Who Is John Galt?!

I got to read my pal Ayn Rand's work a couple of years ago.
I call her "pal" because I suspect we could have been
After all, most of my life I have been most fascinated by,
And closest to... eccentrics - including innovators mainly among them...(you know who you are)

I was so impressed with her beautifully developed, provocative work I wrote six, yes six stories about it. 
In rough order:

Atlas is Shrugging

Ine* Rand 678, Ine* 679

Lemon Rineand

Crow On Fifty (Ayn - the last installment)

Ayn Rand Redux

Atlas Shrugged

('dis be the seventh for those keeping count)

I think, in this day and age, Ayn would have mixed emotions at what she would see:

• A Congress in inertia 
• A President rendered impotent by checks and balances that are not working properly 
• A populace tired of economic abuses and the inability of its elected officials to correct the course 
• A national moral compass that fires our youth and our money erratically toward other nations

My favorite Rand work, "Atlas Shrugged" focuses on two key factors, an elected body that is so controlling that it destroys our economic base and entrepreneurs who leave the disaster behind to establish a utopian free-enterprise system.  Many people believe she correctly pointed to our current government as too large and too anti-business... this may be true in some respects.

Yet, I think the main thing in Ayn's novel that does not adequately mirror reality is the assumption that business can grow and prosper better if unregulated and that corporations will function ethically if left entirely to their own devices.  If this same logic were applied to the flip side of Ayn's thinking, the government would be fine if we just installed politicians and then left them alone to pass laws of their own choosing and find their own successors.

I think... even my pal Ayn Rand would agree these guys have screwed us up big time.  She knew the only way to "Fix it" was to drop all the ethical (emphasis on ethical) entrepreneurs into a remote valley no one else could find and let them peddle their wares among each other.  We don't have any hidden valleys, we have  our entire country and the whole world to contend with. Everyone world wide has their eye on our moral compass and that is as it should be because we have long taken pride in setting the standard.

The problem is now we have let standards slip and fall into moral crevices on many fronts such as; considering torture permissible, starting wars without factual justification, saddling our children with over $3 trillion in war debt without identifying the means to pay, giving corporations the benefit of the doubt ahead of the public voice, giving corporations and politicians a pass on investigating and prosecuting illegal activities.

Now, I wonder what Ayn would say to our leaders in business and politics today?  Maybe something like this; "Listen you idiots, I used my imagination and wrote novels. Fiction is what they were. Nothing more.  You, on the other hand, are writing history and you are doing a lousy job of it.  Snap out of it. You are both far too embedded in greed and egotism.  You are destroying your children's future." Okay, okay, maybe she would have taken 1,000 pages to relay that message but I think it would have summed up the same.

So what's to conclude?  There is much work to do of course, and our generation doesn't appear to have the cajones to do it.  Instead, we will have to wait on our sons and daughters to save us, and themselves. God, please be with them.

The Drift Of Things

draw dead - heater
flood - drought
feast - famine
good - bad
rain - shine
ying - yang
day - night
ebb - flow
up - down
high - low
hot - cold
win - lose

The drift of things...

Letter To Charlie

The Occasion: Colonel Charles Brown, USAF, MSC Retirement
The Recalled Location: Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
The Players: Major Charlie Brown, Administrator; Jerry Salsberry (RIP), GS Medical Supply; Lt Jack Ohl, Box Kicker; Lt Tom Campbell, Counter of Beans. 
The Letter:

September 8, 1993


Charles W. Brown III, Colonel, USAF, MSC
Administrator, 4th Medical Group
PSC 41, Box 4465
APO AE 09464

Dear Charlie,

Yesterday, I received a note postmarked San Antonio, Sept. 4, 1993. The note announced your retirement ceremony on the sixteenth and suggested return mail be posted a week to ten days early to arrive in time. My reckoning says I should have mailed this yesterday and, once again my good friend, we are behind the power curve. Just like the good old days right partner?

