The Texas heat can be a chore but it’s only June, so it is only going to get hotter.  Haven’t hit 100F for a stretch yet, so we still have a bit of time to go.  Bring it, sayeth the Big Red Car.

Speaking of heat, The Boss has been working with a number of his CEO pals and several are singing from the same hymnal as it relates to the anxiety of being an entrepreneur.  Let me cut to the chase — welcome to NORMAL, ya’ll.  [Haha, Big Red Car, you are a cruel and unwielding wordsmith but so true.  No?]

So, OK, let’s cut the crap and talk about when panic attacks.

Entrepreneurial anxiety and its symptoms

In several different conversations, The Boss has had a dialogue with entrepreneurs who say things like this:

“I am just totally overwhelmed and feel like I am sinking.”

“I am caught in a vortex and unable to follow my current schedule.  Tough sleeping.”

“I am flailing around and not sure I am making progress.”

“I am inundated with opportunity.”

“Every day is filled to overflowing.”

“I need some outside direction because I am just not sure I am executing on the right priorities.”

In every instance, these comments are emanating from brilliant young and seasoned men — CEOs, company founders.  In most every instance very accomplished entrepreneurs with an enviable record of achievement or serial entrepreneurs.  These are not fresh, green newbies.  These are studs.

Again, this is NORMAL.  [Hey, entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs, do not think that the Big Red Car is saying YOU are normal, haha.  This is NORMAL for you crazy entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs, not the rest of the world.  You, Old Sport, you are NOT NORMAL.  This is exactly why you are an entrepreneur, founder, CEO in the first place.  Oh, Big Red Car, you can be so cruel sometimes.]

Anxiety is NORMAL

In the classic racing movie, Days of Thunder, the following exchange occurs:

 Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall):   Cole, you’re wandering all over the track!

Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise):  Yeah, well this son of a bitch just slammed into me.

Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall):  No, no, he didn’t slam you, he didn’t bump you, he didn’t nudge you… he “rubbed” you. And rubbin, son, is racin’.

Imagine your best Robert Duvall voice, the voice of a seasoned and wise counselor:

“Son, anxiety is entrepreneurship.”

Big Red Car, WTF are we going to do about it?

Well, Old Sport, we are going to summon up a bit of counsel and we are going to whip the problem like a rented mule.

Here is the game plan:

1.  CONFESS

When you get in trouble in an airplane, you are counseled to aviate, navigate, communicate and confess.  Keep flying the damn airplane but it is the confession to ATC that gets you the help you need.

One time The Boss was flying Victor One (electronic highway in the sky) down the East Coast and got trapped between two massive thunderstorms.  Bad position to be in.  No visible way out.

He called Patuxent Control and confessed.  They tiptoed him through the storms by giving him headings which they could see on their massive weather radar and threaded him through the mess he had gotten himself into.

The Patuxent Control air traffic controller had the voice of the Holy Ghost Himself — calm, assured and soothing.  ”No problem N136MD, I got this for you.  Let me give you some headings to steer and we’ll get you through this.”

An hour later, it was clear flying on down to Charleston, SC on Victor One.

Confess and get the assistance you need.  Sometimes you just have to confess to yourself.

2.  COMMUNICATE

Talk to your co-founders and get their take on things.  Do not sob while doing this though you may be sorely tempted to do so.  Crying is OK but do it in private and then get mad.  Use that anger to fuel your accomplishments.  The disappointments we suffer in life are the fuel that drives us to succeed.

Do NOT confess to your investors or VCs or Board.  Pro tip:  Never give folks who can fire you a reason to fire you.

Are there some VCs with whom you can entrust this information?  Yes, but they are not likely on your Board.  There are some stellar VCs and Boardmembers who can help you through this kind of anxiety.  They will be seasoned guys.  They will be former entrepreneurs and they will recognize the symptoms.  They are rare.

Be careful about being too forthcoming with your spouse.  The Big Red Car is very troubled by this advice because from a marriage perspective he is not inclined to keep secrets.  Too energy sapping to keep secrets but not scaring the crap out of someone you love is also a laudable character trait.  You make the call here.

3.  EXERCISE

Get lots of exercise to combat the physical implications of anxiety and stress.  That doesn’t mean to train for a marathon — not a bad idea, mind you — but get an hours worth of aerobic and strength exercise daily and exorcise your body of the physical manifestations of anxiety and stress.

