Cold Friday

I stepped outside this morning... BRRRR! 47 degrees is way to cold. Ok, I'm ready for summer again. :)
It is friday and I don't really have anything to talk about, so I will just leave a couple of videos on here; one funny, one a good song.
I will have some pics on here this weekend of the transformation of "Fruitloops" the great white Ronix One wakeboard. I am going to tatt it up(put stickers on it.)

Abra Moore - Four Leaf Clover Vers. 2 Music Videos SPIKE.com

Anyway, have agood weekend and I'll see you on the other side.

Pura Vida,

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First Fire + Babies and other Randomness

That's right folks, the temperature has been coming down these last few weeks and it has finally hit the point where I make the first fire of the season. Is it little premature? Sure. I have a mild pyro streak in me.. I think we all do. Anyway I grabbed some nice pinon pine logs on the way home the other day and got it going. Man that wood smells great when it burns. Anyway, the room heated up nicely.. actually a little too nicely, we might have had to open the doors. Either way, it was fun.


So babies, yep it seems that our house is like The Loon (read the reviews) for children under the age of 2. They hang out at our place. Or maybe we just have a bunch of friends with kids,,, either way. There is Andre and Anna newest edition (strongest baby in the world). You remember the scene in Superman when the baby llifts up the truck? Yep he's that strong.

Then there is the Berv's kid... we'll call him musical Max as he likes to play the drums. Either way, both good guys.



Oh yeah, Dibello came by a few times.




I can see by my Sitemeter that there are people all over the world reading the blog now. How cool is that. I guess there is boredom everywhere. I am hoping to have some pics from Richard's housewarming party this past saturday to put on here in the next few days so be excited.

I found this video of my sister's graduation from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University this past spring. It was pretty awesome when a New Orleans style band led the graduates out the door.





And on that note, I'll let Kevin Rudolph lead us out of this blog for the day.

Kevin Rudolf - New Music - More Music Videos

Laters,
jth
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Climate Change or “Blog Action Day”

So I am taking part in the world wide Blog Action Day. It is basically a way for bloggers around the globe to all talk about this year's topic which is climate change on the same day. It is a good thing and I am glad to add their link to my blog, every little bit of traffic they can generate will help.

Of course the type of climate change I am going to talk about is a little more personal and less reaching. I have spent the last 5 days in Denver at the 2009 MGMA Conference. It was a typical conference I suppose, lots of talking to people, answering questions, dinners and such. Of course when I landed there on saturday it was snowing. brrrrrr! I am not ready for that kind of weather. I spent alot of time walking downtown as my hotel was 4 blocks from the convention center. I like Denver... I could live there I think. The winters would be rough but I think that would be somewhat counterbalanced by the abilityto ski on the weekends.

One evening I was able to go up into the mountains to Idaho Springs and the famous BeauJo's Pizza. The sunset mountain views were fantastic and one of my companions took a few pics. I forgot how clear the night sky is in the mountains.

So I woke up wednesday morning in the cold of Colorado, and by evening I was wakeboarding in the warmth of Texas. Talk about climate change...

Celia picked me up from the airport and we shot out to meet up with the Killer Bee. The water was fantastic... like glass only smoother. Plus there wasn't another wakeboard boat in sight,, just a few anglers. I took a short video of the area where we were riding. We landed a few tricks and headed to the house. It was good to see Celia and go wakeboarding at the same time... it was like Christmas. Either way, I am just glad to be home.

Don't forget, if you want to see the video you actually have to come to the blog site.

Laters,

jth

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I Dream of Tara and Santorini

It's true. I totally had a dream about Tara Lizak(Nixon) last night. Don't worry, it was totally PG. She was taking me skydiving and my parachute came off. I yelled at her as I was falling and she caught it and flew over and put it on me... backwards. But it still worked and I was saved. We then went skidiving 5 more times and had a blast. After that was all over, we went back to hang out with our friends and we told them the story and they were all like, "Ah man, that was close, you almost died Hughes!" And I was like, "dude, i totally know!" That was the end of the dream. Either way, thanks for bailing me out Arat. (if you don't know what that line is about, then I am not going to explain it to you.

I also dream of Santorini. But I do most of that dreaming while I am awake. There are 2 webcams that I check out every morning while I am at work. I literally pull them up so I can see them while I work. Since we are 8 hours behind Greece here in Texas, I get to watch the sun set over the island every day. It makes me want to be there. Just follow the links and enjoy. If you find that you cant see anything on the screens, that means it is night. The best viewing time is in between 9am-11am CST.
View of the Caldera.
View of the Volcano.

