2 Hunnert - This Life

Looking back
Two hundred posts on this blog
Reflections, near and far term
Of one life, just one life is all

The essence of life... mine
The mistakes of life... mine
The achievements of life... mine

The last fueled by my beautiful bride

The mistakes...
Ah, the mistakes...

I did not imagine this
It happened
I did not deserve this
It happened anyway

I just stepped off the curb
Without looking
And there it was
Life...large and in my face

So I wrote about those close to me
Testimonials to our family of four
Testimonials to our goldy, Molly
Testimonials to friends
Testimonials about the human condition

Right now... I feel the love of family
As they laugh and talk
While preparing Christmas dinner
I peeled the spuds - that was enough
Love is warm

We're not done.
We. Are. Not. Done.
There's more to say
Until there's life, no more.

To all who see this; Merry Christmas

Herding Cats (Julieann and Her Lefties)

Julieann Marie Campbell
Receiving  Air Force Certificate of Appreciation 

I asked her recently
If she had ever though of herself
As beautiful
She was surprised, and answered "No".

Then I showed her a photo
Taken of her when we left the Air Force
Years ago and said, "See"?
She remained surprised

*****

Once she said she regretted

That she had not completed college
I said, "Are you kidding?

You have four college degrees
One in Economics
A Masters in Health Care Administration
Another degree in Digital Media
And this coming Spring a degree in Philosophy"

The point being there likely would be no degrees
In our family were it not for her
Her energy, her optimism and her belief in all of us
Brought us to this point

She has been corralling three lefties all this time...
Like herding cats right?!

*****

In recent years I have noticed, and admired

Her sense of things is to give way in deference

To oncoming traffic 

On foot, in cars, in conversation... in everything

Her time is yours, in all things

I wish I was more like that

I wish we all were more like that

To step back, to let another in, to listen

Note:  This is my 200th post in the past four years.  Without Julieann Marie Campbell there would be zero - as in no posts. That is a fact - I am so fortunate to be able to do something like this, that I love... and to be with someone I love.  I'm not sure she is done racking up college degrees either!

Get a Job(s)

Yup.. that's a little adaptation of the title
From the old Fifty's hit by The Silhouettes

But this is really about today
Right now
As we 'speak'... so to speak...

Its about the best nonfiction book I have ever read
And why you should 'Get' one
Its about the best company for customers that perhaps has ever existed
Its about the man behind it all

Yes its Steve Jobs and its his biography by Walter Isaacson

Do you have to be an Apple fanatic to appreciate the story?
Nope.
Do you have to be a management expert to appreciate the seeming contradictions in his philosophy?

Photo from the book's cover

Nope.

Neither attribute would hurt but I am convinced...
If you like to read you will love this book

Now I'll confess, I am left-handed...
Therefore by definition I am a dreamer
As a result I have always leaned toward fiction

Haven't read much non-fiction... nope
But this... this book is proof that truth can be stranger than fiction
That truth can be just as intriguing as fiction

Okay, I am done fawning here
Lets move on to a few (just three) excerpts
That prompt me to add my $.02 worth

On the use of PowerPoint;

"I hate the way people use slide presentations instead of thinking," Jobs... recalled.  "People (at Apple) would confront a problem by creating a presentation.  I wanted them to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of slides.  People who know what they're talking about don't need PowerPoint."

$.02 worth: He had just returned to Apple and was trying to review product lines.  He quickly realized how the company had turned bureaucratic, had too many products and was too confusing to customers.  He wanted them to engage each other and focus... PowerPoint wasn't (isn't) the answer.


On packaging;

(He understood) that people do judge a book by its cover... and therefore (made) sure all the trappings and packaging of Apple signaled that there was a beautiful gem inside.

Compact, precise and conveniently packed
inside and out... through and through

$.02 worth: If you have never seen the box iPhones come in they are something to behold.  I have a photo here but the real thing needs to be experienced to appreciate.  I have boxes from two iPhone models on the shelf in my office. To me, they represent the finest packaging I have ever seen.  If he wanted someone to feel there was "a beautiful gem" inside it worked. The look, the quality of construction, the fit... everything about it.  It is a classic.

On Setting Realistic (limiting) Objectives;

Jobs would stand in front of a whiteboard (he loved whiteboards because they gave him complete control of a situation and they engendered focus) and ask, "What are the ten things we should be doing next?"  People would fight to get their suggestions on the list, Jobs would write them down, and then cross off the ones he decreed dumb.  After much jockeying, the group would come up with a (prioritized) list of ten.  Then Jobs would slash the bottom seven and announce, "We can only do three."

