Observations From The Road

Pittsburgh - I've been here since Thursday, on a week-long swing that will have me here until Monday visiting Leslie and the girls, then to Massachusetts to visit with the current and future care providers of my brother-in-law Michael, along with others who have a vested interest in his care. My goal is to make sure that things go smoothly, that good communication continues to occur, and that his needs continue to be addressed competently and compassionately.

It was rainy the first couple of days, but today was sunny but still cool. The rain here brings all kinds of plant life into abundance, including those that awakened my previously historic seasonal allergies. A fair amount of sneezing, but nothing that can't be managed with tissues and Benadryl so far.

As we made our way through this evening, Leslie and I went to a concert at the municipal building across the street from her house. The artist was a Christian musician from Ohio, Jay Michael. He has a small following and markets himself like many budding talents, through MySpace and YouTube. I see him going further.

Now that the disappointment from the Penguins' Game 1 loss to the Dead Wings is starting to abate, I'd like to try to get caught up on some other issues of interest.

When I picked up my rental car at the airport, the Pittsburgh news was buzzing with the selection of the city as the host for the next G-20 Summit in September. I called my friend Steve, who supervises at the county 9-1-1 center here, and asked if he had his vacation request in already.

As much as the selection is highly justified given Pittsburgh's history of an industrial center that cleaned itself up decades before there was a cohesive environmental movement, I hope that the daunting logistics, security, and emergency preparedness efforts can be organized in time. I'd love to be here to see some of it, even if it means the closest I'll get is Troy Hill with a pair of binoculars and a police scanner. The effect of the expansive security cordon on the day-to-day life of the city will be interesting as well.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruling that a fetus who died as the result of maternal injuries in a crash following a police pursuit is not a "person" brought outcry from several fronts around the Grand Junction area, including one that the ruling was "the practice of law, but not justice".
I'll reiterate what I've said before; true justice for the individual involved will come from a hand much mightier than any judge, district attorney, or venom-spitting TV host (see Nancy Grace).

I also saw some breaking news posts about Valley Investments (a little bit of Madoff right here in GJ), increasing suicides in Mesa County (to go along with the boom and bust of rampant consumerism and the volatile energy sector), and some NTSB recommendations about planning for tour bus operators in the wake of a bad crash near Mexican Hat, Utah a year or so ago (how about some rural emergency health care contingency planning?). I may have more to say later as more details come to light. In the meantime, my lady deserves my attention.

Have a good rest of your weekend.