Holiday Letter -- 2009

Carl C. Fields
{Redacted}
{Redacted}

30 November 2009

Dear Family and Friends –

Nebraska/Missouri/Kansas – May

Spent a week or so in these states in early May.  Primary reason for the trip was to attend the annual meeting of the Berkshire-Hathaway Corporation (whose chairman is Warren Buffett, believed to be the world’s second richest person).  This meeting is known for Buffett (along with Berkshire’s vice-chair, Charles Munger) answering questions from stockholders for about 5 hours.  Have wanted to attend for some years now.  Both Buffett and Munger are getting up in years (as am I), so there may not be many more chances to see this (they were 78 and 84, respectively, in May 2009). 

Attending this meeting involved arranging for a hotel and rental car some time in advance.  The meeting has become very popular in recent years.  I heard the Omaha airport ran out of rental cars the weekend of the meeting a couple years ago.  This year about 35,000 attended, roughly twice the attendance about 5 years ago.  One couple I spoke to had made reservations late.  They were staying in a hotel about 40 miles east of Omaha, in Iowa.

Flew to Omaha thru Atlanta.  Looked like about 70% of the rental cars at the Hertz facility at the Omaha airport had license plates from states other than Nebraska.  Had reservations at a Quality Inn on the western edge of town.  Arriving there, turned out several other people at the hotel were visiting Omaha for the Berkshire meeting.  In particular, two couples (somewhat older than me – I think), who I’d seen at the airport Hertz counter were staying at the hotel.  They were from North Augusta, South Carolina – perhaps 12 miles from Aiken; we had all arrived on the same plane.  Saw those same couples two days later seated near me at the meeting. 

Meeting was Saturday morning, but I arrived in Omaha on Thursday afternoon.  The Quality Inn was close to a Cabella’s Sporting Goods store (hunting- and fishing-type sporting goods).  I’ve received catalogs from Cabella’s on and off for several years, but was never near one of their stores before (that I know of).  It apparently was a “destination store,” with places in the parking lot for tour buses (almost like going to a casino – or maybe to the store in Frankenmuth Michigan that sells Christmas ornaments).  Store is gigantic.  It is built with large wooden beams to resemble a hunting lodge.  Trophy animal heads are mounted on the interior walls, up near the ceiling.  There was a small fake “mountain” in the center of the store (perhaps 30 feet high) with stuffed “full-body” animals (taxidermy) arranged on it – maybe 50 of them.

I’m not a hunter, and I haven’t been fishing in over 20 years.  However, this place was fascinating.  I had no idea there were so many different models of fishing reels (most of them manufactured in Japan, it appeared).  There must have been close to 1000 different types of fishing lures for sale. In addition to “normal” hunting rifles and shotguns, there was a special store-within-a-store selling antique rifles and shotguns.  Prices there seemed in the $7,000-and-up range.  When I was a youngster (influenced by the ~1955 Davy Crockett movie) I wanted a flintlock or caplock muzzleloader rifle.  I’ll probably never have one, but I looked at them in Cabella’s (the modern-day few-hundred-$ reproductions, not the many-thousand-$ antiques).  Surprisingly, they also sell “modern-looking” muzzleloaders (with telescopic sights, etc.).  I think several states provide extended hunting seasons limited to hunting with muzzle-loading firearms. 

There was a “firing range” enabling one to “test drive” bow-and-arrow sets (can’t remember if there was a similar thing for firearms).  Also saw a children’s shooting gallery, where each “rifle” “fires” a light beam at a detector.   I remember similar things when I was a child (I’ve also seen these at carnivals and amusement parks).  They had more stuffed animals in the target area of the children’s range.  However, the light-sensitive detectors were not mounted on the animals, but on the floor or wall beside the animals.  I imagine this could deflect complaints by people who might object to a store “training” youngsters to kill animals.  However, their setup seems to train them to miss, which also doesn’t seem right.

Attended two other Berkshire-related events in Omaha: a cocktail party at a jewelry store (owned by Berkshire) and a cookout at a furniture store (also owned by Berkshire).  Both stores offered discounts to stockholders for a few days before and after the annual meeting.  Both events were crowded.  At the jewelry store, my first impression was that everything was safely above the credit limit on my American Express card  (Berkshire owns about 8% of American Express, incidentally).  However, turned out there were a few lower-priced things further back in the store. 

