The Zen of Fiberglass and Canvas

Some may immediately recognize what I am referring to when I mention Fiberglass and Canvas. Others might recognize it better if I said Wood and Canvas. Either way, ultimately the reference is to sailing.

On July 7th I was blessed with my first experience on a sailboat. It was a J24 racing cruiser, which is exactly what we were doing with it. A couple of the people I work with have sailboats and are members of the Windycrest Sailing Club. They actually go out and race these things a couple of times a week on Keystone lake.

On the 7th I took Tammy with me, and we met co-workers John, the skipper, and Margaret who was crewing. It was a beautiful evening, but the wind was low, somewhere around 5-7mph maybe. We had a good trip out and the race went well. I even got to help crew by stowing the Spinnaker (the sail that looks like a parachute when deployed), and hauling in the Ginny (the front, of the two sails.) Tammy’s job was to not get hit with the Boom as it moved from one side of the boat to the other, which she did beautifully.

On the way in, after the race was over John looked at me and said, “you want to drive a while?” I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity, so I was seated with the tiller in hand. John was teaching me how to know when to tack and how to steer to keep the sails in the right wind. I was doing great until we got into the cove, and John was watching and said, “OK I guess we aught to tack about here”. So I yelled to the crew, “preparing to tack,” then “tacking” and about that time….the boat stopped dead in the water.

Yes, the first time I was ever in a sailboat I managed to run it aground. I was slightly embarrassed, right up to the moment Margaret reminded me that John was still the skipper and I was just doing what crew should do…following instructions.

We did finally make it in to dock.

Yesterday I got the chance to go again. And yes, John let me back on his boat. Not only that, he let me drive again, more than once. I don’t yet know if he is brave or stupid…I’m going for brave. Yesterday however was a very different experience. John’s experienced crew of Mike and Margaret neither were able to be there, so for last nights race we had a crew of exactly two, the skipper and me.

I got the full sailboating experience crewing a J24 with just two of us. I got really good at tacking the Ginny (moving the front sail from one side of the boat to the other depending on wind direction and where we were headed. I also got experience “flying” the Ginny kinda like a Spinnaker. Since we didn’t have someone to fly the Spinnaker we had to make the most of the wind we had on downwind legs, so we went into something called the “wing and wing.”

Well, I don’t know how John will come out in the standings, but I think we did pretty well. And, buy the final leg, I was getting used to the procedures and what was next, so I was getting quicker and quicker at making the changes. However, I have to say that today I am sore from hauling the sail around and getting it “trimmed,” which really means, “fight the wind until the sail is as taught as you can get it.”

I have really enjoyed sailing, and look forward to crewing again. The best part is I have been invited to crew any time I am available.

All of a sudden I know what Christopher Cross was talking about when he sang,

“Sailing… takes me a way…”

Finding Your Zen

Is it true statement that everyone must find their own Zen. The interesting part is that everyone travels a different path to reach their own Zen. For some it doesn't take much, a simple quiet brook, for others it takes a larger life experience. I of course am of the latter group.

It's hard to believe that it has been one year. And no I'm not referring to the death of Michael Jackson. As tragic as that may seem to some, for me it is just a marker in time. One year ago last Friday, I suffered a stroke. One thing about the stroke is, I can remember exactly when it occurred. I was listening to the radio and had heard the rumors and reports that Michael Jackson may be dead. However, it was at the exact moment, KRMG of Tulsa, Oklahoma, announced officially that Michael Jackson was dead, that I began and suffering stroke symptoms.

Since that time, I have been forced to find my Zen, among other life changes, in order to maintain my presence on this earth.

For anyone has followed this blog, not that there has been much blogging going on in the last couple of months, you are aware of some of my ups and downs during this year's adjustment. I would like to report that there have been many more ups than downs, however, I'm not sure that is actually the case. I can say that the ups are much more enjoyable than they were prior to a year ago. And the downs, they usually don't seem quite so bad, considering the alternative.

So if you find yourself reading this, having not yet found your personal Zen I encourage you to go look for it. Keep searching, you may find the search for Zen in and of itself may be what brings you your own personal Zen.

The Zen of Silver Wings (not the bike but the air variety)

This week I will get to indulge in another activity I enjoy doing, flying. Now, this will be a commercial flight, so the enjoyment of the air time is significantly affected by the activities associated with flying commercially. Specifically, security and over booked flights.