Charlie and his XR 250
Sagebrush grows like a bush with pretty sturdy branches
You don't ordinarily want to run into it
Notice branch stuck into foot peg
Notice road rash on right forearm
Notice medicinal Michelob in left hand
Notice cheese-eatin' grin - this is why you never see
a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office

For mostly selfish reasons, I dreaded this news though I have been expecting it for some time. It strikes me as the passing of an era marked by hard work, hard play, trust and spirit. The moment began to pass when we began going separate ways from our (hospital administration and dirt bike riding days) in Idaho and it hasn't been quite the same since. Most of all, I miss the trust and the spirit. Of course, it's sad but it's also a chance to reflect on some great moments and our good fortune to have shared those times.

(As I reflect back), I see Jerry Salsberry at the rim of Bruneau Canyon, with a row of perfect (false) teeth grinning from ear to ear and his eyes gleaming with excitement. Old "Leadbelly" is wearing his crumpled tan felt cowboy hat and he is astride a mass of "thumper," what was once a Honda XL250 dirt bike.

It's really amazing but the thumper is running.... running strong and reverberating like the heartbeat of a giant in some vast, empty building.

Every now and then Leadbelly cranks the throttle, making the thumps echo off the canyon walls.  He's getting ready to descend into the canyon.  The bike is (precariously) balanced on the first of several large and ominous looking stair step rocks that mark the first forty or fifty feet down a steep, mile long road.  To a couple of rookie riders, say someone (you) on a green 125 Kawasaki, or a Honda TL 125 trials bike (me) it looks like a dangerous undertaking.  After all, it seems pretty clear that once the descent begins you have to go all the way.  It looks far too steep to turn around and return in the middle.  The two or three hundred foot drop straight down the canyon wall on the right side most of the way doesn't look too inviting either.

Old Leadbelly is looking back at you  once in a while.  And he is saying; "C'mon Charlie! It's a new chapter unfolding in a wonderful life.  Go ahead, look behind ya' and tell'em all thanks and you won't forget'em.  That's the proper thing to do.  But then, look with me toward tomorrow.  Jack and Tom are already there and those two bastards are having a great time.  C'mon?  We all love ya' and we want you with us... seein' what there is to see."

L-R Tom, Jack, Charlie, Leadbelly
Idaho trip into Devil's Hole, circa 1977
Charlie and Tom have duct tape on bridge of glasses
This is to keep dust out and vision semi-clear
A few years later, Leadbelly would go to sing with the Angels

And then Leadbelly says; "When we get there, I'll be leaving you for a spell to head on down the trail. You, Jack and Tom can catch up with me later. In the meantime, you guys take good care of your families and Charlie, one of these years I'll see you in the Canyon again right after run-off... sometime in the late spring right?!" Then he cranks up the thumper and one of his belly laughs simultaneously and the thunder echoes off the canyon walls clear down the Bruneau river to the Snake river and on into Oregon...

Congratulations on your imminent departure to a new and great adventure.  The Medical Service Corps is losing a great leader.  We miss you and hope to see you soon.

Love,
Julieann and Tom Campbell

Leadbelly and Tom C workin' it at the Bruneau Canyon campfire.

(Letter taken from original with minor edits and addition of photos. Charlie was about to retire from the US Air Force Medical Service Corps.  Jack and Tom had preceeded him. Leadbelly had passed away in his early fifties - from smoking, booze and living life maybe a little too large but could he ever sing!!. He had a classic deep-tone voice that made "Long Black Veil" into something not of this earth.  There was never a camp fire he didn't light up with his music.)

Eye To Eye

Eye to eye
Loving the sea breeze
At the Bay Area's Treasure Island

A quiet afternoon
She was just three, or four
Playing around on
Mom and Dad's bed
Mom was at work
He was nearby in the living room
Watching afternoon television

Then he noticed her
Standing in the foyer
Silent...looking at him
Clutching her throat
Looking desperate

It happened in seconds
For some reason he instinctively knew

There was CPR training
Years before
He recalled the unique method
Of clearing an infant's airway

He picked her up, legs and torso on his forearm
Face down and hanging over the edge of his fingertips
Pointed her slightly downward
He thumped her on the center of her back

A marble, one of her big brother's, immediately dislodged
Clattered on the tile entry and rolled
Clickety-clack from tile to tile, to the door

He sat her down on the kitchen counter
And stooped slightly
To look at her...eye to eye
Searching for signs of further distress
Neither spoke
Tears formed and ran down her cheeks

Two years later...

