Experiment

Ok. today, I'm adding DISQUS to this blog. since I write little and have even fewer comments, I'm not sure this does much. But I'd like to see what happens. Maybe I'll write more...much on my mind.

Yoga in Wind on the 19th Floor Roof

It was wonderful to see the blue sky and wisps of white cloud when I looked up past my hand as I reached up into triangle pose. Bend at the hips, not the waist. Extend. It is surprisingly loud: the air conditioning vents, sirens from the street, helicopters from the distance. The noise was all around me as I stood in tree pose against the wind on the roof of my mother’s building on Manhattan’s York Avenue. But then going back down to the high pitch of everything being wrong in petty ways, in a world out of control, a world of people who have not made any effort to take good care of themselves. Why should they, they’re above the petty needs our the rest of or day to day lives. Until now. Until now.

I did my first downward dog in three months this morning. It felt great!

Speedy Trains Should Be a Priority

I hope this whistle stop train tour bodes well for America rails! Read this Op-Ed piece in today's Washington Post. I totally agree with it. I've always said that it is a shandif that trains in the US are from the 19th century. They've got bullet trains in Shanghai and Japan. It's nice that Biden takes the Amtrak, but has he done anything to fix it? The Whistle The government pays for highways, it should pay for trains. End of conversation. Hire the train experts!

Fast Train to the 21st Century
By Joseph R. Paolino Jr.Saturday, January 17, 2009; A17
Putting millions of Americans to work and rebuilding our frayed infrastructure are Barack Obama's most pressing priorities when he takes office. He should start by creating a high-speed rail link between Boston and Washington.
More than 20 years ago, in 1988, I traveled as mayor of Providence, R.I., with then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis on a new high-speed Amtrak train from Providence to Boston. Our trip took less than half an hour. Unfortunately, the early hopes we all had for high-speed rail in the Northeast have yet to be realized.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011603718.html

Reason #1 for Not Wearing High Heels on Airplanes

This is the correlary to why you should not wear high heels while driving, which I comments on recently.

The captain and crew of this US Airways plane deserve great accolades!! Thank you. I for one feel better about flying knowing that at least some of these people know what they're doing.

Plane Crashes Into Hudson River
Gary Hershorn/Reuters
Published: 20090115
A US Airways plane that took off from La Guardia Airport Thursday afternoon landed in the Hudson River, but all the passengers and crew appeared to be safe.

Treasure Island Idiots

So, it was 9:45 PM and I was half naked in bed. I had been on my feet, working all day in our CES booth and had just crashed in bed after a shot of scotch and loosing $3 at roolette -- i'm a cheap date. My feet were killing me. When the phone rings with a little girl telling me that I have to leave my room. "What?" "You must get out of your room," she insisted. "You're not registered." I explained that there must be some mistake, that my registration was through Friday and asked her to help fix the problem. "No, you signed a document saying you would leave yesterday. If you don't leave, my manager and security will come upstairs." Nice.
"Well, there must be some mistake. Perhaps I didn't read the registration form carefully enough but I'm positive my reserveration was through Friday." Then she said that i didn't need to be nasty and repeated that security would come get me. "Let me speak to your manager." After arguing with me about whether I could speak to the manager, a voice came on: "Front Desk, thank you for calling, how can I help you?" I explained that there was a mistake. He was rude and insisted that the hotel was full and I had to leave. At this point, it's after 10PM.
And at this point, i'm almost crying and ask him to please figure out a way for me to stay in my room. He basically accused me of stealing the room and hurting other potential guests in the process. I've been traveling for, well, decades, i know a hotel is never literally "full". So I insisted, telling him that my company has a large block of rooms and that we stay at TI at least three times a year. Nothing. So I got on my cell phone and called the women who made the reservations; she called this ass hole directly and argued my case. And, I asked a male colleage to come downstairs to the front desk to help me work it out. They were all very nice to HIM. After about half an hour, everything was fine. I went back to my room and slept very well, thank you.
This whole conversation should never have happened. Aside from the obvious pig-like behavior of these individuals, Vegas hotels are not exactly hopping, even at CES. My room cost a third of what it had last year.
Treasure Island is a third rate hotel to begin with. Everything about it is average and bland, expect the Cirque show, Mistere, which is there and is very good. It is relatively inexpense as a result. If you can afford to stay somewhere else, you do. I will never stay stay there again.

CES Note

My company did very well at CES this year. Our digital radio technology was mentioned by Ford in its keynote presentation and received front page coverage and some TV interest as well attention from a lot of reporters and analysts and the general people who come to our new booth in the Central Hall to learn more about real time traffic and other features.

The show is still going on; but I don't work on Saturdays and came home last night. Hurray! The crowds were smaller than last year, but not dramatically lower...at least, not empirically. I was very pumped at the show. So many nifty gadgets and enthusiasm for the capabilities of future products. It's challenging coming home to friends telling me about lay offs and work-place issues. But I really believe we have to be positive or we'll make the financial situation worse.

Vegas itself is facing a lot of challenges. Billion-dollar projects have been scaled back or cancelled. I stayed at Treasure Island, which was just sold by MGM/Mirage to help pay for it colossal City Center project. There is one particially built structure that has been haulted, where the Frontiere used to be, i think.

For that matter, we have a hole for sale in Bethesda, where someone started building a house and just stopped, leaving a gapping dig site.

I've put up a slide show that CES posted about photos from the show. It's in my left column

Message from the Wise Philanthropy website

The following is an essay from a good friend of mine who specializes in family philanthropy consulting, Richard Marker.

The community was traumatized – they had managed to absorb political reversals, terrorism, and general economic deterioration. As difficult, upsetting, disconcerting, and challenging each of this succession of crises had been, they had always been by outsiders. This crisis was of a different sort altogether. A powerful insider in the financial community had been indicted; his financial institution bankrupt; huge sums had been lost by individuals and by institutions. This was too close; it cut too deep, it belied trust and loyalty; it was nothing less than a trauma.No, this was not about a Mr. Madoff, and the country was not the United States. This is the story of Argentina.... http://wisephilanthropy.blogspot.com/