The wife and I are flying off to Denver this weekend. Not for a vacation, per se, but we will get some beautiful mountain time in during this trip. See, because of what I do for a living, practicing law for the homeless, I have been afforded an opportunity to work with some wonderful people in the Denver area who minister to homeless youth. The organization is Dry Bones Denver (www.drybonesdenver.org). I sit on the board, and we have board meetings four times a year.

A word about Dry Bones Denver…. This organization is made up of people who have a heart for the homeless youth in the Denver area. They are focused on creating relationships with those youths, and through that relationship showing them Christ. The thing I fell in love with, in this organization, is that there is no “seeking and saving the lost” focus in their work. That is Christ’s job. The people of Dry Bones are truly fishers of men, in that they go out and spend time in the water’s of these youth’s lives, and bring them into their lives. In so doing they exemplify Christ in their actions. A.k.a. “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another as I have loved you.” They meet the needs of the youths with friendship, and a shoulder to cry on, and someone to trust, and in so doing they bring these kids before Christ, who does the changing and knocking.

So, when I was offered the opportunity to put my experience and support behind these folks I jumped at the opportunity.

One of the side benefits of working with this group, is that I get an excuse to make several trips out to beautiful Colorado. Last fall I made that trip on my Goldwing, an experience I will not soon forget, and hope to repeat parts of soon. This winter I missed a meeting due to snow fall in Tulsa. Yes, you read right, I was headed to Colorado, home of the snow capped peaks, and it was a snowfall in Tulsa that kept me grounded.

This trip, hopefully, will go off without such hitches. The wife and I are going together this time, which she has never had the opportunity to do before. I had been looking at the weather and noticed that there was a significant chance of rain in Denver this weekend. Mentioning that to another board member I was reminded that this trip is the annual “retreat” board meeting, where all the board members bring their families and we go off to a mountain cabin or two for the weekend, rather than staying in Denver. Well, forgetting the effects of elevation, I had not registered that if it was raining in Denver then up around Winter Park where we are headed it will be snowing. And, I was just about to pack down my winter clothes, since spring is arriving in Tulsa.

Whether snow or not, I look forward to some time in the mountains, in front of a fire place, or around a campfire, with the one I love, and others whom I respect in the utmost. Here’s to safe flights for all flying in for the weekend, and to a productive board meeting.


RETRO

Finding Zen after Tax Day

I know it has been almost a week since I blogged. Forgive me, I was recovering following the shock I received after tax day.

Admitting that I procrastinated way too long in doing my taxes that still did not account for the shocking revelation that I was going to owe additional rather than get a refund this year. But worse than just owing additional is the shear amount in additional that I owe. I have to take some blame in this, for not paying full attention to my paychecks. See I, in years past have claimed “Married” with 4 exemptions, for myself, my wife and my two sons. This has never been a problem, because we make so little, with those claims we still overpaid and received a refund.

This year however was different. In my inattention I did not realize several things; first that with my paltry salary (not complaining, because I love what I do, just pointing out that it is small) and that claim configuration most of the time the amount withheld from my checks was exactly $0.00. Second, with my oldest finally moving out of the house and us not “officially” providing ½ of his support for the year he was no longer a dependent. Third, because my youngest became 17 this year he no longer qualifies for a child credit. Finally, because I was able to get a deferral for my student loan, there was no large interest payment on student loans this year. The result of all of these changes is a tax bill between state and federal of about $5500.

Now before anyone reading this begins to think that I make some large amount that I just think is paltry, let me say that $5500 represents about 20% of everything I make in a year. Moreover, there was some that was paid in, specifically the proper withholding from my wife’s paychecks.

So what is my response to this…. After the shock wore off, I realized that I owe it, and will pay it because that is what I am supposed to do. The government provides services that have to be paid for, specifically national defense and interstate transportation, among a few others. But, I am not happy with the process. I have not been happy with the process for a long time, but it was more an academic disagreement, rather than a personal one.

I have known over the years, due to my practice as an attorney, many people who have gotten themselves in trouble with the IRS. Most often this trouble comes not from them trying to avoid taxes, or cheat the system in any way, but rather from the absolute inability for anyone to fully understand the tax system in this country. I have a couple of classmates who went on to specialize in tax law, and they agree that the system is a joke, there are so many exceptions to the rules, that the rules are impossible to understand and truly predict. They are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each year by businesses, for whom a tax error could mean the end of the business, because without the tax advantages built into the system for specific things, the base taxes are so onerous that it is impossible for a business to exist ignoring the tax consequences of every decision they make.

