The NFL, The “N” Word, and Language Evolution

Posted on March 4, 2014 by david

The NFL, the “N’ word, and Language Evolution

This week the National Football League has raised at least a small media flutter with the floated concept of a penalty for the use of offensive language on the field.  This is most likely (yet another) NFL media ploy to make sure that the NFL is discussed ad nausea by the legions of “experts” on every sports talk show, of which there seem to be an infinite number. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting concept to ponder.

First of all, I taught my students for years that there are no purely “bad” vocabulary words, but there are lots of poor choices of audience. The example I used was the sort of language used on the lake on winter weekends playing hockey with my friends, as opposed to the language used at Grandmother’s house at Thanksgiving dinner.  Nobody I knew ever said, “Please pass me the puck, for I appear to be open.”  And nobody would ever say “Pass me the fucking mashed potatoes, you stupid son of a bitch.”   Well, at least not in my family.

In fact, virtually any word can be made to sound ugly or obscene in the proper context. Or would that be improper context?  What is a word that is beautiful?  How about “love?”  Have you ever heard a convicted child molester talk about the “love” he had for his victims?  Is that not obscene?  Context is everything in word meaning, and our tone and body language communicate well over 90% of the meaning of any expression.

Words evolve over time, which is why we do not sound like Shakespeare in our everyday speech. Interesting (to me) side note:  For many decades language scholars noted that the “purest” English, by which we mean that closest to the English of centuries ago, was spoken in small backwoods areas of the Appalachians. These were, due to a lack of technology, travel, education, and other factors, almost completely closed societies, and many things, including language, tended to remain static over time. The onset of radio and other media rapidly destroyed this language lab, and now all national-level TV announcers sound about the same.

As words in general use evolve, and so do words meant to be insulting.  “Cops” was once a negative, but is now used every day by everyone, including the police.  That was replaced by the more negative “Pigs,” and the police turned this around in later years by staging charity football games between departments referred to as “Bacon Bowls.” There was one between the Seattle and Tacoma forces for years.

As new cultures are assimilated into our country (and language) the people of them are new, and different, and therefore mysterious. Mystery in people tends to cause distrust and fear, and so every new group, even indigenous peoples who had their lands stolen from them by invading cultures with better technology and more aggressive policies, have had negative terms associated with them.  Note the current furor over the use of the term “Redskins” by the Washington NFL team.  Some argue that the term is now positive. Some Indian tribes argue for its removal. In a great irony, some of the tribes opposed to its use have high schools on their own Indian nation property with teams that are referred to, fondly, as ‘Redskins.”  It is all very confusing.

I recall my teen angst and fury when my brother married a woman of Japanese-American descent when I was 20.  Their wedding was one of the most fun and meaningful ceremonies I’ve ever attended.  My parents could not be there, as mother was ill in the hospital with the cancer that would soon end her life.  Months later I showed the slides of the pictures I had taken (remember those?) to my father and Grandmother.  Grandmother had grown up in North Dakota, and World War II was much closer to her consciousness than to mine.  She did not want to speak what was on her mind, at all, and finally, after great thought, uttered the most positive thing she could think of to say.  “I understand they are a very clean people.”  I was so enraged I stood up and left the room.

Today if you indicated bias against a person of Asian descent (I know, it does happen) the vast majority of people who look at you in disbelief, like you had farted aggressively in church.

During and just after the Vietnam War, thousands of Vietnamese immigrants came to our country.  A GI term for them that was unfortunate was “Gooks.”  I once had an argument with an imposing lady with a large blue hairdo because I was applying for a “vanity” license plate that said “Geek 3.”  A “geek” was a term for the lowest paid performer in a circus sideshow, who usually had an “act” that consisted of (I am not making this up) biting the head off a chicken or small rodent. In our times it usually refers to a nerd, which was my intent, and I had to explain to the lady that no disrespect was intended to the people of Vietnam. One of those immigrants, by the way, is now a head stylist at Ford responsible for the look of the Mustang, that icon of American sports cars.

The “N” word is particularly worrisome at the moment, because it is the latest in a long time or pejorative terms being dragged, kicking and screaming, to the trash pile of language usage.   But it is not the first or last (sadly) by any means. For people of around my age who were raised in liberal households, the “N” word is never to be used, and is so repugnant that I don’t even want to type it.

On the other hand, am I, as a white male product of an upper middle class childhood, going to tell a young man who grew up in Compton and who graduated from Stanford what words he can use while playing the most violent of sports?   That seems a stretch, to put it mildly.  When I was playing hockey on the lake in the winters of my youth the language was usually “inappropriate,” although my crowd tended to go for expletives rather than racial catchwords.  Since we were all white males that makes sense.

Over time, such language will probably go away in the manner that most words do over time. They fail to communicate effectively in the culture of their time and thus lose communications value.  “Gay” as a negative term for homosexuals appears to be leaving the room with all good speed, although not fast enough for sure.

Over 25 years ago, my wife was teaching at an elementary school that was attended by then-Sonics coach Bernie Bickerstaff’s son. Bernie Jr. was in 5th grade.  One day there was a ruckus on the playground, and the teachers came out to see that, on the far side of the playground, a girl had a boy pinned down on the ground, sitting on his chest and absolutely pounding him with all the strength her arms and fists could muster. She was white, and so was the boy on the ground, and she was furious that he had called her friend Bernie a “nigger.”  (There, I typed it).  The teachers spent some time pondering what to do, before sauntering over to break it up.   The boy was not hurt, but I doubt he ever used that word again.   That was an effective way to create language change, even if mildly violent.

When my wife related the story at dinner, our son Will, who was 10, asked what “nigger” meant. He had never heard the word.  Now that is progress, and my hope is that in a few years his reaction to such a story will be common.

The NFL mandating penalties for expressions nobody but the players can hear?  Which ones?  Who says?  I don’t think it is workable.

As for “Redskins,” I am conflicted.  There’s a parent at my wife’s school who is a full-blooded Cherokee.  A very nice man who helps out at school and has such a wonderful smile and attitude.  He often wears a t-shirt that reads “Fighting Terrorists for 200 Years.”

Food for thought, that.

Copyright  2014                                              David Preston

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Skullduggery at “Top Gear”?

Posted on February 25, 2014 by david

Skullduggery at “Top Gear?

There are two TV car-review shows that come to us from England.  One is “Fifth Gear” and the other “Top Gear,” and I very much enjoy them both. Actually, there are more than two, but I’ll focus on this pair due to recent shows that left me puzzled.

Both shows aired reports on the “Zenvo ST,” which you have probably never heard of. This is a new car from a relatively new (2004) company located in Denmark.  Denmark, as you might surmise, has  no significant history of car manufacturing.

The Zenvo is yet another supercar (as if we needed another), that costs a reported 800,000 British pounds, which is about $1.8 million to us Yanks, if we could import one and park it in the garage.  It uses rather “old school” technology in that it has a steel frame.  The engine is a 427 Corvette monster as used in the ZR1, with a supercharger and a lot of displacement generating over 600 horsepower, which should be adequate.  The Zenvo boffins then bolt on a turbocharger to add another 100 horsepower or so.

On first glance, I liked the car a lot.  Not a lot of go-boy wings and look at me bits, but a fairly straightforward aero shape with an enormous engine in the back, aided and abetted by huge brakes and so forth.

So far, ho hum.  What aroused my curiosity was the treatment the car received at the hands of both shows. Fifth Gear had their pro driver Jason Plato take the car around a track, and he was not impressed. He felt the handling was not up to par and was also inconsistent.  He made his opinion very clear, but it seemed he was trying pretty hard NOT to be impressed.  I wondered why.

