From Labor Day to Memorial Day I reside in Naples, Florida.  Over the past ten years it has steadily become my home and sanctuary.  And while Wil Durant warned me of my coming ossification, I can’t help but appreciate the salubrious effect Naples has on me.  The past few years certainly rank as one of the most productive [and most enjoyable] periods of my life, and I am convinced it would not have been possible without the redoubt that Naples provides.

In a few weeks we’ll be heading back to WNY for the summer.  It is a time to reconnect with some great friends, engage in some new opportunities, and, most importantly, spend irreplaceable time with my kids and grandkids.  But the downside of heading back ‘home’ is the inevitable disruption of the curative equilibrium that Naples provides me.

I have a felicitous list of friends that I am really looking forward to seeing again, but I have an almost inexhaustible list of people I have no desire to chance upon.  Old animosities in WNY have a way of metastasizing in what is otherwise a great place to raise a family [and spend the summer].

The best and worst characteristic about WNY is that everyone is from here.  At its best, it is like a rock.  You get to raise a family surrounded by childhood friends and a gaggle of relatives and extended family that you can trace back generations.  At its worst, it’s an accumulation of petty deviseness that comes from a lifetime of living.  Sometimes its hard to keep track of who wronged who.  My advice – “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v_BVNGAfYM

I was thinking of putting together a list of people that I really don’t want to run into while I’m home, but they already know who they are [and the feeling, I’m certain, is mutual].  So, if I do chance upon you over the next few months, just give me the finger to remind me I’m your number one fan.  And you can, like me, take comfort in the fact that I’ll soon be returning to my presidio.

And for those of you that are looking forward to another great Buffalo summer, I can’t wait to share it with you.  The summers seem to be getting better every year, and I value the time I spend with you more than ever.  See you soon.

I got my first ride very early this morning at 5AM in Larry Schreiber’s new jet, and we have just touched down in Florida.  Larry bought his 1997 Cessna Citation V/Ultra last week, and it was already flight ready this morning.  Very few of Larry’s friends knew that he was taking pilot classes, and only two of us were brave enough to fly with him on his maiden voyage to Florida [with Larry in the co-pilot seat].

In 1994, the Ultra was named Flying magazine’s “Best Business Jet.”  The Ultra was produced from 1994-1999.  The Cessna Citation V/Ultra was developed in light of the growing demand for increased cabin space in light jets.  The Citation V is a stretched version of the Citation II, with 406 cubic feet of cabin space with an additional 76 cubic feet for storage.  The jet also features an enclosed cabin and boasts a range of 1,960 nautical miles.  The Citation V has upgraded engines for improved all around performance.  Typically, the Citation V/Ultra has seating for up to eight passengers and has the ability to easily fly non-stop from Buffalo to Ft. Lauderdale.

For those of you curious about price, Larry only paid $1.5M for the jet.  Of course, the upkeep and fuel are the real costs, but Larry said that it was worth it.

For the first three years, I was little more than an idle observer of our FedCloud initiative; but, for the past 16 months, I have been working directly with Tom and John to bring our FedCloud adventure to fruition.  It was a high risk venture [certainly higher than we ever anticipated], and it was wrought with tension throughout the journey [somewhere between white water rafting and waterboarding].  Fortunately, this past Thursday, we were able to complete the sale of Autonomic Resources [after nearly three months of a roller coaster ride of negotiations and due diligence].

Although the sale of Autonomic Resources’ remarkable FedRAMP ATO’s might put our FedDROP start-up in limbo, I couldn’t be happier for the entire Autonomic Resources family, especially the crew at our headquarters in North Carolina.  And I am particularly proud to have been in the trenches with Tom and John seeing this thing through to such a successful conclusion.

A special round of thanks needs to go out to Butch, Kerry, Mike, Lynn, Geno, and the Pfalzgraf team for bringing this one home.  And an ever bigger thanks to Joe Kreuz, who got all these partnerships started over 20 years ago.

When I look at our lineup of IT partnerships today, especially Capax Global, Sceven, ABX, and AP Phoenix [which just had it biggest month ever in January], I can’t help but be excited about what the future has in store.

My family is healthy and happy, I have the best partners in the world, the sun is shining, and the sale of Autonomic Resources has provided us with the resources to expand exponentially.  If I could drop a dozen pounds, I’d have it made.

