Geezer

There are 384 posts filed in Geezer (this is page 20 of 39).

Old eyes

Reading the newspaper this morning, I discovered I can no longer read text that is within a foot of my face. I only went to the optometrist a few months ago, where I read the tiny text with some difficulty but successfully. My eye doctor said my vision was starting to slide in that regard but that I could simply buy reading glasses at the drug store to supplement my contacts.

I guess this explains why I had such a hard time reading those extremely tiny labels on the Dell computers at my last job. Oh, and I’m getting old, too!

Thirtieth anniversary of becoming a North Carolinian

I can’t let March go out without acknowledging the anniversary that just passed on March 15th. It was that day in 1983 that I became a North Carolinian when my parents moved us from Columbia, SC, to a new home off of Park Road in Charlotte.

It was my first taste of March Madness as this New Yorker basketball coach named Jim Valvano was all over the TV commercials. It was around that time that my dad came home from work one day mentioning that he had a chance meeting with Charlotte mayor Eddie Knox. I take for granted knowing the mayor now but back then I thought that was pretty cool. I suppose it was my first realization that politicians could be everyday people.
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Ten years after the Iraq War

Today is the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War. Countless lives lost, countless money thrown away, and what do we have to show for it? A crumbling, corrupt regime hostile to the U.S. and too cozy with Iran. What a colossal waste.

I remember the cheerleading leading up to the war. Local conservative radio outlet WPTF tarted up its web page with rah-rah graphics advertising the war. It was as if war were some kind of street party. I saved a copy of that website somewhere, knowing that one day it would have to be seen to be believed. I hope I can find my copy.

I’m proud to say that ten years ago I wasn’t fooled. I knew what a clusterfuck we were walking into. I didn’t trust Bush any farther than I could throw him. Cheney, well, I respected him when he was my Secretary of Defense, but his unmitigated greed must have turned him into a lunatic. Perhaps he had me fooled.

If there was any justice in the world Bush and Cheney would be rotting in a jail cell somewhere. Perhaps somewhere in Iraq.

Gideon v. Wainwright – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Today is the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case, Gideon v. Wainwright. This case established the right of everyone to counsel during a criminal trial, regardless of one’s ability to pay.

My Great Uncle Fred was Gideon’s lawyer for his retrial, during which Gideon was acquitted.

Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), is a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Fourteenth Amendment to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys, extending the identical requirement made on the federal government under the Sixth Amendment.

via Gideon v. Wainwright – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Chopping veggies or copying code?

Last night while I was chopping vegetables for tonight’s supper, I thought about my service in the Navy. At the time I was a cryptologic technician, which included a security clearance and sounded pretty futuristic. In actuality, I learned how to copy Morse Code: the oldest form of electronic communication available. I haven’t used either my Morse Code nor my security clearance in a job ever since.

It made me wonder whether I should’ve used my Navy training to become a cook. Now there’s a skill that will never be out of demand! The cooks on the ship really had respect, too, because if you treated them right they might get you an extra can of coffee or give you dibs on certain foods.

There’s also a kind of zen involved in chopping vegetables, a meditative state where one simply zones out and lets one’s hands do the work. At the same time, though, listening to Morse can also put one into a sort of trance, with the stream of dots and dashes requiring a certain kind of focus and having a certain kind of rhythm.

At the end of the day, however, no one wants to eat dots or dashes!

Highlights of 2012: Parks board fun

The year 2012 was the start of my second year as chair of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board (PRGAB). It’s been a busy year, too, I might add.

I continued to speak on behalf of the board at a number of park dedications and groundbreakings, among them the House Creek Greenway Dedication, Carolina Pines Community Center, Jaycees Community Center Dedication, Five Points Center for Active Adults Dedication, Buffalo Road Aquatic Center Dedication, Anne Gordon Center for Active Adults Dedication, Historic Chavis Carousel Groundbreaking, Method Road Playground Dedication, the “Function at the Junction” where Wake Forest’s greenway meets Raleigh’s, and probably a few other events I’m forgetting. It seems that these have become so routine that I don’t even blog about every one!
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Highlights of 2012: Volunteering fun

As if serving on my city boards weren’t enough last year, I embarked on even more volunteer opportunities!

Around the start of the year I came across Little Raleigh Radio and soon got heavily involved, becoming its first board chair. I’ve continued to help organize the station and we’re in pretty good shape to be granted an FCC license this coming October.

I’ve also long been a fan of world music. After missing the AfroCubism show at the N.C. Museum of Art, I called up the show sponsor, Friends of World Music, and soon wound up volunteering for the organization. The highlight of this volunteer effort to date was the Tinariwen show at Carrboro’s ArtsCenter.

I look forward to continuing more of my volunteering in 2013 and helping make great things happen in Raleigh!

Highlights of 2012: RCAC adventures

I spent 2012 chairing two boards for the city: one the Parks board and the other the Raleigh CAC (RCAC) board. The RCAC is a board made up by the officers of the city’s various CACs. It is a rather large board with 19 members: so many that there was often not enough chairs to seat everyone.

I had been a member of the RCAC during my time as chair of the East CAC but I never felt comfortable taking on another leadership role until I had stepped down as East chair. With the handover of the East CAC I could focus on leading the RCAC.

I held monthly RCAC meetings, not of all of which were televised as they usually are. Some of these took place at retreats where we discussed important topics in-depth. I made sure the members helped decide the agendas and gave each some time to discuss what was happening in their neighborhoods. It was quite flattering to have Dwayne Patterson remark about how well the meetings were going.
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Gone in a flash

Gone in a flash


The picture above captures what has long been one of my favorite activities: riding bikes with the kids to school. It was 24 degrees when this photo was taken, but it was still fun. As you can see, I’m normally left in the dust on these rides.

I had been feeling wistful about this wonderful daily routine and how it will soon be coming to an end. Hallie graduates to middle school this fall and for the first time in a long time our morning schedules will no longer align. Travis still has two years of biking to school to be done but this glorious age when they’re both biking to school together will forever end.

How is it that when I was a kid life seemed to stretch on forever? How could it have ever seemed like one lifetime would be all I’d ever need to do all the things I wanted to do? Why didn’t anyone warn me how quickly life slips through one’s fingers, careening away like these cackling young cyclists?

With the kids growing inches every few months, it’s hard to keep up with all that’s happening in my life. I don’t want to miss a moment. I want to hug these kids and never let them go. I want to never forget what it’s like now, having such a wonderful family.

The kids will grow up, make their own way, and live successful lives. No matter where time takes us, though, I will always savor this moment in our lives.

Highlights of 2012: Herndon High School reunion

Ever since Kelly and I attended our 20th high school reunion I’d been looking forward to attending another one at our 25th year. With no one else willing to make it happen, I decided to organize it.

This time around we had Facebook to help track down classmates. Using nothing else but Facebook’s search tools and event functionality, I picked homecoming weekend for our reunion and let the Facebook group know.
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