Grieving......

After an unbelievable shock and sense of loss I guess I need to decide how much charity I really have in my heart.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5443906

I have always been more than a little guarded with my personal friendships, but have always felt that those I have let into my little sphere of life are my very good friends. This has always been a small and select group. Whether, this philosophy is best or not, it has seemed to suit me well. I also have always tried to be the best friend I can be to this little group. I include in this group people, mainly men, that have been my mentors, their mentors, peers, childhood friends, and even some family members, close and extended.

I have learned this week that one of these people, my people, may/has committed some grievous actions against least one child. There is not much more this man could have done to absolutely, completely, repulse me (it is reported that he has confessed to at least one of the charges). I struggle relating or understanding the gay thing, but I am dumbfounded by pedophilia. I don’t get it, why do people do these things? How do they become so ‘broke’?

If this man is innocent, I will stand up for him and help him and his family in anyway that I can. Guilty, I don’t know, maybe the best I can do is try to still remember the good and visit him in jail? Maybe I can focus on the ‘other’ victims, his young family and lend support there. This is definitely a test of my character, from a charitable perspective.

Wade what in the hell have you been doing!!

Are You an Idoler??

I have to confess that I am an American Idol fan. This is hard to admit and I know I may be judged harshly for it. It might even tarnish my rugged reputation. But, they say that one the steps on the road to recovery is admitting your addiction, ---so with tonight being the last night of auditions, I confess freely and openly that I will spend many, many hours, over the course of the next many weeks, watching the drama unfold, enjoying every minute of it, to see who is the next American Idol!

Greatest Ocean Wildlife Encounter?

So, I am assuming that a great many of you that are monitoring this site are SCUBA divers since you were probably compelled into diving by the Mad Man.

Question; have you ever considered to date what has been your greatest ocean wildlife encounter? I believe mine was a brief snorkel with a manatee in a 30' deep channel in Belize off Tobacco Cay. I was shocked by its white color, massive size (VW buggish) and it gracefulness in the water. He was completely aware of us and showed no concern or fear. Though the whole encounter was only a minute or two it made a great impression on me. By the way we learned it was a 'he' from our Belizian guide because it had no visible 'breasts'. (this is why some think manatees were what sailors thought were mermaids. Man, they must have been away at sea a very long time. I know men are obsessed with boobs, but a manatee?) I'll betcha you didn't know that little bit of trivia.

Forgetting Oneself

As I have grown older, and hopefully wiser, I have found this to be true in all aspects of life:

'In order to be successful in any kind of undertaking, I think the main thing is for one to grow to the point where he completely forgets himself; that is, to lose himself in a great cause.' – Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Booker, you were a very wise man.

If we are dedicating time which is not an unlimited resource, to anything of value, or as we perceive it as value, whether it be our vocation, personal life or religious practice, we need to 'forget' our self to a 'greater good' to be successful.

Family Motto, or is it Too Otto?

'Sola Virtus Invicta' is on a large tapestry that hangs in our home and on the sub-heading of my blog. In my mind, not sure about Bob's, this is our unofficial family motto. I know it is how I have 'chosen' (aspire to) live my life and I hope all of my other family members chose to do the same.

So brush up on your Latin and let me know if agree with my thoughts on this. Should we make it 'official'. Am I a Mad Man for wanting a 'motto'?

I would also be interested to know your thoughts on this or if you have any alternative ideas about this.

Bless the Second Amendment

I read recently that the most prolific privately owned center fire rifle in America is now the AR-15 and its variants. This is interesting to me in that it wasn't too many years ago, that few serious gun owners, bought this weapon, let alone the casual owner. I am confident that its rapid rise in popularity stems from the gun control efforts of the past ten years, that have during short periods of time, banned, or restricted these type of rifles. The laws that caused the restrictions 'sunseted' away recently. This, and the fear the new administration will be very anti-gun, has made many people who were indifferent to these weapons, 'know' they have to now have one. It has set back significantly any recent gun control efforts by causing a massive buying spree and putting more of these 'assault rifles' in American homes that anyone ever could have imagined. You can not hardly find one of these guns to purchase anywhere at this time.

All pretty ironic, as there is now millions more of these weapons in private hands than there ever would have been if the gun controllers never would have got involved. It will be interesting if they ever will be able to ban or restrict now what is now the most popular centerfire rifle in America.

Go Ahead and Make My Day

We finished our company wide service project early today. We sorted 69,000 lbs. of food for the food bank. It was a lot of work but I think everyone at FirstWest got a lot out of completing the service.

