Some True Things

IRS Has A Cruel Sense of Musical Humor!

I called the IRS for an extension for a minor income tax dispute. While I waited on the phone for almost 20 minutes while they chatted with "other customers," However, I was treated to musical selections from Tchaichovsky's NutCracker -- music traditionally associated with Holiday gift giving! And here it was late Summer and 80 degrees out.

Not to mention the irony of the Nutcracker itself.

As for those "other customers," what is it that they are doing to make them customers? Does the IRS sell something? Or does this mean we're "always right?"

New Jersey Transit Cares!
While riding the commuter train to Newark:
1. Conductor: "We will depart in a couple of minutes while we respot the train to accommodate a wheelchair commuter"
2. Moments later, train pulls out of station. We didn't notice any "respotting."
3. Minutes later in our packed train car: Conductor says loudly to Assistant Conducter "Did you get the wheel chair on board?"
4. Assistant Conductor to Conductor "No."

5. Conductor "Oh." Both turn around and walk away.

6. Visions of handicapped person cursing the train as it pulled away!

Your Corporation Cares ... Now

The rush to retirement by Boomers has raised a new concern among our heartless corporations. Some Gen X leaders are beginning to wonder who will they lead in the coming years? So, HR departments are devising strategies to keep some of us experienced geezers, coots and old bats on the job instead of retiring. These are the same people Corporations would have recently been happy to divest themselves of -- not to mention their larger salaries.

Are Owners of Smart Cars Really Smart?

The Smart Car is basically a Go-Cart with a roof and side-by-side seating. I drive the NJ Turnpike every morning to work and have been noticing a number of Smart Cars lately. Seems like They are always in the fast lane. Keep in mind that the minimum speed that cars travel on the Turnpike is about 75 and they are about 25 feet apart from each other.

If that isn't dangerous enough, half the vehicles are Monster SUVs driven by people on cell phones. This should be terrifying to the average driver in an average sized car, much less a "Smart" Car Driver. Makes me wonder what the demographis is for Smart Car buyers. Tree-hugging Evil Kneivels?

Soldiers of Peace

Seven years ago today, I climbed aboard the New York commuter train from Princeton at 6:30 am to head to work.  The day was was brilliantly crisp and clear. Unusually so. I was on the east side of the train as it chugged into the Elizabeth area approaching Newark. The NY Skyline was so extraordinarily visible this day, and I found myself I looking at it in a way I hadn't for some time.  And there they stood -- the Twin Towers -- magnificently impressive viewed at even 20 miles away. 

The view was breathtaking that morning and had nothing happened that day, I would still recall the crystal clear presentation the skyline made that day.

There were people sitting on this same train going to work in the City and even some in the Trade Center.  They would arrive there by 8:30 am via the Path line. Just in time.  Some of them -- several who embarked in Princeton with me -- would not return to their cars that night -- or any other time. We knew who they were later because their photos were put up in the Princeton train station by family members.

Shortly after 9 am that day, one of my writers excitedly spread the news that a "small plane" had flown into the WTC tower. That was the first report.   By 10:30 that morning, both Towers were gone, the Pentagon was similarly attacked and another commercial airplane went down in rural Pennsylvania. No one really knew what was happening but it was clear that we were under attack.  We in Newark who worked in tall buildings there were given the word to go home.

Getting home would not be easy this day. 

Some walked, some ran, some jumped, some cried and some just phoned home. Some for the last time. A few panicked but the majority of people did not. They did what they had to do to make the best of a bad situation.  Some firemen and police put their lives on the line to rescue people, and some gave their lives in the attempt.

And many others died that day in the city. Over 2,700 in all.  They unexpectedly went to war that morning armed only with briefcases, purses, laptop computers, and Palm Pilots.  Many, if not all, had just enjoyed the Labor Day weekend, or were thinking about the kid or grandkid going to school for the first time that day. Some were worried about the big project at work, and maybe even some started thinking about the coming holiday season. No one was prepared for how ugly it would become.  

Anyone in the NYC area who was there that day and survived has his or her own story.  And anyone who endured some of the worst have scars that they will carry with them forever.   And even those of us who were not called upon to do the extraordinary will remember that day.

We were all soldiers of peace in this undeclared war.

What really makes me upset still about this war is that the main protagonist still lives on and is still at war with us.  If there is one major failing of our government during the past 8 years, it has to be that Bin Laden is still at large. It is a promise unkept and IMHO other sins of our government pales in comparison. I can only hope the next administration doesn't rest until this madman is brought to justice.  

Until then, I still go to work armed only with a briefcase and a Blackberry.

Do you have any stories to share about 9/11?  Enter comments below!  