4.  REFRESH

Rest your brain — spot of meditation, listen to some music and drift, nap in the sun like a fat dog, get good sleep (OK, I get it that sleeping is a luxury and when your demons come to visit, but give it a try.  Good dark room, etc.), exercise also helps with this — and let it refresh itself.  Nothing looks as bad on a good night’s sleep.

5.  GET ORGANIZED AND PRIORITIZED

Redouble your efforts to get and stay organized.  Set priorities dividing the “nice to do” from the “need to do”.  This is one of the reasons why The Boss likes to look at things from a process perspective and from a physical perspective.  Here are two graphics which show how to see exactly where you are at a given instant in time.  You have seen these before in different contexts but they are also a good way to organize and prioritize your current position.

Product development graphic Wisdom of the Campfire

Make a list.  I have sung the merits of Atul Gawande’s  The Checklist Manifesto and will sing another verse here.  List making —  checklists — are the number one way to organize your efforts.  Make a checklist and stick to it.

6.  GET A BIT OF ADVICE

This is where a CEO mentor, advisor or coach can really play a grand role particularly if they are former entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs.  They have walked in those same moccasins and they know how they can pinch.

We talked about this a bit when we discussed the notion of talking oneself down off the ledge.  Read about that here: Talking Yourself Down Off The Ledge.

The Boss, in every instance noted above, was able to tell the entrepreneur, founder, CEO what he needed to hear:  ” This is normal.  You are brilliant and can overcome this.  You are not alone.  Let’s find a way to work our way through this.  This is what it feels like on the road to the pay window.  You can do it.  I have had the same feelings myself and lived to tell the tale.”

 So, is this a pill that will make the problem go away immediately?  Well, no, Old Sport, it is not.  But it is a damn good start because it is real, it works and you can do it.

If you feel like you are all alone and not making progress, call, email or Skype  me and The Boss and we will help you.  Just don’t tell anyone you are taking advice from a 1966 Impala Super Sport convertible.  They may not get it right away.  [Haha, Big Red Car, you are a wag.]

512-656–1383 cell
jminch2011@gmail.com
“jeffminch” 

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway?  I’m just a Big Red Car.

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car Big Red Car Entrepreneurial anxiety — when panic attacks The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

One writer asked:  ”Who are those Syrian rebels we are arming?”

Let me tell you who they are NOT

First, let me tell you who they are not.

The Syrian rebels are not folks interested in establishing a Jeffersonian American style democracy.

This is NOT the Damascus Chamber of Commerce.  These guys are terrorists in their day jobs.

WTF, Big Red Car, who are they then?

The Syrian rebels are Islamists, Al Qaeda affiliates, terrorists, folks who want to establish an Islamic nation under Shariah law.

They are not only not friends of the United States, they are absolutely enemies of the United States.

We managed to put the freakin’ Muslim Brotherhood in charge in Egypt in a similarly misguided effort.

Syria is a real problem

Syria is already a blood bath with almost 100,000 Syrians dead at the hands of Assad, the reigning shithead, and the rebels.

Syria is a Russian vassal state.  The last such Russian client state in the region.  The Russians are looking for a reason to screw with President Obama who they consider to be a weak leader.  The Russians are still pissed off that Henry Kissinger pried Egypt out of their hands in the 1970s.

Syria is an ally of Iran and Iran has committed to sending troops to aid Assad.  If you think Syria is trouble — Iran is the shits.

Syria is an exporter of state sponsored terror.  They are bastards and killers.  Just like Iran.

Syria has deployed chemical weapons against their own people.  Civilians.

Almost 1,000,000 Syrians have fled with the majority of them going to Jordan which only has 6,000,000  people itself.

America is going to provide lethal support to the rebels

The President has announced that the United States will provide arms, ammunition and military support to the Syrian rebels — yep, those shitheads who are Islamists, terrorists, Al Qaeda and Shariah law supporters.  Those rebels.

Providing lethal support is tantamount to a declaration of war.  A declaration of war.

This is not good policy and is it particularly bad policy given that there has been no national debate on the subject.

We already have boots on the ground in Jordan.  We are partially pregnant.  [WTF, Big Red Car, can you actually be partially pregnant?]

This feels to the Big Red Car like the day after the Tonkin Gulf Resolution — a long stretch of hard road before our Nation.

Let’s stop this stupidity.

But, hey, what the Hell do I know anyway?  I’m just a Big Red Car.

