My Treasure Quest

The following is my entry in the local college Creative Writing Contest. For my first effort, I am happy with the outcome.

MY TREASURE QUEST

After leaving Dallas early that morning, I had to change planes at JFK International Airport, but had a long layover there before proceeding on. It was a nice smooth overnight flight from New York City landing at the Shannon Airport the next morning. I knew my adventure would lead me to various areas of the Emerald Isle, Ireland. My time was short so I had to hit the ground running. As I exited the plane and made my way through customs, I knew I was in for the Third Degree from the Entry Port Customs Officer. I was prepared with my answers before she asked. When she asked if the purpose of my trip was business or pleasure, I echoed the comments on my entry card of ‘vacation and sight seeing’. The real fact of the matter was I was dead serious about the business I came for, that of separating fact from folklore and of magic and riches. I had a passion for and had spent the majority of my life researching the long told legend of the leprechauns of Ireland.

I knew the object of my quest was not to be found in the more urban portions of the country so I stayed away from the likes of Dublin and other big cities as I had it on good authority that it was a waste of time to chase my prize there. Even though the Cliffs of Mohr are a tourists ‘must see’ there is a lot of rural countryside with the well known rolling hills of green, fences of stone and herds of sheep. On the way I stopped in one of the many pubs that dot the countryside regardless of population of the area. I visited with a robust, ruddy and very friendly tavern keeper. He flashed a quick and genuine smile and an even quicker wink as I made my way to the bar. I was afraid to speak of my mission so I maintained my cover by asking of local legend and history.

My new friend named Reamann, though he was known by many names was eager for conversation for business was slow at the time (and as most Irish folk are so very friendly) was quick to ask me if I had heard the news of late. Though I had, I was playing my hand slowly and deliberately, and said I had not, and inquired of him what the story was about. Reamann told me of a rare but definite sighting of this old country’s most popular legend, a true to life luckychaun (his name for the infamous leprechaun). I feigned adequate interest and with my slow Texas drawl said “naw sir I haven’t but would like to hear about it”. Rea Rea (as he preferred to be called) was slightly disabled and would rather talk about the story than chase the story, so I struck a deal with him.

I found myself on a fast track to the southwest part of the beautiful Emerald Isle to an area known as the Dingle Peninsula. I stepped off the bus in the town of Dingle and was ready to stretch my legs. While the bus line system seems to serve the locals well it is nothing like what we are used to. It took me almost 8 hours to travel the required 120 mile trip. I located a bed and breakfast that fit my budget and then wandered around town. It was a nice clean place but very small. The stairway up to my room was barely wide enough to walk up and carry my duffle bag and back pack.

The next morning I had a full Irish breakfast and was looking to secure my lunch so I walked down the street to a local market and asked about a fresh made sandwich. The lady behind the counter had no idea what I was asking about. After another attempt to ask, “We” decided what I wanted was referred to as a meat-roll. She made the meat-roll to my specifications and I headed out. I hiked across the peninsula to the town of Cloghane. During the hike I came across the worst rain storm I have ever seen not to mention ten times worse anything I have hiked through.

As the torrents of rain bashed down upon me the wind blew so hard I could barely stand. I had to call upon all of my resolve just to continue onward. As I crested the top of the range I had to crossover, I quickly realized I had wandered too close to the edge as the wind and rain made it impossible to locate a point of reference to maintain my direction. An unusually strong gust of wind caused me to lose my balance and streams of water made my footing very unstable. I slipped and stumbled and found myself tumbling toward the edge of the shear and rocky cliff face that ended in the breaking waves of the icy cold Atlantic Ocean as it crashed on the rocky and ragged shoreline with no beach.

