Friday, July 18, 2008
The Great South West Journey
It sure has been a wonderful month. On June 20th John and Mary arrived for a little vacation. Other than seeing the normal Minneapolis and St Paul sights, we went to the North Shore for two days. Mary and John were a hoot to travel with. John sure likes taking pictures and thank the Universe that he brought to cameras with him on that jaunt. I left my battery plugged into the wall at home, now that was a good place for it don't you think? The sights and sounds of the north woods are not to be missed, not to mention Betty's Pies. The weather was great, nice and cool with bright sunshine, just like Minnesota should be. There are reasons we live here and days like those are some of them. John and Mary left on the 26th at 10AM and at 4PM the Bracker girls from Germany arrived for three weeks. We had a few days with them in the cities to get them acclimated to the time change and America. We also needed a little time for them to get acclimated to us and us to them. Their comments from the first few days "everything is so big" and after three weeks in the U.S. "I am surprised at how awful your roads are." On the 1st of July Jana, Saskia and I flew to Denver for the start of the southwest adventure. We rented the Queen Mary (most everyone else knows it as a Chevy Tahoe) for the journey, wow does that thing suck the gas.. We spent our first three days at the dude ranch, yes I went horse back ridding in complete cowboy drag, boots, hat, western shirt the works. Then Sara Wedul (an old friend that now lives in Denver) joined us for the remainder of the journey. We went to Santa Fe to the Opera, *disappointing* but we loved Santa Fe, the UFO convention in Roswell NM *a little lame actually*, then Carlsbad Caverns *amazing*, The White Sands National Monument, *one of the surprises of the trip for everyone but me, wonderful place*, Gila Cliff Dwellings near Silver City NM, *Cool and not extensive and not touristy at all*, then the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert *Very very cool*. Think this is enough? At this point we are about at the half way mark. We visited some of the sights on old Route 66 *how can you not love that?*, stayed in two 50's style mom and pop motels *I like luxury*, walked around the towns, bought souvenirs, ate in diners and took a ton of pictures. Had a flat tire on the Q.M. that we had to change at 114 degrees, yes 114 degrees and we are all still alive to talk about it. Then off to the Grand Canyon, now that was a sight this old road warrior was completely impressed with but the heat, for God's sake who in their right minds would want to live in that. Dry heat.....PULLLEEEZZZZ. An oven is dry heat too but I am not moving in anytime soon, but I digress... by this time we are all in need of a break and some luxury (especially me) so off to Lost Wages we go. Now I say luxury right, put that together with Las Vegas and does that make you think of the Wynn? It did me. We checked in, what an amazing place that was, the light fixtures were amazing enough to warrant, oh.. say 25 pictures. We all had corner rooms with great views of all the new construction going on there. That is one amazing city, is there no end to the money? The pool area was wonderful and we spent the afternoon in water sipping Mojito's. That evening we went to see "O" the Cirque show at the Bellagio. http://youtube.com/watch?v=O0_KUwpqdE8 Again amazing but tomorrow is a new day so off to Zion National Park *worth the drive* and then Arches *I was so tired I had to sleep in the car while Sara took pictures and did some walking around but again HOT. Of course this was not busy enough for us so we had to add an early morning white water rafting trip to the mix. That was great but we were all so exhausted that I am not sure any of us enjoyed the rest of the drive back to Denver. I had to stay awake and Sara, thank the universe for her, kept me awake so I could navigate the Queen Mary back into port safely. We spent the night with Sara in her home in Denver and the next day we came back to Minneapolis for some much-deserved rest. When time and energy permits I will get into why one should be very careful of the traditional American Motel's these days.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
What a sad sad day!!!
Just when I was getting to know Howard's brother-in-law David, he is gone. How is that possible? How are the Ramsdales going to cope? One thing I hope all of you Ramsdales know is you made his short time on this earth, a joyful one. Other than more time, what more can a person ask?
I know from experience that when loved ones leave so unexpectedly, it is especially hard to say goodbye.
I sit here thinking that I have something more to say but I can hardly see the screen or keyboard to type it is all so blurry, is that what life is, a blur?
I am thinking of all of you.
I know from experience that when loved ones leave so unexpectedly, it is especially hard to say goodbye.
I sit here thinking that I have something more to say but I can hardly see the screen or keyboard to type it is all so blurry, is that what life is, a blur?
I am thinking of all of you.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I am at it again, here goes
What can I say, I finally get two messages on email about my entries so now I have changed my settings so anyone can comment directly on my blog.
March 30, 2008 and it is still winter, I guess we are paying for the last few years of almost no winter, this year it has been more like the winters I remember when I first moved here in the early 70's. Then it was fun, now it is an annoyance. But there are worse things and a wonderful summer is coming. After this a few bugs and a little humidity will be a welcomed change.
I keep hearing the comments about how hard it is to meet people here and of course, being who I am, I have a theory and lots of comments. This shall be my rant of the week.
Minnesotans are wonderful, warm and sincere folks but they don't understand what it is like to be NEW and after all why should I try to change them, when they have built a society I want to be a part of for whatever reason. It is amazing to me how many natives here that I know still have the same friends they had in kindergarten. I guess it shows one thing, people here make friends for life. Friends here are not discardable.
But still, how about us new folks? We are capable of that as well, just give us a chance, but that is another topic for another "rant."
