Sounds of Silence

Solutions ........ do you have any? As you watch what is happening around you, in your circle of life and on the national and international stage, do you take it in stride, accepting it as beyond your control? How are you coping? 


From strangers, I hear loud posturing, lies repeated, misunderstood Bible passages, but from you I hear silence.


I know many of you. You take the time to read this and other forwarded commentaries, revealing jokes, relevant videos clips, and some journalists rants. Other folks arrive on this page through some degrees of separation. If you Googled a key word and landed here, than you are curious and interested in something that is embedded in these thoughts.


The Sounds of Silence are deafening:


Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains; Within the sound of silence*

I hated history when I was in school, but when I became a Math Teacher I realized why. Many of the "facts" that I was taught in my first 20 years are not true. My solution in my classroom was to spend time emphasizing the reason for learning. Having an open mind and knowing how to use our brain should be the focus of early education. Tests based on memorized data should be replaced by challenging students to collaborate, investigate, explore, and create. 


Columbus didn't discover America and Pluto is not a planet. The narrow mindedness, bigotry, and arrogance of the Columbus story is a great example of the root of America's mess. The "tea party" spews this kind of fabricated information. 


The new Pluto story reminds us that with the ever expanding explosions in technology we will always discover new truths to replace old facts. We can't possibly foresee or imagine the future at any stage of evolution. 


And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening ....
"Fools", said I, "You do not know"
Silence like a cancer grows
And echoed; In the wells of silence*



Last week, a respected friend commented on my previous post, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." This is what I heard when I read it:


"[Earth] is NOT a vacation planet. It's in vast transition and the old greedy model is thrashing about trying to make its illusion of reality last ..... all these tacky people ...... stay in this zoo of madness ......" 


And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, 
"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence*


A solution was given this week by a Senator I had not heard of before. Lamar Alexander, an influential Republican, will step down from his leadership job in January, saying he can do more to help set budget priorities and curb government regulations as an “independent senior senator.”  I applaud his action.


Now, I want to promote a solution and encourage you to take the time to tell us your new ideas for real change. In what would be a bold, courageous and wise decision, I suggest President Obama tell the world he is not running for a second term. He should do this for his children, his wife, and for us. I respect him, like his style, know he his a brilliant attorney, and would be a great international diplomat. I applaud his American story and he has paved the way for more diversity at every level of our society. 


But this has turned out to be a time when Hilary Clinton should have been our President and she could be convinced to run again in this scenario. With her added international experience, her connections in Washington DC, her savvy and understanding of deal making and brokering in a very corrupt and self -serving US Government, she would beat any Republican candidate in the election, which Barrack may not be able to accomplish, and we would be better armed to tackle our problems in spite of the divisiveness and rancor in our 2 party system. Do I hear an AMEN!


*Simon and Garfunkel

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Bad role models                                       Poverty/Welfare
No telephone skills                                   Billions of Foreign Aid
Lack of respect/civility                             Military Waste
No accountability                                     Lobbyists and Greed
Inadequate education                                Tax Evasion
Zombies/Horror are funny                        Religious Fanaticism
Too much junk food                                 Healthcare & Fuel Costs



Emboldened by a conversation on the phone at work with Contractor Keith, I am agitated to the point of taking risks. The maze has trapped us and no one has a map to the exit. Constantly turning down dark alleys has taken us ever further away from solutions. Their is no leadership with a true desire to be part of planning a way forward, only egos seeking power and money.

Keith and I are now connected. Even though we have different backgrounds, education, locations and political beliefs, we agree that America is in deep trouble. The significance of our phone call on Tuesday has caused me to get very worked up again about this crisis. I was pushed over the edge yesterday when a friend at my work place was terminated. A smart, calm, friendly guy, a man who had quickly become part of our team, our work family, was suddenly dismissed.

These 2 events have set me off and find my brain churning and my fingers shaking. I am hopeful I can make a point in the next 3 paragraphs that will cause you to action. George Harrison emphasizes my point:


I look at the trouble and see that it's raging,
While my guitar gently weeps.
As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.

America is beyond the tipping point. This is about the economy, education, false idols, and the shift in American values. The people under 40 at my work place have grown up playing violent video games, wasting their education, and disrespecting authority. They are distracted by "reality TV", play fantasy sports, get no nutrition from junk food, do not have conversation skills, spend hours texting nonsense, love zombies and horror, and idolize and emulate people like Snoop Dog, Snookie, and Lindsay Lohan.

Keith is the owner of a large contracting company and has to have skilled carpenters in his employ. His workers spend every day in our customer's homes and they have to communicate with respect and personality while working efficiently and thoroughly. Think about the pool of 20-30 something men he has to choose from and realize how hard it is for him to maintain his professional service company.

