Tuesday, October 26, 2010

New Experiences

As we get older there is a tendency to shy away from new experiences. Perhaps it is because we are simply too worn down to expend the effort. Maybe it is because over the years we have decided that surprises are generally painful. It could be that we simply like our lives and don't want to upset the applecart. But I believe that in order to stay connected, to stay vital,we have to continue to try new things. We have to push ourselves to keep our minds and bodies challenged in ways we would never have considered when we were younger.

These new experiences can come in any number of forms. My bride and I love to go to new places, see different things, eat different food, taste the wine from different parts of our lives and places. Some folks my age are prepping for marathons (I am usually quick to point out that the first guy that ran the marathon delivered his news of a battle victory..then died) New crafts and hobbies are being taken up, new languages learned, new skills acquired. It is all a part of people realizing that they still have life to live, that the best is not behind, but ahead.

With all that in mind, a little group that we associate with love to sing. We sing on vacations, we sing in the car, we sing where ever we find ourselves. Not long ago I discovered that our little community of Glenn Heights was having a "familyfest" or carnival. They invited anyone who wanted to preform to sign up and get an assigned slot. I mentioned it to the guy in our group that is the instigator of our singing and he, as he puts it, was "all about that" So we have actually practiced a few times and we are singing Saturday @ 1:30 in the park in Glenn Heights (this is a blatant pitch)

Let me say that I am not comfortable with this AT ALL. I am confident in a lot of areas in my life, this is not one of them. But I feel that this is a rehearsal for my concept of a different church model and I wanted a trial run. It pushes me to do something that I am self-conscious about. It makes me queasy and excited all at the same time. It will be good for me. It also gives me the chance to see if God answers prayers of the foolish.

So we are singing 6 or 8 songs on Saturday 10/30. Come and witness this triumph or debacle. I will be the one nervous and sweating on the end.

Godspeed, try something new. If nothing else it eliminates the things you think you can do.

Don

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Who me?

As I have written over the past several months, I am associated with a group in California that is setting up a new company. This is literally ground floor stuff. In other words, we have nothing set up. This week the little inventory we have is being moved from Anaheim to Temecula CA, the phone is changing, the address is changing, I think we are still in the same time zone.

This adventure is new to me. Everywhere I have worked before has the infrastructure needed to move the business along. The computers were all linked, the invoices were issued, the purchase orders, the pick tickets, the inventory counted, the phones were installed, the mail was delivered or picked up, the bathroom was cleaned, the coffee cups were washed....by someone else.

We meet and I tell them what I need to do my job, and as I am saying it I can see the look on someones face that I am loading them down with another task, another project that needs to be done. I'm trying to be sensitive to this, but as my bride will tell you, sensitivity is really not my long suit.

On my end, I am finding myself developing customer lists, dividing territories, developing spreadsheets with forecasts, thinking up sales promotions...then typing them up..myself. It is so odd to think of something that needs to be done then realize I have to add it to my list of projects. Sigh. And all this without getting a paycheck. You see, this is a start up and no revenue until we ship something.

So I am hit by the realization that if it is going to get done, I have to do it. Not all bad, though. For once I am getting to set this deal up as I would see fit. Process developing is one of the things I do really well. Of course some day, if this thing survives some punk kid will step in and just assume that all these plans and protocol just appeared for his convenience. I don't like him already.

Godspeed out there for those who are starting over. It is not all bad, it just doesn't pay all that great...or at all.
Don

Friday, October 15, 2010

World Changer

Last night we received the news that one of our dear friends lost her dad. It was not unexpected. He had been ill for quite some time, on hospice for several weeks, a multitude of problems. They had made a visit to Dallas in August when their granddaughter was married, he came but even then spent a day or so in the hospital before they could travel home.

I'm saying all this because it impacts us when people we know and love are hurting. I think there is something significant added when the opposite-sex parent passes away. There is a shift in the world, a slightly out-of-focus feeling that dims the joy for a time. You see, I think that we get most of our views about the opposite sex from the parent that represents that gender. How we interact with our spouses, our kids that don't share our gender, office partners, friends, etc. is all developed in that first significant interaction with our parent of that same group. For guys to lose their mothers, as I have, or women to lose their dads, as my bride has, severs the connection to the "original." We now feel that we are on our own. Of course this is predicated on having some sort of decent relationship with that parent, but even if the relationship was rocky, or abusive, or distant, the disconnection creates a disturbance in our world.

When my mom passed away we were desperately trying to get there in time. We didn't. I walked into the hospital room, saw the empty bed and knew that I had missed the moment. Oh we knew for months this moment was coming..sooner rather than later, but the suddenness and the finality were overwhelming. I remember June Ice grasping my arms just above the elbows and staring into my face and telling me she was "gone." Gone, what an odd word for that moment. She was not alive, but her memory was far from gone. It is said that when there are no living humans who remember your name..then you are gone. I have felt that I probably should go apologize to June for being such a lump. I couldn't think of anything to say. There are snippets of memories about the next few days, but there is no denying that the event changed the shape of my world and my heart permanently.

