Pictures (not in any order)

Bigger, Faster!

I've been reading and studying some stories from Chick-fil-A's founder, Truett Cathy. There's some great leadership principles to be learned from him, and here's one that I wanted to share.

In the 1990's they had their first real competition in their specific market, so the corporate leaders started thinking how they were going to face this competetion. They were meeting in Atlanta and all of these younger guys were talking about what they needed to do to get "bigger, faster" - borrow more money, open more stores, etc. - bigger, faster - bigger, faster - was the main thought. Finally Truett banged on the table (which was unusual) and said "we don't need to worry about getting bigger, faster - we just need to worry about getting BETTER. When we get better, our customers will demand we get bigger." Let that sink in and rumble around some. "When we get better, our customers will demand we get bigger."

If we are leading a business, or a football team, or a class at school, or even a church, there's a message there for us. You make it the best it can be, and the growth will take care of itself. Thanks Mr. Cathy!

Obviously, that has nothing to do with Panama other than I have more time than normal, and I get to blog about anything I choose, so that is your first message from Panama today.

The following videos are about Panama. I've been watching how much of a difference in the ocean there is when the "tide is in" and when the "tide is out". It goes from a beautiful view of blue water to an ugly site of mud and rock. The following videos show the two "tide" times.

PS - I know you are craving a Chick-fil-A sandwich, now that I got your mind on it, so go get you one today. And as you take that first, delicious bite, say "thanks" to Truett for making his place better, not just bigger. (If you are really craving some "better", you might give the manager the signal for one of those delicious hand-spun milkshakes - he'll know what you signaling.)

Reporte el lunes

I haven’t told you much about Physical Therapy this trip. I still go to the same fitness center, Bio-Fit, but I have a different trainer this year. Last year it was Ivan, but he is working at a hospital physical therapy center now. We have talked to him several times, and he came by last Wednesday and had dinner with us - it was really good to see him. He’s still involved in football, a tackle league and a flag league and is even coaching a girls’ football team. He may be the Knute Rockne of Panama football.

My new trainer at Bio-Fit is Louvina – I call her Lou. She’s good – speaks less English than Ivan – not a slave driver but truly wants to help my stiff walking and wobbly balance. Only staying two weeks doesn’t give me much training time here, but it will give me some things to take back home. And once I get back to Ennis, I do have the slave driver, Tommy Copeland, every M-W-F morning.

I had my third injection today, and all went fine. My blood pressure this year hasn't gone up during pre-game like last year. Obviously I'm much more relaxed with the whole process plus Dr. Herrero does a good job of keeping the anxiety low. It was about this time in the treatment process that I began to see some slight changes last time. I remember being able to put my shorts on while standing and remember getting in the transportation van without assistance, so I'm quietly looking forward to this week. The doctors still say that most people don't see much difference while they are here, but I definitely did last year, so I'm excited and hopeful this time as well.

Hasta el martes!

Slow, Relaxing Sunday

Not really much to report for today. It was a nice, slow Panamanian Sunday. We went to worship this morning at the Crossroads church - sang Santo, Santo, Santo (that's Holy, Holy, Holy for you who aren't bilingual). After church we went to Napoli's restaurant to eat. We ate there last year with Keith and Wilma, and that was Jean's only "must do" for the whole trip. She wanted to eat at Napoli's sometime! It is a good place to eat - very popular here as we could tell from the crowd.

After eating we stopped at Super Kosher, one of the nearby supermarkets. We have Super 99 and Super Kosher within walking distance so that is nice. This area of the city, Punta Pacifica, is a big Jewish area and this Super Kosher is their supermarket. Of course they let us non-Jews shop there too because they like our money also.

Once we came back to the apartment, I did watch a little March Madness basketball, but it's just not quite the same or as enjoyable, watching on a 22 inch, non-flat screen, non-HD, Spanish-speaking TV - makes for good reading though. I finished my second book today, The Accountant - the story of Pablo Escobar written by his brother Roberto who was the accountant in their cartel business. The unbelievable amount of cash, the quantity of corruption, the number and types of killings, the schemes they thought up for protection - all of that was mindboggling. Graham and Clark had read this book and had given it to me, saying "you need to read this story." So I did, and it definitely held your attention - I kept thinking "one day you're going to reap what you sow", and sure enough he does. He is killed at the age of 44, probably the richest man in the world, running for his life the last several years, can't live with or hardly see his own family, can't trust anyone - sounds great doesn't it!

