Arrived safely

 All went well today, traveling from Alhambra CA (near Pasadena CA). Uber to the airport with plenty of time to get some breakfast while waiting for the loading time.

I was smart enough to  bring a couple of books with me. I've been a fan of Michael Lewis every since his first book, Liar's Poker. His entertaining style is to take a very complex subject and tell the story through the eyes of key people.

This timely book, "Who is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service", tells the story of people that have done incredible work on behalf of the American public service. I had bought the book when I saw Michael Lewis being interviewed on a recent book tour. Seven authors are credited with each chapter contributing a story of how Public Service enhances the United States and often the entire world. 

As I flipped a page to a new chapter titled, "The Searchers", I immediately recognized some faces in a photo and even the room where the photo was taken.  The chapter describes the ongoing work being performed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to find evidence of life on another planet.  The chapter's author, captures the sense of mission that infuses JPL and the people that work there. Where the stated goal is to "expand the bounds of human knowledge". Having worked at JPL for 37 years, I can say the the depiction of the employees and the environment are accurate.

This book is the perfect antidote to the story that seems to have captured Washington DC that the government is filled with DMV workers all watching the clock. This book instead highlights talented, highly educated and motivated public servants that are working in the government making incredibly important contributions in the only place that is in position to perform that work, the government.