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Niko Bellic
- For other members of the Bellic family, see Bellic.
Niko Bellic (Croatian: Niko Belić) (Serbian: Нико Белић) is the playable protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV. Born 1978 in Yugoslavia, he worked as a soldier in the Yugoslav Wars during adolescence; as a young man he worked as a smuggler across the Adriatic Sea. In 2008, he moved to Liberty City to get rich with his cousin Roman, but instead ended up involved in a life of crime.
Life is complicated. I've killed people, smuggled people, sold people. Perhaps, here... things will be different.
Niko Bellic talking to Ilyena Faustin.
Early life and family
It is suggested during "The Cousins Bellic" that Niko and Roman are Serbian when Roman says Niko's English is "better than my Serbian". Their nationality is addressed in a handful of other missions, and hints at the same conclusion.
Niko grew up in the same village as Roman, with their mothers and their fathers (who were brothers). Niko and Roman's fathers were abusive alcoholics, whom they both despised; Niko's mother, Milica Bellic, was a long-suffering woman, unhappy that her son grew up in such a harsh place. In a conversation with Patrick McReary, Niko reveals that he had a brother who died during the Bosnian war. According to the dialogue in the mission, Taking in the Trash, Niko dreamt of becoming an astronaut when he was a child. In a conversation with Dwayne Forge, Niko says in the place he grew up, they did not have electricity until he was twelve.
Bosnian Wars
Niko grew up in the harsh environment of the Yugoslav Wars, and became a soldier himself as a teenager (The Yugoslav Wars being between 1991 and 1995, this means Niko was only 13-17 years old at the time). Niko says that he was betrayed "ten years ago", making it closer to 1997 or 1998 (although Florian claims that its was "twelve or thirteen years ago" in a phone call after the mission That Special Someone). He served as a helicopter pilot and an infantryman during the war, and during the mission Easy Fare, Roman alludes to him driving a tank (although given Roman's lack of first-hand experience, this is not necessarily true).
During the war, Niko both witnessed and committed numerous atrocities, which led to his cynical perspective on life, and a certain degree of regret, depression, and emotional detachment. Eventually, Niko's unit of fifteen men (most of them friends from his village) were ambushed by enemy forces, and all but three were killed: Darko Brevic, Florian Cravic, and Niko himself. Niko concluded that either Florian or Darko had sold the group out, and he vowed to uncover and kill the culprit, not only to gain revenge, but also to hopefully 'close the book' on the incident, and move on with his life.
Post-war life
Work was hard to come by following the war. In 1998 Niko's cousin, Roman had already moved to America to start a new life in Liberty City. Niko tells Kate McReary that after Roman left Yugoslavia, Roman's mother was raped and murdered but to spare Roman further devastation, he told him she died in a house fire. Niko did at least one prison stint in Europe (that was definitely not for his war crimes as Niko would either be in prison for life or executed) , then worked as a human trafficker for Ray Bulgarin. During a smuggling run from Yugoslavia to Italy the ship sank in the Adriatic. Niko swam to safety, but everything and everyone else was lost. Bulgarin believed that Niko had intentionally scuttled the ship and stole his money; the gangster's reach was too great within Europe, so Niko joined the merchant navy to escape Bulgarin's influence.
Spoiler Warning: Plot and/or ending details are in the text which follows. |
Life in Liberty City
Niko spent seven months with the cargo ship Platypus, which eventually headed for Liberty City. Niko, his shipmate Hossan Ramzy and others got off the boat to live in Liberty City, possibly permanently, hoping to live the American Dream. His cousin Roman sent emails to their entire family saying he lived a lavish life with several luxury homes, sports cars and girlfriends. Niko was also "looking for that special someone", namely revenge on a former war buddy who accepted a bribe and got most of the group killed. Of the three survivors - himself, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic, he knew Florian was living in Liberty City.
Upon arriving in Liberty City, Niko realized that Roman's stories of success were entirely exaggerated; he actually lived in a small, decrepit apartment, ran a small taxi depot in Hove Beach, and owed gambling debts across the city to several powerful criminals such as the Albanian and Russian mobs. Niko begins committing crimes while handling Roman's two loan sharks - fighting off Dardan Petrela while working off debt for Vlad Glebov - and assisting Roman's regular customers such as Little Jacob in criminal activity. He also begins dating Michelle, a friend of Roman's steady girlfriend Mallorie Bardas.
A short while later Niko kills Vlad after he found out Vlad was having an affair with Mallorie, and Niko and Roman are immediately kidnapped by Vlad's bosses Mikhail Faustin and Dimitri Rascalov, who are major figures in Liberty City's Bratva. Niko ends up working with Faustin. Faustin has Niko murder a member of the The Lost Motorcycle Club Jason Michaels for seeing his daughter, Niko eventually follows Faustin's rash order to kill the son of dangerous Russian mob leader Kenny Petrovic and is even employed to use a rigged truck to blow up one of Kenny's garages.
Later, Dimitri talks with Niko in private, and convinces him to kill Faustin in order to be spared of Petrovic's wrath. Dimitri finally reveals that he is working with Ray Bulgarin when Niko goes to collect on the Faustin hit. Ray Bulgarin appears and tries to have a goon slit Niko's throat. Niko manages to escape with the help of Little Jacob. However Roman's apartment and cab depot are torched, and they are forced into hiding, using Mallorie's cousins' place in Bohan.
Mallorie puts Niko in contact with Manny Escuela and Elizabeta Torres for more work. Elizabeta, in turn, introduces Niko to Irish hood Patrick "Packie" McReary, Lost MC Vice President Johnny Klebitz, and North Holland Hustlers leader Playboy X.
At one point Little Jacob had some off Elizabeta's coke stolen from him. Niko shows up and she hires him to go retrieve the stuff. After Niko successfully retrieves the coke he meets up with Little Jacob, only Michelle shows up as well, she reveals to Niko that she in an undercover agent and forces him to work for United Liberty Paper, a front company for a very secretive law enforcement agency. Elizabeta is eventually arrested and sentenced to 300 years imprisonment.
Through his work with the McReary Family, Niko becomes an associate of Ray Boccino and the Pegorino crime family. Meanwhile, Roman receives an insurance payment from his burned-down property, uses it to restart his business and finally becomes rich as according to Niko, Roman is a rich chopping board indicating that he is wealthy. Roman then buys a luxury penthouse in Middle Park East for both of them to live in.
After doing work for Pegorino capo Ray Boccino, Boccino gives Niko the location of Florian, who turns out to be innocent in the ambush during the Yugoslavian Wars. Furthermore, Florian had changed his name to "Bernie Crane", came out as a homosexual and began secretly dating Liberty City's anti-gay deputy mayor Bryce Dawkins. United Liberty Paper, with help from Gambetti don Jon Gravelli, finally tracked down Darko Brevic in Bucharest and kidnapped him for Niko. Brevic confesses to accepting the fatal bribe because of his heavy drug addiction, and the player chooses whether or not Niko kills him or lets him live as punishment.
Niko is later asked by Don Jimmy Pegorino to help with a heroin deal and work with his bitter enemy, Dimitri Rascalov. In the endgame, the player chooses whether Niko cooperates or kills Dimitri before the deal takes place. If Niko participates, he is betrayed by Dimitri as expected. Either way, a hitman fails to kill Niko at Roman and Mallorie's wedding, and Niko wants to kill Pegorino. However, depending on Niko's choice, either Roman Bellic or Kate McReary is killed at the wedding. If Niko chooses revenge he tells Roman that he should have done the deal, and if Niko does the deal he tells Dimitri that he should have killed him at Hove Beach. Both Pegorino and Dimitri are eventually killed. At the game's end, Niko muses on the American Dream and concludes that it is a hollow promise, which no one can achieve.
After Grand Theft Auto IV
At the end of the game, a Weazel News report states that Niko is wanted for questioning by the police (although not as a suspect), for the events at his cousin's wedding. It is assumed Niko steers clear of the questioning as he already dealt with the situation personally.
It is unknown what happens to Niko after the events of Grand Theft Auto IV, however it can be assumed that after the Revenge ending Niko stays in Liberty City as Roman and his new family are pretty much all he has. As all of the people who would want to kill Niko are dead anyway, he wouldn't feel as if he needs to look over his shoulder anymore. Even Ray Bulgarin had been recently killed elsewhere by Luis Lopez unbeknownst to Niko. It should be noted that coming up to the end of the game, Niko reveals to Kate McReary that he doesn't want to live the crime life anymore, so it appears that he may have ceased and cut all of his criminal ties. Meanwhile in the Deal ending, Niko tells Mallorie that "Your child will never worry about anything", suggesting he would have taken care of his dead cousin's child. Niko also mentions to Phil Bell that he is leaving the criminal life.
In Grand Theft Auto V Niko is mentioned directly a few times. Lester Crest mentions an Eastern-European (Niko) who was known for making big moves in Liberty City, but has since been quiet (retired), and thus become hard to contact. Later in the mission The Paleto Score, if Patrick McReary is chosen for the heist, Michael De Santa, Trevor Phillips, and Franklin Clinton are all discussing their first score. Patrick mentions his first score was nothing big, but brings up the Bank of Liberty heist, mentioning Niko by name. During his description, he states that Michael Keane was killed, Derrick McReary is dead by this point, and that he presumes Niko is dead. Therefore it is assumed that Niko and Patrick cut ties with each other completely by the end of Grand Theft Auto IV. This would have obviously been whenever Packie left for Los Santos via a flight at Francis International Airport towards the end of 2008.
