My second job was during my junior year in high school. In 1973 I hooked up with some classmates to join their rock band as their saxophonist. They were all excited. Bands had had the sax in the rock music since the 1950s. The 1970s were no different. There were five of us. Like any band the members changed from time to time. Sometimes they had six members. I worked with them throughout the school year. We made 25 dollars each per gig. That was a big deal in 1973.
It taught me about being where you are suppose to be when the time is agreed. Event coordinators have no sense of humor for late entertainers. Nor do the guests. I remember being pulled over after a gig one night because my Fairlane had a burned out head light. I was 17 and there was a curfew in that Wisconsin town and it was after midnight. My quick response surprised even me when I pointed to the sax case in the back seat and said, "I just got off work - wedding dance." The cop did not even bat an eye and just gave me an equipment warning.
I quit the band because the sporadic event times drove me nuts. I suppose if I had applied myself, I could have been a better sax player and perhaps expanded on the fledgling career. Girls, cars, the farm, football, and then finally the Army got in the way of ever taking the sax beyond high school. I look at it once in a while. It still sits in its case in my make-shift library down in the basement. So many things have been lost, stolen, forgotten, but it still got moved around the country for a life time. My parents had bought it used on top of that. Here's to a path never taken. Maybe in the next life.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,334 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Uncle Senator Herb Kohl - Republicrat or Demolican?
Help me people! I am cruising the newspaper Web sites just before I write my blog entry to make sure I have not missed the latest mass murder or the latest invasion of a Third-World nation and there on the Sports Section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl's mug. I know he owns the Milwaukee Bucks, so he has some validation to be on the sports page, yet...and yet, I never see him on any other section of any paper. How about the National section talking about our killed soldiers? - nope! How's about the business section talking about a generation who has never heard of a full-time job or has never realized people used to not work on weekends every weekend of their life? - nope!
Is it just because the Bucks are a lousy basketball team that Kohl seems to catch my attention? Is he a Republican or a Democrat? Don't answer that, I know he is officially a Democrat. But, I mean...what is he really? He reminds me of that eccentric uncle that always comes to the holiday family gathering and gives the nieces and nephews presents like leather bound books they never open until they are 40. Every time someone walks in the Kohl Center in Madison they should think, "O'l uncle Herb built and paid for this here fancy palace."
I admire that a federal law maker actually has a job on the side. I am thinking to myself, most of them there millionaires in Washington don't got no job. They ain't never had no kind'a job no ways. So at least you know how to make a payroll uncle Herb. But, who does he represent? Not me. I can't even afford to go to any event at his Kohl Center in Madison. I sure can't afford a professional basket ball ticket for his Bucks in Milwaukee. Besides, the last time I watched pro basket ball a tall kid from New York then L.A. named Lew Alcindor was dominating the court. But I digress.
Herb Kohl comes close to being the quintessential and consummate Republicrat type Demolican. I don't think Wisconsin's republican party has even put up a candidate to run against him in years. The last challenger I remember was some poor old dude who wanted to legalize pot. He got about six votes.
Elected officials like Kohl are post card portraits of why people are so cynical about our government. Kohl embodies the two-party paradigm. When the going is good he buys a basket ball team. When the going is tough, he has a town hall meeting with some languishing farmers. But one thing is certain about O'l Uncle Herb, thousands of soldiers have died on his watch while he looks over his potential next college ball players. I wounder if he spends so much time dwelling over our dead Wisconsin soldiers - his real constituents. The citizens remain cynical and disenfranchised.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,334 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Is it just because the Bucks are a lousy basketball team that Kohl seems to catch my attention? Is he a Republican or a Democrat? Don't answer that, I know he is officially a Democrat. But, I mean...what is he really? He reminds me of that eccentric uncle that always comes to the holiday family gathering and gives the nieces and nephews presents like leather bound books they never open until they are 40. Every time someone walks in the Kohl Center in Madison they should think, "O'l uncle Herb built and paid for this here fancy palace."
I admire that a federal law maker actually has a job on the side. I am thinking to myself, most of them there millionaires in Washington don't got no job. They ain't never had no kind'a job no ways. So at least you know how to make a payroll uncle Herb. But, who does he represent? Not me. I can't even afford to go to any event at his Kohl Center in Madison. I sure can't afford a professional basket ball ticket for his Bucks in Milwaukee. Besides, the last time I watched pro basket ball a tall kid from New York then L.A. named Lew Alcindor was dominating the court. But I digress.
