RAGBRAI - 2019 Support Vehicle Driver Edition

Last week was the 47th annual bike ride across Iowa, better know as RAGBRAI.  In a rare occurrence, last year I didn't partake in any aspect of the ride.  Did I come out of retirement for the third time to cycle on RAGBRAI this year?

Sort of.

For the first time ever, I drove a support vehicle for others instead of riding the route myself.  While others have done the same for me countless times, this was my first chance to be there with supplies and encouragement for others as they rode a day of the route.

It was a whole different way of seeing the ride / riders.  Here are just a few observations:

* If you're sitting somewhere along the route as it goes by, get ready to wave and talk a lot.  I thought I'd be able to listen to some podcasts, or maybe read a little bit as the riders passed.  However, most of the riders are waving or honking a horn at you as they say hello.  This was true even though I was stationed at the top of a hill, where you'd think out-of-breath riders wouldn't want to say anything.  They were relentless in their desire to exchange pleasantries, and many were happy to stop and talk a while, especially if you asked them about their unique dress, or where they were from.

* Not to overstate it, because most riders were in good shape, but there were a lot more riders than I'd ever noticed before who were obese.  Frankly, they should not have been riding.  I say this with all due respect to them for their attempt, but people have heart attacks every year on the ride, and it's easy to see why.   Maybe I didn't notice them in past years because I was always passing them?

* So many specialized bikes!  Not just tandems, but things like side-by-side cycles, elliptical bikes, and many adapted cycles for disabled riders.  It was a much greater number than I ever realized.  This actually was a reason for the funniest line I heard on the ride, from a rider who was with another person using a hand-powered bike.  At the top of a hill, he said to the clearly paraplegic rider, "Are your legs tired?"

* Getting the the meeting / destination town early, then staying there for a couple of hours, gives one a better idea of how large RAGBRAI is.  The populations swell by thousands in just a short time, the lines for food and beverages grow, and finding shade very quickly comes at a premium.  This is where looking at maps beforehand is so important, to find an optimal meeting spot for those riding.

While it isn't something I'd be interested in doing every year, driving a support vehicle does give one a way to experience the 'party' side of the ride without having to experience the physical aspect.  Plus since I was wearing my cycling clothes, no one knew any different!

Fitbit(e) Me Again

The warm weather and longer daylight of summertime encourages people to increase their level of physical activity.  It might be something big, like long range running / cycling / swimming, or something simple like gardening, or walking the dog.  (Alas, many people don't walk their dogs much in colder weather, and yes, that makes them terrible pet owners.)

Regardless, this is a net good thing for those people's health, and to a lesser extent, a society that may not have to bear a cost to care for more unhealthy people.  Unfortunately, some of those who fall into the 'simple' category also fall into a net bad category.  Specifically, the category of people who feel it's necessary to brag to others about their new, extraordinarily minor activity.

This is the scourge of the Fitbit, a fitness tracking device introduced several years ago.  I blogged about it in 2015, and it's only been made worse (meaning even more ubiquitous) by the very popular Apple Watch.  Here is the key paragraph:

Hey Fitbit users:  The rest of us are happy that a consumer product has made you more fitness-aware.  We just don’t want to hear about it every damn time you’re around us.  You might want to assume that some of us are doing a lot more than you are to stay fit, we simply aren’t publicizing it.  Also, I would caution Fitbit users to remember the importance of diet in overall health – but please, you don’t have to tell the rest of us your daily fresh vegetable or yogurt intake, either.

Bragging about a slow walk or slow bike ride only incriminates the bragger.  Those who wear fitness tracking devices should not confuse activity with cardiovascular-improving, weight-loss inducing exercise.  Movement is good, but movement without elevating your heart rate, or burning substantial calories, is a big health nothing-burger.

I suggest that before these folks brag about their activity, they think about whether their audience cares, or whether anyone is seeing any actual results.  If the answer is no, don't brag about it.

The Artful Codger

In the past ten or so years, I've been a regular attendee at what would be considered 'artistic' community events.  Specifically, these events include attending traveling Broadway shows in Des Moines, and the annual Des Moines city arts festival.

Prior to the past decade, my interest in the fine arts was mostly limited to excessively complimenting my kids on their mandatory elementary school art projects.  If you go back far enough, you might also include watching MTV -- you know, back when it was still a music video channel and not whatever it's trying to be today.

These days, however, I've become at least a little bit more interested.  I've seen dozens of live stage performances, mostly Broadway musicals, and I'd say at least half of them were quite entertaining.  I'm more drawn to the contemporary, adapted musicals than to the old-school classics, which are almost entirely singing and dancing.  I even watched some of the Tony Awards on TV this year -- yikes.

