Author Archives: tom

It's a Dodger Weekend

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Many of you know, and others have suspected, but Nancy and I are a mixed marriage. Baseball didn’t mean much to me growing up as the Washington Senators moved out of town in 1971, but I’ve rediscovered the game since moving to San Diego and I’m a Padres fan. Alas, even though Nancy grew up in San Diego she has always been a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. I have a hard time rooting for a team I can’t see play often and Nancy can’t buck all the years of bleeding Dodger blue.

Most of the time she has to resign herself to watching the Padres play but this weekend we are in Los Angeles and have just come home from seeing the Dodgers resoundingly beat the Washington Nationals. It was a terrific game on many levels. Our seats were wonderful, the people around us were fun, and best of all, the Dodgers won. Their starting pitcher Derek Lowe can run hot or cold depending on the day but tonight he was hot. He pitched 8 innings and allowed only one hit and one walk. His sinker was sinking like crazy and he was almost unhittable. This was combined with strong hitting by the Dodgers and it made for a game that was not ever really in contention.

It’s also fun being in LA for the weekend. Work has been crazy for the both of us but I can’t take any time off right now; this quick trip was the best we can do. But it’s a nice break from the routine.

Final Score: Skunk 1, Cat 0

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As many of you know, Nancy and I are supervised by an 18 year old cat, Kirby. Lately he’s been showing his age and now every morning I have to give him blood pressure medication. Lovely. Anyway, last night he decided to “make friends” with a skunk who had gotten into the backyard. It didn’t go well for anyone, except perhaps, the skunk.

If anyone is interested, the old standby, tomato juice, does not work. The recipe for getting rid of the smell is not, as you may think, tomato juice. Here’s what you do: 4 cups Hydrogen Peroxide, 1 cup Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon dish soap. Now for the fun part: mix them together and rub them into the cat’s fur. That’s right: mix a liquid into the cat’s fur. It combines all the fun of giving the cat a bath with the added benefit of using a liquid that burns his eyes. Fortunately the skunk did most of his damage on Kirby’s paw and we didn’t need to do much to his face.

Now to get the smell out of the house….

Thoughts on $4.50 per Gallon for Gasoline

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In the last few months there’s been a great deal of publicity concerning the high price of oil and other fossil fuels. Maybe I’m treading in dangerous waters as a Prius driver, but it’s hard to see what part of this is surprising.

Since World War II the incidence of private car ownership has skyrocketed; before then you really had to have some wealth to own a car (and during the War there was essentially no production of cars). Also since the 1950s this country has build the greatest network of interstate highways in the world. This combines to make it remarkably easy to drive to nearly any part of our country; for my part I’ve driven cross country 3 times and found I could easily do this in about 5 days.

Additionally plane travel has gone mainstream. From 1937 to 1978 the Civil Aeronautics Board regulated routes, fares, and schedules. There were relatively few airlines and air travel was so expensive that it was reserved only for the wealthy or business travelers. Since then the government stopped regulating air travel; this has led to a dramatic drop in prices and an increase in the number of airlines. Air travel is much more affordable to a much larger population.

These two changes have led to dramatic changes in our lifestyles. We Americans are used to going to Europe or Hawaii on vacation, buying timeshares as a way to see new areas, and move away from family secure in the belief that we can be there in a matter of hours if necessary.

Now that oil, which everyone agrees is a limited and nonrenewable resource, is getting expensive, this may change. We may find in the next few decades that we are going back to being limited in our mobility. We are already seeing the growth of “staycations” instead of vacations (admittedly an easy thing to do in San Diego).

Meanwhile, our President and his cronies, continue to fiddle and count their money. Their solution is to find new places to drill for more oil. The amount of oil they will find is negligible and won’t make much of a difference. The idea of conservation or alternative sources of energy simply aren’t on the table.

This is not a good time to own a Hummer.

Happy Loving Day!

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Today is an important anniversary in the world of love, as well as the history of Virginia, where I grew up. On June 12, 1967 the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot prohibit couples from different races from obtaining marriage licenses. Sounds obvious now? It wasn’t once upon a time.

In 1958 Richard Loving married Mildred Jeter. Richard was white and Mildred was black; they lived in Virginia and could not obtain a marriage license so they traveled to Washington D.C. and married there. Upon their return to Virginia they were arrested; it seems it was against the law for them to even be married in Virginia. They violated the “Racial Integrity Act” (it wasn’t called the “Defense of Marriage Act” back then). In 1959 they were found in violation of the law and sentenced to prison but were granted a suspended sentence if they left Virginia for 25 years. They moved to Washington D.C. and filed suit. Finally it was heard by the Supreme Court and on this day the Court ruled unanimously that laws prohibiting interracial marriage are unconstitutional. You can read the opinion here.

Tragically Richard was killed in a car accident in 1975. Mildred passed away last month and they are buried together in Saint Stephen’s Baptist Church Cemetery in Central Point, Virginia.

God Bless them.

Old Men Dream

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No, the subject of this post does not acknowledge the fact that my gray hair and beard allow me to order from the senior’s menu at Coco’s Restaurant and Denny’s without being asked if I qualify.

