Momma told me there’d be days like this.  Quarter end for financial institutions, when you are the IT guy can be a lot like work.  Add to that some rather unique network problems, a power outage and some organizational restructuring and it made for a pretty freaky Friday.  I was very proud that I had managed to purchase an anniversary card FOUR DAYS in advance of Friday’s 22^nd wedding anniversary.  The fact that I boasted of that foresight to She-who-must-be-obeyed hopefully covered for the fact that I didn’t get around to sending any flowers.  This was the first time I missed sending a ravishing bouquet in, well, forever.  What was particularly painful for me with this oversight was that since October my wife has been living in Washington DC.  I should be on my most attentive behavior in light of our geographic separation.  Was the omission the result of a harried day as an IT professional or did it have more to do with, out of sight out of mind?  Perhaps life in the big city is so invigorating that she didn’t notice.  Wish me luck with that.

          Hey, something came in our mail today that would freak any of you out.  Still feeling as if I were a young man, of sort, I was shocked when my son handed me a postcard and said, “Look at this.”  The return address was Selective Service System, Palatine, IL.  How the hell did it happen that my son is now old enough to be required to register for Selective Service?  Just yesterday, it seems, I met Clayton for the first time.  The kid was born a whopping two pounds eight and one half oz. big.  He was 13 inches tall.  His sister wasn’t much bigger coming into this world at three pounds twelve ounces.  This particular piece of mail came on his last full day living here with me for the summer.  Tomorrow we head for Washington DC with all of his personal belongings in the back of the truck.  He is going to spend the next six weeks with the rest of the family.  It’s a good thing this blog isn’t interactive with web cam because I am on the verge of having a moment.  So it goes.

          Tomorrow is somewhat of a dilemma.  I won’t finish up with my quarter end duties until noon or so and then we have that previously mentioned fifteen hour drive in front of us.  It’s looking like I may actually miss a post tomorrow.  Bear with me, it will be the first time I miss posting since I began this thing February 1^st.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop by and visit the old Red Hog Diary this Sunday.  It would be a good day to do any number of things.  Things like, take advantage of some of the features offered at the bottom of this page.  You can get an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed added to your web browser.  What this does for you is add links to the last four Red Hog Diary posts right to your home page.  How could you not want that?  When a friend or co-worker opens your browser they will instantly see that you are hooked up with one of the hippest and most profound websites on the planet.  If your home page does not support RSS feeds you can get an RSS reader that will do about the same thing.  Just follow the directions on the link.  Or you could opt for email notification which will tell you each day when the Feedblitz spiders discover there is new content on my site.  My favorite addition to the site however would be my little Red Hog Diary Community Map which you can sign into and mark where you live.  I’d really appreciate your joining the community.  If you insist on being old school and using a “My Favorites” link or a desktop link or even if you just type in Red Hog Diary into your Google bar each time you visit then perhaps you could spend Sunday just looking back over some of your favorite posts. 

          It would be a nice gesture to shoot me an email and tell me what some of your favorite posts have been.  I would be interested in applying what I learn from such emails as a topical guideline for future posts.  The incentive for you to do that is that perhaps you would see less of these “please visit my site” type of entries.  That’s all for now.  Your next post will be from the Nation’s Capital.  While I am there I hope to get a chance to talk to some of those individuals who have some influence on the chance that my son’s filling out his Selective Service card will be nothing more than complying with “The Law!”

Lost Nation, Iowa: June 30, 1984.  A day that will live in infamy.  It was a day that changed the world.  Well, it changed my world anyway.  It was the day I joined She-who-must-be-obeyed in holy matrimony.  One of the things I liked about her right away had to do with one of those conversations you have when you are getting to know each other.  “What’s your favorite song?” I asked.  “The greatest love of all, by Jane Oliver.” She said.  “Huh?  Who?” I aked, and she pulled out the vinyl disc and put it on the turn table.  Here are the lyrics:

 

I believe that children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
And so I learned to depend on me

Chorus:
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe that children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

Chorus

And if by chance, that special place
That you've been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love

 

How could I not fall in love with her?  My favorite song at the time was Crusin’ and Boozin’ by Sammy Hagar.  Happy Anniversary baby.

