I Guess I Did Okay

I went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival yesterday with my lovely bride, my younger daughter, her family, and her in-law's side of the family.  We went at my daughter's request, in celebration of her 30th birthday.  It's been a while since we've done a renfest, and this trip was a fun combination of firsts and nostalgia. Let me start by saying that, while I know my girls enjoyed doing the renfest as kids, I was absolutely thrilled when younger daughter told me back in early June this is what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday.  It was one of those "I did it right as a dad" moments, knowing that she enjoys the renfest as much as wifey and I do.

Wifey and I drove up to Minneapolis on Friday and spent the night in a hotel.  I didn't feel like doing a marathon day; I'm too old for that $h!+.  We took our dog with us, because the event is pet friendly.  This was a first.  I've been a pet owner for over 25 years, but I've never taken my dog(s) to renfest.  It was also the first time I've stayed in a hotel with my furry companion(s), and the first time she's been away from the house overnight.  Historically, when wifey and I travel, we get a family member or friend to come check on the dogs, and let them chill at the house.

From the dog perspective, this was also the longest car ride she's ever had, and the first time she's been around this many people for this much time, and she was a champ!  Hundreds of people interacted with her, and she received many, many compliments on her mellow demeanor.

It was the first time that my grandson, son-in-law, and his family had been to a renaissance festival.  Both of the boys (grandson and son-in-law) dressed up in pirate style attire.  The grandson was like a kid in a candy store, with each new sight being more exciting than the last.  I think the highlight for me was when he got into a fencing contest with younger daughter.  It was a full circle moment, bringing back memories of when I fenced with my girls, and just writing about this makes me smile because it feels like one of those moments where life came full circle.  I can't help but imagine my grandson doing this with his kids, and so on.  Attending the renaissance festival has the possibility of becoming a family tradition that I started.

My longest tradition is that I purchase renfest attire each time I attend.  I've attended enough of these events that I have quite a bit of versatility in my renfest wardrobe, so I can go anywhere from peasant, to brigand, to artisan, to gentlemen.  This time, I purchased a suede jerkin, and I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this new acquisition.  My lovely bride also does this, and this year I promised her that I would pay for the item she wanted to pick up... I believe I did this for her birthday.  This was one of those times where I spent a lot more money than I'm comfortable spending, but quite frankly, that's a function of my upbringing, not my current financial status, and every now and then you just have to say screw it, spend a little more money, and enjoy the outcome.  This was one of those times where not buying would bring more regret than buying, and that doesn't happen often in my world.

On the way home, I just kind of basked in the afterglow of the event.  I had fun just doing the renfest.  I had fun taking my dog for the first time.  I really enjoyed seeing my daughter and her family doing so many of the things I did when I was a young dad.  I super-duper enjoyed my lovely bride standing by my side.  It was one of those perfect weekends where, as a dad and a husband I felt like "Yeah, I guess I did okay." 

My First Con(vention)

 As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I hit my first big fan convention over the weekend.  I've attended the Minnesota Renaissance Festival many, many times over the years, and I've hit a smaller RenFest closer to where I live, but I've never done anything like Comic-Con.  I've done TrekFest, which is kinda sorta like a Con, but the scale is much smaller.  There's only so much a town of 1000 people can do on a budget.  I will say though that Riverside has done a pretty good job of growing Trek Fest over the years, and claiming the "Future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk" was a stroke of marketing brilliance on their part.  Heck, it even became official canon.  Oh, but I'm digressing... my point is that I've never done anything like GalaxyCon, and I finally seized the opportunity last weekend.

How I ended up attending GalaxyCon is a story in itself.  I received a notice from VetTix, informing me there were some GalaxyCon tickets available.  I asked my wife if she was interested in attending if I got tickets.  My younger daughter, who had dropped by for a visit, asked "What's GalaxyCon?"  I said "Think Comic-Con and you've got the right idea."  I then started naming some of the celebrities who would be there for meet-and-greets.  When I rattled off James Marsters' name, she got all kinds of excited!  I ended up not getting the free tickets from VetTix, but that's okay.  There was no way my daughter was going to miss the chance to meet Marsters, so we all bought tickets.

I really didn't know what to expect.  Some of the online reviews had said it's kind of lame, specifically that it was disorganized and not well attended.  That was not my experience at all.  There were tons of vendors, attendees, and Q&A panels. We attended a Q&A session with voice actors from Star Trek: Lower Decks, one with Jason Mewes, and a weird, darkly humorous discussion of uniquely horrible ways some people have died over the years.  For example, they talked about how Jack Daniel died of a blood infection as a result of kicking his safe when it wouldn't open, and a guy who tripped over his beard, fell, and broke his neck.

