I think we can all agree, our State is in a sad state

I've seen lots of stories in the news recently (especially on the Fresno Bee website) about the California legislature. Most of the local stories lament the 2/3 requirement for tax increases, I think that most journalists have never met a tax increase they don't like, but that's not what I want to talk about. I think that most people across the spectrum can agree that our government is failing us. I do think the overall tax system needs to be repaired, but that's a thought for another day.
I haven't done any real research on the subject, but here is my simple, three part solution to solving the problems of our statewide elected representatives (these should go for Constitutional officers as well as the Legislature), who seem to have more loyalty to party and self than to the people they supposedly serve.
First, eliminate all income, reimbursements and benefits outside salary. Does anyone really think that more days in session equals better lawmaking? It only equals more per diem payments to everyone involved. I also think that term limits should be repealed in conjunction with removing any and all retirement benefits for elected officials. Service to the public should be a calling, not a lifestyle. Salaries would need to be raised by a substantial amount, doubling or tripling the base salary, but that would still result in a net decrease in outlays for the State. Also the staffs should be reduced by 50% across the board. We should be paying for elected officials to do the work, not unaccountable hired help.
Second would be the move to a part time legislature on a two year cycle. One year would be devoted only to a two year budget, the second to all other legislation. That would provide them less time to ruin our lives with unnecessary legislation that contributes to what was reported as a $500 billion hit to the State's economy EVERY YEAR. Each session would be of a limited time, to allow the elected officials more time to spend in their districts.
Finally, any elected official should be barred from employment by any State entity (except another elected office) for life (removing the gravy train of serving on unelected boards and commissions), and barred from employment by any lobbying entity for 4 years once they leave office. Again, public service should not be a means to an end. There should also be similar restrictions for legislative staff as well, to eliminate the idea that there are only a small portion of the population that are professional 'governors' of the State's affairs, and that they should just move from one position to another, helping 'run' all the different parts of government. This smacks of the inbreeding problems of the European monarchies of the 17th - 18th centuries. New blood is a good thing!
Citizen legislators should be just that. This would bring people from all walks of life to Sacramento for a while, then, hopefully, they would go back to their old career once their elected term ended.

What, exactly, am I running from?

I bought a new pair of running shoes this week. Even better, I actually used them last night for the second time. I'm not sure second time is really accurate. I mean, I wore them on the treadmill at the gym for 45 minutes, so that should count for something, right? I broke them in on the actual open road tonight for another 45 minute run. Again, perhaps run isn't the correct term for what happened out there. Maybe a little background is in order.
About 18 months ago I was given an opportunity to join a wellness program sponsored by my then employer. I jumped in with unbridled enthusiasm, mostly because the program was so darned easy! Simple, calorie balancing meals throughout the day, mixed with a 6 day per week, 30 minutes per day workout program. I was desperate to lose weight, at that time I weighed over 150 Kilos (I'm so embarrassed about the actual number that I'm daring you to do the conversion to find out the number in pounds), and had tried and failed at a number of diets. Long story short, the program worked. I lost about 65 pounds in 5 months, and then slowly lost another 20 pounds over the next 7. Then in February, I got laid off. And I held firm for a few weeks with the exercise and diet, but slowly pulled away. Part of my weight problem is probably recognizable to 90% of people out there who have one too: I eat because I'm unhappy, then I'm more unhappy because I don't like the way I look and feel after overeating. That cycle is almost perpetual motion, someone should figure out a way to harness that energy, it could solve the world's energy demand for years to come. But I digress. I fell back into my old ways and realized that I have put back on 15 pounds. And it's not like I feel good about the food that I've been eating. To the contrary, I've been sliding into eating, well, not to put too fine a coat of lipstick onto this pig, but I've been eating crap.
I needed a new goal. So I set one. My cardio workouts (which are 3 per week, the other 3 days are weight workouts) have consisted of time on the treadmill at a fast walking pace with a medium incline. This gets me to a specific heart rate during exercise (I use a Polar monitor for accuracy) that is supposed to maximize my fat burning potential. Which sounds good, but I actually want to do two different things with my workouts moving forward. I want to get out of the gym and into the real world. I'm doing that with this so-called running. Second is that I want to participate in a real world athletic event by the end of the year. My first thought was an event in my home town called the 'Turkey Trot,' however, they have moved that 10K run from Thankgiving Day proper to the Saturday prior, and I won't be able to attend.
But somehow I will participate in some run, more likely around Christmas, I am even more determined than ever. I don't want to be concerned about a scale reading, I want to celebrate an accomplishment out in the real world! Eventually, I hope those real world accomplishments will give me the confidence to get back to my real love, in terms of working out, swimming (there's no way I'm going to put on a swim suit in front of people right now!) So finally to finish my story about last night: my first run in the wild was more a mix of fast walking and what can only generously be called jogging, but as I've heard too many times, every journey begins with the first step, or attempted stride as the case may be.

