Earlier this year, our government shut down…..at least, all of the “non-essential” parts of the government shut down. More than 800,000 people were out of work….at home without receiving any pay. Unfortunately, the members of Congress were not included in this number. They continued to receive their full pay and benefits, even when they were needlessly and selfishly depriving hundred of thousands of hard working citizens of their livelihood. Luckily, I am one of the fortunate people who was not affected by the shut down. My social security checks continued to come; Medicare still paid my medical bills; the Veterans Administration was still in business…..and I did not expect to visit any national parks in the near future. But this does not diminish my anger and frustration about the shameful state affairs in Washington D.C. We were in the midst of a situation that should have never happened…..and one that the American people should never have allowed to happen. Somewhere along the way in the past twenty years or so….no even less than that….the people who we elect to make laws and to govern in our best interests…..the best interest of the nation…..have stopped representing the people, and instead have started representing themselves, their own special interests, and the wealthy people who contribute millions of dollars to their campaigns. Their main priority is the protection of their political party, and getting themselves reelected. They have lost sight of their true mission….the mission and purpose for which they were elected by the people. And this mission, I think, is clearly stated in the Constitution of the United States: form a more perfect union; establish justice; insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; promote the general welfare; and secure the blessings of liberty ourselves and our posterity. The Constitution says nothing about appeasing lobbyists….or catering to wealthy donors…..or protecting political parties…..or getting reelected. And, it also says nothing about championing a narrow ideology that is supported by a minority on the radical fringe…..either on the right or on the left. Our elected representatives are elected as advocates and champions of all the people. For the past several years our government has, for all practical purposes, ceased to govern. Basically, there has been a state of legislative gridlock…..gridlock based purely on partisan politics and the selfish personal ideological beliefs of a minority of legislators who put their own interests above the interests of the people who elected them….the people they were “hired” to serve. Laws are no longer passed. Important appointments are blocked. Budgets are not being adopted. To give an indication how quickly the partisan gridlock has developed…..and developed as a result of the Democrats controlling in Senate and the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, take a look at the following numbers:

Congress (Years)	# of House Seats	Democrats	Republicans	Other
105th (1997–1999)	435	207	226	Independent (2)
106th (1999–2001)	435	211	223	Independent (1)
107th (2001–2003)	435	213	220	Independent (2)
108th (2003–2005)	435	205	229	Independent (1)
109th (2005–2007)	435	201	233	Independent (1)
110th (2007–2009)	435	232	203	0
111th (2009–2011)	435	257	178	0
112th (2011–2013)	435	193	242	0
113th (2013–2015)	435	201	234	0

