Letter from Management...

Subject: Opinion Survey


Okay folks, you were supposed to fill out the employee opinion poll and we are sure you believe us when we say it is totally anonymous and there is no way we could identify you even though you have to specify your market, division, and job title. We really need that information even if you mark everything negative. Of course, what your opinion is really is of no significance. What's important is that everyone participates and it’s done on time. We spent a lot of money buying out the independent reseach firm we hired to do this study. We will deny any allegations of mismanagement because our previous super secret option poll we conducted on all of your time off concluded every one of you is a vengeful malcontent. Now hurry up, we have a tee time at 3PM.

Sincerely,
The Central Scrutinizer’s

The lesson of Machupicchu

When we believe in something, when we value one thing above all others so much that we are willing to die for it, we pound our chests and wave our flags, we decal our cars and play inspiring songs, we decry our enemies and elevate our fallen hero’s all for the sake of the premise called freedom. The protestant God demands such sacrifice. The patriotic human mind cannot accept the alternative… defeat, humiliation, and the lost opportunity to plant the seeds for revenge if all else fails.

The Inca’s went a step further and carried the sadness of futility on their shoulders. They left the holiest of all their cities, the monument of who and what they where to preserve that which was greater then themselves, the mother earth who gave them life and the gods that showed them the way to flourish.

In the face of futility knowing that they could never stop the Spanish from destroying their monument of appreciation for that life, the Inca’s made the ultimate sacrifice. They walked away and never looked back. Death was the easy way out. Staying and fighting would have resulted in the destruction and assimilation of all they had left. They chose as a race to fade away so the monument could stand, their legacy held intact thumbing their noses at the invader’s superior weapons and God. I find nothing cowardly about this. In fact, it is one of the noblest acts I have ever heard of.

The Spanish never found Machupicchu. The priests never destroyed the temples and monuments. Earthquakes could not crumble it. Only the earth that gave it life can take it away and erosion is doing just that. Yet the symbol still is evident in the passions of the descendents of the ancients and they are reconnecting with that heritage. You can hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes. The Spanish only won the battles, not the war.

Hitting walls for the sake of hitting them is basically wasted energy. That doesn’t mean fortitude and competitive desire are relinquished for the sake of convenience. It just means it might be better to take what the defense gives you, collectively or individually and look at the real big picture.

So the next time we go running off to war to protect our pride in the guise of freedom by sacrificing our young and killing the innocent, the next time we forget we are part of the earth and desecrate it for the sake of profit, or the next time we sacrifice our people for ideology over common good, we might want to take a step back and see what legacy we are leaving in our wake. When the jungles are peeled back and the dust blown away, what will our descendents think of us, and how we handled our futilities.

Peru...

Things I learned:

Small Peruvian children’s eyes pop out when given an ink pen instead of a coin.

A repressive tyrannical religion with past inquisition type tendencies including torture and dismemberment can meld with a pagan religion and almost everyone is okay with that.

Extended families out in the boonies don’t need much materialism to function.

Poverty is for the most part relevant and contextual with respect to culture.

Native peoples are passionate about their heritage and not everyone wants to go to the US if money is hypothetically not an issue.

Raw white fish pickled in limejuice with onions and hot chilies is to die for.

Corn brew minus the experience of finding where it’s sold is a big yuk.

A 10-string guitar does not a 12-sting make.


Things I confirmed:

Economic globalization and the WTO are really bad. Walk the real streets of other countries (malls and tourist traps excluded) and see for yourself.

The sun at 15,000ft is a mudda-phucker and 30-weight sunscreen doesn’t cut it.

Airlines continue to practice height discrimination.

A terrible head cold is even more terrible when bouncing between sea level and 30,000ft for 27 hours.

We as a culture are not as healthy as we think we are.


Things that changed me:

Machupicchu… I still can’t find the words to describe what I saw.

The man when refusing a tip for directing us to a hidden market saying, “No neccessario amigo, just pray for our babies, por favor."

Notice of short sabbatical...

Off to Peru


Tis the moment before the adventure begins, somewhat like poised on the starting blocks trying to guess the precise second the starting gun goes off. Ahead is the process of the journey, the perceived end results, and then return and reflection all in the near future without one iota of actual outcome as we lurk in the surreal of the moment. With that all aside, we are off to Peru for 10 days (two on the plane) for our next adventure. The last trip of such wonder was Beijing. If this jaunt is even close to that experience, a hoot of enormous proportions is in store for us.

We have 30,000 year old ruins to frolic about, a rafting trip through a sacred valley, a visit to Lake Slick Titty Boom or Titicaca (I get the two confused), long white beaches in Lima, cocoa leaves between the cheek and gum to alleviate the effects of 15,000 foot oxygen molecules, and a belly full of corn beer.

Things I’m not allowed to do according to George’s list of appropriate mannerisms for Rich:

No desecration of repressive Spanish conquistador/catholic symbols including churches, statues, and priests in 58 Chevy’s.

No attempting to speak Spanish with a Russian accent.

No participating in total nude beach behavior with respect to middle age white man syndrome.

No eliciting political debate in any form from anyone.

And definitely, no fondling of small Incan women.

I still should be able to have a great time regardless.

Yak at you all in 10 days…

Tootles.