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car Big Red Car Who are the Syrian rebels? The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

OK, OK, I know that I am supposed to keep my place in all things and I will not start trouble but a bit of garage time would be greatly appreciated.

So The Boss was working with several of his CEO pals and they go to talking about the subject of authentic leadership style and leadership voice.

These are typically whip smart product oriented fellows who are simultaneously wrestling with growing a company at the same time.  As you well know a successful product requires a delivery system to bring it to market and that requires an organization built for that purpose.

The glue that binds

The glue that binds Vision, Mission, Strategy, Tactics, Objectives, Values and Culture together is leadership.  This discussion is about leadership style and adapting it to your particular company.

Young and inexperienced leaders sometimes struggle to find their authentic leadership style — the style that works for them, their team and their particular business environment.  A few years later, it will seem like an adolescent flight of fancy as the CEO has, in fact, found his own unique style.  But it takes a bit of struggle to gain that confidence.

The Boss has been a CEO for over 33 years and before that was in the military wherein leadership is the raison d’etre.  And why not?

There is a bit of “monkey see, monkey do” in the leadership business so don’t be reluctant to adapt a style that you have seen work before.  The wheel has already been invented, no?

Styles of leadership

There is a book that is worth a read, if you have the time.  It is called “Primal Leadership”  — hyperlink — and it was written by Daniel Goleman in 2004.  It is one of those “emotional intelligence” leadership books.  A genre of pop psychology books which provide a bit of intellectual nourishment but leaves you wanting a bit more.  Like a meal of tapas?

Let me save you some time — your employees will either like you or not but in the end they want to feel good about working for you and the company.  The folks have emotions and you have to engage their emotions to gain their commitment.  There, I have saved you a lot of reading.  And, duh?

The book does a very good job of cataloging some easily recognizable types of leadership — bit simplistic maybe — that are a good frame of reference for this discussion.  Here they are:

Visionary — propels an organization in a new direction guided by the vision of the CEO typically

Coaching — focuses on developing individual skills and using  these skills to propel the organization along a targeted path

Affiliative — focuses on creating teams and teamwork and building trust amongst the team and management

Democratic — focuses on mining the collective wisdom of the group to identify the overall goals of the organization

Pacesetting — demands high performance standards which are constantly improving

Commanding — an autocratic style of leadership often associated with a military frame of reference

So, my friends, here is the secret — your personal leadership style is going to be a combination of these types.  At times, you will be a bit autocratic and visionary and democratic and a damn good coach.  Because different folks require different strokes.

Just know that there is a menu from which you can pick and that you are not a one trick pony.

Adaptation

In the end, you will find your voice — your authentic leadership style — by trying on some of these different styles and adapting them to your personal situation and company.  [Like those red checked pants you thought made you look so dashing?  Haha, you know what I am talking about.]

In the startup world, it is easy to default to the “visionary” style as this is what is required.  You are, yawn, changing the freakin’ world, Old Sport.  So, yes, you will be a bit visionary, now won’t you?

When engaged with getting the product out the door, it is easy to slip into that commanding George S Patton-esque commanding style.  ”Ship it, damn it!”

When developing talent, the coaching style will be your natural choice.

At other times, you will adapt other styles and voices.

Ultimately, it will become instinctive and natural and easy.  Of course, you may also be eligible for Social Security by then?  [Haha, Big Red Car, you silly wag.  They will cancel Social Security by the time these young folks are "eligible".  Haha, Big Red Car, you crack yourself up, now don't you?  Get it together, Big Red Car.]

Application

So how do you actually apply this little tidbit of learning about your authentic leadership style?

When you are crafting your Vision, Mission, Values — focusing on these three things because they are almost always the exclusive province of the CEO to craft — use the voice you want to be heard.  Play with it.  Make the voice and style yours and yours alone.

The Boss has a direct, matter of fact style and he is not the least bit afraid of any of the aforementioned styles — he has been a CEO for over 33 years, Old Sport — and thus he likes to be pretty frugal with his words.

Look at how he has written the Values portion of this document.

Sanitized Vision, Mission, Strategy, Values flip book 2013

Very simple stuff.  Make yours echo with your voice.

Evolution

Your leadership style will evolve over time.  And you will have many different opportunities to listen to yourself.

Remember that communication is how a leader primarily deploys their leadership style.  Do you recall how inspiring President Obama’s speeches were when he was new on the scene?  They were fabulous.  His communication style suggested his leadership style — fairly or unfairly.  You decide.

