Photoshop can do wonders to "erasing" embarrassing tats!
Thank goodness! :)
Alas, no tatoos here, actually. "Moe" is actually our real life schnauzer/terrier/dumbest dog on the planet. But he is a great fishing buddy.
Moj, more than a decade ago, (for various reasons) this particular part of the Oregon coast was identified as a "hot spot" for harnessing wave energy, utilizing hydrokinetic devices that generate power through the harnessing of the rising and falling motion of waves (and there are other designs, as well). As it turns out, the water that wave energy devices like is the same water that the Oregon Dungeness Crab industry likes. Ergo, there were conflicts and concerns. I was asked to Convene (Chair) an Oregon Solutions process (a really cool program) to bring all the potential players and parties to the table and seek common ground. We were only partly successful. But through that, we held the first Wave Energy Summit in the nation here in this neck of the woods, which I had the pleasure of hosting. Through that I was occassionally asked to speak to groups around the state about the promise and problems of wave energy. 7 years ago, or so, Oregon Business Magazine (weirdly) named me one of "Oregon's 50 Great Leaders." They have a new list every year so it comes with a grain of salt most assuredly. Eventually (because I had got to know all the players) I was asked to have a seat as a Director with the newly formed Oregon Wave Energy Trust. Still have it. Wave energy development has moved more slowly than we once thought, but likely about as fast as we should have thought. Problems still exist, partially with the technology and partly with conflicts with current ocean users, but there is promise. Newport, just up the coast from me, is home to the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC-affiliated with Oregon State University) and is well situated to receive federal DOE funding for test-births for wave devices. Developers would be able to "plug and play," monitoring their devices without the huge permitting and investment cost of developing their own sites. My community narrowly lost out to Newport (I led the push...losing again) to site PMEC here. I still think we had better water but Newport had research-based infrastructure advantages. A rising economic tide floats all our coastal boats, however. so a couple of months ago, as I sat on a panel at the Oregon Coast Economic Summit, I encouraged the state to put some skin in the game and make sure we don't lose those dollars to California, who is late to the game but pursuing them, too. $40M is at stake. It should come here.
On a related topic, recently I wrote an Op-Ed piece encouraging support for a small off-shore wind effort, which would be sited 18 miles off the coast.You can read the piece here:
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/readers/2015/10/04/ocean-w...
The whiting industry is generally against that development. Conflicts, again.
Somewhere in my economic development efforts I was asked to Convene (Chair) the Governor's Regional Economic Solutions Advisory Team for the three Oregon South Coast counties. I still do that. Meeting Friday. Had a call from the Governor's office on that topic today. It rang in the middle a Government/Modern Problems class so I let it go. Seemed appropriate.
A boring tail, I know. Thought I would tie my story together.
And heres a great piece about a homegrown wave energy success story. This technology harnesses the pressure of a passing wave, not the up/down motion of the wave. The M3 test was very successful.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/Scrappy-Oregon-startup-M3-Wave-to-test-it...
For goodness sake, shut me up!