Niko's Lifeinvader page can be seen on Jimmy De Santa's laptop in GTA V. A few of his friends can be seen to the side, Brucie Kibbutz, Little Jacob, and Roman and Mallorie Bellic. This means that Roman is still alive, and the Revenge ending is canon, so therefore Roman is alive, and Kate McReary is deceased. This is known because Lifeinvader did not exist throughout the events of Grand Theft Auto IV or any time beforehand. It is assumed to have been founded by Jay Norris at his parents' house sometime between 2009 and 2013, so therefore everyone with a profile could only create them during that time period.
Niko is very protective of his family and loved ones, particularly his cousin Roman, whom Niko constantly has to worry about due to his gambling habit, and Roman has an indiscreet nature of frequently getting the pair into trouble. He is withdrawn among strangers, but has good manners, and shows a softer side with love interests like Kate McReary and Michelle; that said, the horrors of war, both witnessed and perpetrated by Niko, have given him a great sense of guilt, and an ambivalence about the value of human life — he warns away pursuers and expresses regret over his past violence, but also feels that killing is all that he can do, readily taking on jobs which necessarily involve murder. He has an explosive temper when he is betrayed, manipulated, or his loyalty is questioned, but he is also quick to help the defenseless and unfortunate, even those he merely meets in passing; he apparently possesses a sense of idealism which was wounded by his wartime experiences. Unfortunately, such a split attitude leads to hypocrisy — Niko, for example, appears to genuinely sympathize with the McRearys' grief over the demise of one of their brothers, despite having secretly committed that murder himself.
Niko's bitterness at the murder of his friends during the war has consumed him, and he is unable to let it go, taking on several highly dangerous jobs merely to enable his quest for vengeance. Several of his friends, most notably Roman, urge him to find a new reason to live, and there are many morality choices for Niko to emphasize his trait.
Niko's businesslike manner usually leads him to behave more maturely and cautiously than his acquaintances, although with acquaintances like Brucie Kibbutz, Bernie Crane and Roman, this is no surprise. He has an apparent distaste for illicit drugs, turning down Little Jacob's offer of marijuana and warning against Packie's cocaine habit; he also finds it distasteful to traffic in cocaine and particularly heroin, although this may be due to the heavy jail sentences they attract as much as any moral qualms. He is skeptical of American mainstream culture, which he sees as shallow, hypocritical and debauched, and has trouble relating to Roman's fascination with the country.
Niko has a certain degree of pity for other people, even random strangers, and feels obliged to help others who cannot help themselves. Most missions involve Niko doing jobs for money, particularly one occasion, after meeting a troubled young girl, Marnie Allen; he even gives her some of his own money multiple times to help her out.
Niko almost always refuses alcohol when it is offered to him (he asks for water in the mission Ivan The Not So Terrible) except for the mission The Holland Play where Playboy X pours him a glass but immediately before taking a sip, Niko changes his mind and puts the glass on a table. There is a scene where Niko does drink a glass of Vodka (on the rocks) in the mission One Last Thing while talking to Jimmy Pegorino, but this is understandable considering what he has just been through. Niko (who has a couple of bottles of alcohol in his Middle Park East Safehouse and also tells Little Jacob that he likes vodka) does however enjoy a drink, but knows the time and place for it. He refuses alcohol outright in instances where he needs to keep a sharp mind, such as during missions.
LCPD Database record
Surname: Bellic
First Name: Niko
Age: 30
Place of Birth: Unknown
Affiliations: Linked to Russian and West Indian Criminals in Broker
Criminal Record:
- 2008 - Grand Theft Auto
- Recent immigrant to Liberty City from Eastern Europe.
- Appears to be avoiding allegiance to one particular criminal organization.
Naming and language errors
The surname "Bellic" would not exist in the Serbian, Bosnian or Croatian languages, as these do not allow consecutive consonants (i.e., the double-L in "Bellic"); "Bellic" is also pronounced with a hard 'c' ("bel-lik") throughout the game — Niko himself uses the incorrect pronunciation when introducing himself to the receptionist at Goldberg, Ligner and Shyster in the mission Final Interview. A proper pronunciation would use a hard 'ch' (as used in-game with the names "Darko Brevic" and "Florian Cravic"); a more authentic rendering of Niko's surname would be Belić. At one point, Florian, speaking in his native Serbian, pronounces the name correctly; "Bellic" may simply be an Anglicized version of "Belić".
The first name "Niko" is distinctively Croatian. However, it's possible that Niko is a shortened nickname for the Serbian name "Nikolaj". In the mission Final Interview, Tom Goldberg asks, "What's [Niko] short for? Nikolai?" Niko does not respond and no one else calls him "Nikolai" in the game.
Niko's voice actor, Michael Hollick, is American, and the accent he assumes for Niko is not a Serbian one; Niko's spoken Serbian is frequently mispronounced or wrongly emphasized.
Ironically, a Croatian preview of the game uses his incorrect rendering of his name.[1]
- As Niko is either a protagonist or not a traveling companion in each GTA IV-era game, he's not assigned a favorite radio station. However, he tells Little Jacob that "this city has some incredible music" and that he is a keen reggae fan. He tells Pathos and Patrick McReary that he listens to rap a little bit, but he is not a crazy fan.
- In the opening cutscene of The Lost and Damned during the mission Clean and Serene, Niko can be seen in the background roughly brushing past a pedestrian, right before you hear the LCPD report of the motorcyclists wearing no helmets. Oddly, Niko shouldn't even be seen in Alderney, as this contradicts GTA IV; at the time of the mission, Niko is restricted to the boroughs of Bohan, Broker and Dukes.
- Niko appears to be visually inspired by Sasha from the movie Behind Enemy Lines (2001), which takes place in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. Sasha's clothes are even available to buy in the Russian Shop. Early game art of Niko were depicted to resemble Sasha more so than later during development. It was implied in an interview with Russian actor Vladimir Mashkov that he was once offered the role, and he was aware that Niko was based on his character.
- Niko, similar to Florian Cravic, has a scar on his left eyebrow.
- Niko had a childhood crush on a girl from his village, named Mila Tadic. Roman will confirm this during friend activities.
- In artwork and earlier screenshots, Niko had often been seen wearing fingerless gloves. The files still remain in the PC version (confirmed) and can only be used with an in-game trainer. Obtaining them in the game without modding is impossible. The reason why they have been removed from the final version of the game is unknown, but it is likely due to the fact that they are not very inconspicuous.
- In early beta versions of GTA IV, Niko had slightly thicker hair and sometimes he can be seen with a buzzcut, neither of which appear in GTA IV, but still exists in the game files.
- Niko, along with Patrick McReary, can be fought and killed in The Ballad of Gay Tony mission Ladies Half Price. Niko and Packie have a colossal amount of health, and their deaths do not affect the story [2].
- Vladimir Glebov calls Niko "Yokel" multiple times in the game. Yokel is a derogatory term for people who grew up in poor countries.
- Niko was a speeder and daredevil before he even left his home country, as Roman comments that he is still a crazy driver.
- In a conversation with Manny Escuela during Escuela of the Streets, he claims that he stalked a woman in Europe, however the reason is never stated.
- One of Niko's girlfriends, Alexandra Chilton, frequently reveals on her blog that Niko has a very large penis, comments refer to his "bulging package" and how "well-hung" he is. After Niko sleeps with her for the first time, she writes on her blog that she is to discuss this with her friends, Heidi & Paige. Alex also comments that he can be rough and kinky, including a session where he "bullfrogged" her over a washing machine, which she recorded and spanked her with a frying pan, amongst others. She also writes how she once had to steam clean her whole flat after he left. Alex wonders if all Europeans are like that, which also ties in with Niko's cousin, Roman, and his attitude towards sex, as who is often on the prowl for young college girls.
- It can be noted that without the player's control, Niko will never hit female pedestrians. For example, when Niko carjacks someone, the animation can sometimes see him punch or kick the occupant of the car, but he only does this to male drivers. If the driver is female, Niko will just pull her out of the car and not harm her. Rockstar Games included this so as to fit with the personality that had been created for him. Also, some Random Character missions require Niko to beat up men for assaulting women. The only time Niko hits a female without the player's input is during the two-part mission, I'll Take Her, where he punches and knocks out Gracie Ancelotti in order to stop her behaving erratically when he tries to kidnap her for the McRearys, and later when she is tied up, he slaps her to get her attention for a photo to prove to her father he has her held hostage. This is directly referenced to in TBOGT by Luis Lopez, when he also hits Gracie to shut her up during Ladies Half Price.
- There is a possible reference to Niko in a competing game, Saints Row. There is a commercial featuring a man named Vlad with an East European accent (Jason Zumwalt, the same voice actor that voices Roman), with hints that he is a human trafficker, and claims he is willing to have the player's family killed.
- If Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend is played after Pest Control, Niko tells Packie that he has intentions of going after Bulgarin.
- Niko is currently the only protagonist to originate from Europe, although Tommy Vercetti and Toni Cipriani have European roots.
- Niko was voted thirteenth in the 2011 edition of the Guinness World Records for the Top 50 favourite game characters.
- Niko Bellic is mentioned in an episode of Criminal Minds, a young serial killer who like video game took the nickname of Niko Bellic but one main character knew that's the name of the main character of a "very famous video game".
