Esquire and Casio

Ed, there are a lot of ways that you and I are alike, but when I read your blogs, I realize that we are very different in a lot of respects.  Some of the things that make you tick, like watches (do you see what I did there?  Man, I'm a genius) just don't have much appeal to me.  

I was pretty excited about the Casio watch that I bought on Amazon for $25 to use while I'm at sea.  I loved it.  SUPER functional with dual time zones (so I knew what the local time was, but also what time it was here at home), backlight, stopwatch, and a timer, too.  Sweet!  I don't know a thing about watches beyond, "Yeah, that looks nice" or "That's ugly."  The watch that I wear every day is the one that I've been wearing for 10 years.  Jennifer gave it to me when I made Chief in 2004.  It's a Citizen Eco-drive (I had to go look at it to remember).  Just how many watches do you have?  I think everyone has something that they like enough that they would own tons of if money or space was no object.  Call me a girl, but I love shoes, bags, and jackets.  But there are other things too.  I was telling someone the other day that I love tents.  If I could justify it I would own 15-20 of them.  And bikes.  

I've never really read GQ, but I've always really enjoyed Esquire.  Rather than try to explain it to you, I'll just paste a review of Esquire that I posted on Amazon back in 2006 that sums it up nicely.

"If you're like me - middle-aged, white, male, conservative, Christian, who buys most of my clothes at Old Navy - you will be the target of all the condescending ridicule in every article. And yet I find it very entertaining! Although I'll never be able to afford even one of their recommended outfits, and I'm usually a full 180 degrees opposite of their political views, I find their articles interesting, well-written, and insightful. I must admit, I should hate Esquire, because the editors and writers would find me disgusting. But somehow I look forward to seeing it in my mailbox every month. The writers, if nothing else, are intelligent, which is more than I can say for the writers in most guy magazines like FHM and Maxim."

Yes, I'm the dork that writes product reviews on Amazon.  We could talk about that another time.

Left Coast Baldwin Overseas Living Likelihood (LCBOLL) = 45%

There really isn't much of a chance for me to be stationed overseas again while I'm in the Navy.  We hoped to get back to Europe for our next tour, but there just wasn't anything open.  There was an opening in Japan, but it was at a location that was somewhat remote and after conferring with some mentors, they didn't think it would be good from a professional development standpoint.  If everything goes as planned, we'll move to Maryland for the last five years of my Navy career.  

The reason that I went with a LCBOLL rating of 45% is because of the opportunities in the civilian sector of my job field.  There are job openings overseas, and they usually have trouble filling them.  Most of my colleagues that I've asked about it don't want to uproot family, primarily kids, to go overseas somewhere.  I've even known a few people that have implied that it is somehow unpatriotic to want to live overseas.  Okay, whatever.

But with no kids to worry about putting through a potentially difficult transition, it would be fairly simple for us.  It depends a lot on the employment opportunities available when I retire from the Navy, but I can see us working and living, at least for a time, somewhere like Germany.  Jennifer is very comfortable living overseas, and so am I, so it's a possibility.

We've gone so far as to consider retiring overseas, or even doing missionary work - my military retirement would cover most of the monetary support that most missionaries have to raise before they make it overseas.  I don't have odds on that yet.

Has the World Cup made its way into your house?

I'm pretty hard on soccer, or futbol for the true disciples.  I like it about as much as I like baseball, and for pretty much the same reasons.  There seems to be a lot of time without much happening, and if you can settle the whole thing with penalty kicks at the end of a long match, why not just do that to begin with?

I realize it's a huge international event, so I've softened my stance a bit.  As of last week prior to the USA loss there were suddenly about 532 million fans of USA soccer.  It bugged me at first, but after some thinking on the subject, supporting the USA in a world-wide sporting event is okay with me.  I realized that in a lot of ways it is like the Olympics.  No one is following curling, badminton, beach volleyball, or speed skating at times other than the Olympics, but when the athletes are representing your country, you can get into it.  I was amazed last week when I walked into the gym on base and there was hardly anyone working out, but there was a huge crowd standing around the TVs with about 10 minutes left in the Belgium/USA match.

So how about you guys?  Did you watch any of the World Cup or have any interest in it?  I didn't watch any of it.  I was more interested the near win of another Grand Slam title for Federer and the start of the Tour de France.  Did someone say doping in sports??

Flying

I too am tiring of flying, but for completely different reasons. I do not find myself fearing any untimely demise on an aircraft. Rather, it is becoming very inconvenient to travel by air.

The inconvenience is amplified by the fact that I originate in a regional location. That means virtually no direct flights, and huge dependencies on the smooth operation of a couple key airports including Chicago O'Hare. And if anyone has flown to/through O'Hare with any consistency I don't think they would describe it as a smooth operating airport.

So more than not, or nearly so it seems, what is a 4-6 hour trip becomes a 12-15 hour odyssey. Or worse it become another night with too little sleep in an overpriced hotel room away from my family and in the same underwear I wore yesterday.

Overseas living - likelihood of IC Baldwins - < 1%

I think it is awesome for those that live overseas. I think there is less than a 1% chance that I ever live overseas for more than 3 months. I choose 3 months because I could see an adventure taking a couple months and I also could see Sheila and I traveling later in life for long stretches including internationally. But I think the chance we will uproot and live internationally is as close to none as it can be.

