The Gaul Family Reunion

We arrived home just over an hour ago after spending two nights in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the site of this year's Gaul Family Reunion. A fairly decent turnout although some favorites were certainly missing this year. None of Mary's kids were able to make the journey and their absence was quite noticeable. On the other hand, all of Judy's family arrived and it was great to see all of my niece's and nephew's.....the regular ones, the "great" ones and the "great, great" ones. My brother John traveled from Ohio as did Mary and Roger.....a long journey for a short weekend, but that is what being part of a family means sometimes. My brother Jim and wife Becky (Becky's celebrated a birthday on Saturday) were only able to spend one afternoon and early evening with us, but he still make the drive from northern Virginia and we all were very grateful. Judy and John drove up from Atlanta via Raleigh where they stopped to see their kids and grandchildren while Kate and I traveled from Buckhead with our kids while my oldest son Patrick made the same journey with his children and his friend Colleen after spending a week with us here in Atlanta.

We all had a delightful time and there was plenty of food, beer, wine and music. I tried to be Mr. Chef, but after not being able to keep the incredibly large grill arranged by my brother Joe (who was hosting this blast at his home) lit long enough to get anything cooked, a couple of old hands at grilling took over and I headed out with my camera and video cam.........I'm beginning to think that I make a better photographer than I do a cook; or at least an outside grill cook.

There will be more notes on this past weekend, but I guess I'd better get upstairs and make a cup of tea and relax a bit before the work week starts. I'm most relaxed however after spending a weekend with some of the finest people I know in this world. I'm truly blessed to have such a wonderful extended family and it is always great to hang out with them, even if it was for only a brief moment.

Pictures include a snap of (reading left to right) Joe, John, Mom, Jim and myself, all the grandchildren, my brother Joe and his namesake and my son Joseph and finally my brother-in-law Roger relaxing with a cold one. I fear that he and I had one too many cold ones on Saturday evening, but that's another story for the naked city.

Family Reunion

This weekend is the annual Gaul Family reunion, a nationally recognized event that brings folks in from all over the nation for a day of grilling and chewing the fat. I don't really know how many will make it this year as we are all getting a tad older and traveling has become more problematic this year. Suzanne, John's wife is recovering from an illness and probably won't make it although John is going to try to get coverage and head down from Ohio for the weekend. Mary's back is giving her fits, but she left this afternoon with her husband Roger and our Mom, who is currently staying with Mary for the summer. Jim and Becky will arrive tomorrow evening and Judy and John are either already there or won't arrive until tomorrow afternoon. We've made the the trip to Sam's Club and there are lots of burgers and hot dogs waiting to hit the grill. The beer needs to be iced as does the wine, but all in good time.

It is not a regular event in that we don't have one every year. They usually take place every two or three years. The last one was in North Carolina in 2004 and we celebrated my brother Joe's 60th birthday and Mom's 86th birthday. Both are three years older this August and although Mom keeps saying that she won't make another one she always seems to hang in there for one more. Hopefully and the good Lord willing, she make this one and a few more as well. Relatives on my Mom's side seem to live longer than the average American. 90 year old Stricklands are not that unusual these days. My uncle is 92 years old and Mom will be 89 and my cousin is also well into her 80's and they all have sharp minds given their ages. I know I'd be delighted to be 92 and still able to carry on a serious conversation about the economy and the political scene, which is exactly what my Uncle does when I visit him.

Anyway, a great week with the new job. They are wonderful people. Really passionate and truly engaged. I'm enjoying working with them and hopefully the contract will be extended for a bit longer and I can continue to enjoy working with them. It is truly exhilarating to be getting up in the morning and driving to an office and hanging out with exciting, fun people. I honestly don't thing you can ask for much more in life than a good family, good health and a job that you enjoy. I am truly blessed!

Have a great weekend folks and I'll check in with you after the festivities. Meanwhile, a bit of Harry Potter and his slick sister witch!

Back To Normal

Well, the family is back home from their seven plus week adventure to Europe, assuming of course that you include the UK in the European frame of things. I suppose now that Gordon Brown is in charge you will see a rapid departure from the lap of GWB and a bit more functional autonomy being asserted, which is fine with me and about damn time! This photo however comes from Leiden, our favorite town in the Netherlands and where we lived for nearly seven years.

Joe has grown over the summer and Ellie has come back with a right proper little English accent. She even picked up a bit of the Birmingham twang just to give Mom a twinge or two. She actually does it quite well and could easily be one of "those girls" I would meet on my occasional trips in Birmingham. Of course, I never met anyone that I wanted to have a long conversation with much less anything else until I met her Mom, but that is probably a story for another day.

I saw Shelby whatever his name is on national news this evening......he has one of those YouTube questions for the candidates........an interesting guy even if he is a Democrat. I tried to find him on www.adonkeyandanelephantwalkintoabar.com, but he wasn't there unless of course he is the one who likes crack and enjoys turning down requests to be his friend.

Just got interrupted by my brother Joe who has recently discovered the joys of Windows Instant Messenger Video......we chat now just about every night and it is kind of cool that this retired 60 plus year old catholic priest is finally moving into the 21st century. He does IM, Video and we are about to introduce him to Skype once one of us visits him in North Carolina and loads it on his computer. He doesn't do these things himself you know.

