A Week of Revival

This past week I actually took advantage of my employer's generous Paid Time Off (PTO) policy and took a road trip to Ann Arbor, MI for the Christ Life Clinic (CLC): A Spiritual Clinic.

So here's the week starting from last Saturday.

Sat., August 5: Drove 5 hours to Burlington, WI to stay overnight at a friend's house.

Sun., August 6:  Spent the day at Menomonee Falls, WI.  attending church services at Falls Baptist Church.

I spent the day there because I was aiming at going through Chicago in the middle of the night to avoid traffic.  It did work out for me.  It didn't work out so well for a friend of mine I was spending the evening with in IN, who had to wait till 1:30 am for me to arrive at his house.  I guess I need to figure out this time zone thing (from Central to Eastern).

Mon. August 7: Drove from IN to Ann Arbor, MI.  After lunch and a workout at Title Boxing Club in Ann Arbor, went to Ann Arbor Baptist Church to attend to register and attend the evening session of the conference. The centerpiece of this session was John Van Gelderen's message introducing the theme for his messages for the week, When the Spirit Comes.  In short, through faith the Almighty can lead and enable a new relationship, which will outflow His love through believers that will abound with fruit and help us overcome life's trials and persecution. 

Tues-Thurs, Aug 8-10: Each day I woke up early, reviewed my daily Scripture and drove about 35 minutes to Title Boxing Club to go through an hour workout.

As you can see, I'm not necessarily jolly after I throw punches to the heavy bag.  But I have to say since I've started these boxing workouts 14 months ago I've not only been in better shape, but have much better structure to my day and have gained more discipline in adhering to that structure.

After my workout, I go back to Ann Arbor Baptist for a day full of sessions

Otto Koning presents the addendum to his well-known "Pineapple Story."  The addendum is one of the most powerful live testimonies I've ever heard.  I have to say whenever he spoke, I certainly felt His presence near me.

John Van Gelderen delivering his message "The New Persecution."  An encouraging message that links the trials of being a Christians as a privilege in relying on him and providing strength in testimony.

Quite the lineup

In all, the CLC was quite fulfilling experience.  The fellowship and messages influenced me not just now, but hopefully for years to come.

Fri. August 11:  I left Ann Arbor at 5:30 Eastern time to drive back to Minnesota.  I took the route through Chicago where I didn't have to pay tolls. It only added 20 minutes onto my route, sweet.

Sat. August 12:  After running a 5K in the morning and running a few errands, I walked up to the Capitol to tour the place as part of it's Grand Opening celebration of it's recent renovation.

My view of the Capitol as I was walking up to it

It was a long line to go upstairs to see the horses

As you can see, it was a nice day

Got an introduction of the MN court system and the MN Supreme Court from Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea.  Gildea is the lady speaking from the front side of the podium.

This is Governor Dayton's desk.  Yes, he really does look out towards the Capitol Mall.

End of the evening they shot some fireworks.  It was a good show.

It was quite the full week.  But I have to say I learned much through it, both about myself and those things around me.  Can't ask for much more than that.

Memories of July 4 Past

Here was the news report of the fireworks show in my hometown of Duluth in 1988.  The year where the show was quite efficient, albeit accidentally. 

Oh the memories.

Summit Avenue Walking Tour

This afternoon I had a chance to go on a walking tour of Summit Ave houses presented by the Minnesota Historical Society.  Summit Avenue is perhaps one of the best preserved historical residential areas of the country. The 4.5 miles of Summit Avenue still holds 373 of its original 440 grand mansions built from 1855 through the 1920s.

Here's highlights of what I saw:

This is the largest home in Minnesota, James J. Hill house.  Hill was a gruff, blue collar, pull yourself from the bootstraps railroad baron who built the Great Northern Railway in the late 1800s.  Hill spared no expense in building his mansion.  This massive 36,500 square feet stone mansion was built in 1891 for railroad tycoon James J Hill.  The 5 story Richardsonian Romanesques-style mansion cost over $930,000 ($19 Million today).  Elaborate mahogany woodwork fills the mansion complete with 13 bathrooms, 22 gas lit fireplaces, 16 custom chandeliers, an 88-foot reception hall, and a 3 story pipe organ with 1,006 pipes.   It's quite the structure.