PS  Tom and Anthony are both in Naples today, and we will be over at the Shoppes at Vanderbilt checking out a potential location for our warm weather ABX [along with a new TW&Co].  I’ll keep you posted.

Before I go any further with my blog postings, I need to offer up fair warning that the stories I tell are simply the stories I remember.  That caveat should protect me from the need to redress my many omissions and errors.  The people, places, moments, circumstances, outcomes, and just about all of the recollections of my past have a way of fitting the narrative – if not always fitting the facts.  So it goes.

Another year has rushed to conclusion, and although they get shorter as I grow older, I haven’t had a year with so much going on since 1997.  The big difference between 1997 and 2014, however, is that 2014 was all good.  But I won’t bother kicking 1997 around [because without it and all the chaos it caused, I definitely wouldn’t have the friends, businesses, or opportunities that I enjoy today].

But I don’t want to dwell on all the good fortune that 2014 brought us, I just want to take this opportunity to aggravate all the people that have given me a hard time over the years.  Let’s start with the biggest jerk I’ve ever had to deal with …

Aw, come on, you didn’t really think I would go there, did you?  We all have our list of betes noires [and I know I’m on my fair share of them], but they’re best forgotten – because nothing annoys them more than being irrelevant.  Maybe when I’m 100, we’ll see what I remember.  Until then, I’ll just let an incredible 2014 bother them [on the outside chance that they even notice or care].

Enjoying your life is the only revenge that actually feels good [so I don’t bother serving up anything else].

I was always looking forward to Fr. Sturm’s 100th birthday because he promised to ‘tell all’ [or at least all I wanted to know about his women over the years and Jesuit mysticism].  Right now, he’s probably shaking his head, troubled by how he is ever going to get me into heaven.  I wonder if getting me in is going to be as hard as it was for Fr. Nagle to get me into BC?  But never sell the Jesuits short.  I’m still counting on John, just in case there really is a heaven.

While I was up north for Christmas, I ran into a few people that I told the most well-intentioned but absurd stories to.  Realizing that I jumbled the names and events of most of my tales, I feel the need to tell everyone I talked to while I was home to forget everything I told them.  I’d be better off telling stories like my brother-in-law Bob.  He’d just make up the most ridiculous shit and then sell it with a straight face.  When he was building his REIT and getting ready to take it public, he’d tell people he was retiring to a pig farm he bought in Alden.  And then there were his Hollywood starlet stories … I miss Bob.  I miss the people that made me laugh the most – and Bob definitely made me laugh.

I had a chance to go down memory lane at Giancarlo’s with a couple of alumnae of Nottingham High School.  Nottingham was an all-girls high school, and it was in a class by itself.  My date for both my junior and senior year proms was the lovely ballerina, Nancy Galeota, but I don’t think I’ve talked to her since her senior prom.  I was a freshman in college, and although I came home for her big night [she was class president], I wouldn’t go to the after-prom party.  I’m pretty sure she did ok at the party without me but then again, my recollections betray me.  Anyway, I got to telling stories about hanging out at Cole’s back in the day, and I’m certain that it was a mangled remembrance at best.  Forgive me.  But it did jog my memory enough to recall that I was briefly and hopelessly in love with Molly O’Connell, the most beautiful girl that ever walked the halls of Nottingham, maybe.

For the past few days, Amanda and I have been spending time with some new friends from Buffalo.  Once again, I am sitting here thinking of the narrative I offered up over a couple of really enjoyable dinners, and I am hoping I was both accurate and kind.  At least when I write something, I have the opportunity to look it over [several times], but when I’m rolling along about the past, it’s just a stream of consciousness that Wittgenstein might be proud of, but with little merit beyond its possible thought-provoking value.  And while I can live with my inaccuracies, my real disappointment comes with being inadvertently spiteful or bitter in any of my remembrances.  I just don’t see the past that way [but there is this one asshole who wrote a book …].

As for 2014, what I remember most is that I worked really hard, Skyped for hours a day, got really fat, and was of value to my partners in a variety of endeavors [especially the FedCloud Ecosystem].  So, accordingly, my next post about 2015 will include not working as much, getting fit, and building on the value and opportunities we created in 2014.