Herb Kohl comes close to being the quintessential and consummate Republicrat type Demolican. I don't think Wisconsin's republican party has even put up a candidate to run against him in years. The last challenger I remember was some poor old dude who wanted to legalize pot. He got about six votes.
Elected officials like Kohl are post card portraits of why people are so cynical about our government. Kohl embodies the two-party paradigm. When the going is good he buys a basket ball team. When the going is tough, he has a town hall meeting with some languishing farmers. But one thing is certain about O'l Uncle Herb, thousands of soldiers have died on his watch while he looks over his potential next college ball players. I wounder if he spends so much time dwelling over our dead Wisconsin soldiers - his real constituents. The citizens remain cynical and disenfranchised.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,334 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
David Halbestam
It is never a good time to die. I know. I have come close more than once. It was not on my to-do list on those day I came close to the "big sleep." Let's see, I need soda pop, some windshield wiper fluid, some bread, and oh yeh, I will be dying later too. No, that is not how it works.
I am sure David Halberstam did not set out the other morning to die in a car crash later that day. But, it is poetic that the man that wrote The Best and the Brightest (1972) andThe Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era (1965) died in the midst of a battle between President George Bush and Congress over funding the continuation of the Iraq War. Both of Halberstam's books dissect the construct of the Vietnam War. In a nutshell Halberstam tries to figure out how so many smart people got us into such a mess of a war. It is also noteworthy to mention he wrote them while the American Vietnam War was happening - one book at the beginning and one near the end.
It is almost like some fate fairy of sorts is trying to say, "hey, people check out this guy's analysis of a war we had 40 years ago- a now similar war in construct and debate to the one we have now." The books have always been out there. I wonder now in his death if any one will read them and bristle at the disturbing similarities on the construct of the two wars? I fear no one will notice the poetic irony of the timing of Halberstam's death.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,333 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
I am sure David Halberstam did not set out the other morning to die in a car crash later that day. But, it is poetic that the man that wrote The Best and the Brightest (1972) andThe Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era (1965) died in the midst of a battle between President George Bush and Congress over funding the continuation of the Iraq War. Both of Halberstam's books dissect the construct of the Vietnam War. In a nutshell Halberstam tries to figure out how so many smart people got us into such a mess of a war. It is also noteworthy to mention he wrote them while the American Vietnam War was happening - one book at the beginning and one near the end.
It is almost like some fate fairy of sorts is trying to say, "hey, people check out this guy's analysis of a war we had 40 years ago- a now similar war in construct and debate to the one we have now." The books have always been out there. I wonder now in his death if any one will read them and bristle at the disturbing similarities on the construct of the two wars? I fear no one will notice the poetic irony of the timing of Halberstam's death.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,333 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Vietnam - we don't like to talk about it
I have noticed the oddest nuance concerning the discussion of Iraq in the context of Vietnam. Some conservatives and Republicans still think we won the Vietnam War, and the South Vietnamese lost it after all, after we turned the war over to them. Conservatives and Republicans get uncomfortable talking about the possibility of turning the Iraq War over to the Iraqis.
Liberals and Democrats get defensive when Iraq is brought up in the context of Vietnam. They after all, assured an entire generation there would never be another Vietnam.
Perhaps all four politicals should try a new line of work. Perhaps used-car-sales for example. And, and then the rest of us rabble could actually have room to participate in a reasonable governmental process.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,332 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Liberals and Democrats get defensive when Iraq is brought up in the context of Vietnam. They after all, assured an entire generation there would never be another Vietnam.
Perhaps all four politicals should try a new line of work. Perhaps used-car-sales for example. And, and then the rest of us rabble could actually have room to participate in a reasonable governmental process.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,332 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Media Pimps - Consumer Prostitutes - Misery Addicts
It did not take the big media long to create a perennial drama out of the events at Virginia Tech. To their credit, it was the worst mass murder in our history - 32 people gunned down. But that lends me to ask, "Then what was Oklahoma City?" Anyway, I digress. Nor, did it take long for 'us peoples' to hop on the saga. Local media all over the county tries to find connections with Virginia Tech. They dig out a guy who had a cousin who once called the school by mistake. "I need the day off man, I was too close to the thing man. Like, ya dig dude?" the guy laments. "We have councilors available," the news lady says with a tear in eye.
I have seen how the big media sweeps into a town with their big satellite vans for some aberrational event. When they get what they want they vanish in the night. It sounds like Virginal Tech has begged them to leave now. Not so fast - the big media pimps the event, we prostitute ourselves to them, and the rest of us enjoy sharing in the misery of the event. People are wearing Virginia Tech clothing today who never heard of them just eight days ago.
