First Detour: Sedona

We were all up and out just a little past our target time of 8:00 AM to leave for Sedona. It was pretty close to a two hour drive from Scottsdale to get there and one of the first things you notice after getting on 17 going north is your not anywhere near the East Coast anymore with a speed limit of 75 miles an hour. Though we certainly have our share of crazy drivers who think this is the norm it feels strange to be pushing the rental this fast just to get up to the limit!

The trip itself is interesting as you see all of the saguaro cacti as you start out change into grass lands as you reach higher elevations. If you have an external temperature sensor in your car you will see that start to swing lower as well. The most striking change, however, is when you reach those final miles getting into Sedona as the red rocks appear out of no where in the distant ‘mountains’. You truly enter a different world by the time you park your car in Sedona to begin your adventure.

Our ‘Sedona Moment’ was having our guide get to our meeting point at exactly the same time we did. Meeting at the Hilton Sedona, Näthan Gangadean from Sedona Private Guides was our adventure guide charged with taking us around all that is Sedona. Soon we were off in his car to our first stop of Bell Rock. With this being a bit of a whirlwind orientation tour we only walked the path to just the base of the rock and our moment of reflection began. People seem to approach the feeling of Sedona from many different angles; energy meridians, vortexes, and so on. I believe the trouble with finding the right description is we simply have not evolved enough to be able to measure why this place is different. Do read the books, do listen to the experts, and above all find what works for you. Besides the physical dangers of doing something stupid climbing the sandstone there are certainly no bad vortexes to steer away from. The best explanation I have heard of the so called bad vortexes are areas of the land that promote introspection. It would seem that this could be interpreted as a negative experience by some yet quiet introspection can be extremely valuable, so again, find what works for you.

View From the Chapel of the Holy Cross

As we traveled about we saw many sights. The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a must visit and while you are up there you will have an overhead view of one of the most interesting pieces of over the top architecture in Sedona – be sure to take the time to scratch your head wondering how they got that one past the town planners. For lunch we packed a wonderful meal from New Frontiers Natural Martketplace (and for me it was a Vortex Veggie Sandwich plus GT’s Raw Organic Kombucha #9) and ate in the park near Oak Creak. After eating we dipped our feet in the cool waters and had probably the best view of Cathedral Rock you could ever hope for. One of the last stops we made before doing some shopping was to visit the Airport Mesa. The view was simply tremendous and no matter how wide of a lens I tried there was no way to capture the feel of the land before us.

Leaving Sedona I had a true sense of being cleansed. I felt lighter and was looking even more forward to life ahead. Perhaps it could have been just being outside and walking around all day but sleep for some of us was more deep and fulfilling than it has been in recent memories. I am already looking forward to returning at some point and next time I want to go deep into the experience of Sedona with a long hike and meditation and end the day seeing the sun set from the Airport Mesa.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

On the way back from Sedona we made a quick stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument. An amazing site and even more amazing to hear that the structure home to a mere 35 people. For a virtual tour of the inside (which is no longer accessible by the public) go to the National Park Service’s site.

Second Detour: A Balloon Ride

Getting up super early we actually made it out of the house near on time at 4:50 AM and met up with Hot Air Expeditions at the Deer Valley airport parking lot. There we met another couple going on the same ride with the four of us and got into the van to be driven over to the launch site maybe 20 minutes away. As soon as we got to the site the crew trucks came in right behind us and started to set up. The baskets moved into position, the balloons were unrolled, and soon the fans started inflating them on their sides as much as possible before firing up the propane. With people that obviously do this very often the process is smooth and goes by in the blink of an eye. It is amazing how very little time it takes when the fire is turned on before the balloons lift to their vertical positions and you need to climb into the baskets to give weight for a controlled takeoff.

Hot Air Expeditions

The transition between the ground and liftoff was almost non-existent. At one moment you see the crew still hanging around the basket on the ground and the next moment you look around you see the other balloons still inflating from an ever growing distance. It has been probably 30 years since my first and last balloon experience and it truly is something you will never forget in your lifetime. The peace of the flight is only interrupted by the extreme heat of the propane blast into the balloon to either gain or maintain altitude.

For those who have never been in a balloon before the wind tells the balloon where to go and the only control a pilot has is to change altitude in hope of catching a different direction. If there are balloons up ahead of you they are a great source of information and if you are the lead balloon (as we were) then you are on your own.

Ballooning in Arizona

For the trip we flew at different altitudes taking in both close views of the beauty of the desert, including the wildlife, and tremendous vistas of the surrounding area. Flying over a desert makes for an interesting landing challenge. As barren as a desert might seem it is truly hard to find a place large enough, flat enough, and especially free enough from saguaro to make a landing. Oh, and did I mention the rocks? When we did come down they were doing their best to keep the basket in one place as the balloon still had a different idea with the gentle wind of the morning. Though it seemed like we would tip over that moment never came and touch down was complete!

The crew van was minutes away and soon a breakfast table of celebration was prepared at our landing site. It was a wonderful experience in all ways possible – from the weather of the morning, to the crew and pilots, to all that we saw during the flight, and of course what it feels like to be in a balloon to begin with. Be it in Arizona, or somewhere else in your travels, find a way to make this experience a part of your life.

