Monday

Miscellaneous Rambling

It's a sad time of life around here. Our oldest son, Alex, starts his real life today. He graduated from the University of Michigan on Saturday and starts at Quicken Loans this morning in downtown Detroit. It's a great job opportunity, and he's fortunate to have landed it. We're all thankful, but he's now officially moved out . . . not "coming back in just a few months." He has left the coop and we're all a bit sad. * * * * * * * Interesting aside, though: As a sophomore, he had to declare a major. He came to me with three possibilities: philosophy, history, or Spanish. I said, "Do Spanish, but don't just major in it. Absorb it. Also buy yourself a pick-up truck and master Excel. Make yourself useful to someone." He didn't buy the truck, but he absorbed Spanish and learned Excel. Job opportunities were plentiful. I think he "hit a sweet spot" with his bi-lingual abilities. In five years, college graduates who speak Spanish and English will be routine (based on what I read and based on what I see in our local high school right now), but right now, someone like Alex is still a novelty and companies want to penetrate that Hispanic market.

* * * * * * * The picture at the top of this post is Michigan stadium at graduation. Marie took it. She's glad she went, but whew, she said Ann Arbor was an absolute madhouse and she had horrible seats. It was a gorgeous day, but a packed Big House in 70-degree weather and sun makes for a hot couple of hours. * * * * * * * In case you're wondering what kind of bad father misses his son's college graduation, it's a bad father who has to get his middle daughter and third son up for annual athletic physicals, get children to church for volunteer activities, get children to Saturday evening Mass, get his second son ready for prom and take prom pictures, get his fourth son to little league practice, get lunch and dinner around for four of his kids . . . and a bad father who hates sitting in the sun, detests crowds, and is grateful that he simply could not go to Ann Arbor this past weekend. * * * * * * * The second pic above is Alex with youngest daughter Tess and oldest daughter Abbie. The pic below is Abbie and Tess doing during the graduation ceremony what their dad does best. * * * * * * * If you, like me, are a bit behind on what's going on in San Francisco, here's a great blow-by-blow summary.