Lets Start Out this Important Week on a High Note

Check out Diamond Rio and one great song about America

Robin Williams Talks about the French - Our Allies

Something a little lighter this Saturday evening.

Why on Earth is it Wrong to Burn the Qur'an?

Now honestly I'm not into burning anything, let alone a Qur'an. But what intrigues about the issue that was just stopped in Florida is why the outrage? People burn Bibles in this country and we were founded as a Christian Nation. People burn flags in this country and it represents freedom from oppression the world over.

So what is it that we can't use our 'freedom of speech' and burn the Qur'an. Well, I think it has to do with the new brand of Americanism our great messiah Barry is ushering in to the leadership and future direction of our once Great Country. We would not want to offend Muslims. And Muslims would declare their right to protection under our laws.

Lets see - they can kill and hang people from a bridge in Iraq; they can burn our flags and Bibles whenever they want ... but lest we forget, you do not make cartoons about them, write bad messages about them or Allah forbid - burn their holy book.

Political correctness and this blatant double standard is going to cost this Nation its freedom if we do not wake up and call a spade a spade. We have this group of 'holy' people sworn to bring out nation down using our own laws and the stupidity of our leadership to bring us down from within.

You can look to what England is dealing with and see where we are headed. If we don't wake up and smell the enemy ... we ARE the problem. Remember this come November!

Where is Charlie Urgen when I Need Him? DISH Service Sucks

Probably like many of you, you sit back in the evening watching a little of the boob tube. And just like a bad penny CEO and Co-Founder of DISH Network is on there sounding homey, down to earth (he does seem like a nice fellow) and our buddy is on there extolling the virtues of his great service. Well ... I beg to differ.

Since I travel a bit I have a need to turn my actual programming off at one place and on at another. The actual process I've found doesn't take that long and two months ago the switch went like clockwork. The only thing consistent however in talking with DISH 'Customer Service' (I use the term loosely) is that they are completely inconsistent in their advice.

Let me give you my last four days, the short version:

1. I arrive in UT and call in to have my zip code changed and a new address given. All goes well, the young lady spoke English and I could understand and I thought I'd won the DISH lottery.

2. My DISH dish won't lock in on either of the two satellites my service uses. I call Tech Support. We go through the drill with an English speaking gentlemen, he is quite nice, I am led through steps I could now teach I have done this so much and ... nothing works. I am told that after the tests the two 'pointers' on my satellite dish are bad and need replaced. I say I doubt it since it works all the time. I hang up.

3. Day 3 arrives I finally call that evening, go through the exact same trouble shooting since of course it is on their computer screens they are reading from. We end at the exact same spot, I am not locked on a satellite and don't have service. However this time, after all the tests my crack representative that Charlie talks about in his nightly commercial says ... the problem is with your receiver - we will send you a new one. I said look this receiver is one year old, never gave me trouble - that is not it. I hang up.

4. Day Four, for reasons God may only know, my dish locked in on one of my satellites so we say what the hey - we'll go with it. We of course have to go through the entire debunking process once again which takes about 30 minutes. We download the programming and have everything but local channels. No problemo - I call DISH back and get a kind of English speaker who says it is not a problem and he works his magic on the computer and says, success! But I didn't have local channels or much patience with Charlie's crack support staff either. I called it a night.

5. Day Five has to be better, right? Not so my friends. I get an English speaker at least and of course he tells me, you're right, no problemo - not so. We go through the entire computer screen of prompts, and God forbid that you ask them to skip one because you have learned how to do it yourself the previous half dozen times ... no, no, each step and one half of an hour. The result ... no local programming. The problem - must be on your end he says, maybe a connection? Umm? I am viewing thirty of their package channels but my connection is preventing me from getting the locals. I hang up.

6. I am determined this time because I know in the end it is an easy problem if only I could get the right person I talked with last time a couple months back. I call right back and this time I get a barely English speaker who I can barely understand. It took my 15 minutes to just get him to understand I 'wanted' the local channels. He keep saying, "I unnerstan. You wan me to take off your other channels an just leave locals" NO. After we solved that we went through, yes, the full Monty of computer screens tests, 30 minutes and, well, same result. He says he is sure it is my receiver. I hang up.

