The Colonel's Forum

I passed a milestone in my life last week when I turned 30. I don't feel any older though, and the idea of being 30 doesn't really bother me. I think if I were really unhappy with my life, maybe things would be different, but overall my life is pretty good these days. Two of my friends also had 30th birthdays recently, and another friend is turning 30 this weekend. So really, 30 is no big deal to me. Ella and I visited my parents and went to Chicago last week. I don't miss Chicago anymore. There are plenty of things I still love about the city, and it's still a great town, but I am certain at this point that I would not like to move back there. I'd like to visit more often, but there's no way I would move back there. It's too expensive, too cold, and too cumbersome. Part of that is because I've become lazier over the years, to the point that I don't want to fight with traffic on the roads or at the airport. Sure, you get lots of direct flig...

while typing the girl's night post below, I heard: "Tom, I love you, and I mean that with no homosexuality involved, but I hate Ohio. ... Do you know where I am? ... I'm in Cincinnati Ohio [actually, the caller is in Hebron, KY, but I didn't want to interrupt]. They took my seat that I was confirmed on and bumped me to a later flight. ... Just one more reason to hate Cincinnati, as if the Reds and the Bengals wasn't enough. ... You gotta stop sending me down here. ... I know, I know, everyone at this airport is trying to get out of here too, and they're trying to get to Pittsburgh, you know, to God's country." Never assume that no one is around listening to your conversations. If I'm not listening in, Dick Cheney probably is.

When I returned home last Thursday I had the pleasure of witnessing girls' night at our house. Ella and some friends watch Gray's Anatomy every Thursday, and it was Ella's night to host. What an eye-opener this was. The intensity with which these 7 women watched a soap opera was unsettling. Of course they have favorite actors and characters in the show, but it goes much beyond that. They have theories about why certain events on the show took place, and other theories about what will happen next. They have favorite couples on the show and other cases where they hope guy A will hook up with girl B or C but definitely not girl D because she sucks. Oh yes, and all the while there is blood and guts all over this show. In this particular picture, some guy's carotid artery has just ruptured. Nothing goes with romance like spurting blood, that's what I've always said. The ladies at our house that night (and I imagine this is the case with most women who watch ...

NASA put together a cool image collection of Antarctica. I'm not sure how useful it is, but it's cool. http://lima.usgs.gov/

Here I sit, in the lobby of one of San Francisco's great historic hotels, reflecting on what it means to be "on the road again." When Willie sang it, of course, he wasn't talking about IT consulting. I am certainly not making music with my friends, so between those two things, the musical version of on the road again is out of the question. I ran into a nice Australian couple at the bar tonight (John Foley's Irish house, best fish and chips in the city), and it's always nice to meet new people. The husband in this case is a pilot for Quantas airlines, and he brought his wife along for a "holiday" here in the city. They weren't sure what to do with their time here, so of course I offered some suggestions. The conversation then turned to politics - I asked them about Australia's election last week. Here are some key points from that discussion: 1) I learned that voting in Australia is compulsory. It's against the law not to vote. T...

How many refrigerators do you have? I have one. I'd guess that's the case for most families. Sometimes you retire an old one to the garage, and then you have two, but you only really use one. Diana Charles has 2 refrigerators, and a freezer. This isn't because she's retired one or anything like that - this is by design. Tonight she sent me downstairs to "get the andouille and a bag of crawfish tails" in preparation for the breakfast casserole she'll be making for us tomorrow morning. I missed the andouille on my first attempt - it was hiding behind the tasso and the alligator meat. This is a glimpse into what it's like to enjoy thanksgiving in a Louisiana kitchen. We're spending the long weekend with the Louisiana side of my family, which always makes for some fun times. Good food is as much as guaranteed. Here is the menu for the weekend: Wednesday: Dinner Smoked Stuffed Beef Roast Onion Roast Potatoes ...