This is Driscol-Warehouser House, named after it's original owner, Frederick Driscol of the Pioneer Press Newspaper , who built the house in 1884 and is 11,000 sq feet with 8 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.  Later on this house was bought by Fred Warehouser, who owned the largest lumber company in the world at the time and actually had more wealth than James J. Hill.  While Hill was the 36th richest person in the world at his time, Warehouser was 10th richest.

This is the Old Smith “Vine” Mansion.  Usually this house is covered by vines like Wrigley Field in Chicago, but recently those vines were removed.  What makes this house significant is that it's the oldest house on Summit Avenue, built in 1858 (same year when Minnesota became a state). 

This is Lightner-Young Double House.  This large brownstone house was built as a double house in 1886. Attorney Will Lightner lived in the left side (322 Summit) and his law firm partner George Young lived on the right side (324 Summit). Lawyers Charles McKim and Stanford White got their start working for Lightner and Young before branching out into the famous firm McKim, Mead & White.

Home was designed by Cass Gilbert and partner James Knox Taylor, as one of their first times teaming up. The Richardsonian-style of the mansion is named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson’s death who died the same year as this house was built. The style incorporates a lot of patterns into the design from red stone, to brick and marble. Richardson’s influence on an entire generation of architects was profound and the year before his death 5 of his buildings made the 10 best in America by his peers.

However, Lightner decided he needed more space, so he bought the lot next door and built this house.

While there are other houses on this tour, including one where the owner let us inside to take a tour, here's the last picture I took on the 1.5 mile tour.

This is the Rice-Ordway house.  This house was named one of it's famous owners, Henry Rice, for which Rice Park in Downtown St. Paul is named.  Later one this house was bought and renovated by Lucius Ordway in the 1920's.  Ordway is best remembered for his investment of $100k to bring the struggling Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company from Duluth to the Twin Cities. The company was close to running out of money and had heavy debt, but after being brought to Saint Paul, they made a quick turnaround. By 1916 the company, know today as 3M, had over $1 Million in annual sales from big breakthroughs with sandpaper technology.
It was a great day for a walk.  I glad I took the opportunity to learn a little more about the neighborhood I live.

How's the Donald Doing? A Myopic Opinion

So we're currently 160 days into the Donald's presidency and I guess I should provide my myopic opinion on how things are going.  From what I see, it's clear to me that generally folks have a strong opinion of him, you either strongly for him or strongly against him.  

Why is this the case?  Well, in my myopic opinion this is a largely due to the ability to amplify vituperation on any side of a debate through social media and 24-cable news.  Communication channels such as Twitter, Facebook, CNN and Fox News have allowed many folks who are not necessarily experts on a particular topic, but an individual that provide an emotionally charged quote that appeals to a consumer's senses to boost up ratings, views, likes and advertising revenue. Sure, the Donald's actions and reactions don't help increase the civility of the debate, but many times he's reacting to vituperation against him through social media and 24-cable news.  His reaction only gets its recipients to react themselves.  Since they can instantly communicate to others what they think before thinking about the consequences of allowing their emotions talk without filter, so it turns into a vicious cycle, especially when the political bubble is involved.

Now let me say that the latest Donald tweet regarding MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski was not a civil reaction at all. Here's an account of the cause and effect.

For many, this just affirms that the Donald is a crass individual. However, this is the same man who procured the largest share of the Evangelical vote (81%) in the history of the well-respected Pew Research poll.  Somehow, there is a disconnect between what folks like me (highly-educated, white collar) folks are seeing and what many in the country see in the President. 

The hostile relationship that the Donald have on many in the media feed this idea that everything in DC is in chaos.  Anyone heard anything about Russia?  Former FBI Director James Comey's tapes?  Intelligence leaks?  Special Counsel investigation etc.?   All this makes one thinks everything is in disarray.  But then again, the well-respected Gallup organization recently said the following:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Despite an ongoing controversy over "fake news," more Americans this year (27%) say they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in newspapers than did so last year (20%). Although confidence in newspapers is up from last year's record low, it remains lower than it typically was in the 1980s and 1990s.

