Alaskan Cruise 2010

I'm well behind the 8-ball.  Months ago, I was to have logged my memories of our Alaskan cruise from this past summer.  Epic fail.  How do I make up for it?  Do it as a blog!  Two birds with one stone....

First, an extremely sincere thank you is due for my father-in-law and mother-in-law.  They were generous enough to take the WHOLE family, kids and all, on a 2-week Alaskan cruise, airfare and hotel included.  Denise and I, and for sure the kids, had a blast and created a lifetime full of memories.

We were given the itinerary as a surprise last Christmas.  Thank goodness, because it gave us several months to plan for the trip, and we needed it!  After all, getting a family of 5, including 3 young children, ready and packed for a 2-week trip to Alaska takes a bit of planning.  We bought clothing, luggage, supplies...and some sanity for the trip.

We flew out of DFW on American Airlines.  It was the boys' first plane ride, and they were in such anticipation, they were just pacing in grandma's house waiting for the shuttle.  Of course, the shuttle ran into construction, and lo and behold, we nearly had to do the airport-dash to get to the plane on time.  DFW has so many entrance gates, though, that I just knew it should be a short line to get in.  WRONG.  We got in line behind an entire youth group that had just gotten there!  The nice ladies at the ticket area saw our plight and ushered us ahead and right through....and the plane started boarding almost as soon as we got to the gate!  The flight was flawless, the kids had a blast, and we got to see some amazing scenery when we began to descend into Seattle...lots of mountains and even Mt. St. Helen's volcano!

We flew in a day early and got to see the Seattle sights the next day.  Downtown was really neat, the space needle was amazing, Pike's market was a blast, and the duck tour (the WWII era water-land craft) was great!  The kids loved driving through the city, THEN driving directly into the lake!



 

The next day, we shuttled to the pier, and boarded our AMAZING ship!  We sailed on Holland American Lines, and our ship was the Amserdam.  The security area was pretty crowded and a little chaotic on the entrance, but once we got on the ship, the kids fed, and found our way to our rooms, we settled right in.  Another thank you to the in-laws for the larger state-room with a balcony!!  The balcony would pay off later in the cruise....stay tuned for that.........

Detailing every memory would create a near-unreadable blog, so I'll hit my favorites.  Every port had something just a bit different and unique, and each was worth the stop.  Our first port was Ketchican, an early gold rush town.  We saw a great lumberjack show, then saw Creek Street...which was just that, a walkable street that was built on top of a salmon creek....for you see, the way the law was back then, any "area" above "water" could not be monitored for prostitution!  Probably my favorite port was Homer.  Here, Denise and I went on a guided kayak tour into the sea bay and connecting fjord.  There were mountains rising on all sides, bald eagles flying about, cool breezes....just an amazing shore excursion!  Our guide, Steve, was later spotted giving the same tour to Sarah Palin on her Alaska TV show.....cooooooool.



In Skagway, it was the railway that took us up the old goldrush trail.  Talk about scenery!  How they built that railway is a miracle, what with the hairpin turns cut right into the mountain-side.  In some areas, you could still see the old walkway trail, with broken wagons and tools still littering the area.  And of course, the graveyard of those that built the railway was still there.  We also walked about Skagway's village, and found me some salmon jerkey....yum.  Sitka housed the raptor rescue center....you guessed it, the most majestic-looking creatures up close and personal....bald eagles!  We got to see them up close, as they were rehabed from injuries, and one was brought live into our room!



Juneau was the boys' favorite....whale watching....and whale watching we did!  The boat drivers knew exactly where they were feeding, and we saw a myriad of whales!  The put on quite a show, up close and personal.  I'm not sure why they say it is good luck to get sprayed by a whale, cause that stuff stinks!  One whale even rolled up on its side and flapped its flipper at us...then came all the way out of the water to see US.  What beautiful creatures....why anyone would want to hunt them is beyond me, but that's another blog.

I must also mention Glacier Bay National Park.  Sailing through an ice field up to glaciers and scenery galore was amazing.  We got to see ice falling from the glaciers, seals swimming about, mountains and forests.  Just beautiful....and COLD!

