Single handed

 I was 11 years old when I read Joshua Slocum’s “Sailing Around the World Alone”. I’ve read it at least 5 times since. I like to sail alone too. I’d like to sail around the world but it’s too late, at least I think it is.

Webb Chiles has sailed around the world 6 times, alone. One circumnavigation he didn’t finish, he quit in the Canary Islands. Chiles made that trip in an open 18 foot boat, San Diego to New Zealand to Africa to the Red Sea. Chiles was arrested in Saudi Arabia for being a “spy”. He spent two weeks in jail and his boat was confiscated. He got a new one and continued his trip only to have it end in the Canaries.

Later Chiles and his wife Jill left New Zealand, sailed around Cape Horn and up the South American coast to Montevideo, Uruguay. They continued on to Key West.  

In Key West Jill left him. Chiles continued his trip alone.

Off Fort Lauderdale, he made a decision. He opened the sea cocks on his 37 foot boat and sailed it until it sunk. At the last moment Chiles stepped off the boat and into the Gulf Stream wearing a tee shirt and shorts. He had committed himself to dying at sea. He took off his glasses. He unstrapped his watch and let it go into the water. It was 11 at night. The next morning he was still treading water. He made another decision, he started to swim, he swam all day and all night. 26 hours and 125 miles north of Fort Lauderdale he was rescued by two young fishermen.

Since then Chiles has married his 6^th wife and circumnavigated once again in a Moore 24.

Webb Chiles is almost 75 years old, he listens to classical music, reads and enjoys his daily drink of scotch from a crystal high ball glass, whether ashore or at sea.

Chiles writes…

“Old men should be explorers.”  I first read that in a book by Jan de Hartog, but subsequently came across it in T. S. Eliot’s FOUR QUARTETS, which predates Hartog by several decades.”

A life well lived.

Deep Shit, a transition recap...

We are a day away from Donald J. Trump becoming the 45^th President of the United States of America. Here is how the Make America Great Again team is doing so far..

Billionaire Betsy DeVos the nominee for Education Secretary has donated money to 10 of the 12 Republicans on the committee tasked to vet her for the job. That, not to mention she doesn’t know jack shit about education.

Dimwitted ex-Texas Governor Rick Perry, the guy who wanted to eliminate the Energy Department, will be replacing this guy, Ernest J. Moniz, who was chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics department and directed the linear accelerator at M.I.T.’s Laboratory for Nuclear Science. Before Mr. Moniz, the job belonged to Steven Chu, a physicist who won a Nobel Prize. Mr. Perry didn’t know that the Energy department is responsible for the maintenance and up grading of our nuclear arsenal. Perry thought he was going to be, in his words, “Ambassador of Oil and Gas.”

Health and Human Serves nominee Congressman Dr. Tom Price of Georgia has admitted to charges of insider trading on the stock of a medical device manufacturer.

I could go on and on but all you really need to know is this. Overall, out of 690 positions requiring Senate confirmation tracked by the Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service, Trump has come up with only 28 people so far.

This is not normal, this is not the way things work. This is not draining the swamp.

The Obama administration has prepared thousands of briefing papers for the new administration; Team Trump has not acknowledged their receipt. This is not normal or in the best interests of our country.

Trump is taking the weekend off after he’s sworn in, he’ll probably go to Mar a Lago or back to Trump Tower after showing up at a few parties. He says he’ll get to work on Monday. What if something happens?

This is not normal, this not the way things work, this is not draining the swamp and this is not “Make(ing) America Great” again.

Remember the hullabaloo about Hillary giving speeches to Goldman Sachs executives? It was an OMG situation. Bill O’Reilly looked like he was going to stroke out. Bill doesn’t seem the least bit concerned that 6 Goldman Sachs executives have joined the new Trump administration…6 of the bastards.

We are in deep shit kids…

Lunch at the Garden Club with Milt....

At the first of our lunches, I ate my clam chowder and listened to Milt, here's some of what he said.

"For so many years the league and the teams ignored American plyers, living here I went to a lot of college games and I knew there were American kids who could play in the NHL."

"I was 17, lived in a boarding house in Brookline, took the trolley to the Garden for practice. Wore a suit, a white shirt and tie everyday."

"The big road trip was out to Chicago on the train. On the way back we'd play the Wings and the Leafs. Sometimes we'd play Montreal too, then back to Boston."

"6 teams, 48 game season, played each other 8 times a year, 4 and 4."

"Montreal, it was always Montreal, still is isn't it?"

"We played a lot of cards on the train."

"I think Frankie Brimsek was the first American I had as a team mate. Frankie was a great goal tender. When he came up from the Reds in in 38-39 he had 6 shut outs in his first 7 games, if I remember correctly there were 3 or 4 players that made the NFL from Eveleth at that time."