That last statement is just SAD! It means that at this point in time the effect of government on businesses drives decisions and not the effect of the marketplace. What is so sad about that for the individual is that for anyone who just wants to live their life, and pay their taxes, they can’t do it. Like me, I just worked and wanted to pay my taxes, but because I don’t own a home, I don’t get the discount given for home mortgage interest, and because I raised my kids and they are no longer under my roof, no deduction, and because I drive a motorcycle everywhere (which is more fuel efficient than most hybrids and almost all “alternative fuel” vehicles) rather than a “green” car I don’t get the credit given to those people. So, because I did not take specific steps that the government, and not the market, thought were important, I lost all the deductions that I might have otherwise been able to take advantage of. And, because the tax code is written to promote specific activities, it becomes burdensome on anyone who doesn’t want to practice those activities, thus I am now paying much greater % of my income in taxes than I otherwise would with my limited income. But then, I don’t want to live my life by what a politician wants me to do, rather I would like to pursue my own happiness.

So, now that this is personal, rather than academic, what options are there to resolve this issue. After all, I cannot be the only person dealing with this dilemma. The answer is to take the power to direct every single little portion of our lives out of the hands of politicians. No, I am not advocating disbanding the idea of taxation, after all we have to have $ to pay for those necessary services. What we don’t need is a big brother government entity snooping into every private aspect of our lives to see where we spend every penny we make. It is ludicrous that tax forms take more than 10 min to fill out, and that we have to tell some bureaucrat how much we spent on food, gas, insurance, and even how much we gave away in order to keep from having to pay an inordinate more than our shares. Because I have, academically, had problems with the tax code in the past I have looked into several options to take that power out of the hands of politicians.

My personal preference is a flat tax percentage. Tax time would take 10 min max. How much did you make? Multiply that by X% and send it in. But the big problem with such a system is that people don’t save, and it becomes onerous on those in the very bottom of the income curve. Thus, the best actually workable solution I have found it the Fair Tax as promoted by congressman John Linder, or more famously promoted by Neal Boortz, the talk radio jockey.

The Fair Tax, as a plan is about as workable and sensible as I have seen. It is a national sales tax. It moves the entire tax burden to purchasers, that is everyone of us. It is progressive in nature because obviously those who earn more spend more. And the best part is that it moves the power, and noses of politicians out of my pocketbook and life and returns the power to the people with the purse (that would be the citizen in case you didn’t get that.) Moreover, it would make the most onerous federal administration a friend to the poor, and a welcome part of everyone’s lives. This is because the IRS becomes a vehicle for issuing refunds for the taxes spent on necessities, rather than the long arm of big brother collecting by threat of imprisonment. So, for a family of four (and these numbers are completely made up, but are used as an example to make a point,) it is a necessity to eat. So the IRS determines that a family of four, shopping economically can eat for a month for $500, and when they did so they spent $125 on the taxes, making their total food bill $625. Well, because that is a necessity the IRS would send a check back to the family for $125. But obviously that $500 would not buy filet for every meal, and would not allow for caviar, or even several nice bottles of wine. If you have the income to splurge on such extravagances, you may spend $1000 a month on food, and pay $250 in taxes, you would still get a refund check for $125, and the rest would go to taxes. Thus, the poorest in the country don’t pay an unfair share of the tax burden, because they can’t afford anything more than the necessities, for which the tax is refunded.

The beauty of this system is that when a politician starts talking about how much something will cost in Washington, or even in your state capital, it will not be some “billions of dollars” that doesn’t register with you and your pocketbook. The politician will have to come to the people and say, this measure will cost you an extra 10th of a penny every time you spend a dollar. You want to see people get involved in politics, make them see what effect every action has on their pocketbook.

OK, stepping off the soap box with this last statement, if any of this makes sense to you, please go to www.fairtax.org and offer your support, and if it doesn’t make any sense to you please go to www.fairtax.org and read up on the plan, at least get informed.

Thank you for this dalliance, I know this post was long, but when I start talking politics it can sometimes take a bit to explain what I want to say. I will try to get back to less heated topics in future posts.

Retro

Retro Winger's Wing for Sale

First let me say I promise not to allow this blog to become my personal flea market, it is just easiest to put the information here and point all other ads back to here.