Just as I approached the edge of the cliff and to my certain demise, I felt something snag me by the shoulder strap of my backpack. I could barely tell it was there but it slowed me just enough so I could grab an exposed tree root near the edge and was able to stop my momentum. I was breathing hard and my heart was about to jump out of my chest when I heard a small voice behind me say “saints be alive lad, that was a close shave”. I turned and saw what I had dreamed about since childhood and only seen in cartoons and on cereal boxes. The object of my quest was squatting down just a few feet away. My head was spinning. Had I fallen off the edge and having one of those near death kind of out of body experiences? It was all so real, too real to be a fantasy. The rain suddenly was down to a sprinkle and the wind seems to have calmed to a swirling whisper.
.
I was dripping wet and freezing to death, but suddenly none of that mattered. It was like I was watching myself in a movie or having a fully detailed dream in full color. For the second time in as many days I saw the same quick and genuine smile and wink that I saw when I met my tavern keeper friend. He seemed so calm and at ease with me there as I sat up and peeled off my rain-soaked and dripping backpack. I was able to put together a few words that asked the obvious question, “Are you what I think you are?” He answered quickly and with a grin on his face saying,”I suppose lad that depends on what you ‘think’ I am” and flashed that familiar quick smile and quicker wink again. By now I had caught my breath and was able to think a little clearer and decided I was not dead, nor was I having a dream.

He was a little taller than what I expected and substantially ‘stouter’ and obviously not a young man, I mean leprechaun.. We visited together like we were old friends catching up on what we had missed over the years since we had last seen each other. I am not sure if minutes had passed or hours, when I asked his name. He said “laddie, me friends call me different names but I would rather you call me Sheamus.

I felt the time was right to bring up the two questions that burned within me for so many years. First was that of the magic of the fabled (but now found by me) Ireland leprechaun. Sheamus informed me that the magic I was curious about was very real and what’s more could be had by anyone. Surprised and dumb-founded I had to quickly work this out in my mind, but it was not coming to me. I needed a little help here, as this was not at all what I expected to hear. A few long seconds went by without resolution so then I asked him “how could this be?” He answered my question with a question of his own. “What else is on your mind lad?” Already off guard and frustrated, I blurted out “where can I find your treasure, you know the pot of gold I have always heard about?”

Now he paused for a moment and asked “Now we are down to it eh, lad?” I confess I was a little embarrassed by the way he put it, but yeah I thought to myself, we are down to it. This was really the answer to both questions. The magic and the treasure all wrapped up into one. As a child I had dreamed of a little golden cauldron over flowing with gold coins that somehow belonged to a mythical and magical little dude in a green suit with a top hat.

“You are correct in your thinking lad and I am prepared and happy to fulfill your true desires”. “I have but one question ya need to answer for old Sheamus”. Now I am excited, confused and anxious all at the same time and was not at all ready for the next question from the subject of my travels. “What treasure is it that ya truly seek?” I paused and then I stuttered “I uh, well I uh” (I sounded like a broken record) my words were not coming and my thoughts are racing. I came to a full stop and just took a second to soak up the moment, and with that Sheamus gave me that quick smile and the wink I had seen before. Just a few seconds later, the light went on and it hit me like a bucket of water. Suddenly it was all over me. I was speaking without premise or premeditation. “What I want is the happiness that comes from within, you know, contentment without concern.” These words were coming out of my mouth straight from my heart without a stop over in my brain and without considering what I was saying.

“Now where did that come from laddie? That is a long journey from the little pot of gold so many ask for.” I told my little magical friend (I decided then and there that some magic had to be going on as he knew that I was thinking of that image as a child of a pot of gold) suddenly so many things made sense to me now. I told him of when I met Reamann and his easy way and how friendly and contented he seemed. With his natural and quick smile and wink, I knew there was something special about him. Then a bit ago the same wink and smile from Sheamus told me I had been missing something. All of these thoughts racing so fast that I cannot even think about what to think about next.

“The treasure you seek, you already have” he said. “You only had to find it within yourself.” He continued “as far as your first question related to the magic of the leprechaun, remember I answered your question by telling you that it is real and available to anyone. You were surprised weren’t ya? Are you still surprised? You just experienced the magic of the leprechaun didn’t ya?” He was right and it was truly awesome. I felt like I do when I am cold and shivering and then put on a warm and heavy coat, suddenly I am warm and comfortable.

I was lost in my thoughts for a bit, even though I was sitting face to face with an honest to goodness, real life leprechaun. The twinkle in his eye told me that everything that needed to be said had been said and it was time to leave. As I stood up and readied myself for my hike on to Cloghane suddenly Sheamus was gone. Not going but gone, like he was never there.

