Today, September 11, 2011, I am under a rock. Or at least I want to be.

It is very hard to describe why I want to check out today, ten years after the heinous attacks that occurred in New York City, Arlington, Virginia, and who-knows-the-intended-location for the plane that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The local and national media have been droning on and on about the ten year anniversary of these events (it is not one thing — not “9/11”!) I tell ‘ya, I just don’t want any more reminders of that tragic day in America’s history. I truly regret that so many people were killed by senseless acts of terrorism and am sorry for the families and loved-ones of those who died, including the brave rescuers who were trying to save lives but lost their own.

I did not lose anyone in those attacks, yet I was personally affected — permanently. I spent months in New York after the attack there from mid-September, 2001, through the following March providing direct long-term assistance. The personal stories, the sights, and even recollection of the smell (of burnt electrical insulation from the buildings that were destroyed)… all of that haunts me to this day. That is why I plan never to go back to New York City… too many bad memories.

Why do I want to be under a rock today? Mostly to deal with my own memories and observe my own way of recognizing those who died and their families in a respectful way. But that’s it. I do NOT want to see images again of the attacks, the destruction, the buildings on fire or collapsing, or of the people and families affected. It just hurts too much — plus, the media hypes stuff up so much to get ratings that they lose all meaning of what a respectful recognition should be.

I’m done. September 11, 2001, is a date which will live in infamy, even if the rest of the world still calls it 9/11 and forgets about it on 9/12.

Further, another reason that I want to check out today is that my Mom died on September 11, 1998. This date has many bad memories for various reasons, and I would rather remember my Mom’s warm smile, her touch, and her lessons than any darn stuff that the media may be doing.

Life is short: remember those you love, and show them that you love them.

I frequently end this blog with a phrase, “Life is short: show those you love that you love them.” Whether it be familial love, spousal love, sibling love, neighborly love, or friendly love, there are people in your life who you care about, and doing things to demonstrate that you care about them in return is so incredibly important.

Why? Because life is short.
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Man oh man, the ads and the offers keep coming. I’m good about throwing away advertisements that come in the mail — my recycling bin is right by my entry door, so I can easily discard “junk mail” before I enter the house and therefore have less clutter.

But the electronic forms of promoting items is increasingly insidious!

Should I receive unsolicited offers via email, I just delete them — I don’t even open the message. When I visit certain websites, I do not click on links that lead to on-line stores. I may visit those stores on-line sometimes, but only when I am looking for something in particular. I have learned to stop following links and looking around — because that’s how those companies get you to make “impulse buys.” I don’t buy on impulse.

Speaking of having sales resistance — you should observe my partner and me at the grocery store. We have a written list that we follow, and stick to it. We don’t buy anything we see on a shelf or an end-cap (end of aisle display) unless it is specifically on our list (and on sale.)

Should I receive a call on the phone trying to promote some product or service, I take the name and phone number of the caller, then report them as a violation of the U.S. Federal “Do Not Call” list, because companies are prohibited from making “cold calls” (with a few exceptions.) But I certainly do not buy anything that someone tries to sell me on the phone.

Should someone come to the door and knock — if I don’t know them, I don’t answer. And my partner doesn’t even bother to look in the video display to see who it is. He never answers the door or the phone (which when I am at the door or on the phone, his non-response is very annoying!)

And one final but very intrusive gimmick are the ads that are targeted to viewers of some websites. The ad sales read cookies on your computer, then target you for ads related to website that you may have visited in the past. For example, Sheplers (western clothing and boots) comes up in ads on certain other websites that I visit, and a bank that I now detest shows up on another website that I visit. Google ads show up on many YouTube videos… it goes on and on.

I try, as best I can, to reduce the clutter and avoid ads, delete, or discard them. I clear the cookies from my computer daily. But it all boils down to this: don’t click on the links on those ads, because they are indeed enticing, and the active marketing techniques that use high-end technology to target your weaknesses (in my case, boots), are used much more frequently now.

Life is short: have sales resistance!

The winds and rain from Irene visited us Saturday night into Sunday morning. My partner and I were prepared — I’d say, “very prepared,” and weathered the storm safely. We had better be prepared — that’s what I do for a living, and I practice what I preach.

Lots of debris everywhere (leaves, small tree limbs down, etc., but not much else). Fortunately at our home, no trees down. Power on — and I didn’t expect that! It went out sometime overnight, but got restored quickly.

I got a call at 4:30am from a senior pal who was frightened by a tree limb crashing through her bedroom window. I went over there (during a lull in the storm), picked her up and brought her to our house. Her sons arrived at daybreak and we went over to cover the broken window with a tarp and seal it until she can have it repaired by a professional later this week.