Top Gear is the most-watched car show on the planet, and in recent years has become less enjoyable because the hosts have to act more and more like “themselves” in order to top their last effort.  Thus, Richard Hammond has gone from being pleasant to obnoxiously cute, and Jeremy Clarkson has felt the need to amp up his buffoonish tendencies, whereas I thought he was quite sufficient as a buffoon from the get-go. Only James May has remained consistent, but when your role is to be “Captain Slow” (he is not), and the tiresome nerdy bore (he is not), perhaps it is easier.

When it came to the Zenvo they really went after it.  Clarkson drove the car around their track and mentioned that the Zenvo top engineer told him that with all the stability controls turned off the car was virtually undriveable. Top Gear then showed a minute or two of Clarkson spinning out repeatedly, and then he agreed with the assessment of the engineer.  What point was made?

He posed the question, in reference to the cost, of “Why would you have one of these rather than a Ferrari or Bugatti or Aston Martin or Porsche?”   Seems obvious to me – precisely because it is none of those. Rather than being “the rich asshole in the Ferrari,”  some might prefer to be “the rich asshole in a car you’ve never heard of.”

The Zenvo, to me (I will never own one) offers some of the same appeal as a Dodge Viper and  to some extent a Corvette.  Dodge Vipers have always had a surplus of power and, until the most recent edition, no stability controls at all.  Some people like that.  The Corvette remains more popular with just about everyone than road most testers can understand because at the end of the day they are fun to own and drive.   I think the Zenvo would appeal as a fun and very fast car that makes great sounds and is also stunning to look at, if money were literally no object.

And then Top Gear blew the lid off. First they spend a lot of time on mechanical issues the car had in their hands – including an (oops) fire. But they did not mention similar problems they’ve had with other cars in the past. When they finally got a Zenvo in one piece and had their pet racing driver “the Stig” turn a lap for time,  they chose a very wet day – and turned off the stability controls.

What? They’d already proved that the car was undriveable with the stability controls off, especially in the wet. The only reason to turn them off for this test, against the advice of the company head engineer and counter to their own previous testing, was to force an artificially slow time.

Sure enough, you could see the driver virtually tip-toeing around the course in the rain, and his time was just a pip slower than a Ford Focus ST.  They grudgingly admitted that the ST was on a dry track, but made it sound like a Focus ST is a slow car, which it is not.

So what is going on?  A desire to protect the established in crowd who provide them test cars? A grudge against Denmark, or against one of the principals of the company?

I don’t know, but my suspicions have made me less of a fan of both shows.

 

Copyright 2014                       David Preston

 

 

Posted in Cars, Marketing, Rants and Raves | Leave a comment

Where the Gates Foundation Goes Astray

Posted on February 23, 2014 by david

Where the Gates Foundation Goes Astray

Let us first pause to admire what Bill and Melinda Gates are attempting to do, which is awe-inspiring.   Put yourself in their position, which is a mental exercise well-nigh impossible.   Consider the small club of humans in history who have amassed, by means of talent, circumstance, pure luck, or some degree of chicanery, truly vast sums of wealth.  Not millions, but billions of dollars in 2014 terms.  Now reduce that club to those that have given considerable sums back to their society.

Now you have a much smaller group.  Some that come to mind are Alfred Nobel, who created the Nobel Peace Prize after he realized, to his horror, that his development of what we call TNT was responsible for the deaths of untold masses of humanity. That was not his intent. Then there is Andrew Carnegie, who took the money from his steel expertise and created libraries all over this country, dramatically affecting literacy rates.  There is Warren Buffet, who has given enormous sums to his friend Bill Gates, and even Ted Turner, who donated, if I recall correctly, ten million to the United Nations. For sure there are others, but the number is still going to be small.

Bill and Melissa Gates have set out to donate all of his fortune to the world. Given the sums at hand, this is a daunting task. You do not want to waste the sums, and you have to consider the long range goals and affects of what you do.  They are in a position where they will dramatically affect the future of the entire world, and the downside of that is the felt need to make sure the effects are positive – not just this year but for all time. It would be far simpler, like Ozymandias, to simply erect a huge statue to your own significance.

In sum, I have all the respect in the world for Mr. and Mrs. Gates, which does not deter me for a second in mourning where I think they are making errors. Three of them, at least.

First, public education.  Simply put, Mr. and Mrs. Gates should never allow themselves to be quoted, in any context, on any issue relating to public education. Neither of them has any experience teaching in a public school.  Being a teacher is a lot like being a cop in that, if you’re not doing it, you have no idea what the job is really like. This goes for retired teachers as well, including me. I stepped out of a public school classroom for the last time in 2000, and I would not trust anything I had to say about the tasks at hand today.

One thing my experiences in both education and motorsports taught me in the past decades is that, for most people, perception is their reality. The perception is that Bill and Melissa had the good fortune to be born into loving families with the resources to provide them with all the education they desired.  They have no experience of being in a public school as a student or, more importantly, as a direct provider of education. I.E., as a teacher.  As such, whenever they open their mouths on this topic, which is regrettably often, the perception is that they do not know what they are talking about, even if they do. For teachers who are actively trying their best, every criticism or even intended positive idea, is a slap in the face from powerful people with a bully pulpit denied those who deal with the issues in real time, every day.

Massive and comprehensive utilization of computers is not the answer for every child nor every subject. Testing students to the point that ten year olds throw up on a regular basis when faced with yet another state-mandated test is a form of child abuse. Taking creativity out of the teacher’s bag of talents and substituting mandated lesson plans of a one size rammed into all is a disaster.  There are days where issues arise in the classroom that must be dealt with immediately as a part of the education,  and to turn away from the judgment and experience of thousands of dedicated professionals in search of a panacea of mandated tests is a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare.

There are people who could speak to these issues effectively, but they are all currently employed as teachers. The Gates’ have a need to find one or a few of them to speak for them on education, after consultation on a particular issue.  At this time, the Gates are just one more drop of a tidal wave of criticisms and ignorance that depress teachers, who did not sign up to be abused for their very strengths.

Secondly,   genetically modified foods are not a step toward the future. They are a short term ploy to generate massive profits for agri-business and the big pharma companies that feed it. Can we feed all the people in the world with non-modified foods? Yes. It would be more difficult, and it would require a lot of change, but it could be done and it would produce profit. Less profit from greater investment?  Yes.  For a healthier long-term result?  Absolutely.  It’s a question of what is good for people and good for the planet versus corporate greed, and the Gates’ are on the wrong side, for reasons unknown.

Third, the use of charity to improve all of our lives.  The amounts of money spent by the Gates foundation are vast, and to be admired.  But money does not create lasting change – attitude shifts do.

In my years in motorsports I spent a lot of time working for various charitable groups. All of them have a compelling story to tell that gives you the desire to help. Some of them are scams, and others are disorganized and waste a lot of the funds generated, or spend most of their time and money generating more money.  Let’s ignore all of those for a second and just consider charitable causes that are “pure.”

What all of them have in common is that at the end of the story, there’s a hand put out. They need your money, or a combination of your physical and mental efforts and your money.  The Gates Foundation stands alone in my experience in that they do not need either.  They have the money, and they can hire buildings’ worth of experts to complete any task.

What they have is a pure charity with a compelling mission, (actually, several thousand missions), and all the resources they need.   Why not use that solitary advantage by using social media to spread the word of successes large and small?

Every day.

I would love to receive a daily e-mail from the Gates Foundation about a project, large or small,  somewhere in the world, that is succeeding and making positive change. Wouldn’t you? There would be no pitch at the end for a contribution, just a small glimmer of positive news to provide hope for the future.

What would the effect of a daily bombardment of good and inspiring news be?  One outcome would be an increased motivation for all of us to make similar changes in our own small world.  Reading of such news every day would make you more likely to step out of your own ego-centric life and do more to help others, with no expectation of reward.  There are thousands of volunteer opportunities around, or you can create your own.

