Jack for Lunch on a Friday Afternoon

When I was in Chicago recently there was a nice apartment building across the street from my hotel room.  It had this really nice terrace on the a roof area on about the 3rd floor.  I was in my room about 1:00 PM waiting for my next calendar item and these four hunky guys went out on the terrace and settled in for lunch at a table on the terrace.  I tried the incredible zoom on my newest little camera to see if those back muscles were really that great. Oh Yes - he spends some time in the gym.  When I downloaded to the pictures to my computer and looked at them on the big monitor I noticed the mid-day drink on a Friday afternoon, yes that is a bottle of Jack Daniels and  bottle of Coke on the table.

I never did that for lunch- I have led a sheltered life.

Waiting for the baby

Only a few of you knew, that J and I have been expecting a new arrival.  We have been working on this for over a year. The doctors assured me that if I worked hard I would be ready for the delivery, we have known the delivery date since February.  Well the big day arrived on August 17th.  We took a taxi out to the delivery room from the center of Stuttgart that morning and checked in with reception.  We were scheduled for an orientation tour at 10:30, followed by lunch and an introduction to little Sigfried at 1:15.  We will know when he is ready, he will stand out in the mass of black, white and brown.  Sigfried, like his distant uncle Ben is red.

A red 4-door CLA - Oh there he is, how exciting!

I really was an amazing experience.  Mercedes provided the taxi, an E-Class Mercedes of course. The driver knew exactly where to take us, he has done this before.  Mercedes also provided the hotel for the night before, the Graf Zeppelin in Stuttgart - nice - very nice.  We were moving on to Ludwigsberg, so we had all of our luggage with us.  I was not sure how that would work.  No need to worry, by the time I got out of the Taxi at the factory delivery center there was a man with a cart ready to check the bags.  We were ushered into check in.  The final paperwork for temporary registration and insurance were signed and we were confirmed for a guided tour of the factory, lunch and a delivery time.  The tour and lunch were wonderful and precisely on time, what else can you expect from the people who build the finest cars in the world.  We went to the delivery desk after lunch and I looked over the rail, and there was one red car on the floor in a sea of black, grey, white, and brown.  The delivery specialist spent 20 minutes showing us around the car. While we were doing that a guy arrived with our luggage and loaded it into the trunk. The delivery guy synced J's phone to the car and we were on our way.

We had the car for up to two weeks, with a drop it off at the airport in Munich.  It will be shipped home and we will take delivery a second time in 10-12 weeks. To head off the comments about money, it is a really good deal.  For US customers, there is a 7% discount on the car and they waive the trans-Atlantic shipping charge. And Mercedes provides two weeks of insurance and registration.  J had a conference at Oxford, so we were planning a vacation in Europe anyway.  The experience of taking factory delivery of your new baby, priceless.

I now know why German's build the finest cars in the world, drive the Autobahn, the finest roads in the world and you know why.  That story will come soon.  Hint, fast, very-very fast.

102 Days

I rode a Zeppelin 102 days after surgery for spinal cord compression caused by a spinal tumor.

During the dark days of May, a common question was "what is your long term goal after surgery?" My answer was I am flying to Frankfort on August 13th, 90 days after surgery and I need to be ready to ride a Zeppelin on August 22nd.  That usually sent them looking at how much pain medication I had taken and what the reports from my psych exam were.  I really got the feeling that most of them thought I was talking crazy when I talked about riding a Zeppelin.  I wasn't, the flight was already booked, pre-paid non-refundable of course.  I went and looked up how fit I needed to be to fly, I needed to be able to walk to and from the craft without help and climb and descend 6 or 7 steps.

When I first started walking after surgery, I was concerned about making it.  Walking was a challenge, and stairs were (and to some extent still are) my biggest challenge. In inpatient physical therapy I told them what I wanted to do, and they said, "work hard and you can do what you want."  In some ways I have worked hard, in others I have not been as faithful to my therapy as I should have been, and I have gained 10 pounds.  But, I am able to walk, quite well on regular surfaces.  Stairs are doable, good handrails really help.

On the morning of August 22nd, I went out of the hotel without the cane, I drove to the airport, the walk out to the craft was easy, the stairs were not an issue and I was able to get up and walk about in the cabin.  The Zeppelin ride was magic.  It just sort of floats up, it moves gently, once we were 500 feet in the air, we were allowed to take off seat-belts and move about the cabin.  It was fantastic.  When I booked the ride I was not sure I would be able to move  around in the cabin (I booked this like two months before surgery) I was having so much trouble walking I figured I would do well to make in into the seat on the craft.  I am so much better - I am near normal.