It appears that I've worked my way straight through the end of October and into November. While the travel is still a royal pain, it sure beats flying coach class to France for (literally) weeks on end. I was reminded of this recently when I learned that the French transit workers are on strike yet again. You may recall they went on strike this exact same time last year, leaving me stranded at Charles De Gaulle airport. "C'est un grieve." If you find yourself traveling through France, you can't figure out why your plane/train is canceled, and you hear those words, you may wish to consider extending your vacation in, say, whatever town you happen to be standing in at that moment. Some transit worker has just informed you that there is a strike going on, and you couldn't leave town if you wanted to, except perhaps on a bicycle. Vive la France! San Francisco is truly a dream compared with most other towns, really. Just ask my wife, who came out to visit m...

Saponification is the hydrolysis of an ester under basic conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of a carboxylic acid . Saponification is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali ( base ) with a fat or oil to form soap . Saponifiable substances are those that can be converted into soap.

Greetings from the Bluegrass. It's cold and rainy here today. The drought made for a quick fall, and tomorrow we're dropping to the 40s. A tip o' the hat (thank you, Stephen Colbert) to the Naval Academy midshipmen, who, after a 43 year stretch finally beat Notre Dame. Coach Weiss, if you're looking for employment (and you ought to be), the Ace Hardware down the street from us is hiring. A wag o' the finger at Pervez Musharraf. In the past week Pakistan's president fired the supreme court because he learned they were about to declare his recent re-election unconstitutional. Then he locked up 3500 people because they don't agree with him. He is also sending out the riot police to any political protests, and has suggested that because of this [self-invented] state of emergency, he might need to postpone elections for a year. While some countries have frozen their foreign aid to Pakistan in light of these alarming developments, the US continues to send t...

"No sex in the champagne room "

I read this morning that Mitt Romney is polling well in Iowa and I couldn't be happier. I saw an interview with him last week and he continues to impress. I'll be the first to admit that I had written him off as un-electable, but I'd really like to be proven wrong on that point. I still don't know who is my favorite these days, but if the republicans don't at least pony up a decent candidate, I fear that Hillary may walk away with this thing, which means I'll need to move to Canada. So what makes a decent candidate for the republicans? Let's start with the basics - competence and eloquence. He'll need to be a family values candidate to pull in the 20% of our country that falls into the wack-job bible beater category. I can't stand 'em pushing their agenda on the rest of us, but one thing that's for certain is that they show up at the polls on election day. I also think the republican candidate needs to run on a reform platform, moving...

So, I got around to reading Delta's contract of carriage today. In case you were not aware, the airlines have a ridiculous amount of control over their passengers. If you read through the fine print and make it to page 48, there is some interesting information in here. Commercial flights are extra full these days. The past two weeks, I've been on 8 flights that were 100% booked. This holiday season will probably be the worst since 2000. So it's in your best interest to read through this junk for whatever airline you're flying to see all the rights you don't have. There is one key right you do have, that most people don't even know about. When a flight is overbooked, don't be so fast to "volunteer" to give up your seat for an "airline voucher" good for future travel. These vouchers are full of fine print and often difficult to redeem. If the airline doesn't get any volunteers though, and they have to "involuntarily deny b...

The Senate today looked at the American Dream Act. Sure it's a dumb title, but the concept is one I think most people can get behind. There are a lot of illegal immigrants here in the US. In Kentucky, we call them the backbone of our horse and agriculture economy, or at least we should, because that's what they are. I don't care how they got here, I don't think they're a national security threat, and based on my understanding of the Dream Act, I'm considering the idea that we ought to look at "illegal" immigrants in a different light. The Dream Act offers the children of illegal immigrants a fast track to citizenship if they a) go to college OR b) serve in our military They'd still have to pass a background check, but that's about it. Can someone tell me why this is not a good idea? We're talking about children age 15 or younger when their parents brought them here "illegally" - why punish them for their parents coming he...

