Remember the "66"

Remember the "66"

Route 66 was once the symbol of American mobility. Where we could gulp down great distances and stay in a safe clean motel. Where gas was cheap and cars were big.  But like a lot of things in the country Route 66 has certainly drifted away from Americas' attention and is slowly decomposing, dying unseen in the middle of nowhere.

 Seems that America is quite fickle in its attention and has a serious case of ADD (Attention Deficet Disorder). In fact, our attention if left unreinforced for say three news cycles drifts off to subjects like:

RidicuList: Naked guy on news

Anderson Cooper 360:
Hurricane Irene brought out a fan who wanted to "bare it all" during the news. 

OR this:

Justin Bieber crashes his Ferrari

These are from the CNN web site 8/31/11

NO, the 66 I am referring to is from a similar story that moved off the Radar of the American populace several years ago, yet still is causing agony. I am referring to this head line buried on page 7A of todays USA Today:

August deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan War 

I had to dig three pages deep into the "world" section of the online edition to find the article. 

66 American Serviceman were killed in Afghanistan in August. The deadliest month of the 

ENTIRE WAR. And where was America? Front Page stories from USA online edition:

• Ticker: Palin's surprise tea party move
• Medieval plague bug likely extincttRussia raids BP offices
• Honda hits Justin Bieber's Ferrari
• Texas A&M leaving Big 12  SI
• Rapper T.I. released from prison
• Stanley Cup dented after tumble
• 
  
• TSA: Man had reptiles in his pants

Yes A guy with reptiles in his pants is more important than 66 servicemen and women who have died DOING our bidding in a God forsaken sand pile half a world away. We as a country, as a people should be ashamed. We've forgotten them. 
A couple of years ago I saved a bunch of photos, mostly of the Iraq war but they are still relevant to reinforce and reconnect with what are service men and women are doing over in the sand. Just click on the link and then click the slideshow button. There is no blood and gore and it will only take about two minutes. I named the file back then "What is it good for" after the 60's protest song by Edwin Starr "War-what is it good for". Take a minute, please.

http://tinyurl.com/4xhj7x4

Photography

Trey Ratcliff is a photographer who travels the world taking HDR Photographs.  The HDR process involves shooting the same scene at several different exposure settings and/or shutter speeds. Then you take these photos and combine them with software programs to produce these astonishing images. Trey is a very active blogger on G+. His work is astonishing.
I have posted some of his work here:
http://tinyurl.com/3awaevf                                                                                 http://www.stuckincustoms.com  is Treys 


Then there is the work of Clark Little. Clark lives in Hawaii and for some goofy reason he put on a mask, a pair of fins, grabs has underwater cameras and jumps into the North Shore waves and not only survives but gets the most incredible wave photos I have ever seen. I posted some of the here: http://tinyurl.com/3c62pw3
http://www.clarklittlephotography.com is Clarks website




Ok I like this better now if I can only get the text background color to match the black it sits on I'll be set I think.

Got to redesign this page

 I can't do this without pics
Cause there is such great stuff out there.

Bear with me while I deconstruct Blogger for a template that will take photos.

If you get some crazy pages, hey, creative process is crazy right!

Mark

We are alive! But we did dance didn't we.

North Carolina coast is where Irene decided to make her landfall. I know that she made another in NJ but her first stop was here. In NC, we reportedly took five storm related deaths. She flooded a lot of places and a bunch of folks evacuated into shelters when the "Sky is Falling" wardens came howling down their streets.

Irene was somewhere between a Cat 1 and a Tropical Storm when it headed for the Wash. DC/Boston megalopolis. Plant a big storm and run it up the most densely populated section of real estate in America and....not much happened, in terms of Human life.  Everyone and their brothers uncle will be claiming damages though from flooded fields to weakened buildings. Obama helped them out by basically declaring the entire East Coast a disaster area BEFORE the storm hit?

SO I went to CNN and looked at the state by state update
 http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/28/irene.state.by.state/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

and not much to write about. The Washington DC Subway is still running so flooding can't be that bad. The Jersey shore will probably exercise their insurance damage claims for their overpriced Mansions on the sea.

BUT, and here is the point of the last post and this one: 5 dead in NC!
Let's look at these storm related deaths:

From the CNN site italics are mine:

NORTH CAROLINA

-- Irene made landfall in North Carolina on Saturday, leaving a trail of destruction. At least five people died in storm-related incidents in the state.

-- It pushed a 4-foot storm surge into the Chesapeake Bay, the National Hurricane Center said.

-- A child died in Goldsboro after the car he was in collided with another vehicle at a stoplight knocked out by the storm, police officials said.  Traffic accident in my book regrettable but happens every day.