I used to work with a guy named Charles whose mother-in-law died three times. Each time, enough time lapsed and the management had turned over so no one realized he was pulling one over on them. Each time he got three days off to tend to his mother-in-law's needs. I however was counting, and I laughed out loud in church when a few years later he had actually died and his 'supposed-to-be-dead mother-in-law got up to speak at his eulogy.
How poetic the timing of the movie, Children of Men. In the beginning of the futuristic tale, we are thrown into a world where women have not been able to have children for 18 years - a generation. We never find out why the condition has stricken humans world wide. But, in the opening scene the people in the coffee shop grieve as they learn on TV that the youngest human on earth (18 years old) has been killed in a knife fight. The BBC has theme music [oh yeah, so did FOX, CNN, MSNBC....last week for Virginia Tech] to put in the back ground of the story.
I have seen how the big media sweeps into a town with their big satellite vans for some aberrational event. When they get what they want they vanish in the night. It sounds like Virginal Tech has begged them to leave now. Not so fast - the big media pimps the event, we prostitute ourselves to them, and the rest of us enjoy sharing in the misery of the event. People are wearing Virginia Tech clothing today who never heard of them just eight days ago.
I used to work with a guy named Charles whose mother-in-law died three times. Each time, enough time lapsed and the management had turned over so no one realized he was pulling one over on them. Each time he got three days off to tend to his mother-in-law's needs. I however was counting, and I laughed out loud in church when a few years later he had actually died and his 'supposed-to-be-dead mother-in-law got up to speak at his eulogy.
How poetic the timing of the movie, Children of Men. In the beginning of the futuristic tale, we are thrown into a world where women have not been able to have children for 18 years - a generation. We never find out why the condition has stricken humans world wide. But, in the opening scene the people in the coffee shop grieve as they learn on TV that the youngest human on earth (18 years old) has been killed in a knife fight. The BBC has theme music [oh yeah, so did FOX, CNN, MSNBC....last week for Virginia Tech] to put in the back ground of the story.
After the coffee shop is coincidentally blown to bits (a violent society it is indeed in the future), the movie's anti-hero who narrowly escapes goes to his office. There he finds his co-workers sobbing and watching the saga of the dead teenager on their computers. The anti-hero goes to his boss and says he is broke up and needs the day off. Next we see him telling his friend that people crying are whackers and stupid - the anti-hero and his friend then smoke a joint. Charles, I hope where ever you are, you can see movies. I know you would appreciate Children of Men's stab at society's nitwitery.
How about now that the awful event at Virginia Tech is a week past, we leave them alone to sort out their grief and we spend the media money and resources we are spending there now to do some profiles on our killed soldiers in Iraq. After all, we often lose 32 of them over there a week. Ah, wait, that's a crazy idea.
How about now that the awful event at Virginia Tech is a week past, we leave them alone to sort out their grief and we spend the media money and resources we are spending there now to do some profiles on our killed soldiers in Iraq. After all, we often lose 32 of them over there a week. Ah, wait, that's a crazy idea.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic. He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve. Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth. He worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions. Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there. Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer. He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq. Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
3,323 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
3,323 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Friday, April 20, 2007
First Job of Bob - Dairy Farm - Part I - Things learned
From time to time I will revisit the jobs I have done in my life. It will take quit a few postings.
My first job was of course, working on the family farm in Wisconsin. Life on the family farm has been glamorized by popular media and culture - usually by those who never lived on one. My parents always told me we were well off - years later I realized we were actually rather poor. The days were long, and if you raised animals you were basically a prisoner to them. Yet, there was the freedom of owning one's own business.
From about 12 to 18 years old I worked on the farm. I got to work with my dad and his brother. This is something few kids get to do these days. So, I got to know my father quite well. I know things about him my mom probably never knew. You learn things about a person and all their nuances when you work with them, things you would never learn over a cup of coffee relationship.
Human resources people claim I should not use my farm work history on my resume. You might as well tell me you are taking away my American citizenship. The human resources culture can be deconstructed on another posting. Anyway, I will not let people take my farm history away from me.
A smart employer would realize that this humble farm work background instilled in me a knowledge of the four seasons. It taught me that there is a window to exploit the crops. Miss it and you have to wait until next season. It taught me to respect animals and how vital they were to the business. The cows were the milk and the milk was the pay check. They were not pets these huge beasts. Even the cats patrolled for mice among the grain bins.