It could have been worse. But we’re okay. We will clean up the storm debris later after it dries out a bit here in Maryland. Hopefully, my brother’s flight back to Europe will take off tomorrow as scheduled. His wife has had enough with our hurricanes and earthquakes (smile), and is ready to return to her home. But all is well, quiet, and manageable.

Life is short: be prepared!

As you read this message, we are less than a day away from a hit by a tropical system. We are prepared at home, and throughout the day today, my brother and I are visiting my senior pals and helping them bring things indoors that may become wind-blown debris, pick up refills of prescription meds that they may need, make sure they have flashlights, a battery-powered radio, and extra batteries, and help them fill voids (empty spaces) in their refrigerators and freezers. Doing that helps keep foods fresher and colder longer if the power goes out.

We are helping our elderly and disabled friends and neighbors prepare and do things that they cannot do for themselves. It will be a busy day!

Thank goodness we do not have to go to a grocery or building supplies store. Those places are crazy-busy, being overwhelmed by who I call “the woefully unprepared who just woke up and are overreacting.” Happens every time, with every event. Everywhere.

I am now entrusting blogger to “go on automatic” and post a new blog post every day until I get back. I’m not going anywhere, but we probably will lose power and internet connectivity. Though we have a generator, it only operates essentials and the internet isn’t “essential.” We’ll survive. I’ll update you on how we fared after the storm passes and when our power and internet service are working again.

Wish us well.

Life is short: be safe.

Yes, an earthquake happened yesterday. It was epicentered in Mineral, Virginia (about 90 miles south of DC), and the shaking was felt as far south as Georgia and as far north as New England. What you see in the photo above is the visible earthquake “damage” in my home — Guido was knocked off his (replica Harley) motorcycle. That’s it. No.big.deal. But from the reactions related in news stories, one would think that Armageddon happened. Oh brother….

I felt it. I was in my high-rise office building in the downtown of my hometown in Maryland. Immediately when I felt the floor shaking and then rolling (literally), I yelled, “earthquake! Drop, Cover, and Hold On!” — then dropped under my desk, grabbed the back of my head, and waited. The slow, undulating rolling of the quake lasted for about 15 seconds.

After the shaking was over, I got out from under my desk and, like most others, gathered with my colleagues to verify, “was that really an earthquake?” None of them did the “drop-cover-hold on” procedure, but none of them have experienced an actual earthquake as I have in other parts of the U.S. (California, Alaska, Hawaii) and the world (Italy, Japan, Turkey).

Then to both my bemusement and dismay, the fire alarm went off and we were all told to evacuate. Down the stairs we went, and gathered across the street in a parking lot. A half-hour waiting in the strong sunshine, then we were told to gather our personal belongings and go home.

I didn’t even bother to return to my building. I just walked to where my Harley was parked and joined the long queue to leave the garage, then crawl home. What a nightmare — everyone was leaving at the same time. I think I was slightly ahead of the curve, and was on the road home before the majority of others. Most everyone in DC was evacuated and sent home, so traffic gridlocked for hours. Thank goodness my partner was at home instead of at his office in downtown DC. He did as I have instructed and as we practiced. He dropped, covered, and held on, too.

What a friggin’ disaster. People should have stayed put and waited to leave in a staged, orderly manner. Trouble is, security types in DC are conditioned and trained in their responses to expect that when buildings shake, it’s due to something like an airplane or vehicle crashing into it — shades of memories (and subsequent over-reaction training) from September 11, 2001. (Please don’t call it “9/11”. Thanks.) So everyone was evacuated and told to leave. Not the right response to an earthquake, but their heart was in the right place.

It’s just crazy in DC when anything happens — even what my world-class mentor in disaster work called it, “an earthquake of no significance.”

I just love DC. Hot air, media hype, and craziness. Welcome to my world.

Life is short: be calm. Drop, cover, hold on. If you can’t do that, then just stay home.

The other day, I went to a strip shopping center to go to the drugstore to pick up a prescription for a senior pal.  It was busy; I had to park quite a ways away from the drugstore. The walk to the store took me by a Starbucks.

Oh-my-gosh… all the men there had on shorts with the most ugly footwear ever made — mostly flip-flops, some upper-end sandals (that they buy for the name), and even crocs. On men!  Blimey!

Two guys had on sneakers, but that was it…

I didn’t expect to see any guys in boots, and I guess in summer’s heat, what could I expect? And being SB’s typical clientele — more than half of them were fidgiting with hand-held gadgets, texting away. Oh, fiddle-faddle.

