What Would Jimmy Do?

Today we’re celebrating the love of my life’s 29th birthday for the 40th time.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Menoi!!
Love you lots!!!
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I’ve mentioned several times here the discussions a few of us have after playing golf, or just sitting around having a couple of beers. It’s occurred to me that some of the best times, and discussions, happen when a story is involved. Actually, that’s almost always the case — when we’re visiting or out to dinner with friends, or just about anytime we’re in a group of people, some of the most entertaining and memorable times involve stories.

I guess probably no one knows when the first story was actually told but I’m sure it was long before any recorded history. The first printed story was the epic of Gilgamesh (a legendary king of the Sumerian city state of Uruk that ruled sometime during the first half of the 3rd millennium B.C.) The story was carved on stone pillars and spread from Mesopotamia to other parts of Europe and Asia around 700 B.C.

Storytellers aren’t just the people that read and tell stories to kids at the public library — we’re all storytellers; some of us are better than others, but we’re all storytellers. Stories have a unique ability to cut through clutter and confusion and bring clarity to a situation. Stories are things we can identify with and remind us of our hopes, ambitions, dreams and values. We should never underestimate the importance of stories — they play a crucial role in ours lives, and in our society. I read once that humans are the only animals that create and tell stories. That should seem fairly obvious, but stories introduce us to what we are and what we are capable of being. And stories can literally sometimes change our lives.

All the great leaders have been good storytellers — almost all great speeches contain a story. Rarely do we go to church that the sermon or homily doesn’t contain a story. If fact, almost three quarters of the gospels are stories or parables. History is nothing but a series of stories. All stories serve a purpose even if it’s just to relay a message. If you’re trying to make a point, a story illustrates it better than a set of facts.

With the advancement of technology, traditional storytelling is declining, but storytelling will never die out. Mothers and fathers will always tell bedtime stories to their children and stories will continue to be an important part of our culture. Admittedly, a lot of storytelling is being taken over by videos, the Internet, books, radio and other technical media but people will always tell stories. Some say that after nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world. There is a Hopi American Indian proverb that says, “Those who tell the stories rule the world.”
So — what’s your story?
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The Apple Watch seems to be selling pretty well. Kelly and Chris have them and I’ve seen a few on people’s wrists lately. I haven’t worn a watch since I retired — before then I had quite a collection of watches — not sure why, I just always seemed to like watches. I bought Claire a watch for Christmas every year for a long, long time…. Since I always have my phone with me, I just don’t see the point in wearing a watch anymore. Not sure why….

When small portable clocks, called watches, first appeared in public they immediately caught on. Before watches, all mechanical clocks were big and sat on a table or hung on a wall. They were slow to manufacture, expensive, and not very accurate. It was during the 16th century that engineers and manufacturers finally were able to create devices on such a small scale that people could carry them with them. The first models were still too big and heavy to carry in a pocket or wear on the wrist. The first portable watches were worn as neck pendants.

The first watch that I owned was a Mickey Mouse watch — I was about 6 or 7 years old. And I think the watch cost about 6 or 7 dollars. My watch was made by Ingersoll. The Ingersoll company was owned and run by the Ingersoll brothers, Robert and Charles. The company was established in 1893 and was the first to mass produce wrist and pocket watches. Before Robert and Charles came along, watches required a lot more handcrafting and were relatively expensive. Ingersoll managed to produce fairly high quality watches at the reasonable price of $1.00. The “Dollar Watch,” often referred to as the “Yankee” was a hit and lots of people that thought they’d never own a watch jumped on board. In 1933, Ingersoll and the Walt Disney Company teamed up to produce the first “character” watch — a Mickey Mouse Watch. On May 22, 1933, an application for a U.S. patent was submitted and the first watches went into production. In the first couple of years more than 2.5 million Mickey Mouse watches had been sold. In 1957 the 25 millionth watch was presented to Walt Disney himself. In 1971, after 38 years, the partnership came to an end between Mickey Mouse and what had by then become the Ingersoll/Timex company.

