Jeff's Mouth

Paris: Day #7 (Going Home + Final Thoughts)

2011-09-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

By Jeff – 9/13/2011

So my trip finally came to an end. All that remained was a trip to the airport, a 9.5 hour flight to Minneapolis, and then a flight to Rochester after a 2 hour layover.

The flight, other than being long, was uneventful – with the exception of the lady across the aisle and one row up from me, who hadn’t bathed since . . . uh . . . ever! The smell was so strong that when I first got to my seat, I thought it was the person next to me. Thankfully no – but every time she created a small breeze from across the aisle (like shifting her blanket) – my nose burned just a little bit more.

BTW – and your experiences may vary – but for every trip where there’s an option between Delta and American – I’m flying Delta.

Anyway – day #7 consisted of leaving my hotel at 7:30 Tuesday morning and getting home at 6:00 Tuesday night (Rochester time). Since my body was still on Paris time – that would be 1:00 Wednesday morning. Yeah, I was a little tired. However, having a little girl shout, “daaaaaadddy!” out the window, as I was stepping off of the shuttle bus certainly did wake me up. I walked up the stairs and Grace hugged me so hard that I thought my head was about to pop off. It was wonderful. I haven’t been allowed out of her sight since.

So – my final thoughts about Paris (based on my experience – which does not necessarily equate scientific fact):

· Contrary to what you’ve been told, the French are not snooty, arrogant people, who hate all Americans and would enjoy shooting anyone who butchers their language. I found them to be quite enjoyable, polite and helpful. They did not flinch when I mispronounced words – unless it was so bad that they had no clue what I was saying (if I haven’t already mentioned, yes I did “speak” French whenever possible. It was great fun! – No, not fluent, only have about 50 phrases).

· The French are terrible drivers – yet, great drivers. They weave in and out of traffic (and the scooters and motorcycles – oh my goodness, scary!) – but the other drivers let them in. They are polite on the freeways – not like us with our “me first” attitude on the freeway (think about it, you know I’m right (self included)) – and despite how terrible the traffic is, I only saw one dented car – and I think that was from hitting a power pole or similar.

· Paris Metro (subway) and train system is fantastic. I have never been to New York or L.A. to see their system – but some of our cities could learn something from their system. It took/takes an immense amount of planning to make that thing work. I realize we’re different here – things are so spread out and we like our cars – but we could learn a thing or two about moving people from A to B.

· The best food is not always found in the fanciest or most expensive restaurant. Food in Paris was (in my opinion) quite expensive. Much of it was similar to what I could’ve got in a restaurant here in the States. True, there was the tuna pizza – but other than that . . . However, the best food I had the entire trip was from a little “mom and pop” place in Caen, after the D-Day tour. Everyone went out to find food before boarding the train back to Paris. I stumbled upon a little shop that simply had, “Kabab” written on the sign over the door. It was by far the best food I had my entire trip – for 1/3 the price (seriously a THIRD).

· I may have mentioned this before – Paris is called the city of romance or the city of love, and is referred to the most romantic city in the world. Personally – I didn’t see it, unless they are referring to all of the people who are kissing at the bus stops and street corners. The city was neat – a lot of cool things to see and old world architecture and buildings that were built before the European settlers even inhabited the land that would one day become the USA – but from a romantic standpoint? Take your significant other to a warm place in January and hold hands on the beach.

· Lastly – and this is not meant to sound boastful – it has not escaped me that I am very fortunate to have a job that allows me to travel, quite literally, all over the world. I am thankful every day, first of all – to even be employed and do something that I enjoy – but also to be able to go places and see things that I had previously only dreamed of. Life treats me very kindly, and God has been very good to me.

That wraps up the notes from Paris. Thanks for reading. If you ever want to hear more about one of the days or events – don’t hesitate to ask. I always love to tell stories (even true ones).

Be well,

Jeff

Paris: Day #6 (Normandy Beach / D-Day Tour)

2011-09-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

By Jeff – Sept 12, 2011

Okay – when we left off, it was 1:00 a.m. and I was going to bed, so I could get up at 4:45 to get on the train for my tour of the Normandy Beach / D-Day museum area.

So – yes, I did manage to get up at 4:45 and be out of my hotel by 6:00. The 2 hour train ride to Caen was scheduled to leave the main train station (Gare Saint Lazare) at 7:05 a.m. We arrived in the city of Caen, were promptly picked up by our tour guides and taken to the D-Day museum.

The museum is quite spectacular. As you enter, the first two things you see are an English fighter plane that is hanging from the ceiling – it is facing right toward you. My first thought (after “whoa, cool”) was, “I’d hate to see that thing coming at me.” The other thing you see is an enlarged picture (like larger than life-size), taken from the inside of a landing craft (Higgins Boat) of soldiers exiting into the English Channel, to storm the Normandy coast. The picture’s caption says (in French, English and German), “On the 6^th of June 1944, on the beaches of Normandy, over 10,000 young soldiers paid for our freedom.” Among its many displays, part of the exhibit talked about events starting in 1918 (just after WWI) that impacted Hitler’s rise to power. Interestingly, the museum did not shy away from anything. As an example – our tour guide was French and did not omit that the French made many errors in Hitler’s early years, turning their eye from some of his actions and choosing to do nothing – when doing something could’ve possibly prevented further actions (possibly including the invasion of their own country) from happening.

After touring the museum (which I will not cover all of it here, there would be too much to write. Please check out the pictures – they are captioned) – we got into mini-vans that took us along the north coast of France to see some German gun batteries, Gold and Juno Beaches, the American Cemetery at Normandy Beach, another German gun position and yes, Omaha Beach (the most famous of the landing sites). (by the way, this was a great way to take a tour – only 8 of us, plus the guide, in a mini-van rather than taking 30 people in a big bus where there is constant chatter)

To speak briefly on each portion – The 2 German gun batteries were interesting. It showed what the Allied soldiers (mostly American soldiers on this part of the beach) were up against. It also showed the living conditions of the “German” soldiers while in this area – and yuck, I wouldn’t want to live there. You’ll notice that I put German in quotes there. Something I didn’t know – 80% of the soldiers in the German army in the Normandy region we not actually German. Many were coerced into fighting for the German army (“fight for us or we kill your family”) – which would explain why, in some areas, they gave up without much of a fight. Why fight and die for a country that is forcing you to do their bidding?

The American Cemetery was quite moving. It covers 172 acres and contains the graves of 9387 of our military dead. Most were killed on the D-Day invasion, but there are a few others as well. For more information, visit their official site at: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php.

The 9387 grave markers are lined up in exactly straight rows both east/west, and north/south. It is amazing how much thought and effort went into creating the cemetery. For example – all of the grave stones face west – back to the USA. At the western end of the cemetery, a part of the wall is left open – this is to allow the souls of the soldiers to exit and go back home (west, to the USA). The northern side of the cemetery (closest to the English Channel) is slanted down towards the water. This gives the grave markers an appearance of coming up out of the water – as the soldiers came out of the water onto the land of France to liberate the country. Overall it is terribly moving. While I was there, all I could do was stand among the markers and say, “Thank you, guys. I know you can’t hear me – but thank you.”

As mentioned we also went to Omaha Beach. The main thing that struck me about Omaha Beach was that it is not the same as it is portrayed in the movies (Saving Private Ryan, for example). In the movies you are led to believe that 20 feet from the water is nothing but straight cliffs. Actually, the cliffs are about a quarter mile from the beach at low tide and many of the soldiers didn’t climb the cliffs, but rather attacked the Germans in the natural ravines that led to the hilltops. Now – that being said – the differences from film to real life do not make it any less imposing or less terrifying when you stop to think that thousands of German troops were firing at our soldiers as they landed on the beach. Oh – and yes, if we wanted to, we could go and dip our hands in the English Channel where our troops actually stood. Yes – I did walk the quarter mile to the water to dip my hand in the Channel.

The tour ended by taking us back to the Caen train station, for the 2 hour ride back to Paris. I left my hotel at 6:00 a.m. and got back at 11:00 p.m. It was a full day.

I will not say it was a fun day. Nor will I say it was awesome, as that implies fun – like, “the roller coaster was awesome.” It was an awe inspiring day. It gave me great respect for those who participated in the landing, and also for anyone who has seen combat. As I looked at the beaches and the ground that the troops had to cover – all while having gun-fire rain down on them – it became more awful than I could’ve previously imagined. It was a worthwhile trip and I so very glad that I went.

Now to packing up and getting ready to leave on Tuesday, the 13^th.

That’s about it for Day #6. Sorry that this one was so lengthy.

JBD

Paris: Day #5

2011-09-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

By Jeff 9/11/2011

Well, our conference wrapped up today. If you remember, during my Day #4 note, I commented that things had gone off without a hitch – causing me to joke that I was setting myself up for disaster. Well, all I can say is, “me and my big mouth!” Everything was going fine – and then suddenly my colleague Scott’s computer crashed. And you know, they only crash right at the moment you need them. They never crash with enough time to reboot and catch up – GRRRR! We were running the audience polling system on his computer. Everything was fine until the presenter said, “so can we see the results from the question [that we just asked]?” Wouldn’t you know it – Scott punches the keyboard and boom. “Uh, sorry – our computer just crashed.” We had 2 computers go down this morning (maybe a 3^rd one, I can’t remember now – it’s all a blur). See? That’s what I get for being cocky.

After the conference was done, Scott and I tore down and packed up our equipment. We then had some time to kill before Karol, the meeting planner, would be ready to go out. We all planned to go to the Eiffel Tower later in the evening. So, Scott and I went out and got lost (again - on purpose) and got to see quite a bit of a residential part of Paris. Again, it was awfully neat. It was very different, yet very much the same as being at home. Kids playing in parks, rollerblading down the sidewalks with mom running after them shouting (which I can only imagine was) “slow down and come back here!”

I cannot forget to mention that on Day #5 of my Paris adventure, someone FINALLY flirted with me!! Scott and I were walking down the street, and this young lady gave me the eye – so I said “hi” and waved. As we passed, I looked over my shoulder to see her looking back at me. Again, she was giving me the eye. I waved again. I looked once more – I couldn’t help it – and there she was staring back at me giving me the eye again! Even Scott recognized that she was a total flirt. Okay – yeah, she was only six, but she had some serious attitude going on.

After getting lost and re-found, we made our way to the Eiffel tower area, with tickets to go up in the tower at 8:00 that night. What a great view!! We stopped on each level on the way up, and got various views of the city. It is cold and windy at the top of the tower. BTW – there is an apartment at the top of the tower, where Mr. Eiffel would entertain prominent guests. The apartment is still intact, with a replica of Mr. Eiffel’s daughter serving tea to him along with his guest, Thomas Edison. The whole Eiffel Tower area is abuzz with activity. There are floating restaurants that travel up and down the river, as well as gift shops, sculptures and such. One thing I found neat was the September 11^th memorial (as Paris day #5 is September 11^th). On the other side of the river, in a small plaza, were 2 towers (you can find this pic in my folder). Both of the towers had an inscription – one in French and one in English that said, “September 11, 2001 / The French will never forget.” I thought that was awfully neat, that they would remember us on the 10^th anniversary.

