Month: June 2014

As I walked out in the hallway of my hotel room after looking out my room window at the parking lot,I finally felt like I was on an adventure. My wife and I have been on the road for two days and we are still in Texas. Yesterday  we stayed at the Winstar Casino,the worlds largest casino. Once again I was amazed at all the people at the casino. There always seems to be more senior women there then senior men. The card tables are busy with more oriental players then anyone group of people. There seems to be an abundant number of wheel chair players, many of who have oxygen bottles with them.  There are players that seem to camp on one machine or one card game. With all the scurrying around and people walking in all direction there seems to be order and an almost coordinated dance. People seem to be nice to each other and follow some unwritten rules. Just like being on a golf course. With all the busy enviroment and adult disney like surrounding, one can get lost in that world. Even though there are many signs asking if you have a gambling problem call this number the effect of the signs are like the warnings on a pack of cigarettes. The owners of the casinos are obviously making money but the casinos also create jobs and and economical boost to the area.  My thought is why it is OK to have a casino in one state and not the other.It is like having the sale of alcohol in some counties of a state and not others.

It is ovious to me that some antiquated established few still control our politics. Is it just the religious organizations (who control games like Bingo) who are so influential that they stop change. Or is it the established gambling and alcohol gaints that want to keep their monopoly. I think it is unrealistic to continue this practtice. If people want to gamble and drink they will, even if they have to travel out of a county or a state to do so. What this means to the states and counties who do not participate are lost tax dollars and lost jobs. When I see all the different states car licenses in the casino lots I know that these people have traveled out of areas that forbid such activities. There of those that will abuse every thing from gambling ,alcohol to sugar and chocolate. Let each person make a choice.

Choice in a free country seems to me to be worth consideration.

Pops

I walked out on my front porch this morning, coffee in hand, and I looked up at the overcast skies. In this part of North East Texas cloudy skies could mean severe whether is on its way or just that the sun won’t shine today. Once again I started my day by watching the national news. Lately it has mainly been about regions in the Middle East such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. This week the President of the United States is sending soldiers back to Iraq.

Why are we even going there? It was hard for me to understand why we went to Iraq in the first place. But since that has already happened, my hope was that the United States government would’ve learned its lesson. What is apparent to me is that this is a religious war, Sunnis fighting Shiites over the control of their country. Let them fight over their own country. It is obvious that religious leaders seem to control the countries young fighting men. It is bad enough that the young fighting men have lived through the death and destruction of many of their family members over this issue of religion. I think that by the United States backing one of these religions over the other is simply wrong. Our government is not allowed to do so in the United States. Here we have freedom of religion and the government is forbidden to favor any one religion via our Constitution. So why are we over there backing one government that is totally one-sided in its religious choice? There are some other basic issues that I do not understand. In the United States we speak of freedoms for all people including women and children. It seems that in all the Middle Eastern countries women are truly second-class citizens. They seem to be more of a possession than a human being with rights. It also seems that each time one of the existing governments start to have some severe problems they go back to the big brother, the United States or Russia, to support them and their government.

So why is it so important that we send billions of dollars and our soldiers into the Middle East? Who made such strong promises to these countries that we seem almost mandated to be there. I was amazed and revolted at the Egyptian army and police. Most just gave up their uniforms and walked away. If they are not willing to fight and die for their country, why should we send our people over there to die for their country? If the argument is to honor the death of those who had already served and died in Egypt, I reply that we do honor those who served and died there. Then why should we send more people over there. The cost in lives and the wasted billions of dollars can be used at home. This does not seem necessary to me.

Is it in fear of the price of gasoline going up. The people of the United States of America will adapt to that. Is it fear of losing some kind of control over the Middle East? The Middle East doesn’t even have control over the Middle East. There is so much hate between the different religious groups that it will take many generations before they will forget the atrocities that they’ve already suffered. Is it some kind of obligation to police the world? Let the people and leaders of those countries police themselves. I don’t think that we need those nations to prosper in the United States. I believe those nations need us and all the resources we possess.

What are the reasons and justifications for us to be involved in the Middle East? It is so complicated that we will not understand it? Is there some secret reason that the general public cannot be informed about it?

When I go to vote I vote for leaders. And in the recent past, from the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraqi war and Afghanistan war the sitting president and the Congress have voted for us to be involved in those countries struggles. Why, in the released records and papers of the past times, we repeatedly hear the President of the United States struggling with why we are staying in an area and paying the cost of lives. I am reminded of President Johnson and his remarks about not being able to get out of the conflict in Vietnam. I am also reminded of President Bush and his claims of weapons of mass destruction that were not there. Yet we stayed in Iraq for years and lost many lives and spend billions of dollars. My hope was that Pres. Obama was going to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan. But there must be some secret reason that he is compelled to send American lives back to Iraq.