Also, you can check out Earl's dog, Diesel not doing a very good job of catching a fly. Live and let live, I guess that is Diesel's philosophy.


I was thinking this morning of wakeboarding. It has been almost 2 weeks because it has been raining non-stop. I am hoping to go either tomorrow or friday before I leave for Denver. Anyway, I was looking for some inspiration and I thought of the movie August Rush. I really like it and the music is fantastic. If you have speakers on your computer, turn them up and play the video below.


Also, Jana posted a new blog and her pics are amazing. Click here.

One more thing, for those of you that receive this as an email, make sure and come to the actual blog website. Celia told me that the videos don't get sent in the emails. If you have missed them all, there are some funny ones so get your hind parts to Wanderings !!

Laters,
jth

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Summer Hangs On

Hang on baby, hang on. So the water is cooling off,,, noticeably. And we experienced this, on saturday while we were out riding. "Wave Walker Wendy, Texas Teacher", Dr. Sweet Air, Justin and Sarah. The air was warm, low 90's as we spent the afternoon riding and trying to do backflips off the wakeskate. Tom got it on video and he is going to send it to me in a day or so; i will post it quickly after that. Also, Nixon and Tara (Tara's the one in the air) were in town for a couple of days, taking a break from lawyering and dancing. Nixon did Hyperlite work and now plans to take up wakeboarding as time permits. Well sir, you will have stop working for Gibson Dunn first. We also took pics and video of that day but I need to get it from Andreus "Topo Chico". The Owens' met the Nixon/Hughes coalition for a fantastic dinner at Soho, great time. We missed the Houghtons but 3/4 aint bad.

I should have all the videos and pics from the past 2 weeks soon. I just need to collect them so be excited. Also, there is the story of the IPhone, but not today little children, we'll save that one for another time. Guten Nacht - jth


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Nada

I got nothing today folks. We went out last weekend and took videos and pics but I haven't gotten them from Andre yet. I will this weekend. All I have is a couple of links to really awesome videos. Enjoy and I will holler at you soon.

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/08/05

http://dudeperfect.com/ (Check the Kyle Field shot)

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/09/16

JTH

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Healthcare and Such

I don't have anything to write about today except for the fact that we are actually going wakeboarding today. But I had to do a blog entry for my company's blog so I thought I would just copy and paste it on here. It'll give you something to think about...

Programmed Obsolescence

Or “planned obsolescence” as is the term first popularized by Bernard London circa 1932 in his pamphlet titled, “Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence”1. Basically the idea was for the government to impose rules of obsolescence on consumer goods which would cause guaranteed production and spending which would in turn create predictable, stable growth. The Wikipedia article that I referenced for this piece compares it to the recent, “Cash for Clunkers” program. Get rid of the old, replace with new; move ‘em on down the road.

Of course PO exists in every industry without a government mandate. There are several different categories; technical obsolescence, systemic obsolescence, style obsolescence. Each one is a premeditated, calculated economic strategy. Some say it is unethical, but who cares? It works. When the original product fails, there is another newer, faster, shinier product on the shelf for the consumer to snatch.

So what happens when an existing product that desperately needs to be replaced has no upgraded version? Well the only option is to keep on making small fixes to keep it running even though it is broken.

I read an article this week on CNN.com about malpractice insurance and how the costs are driving doctors out of practice. One case involved a 55 year old OB/Gyn that had a patient base of over 5,000 individuals that went out of business. She was spending over $125,000 per year for her coverage.

Another case was that of Dr. Douglas Evans, a pediatrician.
“"I had a young football player in my office [this week]. His symptoms indicate a problem with his neck," he said in an example. "But I have to get authorization from his insurance company first to get an X-ray or an MRI. It's an example of how insurance companies dictate to me what I have to do." Evans is frustrated that this process will delay treatment by several days. "My first concern is that he's young and has his career in front of him," he said. "My second concern is that there's a predatory lawyer out there," meaning that if his patient's condition worsens while he waits to get authorization, it could expose him to a malpractice suit.”2

Broken, obsolete. So what are the long term solutions to getting these costs under control? One way the problem is being attacked, is by mitigating one of the major elements that is driving up premiums: malpractice suits.