One of the most important things any leader — that means you, CEOs — can do is to communicate in an authentic and genuine manner with the folks.  The leader’s time and thus his communication is the single most dear asset in the company.

This communication is how the “wisdom of the campfire” is passed along from on high to everyone involved even those who were not there when the company was founded or the product was conceived.  Remember this and make damn sure to overcommunicate.

This is how you develop and deploy your own unique style of leadership.

But, hey, what the Hell do I know anyway?  I’m just a Big Red Car.

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car Big Red Car Finding your authentic leadership style The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Yawn — oh well.  Hey this business in Syria is getting very serious and dangerous for the United States.  Let’s chat about this impending conflict in Syria, eh?

Background

In case you have been sleeping in the driveway, you should already know that the President has authorized direct lethal aid — that means weapons, ammunition and perhaps a no-fly zone over certain parts of Syria.  The United States already has Marines on the ground in neighboring Jordan.  Jordan is being inundated with refugees trending toward a million.  Boots on the ground.

This decision was made because the President had previously warned Syria that the use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and there would be “consequences”.

Syria has been in a civil war for two years and almost 100,000 Syrians have been killed thus far.  Apparently 2,000 of those victims were killed by the recent deployment of chemical weapons in the form of Sarin gas, a particularly repugnant and indiscriminate killer.

The Syrian regime, led by the second generation of the Assad family, has been a typical Middle Eastern despotism.  They have been active supporters of terrorism and terrorists.  They are allies of the Iranians.  They need killing and replacement and about that there is no real argument.

The Assad regime did not just go bad last week.  They have been shitheads for a long, long time.  Like North Korea with a multi-generational claim on being shitheads.

Strategic considerations

Syria does not amount to a pimple on the world’s ass from a strategic perspective and it is difficult to fathom why the United States would have any strategic national security interest in the resolution of the Syrian civil war other than a general humanitarian interest — which could be applied to about half of Africa — and perhaps Syria’s proximity to our ally, Israel.

What is important is that Syria is a vassal and client state of the resurgent Russia of former KGB agent Putin.  Russia and the United States had been squaring off in Syria through proxies.  Now, they are going to be directly confronting each other through this pivot toward the injection of direct lethal aid.

This will make for a lively G-8 Summit conversation between President Obama and Mr Putin.  Russia has called bullshit on the reports of the use of chemical weapons by its client state Syria.  The US has a weak track record on the accuracy of WMD callouts.  Putin knows this and is sticking his thumb in Obama’s eye.

Syria is an ally of Iran and Iran has already announced its intentions to send 3-4,000 combat troops to assist Assad.  Iran and the United States have been warily circling each other over the issue of nuclear proliferation.  Thus far Iran is leading on points and the US has been totally ineffective in delaying or defeating the Iranian efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.  May I offer you a second helping of sanctions, anyone?

Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, a provider of particularly lethal IED weapons in Iraq and now enjoys a land bridge directly to Syria through Iraq as a result of the recent American pullout from Iraq.

Nasty details

The region is aflame — the bullshit Arab Spring, talk about putting perfume on a turd, eh? — and the report card is pretty damn discouraging.  Egypt is now controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, Libya is in shambles, Syria is aflame with civil war, Iran presses forward with its nuclear ambitions and Al Qaeda is resurgent and spreading its footprint by posing as “opposition” where it can.

The US has supported the new Egyptian Morsi regime of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The MB is a particularly nasty piece of business having provided two infantry divisions to Hitler in the Second World War.  These soldiers fought on the Eastern front and returned to Egypt after the war with a virulent hatred of the Jews and ultimately Israel.  They are well established and trouble with a capital T.

In typical American fashion, we have ignored the realities of their underlying objectives — the creation of an Islamic nation, the elimination of the State of Israel and their hatred of the US — and have recently supplied them with massive amounts of both foreign and military aid.  This is easily one of the most misguided decisions in the history of our involvement in this region.

Ask yourself a simple question — against whom are the Egyptians likely to deploy their new toys?  Modern tanks and cutting edge fighter planes?  This being multiple choice, the only available answers are their own people or Israel.  Not smart policy on our part — cowardly really.

Conflicting details and unresolved questions

When America gets itself into foreign military adventures, we always look back and question the wisdom of that particular war.  Usually after the body bags have begun to arrive at Dover Airbase.  Gulf of Tonkin?  Weapons of mass destruction?