We cannot control or even hope to help the nation that is not willing to help itself. The term” can’t we all just get along” is not currently possible in the religious wars in the Middle East. We are welcomed by some nations when we supply them with money and weapons. But it seems that the minute things are not going their way the United States is once again denounced by the same people we helped. The United States has enough issues of its own. The fields in California are drying up and the borders in the South are being overran my people running away from their own governments and country. Yet if we look we will find that the United States is sending some billion dollars to each one of those countries governments.

We need help in educating our young and managing our existing resources. This is not to say that we should be isolationists and bury our head in the sand as the world evolves. But we don’t have to be the policeman and saviors of the world, especially in the Middle East. It would really be great if the Congress of the United States would move from being dysfunctional to a Congress that would lead and make decisions. Currently it seems like there is just bickering between parties as the United States starts to show some decay. I do not think anyone party has the answer. But I do believe that each party needs to work with the other and experience some compromises to get the job done. I think the job is to focus on the United States and its people, the infrastructure and its resources.

Let the people in the Middle East fight for and find their own answers to their problems. When they are done fighting they will realize that they really need the rest of the world, they will calm down. I witnessed this happen when there was a riot in Los Angeles in 1992. Whatever the reason was that the riots started it took about three days for the people in the areas affected by the riot to realize they were only hurting themselves. It is my thought that these countries and their religious leaders will eventually recognize the need to live together. But as long as large and big governments like the United States, Russia and China continue to support their violent actions they will continue to kill each other.

My thought of today is that the United States should not get involved in Iraq. That we should leave Afghanistan to fight his own battles and let Syria develop into what it citizens want it to be.

Pops

 As I walked out on my porch this morning, coffee in hand, I was greeted by sunshine, blue, skies and puffy white clouds. The bright green of the forest tree leaves were outlined by the shadow of those trees on the ground. I began to think of my journey the other day that started with a hello to my new grandson Aiden and goodbye to an old friend Kenny.

I drove about five hours to the hospital in Houston to see the newest member of the Sumner family. I went to the hospital room and I was greeted by my daughter-in-law, Manisha, and my son Danny. Danny took me to the natal care unit where my grandson Aiden was laying, surrounded by machines and a small baby blanket. As I gazed upon my newest grandson I was once again amazed by the miracle of birth. Before me was a perfectly healthy and beautiful baby. This was Aiden’s first day of life and after counting all the toes and fingers I found him to be perfect. I have had this experience before with some of my other grandchildren. And each time that happens I am amazed at the miracle of childbirth. Selfishly I know that the DNA that I have carried from my forefathers will be carried onto my grandchildren. I’ve experienced the miracle of birth many times. Besides witnessing the birth of my sons, I’ve also witnessed the birth of babies that I was not related to. I remember being a policeman in Los Angeles and assisting in the birth of a child in the backseat of a car. I also remember answering the radio call only to get there in time to watch the newborn come into the world. I do not care how hardened you are, these experiences will make you emotional and amazed. I was able to sit with my son and his newborn son for a while. I was there when Aiden took his first bit of nourishment from a bottle. At this time Aiden was still in a special care unit and his mother was downstairs anxiously waiting to hold her baby. These are the times in my life when I feel very positive about life. I expect that Aiden will grow up and live in a different world than I did. But I also hope that he will live a life as full and wondrous as my life. He will have a great start in the fact that his mother and father are there to help guide him through life, supported by the family around him. It was a thrill, an honor and an emotional moment for me to meet and say hello to Aiden.

The next part of the day was after I left the hospital and was about to begin my trip back up to my home in North Texas. I made a decision to go and say goodbye to an old friend of mine. This is something that I’ve been meaning to do ever since I retired and moved to North Texas. At the time of my retirement I was not a happy person. Whether it was true or not, I felt I was not needed and was not used in my job. The job had recently been merged with another organization. The leadership that I began my job with disappeared and I found myself working in another environment. I was allowed to keep my job but continually felt like an outsider. It was my decision to retire rather than just stay in a place where I was neither wanted nor used. The problem with that is I left without saying goodbye to some really good people. One of those people was Kenny Speight who I considered my friend. The fact that I had not said goodbye really weighed on me for a while. But then I realized that I needed to reach out to those people I considered close and tell them what they meant to me and say goodbye. This void haunted my thoughts for over a year. I had not been down into the Houston area for over year and therefore did not find the opportunity to say goodbye. I found the opportunity this time and before heading back home I went and saw my friend Kenny and said thank you for being my friend. This wasn’t like when somebody knows that they’re going to pass on and are saying their last goodbyes. This was just the opportunity to tell Kenny how much his friendship meant to me and that it was important to me to say goodbye.