I have a neighbor down the street who lives alone.  Nobody on the block seems to talk to him much. His house is falling into disrepair at an astonishing rate. The roof is covered in thick moss.  The lawn gets mowed perhaps three times a year.  There’s a street light that has disappeared because a tree has so overgrown itself around it that the light is totally blocked. An actual hole in the siding under the roof is allowing birds and who knows what else to have access to the attic.  It is a horror story.  I have talked with neighbors about perhaps a gang assault on his yard and house, and one neighbor tells me he is gone for a week at a time.  It could be done while he was away. Others demur, as when they have spoken to him about his yard the response has not been jolly. Another opines that the back deck is so far gone it would be dangerous to set foot on it, and is worried the entire house might collapse if we tried to work around it. And so, nothing gets done and the situation worsens day by dreary day.

A Gates Foundation outreach e-mail and social media campaign, over time, could change attitudes all over the world and would have the potential for positive outcomes exceeding anything that money, even hundreds of billions of dollars of it,  can do.

I admire the Gates Foundation and wish them success, but mourn the errors and lost opportunities.

 

 

Copyright 2014                                   David Preston

Posted in Education, Marketing, Rants and Raves | 2 Comments

Mental prep for the summer motorcycle trip

Posted on February 17, 2014 by david

Mental Prep For The Summer Trip 

Right about this time of year, when the weather is pretty much awful pretty much everywhere, the thoughtful motorcyclist opts to spend quality time dwelling on more pleasant topics – like perhaps a longer ride than usual this summer.  Here’s some food for thought.

Bike:   If something as crass as money is not a concern, purchase whatever new motorcycle you deem perfect for whatever task you’d like to be at hand. For 99% of us, however, there’s a more comforting thought.

What you have will do just fine.

My first long ride was from Minnesota to Seattle and back on a camping trip in 1968.  My steed was a Yamaha YDS 250, a two stroke twin that weighed about 300 pounds and had 33 horsepower or so on a very good day. It was terrific.  Two years later, after a few west coast adventures and one return ride to Minnesota, a Honda 450 Street Scrambler took me from Seattle to Florida.  Neither of these machines would fit anyone’s definition of a touring bike.  Both of them were fine touring bikes.  This summer I’ll ride my Triumph Speed Triple on another sojourn to Minnesota and back.  Anyone who tells you that a large touring bike is required for a long ride has either never done such a trip at all, or on anything else, or is trying to sell you something.   If you already own a large touring bike, of course, this entire paragraph has been a waste of your time, and hopefully the next few will be of more use.

Two rules for the long ride:

  1. You need more carrying capacity than you think.
  2. You need to pack less      stuff than you think.

These appear to be contradictory, but are not.

1.  You need more carrying capacity than you think because you’ll be spending a lot more time either by yourself or at the very least further from your usual sources of help and supplies.  That means, if you do not carry them at all times now (as I do), you’ll need space for a First Aid kit, a tire repair kit, and an air compressor.  Flat tires do occur, and they happen more frequently to people who are not prepared to have them who are riding on a lovely road that is 75 miles from the next town. In an area with no cell phone service.  Some tire repair kits carry small canisters of gas to inflate the tire. What if you botch that? What if you do not have enough?  What if you have two flat tires?

You’ll also need to carry water, sun tan lotion, bug repellant, visor cleaner, water, maps, and perhaps batteries or chargers for your phone, GPS system, and other et ceteras we cannot seem to live without these days.  In addition, it is an excellent idea to take at least three pairs of gloves to deal with heat, cold, and rain.  You’ll need a jacket liner and a sweater and perhaps a neck tube thingie for the cold, and in the mountain regions it is always cold in the morning. When the temps hit 80 or so, you’ll need enough capacity to be able to carry the layers you want to shed.

Most of us do not carry a rain cover for our motorcycle at all times, and yet a Nelson-Rigg cover can be a real asset on a long ride.  People of lesser morality who like to steal things seem to go blind when confronted with a cover – they do not see that there is a motorcycle there at all.  Therefore, covering your bike even when parked in the relative security of a motel parking lot can do a lot for peace of mind.   As an intended bonus, it can keep the bike dry and clean if you find a rain system on your travels.

All of this means the need for more carrying capacity than you might be accustomed to for day rides or commuting.

Choices.  Depending on the bike, you may need to add saddlebags (panniers), a tail bag or tail rack and trunk, a tank bag, and/or a back pack. All of them have advantages and disadvantages (possibly next month’s article?)  and time perusing the Nelson-Rigg catalog will help pass the time until your adventure, offer a lot of good information and quality choices.

2.  You need to pack much less than you think you do.

Almost everyone who goes on their first long ride packs way too much clobber. This is particularly true of clothing. We spend time in preparation trying to imagine every possible need, and pack everything we think might ever be needed. But the reality is that most of the situations and needs we think up will never occur, and a lot of them can be given a lower priority and taken care of with a charge card if the need arises. A charge card takes up virtually no space and you would be carrying one anyway.

The famous writer Peter Egan once shared his own packing system for a long ride. He would start the trip with the most worn-out and shoddy t-shirts in his drawer, the ones you should probably throw out but never get around to.  You will be riding a full-coverage jacket all day on your ride (or you should – see a future article) so the shirt you are wearing will not be seen as you are styling your way through a gas station of rest area. At the end of the day, Mr. Egan would take the shirt, perhaps clean the bike with it, and then toss it. He reasoned that he would probably want to purchase a shirt or two at the event he was attending anyway, and those would replace what he threw away and be stored in the same place.

A lot of us have a lifestyle that features daily changes of every clothing item, daily showers, and daily shaving.  Out on the road there’s a tendency to get a little bit more liberal with these things, and as a consequence you may go through clothing items less frequently.  Or, in a motel or a campground, you can do a pretty good job of washing a few clothing items by hand and they’ll be dry by morning.

If you like to wear leathers, you only need an inexpensive set of rain pants and jacket  (see the Nelson-Rigg catalog again) and I often eschew even those because my leathers will keep me dry for several hours, at which point I will be ready for a motel anyway. If you wear a one or two piece textile suit, all you will need is one pair of jeans for “evening wear,” a pair of shorts and perhaps a swim suit, and one small and light pair of tennies for relaxing.

Obviously, this is all very general, because I do not know how much time you’ll have or where you want to go.  This is intended to be the prod to get you thinking, however. So many people think about a long trip every year and never do it.  But you?  Why not you?  Make this your year (if you’ve never done this before) or the best year, if you have. You have map books to peruse, event schedules of various types to consider, and vacation days to put in for.  Get busy!

I’ll be contributing a piece for each Nelson-Rigg newsletter from now on. This is the first one.  To sign up to receive this free newsletter by e-mail, please go to:

http://www.nelsonrigg.com/store/EmailSignup.aspx

 

David Preston                                                              Copyright 2014

Posted in Marketing, Motorcycles | 1 Comment

The Seahawks Parade and What We Teach Our Children

Posted on February 4, 2014 by david

The Seahawks Parade and What We Teach Our Children

Ah, the hoopla and uproar over the celebratory parade for the Superbowl Champion Seahawks in downtown Seattle tomorrow.  Will the schools close?  Shall we skip work?

Here’s the deal:  children are always learning what we teach. Sometimes what they are learning is not what we intended.

Caveat: full respect to the Seahawks for a tremendous season.  It is not only that they won, but how they won that impresses so.  What an example of team effort and sacrifice for the good of others.  The MVP award to a linebacker that pretty much nobody has ever heard of.  A defensive end that, just a few years ago, played for an 0-16 team.  Myself, I thought the MVP award should have gone to the entire team, as every game of the season highlighted team first and individual fame second.

