Mark Cuban

I get most of my daily news from the Associated Press.  I watch local news, as you know, but I read AP stories on the Internet throughout the day to keep up on national events and business news.    AP also produces short videos that I sometimes watch.   If some video story catches my eye, I will go suffer though the 15 seconds pre-roll advertisement and then watch the story.   The video that caught my eye this morning was “Mark Cuban Still Eats 7-Eleven Hotdogs”. 

I would first like to say that I’m glad we have AP to make sure that we can get all of the news we want.   This is quite an important story, and I didn’t want to miss it.    I’ll admit that I didn’t really know who Mark Cuban was.   I had heard the name, but I couldn’t quite put it any context around it.   I learned from the story that he is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.   I also learned that even though he is a billionaire, he considers himself somewhat frugal.   Good for him.   I learned from Wikipedia that he is 52 years old.   He was born in Pittsburg.   He is married with 3 children.  Interesting, I suppose.

Mark Cuban wasn’t  what really attracted me to the story.   It was the fact that AP was running a story with anything about 7-Eleven Hot Dogs.   I would like to go on record stating that I LOVE 7-Eleven Hot Dogs.  I had one on Tuesday.   I had the Spicy Bite, which is what I almost always get.   They are very close to the hot dog that you might get at a baseball game.    I put on lots of mustard, two solid streams, one down either side.   Then I cover the entire thing in chopped onions.   I don’t even worry about how long those onions have been sitting in that container.    I usually grab a Big Gulp to with it.   I love them; I really do.   I’m still going to eat them if I become a billionaire someday.   I don’t know much about Mark Cuban, but I know there is at least one thing I like about him. 

Which Leg?

I’m planning to run in the Hood To Coast Relay this year.    I’ve run it 6 times in last 9 years.   I would like to have run all 9, but various injuries have prevented that.   I’m about 90% sure I’ll be able to run it this summer, although I’m still fighting the injury that kept me out last year.  There are 12 legs in the HTC Relay and I would like to do all of them.

Last night was the first meeting of my team.   The first meeting is always fun.   For our team, I would guess that of the 12 people we currently have, 8 of them will actually run in the race.   Four will drop out for various reasons and be replaced with other runners.   We chose which legs we want to run last night.   I find this to be a humorous exercise.   It’s funny because the legs we end up running will change as the team changes.   It’s also funny because the people who have never run the race before, only 4 in our case, agonize over what they should choose.   There are maps of each leg with distance, elevation profile, and difficulty ranking.   When you choose a particular leg, you are actually choosing 3 different runs.   Aside from a couple of legs that either have very steep hills, or very long distances, they are all about the same.   When the last weekend in August comes, you’re not going to be thinking about whether the run is 4.6 or 5.2 miles.   You’re going to be thinking that you’re sleepy, worn out, and probably in some kind of pain.   The distances, and for the most part the hills, just fade into the background.   In other words, every leg sucks.

Turn it off!

I was watching the local news last night, as I often do, and 7:00 rolled around.   I should have switched to the News Hour, but I was messing around in my kitchen and didn’t change the channel.   As I continued watching (well listening to) KGW their programming begins taking a journalistic nosedive.  From 7:00 to 7:30 I was treated to “Live at 7:00”.   This is a local news show that has a softer, more entertainment oriented theme.   It’s okay.   From 7:30 to 8:00 though, they play Inside Edition.   My goodness, what a load of crap that show is?

Last night they were running a story about a “reality star” who had been arrested for fighting.   (You can read about it here)   It was complete with some sort of “expert” who was explaining that these “reality stars” have trouble changing from the television show personas back into real people.    I would like to be clear about something.   “Reality Star” is the worst kind of oxymoron.    These people are not stars.   Stars (meaning real Celebrities) are called that because they shine.   They are nice to look at.  They have talent and they perform in some way.   People who are on Reality TV are, generally speaking, train wrecks.   I will distinguish here between “Reality TV” and “Game Shows”.   Game shows are television where real people compete for things.   Some examples are Jeopardy, Top Shot, The Big Break, and even Survivor.    Reality shows are television where a person’s disability, unlikeablity, stupidity, or bad life situation is exploited.   In either case the people who appear on the shows are not stars.  I do give credit though to anyone who can go on a game show and win something.   I deplore reality shows and giving stage to the unpleasant.

Jenelle Evans of MTV’s Teen Mom was arrested and charged with misdemeanor affray.   I really don’t care that she was, although I did look up from my cooking last night and saw a clip of the fight which was caught on camera.   It looked like she won.   I was saddened though that this passes for something that people would want to watch on television.   I’m not sure why MTV has a show about teen moms.   I’m not sure why Inside Edition wants to show clips of girls fighting.   I’m not sure why we have experts in the area of reality TV cast members behavior.   I can really find only one positive thing about this whole situation.   I learned what the word affray meant.   (public fighting)

Sunday Dinner

I did something odd last night.   It was something that I hadn’t done in quite a while.  I went out for a fried chicken dinner.   I hadn’t had real fried chicken in about 5 years.   I’m excluding chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, and all that various crap that restaurants get pre-made.   I’m talking about honest to goodness fried pieces of chicken.   I had a breast and a thigh.

