Playing Environmental Poker? You Have to Know the Rules

I once played poker with a bunch of guys who had been playing for years. In fact, they played so often that, in addition to the normal poker rules, they had made up some of their own rules. These house rules were used so often in their game that, in their minds, the house rules had become universal to the game of poker, whether it was their game or anyone else's.

So I was playing with them one night and they came out with this crazy rule, like "you can't throw out three cards when you checked your initial bet". I said, "What are you talking about?" and an argument ensued. I folded and left the game (they still give me a hard time about it whenever we play). It would have been great to be able to throw out a copy of the rule book and make them look up their rule, chapter and verse, but I did not have one with me at the time. Now, I just tell them, "It is good to know the rules if you are going to play the game."

I recently came across a book that Google has indexed that deals with hazardous waste operations. Huge amounts of info here for anyone who finds they need to act fast on, say, an emergency response or planned disposal of contaminated soils or liquids. Also a great source on proper procedures and rules regarding dealing with wastes.

There are notes on PPE, TCLP analysis (for spent carbon), manifest requirements and a host of other topics. A great resource, available online.

If you are going to stay in the environmental clean-up game, it is best to know the rules and not rely on what someone says. This book link comes as close as I have seen to pulling a lot of different rules together into one place. Check it out:

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Manual

Work, Life, Social Media Balance

As a relative newbie to using social media as one of the tools to marketing to customers and potential customers, I have a concern that my efforts will be seen as "Why is Brendan Coyne doing this when he should be doing X. Why is he spending so much time on facebook, or always tweeting on Twitter? He is on the computer all the time. Doesn't he have a life?"

Well, in answer to all that, it does not take a lot of time and there are people who with maybe a half hour or an hour a day devoted to networking have proven that even with obscure subject matter they can use these media's as a tool to further their cause.

My cause is three-fold: 1) Branding myself to my friends, customers, employer and future employer(s). I want people to know how to contact me both within and outside the confines of work and home. This doesn't mean I want to talk about work at 8pm on a Friday night, but if it is that important, here is a way to get in front of me.
2) It is pretty cool to see how far I can take it and it is fun. Last year at this time, I just did not get it. Now I am a believer and I do not think these kinds of things are ever going to go away. Why not be an early user of a new technology?
3) I want to become a resource for professionals who are into environmental remediation systems. This will translate directly to sales, because I am going to give customers what they want AND allow them to get to know who they are dealing with at the same time.

People resist the social medias for a variety of reasons. I say to them: Are you afraid of being a lemming? Afraid of being labeled geeky? Don't have time? Too cool for that? Too old to learn a new trick? Afraid of your privacy going bye-bye?

Who among us did not think the internet was complicated at one point? Who did not take the time to learn how to set your home page on your internet browser, or learn how to copy and paste?

It does take time, it is a little geeky, it is becoming more and more popular and there are new things springing up all the time. So you have valid concerns. So what?

Privacy? To paraphrase a popular author, "Rumors of it's demise have been greatly exaggerated." Hey, just be careful what you put out there. If you don't want someone to know where you work or where you live, don't write about it.

Do you really think you have any privacy anyway? I guarantee there are people tracking you right now! It has not changed the fact that you are reading this. This little bit of privacy you gave up really does not make a bit of difference to you does it?

Thanks for reading...

Interesting article: Work, Life, Social Media Balance