Third Detour: West Rim of the Grand Canyon

At 7:00 AM and were driven to the Deer Valley Airport for our Grand Canyon West Rim Adventure Tour by Westwind Air Service. After checking in and waiting for some other people to arrive we soon boarded our eight seater plane and headed out to the canyon. It was about a one hour flight that took us over an ever changing landscape until we reached our destination.

Upon landing we got weighed in for our helicopter ride and I managed to get front seat status! Cool! From there it was not long before we headed over to the helicopter pads and boarded for an amazing ten minute flight down to the bottom of the canyon. Thus far I am surprised at the pace of the tour as everything is moving very fast for, as we touched down and got out, we walked straight down a hundred stone steps or so to a pontoon boat waiting to for a fifteen minute ride on the Colorado river. The water at this point in the river is about 18 feet deep and though the white water is probably 40 to 50 miles away from here the current is still noticeably fast moving somewhere above 10 miles an hour. The boat trip was smooth and peaceful and of course the fifteen minutes pasted in the blink of an eye. Our boat captain brought a bucket of the river water on deck for us to feel the cool temperature and splash some on our foreheads for good luck and offered answers to any questions we could think of in the short period of time we had with him.

Getting off the boat we walked back up the stairs and almost immediately boarded a helicopter for the ten minute journey back to where we started. Yes, our trip to visit the bottom of the canyon was indeed quick but was is more amazing is seeing just how many trips were being made. The helicopters were literally on the ground for perhaps three of four minutes total. It was a constant shuffle back and forth and the tour we were on was obviously not the only one taking place in the area either.

Back up at the airport we had some down time to poke around the gift shop while waiting for the bus to be ready that would take us on the next leg of our adventure. The trip to Eagle Point was only about ten minutes and of course the big attraction there was the Skywalk. Our pilot, who would be following us for the rest of the trip as well, informed us no cameras were allowed on the Skywalk anymore. It seems that at some point someone dropped one and chipped the glass surface. This would not be a safety hazard but given the cost of the glass panes  it would be a maintenance nightmare so I guess it is understandable. The good news is that our pilot offered to hold our camera for a photo from afar and photos where available for purchase from the skywalk itself.

Upon entering the building we headed to the Skywalk where we lockered the rest of our belongings, past through the metal detector, donned our disposable booties, and finally walked out above the canyon. It is truly an amazing experience but not scary at all. Despite the extreme height of the walk there is no reference point for anything familiar so the perception of depth is almost impossible. We did get photos taken when we were on the walk and our photographer said that during the winter they collected a trash bin of snow and dumped it over the edge. It took a full ten seconds to hit the bottom and when it did it looked like a dot and sounded like a shotgun blast.

Leaving the walk we took some of our own photos overlooking the eagle formation in the canyon across the way and soon boarded the bus to our next stop – Guano Point. Here we had lunch sitting at a table outside where maybe thirty feet away was a drop to the bottom of the canyon. Being on an Indian Reservation there are no safety fences or such and the view is 100% available to be taken in. It was truly a one in a life time experience sitting down to eat with that kind of view.

Guano Point

After lunch we walked out to the edge of Guano Point where our pilot became our personal tour guide cluing us in on some great photo spots, telling us interesting facts he knew about the area, and probably most importantly –showing us the best ways to climb on the rocks. He told us the story of the car wreck (that dark brown dot at the bottom of the ‘V’ shaped out crop of rock you see in the middle of the photo above) you can see at the bottom of the canyon at one point – how it was part of a film shoot and of course I forget what the name of the movie was – and various other points of interest. The tour in general was spectacular, however, the way the pilot seemed to go out of his way to always keep track of us (which must be a huge challenge in itself given both the enormity of the areas and the other people visiting from various tours and self guided trips) and to guide us to special areas we simply would not have experienced just wondering on our own made the whole experience over the top.

The bus took us back to the airport and soon our pilot collected all eight people that were on the tour together and we were off. With an early start it was a tiring day already and though it was sad to leave the amazing sights we saw we were ready for our flight back. I would definitely use the tour service again and perhaps next time take advantage of seeing a different part of the Grand Canyon.

Fourth Detour: Food

If you are in the Scottsdale or Phoenix areas look up my reviews on Yelp to see some great places to try. The surprise of Scottsdale was the Pinnacle Grill. Of all the places we tried this will be the most missed and a certain return whenever back in the area. For Phoenix, yes, I did have The Big Unit at Alice Cooperstown!

The Big Unit

So, where does the great cheesesteak smackdown fit into all of this? Zig-zagging was brought to Tony’s life by Sage Robbins and as I went through my master cleanse a couple of months ago I enjoyed watching the Travel Channel making my own wish list of zigs. (or are they zags?) The first road trip was an adventure to where the cheesesteak began – Philadelphia. No, I am certainly not craving the taste from all of those years ago, but I am fascinated with what has become a piece of American history. The bottom line is if you are going to take in the early part of American history while you visit Philadelphia, do take the less than 1.5 mile detour away from the Liberty Bell to see where the cheesesteak phenomenon took root.

Liberty Bell

The story seems to be that Pat and Harry Olivieri invented the cheesesteak and sold it at their hotdog stand in the south Philadelphia Italian Market. Due to the success the of the public’s response Pat decided to open up a store called Pat’s King of Steaks dedicated to the sandwich in 1930 on the same site it is today at 1237 East Passyunk Avenue.