When going from 1 out of 5 folks trusting the news to more than 1 out of 4 trusting the news is seen as positive, that's what a former president calls "the soft bigotry of low expectations."   Many folks just don't trust the media, and from my interactions with folks while working at the Golden Inn, particularly those that don't sit at a cube or at a desk everyday. 

So do I think the Donald has been effective these first 160 days?  Well, I would have to again say that all this news about Russia and attacking the media would initially make me think no.  However, when I hear following types of news:

-  Kate's Law, which deports illegal immigrants that commit crimes pass the House today, 

- getting NATO European members to take account of how much they contribute to NATO defense,  

- the fact that the national debt has actually decreased from $19,937,261 at the beginning of the year  to $19,845,942 at the end of May,

-  Neal Gorsuch confirmed to SCOTUS, 

- rolling back regulations by the tens of billions, 

- rollback of the Cuba policy, etc. 

I start to think he's actually accomplishing quite a bit.  It makes me think that the news we hear of total chaos is akin to the media being a bunch of mice chasing cheese to different corners of the house while folks set down mouse traps around them.  I've come to think the Donald may be ok if folks EMBRACE THE CHAOS.  

So 160 days down, I'm certainly interested in how the next 1,300 days go.  I guess many other folks are as well.  In the meantime, we can be like this dog here and enjoy something I hope we all enjoy: Mendelssohn's "Italian" symphony.

This is News

The past couple months have been quite interesting to me.  A couple months ago I was alerted that the Penthouse unit in the building I live in was for sale.  So for about a month I negotiated with the seller in at times a hardball fashion.  I walked away from the negotiation 3 times, each time having been asked back with an offer closer to my original offer, which was notably lower than listing.  We got to a number that I thought was quite fair and had a tentative agreement.  I even signed a purchase agreement, but alas, the seller found a straight buyer. So no Penthouse living for me.

However, shortly afterwards, I was able to locate and quickly agree to a purchase of a different property down by the Mall of America, Fort Snelling and the airport.  

Here's a view from the front courtyard:

The living room:

The mini foyer:

The kitchen, with maple floors, cabinets and granite:

I plan to use this unit as a rental unit. So if you know someone interesting to moving closer to the MOA-Fort Snelling area, let me know.  I have a couple tenants in there now, but things can change.

In the end, I agree with what a well-known real estate man once said: "I do it to do it."

Memorial Day: Colorado Springs

I'm currently in Denver visiting my sister Georgia's family, including my nearly seven month old nephew.

My manager, after returning from a two week cruise in Europe, charged me to use all my paid-time off (PTO) since the company I work for stopped allowing year over year accruals.  So I've decided to take an extended weekend out to Denver. It's been an enjoyable weekend.

Today I went with my sister to Colorado Springs to to the Manitou Incline, a one-mile hike that goes pretty steep

When my sister and arrived at the base of the Manitou incline, it did look a bit challenging.

But I went up the incline, a very long staircase:

Although I go to boxing classes 5 times a week, my sister is still in better shape than me.  Whizzing up the incline like a robot.  I just went slowly and steadily up the stairs and about twenty five minutes later I saw this behind me:

Alas, I saw this in front of me 😟

But I did make it to the top.  Here's the view about 2,000 higher from where I started.

I guess cross it off the bucket list:

While my sister beat me up the incline, I beat her back down the incline through a 3 mile trail shown above. I call that an athletic feat 🙌🙌

After we got down the hill and had lunch, my sister returned to Denver while I went to the Garden of the Gods:

The rocks are interesting to look at:

Walking through there you may see a rock climber or two:

As I left Colorado Springs,  I decided to drop by the Focus on the Family headquarters:

A very large campus with a large Welcome Center and bookstore.  Unfortunately, they were closed for Memorial Day.  I guess I'll have to come back some other time.

But I'll just say it was a good day.

A Myopic Comparison: Reagan and the Donald

Over the past month I've been able to use my Audible subscription to listen to both Bill O'Reilly's book, Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency, and Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Art of the Deal.  While I was listening to both books, it struck me that both President Reagan and President Trump have many similarities, more than many realize.  I just thought it would be good to point out those similarities in my view. So let's get to it.

