Too much going on . . .

Just got back into Anchorage from a weekend in Homer, Alaska. While Homer’s a little town, it has some big activities. You can hike, kayak, flight-see and fish. After arriving in Homer, my sister, her boyfriend Rusty and I cruised the pier looking at all of the little shops and service huts along the way. As we finished out the day, we were wondering what we wanted to do on Sunday before we headed back to Anchorage. Well, we figured out that you only live once, so we decided to try our hands at halibut fishing.

On Sunday, we got up at 5 AM to get ready and to be at the dock for 5:45. We made it and were soon on Born Free, a fishing charter boat. Our day was just starting. After about a 90 minute run into the Cook Inlet, we were able to drop anchor and start to fish. Now wrangling a fishing pole with a three pound lead weight on the end might sound easy, but in practice it’s a different matter. We dropped our lines overboard and let them descend down to about 250 to 275 feet. We then waited for the nibbles. Soon, fish started appearing on board as one person after another started to reel them in. I caught 8 fish total, and kept three of them (we could keep six total since each angler could keep two). It was quite the experience and I’m having some of the catch shipped home.

Once finished fishing, we had lunch, saw a few more sights and then headed back to my sister’s place in Anchorage.

Airport fun

Yesterday I flew to see my sister in Anchorage, Alaska.  I had purchased my ticket more than a month previously and got the best price that I could, even though it wasn’t a non-stop.  I was slated to fly on Delta to Salt Lake City and then onto Anchorage.  I also grabbed window seats for each leg of the flight so I could enjoy the view – I was actually looking forward to seeing the Rockies from the air.  But you know what they say about the best laid plans.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800On my way to the airport, I get a call from Orbitz TravelAlert telling me that my first flight has been delayed 15 minutes.  I now begin to wonder about that 35 minute window I have in SLC.  Then I get a second call telling me the flight is now delayed 75 minutes.  I’m now starting to urge all the other cars on the road forward so I can get to the airport.  Once at the airport, I hit the Delta counter and soon find that my itinerary has been changed – changed so much in fact that I’m not even flying on Delta anymore.  They’ve booked me on an Alaska Airlines non-stop to Anchorage.

So, I go to the Alaska counter and get my temporary boarding pass and head for the gate.  Once at the gate, I notify my family at home and in Anchorage about the change and then wait.  I knew it was a long-shot, but I put in a request for a window seat thinking about all the cool pictures I could take out the window.  Alas, that was not to be.   Instead I got the aisle seat in the last row of the plane, next to the lavatories – yay!

Overall, the flight was good and I have nothing really to complain about, except there were no condiments left for the cheeseburger I bought on-board the flight.  I  had fun watching people come back and forth to the lavatories – there was one kid who came down about every ten minutes and then there was the little girl who got stuck inside and came out with big teary eyes (cuz her father didn’t stay there and make sure she got out OK).  My row mates were an odd sort.  I think a German woman sat next to me and she was  putting spray up her nose and trying to sleep and just generally fidgety and not too friendly.  The lady with the window seat hardly even looked out the window as she read her book and then played a small electronic Yahtzee game.  My photo-shooting finger was feeling mightily frustrated!

But in the end it was worth it – I got to Anchorage 2 hours earlier than planned, met my sister at the airport and then headed to her place.  Now I’m set for some fun and adventure.

One small step for man . . .

Apollo11

Photos courtesy of NASA

We can argue about it today, but yes Neil Armstrong’s quote wasn’t as all-inclusive as we’d use today.  For his time though, it worked.  It conveyed the awesome scope of the occasion.

Today, July 20, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  This feat marks the highlight of mankind’s scientific achievement to date.  The sheer effort involved in pulling the moon landing off consumed lives and treasure while captivating the minds of the world.

The success of this endeavor made instant heroes of the men who made the trip to the moon.  Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins will forever be tied to this event.  Over time, they have capitalized on their notoriety and made names for themselves or they have let the fame that they gained for just performing their job affect their lives and relationships.  Who can say how the rest of us would have performed.  I don’t know how my life would have been affected by peering into the black void of space, setting foot on an alien body and then looking back onto the blue marble of Earth.