Over the years, a lot of these blog entries have been about time — all kinds of time. Check the archives if you don’t believe me. Time is one of those things we never seem to have enough of and everything depends on it. Sometimes it seems to move too slow, but more often, it moves too fast. We should all use our time wisely — all that really belongs to us is time; even if you have nothing else,  you have time…..
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As of yesterday, I understand the family has a new graduate. Kylee Grady is our newest high school graduate and soon to become an official Mountaineer.

Congratulations to Kylee — go out and make this world a better place. Just remember, life’s not like a TV remote — you have to get up and change it yourself. I’m betting you will.

Your favorite uncle is very proud of you….
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A day or so ago when we were playing golf, someone that played with us for a while last year was mentioned. A couple of people said that they thought the reason he wasn’t playing (with us) this year was because he wasn’t “compatible” with the way we played…. that led to a discussion of compatibility. We all agreed that we were fortunate that each of us seemed to be compatible with our wives, since most of us have been married in excess of 40 years. During the discussion I mentioned that I knew that Claire and I would be compatible because I checked the Chinese Compatibility Chart. This is no joke — there is a chart that lists how compatible people are using the Chinese Year in which they were born (e.g., year of the dog, rat, monkey, tiger, etc.) The compatibility chart can be found on the Internet if you’re interested. Anyhow, I was born in the year of the Tiger and Claire was born in the year of the Dog. Here’s the exact words as to how we should do together:

“The Tiger and the Dog generally share a kind, affable connection that is fun and satisfying for both! Both Signs are noble and protective of those they hold dear, so if the relationship between these two is close and emotional, they are able to make one another feel quite secure. For the Tiger, this is an important balance – this Sign tends to run from restrictive relationships but with the Dog, the Tiger won’t just feel protected, it will feel that its needs and interests (such as individuality and independence) are being protected as well. The Tiger will be happy to return the favor, and the Dog will be happy to receive it – this Sign is sometimes a bit pessimistic and has trouble trusting others but it will find it easy to trust the noble, warm-hearted and courageous Tiger.
As lovers these two know how to make room for one another’s individual personalities, which is of especial importance to the Tiger. This Sign insists on its freedom to be happy, which can be a difficult requirement to have met in an intimate relationship. The Dog, however, is a bit moody and often needs alone time itself. Both of these Signs follow their own heats, but their hearts are noble and true, making it very easy to respect one another and their choices in life.
As business partners these two are capable of creating a strong company or product. The Tiger’s fearless, inventive mind combines well with the Dog’s loyalty and trustworthiness. The Dog is also something of a radical thinker and can add spice and dimension to the Tiger’s innovative ideas. Whether they’re business associates, lovers, friends or family members, these two are likely to get along famously. Their only trouble spot might result from the Tiger’s occasional flakiness, a quality the Dog has trouble  handling in others, but any upsets are sure to be dealt with quickly and completely.
The Tiger and the Dog share a compatibility of nine, on a scale of one to ten.”

So there you have it — never question Buddha.
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Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. The observance we now call Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. His General Order No. 11 stated, “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” The date was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

Memorial Day originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

For years Memorial Day was observed on May 30, but in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. The change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

Some Memorial Day rituals are still observed. The American flag should be hung at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then raised to the top of the staff. Since 2000, all Americans are encouraged to pause for a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time to voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence….

Benjamin Harrison said, “I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor place it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.

However you choose to honor our heroes — Happy Memorial Day.
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Argumentative, contrary, combative, confrontational, quarrelsome, cantankerous, scrappy — these words all describe people that are quick to argue. We all know people that one or more of these words would describe. Some people just like to argue and trying to have a conversation with a person that just enjoys arguing or who believes they are always right can be, at the very least, frustrating. I know several people that just seem to enjoy an argument and a couple that must always be right. After a rather frustrating “discussion” recently, I started to think about why some people are that way and how I usually handle my interaction with them. And then I got to thinking — how should I handle the situation(s) — what’s the best way?