When you come to visit Pat’s you will probably see quite a crowd surrounding the place but do not let this deter your resolve to buy a cheesesteak from the source!

Pat's King of Steaks

The lines move very quickly as the 80 years of experience seem to have certainly paid off at least in the form of efficiency. When you are close to the ordering window you will have a set of instructions you can follow to help keep things moving fast.

How to Order a Steak

Of course just when you have finished all of your practicing, and have your money ready, you then get confused when you see the array of options to choose from. No worries, as the panic passes quickly – just let your hunger choose for you and sit back and enjoy the experience.

Pat's King of Steak Menu

In what seems to be an instant after you place your order and tender your money you will then have your little piece of American history in hand. If you so desire you can move onto to the next window to order something to drink or some fries to go ‘wit’ your steak. Otherwise, find a seat or eat it standing and be sure to take it all in while it is still warm.

A Cheesestake from Pat's King of Steaks

Okay, enough of the original! For this to be a smackdown there needs to be competition, and competition there is only a street crossing away. Looking from Pat’s front step you can see the following:

Geno's Steaks

Geno’s Steaks was founded a staggering 36 years after Pat’s in 1966. The output is generally the same with the following exceptions: Pat chops his steak before it is put on the bun whereas Gino’s are layered pieces of steak and in either case they are similar in thickness. Pat also seems to have a much larger menu of options for how you can build out your desire whereas Gino seems to stick to the core values of what makes a cheesestake a cheesestake.

Beyond the food at Geno’s there are some interesting other facts about the establishment. First, at least when we were there the police seemed to prefer eating there. Yes, it could be the fact that the founder, Joe Vento, is a supporter of the family of murdered police officer Daniel Faulkner, or it could be the food. I made no attempt at polling the officers there but one thing is for sure: Gino’s has a vocal opinion on America and is proud to display it boldly.

Proud to be an American

In fact they went as far as to post a sign near the ordering counter that reads, “This is America, when ordering ‘speak english’.” It seems it has sparked controversy as some people call it discrimination. I find this amazing for if I where in the Netherlands would it be discrimination if they asked me to speak Dutch when ordering? I do not think so. To me the sign does not mean you are not welcome. To me it means, for goodness sake, try to communicate in the language people are using behind the counter! No matter the course of your beliefs on the subjects it has all come together quite well to make Gino’s have quite a name for ‘steaking’ ground right across from Pat’s.

So, the battle took place. Going in, I knew one chopped its meat, the other one did not, and one of them was the originator of the meal. I did not know which was which up front, and we tried Gino’s first. It was strange to have the cheesesteak taste in my mouth after a pause of probably 25 years but I must say it was quite good indeed. Looking at the sandwich I saw that Gino’s was the one that did not chop its steak and moving onto Pat’s I thought it would be a slam dunk that they would be better.

To our surprise (that is the both of us that were in the smackdown together agreed without a doubt) we found Gino’s a much better experience overall. That is not only was the food better, but from ordering to the way the cheesesteaks were handed to us (wrapped as opposed to in the middle of an open paper) Gino’s wins hands down. No contest. Game over.

Later, when we did the research, I was also surprised to learn Pat’s was the original and came into being 36 years before Gino’s. The bottom line is if you are ever in the area my recommendation would be to try both. You need to try Pat’s simply because that is where the history started. From there try Gino’s to decide your personal favorite. Although the sign is on Pat’s building you certainly will not make a ‘misteak’ at either place.

Don't Eat a Misteak

Fast forward to March 23, 2010 at Indoor Skydive in Roosendaal, The Netherlands and my chance to experience it finally came. I was with a business group and the first task was to go upstairs to get suited up for the flight. All loose articles out of pockets, etc, check. Flight suit, check. Helmet, check. Goggles – wait, what the heck are these things? Basically a piece of thin plastic that has some folds in it to bend into a semi-goggle shape with a small adjustable bungee cord attached. Okay, they fit on my head but aren’t these things going to be ripped off my face in the 170 mph wind? Obviously they have done this before so, “Have faith,” I tell myself.

All dressed up and ready to go we all entered the training room where the instructors gave us an overview of what to expect and what to do. The good news I found out somewhere between getting through the front door and arriving in the training room is discovering that this is going to be a one-on-one experience in the tunnel – yourself with an instructor. The bad news was being in the training room where the primary language was Dutch. Though some of us (like me) knew no Dutch, I would say most of the group did, so it was humorous to listen to what seemed to be like three minutes of the instructor speaking in Dutch. He would speak, make gestures, most of the room would laugh, etc. Then, he would pause at the end of the teaching segment and say, “Now for the English version. When I move my fingers like this (holding two fingers up and separating them) it means to move your legs out.” Ah, yeah, that was the entire English translation for that part and he quickly moved onto the next key point, again, in Dutch.

You see it is not rocket science by far and the problem is that in the tunnel (as in space) no one can hear you scream (or speak) so everything is done through sign language. It is not much to learn quantity wise but when your brain is on overload to begin with, and you only get a few precious understandable words for each movement, it is all a bit overwhelming.

So, again, obviously they have done this before so, “Have faith,” I tell myself.

With our training done we entered the airlock and headed into the tunnel area. There was a queue up on the monitor screens that showed who was up and each of us would get a one minute turn in the tunnel, three times total. Seeing the people go before me there was certainly nothing to panic about – the bottom line here is that no matter how crazy the concept of entering a 170 mph wind might seem no one was even close to getting bounced around in any violent or dangerous manner.