After going up in the Tower, we decided to find something to eat. No one in Paris eats dinner/supper at 6:00 – so the restaurant was still busy at 10:00. After eating and talking for a while, the 3 of us decided to catch the train back to our hotel. Can you believe we caught the LAST train?? If I would’ve known the cut off time – I would’ve suggested we leave much sooner! I finally got to bed around 1:00 a.m. - having to get up at 4:30 on Monday morning for my D-Day / Normandy Beach tour. Not going to get much sleep. Oh well.

That’s it for now,

JBD

Paris: Day #4

2011-09-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - 9/10/2011 (or 9/10/11 if you prefer)

The second day of our conference went off without a hitch (which means I am setting myself up for disaster tomorrow!). All that’s left is Sunday from 8:00 – 12:30. Then tear down, pack up and fill out some shipping paperwork and then we’re done. It’s hard to believe, since just a few days ago it seemed like a long time, and now it’s almost time to go home.

Once the conference let out for today, Scott (my colleague who is also here) and I hopped on the subway (or the Metro, as it’s called) and went down to the Notre Dame area. It is so cool to be able to figure out the subway map and then navigate the city on our own. Upon exiting the subway tunnel, we saw a building and said, “that’s impressive”. Then we turned to the left and saw something more impressive – then further to the left, more impressive and then we rounded the corner and came face to face with the Notre Dame courtyard, and the cathedral was staring right back at us. Now THAT’S impressive. We were truly in the “old world” Paris – or at least it seemed like it. The same as in my trip to Hungary – I look at buildings that were constructed before the USA was even a country, and in some cases – before North America was even settled by Europeans – and stand in awe of the work they were able to do without so much as a Skil Saw, or a Menards or Hardware Hank on the corner.

I was a little bummed about Notre Dame though, as when you go in, it is quite dark. It is so dark that you cannot marvel at the size of the structure. Perhaps that is intentional, as one should enter a church to seek and marvel at God. Yet, at the same (and Christian friends, don’t think less of me for saying this) I didn’t go to Notre Dame to seek God. I wanted to see a really old, historical and massive church building (yeah, and the bell tower to see if Quasi could’ve really jumped – and uh, yeah, it’s a long way down). Seriously though – it has to be as long as a football field (if not more). After now looking it up, I find that it is about 1.5 football fields long (see dimension info here / http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080912212529AALVR8l ). Also, they don’t let you take pictures in there, so I didn’t get any for you.

Dinner tonite consisted of tuna pizza, from the Auberge de Notre Dame (Notre Dame Inn) across from . . . you guessed it – Notre Dame cathedral. Everything in the surrounding blocks has a Notre Dame theme to it. Anyway, the pizza was pretty good. Plus I ordered a chocolate milkshake – thinking, “cool, a French milkshake.” When it arrived, it was nothing like an American milkshake. It left me thinking, “darn, I just paid 6 Euros ($9 - $10 U.S.) for a glass of chocolate milk (and not a good one, at that).

Uh oh – it looks like I am now getting longwinded. So to wrap up – after dinner, we went down to part of town, near ND, that is not listed on your tour map – but it should be. There were about a thousand shops with every kind of food I would want to eat. You could eat there for a month, and not have to repeat. There were street shows – it was loud – it was GREAT! We really were IN Paris tonite. It was fun! Then we had to find our way back to the Metro station – quite a feat, since we were totally lost (in a good way). As you can tell, I made it “home” safely.

That’s about it. Have a great rest of your Saturday (it’s now Sunday here).

JBD

Paris: Day #3

2011-09-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

By Jeff 9-9-2011

Hello again from Pairee! First thing – I don’t know why they call this the city of love – it’s not all that romantic to me. I see a lot of old architecture, and I say, “cool” but nothing has made me go, “ooh, this city is the romance capital of the world!”

That being said – if it weren’t for having to live amongst 3 million people (12 mill in the surrounding communities) – and being away from the rest of my family – and the $12 bottles of pop (yes, $12) – I could do this. We have had a good time, just traipsing around town seeing what is where. We even went out and got lost yesterday (on purpose). But tonite was really fun. No one wanted to go out, so I just went down to the corner deli – 1/3 – 1/2 mile away, and picked up some pop (much cheaper than buying at the hotel) and a sandwich, and some other snacks for my room. I got to shop, and interact with other customers and the sales clerk and such – it was GREAT!! I also wandered around in the subway tunnels, trying to learn the best way to get around. I love that stuff.

Other than the store, I didn’t go anywhere tonite. It was the first day of the conference, and it gets quite hectic. After we reset all of our equipment Saturday night (we had to set up extra for Saturday, and then will tear it down again for the Sunday portion) we plan to hop on the subway and get down to the Notre Dame Cathedral. I hear it is supposed to be pretty cool. Of course, yes, I will be looking for the sign that says, “Quasi slept here.”

Anyway – that’s about it for now. Don’t want to be too long winded. The plan for the rest of my stay (along with actually working) is – Notre Dame on Saturday night, Eiffel Tower (le Tour Eiffel) on Sunday night, and Normandy Beach/D-Day museum on Monday (all day). I will let you know how it goes, and post pictures.

Be well,

JBD

Paris: Day #2

2011-09-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

By Jeff – 9/8/2011 (p.m.)

It is now Thursday evening. Set up was this afternoon. It didn’t go well. Due to the power issues (Europe is on 220 volts, and USA is 110) – we burned out one of our items, and one of the hotels pieces of equipment as well. Coupled with that, we kept blowing breakers in the room.

After a lot of messing around, we finally found the culprit that was giving us so much trouble, and removed it from the equation. Unfortunately, it was a rather significant item. So, with an hour left in the business day, we had to sprint down to the nearest electronics store and buy some new equipment.

We will have to go to another store tomorrow. That one will require a ride on the subway, and then a transfer to another train to get there. Aye, aye!! And you thought it was all fun and games over here!

After this evening’s run to the store – we got everything up and running and it looks good for the opening of the symposium on Friday morning.

That’s it for now.

JBD

Paris: Day #1

2011-09-16T20:57:00.001-07:00

By Jeff - 9/8/2011

Hello from Paris (that would be Pair-ee, to you)! Things seem to have gone well so far. The plane ride was uneventful. Thanks to a 100 mph tailwind, we actually arrived an hour early – still 7 ½ hours in an airplane is a long time.

We left Rochester at 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday, and our plane landed at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday (Paris time – or 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, Rochester time). After clearing customs, getting our luggage, filling out a lost luggage claim (my colleague, Scott, lost one of his bags), and then a taxi ride, we finally arrived in our hotel about 9:30 a.m. Then we checked in, “sorry, but your room isn’t ready yet, Mr. Duncan” – and finally got into my hotel room at about 1:00 p.m.

After meeting with the hotel staff, finding all of our equipment (by the way, I am here for the International Vascular Symposium. If you remember, this is the same program that took me to Budapest, Hungary in 2009) and a short nap, it was out to see the town.

First thing to know about Paris – don’t rent a car. Leave the driving to the locals and just hire a cab or take the subway. They are CRAZY here.

We walked to the Arc de Triomphe, and went to the top of that. The Arch is amazing, and the view from the top was outstanding (see the pictures at the link on the left side of this page). It really gave you an idea of how large the city of Paris is (about 3 million in “Paris” and a total of 12 million when you add the surrounding area). After that, we continued walking down the avenue Champs Elysees which is a street full of shops and stores that seems to go on forever. If I get a chance, I will get there during the daylight and get some descent pictures.

Anyway – I am going to cut off here. We have to get out and take care of some business before setting up at 3:00 today.

So – bye for now. Will write more later. So far, so good. Oh yeah – the food is good, but expensive.

Be well, be safe.

JBD

Hawaii - Day #8 - Sorry this is a long one

2011-08-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - February 4, 2011

Oh boy, where to start? If you read “Day #7” you know that today was the day that I went to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. Before coming to Hawaii, I was told by someone that I would spend a little while there, but then should have a plan of other things to do. Well, I arrived at the USS Arizona Memorial “park” (as it is more than just the AZ memorial) at about 8:45 a.m. and left around 3:45 (had to get back to the airport, you know) – and still felt like I was rushed, and didn’t have time to see everything. In fact, there were at least 2 exhibits that I said, “I have to come back to this” and never made it back. Today was the absolute high point of my trip to Hawaii!

Apparently, my excitement was visible to all on-lookers. One of the store sales people, when I told her that I would be back later, said, “Yeah, I’ll recognize you. You look like a kid in a candy store.” I was so thrilled to be there (still in a reverent way) – that I sometimes had to remind myself why this was all here, and that it wasn’t the same as a Valleyfair rollercoaster. That being said – it was so much better than any Valleyfair ride.

I started out getting a ticket for the 9:45 movie and launch out to the Arizona Memorial. Before that I just poked around, seeing what all was where, and vowing to come back to things I didn’t have time for before the movie (big mistake – I never got back to them!). The movie and trip to the actual memorial over the Arizona was just wonderful (again, in a reverent way). I could’ve stayed for an hour just looking out at the wreckage of the ship and reading the names of the more than 1100 people who were lost in one short blast.

After that – I went to on a tour of the USS Missouri. The Missouri was the last battleship ever built for the US Navy – and the last one built in the world. It is impressive in size, being only 9 yards shorter than 3 football fields. The Missouri (or “Mighty Mo”, as she is called) was the ship where the Japanese surrender papers were signed in Tokyo Bay to end World War II. After a tour, we got to roam the ship (within the “allowed” areas, of course). That was a real treat. I broke from the group and headed up to the highest point on the ship (that was allowed), and then worked my way down. It was great fun. A quick note about the ship – if you look at my pictures – you will see the big battleship guns. The guns (each barrel) is about 66 feet long, and weighs more than the Space Shuttle. Each gun can fire 2 rounds per minute, and can fire the 2200 lb projectiles up to 25 miles. With a total of 9 guns (3 per turret), the Mighty Mo, can fire a shot, and then fire off (I think they said) 16 more shots before the first shell hits its target (81 seconds later). That is some serious firepower.

After completing the Missouri, I went to the Pacific Aviation Museum – which is housed in 2 old hangers that were under attack on December 7th, as well. The glass in the doors actually still has bullet holes from that day. It was never replaced, to serve as a reminder. Anyway –at the Aviation Museum – I struck up a conversation with one of the guys, and ended up getting a personal tour of both hangers. I also got to go into an “authorized personnel only” area to see one of the planes they are rebuilding.

Have I mentioned how cool my day was?

So – after all of that – I was out of time, and had to catch my flight back to my hotel (bummer!!!). I seriously could’ve stayed another couple of hours. They had a WWII submarine (the USS Bowfin – that was launched on Dec 7, 1942 – and called the Pearl Harbor Avenger) – that was also available for tour, plus the sections that I never made it back to, AND all of the things that I wanted to read, but just didn’t have time. It was an amazing day

So – now, I have to finish packing, and get to bed, so I can make my way home on Saturday. One more Skype call from the hotel, and then I am out the door. I am looking forward to seeing the family. One good thing about this is that Grace has expanded her vocabulary. She can now say, “Hawaii!!”