I think that the last time I had real fried chicken was in 2006.   I made it myself then.   I used to make fried chicken from time to time, but have mostly stopped because of its general unhealthiness.   I really like it though.   There was a time when my family’s Christmas dinner was fried chicken.   It was a tradition that we only had a few years, but it was awesome while it lasted.

I decided last night that I was finally going to go try this little place that I knew served fried chicken.   I had driven past it lots of times, but never stopped in.    The place is called The Cider Mill - Fryer Tuck’s Chicken.   There is a certain vibe that some places give off that just makes me tingle, like a tuning fork.    As soon as I walked in the door I knew I was going to love the place.   It was dark; it was old; it seemed like the walls had been exposed to years of grease.   It was the kind of place that was going to have great fried chicken.

My wife and I ordered the 2 person family dinner which came with 4 pieces of chicken, Little John Spuds, a roll, and coleslaw.   I also had a beer which came in a mason jar.   As I dug into the chicken it was like heaven.   It was super hot and had just the right amount of residual grease.   I watched my wife carefully pull away some of the skin and prop her pieces up to try and drain them a little bit.  

I pointed to the skin and said, “Are you going to eat that?”

She just glared at me.

I tore through my breast and thigh.   I picked the little pieces of fried breading away from the bones.   My hands were covered in grease.   I tried to use my napkin but it was useless against the sticky oils.  I ate every bit of my chicken and then picked over my wife’s left overs.   It was so good.   I’m considering going back for lunch today.

Creepy Kid

I’ve been unpacking stuff since I moved into my new house just over a month ago.   I have some stuff that has been packed for close to 10 years..  I keep finding interesting things that I forgot I had.   I found a box that was full of notebooks recently.   It was things that I wrote a long time ago.   I’ve been reading them.   It’s an interesting exercise.   I kind of recognize the guy that wrote them, but he’s definitely not me.   I’ve decided to treat you today to one of his writings.   It’s not dated, but I’m pretty sure this was written in early 1988.

Looking out over the marsh always gives me the same feeling, the feeling of dread.  I’ve walked through countless times in the daylight but at night something is different, something sinister and foreboding.  I know it’s out there at night.  I know it.  Sometimes I think I can smell its evil stench.  I can hear its breathing.  I know it’s out there; I know it.  I always go back inside.  I watch my rifle above the fire. Someday I’ll need it, the thing will come for me, it will be at my door.  It wants to have me; it wants to make me part of it.  Something brushes the trees; a window creaks.  Is it the wind?  I don’t know; I’m afraid to know.   I sit all alone in my little house, the trees all around, the water near.  Was that it again? It’s the wind, surely it’s the wind.  I’m all alone out here in the marshes, no one for miles, no one to hear me scream.  I moved out here to be alone.   I wanted to be away from people, from cities and technology.   I just wanted to be alone, but I’m not, it’s here.  It’s out there; it wants me.  There’s the window again, is it the wind?   I’ll get my gun in case.   I’ll just hold it; it makes me feel more secure.  It’s going to come tonight.  I can hear rustling in the trees.   It’s out there, it wants me.   I’ll put the gun in my mouth, it won’t have me.

I corrected the spelling and punctuation.  I added some semicolons, but otherwise this is exactly as I wrote it 23 years ago.   I must have been a creepy kid.

Make mine a Republic

I was having a conversation with a very young friend of mine a few years ago.   We were talking about the 2000 Presidential Election.   You might remember that one.   It’s the one where we didn’t get to find out who really won for a few months.  She was saying that it didn’t make sense to her that Al Gore had more votes (meaning the popular vote) but that George Bush won.   I explained that it made perfect sense.   I told her that in our form of government, the people do not elect presidents, the states do.   This is an important distinction for children to understand, and older Americans as well.

                America was set up to be a republic in the Constitution.  A republic is a system of rule where the government is elected.   A democracy is form where the people vote for things.   America is certainly a democracy in some ways, but we are a representative democracy, at least at the national level.   We vote for some of our leaders, who then build a government through a system of appointments.   Back in the good old days, Senators were actually appointed by state legislatures, but I digress.    The point is that the people are only supposed to have a certain amount of control in getting their elected leaders into key places.   This is the role of the people in government.   The reason for setting this system up this way is pretty simple.   The people, on the whole, are idiots.

                That’s probably a little harsh.   The people aren’t really idiots, but they are whimsical.  They are also busy.   The people do not take the time to become educated well enough on the issues to be able to effectively run a democracy.  We have to depend on those that we have entrusted to be our leaders that they do educate themselves.  We also have to depend on them to take a longer term view of where our country is going.   It’s too bad that they don’t, but I assure you that allowing the people to vote for everything would be far worse.