I have basically been here over 25 years and I am still sort of a newcomer. Those of us that are new have learned that over the years we make friends with other folks that are new here too. I really think this is the reason the "Minnesota Miracle" is quickly slipping away.
Minnesota used to be a place that literally embraced it's community in its entirety and genuinely cared about each other. Sure there were racial issues like everywhere and that is not to excuse it but everyone had to learn and some still are. Social programs were great for those that needed them and they really were not abused that much. Sure sometimes they were but heck, what isn't? The schools were fantastic, consistently in the top 3 even in the inner cities. Roads were always well maintained in the summer and winter (at least we didn't have bridges falling down into rivers. The streets were basically safe for kids and everyone really. The jobs were well paying, you really could live the good life on average wages here as an average citizen. It was cold but there was a pride in surviving yet another blizzard. It was not cause for complaint but cause for pride.
With the lack of interaction between the locals and new comers, the new comers have not been educated about the benefits of taking care of the least among us and enjoying what we have here. Some of the new comers come from places with less taxes, less government "interference" and less kindness. Since they come here and really like the place for the great society that was built, they want to being with them the parts of the place they left that just so happened to be in direct conflict with what is here and what caused this place to be what it is keeps them here in the first place.
Selfishness was not the norm here, generosity was. Sure we paid more taxes for "good schools" and "good roads" and "safe streets" and "plentiful libraries with extended hours" and "forward thinking planning" and "great parks systems" and "clean water and air." Even the corporations headquartered and founded in Minnesota are different. They mostly believe in giving back to the community that is loyal to them. Target for example, they have always had a policy of giving 5% of pre-tax profits directly back to the community in the form of support for the arts, parks and education and countless other community endeavours. Can you say that about WalMart, or Halliburton, or Mobile Exxon, or even Macy's or how about Nordstrom's, a great company but do they give back? The others don't do this because they were not part of the Minnesota culture when they were founded and they don't "get" the benefits of this kind of philanthropy.
Any of you reading this, please, the next time you have an actual conversation with someone from Minnesota, ask them how many good friends they have that are not natives, not just friends but good friends. Then ask them to think about it for a minute and then tell you why. What a great place to start a conversation that could actually lead to something more than a general "hello how are you?" If you already have the habit of putting Minnesota down because Minnesotans are passive aggressive, or cold or unfriendly, or the weather is so freaking cold, or what ever the complaint is, stop it. This is no way to make friends. No one wants to hear you complain. If you don't like it, the US is temporarily a free country and you are free to move about the country. Mississippi has low taxes, warm winters low government interference and the welfare spending is very low, they would love more residents I am sure. No matter what the locals complain about, remember it is like family, I can call my sister a bitch and have many times, but you better not.
My experience here has been wonderful almost all the time. I do have great friends and some are locals, not many but some. Sure I hate the long winters, but you know what, I have lived in California and Washington and Ohio and Iowa and Puerto Rico and Illinois and Indiana and I will tell you something you all know and may have forgotten, no place is perfect but there are many many things worse than cold weather and the new comers that have not figured out what makes this place tick are bringing those things with them.
Vickie, Happy Birthday a day late!! Ruthie, I can't wait to read your comments.
If you want a mention, Comment...
March 30, 2008 and it is still winter, I guess we are paying for the last few years of almost no winter, this year it has been more like the winters I remember when I first moved here in the early 70's. Then it was fun, now it is an annoyance. But there are worse things and a wonderful summer is coming. After this a few bugs and a little humidity will be a welcomed change.
I keep hearing the comments about how hard it is to meet people here and of course, being who I am, I have a theory and lots of comments. This shall be my rant of the week.
Minnesotans are wonderful, warm and sincere folks but they don't understand what it is like to be NEW and after all why should I try to change them, when they have built a society I want to be a part of for whatever reason. It is amazing to me how many natives here that I know still have the same friends they had in kindergarten. I guess it shows one thing, people here make friends for life. Friends here are not discardable.
But still, how about us new folks? We are capable of that as well, just give us a chance, but that is another topic for another "rant."
I have basically been here over 25 years and I am still sort of a newcomer. Those of us that are new have learned that over the years we make friends with other folks that are new here too. I really think this is the reason the "Minnesota Miracle" is quickly slipping away.
Minnesota used to be a place that literally embraced it's community in its entirety and genuinely cared about each other. Sure there were racial issues like everywhere and that is not to excuse it but everyone had to learn and some still are. Social programs were great for those that needed them and they really were not abused that much. Sure sometimes they were but heck, what isn't? The schools were fantastic, consistently in the top 3 even in the inner cities. Roads were always well maintained in the summer and winter (at least we didn't have bridges falling down into rivers. The streets were basically safe for kids and everyone really. The jobs were well paying, you really could live the good life on average wages here as an average citizen. It was cold but there was a pride in surviving yet another blizzard. It was not cause for complaint but cause for pride.
With the lack of interaction between the locals and new comers, the new comers have not been educated about the benefits of taking care of the least among us and enjoying what we have here. Some of the new comers come from places with less taxes, less government "interference" and less kindness. Since they come here and really like the place for the great society that was built, they want to being with them the parts of the place they left that just so happened to be in direct conflict with what is here and what caused this place to be what it is keeps them here in the first place.