Thanks for reading all of this, and taking some interest. From both a work and personal standpoint – it has been a good trip, but it’s time to go home.

Be well, be safe.

JBD

Hawaii - Day #7

2011-08-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - February 3, 2011

Well, the meeting in finally (or already) over. It went very well – with the exception of my computer crashing about 15 times. Fortunately I am getting a new work computer, so hopefully this is the end of the Crashing Computer saga.

Highlights of today include:

The course director has a photo contest each year. I had shown one of my pictures (one with the heart shaped stone) to a few people, and they said, “Oh that’s a wonderful picture!! You HAVE to enter it in the contest!” I’ve never had anyone compliment on of my pictures like that (I got a “D” in college photography). So, filled with hope, I submitted my picture. People commented on it, telling me they thought it was a winner. When it came time to vote, we had 2 groups of 7, taking the top 2 vote getters of each group, and then those 4 pics would be re-voted on to get the winner. Again – with my hopes high – my picture was in the 1st pool of 7. My hopes were quickly dashed, as I took 4th out of my group of 7. Ho-hum, I still like the picture, though.

We went to Humpy’s again tonite for supper. I had something different than last night. It wasn’t as good, but was still pretty awesome.

Tomorrow (Friday) is a free day before flying out on Saturday. I am going to Pearl Harbor on Oahu. I plan to see the USS Arizona Memorial, as well as the USS Missouri, which is where the Japanese signed the surrender papers to end WWII in 1945. The Arizona is one of my (I believe the popular term is) “bucket list” items. I am looking forward to the trip. I will tell you all about it in my next note, which will be typed right after I return from Pearl Harbor (I’ll probably still be so excited, I won’t sleep for a week).

Then Saturday is my trip home. Not looking forward to the long flight, but am looking forward to getting home. I can only take so much 80 degree weather, before I just get sick of it and pine for my Columbia coat. Of course, I am looking forward to seeing Grace and Lisa too, and just having some home cooking with family (even if its only Hamburger Helper).

I’m going to close out for tonite, but will one more post for sure, perhaps 2. Thanks for reading. Have a great day!

JBD

Hawaii - Day #6

2011-08-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - February 2, 2011

Holy moley! Just one more day, and the conference is done. It seems like it just started, and now its done (almost). When we’re done we have to pack everything up and move it down the road to another resort/hotel where one of our colleagues will be working for a conference next week.

Today was a good day. We went into the city of Kona. We’ve been staying at a resort about 20 miles outside of Kona, so haven’t gotten into town until today. Went down by the ocean and just poked around at some of the shops.

We at late lunch at a place called, “Humpy’s”. We both had their Stone Baked Subs. They take the ingredients for your sandwich, and wrap it in a pizza crust and then bake it in their stone oven. It was AMAZING!!! The best food that I have had since arriving. We ate lunch around 3:00 – and I am still full at 8:30. It was well worth all of the discomfort I am feeling right now :-)

Other than that, there’s not a lot to tell today. Sorry to be so boring.

Be well. Will write more next time.

JBD

Hawaii - Day #5

2011-08-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - February 1, 2011

Aloha again. Day #2 of our meeting went well – with the exception of one of our computers crashing repeatedly. Other than that – it was good.

Not much happened otherwise today. After the meeting we hung around the resort. I did have a chance to Skype with Lisa and Grace again. It would seem that she (Gracie) is getting more used to me being gone, as the time she sits in front of the computer before going to play, is becoming less and less. No – I don’t feel snubbed. It is a good thing that she can get a “dad fix” and then be okay with me being gone.

Today was quite windy, and the surf was high (or whatever the proper term for surf conditions is). I had been planning to rent a surfboard, and take it out. Naturally, I wouldn’t stand on it – at least, not on the first try. I saw people that would lay on them and ride the wave in like that – looked like fun. So – today, I decide that I will finally try it out. I get to the beach and ask how difficult it will be out in the high surf. I was then informed that, “our rental equipment can’t leave the lagoon.” Yes – they actually have a lagoon – like on Gilligan’s Island!

Problem – there are no waves in the lagoon (natural lava breakwaters, you know) – so what fun would a surfboard be? Change of plans! I’ll just hop into the water (lagoon) – and splash around and swim for a while. After being in the water for about 30 seconds, I suddenly remembered, “I hate the water – this is why I don’t go swimming!” Sure, I like playing NEAR the water, or sometimes in the water (such as water slides, or splashing around in the crashing surf), but actually swimming in the water? Who decided this was fun? I swam over to a big pile of lava rock and feigned interest for a while, and then walked around the beach and back to my chair and belongings. 40 minutes after leaving my room, I returned to change back OUT of my wet clothes, able to say, “yes, I was in the ocean”, never to return again (on this trip, at least).

Supper tonite was pizza. It was pretty good, and I had leftovers, so I have breakfast for tomorrow.

That’s really about it. Oh – one thing, no, it didn’t storm last night. Tonite seems very calm – so it will probably storm like a bear.

That’s it for today.

Be well,

Jeff

Hawaii - Day #4

2011-08-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - January 31, 2011

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for 4 days already – more correctly stated, that I’ve been away from home for 4 days already. I just need to say (repeated from a previous post) that Skype is a wonderful thing. Technology used for good things is just wonderful. I love being able to call home and video chat with Lisa and Grace. My colleague, Alec, and I were driving today, and I thought, “how amazing that Alec, while in a moving car, can talk to his wife from 5,000 miles away, while on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.” These really are wondrous times.

So – what happened today? Well, the conference started. After all of the stress of hoping that it would go alright, and there would be no show stopping A-V events – I am glad to say we made it. There were a few minor issues – like the guy with the size 47 boots, whose feet had to fidget with my projector cable (right at a joint, no less), and kept disconnecting it from the adjoining cable, causing the projector to lose its image - but over all, it went well.

After the conference, we took off up to the Pololu Valley Lookout (we also went there on “day #2”). We had taken pictures from the top of the valley, but wanted to hike down to the floor, get some pictures and see the ocean up close. It was a good hike – it took about 15 minutes to get down there, and I think we dropped at least 500 feet, maybe even more – it was a LONG way down.

Once we got down to the valley floor, it was outstanding. The beach sand was nothing like I’ve seen before. Rather than “sand” as we know it, it was more of a fine gray/black powder. The ocean, while I know that it is impressive and powerful, from the top of the cliff looks much like the waves you would find at the local fishing hole. However, after trekking down to 20 feet from its edge – it transformed from a gentle splashing of water to a roaring beast, pushing rocks, people and anything else in it’s path, where ever it chooses to move them.

While on the beach, we also found some rock “formations” that were built by various people. Some of them were quite impressive, some romantic, and some were just odd. Naturally, I had to build a “monument” too. It was not nearly as impressive as some of the others, but it was mine, so therefore, I am proud. Yes, my mark has been left on the north-eastern coast of Hawaii until someone (or a strong wave or the wind) knocks it down.

After making the hike back up to the top (it was much easier doing down, I must say), we were off to find something for supper. Ahi Tuna from a place called Merriman’s Market Café was on the menu for the evening. It was quite good. Now, at just before 9:00, I am feeling tired and am about ready for bed. So – will close out. It should be an interesting night. I am no authority on Hawaiian weather, but based on the clouds earlier, and the wind right now – my Minnesota weather instincts tell me that it is going to storm tonite. I will tell you if I was right in tomorrow’s note.

Bye for now!

JBD

Hawaii - Day #3

2011-08-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - January 30, 2011

Well, today was uneventful, yet full of stuff to see. First off, we had to actually “work” today. We had to set up the room – which involves constructing the screens, setting projectors, setting microphones & speakers, connecting computers and monitors, and running and taping about 800 feet of cable. Good fun was had by all.

I had swordfish for lunch today. I would love to tell you I caught it, but anyone who knows me, knows that’ll never happen. It was great!

Had a burger for supper tonite. However, not just ANY burger, but a burger with a whole bunch of secret Hawaiian ingredients – yummy!

Last night, Alec and I met a cat. Yes, an actual cat, who just hangs out at the outdoor restaurant. He comes over and says, “hi” and sees if you’ll give him a small morsel. If yes, he’ll hang out a little more. If you don’t feed him, he’ll move on. So anyway – tonite, while I’m eating supper, this lady gets all bent out of shape, and asks the bar staff – “Why do you allow cats to roam through this restaurant?” Well – first of all, the restaurant is outside without a single wall in sight. It has birds flying overhead, ocean-life less than 100 feet away, and actual sand acts as the floor. And – it’s only ONE cat, not like a whole herd of them. Welcome to Hawaii, ma’am! I thought, “you’d better not ever go to Mexico, where dogs lay on the floor of the restaurants.

Other events of the day include: 6 sea turtles came up on the beach today. It is illegal to interact with them, so the resort has fencing set up in the area where the turtles come ashore. However, you can take all of the pictures you want from behind the fence.

My back has been hurting for the past few days. It started before I left to get on the plane. The very long ride did not help my cause. The resort has massage tables out on the beach, so I thought I would ask about the price of getting the kink worked out of my back. $169 per hour. “Holy cow!” thought I. “How much to just rub this Icy Hot on it?” Needless to say, I passed on the masseuse.

Perhaps most exciting of the day – I have made numerous whale sighting off the coast. Sorry, no pictures – ‘cuz you never know where they’re going to pop up. From what I understand, there is a shelf about ½ mile off shore (maybe less – maybe more, it’s hard to tell) – and the whales hang out just beyond the shelf. I thought perhaps it was the same whale over and over, but considering that some whales can stay under for 30 – 45 minutes, plus I started seeing multiple whales at once, I figured there must be a pod of them. That was pretty neat.

Anyway – back to work tomorrow (Monday). The AV crew (Alec and I) have to be in the meeting room at 6:00 a.m. Meaning – I have to iron my clothes and be off to bed. So – good night.

Look for more info in the next edition, of “Jeff in Hawaii!!!”

Hawaii - Day #2

2011-08-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - January 29, 2011

So – after going to bed at 10:00 last night (that would be 2:00 a.m. CST – which my body was still on) – I managed to sleep until 5:00 this morning.

I know that doesn’t sound very late, but that would be 7 hours of sleep, and for me – well, that’s doing pretty good.

So, I got up, took a shower, and at 5:45 a.m. made a Skype call to my family back in MN. If you haven’t tried Skype, you have to do so. It was such a joy to see Lisa and Gracie. I think it was good for Gracie to see her dad too. She was very excited when we saw each other on the screen.

As said in “Day #1” today (Saturday) was a free day, to get “un-jet-lagged”. Alec (my Mayo collegue) had rented a car, and we drove around the island for most of the day. We took off toward the north and made our way all the way around to Hilo – which is on the east side of the island (our hotel/resort is on the west side). The most notable things we saw today were Akaka Falls and the Pololu Valley Lookout.

You can see some of the picture in my "Hawaii- 2011” folder.