7. Still Day 5 I call right back. I get an even worse English speaker than the last time. He insists I go through the tests. I do with my wife getting just a tad out of control in the background. We get the same result and he tells me it is my receiver and he will send me one. So I take the bait and I say well then send it, 'it won't cost anything will it?' He says, which was after every single question 'please let me check my resources' which I know to mean is another computer screen of prompts.

The bottom line is it will cost me $15 shipping which of course is a good deal on a $150 receiver, that is of course IF I NEEDED ONE. I knew it wasn't the receiver and told him so. Reading I am sure from a prompt - he tells me what I need is a service contract and then I wouldn't pay for the shipping ever again. I say, "Well, how much does that cost?" A mere $6 a month, You do the math. I tell him I want to talk to his Supervisor.

8. After a ten minute hold waiting for his Supervisor a nervous young lady got on the line and asked how she could help. I told her she was my 8th person to talk with on this simple problem. She spoke with an island accent but was understandable and polite, but not all that helpful. Yes you guessed it, for the 7th time I unplugged my receiver, rebooted, ran through all the test screens in spite of my pleas for my sanity. And in this process she happened to say, " Well I am looking at your account and the previous reps said you needed a receiver? I ended that and asked he 'what else might we try?'.

She wasn't sure but said, 'I am looking at your account now and it allows all local channels in Salt Lake where you are so I don't know why you aren't getting them, it must be your equipment. I explained that I've been watching their programming for three days with no locals - yada yada yada. Now keep in mind here on the ending, that part of all those tests I did is keyed on getting a satellite signal from a particular satellite in my case 119. Every rep knew that.

Drum roll please ... she says again, "Well I am looking at it right now and is it streaming down from 110 and ... " I interrupt with 'did you say 110" Well yessir. I said as calmly as I could ... "Don't you think that would be a problem since I am on 119?" She said that 'may be it'.

So I asked her if she might give me 15 minutes to site in 110 and call me back to make sure at this point that this 10 year plus customer had the service he contracted for. She kindly said she was not authorized to make outbound calls. I asked if I might call her directly since I had at least made it into management? She kindly replied that no, I could not call her directly but she would put a note in my account in case it didn't work. It was the same answer for email. No contact with the customers ...

Well, I hung up and pointed my DISH to satellite 110 and there they were all along, my elusive local channels. That led me to think ... maybe CEO Charlie Urgen should spend a tad more time in the office, ensuring that his Customer Service department is actually performing the way he is reporting on TV. Charlie, a little less camera time.

But now that I think about it ... our entire business world is on tilt.

Steve Bridges as George Bush

On the lighter side today ...

Corporate Rip Offs from the Phone Industry?

All over the country you read and hear how tough business has become. I'm sure that is true. But just how much of it is a self-inflicted wound? Check out my recent experience with my only land line and Internet provider here in Big Arm, Montana - Century Link.

You do know of course that they were Century Tel and in the past year merged with Embarq (whoever they were) to provide me with a better level of customer service. Well that's what their ad's said anyway.

So last January when I went south for medical reasons and to get away from the cold, we were paying $160 a month for two land lines and hi-speed Internet. Now that is outrageous and we contacted them and suddenly the bill was $130. Then we had the idea of turning them off while we were gone and maybe not turning them back on. So around the end of the first week in January I called and asked them to turn the phones off and leave the Internet on. They said they could do that and it would be a $3 a month maintenance fee. Good to go.

I returned here in April and May, didn't turn the phones on but the Internet was working fine. No worries - then I had to go back to the hospital in June so we were gone until the first of August. We came home and the Internet worked so again, no worries and I just went to work. Then it happened. I was working on a Tuesday a couple weeks ago when my Internet just quit.

I tried the usual stuff and then called Century Link Tech Support who ran me through the usual unplug the router, reboot etc. Nada. So the kind lady says I will put a support order in to get someone out to check it out but it won't be until tomorrow. Okay, I can live with that.

Tomorrow comes and goes and Thursday morning I call in once again to Tech Support. The guy says, "Sir you turned all your services off on Jan 6th and that is your problem." I said, "That's cool except it didn't go off until first week of August. Umm? He says they shouldn't have put in a work order because the problem is your service is cancelled.

