Road Trip

This weekend I went on a road trip for Fraternity business!

Friday night I left town after work and drove to Show Low.  I stopped off in Payson and had dinner with an old high school classmate and friend, Kathy S.  I drive through Payson all the time and had never had a chance to stop and say hi, so I'm glad I was able to this time.  We had some great Mexican food and a wonderful conversation.  Afterward I drove on to Show Low and stayed the night.

The next morning (Saturday) I hit the road.  First stop was Greer, to look around and reconnoiter for our Province Retreat at Benny Creek campground over Labor Day.  The campground was closed but I was able to take some good pictures of the area and get a feel for what it's like.  I think it will be nice.

After that brief excursion I drove on to Albuquerque via US 60 to NM 36 to NM 117 through the El Malpais National Monument.  It's a pretty desolate area, but I love seeing the lava flow there.  It's so striking and thought provoking to me -- I imagine what it must have been like when the lava was flowing and wonder why it did stop THERE and not somewhere else? Then on to I-40.

I got into town and checked into my hotel with just enough time to shower and change and get to the restaurant for dinner with the Iota Phi chapter and their probationary members.  We had a great dinner and fellowship, including (of course) serenading our waitresses.  After dinner and some post-dinner talking it was off to UNM to get ready for the initiation ritual.  As usual I spent most of my time beforehand sitting with the PMs, getting to know them and hearing about their experience in the PM process.  They are a great bunch of guys, and as usual Iota Phi has done a great job preparing them.

The Ritual was well done and, in a first, starting only 20 minutes after the nominal "knock" time of 9 p.m.  I was impressed!  Afterward we took pictures as usual and then I went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday morning I drove up to Santa Fe to grab some stuff for my friend Olivia (she just moved to Phoenix) from her mom, then back down I-25 to El Paso.  I got in around 3:30, checked in to the hotel, then went over to UTEP to meet with Nu Lambda's vice president and FEO.  We talked for about an hour, I think, and I got a good overview of how things are going for them and gave some insights and advice.  Afterward I hung around writing up some notes for a while, then headed out for some dinner and back to the hotel.

Monday morning I checked out of the hotel and went over to UTEP.  I was at school all day for meetings:

• chapter Faculty Advisors
• FA for the SAI colony there
• chapter secretary
• chapter treasurer
• chapter alumni relations officer
• chapter president
• other brothers

Unfortunately I did not get to meet with the SOM assistant head.  The school is in the process of choosing a new department head and they were actually in meetings that day for more discussions so everyone was very busy.

I did manage to sneak out for some food at the UTEP student union.  It's really a pretty neat campus.

At the end of the day (around 6) the chapter did their "Black Night".  This is normally part of the PM process; they don't have a PM class this semester but did one anyway as part of fraternal education.  I only was able to stay for an hour but I found it very edifying.

At 7ish I hit the road for home!  I had gassed-up the car Sunday night so I drove straight through to Deming, where I stopped for some food and a potty break.  Then back on the road and straight through to Tucson for another food/bio-break, and then home around 1 a.m.   Phew!  It was a good trip though.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

Today was a pretty fun day -- Shutterfly took our team out to watch the Diamondbacks - Rockies game at Chase Field.  We got a ticket and $20 of Dbucks for food. 

I rode the light rail out to the game from the park n' ride at Apache and 101.  I'd never ridden the Phoenix light rail; it's pretty much the same as Portland's MAX except the people are not as interesting :-).  Round trip was $4 which beat paying for parking and dealing with horrible traffic, so that was nice.

The game was fun, although we lost 4-3.  I really do enjoy spending time with my coworkers; they are a good bunch and a lot of fun.

Just checking in...

I've not posted here in almost 2 years... geez!  Sorry about that.

I took some time to update the blog template.  Not horribly impressed but Blogger has made a lot of changes since I started this blog in 2002 and the old stuff is not well supported, so it was time. I'll see if I can actually start posting again.

Since I posted last....

