Out of Africa: Sorry for the long delay, but there are good reasons, which I'll
detail here soon. I just can't be as candid as I'd like at the moment because
of some lingering and delicate issues involving our time in Uganda.
As most of you know, we are back home in
Kansas. I was true to my word in the last posting back in February. I truly did
love my job. I told everyone: "I loved going to work every day."
But I also said, from day one, that I
would stay only if I could be assured of two things:
1. I was confident that we could succeed
in our mission to make the Monitor operation (national newspaper and two radio
stations) truly independent.
And 2., we would do that through quality
journalism employing only the highest standards.
Despite the many good folks in my newsroom
who were dedicated to that, under the most trying of conditions, there were
others who, sadly, were not. They were there, in my opinion, to further their
own agendas, not the one desired by His Highness, the Aga Khan, and me. In late
February, shortly after my meeting with the Aga Khan, it became clear that His
Highness would not − or could not − do what I felt was
necessary to achieve that. Given that and my exhausting schedule that had taken
its toll, Joyce and I decided to come home.
More on that later, as well as what we've
been doing, and what our plans are....and we have many.
Number One on the list: Enjoy retirement!
And golf. (As I've lamented to many, this is the biggest indicator of how hard
I'd been working: Uganda has perfect golf weather every day − 65 to 85 degrees
− and I didn't get to play golf once in our 13 months in Uganda!)
Beer bust! I don't wish to trivialize health issues,
but I got bad news from my doctor yesterday, and everyone who knows me knows
that these are the two words I never wanted to hear: "No beer!"
Since my bout with shingles (get the shot!), I have had digestive issues. Nexium worked for a bit, but then lost its effectiveness. So, yesterday, our good doctor said:
1. Let's do a scope down your throat
(gag!, but that's not scheduled until mid-January) to see if there's something
going on.
2. Double the dosage of Nexium.
And 3. (and he knows the weight of the two
words that followed because he's been my doctor for 20 years, and we've had the
"good beer versus bad beer" discussion): Eliminate carbonated
beverages, so "no beer!"
Oh, well, there's wine during the week and
martinis on Sundays. But I will miss that good IPA.
My sincere wish to all: Good spirits and
good health.