Here is one of the coolest interactive graphics I've seen in a long time Places the candidates have visited over time It shows where the Presidential candidates are making visits. You can slide the bar across the top to show different time periods, or just click the "play" button to view the visits over time (in a moving one month window. Isn't it just nuts that Iowa is getting all this attention? I know it's not a new concept or anything, but seriously people - Iowa?! I'm a big fan of corn too, but why do we have an election process where a state like Iowa gets all this attention and some other states have had no visits at all. Is Iowa really any more or less important than the Dakotas?

(from USA Today) One down, 79,999,999 to go. The "first Boomer" applied for Social Security benefits today. The honor goes to retired Maryland teacher Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, born at 12:00:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1946. This afternoon she filed to receive early retirement benefits when she turns 62 in January. The Baltimore Sun was there. USA TODAY's Richard Wolf wrote about her last week, and Bloomberg noted the milestone today. Many people are worried that if the publicly-financed retirement system isn't modified, rising health care costs and federal budget deficits will drain the Treasury long before each of the roughly 80 million people born between 1946 and 1964 gets his/her slice of the Social Security pie. "It's the beginning of an era. It's symbolic, but it reminds us that we're not doing anything to prepare for this,'' Bob Bixby, head of the bipartisan Concord Coalition , which advocates for a balanced budget, told Bloomberg....

I heard somewhere that our sense of smell is the sense most closely linked to our long term memories. I don't disagree with that, but for me I also tend to associate sounds with events. I took a week off last week to enjoy some down time at home, and it was well worth it. Here is a list of the sounds I heard, and the circumstances that surrounded each one. 1) "The Call to Post" This is the short little tune the bugler plays at Keeneland before each race. I was at the track 4 days over the past week with family and friends, so I got to hear this sound about 40 times. Trust me, it never gets old. 2) "Go baby, go!" This is the battle cry of the horse track gambler cheering for the horse he/she just bet the farm on. The Commonwealth of Kentucky makes a distinction between "wagering" which is what you do at a horse track and "gambling" which you only do at casinos. I think this distinction is ridiculous. 3) "My Old Kentucky Home" This St...

Here is a brief list of things I've observed lately. 1) There are still way to many people who wear socks with sandals, especially among the vacationing public. Get a clue people - they're sandals for a reason. 2) People in San Francisco do not seem as happy as you might expect them to be. Any given weekday, walking from PG&E's offices back to my hotel, I pass scores of unhappy people. Maybe they're just tired from a long work day. Maybe they're tired of the "rat race" in general. 3) The percentage of the California labor force that belongs to a union is 50% above the national average. This week the security guards were on strike for "justice" and "civil rights" according to their picket line signs. After reading their website I learned that they're pursuing justice and civil rights in the form of "paid vacation, paid bereavement leave, retirement pensions, and higher wages." 4) You could not pay me enough t...

The NY Times has a great site that lists all the Presidential candidates' web sites. Barack Obama is certainly fighting hard (and effectively) for my vote. Everyone should go play the energy game that Chevron has developed. It's not perfect, but it is free, amusing, and based on facts. Also, the hardest working guy in the bourbon business is NOT the master distiller, as many might think. It's the barrel house worker. Watching the "barrel rolling competition" at this year's bourbon festival, I was amazed at the strength and skill of these individuals. A full barrel of bourbon weighs just over 500 pounds, and once it gets rolling, it's hard to stop (or turn, for that matter). Jason and Kim got to take Leo home this week, which is really cool. They're easily two of the best people I know, and certainly deserving of all the happiness that I'm sure Leo will bring into their lives. I know Katy and Andre are also getting along well with litt...

No, I promise this is not another rant about the airlines. I did find this old Delta ad though, and got a kick out of it. I never knew Delta even flew the 747 - boy was I wrong. Not only did they fly it, they got a special configuration of the plane from Boeing. The Delta 747s had 362 seats instead of 490 (so passengers could have extra room to spread out - what a concept!), custom designed seats, and a "penthouse" for 6 - see floor plan in diagram. They even had a special dining menu for their 747s - which only flew domestic routes, by the way. This weekend, Ella, Tobi and I will be tailgating for the UK v. Louisville football game. Today, we got our second golf lesson. Tomorrow morning we're heading to Bardstown for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival . So it's shaping up to be quite a weekend.