And yet.  The players are pros who make enormous sums of money in a short career that is usually nomadic. How long will they be identified with Seattle?  Just this morning I heard a discussion with a famous sports pundit, who, on the question of how Seattle will manage to retain these players in the face of looming contract renewals and the expectation of huge recompense for the stars ($100 million for the quarterback for one example) offered the idea that they may need to let Marshawn Lynch go after next season. The soul of the offense, the creator of “Beast Mode,” and this two days after the greatest victory in Seattle pro football history!

If schools close (and Seattle schools will not) or if parents hold their kids out of school, what is the lesson that is sent? How many parents were “too busy” to attend the school’s open house? How many parents do not attend the school play featuring the kid down the block they have known since birth? How many parents attend all of the school functions their child performs in?  How many parents know what the homework is, or the course of study?

If a parent chooses to send their child to school, and then slips out of work to go to the parade, what lesson does that teach?  That work is less important than a party, if the party happens during work hours? That your responsibility to the employer who provides your income is less important than your “duties” as a member of the 12th man?

Kids remember. Forever. In 9th grade I started both ways for a not very good junior high football team. I was a co-captain, and thought I looked quite heroic on game days in my spiffy #36 uniform.  How many games did my parents attend?  None. Think that has affected me my whole life?

One of the many lessons teaching taught me is that students recall things differently. I cannot count how many students have told me of the greatest thing that they ever experienced in my class. An appalling percentage of the time it is something I cannot recall, or a lesson I was not attempting to teach.

Best example. A few years ago I received a letter from student I taught in 1989.  She had come to the junior high as a new student, and was miserable. Her mother had died, and her father re-married a woman she could not stand.  Her life was in tatters.  I remember that year because my own father and my wife’s brother also died.  I wrote this girl a long letter about dealing with the death of a loved one. I probably would not do that today.  A 40-something male teacher writing a personal letter to a 14 year old girl?   Might as well resign, as you are quite likely to be fired.  Knowing me, I would probably do it again. In any case, she wrote that her life got worse rather than better. Her grades plummeted, and she got heavily into drugs. Over the next 5 years she was about to attempt suicide – three times.  Each time she took out my letter, read it again, and changed her mind.

Over time life got better, and she was writing from her new life with a man she loved and a small child.  She thanked me profusely, and as I read her letter tears ran down my face.

The horrible part is that I could not remember her at all, or writing the letter. I pawed through the old year books (I kept them all) to find her picture.  Nada.  I had done something tremendous, and it made very little impression on me at the time.

At the other extreme, I think in my early teaching days I “taught” some students that sarcasm can be an effective weapon against the defenseless.  I inadvertently did a lot of damage to self-esteem, and I cannot go back and undo it.

It is not at all black and white. In about 1979 the Rolling Stones played a concert in the Kingdome. Two of my colleagues “skipped school” by calling in sick, so that they could attend. One of them was a woman past 60 who loved rock and roll and used song lyrics quite a bit in her English class. The other was a 2nd year teacher who was my assistant coach for volleyball.  I did not think the young teacher should have done it, and it was not in season or I would have really been upset. But I thought it was pretty cool that the older woman went, as she was teaching her students what music meant to her. Of course they both got “caught,” as many of the students went as well and saw them there.  An amusing side bar is that I turned down a chance to see the Rolling Stones on their first visit to America in 1964, before anyone knew who they were, because I thought $3 was an exorbitant fee!

And I am not pure in this either. In my 2nd year of teaching I cut school to drive my friend and co-apartment dweller to the airport, as he was moving back to Florida. The next day the principal was so concerned for my health (I don’t think I had ever taken a sick day in two years) that I was filled with guilt and never did it again.

Whether or not  you choose to take your child out of school to attend a parade for a bunch of wealthy athletes, and/or to skip work, you are teaching your child a huge lesson.

Be sure you know what it is.

 

Copyright 2014                           David Preston

Posted in Education, Rants and Raves | 1 Comment

Retirement II – Getting to “No.”

Posted on January 31, 2014 by david

Retirement II –  Allowing Yourself to Say “No.”

It’s now been three months since I retired.   As stated in my first musings on the topic, the biggest boon I have noticed is time, and how we relate to it.   Now that I have enough time, pretty much every day, to do all that I want to do, the attitudes toward each thing change quite a bit – mostly for the more positive.

While I was working, at least for the past 14 years, almost all of my friends were related to the motorcycle business in some way.  Now that I am “out of the loop,” you can see former contacts arranging themselves into two groups – those who have chosen to stay in touch and maintain a relationship, and those who have decided to let the relationship lapse.  The reason for the latter is usually because I thought the relationship was based on friendship, whereas the real basis was that my job involved doing nice things for people.  Just knowing me as a person was not enough to maintain the relationship.  I am not bitter about that, and predicted this would happen, but it an evolving piece of fascination to see which people end up in column A” and which in column “B.”  Had I made out two lists of predictions before I retired I would not have been very close.

The greatest impact on my life three months in to retirement has been a newly discovered ability to say “No.”   How many things in your daily life do you do out of habit or job requirements or other reasons that you would actually choose to not do if given the chance?

Our lives often align our efforts with what we’re used to doing. We may end up being driven by the wants and needs of others; having a hard time listening to our inner self that is concerned with what it best for us.

I may be more subject to this effect than others because of my career choices. Teachers are always working for the best interests of students, or at least the vast majority of them are.  This involves a lot of work for the salary on offer, but also entails “volunteer” efforts such as event management, club and dance supervision, and attending all sorts of school functions such as sports events, plays, or the International Night Susan and I went to at her elementary school last week.

Anyone would have an incredible and impossible schedule if they sought to be at all events all the time, so choice is involved. Being single would help. Over the years I chose to attend all school plays, most concerts, and attended, supervised, or announced a lot of athletic events. I was a volunteer coach for two years (unpaid) for a fast pitch softball team, in addition to 15 years of coaching two or three sports a year at an hourly rate too trivial to be considered.

My first year as a brand new junior high English teacher at a brand new school I was also offered the stipend to be the tennis coach. That lined my pockets with an additional $732! In the spring I put on “tennis parties” every Saturday, where everyone was invited to come and play tennis for about 4 hours. I think I did that for two years, in addition to the hours at school running practices and planning for them at home.

Teachers, at least in my tenure, were also responsible for virtually everything that was offered in the classroom, and for how it was offered.  That is one of the greatest problems with education today. In our lust to compel “excellence,” more and more creativity is being squeezed out of the teachers. There are so many mandated tests and required curricula that any ideas a teacher might have for a fresh new unit or two, or even a single lesson plan, gets tossed to the curb. I had 30 years of experience in creating the entire curriculum and taking responsibility for it.  It’s amazing (to me, anyway) that at Juanita High School I averaged the creation of one entirely new semester course a year, for 11 years. A constant reinvention of the curriculum was part of the job, or at least it was then, so I was used to making changes, some of them pretty substantive, on a regular basis.

All of this affected me powerfully when I entered the motorsports business. I did not say “no” to any proffered task for years, including a horde of things I’d never done and had no idea how to do. The advantage was that I learned a lot and had a lot of adventures. The disadvantage was that stress was a daily companion. I did not know how to “just do my job” because I’d never had that experience.  In addition, I was hard-wired to think I needed to be responsive to everything that happened in multiple dealerships with thousands of customers, and to take it personally when things did not go well. This is, of course, idealism run amok to the point of idiocy.

The thought was that if someone you work for asks you to take on a project, they must have already considered the task and decided you could do it, so really, it should be do-able.  That is true, but it is by no means an absolute. At times people are just fishing or wanting to get a task off their desk and on to yours, and you become the “go to” guy for almost anything.  A lifetime of naiveté made me perfect for this, but it was also an employment asset.

