I’m not sure if anyone reads this, but just in case,

I’m switching over to a new blog site, noted above.

I haven’t figured out how to import my previous 80 postings

to the new site, so I’ll leave this as an archive, and link

it to the new spot.

follow me.

 jaybhorn

 I was driving to work on a recent rush hour morning, taking my usual combination of interstate connections, and as I passed a busy exit near downtown, I was surprised and concerned to see a large dog standing in the middle of the striped and painted no-man’s land of a triangular peninsula that separated the off-ramp and the right lane of the four-lane expressway. 

Oddly, the dog seemed completely oblivious to the personal and terminal danger that lay only six feet in either direction of a sudden and unplanned movement.  Instead, he was completely captivated by something he was nuzzling on the diagonally striped pavement.  I was somehow reminded of the iconic photograph of the iron workers eating lunch seated precariously, but confidently on a steel girder, several incomplete skyscraper floors above a 1930’s New York City skyline.  Both these men, and the dog were perilously close to imminent danger, but were much less nervous about it than I was.  But this is more about dogs than men.  At least I thought so.

As I passed the dog’s presumed last exit, I found myself looking hard for him in my rear-view mirror to see if he was alright, and wondering if there had been anything I might have done to help him.  I actually thought of him often at work that day, and as I drove into work the next morning, my driving eyes searched the exit area, expecting to see a large, lifeless lump in the grass or on the gravel.  I was relieved and amazed to not spot any evidence of a failed exit, but ironically,  by not seeing the dog, I was still somewhat unsettled to not be privy to the dog’s ultimate fate.

At least not seeing him the next day gave me a sense of relief and eased guilt, after I had chosen to not stop and help coax him off to safety.  Though it had not fallen to me to be responsible, it was difficult for me to pass by, and not offer any assistance, even as I gazed on, and fretted over his predicament. 

And it was on the third day as I drove into work past that exit, that I began to think of all of the predicaments I pass by in my life, where I may for a moment consider stopping to help, were it not for the inconvenience to my day.  But I typically keep moving on toward my own predicaments.

This incident is far from the first time my conscience has encountered a dog in distress.   As recently as this fall, I stopped my truck in the middle of a country highway, and held up traffic approaching from each direction to pick up an oblivious Pug doing a puppy trot between the yellow lines of Highway 47.  The farmer sprinting down his long gravel driveway toward the road was quite grateful…and winded.  The Pug just licked my face.

It occurs to me that, as frequently as I see a homeless person at the top of an off ramp, toting a tattered and stained cardboard offering to work for food,  I rarely roll down my window. It would seem that I give a dog in the road much more thought than I do the homeless guy.

And what about all the times I pass a stranded motorist with a flat tire on the shoulder?  I think I am the kind of guy who would stop and change a tire, but I don’t think I ever have.  And just last week, I saw a guy walking down the road with a gas can.  Logic told me that he must have been walking back to a gasless car, and I started to slow down, but then I realized how much clutter I’d have to clear from my passenger seat.  So I kept moving.

And how often have I sensed an empathetic need to share a real conversation with a friend, a co-worker, or a family member.  Maybe I just needed to stop and listen.  But I didn’t. 

Perhaps that friend, co-worker, or family member is troubled, but does not know that there are eternal answers to the questions of life.  And as much as I want to see them someday in my personal Heaven, it would be way too awkward to stop and talk about it.  So I keep moving.

I’d like to say that I’ve had a life-changing revelation, and I will begin to live my life more unselfishly, with open hands and open arms.  But, in truth,  I’ll probably remain cautious and protective.  I suppose it is a good start that I’ve become more aware, and I am at least slowing down, and considering helping.

Maybe next time, I’ll actually roll down my window, and yell at him to get out of the road.

The dog, not the homeless guy.

Baby steps.

(linked from one of my favorite blog sites, kottke.org)

Alex Tabarrok proposes that now is a good time for the US government to form the Buffalo Commons, a huge nature preserve in the western US.

The western Great Plains are emptying of people. Some 322 of the 443 Plains counties have lost population since 1930 and a majority have lost population since 1990. Now is the time for the Federal government to sell high-priced land in the West, use some of the proceeds to deal with current problems and use some of the proceeds to buy low-priced land in the Plains creating the world’s largest nature park, The Buffalo Commons.

According to this map, the US government owns more than 50% of the land in some western states (Nevada 84.5%, Utah 57.4%, Oregon 53.1%, Arizona 48.1%, California 45.3%).

HAGERSTOWN – With his once-healthy lead down to five points and his team facing a fourth-down-and-8 at its own 48-yard line early in the fourth quarter Friday night, Lapel coach Nate Andrews had a decision to make.

“Is it time?” he asked, turning to one of his assistant coaches.

“Yes, sir, it is,” came the reply.

So Andrews sent in the fake punt, senior Josh Owen completed a 20-yard pass to junior Sam Foust and the Bulldogs went on to defeat Hagerstown 40-21 for the second sectional title in school history and the first since 1995.

 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/385509_starbucks30.html

"Rock singer Bono gave a surprise speech Wednesday at Starbucks’ managers conference in New Orleans, bringing star power to the company’s announcement of a partnership with (RED), a private organization that benefits AIDS programs in Africa.

 His appearance was even kept secret from the rest of his U2 band members, he said.

Seattle-based Starbucks will donate 5 cents to the Global Fund for each holiday beverage it sells from Nov. 27 through Jan. 2. After that, Starbucks will designate certain products as (RED), which will benefit the Global Fund."

 "Here we are, talking about the economy tanking. People are saying, ‘Maybe the world doesn’t need more coffehouses.’ And what do you do? What does Starbucks do? You decide to give your money away," Bono said to thunderous applause from the thousands of store managers and others gathered at New Orleans Arena.