- During the GTA IV storyline, Niko wipes out 6 gangs which are the Faustin Family, East Holland Drug Gang, Rascalov Family, Albanian mafia and the Pegorino Family. He may have also ended the Ancelotti Family, since two Capos, the Underboss and several members were killed by Niko Bellic. He was also involved in the end of the Lost MC Alderney chapter since Niko killed Jason Michaels and Jim Fitzgerald.
- Niko Bellic could be the most popular Grand Theft Auto protagonist to date. A Grand Theft Wiki poll showed that 1826 users thought Niko Bellic was the best protagonist.
- Niko's immigrant status is uncertain, and arouses the suspicion of the LCPD and FIB. Although Niko often protests while fleeing police that he "has [his] papers", Roman says that Niko does not have a visa.
- Although Niko does not make an appearence in Grand Theft Auto V, he was mentioned directly and referenced twice throughout the game.
- Niko Bellic, in his default outfit, resembles Mark Renton, the main protagonist of the 1996 film Trainspotting. The fact that both the film and the Grand Theft Auto games were created in Edinburgh, Scotland makes the similarity more striking.
- If the player plays as Trevor in GTA V during Patrick McReary's random encounter and takes him to The Altruists, Patrick states that Trevor is similar to Niko: an 'ice cold killer, look of murder in his eyes'. He also tells Trevor that despite this, the two still became friends.
- If the player switches to Michael De Santa in GTA V sometimes he will be in his dining room with Jimmy De Santa and Tracey De Santa, Jimmy is looking at Niko's Lifeinvader page on his laptop. It appears that Niko has given up his life of crime and is living a normal one with Roman which was what he wanted to do when he moved to Liberty City. From what we can see on his profile, he appears to be happily moving on with his life. He has even put up a few pictures of the sights in Algonquin.
- By the events of GTA V in 2013, as Niko is retired, it appears he still keeps in touch with his remaining friends and family, including Roman, Mallorie, Brucie, Little Jacob, and Dwayne (if spared in The Holland Play which is likely canon) as they are pretty much all he has left after the events of GTA IV, as Packie had moved to Los Santos. This is evidenced by the fact that he has a majority of them on his friends list on Lifeinvader.
Mission appearances
- As the protagonist, he appears in every mission.
- The Lost and Damned
- Clean and Serene
- It's War (mentioned only)
- Action/Reaction (mentioned only)
- Buyer's Market
- Heavy Toll (mentioned only)
- Roman's Holiday (mentioned only)
- Collector's Item
- Credits (TLAD)
- Knowing Me, Knowing You (voice only)
- The Ballad of Gay Tony
- GTA Online
- Character Customization
Early game art of Niko Bellic, with the later removed fingerless gloves visible. The design of his track jacket was also different, originally appearing with two layers instead of one; the final design of his track jacket appears to be a combination of the two layers, down to the color.
Alternate artwork of Niko Bellic.
Alternate artwork of Niko Bellic in a similar drab, featured commonly in later promotional materials, as well as GTA IV's box art. The turtleneck sweater is depicted as red instead of gray in game.
Artwork of Niko Bellic.
One of the earliest publicly released in-game screenshots of GTA IV, depicting an early Niko Bellic model, which follows the design seen in the aforementioned early game art.
Niko Bellic donning an outfit that resembles Claude's in Grand Theft Auto IV.
See also


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By Melissa Quinn (Photo/Susan Braun)
The dust covered everything. The dirt-like film seeped into homes, coated windowsills and blanketed parked cars.
When north Old Town residents first noticed the grimy substance a little more than a decade ago, they began closing their windows, hoping the glass panes would keep the dust at bay. For many, like homeowner Poul Hertel, the measure did little to abate the grime.
Hertel dutifully scrubbed his house, taking a mop to his floors and a rag to his windows, only to find his home dirty a day or two later — as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. He did not need to look far to find the culprit.
The Old Town resident and his neighbors always knew the coal-fired GenOn power plant was nearby; its five short stacks remain a staple of the Potomac River skyline. But as the dust continued to settle, Hertel grew increasingly worried. If the grime could dirty a home, what was it doing to his body?
Workers at Pepco, which owns the land along the river, told him environmental concerns about the pollution existed but reassured him the emissions were only dangerous at certain levels.
A skeptical Hertel looked to science for clarification.
Based in part on his dogged efforts, undertaken years prior, the plant's turbines powered down Monday, marking the end of a tumultuous relationship between GenOn and city residents. Northern Virginia's single-largest pollutant has seen its last days.
"Everybody … should take a deep breath," said City Councilor Del Pepper at a celebratory press conference just beyond the building's gated front entrance. "It is over, and [GenOn] is closed."
From ignored to ignominy
Back when train cars still regularly rested on rails near Union Street, residents welcomed the addition of the plant in an industrial-oriented city, said John Komoroski, a planning commission member and Alexandria native. The now-loathed plant fit well in 1950s and '60s Old Town.
The area smelled because the sewage treatment plant didn't properly filter waste, and the land surrounding the plant was largely devoid of homes and apartments, Komoroski recalled.
"It was just kind of there," he said of the plant, built in 1949. "It had low stacks, and no one picked up that the stuff was bad."
Residents largely ignored the GenOn plant, then known as Mirant, until the dust began to settle. Then Hertel and fellow city resident Elizabeth Chimento got involved.
On the other side of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the same dust that plagued Hertel covered Chimento's property, coating her exterior walls, outdoor furniture and car. She and Hertel banded together, hoping to learn if the dust came — as they suspected — from the plant.
"They kept telling us, 'What you have in your house is common dirt,'" Hertel said. "You have a cleaning level and maintain the same cleaning level, and all of a sudden you have a disaster in your house? It just [didn't] add up."
Chimento and Hertel examined samples of the dirt under a microscope and brought their findings to Alexandria's elected officials. The dust was fly ash — a harmful particle linked to asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — direct from the plant. Still, city leaders initially turned a blind eye, Hertel said.
"They took the position that if we do nothing, the plant will go away quicker," Hertel said.
But before long, city councilors commissioned a study on the effects of the pollution. When the results came in, "it was a disaster for everyone," Hertel said. He and Chimento were vindicated.
After a string of state emissions violations, the plant temporarily shuttered — only to reopen in December 2005.
GenOn officials implemented more environmentally friendly alternatives to lessen emissions but continued to violate state Environmental Quality Department standards along the way. Richmond fined the plant $275,000 last year and again in August — a violation that remains pending.
In 2008, the troubled plant and city entered into an agreement to lessen its emissions, placing $34 million in escrow for environmental improvements. The conditions outlined in the agreement made it difficult for the plant to operate, Hertel said.
By August 2011, the city and GenOn reached another agreement: to permanently shut down the plant. Company officials called closing the facility an economic decision.
"It's the right decision for the business," said company spokeswoman Misty Allen at the time. "We think ultimately that [the decision] isn't all that much of a surprise looking at the constraints of potential additional [environmental] controls."
That's not quite the entire story, Hertel said.
"This is an economic decision, but on the other hand, the decision was made a lot easier because of all the work put in by Elizabeth, myself, the city and other citizens," he said.
Planning for the future
As Hertel, Chimento and city officials celebrated Monday morning, most of the facility's 120 workers entered into retirement or began new jobs. GenOn, which holds an 88-year lease on the land, must complete its deactivation procedures before any plans for the plant's future can start.
Hertel hopes a park will be built, though city officials see development down the road. Plans will be drawn up in the coming three to five years, Mayor Bill Euille told a group of reporters.
But even as officials look forward, their years-long fight will serve as inspiration to other municipalities, said U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8).
"Because of … a committed citizenry, officials and our city staff, [GenOn] was held accountable," Moran said. "We've got 200 other power plants around the country — and [those communities] need to do what Alexandria did … Other communities need to do what Alexandria has accomplished."

subset: commoncrawl


text: Meet The KidsWe have found this program beneficial in finding families for our children. We ask that as you view our children, consider that they live in our communities. Respect their right to privacy, and be aware that they may attend school or church, or play at the local park with your children and relatives. The availability of their pictures leaves our children recognizable and vulnerable to negative attention. Although we strive to protect them, we need your help. Thank you!


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Tuesday, November 2, 2010
What Are Your Holiday Food Wishes?
67 comments:
- Anna said...
How about a turduckin but with your spin on it? maybe the same idea but using other types of meat, like seafood version or other 4 legged animals? can't wait!
- November 2, 2010 at 8:48 PM
- tracey said...
How about brussel sprouts? I think there are about 4 of us that love them, but maybe if you told everyone how amazing they are when prepared right, they could knock green bean casserole right off the holiday menu!
- November 2, 2010 at 8:48 PM
- Chef John said...
have you tried these? http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2007/09/theyre-bigger-theyre-better-and-theyre.html
- November 2, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Dear Chef John,
I am a college student. There was one time that a student brought in a crock pot with shredded turkey meat in it. It was the best tasting dish that I have ever tasted. Could you recreate this dish? The following link will lead you to a recipe image that the student gave me.
http://b.imagehost.org/0357/FH_Turkey.jpg - November 2, 2010 at 8:59 PM
I would like to see a classic pumkin pie.
- November 2, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Chestnuts! What can I do with chestnuts besides roasting them on an open fire? (or in the oven). I would love to see a savoury recipe that really brings out the flavour of this holiday treat.