$.02 worth: This is a spin-off from an old management adage that suggests during a  limited, 3-5 year tenure a top exec should limit objectives to five (Jobs liked three).  The point, whether three or five or something within reach, is right on target in my not-so-humble estimation.


Jobs was not without fault in his relationships with others and he apparently wasn't afraid to admit it.  On the other hand, he was a genius at knowing what people (we) wanted before they (we) knew it ourselves.  He was a 'product first, customer first' type person before bottom-line profit. The beauty of this philosophy was and is that profits followed... big-time.  If only more companies were like this today. 

Simplicity and quality
Beginning to end
That's all
That's everything
That was Steve Jobs
RIP Steve... you have changed our lives forever
Walter, you did a damn fine job too, thanks

Gimme' An M!...

Gimme an R!
Gimme an I!
Gimme an M. R. I.!
What's that spell?!

 Nothing.

Its an acronym
For Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Or what I like to now refer to as
A day in the looney bin.

You see I 'got this hearing loss
It all started in '72
When ultra patient wife Julie, brother Dave and I
Attended a rock concert
At the Los Angeles Forum
Iron Butterfly and Canned Heat

The sound engineer must have been on something that day
When we left my ears were ringing
And haven't stopped since
No problem, pretty easy to get used to...
But other noise since and aging
Have compounded things
To the point where "What?" is by far the most common word in my vocabulary

An ENT doc & pal from our soccer daughter's past experiences
Thought it would be good to check my head with an MRI
See if anything is there
(Many of you believe there isn't I know)
So I was off to get my head examined
(As many of you have requested in the past)

Fast forward to exam room...

Exactly as I was positioned
Note Lady Gaga apparatus over head
I was ready to sing "Edge Of Glory"
White object is mirror so patient (me)
Can see tech in room behind machine

The tech was friendly.
Got me quickly positioned with head in restraints
(As many of you have long hoped)
Positioned a Lady Gaga Memorial plastic face over me
Then crammed plugs in my ears & continued explaining things
"I can't hear you at all now" She just gave me a knowing smile
I picked up "...half hour", "...don't move", and few other tidbits anyway

As the machine crammed me into this giant tube my last words were; "2001, space Odyssey!"
She smiled again for me
Okay, okay I was desperate to break the tension with a little lame humor
My tube was snug-on-shoulders cozy
And I thought...I'm kinda' like human toothpaste right now!
Hope nobody squeezes it...

Then, a cacophony of loud frickin' noises hit my space capsule
First the sounds of a circular saw making passes at... My head?
Next a jackhammer... rhythmic and persistent
Then a klaxon (What? The hard hats taking a break already?)
And then, in "dueling banjos" fashion a klaxon and a hammer tapping some metal object,
All of them were in sevens; seven tolls of the klaxon followed by seven blows of the hammer

Finally at the end of the first round Klaxon II went off...
Louder and more persistent, it made me want to shout "All hands on deck!" and maybe "Abandon ship!"
...except I was never in the Navy so I kept quiet
Then, 15 minutes in, came the injection she had mentioned
"Contrast agent" she had called it
I thought it might in fact be some sort of shape altering substance

So I was laying there.. waiting for my eye teeth to grow longer... Much longer
Instead we made mashed potatoes... at least that is what it seemed like
It was the muffled sound of an electric mixer working partly mashed potatoes
And tapping against the side of an aluminum pan...
Ok maybe it was stainless steel

Trip over...
Gimme another M!
Gimme another...nah, never mind.

Turtle Summit II

The scene of TS II
They met for breakfast
So they ate the flower
(click on photo to enlarge)

They met again, innocently enough
Near the pool
'Neath the shadows of the fruitless mulberry

And the palms of Molly's grotto

"Why the centerpiece?" the littlest turtle asked
"We can't see each other
Around that flower pot."

The elder turtle replied; "That pot is in the middle.
A place we are all looking for
It is right in front of us... 

Yet some of us can't see it

Some of us want less corporate influence over government
Some of us went less government influence over corporations

We adopt these positions as avowed members of the left, and right respectively
We refuse to see that there is balance in the middle

That corporations must have a voice in politics
Otherwise government will regulate them to extinction

That government must have a voice in business
Otherwise corporations will drive the middle class to extinction

In history little turtle, we have seen that corporations left unchecked
Will ultimately ignore their social contract and drain the resources that feed them...
People, air, water, highways, railroads... all the things they need for long term prosperity
It is almost like they are trying to see which will be the last company that remains...
When the last breath of air, the last drop of water, the last road and finally
The last person... is gone."