I knew in my heart that he was nowhere to be found so I cinched my hiking boots to my soggy and wet feet, threw on my backpack and headed down the trail for another 5 or 6 kilometers. The rain had stopped and the clouds were sparse and no longer threatening.. The setting sun bounced the most beautiful pink and purple glow off the remaining clouds as it was sinking out of sight below the horizon of the ocean. It was like it was the first time I had ever seen the colors of a picture perfect sunset. I was exhausted yet not weary and the hike was over before I knew it.

It was after dark when I arrived in town (if you can call it that). I found a friendly looking bed and breakfast, checked in and was ready for a long hot shower and then some dry clothes. Upon the completion of those tasks, I asked the inn keeper about where to get a bite of supper. He flashed an easy smile, the smile I had begun to expect along with the wink and he directed me to a pub. As it turns out, there are only 52 people in this town and there are 3 pubs, go figure. As I ordered my supper I was visited by several in the pub asking me a variety of questions. I found out later that they just wanted me to talk because they found my drawl of the English language rather amusing. When asked what brought me to their village I replied “oh just checkin’ out the sites I reckon” (I embellished the accent a little for their benefit much to their delight).

I made fast friends with many of the folks, enjoyed their local talented musicians and singers, played a few games of darts before heading off to bed. One of the folks I met was the owner of the pub named Stiofan and he asked me how and when I was going home. I said “I’m gonna head to the airport in a few hours if I can catch a ride”. Stiofan gave me that suddenly very familiar grin and wink and said “lad I would be proud to take ya”. He knew it was almost 2 hours by car and yet he obliged me.

Then next morning we met at his pub around 4:00 am and we were off to Shannon. As we rode we talked and sometimes we sat silently in the dark. As we were coming into town he asked me if I found what I came looking for. Interestingly enough, that subject had never been brought up. I nodded and said “well, I think so, I mean yes, yes I did”. Nothing else was said until he pulled up to the curb at the international terminal. As we got out of his little car and I wrestled my back pack and duffle bag out of the back he said something that I will never forget. “The thing about magic is it works the best when you share the treasure”. I spun around to look at him. This was the voice of Sheamus speaking but it was not the leprechaun that I spent the afternoon with the day before. I said “excuse me?” He said “oh nothing, it is just an old saying around here”. We shook hands and he flashed that all too familiar quick and easy smile along with the wink that I will never forget. I reasoned in my mind could this have been him, could this somehow be Sheamus? As I stood there on the curb waving goodbye I decided I was delusional and suffering from fatigue. But still to this day I have to wonder.

I slept on the plane all the way from Shannon to New York City and was napping again when it was time to board my flight to Dallas. When I landed, I found my car and drove the 70 miles or so home. The entire time I wondered if I had imagined all of this or was it real? I changed my mind at least a dozen times until I drove into my drive way. My wife met me as I got out of the car to help me with my bags. The first thing she said was “ewe this thing is wet, what on earth happened?’ I flashed her my new smile and gave her a wink as I said “oh not a lot, but I did have fun”. She said “well good, you look rested. Let’s get these wet clothes out and in the washer. Do you have an eyelash in your eye making you blink?” I said no, but I did bring you back something of a souvenir, let me get unpacked and I will tell you about it”.

I am not quite sure if she believed much of my tale and quite honestly if I were her I might doubt it too. But take it from me, if you are ever asked if you believe in leprechauns or the magic of Ireland, just smile and wink and tell them you have on good authority that they are both alive and well.

Be happy and remember, experience and happiness is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.

