Random Thoughts

Retirement Delayed

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I retired from Arent Fox at the end of the year, so that I could devote more time to RICEQUIPS.COM. That was the plan.  You know what happens to plans.  They never quite work out as originally planned. That’s one of the things that I think makes Americans so special.  We adapt, adjust, modify, or shift gears without having to start over.

In the 1960’s, I was sent to the Defense Language Institute, West Coast (DLIWC) to study German.  That’s all I did for six months.  A lot of the students in my class were enlisted and even though I was a junior captain, I became class leader.  After about three months, the Chairman of the German Department, Hans Von Richter, called all the class leaders together (there were only four).  It appeared that a new building had been completed at DLIWC and no money had been made available for landscaping.  So, one of the professors, on his own dime, paid for all the landscaping.  The department chairs did not think he should bear the cost.  So, each department decided to come up with a money making project to help pay back the professor.

The German Department decided they would have a German picnic and charge each person a small amount.  Much of the food would be contributed by the faculty.  One professor was going to make her famous German potato salad.  A German friend of the department owned a winery and he was going to contribute all the wine for the picnic.  There was a lot of excitement and planning by the faculty who were all Germans.  The picnic was set for about a month out and we must have had eight to ten meetings to make sure everything would be perfect.  The attention to detail was maddening.

The day of the picnic came and we drove inland to the picnic grounds.  While it was cool on the coast in Monterey, it was in the high 90’s at the picnic.  Also, we had brought a lot more children than anyone had anticipated.  The result was that we ran out of soda in the first 45 minutes.  Director Von Richter and the German professors were running around saying, “How could we know it would be so hot and so many children?  Mein Gott!”  While the professors were ranting and raving, a senior NCO came up to me and said, “Sir, give me a couple of bucks.  We’re going to buy some more soda.”  Well, twenty minutes later, we had all the soda we could drink and the German professors were amazed and delighted.  They couldn’t get over how we solved the problem with good old GI ingenuity.  The NCO came up to me and quietly said, “that’s why they lost the war, big on planning and unable to react.”

Well, my retirement took a left turn.  I’m still retired, but the blogging isn’t as efficient as I hoped.  It is still catch-as-catch-can.  My wife, Carole, had arthritis in both knees and we planned on getting it taken care of after my retirement.  She had both knees operated on last Wednesday.  Operation on Wednesday, walking on Thursday, climbing steps Friday morning and home Friday afternoon.  Mein Gott!

It was no fun putting Carole in the car at the hospital, especially for her.  She had a prescription for pain killers and Carole took it out of the folder as we were driving to the military hospital at Fort Belvoir to fill the prescription.  Suddenly, she couldn’t find the prescription.  It is crazy how a little piece of paper can go hide, and hide it did.  We knew it had to be in the car, but we actually had to have Carole painfully climb out of the car in order to find it.  What an ordeal.  Then, after we found it, I wanted to negotiate to see how many of the pain killers I got.


Now, I am fully employed as a not-so-practical nurse (NSPN).  It came to me in a flash.  RN stands for “really nuts.”  I would have to be really nuts to do this any longer than absolutely necessary.


She is making incredible progress.  Back in 1987, I had my knee scoped.  They took out some small pieces of meniscus.  It was no big deal, but I had to sign a release saying it was OK if they broke my leg.  I asked them why they would break my leg if they were just scoping my knee.  They told me if I didn’t sign the release, they could not operate.  So I signed.  They could have said they wouldn’t break my leg (I knew they wouldn’t), but then again, they couldn’t say that.  It’s all quite confusing unless you have dealt with medical malpractice issues.

Well, no broken leg.  After the procedure, they bandaged and wrapped me up, gave me crutches and sent me home.  They told  me I could take the bandage off (and shower) in five days.  I couldn’t wait to get the bandage off so I would be able to bend my knee.  After five days, I took the bandage off and found out that it wasn’t the bandage.  The knee was stiff as a board.  This is Carole’s fifth day and she has been bending her knees since day two.  Modern medicine is wonderful, but it’s still no fun for NSPN Rice.

