The Adventures of Captain Imperfecto

You are here: Home » Endure and Enduring Nico (front) and Christopher (the distance) flying their kites off the coast of Cuba. (July 24, 2018.) July 25, 2018 Endure and enduring. Words that look the same, but these verbs can work for you or against you. Endure: suffer patiently. Or, endure, remain in existence, last, live, go on...survive. Life’s little problems go hand-in-hand with our daily routines.  I have written about my woes and sadness, good times, and fun stories, which I have encountered over the past 6 years from my daily dose of reality.  But when I read the story about the woman who lost her husband, 3 kids, and 6 family members, I can’t help but feel guilty for having sadness.  Oh my, how will she ever endure what she is enduring? Deep inside, I know I’m grateful that her situation wasn’t mine.  Who would wish such horror on anyone?  When I was younger, my 2 friends, who were brothers, died within...

You are here: Home » We the People... Nico and Christopher not getting enough of Incredible 2. July 3, 2018. The 4th of July, 2018 So much for being frugal!  I just bought fireworks for my kids.  It seems that the purchase of fireworks is an attempt to appear swanker than everyone else.  First of all, the store is jammed packed.  I could hardly move down the aisles.  I don't dare leave my shopping cart unattended because it would be gone as quickly as a bottle rocket launched into the air. I can't believe this feeding frenzy over gunpowder and pretty lights.  How about just purchasing a kaleidoscope?  Everything is buy one get one, free.  How about we buy and get more at our local grocery store?   I suppose we, as Americans, are doing our patriotic duty to celebrate our country's Independence.  And hey, if you're going to celebrate, our motto is to go big or go home. ...

You are here: Home » Clear to Land Christopher and Nico at Miami Dolphins Training facility June 9 , 2018 June 29, 2018 Have you ever flown in a plane?  Cruising in a jet at 35,000 feet above the clouds.  Man, does it look like heaven from here?  Can you imagine being able to exit the plane and run amongst the cotton ball fields of the sky?  The sight is so wonderful.  It’s heaven, and it seems to be within my grasp. My imagination goes wild.  I pretend I can see my family and friends who have died.  If only I was a simple flight away from seeing them all again.   Maybe the isolation way up here in the sky makes me nostalgic.  Being inside a plane is the most isolated you’ll feel, even though you’re crammed in a sardine can of over 100 people or more.  Flying high in the sky, skimming the clouds, and looking at the sun as it lights up the gloomy and dreary down below gives me hope that mankind can somehow f...

You are here: Home » Building the Bridge of Life Nico and Christopher goofing around in the backyard at home. (April 1, 2018) May 26, 2018 Building bridges is the one structure I need to continually construct while raising my boys to be men. "Dad, I can't do it," I'm told by one of my boys. "Yes, you can. Focus on the task. Zero in on the goal. And attack the problem until you get your desired results." I compare raising my boys to building bridges because I know I'll always have to extend my hand as if it were a span extending from the mainland towards them as a pillar of strength, trust, and understanding during their time in need. Bridges with spans are enormous and are built sturdy. When I think of bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, or the Tower Bridge over the River Thames comes to mind. They have lasted decades, and some lasted a century. The pillars and expansion of a bridge launch outward over some gorge, riv...

You are here: Home » Conversations Nico (left) & Christopher celebrating Nico's 10th birthday party while ice skating. (February 24,2 018) April 30, 2018 This table is a gift that allows me a perch of an unobstructed view of everyone seated and the best acoustics to pinpoint exact conversations.  Hey, don't judge me for saying that!  I'm doing the judging.  It's like an open forum, anyhow.  This isn't a library where they require you to whisper.  My point is that these conversations allow me to relate to other people because they demonstrate that we all have the same problems, hopes, and dreams.  Case in point.  A woman can't decide what kind of dining room furniture she wants.  She has been consumed by this for months!  Her conversation showed me how consumed I am with my decisions on new furniture, too, and demonstrated how nauseating I have been.  Like, really, who cares!  I mostly love this spot bec...

You are here: Home » Grieving for My Brother, A guest blog post March 23, 2018 A good friend and mentor lost his brother to cancer this past Monday. He wrote this on Facebook. I loved it and requested if I could share it. He obliged, thanks Randy. - Chris  I stopped posting and doing much of anything on Facebook about a year ago. Facebook had become too much to deal with. Before I left I had posted several profiles that I called my "Good Person" posts. They were short essays on people who I admired and who had positive influences on my life. Today I return, temporarily, to write about someone I have long admired, and in whom I have always been proud. I hope I can do justice to him and his memory. My brother, Ed, was a man to admire. Although, while we were growing up I often wondered if he would mature enough to be a man. I should have never worried. We spent our childhood in Adrian, Michigan. Living in a place where, on a summer day, you could leave th...