Selfishness was not the norm here, generosity was. Sure we paid more taxes for "good schools" and "good roads" and "safe streets" and "plentiful libraries with extended hours" and "forward thinking planning" and "great parks systems" and "clean water and air." Even the corporations headquartered and founded in Minnesota are different. They mostly believe in giving back to the community that is loyal to them. Target for example, they have always had a policy of giving 5% of pre-tax profits directly back to the community in the form of support for the arts, parks and education and countless other community endeavours. Can you say that about WalMart, or Halliburton, or Mobile Exxon, or even Macy's or how about Nordstrom's, a great company but do they give back? The others don't do this because they were not part of the Minnesota culture when they were founded and they don't "get" the benefits of this kind of philanthropy.
Any of you reading this, please, the next time you have an actual conversation with someone from Minnesota, ask them how many good friends they have that are not natives, not just friends but good friends. Then ask them to think about it for a minute and then tell you why. What a great place to start a conversation that could actually lead to something more than a general "hello how are you?" If you already have the habit of putting Minnesota down because Minnesotans are passive aggressive, or cold or unfriendly, or the weather is so freaking cold, or what ever the complaint is, stop it. This is no way to make friends. No one wants to hear you complain. If you don't like it, the US is temporarily a free country and you are free to move about the country. Mississippi has low taxes, warm winters low government interference and the welfare spending is very low, they would love more residents I am sure. No matter what the locals complain about, remember it is like family, I can call my sister a bitch and have many times, but you better not.
My experience here has been wonderful almost all the time. I do have great friends and some are locals, not many but some. Sure I hate the long winters, but you know what, I have lived in California and Washington and Ohio and Iowa and Puerto Rico and Illinois and Indiana and I will tell you something you all know and may have forgotten, no place is perfect but there are many many things worse than cold weather and the new comers that have not figured out what makes this place tick are bringing those things with them.
Vickie, Happy Birthday a day late!! Ruthie, I can't wait to read your comments.
If you want a mention, Comment...
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I'm back after all the prodding
Howard seems to think someone cares what I have to say so here we go again.
What memories that brought back reading my last post from Hawaii. After a hard winter in Minneapolis I am looking forward to going back again after tax season.
I want to write something about politics then I say naaaaah. I think the economy of this country is living proof of what is wrong and frankly I don't think it is going to change when John McSame gets elected, in fact it might get worse. Hillary and Barack are killing each other and destroying the best chance we have for change.
I am on the Minnesota Department of Transportation again. Finally the legislature has the good sense to fire Carol Notnow. I have lived in these cities off and on, mostly on, since January 1974 and I can say this, what the hell happened? If anyone is paying attention they know things are not getting better. When I first moved here this was a wonderful place to live, sure there were problems and some things have gotten better for some but for the most part it is not an improvement. We used to be able to drive around here without all the traffic worries we have now. Sure we have more people, a lot more people, but we should have a bigger tax base to provided the basic services we had in the past and by now you would think there would be some improvements, but NOOOOOO. Gridlock is awful during rush hour, traffic lights used to be timed so if you obeyed the speed limits on city streets, especially one ways, you never had to stop unless you turned and went another direction. Now I think MDOT is purposely trying to see how much aggravation they can cause. For what reason, I can't figure out, but aggravation is the name of the game.
Just tonight we went to a movie and getting back on the freeway was a guessing game, the signs are so misleading. Freeway entrance ramps are sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left, but do you think they might tell you in advance with all the signs which lane you are going to have to be in, no, let's aggravate everyone and wait until they are 100 feet from the entrance and then they tell us. Howard says you have to live here to know which lanes you need to be in, I say if the freeways are only for those of us who live here, why waste the money on signs at all?
The potholes, man alive what the heck is going on? Last night we were in Edina and as we were entering on crosstown 62, we hit the edge of a pothole on the entrance ramp that could swallow a Yugo and pop the tires on any other car with a direct hit. It has become common knowledge that the streets are no longer maintained in Minneapolis, they just do emergency repairs. You know, fishing Yugo's out of potholes. The rest of us just keep on repairing tires all the time. It all seemed to go downhill starting with the election of the wrestler in 1998. He was good at writing checks to all us for a tax surplus that existed during the Clinton economy but what I got would just about repair one tire. I guess Jesse Ventura had some mammoth SUV and did not like the license fees so he slashed them, really slashed them. Of course everyone thought that was great until now that we realize...hey there is no money to repair the roads. After all we had a interstate highway bridge that feel into the river at rush hour last summer. You would think that would get every ones attention, but no.....not here.
Our wonderful governor Pawlenty vetoed a bill the legislature passed to address the issue. Finally they had the "balls" to override his veto this year. So guess what, we are getting a 3 cent per gallon gas tax increase and a lot of folks, and especially the tax payers league, are so pissed they can't stand it. When gas goes up 15-30 cents per day sometimes, I want to know just who is going to notice 3 cents? At least now there will be some money to do some catch up and get some of the bridges repaired and finally build a transit system that works. Let's just see if they can figure out how to do that?
I have written about the practice of hiding access to Hwy 55 from downtown before. It is a mystery. Last fall I spoke to the Senate majority leader personally (he was at our house for a fundraiser for our favorite city council member) and he and his office made numerous attempts to get something done, but still, there are no signs. I guess someone wants that one hidden, again from anyone who does not live here. That is a main artery from downtown to the airport, I would hope that more than locals are going from downtown to the airport, but hey who am I? Call me stupid, but I thought making visitors welcome and helping them find their way around would be good business.
