Love is in the Air at Webconsuls

If you are a regular reader of the Webconsuls' blog, then perhaps yesterday you saw Keith Hansen's post about love and marriage. Keith addressed the subject of how to know when you have found "the one" and you are ready for marriage. I am happy to report that love is in the air at Webconsuls. Dick Fay and Francene Miyake were married yesterday, February 20, 2009.

Today, on behalf of the Webconsuls' team, I would like to congratulate Dick and Fran on the occasion of their wedding. I am dedicating this post to them.

I am not sure when Dick and Fran first met, but I came to know them as a couple about 10 years ago. I actually met Dick in June 1981, when he and Dennis were both attending an ARCO executive training seminar. But it wasn't until Dennis and I returned to California in 1997 that Dennis and Dick reconnected and eventually formed Webconsuls.

But back to the happy couple...and a wonderfully interesting couple they are. Here is what I can tell you about them:
*Dick and Fran are fiercely loyal to their alma maters, Dick to Villanova and Duke, Fran to University of Southern California (USC). (I try not to call Dick the day after a critical loss!)
*They enjoy attending USC home games.
*Fran is an avid gardener.
*Dick is an avid golfer.
*Dick enjoys photography.
*They are both great with numbers. Dick has a masters in Applied Statistics and Fran, I believe, is a CPA.
*They are inquisitive and love to read.
*They both enjoy traveling to exotic places. (Think "Following the Equator" by Mark Twain,1897)

Today as I was preparing this post I thought about finding a beautiful quotation about marriage. Mark Twain is usually a good source for meaningful observations about life. I learned that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) married Olivia Langdon 139 years ago this month! On September 8, 1869, Twain sent the following message to Olivia:

"This 4th of February will be the mightiest day in the history of our lives, the holiest, and the most generous toward us both--for it makes of two fractional lives a whole; it gives to two purposeless lives a work, and doubles the strength of each whereby to perform it; it gives to two questioning natures a reason for living, and something to live for; it will give a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flower, a new beauty to the earth, a new mystery to life; and Livy it will give a new revelation to love, a new depth to sorrow, a new impulse to worship. In that day the scales will fall from our eyes and we shall look upon a new world. Speed it!"

I hope you will enjoy today's photo album. The first photo is of Dick and Fran in Kenya 2004, taken on the equator. Photo two is just for fun: Olivia and Samuel Clemens on deck during the Following the Equator tour. Photo three is of Dick and Fran on their trip to the Arctic 2006.





You will notice there is nothing technical about this blog, it is Saturday morning and love is in the air. Today is about two really nice people, Dick and Fran. Here's to our friends, to a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flowers...and a new world together. Speed it, indeed!

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.

"In the early 1880's Mark Twain learned to ride one of the old high-wheel bicycles of that period. He wrote an account of his experience, but did not offer it for publication. The form of bicycle he rode long ago became antiquated, but in the humor of his pleasantry is a quality which does not grow old."

It is amazing how far mankind can go if they have a little motivation and a vehicle to transport. The bicycle is one of those vehicles that has been an instrument used by people to get from point A to point B; not only transportation, but, theoretically a good time - if used properly! A lot has changed since Mark Twain was struggling with bicycles and the German language. Although, I am not sure mankind has evolved with the bicycle.

I have been riding a bicycle since my childhood; it started off slow but once I got the hang of it I could ride a bike as easy as walking. There are a lot of different styles of bikes, some complex and some very simple; the simple bicycles in theory are not too dissimilar from the bicycles Mark Twain fumbled around on. Mark Twain would probably be surprised to find out that in today's world the simpler the bike, the more "hip" the bicycle and bicyclist. When I say simple, I mean a frame and two wheels; that's it, no brakes of any kind and no extra gears, people are using their feet as their only form of stopping power.

With all mankind's achievements, all the safety devices we've created to help protect us against the experiences that some people had to learn the hard way; there are actually people who take the brakes off their existing bike or they build a bike with out brakes. How this can be considered "hip" and not borderline insanity, I do not know. I had the opportunity to ask one of these Hipsters why he doesn't have brakes and he responded, "I don't need them!" This individual was a college student and I could not help but wonder how he made it this far in life.

The other day I was on the Tuesday Tucson Night Ride, where anywhere from 100 to 300 people gather together to ride around the city. Probably 1/3, if not more, of the riders had bicycles with no brakes; and if riding alone with out any brakes isn't safe, try riding in a large group at night where a large fraction of people think that brakes are unnecessary and uncool. Furthermore, I watched first hand what happens when the group had to stop quickly and people without breaks went into desperate-measure-mode. There was a female rider who just couldn't quite make it, believe it or not, and crashed! I rest my case!

I myself am an adrenaline junkie, one who lives for the thrill and have been hurt many times chasing after a rush. However, I try and stay within the limits of reason, if there is a safety device that seems logical I use it. In summation people are crazy thinking it is "hip" to be unsafe; if there is a safety device (i.e., brakes, seat-belts, and harnesses) use them!

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. ~Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"