A New Hobby for 2010

I don't consider myself a "resolutioner" when it comes to plans for the new year, because I often find they are promises to yourself that are easily broken and abandoned.  Instead, I like to reflect on the previous year and plan out a direction for the next.  I have found a recent interest that I would like to develop into a hobby in 2010.

I do consider myself a "gadget geek" when it comes to electronics of all kinds.  I don't often go through with purchasing many of the items I spend hours drooling over, but occasionally there are some "investments" that I feel are necessary for my life.  My most recent obsession is over getting a new camera.  I have a 4 year old Sony that has worked alright for most outdoor photos, but the zoom is miserable with no stabilization and indoor photos don't turn out well at all.

So as a combination birthday/Christmas gift by parents are going to pay for a new digital camera, whenever I finally decide on the one thats perfect for me.  While its not a resolution, I think in this new year I would like to take the time to spot those photo opportunities and come up with some real great shots.  After looking at some of my photos from my Colorado trip again recently, I'm becoming even more excited about what I can do with a better camera.

This might be one of my top 3 favorite photos from that trip.  I just happened upon this beautiful church that seemed to rise out of the ground below with a breath-taking mountain as its backdrop.  The only editing I did was to apply a "warm" filter using Picasa that added a softer red tone.  Not bad for my 6 megapixel Sony, huh?

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

Alright so people that know me will know that I am fairly conservative politically.  I did not vote for Obama because I feared his idea of "change" really sounded more like "socialism" to me.  Turns out that's exactly the direction his administration is going, with the full support of the Democratic majority in Congress.

The most disturbing development in the idolizing of Obama as our national savior is his recent win of the Nobel Peace Prize.  I'm not going to go off on why this is so ridiculous, because there is already plenty of critical reaction out there if you are looking to read that.  Now I understand that Republicans and Independents are very concerned about Obama getting nominated only several weeks after he took the oath of office.  I just don't see how even Democrats can give any concrete examples of his contributions to world peace so far.

Here is my question:  Do big Obama supporters really think he deserves this award?  I honestly want to know if there is anyone out there that really believes he has achieved great strides in bringing peace to this world? 

I don't want this to become a place where other conservatives simply rant on how they hate Obama - I'm asking any people that are Obama supporters!

Loving Colorado!

I've only been in Colorado for several days, but I have fallen in the love with the area.

First of all, I need to thank my coworker Andre.  The only reason I was able to come out here was that he transferred to a different department within our company, which gave me the opportunity to take over for his customers out here in Boulder.  With all the trips I've been on to the Midwest, it was a huge relief to finally go some place new and exciting!

The first few days of my trip were not very different from any other business trip.  I held trainings during the day at a local hospital, then enjoyed some of the local restaurants for dinner.  This time around, I enjoyed a local micro-brew beer and pizza, fresh Japanese cuisine, and a delicious BBQ dinner over the course of three nights.  One thing that immediately stood out to me was how active people in this community seemed to be.  Every road had a dedicated bike lane, and you'd be hard pressed to go a half mile without seeing at least a few cyclists or runners.  This healthy lifestyle is also seen by the large percentage of organic and health-based restaurants in the area, along with the large number of dog owners taking a stroll around town. 


Yesterday was the first day that I transitioned from business to personal travel.  No more pricey meals now that its all out of my pocket!  For this business trip, I was lucky enough to grab a brand new Ford Mustang convertible, so the top went down before I even left the parking lot.  I left my hotel around 9:30am and headed north from Boulder towards Rocky Mountain National Park.

This could have gone straight into a Ford commercial!

I went along a scenic highway that meandered around mountains and streams, stopping every 1/2 mile to take more and more pictures.  As I continued driving far beneath the speed limit with my eyes constantly distracted from the road, I was awestruck at the unique rock formations that rose up from the beautiful streams that paralleled the road.  The only difficult part of the morning was finding the perfect soundtrack to my drive.  Once I finally located some James Taylor on my mp3 player, I knew this was going to be a great day.

I finally came across the southern most entrance to the national park called Wild Basin.  Now this wasn't my intended destination when I begin in the morning, but it looked like a great place to find some good hiking trails.  After spending some time getting the overview from a very nice park ranger, I drove down a long dirt road that led me to a parking lot where the hiking would begin.  As I began, I noticed a stick lying to the side that quickly became a perfect walking stick.  The trail was full of rocks and roots to overcome, but there was plenty of evidence that it had been maintained by the park service.  It was just perfect for an enthousiastic yet innexperienced hiker like myself.