Many of you will have had the experience of leaving a job or neighborhood. And during the last days you would go to your friends and neighbors to say goodbye. Most would say they would call and visit you down the road. All of this is done with the greatest intentions. But the reality is after you move or go on you will most likely lose contact with those friends and neighbors. Each time you move to new job or new house you will get involved with new people and they will take the place of the friends you had before. This is not to say that you do not think of your old friends, but life goes on. It is common to lose contact with those friends of the past.

In my case, I had moved on but it haunted me that I never said goodbye to Kenny. So in one day I was able to say hello to my new grandson and goodbye to an old friend.

Pops

As I walked on my front porch this morning, coffee in hand, I was greeted by overcast gray skies. That does not mean that I was unhappy to see the cloud cover. I look forward to the rain and sometimes the excitement of the lightning and thunder that it brings. I have not written any blogs in a while, because of a health issue. Not a health issue of a super serious nature. I had six in my teeth removed about a week ago. When I went to the dentist concerning a toothache I fully expected that a tooth was going to be pulled. Imagine my shock when the dentist showed me the x-rays and stated that I have six really bad teeth than need to come out. After a short time of deliberation I decided to have all six teeth pulled by oral surgeon. The main reason for this choice was that I would be put under an anesthetic and not conscious during the operation. The surgery went well and the dentist explained to me several times that I had some really rotten teeth in there. So with some pain medication in hand my wife drove me home. It took three days for me to start feeling human again. I did watch a lot of daytime television shows and more than my share of commercials. My world as I had been living it took a drastic change in keeping me inside and on medications. My first thought of today was that if is great to be back outside and active again. Your health is the one thing that you can try to control. And as hard as you try your health can take a bad turn. All the things that you’d focus on while feeling good diminish and all you can think about is trying to feel better. I will address on how to proceed with my dentist and the replacement of those teeth in a month. One thing I’m pretty sure of I cannot afford an implant which cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $5000 and up a tooth. But I have to wait until my mouth has healed enough to go any further.

I did get to watch a lot of interesting television channels that cover everything from American Pickers to Tree House Master. I also got to watch a lot of news programs. You can sure tell the difference between a local news station and national broadcasting station. During one of those shows I viewed an interview with an Egyptian talk show host, Bassem Youssef. I was amazed on how positive he was on life and on his ability to remain alive. Even in the face of great personal danger Youssef seem to be full of positive statements. He reminded me of the simple song “don’t worry be happy”. Even though the world around him seemed to be full of death and desperation he seemed to point out a brighter side of life.

While watching the news in the last week I watched the Sec. of Veterans Affairs resigned from his position while the deficiencies in his policies in the VA continue to be discovered. I know that just one person is not responsible for all of the deficiencies, but it’s a good start. I also watched the news coverage of several shootings. These senseless killings only remind reminded me that everyday lives are taken. It can be in an automobile accident, a child’s death from cancer or the falling of another soldier in war. If I looked to find it I will find death around each corner. The recent coverage of D-Day only reminding me of how many people can die in such a short time. I watch as Iraq falls back into the hands of what we call “radical Muslims” after years of America’s soldiers dying in those very cities. I watch to see the Republican Party as it falls apart. All of these things have been experienced by men and women in the past. And yet there is someone out there, actually many of us out there that see a happy and bright future. I cannot enjoy my life by living in fear of death. Everyone dies and I know that I will too.

So even though I listen to the news, which is mostly bad news, I look for and find the happiness that surrounds me. In less than a week my son and his wife will bring into the world a new baby. This is one of the happy moments in life. In several weeks, I will also take a long trip across the country and visit all my children and grandchildren with my wife by my side. As I search for the happy moments, still aware of all the death and danger that lives out there, I know that I can find it. All I have to do is appreciated and live in that moment of time.

Today I really enjoy being able to walk out of my house and view the forest. I was able to enjoy my coffee and even a couple of donuts that my wife so thoughtfully bought for me. I was able to watch my dogs run around in the new backyard that I built and listen to the chickens cluck and clatter as the day begins. Maybe these things are not what make you happy, but they are truly things that make me happy. So my thought at this point is that no matter where you are in life or what is happening in your life, search out and enjoy those things that make you happy.

Finally, I’m going out to my shop and use my brand-new drill. My son bought it for me and as crazy as it might sound, it makes me happy to use my new drill.

Pops