What has Facebook done to the National Party Times?

Ever since we all got snuggled up with Facebook, it seems like the blog has gone by the wayside. I check back quite regularly and since Dane has been remiss about blogging, I decided I could take matters into my own hands as a designated contributor. Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook, but I really miss the opinions of others and comments about each post. I know you can link to this from Facebook, but can we actually see the posts, too? That would let me combine both loves into one.

It's fun to send each other beer and SuperPokes, but I'm missing the paragraphs of of prose. Maybe my update will bring you all back to that National Party Times. Afterall, which one of us would miss a party??

P.S. You really should download the Pull Tabs application on Facebook -- it IS addicting! But, not as much fun as seeing what y'all are up to!

Teach A Man To Fish

When I log on to the net, I have a pretty set routine. There are a half dozen or so sites I routinely check out. One of them is Kiva.org.


Kiva specializes in micro-lending, a new trend in helping others in third-world countries. For twenty-five bucks, you can become a venture capitalist, lending money to people starting businesses all over the world. Among other things, I have helped finance a bar in Ghana, Africa, a taro farm in Samoa in the South Pacific, and a coffee shop in Bulgaria. The cool thing is that when they pay me back (interest free), I can pull my money out or reinvest in another business.

My portfolio now contains 19 businesses and I usually add another about once a month. Fun stuff. Check it out when you get a chance.

Summerfest

I spent the 4th of July weekend in Milwaukee with friends, enjoying Summerfest, a huge 10 concert event with hundreds of bands. We only went for Friday and Saturday, but it was more than enough time to fill up on plenty of music, beer and absolutely perfect weather.

I didn't actually see anyone too exciting, but I was constantly entertained by the crowds. For example, I saw Phil Lesh (ex-Grateful Dead) and, believe me, the Dead Heads are still around.

But at festivals like this, it is usually the smaller no-name bands that are the most fun. There was a mock U2 band called U2 Zoo that was incredibly entertaining. The crowd for that was huge, making it seem all the more convincing.

I also saw Cheap Trick, but must say I liked them better back when I saw them in Fargo in 1980. They looked tired, kind of like I was when I got home Sunday...

Plowing Forward

A couple of years ago, I decided to give up cigars. The hardest part about quitting is that when there is idle time, you tend to revert back to old habits. To combat this, I started walking. I would get home from work, put on some comfortable clothes, and head out the door. Sometimes I would walk for half an hour. Sometimes the urge was so strong, I would walk for hours. I plowed forward.

After a month or so of this, I got real sick of my neighborhood, so I decided to mix things up. I started hiking in the mountain preserves around Phoenix. Hiking wasn’t a conscious decision so much as it was a desire to get a change of scenery. My half hour walks turned into two to four hour hikes. I was hooked.

Over time, I discovered that one of my best friends was also a regular hiker, so we started doing regular hikes together. Nicole has been hiking pretty much forever, so she knew all the cool places around town. And she is an athlete. At times, I found myself almost jogging to keep up with her. Not only did I give up cigars, but I was getting into shape without even realizing it.

Then I did something really stupid about a year ago. I resumed my cigar habit. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And I am sure that if I had been walking by myself, I would have used cigars as an excuse to stop hiking. But I guess part of the reason we have friends is that they inspire us, so I plowed forward and kept hiking anyway.

Last week, while on a Thursday morning hike, Nicole sprained her ankle. It looked like someone inserted a golf ball in place of where her ankle was supposed to be.

On Saturday, it was Nicole’s turn to lead our company’s hiking group on it’s monthly hike. Now most people would have backed out. A sprained ankle is not something most people can just walk off. Then again, that wouldn’t be like Nicole. She not only led the hike, but was a bit upset about having problems keeping up with Tyler (I think I overheard Tyler’s wife Debbie say that he runs two and half miles in twelve minutes--not bad). Nicole stayed at the front the whole way. I guess some people make a regular habit of finding excuses and others just deal with adversity and plow forward. The latter tend to inspire.

I will plow forward, too. It may take me awhile, but I think I will get this cigar thing figured out.

Last Weekend Pic From Ron

Life-Changing Events

I worked as a 911 dispatcher in a past life and made a lasting friendship with a guy who is not at all like me.
Jim Hewitt is a horse rancher and a deputy sheriff. He lives in the most secluded corner of Minnesota’s Kittson County where he and his wife Kelly have, and are still in the process of raising 13 kids.
All of his kids are home-schooled and as a former school board member that prompted a number of discussion between Jim and I on the virtues and pitfalls of both public education and home school.
But all of that is a another story.
What prompted me to write about Jim is best called my admiration and respect for him. Also the changes that he will face when he returns. He has very unique (at least unique in my world) beliefs and stands strongly on those beliefs. Yet he does not try to force feed them to anyone around him.
But what really peaked my admiration is that Jim, who is now in his late forties, volunteered to serve a year in Iraq, and is now considering extending that tour for another six months. Granted, he being well paid, but I really don’t believe that to be his motivation.
Jim was never in the military, yet has a very strong patriotic sense about him. He is also a former U.S. Border Patrol Agent, and it the former job that offered him the opportunity to take this job.
He works as a Border patrol advisor to his Iraqi counterparts.
I spent nearly 27 months total in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Maybe that is where my connection to this comes from.
I remember telling Jim the week before he left for Iraq that when he returns home, nothing will ever again be the same as it was. I really don’t think he understood what I was was telling him at the time, but I would venture he will have a very good understanding when he returns.
I was never a real beg fan of the Vietnam War, just as Jim does not like the idea of a war in Iraq. But for some there are moments where personal preferences are set aside in favor of a sense of some larger.
For me that something larger was Vietnam, for Jim it is Iraq. Others feel the same way about their opposition to serving. That’s fine with me, I have no real bones to pick as long as those feelings are legitimate.
But back to the subject - What I am trying, in my inept way, to get across is, there are events that we choose in our lives that have such a profound effect on us, that they alter our very being, There are similar life-altering events where choices are not given to us.
The two most life-altering experiences of my life came from each of those categories.
The first was Vietnam. It was the historical event of my time and I chose to stay as involved with it for as long as was possible.
The second of those was not by choice but was dealt to me without my consent. About a year ago I nearly lost my wife Deb to a fluke illness. Sitting by her hospital bed one morning I watched her sink back into the bed and saw the life drain from her eyes. (It is a scene I had become familiar with during the war.) Luckily a doctor was just a few feet away and they got her into surgery, saving her life.
The first of these two events shaped my early years, caused a lot of problems, taught me to deal with problems, taught me the value of life, defined my politics and my general outlook on life.
The second changed all of my priorities. Many stressful issues suddenly got moved way down the list when compared to family.
Jim may not know it at the moment, but his life is taking a drastic turn. What he does today will affect him and define him for the remainder of his years. It will be a few years before he realizes this.
A little off the subject - Jim’s daughter, Ashlee, is currently a contender on the NBC program, Nashville Star on Monday nights. She’s really doing a bang-up job.

Micro-Blogging

Something has been tweeting in my ear. It's called Twitter. I heard about it on the radio earlier this week. I talked about it at work with some folks this week and now I just linked in to a video about it on YouTube. Each post is only 140 characters and once your friends are in, you can find out what everyone is doing. This would be a great way for all of us to keep in touch and a way to find out what kind of beer you're drinking at the moment or what book you're reading.

Anyone want to give it a try? You sign up for Twitter and I'll get a Facebook page!