                Let’s consider Oregon, the state where I live, although I’m not sure for how much longer.   Oregon is dangerously close to a direct democracy.   It is extremely easy to get measures put on the ballot.   Consequently, we have tons of ballot measures to wade through every election.   Many of them are constitutional amendments.   Many of them are stupid!  We vote for the most ridiculous crap.  Sometimes it’s good; we pass things that I think are good ideas that probably never would have happened in a representative democracy.   Other times we pass stuff that I just have to shake my head and say to myself, “You people are idiots.”    The real problem though is that we have no real foresight.   We pass laws, and worse constitutional amendments, based on the feelings of the day.   We pass them with the bulk of the electorate reading a one sentence summary of the ballot measure and then making a decision.   I’ll take my representative government please.

                The bottom line is that I like living in a republic.   I like the fact that I can vote for my representatives who will, hopefully, make it their job to represent me.   We all need to be diligent in doing our part in how we are governed.   Just like no single branch of government has too much control, the people cannot have too much control either.   We get our chances to have our voice.   We get to send someone to the House of Representatives every two years.   We get to send two people to the Senate every six years, on a staggered schedule.   We get to decide who our state’s electoral votes for President will go toward every 4 years.   We decide our state government along similar lines depending on the laws of the particular state.  This is the control we have.   Use it wisely.

Donuts

It’s Friday and it’s time to talk about donuts.  My work provides donuts on Fridays and I try my best not to eat them but it’s so hard.   I understand what a donut is.   It’s fried dough with sugar.   So simple, so unhealthy, and so darn delicious.      

I’m not sure when my love affair with the donut started.  I remember going to Dunkin’ Donuts as a child.   My favorite was either chocolate covered, or donut holes; both were the best option.  

When I got just a little older, still a small child, I met a lady who made her own homemade donuts.   She actually made these wonderful homemade donut holes that I could eat hundreds of.   I remember watching her make them and eating them right after they had been glazed.   I assure you that nothing could beat those wonderful little bites of heaven.

I believe that the next stage in my donut development was when I lived in Alexandria, VA.   There was a Krispy Kreme store there.   They weren’t quite as widespread back then as they are now.   I discovered the “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign.    These little glazed gems are awesome.   I once ate a dozen in under 10 minutes.   They’re really just like sweet fried air; so light, so wonderful.  

My tastes now lean to what I like to call, “the king of donuts”.   That’s right; the big boy, the apple fritter!    I used to go to a little store in Washington, DC where they called their version, “The Big Ugly”.   It must have been 10 inches in diameter; at least I remember it that way.   I still haven’t found another apple fritter like it, but I keep trying.   It’s so hard for me to pass up an apple fritter.   They just call to me.

You can make your own donuts pretty easily.   I’ve made them from scratch before although I use a beignet recipe, making them just a little bit unhealthier.  If you’re lazy, you can just use some Pillsbury biscuits.   (the kind that come in the tube)   You cut them into smaller pieces and throw them in some hot oil.   You can make some glaze, or just dust them with powdered sugar.   They’re really great and only take a few minutes.  

It’s time for me to grab a donut!

I Told You So

How often do you hear the words, “I told you so”?   How often do you say them?  As humans we love to remind people that we were right about something.   I was right about something this week at work.   I said that something bad could happen and I warned everyone that they needed to watch out for it.   They didn’t, and it did happen.  Now I would love to say, “I told you so.”

I can’t say it though.   I can’t say it because it involves clients and they don’t want to hear it.  It would not serve any of my purposes to remind them that I warned them.   This is true professionally, but reminding people that you were right is also not productive on a personal level.   Your spouse, your family, and your friends are not interested in hearing about how you were right and they were wrong.   They already know.   Reminding them does not help them and it doesn’t help you.   

What we need to remember is that when you warn someone about something and they ignore you, it’s your fault when things go wrong.    The bottom line is that if you are so sure that something is going to be a problem, you can’t just warn them; you have to convince them!  The onus is on you to show people why it’s a problem and to make sure they listen.   You might not always convince them but when you don’t, it’s certainly not a reason for gloating later.   Instead spend that energy figuring out why your argument was so flawed that they couldn’t understand it.

Return of the Ghost

I was jolted awake last night at around 1:30am.   Something had crashed.  It has crashed loudly.   It’s hard to tell how exactly how loud something was that has just woken you.   You’re still a little bit asleep; your brain is trying to process what has happened.   It was definitely a crash.  

My wife asked, “What was that?”

“I’m not sure.   What did it sound like to you?”

“A crash!”

“Okay I’m going to go check it out.”

By this time I’m pretty well awake.   I’m wondering about the possibilities of what it could be.   I’m sure it was something inside the house.   Did something fall over?   Why would something just randomly fall over?  Did something get left on?  I don’t think so.   Is there someone or something in the house?   Possibly, I’d better take a weapon.  

I pulled my 45 Auto pistol from its hiding place near my bed.   Yes, I do keep a gun in my bedroom.   It is loaded in the sense that it has a full magazine, however I don’t keep a round chambered.   I figure if I have time to get it out, I’ll also have time to cock it.   Last night I still didn’t bother to cock it.   I decided that if I ran into someone in close quarters that it would probably make a better club than firearm anyway.   I also didn’t want to be remembered as the guy who shot himself while falling down the stairs.