Now let’s take a look at the number of laws that have been passed since 1997: 1997 – 153 2004 – 300 1998 – 241 2005 – 169 1999 – 170 2006 – 313 2000 – 410 2007 – 180 2001 – 136 2008 – 280 2002 – 241 2009 – 125 2003 – 198 2010 – 258 2011 – 90 2012 – 61 And, so far, this year, 2013, only 15 laws have been passed. You will notice that the past two years have been years of complete inaction on the part of Congress…..an almost complete stalemate. And, maybe you also noticed that these years coincide with the rise of the so-call Tea Party movement….an era in which a group of radical far-right, ultra-fundamentalist, close minded “Christians” have exerted enough power to bring the legislative process to an almost complete halt. In themselves, they do not have enough power to get any laws passed….but they do possess tremendous power to prevent laws from being passed. It is sometimes difficult to understand their real motivation, but I think it is safe to say that they do not represent or reflect the wishes and will of the population of this nation…..that their interests and intent is narrow, selfish and self-serving. They are holding almost all legislative activity hostage to meet their own demands. OK. I suppose that almost everybody has his own ideas on how to deal with or correct our current sorry mess. Well….so do I. Using my infinite wisdom, I am going to suggest three courses of action that I believe will help to improve, if not eliminate, most of the selfish, non-representative, partisan, self-serving tactics that are being practiced today by our elected representatives. 1. Impose term limits on all elected officials. This will help prevent the accumulation of individual power….or the sense of entitlement that comes along with serving for a long period of time in an elected office. It will also help bring new people and new ideas and approaches to the legislative process. It will also help weed out corrupt and incompetent individuals who manage to keep being re-elected due to the ignorance or apathy of their constituents. 2. Publicly fund all elections in a national general elections…..the elections for President and the elections for all members of Congress. This will put all candidates on the same level. It will level the playing field. It will encourage qualified men and women to run for office who could otherwise not afford it…..or who, because of their political party or the make-up of their voting district, can not attract sufficient amounts of money that would otherwise be funneled into individual campaigns by wealthy donors, who, in turn, will expect to be repaid for their generosity in the form of preferential treatment in passing legislation which will favor them or their commercial interests. It will prevent wealthy donors from simply buying an election. It will help stamp out much of the corruption that inevitably results from unchecked or unregulated private campaign funding. 3. When major pieces of legislation are being vote on, by law require that they be considered as individual, stand-alone issues…..one subject, one law at a time. Make it impossible to add controversial, politically or emotionally charged issues to them. Every law will be considered on its own merits….and this will almost certainly keep the legislative process moving. Laws that are obviously beneficial for the people….laws that are necessary and vital to the overall interests of the people and the nation will be passed. Politically controversial laws can be decided at the leisure of the Congress. Political parties and individual legislators can debate, fight, grandstand, and obstruct as they want……but the legislation that is of common good will be voted on in a timely manner, and the nation and its people will not be brought to its knees by partisan blackmail by either political party….or by self-serving, self-centered individuals. So……do you think any of these reforms will take place? Do I even think any of these reforms will take place? I am not naive, and I am not out of touch with reality. Probably anybody who thinks that any of the above reforms will be enacted by our present Congress……or any Congress……surely is naive and out of touch with reality. In the first place, I seriously doubt if any member of Congress is going to vote himself or herself out of a job. It just isn’t going to happen. And, I also seriously doubt if those Congressmen who are receiving huge sums of money from private individuals and corporations are going to say good-bye to a lucrative and easy source of money. And, I doubt if many….if any….have the slightest regard for fairness when it comes to funding election campaigns. And, there is always going to be a fringe faction who will actively and willingly resort to types of political blackmail or “hostage” taking in order to either get their narrow, partisan legislation passed……or prevent good, sound, necessary legislation from being passed. Actually, I think there is really only one way to bring about real change in our nation today. And that is for each and every citizen to become actively involved in the political process…..to become informed on the issues….to make their views known to their elected representative and let them know they expect to be listened to. But, most important of all……vote! And to vote consistently in each and every election……no matter what level….or for what office. Absolute power in the U.S.A. rests with the citizens….the people…..and they can exercise his power through their right and obligation to vote. People often gripe and complain and moan about their lack of control…..or feeling helpless. People say, “Why bother to vote?” We vote because that is our “voice” in our government. When we vote, we are “talking”; we are making our wishes and desires known. And, we have the right and the power…..and the obligation…..to make our elected representatives accountable and responsive to our needs and desires.

It is often said, “We get what we deserve.” And, we certainly deserve more and better than what we are receiving.  

Let’s talk about goals…..those targets you aim for in the future. I like goals. They give me something to strive for. They help keep me focused on making progress in my life. They keep my life interesting….and often rewarding…..because they bring about constant change in my life….in my behavior, in my routine, in my knowledge, in my future. They help to keep me “young”. They help keep me pushing ahead, instead of standing still. They add spice to my life. They make my life “taste” better…..and the recipe is constantly changing.