1) Both President Reagan and President Trump are both former Democrats that won the Presidency as Republicans:

•  I recall when reading Reagan's autobiography, An American Life, Reagan talked how proudly he was a Democrat during the FDR era.  He was very much skeptical of Big Business and Good 'ol Boy politics.

• There is plenty of documentation that the Donald considered himself a Democrat for most of his life.  In fact, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer in 2004, the Donald said the following:

"In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat," Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a 2004 interview. "It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn't be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats. ...But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we've had some pretty bad disaster under the Republicans."

2) Both President Reagan and President Trump got great support from Evangelicals, yet they do not attend church regularly.

• It's been a well know fact that Reagan was not affiliated with a local church as President and rarely attended.  In fact, Reagan's lack of church attendance was a question in his debate with Walter Mondale in 1984.  Here's his rationale:

I have gone to church regularly all my life, and I started to here in Washington. And now, in the position I hold and in the world in which we live, where Embassies do get blown up in Beirut [...] but I pose a threat to several hundred people if I go to church. I know the threats that are made against me. We all know the possibility of terrorism. We have seen the barricades that have had to be built around the White House. And, therefore, I don't feel—and my minister knows this and supports me in this position—I don't feel that I have a right to go to church, knowing that my being there could cause something of the kind that we have seen in other places, in Beirut, for example. And I miss going to church, but I think the Lord understands.

It should be noted however, that President Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush were known to attend church regularly as President.

• The Donald considers himself a Presbyterian and attends Marble Collegiate Church.  However, the church says the following:

"Donald Trump has had a longstanding history with Marble Collegiate Church, where his parents were for years active members and one of his children was baptized. However, as he indicates, he is a Presbyterian, and is not an active member of Marble,"

However, despite each individual's lack of church attendance, they both received great support from Evangelicals in their campaigns.  Reagan encouraged the rise of Jerry Fawell and the Moral Majority while the Donald received the greatest share of Evangelical support in any election in the history of the Pew Research poll.

3) Both President Reagan and President Trump were known for being politically incorrect, for their good or bad.

• Reagan was well known for his politically incorrect statements.  Among them are:

"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."

He was joking around in a voice-level test before broadcast of a speech during the Cold War, but it turned out the microphone was switched on.

"We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed"

• If you followed the last campaign, we all know the Donald doesn't hold back from what he really thinks.  Just follow his Twitter page with his handle @realdonaldtrump and you will know what I mean.  Many say that Reagan kept more discipline than the Donald does in holding his tongue.  While that may be true, Reagan didn't have social media to spread his stream of consciousness either.

4) Both President Reagan and President Trump had acting backgrounds.

• Goes without saying much.  But I'll say this, comparing  Reagan's "Bedtime for Bonzo" with the Donald's "The Apprentice" would be comparing apples and oranges.

5) Both did not exactly act with great morality when it came to their lust for women.

• Reagan not only was a remarried divorcee, but also a serial womanizer for much of the first half of his life, when he was working in Hollywood.  Books such as Love Triangle have made claims that Reagan had extramarital flings with as many as 50 women.  O'Reilly even claims that Reagan was in the arms of mistress Patti Larson when his daughter Patti Davis was born.  How much of this is true, I don't know.  But to have multiple sources document such claims strengthens the case it's more true than not in my myopic opinion.

• Based on the last campaign and the fact that the Donald in in his third marriage, I think it's clear that he hasn't been the shining star in dealing with women either.  There are other stories of past acts, like talking about how his daughter Ivanka should be well qualified for photo shoots in porn magazines on the campaign trail, but I think the case is clear.

6) Both President Reagan and President Trump were Republicans that connected with blue collar Americans.

• As it has been made clear in their wins of states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, both Reagan and Trump won the respect and support of blue collar Americans, especially union households.  They did this mainly through their direct and simple communication style that emitted much emotion when they spoke, connecting them to the audience.  

I think I've said enough for now on this topic.  But I just wanted to share my myopic opinion.