I went through the house checking each room methodically.   I tried to find something that had fallen over.   With three stories and a total of 18 rooms (including closets) where someone could hide, it took a little while.   I found nothing.  All of the exterior doors were locked.  I could only assume it was our ghost.   I went back to bed, my adrenaline levels now far too high for easy sleeping.

I eventually went back to sleep, but dreamed about intruders.   The rest of the night was fitful.   I had trouble getting up this morning and lay in bed far later than I should have.   My wife got up first and went to take a shower.  

She called from the bathroom, “Hey look, my shampoo bottle that I left upside down fell over!”

Power

I’m a big fan of the movie Starship Troopers.   A lot of people hate it.   A lot of people don’t think much of Paul Verhoeven as a director.   I think his movies are a bit campy and that they are exactly what he is going for.   After seeing his movie version of Starship Troopers I was inspired to read the book on which it was based.   The book, by Robert A. Heinlein, was published in 1959.   I really enjoyed it as well.   The book has some very thought provoking ideas on war and violence.   The movie touches on these but you get a lot more from the book.  (Isn’t that always the case?)

I saw the movie for the first time in 1997.   I read the book a couple of years later.    I’ve seen the movie again a few times since.   I was surprised to find myself thinking about both of them this morning.   In the movie there is a quote, “violence is the ultimate power, from which all other power is derived.”  This is not in the book.   The book actually says, “Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.”   Either way the gist is clear; violence can and will be used to derive power.    I was wondering though, is it the ultimate power?

I decided that I first needed to define power as it related to this discussion that I was having with myself.   I figured that I would define power as “the ability to control another person.”   What are the ways to do this?   Certainly violence can be used to control others and there are plenty of historical precedents that prove this out.   As I thought through them however, I found that it is an unsustainable power.   It can only be used short term.   Going in a very different direction, I considered love as form of gaining power.   I decided that love, or even the perception of love, can certainly give someone a great deal of power.   The person who is loved has the power; the person who loves is giving the power.   This means that in order to achieve power in this way, you need to make someone love you.   I tried to decide what other ways someone might achieve power.   The only other one I came up with was manipulation.   I would include in this all of the various forms of appeasement.   In the end I decided that all power is fleeting, at least for us humans.

Warnings

I think it’s important to warn people when there may be a dangerous situation that is not completely apparent based on the surroundings.    A good example of this was when I stopped for lunch yesterday.   I had a late lunch at the Ice Axe Grill.   It’s in Government Camp, OR.   This is on Mt. Hood, and it still very much winter up there.    The restaurant has a sign outside that warns that there could be falling ice from its roof.     I think this is an appropriate warning.   When you stop in their parking lot and are getting out of your car, you are probably not considering that there could be a falling ice hazard.   I applaud the Ice Axe Grill for warning me about this.  I see that sign and I know not to stand for extended periods of time in the area where ice may fall.

What I do not appreciate is when signs are placed, in otherwise scenic areas, with warnings about things that are so painfully obvious that I can’t help but feel that my intelligence is being insulted.   Consider the photograph I snapped recently.  

(I’ve blown up the sign so that it’s easier to read)

                I can’t understand the reason for putting this ugly sign here.   Did someone really think that there would be a lifeguard on duty at a 1 inch deep fountain?   Did some parent really think that they could just leave their child there to play on his own for a while?   This is stupid!   I feel the same way about coffee cups that have a warning that the content is hot.  No s#@t!  It had better be hot, that’s why I bought it.   Maybe you should also warn me that hot things can burn me.   Oh wait, I think that is on there as well.

                I know why all of this stuff is there, just like you do.   It’s there because our society has become so litigious that we employ legions of lawyers to help protect us from potential torts.   We go out of our way to not say or do anything that might land us in court.  We warn people to the point of stupidity so that there can be no chance that we were negligent.   This is where we are.   How on earth are we ever going to get back?

Orbital Decay

A lot of people jump to the conclusion that I don’t like children because I don’t have any of my own.   This is far from the truth.   I love kids; I just don’t want them around all the time.   I’m pretty selfish and that doesn’t work all that well when you have children.   I enjoy spending time with other people’s children though and I had a chance to do that yesterday.   I really enjoy trying to educate kids about anything that I know.   Sometimes I accidently educate them about things their parents would rather that I didn’t.   This doesn’t happen too often though, thank goodness.

Last night, after my unfortunate incident of teaching an 8 year old how to open a bottle of wine, I moved on to gravity and its key role in creating the orbits of celestial bodies.   I talked a bit about inertia and how the gravitational pull of the larger body pulls the satellite back along an elliptical path.   My young student then informed me that all of the planets in our solar system will eventually crash into the sun.   He eloquently explained that we were all living in a “swirling toilet of death.”   I decided that I could skip part of the lesson about the curvature of space.   He obviously already completely understood this concept.

