Comfort

There is great comfort in the craziness of our daily lives. Soccer games, karate lessons, piano lessons, etc help us blot out some of the disturbing issues over which we have no control. Hobbies, daily workouts, web site construction, etc. have the same beneficial effect. Not that we shouldn't think about the world's troubling issues, we should, but we shouldn't dwell on these issues to the point of curling up into the fetal position.

Last week we made the commitment to donate extra money this year to help those who survived the September 11 tragedies. Some went to the United Way of New York City and some went to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund (which will help the families of Jericho High School Alumni who were killed in the World Trade Center).

Introspection

It's amazing how introspective you become at times of national emergency. However, we must go on with life, even with the specter of heightened security that affects our daily routine. For now Americans have traded some personal freedoms for a sense of security and safety. The terrorists have won the first round.

Diversion

As time goes on more news arrives about people who were caught in the maelstrom that were within my life's sphere. So many people and so many families were devastated by acts whose ultimate purpose I can not fathom.

Another fallout of our current mania was a bomb threat at work. For the first time in my 22 years at Boeing (McDonnell Douglas), we were sent home so that Boeing Security and Long Beach Police could properly search the buildings. Real life is becoming harder to believe than fiction.

A bright spot (or a diversion) was A Tribute to Can-Am at the Petersen Automotive Museum. I went with my friend, Steve, and my former boss, Fred. We had a good time talking about cars and motorsports. Got to see some great American drivers from the 60s and 70s: Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Parnelli Jones, Tony Adamowicz, Oscar Kovaleski, and many others. The Can-Am car displays were well done and brought back very pleasant memories from my youth. (Do I sound old or what? Nostalgia does strange things.)

September 11 Epilogue

It's been 10 days since the terrorist attack on our country. I continue to go through emotional ups and downs as I either hear more of or think about the tragedy. Click here to read the column that I wrote for The Spoke 'N Word.

Unfortunately, the day after I wrote the column, September 17, 2001, I found out that a former classmate from Jericho High School perished during the terrorist attack. Leo Roberts worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald, a firm that lost over 700 employees. Two other Jericho alumni, Gary Lutnick and Glen Winuk, worked for the same firm and were killed when One World Trade Center (the first tower that was struck) collapsed.

The world will never be the same and I hope we can still flourish as it rights itself.

Kids!

Well I guess I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow. Been promising the boys that we'd go but I canceled the last scheduled trip because of their lack of good behavior. Here I am again in a quandary because their behavior over the last 36 hours has been less than stellar. The troubles of a parent who is trying to reward appropriate behavior while trying to provide some fun for his children. Maybe I'm thinking about this too much. Besides Nina could use a day without the boys or me in the house.

Also suffered through a major root canal on the 6th and 7th. Am doing OK now but I guess as my age advances I better start taking better care of myself.

Time Flies

Where did the summer go? I had resolved to update this site more frequently but...

Anywho, here I am, 44 years and 2 days old. Did more bicycle racing this year than in recent years and have attained a better level of fitness than in recent years. However I am still getting old(er) and will not necessarily get any faster. But, as we all know, at this level of sport, this is supposed to be for the fun and not the glory. I may, however, pay for some professional coaching to try to maintain some fitness through the Fall and Winter months.

BTW, I had a great ride with my cycling club (Lightning Velo) this past Monday (the 3rd) on the Killer Bs Glendora Mountain Road loop. Was climbing pretty well even though I got dropped on the climb during my 1st circuit race in many years (a few days prior, Saturday, September 1).

The Blant Begins

Who knows where this blog will lead? I understand that these blogs are part diary, part bully pulpit, and part glass house. I also understand that you may stumble on to this web page and think, "What drugs has this guy been ingesting?"

Anyway, I've taken the plunge and started this thing. I've been suffering from lingering flu effects for the past week and I probably should be in bed but it really isn't that late (yet). I wasn't supposed to be this sick this year. I got a flu shot in Oct 2000, but somehow this is the 3rd time that I've gotten sick since Jan 1 this year. This series of maladies is severely inhibiting my attempts to get into racing shape. Once again, I've been off of the bike for over a week. Not good.

I have been having fun with my new Olympus E-10 digital camera. This thing has re-awakened the creative part of photography (digi-graphy?) that I put into hibernation the past few years while using a point and shoot Kodak DC210. The Kodak was a great camera for its time, but as it turns out, it stifled my creativity. The E-10 lets me do things with images that I forgot that I knew how to do.

I also got to participate in E-10 Day on Apr 21 (see the link on our E-10 album). It was my first experience with a virtual digital community and it felt great. Imagine 140+ photographers from every continent on earth except South America posting over 1,200 images from one day of shooting.

Enough blogging for now. (Am I hip, cool, whatever, or what?)