• I'm still at Shutterfly
• Still skating!
• In October 2014 I was appointed Province Governor for Province 35 of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a men's music fraternity that I joined in 1983.  As PG I am responsible for keeping an eye on four chapters in Arizona, New Mexico, and "extreme West Texas" a.k.a. El Paso.  In addition we have a colony (chapter in the making) at ASU that I've been working with for 2 years or so.  With a bit of luck we will have them operation by this time next year.
• I'm still singing with the Schola at Ss. Peter and Paul in Tucson.
• I'm also singing with the ASU Choral Union, a community chorus sponsored by ASU and conducted by the inimitable Dr. Schildkret.  It's a lot of fun and we do some pretty good music!  We are performing the Honegger "King David" April 28th.

That's it for now!

One Month!

One month!

Yesterday was my one month anniversary at Shutterfly.  The time is going by really quickly!  I'm enjoying it a lot.  For example today I had my head buried in automation code... the time flies by which is kinda nice.  Got my first regular paycheck today (with all the deductions, health insurance, 401K etc. in place).  I upped my 401K withholding by 3% and I'm coming out about the same almost as at Intel (though I will def. miss those bonuses!).

Unfortunately Shutterfly does not do any matching at all for 401K, so I am going to have to work harder to save for retirement.  To be fair, Intel did not match 401K either, but they had a separate Intel plan that they put money into as well.  Since I was there for 8 years I am vested in that as far as it goes.  I guess this means that like a lot of Americans my age, my retirement income will come from a lot of different sources.

I've pretty much adapted to schedule and so forth, now I'm just trying to get my skating life back in some sort of order AND get my butt to the gym.  So far that's not happening.

New Job

I started my new job April 14th.  I am working at Shutterfly!  My job title is Senior Software Development Engineer in Test.  Pretty fancy-schmancy, eh?  Basically I am doing software QA, back to the kind of stuff I was doing before Intel.  We are using Agile methodology so there's been a learning curve for that as well as our tools  and environment.  Now that I've completed my 4th week I'm feeling like I'm starting to settle in a bit.  I even managed to help one of the other "new guys" today, which was a good feeling.

It's hard to explain how excited I am about this job.  My coworkers are a lot of fun and pretty supportive.  My boss is great.  I feel like I'm learning a lot of cool stuff that will make me more valuable in the future and it's challenging and gets me thinking.

Things I like more than Intel:

• very few meetings!  Most days I have just ONE 15-minute meeting (our "scrum").  I can't tell you how good it feels to have uninterrupted time to get things done
• cool coworkers
• great boss
• good benefits -- free product, they take us out to lunch pretty regularly, we have a variety of treats in the break room
• willingness to spend money on tools etc.
• regular work from home day (Thursdays)

Things I like less than Intel:

• commute -- okay, I was pretty spoiled living a mile from work.  Now I'm commuting into west Tempe/east Phoenix with a million other people.  Still it will get better -- we will be moving in 2015 to a site closer to my house and with a less daunting commute
• no air shuttle -- okay, so now when I want to go to Oregon I have to pay for it on my own dime.. oh well!
• a bit less flexible on scheduling.  I am pretty much expected to be in the office 9-5; I can't really come in much later than that so I am having to get up earlier to skate.  On the positive side I think I am a bit more productive this way so long term it will probably be better for me
• Mac OS learning curve -- I'm sure I'll be over this before long, but having to learn to do things the Mac way has been a lot to deal with.  Of course the upside is I'll be "bilingual" in the future.

Loneliest Road Trip Day 5

Day 5 of my Loneliest Road trip.

I hit the road from Topaz Lake about 9 and headed south on 395.  I stopped at Mono Lake to look around and take some pictures... truly amazing!  I did not take time to go to the South Tufa area, which supposedly is more impressive, but what I did see on the shore and at the visitor center was pretty amazing.

