Cronquist’s Blog

Dog Days

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

Look who fell asleep while working at home.

RSCN3378.JPG

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

Mom and Dad came down to visit Tarah and I this Thanksgiving and we had a great time. I have uploaded the photos that we took throughout our weekend of turkey, wine and beach.

This was the first time my parents had visited us and we lot of fun (please note the photo of the dogs and my dad).

I thought this was a great photo, so I wanted to get it posted. I’ll have to write more later.

Kasey Takes a New Job

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

After only nine months as the CEO of the Carpinteria Valley Chamber of
Commerce, I have accepted a new position with the California Cut
Flower Commission. The Commission is state agency where I will serve
as the Executive Director/Ambassador, working with flower growers
throughout the state of California.

I am very excited about this new opportunity. In just my first two
weeks I have been able to work on subjects and issues where the
collaborative efforts and nature of the people involved have been
positive and inspiring.

So, how did this happen and why did I make the switch?

The bottomline is that it was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. I had even
recently mentioned to Tarah that I had always imagined that at some
point my service at the Chamber would result in me getting recruited away. . .which is exactly how
this occurred. The opportunity to go to work for a
statewide agency, working specifically on state and federal issues
that help to improve and sustain the operation of businesses is an
awesome challenge. . .especially in California.

That said, I am going to miss the Chamber business. Having served 5 years
in Chamber management, it was difficult for me to imagine leaving the
industry and making such a change. However, change is good. Change
forces growth. Granted the last two years of our life could be seen
as nothing but growth: three houses, four jobs, two states, etc. . .
(between the two of us, if you’re keeping score at home). The Chamber
business was very good to me and my experience in that position has
already been serving me well in my new job. I will certainly be
completing my Institute for Organizational Management certification
through the U.S. Chamber (after four years I will be finally
graduating!) in January.

So what is the Ambassador portion of the job you ask?

The Commission hired me with a focus to have a person out meeting and
working with the growers, getting to know them, their issues and what
CCFC can be doing for the cut flower industry. This does mean that I
will have to be traveling quite a bit. I know some people don’t like
the idea of being away from home (like I am right now at 8:30 p.m. in
LAX airport), but this is a good time in my life to be able to go and
explore and learn about California through this opportunity. I will
also be traveling throughout the country, occasionally, to represent
the Cal growers in DC and major industry events.

So I feel very blessed to have had this career opportunity develop and
I thank God for his timing in our lives.

Raining in Seattle?

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

Check out our cool panchos we bought for today’s game.

Happy 30th to Donny! Old man. . .

Ryan wins!

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

Here’s a pic of me in Hillsboro, OR with Forest, Donny, Aunt Sheliah, my cousin Katie, Jesse and Glenn out for Friday Night Lights watching Ryan’s football team beat up the Lancers. They won and now advance to the 4th round of the playoffs.

It was awesome to fly in from an abnormally hot SoCal day for beautiful fall evening (cold, no rain) in the NW.

Today we are on the way to watch Huskies play/beat Cal. Life is good.

Donny’s 5 seconds of fame

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

I highly doubt Donny’s ashamed of being a WARRIOR (three years in Santa Barbara), but this was a very cool gift from Katie and little Grif-man.

Our New Rig

Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

I am excited to report that Tarah and I have bought our first car togther. I feel we found a great blend of what each of us wanted in ou (new to us) 2006 Land Rover LR3.

I especially like the physical comparison to our Toyota Land Cruiser, but now we benefit from a 400hp V8. Having a V8 is such a luxury and makes such a difference, but I recognize its not very trendy in this age of “green” rules.

Having already experienced my first fenderbender in the LR3 (one week after we bought it) I was very impressed with how it handled the impact. The car that hit me did not fair well at all, while I drove away with need of a new rear bumper. Pretty cool. Not one body panal was creased.
So, why a new rig? Well I have a new job. I haven’t posted about this yet, but I will dedicate a post to the subject. Anyway, as the Executive Director/Ambassador of the California Cut Flower Commission, I will be doing a lot of traveling and need something comfortable and reliable as my mobile office. One of the features to this LR3 is Bluetooth/Handsfree Phone. I can’t believe I lived without this feature, it is awesome and it helps you better focus on the road.
All that said, please consider visiting us anytime at our new place in Carpinteria and for a limited time we will be offering free rides in the LR3 for your enjoyment.

  

DSC05328Originally uploaded by Mr_Cronquist.

Tarah and I just returned from a 9 day trip to China. We had a great time touring the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the city of Shanghai.

Now you might be asking, “why China?” Fair question.

First, this trip wasn’t a vacation, but was my last duty as the CEO of the Carpinteria Valley Chamber (I have a new job, a post for a later time). Tarah and I were a part of a tour sponsored by the Chamber that took 108 people to China.

The tour started in Beijing where we toured highlights right out of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I must admit that China reminded me a lot of Mexico, and I’m not talking Cabo or Cancun. Rather, with 17 million people, it was more like the TJ sort of experience. There were some rough parts of town and this was from just driving on the main highways.  I just did not expect it, not at all.  I was expecting a booming metropolis with a Chinese attention to detail that would rival any modern city.

Why?

 Because this is the country racing to edge out the United States in the world economy.  This is the country that forces people to take their shoes off before entering a home.  This is the country that is spending billions of dollars to get ready for the 2008 World Olympics.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to go and we had a great time. It was a huge highlight to climb the Great Wall. We actually climbed to the end of the Great Wall, at least the portion that we were hiking. When people hike the Wall they talk about how many towers they conquered. Tarah and I conquered seven, which was quite a work out. My legs are just now feeling back to normal. Getting old is tough.

We also were able to see a great acrobat show where the disapline of the Chinese proved to be very entertaining.  I doubt OSHA was aware of what type of training enviroment these young people were working in.