Blackhawk flight to Fort Hood

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog and remain consistent with regular postings was to detail events that are going on in my life at the time. Another reason was to document past events before they slipped from my memory. This entry applies to the latter reason.
January 2000 David came to work for me as a plant mechanic. He is an active soldier in the Texas National Guard Reserve. As such, he would need to be off one weekend a month for training and his commitment to the United States Army, in addition to the required two weeks leave in the summer for his Annual Training which was typically at Fort Hood Texas. I agreed to support him in anyway that I could.
In the spring of 2003 David asked me if I was interested in participating in a program called ESGR (the Army has initials for everything!) which stood for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. First I said sure... what is it? He told me what would happen and I jumped on the opportunity and signed up right away and was really looking forward to it.
A few weeks later I arrive at Meacham Field in north Ft Worth and met 15 other folks. It is a hot and humid morning. The sky is over cast with low clouds with a strong, gusting south wind. We walk out to 2 waiting Blackhawk helicopters. They were very massive and ominous looking. We are given a list of instructions as to what to expect from the flight. The doors will be left open and we all have a seat with a lap belt with a connecting shoulder harness. We are all issued barf bags & ear plugs as we are told it will be loud, very loud with the propeller and the engine. The flight will be a low altitude flight due to the low clouds and we will not be able to talk due to the noise. In a little bit we are airborne and I am very excited as this is my first helicopter ride. The pilot tells us it will be a 45 minute flight. Soon we are airborne and headed south. Due to the gusty south wind, the tail rotor is constantly correcting the helicopter keeping it straight into the wind. It is almost like a constant fish-tailing action. All goes well for about 35 minutes. At that time I start getting a little bit nauseated due to the constant motion of the helicopter. I am glad we are only ten minutes away. I look at my watch again in five minutes and am looking forward to being on the ground soon. Another ten minutes goes by and I am getting a little more motion sick by the minute. We have now been airborne for 50 minutes and finally the soldier at the gunner position looks back at us and holds his hand up with his fingers spread apart. I take this to mean we are five minutes away. We land in a field and I am really glad to be there!
We are greeted by a few Humvees that will take us around to the various areas. Our first stop is at the tank range. This is where David works. We watch for a bit and have the opportunity to ask questions and see the tanks up close. We then climb up several flights of stairs on an observation tower which gives us a quite a view of the range where we are. We talk to a few soldiers and as it turns out, I am visiting with a young soldier from Muenster which is only about twenty five miles from where I live. After a while we go back down as we watch the tanks fire. The percussion of the blast is almost indescribable. After it fires, about a second and a half later I can see the ordinance hit a target. The power of these things are unfreaking-believable!
After a bit we are about to leave this tank range and I ask if it would be possible to visit with David. They ask me several questions about him and then say, if it is possible to find him and get him away from his duties, it would happen.
We get back in the Humvees, and drive around to the other side of the facility. Here is where we have lunch. We are all issued with an MRE (Meals Ready to Eat, remember my earlier comment about the Army and the thing with the initials). We recieve instructions on how to make a hot meal with nothing but the dry plastic pack of food and just a few ounces of water. I know the soldiers have to hate these things, but on that day I thought it was really pretty good.
After lunch, we have the opportunity to look at the 'Bradley'. The Bradley I believe was named after General Omar Bradley of World War II fame. It like wise is a powerful piece of equipment, but in no way can be compared to a tank. It has a cannon and machine guns and carries troops in the back. After we have time to crawl around the Bradley, front and back, visit with the soldiers there and ask questions, I look up and David is there. We visit for a few minutes and he has to get back and they are ready to get us back to the helicopters for the trip home.
After we board the helicopter and get strapped in (before the engine and rotor crank up) the pilot asks us if anyone is prone to air-sickness. Since I generally am not, I keep the little episode of this morning to myself. With no one else 'fessing up, he says good. "I would like for you to sit back and relax and observe the power and manuverabilty of the famed Blackhawk helicopter".
Both helicopters fire up at the same time and we are off the ground and headed away from the ground at a pretty high rate of ascent at about a 45 degree angle from the ground. He flies just about the tree tops, dipping and rolling from side to side, making hard turns both directions again at a high rate of speed. We fly around the entire fort area (which is massive) and head straight for a huge hill (since there are no mountains in this part of the state I don't think it qualifies as a mountain, but never the less a very, very big hill). What appears to be at the very last second he pulls the helicopter up into a straight up ascent, like a rocket. We are really moving now. We go up, up, up. We clear the top of the hill and keep going up. After a short bit the ascent starts to flatten out a little bit as we start the trip back to Ft Worth, but we are still going up! When we finally reach the altitude for the flight back, I estimate we are over 10,000 ft or more. It has been a hot muggy day, but at this altitude the temperature now is considerably cooler. It feels good. The sky has cleared except for just a few clouds. The flight home is fast and uneventful. About 15 minutes before we land I develope a tremendous headache. I am guessing it is due to the altitude as again the doors are left open and there is no oxygen for us. When we land my head is about to burst. I take 4 ibuprofen and hope they work quickly. I drive for about 45 minutes with no relief. Finally I stop at a truck stop about 45 minutes from home and take a cat nap. After about a 15 minute stop, my headache is beginning to subside and I head on home.
All in all it was a great day in spite of the negatives of the day and I was glad I had the opportunity to do this and I am gratefull to David for being nominated. Additionally, I am proud of David as well as all our soldiers, regardless if they are active or reserve and for the sacrifice they make. As it turns out, a year or so later David is called up to active duty. He leaves us for a 6 month up-training in Texas and Georgia. Then he leaves the following January. He asks me to attend the commissioning program to deploy hundreds and hundreds of Guard Reserve soldiers. This takes place in Waco, Texas New Years Day. Now this is about a 5 1/2 hour round trip, but I am glad to be there to support David and his family. I meet up with his wife and daughter. After the ceremony, I head out as I know they need some time together before he leaves in a day or so. Additionally, David spends the next year in Iraq then safely gets back home. He takes off a month and a half then comes back to work. A year and 3 months later, the same routine. He spends the next year again in Iraq. He is proud of the work he gets done there. They rebuild schools, buildings, roads, water wells and other infrastucture of the country. The locals are glad to have them there and hate to see them leave. I am glad David is back safe once again. After being back for a couple of weeks I ask him if he is through or will he be making another tour? He said, given the opportunity, he will go in a heart beat. He knows there is still work to be done. He is apologetic for leaving me short handed twice and with another possibility, but I won't hear of it. I am glad to support him and do what I can as a friend and an employer.