There’s an old saying — never discuss politics or religion at dinner. Well, those subjects certainly are hot buttons for disagreement, but my philosophy is it’s usually not good to discuss any controversial subject during meals. But when you’re around certain people, just about any subject can become controversial. There are some obvious actions (and non-actions) that you can use to help control the situation. Keep calm — getting angry is of no benefit. Consider why you’re arguing — is it even worth arguing about? Consider your relationship with the person — is it worth losing a friend over? Events change every day, but good friendships should be lifelong. Listen well — really listen to the other person, maybe they do have a valid argument.

One of the things that I haven’t mastered, but I’ve gotten better at is my willingness to walk away from arguments. It can be difficult to walk away from things when someone you care about disagrees with you on an important issue. I read somewhere that a peaceful silence is always preferable to a contentious victory. As I’ve aged, I’ve come to realize that friendship is more important than agreement.

I’ve learned to take people in pieces — I enjoy being with some people some of the time and I accept that some subjects will do nothing but set them off on an emotional argument. So I’ve become very careful who I argue with. Someone said it best — discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.
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A few days ago, we attended an Aging Workshop at the local university. It was an all-day session and I must admit that I was disappointed in much of the presentation — not that it was bad, it just wasn’t what I had expected or was hoping for. Aging isn’t something that I think about much, but during some  of the “lulls” at the workshop I got to thinking about different aspects of aging.

All through a lot of my life, in any given group I wasn’t the oldest, I was always the youngest. I was the youngest in my first grade class and the youngest in my high school graduating class. During my high school years, I was the youngest business man in Maysville, Oklahoma (I owned and ran a snow cone business.) The first few jobs I had after college, I was always the youngest in the office. Of course, over the years that began to change… even though sometimes I don’t act like it, now I am almost the oldest person I know.

I am thankful that I’ve experienced so many things — some wonderful, some very bad. I’m sorry that I’ve wasted so much time. I’m sorry that I’ve traveled so extensively and still only speak English. I’m sorry that I didn’t meet Claire earlier in my life. My reactions are slower, my eyesight is declining, people’s names (more) often elude me and my energies must be used wisely. But even so, I often feel full of energy and not at all “old.”

Andy Rooney once said, it’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone. I guess that’s probably true, but there’s only one alternative to getting old — so suck it up!
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I’ve mentioned several times here that this time of year is always busy around here. The Kentucky Derby ( and the Gold Cup for you Virginians), Cinco De Mayo, our Anniversary, Kelly’s Birthday and Mothers’ Day all occur within about a week. We didn’t go to the Kentucky Derby (or Gold Cup) but I watched it on TV. Cinco De Mayo turned out to be special — we didn’t go out as usual, but Claire made Mexican and we modified our favorite Margareta recipe a bit and we both decided it was a big improvement. We took a couple of days for a short trip to southern West Virginia. We visited the Greenbriar, had some drinks and snacks at the golf course (home of the Greenbriar Classic, coming up in about 50 days) attended a pretty impressive demonstration by a very talented glass blower, generally bummed around the grounds and had a nice dinner. The Greenbriar Valley has lots going for it. We spent a good part of a day around Lewisburg — a place that calls for another visit in the future. We had a great visit with the folks at the Smooth Ambler distillery — an up-and-coming distillery that I’m sure you’re going to hear more and more about as time goes on. Their operation is very small, but their spirits are already available in 26 states and several foreign countries. We did a lot of “tasting” and got a personalized tour. I even got to bottle my own bourbon and sign the label. Weather was good and the drive was beautiful — a really good trip…

Not sure of all the details of Kelly’s birthday, but I know they got to watch the fly-over of the World War II aircraft at the National Mall and visited the Air and Space Museum at Dulles for a closer look at the planes… and Kelly and Chris attended the Caps playoff game on Mother’s Day.

All in all a busy but really good week. Of course the best part was that I got to spend the time with my secret love… since it’s a secret, I won’t say much more, but I’ll give you a hint — her first name starts with Claire…..
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Happy Mother’s Day to the three best Moms I know.

They have all raised, or are raising, perfect kids.

Happy Mother’s Day Claire, Kelly and Chassie!!!
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