Also during our travels, in the course of 20 miles, we went from a lava field/near desert, to a rain forest, and then to a farmland type landscape that could easily be mistaken for somewhere in the midwest. We also drove through the Kohala Mountain, that take you from near sea-level to 3600 feet in a very short time. We couldn’t figure out why our ears kept popping, and suddenly we saw an elevation sign – and suddenly, “oh, no wonder!”

We finally meandered our way back home, stopped at a small grocery store, to pick up some supplies, and found our way back to our hotel. I’ve had dinner, and now – a just before 9:00 – am considering bed.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is set up day, and then off to more sight-seeing.

Bye for now – the boy is tired.

JBD

Hawaii - Day #1

2011-08-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - January 28, 2011

Hawaii – Day #1

Hello and welcome to “Jeff’s Hawaii Travel Log.” I am in Hawaii supporting a Mayo Cardiology conference called Arrhythmias and the Heart.

Day 1 (Friday, January 28th) started out by getting up at 3:00 a.m. in order to catch a 4:30 taxi, to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight to Chicago. After landing in Chicago, we waited a little more than 3 hours to catch the flight to Honolulu, and then from Honolulu to Kona (on the Big Island), where the meeting is. The flight from Rochester to Chicago is only 45 minutes, and the Honolulu to Kona flight is about the same. However, the Chicago to Honolulu flight was about 8 ½ hours. I looked at my watch after about 2 hours, thinking we’d made some good headway – and found out that I had over 6 hours to go. My butt was already hurting!!

On the bright side – I did get a lot of reading done. On the other hand, I was expecting this book to last for the flight out and back, and I only have 70 pages to go, so I don’t think it’ll make it. I did bring some more books though, so I’ll be fine for the way back. Perhaps I need a Nook or something that will store hundreds of books at once :-)

As you can presume, we arrived in Kona safely, and it is off to bed. The one thing that I can tell you is that (so far) Hawaii is expensive. The Whopper combo at the Honolulu Airport’s Burger King was $9.50. If you ever plan to come to Hawaii – bring lots of cash for your meals!

Anyway, Saturday is a free day (to catch up on my jet-lag) so we will go exploring (“we” being me, and my co-worker Alec, who is also working on this program). Sunday is “set-up” day, and then the program starts on Monday.

I will keep you posted about our exploring, exploits and mishaps.

Say tuned for the next installment of “Jeff in Hawaii”!

Until then,

JBD

Budapest - Day #9

2011-08-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - July 3, 2009

Well, finally – I am back in the good old USA and will sleep in my own home tonite.

If you remember I was supposed to come home on Thursday night – but due to “restricted airspace” over Hungary, we were force to delay our take off for 1 hour, causing me to miss my flight (the last Northwest/KLM/Delta flight out to the USA, I might add) by 10 minutes – therefore forcing me to spend the night in the Amsterdam airport. Fortunately they have 2 hotels that are built into the airport. The room was clean and sort of nice. It was very small – but really, how much do you need while sacking out before the next flight? I slept like garbage though – until about 6:15 – then my 6:30 wake up call came in the middle of a dream. In my dream the other person’s cell phone kept ringing. I wondered why he wouldn’t answer. Then my brain said, “wake up, stupid!” Oh yeah . . .

The flight home was fairly uneventful. I was a little sad. I finally got a window seat, during the daylight hours, and wouldn’t you know it – all I got to see was the tops of clouds! I didn’t get to see any of the U.K. or much of the Atlantic. The clouds did open up enough for me to see part of Greenland as we passed over.

Before you think I am a total geography whiz – they had GPS monitors in the airplane where you could track the progress. It included a little map graphic and an airplane icon to show where you were. There was also flight data, such as altitude, airspeed, miles traveled and miles to go. Did you know that the temp at 39,000 feet is 68 degrees below zero? Neither did I until last Thursday.

Lisa and Gracie picked me up today at the Rochester airport – Grace did not give me the cold shoulder as she has done other times I have been gone. We grabbed our luggage and zipped home. Yes, I kissed the ground as promised.

All in all, it was a good trip – just frustrating along the way a few times.

I must close out this note, as my body thinks that is now 4:00 a.m. and has been up since 6:30.

Thus endeth the Budapest saga. Thanks for reading.

Have a happy July 4th.

JBD

Budapest - Day #8

2011-08-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - July 2, 2009

So – you only THOUGHT this was my last note from across the pond. Well – the keepers of time and space (or in this case, “air”) decided differently. Due to a “restriction in airspace” – which I can assume to mean that some important dude or dudette was flying through and no planes were allowed in the air – my flight was delayed by one hour – so, I missed my connecting flight to the USA by 10 lousy minutes!

Therefore I am spending the night in the Amsterdam airport. With no luggage (that seems to be a theme this week) – so when I return home, I will be wearing the same clothes I put on Thursday morning and without a toothbrush (hopefully I can find one) – sorry Lisa – don’t kiss me when you see me!

Bleah!

I am supposed to get out of here on Friday morning @ 10:30 a.m. and be back in Rochester @ 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

So – you’ll get to hear from me one more time!

Wish me luck!

Jeff

Budapest - Day #7

2011-08-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - July 1, 2009

Well, today was my last day in Budapest, and finally with no conference or deadline of any sort. It was a free day to roam. This was by far the best day here. Don’t get me wrong – I had a good time at the conference and made some new acquaintances – not only Hungarian, but also Rochesterites who were here. There was the doctor’s wife that I chatted with at the banquet (see Budapest #5), and the doctor (who was one of the course directors) who joined me for breakfast one morning. We chatted until it was time to go to work, and then he would come and chat every morning to see how I was doing (overwhelmed, etc or not) and continually greet me in the hall, lobby and such. I know that when I see some of these people back home, we will be like old friends – or, at least, not be strangers.

However – today was just a hoot. First off, I tagged along with a fellow Mayoite who met up with a Hungarian doctor who gave us a tour of the Castle District of Budapest (the “Buda” portion of Budapest, actually). From what I could tell, she has lived here her whole life, and is a walking encyclopedia for the area. Should she ever decide to stop being a world famous doctor – she has a future in the tourism industry. I will try to post pics from the castle and other parts of town after typing this note.

We hung out at the castle for quite a while today. After that, we all split up, and it was time to roam on my own. Since getting here, I had wanted to ride either the subway or the tram line that runs beside the river in front of our hotel. I decided on the subway (the Metro, as it’s known here) – and the Yellow Line was the obvious choice, for 2 reasons: #1 because it is the closest to my hotel, and #2 because it is the oldest subway line in Europe and the 3rd oldest in the world. So – I managed to figure out how to buy a ticket and hopped on. I then realized I didn’t really know where to stop. I wanted to go to a place called Hero’s Square – so had to figure out how many stops it was to get there (of course, it’s all in Hungarian) and remember how to find the train back once I got there. What an adventure. It was GREAT!

I finally got up to Hero’s Square and began to nose around. It is filled with museums – which were closed by the time I arrived, as well as a lake/fountain (that was neat – if I have a good photo, I will explain it there). Going there was just a reminder that no matter how many differences we all have – we are still so much the same. There were people sitting on park benches and having picnics, there were kids fishing in the “lake” (I doubt there was anything worth keeping – I only saw some 3 inch fish). Hero’s Square also housed –what I think was – a zoo, some sort of small amusement park with these trampoline contraptions that looked SO fun. There was also a bounce house in the distance but I didn’t go over there.

It was fun because I just wandered – not really knowing where I was, except that I was north of the lake and of the Hero’s statues – which were my landmarks to find my way back home. I wandered up there for about an hour. When I was about ready to leave, I returned to a park vendor for a supper of a Gyro and Coke (again, what is it with all of the warm drinks?). It cost me about $4 or $4.50 –and it was, hands down, the best meal I have had here. It was just super. The server, on the other hand, either didn’t like Americans or was peeved that I took her away from the Hungarian version of Days of Our Lives. She was a tad surely. When finished I went back to her booth, pointed at the gyro table and said, “gyro” and then gave her a double thumbs up, and then said, “thank you” in Hungarian. She returned a smile to me, and I felt good – hoping that I had made her crappy day just a bit better.

Wow, I’m getting long winded again – don’t worry, I think I’m almost done. I hopped back onto the subway and rode back to the station closest to my hotel. I then grabbed an ice cream cone – similar to ours, yet . . . not. It was pretty good though. I decided that I was done spending money and came home (although now I realize that I have to go back out and buy something for breakfast, as I have no intention of spending $20 or $30 for some bacon and a muffin in the café downstairs. So – I have to wrap this up before the stores close.

So – on that note, I will close out the final note from the city of Budapest and wish you all a good day (yeah, it’s night here, but early afternoon in MN). I leave for the airport at 9:30 Thursday morning (that would be 2:30 a.m. to you) – don’t worry Lisa, I’ve been packed – except for essentials since last night (try not to have a heart-attack). Thanks for your comments and notes – it has made me feel not quite so far away.

I’ll talk to you next from the good old US of A (and it is).

Jeff

Budapest - Day #6

2011-08-19T14:47:00.001-07:00

By Jeff - June 30, 2009

Well, my conference is now done – the equipment is out of the hotel and slowly working its way back to Minnesota, so my trip must be nearing its end.

Hooray! yet, bummer. I am so glad to be headed home to see the family again, yet it feels like I just got here and am already headed home. I do have one more day to just hang around, ride the train, go up to the castle and anything else I want – so I will have gotten to do something other than work. Yet – I will be so thrilled to get home and see Lisa and Gracie. I have missed them quite a bit and it really is time to get home.

So – what happened today? First off, I finally found a bottle of Pepsi. It was in a store that was down a long hallway, that I have no idea why I even entered. It was like a voice calling, “come hither.” It seems as if Pespi’s a bootleg product and you have to see a guy in a van down by the river to get it. Question though – why don’t they serve anything cold over here? Even the ice cream is room temperature! I also found a Twix bar – which I will eat as soon as I am done typing this note. Nothing says “home” quite like a Pepsi and a Twix.

I went souvenir shopping this evening. Apparently the “hard sell” is more effective here than it is in the USA. A lady had to show me every product in her store. And you know, I am gadgety person, who loves to look at things, pick them up and study how they work or how they are made. I think she was expecting me to buy one of everything. She – seriously – followed me around the whole store (ma’am, I can see that it’s a book, thank you!). She was nice though.

Oh yeah, something that I dislike about Europe. Actually, it’s not a Europe problem, it’s a computer problem. Computers are too smart. I tried to do a Google search today. Well, since the “net” recognizes that I am in Europe, it directs me to “Google.de.com” which is the German site for Google. Well, duh! I can’t read the results – because they’re all written . . . in . . . GERMAN! Also – all of the ads on my Facebook page, in German or Hungarian – none of the ads are in English. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay – am I complaining? I don’t mean too. Actually I am having a great time and all of my complaining is more silliness than anything.

I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but it is interesting to see that even though I am 4,000 or 5,000 miles from home, a lot of Budapest is much like home. Obviously not the architecture or culture – after all, Hungary was a country before the US was even a colony, but in the way people interact and the influence of the Americans/English. You see little kids on rollerblades zipping up and down the street. The taverns and restaurants play American or English music – I even heard “Walking on Sunshine” once. Many of the stores have English names, with Hungarian in itty bitty letters below (then again, I am down by the river, where many of the tourists do stay). Maybe this doesn’t all make sense, but it is a lot like home, except I use a lot of hand gestures when I am talking here – Oh, it is just like home!.