Eight years and counting

I started following an interesting Twitter account a couple of weeks ago. This account (@WWIIToday) is sending updates around the 70th anniversary of events from World War II. While there are arguments around the official start date of the war, there is some consensus around September 1, 1939. This is the date that Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and plunged Europe into devastation. Just over two years later, the span of the war spilled onto the global stage with the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese forces. December 7, 1941, "a date that will live in infamy" changed our nation. The politics of the Great Depression had already put its stamp on America. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal established our first real social services safety net to ensure that all citizens would not slip through the cracks. But Pearl Harbor united the country for a singular purpose, and no sacrifice was too great, no innovation too small. The war was over in less than 4 years after America entered the fray. We were brought in against our will, but ended it with the two biggest bangs ever unleashed on humanity to force our enemy into surrender.
My roommate woke me up 8 years ago stammering about a horrendous plane crash in New York. I was watching live when the second tower was struck, instantly realizing that this was no accident. 9/11 became a rallying event for my generation, just as Pearl Harbor was for my grandparents. But 9/11 didn't last. It didn't take long after the initial shock wore off that we went back to our hyper-partisanship that had been the norm for the prior 10 years. (Incidentally, I don't mean to speak ill of the recently deceased, but in my opinion the spiral into the current state of name calling and invective from both sides of the aisle can be traced back directly to Ted Kennedy's treatment of Robert Bork during his Senate committee hearing for confirmation to the Supreme Court.) Now to be clear, I would probably be classified as a conservative Republican, but I am completely against the war in Iraq. To be sure, Saddam Hussein was an evil man, but we should have had all of our ducks in a row after taking care of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If we had focused our energies there, maybe we would have already captured Osama bin Laden, and wouldn't be seeing a resurgance of the Taliban in those countries. But we were attacked, and I do support declaring war on those who did us grievous harm.
But we didn't really go to war. We were told to go shopping. The old Vietnam era quandary of 'Guns and Butter' has reared its ugly head upon us 8 years later, and we are now experiencing a major recession. I'm guilty of some glutteounous consumerism during this time, but I'm definitely trying to change. My question is simple: why weren't we asked to sacrifice for our country?  I think we squandered an opportunity to fundamentally change the way we subsidize various sectors of the economy that end up forcing us to depend on imported fossil fuels.
We have had brave Americans in harm's way for 8 years now. That is twice the length of time we spent in World War II. It's time to get our act together, pull together, and defeat our enemies around the world. 9/11 is not a day to try to push a new plan for National Service, that diminishes the memory of the victims that made the ultimate sacrifice. 9/11 should be a day for a new plan to win the war on Terrorism. And it's disappointing that the current administration has begun to change it's terminology in an attempt at revisionist history. It's also no surprise that the news headlines today also mention the Senate approving massive military budget cuts requested by the administration. I do not approve of speeches asking us to try to understand the mindset of the hijackers, equating their desolate upbringing to the despicable acts they inflicted upon our nation. The only reason I want to understand their mindset is so we can figure out a way to use it against them while hunting them down.
No nation is perfect, especially ours. But taken in its entirety, America is the greatest nation on Earth. The millions of people attempting (and succeeding) in migrating to our shores proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. We have flaws, but that's simple to explain. We are a nation of human beings, and humans are flawed. But in the neighborhood of nations, ours is the house where all the other kids want to come to play, and everybody wants to be friends with the parents. We don't need to apologize for every single one of our little mistakes, we should be focusing on all of our successes. So let's succeed against our enemies, be good neighbors and friends for those who are willing, and move forward into the rest of the 21st century. But never forget those 3000 victims from 8 years ago, and the only service we should be looking into when remembering is service that would help our nation's military finish this war as soon as possible. And history shows that once we've defeated our enemies, we do everything we can to turn them into our friends. Because that's the American Way. Anything less, and any other plans for commemorating today cheapens their memory.