The event was a money making machine!  Using the meet and greet with Marsters I mentioned yesterday as a frame of reference:  He charged $50 per autograph or selfie, or $80 if you bundled and did both.  I estimate that he spent about two minutes with each person.  Using conservative back-of-the-napkin math, that meant he was pulling in over $100 every five minutes, which translates to $1200 per hour.  That's insane!  If he worked 1/2 day, he would have easily pulled in over $5000.  And that's just one guy at one table.

The costumes worn by attendees were tons of fun, too.  There were anime characters I knew nothing about.  But I saw Master Chief from Halo, Darth Vader, storm troopers, Klingons and Star Fleet officers from all generations of Star Trek, Dolly Parton, the Jack in the Box mascot, Dracula (complete with a full sized casket), WWE wrestlers, and the list goes on.

There were several tables devoted just to building custom light sabers from the Star Wars universe.  Those things were expensive, starting at $200 and going up over $600.  There were several booths dedicated to swords, daggers, axes, etc.  Artists sold paintings.  I saw many, many D&D dice booths with some crazy dice sets that looked like the Lament box from Hellraiser.

Overall, it was a wildly creative way for attendees to dress up as virtually anyone or anything, and countless opportunities for vendors to separate said attendees from their hard-earned money.  It was a lot of fun, and I suspect we'll do it again next year.

Meeting James Marsters

I met James Marsters yesterday at GalaxyCon.  If I remember, I'll share a post about GalaxyCon in general tomorrow, because that was a first too.  Today though, I'm going to focus on meeting Marsters.  For those of you not familiar, Marsters played Spike on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  My wife and girls grew up on Buffy, and I'll admit I'm a fan too.  In fact, the primary reason I went to GalaxyCon was so my younger daughter could meet James Marsters.  Since my lovely bride is also a big Buffy fan, she happily agreed to join us.

We arrived shortly after the doors opened for the day, and essentially headed directly to the James Marsters table for the meet and greet.  The line wasn't horribly long, but we waited approximately 90 minutes until it was our turn.  Daughter was virtually bursting with excitement as we snaked through the line, and it was definitely an exercise in patience for her.  Fortunately for me, I don't go nuts in lines, a skill I picked up from the military.  We all chatted with others while waiting in line, which was a very pleasant way to help kill the time, and eventually it was our (daughter's) turn for the meet and greet.

While waiting in line, daughter indicated she was twitterpated, and she didn't disappoint.  Marsters greeted her and she responded with "You're my second crush."  Marsters didn't miss a beat and replied by saying "You're welcome, who was your first crush?"  Her mind went blank for a half second, before she recovered, telling him that her first crush was Johnny Depp, specifically Captain Jack Sparrow.  "Have you met Johnny," he casually queried?  "He's a really nice guy."  He then turned his attention to my wife and me, noticing that we were both wearing Star Trek attire.

"Oh, you're both Trekkies, nice!  Are you enjoying the convention?"  I replied informing him that it was my first time attending any convention like this, and he said he was a big Trek fan and attended his first convention when he was 13 years old, back when it was all Star Trek.  He then suggested that we spend time talking to other attendees, saying that in his opinion, the fans are the best part of conventions.  He then spent a few more moments talking to wifey and daughter as he signed some memorabilia daughter brought expressly for that purpose.

Backing up a bit... as we waited in line, I caught bits and pieces of his conversations with other fans.  Marsters had talked with a guy shortly before us in line about music.  (Marsters is in a band, Ghost of the Robot.)  The fan was a bass player, and Marsters said something about bass being too hard on the fingers, and said he plays acoustic with ultra light nylon strings.  Yes! I thought.  Not about bass, because that's my primary instrument, but about light strings.  My acoustic guitar has very light strings as well, though they're metal instead of nylon.  I never understood the appeal of heavy strings.  Even my bass has relatively light strings.  I had kind of hoped to chat about music, but I was more than happy to let him and daughter lead the conversation.  I was just a supporting cast member in daughter's show.  Heck, I didn't expect to have any lines, but I was happy to participate.  My overall impression was that he did a spectacular job of finding a connection with everyone who came to meet him.

A short while later there was an opportunity for a professional photo shoot with Marsters, and daughter seized that opportunity as well.  Despite the fact that he had met dozens of fans between our meet-and-greet and the photo session, he appeared to recognize us and said "Welcome back."  This, again, left me with the impression that he was doing more than just going through the motions.  He seemed to genuinely be paying attention to the fans.

That evening, Marsters did a short concert.  It was just him on stage with his acoustic guitar, and we were in a small, intimate room.  We sat at round tables, which lent to an atmosphere of a small lounge.  He played for about an hour, telling a brief story about each song before he played it.  I split my attention between enjoying the music and stories, observing his guitar technique and chord progressions, watching how he worked the audience, and noticing how the audience reacted to him.  It felt like Marsters made eye contact with everyone in the room at one point or another, which again impressed me.  It seemed like he was genuinely interested in his fans, and he came across as someone who was truly happy that people enjoyed his music.

