Matterhorn

I recently migrated from reading a long string of non-fictional history works to a fictional history novel. Matterhorn is a novel about the Vietnam War set in the late 60s in the jungle near the border with North Vietnam. It is based upon the experiences of the author, Karl Marlantes, a highly decorated Marine with the unusual background for a Vietnam veteran. He is a Rhodes Scholar who graduated from Yale.

The book's title derives from the name of a fictitious hill around which much of the action revolves. It shows us that, while the Vietnam War was flawed politically, there were still young people who performed heroically in the pursuit of their duty.

Matterhorn is an amazing novel with an equally intriquing back story. Marlantes worked on the novel for nearly 35 years, and until Matterhorn, he had never published as much as a magazive article.

In my view, it was worth the effort, and reminds us of the power of persistence.

Busy Busy

Steve and I have spent the last 3 days painting,

staining,

and installing our new stair railings in the basement. I think they came out pretty good.

While we were busy, Lyla was also busy. She continues to claim this stuffed animal as her own. This time she brought it down the stairs to the front door. It will be interesting when the girls come to town and see them try to reclaim ownership!

Hannibal LaGrange

Before the grandkids, the sons, and the wife, there was just me, and I played basketball. The summer event of choice for the hoopsters from Francis Howell High School was the basketball camp at Hannibal-LaGrange college. It consisted of a week in a college dorm, food in the cafeteria, some hijinks, but mostly, lots and lots of basketball. It also meant smelling a lot of stinky clothes, sometimes your own.

One of the draws to camp were the celebrities who attended. Cotton Fitzsimmons, who coached the Phoenix Suns at the time, was present. He was a specialist in the fast break offense. Paul Silas was there, a forward from the Boston Celtics who shared my speciality as an offensive rebounder (this was before the three-point shot existed, so offensive rebounding was a more predictable science than it is now). But the most excitement, and subsequent disappointment, was the expectation of a visit from Pistol Pete Maravich - disappointing because he cancelled at the last minute.

Camp was a time to sharpen your skills against the best competition, pick up some tips from the masters, and enjoy a week away with your team buddies. It was a time to learn that you had much to learn! Some things haven't changed much since those summer weeks north of Hannibal.

Peace through Strength

When I was in Kosovo a few years ago on a relief mission trip, the locals always expressed admiration to me for America's ability and willingness to protect itself. Keep in mind, these people had just seen tanks roll across their property and destroy their homes.

They knew - beyond a doubt - that the first obligation of an elected government was to protect its' citizens.

This memory flashes back every time an idealist argues that strong military capabilities encourage war, and that a unilateral laying-down-of-arms would lead to world-wide peace. This theory would be dubbed "peace through weakness".

Unfortunately, this position has proved dangerous throughout history, as those in Kosovo knew very well. Teddy Roosevelt had it right when he declared, "Walk softly and carry a big stick".

Not in the Cards

To me, there are three possible explanations for the Cardinals spectacular fall from first to hopelessly out ofthe playoffs during two short woeful weeks in August.

Theory 1 - The Lineup

The lineup boasts two quality hitters, three when Rasmus is permitted to play. It's hard to score runs consistently with 6-7 outs in the lineup.

Theory 2 - Team Effort

To date, the team is 8 games over .500 against playoff-destined teams, and 6 games under .500 against all other teams. If they can play well when they want, they should all of the time.

Theory 3 - Team Management

The Cardinals play as if the steriod era was still active, showing little aptitude for the speed/strategy aspect of baseball, and waiting for the long ball. Of their top four offensive weapons, one was traded away for little in return, one will cost a fortune to retain, one is a hired gun, and the other has been unnecessarily alienated.

Take your pick. It's a mystery to me.

A Day In The Life

I woke up pretty early this morning. After breakfast, I took a nap.

I moved to another location and played with my favorite toy.

That was kind of tiring, so I thought I'd take another nap.

Well, maybe 2 naps.

Now you're probably wondering how I got myself into this situation. So am I.

I'm sure someone willl come along any minute and rescue me.

It Would Have Been Great

This was the weekend originally selected for our Saint-Charles-to-Sedalia ride of the Katy Trail. We cancelled the event a few weeks ago due to the general busyness of schedules.

It so happened that I was free Saturday morning for a 20-mile ride coming out and back into Saint Charles, and I have one thing to say ...

... it would have been great!!!

The weather was perfect, clear with low humidity. It was a day marking the perfect balance within nature between summer and fall. People were already milling around the historical district when I returned.

At least it's satisfying to know we had selected perfect dates.

AA Impresses Again [not]

A few weeks ago, I relayed how American Airlines downgraded me but charged an additional fee. That led to several trips on Southwest Airlines, an outfit which operates with efficiency and personality. Last week, however, circumstances dictated a flight on AA again.

Would they let us down again? You know the answer ...