If you read my blog you know that I have recently purchased a new to me Harley Davidson. Well, I didn’t intend to sell the GoldWing, rather keep it as a secondary bike for foul weather, or really long highway trips. However, the opportunity to purchase my dream bike has come up, and that is the reason my Wing is up for sale.

About the bike:

1984 GL1200i aka Goldwing Interstate
Has a little over 106,000 miles on it.

The good –
Engine runs perfectly smooth and burns NO oil.
I would jump on this bike and head to Colorado (which I have done in the last 6mo.) Not that I can warrant it would not have ANY mechanical issues, after all if I could truly predict that I would be playing the lottery, not selling the bike. But I wouldn’t hesitate to go anywhere on it.
Tires have ~1/2 life left in them (replaced aprox Aug last year)
Factory AM/FM/Cassette, works
Drivers backrest
Highway pegs
Starts every time without a moments hesitation

The not so good –
The slave cyl on the clutch was leaking, I have replaced it, and haven’t had any trouble with it, but don’t know if that truly fixed the issue or not (so I’m just letting you know, it shifts smooth and doesn’t appear to be still a problem.)
The vents on the R side have a couple broken off on the fairing. Not a mechanical issue, just cosmetic.
The tops of both backrests have sun damage and have been restiched poorly. Again not an issue, just not as perfect as possible.
The lower inside of the fairing has a crack as well in one of the cover plates.
The L side fairing pocket leather cover is missing.
The rubber for the L passenger floorboard is missing.
On the L side muffler there is some discoloration where some battery acid leaked after replacing the battery. (discoloration is on the slip on muffler, not through so no exhaust leak.)
The aux driving lights that someone added on the engine guards don’t work for some reason. (not the headlight, it works just fine.)

So… all the things that are not so good are really just cosmetic in nature. This bike is extremely trustworthy. It has been my daily driver and I put 20,000 of those miles on it in the last year. I have changed the oil religiously at 3-5,000 miles, and never saw any indication in the oil that there was any problem with the engine. Again, I would not be selling this if it were not for the fact that I want a different bike.

My asking price is $3250, but I am negotiable, especially if I don’t have to do any packing it up for shipping.

Looking at the pics the bike appears to be black, however it is actually Midnight Blue, very dark blue with little flecks of light in it. I will try to get some better pics if needed.


Retro

The Zen of Good Friends

For my entire life I have run in many circles of friends. I have to say I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world, because over my lifetime I have had several groups of friends, from many different quarters, on whom I could truly depend. This fact was brought home last year after my stroke. But that is not why I write this today.

Today’s entry is actually about one of my circle of friends, and how they have rallied around a member of the community who is going through a tough time. This particular group is my high school classmates. One of our classmates, a little over a year ago, was diagnosed with colon cancer. Immediately many of our classmates began making plans to be with him, whether it was to have a party to celebrate steps in treatment, or meals for he and his wife, or just phone calls and constant contact.

So, things went very well for this friend through treatment. In fact about 3wks ago he was told by his doctor that he could consider himself “Cancer Free!” It was a moment of great celebration by all of us. However, what was supposed to be a routine surgery to remove his colostomy bag, ended up putting him in the ICU for a week, and rehospitalized for probably 3-4 wks. I learned about this and immediately made plans to go visit. (A thing I was very uncomfortable doing until after my stroke when I learned how comforting those visits were.) When I got to the hospital to visit I was fascinated by his stories of how many classmates had taken the time to come up and actually visit, and how many others had called, or texted, or e-mailed. And the communication between classmates has been fascinating, because with Facebook and other social sites many others are keeping up, but not having direct contact.

Now this may not sound that interesting to you, but what I find interesting about this is that most of these people, up until about 2yrs ago, had not spoken to each other but every 10 years or so. See we graduated in ’88 and with some exceptions of friends who stayed in contact with one or two people, we all went our separate ways. I, for one, unless I just happened to run into someone, had not consciously communicated with anyone from high school in 9 years when I heard of preparation for our 10th class reunion. Then again I had not consciously communicated with anyone for another 7years. Then came a beautiful thing… one of the class members put together a web forum for us to communicate for reunion planning. Well that became open communication for everything going on in each other’s lives. And, suddenly we were all just tight as back in high school. No, tighter, as most of us have grown up a bit and have much more honest relationships than we did back in high school.