Headed south again... the mountain views were breathtaking.  Got into Bishop and gassed up and got some lunch, then south to Big Pine where I turned east onto CA 168.  This is a narrow, curvy mountain road that goes up and over the White Mountains to Deep Springs Valley, then up and over more mountains to meet up with 266.  It was a really fun drive! It reminded me of 191 in eastern Arizona -- lots of hairpin curves and switchbacks.  At one point, for about 100 yards it was one lane!  Eeep.  A few miles in I caught up to a car in front of me... was thinking Crud! Stuck!  But after a mile or so the driver pulled over and let me pass, which I really appreciated.  Anyway it was a really fun drive!

266 to 95 was not as exciting but it was pretty.  Then I took 95 to Vegas and 93 home to Phoenix as usual.  I got home about 10:30 p.m.

It was a great trip! I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 4

Day 4 of my Loneliest Road trip.  Today I actually drove the Loneliest Road!

I left Ely, NV about 9 a.m.  Stopped in Eureka and got my Guide stamped at the Opera House.  What a cool building!  I really like Eureka.  It's small but it's really charming.

Onward from Eureka to Austin.  US 50 from Ely all the way to Austin traverses a large number of basins (usually 10 - 20 miles wide) separated by mountain ranges.  The basins are at probably 6000 feet and the mountain passes up to 7500 feet, so you really feel like you are at the top of the world.  While the surroundings will definitely make you feel "lonely" as there are almost no human habitations at all outside of the two towns, in another sense it's not that lonely as there was certainly enough traffic (usually going the other way) that I didn't feel particularly lonely.  It's true that I very rarely caught up to anyone in front of me or saw anyone behind me, though, in spite of setting a new GZ land speed record (classified).

Austin is on the western slope of a mountain range -- well, really in a ravine.  It's pretty narrow and US 50 is the main street and all the other streets are on the hill on either side.  I stopped for lunch and got my Guide stamped again, took some pictures of some quaint buildings including three pretty impressive churches and the Stokes Castle.  Then on into a verrrry wiiiiiide basin that went on for ever, seemingly.

Austin to Fallon is about 110 miles (further than the other towns which are spaced 60-70 miles apart).  A bit after Cold Springs (a Pony Express station and there's a little store there) the landscape changed pretty quickly as the road descends from the previous 6000 ft or so average down to more like 4000 ft.  So instead of a slightly green high desert with snowcapped peaks all around it was a very brown desert with mostly brown peaks (some had a little snow, but not much).  About 20 miles from Fallon I stopped to look at the remains of the Sand Springs Pony Express station (kinda cool!) and also Sand Mountain. Sand  Mountain is very very cool and I took some video of the crazy people driving their buggies and even cars up it.  Yikes!  Also saw several Navy jets from Fallon flying overhead returning from the range.

Coming into Fallon the last 10 miles or so the road is going through a somewhat residential area and it's slower.  Got into Fallon and got my Guide stamped at a Chevron station, yay!  I originally was going to stop at the Chamber of Commerce but it was closed?  What the heck?!

On from Fallon and I almost missed the turnoff as 50 turns into Alt-50 to Fernley; you have to make a left to stay on 50 to Carson City.  A fairly uneventful drive although I was surprised at the suburbs (I guess that's what they are) like Stagecoach where they are building houses left and right even though it's like 20 miles from Carson City.  Weird.

Got into Dayton and I wanted to get my Guide stamped (even though I already had the requisite 5 stamps) but couldn't find the Chamber of Commerce.  There was a roadsign but I couldn't find it.  I decided to go for the other option, the Dayton Museum... only to discover it was closed.  So I went looking for the C of C again, and even stopped at a nearby store and asked for help.  Finally  I found it hiding in plain sight -- it was where the sign was, but it was inside a bank building.  There was a very small sign outside not visible from the road.  Of course with my luck, it was only open MWF 9-2 so I missed out.  By now it was like 4:30 and I hit the road and hightailed it to Carson City hoping to get one more stamp, at the C of C there.  I got there about 10 to 5 and though it said it was open M-F 8-5 it was, of course, already closed.  GRRR!!