Taking another conversational turn, this time talking as a musician, I have always considered myself a rudimentary musician.  I can play a few chords on guitar, and I can hit the right notes and hold rhythm on bass.  I feel like I have a decent voice and slightly better than average vocal range.  But I will never be a lead guitarist, blistering bass player or vocal virtuoso.  I've written, arranged, and recorded one song that I'm very proud of, but I suspect that if I were to become a songwriter, my songs would very quickly all sound the same.  With that said though, Marsters improved my assessment of my own ability to play.  I have a wider vocal range than what he demonstrated, and his guitar playing was basic chords and simple strumming patterns.  Don't get me wrong.  I very much enjoyed the concert.  His songs were well constructed lyrically and his guitar technique was advanced and varied enough that he didn't come across as a novice trying to pass himself off as a virtuoso.  All I am saying here is that when I left his concert, I thought damn, maybe I'm better at guitar than I've been giving myself credit for.

Now, having said all of this, I should say this is the first time I've been this close to any celebrity, and I've kind of always wondered what it would be like to brush elbows with someone famous.  Based on my reading, it should be obvious that my experience was positive.  He seemed genuinely interested in his fans, and down to earth with his interactions.  Most importantly though, he gave my little girl a day that she will remember for the rest of her life.  As much as anything else, I'm glad that I got to share in her happiness.

Commemorating 9/11/2001

Today is the 25th anniversary of the day terrorists flew airplanes into buildings, and the day where a few brave souls, knowing what was going on, prevented one instance of that happening, sending that specific plane into a field in Pennsylvania.  It was a day that altered the course of history.  It started America's war on terror, and complicated domestic air travel.  It generated fear, anger, and retaliation.  That action showed how utterly and senselessly destructive hatred can bring humans to behave.  It also brought out the best in us.

For the briefest of moments, America was united in outrage and grief.  While trying to make sense of an act that ultimately had no rational explanation, we cared for one another, focused on healing and rebuilding.  We didn't care about the political beliefs of those who perished, only that they were no longer here. We didn't question the religious affiliation of those who searched through the rubble, looking for survivors.  Instead, for an instant in time, we worked as one to process the events and forge a path forward.

Equally remarkable was the outpouring of empathy and support from the international community.  To most of the world, we were a shining example of what freedom should look like, and the most generous country on the planet.  Most of the world was just as shocked as we were, and they openly shared in our grief and disbelief.

Now, twenty-five years later, nothing remains of the unity.  We have predictably returned to our petty bickering and squabbling, and it's gotten so bad that the rest of the world is turning their collective back to us.  I'm having a difficult time with this.  I think back to the day and can almost relive parts of it; the memories are that vivid.  I can't help but mentally compare and contrast our society then vs. now, and I feel despair over our squandered opportunity to do better together.

I Doubt It

I've been seeing a lot of articles running around the interwebs saying that AI developers believe AI could kill us all within a ten years.  In fact, I saw an article this morning that claimed some believe it could kill us by the end of this decade.  To put things in perspective, the end of the current decade is less than four years away.  So let me say it now... I doubt this will come to pass.

Now that I've grabbed your attention with my clickbait, let me share my realistic, though less-than-fully-informed perspective.  Yes, it's quite possible that AI will do something highly disruptive within the next ten years, but that's a far cry from an extinction event.  The only way I see this as even a remote possibility is through the release of a biological agent that's as contagious as measles and as deadly as ebola, or by releasing a toxin into the entire world's water supply simultaneously.  Even then, the likelihood of either event wiping 100% of humans from the earth remain pretty low.

Don't get me wrong.  I am skeptical about AI.  I believe it can do good, but also feel that we're being crazy reckless in our pursuit of it.  I believe AI is generally overhyped; both its productivity and its capacity for bringing catastrophe are being exaggerated.  With that said though, I certainly agree that we need to slow things down.  At our current speed, I believe we're more likely than not to bring about a severe unintended consequence.

Death Knell?

I read an article today effectively saying that Americans don't trust political campaigns.  Okay, this shouldn't be a surprise, but the depth of the mistrust is noteworthy.  According to the article, about 60% of us have little or no trust in information about elections, politics, foreign affairs or the environment.  Less than 35% of us highly trust government certifications of election results.  Only 25% of us trust campaign messages.  To put this in perspective, constitutional amendments require a 2/3 (66%) majority.  This means we've almost reached a point where we have a "constitutional amendment majority" that distrusts trust the system, making things ripe for exploitation.

