Posts

The Impact of Mr. Jones' class

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Reflecting on my high school education, I recognize certain classes have had a significant impact on me from a personal and professional standpoint.  One of the classes I didn't enjoy much while taking it has made a considerable impact on me as a leader.  Nope.  It wasn't biology, physics, English, geography, or any other standard high school.  It was a course called History of Oklahoma. Yup!  In the early 1990s, the state of Oklahoma required students to take and pass a class about Oklahoma history to earn their high school diplomas.  I spent my ninth and tenth grades in Oklahoma and then completed my eleventh and twelfth grades in Kansas.   In the Spring of 1991, I took History of Oklahoma, which was taught by Mr. Jones.  Mr. Jones was a US Air Force pilot who flew sorties during the Vietnam War.  A couple of times, he had slide shows with pics of him and his buddies in the military.  Mr. Jones' classroom was also quite memorable since he didn't hang any posters, fram

Who are your top ten POTUS' on Presidents Day

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After reading the article, Presidential experts rank Biden 14th among presidents in survey, Trump comes in las t  by Siock (2024), I was curious about the details of the survey.  According to the Official Results of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey (Rottinghaus & Vaughn, 2024), the top ten US Presidents are: Abraham Lincoln  Franklin Delano Roosevelt George Washington  Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Jefferson Harry Truman Barack Obama Dwight David Eisenhower Lyndon Baines Johnson John Fitzgerald Kennedy Donald Trump is listed as the worst president. Overall, I disagree with the list because I don't envision Theodore Roosevelt, Obama, or Kennedy being the top ten presidents. Lincoln, FDR, Washington, Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ, Monroe , and Jackson scored higher in my book because they led the US during war times.  What did Obama do? The jury is still out there for his achievements. I'm not sure why Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize during the start of his pr

Kashmiri memories

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In the mid-80s,  my parents, my brother and I visited Srinagar in Kashmir, India. We stayed in a bed-and-breakfast houseboat on the Dal Lake.  I remember beauty, meeting merchants who sold saffron and wild honey .  The other remarkable thing is that the local police had beards, which were not seen in the rest of India.  I also saw locals carry their Kangers.  Kangers are woven baskets that have hot embers that are carried by folks under a Kashmiri robe called a Pheran . My trip to Kashmir was a unique experience because it was my first trip to a Muslim-dominant India where the customs were different from the majority of secure India.  It reminded me of Old Delhi, which is predominantly of Muslim Indians. While I was in Srinagar, there was a sense of uneasiness due to the political turmoil.  I am not sure if my family and I had a bias that Kashmir is trouble and we need to be extra cautious.  The local Kashmiri folks were great.  As a cricket fan, I was surprised to see a lot of cricke

A Eulogy for my grandmother

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On Saturday July 16th, 2011, I gave a eulogy for my grandmother.  Here is the text of the eulogy: Today I am honored and humbled to talk about my grandmother.  She was a constant presence in my life. From the time I lived with her and her family (while my parents worked in the Middle East) to the time she spent some time with my wife Michelle and me. I could count her for sound advice, an understanding heart and wisdom of ages.  Her walk with the Lord was admirable and the fear of the Lord visible. Couple of days before she passed away, I spent some time with her and I saw a side of her which I hadn't seen before.  She was a fighter and a person how never gave up. It makes sense now this fighting spirit helped her raise her children into god fearing individuals, parents and grandparents.  As my uncle stated a few days ago, imagine if she wasn't a fighter where would the kids be. Where would I be? I close now by saying this: I realize I will see her again but till then I

Looking Overseas and Beyond

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Rather than go to the Lord's Supper, today I stayed home today since my daughter Tabitha has been sick with a cough and a high fever. I realized that with four small kids that I don't have time to socialize with my friends nor do activities with my wife. With four kids, my life revolves around work, commuting (4-5 hours a day) and spending time with my family. It's been good to get a break during the Christmas and just relax. We are planning to go South Carolina for a church conference next week. As far as work is concerned, I am open to job close by my house. If that doesn't pan, I am considering getting a job at the UN and work in Europe (Austria, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, UK and others) or South America (Mexico, Brazil) for a few years and expose my family to the international life. I was blessed when I was kid to have seen different cultures and lifestyles and those experiences have helped me in my life. According to some of my co-workers, FAA has to take y

Congrats Bro.!

Well, here is a blog post after two months. Yesterday I went to Mike Anderson's groom shower (a Christian bachelor party with lots of foods and great fellowship) at BD Mongolian Grill at Bethesda, MD. It was great! I see a young dental student ready to take the big plunge with his beloved fiancee Anna "So to be Anderson" Hartley. He was sitting with other men who are married. I wondered what they were thinking: Were they remembering their big days or what life is all about after we, the married men, were married. Hey Mike, if you are reading this, you will be joining our club soon and you will be a joyful man. You may not happy all the time nor sad all time but you will appreciate what marriage is all about. Congrats Bro.! Michelle and I are excited for you and Anna and we will joining you on your big day! Is Mark and Angie's ex-pet dog coming to the wedding? :)

Teachers' Basketball game

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Last night my daughter Tabitha insisted that I take her to a basketball game played by the faculty members of New Market Elementary School. In other words, Tabitha wanted to see Ms. Warner, her Kindergarten Teacher, play some ball. So today I got home at 5:43am and took Tabitha and Seth to the basketball game. I had to pay $3 for tickets and then we watched the game. The game was lively and I have to say that the teachers are extremely competitive. There was shoving, pushing, teachers fighting over a ball, etc., etc. In the end, it was a good game. My daughter wasn't watching the game but she was screaming, "Let's go New Market" and "You can do it Ms. Warner". Meanwhile Seth was awfully quite and the only question is asked me is, "Why are there basketball nets in the roof?" I had to explain to him that the other baskets rolled down when there wasn't an actual game being played. After I answered him, I realized that he is our little sc