Quest for 50 States

I'm not one that has a travelling jones - in fact, just the opposite.  Travel in general, and business travel in particular, I find to be overrated at best, and a massive hassle at its worst.  However, given my past and current job, I've had to travel a bit - in fact, I'm on a trip to Orlando right now.  Combine that with my loved ones living and moving around the country, and it has all added up to me ultimately visiting a lot of places.

About 20 years ago I started keeping track of the states that I've visited, with an overarching goal of eventually setting foot in all 50 of them.  The following is how I've fared thus far:

Note that the map above does not reflect the recent trip to Arizona.  With that one ticked off, I'm down to 11 states left to visit.  Here are the highlights:

• A swing through the Northeast will wipe out 7 of the 11, although Delaware will be a hassle.  I wish I would have taken the time to visit it during a trip to Philadelphia a couple of years ago.
• New Mexico will be a very tough one.  There is basically no business reason to visit the state for me, and I know nobody there.  That being said, if it holds any of the beauty that Arizona had, it might be worth a visit.
• Alabama will be a tough one as well.  Again, I missed an opportunity to visit, this time while my folks lived on the gulf coast.
• West Virginia will be a final tough one.  I'm thinking I may be able to knock it out as my company will soon be moving a work facility to Columbus, Ohio and the drive across the border shouldn't be more than a couple of hours.  If the opportunity presents itself, I'll knock it out.
• Alaska is only a matter of time.  It will likely come by way of a cruise, but for a good chunk of my life, I've wanted to get in my car and drive there.  I've always told myself that if I ever had the time and the wherewithal, that'd be exactly what I'd do.  Hence, if I ever come up missing, I'm likely taking the long way northwest to the final frontier.  Look for me on the road.  I'll be the guy staring at the Rockies with my mouth open, and with a Yellow Dog riding shotgun in the passenger seat.

In all of the travel across the states, I've been struck by the diversity of the geography, the stunning beauty, and the abundance of blessings that this land holds.   I've also enjoyed the benefit of meeting good folks nearly every place that I traveled. 

It is a remarkable country in which we live.  Even without seeing 22% of it.

Arizona Wedding

Spent the past weekend on a whirlwind trip to Arizona for my niece's wedding.  It was a fabulous affair, but due to my work schedule, we needed to go after work on Friday and be back in time for work on Monday.  Not much of a vacation, and this morning I'm exhausted and a little jet lagged with the two hour time difference.  But I'm also very happy due to the adventure and being able to spend time with my family

Here are some photos:

We spent Saturday morning hiking in the desert mountains.  It was gorgeous, and coming from a still snow-covered Green Bay, was a welcomed way to spend a morning.

The rocky trail, and a fantastic view

 

 The desert was in bloom - a rare but beautiful site.  

The proud parents of the bride

Here's Mom, looking great as usual

The bride and groom, mid-ceremony

The requisite post-ceremony photo shoot.  Here's my sis and her family.

My hunting buddy, Ben.  We're already talking duck opener, and haven't even made it to our annual fishing trip yet.

Sunset in the desert.

I really dig cactus.

Overall, it was a great trip, despite how much I'm paying for it this morning.  

I realized over the weekend that the older I get, the more I really enjoy weddings.  I certainly enjoy any excuse I can to see my family, as I love and miss them all so much.

Here's to the bride and groom, to the promise and hope that a new marriage brings, and to being young, stupid, and in love

Six Year Old Drummer Tears Up "Hot for Teacher"

What were you doing when you were six?  Anything like this?:

On the Packers Season Ticket Waiting List

This week I got around to signing up for the season ticket waiting list for Packers tickets.  While the wait is still massively long, there are two things at play that move it along:

• Lambeau is expanding in 2013, opening up a couple thousand more seats
• The premium seats (many of which are indoors) are just not in that big of demand.  A person I work with was only on the list for three years before her name came up for premium seating.

This doesn't mean I'm changing my allegiances.  Far from it.  I still love my Vikings, and it has been a ball being embedded with the enemy to see their reaction to Greg Jennings committing NFL treason.  No, the reason for the request is that Lambeau is an incredible experience, regardless of who is playing.  If you've not been there, it is bucket list stuff if you are an NFL fan.  Likewise, having the ability to sell/trade tickets would assure us of being loaded for the annual Vikings game.

I have no idea how long we are going to live in Green Bay.  But as long as we're here, we might as well get on the list.   

Even if my intentions are not exactly pure.

Let's Light this Candle

As I've taken on a reverse mentor, I can't help but be reminded of this commercial:


Ameritrade "Let's Light This Candle" from Todd Heyman on Vimeo.

It is an oldie, but a goodie.  

When it first came out way back in 1999, I was Stewart.  Now, all these years later, I find myself as Mr. P.

Ugh.  Mr. P.  When exactly did that happen?

Where Has All the Ammo Gone?

On outdoors, gun, and right-leaning sites, an oft-heard complaint is that there is no ammunition to be had.  Oh, sure, on the more obscure calibers, there is still a limited supply, but for the most popular loads, there is none.

That is not hyperbole.  

