Testing Yourself

Greetings from Panama. That's right I come to you this week from the great Latin American country with the big ditch cut through it where many of the goods you buy must pass. For Central America this is one prosperous country. You just don't see the poor here like you do in much of Central and South America. The weather is unreal (warm) and the ocean is a great site. I would have put pictures but I have none so I share with you two of my favorite Marco pictures. He won't smile but you can get him to be funny.

Test Yourself

I firmly believe that you should test yourself on a regular basis. Testing yourself gives you an indication of where you are and how good that may be or how far you have to go. The easiest tests for me are athletic and recently I conducted a bike test and a swim test. I'll share the results later. They are posted on the fridge. The bike test was hard and taxing and I feel like I've got a long way to go to get to where I want to be. The swim was surprisingly fast. I am in dreadful swimming shape but somehow I still posted a good time for me. Again, I'll post the test results and keep you posted on the next versions. I still have a run test to do but I'm dreading that one. It's really hard to get faster in running and as I get older I know I'm getting slower. But I don't just test myself in athletics. I test myself on work and family too. The tests aren't as clear cut or can they always be repeated but it still proves a point. For example, I have been testing my Spanish while here. I try to get everyone to speak in Spanish (they are more comfortable that way). My test is to see how many clarifying questions I have. I am improving every day. The interesting thing about the language. I am not afraid to use it with the security guards or the taxi driver but for some reason I always revert to English around the people I know. I think that deserves a test at home. Maybe I'll start with Marco......Just kidding!

My Rant

I have to rant about President Bush. He was pathetic last night. I was embarrassed to be an American last night but also proud at the same time. What makes America great is that we get to renew every 4 years. Good riddense loser! I rant because he was great right after 9/11. He put the country on his back and told us everything would be fine. We would come out of it. I along with most everyone I know believed him. Last night he had the same opportunity. The country is sick and he had the opportunity to put everything on his back and say it's o.k. I'll push for the next year to get us out of this mess. Instead he opened with 20 minutes of putting the mess on everyone else in the room but himself. He took no responsibility and essentially blamed others. And he did it with that stupid little smirk and that I'm a good old boy body language. It's hard to believe that it could get any worse but the country took a step back last night. I watched an interview with Mike Huckabee just before the address and he was more presidential sounding than the President himself. President Bush, you blew it! You could have gone down as one of the great Presidents based on your actions in 2001. Instead you continue to blame everyone else. At the end of the day, in the history books, they won't report on the congress they will report on you. You were given a country in fairly good shape and you will leave it in a mess. When you leave the oval office don't let the door hit you in the rear!

It's a good life.....

Dave