Do you think this is enough for now? I do.
Good night.
Post a comment so I know you are reading my ramblings and rantings.
Aloha!!
What memories that brought back reading my last post from Hawaii. After a hard winter in Minneapolis I am looking forward to going back again after tax season.
I want to write something about politics then I say naaaaah. I think the economy of this country is living proof of what is wrong and frankly I don't think it is going to change when John McSame gets elected, in fact it might get worse. Hillary and Barack are killing each other and destroying the best chance we have for change.
I am on the Minnesota Department of Transportation again. Finally the legislature has the good sense to fire Carol Notnow. I have lived in these cities off and on, mostly on, since January 1974 and I can say this, what the hell happened? If anyone is paying attention they know things are not getting better. When I first moved here this was a wonderful place to live, sure there were problems and some things have gotten better for some but for the most part it is not an improvement. We used to be able to drive around here without all the traffic worries we have now. Sure we have more people, a lot more people, but we should have a bigger tax base to provided the basic services we had in the past and by now you would think there would be some improvements, but NOOOOOO. Gridlock is awful during rush hour, traffic lights used to be timed so if you obeyed the speed limits on city streets, especially one ways, you never had to stop unless you turned and went another direction. Now I think MDOT is purposely trying to see how much aggravation they can cause. For what reason, I can't figure out, but aggravation is the name of the game.
Just tonight we went to a movie and getting back on the freeway was a guessing game, the signs are so misleading. Freeway entrance ramps are sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left, but do you think they might tell you in advance with all the signs which lane you are going to have to be in, no, let's aggravate everyone and wait until they are 100 feet from the entrance and then they tell us. Howard says you have to live here to know which lanes you need to be in, I say if the freeways are only for those of us who live here, why waste the money on signs at all?
The potholes, man alive what the heck is going on? Last night we were in Edina and as we were entering on crosstown 62, we hit the edge of a pothole on the entrance ramp that could swallow a Yugo and pop the tires on any other car with a direct hit. It has become common knowledge that the streets are no longer maintained in Minneapolis, they just do emergency repairs. You know, fishing Yugo's out of potholes. The rest of us just keep on repairing tires all the time. It all seemed to go downhill starting with the election of the wrestler in 1998. He was good at writing checks to all us for a tax surplus that existed during the Clinton economy but what I got would just about repair one tire. I guess Jesse Ventura had some mammoth SUV and did not like the license fees so he slashed them, really slashed them. Of course everyone thought that was great until now that we realize...hey there is no money to repair the roads. After all we had a interstate highway bridge that feel into the river at rush hour last summer. You would think that would get every ones attention, but no.....not here.
Our wonderful governor Pawlenty vetoed a bill the legislature passed to address the issue. Finally they had the "balls" to override his veto this year. So guess what, we are getting a 3 cent per gallon gas tax increase and a lot of folks, and especially the tax payers league, are so pissed they can't stand it. When gas goes up 15-30 cents per day sometimes, I want to know just who is going to notice 3 cents? At least now there will be some money to do some catch up and get some of the bridges repaired and finally build a transit system that works. Let's just see if they can figure out how to do that?
I have written about the practice of hiding access to Hwy 55 from downtown before. It is a mystery. Last fall I spoke to the Senate majority leader personally (he was at our house for a fundraiser for our favorite city council member) and he and his office made numerous attempts to get something done, but still, there are no signs. I guess someone wants that one hidden, again from anyone who does not live here. That is a main artery from downtown to the airport, I would hope that more than locals are going from downtown to the airport, but hey who am I? Call me stupid, but I thought making visitors welcome and helping them find their way around would be good business.
Do you think this is enough for now? I do.
Good night.
Post a comment so I know you are reading my ramblings and rantings.
Aloha!!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Aloha and Mahalo,
This was saved as a draft and I have not been to the blog for sometime. I just read what I had to say and decided to publish it pretty much as it is (in otherwords I decided to at least attempt to spell check)
Not sure how to start this so I will just jump in........
I can't say enough about the wonderful people I have met here in Hawaii. I am trying to figure out how in the world I missed this place. With all the places in the world I have been including here two times, how could I have missed what Oahu has to offer or has something changed? Me or it.... Both previous experiences all I wanted to do was leave, now all I want to do is stay. By my previous post you know we are not staying in Waikiki, we are in Diamond Head. Waikiki is actually nice, I know the locals hate it and call it the concrete jungle etc., etc., but frankly I like it. Maybe I would not like it as much if I were actually staying in the middle of it but I remember it from previous times, and concrete jungle was very accurate then. Now it is green, charming, still some local color, it is not all Fende, Prada and Gucci. There are still ABC Stores and Aloha Sushi (This is a fabulous concept, fast food sushi, fresh and cheap) The Tiki Torches (gas now) going at night, palm trees, green grass and a warm welcoming atmosphere. Whats not to love? Expensive? No not really.