For many years, the US Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) Headquarters was at Offutt Air Force base, near Omaha, but across the river in Iowa (perhaps 6 miles east of Omaha).  I missed seeing the museum when I was in Omaha perhaps 13-14 years ago.  Since then, the museum has moved to a new facility off the base.  It is now about 25 miles west of Omaha.  An elderly volunteer guide (a Korean War navy veteran, not air force) led an excellent tour of the facility.   Apparently, whenever someone with military flying experience comes to the museum, the guides try to “milk” him or her for stories.  He had several good stories.  He also had lots of little offbeat facts, which I really like.  For example, the U-2 spy plane (the museum has one) has a rear-view mirror.  The pilot used it to see if the plane was leaving a contrail (a bad thing for a spy plane).  Apparently the pilot could adjust speed and/or altitude to stop a contrail.   [Later (19 Feb 2013): I now believe one thing in this paragraph is incorrect.  I think Offutt Air Force Base is in  Nebraska.  I think I was misled by an Interstate exit in Iowa that was for the base (but that was probably just for a road to the base; one would have to follow this road for some distance, crossing the river into Nebraska, in order to get to the base from that exit).]

What I wanted to learn (but didn’t) was how they moved all those airplanes about 30 miles from the air force base in Iowa to the new museum in Nebraska.  The planes are in good “museum” condition, but they are not flight-worthy (and there is no runway at the new museum site), so they weren’t flown to the new site.

Stockholders meeting was in a downtown Omaha civic arena (looked like where pro basketball and hockey teams play).  Had been warned to get there early in order to be seated in the main arena, rather then in one of the overflow areas carrying the question/answer session on closed circuit TV.  Arrived at the arena building just before 7 am (when the doors were scheduled to open).  There were really long lines extending both north and south from the arena.  Went thru a line and got seated (in upper deck) around 8 am.  They served free continental breakfast from the arena concession stands (sort of a box lunch, except it was breakfast).  This involved more standing in line (but for only about 10 minutes).  A movie started around 8:30 am.  This is something they do every year (and apparently it’s different every year).  It’s about the company – and was pretty funny.  Tiger Woods was in it – doing some amazing things, like juggling a golf ball at the end of a golf club (could have been trick photography, but I suspect not).  Much of the movie was put together from clips of TV commercials from Berkshire subsidiaries (such a GEICO) and made fun of the both commercials and the company – and of Buffett and Munger -- (no real attempt at selling anything with the movie). 

Arena was full at the start of the question/answer session, but (surprisingly) started to clear out after an hour or so. 

Downstairs (in the same building), several Berkshire subsidiaries had sales booths set up in a large exhibit hall.  The 5-hour question session had a lunch break (with box lunches available for purchase).  I’m sure this break was so everyone would time to shop in the exhibit area.  Berkshire owns companies that (among other things) manufacture and/or sell cowboy boots (their exhibit area featured live longhorn cattle), shoes, sweatshirts, underwear, car insurance (GEICO), work gloves, candy (See’s Candy), and ice cream (Dairy Crème).  All these subsidiaries were selling stuff.  A subsidiary that sells modular homes (Clayton Homes) displayed a house (not sure if they were taking orders at the booth).  Another subsidiary makes recreational vehicles and boats (their exhibit featured two large RVs; they were taking orders).   

There was also a temporary bookstore in the exhibit area.  Buffett and Munger are known for recommending books during their question/answer sessions.  I’d read the bookstore was first set up a few years ago mostly to sell books they had recommended at previous meetings.  This year, it seemed to primarily feature books written about Buffett, Munger, and Berkshire – there were as surprising number of those.

Another reason for this trip was to go to the Missouri Historical Society in Columbia Missouri for some family history research.  On the way there, stopped at a new public branch library in Independence Missouri.  Apparently, the library system for the county that includes Kansas City (MO) and Independence has put all their family history stuff into one “branch” library (in a fairly new building).  It’s quite an impressive facility – and after having seen both it and the state facility in Columbia, I actually like the one in Independence better.  One thing that appears to be available only in Missouri is raw census data (on microfilm) from Missouri agricultural censuses of 1850 -1880 (the US National Archives has these for only perhaps ½ the states that existed in those years, but Missouri is one of the states where the National Archives does not have this information – these forms list things like the number of horses an ancestor owned).  

The historical society library is on the campus of the University of Missouri (parking on a college campus was every bit as bad as I remembered) – apparently in the basement of the main library building, but with a separate entrance.  One type of thing the historical society has that probably isn’t available anyplace else is microfilm copies of issues from dozens (maybe hundreds) of newspapers published in Missouri over the years.  However, my one-day experience there suggests it is difficult to find anything on specific families with this type of resource.