Continued on to Topaz Lake, where I had gotten a great deal on a room at the Best Western.  It's really a pretty place although, like every lake in CA (-ish) the level is quite low due to the drought.

Tomorrow I'm heading south on 395 to Big Pine, then over to 95 and back home (if I have enough energy) via Vegas and Kingman.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 3

Still road-tripping!

Today I left Ogden about 10 or so and headed down I-15 to Nephi, where I took Utah 132 west to the junction with Highway 6.  From there I headed to Delta where I gassed up again and had lunch.

The drive from Delta to Ely was quite striking.  Delta is a cute little town with one stop light. From Delta to the Nevada border was mostly flat with a little bit of mountains and a lovely view of Sevier Lake, a mostly-dry lake that does have some water in it now it looked like.  Right after I spotted a small flock of sheep in the road, about 15 or 20 of them.  I was rather surprised to see them since I thought it was mostly a cattle area. I did set a new land speed record for me of 111 mph.  Not going to do that again but it was rather exciting. 

At Baker (on the Nevada border) I stopped at the Border Inn and got my first stamp in my Loneliest Road Survivor's Guide.  Yay!  From there I went on to Ely, going through a couple of mostly deserted valleys separated by snowcapped peaks that were just breathtaking.  Gorgeous, really.

I got into Ely just before 4.  The motel is not the greatest, but it's clean so that's enough.  I ran over to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.  Way cool!  And I got my Guide stamped for Ely.  The deal is you have to get it stamped in 5 different towns to get your "I Survived" certificate.  Ha!  I think it's fun.

After the museum I gassed up the car and wandered around Ely a bit, then came back to the motel and relaxed and surfed the web a bit.  About 7:30 I went and had dinner at Racks Bar and Grill just down the street.  Not bad. 

I'm going to relax and do some reading and try to get to bed early so I can get an early start.  Tomorrow it's all the way across Nevada to Carson City and a little further, down to Gardnerville.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 2

Still road tripping..

Today I got up, checked out of the hotel and went over to the Carl Hayden Visitor Center and toured the Glen Canyon Dam.  It was really awesome!  I love dams.  I've seen Hoover (of course), Grand Coulee, Bonneville, and the Coolidge Dam.  There are a number of dams in Arizona that I've not seen since I was little so I don't count them.

After the dam tour I gassed up and got some food, then hit the road up 89.  Pretty country!  At one point I was heading up a hill and saw a passing lane open up with a (slowish) truck so I hit it to get around him before the lane ended... got the Mazda6 up to 97 (going uphill!).  Seemed like it was capable of more but there wasn't space or time and anyway I worry about getting a ticket.

Got stuck for 15 minutes or so in Panguitch waiting for a pace car to take us through construction... then on up until I got to the highway 20 turnoff.  20 is fairly short but it was fun with some nice curves.  Then on to 15 and boring driving -- although the speed limit was (usually) 80!  That was nice.

Coming into SLC I almost got rear ended... traffic got really busy and all of a sudden the traffic in my lane (left lane!) stopped short, and I stopped, and the guy behind me stopped (phew!) but then I hear screeching/squealing and I was waiting for the impact... which didn't happen, thank God.  The car behind the car behind me couldn't quite stop in time but he was smart and lucky and pulled over into the HOV lane and stopped about half a car length alongside the car behind me.  Smart to have pulled over, and lucky that the lane was empty.  Geez!

Got into Ogden and had dinner with a friend, then websurfing and off to bed soon.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 1

I'm on a road trip!

 Here's the route..

Today I left about 2 p.m. and drove up 17 to Flagstaff, then on up 89 toward Page.  I love the scenery north of Flagstaff; it's a huge volcanic field with more cinder cones (similar to the area east of Springerville).  Due to a road outage there's a detour  (Navajo 20, signed as "89T" (Temporary)).  A landslide took out part of 89 so ADOT got $ from the Feds to pave N20 (it was dirt/gravel).  It's pretty nice, really.  Got into Page just before dark and found the hotel, then took my friend Kirsten's recommendation and went to the Dam Bar and Grille for a really awesome steak.  Yum!

