Let's Ride - Fred Faulkner's Blog About the Road Called Life

My college friend Marty ran the LaSalle Chicago Marathon this last weekend. 26.2 miles. Very impressive for anyone. I ran a half marathon last year and wanted to do it again this year, but my procrastination got the best of me. Marty asked me if I wanted to run the full marathon, but I just seem to have problems finding time to train with my already long work day. Somehow Marty did figure it out and I'm proud of him. Marty finished in 4:39:29, and placed 21055 overall (out of a field of 40,000). WAY TO GO MARTY!

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I would like to welcome a friend of mine to the blogosphere. I met Liz about two years ago through some college friends. When receiving an invitation to a birthday party, Liz saw my e-mail address and surfed over to Let's Ride to see what was going on here. She e-mailed me to say hello and how she liked the site. Well I caught up with Liz at the birthday party and she mentioned to me that she recently started a blog. She claimed being "inspired" by Let's Ride (though I bet she had the idea before coming to my humble domain). Let's Ride is all about Fred and what I enjoy (cars, music, sports) and Taken with Yarn is all about her passion for knitting. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Liz is passionate about her hobby and who can complain with that.

Now I should mention that Liz tells it how it is, which most of the time cracks me up to tears. I always walk away from seeing Liz with having my fix of laughs for at least six months. I look forward to reading more from Liz and her knitting escapades.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a friend, a colleague you can say, whom shall remain nameless at the moment, who never ceases to amaze me with his energy, ideas, and motivation to do something "remarkable." (I just finished reading Purple Cow by Seth Godin...could you tell?) He and I have bounced ideas back and forth off each other for a while and it seems we are both in about in the same place. I've got some ideas cooking that I'm going to put into motion very soon so stay tuned. Anyway, tonight consisted of an over 2 1/2 hour conversation about "stuff." "Stuff" consists of ideas, feedback, and general chit chat. My wife would say I was like a teenage girl tonight talking on the phone forever. Well, it only happens once in a while, not every night. This colleague is on the forefront of ideas. The point where we chat and wonder why more people don't use RSS to read Web sites and blogs. Well, because only 7% do right now (according to PEW research). It just so happens that we almost exclusively read Web sites and blogs through an aggregator. But the beauty of these ideas are that they are at the right time. The right place to capitalize on a market that is just waiting to be served. So 2 1/2 hours or not...it was a great chat.

So the ideas are brewing and not to leave you hanging, but more to come in the next week or so.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife, Cyndi, added another degree to her resume this last weekend.  Cyndi graduated from Xavier University with a Masters Degree in Education Applications.  She now has two education degrees to my one.  While I’ve done some continuing education through DePaul University, I have not formally gone back and worked towards a degree like a MBA. 

So my hearty congratulations to her and all the effort it took to accomplish this.  You deserve to have that big smile!  I also congratulate Grant and Jen who were her partners in crime while working on their group project.   

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

He's back from the war and on a whirl-wind vacation to see family and friends. Rob now has a "real" blog using a CMS called Mambo.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The eagle has landed. Rob is home back in the good ole U.S. of A. and we got a chance to see him on Saturday down in Indiana where he is doing his demobilization. After a two hour awards ceremony we got to take Rob for the night off base. We went out to dinner, first attempting to hit the Texas Roadhouse, but that wait was already an hour and fourty minutes. So we ended up at another restaurant/pub around the corner (the name eludes me at the moment). While waiting for our table Rob continues to tell us (parents, my wife, and one set of my grandparents) stories from while he was over there. We asked him "so what was the food like?" His response was:

Well I've eaten so many preservatives in the food they serve us, if I die tomorrow, you can bury me, open me up in 20 years, and I'll still look like I do today.

Classic.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier today a mess of soldiers from the 106th Aviation left a little known base known as LSA Anaconda aboard a C-130 headed for Kuwait. One of those soldiers aboard was my brother. Headed for home. Finally. His journey will be a long, tiresome, trip that will last the next 48 hours, eventually to end up on U.S. soil in Indiana. It is hard not to get emotional about this while writing. I have spent the last year confident that nothing would happen to him (or at least telling myself that), thus feeling like he is just away at "camp," and now that he is coming home I can't help but think of all the soldiers that aren't coming home. It is sad. But freedom isn't free and right, wrong, or indifferent we did what we had to do. The Iraqi people have spoken their gratitude by voting for their independence last week. It was only because of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces (and other supporting countries) that made the vote happen in as safe of an environment as possible. We get to sleep a little easier now in our family knowing that Rob is on his way home and out of harms way.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

No he didn't go AWOL. We got word today the Rob is coming home in two weeks. The emotional rollercoaster is almost over. HHC posted a newsletter today with a return date that took all of us by surprise. I was expecting to hear about a month out from their expected return date, but in two weeks HHC from the 106 Aviation will be somewhere in po-dunk Indiana (which translates to south of Indianapolis) for what they call Demob, or Demobilization. Every soldier will get poked and prodded by the physicians there. They will also relieve themselves of some their gear, their guns, and hopefully some stress now that they'll be back on U.S. soil.

