Rupert's Raiders... A study in extraordinary problem solving!

Over 30 years ago Jer developed a problem solving instrument called STCA... Stop, Think, Conclude, Act.  He has utilized this tool across a vast sector of organizations, ranging from gang intervention (teen contenders looking for a way out of the gang) to corporate teams and non-profit boards. 

And, that said, we have never observed a more resilient application of this process than with the squirrels that visit daily here at our current housesit. BTW, we call all squirrels "Rupert" in honor of the resourceful character in the 1950 movie called "The Great Rupert,"  one of the first full length film to utilize stop-motion animation - so realistically that audiences wondered how they trained  a squirrel to do the jig!

Trivia aside, we have come to simultaneously admire, despise and diligently battle Rupert, and his gang of fellow Raiders who have tormented (and bested) Jer over the decades with their constant and adaptive acrobatics in stealing from  various "squirrel proof" bird feeders of every kind.  Vaseline, cayenne pepper, WD 40 - he's tried them all and Rupert always finds a way to circumvent these tactics. We watch him (them) actually study each new tactic from different angles to find a workaround. After watching this battle for years, Phyllis began to theorize that physicists and engineers must reincarnate as squirrels after they pass from this realm to the next. These little creatures are endlessly innovative!

One of our fun tasks here at our current sit is to feed the birds and it has been a consistent quandary on how to outwit Rupert - until today. Thanks to the 75 years of applied research leveraging the attributes of the Slinky, Rupert has finally met his match!  Jer rigged all the bird feeder poles with the "pre-compressed helical spring toy invented by Richard James in the early 1940s." Score one for the humans...for now!

OK, so what's this all gotta do with our nomad-ing across the our great country, and frankly, life in general?  A lot actually. Never in recorded history has the entire population of the world been forced to rethink how to adapt their personal and professional lives all at once with the advent of the global pandemic.  Covid has affected every aspect of our all lives, from how we work, play, socialize... and it has caused us to creatively rethink and re-engineer our world.

What better example than "Rupert's Raiders" to reinspire all of us to keep an open mind toward addressing our ever evolving paradigms of living and, with vigilant problem solving, strive to thrive into the future (and have a little fun at it to boot!).