He does some more checking and finds out they gave my 'switch' to someone else since I left if off so long. I asked, "Why would you do that if I am paying you a $3 fee to hold the line?" That is one of those questions no one has answers to. He told me he'd transfer me to a sales agent who could take care of the problem. I was on hold for 50 minutes and my cell phone is dead. It was Thursday, third day with no Internet.

Friday I call early and get a nice young lady who tells me that there is a 3 business day period to get something turned back on. I ask, "But I write and sell and am quite involved on the Internet, is there no way that I can get it sooner? Isn't it just a switch you turn on?" Well, like I said earlier, the question of the switch is, well, they gave it to someone else. Now I don't know what on earth that means other than I don't have Internet.

After 45 minutes on the phone she can't answer for where my switch is but she does affirm that indeed it will take them 3 days to 'get a switch' from 'someone' and get my Internet back on. So the bottom line is it was turned on the next Wednesday, eight days without service, but that's not all.

She informed me that if I didn't turn the land lines back on it would cost me more for Internet since the services were bundled. Now I started out at this point paying $130 a month and she has a 'special' for me for two phone lines and Internet for $88 a month. Well, quite frankly that is the cheapest I've seen in 10 years here so I only ask, "What if I just get 1 line since that is all I need anymore?" She says, "That will be $94 with Internet." There was some corporate nonsense behind this reason so I gave up and said, "Okay lets go with the $88."

Service restored, all is well until we drive an hour north to visit my son and his daughter. I'm telling him my latest tale of corporate America being on tilt and he says, laughing', "Dad, why on earth would you pay $88, when I am only paying $29?" Now that was a good damn question.

He showed me his bill and he did come in a year ago as a new customer at $19.95 for six months and then it went up to $29.95. When his year was up a month or so ago he gets his new bill and they are charging him $49.95 a month, still much lower than my $88.

He calls and threatens to go back to Bresnan and a Supervisor gets on the phone and tells him she will give him a $20 credit for the next month for being a 'good customer'. Thus for the next year he is paying $29.95 and get this ... she tells him that at each year anniversary if you call us we will 'reapply' the $20 discount.

Dealing with the phone companies, cell phones included, is like going to a swap meet out in Sturgis. But then that would give bikers a bad name and they don't compare to the deceptions of the phone companies.

Armed with my son's bill from Century Link this week I tried calling customer service at Century Link on two different days to no avail. The first day I was on hold for an hour and fifteen minutes listening to their nonsense about how they are here to serve us and are building the number one customer service company in the world, I put my cell on speaker phone and just worked (now that I had Internet) and the phone once again died. The next day I tried using Skype and after 45 minutes on hold I just hung up.

But I will keep trying and will prevail in getting my sons rate ... if I ever get a human being on the phone that is. We live in sad times when companies are so cut back, leaders are so out of touch and yet, they lie to Wall Street with slick presentations and often bogus numbers. There is a day coming when these dinosaurs of the past, land line phone companies, will be gone. They are too expensive.

Of course then we'll be dealing with the cut throats from the big cell companies ... business is on tilt, lacking good leadership and they don't even know it.

Remember Those Fighting for Our Freedom

When we vote this November it is important to remember those giving up their lives either temporarily or in some cases permanently for the sake of preserving the lifestyle and freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

It is of course good to remember when we go to the polls those who are trying to take those freedoms away and lead us to socialism. Think about who the real heroes today are today when you check out this video.

In the end all we have are our family, a few close friends and our memories. Our memories of this great nation are about to be destroyed.

Update on Barclay Bank Post Below

My wife just called to cancel her account, got someone from India and they just issued her a credit, closed the account and gave her a confirmation number. Perhaps she's more persuasive than me or perhaps they are just screwed up!

Frontier Airlines and Barclay Bank - Do Not Sign Up for their Credit Card

I am online right now with Barclay Bank who has the credit card I applied for back in February while traveling back from Costa Rica. I actually had a great time on Frontier, positive experience and while waiting in Denver on the return they were having this 'special' to sign up for their credit card and get immediate points for your most recent trip.