But, don’t give up on me as a blogger.  When I’m not preparing a meal or washing clothes, I’ll try to write something.  I know, I know, women do these things all the time.  I truly don’t know how they do it or why anyone would refer to them as the weaker sex.  I’m going to take a nap.

Poems

Thankful Christmas – 2004

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In 2004, we had a lot to be thankful for.  And here, in 2008, we can all be thankful that I am almost caught up in publishing old Christmas poems.  This is the penultimate poem.  I love that word and there aren’t many opportunities to use it.  When I used it in my legal work, my clients thought I was showing off (Well, I was).  So after this one, there is only 2005 and then, I am current.

Hitting a flock of birds on take off is no fun, especially for the birds.  We couldn’t tell whether our landing gear was up or down.  We had to return to Dulles and fly over the tower so that they could tell us that the landing gear was down (but, was in locked in place?).  As soon as we started preparing for a crash landing, we quit being upset about missing our connecting flight in LA.  Much like some of the airplane movies, the captain came on the intercom and started telling us how well the plane was made.  He said there was no way of knowing for sure whether the landing gear were locked in place (could have left that out), but, he was sure they were locked and we would be OK.  Well, they were and we were.

Vault.com is one of those websites that evaluates all businesses.  In 2004,  they rated Arent Fox #1 in “quality of life” for law firms nation wide.  That’s heady stuff!  Maybe they liked our little red fox.  I certainly do.  Anyway, here’s 2004.   


                                                 Thankful Christmas – 2004

It’s time to get started, no time to delay,
Holiday’s upon us, the year flew away.
It’s time to be thankful, for those who remember,
No presidential recount this time in December.
The Redskins, the Capitals, our teams are derided,
But, a champion appears, it’s DC United.
And baseball in the Capital, what a surprise,
Will the DC Council fumble, right before our eyes?
But enough of this chit-chat and things of that sort,
It’s time for serious business, time to report.

Our record’s intact, I mean that we traveled,
But, our trip to Hawaii, almost unraveled.
Taking off we hit birds, and that was really queer,
Especially, when you can’t raise your landing gear.
Second take off worked and Hawaii was a peach,
So was Portsmouth with RAJA, and the kids at Myrtle Beach.
And the Caribbean family cruise, with so much food it hurts,
Did you ever see a teenager eat four or five desserts?
So our traveling is done, but we still may be tardy,
Because this is the year for our Christmas party.

The house is taking shape, Carole’s at the helm,
Decorations, food and lists, lists, lists, and I am overwhelmed.
But I’ll get lots of guidance, and Carole will not fail,
Her homemaker competition is presently in jail.

The children are doing great, and grandchildren thrive,
They’re growing up so fast, now eighteen to five.
Grant’s ready for college and Brandon’s ready for girls,
Tyler ties opponents in knots, and Kristin jumps and twirls.
Josh is attacking computer foes, and successfully saving the earth,
Little Jack is so pleased with himself, and living for all that it’s worth.
Both Moms are doing great, they’re extraordinary gals,
Blanch elected tenant president by her O’Fallon pals.
Mary keeps in shape, both in mind and body,
While she is almost ninety, her energy is cum laude.

Good news for the firm, “Vault” ratings are out,
And for “quality of life,” of first we can tout.
The associates are happy and what’s really funny,
With all the good vibes, we’re still making money!
Arent Fox is quite well, straighter it’s standing,
With a little red fox to do all our branding.
And yes, a new logo we have unfurled,
We simply say, we’re “Smart in Your World.”

I think I will close, not a moment too soon,
Even with music, this ain’t much of a tune.
But the purpose was honest and good at heart,
Good wishes to all, but where do we start.
God bless our troops and all of our friends,
And to all of you, where your journey ends.
We are thinking of you, and with good cheer,
Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!



