Katy Dickinson

Cactus Blooms

I have several cactus in bloom in my backyard now. One of them has been working up to opening all day. I have been watching that first huge bud swell and almost grow visibly every time I walked by. The new bloom is 9" across - bigger than my hand at full spread. There are many more buds - this will be the best year for flowers yet!

2 weeks ago

4 days ago

4 days ago

This morning

This morning

This afternoon

Before dinner

After dinner

After dinner

After dinner

Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

Posted at 11:12PM Jun 07, 2008 by katysblog in News & Reviews  | 

SEED mentoring application update

The SEED program is now accepting applications from Sun Engineering staff worldwide for its Recent Hire and Established Staff terms which will start in September 2008. (The next PreSEED term does not start until January 2009.) To date, we have received 134 SEED applications, 55 of which are complete. This total includes:

• Recent Hires: 33 applications, 9 complete
• Established Staff: 101 applications, 46 complete

All materials are due by 9 June. In most terms, more SEED applications are disqualified because materials are submitted late or are incomplete than for any other reasons. SEED's application process is intended to collect information and also to provide an opportunity for applicants to demonstrate that they are good communicators, well thought of, organized, and can meet deadlines.

SEED has applications in so far from Sun Engineering staff working in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, P.R. China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, and the USA. They work for Sun Labs, Microelectronics, Global Sales and Services, Software, Storage, Systems, and Worldwide Operations.

This weekend, Tanya Jankot and I are reviewing the applications for big problems as they come in: we try to get back to the applicant or their manager if there is something they can fix before the deadline. For example, if someone was hired in 2006 but they provide annual performance ratings for 2005, 2006, and 2007, this counts as a big problem that can be fixed (we revise the application to drop the 2005 rating).

More information on the SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring program is available at http://research.sun.com/SEED/

Posted at 09:43PM Jun 07, 2008 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  |