The SoapBoxers

Last week The Crunchy Conservative had an article about Shirley Sherrod (the woman at the USDA who was dismissed after a tape of her speech before the NAACP was released.  This tape apparently exposed her as a racist (anti-white as she is African-American) and using her position within the government to penalize a white farmer.  The NAACP and the White House condemned her, but have since apologized for not knowing the whole story.  I commented on that article that we (average people not in the US government) will probably never know the whole story.  I have listed to the entire tape (at least what is reported as the entire tape) and I still find very little to be sympathetic to her about.  Having been a former civil servant, I am appalled that what her customer looked like had any bearing on her fulfilling her duties.  (I must admit that I completely agree with responding to verbal attacks with reduced service).  Civil servants are basically the store clerks of the government.  Most have no authority and have to put up with a lot of abuse.

So, should she have been fired?  I have no idea.  But now we have a new flash news story, where the instant media is demanding action.  Apparently, the British head of British Petroleum (BP, the guys with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico) is alleged to have been part of the negotiations to release the Lockerbie bomber.  For this, the press is demanding that he be fired.  I find this as bizarre as the firing of a USDA official.  If he was involved in the discussion, why not a public outcry when it happened?  Why wait until now when some in the government and many in the media want to punish BP for the oil rig accident?  (Editor’s note – Peter Rabbit wrote an article condemning the release last year – but indeed, the BP connection was not mentioned).

So what do we, as average people, know?  First we know that Tony Hayward is the CEO of BP and was in BP upper management at the time the Lockerbie bomber was released.  Second, we know (?) that BP was given drilling privileges off the cost of Libya after the release.  Third we know that BP officials (maybe Hayward) testified before the Scottish parliament for the release.  From this, he needs to be fired.  And the firing need to happen right now, with no trial or questions asked.

I truly fear that our society has no attention span, and no ability to discern logical cause and effect.  We are an instant gratification society.  We want the fastest internet -getting the news storey up first is more important than getting it right – and even the fastest food.  We complain about being fat, so we need instant weight reduction (no long term commitment or high effort), and we still eat fast food.  Perhaps we are just spoiled.  We expect and get fresh food all year long, we get 120 stations and TiVO so that we can watch anything we want instead of waiting for a show we want to watch.

In the end, let’s go back to the source of this rant.  Should these people be fired?  I don’t know.  Is it any of our business?  I say emphatically, NO!

I watched two movies with my wife this weekend, both good, but very different in quality.  The first we found in the sale bin at the local Wal-Mart; Doctor Zhivago.  The second we watched at our local second run theater; Iron Man 2.  In the classic, so much more attention was paid to the grand vista matched with equally grand music.  The modern concentrated on flash and boom.  Now I admit that these two movies represent more than just different eras, but also different genres as well.  There were plenty of action films made back in the day, but I would argue that there was a greater effort put forth to create a larger picture which integrated with you other sense of sound and feeling.

In the classic film, there were plenty of times where literally nothing was going on.  This allowed you to recover from previous action or think about the previous scene before leaping into the next event.  Remember the Doctor Zhivago is set during World War I and the Russian revolution, so there are battle scenes and explosions, it is not just a love story.  Iron Man 2 also attempts to have a love story entwined with the action, so there are similarities.

Doctor Zhivago is also a truly feature length film of over 3 hours.  Modern films seldom pass the two hour mark.  (Dr. Zhivago actually has an intermission for bathroom breaks that is even on the CD with music and there is a prelude with music as you get yourself situated in the theater.)

Many would say I shouldn’t complain.  If I don’t like the modern methods, I should not go to see the movies.  Well I do like the latest releases from the film industry, it just seems that they are concentrating on the visual only right now.  There are movies made for the full spectrum, but those are not widely distributed.  The Last Station is a good example.  It is the story of the last days of Leo Tolstoy and was not available in my home town until it came out on CD.  I do not believe that our local video store would have gotten a copy if my wife had not specifically requested it.

The last general consumption movie that I remember that had the whole package from my point of view was Silverado, at least the opening scene was panoramic.  It is easy to pick on some films, which are concentrating on the special affects to the detriment of all other facets of film making.  Transformers is one such movie, where there are spectacular battle scenes that just suddenly happen.  If you have not watched the cartoon, you don’t even know who the participants are.