Anyway, I hope Shelby's question gets asked because it is a good one. He asked what the plan is for after we leave, which means that he and perhaps lots of other folks understand that it is just as important to have a plan for leaving as it would have been to have a plan of going there in the first place. (And we all know that sure as hell didn't happen!) I still think we can stop this thing if the people of America get off their collective asses and make their voices heard. Hell, if an old Republican war-horse such as myself can see the error of his ways, then there has to be hope for the nation at large. But you can't just "rage against the night", you have to participate in the process......you know, write your elected officials and make your voice heard.

Anyway, nearly 9:30 p.m. and I must retire. These 5:30 a.m. wake-up's are kicking my ass! Have a good night folks and think about what I've said........if you don't know who to write, then take a look at the donkey/elephant website and they will help you figure it out. It is time to get active!

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

The world is a very different place at 5 a.m., which is exactly what time I've been waking up over the past two plus weeks since I started my contract. What's even more interesting is that I'm going to bed between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and that has to be a record for the midnight kid. Heck, I almost never even thing about going to bed until at least midnight and more often than not I'm still sitting up reading at 3 a.m. I can't tell you how many times I've slipped into bed at 3 a.m. or later and just stayed there as Kate got up to get the kids ready for school. Oh well, those days are long gone and somehow I don't think I'm going to miss them. I've really enjoyed the past couple of weeks........you know, getting up, putting on a suit with bright shinny shoes and headed off for work. Makes me feel like a kid just starting the school year!

I see that our President is still defying the odds and ignoring just about everyone on just about every issue. I noted he is still quite popular in Albania however and possibly he is considering his options for after the next election. Albania could use another Dictator and boy does he fit the bill.........speaking of Bill, where is that boy? I haven't heard much from him recently and would have thought he would be center stage for the Live Earth concerts, but perhaps I just missed him because I haven't been watching that much TV the past few weeks although I have certainly been catching up on my reading, especially reading technology articles about the space I'm now occupying, but more on that later.

Just purchased a new book called "Buzzmarketing, Get People to Talk About Your Stuff". It is written by Mark Hughes, the CEO of the consulting firm Buzzmarketing and the host of the syndicated radio talk show, The Buzz Factor. An interesting read so far and I'm especially enjoying his insights into American Idol, the program that for me shows us the way towards future political elections. Come on, why not? We line them all up on Tuesday night and have them give a 2.5 minute campaign brief and you vote on the most talented lad or lass and over a period of a few months we can get to the final vote. The winner gets a makeover by the political equivalent of Clive Davis (now, who would that be I wonder) and the runner-up gets to be the VP, regardless of his or her political affiliation. In fact, that really should be the way we elect the two positions.....no more tickets........you run for the spot you want and so we could end up with a Democratic President and an Independent VP......I don't think we will end up with a Republican anything come next election.

Okay folks, have a wonder day and we will chat with you soon.

No, I Haven't Dropped Off ................

The face of the earth despite the many assertions to the contrary. I have however signed my first major contract as Patrick D. Gaul, Inc. and collected my first paycheck for that engagement, which has been deposited into my own corporate bank account. All very neat stuff for an entrepreneur and hopefully it explains my unusual absence from my blog. I was initially working to close the opportunity and now I'm working to deliver against the contract, so my days have been rather filled and getting back into the routine of getting up in the morning, putting on a suit, and driving to an office as opposed to waking up, putting on a robe, making a cup of coffee and heading to the basement, has required some adjustments. First, I'm waking up at ungodly hours..........this morning it was just after 4:00 a.m., although in fairness I did go to bed at just after 9:00 p.m., which means I had seven hours of sleep and that is probably about an hour or two longer than I normally get on some mornings. The big difference now of course is that I cannot just rollover if I stay up to some ungodly hour because I got interested in a film at midnight. Still, it is good stuff and I'm enjoying the work, which I shall have to keep relatively quiet for the moment because I have certain commitments to the client.

On the political front, I have officially changed my status to Independent and no longer refer to myself as a Republican. I'm now officially a conservative Independent, although I suppose my previous affiliation still influences some of my thinking relative to government and how it should be run. I just cannot in all good conscious continue to belong to a political party that has completely ignored the values of democracy that this country holds so dear and continues to do so everyday. Even today our "President" defied the Rule of Law by commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby, the White House Advisor who was convicted of lying to the Grand Jury about the CIA operative leak. He was convicted in a court of law by a jury of his peers and gets a "get out of jail free" card from the President. The prison term was excessive according to George, but he is still being punished because he has to pay $250K and be on probation for a bit.......like $250K is a serious fine for the likes of Libby! How much more of this can the country tolerate? When will the American people wake up and realize that we have a dysfunctional government? What will it take to motivate this country to do something about the situation? Unfortunately, I don't see a real leader emerging from the ashes to lead us out of this quagmire. It is pretty much the same old tired group of politicians vying for the top spot and pretty much the same group of tired old senators and congressmen and women holding down those spots. Where is the new blood? Why can't the same group of Americans that come together to nominate the winner of American Idol show-up for a vote on national unity?

I don't know about you folks, but I'm ready for a change, and I mean one hell of a serious change!