Wandering Wahls

That isn’t the clock ticking on our alarm clock, the title refers to the only thing that Cape May, N.J., does not charge for — ticks. The parking meters require money until 2200 and the beach is $5 a day, even for an hour; we can attest to the latter. On our last day the kids wanted to swim in the Atlantic, so we took them to the famous Cape May beaches (which are nice). Fortunately, the beach tag sellers were nice and told us that Joe was 11 years old that day and didn’t require a tag (tags are sold for access to the beach). Unfortunately, the poor weather was back and it was too windy and cold to spend more than an hour there. The kids did go in the water — they were warmer in the water than out of it.

The weather is amazing — we have been in rain, wind and cold for weeks. Where is spring (or summer for that matter)? I read that a government agency has predicted we’ll be seeing more warm weather and a lack of water due to changing weather. I have to wonder where this agency is located. I can tell you that in the past 10 months we have not seen a lack of rain or cold weather.

About the today’s post title: we went to Cape May to do some bird watching, which the area is famous for. We did a ranger walk at the lighthouse and a walk at the national preserve. We saw a few birds, but saw more ticks. We abandoned the preserve walk after the rest of the family noticed ticks on their legs. They continued picking them off as we drove to lunch; Joe picked off 8. Fortunately none attached themselves to anyone else — in the end, I, the only one without ticks, ended up with the one and only attached tick. I thought it was a skin tag, but it was a tick. The little thing cooperated and allowed Mary Claire to remove it easily, and it kindly refrained from engorging itself on me. Such a kind tick — I killed it anyway.

We’ve had a whirlwind week, finishing D.C. with a White House visit. It was a public tour, not a personal meeting and a little different than usual because we were in at 9 a.m. on a Saturday and there was a birthday party for the younger Obama daughter, Sasha, at 11 a.m. Of course we were hurried through, but it was neat to see the White House being set up for regular life activities. There was a blow-up jumping castle in the back yard (I wonder if they got that through Andrews MWR?) and the dining room was being readied to accommodate a lot of fun-loving little kids — I don’t know if the guards and ushers knew what was going to hit them.

From D.C. we went to Cape May, New Jersey, and then on to Philadelphia (we’re in New York City as I write this). The best event from Cape May was checking out of the RV park. I was telling the manager about our trip and our 41-foot RV and he comments, “You mean like that one rolling away?” and he pointed out the front door. I looked and, sure enough, there was our RV rolling forward — all 41 feet going past the front door windows (they’re big windows, too). I jumped and ran toward the door wondering what the heck happened. Halfway there I saw that Mary Claire was in the driver’s seat and was just pulling the RV up to a better spot to hook up our car. What a scare. Then I turned around and the manager was laughing — he knew this the whole time.

Visiting D.C. was both educational and inspiring. We visited The National Park for the White House as well as the National Park for the Monuments. The kids earned a Junior Ranger badges at each park and were drilled by the park rangers about their answers.

Along with the Junior Ranger badge for the monuments, we visited the monuments (funny how that works). We told the kids about the World War II, the Korean War, Abraham Lincoln, and the Jefferson Memorial. At the Jefferson Memorial, we were given a personal presentation about the memorial and what it stands for.

This presentation in itself was inspiring because it dealt with how the Declaration of Independence and its statement that all are created equal really represents the foundation of our country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt emphasized this when he dedicated the memorial; Lincoln also called people’s attention to it when he gave the Gettysburg Address.

But for me, the ranger’s presentation also was a metaphor for what our country stands for. The ranger was a young woman who came to the U.S. from Somalia more than 20 years ago as a young girl and eventually achieved citizenship. What was fascinating to me as I listened to her was that here was a young woman from another country representing our government at a memorial to one of our most important figures and giving us the most extensive talk we have heard yet about our nation. She discussed the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s intentions for the country, and FDR’s designs for the memorial. We also discussed other issues such as civil rights, U.S. history, and her desire to see more national parks. Her wealth of, and desire for, knowledge about the U.S., as well as her broad vocabulary, were greater than that of most U.S.-born Americans — including myself. It was inspiring to listen to her and see her appreciation for her citizenship and her desire to know so much about her country. I’ve got to start reading some more history now.