Passing

I try to keep my road rage in check, but I usually fail miserably.   I’m really far too impatient when driving.  I recognize this, but have so far been unsuccessful in remaining calm behind the wheel of a car. I have several pet peeves about driving.  One of the biggest is around speed and passing.

I have two houses, one in Portland and the other in Redmond, OR.   My house in Redmond is a vacation home that I try to visit a couple of times a month.   It’s about a 3 hour drive from one house to the other.   Most of that drive is on a two lane highway.   (One lane in each direction)   Traffic can be heavy at times and it’s often an exercise in frustration.    There are a few passing lanes along the way. (where there are temporarily two lanes in one direction)  What drives me crazy is how much cars speed up when they hit these areas.    Cars that have been driving along at 50 mph, suddenly are going 65.   I realize that this is because there is suddenly more room and it’s usually on a straight away, but I’m still incredibly frustrated by having to go 75 myself in order to try and get by.    I have pretty much given up on these passing lanes and now just look for opportunities to pass in areas with a broken yellow line.  (spots where you pass by moving into the lane of oncoming traffic)   This can be problematic for a different reason.   Why are there so many people that won’t pass in these areas?   Instead of passing, they stack up bumper to bumper.    This means that not only are they not passing, but they haven’t left any space for anyone else to pass them.   I had to pass 7 cars at one point yesterday as I drove to Redmond.   I was in the oncoming lane of traffic for about 30 seconds (that's a long time) doing just over 100 mph (that's really fast) in order to get by clogged traffic.   What’s amazing to me is that no one else passed.   They are stacked up 7 deep and there is enough room for me to get by all of them (barely) and no one will pass.   Chickens!

New Words

I learned a new word today.   I love it when that happens.   I think I have a pretty good vocabulary, but I’m always learning, or in some cases relearning, words.   I’m sometimes embarrassed to admit that I learned a word because I will tell someone and they look at me like, “Wow!  You didn’t know what that meant?”   Oh well, it’s funny how we all know some words and not others.   Anyway, the word I learned was “corpulent”.     It means fat.   Well, not really, it’s more like a little fat.  Dictionary.com, my go to linguistic source, defines it as “large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat”.  I really like this word.   I’m going to try and use it at least twice today.

I learned this word while I was reading Fark this morning.   It was used in connection with former Miss San Antonio, Domonique Ramirez.   It seems that she was fired as Miss San Antonio.   She’s suing to regain her crown.   They pageant organizers claim she was fired for multiple reasons, not just her weight, but it does sound like they were disappointed with how she ended up looking in a bikini several months after she won the title.    Apparently, she had been warned about eating too many tacos.

I find all of this amusing.   I think beauty pageants are ridiculous.  I think idealizing particular body types is even more ridiculous.  I’m actually surprised that these things still exist in this day and age.  What exactly are these girls supposed to represent?    It doesn’t seem to be health.   It doesn’t seem to be intelligence.  I know some of them are smart, but why isn’t there a math competition between the bikini and evening gown rounds?   These things really need to go.

You can see a picture of “Fatty” Ramirez here.  I think you’ll agree she’s far too heavy.

Technology

I like to write this blog in the morning.   It’s usually one of the first things I do.   Sometimes I do it at my house before leaving for work, but most of the time I do it right when I get to the office.   I’m very ritualistic and I try to find the best ways to do things and then continue doing them that way.   I find that the best way to get this writing done is to do it first thing.

I become very impatient and angry when things get in the way of my routine.   I’m probably one of the most impatient people you will ever meet.  When I’m ready to do something, I’m ready to do it.   I don’t want to wait for anything.   This morning I had to wait for my computer.   It was performing an “update”.   I didn’t want this update.   I didn’t ask for this update.   I was pretty indignant that was getting this update during the time when I write my blog.     It had been pre-configured for me so that it happened automatically when I started my computer.   I was not amused.

It’s amazing to me how dependent I have become on technology.   I’m really dead in the water without email, a word processor, and access to the internet.   I could still write my blog long hand if I wanted, (I’ve done it before) but it would need to be transposed later.   If my connection to the internet were not restored, then I could never share it.   What would the world be like if all of this technology suddenly stopped working?   How long would it take us to become productive again?   How long would it take for my office to string up those cool wires across the ceiling with little baskets for moving hand written messages from employee to employee?   I don’t know.   Could we ever go back?

Choosing the Right Words

I get lots of opportunities to say things to people while they’re upset.   Sometimes I’m upset myself, sometimes I’m not.  It’s much easier to choose the right words to say when I’m calm, but I still manage to screw it up sometimes.   It’s hard to know what will be calming and what will be enraging.   It’s hard to know when to empathize and when to criticize.   Sometimes I think that people are completely right and deserve empathy, but I still take the devil’s advocate approach.   Sometimes I think people are completely wrong but I still give them the empathy that I don’t think they deserve.   How do I decide?