My Military Daze, Poems

Big Daddy’s Seventy-Fifth


In all professions, there are those who become legends.  Major General Lawrence H. Williams, Big Daddy, was a legend in the JAG Corps and the Pentagon.  Even as a Lieutenant Colonel, many things in the Pentagon only happened after Big Daddy’s approval.  His temper was also well known.  There were times when his temper got the best of him.  Many times it was justified, once in a while, it was not.

I wrote this poem for his seventy-fifth birthday.  There was a luncheon given by many of the officers who served under him.  General Williams died a year later and his wife, Margaret, asked me to read the poem at the funeral reception.

This is one of my favorite poems in that I felt I captured a lot about this unique man in just a few lines.  He had little sayings (always with a purpose), like, “if you saw the wood in front of you, it will warm you twice.  First, when you cut it, and then, when you burn it.  He also said, “Never wrestle with a pig because you will get dirty and the pig will enjoy it.”

When I was in the Pentagon working in the Administrative Law Division, all of the Army regulations were kept in three-ring binders (now everything is on line).  Rather than take the whole binder, officers would just pull out the regulation they needed.  Sometimes they got lost.  One day, General Williams was looking for a regulation and it was missing.  He let it be known that anyone removing a regulation from the binder would be fired.  That got our attention.

He was a combat aviator during World War II flying missions in North Africa, Italy and France.  On D-Day, he flew a glider loaded with troops inland from Normandy.

After his retirement, when someone would ask how he was doing, he would say, “quite well, thank you.”  Then, after a pause, he would smile and say, “all things considered.”


                                 Big Daddy’s Seventy-Fifth

Three quarters of a century, seventy-five years,
We’re gathered together to shout out our cheers.
He’s climbed to the top and the journey is done,
He’s enjoying the view in the warmth of the sun.

A man of all seasons, an adviser, a leader,
When placed under pressure, he never would teeter.
His accomplishments many, and quotes with a zig,
Like “sawing the wood” and “never wrestling with a pig.”

He could roar like a lion, and get wound up tightly,
He was mission oriented, and didn’t suffer fools lightly.
But, he admired the young JAG, the day-to-day grinder,
But whoa be the one who lifts the Reg from the binder.

Who flew a glider a half century ago?
Who excels at table tennis, I’ll bet you don’t know.
Who spent years in the Pentagon, most people would go batty,
You’re right, you guessed it, it’s our own Big Daddy.

So it’s Happy Birthday on the seventy-fifth year,
With Margaret at your side, she’s such a dear.
You’ve had a great life, a life not frittered,
And you’re doing quite well, thank you, all things considered.


 


 

My Military Daze

It’s a German Thing

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When I joined the Army, the JAG career management officer asked me where I would like to be assigned.  I told him Fort Carson, Colorado.  He said, “that’s in the Southwest, so put that down as your first choice.”  I put down Southwest and they gave me my first choice by sending me to Fort Hood, Texas.  Fort Hood was located right between Dallas and Houston (178 miles from each).

So, when it was time for my next assignment and I requested to go to the language school in Monterey, California to study German and then be assigned to Germany, you can imagine how surprised I was when it happened.  My next door neighbor at Monterey (Fort Ord) was also studying German.  They shipped him to Italy.  Now, that’s more like it.  He was an intelligence officer, and when we visited him in Italy, he was wearing Transportation Corps insignia.  But that’s another story.

I was assigned to the 4th Armored Division with its headquarters located in Goeppingen  (not too far from Stuttgart).  Cooke Barracks had been a German flugplatz (airfield) during WW II.  Goering was fond of the Goeppingen flugplatz and gave rousing speeches from the balcony of the officer’s club.  I must interject that I am not an historian, but I heard the same story from so many drunks at the O’Club bar that there must be some truth in it.