On the ship was just as fun.  My wife dragged me kicking and screaming to a bingo match....where I promptly won $1,200 dollars!  Otherwise, the casino enjoyed taking my money (my usual luck at 3-card poker was absent!!).  The nightly musical shows were well-choreographed and the singers very talented.  My favorite show was the ventriloquist, who just happened to find the lone Kentucky hick-redneck on the entire ship and get him up on stage for a little embarassment!  And of course, there was the food.  I ate my weight in crab and seafood, I think.  The formal dinners were so much fun, especially for Cameron.  He had such a good time ordering the fancy food from the big menu......and even got to ask the waiter for more crab legs and chevice' along with his lobster bisque!

One of the best features was Club Hal.  It was daily kid care that allowed us to go be adults when we wanted.  They had daily activities for the kids, Wii and XBox consoles, and a great staff of young women that took excellent care of our children for us.  The kids still talk about the friends they made at Club Hal.

Oh, the balcony.  We had spent many hours on the balcony enjoying the scenery, especially in the narrow pass.  But nothing compared to the end of the cruise, when we got to see porpoises and whales galore one last time!  One even did the jump out of the water for us....we later learned it is called bubble feeding.

All in all, it was the vacation of a lifetime.  To get to share that with our young children was worth any minor stressors of traveling that far and long with kids.  It is my sincere hope to go back to Alaska again, it was an amazing state to visit.

Hire Jason Garrett Now

I know, I know.  It is only one game.  But I am going on blog-record now and saying it.

Jerry Jones needs to remove the Interim label, and hire Jason Garrett as the permanent Head Coach of the
Dallas Cowboys, and now!

Madness, you say?  Too early to judge?  Let him succeed or fail first?  We should hire a big-name Super Bowl winning coach?  Jon has finally lost his football cracker??  Nope, nope, nope, nope, and NOPE!
And here's why.

First, consider recent Super Bowl winning coaches.  How did Jimmy Johnson's stint in Miami wind up?  Did Bill Parcels win another trophy in Dallas?  How about George Siefert, Mike Ditka, or the second coming of Joe Gibbs to the hated Redskins?  Nope, not a one of them won another Super Bowl with their new teams.  Heck, they did not come close.  What causes us to believe Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher, Brian Billick, or Tony Dungy would not suffer the same fate as these retreads?  Oh sure, these four can coach, but so could all the others who failed to win the big one again.

Then consider recent successful coaches.  They are a new breed of recently-promoted assistants and first-timers that are hitting it big time.  The guys that know who to baby and who to baby-sit.  Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin have won Super Bowls, and guys like Rex Ryan, Steve Spagnulo, Mike Smith, and Mike McCarthy are all coaching playoff-contenting teams.

Nope, recent history says hiring the big-name coach won't do it by itself, in fact, just the opposite might be true.  Sure, not every assistant will hit it big time (evidenced by Dave Campo), but they have had more success than recent retreads by a mile.

So next, let's look at why Wade Phillips was such an epic fail.  No structure.  No accountability.  No discipline.  No meaningful preparation.  Too soft.  Too relaxed.  Too laid-back.  And how does Jason Garrett remedy that without going too far and micromanaging (a la Bill Parcels)?  Nothing drastic, just a few basic changes to get the blood flowing, to instill a sense of personal responsibility.  Changing the practice times, check.  Traveling in coat and tie, check.  Faster pace and pads in practice, check.  No lolly-gagging between drills, i.e. you run, check.  Being great in pre-game prep, check.  Finding that balance of situational leadership, where some players need structure and others are mature enough to be responsible for themselves, check.  All of it culminating in a win??  Check-mate.  Clearly, Jason is already changing the mentality from prima donnas who do what they want, to a team playing and practicing hard for each other, that has pride in what they do and do it to the best of their ability.  He's been with this team long enough to know who he can be buddies with, and who needs a good swift kick.  He's already doing it.  Good start.

