eve of the bike tour

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I'll try my first bike tour. It's a 25 mile course that starts at the Eccles bridge at the U, heads out to 6200 South, then returns to the city ending downtown at the Gateway. I rode 12 miles of the course last week, but other than my usual swimming haven't done much to prepare this week.

more about generational dynamics

Fascinating to find be reminded yesterday that:

• My parents, the G.I's, the subject of Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation, are surviving and thriving after the Great Depression, the Great War (WWII) and parenting the boomers. America's most revered Generation.
  
  
• The Silents, my parents-in-law and many of my most influential teachers, have an uncommon passion to connect with their grandchildren, have more spending power than any previous generation and are responsive to bargains, discounts and promotions, growing up as they did with Green Stamps.
  
  
• That my generation, the Boomers, see aging as mandatory but growing old as optional. No wonder I like the phrase, "50 is the new 30." No wonder I love it when people say "I thought you were in your 40's" when I tell them I competed in the Senior Games.
  
  
• My nephew's generation, the X'ers, are more of a "me" generation than all others, and that focus has some advantages. X'ers are first to have their own media (radio, cable TV, Internet). They're street-smart, tech-savvy multi-taskers who make my life better and show me incredible talent and tolerance.


• Our kids, the Millenials, feel like a generation because of 9-11 and the war in Iraq. They share values including: a sense of nation, giving, patriotism, heroism, selflessness. That they're more of a "we" generation that's close to their parents and their peers. They're growing up with great expectations for their generation.

Originally uploaded by rfin.

moment of illumination

Attended a half-day seminar on Generational Marketing today. Chuck Underwood flew out from Ohio to present an overview of:

• G.I.'s, 1901-1926, now 79+
• Silents, 1927-1945, now 60-78
• Boomers, 1946-1964, now 41-59
• Gen X, 1965-1981, now 24-40
• Millenials, 1982-present 0-23

Originally uploaded by rfin.

not clear and sunny

Originally uploaded by rfin.

Sometimes it really is a dark and stormy night.

specs

specs
Originally uploaded by rfin.

I like sharp photos, but I also appreciate some blurry ones. Perhaps here's part of the reason... Got my first glasses in fourth grade. Contacts at 16. Gas perms at 28. Soft non-torics at 36. Torics at 40. Progressive spectacle lenses at 45. Disposable torics at 48. Didn't like the idea radial keratotomy. Lasik holds some appeal, but wouldn't touch my progressing presbyopia.

med school scars

med school scars
Originally uploaded by rfin.

Most smooth surfaces don't start out that way. The med school students who will use this classroom won't see the back wall took nine panels of sheetrock, but the wall's creators appreciate the process under the paint.

Most of us have only a few visible scars, but all lives no matter how seemingly smooth are a patchwork victory and defeat, conflict and peace, gratitude and frustration.