President's Day weekend 2012

Let the celebration begin. The celebration of the collective birthdays of the great presidents in the history of the U.S.

Washington and Lincoln are the key presidents we celebrate. But there are so many more who get forgotten.


I discovered on site that was conducting survey of the most underrated president. An interesting approach to the holiday. They stated that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were off limits.

I'm torn between Lyndon Johnson because of his social engineering and civil rights policies and John Adams for his work (albeit while vice president) in developing the rules of the senate and helping Washington get the nation off to a good start.

In terms of the most overrated president, if there were a category for that, I would choose John Kennedy.

It is an interesting question to ponder this weekend.

If you feel like it, let me know your thoughts.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sick Day, Really?

I did something mature yesterday. Instead of dragging my sick body to work and infecting the entire office with whatever crud crawled into my head, I took a sick day.

I slept most of the morning. When I was awake, I turned on some old westerns for background noise and relaxed.

I felt better as the day went on, but noted that I was still running at less than optimal once I started moving around during the evening.

One good thing that happened was that I was home to receive a shipment of wine. Although, if Makayla had not barked when the UPS man was at the door I would have missed it.

So for the entire day I did not leave the house, I was in bed mostly, and the place was quiet. I even canceled "E-day," which I didn't want to do but was probably in the best interests of Ethan.

There was only one nonsense phone call during the day--an amazing factoid.

I canceled my racquetball for the today in an effort not to overly diminish my strength and to continue my recovery. I never do that.

But, I do feel better.

Maybe I need another sick day!


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Forgiveness in a Movie

I heard an interesting statement about forgiveness during a scene in a movie the other day. The scene was about a daughter talking to her Mom trying to understand why she stayed married after a situation of infidelity. The answer the Mom gave back to the daughter went something like: I stayed with him because of all the things he did right and did not leave him because of one mistake--I forgave him.

It caught me by surprise.

The movie was The Vow, and this statement really struck me. It is the essence of forgiveness. We need to be able to overlook one transgression especially when considering that the body of actions are far more good than bad.

It was strange to see that scene in the movie. More often, in movies, one transgression is enough to end relationships or start wars. So it was different to hear those words of forgiveness being spoken in a movie.

We need to speak them more in our lives.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Wedding Memories

The weekend of the wedding is over, but the memories linger. The travel, which was incredibly smooth.



The hospitality of the parents of the bride.

Time spent with family.

Memories of the preparations, the ceremony, the reception, and the after party. Well, maybe I don't remember too much of the after party.

But one image that stuck with me was that of the church. The flowers strategically placed and the petals in the aisle adding to the ambiance.

It was a wedding of dreams and memories.

My prayers for Colleen and Patrick are for a great marriage and for many years head.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - February 13, 2012

1. Valentines Day, tomorrow? Ugh. I may have forgotten something.

2. I proved a corollary to Murphy's Law this morning. My toast fell off my plate and landed jelly side down.

3. Is there something wrong when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says that she would not look to the U.S. Constitution if she were drafting a constitution in the year 2012? Maybe she is in the wrong line of work?

4. I saw some of the Grammy Awards last evening. Fortunately, it was the part with the Beach Boys--both the new band and the originals. I remember that I saw them in concert in Hollywood, Florida, on Easter Sunday 1975. We were all a lot younger then.

5. Opening Day for Orioles Baseball is on Good Friday this year. Who thought that one up?

6. I had an especially good flying weekend--all of my flights were on time and we even made our connection in Nashville yesterday with ease.

7. It is cold outside this morning at 21 degrees. I am ready for Spring, let's forget about the prediction of the rodent in Punxsutawney and have some warm weather.

8. I was looking at my weather forecaster and the ow for today is supposed to be 30 degrees, yet we are at 21 degrees. How does that work exactly?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Chilling in the Spa

Sometimes we adults need to take our cues from the kids. Yesterday, as the emotions and craziness of the wedding day were consuming the adults, Ethan and Jax found respite in the spa.


In thinking about it, what better way to pass the time until the main event and to miss all of the preparation. OK, I admit, I enjoyed being the life guard for their mid morning activity.

Funny though, I was sitting outside with a coat on to stay warm.

It was a sunny day, but there was a definite chill in the air.

Inside--there was way too much estrogen--I lost count of how many women were there preparing for the main event of the day--the wedding.