Blackberry pickin'

It is Sunday afternoon and the grass is mowed, the trimming and edging is done and it is a warm but a very pretty 94 degree day and just could not sit inside and watch tv. So we get on the 4 wheeler and ride through the back pasture to check on the progress of the wild blackberry bushes growing along the fence row. They are coming along nicely and some are just begging to be picked. So we do. I eat about ten percent of what is picked. This kind of reminds me of my trip to Ireland a couple of years ago. The blackberry bushes grow wild along most of the back roads. We took many opportunities that week to stop the waste of over ripened blackberries. However I do not remember the bushes being so thorny. I have scratched up arms and legs and several thorns stuck in my hands and fingers but it is worth it. They are so very sweet and good. I may get a belly ache a little later, but again I think it was worth it. It is a shame that I cannot eat fruit cobbler anymore, because there would not be a blackberry safe on the whole place. As we head back to the house from the back pasture, the cows are waiting to be fed. It is still too early, but I guess their watches are running fast

Road trip to Houston

We spent the day at home on Sunday, and left about 3:30 pm. We drove through a terrible rain storm south of Madisonville and it finally slowed down south of Huntsville. We found a hotel room about 20 minutes from NASA. Our goal is to be there when the doors open at 10:00 am as we have a big day planned. Jacob is watching Jeopardy as I blog. I don’t know a lot of things but one thing I do know is he will not be up watching tv until 1:00 am, but since it is near midnight, it is time to hit the sack

Monday. We both slept pretty well. I got up early and went out for breakfast. I got back and got Jacob up for breakfast. Then we were off to the Johnson Space Center. We get there about 20 minutes before the doors open but by the time we get our tickets bought the place is open. We spent most of the day here, doing just about everything there is to do and see. It was not only fun and interesting, but was also educational. After that we go to the San Jacinto Monument. It was not crowded at all. We finished up there pretty quick and headed over to the Battle Ship Texas. Likewise this was very informative. I did not remember this ship being this old. It was built and commissioned in 1913 so it was over 30 years old when she was de-commissioned. It was the fist battleship to have an airplane take off from in 1919. We had a lot of fun and took lots of silly pictures. We leave about 5:15 pm and headed to downtown to the Houston Aquarium. It was a pretty nice place. The thing that I least expected was the tigers they had there. Now who thinks about have some white tigers at an aquarium? But it was fun and interesting. We had supper there and headed out looking for some gas and a motel. We found both. I expected gas to be at least a little cheaper than what it was considering all the refineries. I found out today that the refineries in Houston refine 25% of all the gas refined in the United States.