To clarify, I'm not saying that democracy will fall during this election, but it certainly could happen during my lifetime.  Trust is critical -- CRITICAL -- to democracy.  Democracy can only succeed as long as people trust those we elect, and it's quite clear that we don't.  By extension, we need to trust the press, and I don't think that's the case either.  As I see it, the most likely outcome is a continued decline in participation in the election process until another cult of personality arrives and energizes us.  By "us," I mean the American people at large.  I am not referring specifically to one party or the other, because both parties are equally susceptible to a demagogue.  The biggest factor is the exact wrong person coming to the political stage at the exact right time.

Donald Trump has done a uniquely successful job at eroding an already tenuous trust in our government.  It will be incredibly difficult to rebuild this trust, and based on what I today, there is not a single politician currently serving who is concerned about rebuilding trust.  They're all focused on leveraging this distrust to advance their own power and influence.  This takes me back to the likely outcome I mentioned earlier...  Political participation will continue to decline until we hit the point where a demagogue is able to take all the marbles.  I can't help but wonder if we just witnessed a death knell for democracy.

Wise Beyond His Years

In a post I made a few months back, I said that I'm about done with my local Marine Corps League detachment.  There's been a lot of bickering and infighting, and it's just not fun anymore.  While I still have one foot out the door, the fact that I'm writing today should indicate that I haven't yet given up.

We had our monthly meeting yesterday, and I went, after skipping the August meeting.  (We usually don't hold a meeting in July, because it tends to conflict with 4th of July weekend.)  I wasn't really looking forward to the meeting, but I had a specific reason to attend.  One of my delayed entry poolees just returned from boot camp after earning the title Marine, and I invited him to the meeting to talk about his experience.  I may have soured on my detachment, but I still like the idea of Veteran Service Organizations in general.  I invited this young man, because I believe that it's important for veterans to support those currently serving.  I believe it's important for those currently serving to be exposed to veteran service organizations so they're aware of our existence, and are open to joining a VSO when they hang up their uniform for the last time.

After this Marine spoke, he hung around for the rest of the meeting.  This wasn't our usual meeting, where we read the minutes and conducted business as usual.  We suspended our normal procedure and had what I'd like to call a family meeting.  It started with the Detachment Commandant reading the mission of the Marine Corps League, and saying that it feels like we've forgotten our mission.  He followed this by addressing the divisiveness that's taken root in the detachment.  He acknowledged the contributions of the old guard, admitted that we've gone through a lot of changes lately, and said that he appreciates how these changes have ruffled some feathers.  He also said that change is necessary if we wish to continue as an organization.  Next, he talked about how we have driven off some new members, citing a couple of examples without naming names, and encouraged us to brainstorm ways to do better and move forward.

When the meeting finished, the young Marine and I spoke at length.  He said that he was impressed with our meeting, and shared that he got to see that we have the same problems as everyone else, we addressed the problems head-on, and that in public we carry out our mission.  That statement hit me hard.  I've been so focused on my anger that I was unable to see the larger picture.  This kid is wise beyond his years, and it gave me a bit of a reality check.  I'm not going to say that I'm recommitting myself to the detachment, but I am going to take a mental pause and let his words of wisdom sink in...

This Ain't Rocket Science, It's Just Plain Ol' Science

I have a friend who lives not too far from me who received a notice that they may have been exposed to measles.  This friend then shared the notice on Facebook and said something along the line of I want answers.  This smacks of COVID! I looked at that post and almost did a facepalm, wondering how someone could connect these dots.  (Oh gee, I made a funny.  Dots... Measles...  Too soon?)  Anyway, let me share how these are not in any way related, except in the mind of a conspiracy theorist.

For starters, measles was eliminated in the United States back in 2000.  What this means is that measles was wiped out in the US.  The only way outbreaks occur here is when someone travels out of the country and brings the virus back as a souvenir.  Measles is still technically eliminated in the US, but that status is under threat because outbreaks are becoming increasingly common and widespread.  COVID was a new virus.

Moving on to my next point, measles has had a safe, effective vaccine for over 50 years. We wiped out measles in the US because we developed herd immunity, which states that 95% of the American population was immunized against measles.  By the way, herd immunity varies based on how contagious a given virus is.  Measles is considered the most contagious virus known to science, which is why we need such a high vaccination rate to contain it.  By way of comparison, the flu only needs about 45% vaccination for herd immunity.  COVID was a new pathogen that had no vaccine when it broke out.

When COVID happened, we basically shut down the whole world.  My friend just got a notice.  Nobody's being forced to stay home.  Nobody's being asked to quarantine, unless they have an active, diagnosed case.  These aspects are so dissimilar that it's mind boggling anyone would correlate them.

The measles vaccine provides lifetime immunity, whereas COVID requires new immunization as strains continue to mutate.  Measles, by contrast, has not mutated in decades.