"We have also seen that governments can deteriorate into ineffective bodies
Governments that focus on winning far beyond the point where they remember what it was they were fighting for
Governments that knee-jerk to wars, that bankrupt their children, that are willing puppets of special interests

It is like they are saying "Tomorrow is not my responsibility, I must not give an inch today.
When faced with reason, I must equivocate.
When faced with truth, I must deny."

The little turtle said; "But elder... is there a way to change our government and corporations
So that they see what must be done
So that they act to give us young ones the same opportunities they had?"

"There is," said the elder turtle.

"But the way is difficult
All of us turtles must become active
We must give voice to these causes... both left and right
We must insist on balancing the social contract

If you think about it little turtle,
You can see the turtles on your left, and your right
Around the flower pot

They are good turtles, just like you
They will listen, you just need to speak

You need to remind them of historical precedent
You need to remind them of the moral compass
That made them, their corporations and their politicians great

This reminder, coming from little turtles and common turtles,
To all big turtles with shells tough as nails
Has happened before
Its time for it to happen again"

Turtle Summit III

They gathered again at Molly's grotto...

"Fellow Turtles", the elder said
"Lately I have been thinking about
Some tenets of democracy, that is,
Checks and balances versus the slippery slope of greed
I believe freedom must have bounds or a society cannot peacefully exist, or prosper
For us, the tricky part is where to draw the boundaries..."

He went on to say; "What does it mean when the common turtle is subjected to mandatory drug testing in order to draw welfare, as it is in Florida... especially when the incidence is so low while the program costs for taxpayers is so high?

If this is justified, and the incidence of crime is higher than the incidence of drug abuse, why would we not next subject the poor (or all of us?) to wearing electronic monitoring devices so we can prevent crime?

Yes, it is a slippery slope my brothers of the shell
It is lined with threats to the dignity of the common turtle
And a curious disregard for simple economics
Letting passion come before reason."

The elder turtle held forth;  "I am by nature an optimist
Many would contend that I am to a fault
So lately I have been feeling the acutely rough edges of societal upheaval
And I can only conclude that the majority of turtles may be feeling worse

What does it mean when I see Goodwill collection outlets everywhere... four within two miles of our home?
What does it mean when I see Congress ignore our elected President?

This man named Barack Hussein Obama
Refer to him as "traitor"
Swiftly react with "no" to his every overture, no matter the merit

What does it mean when the birth rate declines to its lowest since 1935?
When the middle class begins to disappear?
When a college degree often signifies an opportunity to join welfare rolls?
When college loans hit the trillion dollar mark and burden our children for a lifetime
When global warming is confirmed by scientists but denied by politicians?

This seems to be a time when contentious atmosphere is the fare of the day
When emails full of unsubstantiated accusations abound with petitions to "send this to 20 more"
When recipients believe what they want to believe instead of questioning... even when accusations are so extreme they beg for proof.

When the common man ignores Reagan's plea to "trust but verify."

When we spend over $3 trillion to fund futile wars in countries that have waged religious and tribal wars for over seven centuries... and we hand the bill over to our baby turtles
(those who survive the war we send them to that is...)

Where is the sense of responsibility for the future of little turtles... for the future of America?"

The little turtle said; "I do not understand why the elder turtles I look up to cannot fix things.
Why have they done this?  Why aren't they trying to take care of our future?
They are our parents, our aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives, friends and colleagues
They are Americans just like us
Yet they are plundering our economy, our air, our water, our educational system
Leaving us with dark days ahead
How will we survive?  How will America survive like this?"

"Ok, get a grip..." - elder Turtle says to self privately...
Must. Think. Of. Way to end this on positive note...
So that young turtles 
(us elder snappers like to call them "whippersnappers")
Are left with a sense of hope.
Ok, here goes...

"Fret not whippersnappers!
We have faced similar challenges in our history
And prevailed each time
First and foremost
You must fix our political system

We elder snappers are too embedded in habit
To do it our selves
The only thing we elders can give you is our advice
And our advice is,
Do it quickly."

Burma Shave! (Google it... you will get my drift...)

Signed,

Curious to discover the punch line.

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."