Chorale Rehearsal

[I'm going to try to go back to posting more here... we'll see]

I am in Oregon for work, and got to attend rehearsal last night with the Oregon Chorale.  I'm going on tour with them this summer so this I'm taking advantage of my work trips to go to rehearsal and learn the music.

Oh my gosh, it was so much fun!  And a good workout too.  I have not sung with a choir like this since I left Oregon and I'd forgotten just how much fun it is.  We worked hard for two hours and covered a lot of ground.

This morning I was driving to work from my friend's house and it was very foggy.  Very surreal and reminded me a lot of foggy mornings when I lived here, driving to the rink in the early morning (although that was darker!) and then to work from the rink.  Good memories.

My Dad's Death

My Dad, Alfred George Zaft, Jr., passed away today, March 23, 2013, of complications from lung cancer.

He  had been somewhat sick for some time.  Doctors thought it was pneumonia, but after several weeks of treatment in December and January they brought him in for a bronchoscopy.  The samples they got showed pneumonia; they were not able to do a biopsy at the time as he went into atrial fibrillation. They were not able to get his oxygen levels up after this procedure so they admitted him to the hospital.  He was in the hospital for several days, then released, but after a week he was back in the hospital again as he was very weak and having trouble breathing.

After 9 days in the hospital they released him to a rehab care facility to work on getting him stronger, but after about 2 weeks there he was back in the hospital again.  After several days there they moved him to an acute care facility, but after 2 weeks he was rapidly getting worse.  He had another bronchoscopy a week ago, where they were able to get a biopsy sample.

This last Tuesday he was appreciably worse so they admitted him to the ICU (down the hall from where he was).  He was in quite a bit of pain, had no appetite and quite a bit of edema.  Early samples from the bronchoscopy showed that besides pneumonia, nocardia bacillia and aspergillus (fungal infection) he also had pseudomonas, a bacterial infection mostly found in hospitals.  He also developed shingles, due both to stress and his weak immune system.

This morning I received a call from my brother that my stepmom had been called into the hospital urgently to meet with the doctor as the biopsy results were (finally) in.  Unfortunately due to rush hour traffic I didn't get there 'til almost 8:30 so I missed the doctor, but the results were what we'd feared for a long time -- lung cancer. Apparently the variety he has often appears on x-rays much like
pneumonia does.  He probably had it bad since October or November.

Unfortunately the reality of the situation was that he was extremely weak from the multiple opportunistic infections he'd been fighting for 2 - 4 months now, and while the antibiotics had kept him alive, he was not winning the fight.  The prognosis was that he was not strong enough to endure cancer treatment on top of what he'd already been fighting; and indeed he had repeatedly said he did not want to.  When the doctor told him that they'd found cancer, he reportedly told him, "I told you that 4 months ago, !".  He had had no appetite for several days and his body gave other signs that he was ready to go.

So, we moved him to a hospice in east Mesa.  It's a beautiful facility.  I was there for a couple of hours last night with him and they are making him comfortable.  He was on oxygen, of course, and meds for the pain (though he occasionally still gasps in pain in a way that would break your heart), and a catheter; but no antibiotics, no monitors, no poking and prodding him.

My brother, sister and I had gathered at midday today to visit with him and my stepmother Fran; but he was heavily sedated and didn't wake up while we were there (or at least, he didn't open his eyes).  We talked to him, told him we loved him, held his hand.

I left around 2:15 to run some errands etc. with the idea that I would come back around 6:15 to see him and give Fran a break.  I received a call from Fran just a few minutes before 5 that he had passed.  I jumped in the car and managed to drive the 20 miles to the hospice in about 21 minutes :-).

 Fran told me she had been sitting with him, holding his hand, and he was breathing regularly, when he took a catch breath... and stopped.  After a moment of disbelief she called the nurse, who confirmed that he had no pulse.


