plant has been cleaned so well that it is probably
better to drink than what they get out of the tap; river water, reservoir water, or well
water, almost always having been polluted in some form or another. |
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