-- One adult died when a car that was carrying family members hit a tree near Clinton, North Carolina, emergency officials said.  Clinton is 60 miles inland and how is running into a tree storm related it might be but it might be that he just ran off the road.

-- A motorist died when he lost control of his car Saturday morning and struck a tree in Pitt County. Again 60 or so miles inland and how is it storm related?

-- A tree limb struck and killed a man feeding livestock in Nash County. Bingo Now this one is storm related for sure.

-- And a man in Onslow County died of a heart attack as he put plywood over his windows Friday in preparation for the storm.  Taking precautions make it storm related but maybe he just shouldn't have been handeling plywood sheets with a bad heart!

So in my accounting methods One for sure, and Lets say the stoplight being out was caused by the storm and the guy was fleeing Irene. The heart attack I think was a heart attack. So I got two deaths as a result of Irene where she came ashore the fiercest.

Three people died of trees falling on them in Virginia. A women is reportedly missing after being swept into a stream in NJ. New York is not reporting any deaths. Governor Christy in NJ however still sees the sky falling: Christie said, citing coastal and inland flooding due to swollen rivers. "Do not leave your homes," he told state residents. "It is still not safe to go out there."


I believe that it is Governments job to watch and inform us of weather events. To suggest ways that we can avoid harm or injury. But honestly, what is happening out there is domestic terror mongering by our officials and our media. 


We don't need official "chicken littles" We don't need everyone crying "Wolf". A Cat 1 storm in Florida raises an eyebrow but not much more.  It should have had the same impact on the East Coast but "hyped to hell" Irene made us dance their fearful dance.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling...wolf, wolf wolf...Terror

Category 1 Hurricane #Irene has sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, according to 11 a.m. ET Hurricane Center advisory 


Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says Hurricane #Irene still dangerous, people need to take it seriously 

Breaking News - Man feeding livestock in North Carolina crushed by tree limb during Hurricane #Irene,emergency official says NRC inspectors head to nuclear power plants in path of Irene

By the CNN Wire Staff

Public transportation is taking a hit: Transit systems in New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey will shut down on Saturday.

Greyhound has canceled or delayed a number of routes because of the storm.

Roads are expected to be clogged with people heading away from Irene's path, and many tourists enjoying the still-beautiful weather on some Northeast beaches have had to cut their trips short.

Those were headlines and stories I gleened in two minutes from the web.

This is a disturbing trend that is going to bite us in the butt sooner or later. This is a Cat 1 Hurricane and the Press is making it out to be something like Katrina. The media spreading terror is what it really is....stay tuned to this channel for more.....tell us your story online......Hurricane Chat at CNN.com....

MY god the NRC headline does nothing more than put the thought into the population of the East Coast that we may have a situation like Japan had with the Nuke. Even though that was an earthquake, the Tsunami brought flooding and Irene is bringing flooding....oh my god we need to flee.

Homeland Security's Janet Napolitano should be looking into the major networks/Cable News/Weather Channel/ major papers etc for terrorist activities instead of joining the fray. What does homeland security have to do with warning the population about weather? Maybe Janet needs to issue a warning that there will probably be an earthquake in California in the next few days and "dangerous, people need to take this seriously" This is not a Homeland Security issue. Making a statement like that makes it a Homeland Security issue which in most Americans eyes = terrorism.

Everyone needs to take precautions, Irene is a big storm but folks, no matter what the media is saying the end of the world is not coming on the heels of Irene. After a few of these, who is going to pay attention when the real disaster is coming....when a real Cat 4-5 storm heads for the East Coast!

OH OH Irene and the VA

The Hurricane is coming. The Hurricane is coming.

Before everyone calls and asks how am I holding up in the hurricane, please note:

Asheville to Hilton Head SC = 316 miles
Rochester to New York City = 310 miles

So you see there is a lot of country for Irene to trash before it gets here, we are also at 2000 - 2500 feet up. We will probably get some stiff wind and some showers off the backside of Irene but we will be affected just the same as Rochester will be.  In fact the backside of Irene will pull down air from Canada. That stuff will come zipping across Lake Ontario with nothing in the way to slow it down till it hits the Southern Coast of Ontario (i.e. Rochester).

Hurricanes are nasty beasts and the entire east coast from SC to Maine looks like its going to get a Nor'Easter. But they really spend most of their energy in the first 50 miles inland. Good not to be living in Washington or NY City.

The VA

Today, I had a complete Physical at the Veteran Administration. The VA gets a lot of press for their shoddy medical service, their terrible conditions and poor surly staff.  That has not been my experience.

The VA here in Asheville NC and the one I went to in Rochester NY have been wonders. The friendliest, concerned staff I have every had much better than what I have witnessed in private practice. The Doc today spent 45 minutes with me going over everything. Asking questions more about lifestyle and how it relates to my health. I was sent to Blood Lab, X-ray, EKG, Med. Devices (to pick up a blood pressure monitor) the Pharmacy, the front desk, and to "secure Messaging" to set up e-mail communication with the VA.