So I signed up and asked for a card for my wife, filled out one application and was immediately told I got a free travel pillow and two free magazine subscriptions. I didn't want the magazines and started walking away but the lady said someone in our house must have use for some so I finally chose Sports Illustrated, thinking my son-in-law or son might want and Entertainment Weekly figuring my daughters would be interested.

Fast forward to my first bill the end of March, keep in mind I haven't ever used these cards and to our surprise my wife has her own card and her own account, thus we received two bills and on one is a $24.95 charge for Sports Illustrated and the other, my wifes, a $19.95 charge for Entertainment Weekly.

Now we were gone, I was having medical issues, our mail catches up with us in May and of course we have finance charges. I call Barclay Bank who really has the card and am told on both accounts that we must call the magazines and work it out. We discuss this for awhile and I give in and call Sports Illustrated and of course no argument and they reverse the charge as did Entertainment Weekly.

We've been going back and forth and just got off the phone with a nice lade from Barclay who informed me my bill was now $125.85 - imagine that for a $24.95 magazine! We went back and forth for awhile and I informed her she needed to cancel the account and all the charges. After checking with her Supervisor she was told I would have to pay $4 to have to charges remediated? I said no, it was the principle of the thing. She went back to her Supervisor who now told her the lowest they could go was $2 and I said nothing.

She was quite nice and explained to me that it wasn't their problem that I was told the magazine were free. At which I told her quite frankly if they were an up and up bank, with all the problems going on with banks today, they wouldn't be trying to stick me for two bucks!

She agreed to put it through as zero but doubted it would pass the higher ups.

So beware of this fraud ... and this bank ... $24.95 to $125.85 in a matter of 6 months. Not bad if you can get away with it. Now I have to take them on on my wifes card ... it's only up to $105 from 19.95 - I am sure happy about those new Obama credit card laws the Congress enacted, they have really made things better.

Political Correctness, Freedom of the Press and the Left

I ran onto this guy Andrew Klaven and he speaks what is evident to all but the staunch liberal. We live in a world today where the press and the government want to control what is said. There's talk of resurrecting the so called 'Fairness Doctrine' and shut down talk radio and Fox News.

Name me a President who wouldn't talk to the number 1 news outlet in America, Fox News. Now I know some of what they do is slanted but CNN has been warped for years by Ted Turner's outlook. And MSNBC might as well be Democratic Central. Even Jon Stewart and his Daily Show are doing about 4-1 parody's on Republicans, not Democrats.

Check out Andrew in this thought provoking, revealing look at our rights to speak out today and the assault they are under.

On the Lighter Side - An Obama Impressionist

Sometimes its fun to lighten up and watching Steve Bridges, a white guy, do an impression of His Highness is funny. He also does George Bush, Clinton and Swartzenegger. It's worth a look.

"Devout Muslims Appointed to Posts at Homeland Security

This happened a month or so ago and I was out of it at the hospital but check this out. Homeland Security Chief (I say that tongue in cheek) announced the appointment of two 'devout Muslims', her words not mine, to critical positions in Homeland Security. One Ali Alikahm I believe, has the position of Homeland Security Policy Development.

Now have you ever heard any President, or any Administration official, announce a new appointee as a devout Catholic? How about a devout Christian? How about a devout anything? Remember this in November this year and certainly in two years if we still have any rights left.

This guy talks right to the point of the issues we face. Like it or not we are a Christian nation. Like it or not all the terrorist attacks since the Munich Massacre, ableit perhaps two, were carried out by 'devout Muslims'. Time to get our heads out of the sand, stop political correctness and save our nation.

Tale of Two VA Hospitals - Salt Lake City

A year ago I was writing about the disastrous services provided by the Salt Lake VA when I was flown there from Montana. And it was awful. When I tried to tell Administration the Director wasn't hearing it, and told me to go to Patient Advocacy who was more than inept in handling my news.

Fast forward a year, I am back, this time for a bladder surgery three weeks ago today. Well, I don't know if it is the different department I was in or if I have a gold star by my name from raising hell last year but my experience was totally different.

First off my problem of continuing bladder infections was chased down by a second year resident, a young lady who was outstanding! Dr. Mobley just wouldn't let my problem be and involved others more senior in Urology and wrestled down the problem.