Again I found myself in a close knit community of friends. A point that was emphasized last year with my stroke, when the first person to visit me in the hospital was a classmate. In fact, recounting, off all the people that visited me in the hospital, classmates were the largest contingency, followed by church family, and bio/marriage-family.

But as I said in the opening, I have been extremely fortunate to have several circles of friends that were this close, over my life. Some of these friends I may not actually see for years and years. And others I may not even speak to for years at a time. But when we reconnect we play catch-up, and it is like no time passed at all. A trait I think I learned from my mother, who I can remember would visit friends when we traveled, and when I asked when she last spoke to the person she would say, oh, about 20 years ago.

The great thing about all this modern technology is that it actually keeps people like me connected with all those different friends, even the ones I don’t see often. Through Facebook and Twitter I can keep up with what is going on in friends lives better than ever before. In the past it was only when I heard from someone that I was able to play catch-up, now with a tweet here and there, and a posting update they let me know what’s happening in their lives.

So I guess the point of this posting is that I am a very fortunate man. And if you find you don’t have such a group of people that you consider “friends” reach out, because they are worth more than gold.


Retro

Finding the Zen in not so Zen Moments

The zen I found to day was difficult to recognize at first. See the wife and I were an hour late meeting the riding group for our Tuesday night dinner ride.

Tonight we were eating at Mattie's Rt 66 Steakhouse. Now usually I would just say we went to a resturant and give a location. However, tonight I believe Mattie's deserves a mention (aka plug) by name. To explain why, I have to give you a little local news. One of our small town elementary schools recently had an oubreak of meningitus. Sadly it has resulted in the death of two young children. But, to me even sadder is the story of one of the children who contracted the bacteria. He is an elementary school child who has now had to have all four limbs removed to save his life. Unfortunately the parents did not have adequate insurance, and the specialist necessary were well out of state where the coverage under Sooner Care does not cover.

So a couple of national chains, including Chile's were going to donate 10% of all sales tonight to the family. But our riding group had already planned to go to Mattie's for tonight. We were going to change the ride so as to make sure the family recieved the assistance from our dining. However, one of our members thought to call Mattie's and let them know we would probably not be there and would schedule for another Tuesday, call and let them know. (When we are going to a small local resturant we try to call and give them a heads up because sometimes our group on Tuesday can outnumber the total number of regular customers for a mom & pop local resturant.) After apologizing for having to reschedule, the member explained exactly why we were rescheduling. Well Mattie was so wonderful, she agreed to give us 10% of everything we spent to donate to the family. So we didn't reschedule, and we got a nice little check to give the family as well.

Not exactly the most uplifting thought, raising money for a family and a child who has just lost all his limbs. But it is really nice to see someone step up and help out, when they didn't have to. After all, all we were doing was exactly what we would be doing anyway, no effort on our part to eat out. But Maggie went the extra mile that was not necessary.

The other not so zen moment that occured this evening was more difficult to see the zen in. See, I was polishing the new Harley, which goes against my very nature. The old "I'd rather ride than wash," has gone out the window with all that chrome. Can't let it begin looking bad, the bike just shines when it is cleaned up. So, since I am not used to doing this polishing, we were a little late getting away from the house to meet the group for dinner.

The wife and I ran the 45min over to where the group meets to ride to dinner, but we were about 12 min late. The group had already left, so I headed to where I believed the resturant to be, about 20+ min down the road to the South. Not seeing the resturant I did what any guy would do.... no not ask directions, we all know that doesn't work... I pulled out the phone and Googled, then Google mapped. According to the map I wasn't that far off, just about half a mile.

But when we went to the location Google had mapped for me, the resturant was not there. Worse, the address didn't even match, and being a rural address I had no idea where it might be located. Called the resturant only to find that it was North of the meeting location, the oposite direction from what we traveled. Not only did we have to go back, but we had to go about the same distance in the opposite direction. So we finally made it to Mattie's, only an hour late for dinner.

What zen was there in this misfortunate bout of misdirection? Well, after contemplation I decided it could have been a much worse evening. After all, it was a beautiful 80 degrees, the sun was shining, I was on my new Harley crusing around with the woman I love stradled behind me, and I got almost 2hrs of riding that I was not expecting. What could be more peaceful and zen than that?

So remember when there is a dark cloud, it may not make for a pretty day, but you don't have to worry about a sunburn.


Retro