A call at 6 AM Saturday morning informed us the flight had been cancelled (AA's accountants wouldn't let it fly without more passengers) and we were automatically rebooked on a red-eye flight featuring a long layover. Of course, we called and negotiated a better flight which the system could have assigned in the first place but didn't.

It all reminded me of a movie scene (you may have to use the "Watch on YouTube" link):

The Prequel

If you read Tommy & Jena's blog
she had one titled, "Hotel Cedar" talking about the overnight visit Tommy had at Cedar Sinai.Well, here is what happened during the day before she arrived at the hospital. Lyla thought she would spend some quality time hanging out on Tommy's feet.

We went to Thyme Cafe and bought our lunch.

The tables were all full so we went to...

a park and ate.

Tommy looking for a DVD to take to the hospital.






Waiting to be called back to his room and begin treatment.

Chris joined us after he got off work. We ordered PF Changs (they both had sweat dripping down their faces ... I believe their food was really spicy!)

We played numerous games of Rack-O. About 11pm Jena arrived and we left them to enjoy the "Hotel Cedar" accommodations for the night.

A Dubious Political Strategy

The Democrats opened the 2010 campaign trail with a tired and true approach: blame Bush for everything. However, those rotten tomatoes being tossed their way are not directed at anyone except the Dems themselves, and no amount of bobbing and weaving will help.

The fact is Obama’s ratings are lower than Bush’s, so it makes no sense to dish off to a past administration which is actually more popular. Time to stand up and deliver!

Realizing this, the Democrats are now trying to position themselves as “budget balancers”. However, they’ve applied this label to an approach which won’t hold up at the ballot box. Their idea is to run spending up as high as possible, then squeeze the citizenry for additional taxes tp balance the budget. This isn’t what the typical voter would like to see, and they won’t endorse it no matter what euphemistic label is employed.

Everyone attempts to interpret the results of major elections as a “referendum”. I predict the 2010 elections will be a clear referendum in favor of accountability and smaller government.

The Future that was Meant to Be

When I was growing up in the late 60's and early 70's, it was fun to read Popular Science articles speculating on our future life. Following the successful manned moon landing, it appeared that things would really take off.

Authors of these reputable periodicals presented a world filled with automated highway systems using hovercraft, perfect meals consumed by pill, personal flying machines, amazing medical advances, and the like. Shows such as Star Trek brought these visions to life (what could that "tri-corder" not do?).

These articles usually predicted these breakthrough advancements for humanity in "1980", then "1985", and then "2000".

This future never happened ...

Instead, we get ads delivered by email, the freedom to butcher the language via texting, advancements in medical billing, channels and channels of mindnumbing reality shows, dubious fashion advances, and downloads of music from the 60's and 70's when, frankly, a better future was envisioned.

I don't mean to be overly pessimistic. After all, dreaming about what we can be tomorrow and the next day is vital to our existence. And many great advancements have occurred.

The $4 cup of coffee, for instance.

But my dream achievement is not on the scene yet ...

... I'd like a device to allow me to pinpoint moles in the yard by their heat readings (so they can be dug out and bonked on the head).

That's not a dreaming too big, is it?

See you tomorrow ...

Solvang, California

On Wednesday, Steve, Tommy & I took a quick trip up north to Solvang, California. It's a town full of Danish people, food and architecture.

As I shopped in quaint little shops, the boys tested out the sidewalk benches.

Steve & Tommy on the steps of a windmill shop.

Tommy thought we should all enjoy the ice cream shop.

I could have spent a lot more time wandering the streets, but the majority ruled and we headed back to LA.

Dickeyville, Wisconsin

Dickeyville, Wisconsin is on the map because of a five-year do-it-youself project undertaken by a Catholic priest in 1925. Fr. Matthias Wernerus spent five years of his free time building a garden made primarily of concrete, tile, shells, and colorful stone to create the Dickeyville Grotto. It is dedicated to "love of God, love of country".

I stumbled across this site because Kim and I were recently in Dubuque, Iowa, and I couldn't resist crossing the Mississippi River into Wisconsin to find a geocache in that state.

Sometimes your GPS navigates you to some interesting places. This was cache find #373 (in 27 different states for me).

At the end of our trip, I discovered too late about a local farm featured in a famous 1988 movie about baseball. Had I known sooner, the post would be entitled "Field of Dreams" rather than "Dickeyville Wisconsin".

Trip Report

We took a trip through Missouri and Iowa to arrive in Galena, Illinois last weekend.

We saw lots of this...

And these...

Also, the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa.

Of course Steve had to get a geocache in Iowa.

Downtown Galena. Similar to Main Street in St. Charles, but a little bit better. More restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and historical sites. We found a place to eat our lunch that had the Missouri vs Illinois football game on. I had some interesting thing called a potato puff. Still not sure what it was, but it was tasty. (I'm sounding like Greg!)