One concept I should have paid more attention to was that on the very rare occasions when I said “no” to something, nothing bad ever happened. My decision was accepted and another person was assigned a task, or another approach to the situation was created.

All of this came to a head this past month or two when I had occasion to make decisions leveraged off the very new concept of giving myself permission to say “no.”  How hard can that be?

On January 1st I made a New Year’s Resolution. I’ve never believed in them and had never made one, but this seemed to be the proper time. Simply stated:  No more working for others for free.  For years I’d responded to anyone who asked for my opinion, editing or writing help, or analysis of a project of person or system, all without hesitation. This was true whether the request came from the people I was working for or anyone else. Since all of my jobs have been sort of a 24/7 type of deal, I considered my efforts to be a benefit to the school or company.  But now, in retirement, it is just me. How odd to it is to have to struggle to give myself permission to not work for free.

We’ve belonged to local YMCA for over 20 years. Our practice has been, on our “good” days, to get up at 4am and arrive at the Y at 5am. A fairly short workout can do wonders, and we’re home by 6:30am to prepare for the day.  On days when either of us had an evening activity the night before we might choose to “sleep in” to 6am.  But!  Now, if we choose to opt out of an early work out,  I can work out later, can’t I?  Ergo, I’ve begun to ramp up my solo workouts, featuring an effort to increase jogging and running and walking.  This is frustrating when you’ve not done much running, ever.  Progress is slow. It took me a couple of weeks to get up to a mile, which is 19.5 laps of the track above the gym. Then I noticed that if I timed my work out to start at 9:30am, there would be some sort of exercise class in class on the floor of the gym, featuring loud rhythmic music.   Ah – now it was easier because I have the music to provide a pace, and the movement of people provided a visual distraction and people to ponder.  The fact that some of the people are extremely attractive women did not hurt. There’s this one instructor…  I was frustrated, however, because I felt I should be running a higher percentage of the time, and jogging or walking less.

The “aha” moment came a few weeks ago.  I gave myself permission to say “no” to running a lot and began walking more; focusing on the total time spent with an elevated heart beat more than the distance. With the music playing, I walked at a faster pace, with much less wear on my right knee, which has twice been repaired with surgery.  I determined to jog or run only when I felt like it.   Presto.  A mile became pretty easy. Then a mile and a half. Then, two miles. By now I am up to four miles. I have no intent of working up to the status of the marathon and triathlon competitor my son is, but it’s nice to see the distance piling up.

This is not as easy as it sounds. The “duty” side of my brain is telling me to get going and run more.  The “logic” side argues that the time spent and the total distance are more important.  Duty fires back with “It’s called a running track. Why do you suppose that is?”  Logic counters with “Actually, it is not called that.”

It is hard for Logic to win, but I am making progress, and the progress makes it easier for Logic to win the argument, without even having to bring up the frail right knee or the facts of life. I will turn 67 in two months, and perhaps constant running for miles should be worked up to gradually, if at all.

Each day I get a little better at giving myself permission to walk and not run. Because of that permission, ironically, I am running more.

The strongest example of a new ability to allow myself to say “no” came when I was offered a job.  A good friend had the intent of hiring me to work about 8 hours a week as a “content provider” for a web site for his rapidly growing company.  I’d be in charge of when I worked and what I wrote, and would be encouraged to provide new ideas.  The money would not make me rich, but it was a fair offer.  With my history of bending every thought to the advantage of others, I tentatively agreed, and the rest of the day my head spun with all sorts of ideas.

Gradually my own interests crept in. For one thing, I could not imagine doing the tasks in one 8 hour day – creative writing does not work like that. At a minimum I’d need to be there for two half days a week, and I know myself – I’d be monitoring the site conversations from home almost every day. And over time I knew I would “grow” the job, without any guaranteed increase in compensation.

I began to reflect on how much I’m enjoying being retired. The gift of time is life-changing. Did I want to give that up after only a bit over two months and go back to having responsibilities to someone else?  No. But what about the money?

By the middle of the night I could not sleep. I really did not want to do this. For sure not yet.  And so came an action rarely experienced – I said  “No.” The internal response was a flood of relief and also blossoming freedom.

Recently I was invited to be the call-in guest on a pod cast radio show called “Hog Radio.” This is a Harley-based show that is taped in Lynnwood and has been around for a few years. I was the first guest on the show, and probably the most frequent guest since. In recent years I have done this show by phone from home for an hour on random Friday evenings.  Their usual practice has been to call me one or two days before the show. My guess is that I am the safety back-up when a previously scheduled guest has dropped out. No money of course.  Being on the radio, at least in my experience, is really exciting the first time or two. But by now I have done this dozens of times and also hosted my own radio call-in show for two years.  Like anything else, it becomes merely something you do, and the excitement fades.  There is little reason to do such a show now, other than to promote my own books for 15 seconds or so. In addition, I had always been frustrated by some of the comments made by the show’s host. And so, again, I said “no.”

Oddly, the difficulty in saying “no” may be similar to the struggles of people trying to stop smoking.  People who smoke tend to enjoy it. I like to work, or at least to work at tasks I want to do. Part of learning to give permission to say “No” is learning that what I want to do with each day has value, and that my own desires are of greater priority than rushing to do whatever task someone else has offered me,

We all have an internal dialogue with ourselves every day. We know what we should do, and what we want to do.  Life at times seems to deafen our own voice. It’s an amazing thing to give yourself permission to do what is best for you, and that may mean saying “No.”

Give it a shot. When an “opportunity” arises for you – think it through.  It may be that saying “no” once and again could be a good thing for you.   It has been for me.

 

Copyright 2014                       David Preston

Posted in Education, Marketing, Rants and Raves | 2 Comments

How To Stop Worrying and Love the NSA

Posted on January 29, 2014 by david

How the NSA Can Win the Minds and Hearts of the People

Lots of uproar about the activities of the National Security Agency of late, which is interesting in several ways.  Most of the commentators do not seem to have a very good idea of what the NSA actually does, and even those who do know are probably out of the loop unless currently employed by the NSA, in which case they’re most unlikely to be making any comments at all.

Let’s apply a little cold logic to the topic and see what happens.

I doubt there is anyone who thinks the 9/11 attacks were faked.  I posit that because there are still people out there, not all of whom wear tin foil on their heads,  that believe that NASA did not land a man on the moon in 1969.  In strong contrast to the moon landing, then,  everyone seems to accept that the attacks on the World Trade Center were real, that they were acts of terrorism, and that we would like to see them repeated never.

We live in a world where every thought and plan and idea, whether a terrorist plot or a grocery list, is posted on some social network somewhere. To think that the NSA would not look there would be silly. It would also not be in our best interests.

But what of our right to privacy?  I attended and spoke at a marketing conference in Seattle two years ago, and what I remember best is a statement from one of the “big gun” speakers.  Of course, I can’t remember his name…  In response to a question about the right to privacy he said  “Privacy is gone. Totally. Completely.  And it’s not coming back.”  The most chilling part of this was his tone, which was utterly matter of fact and that same used to tell someone that the sun rose this morning. He’s correct.   That is the ultimate cost of using Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, hi-tech phones, and every other “free” social media for every waking thought and moment of our day.

If bad people and governments are hacking into major data banks on what seems to be a daily basis to access charge card numbers and other info, would we want our own security agency to back away and have nothing to do with it out of moral purity?  Would that be better for us in the long run?

With the FBI, CIA, NSA, and probably a dozen other agencies ferreting out information anyway they can, not to mention what the people we are not paying are doing, it might be time to admit that the privacy horse has run out of the barn – and we let it go in our quest for more goodies  (“free” ones, of course) that work faster and better.

Do we actually think there are government employees sitting around reading every one of our e-mails?  If I had such a job I’d soon be jabbing forks into my own eyes to make the horror stop, and that is just if I were reading my own e-mails, which of course are the epitome of wit and humor and interest.  Every one of them.

