Welcome

Posted on 28 January 2011 by Bill Paine

Bill at homeThank you for visiting my new-and-improved web site.  Why the change?  I like the blog format.  I have all the same static pages as my old site, but now I have an easy way to give you, my friends and family, updates on what’s going on in my life—those I’m willing to make public, anyway!  At some later date I may find a way to add a “trusted user”-only section for things I wish to keep private, but for now what you see is what you get.

Here’s the fun part:  you can add comments to my posts.  I’m not opening comments up to the general public, however.  In order to comment, you need to be logged in as a registered “subscriber,” which requires my approval.  If I don’t know you, don’t bother to ask, but if you’re a friend or a family member just email me and I’ll add you to the approved list.

I have also merged my former Work, Study & Prayer blog into this web site.  I may continue to post meditations on my prayer life, but at less frequent intervals.

Thank you, and God bless!

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Past the First Round

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Bill Paine
New York Rangers

New York Rangers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My friends all know I’m a big fan of the New York Rangers, which has come with its share of disappointments over the years (except for 1994… thank you, Messier, Leetch, et al!).  While it is yet to be determined if the Hockey Gods really have decreed that Rangers fans only get one Stanley Cup per generation, I have certainly been excited by this season—first place in the conference, and second place over all in the league, isn’t something I’ve experienced in a long time.

And so now the “second season” begins:  the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Having barely made is past the Ottawa Senators in a grueling series that battled back and forth all the way to an exciting game 7 victory, the Broadway Blueshirts are now off to face the Washington Capitols in round two.  Advancing beyond this round puts the team into playoff territory they haven’t seen since the ’94 Cup victory, so my hopes are high indeed!

Good luck, boys!

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Navy Photos from 1985

Posted on 2 April 2012 by Bill Paine

My mother recently went through her collection of photographs and four two that I had given her back when I was still active duty in the Navy.  Although less than perfect quality, I thought I’d share them with all of you.

Awarded Surface Warfare Officer Pin, February 1985

The photograph at right was taken in February, 1985, in the Wardroom of USS Moinester (FF 1097) on the occasion of my being awarded the Surface Warfare Officer pin (otherwise known as “water wings”).  I’m on the right, with the newly awarded pin on my chest, and shaking my hand is CDR O. K. Evans, Moinester‘s Captain.  Behind me are three of my fellow officers:  LT Mike Chaloux, 1st Lieutenant (just visible behind my ear); LT Pete Leenhouts, Operations Officer; and, partially visible at the right edge, LTJG Don Shirey, Navigation & Administration Officer (and one of the original Delta Squad!).  The uniform we’re wearing is the old Winter Blue outfit, (known as the “Johnny Cash” uniform) which has since been discontinued in favor of the Service Dress Khaki uniform for officers and the new Navy Service Uniform for enlisted.

United States Navy Surface Warfare Officer badge

United States Navy Surface Warfare Officer badge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Qualification as a Surface Warfare Officer is one of the major milestones of a junior officer’s career in the surface fleet.  Besides the formal training received at the Surface Warfare Officer School Basic Course in Newport, RI, a candidate for SWO must complete an extensive program demonstrating practical knowledge of ship-handling, engineering, damage control, tactics, operations–pretty much everything about a surface ship.  In addition, a SWO candidate must have qualifed as an Officer of the Deck underway and as a Combat Information Center Watch Officer.  Finally, the candidate must be approved by a board of experienced Surface Warfare Officers, usually headed by the Captain.

Entering Palermo, September 1985

This photograph was taken on Moinester‘s helicopter flight deck as we were entering the port of Palermo, Italy, in September of 1985 during a Sixth Fleet deployment.  Unfortunately, it’s a rather fuzzy Polaroid shot.  I’m on the left, standing with LTJG Doug Cundiff, Supply Corps, the ship’s Disbursing Officer.  It was common to wear a dress uniform when on deck entering or leaving a foreign port, so we’re wearing Summer White (known as the “Good Humor” uniform).  Unlike the Winter Blue uniform, Summer White is still around, although Service Dress Khaki often replaces it.