The 2.7 mile trip from Wild Basin Trailhead to the Ouzel Falls

The landmarks on this trail were some spectacular sights of waterfalls that occurred along the river.  (I took hundreds of photos of the whole trip, but don't have my digital camera cable with me to upload - just cell phone pics)  So many times I was reminded of an old childhood favorite - Homeward Bound.  Each time I'd come to a peak and overlook the giant expanse of wilderness around me, I kept thinking of the imagery from that movie which took place in the Rocky Mountains.

Calypso Cascades

The whole trip up took quite a long time as I continued to stop for photos and exploration.  I was amazed to see so much of nature that was unscathed by man (besides the trail and occasional signs).   My last destination was Ouzel Falls, which had the longest drop of the three major falls along my hike.  After some off-trail hiking towards the base of the falls, I got some more amazing photos and stopped for my third granola bar of the day.  

The beauty of this landscape was breath-taking.

Ouzel Falls

My trip back down the trail was much faster than the trip up, partially because I was enjoying a downhill pace, but mostly because I wanted to get to Fort Collins before dinner.  I was shocked half way down to see my very first moose about 50 yards away in the woods!

I finally got to Fort Collins around 6:30 to my aunt and uncles place that I'm staying through Sunday.  In fact I'm sitting out in their backyard now where they have a view of the foothills of the Rockies through the trees.  Tonight we'll be going to the Colorado Rockies game in Denver and tomorrow we'll be going back into the national forest.  Such a great trip so far!

We'll I have to run, but will try to update in the next few days with the rest of my experiences!

P.S.  If any beer was served "as cold as the Rockies" from what I've experienced this week, it would be a disgusting 70+ degrees warm...

Monday Morning Rabbit Trails

Today I was curious what other events occurred on my birthday (November 29), so naturally I went straight to Wikipedia. First I found out in 2001, George Harrison died on this day. Then I began to notice some very interesting facts:

• "Denny" Doherty of the Mamas and Papas was born on November 29, 1940 (exactly 45 years before me) - my Dad's name is "Dennis Doherty"

• Two of the other founding members of the Mama and Papas were John and Michelle Phillips - my dad's brother Dick Doherty married Cheryl whose maiden name is "Phillips"

• As soon as I went to John Phillips's page, I noticed that my Pandora radio station starting playing "California Dreaming" - by the Mama's and Papa's!

Very weird! I gotta get back to work now...

Happiness - A Pursuit or a Provision?

Since the Obama administration and a Democratic majority have taken over US politics in 2009, we have seen plenty of the "change" that enticed a large number of American voters last November. However as I pointed out before the elections, it has worried me that people have given so much control to an administration that is taking immediate and drastic steps to bring us under a socialistic style of government. Not only is government taking over the auto industry, banks, and now even the entire healthcare system, but they are also overturning initiatives that were set up during the Bush administration to promote productivity and self-sustaining families.

I have resisted making any argument regarding the most recent health care legislation before Congress (which has frightening implications by the way). However, there was an article on Boston.com this morning that reinforced my negative opinions of this new administration with the title of "President shifts focus to renting, not owning".

Even many conservatives can agree that there were many reasons to look forward to a replacement for George W., but I think that the focus his administration had towards promoting home ownership was a very positive one. Many might argue that this was the cause of economic instability (specifically for the housing/lending markets), but I think that this can be mostly blamed on irresponsible lending organizations that were giving money to people who could clearly not afford it.

So instead of continuing to promote home-ownership by providing assistance and incentives, the Obama administration is now switching governmental support to pay for more rental properties. With this new direction, landlords continue to pocket even more money, and a larger percentage of mid/low income families are depositing their paychecks into their landlords accounts. How can you rebuild an economy on this concept of increased dependence on government? This is just one of many examples of how our government is continuing to reward those who are dependent on a hand-outs instead of rewarding the producers and contributors.

Is the Obama administration just catching a fish for families instead of teaching them how to fish?

Now before I am attacked, I will agree that 1) not everyone can or should be homeowners and 2) there is a real need for urban housing developments for low income families that would otherwise be homeless. I myself am a renter for now, but I look forward to someday fulfilling the American dream of home ownership. I could not disagree more with Barney Franks statement in this article: "I’ve always said the American dream should be a home - not home-ownership."

When our government was established over 200 years ago, there were protections for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People immigrated from all over the world for their opportunity to become self-sufficient land-owning producers. For some reason in the 21st century, our government seems to believe that they are responsible for the provision of happiness. When you move support to increased rental housing, you are not protecting the pursuit of home-ownership. This has just contributed to an ongoing pattern of government provision rather than government protection. If anyone is in trouble, Uncle Sam is rushing in to bail them out because they believe everyone should be equal. Oh wait that sounds like... socialism!

People need to be free to succeed, but they also need to be free to fail. That's exactly what "land of the free" means.