After giving up Space A travel, we have been spending our time taking the kids around DC. What a great place to educate the kids — from the Capitol to the Smithsonians to the monuments. We’ve studied everything from how a bill becomes law to how ants colonize to how President Roosevelt wanted the Declaration of Independence emphasized at the Jefferson Memorial to help rally America during World War II.

Two events though were especially fun. First, we met with the MOAA staff responsible for making sure this blog is available. We also were able to spend time chatting with Vice Adm. Ryan, the head of MOAA. I have always been impressed with the information from MOAA, and now my wife and I are equally impressed with the staff. It was obvious though that the people at MOAA enjoy their jobs and enjoy helping the members (funny how one leads to the other, eh), and I’m sure this starts from the top down. As I look for a job on this journey, I hope to find an atmosphere like we saw at MOAA.

Our second was also a lot of fun — we got to meet a U.S. Senator. Senator, John Thune (R-S.D.) took time to welcome us to D.C. and chat with us in his office. What a nice, personable guy! He really made all of us feel welcome, particularly my kids.

Relevant to MOAA members, the senator’s interest in our military members was evident (and welcome) in his questions to my wife about her experience working with and participating in the military medical system; and, to me about life as a military dependent. I can see how he defeated Daschle four years ago — Senator Thune is sharp and has a great presence. South Dakotans made a great choice.

My daughter did ask the senator if he was going to run for President, but “Wahl Whispers” can only report a denial (with a smile) from the senator to this question. We’ll keep an eye on him, though.

Senator Thune’s office arranged for a tour of the Capitol and the White House for us … but that story will come later.

Rest assured, your MOAA is working hard for you, as are your senators (if Senator Thune is any example).

Moving back to the States has led to some surprises over developments that took place while we were overseas — cultural, changes in cities due to growth, business practices, and more (we never got the memo on these changes). The last item, for instance, includes such intrigue as to why Detroit spend the last few years building a better Hummer while Japan spent the years building a better Prius.

More recent (and personal) has been our experience with cell service. We have a mobile Internet account with Verizon so we can access the Internet on the road through their USB modem. When we set this account up in September along with our cell phone service, I was curious then over the lack of choices between AT&T and Verizon, as well as between the retail outlets that sold Verizon and AT&T.

For instance, the retail outlets selling AT&T and Verizon programs (I stopped at Radio Shack, a Verizon store, the BX concessionaire, and Best Buy) all offered the same program — and none could explain to me why I should buy the service from them over their competitor (usually located in the same mall). I was looking for anything — a better phone, no connection fee, a cheaper monthly rate: anything to give me a reason why that outlet should get my business. There were no offers. Where was the land of capitalism and consumer choice?

Now, up to today: I stopped in the Verizon store to see about an upgraded USB modem. Mine isn’t so effective, so I was interested in paying for a better model. I explained my dilemma to a store rep. In the end, I could sign up for 2 more years of service and receive the modem for $50; or, buy the modem with no agreement for over $200! I was willing to pay $50 for an upgraded modem, but not $200! The same goes with a phone. I’d happily pay $50 or so for a better phone than the free one I got when I signed up for service that crackles more than Rice Krispies. But this isn’t possible.

Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems that there is an opportunity for more sales here for Verizon or AT&T. I can’t help but think that I’m not the only one who would upgrade. Instead, I guess these two providers believe they can rope customers into longer contracts in order to upgrade a phone or USB modem. I’m just surprised at the lack of customer service innovation in the US.

Oh well, on with the journey and limited communications.

This was pretty fun –- we made the FOX morning show here in D.C. We did a live segment, which really made our trip to the studios stressful. We left the Andrews AFB Fam camp at 0630 and two hours later arrived about 15 miles away at the FOX studios. The traffic and small residential streets didn’t make life easy for us.

But, in the end, all was well. We arrived within 10 minutes of our scheduled appearance. The FOX guys had a curbside parking spot coned off and Tony, the anchor (not the tiger), came out and interviewed us live in the RV.

It was a lot of fun. Tony is really good at his job and made everyone, including Sam, feel at ease on camera. Afterwards, he invited us in to the studio and we watched the final 15 minutes of the show. The staff were all friendly and inviting –- they answered our questions, showed the kids the control room, and took time to just chat with us. It was fascinating to watch Tony, Allison (his anchor partner), and the weatherman all do their job with such ease. Anna now wants to be a TV host.

If you want to see our interview, you can go to the FOX site and watch the interview.