Milt was the center on the Bruins' "Kraut Line" with wingers Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart. All three of them grew up together in Kitchener, Ontario. They won two Stanley Cups together, After winning the cup in 40-41 they all joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served for the duration of WWII.

"Woody, Bobby and I finished 1-2-3 in scoring in 39 and we won the Stanley Cup. The Bruins wanted to cut our salaries from $4100 to $3700 for the next season."

I was introduced to Milt Schmidt in 1979. Milt died the other day at 98, the oldest living NHL player. Milt was the only player to Captain his team, coach his team and become the General Manager of his team. Milt had an incredible career,

Stanley Cup champion - all with Boston (1939 and 1941 as a player), (1970 and 1972 as general manager)

Finished his career with 229 goals and 346 assists for 575 points in 776 games.

At the time of his retirement, was fourth in NHL history in points scored and third in assists.

Named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1940, 1947 and 1951.

Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1952.

Played in NHL All-Star Game in 1947, 1948, 1951 and 1952.

Won the Lester Patrick Trophy for contributions to hockey in 1996.

Was the last active NHL player who played during the 1930s.

In 1998, he was ranked number 27 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Won the Hart Trophy in 1951

NHL Scoring Champion in 1940

Milt was one of the two greatest Bruins of all time. Milt said the greatest is Bobby Orr, Bobby says the greatest is Milt.

Here they are being honored at a Bruins game, the 80th anniversary of Milt becoming a Bruin and Bobby's 50th. (Milt first noticed Bobby when he was 12 and took a personal interest in his development as a young player)

I cherish the time I spent with Milt, I know you're skating again like you did when you were a 17 year old kid with the Bruins. It was an honor to get to know you.

Wide Awake at 2:30

 It cold in SoCal, in the 40’s, when the sun goes down it gets cold fast. I feel the cold more because of the damned warfarin I take every day, blood thinner makes you feel cold. Cold enough to build a fire in the wood stove then warm enough to fall asleep on the sofa a little past ten and wake up at 2 in the morning.

A few minutes ago I read about the big winter storm in the midwest and the northeast. In quick succession I thought about the night in Cambridge when the January wind was blowing so damn hard the hanging traffic signal over Memorial Drive was sticking straight out, the storm when I was a kid when the intersection of highway 2 and 81 was so deep in snow the traffic signal was laying on its side, the buried traffic signal in the Back Bay, it’s lights showing “Walk-Don’t Walk” through the snow bank. Not that anyone in Boston pays attention to traffic signals, buried in snow or not.

When I tell my SoCal friends about winter storms their eyes bug out and jaws go slack, just like mine do when they tell me about the Northridge Earthquake. We’ve all bumped up against some shit a time or two.

Coldest I’ve ever been was a night on a sailboat crossing from Florida to the Bahamas in a Northeast gale, 20-25 foot seas and winds gusting to 55 knots, I don’t know what the air temperature was during the crossing, but I had on fleece longies, a heavy fleece jacket and full foul weather gear and I was still freezing my ass of while driving the boat, it was a long night. It was 33 degrees in West End, coldest it had been in the Bahamas in almost 100 years. You haven't lived until you're served a drink at an out door bar in Freeport by a bartender in a red ski jacket and gloves.Two days later it was in the high 70’s and not a breath of wind. We motored back to Florida.

I went out with the dog a few minutes ago, we both peed up against a tree, usually he likes to sniff around, not tonight. Anze trotted right back to the door while I zipped up. It’s windy outside, maybe 10-15kts, the oaks are moving around pretty good.

I’m going to Topanga in the morning and get a load of stove wood, then I’m going to clear out the washes, move some pots around for Cakes. Moving pots sounds easy, not these, the pots are huge, cast concrete bastards. They were cast years ago for the grounds of the Beverley Hills Hotel and somehow they ended up in our yard. I also need to get a pin for the latch on the front gate and I just noticed we’re out of orange juice.

To hell with this, I’m going to grab my Kindle and try to finish Paul Beatty’s “The Sellout” hopefully I’ll fall back asleep…

Observations from a Blue State

Two guys waiting to pick up their cars from service:

Guy 1: “If a cop arrests you, you’re guilty of something.”

Guy 2. “Shouldn’t waste money on trials, let the cops take care of it right there.”

Guy 1. “It’s the fucking lawyers.”

Guy 2. “When they go to trial they always get off.”

Guy 1. “Trump will take care of that.”

After Tuesday’s election it feels like just under half of Americans would be willing to toss the constitution to allay their perceived fears.

Trump has made it okay to go beyond the normal conservative dog whistles, check out what happened in schools the day after the elections. Jr. High kids taunting Latino kids telling them to go back to where they came from,

Football games now featuring racial chants

“Niggers get out” spray painted in school bathrooms.