A home belonging to Ulysses S. Grant.

It was a shorter trip than we had anticipated, but still a much needed time of relaxation that we both needed. We did a lot of walking around the town and even bought a couple of Christmas gifts! We made it home in time to unpack, do laundry, repack and head to LA.

Labor Day

On Labor Day we were all set to be spending 23 hours with Tommy at the infusion center. Instead, due to a low white count we spent the day eating lunch at Mr. Cecils BBQ, playing Boggle and then eating sushi for dinner. Chris and Stick spent the day with us. We all had a good time.

Jena tried to tell me (her mother-in-law) not to take any pictures of her eating. (Something about her mouth being open and the amount of food she eats). In retaliation, I present you with a picture of her and Stick eating!

Chris and Tommy. He made this face knowing I was taking his picture. What can I say? He takes after his Dad!

Outsourced

I'm looking forward to the new TV series Outsourced.

No reviews are available, but the premise is promising, don't you think?

Last week, I spent 30 minutes on hold trying to contact a helpdesk (which had been outsourced) to fix my company PC. The tech took remote control of my computer, made several changes which I'm sure would be ineffective, and told me my PC was fixed.

It wasn't.

Not one to beat my head against the same wall twice, I searched Microsoft's online knowledge base, found the fix (with review from folks who had applied it), applied the change myself, and it worked. Elapsed time: 5 minutes.

I wonder how many times outsourced functions fail, how much time they consume doing so, how much time people spend fixing the problem themselves rather than doing their own work, and how the metrics which govern outsourcing mask all of these facts ...

It promises to be a good show.

Mosque We Do This?

The furor over the mosque in New York's Ground Zero area would be alleviated by some common sense.

The press and the Administration fan the flames by creating the impression that Americans are anti-Muslim. As evidenced by low hate-crime incidents against Muslims, these sensitivities are largely created by those who delve into the hackneyed "science" of social engineering.

When the President stated that those who want to locate a mosque at Ground Zero have the right (assuming no zoning law is being violated), he was absolutely right. He failed, however, to extend the basis of that statement into the the realm of common sense. He should have cited the principle that "not everything which is lawful is wise". I have lots of rights, but it would be unneighborly of me to exercise the right of free speech whenever and wherever I could!

So the Muslims have the right to build their mosque, but honestly, is it the "right" (i.e. wise) thing to do? They continually profess to be peaceful mainstream Americans.

We'll see ...

A Few Observations and Questions

It's possible I'll always refer to the grandchildren as "babies", my sons as "the boys", and my spouse as "my girl". I'm locked into a time warp.

If the computer in the telephone network is smart enough to announce "you must dial a 1 in front of that number", why isn't it smart enough to do it for me?!

Why does Microsoft Windows require one to select the START button to STOP your computer?

When you call a helpdesk to resolve your computer's connectivity problem, why is there always an announcement referring you to a web site? If I could connect to the internet, I wouldn't be calling!

When I revisit sites remembered from my youth, why are they so much smaller than they used to be?

If the local government simply hikes property tax rates when property values tank (so they don't have to endure a loss of revenue as the private sector does), why do they go to the trouble and expense to assess our homes at all?

It appears Sam Bradford impacts the Rams' overall team psyche'. In a good way ...

22 (+2) Ways to Inspire Others

The following is not original, but reprinted from some material I recently read ... it is a collection of comments from leaders which could be entitled "how to inspire others" ... it is my opinion that these are helpful to everyone as they deal with people, regardless of their profession or position ...

1. Follows through on commitments. Keeps promises.

2. Treats people fairly. Maybe not equally, but fairly.

3. Focuses on achieving most important goals without getting distracted.

4. Displays enthusiasm and energy for what we are doing.

5. Helps us understand the “whys” behind big decisions.

6. Exhibits genuine concern for the people they work with.

7. Has high standards and holds us to them.

8. Generates excitement about major initiatives.

9. Provides clarity in all communication.

10. Promotes our creative and strategic thinking.

11. Maintains [his/her] focus; does not multi-task.

12. Dedicated to the growth and development of others. Spends a lot of time on focused coaching.

13. Treats everyone with respect and dignity.

14. A real team orientation. Works to dissolve the separate camps.

15. Takes time to celebrate success and provide encouragement.

16. High energy. Positive thinker.

17. Shares ideas and actively seeks input.

18. Challenges ideas respectfully. Encourages others to speak up.

19. Has done a great job of aligning others around a vision.

20. Anything [he/she] asks us to do, [he/she] has done or is willing to do.

21. Pro-active.

22. Very candid; straight shooter. Does not sugar coat or equivocate in order to be popular or liked. As a result [he/she] is deeply trusted.

Plus two of my own:

23. Tie work requests to the big picture.

24. Don't hover. Let people own their work.