A USA Today article delves into the details of several possible solutions that include in-facility risk management programs, and specialized health courts.
“For nearly a decade, the University of Michigan Health System has been using a program in which patients report errors to a hospital "risk-management" program before filing suit. The hospital investigates and, if warranted, issues an apology and an offer of compensation to the patient. If the patient turns that down, he or she can go to court. The vast majority settle.
The system moves quickly, sometimes catching errors before they're reported.In August 2001, there were 262 open claims against the medical center. In 2007, the number was 83. Some Michigan lawyers who represent patients praise the system — quite a testament to its ability to treat injured patients fairly.
Similar systems are proving their worth at as many as 300 hospitals and university medical centers across the country. A few malpractice insurers are using such programs for their insured doctors. In 2005, then-Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton proposed a law to encourage such systems and build a national database of disclosed errors to help physicians avoid them. This promising measure died in a committee.
Another intriguing idea is specialized health courts, where experienced judges using impartial experts would decide malpractice cases without juries. Awards would be more consistent and quicker. Yet no state has even tried a pilot program.”3

Sure it’s good to work for Delta which is member of the oligopoly of locums firms. But the fact of the matter is that we are a short term fix for the problem of physicians that close their practices to work under our malpractice insurance. Only a small number of our physicians have come to us for this reason but the data suggests that many more will be walking that road in the near future. And believe me, we are happy to do it and will continue to do it until the malpractice issue is resolved. It is time however for a shiny new product for the industry to consume, because this clunker we are in now is on its last wheel.

1. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/London_%281932%29_Ending_the_depression_through_planned_obsolescence.pdf

2. http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/14/news/economy/health_care_doctors_quitting/index.htm

3. http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/06/our-view-on-doctors-vs-lawyers-tired-malpractice-debate-ignores-promising-solutions--risk-management-programs-and-heal.html

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Biblical Rain and Boredom

Light rain-drops fall and wrinkle the sea,
Then vanish, and die utterly.
One would not know that rain-drops fell
If the round sea-wrinkles did not tell.
-Sidney Lanier

Oh can it Lanier. The rain is lousy, and I should know,,, it has been raining for over a week now.. non-stop. It is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, there is nothing to do, no wakeboarding, volleyball, nothing. I don't even have anything to write about; I havent talked to Andre or Tom, Richard hurt his back again. What the hell man? September has pretty much been crap since I got back from hunting.

Maybe we need to find something intimidating to scare off the storms, like a posessed Mosely the super dog, or Julie Smart dressed like the Soviet Secret Police.

It has rained so dang much that a huge limb fell off of the tree in the backyard and landed in the middle of the yard. That's not a terrible thing though, I am going to get a chainsaw and chop it up for firewood. Whatever, I am tired of whining about it; I just want to see some sun.

GO GET 'EM JULES!!!!

-jth

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Rainy Days

I am not a fan,, unless I am trying to take a nap.. but naps are for the wintertime. It has been a week since I wakeboarded so I was itchin' to get out yesterday afternoon. But the fates had different ideas and the Bee stayed on the hoist. We tried to wait it out but no go on the show. i snapped a few pics while we were waiting because it is better to see our plight than to hear about it. Empty board racks, dark skies, boards laying on the ground... all adds up to one thing, us sitting on the boat doing nothing. Not cool. We will try again this afternoon. Have a great weekend and holler at me if you want to get together.

-jth

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West Texas Reunion

You know, there is something about early September that just gets a guy going. About mid august, I start looking to the sky much more often than normal to see that outline; dove shadow against blue Texas sky. The trigger finger starts getting itchy and I feel the need to start packing my truck up weeks in advance. And what’s the cause for all this angst? Simple: the Annual Vilfordi Dove Hunting Trip to Haskell, TX. It is a fine tradition in which I have had the honor of partaking these past 4 years, and this year was no different. Of course it begins with a drive out to Haskell in NW Texas.

Northwest Texas is hauntingly beautiful; It can be hilly, covered in mesas, or so flat that it hurts your eyes to try to make out the landscape just below the horizon. It gives you the sense of great adventure as you can easily picture cowboys riding through the country or Indians hunting buffalo, but it is easy to look around and feel very lonely as well.