In talking to a former NSA employee and a current Microsoft person of intellect  (see,  I don’t make all of this stuff up)  I think I learned that what is desired is not the actual content of phone calls, e-mails, and other contacts, but the patterns. After all, even a terrorist of diminished capacity is going to be using some sort of code.  Sometimes a message of “Don’t forget the kid’s ballet recital” is actually just a reminder  about  a dance recital. In fact,  99.9999% of the time.  But the patterns? Yes, there is work to do there.  By using large masses of info and math formulas far beyond the Calculus class I barely passed, you can scan senders and recipients en masse and link together patterns – assuming you have truly monstrous amounts of info and computers that can go to forever and back in seconds – which all of the security agencies have. The patterns will form links to a cascading torrent of Venn diagrams that will data mine down to what we want – terrorists.  Let us not quibble for the moment the elephant in the room – who defines who is and is not a “terrorist”?

Privacy appears to be gone, and lots of “bad people” are going to be combing through the electronic dumpsters of our person lives for the conceivable future. If we want to use our tax dollars to provide some sense of security (probably fictional, but just as the sun coming out from behind a cloud on a very cold day makes you feel warmer on your motorcycle, any little bit helps) then we may have to accept what the NSA is doing.

Even though we don’t know what that is.

At the end of the day, I don’t think the NSA has an operations and legality problem at all.

They have a marketing problem.

And I can solve it.

Here is what needs to happen. The NSA will start up a “game” on Facebook and other media called the “National Security Survey.” It will be free!   Nothing sells like “free,” even though what is usually labeled as such is… not. Entrants will be asked questions, some of them apparently innocuous, and some weird and funny.   This will be similar to the “MMPI,” which many of you took in college.

Funny story.  As a callow freshman at the University of Minnesota, I was the brave soul who raised his hand in my Psychology 101 lab class and asked “What does MMPI stand for?”

The response was a cold stare and words spoken with all the passion of the dead. “The Minnesota Multi-Phasic Personality Index. It was invented here.”

Oh.

As entrants answer questions, they will amass points in a quest for a number of rewards.   This will work just like however “Candy Crush” and other Facebook games work. Just like crack cocaine, I’ve never tried any of them, but they seem to be incredibly addictive on short acquaintance.

Entrants will win stars for each level of achievement. You can become a “One Star Bronze National Security Asset,” for example.   To gain stars you will be allowed to progress to the next level. Each level will offer you the chance to answer more questions about the media you use, silly and inane questions, and how often you use media, and your favorite music, and at what times of day. And what you would name a pet pony. What sites you visit.  Who is on your “Friends” list.  What people you have “de-Friended.”  Eventually you will be (Ta Da!) a “5 Star Bronze National Security Asset.”   Then you may progress to the “Silver” level and start over.

Eventually, of course, you can brag to your friends,  much like people do with “Candy Crush” or “Farmland,” that you are now a “5 Star Gold National Security Asset.”  That will entitle you to feedback from ACTUAL NSA REPRESENTATIVES,            who will occasionally ask your opinion on VITAL SECURITY matters, or perhaps ask you to analyze a message.  Which might be real.  Or not.

By this time, of course, you will have eagerly invited NSA to pore over every communication you make to anyone at any time.

NSA will not need any congressional oversight or secret committees, and they will not have broken any current or likely future laws.

If you think this sounds ridiculous, let me close with what lies under this tip of the iceberg of personal intrusion.

I’m pretty sure it would work.

 

 

Copyright 2014                                David Preston

 

 

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How Richard Sherman Played The Media

Posted on January 20, 2014 by david

How Richard Sherman Played the Media

Much ado about little today as the entire nation homes in on some impolite remarks made by Seattle defensive back Richard Sherman about an opposing player in yesterday’s game. At first glance this seems a little out of character for both him and the Seahawks, who are usually pretty good about not saying things that can incite a media frenzy.

But methinks there is more to it than that.  Methinks he did it on purpose.

Let’s back up a bit and consider some facts.  For one, Richard Sherman is undoubtedly a very intelligent man. Stanford does not recruit players of low intelligence.  When he was in high school, he evidently let (at the time) USC coach Peter Carroll cool his heels on a recruiting visit because Richard did not wish to miss an Advanced Placement class. At that time USC was in the midst of a 33 game winning streak and Pete Carroll was arguably the most important college coach in the land. And a high school student thinks more of a class than Pete Carroll’s time.  I think that probably impressed Pete Carroll, now his pro coach, more than it might have miffed him.

Secondly, the media packs that follow pro football (and pretty much everything else) arevultures. They’ll swoop down on fresh meat in terms of rash statements and masticate on them until the matter is ground to dust. They go into a feeding frenzy over any potential controversy, and prefer the spectacular to solid reporting. This sells their product, which is ink, or air time, depending on the media. The Seahawks are now en route to the Super Bowl, where this sort of thing reaches an annual peak.  The weeks before the game are more of a media circus than anything the Seahawks have ever seen.

Some of the players on the team, most notably Marshawn Lynch, are not fond of media interviews and media attention. They have a history of preferring to focus on the job at hand, and would rather avoid controversy and empty rhetoric can spectacle.  Richard Sherman knows all of this.

Third, he has history with the player he insulted. Richard Crabtree is not an innocent in all of this, and deserved a bit of payback for his own statements and actions, both in the past and immediately after the play in question.  Most importantly, he will not be on the field in the next game, and will not be a consideration until the next time the two meet – which will be next fall at the earliest.  In fact, Sherman may have totally taken the wind out of his sails.

You may recall years ago in Moto GP when Valentino Rossi, at that time at the top of his game as Sherman is now, got angry at a competitor who was challenging him for the Moto GP title.  Rossi felt the guy was a dirty rider, and prophesied that the man would never again win a Moto GP.  In fact, he did not, and I bet you cannot recall his name by now.*

In an ironic way, Sherman has taken one for the team. From now until the Super Bowl game, and probably continuing on for some time after, every time Richard Sherman makes any statement on any topic, it will be reported and dissected and probed for any and all possible meanings.   This will allow many other players to get on with the job of preparing for the biggest game of their lives and will lessen, to a degree, the distractions they have to deal with.

It will also affect the other team. Denver players, the cast of one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history, will need to field literally thousands of questions about how they plan to deal with Richard Sherman. This will affect their thinking and their planning.

They may choose to respond to the challenge in two ways; a challenge not directed at them but a total fabrication of the media. They may deliberately throw more passes into Sherman’s coverage area than they would have otherwise.  He is the best defensive back in the league, and doing this would probably be a good thing for the Seahawks.  He is certainly aware of the potential for this, and is mentally prepared.  Or, they may be affected by the hoopla and attempt to keep the ball away from him, allowing him to use his incredible speed to come the aid of others. He may be the wrecking ball, in this scenario, that topples the air offense of Denver.  In either case, as long as he’s prepared for the mania he has created on purpose, the outcome will favor Seattle.

Most players worry about how to deal with the media vultures, and what they can and will do to boost or destroy a career.  They may feel powerless to affect what the media can and will do.  Richard Sherman, on the other hand, has seized an opportunity.  Rather than being played by the media, he’s taken the offensive and played them.

His reward will be a Super Bowl ring.

 

*It was Sete Gibernau, and I could not remember it either. Thanks to my friend David whose memory is better!

Copyright 2014                                                           David Preston

 

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The Lottery Fantasy Garage and What To Put In It

Posted on January 8, 2014 by david

What’s In Your Lottery Garage?

This week’s “Autoweek” magazine has a section on your “dream garage.”  I disagreed with virtually all of their selections, as well as the philosophical bases behind them.