Coming back onto I-70 after leaving the library at Independence, my rental car was rear-ended by a pretty large pickup truck owned by AT&T.  There were two surprises: (1) the car had surprisingly little damage (one small dent and some bumper discoloration) even though the truck was much larger (and the collision resulted in a pretty good jolt) and (2) AT&T and Hertz seemed to handle the financial issues due to the accident with essentially no interaction from me.  I had visualized having to deal with insurance companies about this for the rest of my life. 

Went to the zoo in Omaha (which I had also been to on a previous trip back in the 1990s).  For people close to my age, this is the zoo where Marlin Perkins worked.  He was the host of the “Zoo Parade” TV show back in the 1950s.  The zoo seems to be sponsored, in part, by the Mutual of Omaha insurance company, which, I think, was also the sponsor of that TV show (an odd sponsor for a kid’s TV show).  Perkins was later on a similar show called “Wild Kingdom.”  I’m not sure if “Zoo Parade” changed its name, or if “Wild Kingdom” was a separate show.

Raleigh, North Carolina (NC) (May 2009) 

In May spent a week in Raleigh NC at the annual meeting of the National Genealogical Society.  It was mostly presentations – including a quite interesting one about advanced uses for Google Earth (a mapping computer program). 

Also visited the NC State Archives and Library (Raleigh is the capitol of NC) looking up information on NC ancestors (I’d been there before).  Found a record indicating an ancestor (Josiah Jarman) attended an estate sale on March 17, 1817.  It was interesting (and touching) that the estate’s property included several cows, listed in the estate inventory by name: Josiah bought a cow named “Plum” for $10.  I now know Josiah’s cow’s name, but haven’t yet found his wife’s name.

Italy -- Mediterranean Cruise – Transatlantic Cruise
 
Took a very long trip starting October 5^th (“long trip” with respect to both time and distance).  Trip started with an overnight flight to Rome.  Spent one night in Rome, then 3 nights in Florence, then 5 more nights in Rome.  Then boarded a cruise ship (Carnival Dream) in Civitavecchia (maybe 40 miles northwest of Rome).  Was on the ship for a 12 day cruise in the Mediterranean (Med), and then a 16-day transalantic crossing to New York (this involved 27 days on the boat – Day 12 of the Med cruise also counted as Day 1 of the transatlantic crossing).  

I’d done a lot of pre-trip research for the first 8 (or so) days – the part traveling around on land in Italy.  Even so, there were several “adventures” – such as learning how to buy Italian train tickets (they have vending machines – quite amazing ones actually).  Learned that I should have done advance research for the cruise ship port stops too.

While staying in Rome, took a day trip (by train) to Naples to (primarily) see the archeological museum there.  This Naples museum is really a museum for Pompeii and Herculaneum, the two towns buried by a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesiuvius in 79 AD.  The two towns were rediscovered in the 1700s (and are still only partially dug up).  Much of the best “loose” stuff recovered from the towns is in this museum.  The museum has marble and bronze statues, wall paintings (frescoes), where they have cut out and moved entire sections of walls to Naples, and sections of mosaic tile floors that have been pulled up and re-assembled in Naples.  The statues were in excellent condition (perhaps not great art – I can’t judge -- but in great condition to be over 1900 years old).  Most of the other statues from that era (there are many in Rome) have arms and/or legs missing, noses chipped off, etc.  For me, the most fascinating items are “ordinary” things, such as cooking utensils (including what looked like a cupcake-baking pan, not unlike ones available for sale today). 

Also went to Herculaneum, one of the (partially) excavated towns, that day.  Only a small part of Herculaneum has been uncovered (although some of the material in the museum was recovered long ago by hard rock mine tunneling techniques).  Town is still buried: partly because a mudflow buried it very deeply (and essentially hardened into rock) and partly because there is now a modern town on the site.  The area that has been uncovered – maybe 6 or 8 acres – is at the bottom of a large pit that is perhaps 35 feet deep (at the deepest point – which is also the westernmost point).   That westernmost point (uncovered only 15-20 years ago) was a boatyard, which was adjacent to the ancient seacoast.  The modern coast is about ¼-mile further west (that ¼ mile of “new” land was “built” in 79 AD by the volcanic eruption).

Cruise ships have “port days” and “at sea days” (when they have to go a substantial distance between ports).   On port days, they will generally arrive in early morning (maybe 8 am), and leave at perhaps 6 pm, so you are generally sailing at night (but there were a few exceptions to this).  Didn’t get much “feel” for places with such short stays in each port. 

