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Memories of the Cold - Travel and the Work Mission

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Cold as the ice blue air A polar vortex (don’t you love it when I use weather terminology) hit the Denver area with a fury last night and this morning. The temperature dropped from 51 at 2:00 pm on December 21st to minus 24 (Fahrenheit) at 7:45 am on December 22nd. The windchill reached minus 42. The weather folks said it was the coldest day in the area in exactly 32 years. And it got me thinking – where was I 32 years ago?   On December 22, 1990 I was working for Arthur Andersen. One of my corporate clients was contemplating a complex reorganization and we had requested a “ruling” on the tax consequences from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS counsel had just informed us that they were likely to rule “adverse” but offered us an opportunity to meet with them the next day at IRS HQ in Washington D.C. to try and make our case.   I contacted my colleague in the Andersen National Office and we moved everything off our schedules to meet with IRS counsel. I scheduled my fligh
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ACTION JACKSON

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  A couch and a bone and life is good In honor of those who work for or volunteer with the many outstanding nonprofit organizations that make our world a better place, I wanted to share a story on Colorado Gives Day - -as a reminder to encourage generosity. In October 2016 four German Shepherd mix puppies were transferred to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley from Texas.  As the puppies played, the smallest, Joey, struggled to keep up and fell ill.   An ultrasound showed Joey had a life-threatening heart condition that restricted his esophagus.  HSBV provided corrective surgery to Joey via its partnership with the Colorado State University (CSU) Veterinary Teaching Hospital.  Joey spent two months recovering in a foster home and then appeared on HSBV’s adoption page.  HSBV described him as a bit of an alarmist and a great snuggler. I had lost my Labrador best friend at age 16 earlier in the year and was looking for a dog to adopt.  Joey’s story captivated me.  He was initially “on ho
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Shoddy Regard for Factual Reporting and Why it's a Problem

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      There is an old saying that close enough counts only for horseshoes, government work, and throwing hand grenades.  Well, it appears that some "trusted" publications are applying a similar concept to the topics on which they report.  I can't go a day it seems without reading something from a "reputable" source that leaves me saying to myself --  That can't be right,or I know that is wrong. To illustrate, two recent examples.   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9993499/Utah-newlywed-26-dies-falling-extremely-difficult-dangerous-mountain.html The DailyMail.com recently published a story about a young man who died while trying to navigate a difficult mountain trail in Utah.  The article caught my eye as I have some familiarity with where the tragic accident occurred.  This is an excerpt from the article: Meanwhile, search and rescue officials are worried about the popularity of the trail, which is nearly 16,000 feet in elevation.  Hiking experts hav
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The Fun Bunch and "Leash Your Dog" II

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  This evening I went for a run with the two other members of The Fun Bunch (TFB),  rescue pups - Delilah and Jackson.  During these pandemic times we tend to stay close to home.  Five to seven times a week we run at a park/wildlife reserve called Crown Hill. Crown Hill has a long-standing and well-signed requirement that all dogs be leashed, also in accordance with the laws of Jefferson County where Crown Hill is located.  The “leash law” not only addresses the need to respect the personal  space and safety of everybody at the park, but also protects the dogs and less tame residents (deer, coyotes, geese, ducks) from one another. TFB begins our run tonight and about 200 yards into it we see two loose dogs ahead of us.  One of them is closer and looks to be taking some menacing steps towards us.  Both of my dogs are leashed and under my control (Jackson is also muzzled as he sometimes gets protective when he runs with his sister), but a loose dog coming at you is always a reason to be
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Big Accounting's Glacial Pace to Racial Diversity

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Long ago, in a galaxy far away, I started my professional career with one of the “Big” Accounting firms.  It was long enough ago that you needed more than one hand to count the number of said firms.   I worked in the tax division of the Denver office for 13 years before the Firm and I parted paths.  During that time the tax division averaged probably 55 people and the audit division double that.  Turnover at the Firm averaged 25-30 percent annually.  In my years at the Firm I would estimate 900 to 1000 professionals passed through the Denver office. Of those hundreds of people I would not need my full allotment of fingers to count the Black and Hispanic professionals that walked through the double doors (A clue to my Firm).  I was among the less than one handful who reached a management level.  I frequently attended events with personnel from other firms and they had similar workforce profiles. I also frequently interacted with executive personnel at my clients and with attorneys and
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A Father's Day Reflection

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A friend shared with me an article that commented on excerpts of Barack Obama’s Book Dreams from my Father.   Many likely know that as a  10-year old  boy Barack met his father for the first and only time in his life.  The book describes the longing for the father he barely knew. The topic of fathers missing in the lives of children is a theme President Obama spoke to on his first Father’s Day in the White House. The article notes a White House Town Hall Meeting where he encouraged young men to break the cycle: “There is no rule that says you have to repeat your father’s mistakes.  Just the opposite.  You have an obligation to break the cycle and to learn from those mistakes.  To rise up where your own fathers fell short and to do better with your children.” Those words turned my thoughts to my own father.  My parents married very young.  They were 17 when my older sister was born, 18 when I arrived, and 22 when my younger sister came aboard.  My father was adopted and my mom never kn
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Refocusing Our Shame

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This weekend I received a promotional email from SAXX, a brand that manufactures underwear and active wear. I have previously purchased merchandise from SAXX and generally like its products. I was looking for some short sleeve T's for the summer so this promo caught my eye. The ad features a fitness model rocking the T and makes note that the shirt uses a "breathable" performance fabric. I drilled down into the ad, liked what I saw, and decided to order some shirts. End of story, right? The next day I and everybody else on the SAXX email list (I assume) received a further email from SAXX apologizing for this ad. The apology email indicated the following: "We want to reach out with total transparency and personally apologize for a marketing communication that went out to the SAXX community this morning. An email was sent to our subscriber-base that featured a black man and wording referencing the “breathability” of a new fabric. This email was writ
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