Some family friends arrived immediately after his passing, fortunately, and stayed with her until my arrival so she wasn't alone.  After my arrival I paid my respects and talked with Fran, then my brother Gary and his wife arrived and then my nephew.  We prayed over him and paid our respects, and said our goodbyes. 

Needless to say this happened much, much more quickly than any of us anticipated.  My personal thought was that we had 2-3 days so the fact that he was only at the hospice for a little over a day was quite a shock and a surprise.

It was my dad's desire to be cremated.  I'm sure there will be some kind of ceremony or service at some point but I don't have any information at this point.

When I returned to Arizona in October 2009, my main reason for the move (okay, other than the fact that I couldn't bear the Oregon weather any more) was that I really, really wanted to be closer to my Dad and the rest of my family.  I knew this day would come at some point, and I didn't want to be 1500 miles away when it did.

In the time I've been back in Arizona I've spent a lot of time with my Dad; when he was not on the road in his RV we had dinner once a week and did numerous other things.  I had an opportunity to work on our relationship in a way I'd never had before, since we hadn't lived in the same town since I was 5.  All this is a long way of saying that I had an opportunity to say the things I needed to say to him, to tell him I loved him and to hear him say that he loved me too. 

So, I have no regrets... but of course I will miss him. 

Yes I'm Still Alive

I've given up FaceBook for Lent so perhaps I will post more here.

I came across  this article on the HHS mandate and Sandra Fluke's testimony before Congress.  I thought it was one of the better analyses I've seen.

I'm Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive, lol.

A quick plug -- please consider supporting WikiPedia!

Road Trip, Day 1

I'm on a road trip.  I left Phoenix about 2 p.m. and headed up the Beeline Highway (87) past the turnoff for my brother's house and on into the mountains.  Stopped at Payson to get gas.  It's pretty up there! 

Turned onto 260 and then on up into the mountains and then climbing up the Rim.  I don't think I had ever been this way before but it was stunning.  I was a little sad there wasn't a scenic overlook because I wanted to stop and take some pictures.  It was really amazing.  A little past that I saw a guy hitchhiking and stopped to give him a ride -- don't usually pick up hitchhikers but it was such a desolate spot I figured I would give him a ride.  He seemed nice enough.  Dropped him off in Heber as he was heading north, and gave him a couple of bottles of Diet Coke to tide him along.  Driving along through the area I could see the effects from the big Rodeo-Chediski_fire.  Wow.  Sad.

Got into Show Low and stopped at McD's for a snack, then on to Highway 60 toward Springerville.  Very desolate country and usually I was the only car in sight... passed through the Springerville volcanic field and that was REALLY trippy!  Grassland with all these extinct volcanic vents sticking up.  It's the 3rd largest such field in the country -- who knew?!

I pressed on through to New Mexico as the sun set and then on in the dark to Socorro, NM where I found the Rodeway Inn, my destination for the night.

Tucson Tragedy

Saturday 1/8 I was up at crack of dawn to go warmup for my Adult PreBronze Free Skate test.  After the test (I passed!) I went to breakfast with my coach and some friends.  When I finally was driving home after dropping my coach off, I was listening to the news and heard about the horrible shooting in Tucson.  19 shot of whom 6 were killed (including a 9-year old girl!) and one of the wounded was Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

I can't express how hard this hit me.  My Tucson!  My home, wherever I may go.  The place my heart has been for so long... a scene of tragedy.  Later on I would discover the links I had with the injured and killed... Judge Roll, who had attended Ss. Peter and Paul school with my pastor John Lyons, was a daily communicant and had often been a lector at SSPP.  One of the men who died, shielding his wife (who was also shot) was the uncle of one of my classmates from Amphi.  Another classmate knew the shooter and his parents; their kids had been in Little League together.  And of course I had met Gabby Giffords when I was in grad school, when we took our winning Student Showcase entries to the Capitol and she came out to talk to us briefly.

On Wednesday they had a memorial service at McKale, and President Obama came.  He gave a wonderful speech that, I think, really helped a lot of people to grieve and to feel better.  Thank you, Mr. President.