We did go to the Big Island, nice......maybe a bit boring. Except Hilo, it was a wonderful small city on the "rainy coast" but charming and real. Kona, not so much charming or real. Kona is more like a generic suburb you would find in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis....on and on and on. Kona is fine if you want to scuba, snorkel and rest. We visited Mauna Kea at 13,500 feet to see the observatories, now that was very cool or should I say cold. There was a bit of snow on the ground the temperature was 30F. We also visited the Volcanoes national park, not too much see, at least not much more than what you would see in Yellowstone. Some steam coming out of the ground and more lava fields, well most of the island is raw lava fields so you don't need to go to the park to see it. We were told to see flowing magma you had to rent a helicopter in Hilo. I would love to see magma flowing into the sea but my limited experience in helicopters was enough for me to have zero interest in that idea. In the end, two days was enough of the Big Island.
Aloha is a strange word and it has so many different meanings but they are all good, Hello, Goodbye it was fun and I look forward to seeing you again, Sure let me get that for you, Sure I will let you in this line ahead of me, I am happy to wait for you to cross the street, Sure I will give you room to change lanes in this bumper to bumper traffic, Have a wonderful day, Is there anything else I can get you, it goes on and on and on but again it is all good. People here say, "where is your Aloha?" when someone is rude or impatient. I wish I could clone this attitude back home. In Minneapolis it is hey a-holA way too much, well I will take the Aloha back home with me, maybe it will spread even just a bit.
There is a catch: The traffic here is horrendous, going 4 miles in rush hour (7:00 AM - 9:30 AM and again 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM) can easily take over an hour, how is this possible? This is what Bangkok is like. How can the stewards of a place that is so incredibly wonderful have messed this part of this place up so royally? Truly, I can't find anything else to complain about here except it is an 8 hour flight from Minneapolis.
UGH.............. 8 hours to Minneapolis, I get to do this one more time. This is Sunday night and Wednesday I have to board that plane back half way across the Pacific and half way across the US to Minneapolis. I am told there has been a little snow, maybe none of it stayed but you know it had to be cold for it to happen at all. I am not sure I am ready to go yet, but then maybe I never will be. We can't live in Paradise right? If we did it would no longer be paradise, it would then be home and for some reason the two cannot be the same right, or can it?
We are going for a nice walk in the balmy night to contemplate the culture shock of going home and to work.
Not sure how to start this so I will just jump in........
I can't say enough about the wonderful people I have met here in Hawaii. I am trying to figure out how in the world I missed this place. With all the places in the world I have been including here two times, how could I have missed what Oahu has to offer or has something changed? Me or it.... Both previous experiences all I wanted to do was leave, now all I want to do is stay. By my previous post you know we are not staying in Waikiki, we are in Diamond Head. Waikiki is actually nice, I know the locals hate it and call it the concrete jungle etc., etc., but frankly I like it. Maybe I would not like it as much if I were actually staying in the middle of it but I remember it from previous times, and concrete jungle was very accurate then. Now it is green, charming, still some local color, it is not all Fende, Prada and Gucci. There are still ABC Stores and Aloha Sushi (This is a fabulous concept, fast food sushi, fresh and cheap) The Tiki Torches (gas now) going at night, palm trees, green grass and a warm welcoming atmosphere. Whats not to love? Expensive? No not really.
We did go to the Big Island, nice......maybe a bit boring. Except Hilo, it was a wonderful small city on the "rainy coast" but charming and real. Kona, not so much charming or real. Kona is more like a generic suburb you would find in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis....on and on and on. Kona is fine if you want to scuba, snorkel and rest. We visited Mauna Kea at 13,500 feet to see the observatories, now that was very cool or should I say cold. There was a bit of snow on the ground the temperature was 30F. We also visited the Volcanoes national park, not too much see, at least not much more than what you would see in Yellowstone. Some steam coming out of the ground and more lava fields, well most of the island is raw lava fields so you don't need to go to the park to see it. We were told to see flowing magma you had to rent a helicopter in Hilo. I would love to see magma flowing into the sea but my limited experience in helicopters was enough for me to have zero interest in that idea. In the end, two days was enough of the Big Island.
Aloha is a strange word and it has so many different meanings but they are all good, Hello, Goodbye it was fun and I look forward to seeing you again, Sure let me get that for you, Sure I will let you in this line ahead of me, I am happy to wait for you to cross the street, Sure I will give you room to change lanes in this bumper to bumper traffic, Have a wonderful day, Is there anything else I can get you, it goes on and on and on but again it is all good. People here say, "where is your Aloha?" when someone is rude or impatient. I wish I could clone this attitude back home. In Minneapolis it is hey a-holA way too much, well I will take the Aloha back home with me, maybe it will spread even just a bit.
There is a catch: The traffic here is horrendous, going 4 miles in rush hour (7:00 AM - 9:30 AM and again 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM) can easily take over an hour, how is this possible? This is what Bangkok is like. How can the stewards of a place that is so incredibly wonderful have messed this part of this place up so royally? Truly, I can't find anything else to complain about here except it is an 8 hour flight from Minneapolis.
UGH.............. 8 hours to Minneapolis, I get to do this one more time. This is Sunday night and Wednesday I have to board that plane back half way across the Pacific and half way across the US to Minneapolis. I am told there has been a little snow, maybe none of it stayed but you know it had to be cold for it to happen at all. I am not sure I am ready to go yet, but then maybe I never will be. We can't live in Paradise right? If we did it would no longer be paradise, it would then be home and for some reason the two cannot be the same right, or can it?
We are going for a nice walk in the balmy night to contemplate the culture shock of going home and to work.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Aloha
Here I am in Hawaii for a month of rest, relaxation and recharge.
