Fiscal Responsibility

Does the Wall Street CEO deserve a $10 million bonus when his company lost billions? Should taxpayer bail-out money include a clawback provision forcing executives to return some of the millions they took from Wall Street? Fair? Not fair? I choose not to waste a single thought on greed for greed’s sake. Instead, I’m inspired by the rich who steward their wealth intentional and directly toward leveling the playing field in meaningful and lasting ways.

“I am impressed by individuals who continue to give generously even in these difficult times. I believe that the wealthy have a responsibility to invest in addressing inequity. This is especially true when the constraints on others are so great. Otherwise, we will come out of the economic downturn in a world that is even more unequal, with greater inequities in health and education, and fewer opportunities for people to improve their lives. There is no reason to accept that, when we know how to make huge gains over the long term." -Bill Gates

Ignore the headlines. Turn off the news and read the first Annual Letter from Bill Gates on the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Allow it to rekindle your faith that while business will always be business, it’s what we do with the resources we’ve been fortunate enough to acquire that counts.

Lessons in Attitude

In hindsight, it was fitting to begin my Inauguration journey with a long-awaited visit with the oldest and wisest woman in my gene pool. My great-aunt Ida Mae will proudly tell you she’ll be 97 years old next month and “never has a pain”. I’ve long admired Idie’s spirit so it was no surprise to hear the answer she shares when asked the secret to her longevity - attitude.

Directly from that visit I landed at Washington Reagan Airport, took the Metro directly to Capitol Hill and stood in the first of numerous lines among the masses, in the cold, for our chance to witness history.

Idie’s wisdom was palpable in the crowd that would grow to millions and endure harsh conditions, yet the sense of euphoria did not fail. Inauguration Day in Washington, DC, left many overwhelming impressions on me but none as deeply as this – no hardship is greater than the positive attitude you bring to it.

This same attitude keeps me pedaling hours into a mountainous climb, keeps a lab scientist enthusiastic to try a new hypothesis after the last failure, causes you to give despite hard times, brings hope to a person with HIV and peace to one with AIDS. Whether we invoke a higher power, friend or family member for help, attitude is sometimes all we have the power to control and oh what power it has when called into action!

History Witnessed - Our 44th President

Might have noticed that network connections were completely jammed from roughly 9:30ET til I'd gotten far from the Capitol this afternoon. By the time the ceremony began, we'd moved to the west side of the frozen Reflecting Pool, at the top of the steps with a fairly good view of the jumbotron (few tall shoulders) and the podium (thru tree limbs).

Temps never rose above 31degrees and feeble attempts to march along with the Marine Band wouldn't budge our feet from numb. The crowd, however, remained diligent and grew more resilient as we spotted the motorcade arriving just to the right of our TV view.

Cheers rose from the crowd as dignitaries arrived on the scene - specifically cheering the Democrats and reserving a downright "boo" for only a few. As then-current President Bush was introduced, someone in our section began the chant, "nah, nah,nah, nah, hey, hey, goodbye" it picked up and wrapped around the entire section, ending only as it became clear the star of the show would come next. The music stopped and it became incredibly quiet amid more than 1million people.

Sound emitting from the speakers is slightly delayed as it travels the length of the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial so as Barack Obama took the oath of office, cheers could be heard blasting in echoing waves behind us for at least 30seconds. Tears of joy poured down the faces of many around me as we stood mesmerized by President Obama's call to "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and remake America".

Advance warning was given to choose in advance whether attending the Inauguration OR the parade as the crowd couldn't be accomodated moving from one to the other. Clearly that was the case as the mob made its way to the nearest Metro stop as a helicoptor flew the Bush family overhead and out of town. I later heard more than 866,000 people - new record expected - jammed Metro today. We walked about 3miles to reach a less crowded stop, finally reaching Dupont Circle at 2:30 for our first meal of the day since that half cup of coffee and yogurt at 5am.

Over Thai food, Marty, Barry and I sat, exhausted but in awe of the piece of history we'd just witnessed and exhilirated by the promise of a unified drive toward a brighter future.



Postscript: I'm watching the parade now, on TV, with a hot cup of tea, feet up with my generous hosts, Tim & Patrick. Funny thing is, my foot warmers only now got good and hot!

Barrier Broken

And the crowd advances. Chance of a jumbotron gllimpse now. Pic is the obstructed view of the podium if I were 6'

Ready, Set...

We're through security and have claimed our 2.5sq ft of ground in front of the Capitol just as the sun rises, hopefully raising the temp much higher than the current "feels like 9 degrees". More than 3hrs to go.
The 2nd pic is the view behind at the crowd filling the Mall