All buildings in Germany are built to last forever and the quarters we were assigned to live in were no different.  The building was substantial, consisting of three stories, with four apartments on each floor.  You entered the building through one of the two massive stairwells.  This is referred to as “stairwell living.”

Shortly after we moved in, one of our neighbors came down to explain to me that he was the senior officer of the building [SOB], and that he collected money each month to pay the putzfrau who cleaned the stairwells.  Nobody wanted to be the SOB.  He was also responsible for anything that went wrong in the building.  But, it didn’t occur to this captain to ask me for my date of rank.  So, for eight months, I dutifully paid him a small number of Deutchmarks for the putzfrau.  His six-year-old son explained to me one day in the parking lot, that his dad was in charge of all of us.  I just smiled.  One day the SOB showed up in my office and said, “Rice, what’s your date of rank?”  I told him and he said he would have the money box and the ledger to me within the hour.  Rank has its privileges, but also its responsibilities.  I became the SOB.

During a very bitter winter, the family right above us moved out.  The apartment was due to be painted, so the German painters arrived with their paint and their beer and proceeded to give the apartment a new coat.  When they finished, they left all of the windows open so the windows wouldn’t seal.  After two days, we could no longer keep our apartment warm.  I decided to go over to the post engineers, borrow the key to that apartment and close the windows.

Cooke Barracks was a very small installation and the post engineer was a second lieutenant.  I entered the office and there were three German civilians in the front office.  I explained that I was Captain Rice, the Senior Officer of the Building and that the painters had left the windows open and I needed a key to get in to the apartment and close the windows.  They explained that only the lieutenant could give out a key and that he was in Stuttgart.  I explained that my apartment was cold and I needed the key.  One of the ladies got up and went into another room to brief her supervisor.  She came back out and told me that the lieutenant would be back in two days and I should return at that time.

The friendly approach doesn’t always work with the Germans.  It isn’t fair to stereotype, but on a number of occasions, I felt that my pleasant, friendly approach was being viewed as a sign of weakness.  I then explained to them that as soon as they found a military officer senior to me to tell me that I couldn’t have the key, I would leave, but not before.  The same woman got up and went in the back.  Shortly, she and another German came out of the back.  He ask me to explain the problem.  After I explained, he said to all present, “Oh, he only wants to borrow the key.  That is no problem.”  The problem was the unnecessary elevation of my blood pressure.

On another occasion, a fellow officer flew me to Nuernberg and was supposed to pick me up at the end of the day.  But the weather turned bad and I had to take the train back to Goeppingen.  I took one train from Nuernberg to Stuttgart and then had to transfer.  I knew the track number and was heading toward it when a train conductor asked where I was going.  I told him Goeppingen and he directed me to a different track and told me to hurry.  When I got to the track, I asked about Goeppingen and another conductor told me to get on.

By now, you have figured out that the train wasn’t going to stop in Goeppingen.  Ordinarily, it would stop, but this day was a German holiday and it wasn’t even going to slow down or toot its horn.  We were on our way to Augsburg in Bavaria.  The good news was that I wasn’t the only one who had been misinformed.  A young 16 year-old German was coming back from a skiing trip and he also had been directed to this train.  We were told to get off in Augsburg and to find the conductor in the red hat.  He would send us back to Goeppingen at no cost.  I was pleased that the young lad was along, because he was fluent and could better explain our plight.

We got off in Augsburg and found the man in the red hat.  My young friend was explaining our situation.  The longer the conversation went on, the clearer it became that we had a superior/subordinate situation.  Mr. Red Hat was in a position of authority and my spokesperson was probably a high school student.  It was going down hill.  Finally, I understood Red Hat to say, “All the children in Deutchland know that the snell train doesn’t stop in Goeppingen on holidays.”  I immediately said, “Ich bin kein Kind aus Deutchland” (I am no child from Germany).    He was startled.  It was the first time that he realized that I understood what he had been saying.  He looked at me in my Army green uniform and new major’s hat (scrambled eggs outranks red) and, after a pause, he only said one word.  “Come.”