What I try to do is dig into where they are and where I think they should be.   Then I decide whether I think I can get them to the place I want them all at once, or whether it will take multiple steps.   Finally, I choose the words that will either take them, or start to move them, in a positive direction.   I know this all sounds somewhat selfish, but if you think about it, isn’t that all counseling really is?  

 I’m usually pretty sure about where I think they should be but I’m not always sure about where they are.   This is where the trouble can begin.   If I miscalculate their position, by even a little bit, then the tack I set them on can be very, very wrong.    I hate it when that happens.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

I watched The News Hour on PBS last night.   I don’t watch it very often, but I do like to watch the news when I get home from work.   I’m usually there in time to get the local news on KGW (Channel 8 in Portland), but I got home a little late last night and didn’t quite get enough news from them.     The News Hour comes on at 7:00, after the local news, so I decided to watch it.    PBS is in the midst of fundraising so I also got to feel guilty about not donating to them in the last few years.  

PBS always gives the list of major donors at the end of their programs.   It’s always interesting to me to see who donates enough money to get their name listed.   The one I always hear on PBS is The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.   Who are these people?   I decided to go find out.    It seems that John D. MacArthur was one of the 3 wealthiest people in America at the time of his death in 1978.   He made his money in Insurance and Real Estate Development.    His wife Catherine worked with him throughout their lives doing bookkeeping and developing business procedures.    The latest financial information I could find shows that their foundation paid out $298M in grants in 2009.   They have paid out $100M or more every year since 1987.   This is quite a big organization with over $5B in assets.   They are in the business of giving away money.

I think I would like to start a foundation to give away my money after I’m dead.   I doubt that I will be able to have one as big as the MacArthur Foundation, but we’ll see how it goes.   There are a lot of worthy causes that need donations to survive.   I think if we all started donating a bit more we might find that it’s a little bit addictive.  I also believe that if we took personal responsibility for supporting various causes that our government would not feel the need to do it for us.

Plays

I went to see a play on Saturday night.  I don’t go to plays very often, but every time I see one, I think I should go more.   The play I saw on Saturday was “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”.   It was very funny, although I’m sure it’s not for everyone.    I saw it at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland.   This was only the second play I’ve seen there, although I lived less than a mile away for years.   Both plays that I’ve seen there have been pretty far out in terms of content.  

The play on Saturday was very bloody.   I was actually shocked at how much gore there was for a live action production.   There was actually visible blood splatter when people, or animals, were shot.  Through a series of unfortunate events 4 people and 2 cats are killed.   I know this doesn’t sound like it would be very funny, but it was actually quite hilarious.

Being able to see plays in small theatres that are well produced is great thing to do.   It’s too bad that as a culture we don’t spend as much time going to plays as we do to movies.   I love movies and I love going out to the cinema, but I wish I made more time for plays.     I always think this after I’ve been to one.   Maybe I should become a patron to the theatre, like I am for the ballet.   Maybe then I would remember to go more often.

Shamrock Run

Many of my friends are running in a “race” today.   Today is the “Shamrock Run” in Portland.   It’s really a terrible race, as races go.   There are far too many people for the course.   Once the starting gun goes off, people at my level of running usually have to wait up 5 minutes to actually get to the starting line.   The course is so crowded that in many cases you can’t pass people but instead run slower than you would like until you can find a spot to dart out and around them.   About 2 or 3 miles in, it finally opens up enough to be able to run, but then jams up again as you approach the end.   Some years you even have to walk across the finish line because of the crowds.  

You also have to consider the weather.   It’s March, in Portland, which means that it’s always cold and raining.   The lines to check clothes are horrendous; they are far too long for me to stand in.   This means that I have to leave my warm clothes in the car and stand around shivering waiting for the start of the race.  God help me if I need to use the bathroom before race time, because those lines stretch for miles as well.   What a miserable idea this whole “Shamrock Run” is.  

I’m not running this year.   It’s not because of any of the reasons above.   I’m not running because an ankle injury has me sidelined.   I’m going to walk down and watch my friends run by.  I will cheer them on with everything I have.   I’ll meet them at the end and go out for breakfast.   I’ll be very sad though.   I love this event and it breaks my heart not to be running today.

More Research, Please?

I went to a memorial service yesterday.   I don’t like going to those things but I understand why it is important for the family that people come.   The one I went to yesterday was particularly heartbreaking because it was for a 9 year old boy.   I didn’t know him very well.   We had met only a handful of times.   I was pretty good friends with his parents before he was born, but had since seen them very infrequently.  

This child had been diagnosed with cancer when he was only three.   He had spent the next 6 years battling through the terrible disease.   I can’t imagine the heartbreak that is associated with going through that with a child.   I have been through it, and seen it firsthand with an adult and it’s miserable.  

The last 4 funerals or memorial services I have been to have been for people who have died of some form of cancer.   When will we cure, or learn to prevent, this horrible affliction? 

