The Blog Less Traveled

My wife and I recently got back from a little vacation to the D.C. area. I haven’t been there in about 20 years and it was interesting to see all the changes. Our main reason for going there was to visit our daughter. She’s in her last year of medical school and is presently doing some medical rotations at the Bethesda Naval Hospital (photo on left) in Bethesda, MD. In addition to being the hospital for U.S. Presidents and other Washington VIPs, it provides medical services for many of our military troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s quite an impressive facility and is directly across the street from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) complex. If you were going to be sick, this would be a good place to get some medical attention.

In addition to seeing our daughter, we were able to make a couple trips to the downtown D.C. area. On one trip, we took the Metro Rail. It’s actually a pretty stress-free way to get around. You can get an all-day rail pass and pretty much get to all the sites and attractions. We were able to see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, World War II, Vietman and Korean War Memorials, Smithsonian Institution, etc. On another day, we drove into town and went to the White House, Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery. You can easily spend a week or more trying to get to all the sites. Two days is definitely not enough.

I would definitely recommend using the Metro Rail to get around. You can pretty much get to any site you could possibly want and avoiding the massive traffic congestion is a major plus. The only bad thing about going at this time of year is the weather. It can get a bit warm, especially if you’re out on the National Mall for any period of time. I’m really glad we went, though. Besides getting to see our daughter, I think it’s well worth it to visit our National Capital.

Sometimes, I don’t really feel like being politically correct. This is one of those times. I got the following “plan” in an e-mail from a friend. The e-mail attributed the plan to Robin Williams. However, I was able to discover from snopes.com that only the 11th item can be attributed to him. The rest appear to have come from an old listing on a Harley forum in 2003. Anyhow, although it may not fully describe my sentiments with 100% accuracy, it’s close enough. I have a feeling that a lot of other Americans agree with it, too.

The Great Plan

I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of one plan for peace. “Books, not Bombs” won’t work. The head mullahs won’t let anyone read them. If they do, they poke their eyes out.

Here’s the plan:

1. The US will apologize to the world for our “interference” in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini and the rest of them ‘good old boys’. We will never “interfere” again.

2. We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don’t want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No more sneaking through holes in the fence.

3. All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We’ll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.

4. All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself, don’t hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers.

5. No “students” over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a “D” and it’s back home baby.

6. The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient, energy wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

7. Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don’t like it, we go someplace else.

8. If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not “interfere”. They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if any, anyway.

9. Ship the UN Headquarters to an island some place. We don’t need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, it would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

10. All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us “Ugly Americans” any longer.

11. And lastly, “The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying ‘Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.’ She’s got a baseball bat and she’s yelling, ‘You want a piece of me?’”

Now, ain’t that a winner of a plan??

Have you ever been in the situation of only being able to do things with one hand? I recently had some surgery done on my left hand to deal with a problem called Dupuytren’s Contracture. It’s a condition that primarily affects people with a Scandinavian heritage. My grandfather on my mother’s side was Norwegian. Certain sections of the palmar fascia, which is the tissue just below the skin in your palm, begins to grow, thicken and contract. This pulls on your fingers, primarily the ring finger, and causes it to start curling inward. It can get to the point where you can no longer straighten out your finger. I had this surgery done on my right hand in California about 12 years ago. I waited until the finger was curling in about halfway before I had the surgery done. The picture above was taken soon after the California surgery. This time, I didn’t wait as long. I had the surgery done just as the finger was starting to curl. The incision was a lot shorter and the recovery should be quicker.

It’s amazing how difficult it is to do the simple, everyday things with only one hand. If you’ve never been in this situation, try putting your underwear on, zipping up your pants and closing your belt buckle with a single hand. It’s a challenge. Washing, brushing your teeth and other hygiene activities really test your patience. Being left-handed made the situation even more challenging. I just had the surgery done on Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully, the recovery will go smoothly and I’ll be back to being two-handed in no time.

An Obituary printed in the London Times

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live, as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

If you know me at all, you know I’m a chocolate addict. If it’s chocolate by itself or it has chocolate in it, on it or around it, I’ll eat it. I’m particularly fond of good dark chocolate. Give me some dark chocolate with a 60% to 80% cocoa content, and I’m your friend for life.

In a previous blog entry, I told you about how good Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranates were. My latest chocolate fix is courtesy of Pearson’s Mint Patties. These babies are good. The cocoa content for the dark chocolate portion of the candy mint is 66%. The peppermint portion of the candy is good, too. Once I open one up, I don’t think I eat less than 10-12 a day. It’s a good thing I buy them in the 5 lb. jar or it would be a real expensive addiction. I think I may have to attend a Chocoholic’s Anonymous meeting pretty soon – “Hi, my name is Ralph and I’m a Chocoholic.”