That is the title of the documentary I watched on PBS tonight about families in St. Bernard Parish . It's been two years since Katrina now, and there is no possible excuse at any level of government for why St. Bernard Parish is (effectively) still a wasteland. I'm not going to get into the details of the documentary except to say that it was very good, and that it really got me to thinking. I have a tendency to distance myself from the lack of recovery in New Orleans for several reasons: 1) I didn't lose anything in the storm. 2) I didn't grow up there, I don't have family there, and the friends I do have there are all doing very well for themselves. 3) The place had HUGE problems when I moved there 3 years before the storm, so the fact that it still has problems (though they are exacerbated by poor government) is no surprise. 4) I am a cynical person, so I feel that any town that effectively prides itself on corruption, a welfare state, and doing things bac...

An interesting excerpt from the copious rules and regulations surrounding the allocation of " priority points " - the point system that determines what kind of tickets you can buy for LSU football games. May Priority Points be Sold, Pooled or Assigned? Priority points are not property, they are part of a system endorsed by the University and its Affiliated Organizations to determine the order in which donors may be offered certain rights and benefits; therefore, priority points may not be sold under any circumstances, and subject to the following exceptions, priority points may not be pooled or assigned in any way. Exception Number One : In the case of a husband and wife while married, where spouses have established accounts in their personal capacities under different names, priority points resulting from donations made by either spouse may be pooled if the spouses combine their individual accounts into a single joint account. Where spouses combine their individual a...

Here comes Fred Thompson . I like the guy, but I'm not sold on him yet, personally. I am certain however that his campaign will be the one to watch.

My loving wife bought me a piano for my 30th birthday. Our local piano store was having a good sale, so I got this present early - it was delivered last week. I understand that other family members have also contributed to this gift, making it that much more special. I've wanted my own piano ever since I left home, where I had one available to me at all times. That was just over 10 years ago. Playing piano is something I've always enjoyed, so to have it back in my life after so long is really a shock to the system. I walk by my new piano every day now, and it still hasn't quite settled in that it's mine, and it's here to stay. I have no idea how to say thank you for a gift like this. I did make my way to the music store last week as well, and picked up 3 books: 1) 19 popular works by Chopin 2) Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me" words and music 3) A book on jazz theory, specifically chord structures Let's just say that cracking open some she...

It's Tuesday, I got to enjoy a week at home, and now it's off to fly the friendly skies once again. At Delta, they love to fly, and it shows. Delta is one of a number of US air carriers who recently emerged from bankruptcy, and they're a little too quick to point out that "you're now flying on 'the new' Delta." It bears striking resemblance to the old Delta. Then again, when you have to get up at 4AM to fly anywhere, it can be a rough start to the day. The plan was to fly on Delta's 5079 from LEX to ATL this morning. One of the simple pleasures that I've come to enjoy is watching the sunrise on this particular flight. I always pick a window seat on the port side just so I can enjoy the show. You have to find simple things to enjoy when you travel this much, otherwise you'd go bonkers. This was the plan today, but the Delta agent at LEX told me that routing me through Cincinnati would provide a better opportunity for an upgrade, so ...

Main Entry: per·se·cute Pronunciation: 'p&r-si-"kyüt Function: transitive verb Inflected Form(s): -cut·ed ; -cut·ing Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French persecuter, back-formation from persecuteur persecutor, from Late Latin persecutor, from persequi to persecute, from Latin, to pursue, from per- through + sequi to follow -- more at SUE 1 : to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically : to cause to suffer because of belief 2 : to annoy with persistent or urgent approaches (as attacks, pleas, or importunities) : PESTER synonym see WRONG This is the word that the NAACP used today to describe how Michael Vick is being treated after abused and dead dogs were found at his house, and he plead guilty to running a dog fighting operation. Isn't it awful how the media has so ruthlessly publicized his crimes? The NAACP also believe it would be unfair for him to lose his NFL career over this matter - AS IF HE IS ...