This morning I got up first had a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I got Jacob up later and read a little while he ate. We left for the Holocaust Museum in downtown. It was quite a bit smaller than the museum in Washington, but it was a very good museum. When we got in, we were greeted by this old gal (about 4 foot nothing) that could barely get around and her English was not very good either. We visited about the content of the museum and as we were about to start the tour, she promptly told us that she was a survivor of the Holocaust. Now I am feeling bad that I have been wondering why this old gal is not at home, doing what old ladies like her should be doing. But that was precisely what she should have been doing. I was very impressed and gave her a little hug. There was a lot more audio-video information here than the Washington museum which more than made up for the smaller sized facility. Again, I am astounded to the hatred and suffering that is represented by this whole event, as well as how charismatic Hitler had to have been to swing Germany around from post World War I to the state it was n in such a few short years. He had such a power, I wonder how he would have succeeded in the world today or even twenty five years later than when he rose to power. I would like to think that the world would be less tolerant of a tyrant like him now, but who knows. Anyway, after we left the museum we headed to Ellington Field where I had reserved a helicopter ride over Johnson Space Center, and the area we were in the day before. I really like helicopter rides and now Jacob does too. Our pilot was a very interesting guy. He had served in the Special Forces and told us of an experience or two while he was on a real ‘Halo’ mission. We got to see several Apache war ships as we took off, and as we were walking to the helicopter we were within a few hundred feet of four A-10 Warthogs (tank killers). They are both very awesome and powerful pieces of equipment. The flight was short, only about 16 minutes and I am not sure it was worth the cost for the flight, but I am sure it was worth the experience to Jacob. We also bought a video of our flight that was made as we were flying our route with a camera mounted outside the helicopter. Our pilot says he flies for the Houston police department doing air chases. I asked him how often that happens and he replies “everyday there is a nut doing something”. We hang around the air field for a little while and watch a fighter jet take off, then the A-10 planes leave. As the last A-10 leaves, we can see there are some folks standing outside the hanger and office area waving to the last plant (we figure it is family of the pilot due to the ages and the number of people) and as he is airborne and is up in the air a little he does a wing tip roll back and forth as he is waving goodbye to them. We leave, grab some lunch and head to San Antonio for the 225 mile trip. When we arrive at 5:20 pm it is too late to tour the Alamo, so we do the Tower of Americas, walk around down town and the river walk area. Then after it gets dark we go up the tower again to see how it looks with the city all lit up. It was fun, but now we are both tired. Our goal was to be in bed before 11:30 and we make it at 11:20.

Wednesday morning we get up and have breakfast then check out of the hotel and head down town to the Alamo. We are there for a little while then we head out to Gruene to raft the Guadalupe River. We select the three and a half hour trip and head out up stream. The water was pretty cool, especially at first. The river was running pretty good. I took the camera with us but thankfully I had it in a zip lock baggie. I never had the opportunity to take any pictures and I was thoroughly drenched on more than once. Jacob almost finds himself out of the raft and in the river over one set of rapids. It was a lot of fun. Instead of the three and a half hours as we expected we were through in an hour and 15 minutes. So we head home and we are ready to get there. We make good time on the trip back and we are both glad to be home, although we did have a great time together.

The Details of the DC trip

The week of Brad’s high school graduation is full and very busy. The Sunday before the graduation was Senior Sunday. A very nice program where the kids assemble in cap and gown a through a process of an hour and a half, reminisce their school years. Brad and Josh do the recollection of the grade school years. Brad wrote it and they delivered it together. It was fun and it was funny. It was however, sad in a way as I sat and wondered where have the last 12 years gone? I had the honor of giving Brad the Aaron Strickland Memorial Scholarship. It was hard (as I expected it to be), but a very rewarding process for me and Brad too. Graduation is the next Saturday, May 30. Brad wanted to send John Niland an invitation as he was impressed by a presentation John did at church for us a few months ago. He said he had not been to a high school graduation in many years. Knowing that his girls would be graduating in a few years he wanted to check out how ours went. Also knowing that Peyton Manning is Brad’s favorite athlete, he shows up in shorts with an official Super Bowl 41 commemorative Peyton Manning 18 jersey over his shirt and gives it to Brad for a graduation present. John is such a fun friend!