They headed to Boreal ski resort
A father/daughter day
On the slopes with freshly falling snow

Five and fearless...
At Boreal

She newly taught and fearless

He looking on, followed behind
And worried she would crash
But was awestruck
At how well she took to it

They went to lunch at the lodge
He had forgotten his credit card
And sufficient cash
All they could afford that day
Was a hot chocolate to split

There were outside counters
Chest high to him
He sat her there

They chatted...eye to eye
While sharing tiny sips
Of the best hot chocolate
Either one would likely have in their lifetime

Turtle Summit

The Turtle Summit
On the patio of the world famous
 NorCal Campbell Ranch 

It all began innocently enough.
Four local turtles
Convened at the NorCal Campbell Family Ranch
In the early morning hours
For coffee
Or Slough water
Or whatever it is that turtles drink

Conversation began in fairly mundane fashion
None were willing to come out of their shells
Then, all of a sudden
(No one was sure who started it)
The conversation turned to Warren Buffet
And his recent announcement that the wealthy
Should pay their fair share (heaven forbid!) of taxes

They were most concerned about his warning
That a nation's doubt about its Congress
Could lapse into hopelessness.
The little turtle beaks were clacking like crazy
Over that one
"What would happen,
If that were to happen?"

"Well," the eldest and largest said;
"Nothing good could ever come of that."
"But I really wish for a future!" said the littlest one.
"Do you mean I may not hope to have one?"
"Nothing is guaranteed, even today", said the elder,
"Its just that the picture can get so much bleaker,
You may stop thinking about the future."

The elder went on, "Then, you might tuck yourself
Into the darkness of your shell forever.
That is the future without hope."
The little one thought about that and said,
"I will not let that happen.  I will work hard, I will be brave
And I will gather the rest of the little turtles.
Together we will change the future."

To that, the elder said, "Good, because we have failed.
You must learn from our failures and fight the partisan extremes.
Draw the centrist line and focus the rest of the turtles on that.
Demand ethics from your Congress and temper special interests to fit the common man.
It will not be easy but you, little turtle and those of your generation, can do it.
We simply did not try hard enough.
We allowed too many big turtles to gain the edge."

Poker is...

... a Muthaf___a!

Recently I recently heard a great professional poker player and keen wit, Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu say this about the problem with poker amateurs; "When they are winning they think they are good and when they are losing they think they are bad."

I caught this hand... this week!
Four Aces for my first time ever I think.

The beginning of July, I started tracking my tournament results using notes on my calendar.  Here's how it stacks up. In the past five weeks I have finished in the money 12 times including a couple of "chops" (ties) for first. This translates to 12 top ten finishes among a field averaging 80 or more players. Twelve for 28 and I am money ahead yes, but not enough to quit my day job. Yet, in the past two days I have had my ass kicked and that has happened many times before. Whenever it does happen, I leave the casino like most players in that situation; head low, muttering; "School let out early today and my grade wasn't good." and second guessing my play. 

I will be back in school on Sunday though. I'll be hoping to cleverly use just the right combination of loose, aggressive and tight play to befuddle my opponents and make them call when they shouldn't and fold when they shouldn't. I will be shuffling chips, sipping coffee, checking my iPhone, studying player faces (I hardly ever get anything out of this), and looking for "tells" (I know a few but am not sure what to do when I see them). When I am winning I will think I am good and when I am losing I will think I am bad just as Daniel says but I love it just the same. That's why poker is a Muthaf___a.

For additional amateur insight, see Pocket Aces - "Dat Metaphor" and  "Poker - more on "Dat Metaphor".

For info and a preview about how we got to this point click here: "Travel On"  

Update: 7/23/2018 - Seven years later and nothing, I mean nothing has changed. I continue to catch good and bad runs and play as before. Last week was so bad (How bad was it?!)...it was so bad I have to write about it to bleed a little figurative ink. In three successive tournaments this is what happened. In order:

1. Two sets, Jacks and nines "cracked."  (In poker vernacular that means beat...beat by bigger hands.
2. Pocket Kings, then Tens, then Queens cracked.
3. A set of ducks (deuces), and pockets Aces twice(!) cracked.