I was scheduled for an 8:30 appointment and was called at 8:25! I brought audio books on my iPod, sudoku puzzles the works knowing that I was going to be spending the day.

I never finished the first Sudoku puzzle, a gold rated puzzle but I am pretty good at them.

I was finished and out the door by 1100AM! The closest to surly I got was the women who took blood. And she apologized to me saying that she was just having a bad day, kids starting school wanting $200 kicks (shoes).

God Bless the folks at the Vets Administration. I know they face the same pressures as hospitals and clinics and they are born of the same people who have blessed us with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Yet, They do their job with a smile, the place is very clean, modern and a real joy to be treated there.

And one other thing two people today said "Thanks for your service and have a great day" For a VietNam era vet that is truly something to hear.

Jobs - World Bender

Today, one of my heroes, Steve Jobs stepped down from his leadership seat as Apple CEO.  He appointed Tim Cook CEO in his place. Steve said he was not up to the requirements of the job at hand and promised that he would step down if that occur. He said today "Sadly that day has arrived"


I have been a Mac guy since Macs were Macs.  I fought in the Apple/PC wars, I suffered through Scully firing Jobs, Through Amelio running the company into the ground, almost killing it but then he probably did  the smartest thing in his life, he hired Jobs back, in 1996.


Jobs founded Pixar in the  time between when he left Apple and  was rehired. Pixar laid down the standard for computer animation films with "Toy Story". He also founded Next computers and developed the Next software which was the basis for the Mac OSX system.


Under his reign, and it was a reign, Steve Jobs hired a new team, pushed his visions, uncompromising, through his company and after 15 years, Apple became the largest company in the country.  As a businessman, he ran the company with an iron hand, terrifying employees with adherence to his decisions.


He came up with show stopping design. Remember the iMac when it came out. The Blue, Green, Orange and Red plastic curved egg shape that was totally ground breaking in the bland case world. Then the laptops styled the same way, the elegantly styled towers that unfolded to provide access to everything.


Steve Jobs changed the way America and the world thought  about computers. With the Apple II he proved that their was a market for "Home" computers. With the Macintosh, he showed that, through good design of the graphic interface, anyone could use a computer. He brought color to computing, he took the computer out from under the desk to become a focal point on the desk with the iMac. Then the Power of the OSX system, a graphics beast. 


That was the computing influence of Steve Jobs. But maybe that pales with what he did next.


Jobs introduced the iPod and in one day rendered the Walkman obsolete. He changed the way America interfaced with their music. In doing so he bent the entire Music industry to new ways of production and distribution.


Next came the  iPhone, cellular was never the same. Putting a computer into the hands of almost anyone that wanted it. Picture taking turned into electronic picture taking and that industry bent away from film. Photo albums became portable Kodak died, Fuji is dying. Film cameras went the way of the Walkman.  1 hour photo processing became kiosks in stores with prints in minutes.


Still there was more. The iPad: big display, super slim, cameras, Wi-Fi connected to the internet cloud, millions are being sold and the publishing industry is reeling bending very much like the music industry. Borders books files for Bankruptcy protection listing the switch to e-books as a big reason for their failure. Jobs saw that dedicated e-book readers like Sonys, Amazons Kindle, B&N Nook and others weren't the way to go. Single purpose dedicated portable devices are always going to lose to a multi use, connected, colorful, dazzling device that works its magic so well that kids under six can probably use them more efficiently than their owners.


That is Steve Jobs legacy, my two word description is "World Bender".


Apple certainly has good people and Tim Cook has been groomed for a decade for this position. I think that Apple probably has several years worth of innovating products in the pipeline. But it will be different, I doubt if it will be better but probably not worse, if Cook can keep the teams together innovating.  But the "World Bender's" alchemy is a tough thing to pass down.


I follow a guy by the name of Seth Godin, an Author, blogger, lecturer (http://sethgodin.typepad.com). Seths stuff is great, his book "Tribes" is top notch, his blog is a must read. Todays was, unlike this short and wonderful:

A little empty

I guess this is how a sports fan felt when Joe DiMaggio retired.

Business didn't used to be personal. Now it is.

Computers didn't used to make us smile. Now they do.

We didn't used to care about whether a CEO made one decision or another, or whether or not he was healthy. I do now.

Sure, there was baseball after joltin Joe stopped playing. But it was never quite the same.

Thank you, Steve, for giving us all something to talk about and a way to talk about it with beauty (and fonts). We owe you more than we can say.

'Nuf said

Mark

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Happy to be here!