Thank you! - November 2, 2010 at 9:04 PM
- Lia said...
Lasagna!!! XD I realized that you didn't have a lasagna recipe :( thanks!
- November 2, 2010 at 9:18 PM
- tracey said...
Thanks! They're on the menu for tomorrow!
- November 2, 2010 at 9:19 PM
- Katie said...
anything with mushrooms, cranberries, winter squash or kale. Cookies to blow away the cookie exchange. Fruitcake. Gingerbread. Greenbean casserole. New Years pork roast. Using turkey leftovers. Im excited for the Holidays, can you tell?
- November 2, 2010 at 9:22 PM
- November 2, 2010 at 9:28 PM
- Patricia @ ButterYum said...
Turducken (sp?) is the first thing that pops into my mind. I've never seen one done very well. I bet you could come up with a great video.
ButterYum - November 2, 2010 at 10:36 PM
- Patricia @ ButterYum said...
Here's another idea - how about a scratch version of green bean casserole.
- November 2, 2010 at 10:38 PM
i would like to see some pie recipes. preferably savory pie. i liked the shepherd pie but there are still many kinds of pies.
but a fruit and nuts pie cake sounds good too. - November 2, 2010 at 10:42 PM
How about a quality Holiday Ham? With pineapples and everything!
- November 2, 2010 at 10:50 PM
- Unknown said...
Chef John,
My wife's tricky condition has kept her cravings going for 8 months now, and her latest desire is (you won't believe this): CREAMY mac&cheese - very important - not cheesy, but creamy in the full sense of that word. She is very excited for find out how you would recreate this dish to satisfy everyone's obvious need for the CREAMY part of the mac&cheese recipe. I hope my sCREAMs for help are desperate enough for you to consider looking into what can be done for all the men in the world facing a similar rage of women in need of creamy Mac&cheese. It is in your power to bring peace to these men through a single recipe - perhaps, it is your destiny.
In any case, whatever you will decide to make, I am sure we will enjoy it as always! Thank you!
Tim & Irena Korshin - November 2, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Moroccan Thanksgiving Feast.
- November 3, 2010 at 12:21 AM
- darcyholte said...
How about an old world classic...REAL EGG NOGG! We had a hot mug last year at a phenomenal restaurant here in Victoria BC and it was to die for. Please make the authentic adult version with all the booze too. Prohibition has been over for like... ever. The stuff we had contained three types of liquor, rum bourbon and something else I forget now. Pleeease make this one!
Darcy - November 3, 2010 at 12:46 AM
How about Ratatouille??
- November 3, 2010 at 12:49 AM
- The Procrastinator said...
something that I can do on the stove - no oven. OOH and a great bark recipe!
- November 3, 2010 at 1:46 AM
A homemade pumpkin pie 100% from scratch with FRESH pumpkin.
- November 3, 2010 at 2:05 AM
I would love to see anything made from an actual pumpkin (not canned pumpkin puree). I've always been intimidated to buy a whole pumpkin for cooking purposes.
- November 3, 2010 at 2:34 AM
Some cannoli !!!!
- November 3, 2010 at 4:02 AM
Something with oysters!!
- November 3, 2010 at 4:08 AM
- marenamoo said...
I have my basics down for Thanksgiving - turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing - any way to get some new sweet potato, pearl onion, green bean recipes.
Also - if I may presume to add another category - I am responsible for Christmas appetizers - new appetizer recipes are always welcome. - November 3, 2010 at 8:08 AM
- janice said...
How about some simple, "I ate too much" recovery food recipes for the holidays like, great salads with maybe a cranberry/balsamic type dressing, or turkey salad with maybe dried fruit and nuts in it, or your best version of turkey soup. What about a festive chili that can be made in a crock pot.
I'd also like to have great recipes for Christmas Eve. Seafood, great desserts, appetizers?
By the way, the family says hi. They think they know you because you are perched on my kitchen counter so often on my Ipad as I listen to the videos while cooking. You and your recipes are a HUGE hit around here. - November 3, 2010 at 8:26 AM
- Chris K. said...
I would like to see more recipes using Thanksgiving leftovers. I think there's still some stuffing in my freezer from 2005.
- November 3, 2010 at 8:35 AM
- Sheila said...
Hello Chef John,
First, thank you for the great blog and videos. Second, for both you and Tracy, I love brussel sprouts, I have a very similar recipe to yours with the exception that I fry bacon and onions in the pan first, remove them, drain some of the fat then fry the sprout slices, after 60 seconds mix back in the onions and bacon and you have heaven!
I would love to see a video for traditional mincemeat pie. I have a real aversion to it, I am not sure why, but I would love to see how it is made so that maybe someday I could attempt it myself.
Sheila - November 3, 2010 at 8:48 AM
I'm by no means a professional chef, but here's my personal experience with pumpkin pie made from a fresh pumpkin. I was similarly enamored with the idea of a pumpkin pie completely from scratch, so I made one a couple of weeks ago. Used a fresh local organic pie pumpkin. Although it was fun to do, it really was not worth the extra work taste-wise. The fresh pumpkin tasted pretty similar to the canned stuff. And especially after it goes in the pie with all those spices, any difference was covered up. So while I'd recommend doing it for the learning experience, I wouldn't expect a much different pie.
Chef John - Wikipedia says that seafood was a big part of the first Thanksgiving. Maybe some sort of seafood dish that would go well with the more traditional fare?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_dinner - November 3, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Every year our son & nephew do an extra stunt turkey outdoors. Sometimes they grill or smoke it or put it on a spit over a fire pit. One year they wrapped it in banana leaves & put it on a bed of coals. Turkey Day is cold here, but everybody loves running in & outside with beer or wine or champagne. A side dish or special dessert would be fun to get up & go see about too.
- November 3, 2010 at 9:37 AM
- Chase Saunders said...
Duck with Cumberland sauce!
- November 3, 2010 at 11:38 AM
I love homemade eggnog, but people rarely serve it. It was a Christmas tradition in my house growing up.
One of my new favorite fall foods is roasted brussel sprouts. I add chopped up chestnuts when I can get them. A bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and into the oven at 425 until just getting brown on the edges. - November 3, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Every Christmas my mother would make a cranberry English steamed pudding with brandy sauce. I remember the first time she made it. I thought it was going to be like regular Jello type pudding and was so surprised to see it was much more like cake. I haven't had it since she died and would love to make it. I even have her mold tucked away in a cabinet.
- November 3, 2010 at 12:37 PM
- Noel said...
Every year we make "Buckeyes"(chocolate covered peanut butter balls) with my in-laws, but their recipe has paraffin in it(eww....wax?!) so I eat my curtesy Buckeye and that's all I can stomach, lol. I would love to see a non-wax version!
- November 3, 2010 at 12:45 PM
- JollyG15 said...
Stuffed Cabbage....yummy!!
- November 3, 2010 at 12:57 PM
- Travis said...
I have always wanted to try cooking a whole ham, so I'd love to see a recipe for that!
Also, I wouldn't mind some sort of demo on what could all be prepared the day before thanksgiving. I always have the hardest time timing it all so the last half hour isn't a hectic mess. - November 3, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Oyster stuffing!!
- November 3, 2010 at 1:21 PM
- Dinner For One said...
how about a traditional yule log?
- November 3, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Hi Chef John,
We have a frozen 6 pound Duckling whole with an orange sauce packet in the freezer. Any suggestions on how to cook this for a Thanksgiving dinner? Much appreciated. As always, we love your blog!
Martin - November 3, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Authentic paella! :)
- November 3, 2010 at 2:41 PM
How about a turducken or a ham or a yule log? can't wait!
- November 3, 2010 at 3:55 PM
Hey Chef John,
How about making your Walnut Chocolate Fudge pie that you showed in your Thanksgiving video back in 2008?
Our family loves your blog! - November 3, 2010 at 7:45 PM
- Lyndse said...
I have a serious problem. Everywhere I go, they have Green Bean Casserole on the Holiday table. I love mushrooms, I love onions (especially french fried), but I HATE GREEN BEANS. This is above your average hate: the smell actually has made me physically sick.
I'd like to find a way to make this dish - since everyone loves it - but with a creative alternative to green beans. I tried making it with fresh steamed cauliflower one year, but nobody really liked it. :( - November 3, 2010 at 8:51 PM
Fried Turkey
- November 3, 2010 at 11:14 PM
We are fed up of Turkey! We are going with a Mediterranean faire..... so lamb comes to mind and also salmon ..... help please with something different.... Thanks
- November 4, 2010 at 7:45 AM
How about a great turkey brine recipe???
- November 4, 2010 at 11:59 AM
- JoAnn said...
Chef John,
How about a salmon mousse or baked oysters for apps? Your 24 apps post is fantastic.
Here's my 1969 recipe for pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin. Give this a try.
Happy Turkey Day,
JoAnn - November 4, 2010 at 1:32 PM
- JoAnn said...
From my Scandinavian roots, a crown rib of pork, crusted with Dijon mustard and bread crumbs and roasted until golden brown. Soooo moist. Fill the center with buttery brussel sprouts. This is usually an Easter dish but certainly can work for any holiday.
If roasted lamb is on, be sure its marinated with lots of garlic, rosemary and olive oil for at least 2 days. Don't forget the mint sauce.
Whatever happened to jello-molds? Are they just passe now? - November 4, 2010 at 1:46 PM
classic chestnut stuffing recipe pls, also pecan pie recipe
- November 4, 2010 at 4:32 PM
some sort of oyster dish would be AWSOME!