Not a limited supply.  Not hard to get.  We're talking empty shelves, and impossible to acquire at retail.  The only way to get a supply is by purchasing from a private party at a grossly inflated price.  

One can see just how bad it is via this example: consider the 9mm load, shown above.  It's quite popular, but available nowhere.  Check out the pages from the largest ammunition retailers: Cabela's, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro, Sportsman's Guide, Midway USA.  Nobody has a round.  Not one.

And it is not just the big retailers, either.  A buddy at work went to Milwaukee last weekend on a quest specifically for 9mm ammunition and stopped at 9 different outdoor/gun stores.  Empty shelves, all of them.

So what is going on?  There are two main drivers, and they feed each other.  The first is that the anti-gun talk from the Obama administration and the recent action by states like Connecticut have made gun owners extremely nervous; fearful that ammunition will either be taxed to oblivion, or banned outright.  Hence, there is significant demand, and substantial hoarding.

Second, the government is buying a massive amount of ammunition, and has decimated supply.  An order of 1.6 billion (yes, billion) rounds for just the Department of Homeland Security has raised eyebrows in quarters like Forbes, and has driven conspiracy theorist over the edge in other quarters.  The government talk-off for the purchase is that they are training rounds for their agents, but when one does the math, it blows away any rational amount of range time.  Consider as well that the purchase is for expensive hollow-point bullets - rounds not designed for the range, but specifically designed for dropping human beings - and those that already had a mistrust of the government get even more concerned.

Hence, folks that fear what the government is doing are seeking even more ammunition, which already has a massive demand and a massive hit to the supply.  And the cycle perpetuates itself.

There is no question that the government is buying far more ammunition than it needs.  It certainly is buying the wrong type.  Do I think they're doing so for an impending square-off with the citizens?  Hardly.  But I do feel that it is purposeful, and designed to make it hard, if not impossible, to buy ammunition.  Note that this is the same administration that brought us Fast and Furious - the arming of Mexican drug cartels by our government.  This is a nefarious administration when it comes to guns, and I believe that they're attempting to disrupt supply because they can.

The rumors have it that there is a nine month hole in supply.  Despite running three shifts, manufacturers cannot keep up.  Layer on the seasonal demand that will come this fall with hunting season, and things will only get worse, and people, especially those that may be completely oblivious to the current situation, will only get more nervous.  It is and will continue to be an ugly scene.

For shooters and sportsmen, there is hope, and that resides in the market.  I project additional production capacity to come on line, new manufactures to launch, imports to increase, and overall a new supply to be generated to match the demand.  That's the way the economy works - that's the way it has always worked.  Yes, the government can keep its thumb on the scale, but their impacts cannot last forever.  And when that thumb eventually comes off the scale, we'll be awash in supply.

In the meantime, it is fascinating to watch.  It is interesting to see how the retailers are reacting, how the conspiracy theorists are reacting, and how the Obama administration and their defenders are reacting.  Add to the mix Joe Hunter who will be looking for rifle loads for his upcoming deer hunt this fall, and the situation gets all the more volatile.

Stay tuned - this is only going to get more interesting.    

Book Progress Update

After a slow start to the year, things are in high gear now.  I have engaged with Lulu on their cover creative services (not cheap, but I want this project over), and have forwarded them all requested materials.

I have a pretty good vision for what I want for copy on the cover, so the only real work to do is visual creative.  Hence, I expect to have a first pass to review in two weeks.

In the meantime, good progress has been made on the manuscript as well.  Despite multiple edit passes through two dedicated editors, there were changes that needed to be made.  They'll get incorporated in the manuscript and a new one will be developed.  That one will be reviewed as well in a final pass.

It is nice to have things coming together, and I can't wait to finally hold the book.

It's Easter, Google Celebrates Chavez

Google is renown for it's Doodles - graphics on their home page to donate a special day.  At first they were fairly rare, but now are becoming more and more commonplace.

When I awoke on a foggy Easter Sunday yesterday, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised to see this:

On the most holy, sacred, and meaningful day in all Christianity, Google chose to celebrate the birthday of Cesar Chavez.  

Is this pandering to a minority with which Google is politically aligned?  Absolutely.  Is this trolling for Christian reaction and outrage?  Again, absolutely.

I'm a Google fan-boy.  I use a wide suite of their tools, to the point of exclusivity, in both my personal and professional life.  Just an example as it pertains to YellowDogPatrol.com: this blog is written on their Blogger platform, I track performance via Google Analytics, I receive notifications of blog comments via my email account on Gmail, I receive gobs of traffic via their search engine, I earn income via advertising served up by AdSense, etc.  I'm one of their biggest fans.

But when they purposefully seek to pick a fight, it becomes infuriating, and it makes me question my alliances.  

Oh, Google may very well change the Doodle and issue some kind of "If our actions caused offense to some," non-apology, but their actual intention is obvious.  This is a company with a market cap of over $250 billion.  The Doodle wasn't put up by some rogue intern over the weekend.  This was a very thoughtful and purposeful act. 

Welcome to 2013, where the lines between business and politics have faded to the point of no longer existing.