Recently, a couple friends and family members have asked me "what exactly is it you do?" It's a fair question, so I will now provide you a glimpse into my weekly routine by detailing my activities this week: Monday: 5:30 wake up, finish packing, check flight status 6:15 discover that Delta has managed to already screw up my flights for this morning and decide to call Delta customer service. I'm a "Gold Elite" frequent flier with Delta, which means they provide me with a unique 1-800 number that connects me to an American in Atlanta rather than "Mike" in Bangalore. Nice. I got a hold of Stephanie at Delta who tells me that the crew who flew the MD-80 into Lexington last night got in late, and they need to rest more before they can fly again. Delta has re-routed me on some flights that get me into San Francisco at 6pm (instead of my original 11AM scheduled arrival) and includes a 4 hour layover in Atlanta. No thanks, Stephanie, what else have y...

It's been another busy week here in San Francisco, and I couldn't be happier. The project is moving along well, and we're really going to be delivering something valuable here. The weather here is still perfect, and the city continues to provide an endless supply of dining and entertainment options. It is the antithesis of Findlay, Ohio (thank God). As Ella and I like to say, it is also "not France." When I was entrusted with the safekeeping of some of P. Leroy's (my great grandfather) personal effects, one of the items among them was a St. Christopher's medal. As all good Catholics know, St. Christopher was the patron saint of travelers until 1969, when the Vatican decided there wasn't enough historical evidence to even support his existence. Then again, what does the Vatican know? Most of us (myself included) still consider St. Christopher to be the patron saint of travelers. For additional good measure, the reverse of this medal features St....

I am now in my 4th week of what is proving to be a great project out here at PG&E. As Mark Twain put it though "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." He may have over stated a bit, but we're topping out in the high 70s this week and that's about as hot as it gets out here. The bluegrass is experiencing a bit of a heat wave so I can't say I miss that. Things are busy at work, but wanted to update on a few developments of note: 1) Had lunch today at Yank Sing , the finest Dim Sum restaurant in San Francisco. They are only open for lunch, and I was lucky enough to snag a reservation. It was a real treat, and several of the team had never dined in this traditional Chinese style. 2) I'm attending a summer performance of the San Francisco symphony tonight and couldn't be more excited. Nothing against the Lexington Philharmonic, but I'm a sucker for the big city symphonies. Tonights program: "A program for the rom...

Well I had a delightful 4th of July at home with Ella and Tobi. Ella and I actually walked in Lexington's parade, carrying the banner for K.E.E.P. , an organization that promotes legislation to improve and solidify the horse industry as one of Kentucky's key industries. The 7th I spent the day out on lake Cumberland with friends Kris and Michelle. A good day on the lake just can't be beat. Monday however I was back on a plane to the city by the bay. This time I stayed in the Sir Francis Drake hotel. What a joy to be staying a short elevator ride away from the Starlight Room. Of course, I made the most of it. The place was closed down Monday night because several (un-named) major league ball players rented out the entire lounge for a private party. Nice. Work at PG&E is going very well. I still love walking to work and I really don't mind the travel. I'm really only away from home for 3 nights a week. Compare that with the 43 consecutive nights that At...

A chapter in my life came full circle today as I was able to have lunch with my good friend Bruce Bartolf. Bruce is a Senior VP and CTO at Gensler , an internationally reknowned architecture and design firm with a client list that is truly impressive. Bruce went to Miami a few years before I did, and we met back in 1998 when he was visiting campus. We had a few beers uptown, he offered me an internship for the summer, next thing you know I was living in San Francisco for 3 months. It was my first insight into the IT world and I will be forever grateful to him for the opportunity. I hope that someday I can pay it forward. 10 years later I am impressed to see that Gensler has retained some of the same staff. Out here in the Bay area job market, that says a lot about Bruce and Gensler. A wise man explained to me in high school about how people pass in and out of your life all the time, and the significance of the impressions that they leave with you, and that you leave with them. ...