As for the Des Moines Arts Festival, it's a way to be open-minded about people who do creative things, be it painting, photography, sculpture, or music.  Every year, I run across something that I think would be a cool conversation piece, or something with vibrant colors that must stimulate the right side of my brain.  Also every year, I wonder about how these poor artists are able to charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for something will zero utility value, which is why I'm only a viewer and not a customer.

No one would say that I've become an aficionado of the fine arts.  Far from it.  I can't think of anything I'd rather do less with my leisure time than go to a ballet, or listen to a symphony orchestra.  Plus, I do think too much public money is channeled to the arts, when it could be better served to help human suffering.  (Those able to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars a year on show tickets or artwork can surely fund the arts privately.)

That said, I can also say I’ve matured enough to appreciate artistic talent and output.

Dear Graduating Class of 2019

It's time to give some more life advice to the early-twenty-somethings out there with brand new college diplomas.....

To the graduates of 2019:

It's probably difficult for you to go a day without seeing a news story about the crushing amount of college debt that most of you now have.  I can think of two exceptions to this: Some of you were lucky enough to have had your college paid for you by a parent or other family member or scholarship, while some others simply never read the news.

For many of you -- not all, but many -- there's a good chance that the main reason for this debt is you.  You probably could have studied harder in high school, creating a better chance for scholarships.  You probably could have studied harder in college, and completed it sooner.

Try not to ponder why you have this debt.  Your generation isn't about to blame yourselves for your own (in)actions anyway.  Better to focus on how to eliminate it.  I'm here to help.

1)  Get a job and start making money.  Any job.  No waiting for the job you want.  Listen to my (stolen) old saying:  If you wait to take the job you love, you'll never work a day in your life, because you are never getting that job.

2)  Work hard, and keep working hard.  Find a way to be indispensable, and you'll be fine.

3)  Stop spending money you don't have.  This may be a hard habit to break, because it's essentially what you've been doing throughout college to create the debt you have.  The living-on-credit monster doesn't need to be fed, it needs to be starved.

4)  Don't worry about saving for retirement now.  There are financial advisors out there who will try to convince you that saving now means you won't have to save as much later, which is true.  But it's also stupid, because eliminating high-interest debt is more important, and gives you more bang for the buck.  Also, let this be your first lesson that advisors mostly only care about giving advice that makes money for themselves.

5)  Repeat.

That's it!  You'll have your college debt paid off in no time, and have learned good life-long habits.  Of course, one alternative to all of this is to move back in with your parents.  Don't do it.

Berky Meeting Nuggets 2019

Yet another Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting is in the books.  This year I didn't feel like waking up early enough to get there before the doors opened at 7am, so I didn't get there until around 8am.  The downside to this was an upper deck seat for the 8:30am company movie and morning session, and no time to look at the exhibition hall beforehand.  The upside was more sleep, there were still plenty of complementary breakfast danishes and beverages at my super-secret place behind the stage, and I got a great seat for the afternoon session anyway.

This year's observations:

There was only one side-question about CEO succession.  I guess everyone has become bored with that.  However, Warren Buffett went out of his way this year to have a couple of questions each answered by the Vice-Chairs, Ajit Jain and Greg Abel.  One of these guys will be the next CEO.  I've heard Abel answer energy questions before, but it was unusual to hear Jain speak on insurance issues.

Charlie Munger was as engaged and funny as ever with his comments, at least until later in the afternoon when he nodded off.  (That was not unprecedented, I've seen it before.)  I thought the best exchange of the day happened when a questioner identified himself as a 27-year-old from San Francisco who fancied the idea of starting his own investment fund.  Buffett took him quite seriously, to my surprise, talking about how he was young when he started his investment partnership.  But Charlie didn't bite -- he instead told a joke, which was classic Munger, and maybe the highlight of my day:

"Let me tell you a story that I tell young lawyers who frequently come to me and say, 'How can I quit practicing law and become a billionaire instead?'  So I say well, it reminds me of a story they tell about Mozart.  A young man came to him, and he said, 'I want to compose symphonies.  I want to talk to you about that.'  And Mozart said, 'How old are you?'  And the man said, 'Twenty-two.'  And Mozart said, 'You're too young to do symphonies.'  And the guy says, 'But you were writing symphonies when you were ten years old!'  Mozart says, 'Yes, but I wasn't running around asking other people how to do it.

