(Back From Vacation….)

So we left Naples, Florida for this?!?

I got back in on Friday night, not having talked to anybody (except for Darryl for a few minutes) or read anything. Great weather down there…I understand there was great weather up here. I had to PAY for mine (and you got yours for free).

We snuck away. First time I ever went away for Thanksgiving. It was nice. Except for the expensive Thanksgiving Day buffet that they hose you for. But, what are you gonna do? They got you. You’re away from home. You’re feeling guilty. So they run the prices through the roof.

But the kids had a great time at the beach. So it was a nice time. But it’s nice to be back.

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Hey, what did you folks think about the recent Veterans Day Special we aired last week? The one we did on location from Friends of Danang Veterans Day Breakfast at the Marriott City Center.

First off, the Friends of Danang. What a great bunch of folks that put that whole event together. In addition to the great work that they regularly do for Vietnamese schoolchildren, they put this wonderful event together and invited us to broadcast OUR special show at the event.

Second, what about some of the stories that these veterans told on the air? I am so impressed by these folks that go and do their duty for their country. I’m not a big fan of warfare, that’s for sure, and I can’t understand why they just can’t put an end to war, but as long as it’s gonna be here, you have to be prepared, and you have to have the people who are willing to dig in and do the dirty work.

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This will be one of the last times I talk about politics for a while. I’m done….finished. I’ve spent plenty of time over the past few months contemplating and debating politics…specifically, why our political system is such a disaster.

Consider for a second…in many races around this country, campaigns are spending tens of millions of dollars to elect senators, representatives, and governors….jobs that pay no more than a couple hundred thousand bucks per year.

In my world (remember, I’m a business guy), there’s a three-letter term called R.O.I. – Return on Investment. Basically, you invest some sort of money, and you intend to get it back…and then some….at some future point.

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So I’m in the shower the other morning, and I hear some politician on some talk show and he’s breathlessly going on about some ethics violation.

“We’re gonna form a sub-committee and that sub-committee will report up to the main committee and then we’ll conduct our own investigation and blah-blah-blah.”

And all I can think is….”I’m paying for all of this foolishness.”

The NEXT thought that comes into my head is a quote from the Bible. (Now, I ain’t no Bible guy, but I do remember great quotes when I hear ‘em….)

“The idle mind is the Devil’s workshop.” This, I remember.

Here’s what goes on in government, so far as I can see.

Someone gets elected. Like all “newbies” (remember your first day at high school? Or college? Or work?), he doesn’t really know much more than where the restroom is located.

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First off, let me send out my deepest condolences to the students, their parents, and their friends who were so mindlessly shot on Duquesne’s campus last Saturday evening.

If you’ve ever been to Duquesne’s most unique campus (and most Pittsburghers have NOT, despite the fact that it is literally within walking distance from nearly any place in downtown Pittsburgh), you know just how safe this place looks and feels.

This was just was one of those scenarios which we have become all too “comfortable” with. I don’t know how or why this mindset came to be, but it did reveal itself yet again last weekend.

There can no longer be any argument that life has been greatly devalued in this newest millennium. I’m no sociologist, but one thing that I have thought for a long, long time is that the definition of “frustration” is that gap between what one can achieve and what one wishes he can achieve.

It’s no secret whatsoever that, for so many reasons, our society has become a society where material wealth is far more sought than, say, spiritual wealth.

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