If geeks were paid like pro athletes

The Solar Decathalon is one of my favorite events of the year.  Sadly, it doesn’t have cool advertising that the mainstream media builds full news programs around like the NFL’s Super Bowl.  Nor do those who compete garner the kind of earnings in a single year that pro athletes do, despite the fact that their efforts and advancements can help save the world.  At least that’s the way I perceive it.  Did I ever tell ya I competed for (but didn’t win) an academic scholarship to Tennessee Tech?  It was the late 70s (yes, I’m dating myself) and my plan was to go into Solar Engineering.  Yes, even back then!  I was among those “weeded out” by the psychics and chemistry classes I had to take, so slinked over to liberal arts instead.  I still have that save-the-world through science passion though…