- November 4, 2010 at 4:56 PM
something with persimmons!
- November 5, 2010 at 5:49 AM
- HeeYoun said...
This is probably pretty simple, but during the holidays we always had couscous. I know making it is pretty simple, but what I loved was the flavor (olive oil and garlic is my favorite). If there's a home-made version (no flavor in specific, just something delicious that compliments other dishes) I'd love to see a recipe for it.
HeeYoun ^_^ - November 5, 2010 at 6:06 AM
Hi Chef -- as a new vegan (3 months), I'd love to see some tasty holiday recipes that don't involve things like "tofurkey" ... recipes that combine healthy vegan ingredients with some of the traditional holiday flavours (e.g., grains, root vegetables, squash, sage, cranberry, etc.). I'm finding I can adapt many of your excellent recipes by substituting margarine for butter, soy milk for regular milk, etc., but I'd love to see what your fertile imagination could come up with around this particular challenge. Thanks Chef!!
- November 5, 2010 at 9:46 AM
Id love to see your take on a good brined turkey, ive seen brines before that use stocks and seasonings with the salt, as apposed to just water and salt.. Also, I MAY be doing a roast beef this year and would LOVE a recipe for really great yorkshire puddings! most recipes ive tried either A) are WAY to dense and dont rise or B) rise WAY to much and turn into more of a crunchy hollow shell.. OH I agree with everyone that said TURDUCKEN! I'm sure turducken has peaked everyones interest at one point! and maybe you could put a different twist on it! Incorporate a ham instead of a duck or something of the sort! All the popular holiday roasted animals in one dish! If anyone can do it.. you can
- November 5, 2010 at 3:23 PM
something done via Sous Vide. would love to hear what you have to say about the results.
- November 5, 2010 at 4:08 PM
- ShoopDeville said...
You mentioned seafood as an early Thanksgiving dinner. How about a nice fish stuffed with some other seafood goodies. Maybe some sort of drink too. You mentioned drinking as one of your favorite things to do. You've only 3 drink recipes? I think you don't really like to drink. Just kidding. Eggnog sounds great. How about Coquito? Anything is fine. Just keep up the good work Chef John.
- November 5, 2010 at 9:13 PM
- ShoopDeville said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- November 5, 2010 at 9:23 PM
I would enjoy a nice, fool proof how to on dressing (eats, not clothes). What I am looking for is super savory, no nuts or fruit that is firmish yet poufy and moist inside, but on top it is super crunchy and buttery flavory.
I also, since I am wishing, would like to see an appetizer that is not a cheeseball or that involves crudite, but is not too heavy (since all that is coming). Maybe do ahead?
Love your videos (did your farmer's cheese this week - BABY! simple and good. I made round two to fill pierogies). - November 6, 2010 at 12:07 AM
Shall we ever witness Chef John's take on homemade cream soda? (...with a dollop of ice cream maybe)?
- November 6, 2010 at 9:53 AM
What about some christmas candies and cakes? And some christmasy appetizers?
Love you John !! - November 7, 2010 at 6:54 AM
- Unknown said...
I used to be able to participate in cooking a giant Thanksgiving spread with my parents, grandmother and sister, and I really miss that. My family moved away and we can't always get together for holidays. It's just me and my husband, here. He had a fairly troubled childhood, so I try to create warm family occasions for us. We never had kids, but that doesn't preclude us from wanting to have special holidays. I want to make a special Thanksgiving meal for us, but we can neither afford nor store nor eat an entire turkey. Furthermore, I'm 48 and cooking alone, and I don't have the stamina I once did to stand in the kitchen for hours and hours.
I'd like to cook a meal that is reminiscent of the signature Thanksgiving flavors, but scaled down for two people, affordable and with prep time that isn't an endurance test. Leftovers and freezables are fine - great even. I know this is a tall order, but I bet there are many couples, young and old, in the same boat. - November 7, 2010 at 7:58 AM
- Unknown said...
I posted earlier about making a Thanksgiving meal for two, and said I don't have the endurance to spend hours and hours in the kitchen. Just to clarify: I realize a Thanksgiving meal will take some time. I'm just thinking something closer to 2 or 3, rather than 6 to 8.
P.S. Love your videos. I came to you by way of your roasted corn salad. - November 7, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Just read through all the comments so far. I like JoAnn's request for a crown rib of pork. Have seen these at the butcher from time to time but I have no idea how to deal with one.
My holiday foodwish is to learn how to make toutiere. Do you have a great recipe? I love it with mango chutney on the side. Divine. - November 7, 2010 at 1:50 PM
Aleatha, Hi, this is the anon poster from November 5, 2010 9:07 PM. If Chef John does not do your post - I'd like to suggest turkey legs for you and your honey or if you are white meaters then just the breast. You can brine the breast if you are worried about it drying. I do Thanksgiving over a few days (Like pie 3 days ahead, pre cut/cook mashers, chop onion and celery, yams... on THE day I am sitting back sipping cocktails!
- November 19, 2010 at 10:23 PM
Too late but maybe for next year:
creamed onions! - January 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM
- JeannieGuzman said...
How about a good old-fashioned Colorado Recipe for "Rocky Mountain Oysters? I guarantee that'll get some interest on Youtube! Jeannie
- July 3, 2012 at 2:24 PM
- Unknown said...
Fruitcake pleaseeeee
- November 18, 2012 at 3:17 AM
- Unknown said...
Fruitcake pls...
- November 18, 2012 at 3:17 AM


text:
President Obama has asserted executive privilege over the documents sought by a House committee as related to the "Fast and Furious" operation, a development which will have a big effect on the contempt proceedings.
*** UPDATE *** A Republican aide to the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee says the fact that the White House has exerted executive privilege over the documents requested by Republicans on the Committee in relation to the Fast and Furious gun-running operation will not affect the committee's consideration of the contempt citation today.
Bottom line: The committee will still proceed on the resolution to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, even though the White house has exerted executive privilege over the documents Republicans have requested.
*** UPDATE 2 *** NBC's Ali Weinberg reports: Below is the text of the letter sent by Deputy Attorney General Cole to Rep. Darrell Issa. Key portion: "The President, in light of the Committee's decision to hold the contempt vote, has asserted executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4 documents."
*** UPDATE 3 *** Also, the White House points out to reporters that President George W. Bush asserted executive privilege six times, while Bill Clinton did so in 14 instances, "both of whom protected the same category of documents we're protecting today (ie after-the-fact internal Executive Branch materials responding to congressional and media inquiries - in this case from the Justice Department). In fact, dating back to President Reagan, Presidents have asserted executive privileged 24 times. President Obama has gone longer without asserting the privilege in a Congressional dispute than any President in the last three decades."
And it also lists several examples of what it says are "Republicans, legal scholars, and journalists affirming this Congressional investigation into Fast and Furious is all politics."
*** UPDATE 4 *** Thorp reports that Issa said Holder did not mention using executive privilege during their meeting yesterday afternoon.