Bowling

I went bowling yesterday.   It was probably the first time in 3 or 4 years.  That’s about how often I go bowling anymore.  I usually start pretty strong but then fade as my arm gets tired.  Yesterday was no exception.  Additionally, I was having trouble with my ankle yesterday, which also got worse as I rolled more balls.   It’s funny to think that bowling is a sport that requires a certain amount of stamina but you are, after all, trying to throw a heavy ball in a repeatable way.  

I like to be good at things.   I’m not very happy just doing things for the “fun” of it.  I expect that I’m going to have a level of competence in anything I do.  Everyone has to do things for the first time and can’t be good from the very beginning, but I always expect that I will pick it up fast and be respectable very quickly.   If it’s something important to me, I will go by myself and practice until I’m good enough to do it in public.   I really hate have other people see me suck at something. 
                I’m pretty happy to go bowling these days because I’m still good enough that I don’t have to be embarrassed, at least not too embarrassed.  I was once a very good bowler.  I never bowled a 300, but I used to break 200 pretty regularly.   I worked at a bowling alley when I was in college.  (the 2^nd time)   I was the mechanic and it was a great job.   I sat around in the back of the bowling alley and did my homework while I waited for things to break.   When something malfunctioned, I would go and correct it.   If something complicated actually broke, I left it for the serious mechanic who worked during the day.    It was a pretty easy job.   I spent a lot of time bowling in those days.    My job is much harder now, and my bowling has suffered.   I’m still a confident bowler though and confidence is the key to being competent at things.   Take my word for it.

The root of all evil

I dropped off all of my tax information with my accountant yesterday.   I really like my accountant.   I only see her once a year, but I always enjoy the visit.   She is very friendly and always asks about how my life is going.   A tax accountant that you use over and over every year occupies and interesting place in your life.   They know so much about you financially.   Mine knows every investment I made.  She knows which ones made money and which ones lost money.   She knows exactly how I am compensated at work.   She knows about my houses and how much I paid for them.    She knows how much money I gave (or didn’t give) to charities.   That’s a lot of intimate knowledge.   Those are things I don’t really discuss with people.

The funny thing is that I’ve never really worried about giving her all of that information.   I’ve never paused and thought, “should I be telling her all of this?”   I would have that pause if I were discussing it with my best friend.   I would certainly have it if I were talking with people at work. I don’t worry about it with my accountant because our relationship is professional.   She has to have all of that information to do the job I pay her to do.   If she and I were actually friends, and I mean in the sense that we saw each other socially, then I think it would be different.   I think I would find a new accountant.   The reason for that is because money stratifies people.   Discussing money with your friends is taboo because it creates barriers between people.   For those that have more, discussions of money seem like bragging.  For those that have less, it comes off as whining.   This is why we don’t discuss money.

UPDATE: Oil Change

My prepaid oil change ended up costing me $987 in additional services this morning.   Maybe Ron is benefiting more from this relationship than I am?

Oil Change

I’m getting the oil changed in my car this morning.   I do this pretty regularly.   I try to get in every 3000 miles or so, but sometimes I go a little longer.   I never go more than 7000.   My Grandfather told me that getting the oil changed in a car regularly is the best thing you can do to extend its life.   I was not very good about doing it when I was young, but now that I’m older, I’m much better about it.

I get my oil changed at Ron Tonkin Acura, which is the dealership where I bought the car.   I know you’re thinking to yourself that that’s crazy.  Why would he go to the dealership?   There are thousands of places that will do it much faster and cheaper.   Yes, you’re right, but not completely right.   Ron Tonkin and I share a symbiotic relationship.   We have established a deal with each other that benefits us both.    Shortly after I purchased my car in 2004, I purchased something called the “Lifetime Oil Change”.   It’s been so long ago that I don’t remember what I paid for it, but it was around $500.   By purchasing this option, Ron Tonkin agreed to change my oil, with no additional charges, for as long as I own the car.   He probably didn’t know that I keep my cars until they fall apart; I don’t think that would have affected his decision though.   The price per oil change doesn’t really matter to either of us.   For the record though, I’ve had my oil changed here about 12 times.   That means I’m currently at about $41.50 per time.   By the time I get rid of my car, it will be a lot less.

I say that the price doesn’t matter because our relationship is not really about the price of the oil change.    For me, it’s about the fact that I’ve already paid for it.   I know myself well enough to know that if I’ve already shelled out money for something, I’m going to make the most of it.   Because my oil changes are already paid for, I come in and get the service done far more often.   This means that I’m extending the life of my car, which is a good thing for me.   I would probably go 10 or even 15 thousand miles between oil changes if I did not have this service.   Because I have it, I sometimes go back in after only 2000.   There is also free coffee.  

For Mr. Tonkin, the price per oil change doesn’t matter because he really just wants me to come into the dealership.   When I’m here, he can sell me things.   There is a little accessory shop, although I never buy anything there.   There is also a big showroom full of brand new cars.   I often times look at those.   I haven’t bought one in a long time, and I’m not planning to very soon.  (I’m still trying to maximize my oil changes on this one)   What he has sold me, is additional services on my car.   Since I’m already here, I go ahead and let them change various filters and hoses and windshield wipers.   I let them service the different systems when the time is right.  They ALWAYS remind me when the scheduled time is.   I’m pretty sure I end up paying a little bit more than I would somewhere else, but the simple fact is that I wouldn’t do it if I had to go somewhere else.   Ron Tonkin was smart to sell me the “Lifetime Oil Change” and I was smart to buy it.