I’m flying down to New Orleans this evening for a three day Starbucks Leadership Conference, along with every other SBX store manager in North America.  Not sure how we’ll fit 10,000 people on one plane, but I hear that technology has advanced since I last flew.

I am excited about the gathering of peers, and the direction of the company that will be set into motion by our fearless leader, Howard Schultz, especially in this pivotal moment in US Business history.  I wish I had as much confidence in whoever our next president will be to right the ship.

But I am most excited about leveraging the critical mass of 10,000 enthusiastic volunteers over three days to pitch in, and help with the continuing recovery efforts in a post-Katrina New Orleans.  I don’t know the details of specifically how we will help, but we were instructed to bring "work clothes" for a day of the conference, so I would anticipate much cleaning, building, painting, and sweating.

I’ll let you know when I get back how it went.

Now, I’m going to to ask my dad how to use a hammer.

This past Saturday (October 18, 2008), my little sister Kristin ran her first full marathon in Indianapolis. That’s her in the top right corner, 23rd from the right in the white t-shirt.  And visor.

Her twin brother, Kirk, and I inspired her so much with our high school running exploits, that she took up running herself at AHS, and never stopped running.              Kirk and I did. 

She had been running 5K races for years, once while pushing one of those three wheeled racing strollers carrying her sleeping four year old twins.  The twins finished ahead of her.  Once, she ran a small 5K with a couple hundred or so runners, and the twins watched from the side, and jumped out at the end to finish the race with mom, and run through the finish chute.  Race officials were not amused, and caught them before the five-year old’s could finish, and potentially alter the race results, by confusing the place-counters at the end.  You can’t be sure if a five year old did NOT run the entire race, and beat some adults out of their age group.

 But I digress…

At some point, Kristin had decided she wanted to run a marathon just once, so she began training with some running partners from her hometown of Wadsworth, Ohio.  As it turned out, Kristin was going to be traveling to Anderson to join family for Mom’s 75th birthday party, and when she saw there was an Indy Marathon that weekend, the plans just fell into place.

The race itself went very well, and Kristin finished 575th at 4:08.  She failed to qualify for Boston, but she said this was her first, and last marathon, so there.

Saturday night, at Mom’s birthday party, someone questioned how a Casino in Anderson, Indiana could get Aretha Franklin to play there, and how desperate she must’ve been to take the billing.  This is when Kristin told us that Indy had somehow managed to hire Meatloaf to perform on a race route street corner to entertain the runners as they passed.  She swore it was him, and that it had been too early in the race for her to be delirious. The oddest thing was that he was singing    "I Would Do Anything For Love, (But I Won’t Do That)", instead of the more obvious "Paradise By The Dashboard Light".  I guess he would’ve needed a girl to accompany him.  Or a drunk college student.

Google has since informed me that, much to my surprise, this was not, in fact, Meatloaf on the street corner, but instead one of the famous Perkins Brothers Celebrity Impersonators of Bardstown, Kentucky, who had been hired to perform during and after the race.  Apparently, the elder Perkins brother does a first-rate Elvis, though I always prefer "50’s Elvis" over "70’s Jumpsuit Elvis".

My two other favorite moments from the marathon my sister ran, while I was at work less than 26.3 miles away in downtown Indy were almost as good as a bad Meatloaf song.  Somewhere near the midway point, Kristin was cruising along at 9:28 minutes per mile pace, when someone yelled out 

"Runner down!"

Fearing a Tour de France style mass pile-up, Kristin instinctively braced herself for the inevitable log-jam, but was surprised when the "runner down" turned out to be a dead squirrel in the road.  It’s just another tragic reminder that, nuts are a good source of carbs and energy, but you MUST hydrate properly, or you pay the price.

I also enjoyed hearing Kristin tell us that she pulled out her cell phone around Mile 22 to call husband Mark, and let him know about when she would be at the finish line.  I was concerned that she had elected NOT to use any sort of hands-free devise as she ran.  But at least she wasn’t texting.

Sunday morning, as I was leaving for work, and Kristin was preparing the family for the return trip to Wadsworth, I asked how she was feeling, and she said she was not too sore, at least yet.  I found out tonight that, Sunday night, when they got back home, Kristin had cut the grass at their new house with the big yard.  And apparently, she had done it in less than four hours, best in her age group, or her immediate family.

I’m so proud of my little sister.

Saturday nite, after an exhausting day of working
in the yard at Debbie’s house, we went out for dinner,
and then came back to Lapel thinking of watching a
movie, but we hadn’t picked up anything, so we
looked through her DVD’s and VHS tapes, and
somehow ended up watching a 30 minute episode
of "Veggie Tales", where Cucumber Larry and Tomato Bob
told the story of Joseph from the Old Testament, but
in the context of an American Western story.

I wasn’t really familiar with the "Veggie Tales" thing, having never had my own kids, but once I figured out the subtext of the story in front of me,I got really interested, and ended up really getting encouraged and inspired by the message, mainly of being patient of God’s plan, and continuing to "do what is right", even in the face of darkness and uncertainty, because He will provide in the end, when His time is right, but meanwhile, there is work we can and should be doing while we are planted wherever we are.

As if to drive the point home, at church today, we heard about Joshua, and I was encouraged to recommit myself to God’s plan, (Joshua’s Stone–24:26-27), and to challenge myself to remain faithful, even in times of darkness and uncertainty.

I love it when God speaks so clearly to me, especially when I need to hear Him.

Even if it is in the form of an animated cucumber.

They should really market this stuff to kids….

Ali, you were a fighter for all of your five months.

R.I.P., and tell Snuggles hi for us….