When my turn came I entered the doorway to the tunnel. The doorway itself is an odd experience as it is alway open and does not seem to have any type of discernible event horizon, yet there is not much wind coming out of it, and there is certainly a lot of wind inside of it! You fall forward… Did I say “fall”? I have no idea what the word for it is but somehow you lean into the tunnel and you are immediately lifted into a horizontal position quite effortlessly. That, however, was the easy part.

Once in the tunnel it was difficult to understand the feedback of moving your body parts around but the instructor did a great job of helping compensate for your idiocy. There were times when you found yourself headed straight for the wall – but at a speed where just putting out a hand was all that was needed to keep safe. There were times when you found yourself floating to the bottom of the floor – and you just did not understand why this was happening. Most precious, however, were the times when everything seemed to be going just right and you were able to take in the brief moment of total peace flying around in violent rush of air.

So, the big question for anyone who has not tried it would be of course what was it like. The crappy answer is the only way to find out is to experience it in person. Though it may seem like a cop out for the most part it is true for no matter how accurately I might describe my own experience I am sure your perspective will be completely different. For me there was absolutely no sense of falling. (Which is not surprising given that you are staying relatively in the same place in regard to the floor) There is certainly a lot going on around you as the 170 wind is something I do not believe you would experience anywhere else. (At terminal velocity it is humorous to see the contortions on people’s faces!) Maybe my SCUBA background and zero-G experience has given me at least some reference points to make it more comfortable but none the less I think I would do better taking everything in the next time around.

The minutes lasted for what seemed to be a long time but not long enough to really learn anything. Next time I hope for an experience where the newness has worn off at least a little bit and I could spend more time understanding how to fly. If I could find one of these places more locally I might just be in trouble getting other things done as I spend a lot of time there. To see the way the instructor could fly around when our fun was over is what dreams are made of…

…and no, the goggles did not get ripped off my face!

Indoor Skydive from John Raymonds on Vimeo.

I needed to run a file called 0405G05.exe in DOS with a file called 0405G05.bin in the same directory. At first I remembered that Windows XP would format a floppy and install a bare bones system on it thus making it bootable. Great, but then when I added up the sizes of the two files I needed after booting I remembered 2.1MB is a lot bigger than a 1.44MB floppy. (It really has been a long time since being in floppy world!) I then poked around with the idea of booting DOS from a CD. I found an image of DOS on the internet for a boot CD and thought I could just add my files to it, which I did, but when I booted I did not see them there. (Yes, they were on the CD but not visible from DOS – go figure that one) Replacing the CD after booting with one that only had my files did not work either. (It would not read the CD for some reason) I then toyed with using a USB drive to boot from but when I plugged in my multicard reader (as I had a spare 16MB CF card in my desk) I saw it mount with 4 drives instead of just the populated one. So I moved onto a single flash drive but it was 8GB big and only seemed to be able to format in FAT32 instead of FAT/FAT16. Needless to say I wasted several hours on it and was to lazy to even try to start editing CONFIG.SYS files on a floppy trying to get it to boot with CD support.

I was a Mac user lost in PC land and needed a real (not virtual) PC to flash my hard drives. After trying all of the above I found something that worked, and worked quite well, so without further talk of my trials and errors here is the solution:

Done! I wish Western Digital would just create a bootable iso for the flasher but without this shortcut available at least I now have a method in place for doing it again if needed, and yes, I am glad I still keep a PC hardware box in the house. Besides being a game host for the kids it still serves a cause when the hardware needs to be called on to work its ancient magic.

Maybe that part will make your blog

This is an update to the full entry below, for as of December 18 this matter seems to be finally solved. It was interesting that the day after I posted my frustration on the 14th I was contacted by [PersonB] who immediately posted a credit to my credit card and checked in on a daily basis until the credit finally hit my account online. (And thus I called the credit card company to stop their own investigation) I was wondering if this was some kind of coincidence but the final message I received showed it was not:

Charity went out of business and is now under the investigation of attorney general.  We treasure our bidders and we really paid everyone who supported that charity funds back from our  own pocket , after we forwarded thousands of dollars to the charity itself,

My CEO has the biggest charitable heart in the world and would not want to hurt any bidder financially

Maybe that part will make your blog

thank you and Happy Holidays

[PersonB]
Operations Manager

Needless to say I am happy the matter is finally closed out, I am sorry to hear they got burned by a charitable organization, and I am also disappointed by the amount of effort needed to resolve this.

So, for any readers that took the time to read this entire history the question is, if you were me, would you use their service again?

Anytime I have a chance to meet someone doing something interesting I take it. I do this especially if the ‘something’ is way outside of the world I normally work in. Opportunities come from all sources, and in today’s world where one manages to find out the oddest of things from Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc, you truly never know where you are going to find them. Over the past five or so years I have also taken advantage of special experiences offered via charitable donations for various outstanding causes.

A lot of the time these charity donated experiences come through an auction process that is not directly run by the charity itself. Cmarket.com seems to be one of the most basic places where this can happen. To me their service is really just a type of eBay where you do not have much contact with cMarket itself. You see something you like and if you win it you find yourself almost immediately in direct contact with the organization that offered the item for bid. I have not used it that much but the times I have everything went as smoothly as I would expect and I was never disappointed.