I begin the second week of treatments tomorrow with PT in the morning and Injection in the afternoon. It will be a fast week for us with treatments on M-W-F and coming home on Saturday.

See you soon.

Life Lesson from Pete

One thing I had been looking forward to when I came to Panama was catching up on some reading. I was given 4 or 5 really good books for Christmas and hadn't been able to start any of them. So coming here with some downtime and Spanish speaking TV, I knew I would get some good reading in.

On Monday I began Pistol, the story of Pistol Pete, and finished it on Friday. Growing up in the 1970's you had to be a Pistol Pete fan. He truly was ahead of his time, and I'm still amazed at his stats. Let these sink in - in college at LSU:

Soph year - 43.8 pt avg

Junior year - 44.2 pt avg

Senior year - 44.5 pt avg

And all of that was done without a 3 pt shot - if they would have had the 3 pt line, he would have probably averaged over 50 points a game for 3 seasons!

But his scoring isn't even the part that mesmerized you - he was simply amazing with the ball - dribbling and passing. Those no-look passes behind his back and between his legs were incredible. I remember watching him on TV and just waiting for one of those passes.

He scored 69 points in one game while in college and 68 points in one game as a pro. He was Elvis-like to the fans, and arenas were filled when he was in town. Even with all of this success and fame, he reveals in his book that he was still an unfulfilled person - he was always under pressure to perform and felt like he had to score 50 or 60 points every night - never felt satisfied because he had to do it again and again. As great as he was at basketball, he finally realized basketball couldn't give his life fulfillment or meaning.

After retiring after only 10 years in the NBA, he was depressed and still searching. He had tried many things, especially booze, to give him a reason for living, but it wasn't until he found Jesus that he finally found joy and peace. Thankfully his last few years he was a devout Christian and a great father and a wonderful husband - those roles gave him more peace and fulfillment than he ever received from basketball - that's true for a guy who averaged 44 points a game! (Pete died at the young age of 40 while playing a friendly game of basketball with Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family - how ironic but how fitting.)

It's hard to realize that truth about what gives us fulfillment when we are in the middle of the adrenaline rush or in the midst of the rat race, which we all find ourselves in at times. Pete was probably bigger in his game than most of us are in ours, and this God-breathed message was true for him, so it is probably true for us - think on that!

Men, in honor of Pistol Pete, tomorrow put on a pair of droopy socks and some tight shorts and then go hug your wife and kids and tell them all that you love them! (You can try the dribble between your legs later.)

USA / PANAMA - very Similar yet very Different!

We had only PT today, so it was a good day to finally get out. We haven't been out much other than to the grocery store and the clinic. We called Luis, our taxi driver friend from last year who speaks English and who is very knowledgeable about Panama. We wanted him to take us to Old Panama - that's a different area than Casco Viejo (which means "old city"). This Old Panama is where the city was before Henry Morgan, the English pirate, came in and burned everything in 1671 - the ruins are still there along with a market where you can buy hand-crafted Panamanian items made by the Kuna indians.

While we were driving through the city going to the area, there were so many things that were just like the USA - $3 gas, Tanning Salons, those squiggly air-up figures trying to get your attention, ads on the streets using flashy women also trying to get your attention, 24 hour Supermarkets, and big, fancy malls.

Yet right along side those familiar sights were things indigenous to Panama - Red Devil buses fumigating while delivering, street-side fruit stands feeding passers-by and insects alike, motorcycles zipping up between cars where there was absolutely no room, 20-inch iguanas using the same sidewalk as you at the market, and Jack & Jean getting their picture made along side San Jose, the patron saint of the handcrafts (Jack will be carving trinkets and Jean stitching purses before they return home!)

You can pick out the pictures below that go with this story. Enjoy!

Pictures - match with story above