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Sarah Frazer's avatar

This is such an insightful piece and is so true!

A similar thing I’ve realized recently— and I’m not sure I’ll be able to articulate this well— is that, re: things I have expertise in, I can struggle to have conversations at the level they need to be at as I don’t want to assume someone doesn’t know something, or that they do. And then, I’m at a loss when they say something coming from a place of ignorance, literally just because they don’t know and maybe they’re talking about it because they want to know and understand.

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Heath Racela's avatar

Thanks Sarah- that's a tough line to walk for sure. I've found that the best approach in that situation is don't make assumptions about what somebody may or may not know. If you find them nodding in agreement, you can ramp up to a higher level of knowledge, but if they look confused, you can always start with the basic version. I appreciate your thoughts!

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Ryan M Allen's avatar

Wow! What a cool career. Had no idea.

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Heath Racela's avatar

Thanks Ryan! Yes, been doing video production work professionally for two decades. The longest stretch was with TOH and I was fortunate enough to get to see this country, our cities, and our houses close up. Really shaped how I feel about what, how, and why we build.

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Barbara Vestal's avatar

This is fantastic, Heath. Congratulations on moving forward with a big undertaking.

Actually, our other grandson, Eli, would definitely know what you're talking about. He's graduating from Humboldt State on Saturday with a degree in Geology.

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Heath Racela's avatar

Thanks Aunt Barb- we're very excited to get it all fired up! And congratulations to Eli- very exciting news!

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Marianna's avatar

Our school district has converted two schools to geothermal and plans to convert more as they remodel each campus. I was astonished (and happy) when I heard they were doing this because I really thought geothermal would be too “out there” for our school board to approve!

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Heath Racela's avatar

Kudos to your district! Actually, municipal/government installs like these make a lot of sense, because they're usually invested for the long haul. While people buy and sell houses something like every 7-10 years, a school building might be in service for 40-50 years or more, making that upfront investment well worth while. Thanks for sharing, Marianna!

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