Charity Folks is a real a class act. For some reason I associate this business with Chevy Chase (of whom I am not a big fan) and after some research online (meaning five minutes of poking around) I could find nothing to confirm or deny this connection. In addition to the items up for offer on their web site they also have a wish section where if you have a specific desire they would do their best to connect your offer to the people in their network that just might be able to make it happen.

So let us move on to the real subject of this blog entry. I have used Charitybuzz a couple of times and, though I still would not rate them as high on service as Charity Folks, they seemed to be a reliable organization that brings a winning bid through to a coordinated connection to the donor and ultimately the experience. That is they seemed to be a reliable organization until now. What follows is the factual detail of a recent encounter I had with them and it all started with a winning bid on January 7th, 2009.

Lot #: 85408

Lot Title: Spend a Day on the Set of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Starring Nicholas Cage

Charity Name: The Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Description: Includes: a full day visit to the set of The Sorserer’s Apprentice in NYC for 4 people in Spring 2009. Also includes a meet and greet with director, Jon Turtlebaub and other cast members.

Spend an exciting and full day on the set of Jon Turteltaub’s new movie, The Sorserer’s Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage in New York during the Spring of 2009. Jon Tureltaub directed Cool Runnings, National Treasure, Phenomenan and more. We know this will be an exciting day of filming plus you will meet selected cast members!

An Academy Award-winning American actor, Cage has also worked as a director and producer, through his production company Saturn Films. He has been nominated twice for an Academy Award as Best Actor in a Leading Role, winning the award for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas.

Hammer Price: X.XX

Shipping & Handling: 9.95

With my older son being interested in the industry I thought this could really be an amazing day to see a real set in action and meet some people he would have seen in other roles he was already familiar with.

The next day I was contacted by Charitybuzz with the following email. I guess all I need to do now is sit back and wait!

Congratulations on winning the day on the set of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from the recent Breast Cancer Research Foundation auction! We are waiting to hear back from the Director with a tentative production schedule and will be in touch shortly with an update. Please let me know if I can help with anything in the meantime as I am happy to do so.

Thanks so much for your support!

Best Regards,

[PersonA]
Auction Specialist

…and wait. When it got to be April 16th, 2009 I was wondering where an update was as the ‘Spring’ time frame was certainly upon us so I reached out and got the following reply:

I am looking into this again for you…stay tuned!

[PersonA]
Auction Specialist

Never heard anything back beyond that and on the 5th of May I read about an injury on the set (so obviously there was a set in current production) and not hearing anything immediately back from Charitybuzz I re-emailed them a couple of days later and managed to get the following reply:

We are working with the director to find a series of dates that will work. I apologize for the delay but we will take care of this for you. Often times it takes a bit to nail down a date but we will work it out.

Thank you so much for your patience.

All the Best,

[PersonA]
Auction Specialist

I replied I was worried that with summer fast approaching and committed vacations schedules it might become very difficult to schedule a mutually acceptable time to visit the set. Waiting to hear anything back I got wrapped up in the summer schedule and in August I checked the IMDB just out of curiosity and to my surprise the movie was noted as being in post production! What?! Thus I reached out to Charitybuzz again asked for a refund on August 5th and this was the reply I received:

I am so sorry for the delay in all of this. I will discuss with Alex how we can handle this. Of course, if we can’t get you on set, you would be entitled to a refund. Alex is out ill this week but I assure you that this will not be forgotten. You have been very kind and patient and we will make this situation right for you,

Thank you so much,

[PersonA]
Auction Specialist

The next day the real news came in the following email:

I apologize for delay in this case. The Donor of the experience as well as the head of the charity has been out of touch with us. I know his charity was going through financial problems and we are looking into this case for you. Just as Erin said we stand for absolutely everything we sell on line so If I can get that resolved within next few days we will issue you a full refund for the purchase. I apologize for the inconvenience – it is not a custom for our company not to be able to find a resolution for so long however we are strongly limited to what is being donated.

I will keep you posted on detail shortly , please feel free to ask any questions you might have.

[PersonB]
Operations Manager

Okay, now wait a minute. If they were indeed working with the Director to find a series of dates what would it matter if either the donor or the charity was ‘out of touch?’ Well, in any case, as much as I was looking forward to the set visit I was glad to hear I would be getting a full refund. I would have taken full responsibility if my schedule did not coordinate with the production schedule. I would have understood, if for some reason, the movie was cancelled, but it was not. What did happen was that I reached out numerous times to get information and not once did Charitybuzz contact me with an update unless I asked for one.

The ‘next few days’ turned into October 27th and after more emails and attempted calls to a full voice mail box I received the following short email from [PersonB]:

Hi John we will. Process your refund on Friday. Thank you

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Great! I thought it was finally a closed conversation until I had to ask on November 11th how the refund was processed as I have yet to see anything. Once again, not getting a reply from [PersonB] I reached out to[PersonA] by phone and was told, after she spoke with [PersonB], that the check was now going to go into the mail. My reply was that this was the exact same thing I was told on October 27th so I had my doubts but will wait and see what happens. A follow up came just after the holiday on December 1st:

Your check went out Wednesday before thanksgiving for the full amount. Erin requested it a while ago and we were unable to send you a refund through charity as they went out of business therefore we issued you one directly from our pocket

Please excuse our delay and confirm when check is received.