Actually, I didn’t start setting goals for myself until I was well past middle age. And, even now, I am not sure why I started. Maybe it was because I thought I was standing beside the road…..and the rest of the world was passing me by. Maybe it was because I saw retirement looming in the distance, and I wanted to be better prepared for it. Or maybe it was because I simply wanted to become a better person…..to lead a more interesting, satisfying and fulfilling life.

Or maybe it was one of the endless “feel good”, “inspirational”, “motivational” pep talks that I so often had to sit through as an educator. (And, there were plenty of them.) At any rate, as I recall, I decided to set some goals in my life quite suddenly. I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish…..and I started working to achieve them.

I don’t remember assigning a rating to them…..or ranking them in any particular order of importance. I just made a list of things that I wanted to do….and then I started doing them. I would never claim that I ever became an expert in any of them…..or even overly proficient. But…..I did set out to accomplish them.

Let me make clear now: These are “external” goals…..more or less physical activities or behaviors…..take it or leave it type activities…..things that add to my life….not things that are, or should be, already part of my life. I am not talking about moral goals, or ethical goals, or religious goals. For the most part, I feel that I have already obtained these goals, attitudes, and behaviors. They were instilled in me almost from the time of my birth: love, honesty, trustworthiness, dependability, empathy……

No…..these goals are activities and achievements that present challenges to be met, obstacles to be conquered, targets to aim for.

So…what are these goals? And….have I met them?

OK. I am going to tell you. They are not listed in any particular order, because there is no particular order. Some of them were essentially one-time goals, while others were….and are….continuing goals. But all of them have made my life fuller, richer and more satisfying and complete.

One of my goals…..a one time goal…no, let’s make that a two time goad….was to spend a summer working in a national park. I am not sure there was a logical reason for this goal. It was mostly just curiosity. After traveling many times through places like Yellowstone National Park and wandering through their gift shops, their restaurants…and seeing all the people who worked there…..apparently ordinary people, just like me…..I often thought, “Wow….this would be fun. Getting to live in an exciting, spectacular setting like this.”

So…..I obtained an application form from the company that ran the concessions in Yellowstone National Park. I filled it out and mailed to the personnel office. I was accepted. And, I was soon on my way to northwest Wyoming to spend an exotic summer, working in the midst of geysers, mountains, and grizzly bears. I was assigned to the Photo Shop Store in Canyon Village as a clerk in the photo developing section.

The job was interesting…..but after a while….let’s admit it….it was just a job. A busy and sometimes stressful job, dealing with hundreds of tourists from all over the world. It wasn’t as glamorous as I had thought it would be. It was low paying—minimum wage. But I did have a wonderful opportunity to explore in detail parts of the Park that other people….especially tourists….never see, either because they do not have enough time or because they are not interested.

Like I said…..it turned out to be just a job. On my days off, I explored the Park; I made some lasting friends……..and I liked it well enough that many years later, I accepted a job to manage the general store in Big Bend National Park in Texas. I achieved a goal; I satisfied my curiosity.

I had another short-term goal: and that was to run for a public office sometime in my life. Somehow I had this idea…..probably somewhat delusional….that maybe I could do some good….that I could use my expertise, my experience and my knowledge to bring about some change….to make improvements…..in our society.

The opportunity presented itself during my final year as an educator working in the public schools. Public school employees are prohibited by law from serving on a school board. Somebody decided it was a “conflict of interest”. Although the election took place before I officially retired, I would not take office until I was a retired, unemployed former educator…..drawing my social security and KPERS. At the urging of many of my fellow educators, I drove over to Oskaloosa, paid the filing fee…..and became a candidate for the school board.

In the election, I won easily. And, I spent the next four years on the board of education. I found out that nobody was interested in my expertise, my experience or my knowledge. But…..I did my best. I voted in what I thought to be he best interests of our students, teachers and taxpayers. One term was enough for me. But, I had achieved a goal.