The week of May 31 I had an interesting trip to Washington DC. I got up early, had some breakfast and left home at 4:25 am, got to the airport and the plane left on schedule at 6: 35 am. I landed and my friend Helga whom I met in New Zealand a couple of years ago picked me up at the airport. We went to her house, she showered (as she had spent a couple days with relatives at a retreat of sorts in Virginia and left early to pick me up) and I met her boyfriend and we visited for a bit. He seemed like a really nice guy (as is turns out I am right as you will see later in my story). He (Chris) works for a company that does background proxy investigation on companies that are being bought and merged with and he is working on research this day and stays there to work. Helga and I go for a really nice hike somewhere along the part of the Potomac River. The hike was called (either officially or un-officially) The Billy Goat Trail. I figure out why it is called this during the hike. It included some rapids and water falls, it was very pretty. Most of the trip was over huge rocks and boulders to scramble over and around. All in all it was a long but a great day. She was going to take off that Monday and give me the insiders’ tour of the area, but could not get away from work, so we make a plan for me for Monday. They insisted that I stay with them that night. She has a nice 4 bedroom home, so I accept.

I chose to go to the National Holocaust Museum. I am there most of the day. I was exhausted when I got out! That was such a horrific time in our history. After several hours, I feel literally wrung out. So much of so much. I know my world history and have read books on WWII but not to this level of immersion. I was (and still am) almost speechless over the whole affair. There was a place at the end to write down comments if one is inclined to do so. The only thing I could muster was ... "While I am not of German nor Jewish decent (so I do not have a dog in this hunt from a genealogical perspective), I am ashamed of the hatred shown from people to people in this case, and I am embarrassed and ashamed at the level suffering of the race of the Jewish nation. May God have mercy on all of us” or something to that effect. I am glad I went, but it was a very sobering time.

To lighten things up I spent the rest of the day which was not much at the Smithsonian Museum of Flight and Space Exploration. It was interesting and fun, but the several hours spent in the Holocaust Museum was weighing heavy on me. I left there caught the train to a station near Helga's house and we all 3 went out to eat. The next 2 days I am at the seminar I was there to attend so I am staying at a Bed and Breakfast which is a 20 minute walk. It was very nice and quaint. I really enjoyed it, so much better than a hotel. That evening (Tuesday) I catch a train to Helga's house and the 3 of us are off to supper again for more visiting and great food. Wed comes, the second and last day of the seminar are almost over and a huge storm comes through which included a tornado that is on the ground just west of where we are. The lights go out and the class is over a little early as a result of no electricity. I leave for the train station which is still running. The storm has let up some but it is raining cats and dogs. I get to the airport early, hoping to catch an earlier flight as I was not scheduled to land in Dallas until 11:45 pm due to a connecting flight in Charlotte. But no, the flights are all screwed up and I cannot get to Charlotte until 45 minutes after the connecting flight leaves for Dallas.

So I call Helga (she offered if anything goes wrong, call me). No answer on her cell. Rats! I leave a message; make flight arrangements for the next day and my phone rings. It is Chris. I tell him the story and ask about staying with them. He offers the same before I can finish my story. As it turns out Helga had a friend whom she spent time in the Peace Corp that was stranded out of another airport and she was on the way to pick him up. I offer to take the train and a cab back to her house as it is a 45 minute trip by car. He will not hear of it. He tells me to sit tight, asks me where to pick me up and he is on the way. We get back to the house about the time Helga shows up with her friend Paul. We are all hungry with still no electricity and it is now about 10:30 pm. Helga thought ahead and picked up some take out. So here we are 4 people with only Helga in common, eating Chinese by candle light in Silver Springs, Maryland. I gotta tell you, it was a hoot!
The funny thing about this is... I do not even like Chinese food, but it was absolutely perfect.

We get up the next morning at 5:15 with still no power, say our goodbyes and get to the train station and then on to the airport. I finally land in Dallas at 11:35 am due to a delay at the airport, have a meeting waiting on me (I haven't shaved as it is almost impossible to shave by candle light), work the rest of the day and get home about 7:30 pm. Whew! What a day. I am beat but glad to be home, and apparently so are the cows as they are lined up at the fence like little toy soldiers.