So... to my friend who wants answers:  This does not smack of COVID.  These two situations are nothing alike.  The reason you may have been exposed to measles is because an unvaccinated individual in your general geographic region was exposed to measles, and caught the virus.  Since measles, as stated above, is considered the single most contagious pathogen known to science, and because our vaccination rate has fallen below the 95% threshold mentioned above, we need to take more precautions to prevent widespread outbreaks.  In other words, the anti-vaxxers are making things tougher for all of us.  This ain't rocket science, it's just plain ol' science.

Made My Day

I did a quick check on Facebook this morning and saw a friend request that made my day.

The friend request was from one of my (now former) delayed entry program poolees who just earned the title Marine.  This young man graduated boot camp two days ago, and one of the first things he did was send me a friend request.  Let me give you a little backstory...

When this kid first signed the paperwork, he was not a perfect example of physical fitness.  I know for certain that I ran faster than he did, and I believe I did more pull-ups and planked longer, though I'm not 100% on that recollection.  Just before he shipped out to boot camp, he shared that I intimidated the hell out of him because I was in better shape than him, and said that his motivation to beat me inspired him to improve.  By the way, before he went to boot camp, he was able to run faster, crank out more pull-ups, and plank longer than me, so I feel like I served my purpose.

Now this young man has earned his Eagle, Globe and Anchor, and one of the first things he did was send me a friend request.  I kind of feel like a teacher who had a student come back to visit and say you were one of my all-time favorite teachers.  That $h!+ made my day.

Self Reliance vs. Victimhood

I've been hearing a little bit about how the city of Gary, Indiana and the surrounding area has been without electricity for about two weeks, after some major storms knocked out the power.  This brings me back to when we had a major derecho in my neck of the woods.  I'm not going to try to compare the severity of the events, because I experienced the derecho, whereas I'm only reading about the storms in Gary, so I have a biased belief that my storm was worse.  As a result, any attempt at comparison would be something like saying my dad's lung cancer is worse than your mom's pancreatic cancer.  What I am going to do is talk about our responses to the event.

As I read the story about Gary,  I consumed a story about victimhood...  Oh, woe is me.  We've been without power for two weeks.  Who will save us?  This wasn't my first exposure to the story, but it was my first deep dive.  After reading this story, I continued on and read a couple of additional articles, and the trend was similar... the residents of Gary, Indiana are victims of a natural disaster, and they're frustrated or underserved by the public infrastructure that's supposed to help in this type of circumstance.

As I absorbed these stories, I thought back to the derecho that hit me, and the 500 year flood that had hit just over a decade earlier.  I also thought back to Hurricane Katrina when it hit New Orleans in 2005.  Here's my overall observation:  When we got hit by the derecho, we were also without power.  My house was without power for eight days, and I personally knew people who went without electricity for two weeks.  Portions of my city were completely isolated for days due to trees completely blocking roads.  When we saw the devastation, we pooled our resources and started digging our way out ourselves.  Neighbors shared chainsaws, manpower, and vehicles, and we started clearing the roads as citizens.

I knew I'd be without power for a while, so I called up a friend in a nearby town and asked if I could store meat from my small freezer in his deep freezer, and he happily agreed.  I kept a small amount of frozen meat and all of my frozen veggies, and moved my perishables from the refrigerator to the freezer, converting it into an icebox.  I ate food as it thawed, cooking on the grill on my deck.  I climbed on the roof and patched the hole that had been punched through it by a tree with expandable spray foam I happened to have on hand, and covered the hole where my fireplace chimney had been with a tarp.  Once I had finished taking care of the minor breaches in my home's integrity, I volunteered to assist others.

My mindset was quite typical.  People and businesses who had power restored early on put power strips on their porches, so that neighbors could charge their cell phones.  People with generators offered to let neighbors store insulin in their refrigerator.  My point is that we banded together and started rebuilding ourselves.  We didn't wait for others to come bail us out.

The story in Gary is a story of victimhood.  The story of Katrina was a story of helplessness. The overarching, repeating theme in both cases are that the residents are waiting for rescue, whereas my story was a story of self-reliance and resilience.

I can't help but wonder how much of these stories are the real, full story, vs. a media fabrication.  I keep asking myself if my case was unique or if it was spun by the storytellers.  I question if I'm misremembering things, but can't help but believe my memories are accurate.  Let's assume I'm right, just for a moment...

What does that mean for American society?  If my little pocket is the exception and not the rule, what does that mean for American resilience and exceptionalism?  Is it effectively dead?  Have we turned into a country of victims, unable to persevere during times of adversity, destined to rely on the help of others?

But if I'm wrong, what does that mean for the state of journalism?  Has the fourth pillar devolved to the point where it no longer serves the public, and is instead only interested in producing a story that will engage the reader, even to the extend of skewing reality beyond the realm of fact?

I suspect that both are true, which is even worse. 

Good. He Should Be Charged!

