John Adams

The HBO miniseries John Adams concluded last week and I was a huge fan of it. It was amazing to see how this unsung hero of our nation's history left his mark on us. I feel much more educated on the man and the times. What did you learn by watching this? Please let me know…
What I learned:
John Adam's defended the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre.
Without Abigail, he would have really been nothing but a lawyer from Boston.
The extent to which Alexander Hamilton tried to slander him in public.
The resentment that he had for Jefferson during and after his presidency.
It is that last point that is well worth focusing on. It really drives at the what I believe to be one of the most amazing moments in American History. The fact that both men died on the same day, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence- July 4, 1826. I had known about this coincidence from reading I had done before. It is a chilling story as it unfolds, both men having outlived their other founding fathers by many years. The interesting bit that I now come to realize is that when Adam's uttered the famous words, 'Jefferson survives' it may have been out of resentment rather than out of affection. I had always come to think that his use of these words indicated that he was pleased that Jefferson, as a founding father was still alive for our fledgling Republic. However, having come to understand the acrimonious years these men had between them, it is more likely the case that Adam's felt outdone, yet again, by Jefferson who in this case was presumed to be living. I am not sure if it is clear who exactly expired first, but even if it was Adam's, Jefferson survived by minutes or hours and nothing more.
In hindsight, the bitterness between them was largely a function of the times that the President and VP were selected by the electoral college as the first and second place winners regardless of party which was later changed.

Vacation to Nammie's

In mid-March we took a much needed break to nammie's house in West Palm Beach. The weather cooperated and the kids were able to enjoy the pool. We got Abby a bicycle. We did not get to see Nammie as she was in Israel.

The Masters

Today I had the incredibly good fortune of being able to attend The Masters.

The Masters for me was like one of those outer body expriences you'd expect to find on someone's bucket list. It isn't really a Golf Tournament it is more like the day you graduate from high school. What I mean by that is the day has this odd perfection to it that you realize is part real and part surreal.

I was lucky enough to be invited by a company that I have worked closely with for years.

The first thing I had to learn about the Masters is- where is Augusta, Georgia? My immediate preparations to attend was met with the stark reality that you can't get there very easily from any urban city. Expedia has a multitude of connection choices, none of which are appealing. Ultimately I flew into Atlanta and took a 2.5 hour bus ride there.

Augusta is a place that has that small town feel to it. People wave as you drive into town. Being from New york you know that never happens. This place is really important for five days a year, other times, I am sure they like their small town feel.

I attended with a group of guys that come every year. They have a strategy to maximisze viewing of holes and players. My strategy consisteed of standing between 3 and 4 most of the day. This paid off early as I was able to see a lot of close up action on the approach shots to 3 and the tee shot on 4.

The day is fairly straight forward until about 1:50 when Tiger tees off. Then you learn that your viewing strategy has to be mindful of where he is at all times.

While you can get very close to Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Gary Player on any hole, Tiger is different. At any one time it is 8 people deep and very hard to see. Some people walk the entire 18 holes with tiger shot by shot however I found that to be exhausting.

At any one time you know exactly where he is with two metrics- noise and the sea of humaity that moves with him.

In order to see tiger, he had to come to me. This meant I went a few holes ahead and he played to me. It seemed like a good strategy until you realize that you are not asd smart as you think. The sea of humanity extends for holes in front of him with the same strategy as yours.

Tiger finished yesterday at Even which is respectable but it meant he needed a good day. I saw him on 2,3, and 4 and he was basically even wheni left. The leader was 8 under par.

It ain't easy being tiger. He has to be mindful of all that is going on around him. Players that did not have a crowd for part of the day suddenly get big crowds following the come to me strategy. Tiger is also mindful that his shots will create crowd noise so as a courtesy he let's the people ahead of him play out their holes.

Overall it was an incredible day. The course is picture perfect without a blade of grass out of place.

We decided to pack up at 4:30 and head for home. That seemed like a good strategy. Our custom coach ride was fun. We watched Tin Cup on the way out and Caddyshack on the way home.

The only snag to the day was that my colleague from St. Louis was unable to make hit. His flight was cancelled. I could sense he was heartbroken. My flight home was delayed 2 hours due to weather. I'll be lucky to be home by 1:30 am.

Phase 3 is complete

Apologies to all of you loyal readers out there who have not seen anything post recently. I am glad to say that Phase 3 of the move is now complete. We have received all of our belongings from the UK and the warehouse. We have made significant strides in getting the house organized and things put away. From my perspective the hardest challenge is dealing with many of the items we have not seen for two years. This represents the true elements of storage... All the pictures and momentos that we have accumulated for years.

Overall we have grown into the house well and seemingly found a way to utilize all the 'extra space' we were supposed to have.

The most significant thing to happen in the last two weeks is that Jennifer has started her job at Georgetown hospital. It is wonderful to see her happy with the challenges at work again. I am so proud of her.

Now that we are a two professional family again, ther biggest challenges lie in how to handle the daily routine of the kids. I guess this is the issue that all families are faced with. We have toyed with the idea of nanny or au pair however we approach both with mixed emotion. That's it for now... More shortly.