And final point to consider, Jason was part of the Dallas Cowboys when they last won a Super Bowl.  He's been there, seen how to win one first hand, from the sidelines, knows what it means to do it as a Dallas Cowboy and handle that added stress.  And the beauty of him being the 3rd stringer back then means he got to witness it all, soak it all in, think and learn.  He's no dummy, being a Princeton grad and all...clearly, he's smarter than the average football player.  I am willing to bet he spent every waking second listening, learning, internalizing what he would do in the same situations, debating what calls he would make, storing away how he will take the successes he's been apart of and turn them into another Super Bowl winning team when he gets his shot at coaching.  Make no mistake, he's been preparing for just this moment his whole football career, and being part of Super Bowl winning teams has prepared him.  He's ready.

But don't take my word for it, check out what Michael Irvin, his teammate, has to say about this:  "I know Jason Garrett got to where Jason Garrett got to with hard work on the football field. I know he understands what it takes on the football field - on the football field Jason Garrett knows what it takes. He wears a ring on his finger that says, 'I know, I was here.' All Jason has to do is implement what he saw, then get rid of what they are doing now, period - period.  If I'm Jason, I'm saying to these guys, 'Guys I'm going back to what I know worked then. We are going back to practicing like I know how to practice. We are going back to paying attention to the details and practice like I know how we used to do it and it earned us Super Bowls. And I think guys will receive that because they are looking for guidance and understanding, too."

Change has begun in Dallas Cowboy land.  Jason is instrumenting that change.  He deserves the opportunity beyond this year to implement it and see what happens.  He has the tools, the talent, the smarts, the experience, and now he has the chance.  Hire Jason Garrett....NOW.

The Rudest Person in a Long While

There are few things as sobering as seeing a deceased person.  Add the elements of being a Sheriff's deputy, still in uniform, just killed by a suspected drunk driver, and you have something even more sobering.

For those in the Lubbock area, you may recall the death of deputy Tommy Lamkin about a week back.  He was on his way home after his overnight shift at the new county jail.  According to his co-workers, when he left shift, he was in a great mood....he had just gotten his family vacation approved and was excited to get home and share that with his wife.

But he did not get the chance.  He was hit almost head-on on the highway when a driver, already with a felony DWI due to her 3rd conviction on her record, crossed the median, BAC estimated at 3X the legal limit, and ended his life.  Allegedly, of course.  At the posting of this blog, she is in jail on a murder warrant....gotta love Texas law, while in the course of committing a felony and you cause the death of someone, we are talking murder in this great state!

Aside from her day in court, the focus should be on Tommy and his family.

The scene was a mess, and we were forced to shut down both sides of the highway to properly secure and process the crime scene as well as ensure the clean up.  The unfortunate side effect is it caused a significant traffic flow problem, as everything had to exit and re-enter the highway further down the road.  There was simply nothing we could do to avoid that.

And this is the moment when I almost got to meet the rudest and most insensitive person I've had the chance to encounter in quite some time.

While all the officers were busy, processing and collecting evidence, mapping the scene, ensuring Tommy's body was being properly taken care of, ensuring everything was in order for the pending criminal trial, every officer on the scene heard him....somewhere in the line of cars slowly exiting behind us:

"WHAT THE HELL IS TAKING SO LONG????"

We all whipped around as soon as we heard the shout, scanning the line of cars, looking for the guilty party.  Alas, we could not identify the shouter and the cars slowly continued to exit.  What a shame, because had the guilty party been identified, I would have been more than happy to answer his question.

So, since I could not answer it at the time, since he did not have the courage to stay around and await my answer, here is exactly what I would have told him:

"Pardon me, sir.  I must apologize that we are in your way.  I have no doubt that whatever you have to do at this very moment surely trumps the life that was just snuffed out here.  I am so sorry that our duty of processing the scene while keeping you safe and ensuring that the alleged criminal that just killed someone, just killed a Sheriff's deputy, just ensured that his wife and two children will not see him on this earth again, is put in jail for a very long time to keep you and the public safe, which is thus interfering with your commute and interfering with your life.  What is taking so long is we must be meticulous in cases like this and ensure we have every element of the crime satisfied...otherwise, the alleged drunk driver might not be convicted and Tommy's family will not have justice, and you will have another habitual drunk driver endangering you and your family.  We also must take care with his body....you see, he is still in that mangled pickup over there, and I suppose I must apologize for that as well.  So, on behalf of Tommy's family, I simply apologize that we are in your way...that our duty and striving for justice is interfering with your day.  Please go forth and have a blessed day, sir."