I believe that Hollywood can merge art, action and special affects.  The original Star Wars films had magnificent music to set the mood of every scene.  Even the latest Star Wars and Star Trek films are still filling the story before leaping to the next event.

I once complained to my grandmother that there were no good movies like when she was young.  She assured me that on the good ones were replayed now and she had seen plenty of losers in her day.  I am sure that is true today.  If there are only 2 good movies each year, that is 50 good movies just since I was a teenager.  And I am sure that there have been more that 2 good movies produced each year.  Here is a short list on movies I think would be on that list, add your own if you please.

• The Thin Man Series (6 films) – actually made before I was born
• The Quiet Man
• The Princess Bride
• Hopscotch
• Silverado
• Patton
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Midway
• True Grit
• The Star Wars Series (6 films)
• The James Bond Films (most of the 17 films)
• The Lord of the Rings (both live action and animated)
• The Star Trek Series (most of the 11? Movies)
• Most Mel Brooks films
• Driving Miss Daisy
• The Last Station
• Young Victoria
• Most Pixar Films
• The Bourne Series

I was originally brought aboard The Soap Boxers to write articles about writing.  Over the months, my ramblings have been all over the map; politics, science, sports and relationships to name a few.  I have also touched on writing.  To get back to what I was drafted to do, this article is about what to do once you have written your book.

Last year I participated in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org).  This is a world wide competition to write a novel during the 30 days of November.  The only rules are to get 50,000 words written down as part of a novel within the 30 days.  The rewards are recognition.  I completed the 50,000 words in November, but then spent December and January making the work into a ‘real’ and ‘complete’ novel.  So I had written a book, what do I do now?

The first step after completing your work is to get the book edited.  I have spent the last 5 months revising and update my book.  I have now learned that you really need a professional, non-partisan editor.  I have had 5 people look at the book and now realize that it was 4 people too many.  I chose people close to me to review and edit.  This was not a good idea.  They were either too nice, so as not to hurt my feelings, or tried to rewrite the book to what they wanted.  When being edited you need a tough skin.  You have put a lot of work into this book, it is almost like someone is criticizing your child.  Well I am done with editing, so what is next?

I am lucky in that I know someone who has actually published a book.  You do not have to have a publisher to get your book to market.  If you really want to sell your work, you should look at the major publishers.  If they like your work, they have the advertising and distributing mechanisms in place to sell.  To get published by one of these companies, you have to provide a summary and a chapter (don’t send them your whole book right off the bat, they will not read it).  If you get selected based on that input, they will request the full manuscript.  After that review, they will decide whether of not to offer to publish.  Even then, don’t get too excited.  They will go through an editing process, set up and market plan, all taking many months, before they ever offer you any money.  And remember, if they publish and take on the risk, they own the work along with you.

You can also self publish.  This just means you are doing all of the work.  You have to get an ISBN. You have to get a Library of Congress number.  You have to find the printing and binding house.  You have to market your work, going to book sellers like Barnes & Noble and trying to convince them to sell for you.  This can takes months or even years, and you have to pay up front, so you may never make a profit.

You can also simply distribute your work.  This means no official numbering, so no wide scale professional distribution.  You will be selling on line or on the street corner.  All book stores require an ISBN, even on line book stores.

Now, I do not expect to make a profit any time soon, so I am taking care of the up front costs for identification, but plan on starting sales on line to limit my out of pocket costs.  The identification helps provide copy right protection world wide and provides assurance to my customers that they are getting what they paid for.  The ISBN is specific to a type of publication, so I will have different numbers for the paper back, hard back, large print and electronic versions.  The official site for United States ISBN is www.isbn.org.  The official United States ISBN agency is R. R. Bowker (www.myidentifiers.com).  They charge $125US for a basic kit, and $185US for on line sales assistance.  You can get a package of from other sources such as www.isbn-us.com for $55US for self publishing (listed as independent in the book catalogue), or $129US if you want to have a publishing name (create your own publishing company).

Obtaining a Library of Congress number is only necessary if you are publishing in the United States and intend on distribution through libraries in the United States.  You have to have a publisher (even if you are your own publisher, so create your own publishing company) to get an account.  Once you have an account you can get a pre-assigned number (PCN) that will eventually become the control number(LCCN).  These numbers are controlled by the Library of Congress (http://pcn.loc.gov/). You have to provide a copy of the work for free to the Library of Congress (you will not get this copy back, consider it a gift to the United States government). The good news is that a PCN/LCCN is free.