The day-by-day itinerary for the Med cruise was: Civitavecchia (start), Naples, sea day, Venice (with an overnight there – arrived one morning and left the next afternoon), Dubrovnick (Croatia), sea day, Messina (Sicily), sea day, Monaco (with an overnight), Livornio (Italy – this is the port for Pisa and Florence), and Civitavecchia (end).  Transatlantic cruise was: Civitavecchia (start), Naples (I went to Mount Vesivius and Pompeii this “second day” – for me – in Naples), Barcelona (Spain), Palma de Mallorca (an island belonging to Spain), sea day, Malaga (Spain), sea day, Grand Canary Island (in the Atlantic, belongs to Spain), five sea days in a row, Bermuda (with an overnight), sea day, and New York (end). 

The first “day” in Monaco (we arrived in late afternoon) on the Med cruise was supposed to be spent in Barcelona.  The ship ran into high winds while on the way to Barcelona and turned north (along the eastern coasts of Sardinia and Corsica – large islands in the Med) to Monaco, skipping the scheduled stop in Barcelona.  The high winds were called the Mistral Winds (something I’d never heard of before).  There are apparently seasonal winds (spring and fall) that come off the Sahara Desert in Africa.  At one point while in the winds, the ship listed a couple degrees for maybe 20 or 30 minutes.  I later heard this was because these cruise ships (which have maybe 7 or 8 passenger decks above the hull) have a large “sail area;” they act like sailboats (to a small degree).  That “list” was the ship heeling over, similar to a sailboat.  This sail area was apparently also a factor when we docked in New York in a pretty good wind blowing north, up the Hudson River.  The ship had to turn toward the east to enter the docking area – placing it broadside to the wind.  Even though the current in the Hudson River was trying to push it downriver (unless there was a tidal flow I did not know about), the wind caused the ship to drift upriver.  A tugboat pushed on the upwind side of the ship to hold it steady (at other places, the ship’s side thrusters were able to hold it steady, without tugboats helping out). 

I don’t have space (or time) to write much about this long trip.   A few brief things that come to mind are:

(1) The Atlantic was surprisingly calm – and weather was fairly warm (except for the last day, when weather was apparently affected by Tropical Storm Ida, then moving through the Carolinas). 

(2) Went past Rock of Gibraltar and the entrance to New York Harbor in darkness (although I was up to see them).

(3) Bermuda is rocky – somehow I had visualized it as mostly sand dunes. 

(4) Prior to this trip, had only a very foggy idea where the Canary Islands are.  Saw no canaries in the Canary Islands – name is said to come from the Latin word for “dog” (canine – I did see dogs).  Islands are rugged volcanic mountains.

(5) Visited Verona (while ship was in Venice).  At least one former ruler there (from the 1400s, I think) was named Cangrande.  This name means “Big Dog” in Italian. 

(6) A museum and a church in Florence had “relics” (preserved body parts believed to be from saints).  Fortunately, most of these were labeled only in Italian (so I didn’t have to think about what I was looking at).  The one exception (which was also labeled in English) was one of John the Baptist’s index fingers (I guess Salome kept his head).

(7) Obtained some insight into how cruise lines make $ -- some of it a bit unsettling.  The crew (waiters, housekeeping, etc.) is predominately from less developed countries (such as Indonesia, Central America, and Eastern Europe).  They work 7 days per week, for months at a stretch (and when they do get a few hours off work, they usually have no place to go, being on a ship).  Companies organize things so crewmembers are exempt from US labor laws.  The companies select itineraries to have a substantial fraction of the time at sea, where they get the most income from the onboard spa, bars, gift shops, casino, etc.  Took a fascinating extra-cost 4-hour in-depth tour of the ship during the Atlantic crossing.  Tour included the brig (one padded cell) and the morgue (three refrigerated spaces).   

(8) Carnival Dream was a new ship, built near Venice.  The two cruises were the third and fourth ones it had done.  It is also a new class of ship – the largest cruise ship in the world when I boarded October 15 (but a larger one went into service later in October).  The arrival in New York was the ship’s first entry in to the US.  While in the Atlantic, the crew was preparing for anticipated “surprise” inspections in New York by the US Coast Guard and other government agencies.

Aiken 

Ran almost every morning during warm weather (but gained weight anyhow – and blood cholesterol levels haven’t decreased).  Continued to attend many of the cultural events here in town.  The most memorable was an outstanding production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” by Aiken’s amateur community theater group. 

A stray cat, Billy Jr, had lived (mostly) on the back porch for about a year.  Trapped him in June and took him to the vet for checkup, “fixing,” shots, etc.  Sadly, I had waited too long to do this.  He failed his health test and had to be put down.

Ted Tronosky and his wife retired and built a home near Aiken this year (I worked with – and for – Ted during the years I lived in Pittsburgh).  Saw them several times during the year.
 

Phone: {Redacted} (land); {Redacted} (cell)            
                                                                          

e-mail: {Redacted}