Well, we got our free trip back to Goeppingen and my young friend was probably thankful that I was along.

Some years later when I was at the Department of Transportation, I was invited over to the White House for a briefing on universal health care.  The speaker was addressing all the countries with universal health care and explaining the different problems with each system.  When he got to Germany, all he said was, “The German system works pretty well as long as all the participants are German.”   Jawohl!



Poems

Year 2000 Holiday Report


In the year 2000, I had to prepare my Christmas poem around Thanksgiving.  Carole and I were having a Christmas party and she wanted to send out the party invitations in the Christmas cards.  My poem  also goes in the cards.  And the cards needed to be mailed the first week in December.  By the time we tucked everything in the envelopes, they were probably overweight.

My daughter, Missy taught kindergarten in Florida.  So, I had some fun with the chad problem where Floridians couldn’t seem to figure out how to vote.  I thought that each kindergarten class could go home and teach their parents how to punch out a voting card.  So much for staying apolitical.

I picked up Firestone as a client, because of the tread separation problem on the Ford Explorers.  Year 2000 was a tough year for Firestone, but they survived and the brand name is still out there and respected as a value tire.

The good news is there are only three more catch-up Christmas poems remaining.  The bad news is there are still two more after this one.


                                   Year 2000 Holiday Report

It’s time to report to all of good cheer,
It’s not yet Thanksgiving, but my instructions are clear.
Get the poem out, and the rest of my list,
Forget about the ball, I could hit through the mist.
Someone’s quite organized, she’s cracking the whip,
Getting ready for our party, so I can’t let this slip.

So It’s greetings to all on this bright new dawn,
The 21st Century and Bubba is gone.
It’s an exciting time to be in DC,
Unless you love sports, then it’s “Oh woe is me.”
The year has raced by in incredible leaps,
Excitement abounds, but Congress just creeps.

Our family is good, both Moms doing great,
The kids are still scattered from state to state.
Grant’s nearing high school, but Brandon’s the feature,
He’s mastering the fifth grade, and Becky’s his teacher.
Missy’s also teaching, and Tyler’s into sports,
Kristin’s quite the cheerleader, and Florida’s out of sorts.
Missy’s kindergarten class now has a new goal,
Teaching Florida residents how to punch the right hole.
Paul and Sandy are the closest and seeing them is fun,
Josh is a big help with little Jack who’s one.

Two weeks in Europe on a Scandinavian tour,
Better than we read in Holland’s glossy brochure.
East Germany seemed familiar, something like before,
With people, cars and schnitzel, and beer forevermore.
Two day’s in St. Petersburg, gave us a sharp contrast,
Beauty and poverty together is a memory that will last.

The Thrift Shop is booming, and it’s becoming astuter,
No long hand written tags, it’s now all computer.
But she likes her Wednesday gang, they’re coming to our party,
They’ll gather by our Christmas tree, and drink and laugh so hardy.

Professionally, I’m doing great, my best year at the Fox,
And that was before the Firestone call, Wow, they’ve had their knocks.
We’re working the Firestone problem, one day up and then we dive,
It’s a tricky road to travel, but the Company will survive.
The Fox keeps getting bigger, talking merger, Boston bound.
If the Fox gets any bigger, it will surely chase the hound.

So let’s wrap this up, it’s been a great year,
Seeing friends at RAJA, and our future seems clear.
We’re enjoying our blessings, good health and good cheer
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Random Thoughts

Subscribe Now!

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Have I got a deal for you.  If you subscribe to my blog before the end of the year, it is absolutely free.  You have heard, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”  Well, this is it.  Every time I post a blog, it will be emailed to your address free of charge.