That is what is called a "bad run" folks. All players hear stories like this from their fellow players to the point they are tired of it. This is why I hesitated to write about it but I just couldn't help myself. Sorry. Not.  

Long Shadows...

...cast themselves gently on the south forty

"An Evening Stroll"
(If you are a member of a group, any group...
 just 'clique' to enlarge this photo.
It looks pretty nice when you blow it up, honest!)

of Norcal's famous Campbell Ranch

Making wimps wax poetic
And Badasses wax their Harleys

"Cereal Killer" Molly
Strolls to enjoy her
Own personal swimming pool

The giant mulberry shelters her passage
And keeps the heat of the evening
From her back

The "Badass" (read wimp)
Watches from the worlds greatest
Sun room and home office
Where these words are painted,
Then pasted,
Then saved,
Then shipped,
Then read by a few
Hearty souls who collectively possess
Fine humor and patience

The wonders of life, and wife
Whose middle name is "Forgiveness"
Hold him in rapt attention
While these words are tentatively keyed...

Where shall we go tomorrow Julieann?
What adventures will our children lead us to?
What will we do when the long shadows return?

Dance

“Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you’ve never been hurt and live like it’s heaven on Earth.” – Mark Twain

Old friend Jack Sender posted this quote on his "Warming Trend" blog recently - it got me thinking about Daughter Samantha and son Tyler.  


I'm thinking a person has to earn the opportunity to dance, otherwise it won't be appreciated.  It's the old "work hard, play hard" expression at the least.  At most, it's finding what you love to do and then figuring out how to get paid to do it.  Either way can work... both ways have worked for me I am fortunate to say.  


You just have to remember to dance.
To stop and smell the roses.
To discover then chase what you love and be relentless in the pursuit.


Here is another quote that is very much related:

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.”  Jimmy Valvano - 1946-1993 (former UNC National Champion basketball coach).

This is the message I have for Tyler and Sam - one of you has already made your discovery, the other is still on the search.  Keep at it.  Never give up.  You will fall down. You can and will get up.  It will happen if you are determined to make it so.  Then you will love certain people, you will love what you do, and most of all... you will love who you are.

I want you both to do this.  It is all I ask.

I hope you dance.

'Neath The Fruitless Mulberry Tree

We circled her base with lights
Once for Christmas
Now can't bear to take them down

I repose, I suppose
'Neath the fruitless mulberry tree
Only to find rapture
In a cool summer Delta breeze
That often caresses the Sacramento area
In just the right places

Molly, the Worlds Greatest Goldie
Savors her new tennis ball
In a rooted cradle
'Neath the fruitless mulberry tree

Long shadows provide perfect contrast
Between tree, grass, plants and structures
I begin to wax poetic... to mark the evening
A mood feared by many

This Powder Keg 2009 Cabernet
Aint' too shabby either!

The green tin frog agrees...
With these observations

The Green Tin Frog helps Molly keep an eye on things
in the South Forty

Of the damn fine things in life
I make note that it is speechless with admiration.
Isn't it!?

I named it "Herb" after all those frogs
Jack Sender killed in Ohio
He claims he didn't do it
He claims they went missing
But the truth rides in on the Delta breeze
'Neath the fruitless mulberry tree

Just between you and me
And Molly of course
Because she presides
'Neath the mulberry tree
And Molly knows her frogs

As well as her "Cereal Killers"

Corporal Gupreet Singh, USMC

Corporal Gupreet "Gobi" Singh, USMC
Soldier, Patriot, War Hero

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
Location: Former McClellan Air Force Base, Sacramento area, California


It was not a typical June day in Sacramento
There was a hard rain coming down
The drops stifled typical noises of the busy city
It was an extraordinary type of quiet...

The small Lear-type jet
Came smoothly to a halt
Just 50 feet from a large open hangar
Where the family of Corporal Gupreet Singh waited.