My company hires hourly retail staff. They pay peanuts and get monkeys. Young people who are lazy, overweight, under educated, with no work ethic, and little desire to improve. Our retail staff is reminded endlessly that customer service is paramount and that positive customer feedback is essential. Yet the company does no customer service training nor does it screen potential workers for interpersonal skills, telephone skills, or sales skills. They look at the pool of candidates on a weekly basis and if an individual has no criminal background, doesn't have drugs show up in their pee test, shows up to interviews on time, and are desperate enough to sit still and be moderately polite during their interview, they are head and shoulders above their peers.

It is a sad state of affairs. During the past 20 years as our major corporations have focused on their stock values, lowered their costs and improved their profits by moving manufacturing jobs and customer service phone jobs overseas, we have lost the middle class. The reason these jobs are gone is not only because labor is cheaper overseas, but also because without unions and watch dog organizations like the ACLU, overseas workers can be brow beaten to get results, given no benefits, and still appreciate their opportunity to work.

OK that's 4 paragraphs and I'm just getting started. We have to have this conversation. More people have to speak up and we have to provoke more voices like yours to tell the truth about our real problems.

1. The solutions to this mess DOES include collecting more taxes from tax evading corporations and millionaires.
2. The solution DOES include more jobs created to fix our crumbling infrastructure; roads, bridges, waterlines, dams, power grid, etc.
3. The solution DOES include health care for everyone and more sales tax on unhealthy products like cigarettes, junk food, and polluting vehicles.
4. The solution DOES include more exercise for our youth, more reading and less computer and cell phone time, better control over graduating illiterates.

TO BE CONTINUED SOON ..........  Please comment below

Magical Mystery Tour

Sixty years on Earth is a chunk of time. If your 25, it seems like forever. If your 90, you think it's young. That's the interesting thing about perspective; it all depends on which side of the fence you're on.  I've been observing my reactions, feelings, and attitudes during the past 9 months, and I'll admit they have been varied. I just finished writing an email to my 2 best friends, and realized in that composition that a theme has formed for the final 4 months of my 60th year. A Magical Mystery Tour (MMT)

Today's thoughts remind me of yesterdays. The van, as a symbol for my life, is profound. I never had one painted this way, but I did want to honor the Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" (MMT). I have had 4 vans during the past 40 years, so they have dominated my driving experiences and added to my personal MMT. My first van was a VW, much like the one pictured here. It was light green, had a stick shift, and its' engine froze in the middle lane of the northbound NJ Turnpike, somewhere between Elizabeth, Bayonne, and Newark.

My second van was a red Chevy window van and it was part of my life for 10 years; from Long Island to Princeton to Berkeley to Sedona. My friend Alan and I had magical tours in that van, visiting Vermont, listening to 8 track tapes, creating visions of that van as a big community bus; a vehicle for change and inclusiveness. "You've Got a Friend" was born in that van and someday I will write more about those days; the mid 70's deserve a post of their own.

I did illegal things in the red van, including light drugs and innocently smuggling a rabbit into Canada. Around 1980, I had it painted a strange blue color and converted it to a camper van. You can remake your ride to reflect your transformation from wandering to commitment. Many years went by before I bought another van.

In 2005, I bought the celery colored Dodge Grand Caravan in Ramona from the Russian guy for $3,000 cash. It was the best desert vehicle for my construction work. If you have ever left a hammer in the back of your pickup truck and went to grab it on a hot June day, you'll understand why a van is the right vehicle. Austin and I had all we needed in that van; it was a cash machine. Transporting merchandise from Home Depot and all of my tools, we'd pull up to someone's home, complete a project and drive away with cash. Those were good times in Borrego Springs.

That van transported me to my current location, and recently I sold it after it turned 200,000 miles. Although it wasn't the smoothest transition, I soon bought my current champagne gold 2001 Toyota Sienna Van. We drove it to Sedona a few weeks back, and if you have been following along here, you know that was a magical trip. Once again the tunes and the scenery were grand through the large windows of a van.

I have been asked many times why does an older guy drive a soccer mom's vehicle. This speaks to images in SoCal that you are supposed to have the right car. To be honest, if you look at me, really look at who I am and have been, you'd have a hard time figuring out what is the right car for Robby. Some think its a sports car, some say its a 4 door sedan, maybe something classic like an old Mercedes. I've owned an RX-7, a Jaguar, an Audi lemon, a green Volare (look it up), a 1969 red Camaro with a 396, and at least 6 other vehicles.

But my vans bring MMTs and symbolize my ride through life. The tour continues in a few weeks; back to the NW to visit my best friends and reflect on past, present and future. Anybody got a time machine?