With Warmest wishes and apologies for all inconvenience!

[PersonB]
Operations Manager

And, unfortunately and quiet expectedly, I sent out the following email a couple of weeks later:

It is now the 8th of December and I have yet to see anything come in the mail. I need a check by overnight courier by the end of this week or will need to take other action as emails and phone calls are obviously not working.

The amazing thing is I never heard anything past that last email which is now going on a week ago. I sent it to [PersonB] and copied it in on [PersonA] and [PersonC]. (I have no idea who [PersonC] is but they were copied in on some emails from [PersonB] so I wanted to be complete) In the completely off chance situation they were having trouble getting a hold of me I also added my full contact information to the email to be sure they had alternate method of contact. Yes, I have obviously edited out the actual names of the people in the emails as I really have no way to determine if it was their issue or something deeper in the organization that was wrong.

The reply? Well, as already noted – nothing, absolutely nothing! I have escalated the matter to my credit card company and hopefully will get resolution that way or I will be on the road to different routes. Should Charitybuzz refund something when the people they pay supposedly go out of business? I have no idea, but what any company should do, as does any individual with integrity, is to do what they say they are going to do. It seems pretty clear to me that at least in this case it simply has not happened.

I have no idea who The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is and whether or not they had, or are having, financial or other difficulties. I am also sure that most, if not all, of other the charities Charitybuzz works with are very reputable institutions that efficiently deliver funds to outstanding causes. As I said previously, I have used them in the past a couple times and when I did I was very satisfied. In fact without an exception, be it a Charitybuzz auction or from some or the other organization, I have always had my expectations exceeded when going on an adventure. Yes, always, and without an exception. When unique experiences meet charitable causes the result works, and works extremely well. It some cases the people I have met have become long term friends and in some cases even business partners.

When it comes to Charitybuzz, however, I do not see how I would be able to use their services again without a major shakeup in their operations. Maybe I am the only one who has suffered a problem but given the above I feel I have been lied to at least twice. What the true story is, giving yet another benefit of doubt, I do not know and Charitybuzz is certainly not talking.

So, if you are surfing the web doing a little background search before you bid and are looking for someone with a complaint, problem, issue, or challenge with charitybuzz.com then I offer you this one data point to add to your knowledge base.

In summary, and for little lesson in Latin, Caveat Emptor – Let the buyer beware.

As I got older snowboarding was always intriguing to me. (There was even a friend, Joseph Maffei, who worked for me for a short period of time who I remember being an ESPN class boarder) Skiing, on the other hand, was something I always looked at as a disaster waiting to happen. I have two legs attached to one body and the idea of them going in independent directions on long sticks attached to my feet was never a comforting thought. The closest I have ever come to being on a snowboard is the time spent on skateboards as a child – in days long before the crazy ramps, quarter pipes, and such of today came to be. I have had surf lessons and do not see much of a connection to snowboarding as attempting to stand on water is a far different challenge than having shoes bolted to a board.

So, for whatever the history, I never tried until just the other day in the Netherlands. Yes, the Netherlands the place where if there was a contest for the flattest country on the planet they would certainly either win or be in the top ten. Adding that to the fact they rarely get snow, made for an odd place to finally try something I thought about for nearly 20 years. Then again, with my first sushi experience happening in Amsterdam, and years later discovering I was allergic to quinine via Bitter Lemon from a bar in Breda, I guess there is some odd continuance of unusual firsts for me when around the Dutch.

So, where does one go snow boarding in the Netherlands? At the Skidôme of course! I was told that it is built on top of a land fill (garbage dump) to achieve the incline and from there they brought the setting indoors for a year round activity zone in big freezer with real manmade snow. Being there I was not sure what to expect, or if I would even try anything, but when two others in our group said they had never done it before, and they were going for a snowboarding lesson, the choice was easy. Count me in!

Our instructor was fabulous and spoke English extremely well as he is used to having English speaking students. The other two people attempting the sport were native Dutch but between being fluent in English, switching between languages, and getting visual demonstrations, everyone was well connected to the learning experience. One of the things I liked about the sport immediately was the fact that your feet are indeed locked on the board. As our instructor put it, “Even when they find you dead under the snow you will still be on your board.” For me this means there is not mechanical point of designed failure (or better said – disengagement) for safety that could in itself fail. The safety is inherent in the way you are attached to the board alone. (Perhaps my theory and fear of two legs going in directions has been validated?)

We started with simply getting used to having one foot attached and moving around which was not bad at all. Just placing the second foot on the board got us started moving and with two feet locked into place the fun began. I was surprised as to how hard it was to move around when not going forward! Seeing the people who can hop around in nearly any direction, with no help of going down an incline, was leap of skill I certainly was not going to touch on this first time out!

How to stand, placement of arms, the importance of having your weight on your forward leg, were all basics that we needed to concentrate on to help us make progress. Going straight, and even navigating, came pretty easy to me but when it came to braking that was another story. Braking while looking down slope (with my heels) was close to impossible while looking uphill (and using my toes) was probably best described as within a very distant reach. Yet, as difficult both methods where I could still fathom the possibility and thus was excited with the potential.

With the lesson over I though about something I never did before — asking our Member Services Manager at Exclusive Resorts which mountain destination would be the best to learn snow boarding with the kids. Yes, snowboarding is da’ bomb and I am looking forward to trying it again and this time in the open air for a lot longer!