When we landed there was one email I had to send, a picture and thank you email to the lead surgeon.  It was a very personal moment for me, I couldn't talk about it for 30 minutes.  Even now it brings a tear to my eye.

Did we fail you?

If you followed JP Murphy's blog closely over the past couple of years (http://jgmurphy.org/wp/) you knew he was troubled.  Troubled by issues he hinted about, occasionally posted parts of, but couldn't or didn't want to talk about. Those troubles came to a head over the past week and this week he took his life, and posting what is in effect a suicide note on his blog.

There were hints along the way, that something was not right, and a couple of blog posts that were cries for help.  We urged him to get help, help that is difficult or impossible to give long distance.  He did talk to his doctor, I am not sure he told his doctor enough of the story, let alone all of the story. My fear is that we didn't push him hard enough to get more help, that we failed him.

I am a strong believer in options and in the ability to heal or change. Jay needed help, help he didn't get, and in the end felt boxed in with the options of a life he didn't think he could live with, or death. Why didn't we convince him to seek help and explore other options?  Did we fail him?

Ten Years of Blogging

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the Adventures of Travel Penguin. 

Blogging and traveling has been and continues to be an interesting adventure.  I have met some wonderful people, been lots of interesting and not so interesting places, and learned a lot about myself and the world through blogging.  I do this because I enjoy it.

I mentioned this s few days ago, my first blogging experience was as a fill in while "Uncle Bert" was on vacation 10 year's ago.  The first few postings I did were on his blog, and while I was at it, I started creating and posting Travel Penguin.  I didn't tell anyone about Travel for a couple of weeks.  I wanted to be sure I could do this.

One of the first postings I did on Bert's blog was about a beauty show that I attended.  I was privileged to be allowed back stage as the contestants were primped and prepared to face the judges. tension ran high as hair was perfected and every speck of dust brushed away.  In the end they were all ready for their moment in the spotlight.

The announcers comments started with,  Nice udders on number one,  great configuration on number three, and number five looks especially dairy.  The picture above is from backstage, it was a beauty show at the Kentucky state fair ten years ago last week.  At heart I am an old farm boy, who does enjoy a good beauty contest.

Half Way Around the World

In February I was in Hawaii for a week of work in paradise, on August 14th, I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany.  The two locations are 12 time zones, or half way around the world from one another.  This is the farthest I have ever traveled in relationship to rounding the world in one year.

Form over Function

The classic 1950's gull-wing design of this early SL has a timeless appeal.  It is the wet dream of many motorheads, the poster art hanging on the walls of teenagers for nearly 50 years.  It is a sharp looking car.  It also has a functional issue.  Look how high the door sill is in relationship to the seat back.  It was described as an athletic event to climb in and out, many older owners had to stop driving the car because they couldn't get out of it. The door sills are that high to accomodate the frame needed to give the car stiffness so it will corner like a sports car instead a cabin cruiser.

This one is in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, across the street from Daimler's world headquarters and across the street from Mercedes Stadium. The collection is stunning and arranged to tell a history of the motor car, the building is a master piece of modern design with fantastic function, some of the cars, not so well balanced.

I'm Back

Oh, that is right, I didn't tell you I was gone.  You may have noticed that I was commenting less on your blogs, but I tried to keep Travel Penguin busy while I was off on a great adventure to Germany, Austria and Iceland.  Much more to follow.  I was able to ride a Zeppelin in Germany, a real highlight for this fan of flying.

The postings for the last three weeks were all created scheduled before we left.  To err on the side of security, I have stopped saying when I will be out of town, until I am back.  I should have a mountain of new adventures to talk about over the next month (and I will be in Oregon sometime soon for four days.)

Bloggers in Real Life

This is the first group of friends that we met through blogging.  Woodchuck (far right) Kel standing in the dark shirt, and Squirrel in the hat, were active bloggers that we met through comments on a blog written by Bert who is an old friend of ours who lives in London.  My introduction to blogging was as a guest blogger for Bert 10 year's when he was on vacation for two weeks.  I remember writing about going to a beauty show for cows on his blog.

The first time I mentioned to my co-workers that we were meeting Woodchuck for dinner and that we only knew him through blogging, by co-workers were convinced I would be found dead the next day.  But as we all know, most blogger are real people, and really good people.  Read their blogs for a few weeks and you kind of know if they are well balanced or not - of they are safe to meet or not.