Now, I know you have logged on to my site.  That means you are, at least, curious, or related to me and feel obligated.  I’m sure sometimes you log on and I haven’t written anything new.  I won’t try to guess how that makes you feel, but it makes me feel like I have let you down.  It is my responsibility to bring a smile to your face.  I think of myself as the little “smile meister.”  Now, the solution is for you to subscribe to my website and you will be one of the first to receive my latest contribution.  In fact, you’ll get to see it with its original typos.  I usually catch them and correct them down the line.

If you are reading this and you have missed the window for free subscription, don’t worry.  There is no window.  It is always free to subscribe.  Free, free, free.  I learned the ‘limited offer” gimmick from the local furniture store sales.

So, if you go to my site and you read my stuff, why wouldn’t you subscribe?  If you are like me, you are worried about what is going to be done with your email address.  Will it be sold?  “Am I facing forty yards of spam?”  Well, the answer is that your email address will be confidential.  I will never even see it.  I am set up through Go Daddy.com.  I called them today just to confirm the confidentiality issue.  Moira, a self-described Go Daddy girl, told me that their CEO, Bob Parsons, hates spam and will even come after me if I use my site to distribute spam.  This was more information than I needed to know.  And, Bob, if you are monitoring, I am being really good.  So, future subscribers, don’t concern yourself with someone misusing your email address.

Now, how difficult is it to subscribe?  If you have made it to my website, you are there.  There is a column on the right hand side.  If your column is on the left hand side, you are looking in a mirror.  Please don’t do that.  It makes it more difficult to control the mouse.  Go to the bottom of the column and it will say, “subscribe.”  There will be a box for you to type in your email address.  Please do so and then click the button.  You will receive an email so that you can confirm that you subscribed.  Also, there will be a note telling you that there will be an opportunity to unsubscribe present on each future email.

So, that’s it.  This is as close as you are ever going to get to a free lunch.  Grab it!

Poems

The Millennium Poem *


While called the Millennium poem, it reports on what happened in 1999.  We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.  And, as this is the end of 2007, that means in another year and a half, we will be celebrating 50!

We took our first Tauck Tour (Canadian Rockies).  We were blown away by the Rockies and Tauck.  Since then, we have used them to go to Australia, Hawaii and Ireland, along with a number of other places.

You just have to humor me regarding those things that rhyme with Millennium.  I hope you find and enjoy the humor.



                                                        The Millennium Poem *

We’re counting down to the new Millennium,
and standing tall like a large delphinium.
(Hey, give me a break – it’s not easy to find a word
that rhymes with millennium – would you have
preferred condominium?).
It’s been a great year for the whole Rice clan,
We’ve expanded and prospered and eaten our bran.
No major medicals, I report with a wink,
Steady ain’t so bad, when the options all stink.

All the grandchildren are in school, with the exception of one,
And, they’re brighter than their gramps, that’s not a big stun.
Paul and Sandy had a baby, perhaps you haven’t heard,
He’s a beautiful, pleasant boy, named Paul Jackson the III.
While the kids and moms are spread all over this nation,
We made sure we saw them all, cause love you can’t ration.

There was Disney in December and RAJA in KC,
September in the desert and January at high sea.
But, the Canadian Rockies was the high point of the year,
When God directed beauty, he put his finger here.
With water falls and glaciers and mountains capped with snow,
The panoramic vista will make you deep down glow.

Arent Fox is still growing and doing things right,
Merged with a patent office, space will be tight.
Starting major construction on the seventh floor,
A great big conference room and lots, lots more.
Our culture is consensus, we always act as one,
With so many strong views, I’m surprised anything gets done.

What made this year so special, as we move toward double O,
Is Carole and I passed forty, that’s four zero don’t you know.
We started out in law school, then took on the Army life,
We raised our loving family and pushed through all the strife.
Living forty years together, we’re ready for the Millennium,
Forty more sounds real good, but not in a condominium.
We celebrate our fortieth and think of all our friends,
You’ve added so much to our lives and as the poem ends,
We wish you all the joys of life, good will and peace on earth,
May this Christmas bring you happiness with gaiety and mirth.