Anyway – That’s all for now. I hope you have enjoyed reading these ramblings and haven’t grown too weary of them. I expect I will write 2 more, maybe 3. I will have an “end of Wednesday” note and then a note when I get home to tell how Lisa reacted to my pile of dirty laundry (ha ha – I kill me). Maybe I will do one from an airport, if I have time and can find a connection.

Until next time – be well. Have a great day/evening.

JBD

Budapest - Day #5

2011-08-19T14:46:00.001-07:00

By Jeff - June 29, 2009

Sorry, this one is going to be short tonite (or maybe to your relief). I just got back from the banquet - thinking it was about 9"30. Oops!! It's 11:30 and I have to be in the meeting room no later than 6:30 tomorrow morning.

Not alot happened today. We met all day and then had the banquet this evening - so didn't get out on the town and no funny stories. We are done @ 12:00 tomorrow (Tuesday), so after I pack up I will hit the town for a while.

I have got to know some really nice people this week. The 2 A-V guys who I have mentioned have been nothing short of super. Tonite I sat next to a doctor's wife and while everyone else talked shop we had our own private yak fest. It turns out their 2 kids are adopted, so we shared adoption and frustration stories. She was a real hoot! Everyone here has been very helpful and nice.

I didn't get to watch the news today, so don't know any world events - but I did just read in an email that Billy Mays died on Sunday. What? Who's Billy Mays? Are you kidding? You know . . . "(imagine me yelling here) don't just get it clean - get it OXY CLEAN!" You know - the pitch guy.

The highlight of today was getting to talk with Lisa for a few minutes. We just caught up for a short while. It was good to hear her voice.

Anyway - gotta run. Just wanted you to know that I am still alive in Hungary. Will write more tomorrow - after I get out on the town again. Woo Hoo!

Bye for now.
Jeff

Budapest - Day #4 (sorry this one got long)

2011-08-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - June 28, 2009

Okay, here we are at the end of Sunday (about 8:30 Hungarian time as I start this note) – and I realized that we have only Monday and half of Tuesday and then I am done! Where did the time go? (ask my wife, who hasn’t gotten a shower due to a screaming child. I’m sure the time has passed much more slowly for her. Truth be told – since she hasn’t gotten a shower, I am glad that I am here – PEEEE-YOOOO!)

Okay, so a run down of today. I hate to start on a sour note, but then it’s all out of the way and everything else is nice and rosy. So – the aggravation of the day is:

Why the heck won’t my VISA card work here in Budapest? I phoned them 2-3 weeks ago to notify them and they said, “we have it in the system – have a good trip.” Well, it’s hard to have a good trip when you can’t PAY for anything!! (btw – Lisa, wire me some cash – baby!). Fortunately, I have another card – but I’m not really supposed to use it – but desperate times call for such measures, now – don’t they. I believe that we should have it straightened out soon.

Okay – onto other things. A few notes that I forgot to mention yesterday.

Last night Ferenc and Zoltan (Zoley, for short) took me out to a corner pub. Fortunately it was just across the street so Ferenc didn’t need to stagger too far to get home (rumor has it, he likes his alcohol). Actually, he was a good boy and stayed in control. I, still in search of that elusive Pepsi can, had to drink coke again (after I get home and hug the family, I have go and hug the Pepsi guy).

Anyway – for supper last night – in this AUTHENTIC Hungarian pub, that played James Brown and the Rolling Stones – I had goulash! The 2 guys warned me that it would be too spicy. I think they were secretly let down that my head didn’t actually explode. It was GREAT – but nothing like Minnesota goulash. First of all, there are no macaroni noodles nor tomato sauce or hamburger in Hungarian goulash. It is more of a beef and vegetable soup (oh yeah, don’t even try to tell me that I am the only one who didn’t know that!).

Also – something I thought was funny – yesterday morning, during set up – I came rushing out of the meeting room and made an immediate right turn to go down the hallway. I nearly killed this poor guy who was coming around the corner at an equally high rate of speed. We both stopped abruptly (he had good reflexes too) and I immediately said, “oh, excuse me”. At the same time I realized that this person looked vaguely familiar – very shortly thereafter, I realized that it was ME! There is a giant mirror just outside the conference room doors. It has fooled me a number of times over the past 2 days. I thought it was funny how quickly you react to something without actually taking in the whole picture (okay, now I’m rambling – but I did laugh).

Okay – on to today’s events.

It was a good day. A few technical difficulties, but everything worked out fine in the end.

I am amused to say that even though I am nearly 5,000 miles from home, it is just like being at home. Apparently, A-V guys from all over the world get aggravated when presenters grab, and adjust, a perfectly good microphone – not because it’s not picking them up, but because they just have to fidget. Apparently presenters from everywhere in the world also have to grab a microphone, just because they don’t know what else to do with their hands!

I went to the Chain Bridge festival again and had another meal from the same street vender. Different food this time, but equally as good. The festival was much more fun since I had time to hang out and watch people. There were a few bands. One band was made up of 2 men and 4 women – that sang to pre-recorded soundtracks. They must be pretty popular because they had the girls screaming and waving their hands. It was pretty funny – as they sang an Abba song. It was Waterloo, but all in Hungarian, except for the “Waterloo” part. Everything else was in Hungarian & everyone on the streets was singing along. (what was I saying about just like being at home?)

They say that Paris is the city of love, but I can tell you that there is no shortage of emotion on the streets of Budapest (if you know what I mean).

Anyway – I have been quite long winded, so will close (if you even made it this far).

Have a great day and enjoy life. Talk to you all again.

Jeff

Budapest - Day #3

2011-08-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

By Jeff - June 27, 2009

Hello again from across the sea! It is Saturday night – a little after 10:00 & I have survived the jet-lag pretty well.

The day started at 8:30 this morning, setting up the room for the conference. I am working with 2 A-V techs from the hotel. They are professionals in every sense of the word. I must admit that I feel a tad stupid around them sometimes. Not because they make me feel stupid, but because they know SO much about everything electric that I have to sometimes sit back and figure out what they’re talking about (and then just nod and smile).

They are VERY nice though. When they heard that my luggage still hadn’t arrived @12:00 today, they volunteered to take me to the local mall to do some clothes shopping. Secretly, I think they were tired of looking at my shorts and Mayo Clinic shirt too (and it was getting a bit ripe!). Then – when we got to the mall, we went to look at a store that had some nice clothes (just needed a shirt and some khaki pants, please) – and while we were looking he turned to the clerk and said, “while you’re looking for his size in the back, we will look around and then come back to you.” He (his name is Zoltan, btw) proceeded to whisk me from the store – I thought he saw an old girlfriend or something – and then explained to me that the store was too expensive. “There is no reason to pay $150 for pants,” he said. I agreed. I did get clothes elsewhere and looked quite fashionable for today’s session. Its funny how many doctors are coming to me asking if my luggage came yet.

Anyway – after tonight’s session, which finished at 8:00, Ferenc and Zoltan were going to take me out for dinner and to see the town. I said that I had to go put on my 3 day old stinky clothes again – just in case I had to wear my “new” clothes again on Sunday.

When I got to my room I was greeted by none other than my LUGGAGE!!!! When I walked in it said, “hey, where have you been!!???” I was / am overjoyed to see my OWN clothes!

Other events of the day – I learned a new Hungarian word today. There was an orchestra at the Saturday evening “welcome” session. There was a soloist who entered the room carrying his instrument with him. He had a scarf wrapped around his head, gray vest and a shirt with real billowy sleeves. Ferenc (the other A-V tech) commented, and I could’ve sworn he said, “ooh, a faggot.” I though, THAT’S AWFULLY RUDE! I said, “what?” Again, he said, “a faggot.” Then he really confused me by saying, “beautiful.”

Little did I know that “faggot” is Hungarian for what we call a BASSOON!! And, yes, they are very beautiful.

One more thing – the Chain Bridge celebration is going on this weekend. Apparently the Chain Bridge is a very famous bridge here in Budapest (I haven’t Googled it yet) – and there are street shops and the like. I ate lunch from a corner food vendor today and it was just plain super (plus the lady spoke English, so that was helpful).

The only bummer so far (now that my luggage has arrived) is that I can’t find a Pepsi machine anywhere. I see people carrying Pepsi from time to time, but can’t find a vendor. So today (after 48 hrs with no caffeine) I had to buy a Coke (note to my wife – “yes, honey, it did kill me”).

Anyway – gotta run. Thanks to everyone for your kind comments and notes. This has been kind of fun. Hopefully we’ll get to do this again – by the way, Lisa – they are talking about Prague for next year – Woo Hoo!

Lastly – for all who have asked – I am doing A-V support for the International Vascular Symposium that is being sponsored by Mayo Clinic. We started today (Saturday) and run until Tuesday.

Thanks again! Bye for now.

JBD

Budapest - Day #2

2011-08-19T14:37:00.001-07:00

By Jeff: June 26, 2009

Well, I am finally here. I left the USA @ 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and landed at about 2:30 p.m. on Friday (Hungarian time - but actually 7:30 a.m. - friday - Rochester time). Here is what has happened so far:

As you read before, my 1st plane was rerouted to Mpls, and then on to Amsterdam from there. That flight was about 8 hrs. Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep - only about an hours worth - as my seat wasn't too comfy for sleeping. They do have a pretty cool thing, in that they have a GPS graphic of the plane, so you can see exactly where you are in flight - such as when you pass just south of Greenland, for example. It also shows data about the conditions - altitude, distance travelled so far, distance to go, outside air temp (did you know that the temp at 38,000 feet is 59 degrees below zero?).

We finally land in Amsterdam and, sure enough - we did have to go through security again. The line was HUGE. I had almost 2 hrs to get from one plane to the next. After I got through the security line, I had about 20 minutes to get to my plane. I ran like a mad man to my gate - uh, cuz it couldn't have just been next door. No! It seemed like it was about a mile away. When I got to the gate, I asked, "are you boarding for this flight yet" and they said, "yes, we're waiting for you." Glad I ran!

When we arrived in Budapest, we waited for the luggage to get unloaded - only to find that mine somehow didn't make the final leg of the journey. Then again, it's possible that it never got pulled off of the original Detroit flight. My luggage might be visiting the Chyrsler plant right now. I have no idea.

Have now been to my event room to see what it looks like. They should be finished setting it up soon, so I can begin setting my equipment in the morning. I have to go look at it again tonite - and then off to bed.

good night from across the pond, everyone!

JBD

Budapest - Day #1

2011-08-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

By Jeff: June 25, 2009

Oh my! My trip has started off well. Left Rochester @ 1:30 on thursday (right on time, I might add) only to have the pilot announce that we were having mechanical problems and wouldn't be able to get to Detroit (the first stop on my flight).