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An Early Spring

Posted on 25 March 2012 by Bill Paine

Lexington Ave & 66th St, 23 March 2012

It seems spring has arrived in New York City a month (at least!) earlier than usual.  The picture at left was taken this Friday, March 23rd, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 66th Street—usually, trees don’t even begin budding until April, but this fellow was in full bloom!

We’ve had an unusually warm winter and, this past week, incredibly mild weather more reminiscent of May than March.  Today, we’re back to the low 50°’s, a more seasonable temperature, but in the latter half of the week we were seeing upper 70°’s.

While I certainly appreciate the spring-like conditions, I’m hoping this isn’t a harbinger of a long, hot, nasty summer!

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Strategy vs. Tactics

Posted on 14 January 2012 by Bill Paine

Milo Jones, an old friend and a former Marine officer, has written an excellent article (Start with Geostrategy, or call it Tactics) that discusses the limitations of business school inspired “strategic” models, relegating them to the realm of tactics in a world largely devoid of real strategic business thinking.

I was particularly amused by his referring to the traditional “strategic” business models as “fully depreciated thinking,” a turn of phrase that captures the futility of expecting competitive advantage using the same exact thinking processes that all your competitors use.  It is the business version of 18th century warfare—conducted by professional mercenaries where the immutable rules of war are so well known by all sides that surprise and novelty are rare birds indeed.

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Mazel Tov, Natalie!

Posted on 16 September 2011 by Bill Paine

The Bat Mitzvah Girl

On September 10th, my cousin Natalie celebrated two significant events in her life:  her 13th birthday and her Bat Mitzvah.  I was pleased and very honored to be invited to attend and join parents Pam and Dan as they celebrated these milestones with their daughter.

I drove up to Pittford (a suburb of Rochester) on Friday the 9th.  The trip was made in good weather this time, but the heavy rains the week before were causing havoc all around the upper Delaware and Susquehanna river valleys—Binghamton was completely flooded out, so I ran into long delays and detours getting through that area.  I arrived only an hour and a half behind schedule, however, in time to have a relaxed dinner with Aunt Molly.

Saturday was the big day for Natalie.  In the morning, I joined the family at Temple Sinai for the regular Shabbat morning service at which Natalie was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah.  Temple Sinai is a gorgeous building (see picture nearby) that gives the illusion of being outside in a sheltered grove, while at the same time evocative of the tented sanctuary of the Hebrews in Sinai.

Temple Sinai, Rochester NY

Natalie did a wonderful job.  Not only did she chant the Torah readings (not an easy task!), but she was given a major role in the service leading the congregation in prayers.  After her readings, she even gave a short homily discussing her interpretation of the readings and how she can incorporate the lessons they teach in her life.  I was hugely proud of her!  After the service, we enjoyed a Kiddush lunch and then departed for the afternoon.

That evening saw the fun part of the day, especially for Natalie and her friends:  the party!  While my eardrums are still ringing from the squeals of many 13 year olds, I have to say the party was very well run with lots of fun things for the kids to do (mostly girls, with a handful of very outnumbered and intimidated boys!).  At the back of the hall, there was a photo booth set up with a box of props and costume items—Natalie got an album of the various photos, complete with inscriptions and comments by her friends, after the party.  The DJ and his assistant kept the kids fully engaged not only with all their favorite songs but also with a wide range of games and activities, including hula-hoop and limbo contests, prizes for best sing-along, and so forth.  Meanwhile, the adults had their own section of the hall to congregate in, complete with an adult beverage bar and lots of munchies (in addition to dinner).

Aunt Molly, of course, had a blast.  In spite of being tethered to her oxygen bottle, “Nana” was a huge hit with the kids, participating in their games and dances.  Much to my chagrin, I found that it was me, not her, who was yawning and making significant glances at the clock before the night was over.

On Sunday, Molly slept in (!) and I went over to Pam’s house for a brunch of various leftovers, eventually leaving for the drive home around noon.  The drive south was uneventful, thankfully.

So congratulations and Mazel Tov, Natalie!  We’re all very proud of you, and look forward to seeing you continue growing into the caring, bright and beautiful young woman that you are already.