The idea of a dream garage has been a favorite go-to concept for idle musing relaxation for decades, and is one of the prime reasons I “invest” in two different kinds of lottery tickets. I get to “rearrange” my garage 4 times a week as the amount that I am unlikely to win changes. I don’t expect to win, ever, as I aced 8th grade Math and understand the concept of mathematical expectation, but it’s a harmless and entertaining mental hobby that costs me a little less than $4 a week. I highly recommend it.

So what would I put in such a garage… this week?  Let’s see how your selections would compare to mine.

Base:  the real world.

2005 Honda CR-V – 9 years old and 75,000 miles – a good all-around errands vehicle and also a 4WD car, which is occasionally needed.

2012 Fiat 500 Sport.  Good mpg, a lot of fun to drive, and brings a smile to almost anyone who sees it.

2006 Triumph Speed Triple.  Pretty much the perfect motorcycle for the type of back roads riding I prefer.   Good for everything, with some weakness for trips longer than 4 days and camping, due to a lack of luggage capacity.  Best sound of any motorcycle ever made, in my not very humble opinion.

So if money was literally no object, what would I do?

Your choices and mine are guided by what we want out of a vehicle. In my case, I am not interested in cars owned by celebrities, and I am also not interested in “posing” or merely having the most expensive car in sight.  For this reason I have eliminated all the usual “super exotic” choices.  There was an article in a Brit car mag a couple of years ago (I think it was “Evo”) that laid out the actual costs of owning a Lamborghini or Ferrari, and it effectively killed any desire I might have had.  A $10,000 clutch replacement every 7,000 miles is ridiculous, even if the money does not matter.

Secondly, most of these cars cannot be used pretty much anywhere.  They are usually hard to see out of, very wide, and have so much performance they cannot be used with vigor anywhere but a race track. Even for a track day, the bulk and poor vision would be problems, and the performance capabilities are so high I could not get close to the car’s potential in almost all cases.  That is true, whether we like it or not, for all but professional race car drivers.

Third, there are almost none of these cars made today that offer a manual transmission, and if I am buying a car for my own enjoyment I want to shift the old fashioned way.  I have no quibble with the truism that “paddle shift” cars are a few to several seconds a lap faster around a race track. I do not need to go as fast as the car can go around a track – I only want to go as fast as I want to go around a track, which is a huge difference.  I am not interested in the fastest lap time that car should do, and don’t need to “beat” anyone else’s time in a similar car.

I’m also not interested in fantastic cars from an earlier era that are kept in a museum-quality state of pristine perfection. You can now buy many such cars that have been redone with modern materials and techniques to be totally stock and actually quite a bit better than they were when new.  Most rarely get used. I prefer cars I intend to drive, and I do not want to be shackled to a “Maurie,” the only guy in the state who is proficient with the proper and frequent mechanical fettling needed for a true classic.

Now that many “obvious” selections have been eliminated, I’m down to cars that I want to drive and enjoy keeping clean. Since I am the mechanical equivalent of “Typhoid Mary,” I require cars that can be maintained by most semi- specialist shops.  I’ve also made selections on the basis of the ways I like to enjoy cars and motorcycles, which include trips, track days, rallies, shows, and (maybe) clubs.

Here we go -  and I invite your response.

Base:

  1. Range Rover Evoque –         the 4 door edition. Trade in for the Honda CR-V.  There are many fantastic SUVs out there, and I happen to love the look.
  2. Fiat 500 Sport –             the one I already own
  3. 20010-2013 Corvette  Z06.  The common man’s (or woman’s) supercar.  It’s performance, comfort, and ergonomics have all been exceeded by the new 2014 Corvette, but I prefer the Z06 in recent guise. The 7 speed transmission of the 2014      approaches the ridiculous, and its computer generated rev-matching on  downshifts is clever but I prefer my own clumsiness as I learn to heel and  toe.   Mine would be in “Velocity Yellow,” although I might go back as far as 2008 to get one of the limited      edition “Will Cooksey” models, which had a gorgeous maroon paint job. There were few made, and those for sale usually have low miles to preserve  the rarity. It appeals to my peckish sense of humor to purchase one and put about 60,000 miles on it.
  4. 2014 Yamaha FJR in red,  and the 2006 Triumph Speed Triple in “Scorched Yellow” I own. The Yamaha for long trips, and the Speed Triple for short.

The Collection: The 4 garage slots above will fill almost any need I can imagine, but with an unlimited budget, let’s purchase a combination warehouse and “man cave” and add a few more!

Resto-mods.  I’m a huge fan of the resto-mod genre. You take a classic sporting shape of the vintage and model of your choice and someone else (if you are me) tears the car apart and essentially slides most of a new car under it.  It is then sold at a profit by the people who enjoy creating them to people who have money and want to drive them.  There is a firm in Charlotte, North Carolina called “RK Motors” which seems to have dozens of them for sale at any one time.   I would like to fly back there and purchase such a car and drive it home – perhaps several times.

1969 Camaro resto mod.  I almost purchased a new 1969 Z/28 Camaro fresh out of college as I started my teaching career. Instead, I rode my motorcycle into a ditch at 60 mph, breaking my shoulder and destroying my beloved motorcycle. This removed any chance of working all summer to save up the down payment, plus of course I needed to purchase a new motorcycle.  Now I would go back to that car – but far better. RK currently offer one in orange and one in red – both with every mod con you can imagine.  $110 -130,000

1958-1962 Corvette resto mod.  We purchased a 1958 Corvette rolling project car, two months after we were married. It had a sickly blue paint job applied with rattle cans, and white stripes put on with a brush. The seats were metallic silver metal flake naugahyde (oh, the horror!) patched with green tape.  We paid $800 for it, spent another $2000 on paint, (right away),  interior, engine, and tires, and sold it 3 years later for what we had in it.  It was our only car, and you cannot put a child safety seat in a 1958 Corvette. When Dorine came home, the Vette went away.  This was not a tragedy, as we enjoyed the car for three years, including a 2nd honeymoon in Canada where we camped for two weeks and never put the top down.   Although it looked and sounded wonderful, a 1958 Corvette does not corner or stop all that well, and is actually not that fast.   A resto-mod goes and stops and handles, although not a track day car perhaps.  Color – probably red.  $110,000 – 130,000.

Chevy SSR pick-up truck.  The SSR was a concept show vehicle that made it to production and then did not sell very well, probably because Chevy tried to recoup their investment with too high a price. It is the sort of vehicle all car nuts want, but few actually purchase.   There is a cover over the bed that can be lifted up but is not handy to remove, so use as a pick-up is a bit limited.  Corvette power is nice, and the party trick is the top that folds itself behind the seats.   Just the thing for picking up a Christmas tree or lawn stuff or a case of wine or two, but not really a working truck. There are a lot of these for sale from $28,000 – 35,000 or so.  I’d like one in yellow.   (I like yellow).

Aston-Martin Vantage V8. A concession to an exotic, or a semi-exotic. Just the thing for those romantic dinner nights at a restaurant, or one of the many classic tours available.   The V-12 is over powered for likely use, and the V-8 makes a spine tingling noise on acceleration.  $75,000 – 100,000.

