"Why not First Wind?"

Working for a company named for an idiomatic expression has its challenges. On many occasions, while representing Second Wind at an event with international attendees, I have been asked in halting English, "So why not First Wind?" The best was a man from the Phillipines, who thought over the "second wind" concept and told me that "We have a saying in my country that when the typhoon returns a second time, it is stronger".

So it was with bemusement that I greeted the press releases from our Boston-area neighbor, the former UPC Wind, that they were renaming themselves First Wind. Now Boston has become like one of those towns with a First Bank and a Second Bank, or a First Church and a Second Church (I don't even understand how a company could be named "Fifth Third Bank". Why not First Bank?).

When I heard the news, I pictured an aisle in a trade show with us lined up in a row: First Wind, Second Wind, and possibly Third Planet Windpower. Instead, the juxtaposition happened much sooner than I expected. Walter was invited to give a talk for a group of Chinese wind companies this week. This is a return visit from when the Governor and dignitaries visited China in December to discuss reciprocal trade in renewables. When I got the agenda for the meeting, sure enough the CEO of First Wind, Paul Gaynor, and Walter are speaking in the same session, First Wind followed by Second Wind! I hope Paul Gaynor enjoys the irony, because I know Walter will.

Second Wind has become a different kind of company...

A truck owning company! After nearly 28 years with no form of vehicle at all, we are now a company that owns two trucks.

Truck #1 resides in Somerville, and is a silver Toyota Tundra. That one was purchased by the Consumer Reports aficianados here at Second Wind world HQ. It has 4WD and a huge engine and is ready to haul Tritons anywhere on the East Coast. Our Triton service team here reports that the new truck is much more comfortable on long trips than the truck we were renting.

The first order of businesss was of course to remove the tailgate. It was surprisingly easy to remove and even replace.

Truck #2 resides in Texas, and is a white Ford F250. Truck #2 was specified by Ruben, our Western operative. It's got diesel, for (marginally) better gas mileage, and tons of power for handling challenging wind sites. Truck #2 made its first official road trip to Kansas last week, and its itinerary is already filling up for the month.

Now that we have a truck at our disposal, I keep thinking of truckly activities, like piling the whole company into the bed and heading for the beach.