* Hopefully, you won’t see another one this bad for a thousand years.

The Fox

Retiring from the Fox

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I have two more days in the office before I’m retired-retired (First Army, then Arent Fox).  I am a short timer.  That’s an expression we used in the military for someone about to get out or be reassigned.  You hear it all the time in combat areas. “I’m so short, I can’t carry on a long conversation.”  “I’m so short, that when I sit down my boots no longer touch the ground.”  In Vietnam, soldiers would carry around short-timer calenders and would mark off each day.

I haven’t done anything like that.  The Fox has just been a great place for me.  Fifty-five years of age and never had been in private practice and they took me in.  Now, fourteen years later, they are going to let me retire?  Is there something I’m missing?  I noticed I didn’t get a gold watch.  The answer to retiring at Arent Fox has to do with combining years as a partner with one’s age.  Those two numbers have to total 75.  So I made it not on years as a partner, but by being a gray beard.

It’s funny, all my friends who work want to know what I am going to do.  Of course, none of my retired friends ever inquire.  And that is what I tell my working friends.  The other day, a friend of mine told me that after I retired from the Fox, I could probably get a job teaching.  I told him I was sure I could, but why would I want to?  I just want to play.  This blogging is play for me.  You never have to set an alarm clock to blog.

I spent three years phasing out of Arent Fox.  The first year, I worked about 75% of the time.  The second year, I worked 50% and this last year about 30% of the time.  That meant that this last year I was only working two days a week.  I recommend this approach to anyone who is wondering what he or she is going to do when retired.  You get three workdays a week to find out.  The phase-out’s main purpose is not to make me feel comfortable in retirement.  That’s just a side benefit.  The main purpose is to ensure that my clients don’t wake up one day and find out I’m gone.  Over the three-year period, they are transitioned over to another partner who picks up on the days that I am not there.  And, if all goes well, the clients remain with the Fox.

The Fox is a great law firm.  There have been questions raised recently as to whether we are too friendly or enjoy ourselves too much to be an AM LAW 200 law firm.  Many of the others are stoned faced and dreary.  Well, we do enjoy what we’re doing, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t working hard and getting great results for our clients.  Our slogan is “Smart in Your World.”  We picked that up from what our clients said about us.  Please excuse us if we have a good time while we are working hard and getting great results.

If sometime in the future, I become restless and start thinking about getting a job, I think I would like to be a greeter at Wal-Mart.  Then again, I would probably have to learn what aisle everything is on.  And, then there’s all that standing.  Blogging requires no standing.



Poems

A Christmas in Transition – 2007

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As most of you know, I write a Christmas poem every year and this is the first Christmas since I started writing my blog.  I have posted a lot of old Christmas poems from previous years.  In those cases, I always felt the need to explain what was going on at that time.  As this poem is current, it isn’t necessary.  Below is my Christmas report for 2007.


                        A Christmas in Transition – 2007

It’s time to report on a year of transition,
Preparing for the future, the key to our mission.
Carole’s facing surgery and Jack’s to retire,
Trudging through ’07, dodging the mire.
We made it a good year, that was the trick,
We came out a lot better that OJ or Vick.

Carole’s a real trooper, but her knees cause her pain,
By continuing status quo, there is nothing to gain.
So it’s surgery in January, the answer to her pleas,
A partial replacement in both of her knees.
If all goes as planned, it will be a new dawn,
Before you know it, she’ll be mowing the lawn.

Jack’s truly retiring.  It’s really the bomb,
He’ll be spending his time on ricequips dot com.
He’s written 60 blogs before retiring,
There’s poems, critiques, nothing very inspiring.
But he thinks he’s funny, though you may scoff,
It keeps him off the streets, when he’s not playing golf.