At least, that's what I would have meant to say.  Perhaps it would not have been quite as artful, and the language may have changed just a tad....however rest assured, it would all have been relayed in some form or another.

What a shame the rudest, most cowardly person I've encountered in many years did not stick around to hear my answer.  It was a good one, I think.

God bless your family, Tommy, and find rest and peace.

An Election Wave

I'm stunned.

The dust has barely settled and some of the races are still being decided, but just a few hours after all the polls have closed, clearly an election wave has occurred.  It has swept the Republicans back into power in the House of Representatives by a wide margin as they have gained well over 60 seats, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been fired.  A swing that large has not happened in a few generations.  In a normal mid-term election, 3 Senate seats on average change hands; this time, the Republicans gained 6 and nearly ousted a sitting Majority Leader.  And in governorships, add 7 to the GOP column in a redistricting year.  The state and local races have also seen Republican gains and sweeps across the board.

Clearly, America had something to say in this election.  To analyze what we said, examine a few recent quotes from our elected leaders.

"The question I'm going to ask myself and I ask of all of you, is there enough serious effort that in a month's time or a few week's time or six weeks' time, we could actually resolve something. And if we can't, we've got to go ahead and make some decisions, and then that's what elections are for.”  -President Obama

President Obama made this statement near the end of the health care summit.  Little did he know that it would have serious overtones for the future.  America has by and large rejected his signature legislative accomplishment in Obamacare.  By wide margins, we cringed at the process that jammed this unpopular piece of legislation down our throats and have steadily said repeal and replace it.  So, he was right, this what elections are for....and clearly, he misread or did not listen to the American people on health care reform.

"But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."  -Speaker Pelosi

Oh, pardon me, that would be former Speaker Pelosi......

Another health care quote, however this one has a more far-reaching and open-ended meaning.  This quote, to me, shows the pure hubris and ego that America can't stand in politics...and politicians that do little else but talk down to us.  We, the American people, should know or be given the opportunity to read for ourselves what is in every bill before it becomes law.  Even more importantly, we expect our elected representatives to know what they are voting on.  Clearly, in the Obamacare and stimulus bills, they did not.  We don't like that, or the ego that is implicit in this quote.  We don't need "Nanny" Pelosi or any other government official telling us what is best for us....to simply shut up and take our medicine.  Perhaps a bit more listening and a bit less preaching would have served the former speaker better.

"We've got to learn to explain and communicate what we've done a lot more clearly." -PA Governor Ed Rendell

I will hedge a bit on Ed.  I respect Ed's willingness to clearly define what liberal values and government are about.  He is at least willing to have a civil bipartisan exchange of ideas.  However, this quote quite nicely sums things up for the Dems.  You see, the Democrats in charge did not miscommunicate, they mis-legislated.  A pig with lipstick is still a pig, regardless how beautiful you describe it to be.  Turns out Obama's election was not the sweeping liberal mandate the Democrats wanted, and as a result, the Dems completely overreached and flat refused to listen to us.  No, Governor Rendell and company, you did not get the message wrong, you got the policy wrong.  No, Ms. Pelosi, the Tea Party Movement is not astroturf, it is real and just ran you over.  No, Mr. President, the American people are not your enemies, we are patriots for standing up and saying "no more."

So, we have seen an election wave in 2010.  And with that wave, the American voice can be summed up with one word:  WHOA!  We did not vote for all this government, all this wasted "stimulus", all this ego in our politicians.  Mr. President, time to stop and change course, and we are watching to see if you finally listened.

With my small blog, I can only encourage the Republicans to remember that what is past is prologue.  By that, do not misinterpret this as a mandate, this is a chance to show you have learned your lessons and are now listening to us....this is a check-and-balance on too much government.  Use it wisely, do not overreach and overspend, be sure to cut taxes and spending, allow our free enterprise and markets to work, and above all listen to the American people....because that wave can always flow the other direction.