 

There is a story circulating around the internet about a traveler, who while in an airport, heard a group of people behind him begin to clap and cheer.  He turned and witnessed a group of 30 or 40 soldiers, in uniform, walking through the terminal.  As the soldiers made their way for their departure gate nearly all of the waiting passengers rose to their feet and applauded and cheered.  The scene was like a patriotic wave washing through the concourse as the group of soldiers made their way to their awaiting flight. 

          At this point the traveler joined in with the other passengers, clapping and cheering, as a tribute to the sacrifices these soldiers were making on our behalf and in honor of their bravery.  At the point the traveler felt he could not feel more patriotic and proud of these young soldiers a woman and a little girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the soldiers.  He kneeled down and said “Hi.”  The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.  The young soldier said he would try and asked what she wanted to give her daddy.  The little girl suddenly grabbed the neck of the soldier and gave him the biggest hug she could and kissed him on the cheek.

          The mother of the little girl then explained to the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months.  She explained how much her daughter missed her father and the young soldier, perhaps a father himself, began to tear up.  Rising, the young soldier turned from the young mother and huddled with the other soldiers for a brief moment.  One of the soldiers pulled out what appeared to be a military radio.  The soldiers started playing with the device, and talking back and forth on it.

          After about 15 seconds of this the young soldier walked back over to the little girl, bent down and said to her, “I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.”  He then hugged the littler girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  He finished by saying, “Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.” 

          At this point the girl’s mother was crying almost uncontrollably and the young soldier stood and saluted the little girl and her mom and turned to continue heading for the gate.  In one last act of selflessness the young soldier stopped, turned, and blew a kiss to the little girl with a tear rolling down his cheek.

          This story may have come to your inbox and it is a wonderful example of the beauty of patriotism, of the struggle of humanity in time of war and of the painful cost of separation and sacrifices that our soldiers must make.  No matter what I think of this war and the misrepresentations that got us there I will always stand firm in support of those who wear the uniform of the United States military.  This particular story and email calls for American’s to begin a tradition of wearing red on Friday’s until all of our troops come home.  I would urge you to join me in this simple demonstration of our support for the troops.  It matters not if you support the administration and their reasons for this war or if you believe, as I do, that our troops can not return home soon enough.  The solidarity of all Americans in the simple gesture of wearing red on Friday’s will send a strong message to the rest of the world that we stand behind our own who stand in harm’s way.

          The wine merchants at Benz Beverage Depot gave me some news that lifted my spirits in no small way this evening.  http://www.benzbeveragedepot.com  It seems they are in the planning stages of beginning a Port Review where they will write up the various complex flavors inherent with a fine tawny.  Naturally I volunteered my services and offered to review of any of the 20 year ports they keep on the top shelf.  I received a quick but polite affirmation that they would be interested in that, not so much but if I wanted to buy a bottle they would be glad to accept my review.  So it goes.  I snagged a bottle of Taylor Fladgate First Estate Reserve Porto and made my way for the door.  They did offer to place my Red Hog Diary business card on the rack below my recommendation.  Without taking time to think I was pleased to direct them to place it under the Graham’s Six Grapes.  You just can’t beat the Six Grapes classic zesty and velvety flavor and the price is reasonable at twenty-two bucks a pop.  For a moment I hesitated thinking that the Taylor Fladgate 10 year Tawny Porto should be my recommendation but I couldn’t go there considering the seven dollar price differential.

          Hey, remember my Fathers Day post, June 18th?  No, well here it is again: http://www.redhogdiary.com/2006.06.18_arch.html#1150598544925.  In that post I wrote of the disenfranchisement of Americans, our changing communities and the effect that has on people’s overall sense of well-being.  (Kind of) It seems I may have had a stroke of genius as I wrote that post.  Today, Yahoo News reported that Americans are becoming more and more socially isolated.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060626/od_nm/life_friends_dc.  Americans are becoming more isolated for reasons including work schedules, commutes and waiting longer to get married and we are socializing in meaningful ways less and less.  Three fourths of Americans report having two or less close friends with whom they can discuss serious personal matters.  Of those, many did not list confidants outside of their immediate family.  Duke and Harvard University sociologists, among others, have been researching the ramifications of this loss of a social safety net.  The researchers agreed that the trend of diminishing social contacts makes life very difficult in emergency situations.  