So - instead, we landed in Mpls. Now missing all of my connecting flights, I was rebooked (with the opportunity to go through Paris - thanks, but I'll pass). I will now leave Mpls @ 7:30 tonite, to arrive in Amsterdam @ 10:30 tomorrow (Friday) morning - and then on to Budapest - hopefully to arrive @ 2:30 Firday afternoon.

Keep you all posted as we go. My battery is dying, so gotta run!

JBD

Lost in the Woods

2008-08-31T22:06:00.001-07:00

Help, I'm Lost in the Woods!
By Jeff-July 15, 2007

In Psalm 55, David says, “But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.”

My dad used to love deer hunting. Myself – not really. I have no problem with it, it’s just that it requires standing still and being quiet for extended periods of time. Those of you who know me understand why that isn’t really my forte. In order to spend time with my dad and grandpa, I often went deer hunting with them, even though it wasn’t really my thing. I never did get a deer. I did see one once. I was leaning against a tree and woke up to see him staring at me. I made a move for my gun (like I shifted about half and inch), and – ZOOM – he was gone. Now that I think about it, I never admitted to my dad that I fell asleep – well, that was about 25 years ago, so I don’t think he’ll be disgusted any longer.

Anyway - when I was about 15, I decided one of the days that I didn’t want to be the one sitting in stand waiting for the deer to pass (and thus falling asleep), but rather I would like to do the walking, to drive them past the person in the stand. My dad decided that would be fine, so he said to me, “go up the road to where a path turns off to the right, follow it until you come to a stream and follow that until you get back to us.”

“No problem,” I said, as I took off up the road. I should’ve listened to that voice in the back of my head. I am sure that Custer heard a similar voice, just before leaving for the Little Big Horn. I walked back to the path, as instructed, and started down it, following it until I came - to a lake. “This is not right.” So, I figure I’ll just turn around and backtrack until I hit the stream. I don’t remember how or why, but somehow I got off the path and found myself in the woods, not knowing where I was.

“Not a problem.” I’ll just walk in the direction that my dad and grandpa are, and I’ll come right to them. Why are we so brave at 15? Is it because we’re not smart enough to know that we don’t know anything? I continued walking in the direction of my dad and a little more time passes – it’s not as light as it was before. I wonder if I should I fire off 3 shots, to say that I’m in trouble? “No,” my bravado tells me, “they’ll think I’m a stupid kid. Besides, I’m just sort-of lost.” I have come to find that only being sort-of lost is the same as having a sort-of broken leg, or being sort-of pregnant. To sum up for future use, if you don’t know where you are – Yoo bee lossed!

As more time passes, I can’t believe I haven’t caught up to my group yet. “Perhaps I passed them…Hmm…I’ll keep going in this direction. I’ll find something that I know.” It’s getting darker, so I decide I’d better pick up the pace a bit, and begin to jog through the woods (with a loaded gun in hand), trying to pick out trees to keep me going in a straight line. The only problem with looking straight ahead, to pick out the trees, is that you don’t see the barbed wire fence that’s about shin high. As I lay on the ground, my gun thrown from my hands, it is then that I realize that running through the dark woods with a gun is perhaps not the wisest choice one can make in this world. Lying there gives me another moment of great clarity, in that it is almost pitch black, and I am no longer sort of lost. I am really lost.

Not only was I lost, but I was very frightened. In all my life, this was the most scared I have ever been. I called out for my dad – and it wasn’t’ a nice calm, “hey dad, where you at.” I screamed, “dad!” Finally, I fired off 3 shots [bang, bang, bang] - and I hear a return shot – come from behind me. I had been walking in the WRONG direction!

I started walking toward the sound. A little bit later, I heard a [bang] again, “oh good, I’m getting closer.” As I got closer, I began to see a small orange flicker. My grandpa had started a small fire on the side of the road. I continued toward it, and in the end, it was that light that enabled me to get out of the woods.

It is somewhat embarrassing to admit that I came out of the woods less than 100 yards from where I entered. So basically, I wandered for about 2 hours in an area about the size of a football field.

There are people in this world, perhaps you, who are wandering in a spiritual forest. We’re lost, and we don’t even know it, or worse yet, are too proud to shout, “help!!”

We don’t have to grope in darkness. Much like my grandfather, God has given us a light to find our way out of the darkness. That light is Jesus. He said, “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness. (John 8:12)” He gave his life to lead you out of the darkness.

Are you in the darkness and don’t know how to find the way out? What do you do?

Admit that you’re lost and wandering.

Stop and call to God

As Joel Osteen says, “Get yourself in a Bible based church” – and discover His plan for your life!

As Peter said "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

Psalm 55:16
But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.

Have a great day, and may God cause your cup to overflow.

Jeff

Why You Worryin'?

2008-08-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Why Are You Worrying?

By Jeff-March 10, 2008

I heard a commercial for the Minnesota Center for Stress and Anxiety the other day. The announcer comments about being too frightened to go out of your house and carry on your normal life’s activities.

I fully understand that some people actually do have mental issues that cause them to freeze up when a wrench is thrown into their daily plan, and I would never make fun of them. However, there are some people who are just worry warts and have an irrational fear about everything under the sun. They are always imagining the worst possible outcome for everything they undertake.

A Middle Eastern gentleman taught me a saying, about 15 years ago, that I feel is applicable.

"Leave it for God" - If you are truly a believer, this should be a no brainer. But all of us have times when we try to finagle things to work out the way WE want them to, rather than to trust God to have things work out the way that is actually BEST for us.

“Leave it for God” simply means to look for the signs that he is giving you, sometimes seeming to speak directly to you – as to how you should live your life and the decisions you should make, and then following His direction, placing your life in His hands.

Let’s assume you are interested in applying for a job. It seems quite interesting, but you are not sure that it is right for you. God will let you know if it is the right job or not (trust me on that!). In my own case, I applied for a job and said, “Leave it for God”. When I got to the interview they asked questions that I was unprepared for and totally I bombed the interview. Needless to say I did not get the job. I could’ve sulked and cussed a lot, but because I left it for God, leaving my employment in his hands, I knew that this job wasn’t intended for me (truth be told, it became apparent in about the first five minutes of the interview).

It was clear that God had a different plan for my life. Part of that plan was to stay in the present job, and have further influence on those around me, including an old man who came to accept Jesus just months before his death – partially due to our daily interactions (look for this story in a posting titled “Vietnam”). It is possible that I was in that job solely to meet that man and show him who Jesus was.

On my next job interview, which I also left for God, I did much better, and ended up getting that job. I think I understand the reason that God has placed me here, but it is possible that I have yet to discover His grand plan for my current employment. We shall see.

A few questions can arise from living your life like this:

So are you saying I can just sit around and wait for God to come to me?

By all means, NO!! You have to be watching for the signs and information that He gives you. You have to be ready to try new things and go where He sends you. You have to keep your eyes open for the next opportunity that He has for you.

Also, Leaving it for God does not mean you sit like a mindless zombie and only take what lands in your lap. I believe that God also expects you to do a little thinking and reasoning as well. It may be in God’s plan for you to have a new car, but in most cases you still need to go to the auto dealership to get one. Yes, I know there are cases where a car has just shown up at someone’s home, but these instances are rare – the point is that you still have to put forth some initiative. Even Moses had to stretch out his arm during the parting of the Red Sea. If such a large miracle required some effort on Moses’ part, I would expect that you have to get up off the couch for God to work in your life too.

When I “leave it for God”, why do I seem to have difficult times, while those who seem to make their own way and make things happen for themselves seem to have it easy?

You never know what God has planned for you and how he will use your situation to influence others or use you for His glory. In my earlier job, I worked for one of the most dishonest people I have ever met. I also worked with one of the most difficult people I hope to ever meet during the same employment. If God had let me bail out early (and I tried mightily) I would’ve never had the chance to meet the previously mentioned man, and have a hand in saving his soul. I would’ve missed the opportunity to gain a wealth of life experience that few will ever have the good fortune to encounter. And lastly, I would’ve missed out on the friends that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Looking back, the difficulty that I experienced was a small price to pay in comparison to the good done not only for His glory, but also in my own life.

On the topic of difficulty, maybe it is also to prepare you, or sharpen you, for your next mission. Perhaps you are not the best at standing up for yourself or speaking your mind, and because of your current situation you are forced to do so. This could be training for the next mission field. Possibly you will be called on to speak up for those who have no voice (the homeless, aborted children, the poor). You never know where God will lead you if you let Him.

You also never know what is going on in the life of the other person. While it seems like everything is rosy for them and stinky onions for you, they may see things differently. It is possible that the other person is envious of you. While they are “making their own way” and always worried about losing it all, you appear to be calmly cruising through life without worrying about things crashing or falling apart. They may even ask, “how can you be so calm and take things in stride?” And that is your chance to tell them about a better life. That may be why your paths crossed in the first place. So again, I say, “Leave it for God.” Even if you encounter difficulties, there is nothing that He cannot see you through. Actually, rather than "if", I should say, "when you encounter difficulties", because you will. That is okay though, because He WILL see you through them if you only lean on Him.

If “leaving it for God” is the answer, then how come all these terrible things happen in the world?

There are a few possibilities for this:

In the case of man-made problems (terrorism, genocide, or crime in general) - This is because of evil people. The world is full of evil, sinful people who will terrorize others and use cruelty to achieve their own ends. These are people who clearly have not, “left it for God.”

“Natural” disasters – to be honest – I cannot explain them except that they are the natural workings of our planet, and God allows them to happen. Even though they create much damage and heartache, look what can come out of them. It is arguable that when things like this happen, when things seem to be at their worst, that is when we are often-times at our best. How often do great things and wonderful “God Stories” come out of disasters?

I believe that He will sometimes allow these things to happen when we get a little to “big for our britches” (as the old saying goes). The world, quite often, tries to push God out of existence, and say that we are too smart to believe in God. When the world says to God, “hey, leave us alone,” that is precisely what he does – and look what happens. Perhaps it is a wake up call, or a snap back into reality, to say, “Yes, I am still alive and well. See what happens when you walk away?”

Lastly For me, “leave it for God” means being okay with not having all of the answers. It provides me the peace of mind that even though I don’t know, there is Someone who does. The answers will be shown to me when it is time to show them to me. I may not know the reasons for years – and then I will look back and say, “Oh, that’s why I went through that dilemma 20 years ago.” Just knowing that He will see me through is enough.

Before closing, I would like to leave you with the following passages:

Matthew 6:25-27

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6: 28-34

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 10: 29-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Have a great day, and may God cause your cup to overflow.

Jeff

Vietnam

2008-08-31T22:04:00.000-07:00

Watch What You Say And Do, Someone Is Watching
By Jeff-March 19, 2005

This is a true story, that I can only start by saying, God knows your prayer, even before you do.

I used to be the reception/dispatch person in an interpreters’ office of a large medical institution. I was not an interpreter, but I could say, “No, so-and-so is not here now” in 6 different languages.

There was a man that would frequently come to my office looking for a Vietnamese interpreter. Since the only three Vietnamese words I knew were the names of our interpreters – and he only knew three words in English, being “no, thank-you” and “ok”, it’s easy for you to see why our conversations relatively short.