Godspeed Rebecca, travel safe the next few days will be filled with tears and trouble, smiles and hugs, memories and dimmed future, separation and intimacy. The white noise you hear in your head is normal, it quiets in time. We love you, hurt with you, most of all..we understand.

Don

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Scattershooting

There are several small events that I wanted to include in the blog, but each not big enough to fill a space on their own..

So here goes.

The Chilean miners are being rescued in the next day or so using a sort of tube to pull them out one at a time. The tube reminds me of the tubes that the drive-in bank uses to shoot through the tube. I'm sure the miners will have a slightly slower ride back to the surface. To tell you the truth I had not really considered the realities of this rescue until I saw a guy wedged into the thing as they were testing it. There is good reason that they are putting those guys on a liquid diet before they haul them to the surface...easier to clean to tube. 'Nuff said. A couple things I wonder about, though. Do they get overtime for the 2 months they were on the job? I'm guessing not, I can hear the HR person calmly explaining that they really weren't "mining" during all that time, it was really more like vacation..with 32 sweaty men in the dark, 90 degrees. Yeah, that's my idea of a vacation.

November 2 we get to do a mulligan on senators, reps, and governors. There is something uniquely American that we just don't like a single party holding all the chips. We tend to vote the number out that kind of levels the playing field. My own cynicism sneaks in and tells me that one side is not particularly better than the other, but it is fun to watch all the shenanigans. So if you are liberal and are shaking in your boots about the loss of influence..don't worry, you get a mulligan in two years. If you are a conservative, hope you like the reprieve, American voters are a fickle lot. Either way we have find a way to make it work.

ACU Homecoming. My favorite event is the golf tournament that my good friend Don Fry always gets me into. I think he is still waiting for me to bring my "A" game, which probably got mothballed years ago. But we play with his son and s-i-l, and have a good time. I remember years ago that I was the one who was keeping it light and funny, but now Don (who we call Fry) is the enthusiast, the greeter, the room-worker. For some reason the years have turned me into an old grumbly man. Maybe I'll get my good cheer back in my second childhood. Should be soon now. But I do love playing with those guys. The only other event I go to is the parade, which is really just an excuse to spend time with my grandkids, watching as they pick up the candy that the parade participants "spilled" (a term my granddaughter used, as good as any)

My 7-year-old grandson had an honest to goodness par on a par 3. We played a small course in Abilene where he hit a 3-wood to 10 ft of the green, chipped on with a SW, then a 5' putt for an honest, no help from grandaddy, par. I kept the card, it is my reward for getting to spend these precious moments with my grandson. It is my dream to live long enough and play well enough for him to have to walk slow and make allowances for grandaddy while we play. Probably not that far in the future actually.

So just scattershooting, life moves ahead, the world spins on and on.

Godspeed out there, notice the little things, they add up to the big things.
Don

Friday, October 1, 2010

Sayings

This past week I was reading a little blurb in the newspaper about former president Jimmy Carter being admitted to the hospital after a flight into Washington DC. The article claimed he was "rushed to the hospital." When we have to go to the hospital, last minute aren't we all rushed? Do we ever stroll or dawdle or meander to the hospital? No! If I need to be at the hospital, I need to be there NOW! A couple of years ago I had a virus that manifested itself in severe chest pains and general yucky feelings. There is not many things that will make a ER jump like a middle-aged guy walking in, pasty-faced and complaining of chest pains..another saying, "complaining of ..." I wasn't complaining, I was explaining. So this got me to thinking about the sayings we use that always communicate a universal message.

Older sayings are beginning to confuse us now. "A stitch in time saves nine." Having been in the apparel business for years I know this one. It used to take nine yards of fabric to make a business suit because it was lined with the same fabric as the outer shell. So if it began to unravel somewhere you needed to stop the destruction by stitching the fabric back together, doing it early saved the entire suit. So you save the entire nine yards of fabric.

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Sure you can, a fully charged shock collar can make a dead dog twitch a little, a live one, even if old, will fall all over itself to please the holder of control panel. The saying remains, it is just more a generality than a rule.

"All hat and no cattle" I like this one because it sounds uniquely Texan. It simply means someone is trying to act like something they are not. We all do it, we just ignore our propensity for putting on the dog..oh, wait there's another one.

A few of my favorites:
"Never let your money get mad."
"If the horse is dead..dismount"
"Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered"
"Don't jump over dollars to pick up nickels"

My least favorite:
"This is the exception that proves the rule" No, any exception undermines the rule!

I have threatened to write this entire blog with only lines from movies, but frankly that seems like a lot of trouble. So these sayings are for you.
Let me know if you don't understand any of them.

Godspeed, keep the faith..right on..we shall overcome.
Don