Apollo11

What I do know is that it didn’t take too long before moon landings were viewed as commonplace; where we thought more about the products that came about as a result of Apollo – like Teflon – than the actual feat of the lunar landing itself.  Once we had “been there, done that” we lost interest and thus killed the dream that we strived so hard to achieve.  You have to wonder what Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins think privately about the lack of effort, the lack of will.  So, what happened, what diverted us from the course that we had charted for ourselves once JFK stated that we were going to the moon?  There were many issues but I think the most important are:

  • Lack of leadership – what passes for leadership in this country is fairly poor.  We’re better emulating the Romans (make sure they have their read and circuses) than making people see that there are tough choices to be made in life.  Leadership in this country failed the country, became embroiled in wars that had no lasting difference and pandered to the basest desires of the populace.
  • Willingness to be taken for the ride – the American populace failed in their obligation to be informed and educated.  We have sunk to new lows in this country when it comes to education.   Other countries now are hurriedly taking up where we left off – Indians, Chinese and others are looking not only to return to the moon but are also talking about colonizing it.  They have the critical systems in place to do it too.  They value education, they encourage students to learn and grow and they capitalize on the investment.  America should learn this lesson and stop settling for public school systems that simply pass students through.  Education is not a cost, it IS an investment.
  • No sense of purpose – I’m probably going to get reamed for this but the Baby Boomers have left us a legacy of individualism.  An individualism that is so strong it borders on national narcissism.  These were the people who rebelled in the 60s, fueled the 70s with sex and drugs, made excessive greed popular in the 80s, and fostered the over-the-top 90s.  They gave us the “I’ve got mine, you can get yours” attitude, with no thought about the better good, sacrifice or the future.  The Baby Boomers have had their run, now it’s time to turn our attention to giving America a vision, correcting the course of the ship – it’s time to get back to the business of America.

Apollo11

So what can be done?  Well, nothing simple, that’s for sure.  It’s going to take a lot of work, none of it easy.  It’s going to involve hard choices and difficult decisions.  First off, we have to recognize that now matter who we are – the color of our skin, the language that we speak, our economic class, our orientation – we are first and foremost Americans.  We can no longer afford to be divisive.  The politicians and the pundits have made this the easy route because that takes the heat off of them.  Instead we need to see the future of our children and work now to make it better.

We need to look out for ourselves and our families without a doubt, but it should be tempered with the realization of our need to invest in coming generations.  We are providing the foundation for them to learn, grow, and succeed.  We cannot take it for granted that they will have good lives just because that’s the way it’s always been.  We have real competition out there, people and countries are aiming for our standard of living and they are gaining ground fast!

Lastly, we need to be united and aligned.  We need to hold our politicians to a higher standard.  We need to expect more out of ourselves.  We need to understand that we can make a difference and work toward changing our country and society at every chance we have.

Absolute Power . . .

From guardian.co.uk

From guardian.co.uk

. . . corrupts absolutely.

As I read about the unrest in Iran, I just have to look at the irony of it all.  I remember back in 1979 when the current regime came to power.  They said that they were overcoming oppression from the Shah.  They said they represented the people.  They said a lot of things, but over time, they have proved to be just the same as the Shah’s corrupt administration that they replaced – maybe even worse.

The mullahs came to power because they said they were persecuted and used religion as the opiate to get the masses on their side.  Once in power, they started to crack down and enforce rules and laws that they thought were best, not necessarily what the people wanted.  They used terrorist methods and supported terrorist causes to further their agenda and to build power.  Over time, this arrogance and desire for power led to the unrest we’ve seen lately.

It’s tragic to see that these religious rulers who run Iran are so power hungry that they can murder their own people in order to maintain their power.  They accuse their own people of using terrorism (when they did so openly and with pride when they came to power) in protesting against what they feel is wrong.  They send armed forces out against unarmed civilians.  And I’m sure they’ll find some passage from the Koran that could be perverted to back their power play here – they’ve been perverting it for years.

This regime has to go.  The people must be heard.