I got home early and convinced my GF to go to Gran Torino with me. Clint delivered especially in his 'tight' directing. He took a lot of chances with this movie in that it is very politically incorrect. I think he gets away with it because it has several very good messages in the movie. Including the main character redeeming himself by serving the less fortunate. I would give the movie 4 out 5 stars, it may be one of Clint's best all time. (Beware that the language is very, very course)

Rowdy Yates you did make my day today, thank you for entertaining us for so many years.

Fiction or Non-Fiction

As those who know me well know, I am a ferocious reader. I am fortunate to be able to read even technical information at a fast pace, which allows me to read many books and other things in a year. As a general rule, not counting the classics, I prefer non-fiction books, since real life struggles and history to me are much more interesting than fantasy worlds, magic wands, vampires, dwarfs, etc. (sorry Abe, Susan, Caitlyn, the U.K., USA, all western teenage girls, everyone else, sorry) Fiction, generally, just doesn't do it for me and seems a waste of time since there is so many non-fiction things to read of such great value.

Anyway, I recently saw the movie "No Country, For Old Men" and really, thought it was a very intelligent and different movie, it also won the Academy Award for best picture. So I went out to my favorite mall ( a virtual one, Amazon.com) to purchase the book. While I was there I saw that the author had recently won a Pulitzer Prize f0r another novel titled 'The Road'. It caught my eye, and was less than $10 dollars with free shipping. I love Amazon Prime so I purchased it.

I read "No Country...." over the holidays, it was good, not great but good, and then started to work on 'The Road'. It took me about four days to find the time to complete this novel. This is a great book. The author Cormac McCarthy sets his novel, in a post-apocalyptic, dark burning world (no vampires, but a lot of cannibal's). The book is about a father, his nine year old son, their struggle to survive, and their struggle to remain the 'good ones'. The love between the two, and the impact of the purity and innocence of the son is pretty amazing. I would like to express a lot more of my thoughts about this book, but I think a lot of its greatness is, the reader decoding the messages of the author, themselves. If you have the time and desire, I would highly recommend that you give it a read.

Interestingly, this book has been made into a motion picture starring Viggo Mortensen. For what ever reason, they have delayed its release. I have read, some feel it is the case, because it is too sad of a plot and setting for the country to deal with right now. Anyway, I will travel to the theaters when it comes out.

Fiction or non-fiction? This book definitely 'wobbled' my current paradigm on this. If you know of others that would do the same, I might give them a try also.

Gran Torino Blues......

With Brenna and Matt's upcoming wedding in less than a month, there has been a lot of activity going on around the house. There is a wedding dress (I don't want to know how much it cost) hanging up in Colton's room, sorry Colt. Announcements and invitations have taken over the kitchen, and the groom to be is living in our basement? Hey, wait a minute, I am not sure that is typical? Luckily, he seems like a nice guy and seems to fit in pretty well with everyone except Chico, who has decided he needs to mark the whole downstairs so he doesn't loose his position in the pack to Matthew. Yes, Chico now is back in 'pants'. Sorry buddy, couldn't protect you from the women on that.

Back to the wedding activity, I am fortunate to be the pending nuptial's sponsor, which means I just have to pay for the envelopes and not lick them. Having the 'paymaster' title and office, precludes or exempts me from most of the pre-wedding fun. Though the wedding can be an inconvenience at times. I have been trying to go the new Clint Eastwood movie "Gran Torino", and not because at age thirteen, Starsky and Hutch's Torino was about the coolest cultural icon going, but because it is supposed to Clint's great swan song and probably his greatest movie yet. I haven't been able to get a date to the movie because my 'girl friend' (Susan Rivera, for those who minds are somewhere else) has not had the same senior management exemption as me, and has not been available.

So, I guess Clint saving the Hmong immigrants and himself will have to wait, and I will have to at least wait, for the kitchen to get back to its old self.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie/gran-torino/

I have drank the Kool Aid

I have been reading and lurking around my family's blogs for a couple of years now. I guess it is high time for me to join the ranks of the 'others'.

Lately, when I am finally home in the evenings, I find myself bored with the same old routine. Maybe blogging will give me an outlet to express my thoughts and feelings. Heaven knows I have a 'boatload', maybe, even a 'shipload' of them most of the time (ideas I mean).

So stay tuned for more to come. I will go to great lengths not to embarrass you all too much with my incandescent ramblings, I mean rants.