Why am I getting this??

[Name Withheld]

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Well, it just may be because your boss or your boss's boss sent me a list of emails with the note, "Please subscribe these people to Nip Impressions." This happens more frequently than you can imagine. However, since we honor individual reader's request to be unsubscribed immediately, you are not reading this and perhaps, if that is how you got on our list, running the risk of being embarrassed the next time your boss mentions NI and you are clueless.

Jim

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Jim,

Great story about your Georgia version of the Iditarod (sp)! I'm sure that both you and Fred completely hydrated when you returned home.

Eleven years ago at a large southern paper mill I would receive at least 0.5 inches of 'regular' mail per day, 1-2 inches of publications and ads material per day, and 20-30 e-mails per day. Today in a much smaller company, I receive not more than 10 pieces of regular mail per WEEK! I do get 100+ emails per day. All of my correspondence is via e-mail and I like it. I can manage my own time better. Like your example, the only time we use something other than e-mail is when a signature is required or the item won't go through the scanner! It would be nice if someone developed an electronic signature system with high security.

By the way, would the fruit with external seeds be a strawberry?

Have a great day.

Ed Turner
Houston, Texas, USA

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Jim - the answer to the "which fruit" question is debatable. Either the Cashew fruit or the strawberry could be argued, with different botanical nuances.

As an ag-fiber guy - I would have to go with the cashew fruit in a debate (because it grows on a tree, and I know your audience is mainly "tree" people), but I would recognize that the argument for strawberry is substantial - therefore I would twist facts and interpret biological reference data to suit my own ends in a debate.

Tom Rymsza
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

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Jim,

This week's quiz is so easy that I don't even have to consult Diana -
Strawberries.

Best regards,

Jeff Reese
Loveland, Ohio, USA

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Jeff:

Please see Mr. Rymsza's argument above!

Jim

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Jim,

Strawberries?

Your dog pulling man story would be more believable if you had a huge dog (LOL). But your topic of innovation struck a chord (C major?).

I think back on some of the major innovations and many were mistakes or discoveries by people outside of the normal industry involved. Most telling is that many innovators made their discoveries at a relatively young age. They basically were unencumbered by conventional thinking of their times.

The point is pulp and paper must continue to attract young people into the industry. As much as we like to praise age and wisdom, it's the young who will keep the industry alive and well.

Peace

Gene Canavan
Prattville, Alabama, USA

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Gene:

See next letter.

Jim

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Dear Jim,

I've enjoyed the weekly commentary. Just wanted to say thank you for the perspectives you so eloquently write of. I find a little comfort in knowing that there are a few people out there that I share some of the same values with.

I started with the mill I am at in 1993 as a wastewater operator. Since it was a new company in an idled facility, I soon assumed the duties of the environmental manager and out of necessity it became my primary role. I sought to serve my mill managers and those who I have worked alongside during my 15 years to contribute to the success of the mill. I never made the company a cent, but it was my passion to minimize the impact of my area of responsibility as a cost center. I liked my job and did it with dignity. With a recent transition of the company to a larger corporation and the subsequent change in leadership, my desire to juggle the ever diminishing regulatory balls is waning. I have recently been informed by the DNR regulator I answer to in Madison, WI that my next biggest problem (aside from calculating our carbon footprint) is to manage our effluent mercury level to below 15 parts per trillion (ppt).

Have you ever considered the insanity of managing a part per trillion (ppt)? When I started in the wastewater field, I was quite accustomed to working in parts per million (ppm). I made the adjustment to parts per billion (ppb) OK and I have managed to keep the regulators satisfied. It has been with the recent increasing attention given to ppt's that I am seriously losing my focus; bifocals are of no help. Just for perspective, a ppt is equivalent to 1 square inch in 250 square miles. That makes finding a needle in a haystack realistic. We've lost our bearings and are far from any solid ground we once stood on.

I think it's too late for the proverbial frog to jump from the heating pot, but it's not too late for me to get out while I have a little sense and ability to do something else. Someone else can take on this task. I'm relatively young and have no certainty of what I will do next, but I have told my wife that I am willing to fill feed bags at the local feed mill to support our family rather than to continue managing things so meaningless and so contrary to what I believe. The regulatory mindset is pure arrogance and is no small factor in its contribution to the cloud that hangs over North America. Thanks again for the little bit of sanity I have found in your weekly newsletter. Best wishes to you.

Dave Bailey
Wisconsin, USA

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Dave:

Don't leave! We need you. I have sacked feed, and it is not all it might be cracked up to be. I did it when a sack of feed weighed about what I did (obviously a long time ago). With corn at $8.00 per bushel, your feed mill may be in trouble next.

Look at Gene's letter immediately above.

Sanity and insanity runs in cycles. I have a feeling that the current forty year cycle in moving from parts per hundred to ppt will soon be on the wane. We have just about gotten to the critical level that many will question what is going on and whether or not it is insane. In your particular case, you happen to be dealing with "The People's Republic of Madison." You may want to take your talents elsewhere geographically, but without leaving the industry. Keep us posted on your plans, please.

When it comes to government interference, I take great hope from what New Zealand did a few years ago. Their income tax system had gotten about as messed up as the tax system here in the United States. They, the people of New Zealand, took the initiative to throw it out and start over with a very simiplified approach. I suspect that in our great country, regulatory and taxing authorities can be made to work for the people again and they will someday soon. When we get fed up enough with silliness, we will change the system. It has happened before.

Jim

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