Do words even matter?

I'm not going to see the movie, but I heard an ad on the radio for the new 'Final Destination' film. I'm going to save for another day the post about how three sequels were made for a tremendously bad movie, but that's not the point here. Apparently, the newest version of the film was done in 3D, which as someone with a couple of specific eye problems, I cannot enjoy, but the ad sure played up the benefits of an extra dimension.

But then at the end of the ad, the disclaimer came on and said something to the effect of "film will be shown in 2D at select theaters." Wow! Select theaters will be showing the film in 2D, instead of 3D! Where do I find those 'select' theaters, let me log on to Fandango right now. Mr. Webster says that select means to choose in preference to others, so does this mean that the 2D is better than the 3D, I mean where's the common sense? Or are the film makers telling us that even though they pimped the 3D throughout the entire ad, the 2D is really where we should watch the movie.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but I'm afraid sometimes that the ease of publishing with social media and blogs are both good and bad. Editorial direction is not necessarily a bad thing. I really try not to contribute to a big race to mediocrity, and I would like to invite you along on my journey to select only worthwhile material to both watch and read. I'm not above calling people out when they deserve a quick finger wag.

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!

So I've had two interesting interactions with former co-workers over the past couple of weeks. First, I had lunch with the office administrator before I took my trip to LA. She caught me up on all the company gossip, including the fact (later confirmed) that the office would be closing in the near future. When I first took my job position out of the stores, I worked from home, and really enjoyed it. Too bad I didn't survive the purge so that I could have taken advantage of going back to that situation. Working from home while going to school really would have been ideal. That being said, I'm really hoping nothing happens to her and that her job is okay.

Second, I stopped into my neighborhood Starbucks today, and got to chat up the store manager for a few minutes. My biggest complaint about this store, and the reason I usually stay away, is that they have a nice patio in front that is inevitably run over by smokers. I feel like I've smoked half a cigarette just walking through the cloud to get to the front door. I know they get customer complaints about the smokers, and I've attempted to put my two cents in on more than one occasion. The store had a visit from a temporary VP during a tour, and he expressed his dismay about the situation, and now they're going to ban smoking on the patio starting the beginning of next month!

It's funny how much has changed at Starbucks since my layoff. If anything, it definitely looks more like the company as I would have liked it to look when I was there. After I had finally gotten over losing my job after 12 1/2 years, now for the first time I am feeling like I want to be back in the Siren's fold. Oh well, I don't want to look back, I need to be like a shark, swimming forward. But I will be a customer at my neighborhood store more often now, so that's a nice change.

Love, Part I

As I approach my birthday in a couple of weeks, I've been mulling over some thoughts in my head. The biggest regret that I have is that I am not a parent. I'm at that point in my life where age, life situation, and other factors are starting my own personal biological clock ticking down to zero.

I mention this because I've been able to see some amazing things recently. I spent Memorial Day weekend at my brother's house, and got to spend a lot of time with my niece and nephew. My other brother spent the weekend with my parents, and so all the grand kids were in the same town for the long weekend, and I (among others), had a wonderful time. My niece is the oldest of the three (she turns 6 in August), and her unconditional love for me created a feeling that is hard to recreate. Now I know this is because I'm the favorite uncle, but I can't help but wonder just how much love exists for her from her parents and grandparents because of that direct connection. I have to say that I am jealous.

