American Idol to hold auditions in Idaho Falls next month

This just in: "American Idol" will be auditioning performers in Idaho Falls this summer. This comes directly from the show's Web site:

The series will leave no stone unturned in its quest for talent, and for the first time ever, will embark on the “AMERICAN IDOL Small Town Audition Bus Tour,” a 10-town nationwide mobile tour offering hopefuls a chance to audition for IDOL. The mobile audition bus will hit the road next month, giving thousands of hopefuls the chance of a lifetime. The “AMERICAN IDOL Small Town Audition Bus Tour” will stop at the following cities: Idaho Falls, ID; Billings, MT; Casper, WY; Rock Rapids, IA; Iowa City, IA; Bowling Green, KY; Clarksdale, MS; Joplin, MO; Dodge City, KA; and Grand Junction, CO. Specific locations and dates to be announced. Please keep checking www.americanidol.com for forms, rules and terms and conditions.

INL physicist receives Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers



Derek Gaston

Derek Gaston of the Idaho National Laboratory was one of 96 researchers named Monday by President Barack Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
"Discoveries in science and technology not only strengthen our economy, they inspire us as a people." Obama said. "The impressive accomplishments of today’s awardees so early in their careers promise even greater advances in the years ahead."

The recipients are employed or funded by the following departments and agencies: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Interior, Veteran Affairs, EPA, NASA and the National Science Foundation. Established by President Bill Clinton in 1996, the awards are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.

Here is a link to an INL-produced video on Gaston's work in multi-physics:

A new tale from the e-commerce learning curve

That international object of desire, the Epiphone Tom Delonge Signature ES-333

Until now, I have dreaded the thought of someone overseas wanting to buy a guitar. International rates for large packages are prohibitively expensive, to the point where the shipping costs more than the guitar itself. Moreover, it's easy to get burned. I learned this the hard way seven or eight years ago when I sold a Fender P-bass to a guy in Italy, shipped it to him and then got slapped a few weeks later with a claim that it hadn't been delivered.

So you can imagine my reticence last week when I got an inquiry through our Amazon store (http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=A2B8QRMTEXNOMS) from Levi, a gentleman in Tamworth, Australia, asking about a guitar that has been hanging on the Piano Gallery Music Superstore's wall since October 2010, an Epiphone Tom Delonge ES-333. (Let me say right now, I get a kick being addressed as "Mate.")

Everybody knows I want to get every guitar in the store into the hands of people who will love and appreciate them. It's kind of like a pet adoption agency, and the Tom Delonge guitar is one of my favorites. But shipping it to Australia ourselves -- USPS, UPS, Fed Ex or DHL -- would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $700, which obviously will not do.

All seemed bleak until Levi mentioned www.MyUS.com, in Sarasota, Fla., apparently an alternative used by a lot of people Down Under. Here's how it works: For $10, Levi can set up a U.S. address, which is where I ship the guitar he's bought on Amazon.

Veteran digger that I am, this is what I learned from Hiram Pedraza, an account rep for MyUs. The company ships 12,000 to 15,000 parcels a day. Between 30 and 35 percent of their business via  Amazon sales. Their biggest markets are the United Kingdom and Australia, where guitars apparently cost three times what they do here.

I thought this would be of interest to anyone with an interest in e-commerce. Here's a useful link if you want to know more: www.myus.com/en/how-it-works/

New agent joins Anderson Group at Keller Williams

Cyndi Schwicht

Cyndi Schwicht has joined the Anderson Group at Keller Williams Realty East Idaho Market Center in Idaho Falls. Originally from Portland, Ore., Schwicht comes to real estate after several years in the music. She studied piano performance at Ricks College and Portland State Univeristy, and taught piano for over 20 years. She is also a graduate of the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology. Her passions include her family and helping people.

"We are truly lucky to have Cyndi join us here at Keller Williams" says broker Greg Vinnola. "We know Cyndi will be a great fit and that our customers will truly benefit from her joining us."

She can be reached by e-mail at cyndischwicht@gmail.com. The Keller Williams Realty East Idaho Market Center is located at 3525 Merlin Drive, and its phone number is (208) 529-8888.

The things you learn by reading what comes in your power bill ...

The Columbia Generating Station, near Richland, Wash.

Looking at my Idaho Falls Power bill the other day two items jumped out at me, both pointing to the long-term value of nuclear power. As as news goes it's not terribly sexy, but it will have an effect on how much we pay for electricity here so I think it ought to be of some interest.

First, a purchase agreement between the Energy Department, US Enrichment Corp., Energy Northwest and the Tennessee Valley Authority is going to allow the conversion of depleted uranium into low-cost fuel to be used at Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Wash. The station provides about 10 percent of the power marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration, which provides most of Idaho Falls' electricity. The parties involved estimate that this will reduce BPA's energy costs by $20 million between 2014 and 2017.

On a related note, the Columbia Generating Station -- the only nuclear plant in the Pacific Northwest -- has had its license extended to 2043 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The station is capable of producing more than 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power a city the size of Seattle. This is baseload power, meaning that it is not affected by weather.

Not everyone of course is a big fan of nuclear energy. Checking the newspaper story in the Tri-Cities Herald, the license renewal was not met with unanimous hosannas (http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/05/25/1952326/columbia-generating-station-license.html).

In Idaho Falls, attitudes toward nuclear power tend to be more benign than other parts of the country. Looking for a link to illuminate this story, I ran across this commentary from Dan Yurman's Idaho Samizdat Nuke Notes blog, addressing a story in the New York Times, from April 2010 -- about a year before the earthquake and tsunami that made Fukushima a household name.
http://djysrv.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-public-support-is-thin-for-nuclear.html