This picture was take near Seattle in 2008. Woodchuck, Kel and Squirrel lived on the west coast at that time and met us in Seattle when we there to board a cruise to Alaska. Unfortunately all of them have dropped out of the bloggosphere. We read about their adventures on Facebook, but it is not the same.  Woodchuck (aka Bob) and Kel have become good freinds, they now live in northern Indiana and we see them from time to time.  I should let Squirrel know I am going to be in Portland in a  week or so.

And now through the Bloggerpoloza we have met a new and larger circle of friends.  I have seen a couple of you outside of the gathering and I look forward to meeting more.  I have to make it Wales one of these days.

Easy for you to say

You may have noticed I started letting Google put adds on my Blog a few months ago.  If I had a high traffic blog, maybe it would generate a noticeable amount of revenue, to do that I would need to spice it up and inflame my readers with takes of sex, drugs, rock and roll, politics, not really my style here.  One thing I notice as I travel the adds change.  The one above appeared this morning.  Hmm, what does it say?

Wow!

Sometimes the journey is the adventure, sometimes the destination is the adventure.  This is the interior of the art Museum on the lake front in Milwaukee.  I went to Milwaukee for lunch so I could check Wisconsin off the list (I am down to two states left to visit.)  What surprised me was this space.  I like modern architecture, modern and abstract art.  I was not prepared to find this in Milwaukee.  It is worth the trip.

The Big House

Biltmore, the Vanderbilt estate in North Carolina, was an American attempt to build one of the grand European homes, the French would call it a Chateau, the English a Manner, in the United States.  It is build on a very grand scale, the dinning hall seats over 100 people at one long table.  Yet it feels very much like a home inside.  I like it, I could get comfortable there.

I first visited in the very late 1970's with my two grandmothers.  I don't recall the circumstances, but my maternal grandmother had gone to Michigan for the summer without her car.  I was driving the two of them in my paternal grandmother's car, as a recall a huge Buick.  After my grandfather died she indulged herself in a couple of really nice cars after 50 years of plain-Jane standard cars.  She had a little Lincoln coupe for a couple of years and then decide she wanted a big four-door and bought the nicest Buick in the dealership.

When we were there that trip there was still a section of the house occupied by a member the family.  My paternal grandmother was very impressed with the house and I think shared my feelings of I could get use to living like this, my material grandmother's reaction was simply, "boy am I glad I don't have to clean that."  The difference reflected how the two of them viewed life.   One was an optimist who saw unlimited potential in life and the other was a pessimist who saw her role as the servant of others.

How do I find my expiration date?

This picture, is about as old as I am in my minds eye.  How can I be old enough to have pictures that are 25 year's old?  And I was no spring chicken when this was taken 25 years ago.  John Major was in residence down the street that year.  This was my first trip to England in 1990.  

A lot has changed in 25 years, much of it for the better.  Where will I be and what will I be doing 25 years from now? Well at 82 I will be old, or decomposing. If I am still up for the adventure 82 could be fun, but I really don't have a problem with decomposing at that age.  In the words of the modern bard Jimmy Buffet, "I'd rather die while I am living, then live when I am dead."  People really should come with an expiration date, I am likely past my "best by" date.

Bring Me Their Heads!

Ever have one of those moments when you just wanted some idiots head on a platter?  I have.  I occasionally rant about such things.

I vented on Facebook recently about the following adventure in accounting:
               In March my office manager and I went and asked the accounting department how to handle a particular budget item on a project that was wrapping up the end of May.  They gave an answer that didn't make sense, but - hey they are the experts so we proceeded based on their advice.  We went back this week to ask if they had been able to do the accounting gymnastics that they told us they could, and the answer was, "No, that can't be done."  We have gone around on this a couple of times trying not to lose to the bad advice enough money to buy a small car and it has proven difficult.  In the end we have agreed to walk away from $4,000.

Then came the kicker, one of the accounting people said, "you should have known the rules, when we gave you bad advice, you should have known it was wrong, and not followed it."

I wanted her head on a platter.  Maybe this lady on the Metro can help. (It is a manikin with a wig, she is a student at one of the top hair styling schools in the country.)

I want the Answer Now!