After Demob he will have 90 days to report back to Peoria for work. I know he is planning a big vacation across the country to visit friends and family. That should hopefully help with getting adjusted back to "normal" life. Needless to say we are all very happy that he will be back safe and sound.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ben Ben Ben. When will you learn that these things will always come back to haunt you. Taking crazy pictures that you only intend to be seen by a few close friends...then they get forwarded to the one who has a Web site. Ben Ben Ben....when will we learn?

Now needless to say, I probably just opened up the door to a slam back to me for some crazy pictures I have taken in the last year. But Ben doesn't have a Web site...but it doesn't mean it won't happen. But until then, you can enjoy my friend Ben and his helmet picture.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well this pisses me off. Apparently the military feels that they need to put their political spin on blogging too. I read this morning that my brother Rob is shutting down his blog because the powers at be in his chain of command feel that his opinions are insubordinate.

Well, this is the last stop. The last entry to my blog. No, I'm not coming home. Apparently some of the things I've written have struck a nerve with some people. As a result, I have been told to remove them from my website. So, this will be my last post. I refuse to maintain a website if it means censoring to the degree they require. Censorship for operational security is an absolute necessity. I understand that. Censorship for subordination and respect, I can accept that too. Censorship to the point of being ridiculolus, I draw the line there. Apparently the definitions of insubordination and respect are more gray than I thought. I did not believe anything I ever wrote here to be insubordinate or disrespectful, but obviously other people did.

You can read the full post here. Anyway, this pisses me off because he was put in a position that takes away from not only communicating with his family (granted he doesn't have to say everything that is on his mind) but a way to journal and express his feelings about the war. Not like he had a ton of readership...like all 30 of us who came and went. Well I feel bad that he is shutting down shop and it pisses me off that the no-named chain of command is putting his freedom of speech down. He may have complained about orders on the blog, but he never disobeyed them when given, nor was he a bad soldier. Rob always goes above and beyond the call of duty and it is a shame that the military wants to censor someone that has a brain in their head. I guess he should just do as he is told, not question anything in his own mind on "why" he is doing it and point and shoot the gun in his hand when told. Sucks. Just plain sucks.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife and I did something I hope becomes a summer tradition of ours...making smoothies. We were at the grocery store tonight when right in front of us when we walk in was the display of strawberries. Immediately Cyndi says that those would make for a great smoothie...and why not, we haven't used our blender from our wedding yet. So we bought a container and some ice cream (low fat of course) and when we got home we experimented. I had my favorite from the mall, a Strawberry/Raspberry smoothie. I added a container of Dannon Raspberry yogurt into my mix. Cyndi had her favorite, Strawberry/Bannana.

We got it pretty right on the first try. Next up...adding Captain Morgan's Parot's Bay....

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is Rob, over there in Iraq. This is a typical Rob. A wrench in one had and a gun in the other. If he wasn't over in Iraq he would have a wrench in one hand an a paintball gun in the other.

Rob's HHQ unit has a Website now. There is not much there yet, but it looks like it will be cool when it is complete. If you want to bypass a Flash intro, click here.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cyndi and I spent last weekend in Chicago with friends for a billed "Spontaneous Weekend." My friends James and Mike came in and we had a blast. We headed down to the museum campus and walked all the way back up to Chicago Ave. just meandering. What a time! It was beautiful outside, a balmy 60 degrees. Perfect for late February! Our friend Shari coordinated the entire day. We ended up at Ceasars, home of the Killer Margarita for a round or two. Then we headed to Club Lucky for dinner.

Finally, after dinner and some more drinks we headed to Southport Lanes for a round of bowling. What a great time! SPL doesn't have an automatic pin machine on their four lanes, so there are actually people back there doing it manually after every frame. So if you tip the guy with a gutter ball and the money in the finger hole you are guaranteed some strikes. $10 later and I was headed for a 300 game. :-) For more on the weekend, check out the photo gallery.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My wife, mom, and dad are going to see my brother this weekend. Rob is in the Illinois National Guard Reserves and has been called up to go over to Iraq. I didn't get a good opportunity to see him over the holidays with our honeymoon. I am looking forward to seeing him. I have set up a blog for him to use while over in Iraq. Rob in Iraq can be found locally here on my server for the time being. It will move to his server services in the near future, but I'll redirect my link to his after that happens. Check out Rob in Iraq today.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congratulations Scott and Michele!!!

To my friends in Indy, congratulations on your wedding. See you in three months at mine!

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Only my friend Scott would do this. Scott is, lets just say not your run of the mill guy (I swear I mean this in the best way, he is great). Scott is getting married this weekend and I will be making the jaunt from Chicago to Indianapolis tomorrow morning. Last night he tells me "Oh, we did register. At Sears, check it out if you have a chance, you'll get a kick out of it."

Sidebar: Now Scott and his to-be wife, Michele, will be moving to Southern California in early January...now back to your regularly scheduled program...

So I check out the registry and discover this bad boy on the list. A snowblower?? Yep. I can just see it now, Scott sitting on his front porch saying to Michele, "Honey, I think I'm going to sweep the walk of all that sand." Then he goes in the back and busts out MR. CRAFTSMAN and blows away all the sand. Ah, the midwest boy never dies.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)