Rants from an aging man

I spent this afternoon at the hospital visiting my new grand-niece Evy who weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces.  A beautiful bundle of joy for my new family.  After being married for 33 years it is still a little strange talking about my new family but they are wonderful people and I wish Evy's mom and dad all the happiness in the world. 

My son is expecting his first child and my first grand child May 31 and the time can not get here soon enough.  I got the latest ultra-sounds night before last and to be honest I cannot tell a darn thing about them.  But the prospective parents think it is the most beautiful thing in the world.  I am disappointed that they do not want to know the sex until birth.  I would like to start getting a few things bought but I do not know if it will be footballs or dolls.  When is it that you lose control of your kids?

My son spent his late teens and early twenties under water and I thought he would never surface.  However, a couple of years ago I began to see bubbles and finally he surfaced.   We spent a couple of hours on the phone and computer the other night going over his choices of health plans and investments in his 401(k) plan and that gave me great pleasure.  The maturation of the human male is an interesting thing to watch.  One day you are managing rock bands and the next you are an account executive for Ticketmaster.  That transformation took place right before my eyes and it was a great thing to watch.

My daughter and I went to his house for Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge and HE took ME to the LSU game and to the Saints game in New Orleans.  I did not have to send him a check to go, he took me.  Miracles never cease. 

I find myself watching all too much business news with what is going on with the economy right now.  A couple of weeks ago I spent a few hours watching three smart men being stupid.  As the CEO's of the Detroit automakers testified before Congress, I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing.  The people who are supposed to be the leaders of one our last true industry in America came before Congress asking for a bridge loan to get them back to profitability.  Only one problem.  They did not have a plan, seemed totally uninformed and arrogantly felt like that the mood of Congress was to simply hand over 25 billion dollars like it was monopoly money!!!  If these individuals were meeting with a manager from inside their own company and that manager gave the presentation the CEO's did then he probably would have been fired on the spot.

I know that the board of directors of the automakers had to be terribly embarrassed about the events playing out before their eyes.  I know that I was incensed with the whole spectacle.  Of course the headline was about their compensation and the private jets but the true story was the arrogance of people who think that just because they have risen to the pinnacle of their profession they are entitled to anything they want and how dare anyone question their knowledge.

It is time for the American public to get back to the basics of life.  It is time to quit putting congressmen, businessmen, entertainers and athletes at the acme of heroism.  The true heroes of American life are the individuals who raise families, work hard for a living, volunteer in the community, go to church and try in some small way to make a difference in life.  In the end we are born, we educate ourselves, we raise our families, we try to have a positive effect of the people around us and then we die.  The ones we leave behind continue the process.  Little by little over time the world progresses to a better place.

This is the first entry of my new blog and I do not know if  anyone other than myself will read.  As an aging but still energetic executive (or so I am told) who is still looking for what is real in life, I thought that I would have some self-imposed therapy to discuss things that I see in the everyday world.  I hope that I have enough self-discipline to continue to do this on a regular basis because I think it will help keep my head clear of a lot of negative thoughts.  As a matter of introduction on the oft chance that someone will actually read this, I am a 61 year old white male who has spent his entire working life in the trust banking industry.  Some of that time has been successful and some of that time not successful. 

I am the father of two children (one is blessing me with a grandchild in May) whom I am very proud and love very much.  I married my high school sweetheart and she passed away 5 years ago.  I am remarried and live with 4 dogs, 2 cats and 2 rabbits. 

I now work out of my home which gives me too much time to think about writing blogs and what is either wrong with the world or wrong with me.  So I decided to write things down periodically in the hope that things I write will either help me or someone else. 

More later.  Bill