 

I read an article this morning saying that the an Air Force major is going to be charged essentially for protesting in uniform. I support the administration for pressing charges. While everyone is entitled to exercise their first amendment rights, military personnel are prohibited from doing so in uniform. This is because the military is supposed to be non-partisan. As soon as the uniform is donned, you cease speaking or acting as an individual and you assume the role of Airman, Sailor, Soldier or Marine.

 

I fully expect this officer knew what he was doing. I am confident he sees himself as a martyr. While I acknowledge that his actions required a strength of conviction, I strongly disagree with how he chose to express his position.

Allergies Suck

Let me start by saying this is a minor inconvenience.  I have seasonal allergies.  My specific symptoms include itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, a little bit of congestion in my lungs, and occasional bouts of eczema.  It's not wildly different from a cold.  Unfortunately, I have spring and fall allergies.  Maybe that's part of why I love summer so much.  The spring pollen is gone, the fall pollen hasn't yet arrived, and I get the sun and heat that's sorely lacking in the winter.

I should clarify that I take daily allergy medicine to combat the symptoms.  That's tremendously helpful.  Back in the day, I spent months suffering from allergies, and the only relief I could find was from Benadryl, which just knocked me on my @$$.  I also did the allergy shots for several years.  That helped too.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to complete the treatment plan because of my divorce from wife 1.0.  Regardless though, the shots helped a lot.  I'm a lot less susceptible to allergens than I was before the shots.

It still doesn't help days like today.  I'm having a miserable allergy day.  It's the ragweed.  Unfortunately, I can't take the Benadryl, because I have too much to do, and I can't afford to be a zombie.  Allergies suck! 

Why I Give

I was asked to give a quick speech in church yesterday, discussing why I give/serve.  It was a little weird for me, because I'm not bit into tooting my own horn, specifically when it comes to my charity work.  I've long believed that the best charity work is done anonymously.  While I have occasionally discussed certain facets of my volunteer work, I don't believe I've ever shared everything I do, all at once, with a large group of people.  In this case though, I understood what my pastor was trying to accomplish, so I took one for the team, and discussed why, where and how I give.

I serve on the church's worship team, primarily as a bass player, though I've occasionally been known to sing harmonies or play six string.  This one is primarily for selfish reasons.  I serve on the worship team because it forces me to practice and play music.  If it wasn't for the worship team, my guitars and bass would just sit around and collect dust.  Furthermore, music is one of the two times I feel closest to God.  (The other time is when I'm communing with nature.)  When it comes to music though, I have to be playing it.  Singing along with the congregation from the pews isn't the same.  When I'm playing, I feel like a conduit.

I volunteer with the Humane Society.  Each month, I take a dog to a nearby nursing home to interact with the residents.  I do this because I love dogs, and because it provides an opportunity for me to serve an overlooked segment of society.  I genuinely believe that humans don't deserve the unconditional love that dogs give us, and I can't describe the satisfaction I receive when I see a resident light up when I bring a dog for them to pet.

I'm active in the veteran community.  This is partially because I'm a vet.  It's more because I see that veterans, as a group, have given more to our society than virtually another demographic, and they pay a far higher price for that service.  They have earned our respect and deserve our service.

I donate money to an area faith-based nonprofit that focuses on housing and food insecurity.  This charity holds an annual event where they fix up houses for homeowners who could otherwise not afford it.  This work ranges from painting the exterior to replacing appliances, to structural repairs, and everything in between.  The work is done by volunteers and area trades experts, and paid for by community fundraising.  Additionally, they have a few houses and apartments that they've renovated and rent out at below-market prices.  They have a nonprofit grocery store in an area that used to be a food desert.  They have a pay-it-forward nonprofit cafe, and they supplement these food locations with an urban farm.  I donate money to this group because I remember what it's like to struggle to pay rent.  I remember going weeks without eating meat so I could put nutritious food into my kids' bellies.  I remember what it was like as a kid, not having the nice clothes.

I don't do this because I'm obedient to God, per se. In fact, most people who know me would probably not use the word obedient to describe me.  I don't do it to follow a rule.  I do it out of love for my fellow human being.  I do it because I can.

As I finished my talk, I shared that it doesn't matter why, where, or how often you give.  It only matters that you give.  I hope that by sharing where, why and how I give that my reason for each of my charitable involvements had a unique reason, and that service can take many different forms.  I hope I touched a couple of hearts that might now consider a couple of new ideas for their own community involvement.

Bye Bye, Boy

Grandson is on his way back home today.  The house feels unusually quiet, despite his being here for only three weeks.  I guess I got used to his presence.

I won't miss the mess he left in his wake.

I won't miss telling him to do things that is common sense for an adult to do, such as flushing the toilet.

I won't miss watching him fall into the abyss of his cell phone.

I won't miss him arguing with his little cousin.

I will miss the trash talk.

I will miss the mundane conversation about nothing in particular.

I will miss him at the gym and Marine PT.

I will miss cooking with and for him.