Old Men Dream is the title of the book I’m currently reading. It was written by and old and dear friend, Pete Fullerton. If you’re of a certain age you may remember him as the bass guitarist of the 1960s folk group We Five. I first met Pete and his family in 1983 when I was a student at St. Patrick’s Seminary. After some hesitation I got involved in the Youth Ministry Program at St. William’s and St. Nicholas’ Catholic Churches in Los Altos, California. The two parishes combined and hired Greg Kremer as the Youth Minister. Pete and his wife Sue were an integral part of the ministry and I soon became friends with them and their 5 children. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years.

When I first met Pete and Sue he was working for Lockheed and doing some charity work as he had time. A few years later they made the decision that Pete would devote his full time to the charity, Truck of Love. They do incredible work and I’ve been blessed to be able to support it; please check out their website. In 1997 after much prayer and discussion, Pete decided he wanted to live as a homeless person for a few months; Old Men Dream is his chronicle of this experience. Pete has always been a deeply spiritual man and he took the name “Old Man” from the Biblical Book of Joel: “Old men shall dream dreams and young men shall see visions.” As I read this book I’m finding that it’s surfacing all sorts of memories, and thoughts about his journey. Here they are in no particular order, save the order that they come out of my brain:

  • I’ve always been amazed at the simple courage Pete shows. We all claim to believe that God will take care of us and has our back, but Pete lives like he believes it. I’m ashamed to admit how much time and energy I spend making sure my stuff is safe. There is a point in his book where he is robbed of a few dollars and some food; it’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but when you’re living on the lowest rung it doesn’t take much to be devastating. Rather than act with anger or seeking revenge Pete reflects on what he can learn from this and how he can use this experience. There is a unique cruelty in the homeless from stealing from each other but other homeless people provide the easiest, and perhaps the only reasonable targets.
  • I can’t even begin to list all the thing Pete has taught me but the lesson I use the most is this: everyone has eyes and I try to look everyone in the eye, no matter the encounter. Think it’s obvious? OK, next time you’re at a restaurant and the server reaches around you to remove your empty plate (so he can wash it), see how deliberate you have to be to see what he looks like. I try to pick up the plate and hand it to him; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. If Pete were a priest he would excellent at hearing confessions because he has the ability to extend his trust and love within the first few words.
  • This is related to the previous point, but he has the gift to make anyone feel important. I’ve done some work with the homeless and I know that for many of them the most crushing part of life isn’t hunger but loneliness. I find much the same in hospice. Just today one of my patients joked that several people don’t call her anymore because they assume she must be dead by now. Many patients feel the crush of loneliness because they are too sick to go out, but are also not visited as often because they are seen as “not quite as alive as the rest of us.” This is particularly true with people who suffer from Alzheimer’s or other dementia. They can’t carry on a conversation anymore and may not be the person we once knew, but they still have not lost their need for connection.

More later, I’m sure. If you want to buy the book, it’s available only through the Truck of Love website.

Pausing to Remember Those Who Served (and Those Who Still Serve)

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Today is the annual commemoration of Memorial Day. It used to be celebrated on May 30th but now it has been moved to the last Monday of May. When I wrote this tribute last year, we had lost 3455 troops in Iraq. As I write this we’ve lost 4083. I pray next year the number will be dramatically smaller. It’s a good day to thank a vet.

Presidential Candidate Shuffle

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OK, several months ago I started keeping track of who is running for President this year. I wanted to list not only the Republican and Democratic major candidates, but (to the best of my ability) anyone who is running. Simply put, this has appeared to have gotten away from me.

Republican Party Since I started this, John McCain has appeared to have wrapped up the Republican nomination. His major opponents have withdrawn and endorsed him but this hasn’t stopped some of the other candidates. I’ve removed their webpages; Alan Keyes moved to the Constitution Party but he lost the nomination there too.

Democratic Party Conventional wisdom has Barack Obama winning the nomination though it appears that Hillary Clinton is not entirely out of the race. It’s a close call but I’ve left both of them on.

Constitution Party This is where Alan Keyes went when he realized he wasn’t going to win the Republican nomination. They held their nomination on April 26th in Kansas City and nominated Chuck Baldwin. I’ve removed all candidates from the party except Chuck.

Green Party Their convention is scheduled for July 10th to 14th in Chicago. So far the frontrunners are Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. They are so much ahead of the other candidates that I’m listing only them.

Libertarian Party They will hold their convention later this month in Denver. On their website they list the top four candidates: Bob Barr, Wayne Root, Daniel Imperato, and Michael Jingozian. I’ve removed the other candidates.

The other parties (Socialist, Prohibition) don’t appear to have conventions, or at least have chosen their candidates by acclimation. Independent candidates, by definition, don’t need to be nominated and I’ve left them alone.

Stay tuned, and let me know if I’ve made any errors.

Hey, Somebody Needed to Carry Her Luggage!