The Honorable Darrell E. IssaChairmanJune 20, 2012Committee on Oversight and Government ReformU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515Dear Mr. Chairman:After you rejected the Department's recent offers of additional accommodations, you stated that the Committee intends to proceed with its scheduled meeting to consider a resolution citing the Attorney General for contempt for failing to comply with the Committee's subpoena of October 11, 2011. I write now to inform you that the President has asserted executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4, 2011, documents.We regret that we have arrived at this point, after the many steps we have taken to address the Committee's concerns and to accommodate the Committee's legitimate oversight interests regarding Operation Fast and Furious. Although we are deeply disappointed that the Committee appears intent on proceeding with a contempt vote, the Department remains willingto work with the Committee to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues.Over the last fourteen months, the Department has provided a significant amount of information to the Committee in an extraordinary effort to accommodate the Committee's legitimate oversight interests. The Department has provided the Committee with over 7,600 pages of documents and has made numerous high-level officials available for public congressional testimony, transcribed interviews, and briefings. Attorney General Holder has answered congressional questions about Fast and Furious during nine public hearings, including two before the Committee. The Department has devoted substantial resources to responding tothese congressional inquiries.In addition, upon learning of questions about the tactics used in Fast and Furious, the Attorney General promptly asked the Department's Acting Inspector General to open an investigation into the operation. This investigation continues today. We expect that the Inspector General's report will further help the Department to understand how these mistakes occurred and to ensure that they do not occur again.Finally, the Department has instituted a number of significant reforms to ensure that the mistakes made in Fast and Furious are not repeated. For example, a directive was issued to the field prohibiting the flawed tactics used in that operation from being used in future law enforcement operations. Leadership and staffing at ATF and the Arizona U.S. Attorney's Office were reorganized, and A TF instituted new policies to ensure closer supervision by ATF management of significant gun trafficking cases. The Criminal Division refined its process for reviewing wiretap authorization requests by its Office of Enforcement Operations. And component heads were directed to take additional care to provide accurate information in response to congressional requests, including by soliciting information directly from employees with detailed personal knowledge of the subject matter at issue.The Committee's original report accompanying its contempt resolution identified three "main categories" of interest: (1) "Who at Justice Department Headquarters Should Have Known of the Reckless Tactics"; (2) "How the Department Concluded that Fast and Furious was 'Fundamentally Flawed"'; and (3) "How the Inter-Agency Task Force Failed." Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House ofRepresentatives, Report at 39-40 (June 15, 20 12). With respect to the first category, the thousands of pages of documents and other information we have provided establish that the inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious were initiated and carried out by personnel in the field over several years and were not initiated or authorized by Department leadership. We have also provided the Committee with significant information with respect to the third category. In a revised report issued late last week, the Committee has made clear that these categories will not be the subject of the contempt vote. See Report at 41.Rather, the Committee has said that the contempt vote will address only the second category, "How the Department Concluded that Fast and Furious was 'Fundamentally Flawed." See Report at 42; Letter for Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, from Darrell E. Issa, Chairman at 1-2 (June 13, 2012) ("Chairman's Letter"). In this regard, your letter of June 13 stated that the Committee is now "focused on" "documents from after February 4, 2011, related to the Department's response to Congress and whistleblower allegations" concerning Operation Fast and Furious, in order to "examine the Department's mismanagement of its response to Operation Fast and Furious." !d. The Committee has explained that it needs these post-February 4 documents, including "those relating to actions the Department took to silence or retaliate against Fast and Furious whistleblowers," so that it can determine "what the Department knew about Fast and Furious, including when and how it discovered its February 4 letter was false, and theDepartment's efforts to conceal that information from Congress and the public." Report at 33.The Department has gone to great lengths to accommodate the Committee's legitimate interest in the Department's management of its response to congressional inquiries into Fast and Furious. The information provided to the Committee shows clearly that the Department leadership did not intend to mislead Congress in the February 4 letter or in any other statements concerning Fast and Furious. The Department has already shared with the Committee all internal documents concerning the drafting of the February 4letter, and numerous Department officials and employees, including the Attorney General, have provided testimony, transcribedinterviews, briefings, and other statements concerning the drafting and subsequent withdrawal of that letter.This substantial record shows that Department officials involved in drafting the February 4 letter turned to senior officials of components with supervisory responsibility for Operation Fast and Furious- the leadership of ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona- and were told in clear and definitive terms that the allegations in Ranking Member Grassley's letters were false. After the February 4 letter was sent, such assurances continued but were at odds with information being provided by Congress and the media, and the Attorney General therefore referred the matter to the Acting Inspector General for review.As the Department's review proceeded over the next several months, Department leaders publicly indicated that the facts surrounding Fast and Furious were uncertain and that the Department had significant doubts about the assertions in the February 4 letter. For example, at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3, 2011, the Attorney General testified that the Department's Acting Inspector General was reviewing "whether or not Fast and Furious was conducted in a way that's consistent with" Department policy, stating "that's one of the questions that we'll have to see." The next day, May 4, 2011, in response to a question from Senator Grassley at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about allegations that ATF had not interdicted weapons, the Attorney General said, "I frankly don't know. That's what the [Inspector General's] investigation ... will tell us." As you have acknowledged, Department staff reiterated these doubts during a briefing for Committee staff on May 5, 2011. Testifying before the Committee in June 2011, Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, acknowledged that "obviously allegations from the A TF agents ... have given rise to serious questions about how ATF conducted this operation." He added that "we're not clinging to the statements" in the February 4 letter.In October 2011, the Attorney General told the Committee that Fast and Furious was "fundamentally flawed." This statement reflected the conclusion that Department leaders had reached based on the significant effort over the prior months to understand the facts of Fast and Furious and the other Arizona-based law enforcement operations. The Attorney General reiterated this conclusion while testifying before Congress in November 2011. The Department's many public statements culminated in the formal withdrawal of the February 4 letter on December 2, 2011.The Department has substantially complied with the outstanding subpoena. The documents responsive to the remaining subpoena items pertain to sensitive law enforcement activities, including ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions, or were generated by Department officials in the course of responding to congressional investigations or media inquiries about this matter that are generally not appropriate for disclosure.In addition to these productions, we made extraordinary accommodations with respect to the drafting and subsequent withdrawal of the February 4 letter, producing to the Committee 1,364 pages of deliberative documents. And we accepted your June 13 letter's invitation to "mak[ e] a serious offer" of further accommodation in hopes of reaching "an agreement that renders the process of contempt unnecessary." Chairman's Letter at 2. Specifically, we offered to provide the Committee with a briefing, based on documents that the Committee could retain, explaining further how the Department's understanding of the facts of Fast and Furious evolved during the post-February 4 period, as well as the process that led to the withdrawal of the February 4 letter. See Letter for Darrell E. Issa, Chairman, from Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General at 1 (June 14, 2012). We also offered to provide you with an understanding of the documents that we could not produce and to address any remaining questions that you had after you received the briefing and the documents on which it was based. We believe that this additional accommodation would have fully satisfied the Committee's requests for information. We are therefore disappointed that the Committee has not accepted our offer and has chosen instead to proceed with the scheduled contempt vote.As I noted at the outset, the President, in light of the Committee's decision to hold the contempt vote, has asserted executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4 documents.The legal basis for the President's assertion of executive privilege is set forth in the enclosed letter to the President from the Attorney General. In brief, the compelled production to Congress of these internal Executive Branch documents generated in the course of the deliberative process concerning the Department's response to congressional oversight and related media inquirieswould have significant, damaging consequences. As I explained at our meeting yesterday, it would inhibit the candor of such Executive Branch deliberations in the future and significantly impair the Executive Branch's ability to respond independently and effectively to congressional oversight. Such compelled disclosure would be inconsistent with the separation of powers established in the Constitution and would potentially create an imbalance in the relationship between these two.co-equal branches of the Government.In closing, while we are deeply disappointed that the Committee intends to move forward with consideration of a contempt citation, I stress that the Department remains willing to work toward a mutually satisfactory resolution of this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we can be assistance.Enclosurecc: The Honorable Elijah E. CummingsRanking Minority MemberSincerely,James M. ColeDeputy Attorney General


text:
Conflicted, part 2
Mileage: 25.6 and 27.1
January mileage: 739.4
Temperature upon departure: 22 and 26
I admit I was more than a little disappointed when the snow returned. Deep snow followed by heavy rain followed by unseasonable warmth followed by a healthy freeze had settled Juneau's snowpack in a way that almost everything was rideable, everything. All of those places that I usually need snowshoes and a fair amount of time to access - the Douglas Island backcountry, Spaulding Meadows - I could ride, and quickly, covering so much normally forbidden ground that I could hardly haul myself off the snow and into the office in the afternoon, knowing that any time not spent chewing up crusty backcountry before the snow fell was time wasted.
Then came the snow, soft powder, 12 inches or so, much to the delight of skiers and disdain of crust-seeking cyclists. I was pushed back on the roads, all 80-odd miles of them, again facing one of the things about Juneau that has gotten under my skin: the dead ends. How many times can I ride up to Eaglecrest? How many pictures can I take of the Mendenhall Glacier? What adventures are left for me here?
And yet, as I set out today to climb the Eaglecrest Road for the 235th or so time, a thick blanket of new snow enveloped the canyon in quiet. The road was devoid of cars on a Tuesday. The trees were brushed in shades of gray as breaks in the clouds revealed a soft glow of color behind bald white peaks. I took a deep breath of cool, moist air and wondered, "How can I leave this place?"
A clever reporter called it "Bloody Monday," the day when American companies announced they were axing 55,000 jobs in a single day. My boss pulled me into his office and pulled out a thick stack of papers bound by a big black clamp. "All of these are the resumes I've received for your job," he said. (my current job, the one I've already quit.) He reached in his drawer and pulled out another thick stack of papers. "These are for (the new job, the one I'm being offered.) We've received resumes from Washington, New York, Texas, Florida, even journalists overseas. Most of them were laid off. Now they're ready to come all the way to Juneau, Alaska." He set his thick stacks of papers down and smiled his most disarming manager smile. "All I'm asking is for you to make this really simple for me. Trust me, there aren't a lot of jobs for journalists out there."
What kept looping through my head all day was an ad campaign for Best Buy that captured my attention over the holidays: "You, Happier." It was a memorable slogan, but not particularly effective for a person like me. All I saw when I looked at those ads was: "You, with a Playstation," or "You, paying $99 a month." Either way, nothing changes. You're still you.
"You, with a new job." What would that really mean? I'd still drive a 1996 Geo Prism, ride my Karate Monkey and my Pugsley, live in a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate and four cats. I wouldn't change those things because I already enjoy my life and what I have, and I wouldn't have any real reason to change them. So what were the sloganeers at Best Buy hiding from me? "You, in management." "You, never able to climb to the top of Mount Roberts on a weekday again." "You, with a slightly larger stockpile of money." "You, on a career path that may not be the best one for you." "You, Busier."
There are really only two forces inside myself at odds right now: The force that loves newspapers and loves community journalism and yes, loves to work. And on the other side, the force that leads me to believe that time is the most valuable thing in this life, and all money is good for is buying more of it. It's a happy problem to have - too many choices. And I am a truly lucky person. Not just for the opportunities I have, and for the confused but unconditional support extended to me by my friends and family, but also for the confidence I have in myself. Because when I finally reach a decision, I'll know it must be the right one.
55 comments:
- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 4:52 AM
don't think of money aspect of the job. it seems to me that you hear the word "money" and you immediately have a reaction "i don't need it." it's a word that stirs up your emotion and clouds your decision.
the decision should be about what you like to do: be a journalist? be a cyclist?
they aren't mutually exclusive. you just might have to change your schedule a little.
either choice isn't a bad choice. no matter what you choose... you'll have a good life. - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 4:54 AM
Good Morning Jill:
Found your blog this week, havebeen reading your trips in Alaska and Hawaii. It has been
a source of encouragement and interest.