We did RAJA in Phoenix, with Mary and Becky close by,
Shades of Green, Disney and a Leadbetter School, how sly,
Carole’s 50th Reunion, one of four trips home,
A cruise to Alaska, yes, we did roam.
She medicated her knees with shots and pills,
Stayed with the basics, avoided the frills.

Life comes with sorrow, reality has its sting,
Carole lost her brother, Bob passed in the spring.
Diagnosed around Christmas, the news was stunning,
Hardly time to say goodbye, where cancer takes to running.

The children are doing well, jobs, schooling and stuff,
But in the grandparents’ eyes, we don’t see them enough.
Mary’s ninety-two and Blanche two years shy,
Blanche celebrated ninety, with a tear in her eye.
For we surprised her at her party, it was a lot of fun,
Carole hugged and kissed her, I dialed 911.

As we’re about to retire, and travel?, you bet,
Our emotions trumped reason and we got a pet.
A Sheltie named Nikki, she seems very smart,
But puppies make mistakes, right from the start.
She’s been easy to train, but keeps us guessing,
She’s brought joy to the house, she’s such a blessing.

With a new shed and gazebo, the house is complete,
We’re ready for the future, we’re up on our feet.
We stand at the beginning of 2008,
Changes are coming, they should really be great.
We think of friends and loved ones, we wish you good cheer,
Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Random Thoughts

That’s What I Love About This Country


In 1975, there was a sitcom on ABC-TV called “Hot L Baltimore.”  It was a comedy about a seedy Baltimore hotel (the “E” in the hotel sign was burned out), and the people who lived there.  There were prostitutes, illegal aliens and probably the first gay couple in a TV sitcom.  Norman Lear produced it and it lasted only one season.

In one episode, a very likable, hard working Hispanic laborer (who lived in the hotel) got a traffic ticket and the next thing you know, he is about to be deported.  According to the plot, he had a legitimate reason for being permitted to stay in this country (my memory is vague on that issue).  The Immigration judge was not willing to listen to his lawyer and things looked bleak.  Then, one of the hotel prostitutes recognized the judge as one of her regular customers.  She was able to persuade the judge not to deport her friend.  As the show was closing, the prostitute announced, “That’s what I love about this country.  The system works!”

Some years back, a young Russian woman (yes, she had a green card) would ride to work with our carpool.  She was proud of her Russian heritage and even though she had been in this country long enough to apply for citizenship, she had decided to remain a citizen of Russia.  I talked to her about becoming a US citizen and she would politely tell me that she was happy with her situation.

Shortly after 9/11, she told me that when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, she felt they were attacking her country.  And, at that time, she decided to become a US citizen. 

The paperwork is somewhat daunting.  Eventually she found the necessary document, filed the paperwork and met with an Immigration’s examiner.  He required one additional document which she provided the next day.  She was told she would hear from them shortly.  A month went by.  Three months went by.  After about six months, I volunteered to call and find out what was the hold up.  The Immigration people I called were alway polite, but were never in a position to answer my questions.  They did not have her records.  I asked if I could contact the people who had the records and was told that that was impossible. “If they were answering the phones all day, they wouldn’t get any work done.”  They advised that they would forward my inquiry to the people with the records.  It was like  Catch 22.  I could  call and have a polite, friendly conversation with someone who had no information on the matter and when I hung up, I had accomplished zip.  This went on for a couple of months.

Then, I realized that I knew an Immigration judge.  Wayne Iskra was a former JAG and a good friend.  I finally had the opportunity to sit down with him and explain my friend’s plight.  When I was done, Wayne smiled and said, “I was afraid your friend was getting ready to be deported.”  I guess I wasn’t the first to ask a favor.  Wayne took the information and said he would call me.  A few days later, he called and said everything was in order and how would she like to be sworn in the next week.  Wayne would personally swear her in.

And that’s what happened.  She was sworn in the following Tuesday.  At the end of the ceremony (which was just for her), I thought to myself.  That’s what I love about this country.  The system works!

BOO! I saw you smile!