This went on for more than a year, probably two or three. He would come to my office, he would ask for a specific interpreter, by name (who we’ll call “Fern”, even though that’s not really her name), I would check for her, and say, “no, can you wait” and motion to the chair. He would then sit and wait, sometimes for over an hour, until she would come back from helping whichever patient she was with. After she had come to help him with whatever he needed (sometimes taking only 5 minutes), he would smile, wave goodbye to me, and say, “Thank you,” and then go home. This would happen 2 or 3 times per week, sometimes many days in a row.

Well – one Friday afternoon, he came in, we had the usual exchange, and he sat and waited until “Fern” came to speak with him. After they sat and talked for a while, she motioned for me to come over to where they were sitting. She then explained to me that he wanted to thank me for my kindness, and to say goodbye. He was in the final stages of stomach cancer and was going back home to Vietnam to die. And then – the most bizarre thing happened. This man, who I had the same redundant 4 word conversation with, who’s name, I am sad to say, I did not even know – hugged me.

If you are not familiar with the Vietnamese culture, hugging between men is NOT something that happens every day.

Shortly after that, I was done for the day. I had a few errands to run, so ran here and there –on my way home, my friend was still on my mind. As I was driving, I said, “God, I don’t know the man’s name, but you know who – I don’t know much about him, but I know he is a nice man and you know his heart. If there is anything you can do for him – I would really appreciate it.”

In retrospect, I realize that saying, “God, if there’s anything you can do” – is rather silly. However, that is what I said. It was 4:20 on Friday afternoon.

As if I were Paul Harvey, here - is the rest of the story.

I returned to work on Monday morning. Fern, the Vietnamese interpreter pulled me aside and told that my friend had returned on Friday afternoon. He had to ask her 1 final question. “Why are you and that man (me) different? What is it that makes you different from other people I know?”

“I can’t really talk about this at work,” she said, “but briefly, it is my belief in Jesus.” (isn’t it sad that you can’t talk about Jesus at work? That, however, is a soapbox that we can’t get started on now)

“Will you tell me about it later?” He asked. “I would like to know more about Jesus.” That was 4:15 p.m. God had begun answering my prayer, before I even asked it.

They got together after work and talked for a while. Then she took him to her Church to hear more about Jesus.

When they parted that night, he told her that he had a change in plans. Rather than stay in Vietnam, he was going to come back in a few weeks to hear more. “Pray for him while he is back home” she told me. “Because if they find out about his new faith, they will try to talk him out of it, and not let him return.”

Sure enough – 2 or 3 weeks later, he showed up at my office. And a short time later – he made Jesus Christ the master of his life.

I heard that he went back, again, to Vietnam – this time planning not to return. Needless to say, I have not seen him since. But I know that I will see him again, and I will hug him again.

I take away three points from this life event.

Be mindful of your speech, actions and attitudes! Even those who cannot understand what you are saying, can understand how you say what you say, and the facial expressions you make. Do your words and actions show your belief in God?

God knows what you are praying for even before it enters your mind to pray about it. If He can do that, certainly He knows your needs and will provide for you!

I am placed in situations/places for a reason (see another post called “Why You Worryin’?”). God can cause my path to cross with someone else’s for very specific reasons. It may take months or years for the result to be seen, but if you allow Him to guide you, He will make great things happen.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Have a great day, and may God cause your cup to overflow.

Jeff

Parent's Who Maybe Oughta Not

2008-04-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

Parents who shouldn’t be
by Jeff-1/15/2008

Welcome again everybody, and thank you for reading this issue of the Soapbox. Today’s soapbox brought to you by Cheer. Hot, warm and cold, for the way you wash now, All-Tempa-Cheer. (some of you are too young to get that – sorry for dating myself)

Today’s rant comes from the “not everyone oughta be a parent” file.

What the heck is wrong with parents these days?

DISCLAIMER – I realize that my being a parent for less than six-months does not give me much right to comment on the parenting skills of others. But – I am not complaining about parents who make honest (or even silly / foolish) mistakes (“You know, perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to leave Johnny alone with the dog and a full bottle of hand lotion. OOPS!!”).

Nor am I talking about people who’ve had a baby, but just don’t know what to do with them – they try mightily, but just don’t get it. They deserve our prayers and assistance, not our ridicule or scorn.

I am here today to talk about parents, whose acts of selfishness and total lack of compassion or guardianship towards their children border on (or are outright) criminal behavior.

It’s funny. When I was young, I remember my folks (especially my dad – another who is well versed in the art of ranting) commenting that the state had no business sending a social worker in to take a “snapshot” of a family’s life and then take kids away from their parents based on that single viewing. While that may have been true 30 years ago, open your newspaper today and you will find story after story that will tell you that SOMEONE must take action, and do so now.

To help get YOUR dander up, I present you the following examples or headlines:

A woman in Minneapolis BRANDED her 14 year old daughter, and hired her out as a prostitute for area men.

St. Paul, MN -- A St. Paul man accused of prostituting his teen daughter in exchange for drugs was charged. Thirty-seven-year-old Cha Vang appeared in a Ramsey County Court around the first of June 2007. According to the criminal complaint, Vang's 14-year-old daughter told police her father forced her to engage in sex acts in exchange for drugs and that the first incident happened when she was 12. Vang faces a maximum sentence of 20-years in prison if convicted.

An Austin (MN) woman sends her 14 year old daughter out to be a prostitute.

Just since the beginning of 2008:

A St. Paul (MN) mother has been charged with two counts of child neglect. According to a criminal report, Alexis Kennedy (24) would lock her two children (ages 5 & 2) in their bedroom, using a bungee cord. According to the daughter, she and her brother would yell out the window that they were hungry.

The situation was discovered when Kennedy’s 5 year old daughter crawled out of her bedroom window and was found wandering in a parking lot with no shoes or coat (IN JANUARY!)

Kennedy admitted to locking the kids in their room, but in her defense, she denied that they ever yelled out the window. Well, if they never yelled, then what’s the big deal?

Read the whole story: http://wcco.com/crime/kids.locked.bedroom.2.626604.html

And lastly – or at least for now:

In Bayou La Batre, Alabama – Lam Loung (37) has admitted to throwing his four children (ages 4 month to 3 years) off of the 80 foot-high Dauphin Island bridge, a three mile bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway.

Authorities believe that Loung threw the kids from the bridge after an argument with his wife. “Here, honey, this’ll show you!” Do me a favor, next time, leave the kids in the car and throw YOURSELF from the bridge!

See the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321585,00.html

While these are but a few examples, if you dig in your newspaper, or watch the news, you can find more and more cases of crimes committed by the children’s parents. This does not included the number of crimes committed by neighbors, uncles, friends, scout-masters, clergy, and others who should be watching out for kids rather than harming them.

Kids are at enough risk just heading out the door to school, that they shouldn’t have to worry about broken arms and cigarette burns from mom and dad.

Perhaps I am so outraged on this topic because children (even though they may not always seem like it) are a gift from God. While someone would never dream of throwing a “birthday Rolex” in the trash, that is what is being done with the greatest of gifts.

Most of you reading this know that my wife and I adopted. I can tell you, first-hand, that the level of screening you have to go through is incredible. You go through pages and pages of questions that are discussed during hours and hours of interviews.

I understand the reason for screening, and I am not saying that the process should be omitted or even reduced.. The social workers want to be sure that the children are going to people who will truly be good and loving parents. However, what is the screening process for someone that does not go through an adoption agency, but rather has their own biological children? There are no required classes or screening programs to be sure that they will be loving parents. Yet these are the people, by and large, who are throwing their kids from bridges, drowning them in bathtubs or strapping them into their car-seat and then rolling the car off of the pier.

What can be done about the situation? Quite frankly, as I am not a child care professional, I have no idea. Having teachers, doctors and the like report suspected abuses always gets people’s dander up – so apparently that’s not a good idea. You hear things like, “they ought to mind their own business!” The problem, though, is that we have been minding our own business for far too long.

Thirty years ago, minding your own business was an okay thing. But then again, thirty years ago, everyone had a front porch and we all knew our neighbors and what was going on in the neighborhood. Thirty years ago, kids could leave the house at 8:00 a.m., not return until supper time, and never have a fear of being in any danger. Thirty years ago, kids wouldn’t dare act up because the news would reach their parents before the kids could get home.

Maybe back then “minding your own business” actually meant “pay attention to what is happening on our street – know who’s a trouble maker – keep an eye on my kids and I’ll keep an eye on yours – and if Phil is smacking his kids, step in.” Back then – those things were our business as neighbors. Now, no one wants to be labeled as nosey or as a busy-body. We ridicule those who know everything that is happening up and down the block, rather than become more informed ourselves. When we should be more involved we become more isolated.

Perhaps a start would be to have everyone buy a front porch and then actually meet our neighbors. Perhaps a “driveway grill-out” where you all meet in someone’s driveway for burgers and dogs, would be a good plan. Ice Cream is always good, how about an ice cream social? Once you actually met your neighbors, you could discern which one, or ones, is/are loony. Then you, along with your equally engaged neighbors, could perform some sort of intervention.

Well, that’s all I got today. Thanks for reading. Meet your neighbors – make them a pie or something.

Have a great day.
Jeff

How Will History Treat George W. Bush?

2008-01-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

“W” and History

George W. Bush – not an endorsement, I’m just asking a question...
By Jeff-March 26, 2007

I don’t know your personal opinion of George W. Bush. I agree with a number of things he does/says, and I have a number of issues with him as well. So, I have not come to praise – or bury – Caesar, but rather just to ask the following question for your pondering.

How will history treat George W. Bush?

I ask this question because history will often differ from public opinion of the time.

Let’s start with the hypothesis that Bush’s “historical value” will be based on the War on Terror and how he handles the issue of Illegal Aliens (i.e. – undocumented visitors). It would be fair to say that not only are Americans polarized on both of these issues, but there is also division amongst those who in or out of the “Bush ideology camp” as well.

From a general overview, “Pro-Bushers” will say that he has the fortitude and courage to “stay the course” and follow his convictions, no matter the fallout.

“Anti-Bushers” will argue that he doesn’t listen to his advisors or public opinion, and he is, therefore, an idiot.

I wonder how we will feel twenty or fifty years from now.

Here are a few examples of people whose public opinion did not match up with their historical significance. When you consider these examples, think of them not only in the context of their time, but also consider how they would appear in the age of the 24 hour news/gossip channel.

Abraham Lincoln: While history holds old “Honest Abe” as one of America’s greatest presidents, I would bet that Lincoln’s idea of freeing the slaves did not garner him great public support in the southern part of the USA. After giving black men the right to vote (before white women, I might add – wouldn’t that be a slap?), I am sure that he wasn’t making many friends in the north either. Did the news media argue that he didn’t listen to his advisors or the public? I don’t know. I do know that he stood by ideals that got him shot.

Observation #2 – Martin Luther King Jr. Again, like President Lincoln, history views Dr. King as a great man. However, in the context of the time, his ideas were not popular throughout the entire nation. His ideas were unpopular enough to get him assassinated as well. Again, while many people supported his cause, do you think that there were some within his closest circle that told him this was a bad idea? Maybe some told him to “play it safe, sit down, and shut up.” Did he listen to all of his supporters/staff? Again, I would venture not. Would the press and the court of public opinion have treated him the same as history would later view him?