If you want to try them, they’re available at Costco, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc. Or, if you drop by my house, I might even share a few with you! There’s even a website for them here. Definitely worth a try. Plus, dark chocolate is actually good for you – in moderation, that is!

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. The weather here in Michigan was great. We spent some of the weekend with family and friends in Grand Haven and enjoyed a nice picnic at the park watching all the boats and people along the channel. There were definitely a wide range of people and clothing styles to both admire and be amused by. Later in the evening we had a little campfire and roasted some hot dogs, marshmallows and s’mores. The only thing missing was our daughter who is hard at work in Pennsylvania. We missed you Beaners!

As I’m writing this, I’m feeling a little guilty. This is supposed to be a day for celebrating all the fallen heroes who died in service of their country. I know that there were services and parades in many cities around the country to observe this fact. However, it seems that Memorial Day has just become another 3-day national holiday. It’s pretty much lost most of its true meaning and is now known more as the start of the summer season as anything else. I’ve become as guilty as everyone else so I’m certainly not pointing fingers at anyone. I think I’d like to see Congress change Memorial Day observance to the last Wednesday in May. Maybe that would remove it from the 3-day weekend mentality and bring its true meaning back into the limelight. What do you think?

As a final thought to maybe bring the true meaning of sacrifice to the forefront, below is the text of the letter that President Lincoln wrote to the mother who lost all five of her sons in battle during the Civil War.

Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,–

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Another bucket list item bites the dust. I’ve always wanted to see a shuttle launch in person. I went down to Florida in late 2007 to finally see one, but it was cancelled at the last minute for technical problems. I was going to wait around for a day or two, but decided that there was no guarantee that it would make it, so I left. This particular shuttle did finally launch, but not until after a week had passed.

As luck would have it, my wife and I were recently invited to a wedding in Georgia. These were friends we had met over 25 years ago. We hadn’t seen them since 1986. One of their daughters was getting married who was only two years old the last time we saw her. We gladly accepted. At the time, I didn’t know that a shuttle launch was scheduled for April 5th, only two days after the wedding. A week or so before the trip, the shuttle launch was mentioned in a news article I was reading. What a great surprise and opportunity this was. We went to Georgia, had a great time attending our friends’ wedding, and left the next day for Florida.

We arrived in Titusville around 4pm the day before the launch. We didn’t have any plan as to where we would stay or watch the launch. We pulled into a bank parking lot next to a city park called Space View Park. As it turned out, this was one of the best public access areas to view a shuttle launch from. It’s on the Indian River, directly across from the NASA launch pads. You have an unobstructed view of the launch and there is a live audio feed from the mission control center. We were able to listen to all the audio going on between Houston Control, the local NASA launch site and the astronauts in the shuttle. We totally lucked out. Also, we arrived early enough so that we were able to secure a great spot. We ended up getting our sleeping bags out, and stayed the entire night in the park. That was definitely an adventure. I can’t remember the last time my wife and I went camping and slept in a sleeping bag. The weather was perfect for our outdoor camping adventure and there were plenty of people there to pass the time with. To top it off, we happened to be sitting by a Canadian gentleman who was a walking encyclopedia on all things space-related. This guy was telling us everything and anything related to the shuttle. He knew every fact and figure imaginable, and then some. It was really quite interesting listening to him.

As the scheduled 6:21am launch approached, people were excited and nervous. We were excited about seeing a night launch, but also nervous about the possibility of a cancelled launch for technical problems. After staying out all night, it would have been a big disappointment to have the launch scrubbed. It was pretty cool listening to all the live audio between the various control personnel and the astronauts aboard the shuttle. About 20 minutes before the final countdown, an announcement came over the PA system that a warning light had illuminated and the launch was put on hold. You could hear the crowd groan when it was announced. However, about 10 minutes later, the announcement was made that the problem had been fixed. There was a big cheer from the crowd. The weather was absolutely clear that evening. Not a cloud was in the sky. Because of that, we were able to see the International Space Station pass overhead about 10 minutes or so before the launch. That was an unexpected surprise.

At 6:21am, the launch went off as scheduled. Wow!!! What a sight. The sky really lit up as the rocket engines were ignited. The skyline went from almost total darkness to a brilliant white fireball. The people at the park were cheering and clapping like crazy. You can see and hear the shuttle for several minutes after the actual launch. It’s something truly amazing to see. Even after the shuttle finally disappeared in the sky, the people at the park were still pretty pumped up. To top it off, about 30-45 minutes after the launch, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise. We ended up doing quite a bit of driving in a short period of time to see this, but boy was it worth it.