Does the US really have a strategic interest that was triggered by the use of chemical weapons — a granted beastly development — after the Syrian civil war has already cost almost 100,000 Syrian lives?  Or is this just a case of someone’s mouth writing a nonsensical check that will be cashed with American blood and treasure?

Given all the time we had to think about this eventuality, why are we making this up on the fly?  Why didn’t we staff and consider the alternatives before reality took a dump in the punch bowl?  Why?

This impending Syrian foray should be stopped right now by answering the following questions.

1.  What is the true strategic United States interest in Syria?  How does the use of chemical weapons sharpen and intensify that interest?  Does it really?

2.  Is this where we want to confront the Russians?  Understand that the Russians are still sharpening their dagger for Kissinger having pried the Egyptians out of their tent after getting bloodied by the Israelis in the desert in the 1973 war.  The Russians have a long memory and Syria is their last toehold in the region.  They will not go quietly.

3.  Is this where we want to start a shooting war with the Iranians who now enjoy a land bridge directly to the conflict?  The Iranians have just conducted elections and supposedly they have elected a “moderate” — will we force them into a military confrontation and thus lose the opportunity to ameliorate this relationship?  Is Syria worth that lost opportunity?

4.  Do we want to allow Syria and Iran — the region’s and perhaps the world’s largest sponsors of terrorism — to forge an alliance with the potential of Iran contributing a nuclear capability to the Syrians?  This will set off an arms race in the region of extraordinarily troubling proportions.

5.  Does the United States need another conflict and can we afford one?

6.  Is this a bit of “wagging the dog” to take focus off the Obama administration scandals?

7.  Inasmuch as we currently have an administration that is unable to account for Benghazi, the IRS, the AP, State gone wild and the NSA — measures of raw competence and trust — do we trust the administration to undertake another war just now?

The answers

Sadly the answers to the foregoing questions are universally — Hell no!  As a Big Red Car, let me put that into the following context:

1.  The United States has no strategic interest in the Syrian civil war.  It does not impact the United States today or after the unfortunate death of 2,000 more Syrians from Assad’s use of chemical weapons.  Assad was a bastard before he used chemical weapons, an enemy of the United States and its regional allies and always will be.  The chemical weapons red line was silly rhetoric and not justification for going to war.  Providing lethal aid to rebels — perhaps Al Qaeda itself — and enforcing no-fly zones is going to war, Old Sport.

2.  The opponents of despots are not Jeffersonian democrats yearning for freedom.  They are simply the next set of shitheads who were throttled by the previous set of shitheads.  This falls under the classification of being careful what you ask for because you may just get it.  The situation in Egypt is instructive and disturbing.  We put an enormous threat to the survival of Israel on its previously quiet western flank and have provided military and financial support to an emerging Islamic regime in a tinderbox region.  Not a very thoughtful or wise performance.  Let’s not do that again.

3.  The Russians have measured Obama as a weak President and intend to test him right here in Syria.  The Russians are providing weapons and in particular anti-aircraft weapons.  Anti-aircraft weapons and no-fly zones are a lethal mix guaranteed to provide a shooting confrontation.  Do you think a shithead who uses Sarin nerve agent against his own people will exercise any modicum of discretion using anti-aircraft weapons?  Not bloody likely, Old Sport.

3.  The notion of allowing Syria and Iran to become “war buddies” is frightening.  These two despotic and terror exporting regimes are currently providing almost all of the angst in the region and their ability to collude through the Iraq land bridge is game changing.  The Iranians will inject combat troops.  Some of these troops will be killed.  It will be blamed on the Great Satan and where it goes from their is anybody’s guess.  How did the Straits of Hormuz get blocked?  It may well have started right here in Syria.

4.  WE HAVE NO EXIT STRATEGY and nobody is talking one up.  This is the great American war failing — we never get out on time.  We always end up rebuilding someone else’s country when we should be spending that money in Newark, New Jersey.  Did we learn anything in ten years in Iraq and Afghanistan?  We cannot afford another war right now.

Prediction

The Big Red Car predicts that the Obama administration will wander into this particular shit storm because of the “macho bullshit” elements of it all.  Because the President does not want to be accused of “leading from behind”.  Because he does want to take the focus off his myriad scandals.  Because he is not paying attention and is spending all of his time traveling, vacationing, playing golf and fundraising.