In the end, it was a beautiful day, just a bit cool, and a beautiful wedding. Jax shone as the ring bearer, probably because he chilled out in spa.

A good lesson to remember.


-- Bob Doan, Fulshear, TX

Quiet on the Outside--Colleen and Patrick's Wedding Day

Wedding days are full of activity and hustle and bustle. Although the outside the house appears calm--inside it is a beehive of activity with people cycling through bathrooms and the bride and her attendants getting their hair prepared for the main event. Last minute instructions being given and people dispatched to ensure everything comes together.

Weddings are fun to attend, they are fun to be in, but they are a lot of work for many people to bring together this big party together. It is after all the celebration of two people pledging their lives to each other for the rest of their lives.

Two individuals becoming one new creation--stronger, better, more able to face the challenges of the world.

I am enjoying the opportunity to visit with family that I rarely see.

it is sad that it will be all too soon over, but the key is to focus on the joy of the moment and not the sadness of the parting.

Although the house appears quiet to those outside, inside the activity is everywhere bringing together the pieces and people to ensure a fun, joyful celebration.

Happy Wedding Day--Colleen and Patrick


-- Bob Doan, Fulshear, TX

Betrayed

She danced excitedly at the door aware that the car was being loaded for a trip. She loves trips and traveling. The driver side backseat is her spot. The place she always rests unless the front seat is open.

As each successive piece of luggage went out the door, her excitement grew. Her hope that the coming trip would be fun.

The moment came. It was time for her to join the rest of the family in the car for the trip.

But wait. The front door was closing and she was not going to the car.

As I closed the door and told her that we would be back soon, I could see the betrayal in Makayla's deep brown eyes.

She wasn't going on the trip. She had to stay behind, again.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Frustration of Excessive Packaging

Consider the plight of a parent who tries to free a new toy from packaging without a complete tool box of cutters and screwdrivers. Now consider that the child is in the back seat of the car in the lot where the toy was just purchased and wants to play with the item. How is that going to end?

Or have you tried to open a package of light bulbs lately? I wonder what would have happened had I actually been in the dark?

Why do I need a college degree in difficult packaging to obtain access to the products I purchased?

How much money and how many resources could we save by eliminating excessive packaging?

Just think of the ease of cardboard over polystyrene.

I bought some new razors the other day and found out that they were more secure than all of the gold in Fort Knox.

Wow.

Check it out--too much packaging equals a lot of frustration. And the really sad part is that it all just goes into the recycling bin to help do it all over again.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Pinning the Budget Deficit Rose on the Wrong People

For 2012, the US will spend $53 Billion to provide foreign aid to countries around the world, some of those countries are not our friends. See foreign aid escapes budget cuts.

For 2012 and 2013 together, the US will save a total of $26 Billion by freezing Federal Worker pay. See pay freeze.

The federal deficit for 2012 (see page 23) is still estimated to be $1.1 trillion.

What is wrong with this picture. The people of the country demand quality services from government, yet the government is unwilling to pay for them. And then wonder why people are complaining that the government is bureaucratically fat.

Many federal workers give up constitutional rights to be employed by the government (see the Hatch Act) and they are working for less money than they could get working for a contractor. Plus, they are subjected very stringent guidelines and very invasive income and investment reporting requirements.

I think it is like going to the tire store for set of new tires and only putting three tires on the car. It is not the fault of the tire store that the car doesn't drive right, yet they ultimately get the blame.

Congress and the DoD are also evaluating ways to reduce benefits to the military, active duty and retirees. That certainly does not send the right message to the veterans in our country.

So here is my rub--the government is willing to provide billions of dollars in stimulus aid to corporations and banks, but is unwilling to fairly compensate the people who are part of the engine of the recovery. It doesn't make good economic sense to me. Every fee and every tax that is levied on a company is ultimately paid by whom?

The consumer.

Think about it.

Taking money out of the pockets of consumers will cause the recovery to fail. Federal workers are consumers. And, unlike people receiving benefits in this country for doing nothing, federal workers contribute to the greater good and expect fair compensation for their work.

I believe that federal workers are being unfairly singled out by Congress as the cause of our economic distress. The relative pittance saved by not ensuring the continued prosperity of the civilian workforce is nothing more that a politically misguided effort to shift blame for our current economic woes away from those really responsible.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD