Year in Review 2000

Y2K -- Work and Play

I worked the Y2K rollover in Lucent Technologies worldwide switching command center starting at 4 am on 12/31/99 as the first Y2K conversions occurred. That night, I got a call from Steve Cuppy, a friend and former employee of mine. Steve explained that he was going to fly a small plane into Chicago for the Y2K rollover and invited me to come. I joined the adventure! We met at the local airport at 11pm, were in the air by 11:15, reached our target north of Chicago at 11:58 and turned to face the city. The radio gave the countdown - "five, four, three, two, one - It's 2000!" Instantly, we could see 3 simultaneous fireworks displays starting by Lake Michigan. Looking across the vast flat expanse of the 150 towns of Chicagoland, we could see dozens of fireworks celebrations. What a wonderful and memorable sight! Just click to see the full version of this adventure (originally published in Sweden).

Travel Summary

In mid-January, I made a business trip around the world in 4 days (93 hours) to Malaysia and Singapore, my 3rd circumnavigation of the globe. I made separate trips to UK, Hong Kong, Spain and France. Personal travel took me to Dallas (7 trips), New Orleans, Los Angeles and Vancouver. United Airlines sent me a "Million Mile Flyer" card making me "Premier Executive for Life". I was re-elected Treasurer of the Chicago Chapter of the Circumnavigators Club. I took a mini vacation in Monaco (via helicopter from Cannes). I joined the Travelers' Century Club, an organization for people who have been in 100 countries. Monaco was my 109th.

Father's Surgery

At the end of January, my father had a 5-hour operation to repair 5 or 6 aneurysms in his abdominal aorta. He did well during this "triple A" procedure, but 2 weeks later it became clear that his right arm was damaged to the point he could barely move it. It took a month to determine that the nerves in his right arm had been stretched. It takes nerves about one month per inch to recover, if they recover. My brother and I working as a team each made 6 alternating trips to Dallas to provide continuous support for him for 3 months. We also worked to fix up problems in his home and replaced the kitchen floor and all of the carpeting. My father is back at home living independently and still drives his 34-year-old VW bug. His arm is 95% recovered after months of painful physical therapy and he started a walking program to stay in shape. He was 86 in September.

Anderson Scholarship

The scholarship established in my mother's memory for her high school's class salutatorian was awarded for the third time in 2000. This year, Amanda McClatchey was the winner. She now attends Iowa State University and intends to become a criminal profiler.

New Car

My Honda Prelude was 16 years old this year with 161,000 miles. I upgraded to an Acura 3.2 CL, Type S with 260 horsepower in a unique Sundance gold color. It also has the latest toy: a navigation unit that combines a computer, a DVD road map, and a GPS device to determine where the car is as well as where you want to go. The unit calculates the route for you, displays the street names, the distance remaining and it gives you voice commands when to turn. It's very sophisticated and practical. Frankly, I felt a bit guilty trading in my old Honda and worried it would be junked. When the deal was signed for the new car, I pointed out that my Honda was a great value. The salesman then bought my old car for his grandson from the dealer in order to teach him to drive a stick shift. This was a win-win!

Libertarian Party

In July, I was one of 900+ delegates to the Libertarian Party national convention where Harry Browne was selected as our presidential candidate. I'm one of a handful of people who have been a delegate to every LP Presidential nominating convention. The LP has twice as many Libertarians in office (300) than all other 3rd parties combined. Over 30 Libertarians were elected this fall with over 10 million total votes for Libertarians. Carla Howell, the LP candidate running against Teddy Kennedy, almost upset the 2 old party duopoly, missing 2nd place by a mere 1%.

The Objectivist Center

In July, I attended the summer seminar of The Objectivist Center. As always, this is an intellectually stimulating event in a benevolent community of thoughtful individuals studying and debating philosophy. This year the venue was the lovely, verdant campus of University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. For physical stimulation, I completed 2 mountain hikes. The "Grouse Mountain Grind" is like climbing rough-hewn stairs in a 1500 story skyscraper -- very challenging for us flatlanders! The other hike was to Garibaldi Lake above the snow line in the Provincial Park north of Vancouver.

Personal Travel

In August, I attended "Club Dave" for the fourth time. Dave Wahlstedt has unique circles of friends who he invites to his lakeside cabin for a long weekend of fun and discussions. This year was my first time on a Jet Ski, like a motorcycle on water! In October, my brother, father, nephew, his wife and son and I had a family reunion in Dallas. Cortlan Alexander Parrish is one year old and knows how to use a remote control. He could also effortlessly turn calculators on and off he had just seen! At the State Fair, we rendezvoused with our first cousins, Tami Cowen and Trina Boothe who my brother had not seen in 35 years. I just attended the New Orleans Investment Conference listening to dozens of experts give conflicting advice. I also visited the new (and recommended) D-Day museum.

Family Tree

Last year I mentioned my famous Mohawk ancestor Hilletie Van Slyke, who translated the Bible from Dutch to Mohawk. This year when I filled out the required questions on my census form I reported my American Indian ancestry and became "non-white". This year on election eve I participated in my first eBay auction purchasing an 18th century Dutch Bible owned by the Van Slyke family. This is a huge, heavy (almost 20 pounds) Bible with a sophisticated use of different fonts, and it has about 200 magnificent engravings. I'm talking to my 9th cousin in Canada, Lorine Schulze, who is a published genealogist, about the final home for this treasure. I just learned that Douglas MacArthur is a distant cousin. Rev. Nicholas Street is our common ancestor. He came to America in 1638 after obtaining a BA at Oxford and a Master's degree at Cambridge. I already knew that "W" (like 9 other Presidents) is my cousin. Nathaniel Foote who came in 1633 is the common ancestor. William Cheney, my ancestor, came before 1640. While I do not have the proof yet, I assume that VP Dick Cheney is also a distant cousin based on my experience with early New England immigration patterns.

Presidential Election

This year voters had a wonderful choice for President unless they limited themselves to the 2 old parties. Harry Browne, the LP candidate, had an excellent program to cut government spending and eliminate the income tax! He narrowly missed beating the Reform candidate in spite of their $12M of taxpayer cash. Gore, with the emotional insight of the Energizer Bunny, continues to fuel his obsession to be President with intellectually dishonest legal maneuvering. History will record that the key vote for Al Gore was the one he lost in 1998. Twenty Democratic Senators could have changed their votes during the impeachment decision and made Al Gore President, but they would not, preferring the perjurer. It seems fitting the Clinton Presidency ends in chaos, legal battles and farce.