Will You Work Overseas?

Being overseas for the first time in a while last week I found myself contemplating whether I would consider living overseas again in our future.  I say “our” future because I don’t feel this decision is limited to my desire or interest and Holly would surely have a big say in that decision. 

So when I got home I asked her, “Do you think we will live overseas again?”  Her immediate response with no hesitation was “yes”. That surprised me so I dug a little deeper.  She told me that I was still young, that I get bored easily, and that she saw me excited by the challenge of a new operating environment when we were living in England.  So she just figured that once the kids left the house that we would likely have at least one more stint overseas.  Wow, I thought to myself.  I know why I love her so much!

My personal view on the same is a bit different.  As I get older I am becoming more set in my ways.  I enjoy luxury and privilege more, struggle and sacrifice less.  America is the greatest country in the world.  The quality of life one can lead (dollar for dollar) in the US is unmatched – in my opinion.  So the prospect of going abroad again continues to diminish in that respect.

But at the same time, Holly was right.  I do get bored easily and I love the excitement and challenge that comes from working abroad and facing the challenges that doing so presents.  Living and working in another country different from your own can be contagious. Even more so if you have responsibility for multiple countries on multiple continents with drastically different economic and cultural differences.  So that’s a big pro for going abroad again if the opportunity presents itself.  Working for a global company today increases my chances and opportunities greatly. 

I’m wondering … Marc or Brad what do you see as the probability that you will work outside the US at some point in your career before retiring?  I would guess Marc’s probability is higher than Brad’s since Marc has worked overseas and even found his life partner in another country.  But Brad’s adventuresome spirit is the wild card.  So Marc, Brad, if you wouldn’t mind please reply and advise (with or without consultation from your wives) what you believe to be the probability that you will work outside of the US at some point in the future.  I’m very interested. 

My probability is somewhat better than a coin flip.  Say 75% or so?  But it will depend largely on opportunity and where that opportunity is, because as I get older I’m becoming more select for many of the reasons stated above. 

P.S. Here’s an excerpt from a Washington Post article on Americans working abroad:

“According to State Department estimates, 6.3 million Americans are studying or working abroad, the highest number ever recorded. What’s more, the percentage of Americans ages 25 to 34 who are planning to move overseas has quintupled in two years, from less than 1 percent to 5.1 percent. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 40 percent are interested in moving abroad, up from 12 percent in 2007.”

My Affinity for Watches, and GQ Magazine

 

Recently I was flying from Frankfurt to Denver (a long flight) and was seeking a means of passing time when I came across a German GQ magazine in the front seat pocket.  Now I couldn’t read a word of it but since GQ magazine is about 75% advertisements I could still get some presumed value from flipping through the pages.  I was interested in seeing how similar or different the German version of GQ is from the US and British versions, both of whom I have purchased and read in the past – yes, this is a bit of a confession.

 

Well, much to my satisfaction I almost immediately stumbled upon ad after ad for watches!  Sure, there was the Rolex ad followed by the Omega ad and yes even a Bell & Ross ad which is what timepiece I happened to have on my wrist while perusing.  So after about 15 pages and 7 watch ads I figured I would count just exactly how many watch ads were in the 190 pages of the magazine. 

Venture a guess?  Now these are full page watch ads, partial pages consumed by watch ads not included.  Ok, got your guess? 

Thirty Nine!  The number surprised even me.  20.53% of ALL the pages (not advertising pages) were dedicated solely to advertising only one type of product – watches.  Now I know that globally there is almost no men’s jewelry that is universally accepted.  Gold chains, nope. Rings (regardless of which finger they occupy) no again.  Ankle or wrist bracelets, earrings, naval pierces?  Again, all NO. 

But watches?  YES!!!

Yet still, it is only acceptable to wear one watch at a time so that thought of having that much ink in a men’s fashion magazine dedicated to watches was both surprising and impressive.  Impressive because I quite fancy watches, all kinds.  Even German ones.  I don’t have one but I’m not going to rule out buying one in the future. 

A small observation that I thought the extensive followership of this blog might appreciate – all three or four of you!

My Growing Dislike of Flying

I’m not sure why, but as I get older I’ve become more fearful of flying.  During flights my mind wanders to the negative, and any turbulence accelerates those thoughts in my mind.  Why, I wonder.  There wasn’t a defining moment when it got worse for me, it just happened.  I’m on a flight right now from Denver to Frankfurt, then on to Amsterdam.  My long term professional goal is to become a CHRO for a large global company.  Again, I can’t really understand why. 

Flying is safer than getting in a car, by a long shot.  It’s efficient and becoming a more prevalent part of most everyone’s lives.  Airlines are busier, airports are busier, and planes are more full.  Presumably the FAA has kept up with all this.  I’m certain the technology that goes into an airplane has improved dramatically.  And I suspect that aviation disasters are down based on it.  Again, so why the increased fear and anxiety for me? 

I’m not going to document the things that go through my mind, especially not now.  I’m on a flight right now!  But suffice to say, my anxiety is increasing and I will need to get a handle on it or charge my long term career plans.  Because being a CHRO for a large global company will have me on a plane a lot more, not a lot less in the future. 

Need to get some sleep right now because it seems everyone on the plane is sleeping except me – and the pilots I hope.  Five more hours to Frankfurt.

Praying for safe travel, for you and for me.   

Ed