DATELINE: in the Shire, Indy, 8 February 2006

So happy to be back home.

My swim and workout were great. So amazingly relaxing in late morning.

Then out of hotel and off to Chinatown for lunch with my old friend from my WTC workshop days. Great discussion. I always knew China would loom very large in my personal future, so the question was never “if?” but merely who and when. All good to work the biz and the security, but at the end of the day I want to leave the scene accomplishing the goals that first attracted me to the field, and global peace begins with a strong U.S.-Chinese strategic alliance in this era of globalization. No alliance, no shrinking the Gap. So I welcome the personal connectivity renewed, because these relationships matter very much to me.

On that score, my friend agreed with my theory that we’re only 5-7 years from facing the reality of the Fifth Generation of Chinese leaders being so much more sophisticated about the world, economies, and the U.S. because so many of them were educated here. His only caveat? It really comes at us much faster, like 3-4 years. The debate on who comes next is going on right now. Once Wen and Hu start their second five-year terms in a couple of years, that question gets settled relatively fast and the emergence of the new progressively lame-ducks the old—just like here.

Then the SWA flight outta BWI back to Indy. Quick stop by house on way to pick up son at Sylvan tutoring.

As much as I hate this apartment and dream almost nightly of living in the new house, it’s very good to be home. I simply miss the physical contact: all that hugging and kissing and touching. It’s a cold world out there, no matter how exciting it may seem. Time to regenerate while I can.