In many ways death can be the great equalizer of life. The human ‘race’ we find ourselves in takes many different forms. It is not so easy to discern who might be ahead or who might be behind, who is above or who is below. No matter how clear your may place yourself in your view of the world, wearing someone else’s shoes can certainly flip your world upside down with ease. With ease, that is, if we allow ourselves to try on those shoes for a period of time no matter how uncomfortable they might feel. (Why be afraid to try something we deem uncomfortable on when we know we can take it off anytime we wish?)

Dr. Robert Kandarjian once said to fulfill our purposes the challenge is to find the lessons we need to learn to evolve our lives to the next level. (At least this is one of the things I have learned from him in my own words!) Yet, learning a lesson that takes us to the next level is almost by definition something that challenges our personal identity. This, in turn, is something most people need to get close to death for in order to allow it to happen. Lucius Annaeus Seneca wrote a famous essay On the Shortness of Life. The following is a brief quote from the translation:

It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.

Perhaps said in a better way the real challenge is to accept the lessons we need to learn. I believe each individual life will indeed provide all that is needed to be completely fulfilled. Be it described as SynchroDestiny by Deepak Chopra or with the following words from Eckhart Tolle it is not so much that we need to find our paths to fulfillment but rather change our eyes to see the doors that are open to us.

Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness

This morning a friend of ours pasted away after battling a rare form of cancer for over two years. Several days ago he made the choice to stop the nourishment that was keeping him alive – but not living. During this time we visited to say goodbye and it is at moments like this it is a challenge to find anything to say. As time pasted the conversation did manage to move along and when it was time to leave the parting words that came out of my mouth were, “Best wishes.” His return comment was, “I’ll say hello to your father when I see him.” I then gave him a thumbs up and said, “You do that.”

Take advantage of death to learn and grow from as someday it will be your own. What I still hold closest from my father is the simple fact that he is inside of me. 16 years after his death he still comes out in various and unexpected ways. Sometimes I feel a mannerism of my own matching something I remember from him – it gives an odd feeling of being an observer who is neither fully me or him (at least in physical form). More often it is a phrase that has found a home in my own language – certainly never thinking it would when I was hearing them growing up. There is comfort in having him there for it is neither burden or destiny. It is simply a part of me that keeps life a little more connected.

A few months after he passed away on December 20th of 1993 I wrote the following to all of the employees of the two family businesses he was involved with at the time. It may not mean as much to others as it does to me yet the events of the day are what brought it back to the present. So, here it is with a few additional [comments] to bring better context to those who know none of its history.

There are many stories to be told about our founder. They range from business antics of which I know very little, to personal experiences rarely shared with anyone, to family stories which I will never forget. I would like to share some moments of those last few months. The employees of Captive and Lincoln [the abbreviated names of the family businesses] were indeed his second family for which he cared very much. To say that the following account of my father is just for his employees, however, would not be the whole truth. It is something I need to do for myself as well.

It was only this past September when I found out that something was seriously wrong with my father’s health. His routine check-up back in June or July showed no signs of major concern. Don’t drink and watch the sweets, were repeated once again to a very stubborn man who usually thought he knew better than his doctors. The major consensus at the time was, more or less, that he was getting old. To everyones surprise, September started a steady decline that would finally end on December 20th.

Sometime during October, my father came to Captive to talk to the lawyers and the accountants to touch base on any final preparations that might need to be made. I remember he wanted to drive himself in that day, but I finally talked him into letting me pick him up. He was not too bad in the morning, but by the end of the day he became very weak. Before leaving he called Jake Bungert, John Bungert, and David Smith [a few of the officers of the business who where also long term employees] into his office to say good-bye. As he left his office, he gave it a final salute. I was surprised by the fact he was so sure he would not return. As he started down the stairs, he told Madeline Field [another long term employee] he was dying of cancer and he only had six months to live. It was the last conversation he would have at Captive.

The drive home was a difficult journey. He was concerned that my mother would be well taken care of financially. I told him there was nothing to worry about, but I wished he would stick around to spend some money too. At the moment his life was settling down to retire, his chance to enjoy it was being taken away. Knowing the condition he was in, I asked him what was going on in his head. He simply said, “It’s a blank.” I thought we would be able to make a visit to Lincoln or even return to Captive in the coming days, but I guess he knew better than I. Everyday was downhill. By the time he was settled in enough with his thoughts to want visitors, it was nearly too late. Even the doctors were surprised by his rapid decline.

In the afternoon of December 20th, my mother and I had just returned to his room [in the Hunterdon Medical Center] from a short visit to the patient lounge a few doors down the hall. The nurses finished turning him and rubbing his back as they had been doing from time to time. As we entered the room we heard the fluid in his lungs still making his breathing difficult. As horrible as it sounded, he looked just as comfortable as he had for the past couple of days. The poisons in his system from the failed liver and failing kidneys added to the Morphine drip placed him in a peaceful sleep. It was good to see no pain. The pain was, by the grace of God, controllable without any drastic medication. This is not to say the pain was never felt. There were indeed bad times. Times that made my father fear its return. It was a side of my father I never saw before.

Though there had been a steady decline in his condition, this was the first day I saw no signs of communication. Even just yesterday, I recall him pointing at his doctor as he entered the room. Some of his last words were a repeated acceptance of what was about to happen. I will never forget his face as he said, “It’s no big deal,” and “That’s it.”

