kc bob: October 2016

Halloween in KC

Halloween 2016: Little did I know, when I shared this 4 years ago: the Royals would go to play in two World Series and win one; the Chiefs would see a resurgence with a new head coach (thanks Andy) and go to the playoffs. Reminds me to be a bit more hopeful about the future. Never know what tomorrow may bring. ツ

Halloween 2012: This cartoon reminds me that it is great to be able to laugh - especially when it comes to professional sports in Kansas City. When life gets hard and nothing seems to be working folks in KC will always have the Chiefs and the Royals to make them smile. Guess you have to either laugh or cry.

When Virtual Friends Meet

It is always such a joy to actually meet friends who I have only known through their blogs. This year I met Stephanie (pictured left with Ann and me) and Kelli (pictured right with us). I met both of them about ten years ago in the Blogosphere.

Stephanie still blogs here. She did a Q&A with me [here] in May. We met Stephanie when she was in KC this Spring.

I keep up with Kelli via FB. I have shared her thoughts on my blog here, here and here. We met last week in Fort Worth.

I loved getting to know these two amazing young women. They both are great examples of people of faith.

Have you ever met a virtual or blogging friend? Care to share a few words about the experience?

Rolling on the River

Loving my vacation on the San Antonio Riverwalk. I have enjoyed the riverside restaurants and walking by the water. If you are interested in leaning more about the restaurants there, please check out my reviews at Tripadvisor [here].

That said, the time has been a bit challenging with my wife is in a motorized wheelchair. We really enjoyed our multi day visit to the riverwalk area but feel that it could be a lot friendlier to people in wheelchairs. A few thoughts:

Many unlit areas make it difficult to navigate the walk at night.
Narrow passages are a bit dicey for a disabled person.
Many pathways are without curbs. This makes for tense traveling in a motorized wheelchair. Concerns about going into a ditch or, worse yet, into the river are a reality for a disabled person.
Some elevators, especially at the street level, are unmarked and hard to find.
We visited in a slow time and the Riverwalk attendance was fairly low. I do wonder what it would be like for a person in a wheelchair if attendance was high. Seems like it might not be a great experience.
A person in a wheelchair would do well to carefully plan their time on the Riverwalk. Once on the Walk it is very difficult to travel to the other side of the river as all bridges have steps. To make the trip you need to elevate to the street then crossover and find another elevator. Not as easy as you might think.

In addition to these points, we could not find a good map of the riverwalk that listed attractions and restaurants. It was good, however, that the broken elevator was clearly identified on the map we got from our hotel.

Finally, on the positive side, most of the riverside restaurants were easy for a wheelchair to access. And the area is really beautiful and a great place to kick back and relax. I recommend it to you if you are looking for a place to relax.

Shimon Peres, 1923-2016

“It’s better to be controversial for the right reasons, than to be popular for the wrong reasons.”

“Israel is moving from the realm of poetry to the realm of prose.”

“You don’t make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies.”

“There are two things that cannot be achieved in life unless you close your eyes a little bit.
And that’s love and peace. If you want perfection you won’t obtain either of them.”

“For me, dreaming is simply being pragmatic.”

“I was learning, as I did in the Ministry of Defense. I never knew, but I always learned.

“The Jews' greatest contribution to history is dissatisfaction! We're a nation born to be discontented.
Whatever exists we believe can be changed for the better.”

“If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.”

Buck's Bridge

I can see this bridge from my loft. I love that it is being renamed for one of my heroes.
One of the highlights of my life happened about 20 years ago when Buck came to speak at a Diversity event at the company that I worked for - Buck embodied both Diversity and Love. Buck began the meeting by shaking the hand of everyone in that place - he was so warm and caring. I will never forget that day when this beautiful gentleman spoke to us all about his experiences growing up in segregated America and about how he learned to love people.

I remember Buck talking about his friend Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League. He closed the meeting as he did on many occasions by asking everyone in the audience to hold hands and sing a song with him about loving each other. He had everyone in Cooperstown singing it when he spoke at the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Here is the way that he concluded his speech:

Now, I want you to do something for me. I’m fixin' to get off this stage now. I think I done my six minutes. But I want you to do something for me. I want you to hold hands. Whoever’s next to you, hold a hand. Come on, you Hall of Famers, hold hands. All you people out there, hold hands. Everybody hooked up? Everybody hooked up? Well then I tell you what. See, I know my brothers up here, my brothers over there -- I see some black brothers of mine and sisters out there -- I know they can sing. Can you white folks sing?

I want you to sing after me:

The greatest thing -- come on everybody --

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.

Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, sit down. Now, sit down.

I could talk to you 10 minutes longer, but I got to go to the bathroom.

Thank you Buck for a life filled with grace and love. I will remember you when I see your bridge. See you in Heaven!

Citizen Einstein

On October 1st, 1940, Albert Einstein was sworn in as a United States citizen in Trenton, New Jersey.

A few other notable immigrants and when they became US Citizens ...

Comedic icon Bob Hope in 1920 from England
Physicist Enrico Fermi in 1944 from Italy
Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel in 1957 from Transylvania
Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang in 1978 from Taiwan

Anyone notable that you might add to the list?

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