Aug 12

Dateline 35,000 feet:
$2 for headset, $7 for a blanket and pillow - economies of scale have reached my limit, solution: fly less or fly where you REALLY want to. Just a few weeks ago a slight change in timing resulted in me flying from my bike on to Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. Leaving the CalPac medical center I was not in such bad shape, but there were parts that were sore. The nurses said to me “given the nature of your injuries, you will need 4-6 weeks in order to recover.” Hogwash.
As I was leaving San Francisco last week the inevitable went down, Jet Farve. As the Pittsburgh Steelers are found next to my white blood cells in my veins, I could only imagine the fate those fans were left with - as if their own Achilles was traded to Troy. Then Dana Torres came along - no revelations, no light bulb went off, I really just had a good kick in the ass. Brett Farve is 38. Dana Torres is 41. Dana Torres is an Olympic swimmer in which at the start of the last leg of a 4×100 relay race the United States was in a solid 3rd place. By the end, at the completion of Ms. Torres leg, the US took Silver.
As I ride this plane back to San Francisco, where ideas are innovated on birth, so is redesigning my thought process. If anyone ever says “can’t” or “I’m getting to old for this…” - they are lying, pure and simple. Now granted our Dana Farve friends have personal trainers and the powers to sculpt this new found birth, but nonetheless, there it is, just because you are hovering the middle age mark or even ten years below it, that is no reason to sit back and relax on the laurels of mediocrity. I am in awe.
Clichés come and go, challenges are opportunities, but so are achievements. I wonder what the next day will bring, as sure as the sun will rise, what will I achieve tomorrow. A once knew an Air Force Colonel who once screamed in my face “excuses are only delaying failure.” Apparently Brett Farve and Dana Torres didn’t get the memo.