We settled into his room as we had done many times before. I picked up the book I was reading to distract my mind for the moment. [reading this again I wonder what that book was!] My memory cannot place what my mother was doing.

It was not long before an emotional pain ran through my chest. Was it simply the way he moved, or maybe a sound he made? Maybe it had been something deeper than that. I quickly approached the bed with concern. Whether my mother took the cue from me, or knew something was happening on her own, I do not know. As we looked down, we could see that his face had changed and his breathing was no longer a task. His eyes lay closed and his mouth was silent. There was no doubt that this was the end. In the few minutes that followed we both said good-bye to him one last time. We kissed him and I shook his hand. He took his last breath and he was gone.

As if it had all been planned, which indeed it might have been, the priest entered the room. He had visited a number of times during my father’s illness and this was what he thought would be just another visit. As he entered, I told him we thought my father was gone. The priest read him his last rights one last time and further blessed his passage onward. Moments after the priest left the room, I walked out to the counter and told the nurse that I thought my father had died.
The nurses confirmed the obvious, but the harsh reality seemed but a dream. The formalities of the death started quickly, and that night we picked out his coffin. It seemed so strange to enter the display room – a funeral director I certainly could not be. I have wondered how one chooses a resting place for the physical body, but I was surprised as to how easy the choice was. The mahogany coffin represented his life as I knew it. It was a quality hard wood that takes to the skill of the hand as if it were created for that purpose. His clothes were an easy pick too. The tie with the jolly Santas on it and the Christmas socks were something that he would not be seen without during that time of the year.

I remember a man who strived for perfection. I remember him asking me to straighten out the picture on the wall in his hospital room. I remember a tough and serious business man who would also do anything to joke around. I remember, “It’s only money,” “Bye now, pay later,” “See you later alligator,” “Do me a favor and give me a little smile,” “Jaunûk, Jaunûk, mano sunûs, mano sunûs,” (John, John, my son, my son) “Cathy?” (How he would address my mother). There are many other words and sounds recorded in memory that will haunt me until my final days.

I remember a man changed forever by World War II. According to his sister, he talked about the war when he first came back but shortly afterward not much was spoken. He saw the horrors of war and one wonders how we can truly have peace if we reach a time when those memories have faded. He grew angry when he heard someone claim that the holocaust was fraud – for he had seen the bodies. He saw friends decapitated in vehicles directly in front of him by piano wire strung from tree to tree at window height. He lay unconscious for more than a day out in the field from the shock of a fallen shell, which contributed to the loss of hearing in one ear. Part of his job included going out into the middle of nowhere to make enough noise to draw enemy fire. Of course when the shells started to fall he was to run away as fast as possible so enemy munition was the only thing being wasted that day. In the end, he was lucky enough to return from a war that took the lives of 85% of his fellow soldiers.

As stated before [not in this letter], the Raymonds family has always reinvested in the business, and the magnitude of that statement has only just hit me. In organizing his finances for my mother I realize more than ever that the business was everything. After selling his home, he left this world in the midst of constructing a new house next to the church he donated money to build. He owned a small condominium in Florida and some farm land out in Iowa. He gambled a small amount of money in a river boat entertainment company that has yet to see the waters of its destination in Dubuque. [which actually turned into an investment returning more than 10x in cash] All the rest of his wealth was found in Captive and Lincoln.

There were two wishes my father wanted to see before he died. The first was to build a new home for which to retire in. He saw construction started but home video of the progress was the closest he could get in the weaker days. It was not easy for me going through the construction project after he died. He was so close to having that dream come true. The home still has a long way to go, but in the end I know it will be a house that he would be proud of. [This is the house my mother still lives in as of this posting]

The second wish was something he had always wanted. He wanted to be a grandfather. I am happy to say that he knew before he died that this dream would also be coming true. It was the happiest moment I remember out of those short few months. There was a smile on his face that I will never forget as he called me dad. The baby is due in August. I just wish I could have seen it in his arms. [and now he is a grandfather twice over]

His passing cut him short on both of those dreams, but the one thing I think about the most was not on his list. That thing was Captive. Though it was not on his verbal list of dreams it was indeed a lifetime legacy and recently a source of much frustration. I wanted him to see a strong Captive. One that could stand on its own two feet again and reward the employees that brought it there.

I have a good feeling about this year and a personal commitment to do what needs to be done to start that upward spiral again. I truly believe my vision will help make Captive the success it once was, but, due to my inexperience, I must also hold myself accountable for its prosperity. If my goals cannot become a reality, I will resign my position as Chief Executive Officer and look for a replacement that has the experience to make it happen. You deserve much more than wishful thinking and time being wasted hoping next year will be better. It was not easy parking in my father’s spot for the first time after he died. I will certainly do my best to make him proud that my car is there today. [for those wondering here, it took a lot longer than expected, yet, in the end, the business became much more than the success it once was, and, no, I did not have to fire myself to do it]

Sometimes I say to people after completing a project that, “We did good.” By good I mean virtuous as opposed to well. Most certainly my father did good. We both had very strong ideals that would lock heads more than once. During the early years the business took up most of his time, but fortunately we grew closer in the later years. Good-bye pop. I love you more than I ever knew, and I know that even with your passing my love for you will grow stronger everyday.