All of these numbers have specific formats and must be placed on the Copy Right page (generally the back of the cover).  The ISBN also comes with a bar code (for selling/scanning) that you put on the back cover of the book.

Copy right is a completely different beast than ISBN or LCCN in that it is in effect even if you do not apply for it.  By law, your work is copy right as soon as you right it down and date it.  Registering at the copy right office (www.copyright.gov) is only required for legal contests.  It is recommended that you register your copy right as soon as you are ready to publish to make sure no one else sells your work (such as an unscrupulous editor or publisher).  The cost today is $35US for an electronic registration.  You can also have paper registrations, but those take longer and cost more.  I do not see any benefit to these paper applications, unless it is required, such as the design of a new ship hull (not something that should be coming from an author).

So, what do I do next?  I will be spending just about $165US to get ready to publish.  To actually get a book in print will be a bit more.  My novel is 224 pages.  There are plenty of self publishing houses available.  For this example (I still haven’t made my final choice) I am using Morris Publishing (www.morrispublishing.com).  They were the first listing on my search engine.  Based on a 5.5 x 8.5 print and 224 pages, it will cost $5.36US each for a 100 copy buy.  The price per book goes down with more purchased ($1.86US each if I buy 5000).  Of course selling an electronic copy here will be no additional cost.

So my first publication will cost me roughly $700.  Not too bad when considering the cost of other hobbies.  And I do mean hobby.  If you are writing as a profession, get a publisher.  Share the risk, let them sell for you, and get a check periodically.  That is of course if anyone wants to pay to read your work.

I need to preface this article with a disclosure. In the 1980s, I was a cooperative engineer with NASA at the Johnson Space center. After graduating with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, I got a job with one of the companies supporting NASA. I supported both the Space Station and Space Shuttle programs for a total of 12 years. I personally know many of the astronauts, some retired, some still flying missions. In 1995, I transferred within my company, both for career opportunity and finding a safer place to raise my children.

With this in mind, my reaction to the plan to ground the Space Shuttle fleet with no replacement is somewhere between saddened and irate. We, the United States of America, the only country to have walked on the moon, are going to be dependent on the former Soviet Union to have a manned presence in space. What is most annoying is the path that we took to get to this state.

I worked directly on the Space Station plan that was presented to Casper Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. This plan eventually became know as Space Station Freedom. Through a series of congressional mandates, the cost of this plan grew from 8 Billion dollars to 16 Billion dollars. These mandates included; include our NATO partners, increase the content from Canada and Japan, include Russia, reduce the cost to our European allies, spread the construction to more states, increase the scale and finally, explain the cost inflation.

My frustration with this chain of events is that the administrators at NASA could not speak the truth in front of congress. The reason the cost grew as much as they did was because of congress changing the rules on an annual basis. Sure there was some scope creep due to the complexity of the mission, but a majority of the costs came from redirection. If the NASA administrators had challenged congress, they would have lost funding.

As all of this was going on, the idea that the shuttle fleet was aging and need replace was ignored. The shuttles were planned to last 25 years with 100 missions each. The original fleet was planned to be 4 shuttles, this was accomplished by using Challenger which was not the 1970s plan. We have built 5 flying shuttles, which should equate to 500 missions. The fifth shuttle was delivered in 1990 (first flight 1992) which should have equated to an end of service of 2015. Of course by this 25 year standard, only Endeavor should still be flying today.

NASA never achieved the 4 flights per year per vehicle. The cost performance was also never met. They did exceed the 50 flights before an accident predicted in the early 1970. But beyond these measures, NASA also did not succeed in getting approval for planned replacement, and now the fleet is retiring with no follow on in the near future.

We now have a future where our astronauts are lifted to space in 1960 technology from our former opponent in the space race. A future where a NASA administrator has to say that cutting the budget and removing missions helps the agency to grow and achieve their goals.

There was a time when the United States space program was the cutting edge of technology. As the years passed and the building filled with regulations, that cutting edge was left behind. NASA now used developed technology rather than driving technology. This may be lower risk, but with that comes lower achievement and eventually complacency. Where once men were walking on the moon, now we sit and watch launch pads molder. I wasn’t even there during the hay day. My tenure seems to have been the beginning of the end.

