Two of my nephews celebrated milestones in their lives this past weekend … and of course the special events happened 7 hours apart, one in Ohio and the other in New York. My brother’s son graduated from high school and although we missed the Saturday event at Bethel High School, we timed the Sunday afternoon party back at their house perfectly – in other words, we made if for food.
😉 Congratulations Jaben.
My nephew Aaron, was married in a beautiful ceremony at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York. The sunny 80 plus degree day made the outdoor “Hall of Philosophy” setting ideal for a wedding. It was great to see the family even if it was for only for the afternoon nuptials and evening reception – I don’t think I’ve ever been to a nicer wedding.
The ‘fortunate’ groom married Lauren Shuck, a girl that we’ve all known for years – a decade I think; it was about time Aaron! After an exciting honeymoon trip to Cairo, Egypt, they’ll be living near Washington DC where Aaron is finishing his PhD in Biology at Georgetown University. Aaron’s father, my wife’s late brother Mark, would have been very pleased with the ceremony and happy for his son. Congratulations Aaron and Lauren Howard. (family oriented photo set from Flickr below – for optimum viewing click ‘full screen button’ on slide show embed)
Just returning from a trip to Washington DC with Veterans and a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, remembering those who have died in service to our nation is fresh on my mind this Memorial Day. The visit was not only moving because of the hallowed grounds, but because I was privileged to be there with WW II and Korean veterans.
One of the trivial political discussions that arises on such a National Holiday is where our President will visit. Generally they have a service at a National Cemetery, which is usually Arlington. This year President Obama will be at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois … a decision that some thought was questionable.
Do you know how many national cemeteries are in the U.S.? 131 plus 33 additional sites that are managed by the Department of Veteran Affairs. If you can’t visit a cemetery, perhaps observe in the tradition of flying the U.S. Flag at half staff until noon this Memorial Day.
EDIT: Should have included this link from 2008 … excellent video on Arlington National Cemetery.
For my aviation and Warbird friends, there will be a P51 fly over at Ft Snelling National Cemetery.
I “tried”’ to take advantage of the $100 Cash for Appliances rebate program back in March/April by reserving a reservation, purchasing a new dishwasher, recycling the old dishwasher and filling out the rebate paperwork, but I have been thwarted by the system. Once again our bureaucracy is too much for me to figure out. This will be the last time I’ll be nudged by politicians or participate in government programs which attempts to stimulate the economy or whatever. What a bureaucratic farce.
Sadly the ‘taxpayers’ are on the hook for a rebate advertising campaign, development of a website and associated online infrastructure and a paid staff to administer an appliance stimulus program. Still knowing this upfront, I decided that I would be patriotic and replace our aging dishwasher and doing my part in spending and installing a more energy efficient model. For this, I was promised a $100 rebate after weaving my way through the compliance steps. I mading a reservation (limited numbers), then scrambled to purchase an appliance within 3 days, recycled the old at an authorized recycling facility (a pain for the self-installer BTW) and submitting my filled out paperwork and original receipt to a rebate facility in Texas – key administrative location (notice it is not Ohio).
Now after waiting the appropriate amount of time, I’ve received a postcard indicating that my purchase did not meet the terms and is invalid … “Purchase location was on in the state of Ohio.” Hmm … I had 3 days to make the purchase and not finding the model (energy efficient and approved model) we wanted at several local appliance stores, proceeded to start to “order” from Lowes. They indicated that the program was so successful that their inventory was depleted and that I would have to be put on the waiting list and that they would ship it from one of their out of state warehouses. I sat down in their store, made a couple calls finding it in-stock at an out of state store and they shipped it the next day (mistake, ehh?)
Now, I wonder just how much of a difference it makes to purchase the dishwasher being sold by Lowes and ship from their out of state warehouse and me purchasing and having it shipped?
For those at a distance discussing and “playing politics” with securing our borders and dealing with illegals crossing from Mexico, it might be a good idea to visit and talk with those “legally” living, paying taxes and owning property in Arizona. There was a short interview (below) with a rancher who talks about the situation; he has a right to be frustrated and angry. If listening to him talk about a half-million being apprehended crossing the border at his property line, having 7 break-ins and a neighbor killed isn’t enough to blame government for not doing their job, then I don’t know what is. If those charged with the responsibility (Feds) don’t respond and protect our citizens … and the state and local law enforcement aren’t permitted to enforce the laws … then it is time for a citizen, or a citizen militia, to protect themselves and their property. As federal and state taxpayer and citizens of this country, I can’t imagine how angry I would be that my family and property continued to be at risk while politicians concern themselves with offending those who are in this country illegally. As if that isn’t bad enough, the citizens who are not being protected are paying taxes (both state and federal) that are used to care for and support those who are here illegally. Wake up Washington and do your job.
Read an article about the 2010 Ford Fusion winning the honors of being the Edmonds.com Consumers’ Top Rated award (as well as Motortrend Car of the Year) and had to chuckle noticing the dash storage compartment. Perhaps it’s just my lame sense of humor … anyway the items in the dash storage box did make me chuckle thinking that 50 years ago cigarettes would see exactly that ‘photo’ placement.
When I posted the photos and comments about the trip to Washington DC with the Shelby County Ohio veterans on Monday, I didn’t include the short video segment from my Palm Pre. I’ve encoded and merged the short clips from our visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday May 22, 2010.
If I knew how to trade the up and down stock market I’d be a happy camper … unfortunately it is near impossible.
Today’s comeback saw stocks returning the losses from Tuesday and Wednesday, but conditions on Wall Street (and in the overall economy) leave much to be desired. I’m a believer that the sooner we return (IF we return) to fiscal responsibility, that conditions will be far better for a legitimate economic comeback. Until then, volatility and uncertainty will persist.
It has been a tough 30 days for those in equities (chart right).
From previous posts, some of you know that I enjoy sailing and the surf … and although I’ve practiced combining the two with windsurfing, I can’t imagine doing it like this.
Where visiting my parents, my mother always has a pile of newspaper and magazine clipping for both my brother and me to go through.
One of them (below) this past weekend happened to include a Cincinnati area friend and regular blog reader … so I figured it might be appropriate to warn him that when traveling to Sidney and Shelby County that it is difficult to go unnoticed by my mom!
😉
we timed the Sunday afternoon party back at their house perfectly – in other words, we made if for food.
nuptials and evening reception – I don’t think I’ve ever been to a nicer wedding.
Howard. (family oriented photo set from Flickr below – for optimum viewing click ‘full screen button’ on slide show embed)