I had an exciting weekend here in San Francisco. I went to the Federal Reserve Bank, the Museum of Modern Art, shopping at Union Square, the Fillmore jazz festival, and "Pinot Days." Along the way I met up with Puja who is out here doing a swanky internship at Yahoo. The FRB is an interesting place. It's a semi-government organization, it's non-profit, and it's a major force in the US economy. Aside from setting monetary policy, the Fed provides a number of services to banks, including check clearing and currency services. The FRB San Francisco has on display the most complete collection of US currency anywhere, including an original $100,000 treasury note, and bank notes signed by Ben Franklin and Paul Revere. They also have some US military (WWII) currency on display. I didn't know it, but we actually printed our own French, German, and Japanese currency for the allies to use. At the MOMA I saw a great exhibition of photographer Martin Munkacsi's...

Here you can see the massive wheels and motors that turn the cables through the streets of San Francisco. The motors are GE electric motors that put out 510 horsepower using 500 volts and 800 amps. These are big motors. The simplicity and mechanics of the whole system just astound me, so I'm going to ramble about them for a bit. Your average cable car line is about 5 miles long, which means it needs a 10 mile "loop" of cable to operate. This powerhouse (pictured above) is located at the approximate center of all 3 lines, which means at some points, these motors are moving a cable car full of passengers that is 2 miles or more away. Oh yeah, and your average cable car weighs 16,000 lbs before you fill it with oversized American tourists. Oh yeah, and there can be as many as 4 cars on a given route at a given time - some cars will be moving, and others will be loading/unloading passengers. Yet all cars on a given line use the same physical cable. So these big motors ...

I'm happy to report that San Francisco is even better than I left it some 10 years ago. The streets are cleaner, public transit has been improved, and new sky scrapers are going up in areas that were "dead zones" last time I was here. I'm staying in union square with a couple other guys from the team. Dinner Monday night was curry garbanzo bean soup followed by shrimp risotto at Scala's Bistro . Last night we found the perfect Irish pub ( O'Reilly's ) off Columbus Ave for a few beers after work, then wandered over to Mangarosa where I had homemade gnocci in a garlic cream sauce followed by strawberry bread pudding for dessert. Breakfast today was a Jamba Juice smoothie - $4, 300 calories, 5 servings of fruit, 100% of the RDA of vitamins and they taste great. I got in touch with Puja yesterday and we are going to try and meet up this weekend sometime. So pretty much I'm having a great week.

The best idea in air travel... ever. Some airline in Ecuador is offering lingerie fashion shows on its flights.

After a nice relaxing anniversary weekend with Ella at Disneyworld, I'm happy to report that I'm back on the job with EDS. I'd been on the bench for several months so it's good to be once again practicing my trade. IT strategy is a lot more interesting than the other types of consulting I've done, and this time it takes me to the city by the bay for a project at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Many of you may remember PG&E from the movie Erin Brockovich - these are the guys who poisoned the water supply of Hinkley, CA, lied about it, and ended up settling to the tune of $333 million. Not the kind of PR you'd like to be remembered for, but this is a matter of public record. On a positive note, all signs indicate that they've learned from the experience. You can't get on an elevator at this place without reading about the importance of safety, protecting the communities in which they work and protecting the environment, and corporate ethics...

For saying this week what our President has needed to hear for some time now from a member of his own party. Lugar is arguably the most respected senator in terms of foreign policy, and one of my favorite politicians. He ran for President in 96, but dropped out before the GOP convention. In my opinion, his campaign should be counted among the losses from the Oklahoma City bombing. The bombing took place literally hours before Lugar publicly announced his candidacy and, rightfully so, the news coverage in the following days and weeks was dominated by the tragedy that took place that day. One effect of this was that very few people even learned that Lugar was running for President until a week or two later. I was in downtown Indianapolis for Lugar's announcement, and I still have a "Lugar for President" poster from that day. I wonder how different things would be today if we'd skipped a 2nd Clinton term and put a real diplomat in office. Zbigniew Brzezinski know...