…  and if you really want to see my list, you’ll need the password.

http://theadvantagecatalog.com/2015/

We’ve been putting together our annual catalog for 20 years now, and this year’s edition is one of my favorites; it is also our biggest ever – coming in at 360 pages.  Jamie Welsted has been the Art Director for all 20 editions, and this year’s catalog was developed by our Catalog Publisher, Joe Kontrabecki [who just happened to be providing the same magic for the very first catalog 20 years ago].  They were joined by Emily Donnelly, our Catalog Director, and Frank Gaglione, our Chief Photographer [who once again flew in from San Francisco for a couple of weeks to shoot some amazing photos].  But putting a catalog like this together calls on more than just a few dedicated designers, and we had a whole host of talented and tireless contributors this year [you will recognize them throughout the catalog].

What makes our catalog special, as always, is the people – and everyone you see in the catalog is part of the Advantage Experience.  Our customers, staff, partners, affiliates, and suppliers all contribute.  The photo sessions are more fun than you can imagine, and our newest photographer, Brianna DeJoy, picked up quite a bit working with Frank.

Although this year’s catalog is a little bit less provocative than last year’s, we always get a kick out of the outrage some of the photos of our staff and customers engenders.  We’ve already had the cover called ‘shameful,’ so if you take exception to it, you’ll have to get  your thesaurus out to come up with something a little more original.

Doing anything well for 20 years feels good, and the catalog always makes me feel good.  Actually, there was one that didn’t really … but let’s not go there.

Check it out and let me know what you think:
http://theadvantagecatalog.com/2015/

I was up at 4AM this morning.  Yesterday was a rough day, and I didn’t sleep well.  That’s unusual for me, because I generally sleep like a baby.  But I was confronted by an unusual amount of angst yesterday, and I am having trouble putting it into perspective.  I just don’t get why so many people are miserable.  I am running into fewer and fewer people who really enjoy what they are doing.  It’s more than a shame, it’s a waste [and waste is the original sin].

As Fr. John Sturm always beat into my head, you only get one shot at life – so you better enjoy it.  I’ll always remember how much he enjoyed [and believed in] the title of the book we created from his weekly homilies “Life is a Dance, Not a Dress Rehearsal.”

You don’t need anything but an appreciation for the gift of life to make every day the best day of your life.  We are all going to be dead for a very very very long time, so let’s make certain we are enjoying the brief time we’ve been given [by either some incredible cosmic fluke or by your own version of god].

In the big picture, life is incredible.  What a time to be born?  And what a place to be born in?  When we look back 12,000 years ago, the world population was only an estimated 15 million people, and since then there have been 100 billion of us who have taken a shot at life on Earth [93 billion of whom have passed on after living to varying degrees of happiness].  In the Bronze Age, the average life expectancy was only 26 years, while today it has climbed to almost 70 [with life expectancy in Japan leading the way at 84+ years].  Not surprisingly, women are now outliving men by an average of 5 years.

Seventy plus years is a long time to go without enjoying it all.

Currently, there are 7 billion of us still navigating the adventure of life with an average age of 30 [which puts me at double the average age].  So, when you look at the predicament that most of the 100 billion people have been born into over the course of time, being born in the United States during the middle of the 20th century was an incredible stroke of good fortune.  I try to never lose sight of that fact.  And, although we can always make life better, it’s important to appreciate just how lucky we are.

This morning I am refocusing on making life better.  It starts with my personal health and well-being, and from there I need to focus on my family, work, friendships, and community.

About a decade ago, I created a chart for a young woman who was working with me to chronicle her progress as she navigated life.  Years later, while at the Cleveland Clinic for my bi-annual check up, the ‘Life Coach’ there suggested a similar chart.  I’ve decided to break out my original chart for a monthly review of my own progress [or lack of].  It is based on 1-10, with 10 being the best it could be.  Your original numbers are nothing more than a baseline, what counts is the delta in your numbers from month to month, year to year.

This morning, I broke the 170 pound barrier.  I am just 2.5 pounds from my all-time fat.  What’s distressing is that just a few years ago, I was down to a very healthy 154 pounds.  And, although I feel great, I know I am putting myself at risk for a variety of ailments, especially diabetes.  It’s time to get serious.  I don’t need to go on a diet, I simply need to eat better and exercise more.

I’ll update this post every month.  We’ll see how I do.

May 8, 2020 Update:  This morning I was 153.8 pounds.  I’m 66 and feeling great.