Kenji is a Japenese American who works at CrownCenter, KC, Mo. He is unassuming and is sparing of words unless someone rubs him the right way. He's worked for Crown Center Parking for years. This is not a glamorous job. Suffice it to say Kenji is hated. There's no odium more heartbreaking than having to use a hard-earned repsite only for the lackluster purpose of moving one's car in rigged intervals in order to not be charged an arm and leg by the complex.
The phrase parking control does not quite roll of the tongue. In so many words the employees have to pay to be the employees in more ways than one. Some have given up altogether resolving to take The Maxx or Kansas City Metro, which is difficult and time consuming. As for any kind of respectable commute? Forget about it unless you drive your own vehicle. A respectable commute probably won't come along until Lite Rail gets better funding and more votes.
If we take Kenji out of parking control and isolate him, we find out what he is really about. Kenji has a considerable green thumb. He has spent years tinkering with a hydroponic system that has stood the test of time. No, it isn't his own, but the very fact that he expands on it gives it an individualistic and innovative edge like unto Kenji, the infamous parking monger we jeer and sneer at every time we tell our boss we have to spend our break paying for a place to park. There is more to Kenji than the job he chose to make ends meet. He must not remain anonymous.
Anil Gupta, a multitude of a man, a saint when helping the poor develop business models for their own innovations, and is the quintessential founder of Honey Bee Network. The three guiding principles of Honey Bee Network are: (1) the bee is invited by the colors of the flower (2) the bee takes nectar from the flower (3) does not make the flower feel short-changed when it pollinates them in return. Honey Bee Network emphasizes reciprocity. He has said, "I have not changed one percent of the thinking in business." He went further to say, "We cannot even get justice in the knowledge market and India wants to be a knowledge society." This is a tragedy to Anil Gupta. His point of view can be understood, but when we look at the world is it realistic? The world - especially the corporate world - runs on money and I'm-going-to-get- mine. The corporate world needs to be competitive. How would new businesses ever get a chance if it were not so? However, a lot of corporate procedure has become dogmatic and meglomaniacal, and does not focus or give room to any new arrivels, businesses and/or rugged individuals. Especially to those with families. Why should they care if they cannot get what is due to them?
That being said, Anil Gupta, still espouses a business head reflective of the coporate world. He perhaps ruined his chances when he said, "You cannot expect two different principles of justice - one for yourself and one for others." Therein is the crux of the matter. The story of Kenji is reflective of Honey Bee Network and Anil Gupta's intentions.
Kenji in his spare time goes to church and gardens. His ambition is to give the church its own garden by expanding on his hydroponic labor of love. A lot of us think about marijuana upon the word hydroponic. Rest assured, Kenji is not involved in any illicit activity. He just wants to grow his own vegetables, give his cohorts something to do, and in return they all develop better conceit of themselves through cultivation.
Kenji's system consists of a main water resevoir or "unit" he called it. The main water resevoir sends nutrients to the plants through a chamber grower. Affixed to the chamber grower are tubes, about three, if you have three five-gallon buckets containing soil and nutrients for the plants. Where would get the buckets. Simple. Any pickle container from a restaurant will do just fine if not a trip to the convenience store selling green-thumb accoutrements. If you go to a convenience store, "It's still worth it," says Kenji. He keeps the hydroponic system near a good size window in his basement so it can receive not only the ingredients of the soil but that of sunlight.
He wants to expand on his system by adding two more five-gallon buckets. He wants to make the main water resevoir clear so he can see what the water is doing. He even wants to go so far as to put small fish in the resevoir. "The fish will not be sent to the plants," says Kenji. Any water filter is such that the fish remain at bay and where they should be.
Kenji, along with other agricultural interests and the necessary applications, could very well be on his way to developing a fully efficient fully functional garden for his church. They could prepare their own meals and even sell their produce for more reasonable prices than those on the common market. Kenji is not finished telling his story. More will come anon.
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