This was the last scheduled night launch. However, there are three more daytime shuttle launches scheduled this year before the program is shut down. If you haven’t seen one yet, I highly recommend it. You won’t be disappointed.

Below is a short two minute video I took of the shuttle launch.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Up here in Michigan, it’s been pretty cold. We’ve had some snow, but not all that bad. It’s a little more than three months before I run in the Boston Marathon. Trying to train for it in this weather will be a challenge. The roads have been pretty slippery so I haven’t been out doing much running lately. I hate running indoors on a treadmill, so I don’t really get too much running in right now. I just bought some traction gizmos to put on the bottom of my running shoes. They’re called YakTrax Pros. Supposedly, they’ll keep me from slipping on hard-packed snow surfaces. I may end up having to use them pretty soon if the weather doesn’t change. We’ll see how that works out.

I’ve recently been reading a book called, “26 Miles to Boston.” It’s about the Boston Marathon – surprise! The gentleman that wrote it goes over the history of the marathon. The reason why I like the book is because he gives a blow-by-blow account for each mile of the race. He ran the race back in 1996 and discusses all the things that a runner might be interested in as he runs the course. There’s a chapter for each mile. He tells you the general slope, the points of interest along the way and anything else of value. The course runs through eight different towns and he describes the roads, the crowds, the town, etc. It’s been pretty interesting, thus far. I’m on the chapter for mile 13 right now. This is the portion of the course that takes you through Wellesley College, the women’s liberal arts college. From the description, it sounds like the ladies there really whoop it up for the runners. It’s also the halfway point in the marathon, so I guess it’s a little boost for the runner.

At this point, you might be asking yourself, why the heck did I title this blog posting, “Forgive Me When I Whine?” Well, while I was reading the book, the author mentioned how a long-distance runner has a lot of time to contemplate things. He said during the long stretches when things got tough, he would sometimes think of his favorite poem, “Forgive Me.” He wrote down a portion of it in his book. I did a little digging on the Internet and found out that it’s actually the lyrics to a song by an Islamic singer named Ahmed Bukhatir. It kind of puts things in perspective when you complain about things not going well at the time. Be thankful for all the good things that are going on in your life.

So, if you hear me complaining, forgive me when I whine.

Lyrics: Forgive Me…

Today, upon a bus,
I saw a girl with golden hair.
And wished I was as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch.
But as she passed, she smiled.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I have two legs the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy.
The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked with him, he seemed so glad.
If I were late, it’d do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me,
“I thank you, you’ve been so kind.
You see,” he said, “I’m blind.”

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I have two eyes the world is mine.

I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play.
He did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment and then I said,
“Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word.
And then I knew. He couldn’t hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I have two ears the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I’d go.
With eyes to see the sunset’s glow.
With ears to hear what I’d know.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I am blessed indeed, the world is mine.

Well, Navy did it again. They beat Army today 17-3 in their annual football series. This is the third straight year they’ve kept them from scoring a touchdown. This is also the eighth straight year they’ve beaten Army. They now lead the series 54–49–7. Go Midshipmen!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all had a happy and restful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Our daughter came home for the holiday weekend so that made it even better. We got together with a few of our in-laws and had a nice turkey dinner with all the fixings. There was plenty of turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies and pies galore. No one left hungry.

Today, all the crazy folks got up bright and early to hit the stores for all the Black Friday specials. Standing in line and fighting the crowds is not my idea of fun, even if you do save a few bucks along the way. Some people actually look forward to the event – you folks are crazy! Of course, I got up at four this morning (zero dark thirty) to meet a group of fellow runners in downtown Grand Rapids. Today was a free training session to see if we want to join for the long haul (26 sessions). We ran through the covered skywalks that interconnect all the downtown hotels, restaurants and garages and ran up and down the multi-level parking garages and periodically stopped and did pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups, etc. I’m trying to get my body in shape for the hills in the Boston Marathon in April and I thought this might be a good way to get in condition. If the weather gets real lousy, we’re pretty much covered most of the time. The place is pretty deserted so traffic isn’t a problem. There’s a personal trainer running the show and we even have “Marathon Don” working with us. He’s the Grand Rapids Marathon Race Director and he has run over 180 marathons – all 7 continents three times and all 50 states and DC. Now that’s crazy!

Maybe I better rethink calling all of you Black Friday shoppers crazy. I guess we all do things at one time or another that other people think are a little odd. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend – crazies and non-crazies alike!