A used hopped-up Mustang.  There are tons of these available at silly prices. The 2006 (I think) Bullitt version appeals, with dark green paint, no emblems, and a terrific sound system of an exhaust, but many of them are getting up there in mileage. There are corrals of examples wearing the Shelby label, but I would rather avoid them, as I think he was mostly a master of hype, a con artist, and someone who took advantage of a lot of people.  I know – blasphemy! Most likely option would be a lightly used Saleen or Roush modified version. You can take your pick of colors, and most have 5 speed manuals. I had a ride in one once, and the sound and acceleration alone are pure entertainment. This would be a “mudder” for days when I choose not to get the Z06 dirty.  I prefer the body style prior to the current one, which is too busy, and the 2014 new model looks spectacular but will be too popular too quickly. I hate having the latest “in thing.”  $35,000 – $50,000

2010 – 2012 Porsche 911 GT3.  The new model eschews the stick shift, so is booted to the curb. I should know better than to purchase a 911 again, as we owned a 1975 911S Targa for 8 years and it was essentially a hole to pour money in – our version of boat ownership.  I’m also reluctant to get back into all the nonsense that goes with 911 ownership, which is similar to the “baggage” that comes with a Harley.  I just can’t be bothered with trying to be cool, or, (far worse) accusations that I am trying. However, I am smitten with the looks of the GT3 and it would make a terrific track day car, even if driven well below its potential, which it would be in my hands.  $100,00 – $150,000.  A few were made in – wait for it – yellow!

Hot Rod – well, you would if you could, wouldn’t you?  Lots of them are available, and I favor the ’33 Ford Coupe.  $70,000 – 100,000 should get a nice one.  Candy burgundy, please.

Cobra replica.  Not a real one, but again, who can stand the peril of actually driving a real one?  Charcoal metallic paint in a high quality version. You would need a “continuation model” (expensive) or a modern one with fuel injection to get around pollution requirements.   $80,000 – 120,000.

And that’s about it – for this week, although this selection has been pretty constant for the past several months.

For those who prefer their data in graphic form, here’s how it looks:

Vehicle            Color               Capacity          Trip      Track      Rally     Show       Club

RR Evoque      Black               1 -5                  X        

Fiat 500 S        Red                  1-2                                                  X  

Mustang           —                    1-2                                  X             X            X                 X

Z06                  Yellow             1-2                                  X             X             X                X

Camaro RM     Orange          1-2                                  X              X            X                X

Vette RM         Red                  1-2                   X                            X           X                X

Chevy SSR      Yellow             1-2

A-M V8           Gray                1-2                   X                             X

GT3                 Yellow             1-2                                  X                             X

Hot Rod           Burgundy      1-2                                                                 X                 X

Cobra              Charcoal          1-2                                  X                           X                 X

Speed Triple   Yellow              1                                                                                       X

Yamaha FJR    Red                  1-2                X                                                                X

Other ideas:

Your own racetrack. The same magazine lists a road course facility outside of Dallas for sale. How great would it be to house your cars at your own race track for fun with friends? Not sure I want to live there, however, so perhaps not very practical.

Sports car street rallies. We used to do a ton of these, and were pretty good at them. I would love to get back into it with a selection of choices – perhaps with friends in others of my cars.  Same with track days. Imagine signing up three or four friends to take a selection of choice vehicles and sharing and trading off all day.  You could even put together a small group for a tour to distant tracks with camping out along the way. Envision the looks on other campers when they survey your campsite and the vehicles around it.  Confusion and fun abound!

Your turn!  Let me know your own choices, and I will post them here for all (or all who visit this web site – a finite number for sure) to see!

Copyright 2014                                                              David Preston

A response from another Dave:   Bikes: I come from a dirt background so I guess the two bikes I have-KTM 690 and KTM 500 EXC, plus a street bike that is fun on the track too. I am still interested in the Superduke 1290 for that.  If I had a dirt oval or motocross track or road race track at my disposal than having some race bikes would be a must. So maybe a flat track bike, a two stroke 250 mx bike, and maybe a S1000rr HP4 track bike. That would also require an EMT present:)  Cars:  Not much of a car guy and have never much cared for “Detroit Iron” so am happy enough with our Lexus RX 450h. AWD if needed. Good power and economy and I actually like the CVT tranny. Probably would add a Porsche but would have to take driving lessons to really appreciate it. I could care less about Porsche snobs so I would just enjoy the car. Otherwise I would spend the lottery money on travel and philanthropy! BTW I have never bought a lottery ticket and have no plans to.

 

 

 

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Freedom of Speech and Employer Rights – Part II

Posted on January 6, 2014 by david

Freedom of Speech and Employer Rights – Part II

Speaking up for Marshawn Lynch…

And now for something really interesting!  We’ve just been through a recent mini-flap when the star of a reality TV show that is evidently about the manufacture of duck calls (nobody can make this stuff up) made some hateful remarks in a magazine interview. He was placed on hold by the producers, threatening his career, and then, after the furor died down, reinstated.   This educated a lot of people on the differences, at least legally, between your right to free speech as an individual and the right of an employer to not be misrepresented or embarrassed by your actions.

This week the topic has returned, although reversed, inverted, and turned upside down, or something like that. The Seahawks excellent “Beast Mode” running back Marshawn Lynch was fined $50,000 by the league because he has NOT talked to reporters.  It has evidently been his practice to not give interviews during the season.  Sort of like he prefers to let his performance do the talking for him and spend his time focusing on his job. How naïve!

Even better, for fans of the absurd, the NFL was evidently not aware that he was not talking to reporters until he chose, at long last, to allow one media interview.  The papers reported, with some glee, that the interview lasted for 1 minute and 28 seconds. It was the brevity of the time which made the story spread, not anything he said. In fact, he said utterly nothing that was surprising or even interesting, if it were anyone but him. When the NFL discovered, belatedly, that he had not been talking all season, he was fined $50,000.

As we look at this, let us bear in mind that $50,000 is not a large sum for this man. In comparing our relative financial pictures, it would be like fining me a nickel.  Secondly, he presumably can appeal, or perhaps the Seahawks or some outraged local fan of means will pay the fine for him.  The money is not the issue.

Still, you have to wonder.  OK, maybe you do not and I merely choose to. What happens if Mr. Lynch chooses to go along with the league’s dictates and begins to give long and substantive interviews?  What if he gives out personal opinions that the same league schmucks who fined him find offensive?  What is the fine for saying things because you are ordered to that are not deemed appropriate?  Can he ask the league for some “boiler plate” language statements and just stick to 8 or 10 of them as he sees fit?

After all, he has not really been silent at all – just to the media. Everyone in Seattle with a TV (and is there anyone left who wants a TV and does not have one?)  has heard his oft-repeated commercials for a local plumbing concern.  I can hear him saying “Stop Freakin’ Call Beacon” as I type this.  In fact, he has spoken often to his fans, in a manner that he finds acceptable and that presumably pays him for his time and words, which is fair.  The only people he has not spoken to are the media – the people who will hang on his every word as long as things are going well, and attack his viscera with claws stained with gallons of black ink should things not go well or if he fumbles at a critical time.

Statistics show that the length of career for a running back in the NFL can be measured in years by using the fingers of one hand.  Maybe two in extraordinary cases.  He will leave the game with a great deal of money, which I hope he has invested well.  He is also pretty much certain to leave the game with physical impairments that will be with him for the rest of his life and will present challenges to any efforts to live long enough to enjoy the money he has made. And now he finds that even his small effort to maximize his impact, and perhaps avoid public speaking, which many people find terrifying, are getting in the way.

And who is the clown or clowns who levied the fine? The same people who did not notice that he was not speaking the entire season?  What of players who are NEVER asked for an interview?  Are they at a competitive and potentially economic advantage? Should people who are not aware of who is talking and who is not be allowed to pass out fines in a manner that defies logic?  What if Mr. Lynch calls for the dismissal of league officials who are interfering, illegally, which his right to perform his job to the best of his ability?

What is the fine for telling the emperor he has no clothes?  Pretty steep, I am afraid.

I wish Mr. Lynch well, and I hope he finds the entire situation as amusing in a bizarre way as I do, and does not let the fine distract him from his purpose. Since it seems obvious that his original intent was to keep silent to the media to help him retain focus, a fine for doing so that also blurs that focus would seem cruel.

Even for the NFL.

 

Copyright 2014                                   David Preston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Marketing, Rants and Raves | 1 Comment