My First Flying Squirrel and Other Memories

I saw my first ever Flying Squirrel the other night. Not counting Rocky of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

He was sitting atop a bird feeder on our deck a couple of nights ago and for some reason I glanced out and could see his shape on the feeder.

I went to fetch a flashlight and call Rita to bear witness. I shined the flashlight on the little critter, and he didn't budge. I thought it was a chipmunk--it was about the same size. But how on earth did he get atop the bird feeder and a deck two stories off the ground?

And yes, nature lovers,it was a flying squirrel. I googled them up and found quite a bit of information on little guys. They range almost all over the United States and parts of Canada. They are nocturnal, small, and have skin webs between their legs that when they are extended serve as sails. In pictures when airborne, they look like flying handkerchiefs. Apparently,they mostly glide rather than fly,

Which is all to say that when I reflect on the previous 62 years, it's amazing how many 'firsts" are burned indelibly in my mind. I suspect it is the same for you. Yes, we've all suffered on those awful unexpected firsts no one could ever want. But when it comes to "top of mind" things -- it's the happy firsts that really matter.

Yes, I am sure we can all recall there are many common firsts in the human experience. The first love, the first day you could drive a car, the first time you ... well, you know.

I'm writing about some of the many other firsts that when you start putting them together really define your life. I started to reflect on them and the more I pondered, the more I remembered clearly. These are the memories that matter and allow us to get through the tough times.

My first dear wife, Kay, died of a rare cancer at age 41, but not before she presented two fine children to me -- Kris and Dave. I remember the first time I saw Kay after she delivered each one more than I remember seeing them. I guess my first thought was for my wife, and then for the kids. So the first memory of each of them is their mom.

I have been divorced -- imprudence on my part, I suppose -- and a truly horrible experience. My first remembrance from that brief disaster was one of escape. The first time I saw the single apartment two-room apartment I would rent in Plainsboro, NJ, by myself I felt a sense of elation I can clearly recall. It was as if my life had been handed over to me again. Oh, I didn't straighten out my life from that point on. It wasn't all uphill and I sank a bit further before I could bounce back. It took a good woman -- Rita -- to help me do that.

My first remembrance of Rita was in a classroom at Prudential in Horsham, Pennsylvania. It was in 1995. I was teaching a securities class and she and another woman marched into my classroom -- this was a day I clearly recall. Rita and ?? were different than my average students in that they were Pru management to begin with and the others were new hires, mostly recent high school graduates.

Other life shaping first remembrances: walking up a "big" flight of steps to enter Kindergarten at the Bohamton School in Edison, NJ, in 1951. The school is still standing and there are only two steps leading up to the door.

I recall clearly my first day leaving home for Little Rock Air Force Base in January 1969. My mother crying and my father driving me to Newark Airport in kind of an awkward silence. We didn't communicate in the same way young folks communicate with parents now, I think. It was a cold bitter day, and when I arrived in Little Rock a few hours later, it was 80 degrees. I thought I had arrived in hell. Looking back, I think I left one family to join another there -- people in the Service look out for each other.

Other big firsts: seeing Phil for the first time in uniform (Valley Forge Military) and on parade in 2006. What a proud moment,and what a magnificent positive, academic turnaround Phil made there.

And shortly after joining Rita, Phil and Meredith as family in 2001, I clearly recall Meredith running away from home for the first -- and only -- time walking out with a brown bag of candy and chips and wearing a bathrobe. She was 12 years old She left a note that told us not to worry and don't be upset, but she was "sick of this shit!" She came back 2 hours latter. It got dark out.

When Dave graduated Penn State and took a job in D.C., I remember our first real goodbye. I packed a van load of stuff up with him to drive to his first solo apartment in Virginia. I was filled with pride and hopes for his future, also with great regret that his mother could not be there that day. I felt the same pride and regret for Kris as she graduated from West Point and I saw her march across that huge parade ground to the graduation ceremony. Her mother so wanted her to finish West Point.

The first time I met my dear daughter-in-law, Stacey, was in 2002. and I recall her charm. elegance and graciousness like a true Southern Belle Beauty Pageant Queen. I challenged her to do her runway Pageant walk, and she, with a great sense of humor, did just that. We all smiled.

Too many other firsts to write about., although I wold love to record each and every one of them thinking of them now on a beautiful Labor Day Weekend. I see how they have framed my life in a very positive way. Kind of like a huge quilt with different unique colorful squares woven together.

Maybe the flying squirrel won't be in that quilt when if is finally finished. But I am looking forward to putting many more squares into it before its complete.

Your comments are welcome, including any of the firsts you care to share!