It taught me the importance of making a payroll. And if you don't pay your bills in a small town you are as good as finished. It taught me that there is more reward in work than money. And it taught me that your finished product is a portrait of you in a way. Crocked corn rows and uneven shingles on a new shed roof mean you are probably an inattentive-to-detail person. And, everyone else then knows that too.
Working on the farm taught me to fix machines with no tools, parts, or resources. To this day I can keep machines running that should have been retired to a junk heap years ago. It taught me not to move someone's stuff. Tools and equipment often stayed in place season to season. Move them arbitrarily out of place and the work process is delayed. It taught me to get along with the neighbors. Someday they may have to save your property from god knows what while you just happened to be away for the afternoon.
It taught me that in a job many things happen at once and over time to make the process complete. On any given day dozens of things happen in the process of getting through the day. The cows are feed, the cows are milked, the cows are feed again, the barn is cleaned, some hay may be bailed, and some crop my be planted. The cows are milked again. Some equipment may be prepped for the next day. Some machine may be fixed. Fuel has to be ordered, a door may need to be repaired, a tire may need to be fixed. The cows are feed again. If you are lucky you can sneak an hour or two once a week to go to the high school football game.
Working on the farm taught me to respect the power of nature. One day the sky is beautiful, the next your buildings have been leveled by wind, your crops ruined by drought, and your animals at threat by disease. The farm taught me that things must be done by a team - usually the family in those days - and that was before the word "team" was in every business manifesto in America.
Dad insisted I not follow in his footsteps. He saw that farming was evolving into mega farms. The small guy's operation would be crushed, his body crushed to. He was prophetic. I moved on and he was glad I tried other things in life. That made him happy I know. He had said he always felt like a prisoner to the farm. But, he can take with him this. And that is for me at least, I take a piece of that farm work experience to work every day with every job I have ever had.
No human resources people, I am not going to apologize for spending my first job working on the farm for six years. It is part of who I am. If you try to take that from me you might as well ask me to pretend to be from another country.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Mathew Schram, a major in the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He was killed on May 26, 2003 about 100 miles northwest of Baghdad in Haditha, Iraq. His resupply mission convoy came under attack from gunmen who opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. The Brookfield native was 36. He was in ROTC while at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before joining the Army in 1989 and participating in the first Gulf War 12 years prior.
3,316 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
My first job was of course, working on the family farm in Wisconsin. Life on the family farm has been glamorized by popular media and culture - usually by those who never lived on one. My parents always told me we were well off - years later I realized we were actually rather poor. The days were long, and if you raised animals you were basically a prisoner to them. Yet, there was the freedom of owning one's own business.
From about 12 to 18 years old I worked on the farm. I got to work with my dad and his brother. This is something few kids get to do these days. So, I got to know my father quite well. I know things about him my mom probably never knew. You learn things about a person and all their nuances when you work with them, things you would never learn over a cup of coffee relationship.
Human resources people claim I should not use my farm work history on my resume. You might as well tell me you are taking away my American citizenship. The human resources culture can be deconstructed on another posting. Anyway, I will not let people take my farm history away from me.
A smart employer would realize that this humble farm work background instilled in me a knowledge of the four seasons. It taught me that there is a window to exploit the crops. Miss it and you have to wait until next season. It taught me to respect animals and how vital they were to the business. The cows were the milk and the milk was the pay check. They were not pets these huge beasts. Even the cats patrolled for mice among the grain bins.
It taught me the importance of making a payroll. And if you don't pay your bills in a small town you are as good as finished. It taught me that there is more reward in work than money. And it taught me that your finished product is a portrait of you in a way. Crocked corn rows and uneven shingles on a new shed roof mean you are probably an inattentive-to-detail person. And, everyone else then knows that too.
Working on the farm taught me to fix machines with no tools, parts, or resources. To this day I can keep machines running that should have been retired to a junk heap years ago. It taught me not to move someone's stuff. Tools and equipment often stayed in place season to season. Move them arbitrarily out of place and the work process is delayed. It taught me to get along with the neighbors. Someday they may have to save your property from god knows what while you just happened to be away for the afternoon.
It taught me that in a job many things happen at once and over time to make the process complete. On any given day dozens of things happen in the process of getting through the day. The cows are feed, the cows are milked, the cows are feed again, the barn is cleaned, some hay may be bailed, and some crop my be planted. The cows are milked again. Some equipment may be prepped for the next day. Some machine may be fixed. Fuel has to be ordered, a door may need to be repaired, a tire may need to be fixed. The cows are feed again. If you are lucky you can sneak an hour or two once a week to go to the high school football game.