As those of you who know me know, (that sounds weird but how else would I say that?)this has been on horrid year for me. On April 1st my Mom died after a long slide and incredible pain associated with osteoporosis. Add to that neglect. Now, don't get me started on this, I am still pissed off enough at a certain family member that could have helped but choose to sit by and withdraw, that I am afraid I will write something I might regret in 20 or 30 lifetimes.
Then 22 days later Dad who was in relative good health, followed Mom. His death is even more tragic, all he asked for was a little help from that same certain family member and that never happened either. So again, don't get me started.
If those of you who are reading this have not lost both your parents, let me tell you it is worse than you can imagine. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could pick up the phone and call just to chat. And if anyone tells you it is easier if you are prepared, from my perspective, it is, the sudden unexpected one was much much harder.
Anyway, here I am trying to figure out what my place in the world is now. Why do I matter and what exactly does matter? I know I can't run from the world but I still think I am going to give it a go just to make sure.
I have rented this wonderful little cottage makai of Diamond Head. It was origionally the guest cottage of a famous Hawaiian family but the main house has been mostly demolished in preparation for a fantastic rebuild. This cottage was totally remodeled in the last two years with impeccable taste. Two bedrooms, one bath, kitchen and living room. The bath and kitchen have stone counter tops and floors and wonderful lighting. The rest of the house has new windows, french doors in each bedroom to private decks and another set of french doors from the living room to another deck. The Audio Visual equipment is top notch stuff with plasma screen TV and great sound on the CD/DVD player. Since there is a lot of land here there is also a nice little stone patio ringed by Tiki Torches. There is no water view but this privacy is worth not being able to see the water. The cottage is built on the side of a hill and part of one deck hangs out over the ravine that runs from the top of Diamond Head to the Pacific Ocean. Howard's cousin Karen moved here 37 years ago to teach school for a year and of course, being the wise one, she stayed, met and married a great guy named Eric. Eric was born and raised here and is 100% Japanese. Interesting that he has a name like Eric and a sister Susan and a brother Robert all 100%Japanese, I guess when they were born they had to assimilate as much as possible. I don't think the Japanese were all that welcome during the 50's. I have spent about 3 days of my first week with them. They are wonderful guides to the Hawaii that tourists don't see. Last Sunday they took me to a potluck, what a hoot that was. All the ladies in Hawaiian muumuu's and a lot of the men in Aloha shirts. This was Karen's church Choir group annual potluck. What an incredible bunch of folks, they all were so nice that I even agreed to help stuff envelopes last Tuesday at the church.
Last night Karen and Eric came over here for dinner. I brought my cooks books written by the Blanchards. I love those and the ingredients are easy to find here being this is another tropical climate. (I have written more on this twice and each time it was deleted by my hitting the wrong key, so this is the end of this topic for now. )
Today we went to the Aloha Stadium to the flea market, it was mostly new stuff. Frankly it was similar to Berlin New Jersey in some ways, a whole ton of the same thing over and over but without the cheesesteaks. Tomorrow is all used stuff so I am going back. Eric and Karen have taken me to little out of the way places that most people would never find. Of couse the normal stuff as well, today we went to Kmart and Boarders. Now that may sound awful but let me tell you, when you need Tiki Oil, where would you go, and the most recent issue of Travel and Leisure, again where?
You know you are in a different world when even the Boarders most currnt issue of Travel and Leisure is October. I think my December issue has probably arrived at home. The store employee did not seem at all surprised that last months issue was the only one they had.
As those of you who know me know, (that sounds weird but how else would I say that?)this has been on horrid year for me. On April 1st my Mom died after a long slide and incredible pain associated with osteoporosis. Add to that neglect. Now, don't get me started on this, I am still pissed off enough at a certain family member that could have helped but choose to sit by and withdraw, that I am afraid I will write something I might regret in 20 or 30 lifetimes.
Then 22 days later Dad who was in relative good health, followed Mom. His death is even more tragic, all he asked for was a little help from that same certain family member and that never happened either. So again, don't get me started.
If those of you who are reading this have not lost both your parents, let me tell you it is worse than you can imagine. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could pick up the phone and call just to chat. And if anyone tells you it is easier if you are prepared, from my perspective, it is, the sudden unexpected one was much much harder.
Anyway, here I am trying to figure out what my place in the world is now. Why do I matter and what exactly does matter? I know I can't run from the world but I still think I am going to give it a go just to make sure.
I have rented this wonderful little cottage makai of Diamond Head. It was origionally the guest cottage of a famous Hawaiian family but the main house has been mostly demolished in preparation for a fantastic rebuild. This cottage was totally remodeled in the last two years with impeccable taste. Two bedrooms, one bath, kitchen and living room. The bath and kitchen have stone counter tops and floors and wonderful lighting. The rest of the house has new windows, french doors in each bedroom to private decks and another set of french doors from the living room to another deck. The Audio Visual equipment is top notch stuff with plasma screen TV and great sound on the CD/DVD player. Since there is a lot of land here there is also a nice little stone patio ringed by Tiki Torches. There is no water view but this privacy is worth not being able to see the water. The cottage is built on the side of a hill and part of one deck hangs out over the ravine that runs from the top of Diamond Head to the Pacific Ocean. Howard's cousin Karen moved here 37 years ago to teach school for a year and of course, being the wise one, she stayed, met and married a great guy named Eric. Eric was born and raised here and is 100% Japanese. Interesting that he has a name like Eric and a sister Susan and a brother Robert all 100%Japanese, I guess when they were born they had to assimilate as much as possible. I don't think the Japanese were all that welcome during the 50's. I have spent about 3 days of my first week with them. They are wonderful guides to the Hawaii that tourists don't see. Last Sunday they took me to a potluck, what a hoot that was. All the ladies in Hawaiian muumuu's and a lot of the men in Aloha shirts. This was Karen's church Choir group annual potluck. What an incredible bunch of folks, they all were so nice that I even agreed to help stuff envelopes last Tuesday at the church.
