This story is anecdotal and written in the spirit of gonzo journalism; it is jokingly hilariously amazingly ridiculously intentionally partially fictional to protect the identities & reputations of the people, businesses and organizations involved. This is by no means meant to be taken literally or 100% truthfully, but then again is expressing a truth beyond explanation.

This is in a way a story about visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but cuts a layer deeper than even a handful of visits would allow you to go. Welcome to the REAL Monterey Bay Aquarium that changes lives. :)

I came from a family farm in Napa, abruptly & directly into a culture of technology and Silicon Valley work. I suddenly found myself submerged in the UNQUESTIONABLE beliefs concerning what "is not possible" in the business world. I was being told that wonderfully fulfilling things like authenticity, full self expression, friendship & passion had no place in business; and that it just works better that way.

I was raised up from the young age of 18 in cubicles and made to believe the basic things that most businesses operate on today. For example the fundamental idea (and not the reality) of the "bottom line" as being the highest possible attainment of success and enlightenment.

Out of this context I began to take part in a number of pointlessly interesting endeavors. For example I successfully streamlining the production of over a million printed advertisements that were unanimously acknowledged as being for the most part useless other than earning us a profit on the print.

Some of the "teams" I worked with simply struggled with each other to make it in an environment where in my humble opinion no one is really "making it". Yes work was at times very much like life in the Jaw Fish tank.

Jumping right to my favorite story... the building was on fire and the boss said to keep working. I instantly had to go to the bathroom, but in reality I crept out and alerted the firemen that the boss wanted us to keep working. We all had to leave the building that day; oh the productivity lost (and probably calculated by my boss).

I'll never forget a SF job I worked out this guys studio apartment. Yes my desk was right next to his bed and I was subjected to some of the worst of SF club techno music (I love techno but this stuff was bad.). With the techno and his long dramatic phone calls to disfunctional lovers, work was hell.

But then word was out they might load all the tech people on to ships, take us 100 miles off shore and work us around the clock. Feeding us nothing but unsustainable seafood and forcing us to watch Stephen Covey videos.

We the people did it together. Who else could we blame? I met extraordinary people working under horrible conditions with some faint hope of one day seeing the mountain top. The slew of profit driven projects and "driven to a fault" mentors taught me well. I could code with my eyes shut, without sleep, with the web of my right hand sliced by a snowboard (first time off a lift) and I knew for a fact that human beings could not live longer than 1 split second without their website. This much I knew! I was versed in the latest technologies and learned to consume my free time with research. Yes free time is for researching and paid time is for developing.

I was a highly paid programmer and even through the dotcom crash I was never short of work. But I was beginning to wonder what the point was. I didn't want to be like the VP at these businesses. I didn't even want that "early stroke look" and "never see my kids" life of the project managers. I was beginning to have my fill of endless hours, long nights of sleeping in my chair, making out with my girl friend at work on the front lawn durring lunch, having dinner with her in a conference room at work... It all escalated and the thought of quitting eventually peaked when I actually passed out while walking; I had been working weeks straite to save a project and a project manager from embarrassment. My favorite quote from that project manager: at around 10pm she would say, "I'm heading home now so you can focus". Yes you head home and I'll... uhhh.... focus? What?

Could there be more to life? Was there a community of people out there making a difference? Could humans live without Internet?

I didn't know, but I did know what it was like to work in corporations, medium sized design / marketing firms and start-ups. I knew I was good at what I do, but I wanted work that was meaningful to me. Finally I could take it no more

Craigslist had given me my work, my apartments, my sound system, my turn-tables, my computers, my motorcycle, my furniture, my mixer, everything except my girl friend. I just knew it just wouldn't let me down this time.

I searched the jobs and was enthralled to find a "Senior Web Engineer" position available at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Though I had put in quite a few hours of volunteer web work for non-profits, I'd never offically worked for one. Could this be different?

And having only visited the aquarium once before, I had no idea just how extraordinary the place was going to be.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is unreal. My first day I walked into an auditorium filled with employees dancing and smiling. The song "Celebration" was playing over and over. I knew I was home at last.

They were sharing 20 years of excellence. It was for me (I love dancing), a perfect introduction for what was to come.

I'd heard good and bad things about non-profits (concerning grant money), but apparently so had Mr. Packard; Upon giving the money to found the place, Mr. Packard had the organization commit to paying for all core functions of the aquarium from the aquariums own profits. This fundamental choice kept the Aquarium from becoming a "fund raising" machine and in my 2+ years I have not once heard someone even say, much less sell out to that old reliable "bottom line".

The mission really comes first. No I mean really. Not really like you've heard before. I mean really, like really really really. Like live and breath it really. Like you can't believe it really. The best part? It all starts with the employees and what they call "walk your talk".

www.montereybayaquarium.org