So far this month, i have ridden my bicycle 365 miles in eastern pennsylvania forty miles from Philadelphia.
The temperature's have been
close to the temperature's and weather in Alaska.
Snowed six (6) inche's ,last night, with ice and freezing rain to follow today through wednesday.
Have enjoed your travels and picture's, Please keep up the good work.
Are there any wild animals there, i.e. (wolves,bears, etc)
Lord Bless You,
Will say a prayer for you and your
safe travels
LOve of Jesus be with you, always,
Peter Jill, it seems to me that at some point you should be able to combine your two loves. Writing about your riding and your other outdoor pursuits. Sure, you're doing that right now, but it seems you could replace your newspaper job with writing about your experiences (and others).
Maybe transition into it, but it seems to make sense to combine your two loves not dump one of them.
Good luck!- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 7:26 AM
You really articulate well this situation and your options, thoughts... makes for great reading! Thanks and my best to you, no matter your decision.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Whaa, whaaa, whaaa,
Balance is what's needed. I don't understand why our generation hates "things" so much. If you want to play video games, you get an X-box, if not fine. If you want some additional security, work and stash some cash.
Nobody cares about money until there's not enough. Then they suffer a major set-back i.e. crashing their bicycle on an icy road or getting hit by a car, and the it's "somebody should do something about this, health care sucks", yet they've contributed almost nothing in return, they are not in the asset column.
If you value the time more then do what you're doing, but if/when you leave that job, and nothing else materializes, what then? Mommy and Daddy send a check?
If you value true independence, there is a cost, for better or worse, for that independence. As the guy said in Wayne's World, "It costs a lot to live this free".
Work, play, save, spend, live, love.
Balance Balance is needed, true, but, I'm more in line with what Anon 2:52 was saying: what do you really want to be? A journalist, or a writer (and cyclist)? Because, it seems to me, if you go with the daytime journalist/manager job, it could stymie your writing future, because you write about what you love, which is constant cycling.
ReplyDeleteWow, nice Wayne's world quote, Anon. I never caught the truth and irony behind that line, however, I was only in 7th grade the last time I watched it. Living with and in balance is a primary aspect to living a happy and fulfilled life. All the money in the world and all the time in the world won't necessarily bring happiness. But, contributing to your community (through work, volunteering, etc.) which provides a feeling of self-worth, continuing to develop your mind through experiences and literature to help grow your perspective, and having time for yourself to discover and search and climb and fall are three components that I believe are necessary for a well-rounded life.
Live in the middle of nowhere and ride all day/night, you'll reach a feeling of emptiness eventually. Work all the time, you'll develop a feeling of emptiness eventually. Sit and read books all day, gathering all the information in the world but without using it for anything, you'll develop that unavoidable feeling of emptiness. Balance all three, and that's where it all comes together.
For what it's worth, these are my thoughts. It may not be for everyone, but if you feel unbalanced, think about what aspect may be missing...
I wish you well.- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Jill, perhaps taking this position on a trial-basis may be worth while? Get your feet wet. You won't know if you can make it work if you don't try. Maybe trying it out will alleviate any regrets you may have had with leaving without trying.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 9:49 AM
Jesus, Socrates, Gandhi, Ted Nugent,
Wayne Campbell...
Yeah that pretty much sums up my list of great philosophers.
Here's another line from The Big Lebowski:
"My advice to you sir, is to do what your parents did and get a job. The war's over Lebowski, the bum's lost". - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 9:53 AM
DI makes a great point. SO you are in the job for 6 months and hate it. Your other plan will still be there.
Good Luck and with either plan please keep writing here. I love reading it. it's very intriquing (somewhat shocking even) reading these comments that try to formulate an idea about what jill should do with "the rest of her life" (or at least the next several months). many of them seem to have an amazing sense of jill's situation and even her personality, and then other ones seem so far off base with what jill is really saying here. I guess it's an interesting study into whether or not people who "know" you through reading what you've written really know much about who you actually are or not. some of these comments seem like they could have come from people who have actually known jill for years (and at least a few of them have), while other comments couldn't be more irrelevant to her and her situation if they tried.
ReplyDeletechevy geo? wtf? you need a monte carlo, man. with a bugle horn. and tinted windows. people see you in it, they say, "wow - that lady is one successful lady. what a nice car."
a tricked out car makes working your whole life away so worth it. if you drink and play video games all the time when you're not working, you will soon forget that you are alive and all your troubles will go away.Jill...again...you are in an enviable position.
Follow your heart and all will be fine. Some of us with $$ and stuff are not always as happy as it would appear.
You have no idea how much I would love to just take off for six months with my mtn. bikes and enjoy the desert southwest and the mountains. Unfortunately I have a teaching job, a wife, a home, stuff, and responsibilities as do many.
Enjoy your life Jill no matter what your. Our time here can be fleeting.- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Used to live in SE Alaska, also SW Alaska. Love your post, helps to give me hits of the Alaska I loved. My work there was many hours (rural doctoring) and it was always a challenge to get the right balance with outdoor treks. But over the long haul, I've held onto my carreer, with periods of more balance and periods of less balance. It's not about the money. It's about the carreer- being able to keep a foothold with what i love doing when i am not deep in the back country challenging my body and soul and loving every second of the narrative of earth and sky. Becuase if i didn't keeo my carreer alive, eventually i;d be forced to work JUST for the money, flipping burgers or whatever. Not bad bud not my passion. It's a great choice to have- to decide whether to keep the carreer alive v. feel totally alive NOW all the time w/o the career.....
I guess I am advocating reframing the decision.
ALso, if balance is what you want, can you keep the position for which you gave notice instead of ramping up to the "bigger" job?
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 11:56 AM
One more thing to consider...money is not that important until you don't have it when you desperately need it. What about health insurance, do you really want to be w/out that? It would only take a small accident to put you in alot of debt and we all know how considerate drivers are of bikers. I know I'm biased, I don't want you to leave Juneau but whatever you decide, I wish you luck.
ReplyDelete Thanks for the comments, everyone. I really do value them all as they help me put my own thoughts in perspective.
As to the "adventure" Geoff and I had planned, it's not as flighty and irresponsible as I make it sound. I have a plan for health insurance, budgeting for six months when my current savings (FDIC insured) could carry me for four years under a similar budget plan, and then come back to Alaska (probably Anchorage, but maybe Juneau) in August with more budgeting set aside to find a real apartment and look for a job. And it's not just all traveling and dirtbag bicycle touring, although that's a big part of it. But I do have a specific goal that is bigger than anything I have ever attempted and will likely be bigger than anything I ever will attempt, and a similar fitness, preparation and financial window may never open up again. And, yes, I also planned to use free non-training time to work on some serious writing projects, which I've had less time for since last fall (when my current job started to get busier) and will likely have even less time than that for if I take a new job. (And the writing may or may not be lucrative, but I'll never know unless I try.) This decision really isn't as simple as "money versus freedom," although maybe I've written it that way in short posts.- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Question, When you go biking in really snowy conditions, or when your doing the iditerod, do you bike wearing snow shoes?? Can you? I went winter hiking yesturday without snow shoes and it was hard, so it got me wondering what ppl wear on their feet when snow biking. .
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Oh and one other thing. I myself am 24 and have recently decided that i really do want to go to grad school and get my teaching masters. I felt like "oh my god, before i know it i'll be too old to day dream". I've always wanted to just travel the world, Since your just a few years older than I am - really gives me a new perspective that you dont have to give up on your goals at any particular point. I always felt like, by the time i reach my mid 20's i need to focus on a career. I'm glad to see you are being so open minded about your oppertunities, its very encouraging for me. Thank you! (P.S No, Im not calling you old)
ReplyDelete Thanks, Sara!
You seem to be where I was when I was 24, when I quit my job to travel with my friends to Alaska in a van and then ride a bicycle cross-country. (Actually, I was 23 at the beginning. I had my birthday on the road.) I thought I was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. "I won't be doing stuff like this when I'm 30," I thought.
Ha! I'll be 30 in August. I think eventually I'll have to accept that this is simply who I am, and I may never "grow out of it." But the philosophy I've developed is to keep myself open to all of life's paths, and not drive myself tunnel-vision in one direction into a future that is unknown anyway.
Oh, and as to the snowshoeing ... the thing with snowbiking is if you can't walk without sinking in too deep, you certainly can't ride a bike. Snowbikers stick to fairly packed trails, and if there's too much new snow, we're pushing our bikes anyway. If there's too much new snow to push a bike without snowshoes, we'd turn around quickly because that would just be awful. :-)- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Geoff, obviously 99 percent of Jill's blog readers don't "know" Jill, and the likelihood of anyone actually having advice for her based on our consideration of her personality is very slim. Given that, many of the comments may be off the mark. However, the questions Jill seems to be asking have a universal context with which many humans can identify. Conventional vs. unconventional. Love or money. It's the same reason universities across the globe have spent years discussing Shakespeare, Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas More's Utopia. The questions asked, ideals addressed and conflict engaged are universal. Would you also be surprised if someone derived a personal connection from a part of Nietzsche's philosophy or if he or she felt somehow connected to what Ophelia may have been feeling in one of Shakespeare's greatest works?