I will miss playing video games with him.

I will miss him arguing with his little cousin, despite what I said earlier. 

I will miss him. 

Speaking of the Middle East...

Today's post is a coincidental follow-up to yesterday's topic of the mess in the middle east.  I read an article reporting that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan just signed a defense treaty.  From my perspective, this is an interesting development, which resulted from a worldwide understanding that the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner.  To clarify, all of these countries are considered American allies.  For example, Saudi Arabia was our staging area for Desert Storm, and Pakistan allowed us to cross their borders into Afghanistan.  In other words, it's not automatically a problem, but it is a potential complication.

India is understandably wary of this news, because of their tense relations with Pakistan.  Iran is probably concerned, because they have a tense relationship with Saudi Arabia, though Iran is downplaying the news.  Turkey has been trying to get into the EU for a long time, so this may be their way of thumbing their noses at EU officials who won't let Turkey join.  All in all, I believe that each country stands to benefit economically and militarily.

I find it a amusing that some in the U.S. are concerned about this, and it feels like those most concerned are the biggest supporters of America First.  Like I said above, we have shown the world that we're no longer a reliable partner.  If the biggest kid in the schoolyard stops protecting you and starts bullying you, it's only reasonable to link up with other kids and promise to help each other out.  What did you think would happen?

The Middle East Mess

I was prompted to discuss my thoughts on the mess in the Middle East, specifically the Israel-Palestine conflict.  In order to explain my perspective though, we need a not-so-little history lesson.

Let's start with the basics.  Ancient Israel goes back thousands of years.  The Bible shows the Israelites warring with many nations, and archaeologists seem to agree that frequent conflict was pretty much how society looked in that area at that time.  Heck, the Israelites couldn't even agree amongst themselves, resulting in the area splitting into two separate countries -- Israel and Judah.  Both kingdoms fell well before 500 BCE.  In other words, Israel ceased to exist as a nation well before Christ was born.  The temple in Jerusalem was under Roman rule during Christ's life, as is verified in many biblical passages.  When the kingdom(s) of Israel fell, the Jewish people were scattered across the world, though they did hold their faith, traditions, and bloodlines over time.  This is generally known as the diaspora.

Over the following centuries, the Jewish people suffered persecution, though the oppression was not universal.  In fact, many Jewish settlements were quite integrated into local societies.  In my opinion, this experience is not radically different from any minority ethnic group throughout history.  So let's fast forward to World War II, where we all know what happened.

As a direct result of the Holocaust, the United Nations got together and decided to create a new nation of Israel.  There's a lot of geopolitical stuff I don't fully understand, so I'm not going to try to explain it, because I may get it wrong.  The result, however, is pretty straight forward.  A lot of Arabs lost their land.  If I were in their position, I'd be a little cranky about having my land taken from me and given to someone else, so I can understand the tension.

Since then, the Arabs have tried a couple of times to take the land back by force.  In one instance, (the Six Day War,) a bunch of Arab countries tried to gang up on Israel all at once, and got their collective asses kicked.  In fact, Israel ended up taking a bunch or land from them in the process.  Israeli ownership of the West Bank and Gaza strip are contested territory to this day.  In my personal opinion on this event, the Arabs tried to bully Israel, got their asses kicked, and lost the land fair and square.

Let's deviate just for a quick second and talk about Palestine. For the record, there has never been a country called Palestine.  Not in the way we think of countries today, with universally recognized borders.  Palestinians are a group of people from that geographical area.  It's more accurate to think of Ancient Palestine how you would think of Ancient Israel.  I'm not saying that the Palestinians are unworthy of a country.  From where I sit, they are probably as worthy as the Jewish people who now live in Israel.  The big difference is that the Palestinians didn't face global extinction like the Jews did, so they haven't received the same level of global sympathy.  Anyway, back to the history lesson...

Since Israel became a state, they have had to fight tooth and nail for their existence as a country.  Many Arab countries have said quite plainly that they want to wipe Israel from the map.  I'm not sure that Arabs hate Jews like we are led to believe, but it's reasonably clear that Arab countries disagree with the idea of Zionism, which is the desire for the Jewish people to have a nation that's recognized and secured by law.  Heck, it's theoretically possible that the Arabs would be okay with Israel existing, as long it's not on "their land."  Typical NIMBYism, I guess.  I'd like to clarify this all conjecture on my part.

Now, let's talk about America's support of Israel.  As far as I can tell, there is a very high correlation between Fundamental Christianity and support for Israel as a nation.  In other words, it seems to me that the most ardent support for Israel is based on Christian faith, rather than humanistic or political reasons.  Based on many, many conversations I've had on this subject, I've come to the personal conclusion that this is based on Biblical prophesy indicating that Israel will be restored when Jesus returns.  This would seem to indicate that if Israel were to cease being a country, we would by extension no longer be in the end of days.  Assuming I'm correct, this means that faith is the root of America's unfailing support for Israel's existence.