Left to its own devices this is going to have a very bad outcome.  Let’s get this out on the table now.  WTF is the strategic interest of the United States?  WTF is the exit strategy?  WTF is the likelihood of replacing the Assad regime with a government that is an improvement for American and allied interests in the region?

Note to the Nobel Peace Prize committee — hey, WTF were you guys thinking when you gave our newly elected President the freakin’ Nobel Peace Prize?  Were you high?  Can you recall those things?  If so, get on it and now.

But, hey, WTF do I know anyway?  I’m just a Big Red Car.

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car Big Red Car Conflict in Syria The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

On Earth as it is in Texas, ya’ll!

The Boss was blessed with the best parents one could ever imagine.  Today is the day to celebrate Dads, so let me tell you a bit about The Boss’s Dad.

We call him The Old Man because he just celebrated his 95th birthday on 2 June.  The Boss took a road trip up to New Jersey to see The Old Man.

The Old Man is as sharp as a tack and would give you a pretty good fight if you crossed him.  I don’t recommend crossing him.

The American Dream

The Old Man has lived the American Dream.  A son of the Depression, a World War II vet, a battlefield commission fighting the Germans in North Africa and Italy, career professional soldier, married the love of his life, raised a family, sent all three to grad school to get MBAs, retired from two different jobs and became a multi-millionaire the old fashioned way — saved his money and invested it wisely.

At age 95, his only complaint is that all of his friends are or have died off.

He has stared down ulcers, cancer and diabetes.  He is fearless and I would bet on him — hand to hand — v the Devil any time.  This is one tough SOB.

The way he looks today, he will likely live for another 95 years.  Here is a picture of him from November 1941 two weeks before Pearl Harbor.

Character

The Old Man is one of those guys who when he walks into a room one is tempted to think — “I don’t know who this guy is but he is obviously in charge.”  He’s 6’3″ and has a certain carriage that exudes command.  At his prime, he was really something.  You could tell when soldiers talked to The Old Man that they respected him.  The Boss remembers this with great clarity

He is easily the smartest and most clever man that The Boss has ever encountered in his own life of soldiering and business.  Not even close.  The Old Man will not waste your time with pontificating but when he speaks you know that this is wisdom, real wisdom.

The Old Man is all about doing and not talking.

The Old Man has been a skillful money manager — well, Mom also when Dad was overseas — who never wasted his money on anything.  The first house the family ever owned was a “fixer upper” in which The Old Man and The Boss did a lot of rehab work.

The Boss probably developed his love of building and development from this experience.  To this day The Boss thinks sawdust is perfume.

The Old Man let The Boss do stuff instead of telling him all the stuff he could not do.  When the basement was leaky, The Boss — about 12 years old — dug up the entire exterior wall of the basement (nice Jersey Shore sand and easy digging) and The Old Man waterproofed the basement.  What was remarkable was that The Old Man let The Boss do this and that he had such confidence in him.  This was real parenting.  Growing the cubs to meet the world.

The Old Man used to let The Boss shoot his .22 caliber rifle in the basement against a mattress propped against the back wall.  The Boss spent many an hour shooting that little plinking rifle there.

Moral compass

The Old Man has a moral compass that seems to be welded in place.  It never wavers and it never moves with the pressure of the times.  It is fixed and certain and predictable and does not fall prey to situational ethics.  It is a steady pointer in a roiling sea.

The Old Man — though a professional soldier and professional soldiers are prone to colorful language — never used profanity nor boastful speech.  He was always mindful of his example in the presence of his family and children, in particular.

It was his example that guided and educated his family and children.

Once The Boss had been sent to an Army post barber shop to get a “flat top” and the Army barbers who were used to scalping recruits failed to deliver the ordered “flat top” and instead just shaved The Boss’s head.

When The Old Man saw this, he was not happy.  That did not comport to his instructions.  There was some very colorful language and the barbers — even the ones who had not been involved in the scalping — took off out the back door when The Old Man asked:  ”Who just cut that kid’s hair?”

The Big Red Car could go on forever about the positive influence that The Old Man had on The Boss but I won’t.

Thanks, Dad.  You are and always will be the best.  Thank you very much.

Thank you, America, for the opportunities that you have provided and for the men you have created with those opportunities.  God bless Dads everywhere.

And, hey, even though I am a Big Red Car — today I know what the Hell I am talking about!

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car Big Red Car Thanks, Dad The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%