I tell ‘ya, it was u-g-l-y. When I left the drugstore, I took a longer, more circuitous route so I didn’t have to pass that place on my return to where I parked my Harley.

Blecchhh… I don’t like Starbucks anyway. Not being a coffee-drinker, they never appealed to me.  Plus, I just can’t fathom paying US$5.00 for some sugary frothy latte-this or smoothie-that. Yuck.

I never was cut out to be a yuppie.

Life is short:  avoid unbootedness.

I have always liked the word, “cacophony.” It is so descriptive! The dictionary definition is, “harsh discordance of sound; dissonance.”

My mother-in-law is visiting this week. Sweet old lady, but she has absolutely no table manners at all. And I’m afraid that when my partner spends time with her, his table manners fly out the window. This is what drives me most crazy about my M-I-L: her total lack of table manners. Honestly, I have heard pigs at a trough sound less noisy when eating.

Oh well, another visit in the books. We survived.

Thankfully, as you read this, my partner is taking his Mom back to her home in da ‘burgh. I look forward to a peaceful weekend. I’m afraid, though, when my partner returns on Sunday, I will have to retrain table manners. Oh well, this happens every year. I’m not surprised.

Life is short: eat with utensils and chew with your mouth closed. Please!

Wishing my fellow residents of the U.S. a Happy Independence Day!

This morning, I will observe two friends be sworn in as our country’s newest citizens. I helped coach them through the arduous citizenship process. They earned this special moment, and I am thrilled for their accomplishment! Once again, we’ll be at a ceremony at the birthplace of the U.S. National Anthem, Ft. McHenry, near Baltimore, Maryland.

After that, I’ll head back home and feed my partner lunch. Then I’ll drop in at my brother’s home as I always do on July 4 to have some Maryland steamed crabs. Um-um! I won’t stay long, though, because my partner will not go with me, and I don’t want to be away from him too long. I’ll bring him back some crabs, which he likes as much as I do.

In the evening, we’ll relax in our cool, comfortable basement, and watch fireworks and concerts on television. Yeah … TV. My partner doesn’t want to go out, and I can’t stand the hassles. It’s no fun any more with all the security garbage in place that wasn’t there when I was a kid. Plus, we can see it better on TV than in person.

Happy 235th birthday, America!

I almost titled this, “I live a less-wired life,” but then I realized that at home, my computers are all connected wirelessly through a super-secure internal network. Regardless, I realize that I am among a dying breed: those who deliberately choose to “turn off and tune out” often.

Here are examples of the less-connected life I lead:

1. While I do have a cell phone, and it came with a feature allowing connectivity to the Internet, I have blocked that feature. I really don’t need it, don’t use it, and don’t want to pay for it. (I know how it works because at one point in my life, I had a Blackberry that was web-enabled. The slight convenience that I had with it wasn’t worth paying US$45/month [including taxes] for the data package that supported that feature.)

2. I do not receive text messages nor send text messages. Texting is, to me, something like an Instant Messaging system. There are expectations that if someone sends a text message to me that I should reply quickly. I have other things to do.

3. I do not have an i-phone or i-pad, a Droid, or a whatever-the-latest-gadget is. I don’t need or want one. While as a kid, I always loved a new toy, I find as a middle-aged man, I am not that interested. Sure, those things can do a lot of things, but I manage to do what can be done electronically using other resources.

4. I use a computer almost all day for my job. My desire to use more computer resources outside of work isn’t there. Last thing I want to do is spend more time on a computer. (Let me make it clear, I only use my work computer for work-related things, and don’t fiddle around surfing the ‘net, playing with Facebook, etc., while I’m on the clock. My work ethic won’t let me do that.)

I did not say that I am completely disconnected. Far from it. I’m just “less connected.” I have a traditional desktop computer and a laptop that I travel with. My partner has a desktop computer, too. When we do things on the Internet, we use one of these computers. I update my website, write this blog, check and respond to email, and so forth from home. But I strictly limit my hours on the home computer — about 1.5 hours/day, at most. Often, less than that.

If someone sends me an email after my dinner hour, I will see it the next morning and reply then. I choose to sign off and shut down the computer before dinner, then prepare our home-cooked meal. After that, I either go to a meeting in the community or stay home and sit with my partner to do what he wants to do (watch TV, read together, play the piano, or relax in our back yard.)

And you know what? The sun rises the next day and the world begins anew. Life goes on, even if one isn’t connected to the internet 24/7. It’s refreshing, relaxing, and better for the mind.

Life is short: turn off, tune out, and relax.