Another goal….and it turned out to be a long-term goal….was to create stained glass art. Back in the 1970’s and 80’s, before I had foreign exchange students…and even while I had them…..my summer vacation destination was always the Oregon Coast. Each year as I meandered through the streets of the quaint ocean towns, exploring the little gift and souvenir shops, I would admire the stained glass art on display. Oh….if only I could learn to do that. And….one day I will learn to do that.

I found my golden opportunity in a class taught by Judy Swisher. Judy was…..and is….a versatile and multi-talented artist and teacher. She showed me the basics of cutting glass, grinding it, fitting it together, taping it, and finally soldering it together. After she showed me…..she said, “OK. Go ahead and make something.”

“What should I make?”

“Anything you want to make.”

For her, the sky was the limit. For her, it was none of this start out small and work up to something grander and bigger. She used the Nike slogan: “Just do it!” So…..I did. She was always around to help me, if I needed it. And, in the beginning, believe me….I needed it. But, as I became more and more experienced, she would basically simply leave me alone and let me do my own thing. Many time, she would simply leave the outside door to the art room unlocked, and I would come, work, and leave.

Over a period of probably a dozen years, I turned out well over 50 pieces of stained glass. About half of these are on display in my house. And I gave about half of them away. I stopped when Judy retired; I no longer had a place to work. But….I was ready to phase out the stained glass era of my life. I literally had no more space in my house to hang the stained glass art that I made.

At one point in my younger life, I was in pretty good shape…..probably up through and including the years I spent in the Army. Back in those days, I was skinny! I was so thin that I was often afraid my jeans would simply fall off. But…..somewhere around the age of 35 or so, things began to change. When I “things” began to change…..I mean, specifically, my waist began to expand! I no longer worried about my jeans falling off. I began to buy bigger and bigger clothing. I remember the first time I had to buy size XL. I was shocked. I was also embarrassed. I was getting fat!

It was somewhere in this era that I made it a goal to become more physically fit….and to control my weight……and to get into shape again. Over the years that followed, I found that I could combine this goal with my desire to learn some lifetime sports and recreation.

Therefore, the question became: Which lifetime sports or activities should I choose? I ruled out basketball. I was too old….and too untalented. I ruled out horse racing…..I didn’t have a race horse. Also stock car racing…..for he same reason: No stock car. Anyway, neither of those sports offered very much aerobic movement or exercise.

When I was younger I always liked to run….and I was fairly good at it. This was a viable possibility. It had excellent aerobic value; it would burn a lot of calories; it required no special equipment….except for a pair of running shoes; I could do it almost anywhere and at any time. So….choice number 1 was settled upon.

Weight lifting? Why not. I had access to weights both in our school weight room and at the YMCA. Again, it was an inexpensive sport; it would build my muscles; it would burn calories. Not only could I do this alone….although using free weighs alone is somewhat questionable……but I could also to it with other people, if I wanted. Ah, ha…..choice number 2 decided.

OK. What else? I wanted a game of sorts…..not a team sport, but still something where I could play with and against other people. A sport that I had easy access to…..and one that was not overly expensive. And, exactly how hard could it be?

Every time I went to the YMCA, I would see people playing racket ball. It looked like fun. And it looked like it would be good exercise. And, all I needed was a racket and some racket balls. An achievable investment.

The final sports choice came fairly easily. For years, I had been driving past a golf course near by house. And for years I had wished I knew how to play….to hit that little ball down a neatly manicured fairway…..to raise my golf club into the air as a sign of triumph when I made a hole-in-one. OK…that never happened, but I did decide to learn to play golf.

One summer I enrolled in a golf class at Washburn University. I ended up getting an F in the course….not because I didn’t learn to play golf…..but because I had to leave to go on vacation….to the Oregon Coast, of course…..and couldn’t be there for the final test. Mostly, I learned to play by joining a class taught by a former golf pro. He was excellent. He knew what he was talking about…..and he was able to communicate his skills through both demonstration and explanation.