Which is probably why I have volunteered to fill in for my other brother's nanny for a week. She had a family emergency, and has to leave the country for two weeks. So I am going to LA (one benefit of unemployment is the ability to drop everything on the spur of the moment) for a week to be the fill in for my 5 month old nephew Sean. I really do love him to death, and am looking forward to trading the Fresno heat for some trips to the beach in Santa Monica. To repeat my theme, Sean's parents just love that little guy like crazy. Which makes visiting them an absolute treat, because it gives me a glimpse of possibilities in my own life, I just need to get busy and start dating, become boyfriend / girlfriend, ask her to marry me, make sure no one chickens out before the big day, and finally start a family. Whew, it's tiring just thinking about it.

The thing that really made me think about unconditional love was something I saw at the food court at Costco this week. Now let me just say that cruising Costco for the food samples, plus a Polish Dog at checkout makes a very filling lunch, but I digress. There was a lady there, about my age, with her mother. It was evident to me that the daughter was mentally disabled in some fashion, and the mother expressed so much love in the conversation, and was constantly giving feedback without getting frustrated, I just sat back in awe. To just have that type of love, knowing that it will never really be reciprocated in the same way is the definition of unconditional. You hear stories about parents who would do anything for their children, and it is an abstract thought until you see it in person. That random act really touched me in a way that strangers don't usually do. I had to sit there for a few minutes just to take it all in.

So I really need to get my act together, my life straightened out, and back on track. Whatever it is, I think I'm pushing myself in a direction that I've never really been serious about, but has been sitting in the back of my mind. Time to bring it front and center.

A great Mother's Day present.....for me!

My Mom is coming to town! Not really just to see me, although she will see me when she's here, but she is coming to town. Wait a minute, this is getting too complicated. Let me slow down and explain.

I come from an aquatic family. My Mom and all her brothers and sisters were competitive swimmers when they were growing up. I'm sure it was a very primal reaction to growing up in the Fresno area, where summer temperatures easily soar into the 110 degree range, and a pool is a very easy way to cool down a gaggle of children. My Mom instilled that same swimming pedigree upon her children. We were all competitive swimmers for some period of time. As the oldest, I wasn't the most talented, but I was probably the hardest working and most determined of the lot. But I gave up swimming after a couple of failed attempts to get back into a fitness routine as a young adult, and the pool just faded away.

My Mom on the other hand, jumped back into the pool after all of her children left the nest. She started up with the Davis Aquatic Masters (which is still the largest, single city, Masters swim team in the country, which is pretty incredible for a small university city of under 100k in population) and has been working out almost every day for a long while. And now, she's coming to Fresno to compete in the US Masters Swimming National Championships. Why Fresno you might ask. Again, I point you to the weather page of your paper, where you can see that the temperature is already into the 90's here, which has a direct link to the large number of Olympic pool complexes here in the Fresno area.

So on this Mother's Day weekend I've had the honor of attending my Mom's swim meet as a spectator and fan. In some small way, I can only hope that my efforts honor all the times she did the same for me growing up. But I can't come even close. Not only was my Mom a spectator and fan during my meets, but she also was the following:  meet organizer, chauffeur, volunteer, banker, shoulder to cry on, and number one cheerleader. For every hour I spent in the pool, I'm sure she put in an equal number as a club official, meet official, and many more that I'm sure I've forgotten and left off the list.

But there's one more thing that my Mom has done with her participation in this swim meet:  she's inspired me to get back into the pool. As I get closer to my 100 pound weight loss goal, I feel comfortable enough with myself to be seen in public in a swimsuit. So sometime next week, I will find a workout location, and jump back into the pool on the following Monday. Watching all the goings on at the meet reminded me about the social part of swimming, and how much fun it can be once you get past the hard part of the workout!

So Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, I hope you realize that my progress in improving my health, along with my commitment to get back into the pool, is one of my gift to you. Because you are definitely one of my biggest inspirations, and I love you.