My surgery went excellent, a 5 hour project that is the first phase of three to fix my problem. While in the hospital my care was superb. The nurses we great, I got a visit from a social worker who stopped by to see how things were going and tell me to call her if I had a problem. I even got a visit from a Pharmacist who came by to make sure all my med's were in order. All quite different from a year ago when they admitted me to Acute Care department.

In all fairness they did an outstanding job. I hope that that is the care all Vet's are provided. I don't know that it is now or if mine was flagged after raising hell with the Director and Chief of Staff. But for me, it was a great experience, my recovery is going well, the drugs this time were minimal and all is good.

And my follow up Doctor, Dr. Hardy, a young lady in her third year as an Intern is just excellent. So I learned that it isn't the age of the Doctor that was the problem last year, it was just the Doogie Howser's I was lucky to get.

Heading Back to the VA for Another Round of Fun

Will be off here for a few days. Heading into the SLC-VA for another round of fun and games. Major operation so will take a few days to get over and back on here. I didn't watch our President the other night, because I'd just eaten and didn't want to risk it. But I did here he said that we were in a war in the gulf ... I find that so interesting he can call that a war when he refuses to say we are in a war on Islam ... interesting, deceiving and dangerous person. I also heard Dennis Miller talking about how the Prez said that the reason we cannot drill close to shore are there are no more opportunities ... which of course people were calling in and telling how that was a lie and he, the Prez knew it. Sad times we live in. I expect by the time I get back to this next week we'll all need a longer straw to suck air as our country sinks deeper in the mire. Later

Our First President Who Can Truly Do No Wrong?

We've all been watching this show for over a year now but the theatrics are really getting amusing. I was watching Dateline the other night, a special about the spill, the disaster of this century anyway. And there he was, in all his splendor, the Buck Stops Here Man, Obamanation himself.

He was declaring 'not to worry' he was in charge and people will be held accountable. And then he rode out of town as if all was solved. But according to the Louisiana Governor things are far from solved and then now there is Florida who is getting the gunk on their shores all the while BP talks a good story and then the show laid out how the Department of the Interior gave BP an environmental pass and they didn't have to complete the 'what if' study were something like this to happen. But he is the man, the savior and we are not to worry.

It was best said by one of our Congressman from Louisiana when he talked of the President and said, "We don't need the President riding in here like John Wayne making profound explanations and then returning to DC and acting like Pee Wee Herman". But isn't that this guys modus operandi? I mean since taking off he is spouting off like he is solving something and then moving on to the next subject on his ample agenda without closing the first case.

He started by announcing he was closing Gitmo and sending all the terrorists home and that was soon or will be approaching two years and its all smoke and mirrors, just like his massive health care reform will be. He is a joke, but a dangerous joke indeed.

He has a dangerous agenda that is leading our once great nation down a rat hole we are yet to even imagine. Leading is not standing up and making proclamations with the belief that because you hold a high position everyone will follow. Leadership is building a vision that people want to follow, not one people don't want to follow but is crammed down our throats.

His agenda includes turning our back on Great Britain, an ally for as long as our country has been free; turning his back on Israel, our only ally in the Middle East and of course more interesting things like declaring June National Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Month while not even participating in a well established National Day of Prayer and not placing the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day.

Yet when you listen to him tell it, he is always right. I heard him on the Dateline show proclaim that "anyone who thinks I am not making the right decisions doesn't know the facts". We could go on and on but the fact is that this guy is coated in Teflon for some strange reason. Now I agree Bush was a major disappointment but if this disaster in the Gulf happened on his watch, can you imagine the outcry from the news media and the Hollywood elite. But with this guy, nary a word.

Seems strange but I have to say ... this is a continued story, an ugly story about to unfold about a guy the media loves who couldn't lead a Boy Scout Troop. It is a story of a country smothering in incredible debt that is being ignored by most media. The one network talking about is the only network in my 63 years of memory where a President refuses to be interviewed by them and wants them off the air.

This isn't the America I know and love. It is the coming of an America where the President doesn't have the courtesy to provide the citizens with his birth certificate or his college applications and transcripts and one where it is okay to not follow the Freedom of Information Act and allow the citizens who request it to see those documents. I wonder why?