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Irene

Posted on 31 August 2011 by Bill Paine
Hurricane Irene Reaches New York City

Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video via Flickr

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene passed through New York City and headed up north through New England last weekend.  Thankfully, here in the city the impact was not nearly as bad as predicted—about the same as a bad nor’easter storm.  Andrew and I hunkered down in our apartment for the duration, and aside from a few minor leaks around the windows we didn’t have any real problems.

Upstate, however, the story was (and continues to be) quite different.  The torrential rains associated with the storm dumped 11-12 inches of water in the Adirondacks, causing widespread river and stream flooding.  In Willsboro, the Bouquet surged over its banks and flooded out Main Street, closing Route 22 for most of Sunday.  Up on Willsboro Mountain, at least one section of Route 22 was completely washed out and will require extensive repairs before it can be opened again.

Relatively speaking, Willsboro got off fairly lightly.  Communities in the High Peaks area were devastated, especially Keene.  Roads and bridges all over the north country are washed out, making travel difficult if not impossible—some areas are completely cut off.

This is a very difficult time for the people upstate.  Times are tough already, and were made tougher by the unusually high Spring floods this past May; now, already struggling communities must deal with the aftermath of Irene.

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End of an era

Posted on 22 August 2011 by Bill Paine

My mother’s maternal family has deep roots in a small town on the Hudson River called Garrison.  When she was a child, almost all of her 21 first cousins lived within a mile or so of each other there, and throughout their lives the cousins have kept in touch with frequent family reunions.

Benjamin Reunion at Ienia 2010

I remember as a child myself traveling up to Garrison for a Thanksgiving dinner or some other family occasion.  My great-grandmother—we called her “Gongi”—ruled the family from her house Ienia, a huge late-Victorian house that once housed her nine children, governesses, guests, maids, cooks and the rest of the multitudes that large households of the day required.  Gathered for the meal would be the nine children, their spouses, the 22 grandchildren with their spouses, and way down at the end (out the door into the hallway at this point) were all of us great-grands with assorted babysitters and keepers.

Fifty people would be present, and everyone would shake their heads going, “Isn’t it too bad so few could make it this year!”

In time, as the older generations passed on, the big house was sold (today it belongs to a former Governor of New York), but a piece of the original property with what had been a guest cottage remained in the family, eventually becoming my Aunt Jan’s home.  My mother frequently went up to stay with her sister Jan, and over the years her house was the venue for many family events and reunions.

Now, sadly but inevitably, that is coming to an end.  Jan is finding the upkeep of her house and property increasingly difficult as she gets older, and so she made the decision to move closer to one of her kids—one’s in Alaska, the other is in Florida.  Alaska is a bit… chilly… so Florida got the nod.

So this is the end of an era in the family.  There will always be happy memories associated with the place in my mind, and of course I can continue to visit many of my ancestors in the churchyard of St. Philips Church, but there’s still a good deal of heaviness in my heart over the loss of tangible piece of my past.

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Willsboro with Aunt Molly

Posted on 8 July 2011 by Bill Paine

It’s been my Aunt Molly’s custom in recent years to go up to Willsboro in late June/early July and rent Flat Rock Camp for a week.  This year, that plan was upset when it became clear that the Camp couldn’t be cleaned up after the flooding damage in time for her scheduled stay—it was barely made ready in time for my Great-Aunt Frisky, the next scheduled occupant.  Since I wanted to go up to Willsboro anyway, I decided to be Molly’s chauffeur, driving to her place near Rochester and taking her from there to stay at Green Bay.

I left New York City on Thursday, June 23rd, and drove via Binghampton and Syracuse (NY-17, I-86, I-81, I-90) to Rochester.  I’ve never been to that part of the state before, so I was looking forward to getting a feel for the scenery—unfortunately, I was in and out of thick rain squalls until I was nearly in Syracuse.  The stretch along the Thruway was pretty boring, as you can imagine, except for a brief glimpse of some old Erie Canal ruins along the side of highway.

Molly lives in a fairly luxurious retirement complex called The Highlands at Pittsford (Pittsford is a suburb of Rochester), where she has a two bedroom apartment.  We had dinner at her daughter Pam’s house, located a short drive away, along with Pam’s husband and kids.  I spent the night in Molly’s guestroom, and then Friday morning we headed up to Willsboro via NY-8 at Utica.

