Amazing Andy

Irrepressible, smart, sweet, scans the horizon, always thinking -- Andy.

Ode to Sylvia

The best way to see shots of the grandkids is to visit my daughter's blog, but I've taken some from her site to show on this blog. First some favorite recent shots of Sylvia.

Corporate welfare under attack

Once again I was struck by an article in the Wall Street Journal, Companies Take Big Hits on Relocation as Executives' Homes Languish on Market. Qwest loses $1.8 million on CEO's house; angry shareholders are seeking recourse. (May 14, 2008, by Joann S. Lublin) The article talks about corporate policy that allows executives to dump their expensive homes on their companies when they relocate which then must sell them, often at a substantial loss. About 68-percent of 203 surveyed companies reimburse some or all of a staff member's loss on a home sale, according to data cited in the article. One CEO stuck his company with two homes for sale and "is getting housing allowances from the company" for both. We aren't talking $500K homes, but $8, 9, 10 million dollar homes.

But the a quote is what struck me most -- "The perquisite is 'a dramatic example of corporate welfare for the top brass.'"

Nuff said.

Plane, car, boat, train and lots of walking

We decided to try our first post-semi-retirement vacation which took us to Las Vegas, then by car to the Grand Canyon, from there through Flagstaff and Sedona to a little mountaintop mining town (hippie enclave, artists community) called Jerome where the former residents of the 100 year old plus Grand Hotel where crazy and the restaurant is called the Asylum. Then to the ode to cowboy culture town, Wickenberg, and finally to Coronado Island, San Diego where we caught a cruise ship to Vancouver, B.C. and returned by Amtrak train. That pretty much covers all of the modes of transportation -- Oh yes, we took an overhead tram, taxis, buses too.

The mission was for me to see the Grand Canyon -- my first time. We missed Kelly, who was guiding on the river, by barely a week. We hiked the rim, trekked to a lookout deep in the Canyon, had a wonderful dinner at the grand old inn on the rim where we had one of three tables that were situated to witness the color changes in the canyon as the sun set. When dinner was over, we walked along the rim under a full moon that lit up the canyon and cast moon shadows as if it were the sun. We were the only ones walking that trail, that night and it was really a mystical experience. We also flew in a helicopter through the canyon one morning and that too was spectacular. We spent four days at the canyon before heading south through Arizona. We planned (okay, I planned) to do a little rock hounding, but a book that showed the prime areas also reviewed the poisonous spiders (tarantulas, black widows), poisonous snakes (suffice it to say -- lots), poisonous lizards -- well, I was happy to purchase my "finds" in Quartzite, otherwise known as snowbird novice-gemologists heaven, where I purchased some beautiful stones.

We purchased a newly-crafted flute from a native Indian who walked into a shop when we were in Flagstaff. I guess I'll have to learn to play the flute to accompany Tom's almost finished guitar.

Jerome was our next stop. Besides have a commanding view of the valley all the way to Sedona from our balcony, we had delicious food at the Asylum and the Haunted Hamburger, plus we had the promise of ghostly spirits visiting us. A ghost hunt was scheduled for the following night. We opted to continue our journey.

Next most interesting sites -- Yuma, a booming agricultural oasis in the desert, the sand dunes on Hwy 8 to San Diego, the numerous custom agent check posts along the way (did anyone say "police state"), the desert mountains before San Diego, the blooming cacti, the huge red boulders -- an amazing landscape.

The cruise was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's impossible to be bored as there are so many activities, so many things to do. And you certainly can't go hungry as all food is free and its everywhere, 24/7. If you want freshly baked chocolate chip cookies brought to your room at midnight - you've got it! We had a room with a large balcony and great weather. Movies, shows, dancing every night. It was a Washington Wine cruise, so Salumi's Armadino and Chateau Ste. Michelle's John Sarich were there cooking food, matching wines.... We had a wonderful time.

Finally, we pulled into to Vancouver, B.C. early morning. Vancouver is so beautiful, especially viewed from the water. What a spectacular city. We spent the day in B.C. before boarding the Amtrak at 6:00 p.m. for the ride home, exhausted but happy.

Glenside Allstars release first album

Pete's band, for which he is songwriter, singer, musician, manager and marketer (of course, I am his mom, and in truth, he is one part of a talented group of musicians), has just released its first album -- Ampliflower -- and has already gotten great reviews. They have a new blog on MySpace -- here's the link if you want to learn more: http://blog.myspace.com/glensideallstars.

A vacation with teeth in it

We didn't read the papers or listen to the news while we were on vacation, but just as we were leaving San Diego we saw that a Great White shark killed a man while swimming in the ocean just above San Diego. (As it turns out the shark is estimated to be 15- to 16-feet.) The day before we had spent sunning and swimming in La Jolla (just north of San Diego). While there we noted dozens of people swimming about a quarter mile off shore, rounding a buoy, and then back again. Some with wet suits (the water was a coldish 59-60 degrees F) but many without. One fellow we talked to (no wet suit) said that he is 89-years-old and swims everyday, year round. A routine he's had for decades. He told us a story about a woman from Toronto who followed him out of the water one day and continued to the dressing room. According to this Octogenarian, she approached him and said that she would do "anything" to live in San Diego (inferring anything with him). He told her he was too told but he had a younger friend who might be interested (the 85 year-old). He has probably told his story a hundred times and still chuckles at the thought. True or not, we don't know. But San Diego is beautiful and the weather is fantastic. Given the fact that it was beginning to snow as we departed Seattle, and we heard that it snowed something like 11 inches that day, we would be very tempted to move south if its wasn't for the tie that binds -- our grandchildren.

Photos and more on our trip - next post.

And while we are on the topic

Since I last blogged (just before heading to the Grand Canyon and points beyond) I wrote about CEO and executive compensation even when their failures are immense. Apparently, the subject is hot right now as this ABC prime news report reflects -- (copy and paste link) -- http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7634126. According to the report, top executives are able to drive a company into the ground and still be insanely compensated because "the game is rigged." Analysts say that until the public shows their collective outrage, CEOs, with the blessing and collusion of their boards, will continue to rake in the dough.

All of this attention comes on top of Forbes release of the worst performing CEOs and their respective high compensation for failure.