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Every year in early May Nancy and I head out on vacation; she has an annual convention of the Pediatric Academic Society. Last year it was in Toronto and next year we travel to Baltimore but this year it was in beautiful, downtown Honolulu. I’m not ordinarily crazy about the island of Oahu because it’s so built up but it was nice. We stayed at the Westin Moana Surfrider, one of the oldest hotels in Hawai’i, and it was just flat out relaxing. While Nancy was running off to meetings, I got to enjoy the beach and explore a little of the city. This isn’t for everybody, but I was moved by walking around the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also called the “Punchbowl” because it’s in an old volcano crater. Many of those buried there died in World War II including many who died at Pearl Harbor.

After the convention was over we moved to the island of Kauai where we once again stayed at the Poipu Kapili. The resort is really good and we recommend it to everyone. Unfortunately there is a great deal of development going on around it and we fear in the next few years it will become too congested. We’ll see.

As everyone who has been to Hawai’i knows, you can’t do anything without a rental car. When we travel we normally use Enterprise but they don’t have cars on Kauai. They sent us to Alamo and trust us, we won’t use them again. It’s commonly known that rental car places try to tack on extra charges (e.g. collision damage, liability, etc.). We have coverage for all these and most places understand that. It appears that Alamo has figured out a new charge: the Vehicle License Recoupment or Recovery Fee (VLRF). If the car is damaged while I’m using it, even if it’s not my fault, they will charge me the daily rate until the car is fixed. It was also explained to me that since we were in Hawai’i, any parts would come by cargo ship that takes a long time to get there. The agent also explained that nobody covers this and it is in my best interest to get this coverage. I took it because I was stuck but I’m convinced this is just another way they’ve found to get more money out of me. When I googled the VLRF, the first 5 pages were for Alamo so I’m guessing they are the only ones who have thought this up. My bet for what’s next: charging me for the time it takes the agent to explain this coverage.

In fairness, other than the construction and the rental car, the rest of the vacation was wonderful. We both enjoy snorkeling and my favorite spot is on the north shore, called Tunnels. Nancy also tried something called snuba. I was too freaked out to do this but she enjoyed it and they have promised us a DVD of her experience.

On our last day we toured the National Tropical Botanical Gardens. I’m really not a flower guy but it was a good tour and it gave me enough history of the island to keep me interested. This is a “don’t miss” even if you’re not a botanist.

It was a fun week. So next year we are headed to Baltimore. I’ll be boning up on my duckpin bowling.

Celebrating Books

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Yesterday I made my annual pilgrimage to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. This is the third time I’ve gone and I look forward to it every year. Warwick’s Books charters two buses and I did that again. It’s nice not having to drive up and back to LA but it can also be a little limiting: we arrived 5 minutes before the first panel I went to and the woman next to me on the bus had to leave her last session early to catch the bus. On the other hand, the price of the trip includes a swag bag and they bring local authors who lecture on the ride.

It’s held on the campus of UCLA; far and away the best part of the festival is just being on campus with so many people interested in books and publishing. The rest is gravy. Tommy Lasorda, longtime manager of the Los Angels Dodgers was there promoting his book I Live For This! Baseball’s Last True Believer. He’s a great storyteller and I was grateful to be there.

Part of the fun also is seeing the booths of all the different publishing houses and bookstores. They say it’s difficult to get a book published these days but given all the publishing houses that seems strange. So if you’re looking for Theosophical University Press or want to talk with someone from the Ayn Rand Institute this is your place.

One blemish this year is that I’ve noticed a number of people handing out leaflets for activities not related to books. The Jews for Jesus people were there handing out leaflets along with other Christian Churches. Obviously they have a right to be there and I’m not opposed to churches giving out information, but they were on public walkways and sometimes obstructed traffic. There was also a guy screaming about how people need to embrace atheism, especially in the African American Community, since religion is meant to keep people oppressed. Did I mention that he is as white as I am? Then again, UCLA is a public place and I’m not sure there’s anything anyone can do.

Bottom line: sign me up for next year.

They Are Not Making This Easy For Me (but that's OK)

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On the left side of this blog I’ve tried to keep track of two things: (1) Who is running for President and (2) How many delegates are committed in the Democrat’s race. John McCain has already wrapped up the Republican nomination and the other parties don’t have the primaries.

In terms of who is running, that is getting a little complicated. I periodically try to click on the links to make sure all the candidates are still running. Especially with the independent candidates I get the feeling there isn’t much going on. The pages don’t seem to be updated much but no pages have gone down and nobody has announced pulling out of the race. The one change is that there does seem to be some party hopping. Mike Gravel began the race as a Democrat but has switched to the Libertarian party. On the other side of the aisle, Alan Keyes has announced that he has left the Republican Party but I’m not sure where he is going. Since he is still running for President I’ll keep him with the Republicans until he announces where he is going. Also, Bob Barr has announced that he is thinking of running as a Libertarian but hasn’t decided. I’ll include him if/when he decides to run.

The delegate race is the same mess it’s been all along. I’ve removed the delegate count for the Republicans since there’s no longer a race. Almost every news outlet counts superdelegates who have committed to a candidate; I haven’t since they don’t need to commit until the convention and can change their minds.

It’s not the easiest thing in the world to keep up with this, but I have to confess that I’m loving it. Frankly, it’s democracy in action and I think the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) would be pleased to see it.