Oh, Say, Can you See.

I had an interesting night tonight. I live in between two widowed women. One is a busy bee and never sits still. The other one, I'll go weeks without seeing her. I figure as long as I see lights on at night I know not to worry. But I've engaged in plenty conversation with the busy bee over the time we've had our home and you could say I'm comfortable with her...

I don't watch the news. I don't know who fought in WW1 or who won the Cold War (that's a war right?) and I could probably barely pick our Vice President out in a lineup but I'll say this...a worn and tattered American Flag bothers me.

My busy bee neighbor has a flag pole in the front yard right between our houses. I consider it a shared flag pole because I get to enjoy it too. Well her flag has seen better days. It will get caught on the tree and stay stuck for days and it's colors no longer shout with pride what they represent. I figure it's only fitting that coming up on the 4th of July that I take it upon myself to replace it.

(At least I waited for her to get home to ask for her permission!)

What a thrill brining that flag back up the pole. By now it was dusk and the only thing more fitting would have been if someone was next to me either with fireworks or singing "My Country Tis of Thee." (And of course one of the clips broke so I replaced both with metal clips from a Bose headphone case. Worked perfectly.)

British-born scholar Felicity Paxton said, "Both people who support the war, and oppose the war, wave and wear the American flag and therein lies it's power. An effective symbol is one that ordinary people can engage at multiple levels and for multiple reasons."

So there you have it. I'm just an ordinary person who would get wrong every history question you asked me. I'd be the guy on Jay Leno's 'Street Interviews' that you'd make fun of. But there is something about the flag I respect on multiple levels for unknown reasons. The fact that you can still well up during the siging of the National Anthem during a Brewer game gives me hope that you can have a strong sense of pride and emotion towards your country without having ever fought or knowing about it's history. Because really, for that moment, you, along with thousands of other fans, are connected not by race, blood or belief, but the fact that we are all AMERICANS. (I almost cried as I typed that)

(random tid bit about our flag...the current design was from an 18 yr. old in high school who received a B- for it)

(also...notice in the above pic how I trimmed the bush to allow for proper lighting of the flag at night.)

Numb and Dumb

The topic I'd like to discuss next is based around the question of whether or not technology lowers our expectation of quality. We live in a day where good business thrives on finding new ways to advance and cut cost. Ultimately, it is the customer who benefits (so we think) from more options at lower prices. (think Wal-Mart) But I am open for debate on whether that is a good thing or not.

I think it boils down to the principle that we don't expect much from what we buy today. We view most items as 'things' that fill a temporary need. When they malfunction, we just replace them with an even newer, better, and somehow cheaper model. And to top it off, we expect so much MORE from that newer model than we did before...(even though we paid less for it)

This new way of thinking has drastically shifted consumer spending so much that companies have had to adapt...and quickly. Would you buy a new vehicle today without a warranty? Heck, most companies have to promise ten years/100,000 miles to even get you in the door!

When I worked for Bose, aside from cost, people wanted to know two things....Watts and Warranty. Both of which, in fact, tell you nothing of how a speaker will sound. (It's like asking a car salesman how the car drives...just get in the dang thing you pinhead!) I heard a lot "so when it breaks..." As if their expectations of the product were such that it was going to last 6 months and they'd be back out looking for a new one. They'd be the first to say "Bose is the Best!" but then they'd want to know what the warranty was just in case it wasn't the best afterall.

Some would argue that through technology we've been able to create materials (plastics) that are cheaper and more durable in the long run. I disagree. I have a dresser in my room that has got to be 100 years old. At one point, this dresser was made in a small factory, by a human, with raw materials. Materials that have lasted this long and I could restore this piece in a days work. Have you ever tried to restore anything plastic? No silly, you just throw it out and buy a new one.

It's not that all the stuff made today is junk; it's just for some reason we have no incentive to spend more for something of quality. We rationalize the savings being worth more than the craftsmanship or longevity.

On a side note; if this mentality continues we will lose two of my favorite things:

-enthusiasts (without anything to get excited for, we'll all just become numb and dumb consumers)

-estate sales/antiques (without things that last 6 months, let alone six generations...)


...now post some comments!

Dare to be Happy

Last Sunday had to have been the best weather we've had all year. It was 80 degrees, low humidity and low winds. It was perfect. In fact, it was as close to 'normal' as you can expect for living in Wisconsin. So what did I do...went for a scooter ride.

Anyone who has ridden a powered two wheeler has no doubt received 'the wave' from fellow cyclists heading the opposite direction. I don't even want to get into how it started or the proper way to wave...it actually annoys me how much thought and web space has been taken up by a simple gesture. But being a scooterist, it's really hit or miss if I'll get the wave. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If I had to guess, I think it depends on the day because if I get one wave, I get them all.

So here I am riding along on the most beautiful day, on my favorite roads of all time, and not one single rider waved to me. It normally doesn't bother me too much...but Sunday was different.

The thing about the scooter is it has nothing to prove. It's the most basic machine and it cant' do anything 'neat'. It just goes. And as companies have continued to make these basic machines, other companies have been hard at work making motorcycles bigger than ever and bikes capable of mind blowing speeds. But along with this has come an image...an image of being 'cool.' And image of being 'mean'. An image of being 'unhappy'?

I guess it all depends on how you define happy but I'll tell you how I would define unhappy...not waving at someone who has waved at you. It's almost as bad as not returning a smile! These are basic forms of communications that have been around for all of mankind.

I called this post "dare to be happy" after a Volkswagen ad from back when the Beetle was still in production. Back when auto manufactures started making cars look mean and unhappy to appeal to the masses. Somehow we've allowed manufactures to depict us as evil human beings and we've fallen victim to their scheme. So lesson learned, by buying a motorcycle, you can no longer be nice to someone. It is against the 'image' and against protocol. You are to look mean, act mean and even worse...act unhappy.

Welcome

I'm going to give this whole 'blog' idea a chance and hopefully some of you will find my thoughts interesting or if I'm lucky; inspiring. Life @ Full Speed isn't necessarily about living life to the fullest; it's about the potential in your life. It's about the excess potential that surrounds us and tempts our every move. It will argue against this so called 'American' idea that bigger is always better.

It will be a realist approach from ideas that start by seeing the world from a different view...on a Vespa @ Full Speed.