          A friend of mine ran across this the other day and shared it with me:

 

by Eunice Tietjiens

 Beautiful and rich is an old friendship,

  Grateful to the touch as ancient ivory,

   Smooth as aged wine, or sheen of tapestry

    Where light has lingered, intimate and long.

      Full of tears and warm is an old friendship

       That asks no longer deeds of gallantry,

         Or any deed at all – save that the friend shall be

          Alive and breathing somewhere, like a song.

         

          The poem came in an email that simply said, “I ran across this and thought of you.”  The message was simple but the meaning of it touched my soul.  A part of the isolation in the harried world in which we toil can be attributed to career demands which add distance and soon time between the connections of our youth.  So much instant gratification can wear on our patience with regard to the investment that is required to make friendship meaningful.  Those times in my life where I feel like I am going it alone I need only slow down and look around.  It seems that true friends never leave us.  From time to time we run down our chosen paths not waiting for those who mean most to us to find their way.  That is a mistake.  When feeling alone it is most often a short trip back to find a friends warm embrace.  Slow down a little today.  Take a moment to connect with one of the shining stars of your youth.  Tell them you are checking into make sure they are alive and breathing, that you called to hear their song.

 

Note from the Red Hog:  Yeah, I know the dates are screwed up for my posts.  I tried to get funky and mislead you by changing the time zone of my website for a late post.  Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we set out to deceive!  Bear with me.  Lesson learned.

F’ing rain!  Do you know how bad it hurts to ride a Harley 75 mph in a rain storm with no windshield?  I am sure many lesser men could not do it but I had the incentive of discovering I was in need of a good poop when the rain started falling.  I was experiencing what we Harley riders describe as “that turtle head thing” so I couldn’t really afford to slow down because I have this thing about doing that type of business in a public toilet.  Turtle head is pretty much what it sounds like, you know, the head beginning to stick his head out from his shell… wait, this is well into the realm of way too much information, isn’t it?  I had ridden up to Cedar Falls, about 60 miles from where I live, to spend more time taking in the festivities of Sturgis Falls Days.  The afternoon’s events were pretty much a flop where I was concerned because the on again off again rain showers kept the crowds down and greatly diminished any propensity for fun.

          I had many good reasons to be in Cedar Falls today.  Historically the Sturgis Falls Celebration is the best time of year to reacquaint with old friends who might be home for a visit.  My sister in law, nephew and niece were here from Florida and it is the rare occasion that we get to see them so that was a good thing.  And while certainly not the most significant reason, I was pleased to make my way to Cedar Falls today because my cupboards were in a most definite all time bare state.  I know that may surprise many of you to imagine that I could find myself in such a predicament.  A guy doesn’t get to be my size without having a knack for finding available food stuffs.  Such was the case though.  Mom didn’t let me down.  I welcomed the opportunity to walk off too much dinner at the city goings on.

          There was some discussion at the dinner table about the Marines who have found themselves in trouble for various war atrocities.  I just can’t get behind criticizing those soldiers having never experienced what they must see every day.  To never know at what moment or from where bullets may fly or improvised bombs may detonate would be a situation where I would hope that we could show a vast amount of latitude with regards to propriety.  That these soldiers would be prosecuted seems the utmost hypocrisy when the liars who never served a day of active combat themselves but sent them there remain un-indicted.  George Bush claimed he was not a nation builder.  What the hell are we doing there then?  Saddam and all of his phantom weapons of mass destruction are taken care of so it would make sense that, if “dub-ya” is a man of integrity and true to his word we should leave the nation building to the people who live there. 

          Tell me this isn’t eerie, The Whisky Bar, a blog I added to my favorite links page, today, posted:  “I think the Taliban realize they have a window to act.  The enemy is working against a window that he knows is closing.” Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, Commander, U.S. forces in Afghanistan, June 17^th 2006.  He followed that with this quote, “We have reached an important point when the end begins to come into view.  The enemy’s hopes are bankrupt.”  Lt. Gen. William Westmoreland, Commander, U.S. forces in Viet Nam, November 21^st 1967  (8 years before we admitted we were in a winless situation.)  http://billmon.org/archives/002477.html