In between the abandoned farm houses and small towns, is an open wilderness dotted only with cattle and oil wells. The roads are long and straight with traffic being almost non-existant. I took my time driving up on Friday and avoided interstates or any other major roads. I wanted a chance to see the land and get some pictures taken. Aaron and I had taken this route 4-5years ago but it was mostly dark and I couldn’t tell what was beyond the reach of the headlights. I made my way out of Ft. Worth heading west and instead of following I-20, I exited off and followed the blue highways up through Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Graham and Throckmorton. The trip took longer but was well worth it. I saw all the above mentioned features and even ran into a lake; of course it was run down.

After arriving in Haskell , I met up with the guys and the fun began. Of course the first night there was grilled steaks, baked potatoes and plenty of yellow bellies. Banter was solid as we caught up from the past years trip. One of the things I love about this particular group of guys is the fact that we don’t see each other often and when we do get together, usually in west texas, we don’t miss a beat. There is no small talk or uncomfortable social pleasantries, we just roll in to where we had left off. It’s good. Predictability seems to be at an all time premium these days and the Haskell crew is definitely a dependable supply. Of course we stayed up way too late (some of us later than others Aaron) but the hunting the next morning was fair. After the birds were cleaned and bagged, we headed to the red Rooster for some pancakes and biscuits/gravy. Nap time was followed by the afternoon hunt that was a little warm but the most successful afternoon hunt I have ever been on. Saturday night’s dinner was masterfully grilled up by Adam “the sports encyclopedia” Vilfordi. Pork, beef and chicken grilled to perfection along with veggies and served fajita style hit the spot as we settled into our circle of folding chairs once again for telling lies and reliving our college days. That lasted once again til about 2 am when we turned in. That was pretty much the end of the trip as the next morning we woke up, packed and left. Another memorable year that will be remembered as a great one… not because the hunting was phenomenal, although it was pretty good. Just to go spend another weekend with the guys telling tales about tails centers me enough to last another 11 months. But there is no doubt that I will still violently look skyward as birds dart over my head for the next several weeks; it’s hard to get the dove fever out once it has taken hold.

Gentlemen, til next year,
jth

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The Rest of the Week

Ok, it's wednesday and man is this week dragging on like, like... well like I can't even think of a decent simile. NOW THAT'S A LONG WEEK!

Tonight we have volleyball but only 4 of us can make it creating a 4 on 6 situation. I still think we will win though. Actually, it doesnt matter because we are already a lock for the playoffs, now its all about seeding. I have only ridden once this week. Celia and I went out by ourselves on monday afternoon. The wind was out of the NE making it difficult to find a long run but we made do. My new board arrived; I was super excited to get on it and try it out, but I was also quite judicious as it is a pro model and the board I had before was a beginner/intermediate. It is a Ronix One Pro. Man I couldn't have been more wrong about this thing. It is so easy to ride; it is light, responsive, the kicker off the lip is much stronger as I believe the board has a much faster rocker. The thing that I noticed the most was how stable it was not only as I hit the wake, but through the air and on the landing. I was tired when we went out on monday afternoon and still I jumped higher and better than I have this whole season. I am in love.. of course my crazy bindings don't match the board but I will take the ride over fashion.

I leave friday for the annual Vilfordi Dove Hunting Trip. Off to Stamford to kill many birds for a couple of days and then come back to feast on them. Man, it is hard to beat dove breast stuffed with cream cheese, jalopeno, and then wrapped in bacon. Good eatin. It will be good to see everyone again, the Vilfordi brothers and Grego from NYC.

I will try to get some pics from the hunt so I can put them on here. Travel safely this weekend and I'll catch up with you on tuesday,, unless I decide to put something on here tomorrow which is doubtful.

-JTH

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Stranger In Turkey

Who is This???Well I believe it is Julie Smart's little sister, Jana. I found her blog because it is linked to Umair's. I saw the title and I was intrigued. You should definitely check it out, it is fantastic. Basically she is in Turkey working and in her spare time, she wanders around exploring; I must say that I envy her a great deal. And her pictures are fantastic. You will find it at http://janastravellog.blogspot.com/

It got me thinking... maybe I should go do something like that. You know, just take off. I spent alot of the summer between my junior and senior year of college in Europe wandering about. Jana's blog reminds me of the feeling I had when all I had was a backpack and a vagabond heart. OH the places I saw, Inverness Scotland, Santorini Greece, Natters Austria, Cinque Terre...

Maybe, just maybe I spend too much time behind a desk. and maybe one day I'll leave it all to wander all over again. If so Jana Smart, I hope to meet you someday on the road; because if you are anything like your older sister, we will get along just fine.

Via Con Dios,

jth
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