Will we have open season on anyone who is perceived as not American and you can read that as white American.

I am sick and tired of hearing about how tough things are in parts of America, no jobs, no money. I get that it’s tough to have a factory move to a non-union state (that’s where most of the jobs have gone) or overseas. I understand that. What I don’t understand is why, the whiny little bitches, don’t do something about it.

Being a coal miner has always sucked, it has been a nasty, dangerous job since the first mine was dug. What I don’t get is why the miners blame the government for their plight. The mine operators are the culprits, google Don Blankenship when you get a moment, he’s a piece of work. If I was a miner in West Virginia I’d burn his hilltop mansion down. The government is trying to protect them from the mine owner who could care if you lived or died.

Coal is not coming back, no matter what Trump says. Do they believe we’ll have steam locomotives and coal burning furnaces again?

Michigan went for Trump, he got the union vote. Do they believe he’d have done the auto industry bailout that President Obama did? GM and Chrysler are alive and thriving today (and they paid back the money) because of the loans. He wouldn’t have.

Check out the great economic miracle in Kansas, slash taxes, slash the budgets on everything that makes life worthwhile…Kansas is a large pile of horseshit and Republicans still believe there is a pony in there somewhere. Sorry it’s just a pile of horseshit.

Compare Republican Wisconsin to Liberal Minnesota, they share a border. Minnesota is on fire economically, Wisconsin is on a downward spiral.

Why don’t these angry voters take a look at their state and compare it to the thriving “Blue” states and note the differences? Do you know what the difference is? The “Blue” states don’t have wingnuts running them. They don’t have politicians play the race card and turning the citizens into them and us adversaries.

Value voters in the south would be amazed at the difference in the divorce rate between Massachusetts and Mississippi. (Mass has the lowest in the nation) The difference in the teen pregnancy rates in states with solid, science based sex education compared to states with mumbo-jumbo sex ed is amazing.

I could go on, but I’m tired of conservatives, evangelicals, right to lifers, trickle-down economics, misogyny, racists and ignorance.

You have your country back for the next for years and whatever happens it’s all on you and we’ll have to fix it again. When we do, I’d like you to shut the fuck up and get to work on yourself.

So little time…

I worked 205 hours in October When I get home and I’m completely burned out, I think about writing, I still have things to say, stories to tell. No time, I  can’t get it done.

My reading has gone to hell. I last 5 minutes with a book before I fall asleep, I nod off during the news, I pass out on the sofa watching a movie. I don’t feel like cooking anymore. I see bits and pieces of football. I almost fell asleep last night during the last inning of the World Series. How did that happen?

I don’t know how I feel about this change in my life? I miss my time with books and words. I miss my time to think and ponder.

Then again, I feel more alive now, I like the BS banter with my co-workers. I like my clients.  I like the transactional aspect of selling. I like choosing my words, I like moving a client towards the right purchase. I like the satisfaction of closing a deal, I like a happy client.

I like the diversity of our clientele, hell I like the diversity of California. One thing I’ve known n it all my life is, you can’t assume anything about anybody. You have to take the time to get to know them. Appearance, skin color, surnames mean nothing. I have black clients, white clients and Latin clients, Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern clients. They are interesting, they have their own stories and they all have unique wants, needs and desires. That said they are all more alike than different. They all want to be treated with respect and honesty. I do that every day.

Our little store is a microcosm of our country, a slice of America. So whenever I get tired, cranky. I reflect that on most days, long as they are, I see the best of us. I see the things we all have in common. Those things are much more important than the things we perceive as our differences.  

My Journey…

"8 and a half by 11"

Kurt Vonnegut (I truly love the brilliant bastard) once wrote “writers focus on an 8 and half by 11 sheet of paper to attempt to make sense out of chaos.”

Writers try contain the chaos on that one sheet, to bring some order to their world, the world. To contain the disorder.

I think therapy is the same as Vonnegut’s sheet of paper, an attempt to bring order to chaos…

A friend of mine told me a week or two ago that I was being too hard on myself, that I was beating myself up. He didn’t understand the chaos in my head. How the hell can you explain it? How can you get anyone to understand anything that is so personal, so hidden inside yourself that it only exposes its self to you and you alone. The fear, the self-doubt, the anger, the frustration, exposing it’s self from time to time in only the most inappropriate ways.

All the sessions with Erica taught me one important thing, “if behavior is inappropriate, you have to stop doing it”. She related it to drinking. The only way a person addicted to alcohol (or drugs) can begin to recover is to stop drinking. Stopping is only the first step on the long road to recovery.

If your behavior causes problems, take a long hard look at the behavior and get rid of your bullshit. Be honest, be true. Get your chaos under control, get it on that 8 and a half by 11 sheet of paper.

When you finally do, it looks pretty damn small in the complete context of your life.