Racket ball? A friend of mine taught me how to play it. And, after a lot of trial and error, and after getting beat a lot…..I finally began to improve.

But, my goals were not all fun and games. I vowed that I was not going to simply let my mind wither away once I had retired. I set a goal of keeping my mind active, and that I would continue to learn and expand my educational and cultural horizons. To accomplish this goal, I enrolled in adult education classes sponsored by the University of Kansas…..classes they offer in three sessions throughout the year.

These classes are taught by professors from K. U. and Washburn…..along with other experts in various fields. There is no preparation, no homework, no textbooks, no tests. You just pay your money, show up, listen….and learn. These are my kind of classes. Through these classes, I keep on learning.

I also set goals to continue traveling as much as I could afford. I set a goal to continue inviting foreign travelers and visitors into my home…..although my days of hosting foreign exchange students had come to an end. I am no longer willing to get up at 5:30 a.m., wake up a sleepy teenager, drive them into school…..and then make sure I was waiting for them at the stoke of 3:30. Instead, I opted for adult travelers, who could take care of themselves, and didn’t make as many demands on my time. But, I still had a great opportunity to meet fascinating and fun people…..to continue learning about different cultures and lifestyles……and also, hopefully, to share with them some of my unique lifestyle…..and our American….our Midwestern…..was of living.

Another of my goals was to volunteer my time and talents to help others. I dabbled in this briefly….found it to be interesting and worthwhile. But, mostly because of health reasons, I found that it was simply not something I felt that I could commit myself to.

Wow…..looking back, it seems that I aimed toward a lot of goals.  Did I set too many goals?  Was I able to achieve them and master them to my own high standards and satisfaction? The answer is No….I didn’t set too many goals…..and Yes….I am happy to know in my own mind that I have accomplished all of them. And, I am pleased and contented that today none of them are my goals any longer. They are an important part of my everyday life, They are things that today I take for granted. No….I don’t do all these things each and every day. But… I know if I wanted to….I can.

I have asked myself why I have been so successful in achieving my goals and accomplishing the things I set my mind to do…..and why I didn’t give up. First of all….I set the goals voluntarily and consciously. Nobody forced me to do any of them. Second: I chose goals which let me to do things that I really wanted to do. They not only had physical or health or social or cultural value: They were fun. They were not a burden….but a blessing.

I also tried to keep the goals realistic. Over the years, I have pretty well learned what I am capable of doing…..and what I have absolutely no talent or aptitude for. I mean….I wasn’t going to become a bull rider, because I doubt if I have either the physical or intellectual talent or aptitude to pull it off…..only the aptitude to be throw off the bull!

Fourth: I set goals that were readily achievable because the resources to accomplish them were readily available. The stained glass teacher was only a short drive away; the YMCA is in Topeka; the golf course is only a few miles away; Washburn and K. U. are within easy driving distance. And…..I could run….and now walk…. almost anywhere.

I like to meet other people….especially people from foreign countries; as a former educator, I like to help people. In other words, they were all within the realm of the (very) possible.

They were all accomplished rather inexpensively. None of them required any unrealistic capital outlay. They all presented definite challenges in their own unique way…..a large enough challenge to make each activity interesting and satisfying….but not so difficult that I had no chance of achieving the goal.

So……what’s next? Are there any more goals that I want to achieve? Any more challenges that I want to tackle? You bet! Next I want to learn to play drums…..not just one drum…..but an entire set of them. I want to learn to jam out with the best of them. And, I am also eagerly looking forward to taking up metal art….yard art….junk art….or whatever you want to call it. First of all, however, I have to learn to weld. Impossible? I think not. Drive past my house some day in the future…..and I am almost sure that it will be covered with weird metal art……..and from inside my house, you will hear me jamming out on my drums!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Tt is rather strange how I got caught up in this desire to travel.  Back in the “old days”, I really didn’t go anywhere.  I had no desire to.  Then….one day I got a letter from my local selective service board inviting me to become a part of the U.S. Army.  To say that I did not want to go to the Army is vastly understating the situation.  But….this was one of those “command performance” sort of deals.  So….I went.  And….I liked it!

