Arizona

I had a nice visit to Arizona for work; this time it was Tucson where I'd never been before. Unfortunately, the weather was not as warm as I had hoped, having endured some really bone chilling temps in the east. Still it was certainly tolerable and being at a resort for almost a week in the middle of January was a treat I was glad to experience again. I had a great dinner with a colleague who is nearing retirement like me. It was a little pricey so, as I outranked him, I paid the bill though he covered the bottle of  wine .  Not that I am a big drinker, but I think that I must have had the equivalent of a bottle of wine every night at dinner. It is just so easy to drink when the waiter keeps pouring it. I will pat myself on the back because, despite my overindulgence, I got up at 6 am each morning to do my training runs: up and down a hill in the matinal darkness in three one mile loops. It's good for my heart, I told myself, as I panted to the finish.

Happy New Year

2018! Not that I didn't expect to make it to this year but it is sobering to realize how much time I have lived through. I have always paid attentions to dates. When I was in grammar school, we had an encyclopedia I enjoyed reading.  I'd look at the birth years of people who were still alive and see 1885 or 1897 and think how much the world had changed in their lifetimes. I remember a chart in my prayer book which listed the days on holidays would occur in future years. It ended at 2000 which seemed so far in the future in 1965. Now it's 2018 and 35 years from now is 2053, another unimaginable date. Even 15 years ago, 2003 when I was happy in a job I liked with people I enjoyed working with. Or 10 years ago when my company was sold and there was much uncertainty about where my life was going. Or 5 years ago when I was unceremoniously dumped into the job market at 57. Today, I am happy and content but there are always questions about where I'd be if my decisions had been different. So here's to a prosperous new year for all!

Hoh Rain Forest

I must say that this was a magnificent site when we visited earlier this year. We were there when there were no tourists and the ranger stations were closed- the first week of January. But it was unlike anything I 'd ever experienced before. Driving in it was like we were going to the end of the world as there were no cars coming or going. I would have enjoyed a short hike but was discouraged from doing so by the remoteness and the cold. I think the solitude made it more memorable.




The rest of Olympic National Park was pretty amazing too.

Manchester United Game

You'd think an oldster like me wouldn't get so attached to a sports team, especially one I didn't grow up with. But I went with my son last week to D.C. to see Manchester United play Barcelona. I had seen them play Barcelona in 2003 in Philadelphia, but can't remember the score. Then I saw them in Chicago against Bayern Munich, dressed in full regalia of team shorts and shirt- or in the team "kit" as they'd say in England.  ( I must have been a real sight!) Then there were games against the MLS all-stars, the MLS Philadelphia team and InterMilan. The game last Wednesday featured two of the best players in the world, Leo Messi and Neymar so that in itself made it worthwhile to make the trip. It ended up 1-0 Barcelona but there was an obvious gap in the quality of the two teams. It really could have been a lot worse. My dream is to go to Manchester to see a game at their legendary stadium, Old Trafford. I have a bunch of frequent flyer miles expiring next year so I should use them for airfare. I haven't been overseas in four years so it's time.

Swan Song for the Band (at least for now)

My guitarist retired a few ago. He and his wife have no kids so they decided the time was right to sell their house and move south to North Carolina by the beach. So our last gig will be on July 15th at a firemen's picnic. We haven't played out in quite awhile since last October at a winery. He told all of us right at the beginning of the year and to be honest the motivation to look for more jobs was very low. I doubt if we will find a replacement. For one thing, finding a guitarist with similar taste in music will be very tough. Most guys my age are into classic rock--stuff I have no interest in playing. Then the drummer lives about 50 miles from me. We practiced in the guitarist's basement which was about 45 minutes west of my place. The drummer lives 40 minutes northwest of the guitarist.  Not having a place to practice and the distance between us makes it highly unlikely that we will continue. That is too bad as I purchased the domain name and paid for the website on Squarespace. I also had a banner made with the band's logo and website on it. So maybe I might try to find other players close to me to make my financial investment worthwhile. The other issue is that the music we play is not very appealing to the crowds who go out to bars to hear music. Basically, it is the music of our youth-  or fifty year old stuff.  The Beatles stuff is well-known but once we dig into the minor hits of British and American bands, no one knows it. Still I find it very enjoyable to play and will miss doing it. I even bought some vintage sounding effects to get authenticity such as the tremolo on this sixty year old hit. It's fun to sing harmonies like this, though I suspect to a critical ear we wouldn't be that good.

 

Old 97's show

They are still one of my favorite bands. Their new album is just okay as they are now writing songs which are variations of ones they've already done. Still they are excellent in concert and never fail to entertain an audience. They did many of my old favorites including this one:

Headwinds and Tailwinds

I found this podcast very interesting. It's an interview with two social psychologists who have researched why people overvalue the obstacles they encounter in their life and undervalue the benefits they have received. They call them, respectively, "headwinds" and "tailwinds." They use the analogy of a runner who is  really aware if he is running into a strong wind which makes the run more difficult. As long as the wind is blowing in his face, he notices it. However, when the wind shifts to behind him, the run becomes easier. After a little while, he forgets the added benefit of the tailwind.  Thinking of my own life, I know I have experienced a lot of tailwinds and really don't think the headwinds I have faced have been that strong. I can think of many times when I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time or derived some advantage by simply being a reasonably intelligent white guy.