Working on the farm taught me to respect the power of nature. One day the sky is beautiful, the next your buildings have been leveled by wind, your crops ruined by drought, and your animals at threat by disease. The farm taught me that things must be done by a team - usually the family in those days - and that was before the word "team" was in every business manifesto in America.
Dad insisted I not follow in his footsteps. He saw that farming was evolving into mega farms. The small guy's operation would be crushed, his body crushed to. He was prophetic. I moved on and he was glad I tried other things in life. That made him happy I know. He had said he always felt like a prisoner to the farm. But, he can take with him this. And that is for me at least, I take a piece of that farm work experience to work every day with every job I have ever had.
No human resources people, I am not going to apologize for spending my first job working on the farm for six years. It is part of who I am. If you try to take that from me you might as well ask me to pretend to be from another country.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Mathew Schram, a major in the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He was killed on May 26, 2003 about 100 miles northwest of Baghdad in Haditha, Iraq. His resupply mission convoy came under attack from gunmen who opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. The Brookfield native was 36. He was in ROTC while at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before joining the Army in 1989 and participating in the first Gulf War 12 years prior.
3,316 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tormenting smokers - and liking it
I was so pleased with my response posting today on Paul Soglin's Waxing America blog that I am re-posting it here. I hope they do not mind. They were discussing yet another smoking law. This one is a statewide ban proposal. Here is my response to the pundits:
Ah, the poetry of irony. I don't smoke but always look for paradox in issues like this that advance the nanification-of-American society. Yet another smoking law would strain the paradigm of the notion of an orderly paradise. A person would not be able to smoke in a casino, but could gamble away their very soul under the smiling face of the government. A person would not be able to have one last cigarette with some friends at the neighborhood bar before going off to Iraq to be blown to bits. Smoking might advance a person's hastening of old-age health issues and burden the health care system - oh yes, many of us can't get health care anyway. Perhaps people could sneak out behind the barn an grab a drag - after all, the farmer does not use it, the family farm is just a patch of weeds now. Perhaps I could light one last butt up before some maniac guns me down while I stop on the way home for some soda pop and eggs at the quick mart. Don't smoke in front of your pets and kids either. Oh, yes, the Chinese poisoned my dog and a maniac gunned down my kid. And how is that war on drugs going?
Ah, the poetry of irony. I don't smoke but always look for paradox in issues like this that advance the nanification-of-American society. Yet another smoking law would strain the paradigm of the notion of an orderly paradise. A person would not be able to smoke in a casino, but could gamble away their very soul under the smiling face of the government. A person would not be able to have one last cigarette with some friends at the neighborhood bar before going off to Iraq to be blown to bits. Smoking might advance a person's hastening of old-age health issues and burden the health care system - oh yes, many of us can't get health care anyway. Perhaps people could sneak out behind the barn an grab a drag - after all, the farmer does not use it, the family farm is just a patch of weeds now. Perhaps I could light one last butt up before some maniac guns me down while I stop on the way home for some soda pop and eggs at the quick mart. Don't smoke in front of your pets and kids either. Oh, yes, the Chinese poisoned my dog and a maniac gunned down my kid. And how is that war on drugs going?
Cigarettes are a soft target. There is something satisfying about lording over those that are weaker than us non-smokers. Cigarette smokers have no power. They huddle in doorways in the icy wind while they steal a break from their non-benefit, part-time job. They are relegated to the status of crack addicts. They should be pushed to the underground culture of society were they belong. We should embrace that we can crush them socially and it affords us power to be arrogant and get away with it - and we like that. It is about the only thing in society we seem able to influence any more. And, smokers are the only group left it is politically correct to openly torment. I am concerned that once cigarette smokers are all gone, and the last lung cancer wing is turned into a compound for old people with no health care, we will have to find another class of people to lord over and that search may be fatiguing. Hey, wait, perhaps it could be the uninsured, it is their fault after all - just stay tuned.
We embrace gambling, war, guns, the Chinese mafia that supplies our food ingredients to us as our own farms fall by the way, we have a whole generation who has no health care, that same generation has never known what it is like to have weekends off, the illegal drugs keep pouring in, and many of us languish at part-time, non-benefit jobs; but, let my tell you this. By the grace of what ever God you bring with you, you better not smoke in that neighborhood bar.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Mathew Schram, a major in the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He was killed on May 26, 2003 about 100 miles northwest of Baghdad in Haditha, Iraq. His resupply mission convoy came under attack from gunmen who opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. The Brookfield native was 36. He was in ROTC while at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before joining the Army in 1989 and participating in the first Gulf War 12 years prior.
3,315 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
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