Most people can not help but identify with what is familiar, causing an emotional or mental connection. Human nature leads us to read things to which we can connect. This is why textbooks filled with topics we do not understand are generally not stimulating. My point is that people like to engage in what they are reading. People would not invest their emotions or time into reading something if they couldn't relate in the least. The primary difference between the reader of blog rather than a book is that you can't direct a comment to or question an author of a book as easily as a blog allows. Readers are reacting to their feelings by offering advice, as accurately or inaccurately as you may feel these responses are.
Peace. - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 2:20 PM
God, who is this (Anon) guy/girl? I feel like if I saw him/her, i could pick them out of a room because their head would be three times the size of normal.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Frued, of all people, said upon his deathbed that there are two things of value in life, "love and work."
You have work that supercedes a job in your writing and exploration. And you appear, as well, to thrive on love. I don't think you can make a wrong move; you've invested a lot of time into work, despite the pressure your editor is putting on you to stick with the job offered. Whatever you choose, we all know you will be following your heart in love and work. Peace...... - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
There are many anon's, anon.
Conventional? Unconventional?
Love? Money?
Jill's answer should be...
YES! - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Do whatever will bring you the most attention from your family, friends, and outsiders. Go do your races and outdoor advenures to make your dad proud of you and to relive those moments you used to spend outdoors with him. Live in Alaska and ride your bike outdoors so your sisters can say that's Jill my sister in Alaska. Go write your book and your blog so people you've never met will admire your adventures and your talent as a writer, and they can tell other people I know this Jill from Alaska. Choose to be different from everyone else so that you stand out instead of fit in. Change your life completely whenever you find yourself in a comfortable rut and you start to worry if maybe you shouldn't be doing something else. Go off in the never ending elusive holy grail quest of happiness, and don't be disappointed if you never find it, because the journey is the real reward in life.
ReplyDelete Hey, life isn't over after your 20's. You can still pursue goals and do really cool things for decades. Just take care of your life necessities like health insurance, money to fall back on. Stay put, enjoy this time of your life. Your 30's will be even better, then your 40's and 50's. Look at Willie Nelson.
Craig- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 7:02 PM
Mike in WI says...
Jill, this was the first time you mentioned having another goal to shoot for which seems to require youth and strength...something tells me we will hear more of this goal with a plan if you commit...
A goal without a plan is just a wish. - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 7:23 PM
"...no this is how it works
you peer inside yourself
you take the things you like
and try to love the things you took..."
A snow biking video once told me so.
I have enjoyed the comments in that they are an insight to your readership: Questions we have all answered one way or another... anon @ 12:10:
yeah, you're exactly right. that's pretty much what i was saying. i guess what is really fascinating to me thus is that each person's interaction in this conversation is based to some degree on "baggage" that they bring to the discussion. and it's fascinating to me just how different various people can see the same things based on the "baggage" that they bring to the conversation. that's not to say that anyone is "right" or "wrong" just that some people's baggage allows them to very perfectly understand jill and what she's driving at here and other people's baggage very much restricts them from really understanding her.- AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Geoff...what you call "baggage" are other folks life experiences from which comes wisdom.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 9:17 PM
geoff- anon's a last-worder, you'll just end up talking circles...but, interesting points.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 9:24 PM
Interesting comments from everyone. I really think everyone has a strong bias based upon their life situations. When I was younger and making a solid 6 figure income, I thought that was what is was about. As I got older it was about providing well for my kids. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, I was told in Feb 08 that I had a Congenital defect in my heart and that i was past due for a meeting with the coroner that's when life took on a different meaning. I now work because I like what I do and I still need some income. But I now find I am perfectly happy with things that I previously would have frowned on. Yes you need cash, my earlier efforts have afforded me a comfortable lifestyle now, but the greed bug is never satisfied and if you allow it, it will consume you. I feel blessed that this health issue arose and persuaded me to live life in a more balanced manner. I also believe everyday now has a once in a lifetime opportunity.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Great blog Jill,
Thought you'd appreciate mine:
http://citysimplicity.blogspot.com/ I've been on salary for six and a half years now Jill. It does feel secure at times but it sucks when you are standing at the office instead of on the start line for a race you trained all winter and spring for.
That's happened to me more than once. Lets face it when you're on salary your ass is theirs.
-BSounds like you're all set. Maybe just coming to terms with a decision that's already made? You know I'd love to see you do the bike and write thing. That's just me livin' vicariously, though. Made my choice for kids long ago. If only the whole family would bike around the world with me, living on wild asparagus, cattails and great American novel writing.
Goin' to the South Pole? That'd be super cool.
With regards to Sara's question. In a race like Iditarod where you are forced to take on deep, unpacked snow, could you carry and use snowshoes?- AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Hi Geoff, for the record, I'm the Anon 12:10 who responded to your first comment in a bit too lengthy of form. I only left that one comment and not the additional ones that seem a bit more confrontational. I respect your response to my comment and say thanks. Just wanted you to know. All the best to you and Jill. Peace.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 8:29 AM
As far as the snowshoes on a bike question goes....yes, you can ride with snowshoes on a bicycle. the only drawbacks are that you have to get a custom made bottom bracket with a 2ft wide axle so your snowshoes don't hit the bike frame, and you have to ride bow-legged. Another drawback is that you have worry about the shoes kicking your chain off, and hitting the rear derailleur with the tail of the shoes causing a momentary upshift. Rumor has it that Shimano is coming out with SPD compatible snowshoes in 2009 made of carbon fiber and unobtanium. The shoes will be custom made on a limited quantitiy basis because there's only about 7 people worldwide that'd be crazy enough to ride in places where you'd need to use them.
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Here's the deal, as seen by this wise old man. So many of us who read and enjoy your blog do so because our lives are so much different from yours and the only way we'll ever see the finish line of Iditabike is vicariously through you. We have huge mortgages, kids in college, and otherwise deep unbreakable roots.
Jill - don't take the job. Ride on the crusty snow for a while… trails be damned!
One day, the fact that you turned down a job offer many would kill for will make a fabulous Chapter 12 in "Ghost Trails, the sequel".
Now, having said all of this, there is also a chance that I am selfishly nudging you in this direction because I don't want to lose my daily dose of Jill Homer. In fact, I am trying to enhance it. - AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 5:36 PM
As far as Geoff's comment on regret, denial and dissapointment masking itself as wisdom, you know what they say...Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
I wonder if this big specific goal Jill talked about taking time off for is that GDR race ?. There are far too many assumptions taking place here. It is what it is. Jill has chosen to place her life on a blog and open it for others like ourselves to comment as we wish.
To refer to other peoples experiences as baggage or whatever is not right. We all have had our experiences in life...both good and bad.
I don't think it is right for others to criticize Jill for she believes is the right thing to do in her life.
On the other hand...if you are going to lay life out for everyone else to read and view, then you damn well better be ready to accept some criticism, advice, or whatever.
Express your feelings...that's what this is all about. Keep your preaching to yourself.
Geoff...do you not have any baggage?? I don't know too many people that don't.- AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Just remember, that finding a good job, doing something you like, (and even more importantly, with people that you like), in a place that you like is not so easy ANYTIME, even more so right now, even for the very talented. I have several friends (in medicine, where there are always supposed to be jobs) who are very competent, smart, well educated, and who are still struggling to find even a half-decent job. Is there any way you could still do both? or work into the contract a yearly "month" to do the things that you want to do? It sounds like your manager really values you and might be willing to negotiate. If you were my sister, I guess this is what I would be telling you -
ReplyDelete Hey Sister,
It is interesting too see how many people like to express their opinion. Everyone has different ideals of how life should be and what makes them happy. Some people see being a stay-at-home mom as trapped, while others feel it is the best job in the whole world and would want nothing else.
I think your decision was made long ago (hence all of your prep work and planning). It just sounds like your boss is making it a more difficult choice! You are very talented in many ways. I believe you will make the best decision for you. No matter what everyone else says.
Love You! Good luck with your decision!!- AnonymousJanuary 30, 2009 at 8:21 AM
Sara/Jill - Regarding the snowbiking/snowshoeing question, apparently my buddies Bill and Matt and myself are three of the seven people in the world crazy enough to ride bikes were you need shoeshoes. Here in Erie Pennsylvania we get tons of snow, so we'll strap the snowshoes to our backs, ride to one point, put the shoes on, hike-a-bike to the next road, take the shoes off, and then ride on. For a little better discription you can check out my blog: rosssilvis.wordpress.com.
Anyways, just wanted to say your blog is great Jill. Good luck with the Iditarod this year and with your big decision. Looks like you've got enough advice so I'll save mine!
Cheers sorry, it seems like at least a few have assumed a negative connotation to my term "baggage". i didn't mean it negatively at all. baggage is what it is: the ideas, experiences, and life lessons we all bring to the table. we all have baggage (at least in the sense that i'm using the term). it is who we are. none of us live in a vaccuum. the things we have seen and done in life contribute to our thoughts on a conversation like this. that's all i was pointing out. nothing more and nothing less. i was just trying to make a point about how fascinating it is that dozens of people can see the same thing in a dozen different ways. in my mind this can only be the result of different pieces of baggage that we each bring to the conversation.


text:
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"Well, because the roadside looks like &%$#," is why retired insurance executive Bruce Boyd spends some of his free time picking up beer bottles, cans and an endless variety of trash alongside Highway 522 north of Taos.
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For the record, Boyd says, "the local favorites are Corona and Bud Light."
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