Last night Karen and Eric came over here for dinner. I brought my cooks books written by the Blanchards. I love those and the ingredients are easy to find here being this is another tropical climate. (I have written more on this twice and each time it was deleted by my hitting the wrong key, so this is the end of this topic for now. )
Today we went to the Aloha Stadium to the flea market, it was mostly new stuff. Frankly it was similar to Berlin New Jersey in some ways, a whole ton of the same thing over and over but without the cheesesteaks. Tomorrow is all used stuff so I am going back. Eric and Karen have taken me to little out of the way places that most people would never find. Of couse the normal stuff as well, today we went to Kmart and Boarders. Now that may sound awful but let me tell you, when you need Tiki Oil, where would you go, and the most recent issue of Travel and Leisure, again where?
You know you are in a different world when even the Boarders most currnt issue of Travel and Leisure is October. I think my December issue has probably arrived at home. The store employee did not seem at all surprised that last months issue was the only one they had.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
More on MNDOT and the I 35W bridge
Yesterday was an especially wonderful day me. First it was by birthday but that was not the good part. The wonderful part was that I received an invitation by Diane Hofstede, our city council member, to attend and participate in the Figg Bridge Design Charette. This was an all day event where the designers of the new I35W bridge presented the options and allowed us to discuss it, lobby each other in the room and then vote for our preference.
This was a rewarding experience especially for me since I have been all over the board on this thing. First I was curious, then anti bridge, then came acceptance of it being built and back to wanting something spectacular and back again to disappointment that it would be boring and finally to acceptance and now at least partial excitement. Do I need meds or what???
During the emotional roller coaster one of my fears has been that we would pull the typical Minnesota thing and miss the last field goal and end up with a boring bridge. I went to some meetings that confirmed my fears so I was against building it at all. I still think there are other options than rebuilding but the "not build" discussion never happened so I decided I might as well get used to that and see what they intend to build. Then they unveil this slab of BORING concrete. I wanted something like the Golden Gate. A monument to what I don't know but something beautiful that people would recognized like the Golden Gate, or the Sydney Opera House, or the Sears Tower, or the Empire State Building, the Guggenheim in Bilbao but no, this is Minnesota, we only deserve a slab of concrete. I think I need to clarify here, yes 12 folks were killed on that bridge. This was a direct result of neglect by our lovely Republican mentality of "cut everything we can, keep all the money we earn, screw everyone else as long as I get mine, government is a bad thing" mentality. People are killed everyday in our nations cities and I have yet to see a memorial to them, also innocent victims. So I ask, if there is to be a memorial to the lives lost on the bridge, why is there no memorial to the victims of violent crimes in our cities?
Next is the Third Ward Summit and Linda Figg of Figg Bridge Design and Jon Chiglo of MNDOT are there to present the concept of the new bridge and thoughts that went into it. I will have to say Jon Chiglo was incredibly patient in answering the relentless questions of why it has to be so BORING. Finally he made a statement that at least made sense to me, at least it was a thought process about design rather than just being cheap. I don't agree but at least it was thought out or at least they found a way to make it look thought out. Jon Chiglo said, with all the other art on the river; the Stone Arch Bridge, Guthrie Theater, Mill City Museum, Third Ave Bridge and Hennepin Ave Bridge, anything dramatic would over power the rest and fight the rest for attention. Okay, at least they appear to have thought about this and I will not have any effect in changing this line of thought. So it is what it is. Who said that Joan???
Then I get the invite to help select the subtle design elements of the bridge. Okay here is my chance to either shut up or put up, I put up. I counted at one time 54 folks in the room and many were non voters so in the end about 40 of us decided the finer details of the new bridge. Linda Figg did a great job, listened to what everyone said, answered questions when they were asked of her, otherwise the presentation, discussion and voting appeared to have no predetermined outcome. Needless to say they had their own preferences but still we were the ones to vote and make the final decisions.
Fox9 news interviewed me and of course typical of them, took the most sensational quote and used it. How did we end up with a media that no longer cares about facts and substance and only about sensationalism? This is the second time they have interviewed about something and then chopped until they had something sensational they could use. If asked I won't let them interview me again, lesson learned. A reporter from the Star Tribune also quoted me incorrectly. I was making a case at one point for a solid wall barrier rather than open railing on the bridge for two reasons. 1-Are you going to be viewing the river in heavy traffic, changing lanes and at 60 miles an hour? I hope not. 2-MNDOT has shown a complete lack of understanding that things need maintenance so why put up something that will be rusted and ugly in a short time? However after listening to other participants I changed my mind and said so publicly, but still they printed that I was for the solid wall. I guess I have to write a letter to the editor for that one. You sure can't believe what you read in the papers can you? I think it is all sensational BS.