Another example: Adolf Hitler. Those of you who know me well know that I have an odd fascination with the life and doings of history’s possibly most evil person. History views him as a mad-man, a man of pure evil, and a hate monger. However, in the court of 1938 public opinion, he was the savior of Germany. Hitler rose to great power (granted, partially through acts of skullduggery), brought Germany out of the Depression, and (I’ll bet you didn’t know) brought cars to the general public (he is responsible for the production of the Volkswagen automobile – the original Beetle is VERY similar to a version from the 1970’s.). Anyway –this is not a praise of Hitler, but rather to point out that prior to 1943 he was VERY popular in Germany, yet history (correctly) views him as a murderer and dictator.

Lastly, I submit Winston Churchill for your consideration. In 1938 and 1939 Churchill spoke loudly, and often, of the evils of Adolf Hitler (see above). If I remember correctly, he went as far as to say that Hitler’s Germany “should be neutralized before it creates a larger threat (or words to that effect)”. Churchill, at the time, was poo-poo’d as a war hawk. It was only later, in 1940 and 1941 during the Battle of Britain, where he was acknowledged as being correct. Now history views him as a great leader and a hero of WWII. In the 1938 & ’39 polls he was just a drunken goof.

Am I comparing President Bush to any of these people (good or bad)? Absolutely not. Am I praising or criticizing him? Certainly not. As I stated at the beginning, I agree with him on a number of things, I disagree with him on a number of things. I am interested though, to see how history will view him in 2020 or 2050. I hope I’m around to see it.

That’s the Soapbox! Thanks for readin’. Have a great day.
Jeff

Don Imus - Is he REALLY the devil?

2008-01-27T15:18:00.002-08:00

By Jeff - April 11, 2007

Part of the problem in writing content for a web site before the site is “live” is that you sometimes miss the boat on current issues. As in, the event comes and goes before your content sees the light of “cyber-day”. That being said, I really feel the need to comment on the following topic. Rest assured that as I type this on April 11, 2007, the issue of Don Imus (yes, I’ll recap in a minute) is far from settled.

The issue – WFAN morning “shock-jock” Don Imus made the comment “nappy headed ho’s” on his radio show, while referring to the Rutgers’ Women’s basketball team. And now the whole world is calling for his firing for this “inappropriate” comment. One of the Rutgers ladies claims to be scarred for life from this insensitive slur.

Before jumping in – let me make the following “disclaimers” or “claimers” regarding this issue.

1 – When I worked at the local radio station (years ago), one of the treats of working midnight to 6a.m. was getting to listen to “Imus in the Morning” from 5:00 – 6:00 a.m. when the ABC-News feed came from New York. While listening one morning, Imus said the funniest thing I have ever heard on radio (which I will not repeat here). I was laughing so hard, that I could barely talk when my song was done.

2 – The previous note should give you insight to Don Imus. That fact that he said something that I cannot repeat (and this would’ve been about 15 years ago), should tell you that Don is a shock jock. He is paid a lot of money to create that uneasy laughter from people who are so shocked they can’t believe what they just heard.

3 – If you have ever heard him, like him or not, you must admit that Don is a very intelligent person. He banters (and clashes) with the Washington power brokers and newsmakers, and can hold his own during the course of discussion on any topic.

4 – That being said, from a social, gender and racial standpoint, Don Imus is a bonehead, always has been a bonehead, and will always be a bonehead.

There – now, let’s hop in:

I have heard Don Imus’ “nappy headed ho’s” comment in its original context (which is more than most people calling for his head can say) – and the comment was inexcusable. There is no way that it can be justified, other than complete stupidity.

Should Imus be fired for it? I don’t believe so, and here is why.

While his comments were damaging, I submit that far more damage against the “black community” and women is being done by the black community itself.

If you look at statistics, you will find that Imus is broadcast on 90 stations nationwide. According to recent information from Arbitron (the radio industry’s ratings bible), Imus has a weekly listenership of 3.25 million + about 335,000 on MSNBC. By and large, anything Imus says, with the exception of items that end up in the news like this one, is heard only once. It isn’t run again the next day, or in syndicated reruns like “Friends”.

In contrast, looking at the record sales of Fifty Cent (or Fiddy Cent, as he is know by the “in” crowd) and Snoop Dogg, you will find that these two have combined for sales of more than 30,000,000 discs (yes, that’s THIRTY MILLION). I single them out because they are notorious for repeatedly using the words “Ho”, “Bit*#es” and “Nigga”. Unfortunately, they are not alone. They are among of cast of thousands in the rap world that are using this language, and have been doing so, unchecked, for years. (Don’t get me started on the topic of double standards – that is a topic for another time)

Keep in mind, the songs on these discs aren’t heard just one time (how many times do your kids listen to the new, cool, disc?). These songs are heard hundreds of times by kids ranging 10 – 15 years of age (and older too). These children, boys and girls alike, are being inundated – or perhaps indoctrinated – that “ho” and “bi*#h” are acceptable terms for women. Little boys learn that this is how you treat women if you are “cool”, and girls learn that they are nothing more that this.

When you compare the two, Imus’ comments pale in terms of lasting damage done to the black community. And set aside the black community for a moment, because kids of EVERY color are listening to Snoop Dogg and “Cent”. This is not just a black issue. This should be an outrage to women of all races and status, yet, there seems to be very little.

Reverend Al Sharpton, a leader in the crusade to can Imus, indicated that this is only the tip of the iceberg. He has said, on record, that he will be going after rappers and the companies that promote them next. I hope he does. And rest assured, I will hold him to it (like I have any real power) and if he doesn’t you will hear about it on the soapbox.

That’s the Soapbox for today. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Jeff

A Woman or Minority President?

2008-01-27T15:18:00.001-08:00

By Jeff - March 14, 2007

Is it time for a woman or minority to be president?

Shortly after Barack Obama hinted that he would throw his hat into the ring for president, there was an article in our local newspaper that asked the question; “is it time for a woman or minority president?” I gotta tell you, I was a tad aggravated by the answers that were printed.

“Yes, it’s about time, it’s 2007 after all!”

“Yes, I love the idea of a woman president.”

The rest of the answers were basically the same.

I would like to make the following disclaimer – I love minorities, and I love women (I love them so much, I married one (so did my wife –well, marry a minority, that is - you can see that by my picture))! So please don’t get on me for being a bigot or sexist… but …

What on Earth does it being 2007 have to do with having a person of color or woman in a political office? I am all for someone other than a white male (and nothing against them either, just that’s all there’s been so far) sitting in the White House. However – I do have a problem with wanting to elect someone, regardless of their ability or ideology, simply because “it’s about time” to get someone in there.

This is nothing more than Affirmative Action re-rearing its ugly head. Reverse racism at its best. Of course, I can see how you’d want to support one of “your own”. Sure, it’d be great to have a black person make a serious and legitimate run for the presidency. However, I will NOT vote for Al Sharpton simply because he is black. Yeah, I love to listen to Reverend Al speak. He certainly livens up the otherwise boring Democratic debates, but let’s be serious, Sharpy is just nutty. Heaven help us if he actually got the nod. In the same vein, I can see how women would be glad to have a woman to vote for on the ballot. But – we must ask ourselves, is it better to have a woman (or a minority) on the ballot, or is it better to have someone qualified on the ballot? (Let’s not be putting words in my mouth – I am not saying that women and minorities are not qualified. You know what I mean here)

This manner of thinking is very problematic. It reminds me of the St. Paul (MN) Fire Department’s dilemma of a few years ago. Due to Affirmative Action rules, the department was required to have its employee demographic reflect the city of St Paul’s demographic make-up. So – if 1.4% of St Paul residents were Jewish, the SPFD had to have 1.4% of its firefighters be Jewish (and so on). Failure to do so resulted in fines or loss of funding. Again, I have no problem with this, provided that you have enough applicants to make up the 1.4%!!! The problem the SPFD was facing is that it did not have enough qualified minorities applying for the jobs. They were faced with lowering the requirements in order to get more recruits.

Now, one must ask, who benefits from the lowering of requirement? After all (no offense ladies), if you are a female firefighter, GREAT for you, but if you got in because of this government regulation, and now I die in a fire because you aren’t strong enough to drag me to safety, I’m suddenly not very pleased with you in your new job.

So – back to politics – If Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, Barack Obama or Cynthia McKinney (don't get me started on her) want to be president, go ahead, they may even have my support, but only because they EARNED it. If I just want to thumb my nose at “the Man”, I’ll vote for Larry, Curly and Moe again (which I have actually done in the past).

That's the Soapbox for today, Thanks for reading.

Have a good day.
Jeff

Poor President Ahmadinejad

2008-01-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

By Jeff - September 26, 2007

Poor Mahmoud, he was done wrong.
The topic: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University on Monday, September 24, 2007. During his introduction, Columbia president, Lee Bollinger “took him to task”, as the American news organizations are reporting, saying that Ahmadinejad exhibits “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator”. Bollinger also referred to Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust as “brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”

I SAY: Many Americans are standing proud today. “Boy, that Bollinger really told him. He really handed him his head.” The march of pride is being led by the news agencies (FOX and CNN alike), and we choose to jump on the bandwagon, when we should be ashamed.

Yes, it is true that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is partially responsible for the brutal treatment of his own citizens (even though he is the president, he is not fully in charge of the country). He is also the man who says that Israel should be wiped off of the map and the Jews will burn in the fire of Islam. He also denies that the Holocaust ever happened, claiming that it is nothing more than Hollywood special effects. I believe that he is a tad nutty, if not an all-out madman, but we are totally in the wrong by insulting him during his introduction at Columbia.

First – Columbia invited him to come and speak, claiming it was an educational experience for their students. President Bollinger was feeling the heat of national outrage that Ahmadinejad was allowed to speak on a campus whose students physically chased a representative from The Minutemen from the stage. Columbia also denies ROTC representatives to speak to students on campus (odd, the ROTC trains young men and women to protect our nation from people like President Ahmadinejad – hmm). I say to President Bollinger, if you are having second thoughts about having the president of one of the “Axis of Evil” countries speak in your auditorium, un-invite him!

Second – President Bollinger, since you did not un-invite President Ahmadinejad, he is now your guest. Like him or not, treat him as such.

Third – Right or wrong, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the president of a country/head of state. Again, whether you agree with him or not, he is due the respect that goes with that office. Unfortunately, we Americans do not even treat our own heads of state with the respect that is due the office they occupy anymore, so why would I expect that we would give it to someone else?

Fourth – If George W. Bush were treated like this on his speaking trip abroad (whether you like him or not) we would scream our head off about our president being “dissed.”

Fifth – As American’s such behavior is beneath us. This rude treatment is something I would expect from a third-world thug, not from the greatest country on Earth.

Again, I don’t disagree with the assertions of President Bollinger. After all, he was only using President Ahmadinejad’s own words. He was right in asking him to address his earlier statements and actions, but he crossed the line by making it personal.

That’s the Soapbox for today. Thanks for reading.

Have a great day.

Jeff