Many will say that depleting our manned space effort will save budget. As a fiscal conservative, I should agree. The pay back on this investment has been so great that I must disagree. The NASA budget is less each year than what the Defense Department “looses”. It is appalling to me that as a nation, we can approve of $1 trillion to bail out failed businesses, with no return, but we cannot find $1 billion to fund an agency that develops and proves technologies that employ hundreds of thousands nation wide. I must ask, where are our priorities? How did we get to this place? I certainly hope that my grand children can watch our nation achieve as I did when I was young. I fear that they will not believe me when I tell them I saw men walking on the moon.

There has been a lot of blather on all of the electronic media about the resignation of General McChrystal. Mostly the discussion centers on whether the President should have fired him or not. Although this can be an entertaining pass time, the President did not fire him, he offered his resignation which was accepted. For most people this is a distinction without difference, but it is actually very important. By resigning, the general did not have to accept blame for any failures of his policy or of his judgment and the President can avoid an inquiry by the Senate.

Let’s look at the last activity first. Anyone who has been approved by the Senate for a position, must also be reviewed by the Senate to be removed, except by death or resignation. As a four star general, McChrystal was doubly approved by the senate, first for his stars and second for his command. Even with his party firmly in control of the Senate, the President would have to present evidence (at least some of it publically) as to why he and the Senate had wrong in appointing this man to this task. Remember, for a general, firing is a dishonorable discharge, which mean forfeiting his retirement as well as the disgrace of the action. That is why you can count on one hand the number of general officers discharged from duty (namely McClellan by Lincoln and MacArthur by Truman).

Now on to the blame issue. Many conservative spokesmen have focused blame for this entire episode on the President. As the Commander in Chief, he is ultimately responsible for the actions of his generals. That is why he has authority over them as a civilian. Regardless of whether I like the outcome of this last week, the President is not to blame for what happened. If he had not accepted the resignation, he would have been retaining damaged goods as far as the congress, the media and more importantly the troops were concerned.

The general is responsible for his own actions. I feel that the mistake he made was allowing a reporter from Rolling Stone Magazine into his inner circle for what appeared to be about six months. Over that time period, any number of minor things can add up to become embarrassing. If you have not read the article, you can find it at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236. It is an amazing article for many reasons; it is the longest article that Rolling Stone Magazine has ever published about anyone who was not a rock star, it adds up to very little content compared to the firestorm of commentary that it has generated, and it is self contradictory.

Let’s summarize the content.

1. The general complains about attending an official dinner with a French minister, and un-named advisor calls the minister gay.
2. The general is trying to prepare for questions from Vice President Biden, and un-named top advisor slurs the Vice President’s name to “Bite Me”
3. The general met with the President early in his presidency and a “source” reported that the genera described the President as uncomfortable and intimidated by the uniform officers.
4. Four months later at a one-on-one meeting with the President, the general suggests that the President was unprepared and unengaged. No source is sited for this quote.
5. The general’s staff likes to poke fun at the civilians involved in the war effort, except Hillary Clinton. This is portrayed as a direct attack at the President.
6. The general wanted more troops. When this report was leaked it was the general’s fault. Ambassador Eikenberry sent a report that was critical of the general. When that was leaked it was the general’s fault.

All of this adds up to nothing.

The article is self contradictory because it states that the general was guilty of being a mouthpiece for the Bush administration and equally guilty of not being a mouthpiece for the Obama administration

The article suggests that the general’s career should have ended long ago, specifically as a result of him being the commander during the Pat Tillman friendly fire incident and cover up as well as his part in the command structure during the prison abuse events in Iraq. The direct connection to general McChrystal is established for the Pat Tillman incident, his part in the power structure for the prison abuses is simply darkly insinuated.

The real reason that the general was pushed into offering his resignation was ultimately because of a perceived failure of his strategy. The implementation of a medal for “Restrained Bravery” for not firing upon suspects based on where they are standing caused the loss of confidence of his soldiers. His inability to show progress created doubt in the political forces that exist. And finally, he did not provide the President with what was promised in the campaign, a way out of Afghanistan. Failure of strategy, even with limited loss of life, has always been a career killer in the armed forces. The only quicker way out is to disobey direct orders – but then you get fired.