In the end the bridge will be sleek, unobtrusive, with a lot of curves and hopefully some nice lighting to enhance the gentleness of it.
I just wonder what Jon Chiglo is thinking? Does he really feel his department is doing a good job or does he simply believe he is doing that best he can with the resources he has? I would love an honest conversation with him.
FYI: Still the signs downtown directing us to HWY 55 do not exist.
Last night we had a fundraiser for Diane Hofstede and the array of people who came was very interesting. We had 125-150 in our home for a couple of hours drinking, eating and talking. I asked our Senate Majority leader, Larry Pogemiller to check into this sign issue downtown even though it is not his issue, he promised he would. No one seems willing to take responsibility for this and it really is a problem that has a simple solution. The city says it is the responsibility of the county since the signs go on county roads, the county says it is the responsibility of the state since it is marking a state highway, how the hell does anyone ever get anything done, this I want to know? I should just get back to selling houses and forget this community agitation thing.
This was a rewarding experience especially for me since I have been all over the board on this thing. First I was curious, then anti bridge, then came acceptance of it being built and back to wanting something spectacular and back again to disappointment that it would be boring and finally to acceptance and now at least partial excitement. Do I need meds or what???
During the emotional roller coaster one of my fears has been that we would pull the typical Minnesota thing and miss the last field goal and end up with a boring bridge. I went to some meetings that confirmed my fears so I was against building it at all. I still think there are other options than rebuilding but the "not build" discussion never happened so I decided I might as well get used to that and see what they intend to build. Then they unveil this slab of BORING concrete. I wanted something like the Golden Gate. A monument to what I don't know but something beautiful that people would recognized like the Golden Gate, or the Sydney Opera House, or the Sears Tower, or the Empire State Building, the Guggenheim in Bilbao but no, this is Minnesota, we only deserve a slab of concrete. I think I need to clarify here, yes 12 folks were killed on that bridge. This was a direct result of neglect by our lovely Republican mentality of "cut everything we can, keep all the money we earn, screw everyone else as long as I get mine, government is a bad thing" mentality. People are killed everyday in our nations cities and I have yet to see a memorial to them, also innocent victims. So I ask, if there is to be a memorial to the lives lost on the bridge, why is there no memorial to the victims of violent crimes in our cities?
Next is the Third Ward Summit and Linda Figg of Figg Bridge Design and Jon Chiglo of MNDOT are there to present the concept of the new bridge and thoughts that went into it. I will have to say Jon Chiglo was incredibly patient in answering the relentless questions of why it has to be so BORING. Finally he made a statement that at least made sense to me, at least it was a thought process about design rather than just being cheap. I don't agree but at least it was thought out or at least they found a way to make it look thought out. Jon Chiglo said, with all the other art on the river; the Stone Arch Bridge, Guthrie Theater, Mill City Museum, Third Ave Bridge and Hennepin Ave Bridge, anything dramatic would over power the rest and fight the rest for attention. Okay, at least they appear to have thought about this and I will not have any effect in changing this line of thought. So it is what it is. Who said that Joan???
Then I get the invite to help select the subtle design elements of the bridge. Okay here is my chance to either shut up or put up, I put up. I counted at one time 54 folks in the room and many were non voters so in the end about 40 of us decided the finer details of the new bridge. Linda Figg did a great job, listened to what everyone said, answered questions when they were asked of her, otherwise the presentation, discussion and voting appeared to have no predetermined outcome. Needless to say they had their own preferences but still we were the ones to vote and make the final decisions.
Fox9 news interviewed me and of course typical of them, took the most sensational quote and used it. How did we end up with a media that no longer cares about facts and substance and only about sensationalism? This is the second time they have interviewed about something and then chopped until they had something sensational they could use. If asked I won't let them interview me again, lesson learned. A reporter from the Star Tribune also quoted me incorrectly. I was making a case at one point for a solid wall barrier rather than open railing on the bridge for two reasons. 1-Are you going to be viewing the river in heavy traffic, changing lanes and at 60 miles an hour? I hope not. 2-MNDOT has shown a complete lack of understanding that things need maintenance so why put up something that will be rusted and ugly in a short time? However after listening to other participants I changed my mind and said so publicly, but still they printed that I was for the solid wall. I guess I have to write a letter to the editor for that one. You sure can't believe what you read in the papers can you? I think it is all sensational BS.
In the end the bridge will be sleek, unobtrusive, with a lot of curves and hopefully some nice lighting to enhance the gentleness of it.
I just wonder what Jon Chiglo is thinking? Does he really feel his department is doing a good job or does he simply believe he is doing that best he can with the resources he has? I would love an honest conversation with him.
FYI: Still the signs downtown directing us to HWY 55 do not exist.
Last night we had a fundraiser for Diane Hofstede and the array of people who came was very interesting. We had 125-150 in our home for a couple of hours drinking, eating and talking. I asked our Senate Majority leader, Larry Pogemiller to check into this sign issue downtown even though it is not his issue, he promised he would. No one seems willing to take responsibility for this and it really is a problem that has a simple solution. The city says it is the responsibility of the county since the signs go on county roads, the county says it is the responsibility of the state since it is marking a state highway, how the hell does anyone ever get anything done, this I want to know? I should just get back to selling houses and forget this community agitation thing.
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