250 miles of Nova Scotia by bicycle

My trip to Nova Scotia in August 2007 was more than a little fun. I flew into Halifax a day prior to the start of my trip which included meeting up with my group for a 4 hour van ride northeast to island of Cape Breton. Halifax is a quaint sea side port city. As most cities outside the United States, it was very clean and pretty. As always on my trips, I learn a lot about the area including history and current events. There were a lot of old churches. As a matter of fact the oldest wooden church in Canada is there in Halifax. It was in surprisingly good condition, considering the age as well as being right there on ocean coast.
The trip consisted of a bicycle ride around the famous Cabot Trail. By the end of the trip including the additional side riding trips the ride covered almost 250 miles. The first couple of days we only rode approximately 35 miles, just to get everyone acclimated to our bikes.
Fortunately the weather was very cooperative. As a matter of fact it was quite warm for a couple of days. All of the folks on the trip were city folk and they were absolutely amazed with the farm animals at a farm that we stopped at to take pictures. The family was very friendly and invited us all to their home. They had horses, cows, chickens and sheep. I think it was the first time for some of the group to see these animals up close. As we were about to leave the wife brought us some freshly made cookies for our trip.
I was amazed at the level of fitness of the folks in the group for the most part. The ‘least fit’ of the group was the youngest of the group. He was about 30 years old and a professor at MIT Boston. This was his second bike trip in NS. The oldest of the group was a 66 year old retired architect and his 65 year old wife. I remember on the day of the long ride (approximately 63 miles) we had to ride up a mountain highway. Although it was published in the ride description, I do not think anyone knew how steep a 17 degree incline really is. I knew it would be near impossible as our conveyors are on an 18 degree incline and they are hard just to walk up. The only one that made it all the way without stopping and pushing the bike up the hill was Bruce, a 48 year old marathon runner, he said he almost did not make it. I gave it my best but had to get off and push the last mile or so. Bruce and I rode together a lot. I felt bad as he would take off with me and leave his wife behind, but she was ok with it as she was in the pack with the others. They were all in absolutely magnificent fitness condition. I was truly amazed at the ability of the 2 sisters (61 and 63 years old). Bruce and I hit it off really well.
It was so funny, during the 4 hour trip back to Halifax, Helen (Bruce’s wife) said “you know Tony and Bruce did so well this week on this ride… I bet they could win ‘The Amazing Race’”. I agreed and said “you know you are probably right”. After I was back home for about a week I get an email from Helen saying that they had contacted ‘The Amazing Race’ to get us enrolled. I told Carol that after being at home and getting back to the real world life, I am not so sure that this whole ‘The Amazing Race’ thing was such a good idea, especially with them trying to sign us up. After all, how could I take off work for that long? After a few more days, I got another email, stating in order to qualify all participants have to be American citizens or at least reside in the US. Since Bruce and Helen live in Calgary, I was off the hook. But sometimes I sit and ponder…. What if?
I suffered with back problems for several months after the trip and I am sure it was as a result of all the miles and hours on the little bike seat. But fortunately I seem to have recovered. A lot of fun and truly an adventure I will not forget. Nor will I forget the people and friends that I made along the way. I hope them all good health and happiness. I wonder if I will ever see any of them again. If not, at least they have all become a part of my dash.

Getting caught up

Well I see that I have not remained as focused on this project as I had hoped I would. Hopefully the job has begun to settle in most areas. The merger between our companies was an absolute disaster. It is painfully obvious to me that US Concrete made two near fatal mistakes. First and most important, they made the mistake of not capitalizing on the momentum and strength of management of our company, (which is what we were all told at our initial meeting with the CEO and COO). I think if they had been true to their word, the only issue would of been that of acclimating a privately held company to the environment of that of a publicly traded company (compliance, required processes etc). Second, they failed to understand the market conditions that exist in Dallas/Ft Worth. While they have operations in other major markets across the company, nowhere else is the strength of competition that is vertically integrated in the industry as this market is. Additionally, in other markets they have the commanding share of business and here there are 3 other producers that are as strong or stronger in market share as we are. With the dynamics of the personalities of managers on both sides, there were some serious collisions (including me on more than one occasion). Now we are almost two years into the process, most of the above mentioned issues have settled to an acceptable level. There have been casualties on both sides of management and operations. At this point, I am running all the concrete operations, and have (for the most part) the right group of managers working for me. Raising the level of quality management, leadership and professionalism has proved to be quite challenging, however I am up for the challenge. Just the day to day operations given the geography of the company keeps me very busy as there are well over 125 miles from the furthest plants. I have been asked to move my office from Denton where I have been for over 18 years to Euless. This means my commute just to the office has gone from 48 miles each way to 82 miles.
Well, enough of that for now. Maybe I will be more focused on staying current. I guess the date of my next entries will prove that out.