The thing is, Israel is very heavy-handed in its efforts to maintain its existence.  This means that the human rights of ethnic Arabs are not always observed, especially in the occupied areas I mentioned before.  This, understandably, could make some Arabs in the region a little cranky.  I can absolutely recognize why some of these oppressed individuals might choose violence to voice their opposition to their situation.

This all leads to my conclusion.  The Jews and Arabs have been fighting for as long as Israel has been a country.  Heck, their ancestors have been warring for thousands of years.  This anger and hostility is nothing new.  Furthermore, many, many countries have worked for longer than I've been alive to bring about peace in this region, to no avail.  This is because both Arabs and Jews are unwilling to compromise.  Both sides have committed atrocities in the name of independence or protecting their homeland, and both sides have legitimate grievances against their foes. While it's reasonable to strive for a permanent end to hostilities in the region, it is folly to believe that it's imminent, and hubris for any one individual to believe they can single-handedly make it happen.

I'd also like to point out that problems in the Middle East are not restricted to conflict between Jews and Arabs.  There is also a high level of conflict between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims, but that's a complete story in itself, so it's a topic for another day.

Must Be in the Blood

Though he's only 13, I've taken my grandson to weekly PT with the Marine Corps recruiters and poolees on delayed entry.  The kid's been crushing it!

Last week we did an Indian run, with the added twist of a medicine ball.  The boy kept up and actually outperformed a good number of the poolees and other guests.  Yesterday, we did our monthly Initial Strength Test, which consists of each person doing a max set of pull-ups, a timed plank, and a 1.5 mile run.  The boy did 7 pull-ups, planked for the max time of 3:45, and ran the 1.5 miles in just over 10 minutes.  He outperformed poolees and other guests in every single event.

After we all finished our pull-ups, I asked the poolees to raise their hands if they did 10 or fewer pull-ups.  About half raised their hands, and I said "Congratulations, you just got beat by an old man."  I then asked the poolees to raise their hands if they did fewer than 7 pull-ups.  About a third kept their hands up.  To them, I continued with "Congratulations, you just got beat by an old man AND a thirteen year old boy."  When we finished the planks, the kids who hadn't maxed their time at 3:45 were standing in a group off to the side.  I looked over at them and said, "Congrats on getting out-planked by a 13 year old boy and an old man.  You suck!  Do better!"

I didn't do that for the run, though I should have.  The boy was one of the fastest ones there, finishing fourth, and I pulled out a personal best run time of 12:18, finishing faster than about 1/3 of the kids.  The recruiters seem to be enjoying the boy's presence.  I'm sure it is disheartening for these kids to get their asses kicked so mercilessly by the boy and me, and it should motivate them to do better.  Lord knows I'm proud of the boy.  It must be in the blood.

Not the Way

As this Cyclosporiasis thing is still going strong because of bad lettuce, I'm now reading there's a problem with jalapenos.  It's almost as if the universe it trying to tell us that a global mega food chain, full of an exploited work force, while simultaneously woefully lacking in product diversity, is not the way.

 #EatLocal

Some Things Stick With You...

I saw the movie Parenthood almost 40 years ago.  There's a scene from that movie that really hit home, even as a young man who hadn't yet had children. I still paraphrase the scene, and try diligently to live by it when I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I'd love to share the clip with you.

The Forgotten Art of Personalized Service

One thing that online retailers and big box stores cannot provide is highly personalized service, and I had forgotten the wonder of that level of attentiveness and expertise. My running shoes were wearing out and it was time to replace them. As is the case with many consumer goods, there is a dizzying variety of choice, and finding the best option can be a bit overwhelming. I've done the whole research-to-death thing, and quite frankly I'm a bit tired of it, so I decided to hit a store that specializes in running shoes, and I'm glad I went. 

I chose my spot, and the sales guy provided the exact expertise I need. We started by verifying my shoe size with a podoscope, which measures not just foot size, but arch height and other smaller details to provide a more customized fit. Next they asked me to run on a treadmill for a minute so they could record my running gait, again to find shoes that would match my body type. In this instance, they were looking for indication of excessive ankle rolling. From there, we discussed the frequency, distance and terrain of my typical run, and then Andy brought out about a half dozen shoes for me to try. Next, I walked around the store directly comparing different shoes. Wearing one of each shoe allowed me to directly compare and contrast, making it easy to select the best shoe for my needs. He also showed me inserts and socks to try out. The inserts didn't do anything for me, but I did pick up a pair of socks.

Another really cool item to note:  I was prepared to pay a small premium for the additional service, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that prices were in line with far larger competitors.  In fact, I received a discount for being a veteran, so I actually paid less.  It was great to rediscover the forgotten art of personalized service.