This is a question that most people have asked themselves after they have reached the age of 40.  Well, I am past that milestone.  I don’t really ask that question, but my wife has the odd desire for me to live a long life, with her.  So I have to address this question just like everyone else.  The answer is simple and I have been told this by many professionals in both the physical fitness arena and the health care arena.  If you really want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more.  It is that simple.  If you just diet, you will lose some weight, but will plateau, and everyone cheats.  If you just increase your exercise, you will increase your calorie intake as well.

My efforts since my 40^th birthday have been to reduce to single helpings, mostly for thing I really like, such as pasta, eliminate empty calories, specifically carbonated beverages (alcohol and non-alcohol) and walking, at least walking to work (I only live 2.2 miles from my work).  Walking does not seem like much, but it does add up.  Except for last fall and winter when I went on several business trips, I had been gradually losing weight (272 pounds down to 249).  I regained all that I had lost in those 5 years plus gained more on those trips.  This gain was due to deviating from the three actions I was taking; I stopped walking to work, the facilities I visited were much smaller than my normal work site, and I ate way too much including the liquid candy.

I took a new job last September which is the reason for the business travel, but it also has resulted in a significant increase of hours at work.  When I get home, I do very little around the house and have found myself on line, playing or reading.  This inactivity coupled with the poor habits I am living have really made it hard to drop significant weight.  I have lost some (5 pounds) but this does not even get me back to my 40^th birthday weight.

My wife has proposed a solution (okay, she has proposed a lot of solutions, but this is one I think I can act upon).  This solution does not include me accompanying her to the gym every day, and one that will not prohibit my wind down activities when I finally get home.  The solution is a treadmill desk (http://www.treadmill-desk.com/).  The idea is to use that treadmill that has been sitting in the corner or basement while doing quiet activities.  We have a slightly used treadmill.  I have actually used it during football season while I am watching the games on TV, especially when the weather prohibits walking to work.  The idea is to set up a desk at the treadmill, put your computer on the desk, and walk at a slow pace as you surf or play.

As an engineer, I cannot see spending the money the equipment advertised on the page noted above.  I also have to invent my own solution to the desk compared to the $39 solution linked to that site as well.  I plan on constructing a desk out of inexpensive material (assuming that I have the computer and treadmill).  I will post those plans (I assume no liability if you copy me and something bad happens).  And I plan on attempting the walk across America documented on the site.

Again, as an engineer, I will track different things.  I will track an actual road path (starting at the customs loop outside on Houlton International Airport in Maine on I95, switching to I80 just outside of New York City, and travelling all the way to San Francisco California, maybe taking side trips to visit points of interest along the way which could give me extra fodder for writing) with specific stopping points annotated (we will have to see if it will be weekly or monthly).  I will track miles covered, calories burned, and current weight.  Although this will be embarrassing (at least the weight portion will be), I will release this information periodically.  There will have to be lots of graphs, tables and maps (and maybe some pictures).  I will only count time and distance on the actual treadmill desk, so walking to work and treadmill work at the gym or on travel will not count.

I don’t want this project to supplant my weekly submissions to the Casual Observer, rather I want it to be a supplement.  I fully intend to use some of my treadmill time to write this column and work on my next book.  I might even try the short stories that Kosmo has suggested.  By setting aside time every night, I have no excuse to avoid writing.  On line games will be rather difficult since they require a lot of mouse work.  Typing is much easier than controlling a mouse while walking.

Wish me luck, or better yet, join me on this trip.  Based on the pictures I have seen, there are other columnists at the Casual Observer who could benefit from this activity (not Kosmo).

Just over a week ago, the Israeli armed forces boarded several ships trying to run the blockage of the Gaza Strip.  During that operation, several people on board the ships were killed.  The media has gone to great lengths to describe these people as activists and humanitarians.  I will not put any designation on them at all.  It is unfortunate that they died.  It is especially unfortunate if they were truly trying to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.  The result of this activity has been outrage at Israel.  My question is why?

The Gaza Strip is home to Hamas, a group that has declared war on Israel.  Israel has imposed a blockage in response to that war declaration, and announced this to the world.  The people on board the ships announced that it was there intention to run that blockage, and that they were willing to take the risk, even hoping that there would be a conflict, to harm Israel.  They chose not to allow a peaceful search of the ship to determine if there were any weapons or military supplies on board.  They chose to ‘interfere’ with the Israeli military.  They lost.