Flat Rock porch south-east corner

The southeastern corner of the Flat Rock porch, June 25, 2011

Once up at Green Bay, I went over to Flat Rock Camp to survey the flooding damage, now that the water had receded somewhat.  As you can see from the picture nearby, the porch was badly chewed up on the eastern side and south-eastern corner.  The north side, surprisingly, was not so bad but will still require considerable patching in addition to rebuilding the railings.

The lake was still very high for this time of year, although thankfully it was below flood stage.  My cousin Peter, who manages the family property, told me that preparing the lake-side facilities for the summer was a full month behind the normal schedule—that fits with my observation that the water was about where I would normally expect it to be over the Memorial Day weekend, not July 4th.  The Beach House had no direct damage but it was quite evident that the banks in front of the house were eroded and will require some work to restore.  We may lose some of the bushes and small trees growing there.

After a very relaxing 9 days, I took Molly back to Rochester on July 4th.  Pam again fed us dinner (an absolutely delicious chicken dish that I’m hoping to get the recipe for!), and the next morning I took off for home, this time with beautifully clear weather all the way down.

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Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Bill Paine

Andrew and I went up to Willsboro over the Memorial Day weekend to support our friend John Rayburn in the annual Patch Sprint fundraising event.  The Patch Sprint is a ~12 mile cross-country race that includes four local mountain summits, with the finish line at the summit of Pok-o-Moonshine Mountain.  Proceeds to towards the Adirondack Scholarship Foundation which supports financial aid for campers at Pok-o-MacReady Camps, where Andrew, John and I spent many summers as campers, counselors, staff and volunteers.

I also had the opportunity to check out the flooding on Lake Champlain for myself, taking a tour of the shore-front structures.

At Flat Rock Camp, the water completely covered the rock right up to the north side of the building and halfway around the porch—some minor wave-action damage was visible at the north room, but plywood sheets and other temporary protection placed on the building sides seem to have absorbed most of the impact.  The porch, however, took significant damage—the entire lake-side stone perimeter was chewed up, destroying the railings and crumbling some of the concrete inboard of the stone perimeter.  Inside, I didn’t see any evidence of flooding, but as a precaution all the upholstered furnishings, rugs, etc., had been removed to the dining room and the kitchen wing, both of which are slightly higher in elevation.

The Beach House is high enough that the house itself was never threatened, but the water completely covered the rock “beach” and was lapping over the embankment in front of the house.  Although I imagine there’s been a lot of bank erosion, none of that will be visible until the water recedes.

Since Memorial Day, the north country has finally seen a sustained stretch of drier weather, so the lake is receding steadily (although still above flood level as of this posting).  You can check the current water level graph at the USGS Real-Time Water Data site.

PS (added 19 August 2011):  Since the USGS data site only shows up to 120 days history, I’ve added a fixed image of the chart as of today.  You can clearly see the high-water point in early May, just over 103 ft. elevation above sea level.

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Flooding in Willsboro

Posted on 11 May 2011 by Bill Paine

Flooding continues to be a major issue on Lake Champlain and is directly impacting the area where my family’s property is.  The local newspaper, the Press-Republican, published an article on local flooding that explains how serious the problem is and the impact on the local economy.

The towns of Willsboro and Essex are both very dependent on tourism and vacationing summer residents.  The impact of flooding extends not only to the physical damage and the cost of repairs, but also to the loss of business as tourists and summer residents either stay away or are coping with their own damaged property.

My immediate concern is for Flat Rock Camp.  With the water as high as it is, wave action could cause significant damage to the sections of the camp that are closest to the lake, especially the porch, the dining room and the kitchen wing.  I’m waiting for an update from family members who live there year-round and will report on the situation as soon as I know it.

Update:  According to my sources, the property did take some damage, but none of it is catastrophic.  The porch at Flat Rock got damaged with wave action and there are some issues with piping underneath sections of the camp, but thankfully the water did not get inside to any significant degree.  There’s a lot of bank erosion and downed trees along the shore, some of which impact areas like the Bouquet Farm Cottage and the old stone walls along the shore by Lea and Ian’s house.  The water is still very high, well above flood stage, so we’re not out of the woods yet, but it seems the worst is over.

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