Yet to be Converted Card Catalogs, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Some refer to it as life before Google, how we cataloged and searched the collected knowledge of the nation and the world before computers, card catalogs. The Library of Congress had thousands of drawers like these, that held tens-of-millions of cards, indexed and cross indexed. In a few minutes, a skilled researcher could find, what Google can now find in less then a second. Steadily the cards are being converted to computer databases, and yes the cards are going away.  One at a time, card by card.  All new holdings are still reviewed and indexed - the way it has been done for centuries, but the data is stored electronically, so when I ask my phone for the answer, it can give me the answer NOW!

Thoughtfulness

I work for a huge professional membership organization.  I don't write about my work, but we are one of the worlds largest voluntary professional membership organizations.  We have two primary offices, Chicago with about 750 staff and Washington DC with about 250 staff.  We have nearly 400,000 members. (Now if you do a Google search you can probably figure out who I work for.)

When I was in the hospital back in early May, getting ready for surgery, I received an email from the Executive Director wishing me well.  I was moved, it was a very thoughtful and personal message from a very busy person, he oversees a staff of nearly 1,000 and we have nearly 400,000 members who believe that he works for each and every one of them.  This morning I was working in my office and I hear a knock at my door and and "Good Morning David. It is so good to see you back at your desk, I hope you are feeling better."  It was the Executive Director, stopping by for a short and very pleasant exchange.  Again, I was touched.  I like this guy - he cares about all of us.  He can't solve all of the challenges, but I really think he cares.

This is not the first time I have had an Executive Director pop into my office, my fist day on the job, December 15th, 2008, the soon to be X executive director popped into my office and thanked me for all of the hard work I had done for the organization that year, yes - all 5 hours of it at that point. He didn't have a clue who I was, nor I who he was - his thanks rang hollow and fake. He didn't last long.

Blogging Every Day

I recently cleaned up my blog list, deleting bloggers who have not posted in months, or longer.  We start blogging and we have busy periods and quiet periods.  I am coming up on my 10th anniversary of blogging, I have had a year when I only posted three times, but I have never given up. Very soon I will post my 1,000th post. This year I have committed to posting 365 postings.  The idea was to post once a day.  I have posted more then one time several days, so far I have only missed one day this year.  I will try very hard not to miss again.

So how do I do it?  I create posts in batches when I am inspired and have ideas.  It may say I did X yesterday, but the yesterday may have been a couple of weeks ago.  If I have an idea that needs to go up today or tomorrow, I move what was scheduled for today or tomorrow, to a date in the future.  Most of what I do is not time sensitive.  I schedule postings ahead of time, sometimes a few days ahead, sometimes long into the future.  I create lists of blogging topics.  All of my postings contain a picture, I will go through the archive of images and start draft postings based on pictures I want to use.  I have a handful of drafts at any one time that are just an image and a title.  I try not obsess over content.  If it works, it works, if it doesn't there will be another posting tomorrow.  I don't obsess over perfection, I sometimes go back and fix sometimes my typos, sometimes I just leave them.  If anyone quits reading because of the typos, they really weren't interested in what I rant about to start with. Writing every day is a habit, a habit I wish to develop.  The best way to do that, is to write everyday.

102 Days

102 days since surgery,  I made it for the Zeppelin ride.

Transit in Transit

Here I go on transit systems again.  Chicago has an interesting system, known as the "L" for elevated trains.  It runs from both airports into the city.  Much of the system is above ground, there are a couple of lines that run underground when in the downtown area. The cars are very utilitarian inside, simple seats, hard rubber floors. The cars hose out easily, handy in Chicago winters.  The top of some of the windows open (a complaint about the DC system when the air conditioning is not working is that the windows are all sealed.)

Chicago uses a flat fee fare system.  From O'Hare into the city it is about $5, other rides, including back to the airport are $2.25.  You pay when you enter the system, it does not matter how far or how long you ride, one price covers it.  I like that.  This past year they changed to a new payment system that uses credit cards with near field communication chips. Any card with that technology will work, if you don't have one, the vending machines in the stations dispense them.  All in all, it is a good system and a good way to see major parts of the city.

North Shore

It is a complicated drive from Honolulu to the north shore.  You can cut across the center of the island, through urban sprawl and farms.  I took the long way around, driving along the coast.  Lots of stop and go, narrow roads and more than a few odd turns.  I didn't have Ms Garmin with me, the map from the rental car place was more interested in directing me to advertisers, then helping me find my way around the island.  I used the GPS on my phone to find where I was at a couple of times.  I don't find my phone an effective navigation device, the screen is too small, goes black to easily and the phone is hard to see while I am driving.

It was so worth the drive. The water changes color, the surf gets bigger.  It was spectacular.