The Gaza Strip has a functioning government that receives funding from the United Nations as well as charities from around the world.  Why then the need to run the blockade?  This aid is allowed into Gaza, the only items restricted are weapons.  Why can’t the Palestinian government care for its own people?  They certainly have enough funding for weapons.

There are people who claim that the blockage is illegal.  Who is the arbiter of legality when a nation is at war?  During WWI, the allies imposed a blockage on the Central powers.  Prior to 1918 the United States was a neutral and provided aid to both sides.  Herbert Hoover (prior to becoming President) organized humanitarian aid missions to the people of Europe behind the front (most notably Belgium).  This aid was searched twice, once by the British to make sure there were no military supplies going to the Germans and once by the Germans to make sure no military supplies were going to the partisans behind the lines.  Were the allies engaged in an ‘illegal’ blockade?  They were at war, therefore they did what was necessary to win, but still allowed humanitarian relief.  The Israelis are doing the same thing.

There are various videos running around purporting to show what really happened.  Each side is only showing what makes them look like the victim.  I personally will wait for the final report – possibly next month on PBS in a Frontline report.  Until then, I lean towards feeling sorry for the loss of life, but little else.  When you go out looking for a fight, lose, then whine about it, I have very little sympathy.  I certainly hope that this incident does not result in Israel dropping the blockade.  That should remain in place until the government of Palestine renounces attacks on Israel and starts behaving like a nation, not a terrorist organization.

By the way, did any one else notice the attack by armed Palestinians into Israel on the same day?  I heard it once on Fox News and once on NPR.  No report on the number of dead civilians or the outrage in the United Nations over this attack.  Of course, they are at war.

Last week Armando Galarraga, pitcher Detroit Tigers, almost threw a perfect game against the Cleveland Indians.  Perfect; no walks, no errors, no man on base for the entire game.  Almost; there was a bad call at first base on the supposed 27^th out.  Now Kosmo is officially the baseball analyst on The Soap Boxers, but there has been so much discussion on this topic that I want to get my two cents in.

On most of the radio talk shows and sports programs, there is an overwhelming push to have the commissioner of baseball overturn that final call and put the game down as perfect in the record books (even the President of the United States has supported such an action).  I strongly disagree.  The umpires’ calls are part of the game.  If we look at just that one call, sure we can say it was wrong, but that was not the only play of the game.  Up until that point, there had been 82 pitches, 22 were called strike, how many of those were bad calls?  Armando only had 1 called strike out, the other two recorded were at least on swings.  Also up to that point, there had been 13 ground outs, how many of those were close calls?  I did not actually watch the game so I cannot answer these questions.

The game is at it was called at the time.  Are we going to go back and review any other “almost perfect” games to see if another pitcher was wronged?  Are we going to give equal study to every other play in the game in question?  For that matter are we going to review the other perfect games on record to make sure they really were perfect?  In this day of instant and repetitive media, it is hard not to form an opinion and feel that you have to defend it till death.  We have to remember that this is just a game.  Sure it is a profession for Armando, and he is very good at it, but this perfect (or not) game will not make or break his career, will not hurt anyone, and in the long run will probably be more memorable for those who played in and saw it than any other game.

This hullabaloo reminds me of a single play in Super Bowl XIII.  Jackie Smith, tight end Dallas Cowboys, dropped a sure touchdown pass in the end zone.  Dallas had to settle for a field goal and went on to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers by 4 points.  Most of pundits, even today, blame the loss on Jackie.  I disagree.  There was a lot more that happened in that game.  The drop occurred in the 3^rd quarter.  A lot of football had been played up to that point, and a lot more followed.

Although in the current discussion, not much happened after the blown call.  Armando kept his cool and finished off the last (unfortunately the 28^th) batter.  I think that Armando should be praised and held up as a true sportsman to our country and especially our children.  When the call did not go his way, he played on.  He did not whine and complain.  The umpire’s apology was fine, but we must move on.  If this drives instant replay for Base Ball, so be it, at least any overturned calls will be while the game is played, not by talking heads in the days following the event.