I wonder more how the news media cannot follow up on this story? But then we're being led by the man who can do no wrong? And I am worried, real worried about this guy. Not what he has done but what he is about to do ... now that is scary.

A Response from the UK on Cell Phones

The below was posted as a response to my writing on cell phones ... I talked with Jif and he said okay to repost ... enjoy!

"Hey Ed, I read that piece on the use or mis-use of the cell phones in stores , churches and while walking in the street. Let me tell you , this problem is international. While standing in a line in a grocery store over here in the UK , the checkout girl was talking on the phone and not paying attention to what she was paid to do .By the look on the faces of the customers in the line they were all a little bit fed up of this behaviour. One of the customers near the back of the line pushed forward and grabbed the phone out of her hand and threw it against the wall , smashing it into a couple of pieces . Turns out this pissed off customer was the girls mother ! Just thought I'd let you know it's not just an American problem" . JIF

A Note on Visiting the Wall for the First Time

This gentleman who I served with briefly in Nam recently got in touch with me and shared this message he wrote in memory of visiting the Wall in DC for the first time. I thought it worth to share ...

To paraphrase: `No greater love than to lay down your life for a friend.' There are actually 58,000+ names of men and women on the Wall. I went there today having donned my ribbons and medals to say hello to a few of my friends and render them a `thank you', 'salute' and a `welcome home'. As I approached the information desk, a "Blue Star" mother extended her hand to me and said `Thank You sir!" She wouldn't release my hand and continued to say appreciative and comforting things of which I cannot remember a specific single one as my emotions over-came me and I began to weep . She, this unknown to me greeter, wrapped her arms around my back and I wept on her shoulder. After a few moments, I somewhat regained my composure and stood straight in front of her. She then asked if she may present me with a token of our nation's appreciation by presenting to me a red, white and blue neck length medallion. I started weeping again and held out my hand to receive it. Taking it from a package, she asked if she may place it around my neck instead. I removed my Veterans cap and bowed my head to receive this precious gift. While I had tear stained cheeks, I heard her say those words Viet Nam Vets still long for as the words touch that "lost chord" deep inside - "Welcome Home". I thanked her and was offered a paper towel to blow my nose and wipe away tears. As I was walking along stopping at some of the names I sought, I would greet the other
`walking ' vets with a "Welcome Home". Everyone of them returned my greeting with the same!
This is just an attempt to put into words some of today's main event and offer to every vet of every war a `thank you', a salute, and "Welcome Home". And remember, "One does not cease to exist until one is forgotten."
Thanks to all for allowing me to share.
With kind regards and many blessings to you and yours, I remain

Semper Fidelis,
Sgt. Holt R. Louque USMC 2340326
3rd Marine Division
4th Marine Regitment
HQ Co., Scout/Sniper Section
FPO, San Francisco, CA, 96602
P.S. "All gave some though some gave all."

One With the Frog

I of course don't know how to meditate, my minds always been spinning, but I've always wanted a picture in the lotus position and found the perfect spot in Monteverde, Costa Rica a couple weeks ago. So here it is ... Kug and the Frog

Well I Made it Back from Costa Rica - Loved it! Then we were welcomed back by the TSA.

It was great to go down and visit my daughter in Costa Rica. I'm proud of her and her spirit of helping others, her sense of adventure and her ability to get her Dad to change. I didn't really want to go there but my daughter wanted us to come, the whole family wanted to go and I love them more than I didn't want to go so away we went.

I was very surprised at what I found down there. First, where my daughter has been living is truly in the middle of nowhere in the mid-mountains, tiny village and for me, reflection on my time in the DMZ, Dong Ha mountain to be exact. I wanted to see where my daughter was working and it is primitive by our standards. Dirt roads, rough ride and hot and humid.

But I have to say, this is where we could also see a remarkable country and people. It was a 3 hour ride from San Jose down to Mastatal which isn't even on most maps. Didn't even make Google Earth. And by our standards the people were poor. The houses are usually what appeared to be cement or block with corrugated metal roofs. But don't judge by that one.