It used to be the meeting questions were dominated by Europeans who traveled to Omaha, but now they are dominated by Asians, more specifically, Chinese-Asians.  There's even a room at the arena complex that has a Mandarin-language translator.  Not sure how this came to be, but Munger especially keeps tabs on China, and has encouraged Berky to invest more there.

This was the first year I can recall that the Omaha World-Herald newspaper wasn't distributed free to those entering the meeting.  It was most noticeable before the meeting in that the paper sections couldn't be used by those trying to save seats.  In that regard, it was kind of nice, and anyone wanting to read the paper can get use their smartphone anyway.

Post #400

This is my 400th blog entry since I started it almost 10 years ago(!)  (I'll have to throw a party in July when the actual 10th anniversary arrives.)  I'm going to do what I've done in past 'century' posts, which is to review some of what I wrote about since my 300th entry.  The time gap between the 300th and 400th is going to expose how I don't write as much as I used to -- it's taken me twice as long as the prior 100.

I wrote about several recurring annual topics, including the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (soon to be post #410), my advice to graduating seniors, RAGBRAI musings, and things for which I'm not thankful. 

I wrote about how smart people have many advantages in the world, but are disadvantaged by a lack of numbers, and so many stupid people holding them back.

I wrote about new cities and regions of the country I visited, including attending the Rose Bowl.

I wrote about how great social media technology and platforms could be, if not for the all of the people who use social media for evil and not for good.

I wrote more about our country's slow, inexorable march toward decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, which can't come soon enough.

I wrote a few more times about financial issues, and starting my own firm.

I wrote a handful of times about great songs and songwriters, a dying breed with the exception of a few hip-hop and country artists, to which I rarely listen.

Nearly 100 entries apart, I wrote about my observations at the funerals of my father and mother.

I wrote about how religion separates people (and in many cases, harms people) at least as much as it brings people together.

I wrote about the dysfunction and hatred of this decade's politics and politicians, which is in many ways related to the last item.

I wrote about how today's baby boomer parents are ruining not only their kids' lives, but society in general, with their awful parenting.

I wrote a few items of self-reflection, on what happened in the past, and what I might do differently if I knew then what I know now.

400 posts.....bring on the next 100!

Too Many Goodbyes

I've had one of the longest, if not the longest, time gaps since my last blog entry.  The main reason is, the past month has been consumed by my mother's failing health, death, and burial.  She was 90 years old, long enough that she survived not only her spouse, but every other sibling and and in-law of her generation.

More on her life later. When my dad passed away not quite four years ago, I made some observations about the overall funeral experience.  All of those observations held true again with my mom's passing, but now I have more to add:

Unlike for my dad, I had a chance to preview my mom's obituary and suggest changes.  While I did provide my two cents worth, we should have been more focused on adding a sentence that any memorials be made to one or more designated charities.  I'm not sure why that wasn't done, but anyone who's ever had to later help sort out the flowers and wind chimes and cash (for Catholic mass intentions) should know it's needed.  There are better ways for others to help leave a legacy.

I have new respect for the embalming skills of funeral home staff.  Toward the end of her life, a variety of afflictions had turned my mom's body into a hand-clenched, hunched-over state.  But in the casket, she appeared straight and calm.  Having said that, the better way to go about a burial is still cremains, eliminating the unnecessary and ridiculous cost of caskets and vaults.

The burial service at the cemetery was unique, at least for me.  This time we were not asked if we wanted to stay to watch the casket / vault lowered into the ground.  I didn't need to see it, but I'd never seen it done before, and I paid attention to how it was accomplished.  My main takeaway was that there was a lot of pressure on the funeral directors, because there were a lot of things to move around, and so much could have gone wrong with a lot of mourners watching.

There were too many 'goodbye' moments for me before, during, and after the funeral.  I said goodbye to my mom before she died (on more than one occasion) when she was facing imminent death.  Then our family said goodbye to my mom's body before the service when the casket was closed, then again during the service at the final blessing, and then again at the end of the service when the casket was lowered.  Then later, we had to start saying goodbye to relatives and friends who had attended.  These final salutations all come at a small emotional cost.  I would have preferred not to say goodbye that many times in such a short period, especially to the dead.

As with my father's death, I've been very contemplative about my mom's life, and how she spent it.  I certainly don't want to dwell on the past couple of years, which she basically spent losing motor function, and dying inch by inch in a nursing home.  And I kind of hate that most of my memories of her relate to taking care of her spouse's and children's domestic needs, even in retirement.

In the end, though, her family's happiness was her happiness.  So I've concentrated on that, and the fact that she no longer needs to be concerned about others' welfare, or by the limitations of her own body.  I'm going to miss Mom, but I will always carry a piece of her and Dad with me.