What is Memorial Day?  Is it a day of sales events?  Is it the official start of summer?  Is it time for the annual family bar-b-q?  Well it is all of those things and more.  In days gone by, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day.  It was a day to take fresh flowers and decorate the graves of loved ones, family and fallen service men.  It was a day to remember and a day to teach.  Seniors and veterans explained the history of family and country to the younger generations and provided role models for young people.

The name Memorial Day was established after WWII when it became a federal holiday.  The focus on those who lost their lives defending our nation was extremely important to the nation, and takes on added significance today.  During times of peace, such as the twenty years prior to 9/11, we generally forget the sacrifice that so many men and women have made for our freedoms.  Those who serve remember in silence and let the rest of us go about our daily lives; that is what they fought for after all.  But in times of conflict, when each of us has some direct contact with the pain and loss of friends and family, this focus returns.

I have never been a member of the military, although through out my professional career, I have had the opportunity to help our armed forces by making sure they have the best possible equipment to perform their duty.  I have had the privilege and honor to know many service men and women.  I have found that they are all heroes in some way.  My biggest hero served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the Korean Conflict.  He was stationed in Okinawa and participated in several missions on board a B-28 bomber.  That man is my father.

Today, he is participating in several Memorial Day events.  Most of these events will be sparsely attended.  He will speak at the grave yard in his home town of Liberty Hill, Texas.  Over the weekend, he oversaw a group of Boy Scouts who put new flags at the graves of every veteran buried there.  Later at the VFW, he will address the veterans of his community.

When he asked me what I was doing for the holiday, I admitted that I would be spending the day with my wife and kids at home.  We have nothing special planned to honor anyone, to recognize anyone, or to celebrate anything other than a day off work.  I could hear his disappointment as he commented “just like everyone else.”

I have been thinking about this article for several days, trying to think of how to honor the heroes I know.  I asked the questions; who are my heroes?  Why are they heroes?  Is there anyone specific to me?  I had answers for all of those.  My heroes ranged from my old high school teachers, to police and firemen, soldiers, sailors, marines and guardsmen.  I remember mentors from every period of my life; people who touched me directly or helped people I know.

My father’s question made me realize that the remembering is what is important.  Even if we do not participate in any official activities, even if we are caught up in the sales and picnics, as long as we remember, we are fulfilling the intent of Memorial Day.  All I can ask each reader to do is remember.  Think of all of the people, alive and dead, who deserve your respect, have earned a place of honor, became a part of your life.

It is that time of year, when high school and college students leave the perceived safety of the status quo to move on to new adventures and challenges.  For some reason, people across America (students and parents) feel the need to celebrate this transition with a party.  We have just experienced such an event as our second child (a daughter) graduates from high school.

There is always a great deal of preparation.  What do we cook?  What do buy?  What do we serve?  How many people do we invite?  How much seating should we provide?  Will there be any decorations?  As the dad, I do not have to be part of the discussion, I just have to perform the assigned tasks.

What is difficult to understand about these events is how truly eclectic they are.  They cannot be on the day of graduation, or there would be too many at once.  They cannot last too long, because people have to go to many parties on the same day.  Gifts are usually only given by people who cannot attend the event.  The students cycle through during the allotted time; eating, talking, then moving on to the next party.  The honored student disappears with special friends for a while, or shows up late from a preceding party, then leaves early to catch the next one.  Parents invite their own friends and sometimes old neighbors.  This group rarely intermingles with the younger crowd and seldom even discusses the future plans of the student, although there is always the obligatory “I remember when she was only this tall” comment.

We had a relatively easy time of it.  I had to grill hamburgers and hotdogs.  We made some pasta salad, cookies and brownies the night before.  Everything else was prepackaged; from carbonated beverages to the cutlery.  Even though over 200 people were invited, we only cooked for 50 so the costs were not that bad.  Clean up was easy, what wasn’t eaten was tossed, and the kids who came were very helpful before they left.  Much more mature than I was at that age.

The older crowd stayed well beyond the published end time for the party.  It was nice to reminisce with old neighbors and friends.  You can find out so much about other peoples plans, dreams, troubles and histories by just sitting and talking on a warm May evening.

So why have a graduation party?  I say for the parents to enjoy themselves.  My daughters say it is for the students.  My son, who had six pizzas and six friends in the basement for video games, claims it is all for the stores to make money.  In the end, a party is for everyone who plans, throws or attends it.