Saturday I was down in Tucson to sing at a wedding with our SSPP Schola.  Part of my goal was to visit two of the memorials that had grown up, one at UMC and one also at Gabby Gifford's office (there was another at the shooting site but I didn't want to go there).

I visited the one at UMC Saturday afternoon, since it's right across the street from my old parish (Ss. Peter and Paul).  It was probably about 2:30 p.m. and there were probably150 or so people there.  Of course the news trucks were still all camped out too, which made it a little noisy unfortunately.  The memorial was on the small lawn in front of UMC.  People had left stuff all around the perimeter, and then there were some pathways through the middle lined with more stuff.  There were cards, flowers, candles, a lot of little posters with pictures of those killed, or of Gabby Giffords.  Many of the local schools had drawn up posters signed by their kids.  There were poems and expressions of love, of hope, of comfort.  There were many expressions of thanks to the UMC doctors, nurses and staff as well as the first respondeers, and some thanking President and Mrs. Obama for coming to Tucson.  Walking through, there were a number of kids present with their parents, but not too many teenagers or young adults, mostly middle aged folks it seemed like.  The atmosphere was quiet and reverent although there was some talking too.  A few people were taking pictures, and I considered it but it didn't seem appropriate to me so I refrained.  Reading the signs and cards and looking at the displays it was almost overwhelming, the communal grief and hurt registered there.  At the same time there was definitely a sense of pulling together, that this act doesn't change what a great and good place Tucson is.  It was sad but uplifting too.

Later that day, around 6ish (sun had just set) I stopped by the memorial at Gabby Gifford's office.    There were probably 15-20 people there.  It's much smaller, a much smaller space.  This memorial had a larger proportion of flowers, and especially candles.  Many, many candles.  It struck me as "only in America" that people express their love for their Jewish Congresswoman by lighting candles with pictures of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I had brought some flowers and I found a suitable spot for them.

One poster that particularly struck me was from a man who described how he'd lived the first 50 years of his life in Tucson but was now living in Phoenix; and how he had felt like Tucson was his refuge, how he would go visit when he needed to, and be recharged.  How he felt like the shooting had taken his Tucson away from him, how it was no longer safe.  He said that as he had watched the community mourning and grieving and drawing together, he felt better and realized that despite the shooting it was still "his place."

I know exactly what he means.

Gratitude

One of my goals when I came back to Arizona was, to put it simply and bluntly, to "get my life back."  I was thinking the other day that I've largely achieved that.  It's not the same life I had when I lived in Tucson -- I'm less involved in the community and that time has largely gone into skating and piano, so it is inwardly-oriented (vs. the time I used to spend teaching RCIA and working with CTAC).  Still I am keeping pretty busy and really, I have a good life.  I'm very grateful.

A Day Of Remembrance

Another 9/11 comes... for me the paradox, a day to celebrate (my birthday) and to mourn those lost on this day 9 years ago.

In a special way I remember John Badagliacca, whose name on wear on my wrist every day.  May he and all those who died that day rest in peace, and may the grace of God give comfort to their families and friends.

Vacation

Long time, no post, sorry.  I am on vacation in Oregon.  I arrived Friday.  Saturday I spent with Dad and Fran, and we had dinner with my Aunt Nancy and cousin Robin, it was really nice to see them.  Sunday was a long day -- figures competition in the morning and then hanging out with my friend Mary afterward.  We were going to go to Voodoo Doughnuts but the lines were really long so we hung out on the waterfront and looked around and talked.  A good time.

Today I drove out  to the coast.  Stopped in Astoria and visited the Astoria Column, then a brief detour over the Astoria-Megler bridge.  I have a fascination with bridges (on the drive out I also got to see the beautiful St. Johns bridge and the impressive Longview bridge).  The Astoria bridge is really, really high for the part over the channel; then it sinks down and is just a little way above the river.  Coming back over it from Washington it looks like it goes straight up, it's so tall and steep!  Wow.