While I was stationed at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, I had a very desirable job.  I was administrative assistant to the commander.  I was happy there….and my boss was happy……and I was also good at my job.

Then one day, I got another invitation…..an invitation to give up my desirable job and go to South Vietnam.  I wanted to decline the “invitation”, but Uncle Sam insisted that I honor the invitation.  So…..I went to South Vietnam.  And…..again…..I liked it.  Again I had a very desirable job.  I was secretary to the Adjutant General of the U. S. Army in Vietnam.  A very good job.  I liked my job…..my boss liked me….and I did a very good job.

While I was in South Vietnam, I was given the opportunity to take several short trips in

Southeast Asia…..Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok…..while some of our airplanes were receiving maintenance.  These places were exciting and fascinating….a world that I had never known before.  And, I liked it.

When I left the Army, I had a wonderful opportunity to return to South Vietnam with an organization called the International Voluntary Services.  After a year of teaching English in a provincial capital called Phan Rang…..I was promoted to the position of Chief of Education.  In this position, I had as many as 72 teachers working under me.  Part of my job was to visit them in their local town and give them support.

I spent three years in this position….and during this three years, I was able to travel to many of the countries in Southeast Asia….Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Taiwan.  There may have been others, but those are the ones that come to mind.

 

It was these experiences that hooked me on travel.  For several years, I limited my travel to places in the U.S.A……mostly the Oregon Coast…..and points in-between.  In fact, I have been to every state west of the Mississippi River……and several to the east, too.

 

 

The next major event in my life was hosting my first foreign exchange student…..a student from Germany.  I made my first trip to Europe in 1995….and I have returned there….mostly to Germany….almost every year since then.  Sometimes more than one time a year.

My first “grand tour” of Europe was in 1995…..in the summer time.  Although I have made return visits to Europe three or four times in the summer, I quickly discovered that traveling in the “off season” is much cheaper.  And for a not-too-well-paid school teacher, that was very important.  For the next several years, most of my trips were made during whatever vacation time we had in the school year…..mostly of the time during cold months with a few summer trips thrown in now and then.  After I retired, I discovered that the month of April is the most ideal month for me to travel.

After a rather long string of rather unsatisfactory “house sitters”……I had a dog….and I also burned wood, at the time…..I almost became reluctant to leave home.  My last wonderful dog, Abby, died in 2004.  And while it was a wrenching experience for me….it left me free to travel almost any time I wanted.  By April, it was warm enough to simply lock the house and take off.

I spent the summer of 1989 working in Yellowstone National Park…..and the summer of 2006 working in Big Bend National Park.  Both of these jobs were interesting and rewarding experiences…..although in vastly different ways.

During my travels, I have seen sites, experienced things and met people that I never even dreamed of before I served in the U.S. Army.  It is one of those blessings in disguise that people talk about, I suppose.  You never know what you are missing until you try it….and I am glad that I tried it.  It is a lot better to be hooked on travel than a lot of other things that I can think of.

An extra added benefit of my travel experiences has been the decision to host a wide variety of foreign travelers, that I met through a couple international hospitality organizations.  Some stay for a couple days…..some for a couple months. I have hosted a strange and exotic bunch of people:  Europeans, Asians, Africans, Americans.  Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims.  And also a couple of communists from China….who laugh at the thought of China ever engaging militarily with the U.S.A.  Not only are they interesting people from whom I have learn much….although I rarely agree with them….but hopefully,they have learned equally as much from me……but I have made some life long friends…..and now I also have a place to stay (for free) in my future travels.

Until now, I have visited twenty-one different countries…..and I hope that I can visit at least that many more in the future.  In my way of looking at things….travel is never time spent unwisely….and is a good investment for the money spent.