The Corporal was just 21
On his second tour in Afghanistan
He had arrived in the United States from India in 2000
For four of the following 11 years he was a United States Marine
His father said all his son ever wanted to be was "a soldier" 

In between the plane and the hangar
Some two dozen members of the Patriot Guard Riders
I among them
Had formed a flag line
They were there to honor the fallen soldier
And to preserve the dignity of the moment

The cargo door opened
The young Marine escort
Stepped onto the tarmac
And stood at attention
In full dress greens

The plane's crew of two
Moved deliberately
Through a routine of opening
The side cargo hatch
Setting up their equipment
And unloading the flag-draped coffin

The coffin was protected from the elements in a plastic wrap
The crew was solemn and kept positions of attention
Right hand over heart
At all opportunities throughout the process

The flag line was still
Holding flags at "present arms"

Patriot Guard Riders assembling for services
July 2, 2011

Left hand thumb up at bottom of staff
Right hand on staff thumb down and chest high
They formed an "L" to enclose the space
For the fallen marine and his family

All then departed, wordless in the rain
The Riders did not escort further that day
Out of caution for the rain conditions

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011
Location: Mount Vernon Cemetary, Citrus Heights, California


A more typical day in the city... sunny
Temperature was to hit in the 100's


The Riders began showing before 10 in the morning
Services for Corporal Singh were to begin at noon.

Patriot Guard flag line, awaiting call to "Present Arms"
at Mount Vernon cemetary, July 2, 2011

By 10:30 there were some 100 Riders assembled
By 11 they had formed flag lines around the front of the church
At 12 the Riders took a water break as services were held
At 12:45 they reformed the flag line at the rear of the church

At 1 the attendees began passing through the flag line
To assemble for a brief memorial outside
Just prior, in the triple digit heat
A Sikh elder passed among the Riders on the flag line
Offering small bottles of water - a welcome gesture of appreciation
Shortly after, there were three volleys of seven shots
That sealed the finality of the moment for all present

His father said all his son ever wanted to be was "a soldier" 
But he was much more than that
He was a hero in his adopted country

Obituary


Note: click on photos to enlarge in high resolution

36th Time's a Charm!

"Its just over the next hill, I swear!"
"Is the grass really greener over there?"
"Wanderlust?" Some say he got it from his daddy.

1945 -  Born Pontiac, MI - lived with grandparents
1947 - 50 Bottineau, ND
1950 - 54 Willow City, ND - house on west edge of town and house across from elementary school
1955 - Duck or White Lake, MI
1956 - Taylor St MI
1956 - Auburn Heights MI
1957 - River Road, Huron OH
1958 - Home on Lake Erie, Huron, OH
1959 - 61 Laylins Court, Huron, OH
1961 - 62 - 412 Williams St, Huron, OH
1962 - 63 - Uncles home Lakeridge, WA (Seattle suburb)
1962 - 63 - Bryn Mawr, WA (Seattle suburb)
1963 - Air Force Basic Training, San Antonio TX
1964 - Basic Medical Training, Greenville MS
1964 - Public Health Tech Tng, Gunter (Montgomery) AL
1964 - 65 - Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, NM
1965 - 67 - Lajes Field, Azores (Portugal)
1967 - Bryn Mawr WA (Seattle suberb)
1967 - 68 - Air Force Intelligence School, Lowry (Aurora) CO
1968 - 69 - Ellsworth Air Force Base (Rapid City) SD
1969 - 70 - UTapao, Thailand
1970 - 71 - March AFB (Riverside) CA
1971 - 72 - Udorn, Thailand
1972 - 73 - Luke AFB (Phoenix) AZ
1974 - 75 - San Bernardino CA (finish undergrad school)
1975 - 77 - Mountain Home AFB, ID
1977 - 78 - Richmond VA (grad school)
1978 - 79 - Andrews AFB MD (DC area grad school residency)
1979 - 80 - Fairchild AFB (Spokane) WA
1980 - 83 - Malmstrom AFB (Great Falls) MT
1982 - Gunter (Montgomery) Al (Squadron Officer School)
1983 - 84 - McChord AFB (Tacoma) WA
1984 - 85 - (off base) San Antonio TX
1986 - 87 - Randolph AFB (San Antonio) TX
1987 - Present... One home... same home... finally!!! Sacramento, CA

Yes he's a tired puppy all right.. and glad the eagle (more like pigeon) has finally landed! 
(Note: estimates of years may be off by as much as... well, years)