I drove down to Seaside and checked in to the hotel here, took a walk on the beach and looked around a bit.  Unfortunately it is typical Oregon weather, cold and dreary (though, surprisingly, not actually raining -- yet).

Tomorrow I will look around a bit more then head back toward PDX as I have lessons with my old coach Tuesday evening and early Wednesday to prep for the competition at the end of the month.

Have You Read The Bill?

[Background:  I have had a number of discussions on FaceBook, sometimes heated, about Arizona's SB1070. I wrote and posted this there, but thought I would share it here as well.]

May 28, 2010

Have You Read The Bill? – A response, and a challenge.

In the discussion of Arizona’s new immigration law (SB1070) and its implementation and the continuing reaction of others, this question “Have you read the bill?” (“HYRTB” for short) has come up repeatedly.  Indeed, I think I myself have been asked this question five or six times to date.

I find the question, and the reasoning that underlies it when asked by some persons, to be offensive; it’s also unhelpful and uncharitable.  I’ll try to explain why.  I must point out at the outset that my remarks are not aimed at any one person, for while some people have what I consider to be bad motivations in asking the question, I know several of my interlocutors to be people of sincerity and good will who genuinely mean no offense.

The question seems simple enough.  Have you read SB1070?  This is often accompanied by the remark that it’s only 17 pages.  True enough.  What are the subtexts of this question?  I can think of several variations on a theme:

1.    You must not have read the bill; otherwise you would agree with me/have a different position.
2.    I don’t understand why you don’t support this bill, so I’m assuming you must not actually have read it.  (This is the kindest variation, held by at least one person I know.)
3.    Reading the bill will convince any intelligent person to support it regardless of any other circumstances.
4.    If you have not read the bill your opinions don’t carry any weight and I can ignore them.

Let’s take them in turn.  The first and second are very similar; the main difference is that the first seems arrogant and the second comes from a position of sincerely seeking understanding.    Behind them both, though, is the implication that reading SB1070 will produce agreement with it.  Considering how many well-educated and well-read people in our society disagree on fundamental points of view, the likelihood of education resulting in uniform support for any particular position is low.

The third point is also similar to the first two, but I put it this way to bring out another point – context.  Every person that’s asked me the question has been a white person, and most of them do not live in Arizona.  I find it ironic that someone can ask this question, because the questions that I would ask in response include “Do you live in Arizona?  Are you familiar with Arizona politics?  Do you know why this bill came forward at this time, and who supports and opposes it and why? Do you have any Hispanic friends?”  SB1070 did not come forth in a vacuum, but in a particular set of circumstances of which many of the people asking HYRTB are totally ignorant.  Many people who object to SB1070 do so not because of the text of the bill but because of their experiences with Arizona’s politics and law enforcement, especially in Maricopa County.

Furthermore, it applies a standard for debate that most do not apply to other discussions or issues.  Do I have to have read the entire Tax Code of the US to object to the level of taxation I experience?   Did those objecting to Obama’s healthcare initiatives actually read all 1000+ pages of that bill?  Do I have to have read the UN Charter to support or object to the United Nations?  What about the North Atlantic Treaty? I suspect not.

It’s the fourth point that is most offensive.  Put another way, the question asks “Do you know what you are talking about?”  Questioning the knowledge and/or intelligence of your interlocutor is never conducive to a good discussion, but is a standard ad hominem tactic.  It also avoids discussing the actual objections raised.  If you wish to have a respectful, productive, and persuasive interchange, avoid such tactics and address the actual points of discussion.

My challenge to those who have asked HYRTB, and to everyone – have a discussion that is respectful and uplifting, edifying and charitable.  Seek to understand not just the text, but the context, of what you discuss; and for those that profess a Christian faith (at least) – as Frank Sheed (I think) said, when you are tempted to put someone in his place, remember that his proper place is Heaven and everything you say and do towards him should help him attain that end.

I have a lot more to say about the bill itself, which I will do in a future posting.  I did want to take some time to make these points since they have been the cause of some hurt feelings on my part and presumably on the part of others.

And yes, I have read SB 1070.