Coffee

I drink coffee.   I drink a lot of coffee.   I would guess that my average is about 6 cups a day.   There are a few days here and there where I don’t drink any, but it’s less than 5 days a year.   Sometimes I’ll only have a couple.   Most weekend days, for instance, I only have 2 cups.   On work days though, I will drink anywhere from 5 up to about 10.   I like it.   I like the way it makes me feel.

I have friends who are real coffee fanatics.   Some drink a lot more than me.   Some drink less, but will only drink very expensive coffee from certain places.   They can tell you about the different roasts and origins of the beans.   They will go on and on about the preparation differences and how that affects the final drink.   Frankly, I don’t really taste the difference.   It’s not that I couldn’t if I wanted to; it’s that I really don’t want to.  

I have studied and tasted beer to the point that I can immediately pick out styles and origins.   I can taste faults in the brewing process.    I can pick up subtle flavors and isolate them as particular regional qualities.    I can tell you, more or less, the mineral qualities of the water that was used.   I spent years learning to do this.    I now have to spend a fortune on beer, on the rare times that I drink it, because I have to buy the quality products that I know I will like.

I am now going through the same process with wine.  I’m actually pretty far along down the same path with wine appreciation.  I now spend even more money on wine than I ever did on beer.   I study and taste and learn to find the subtle differences between varietals, regions, and processes.    I really enjoy doing this and I wouldn’t change it.

What I don’t want to do is go down that path with coffee.    I want to drink a cup of Folger’s and think, “yummy, this is good.”   I want to be able to enjoy the brewed coffee at my office.   I don’t want to have to go down to the local gourmet coffee shop to get my fix.  I can’t afford it.

Corkage

I’ve been trying to be better about taking my own wine out to restaurants and just paying corkage.  Corkage is probably one of the best deals in the restaurant business, although it certainly doesn’t seem like it.   Corkage is the fee you pay the restaurant to open your own bottle of wine.  

“So let me see if I have this straight”, you’re thinking, “you bring in your own bottle of wine and then pay them to let you drink it?”

“Exactly!”

If I were to estimate how much money I could save per year by always paying corkage, as opposed to buying wine at the restaurant, I would guess it would be around $1500.   I have a taste for good wine and I eat out a lot.  

Corkage fees are usually in the $15 - $25 range.   I go to “Morton’s” for steak several times a year and they charge $30.   I took a magnum (double sized bottle) of Archery Summit Renegade Ridge Pinot Noir to a restaurant called “Le Pigeon” and they charged me $50.    The rationale for that is that it’s really two bottles and they charged me $25 for each of them.   It’s a lot of money.   Drinking wine in restaurants is just never really very cheap.

Now, let’s consider the alternative.   You can buy wine from the restaurant.   Most of the establishments where I eat, particularly for nice meals, have good wine lists.   I never have trouble finding something on the list that I will enjoy.   The problem is the restaurant’s mark up.   About the lowest markup I’ve ever seen is around 75%.   The standard is 100%.  At some restaurants, “Morton’s” for example, it’s 130%.   The average bottle of wine that I would drink at a restaurant retails for around $50.   This means that I’m going to pay between $87.50 and $115.   With corkage, that would be between $65 and $80.   So you see, it’s really a no brainer.

I went out to dinner on Saturday night with a large group.   We brought all of our own wine.  I’m guessing that we probably went through 12 bottles or so.   The corkage there was $15, so there was somewhere around $180 in “opening” fees.   That’s a lot of money.    If the average price per bottle was $25 though, then we paid $480 total for wine and fees.   It would have been $600 to buy the wine at the restaurant.   This means that we saved $120.   That’s a good deal.    It’s made even better by the fact that our gracious hostess picked up the entire tab.   I need to talk to her about that.

Getting away from it all

I love how trips away can remove you from your life for a little while.   I spent yesterday on a vacation from the trials and tribulations of my work, my new house, and my life in general.   Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like all of that stuff, it’s just nice to be able to just put it all on hold for a little while.   You can’t do that when you’re at home, or at least I can’t.  

                Yesterday I did exactly what I wanted.   I went for a couple of long walks.  I went to Bill’s Tavern.  I got some Haystack Bread and I ate some of it.   I played Wiffle Ball.   I messed around on the beach.   I had an awesome dinner.   I hung out with my friends.  I wish every day could be so care free.  

                I’ll be heading back to Portland soon and will be returning to the daily grind tomorrow.   This is not a bad thing; it’s a necessary thing.   That part of my life is very important and it affords me the ability to get away like I did this weekend.   I will think about this weekend and remember the fun I had.   It’s a memory that will stick around and carry me though until the next time I can put things on hold and just concentrate on having a good time.