The houses were clean, no junk or cars on blocks outside. The people were friendly and happy. Everyone, even in the middle of nowhere jungle towns were well dressed. We would see women walking with children along to us, dirty dusty dirt roads dressed very nicely, everyday of our trip.

I expected to feel unsafe and having to be protective of the grandkids the entire time. While San Jose is a city like any other and didn't feel so great, the rest of the country we visited was, in spite of the language difference, quite comfortable and safe. It is a beautiful and pleasant country, a proud people.

We spent a little time in San Jose, as little as possible. Then we went to the mountains, the cloud forest in Monteverde and Saint Elena. It is another, more difficult dirt road trek up to the 6000 plus foot range and absolutely gorgeous. The little towns were outstanding. The people were friendly beyond most towns here in the good ole US of A.

We rented a house from a German lady who has been in Costa Rica for a decade and she was a joy. She also had horses on a small ranch outside of town and we spent a day with her there. We ate in outstanding restaurants we'd never heard of and never had a bad meal. We tasted a little bit of their paradise and left impressed with a desire to return.

It was a great trip. We left our daughter behind. She is heading this weekend to spend a month in a Spanish school in Nicaragua ... which certainly isn't Costa Rica. We flew home, all eight of us and folks at the airport in San Jose were incredibly helpful in accommodating our three grandkids.

As an aside in all my travels for some weird reason I had never flown Frontier Airlines. But in an age of airline arrogance Frontier was impressive. Our end to end trip was very enjoyable on Frontier and I'll be quick to return. It was like flying years ago the way we were treated.

We landed back in the states in Denver, the airport to end all airports. I'm not sure if you could get a city airport further away from the city or more strung out. I guess they had space so they used it. I think their initial baggage handling problems are behind us but it didn't take long to know we were 'home'.

The US Customs people weren't as rude as the one's based in Toronto when you leave but they soon made us realize we weren't in the land of the happy anymore. Then, as we went to check in for our flights over to Salt Lake and we entered the turf of the Department of Homeland Security, our crack TSA troops - we knew, unfortunately we were back in these United States.

As we entered security the white haired, well over weight TSA agent sitting at his little stand there, with a major attitude was as bored an uninterested as could be. I walk up with my wife and granddaughter and hand him three passports and three tickets. Without looking up he says, "Separate them and place one ticket in each passport".

While that isn't a terrible big deal his attitude about it, never looking at me or even acknowledging me was a bit much. But you can't really say anything because the tin soldiers there will take any excuse to haul you off. He fumbled around and finally told us to pass. I guess we weren't terrorist after all.

The kicker came as we waited for the rest of our group. My oldest daughter comes up pissed off. She got the same bump of a TSA rep, had a three year old in her arms and a six year old at her side and he does the same exact thing to her. She told him she was holding a baby, as if he couldn't see but undaunted. he announced she must place one ticket in each pass port for him.

Well that pissed me off and I looked around and there was a little office cubicle with several TSA folks standing around in some sort of vigorous conversation so I walked over to join in. I stood there while they were talking for nearly five minutes, being ignored which was interesting that a civilian would be in the midst of their discussion on 'someone who said something out of line'.

I was getting irritated when up walks a TSA guy with an ear bud, looking very James Bond like with a nice TSA blazer on and very official looking. So I said to him, "What does a guy have to do around here to get attention? I've been standing her for five minutes." One of the crew discussing the 'problem person' turns and asks what I am talking about.

So I say, "Well man I couldn't help but hear you got someone who said something they shouldn't and I fully understand why they would do that if they were treated as rudely as we just were". With that James Bond takes my arm and ushers me away from everyone. He asks me to stand there while he goes and gets a complaint card. Says best way to complain is via email, it goes in the system he says. Hard to imagine how that will get noticed.

I left and the original three were still debating on what to do with the person who made the 'remark' and I could only think how I was treated entering Costa Rica and now returning to the states ... pretty sad stuff on the state of our government.

But Costa Rica is pretty cool and Homeland Security is out to lunch.

Ring Side Seat to the Destruction of Corporate America

I didnt go to college and went straight to the Marine Corps and Parris Island two weeks out of high school. After four years in the Corps with two tours in Nam I came home to a changed world. My intention at the time was to get out of the Corp, spend a summer partying and head to Africa for some mercenary work.

