Cindy and Greg

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After my conversation with Cindy while on vacation, I started to lose faith in the possibility of greatness in our our leadership of our country. I had the opportunity while sitting in the spa to read “Promises to Keep” by Joe Biden. Many of you know me not to be much of a reader. I have to say, I couldn’t put this book down. It shared stories of growing up, living your life, and keeping your promises. The book was moving and at one point brought me to tears on the flight between Minneapolis and Dulles. No matter your political views, it is hard to say that what Joe Biden has done over the last thirty plus years hasn’t been great.

Tomorrow when the polls close, we can be hopeful that we will once again be in the presence of greatness in our countries leader.

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Greetings from the Canadian Rockies. Cindy and I are on our anniversary vacation in Banff, AB. While up here, the primary source of news is the BBC, which provides a very different view on the US (and the world) then our local news stations (or even CNN). This difference got us talking about politics.

I mentioned to Cindy that I felt Obama was going to be an extraordinary president. Perhaps rightfully so, I think she chalked this up to the optimist in me. This led to a further discussion regarding extraordinary presidents and how the last several elections (all of the elections while I have been alive) have been about the choice of the lesser evil. Why aren’t elections about great men or woman and their great ideas? Why does the American public get so turned off to politics and by election day just want one of the corner stones to our government to just be behind us. Shouldn’t we as a society embrace and look forward to the chance to choose our leaders? Shouldn’t this be a time of smart people with good ideas, discussing the merits of their ideaologies? The day before we left for vacation, while watching TV, there were a string of negative ads from both McCain and Obama (though it was very heavily weighted with more ads from McCain, I counted). Is this really what resonates with the American people or is it just “easier” to get votes by scaring people? And if it really is just easier, do we want a President or Vice President who takes the easy way out?

Why do we settle year after year for mediocrity? What happens if we were to change the expectation of politics? I refuse to believe that there are no more “A” candidates out there, only “C”. What happens if we believed students in schools could only do “C” work? It is time for us to expect more, to require more from those who choose to serve at the pleasure of the American public.

So I leave you with this classified:

In search of smart, hard working and dedicated individuals to lead our country. Over 575 positions available. You must be willing to sacrifice you time, but not your ideals. You must be willing to have the difficult conversations and learn from your opponents at the same time. You must be willing to surround yourself with people who are smarter then you are and realize that a decision that comes from group discussion and debate is not a sign a weakness, it is a sign of greatness. Democrats, Republicans, Independents all welcome to apply.

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Well I am headed to DC in the morning. I need to do some work in the office during the afternoon then I am headed to Potomac, MD for a week long Cisco ASA training course. I am looking forward to it. Cindy will be handling the clean house and no doubt it will be cleaner without me there.

This is indeed a busy month of travel. I am in DC for this week, will be in DC overnight for the International H’Oscars on the 16th (yes, me in a tuxedo). And finally Cindy and I leave for Banff on the 23rd.

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Yesterday Cindy and I had to make the decision to put Storm down. She has had some health issues for the last year or so, but had seemed to make some forward progress in the last couple of months. On Monday night she starting having a very hard time breathing. Tuesday morning when it was time for breakfast, she didn’t move out from under the bed. Cindy spoke with Dr. Gibbson at the Williamsburg Animal Clinic and we brought Storm in to be seen. Dr. Gibbson called us both with the news.

I have never had to make this kind of decision before and I have to say, not an easy one. Storm had 14 great years and brought joy to our lives and we hope we did the same for her.

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It was about this time 7 years ago, someone came running into a meeting at WASA to let the general manager know what was happening. We were all in shock, still are to some degree. Take a minute today and remember all of those who died that Tuesday morning and those who are dying today in our armed forces.

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I received a txt page notification from Amazon on Wednesday, the Wii Fit was FINALLY in stock. I quickly replied with “Buy It” and our Wii Fit was on the way. It showed up on Friday and we put it together on Saturday. I have to say this is a pretty interesting device. Trying to find someone who had it in stock was almost harder then the Ski Jump game, but after several months of looking at ever Best Buy or Target we passed, Amazon came to the rescue.

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