Well, love happens, I met my wife (we're closing in on 41 years married)and decided against my original stupidity. Only problem was my wife wouldnt marry me unless I worked, as in a regular job. If any of you are old enough to remember the Dobie Gillis Show, I was like Maynard G Krebs "Work?!"

But work I did. Spent ten years going from mechanic, truck driver and General Manager of a small trucking company. I left to join Frito Lay in Detroit in their trucking operations and was promoted five times the first six years. I spent 13 years with them moving around the country and a stint in headquarters.

What I experienced and learned at Frito was invaluable. I learned about accountability, leadership and pay for performance. Back in the late 70's they had information coming out on the old wide computer printouts with the holes on the edge that put to shame every company I've worked for since, up to a couple years ago.

The thing that stood out was how close the leaders were to the operations on the ground. I remember how the President and the head of Operations and all the Logistics leaders would visit every plant twice a year, think 46 plants at the time, and we would have to present the state of our operations. Twice a year we had big get togethers where the whole company had to account for our performance in front of our peers.

When the Frito President was coming and the Sr VP op Operations I would spend a month prepping for my presentation because I knew they could and did hand me my head if I wasnt on top of my game. It was a little like the accountability in the Marine Corps that kept you alive when it all hit the fan. It felt good.

I left Frito after 13 years and went to Pepsi Cola. My first position was on a team to integrate the purchase of several franchises they were buying back. Pepsi was more fun and less accountable. This was in the early 90's and I began to see the gap between top and bottom growing. I saw it first at Frito in the late 80's but it was big time at Pepsi.

I enjoyed Pepsi but accountability was lacking. Performance was based more on looking what they called 'Pepsi Pretty' than it was the bottom line. As for the people in the field doing the work ... a necessary evil to the profit machine. It was a fun place actually but as for presenting to the President ... I'd got present to him with a day or twos notice. Not because he was a bad guy, he was a great person and knew the business from the sales and marketing side but as for operations, it was easy to cover.

Then I was told after three years, after getting a great annual review, (I was a Director level at the time) that I would always have a job at Pepsi but never be a VP. The reason was that without a college degree and at my age (46) I would never be a VP in a PepsiCo company. My boss at the time was a great guy and I appreciate to this day his honesty. I was gone within two months...to Compaq.

At the time I left there were four of us Directors working in operations. I was the first to leave, another who wasnt ready for VP left and became VP elsewhere and eventually President of one of that company's acquisitions. Another of the guys left in six months for the same reason and is today President of one of the nations top home builders. The fourth guy got promoted to keep him with the company. For me it began the age of the demise of once great companies.

I was at Compaq for three years in the mid-nineties when they were Houston's other Rocket. I was VP of Worldwide Logistics. I knew without a college degree I wouldnt be President of a Fortune 50 company but my goal was VP. I'd reached my goal and was never more disillusioned. When I write this it isnt about bad people it is about good people selling out for bad things. It was all about as our CEO would always remind us every quarter "We must be bigger!"

Bigger came to mean at all costs. It was all about stock options and how much everyone could make, sometimes laws be damned. It wasnt about the workers it was about the money. Great people sold out for the stock options that would bring them instant wealth. I learned in trucking and Vietnam that it is about 'the people' and this was the height, at least for me, of selling out. When I was called to present to the CEO of Compaq I'd go on a minutes notice. He didnt have a clue about our $2 billion budget. Just "We must be bigger1"

I left after a big fight after three years. I left to get my life back and went on my own consulting for large businesses. Over the next few years I would see the deterioration everywhere I went. Some of our marquee companies flying blind for the sake of bonuses and options. Think AIG, again, giving unreal bonuses. The top has no idea today how the work gets done on the bottom. Why do you think GM is a pittance of itself today.

I'm not preaching doomsday but we're not going to see the great economy of this country again anytime soon. It is going to take some serious awakening to turn this around. We live in the 'me' generation. Make my money now. Get my big house now. I never thought I'd see it but its here. And that same generation is leading us in DC and has been for some time ... and we're in the toilet, swirling. Unless something drastically changes our current 'me-me-me' culture America for our grandkids will disappear down the drain.