Uncategorized | Change Is Hard

May 12, 2013
by dawnkinster 16 Comments

I’m baa-ck!

Katie here.

Well. As most of you know my MAMA (who maybe should rethink her title) sent me off to doggie camp for ten days. TEN WHOLE DAYS! She just picked me up and boy am I letting her have it! WHINE WHINE WHINE…BARK BARK BARK.

I want to go OUT and then I want to come IN.

What’s out there Mama?

I even conned them into playing ball with me, then I took the ball and put it in the other room. Just to make them feel bad. I think it worked.

Mama keeps asking me if I want to take a nap. Huh. Like that’s going to happen.

Nope. I’m back and I’m doing my best to make sure she never thinks about taking me to camp again!

Hey Mama! Hey Mama!

PS: It wasn’t so bad there, but don’t tell them. Cause I want them to feel bad.

Really, really bad.

Me and my Mama.

May 11, 2013
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

Just a few more places to share with you.

Here’s just a few more photos to show you from our trip to DC. Click on any of them for more detail.

The Jefferson Monument.

I thought you might like to see some of the iconic sights…

Vietnam Wall reflections.

…and some you might not have seen before.

Korean Memorial.

And of course I knew you’d want to see the dog.

FDR’s Memorial is a lovely place along the river.

…plus just a couple cool things I saw along the way.

Georgetown during the ‘blue hour.’

Some things just begged to be photographed…

We were followed everywhere by the ‘kids in blue.’

…and others were hidden away.

Almost modern art.

Tomorrow…or sometime soon… I’m going to show you windows. But Katie-girl is coming home tomorrow so it might be awhile.

You know how she is.

Mr. Lincoln

May 10, 2013
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

Would you like to see the National Cathedral?

We spent today at several monuments and I’ll probably show you some of those, but for tonight, how about I show you the National Cathedral? (click on any photo to see more detail.) It sits high on a hill and is massive.

Front facade.

Inside it is all angles and arches…

Arches repeated.

…stained glass windows…

Warmth flows through the windows.

…and muted colors.

Columns bathed in light.

The light is amazing.

Light and arches.

And you could get lost in it’s massive naive.

Lit corridor.

I’ve never visited the Cathedral before, I’d go again. It’s photogenic, peaceful and best of all quiet which is hard to find in Washington DC.

More later…I have so much to show you.

Trio of pretty.

May 10, 2013
by dawnkinster 7 Comments

On the Mall

Dome through the visitor center ceiling.

For all my hours and days of tromping around the hill I’ve never visited the Capitol building. Yesterday was the day. Senator Stabenow’s (D-MI) transportation expert gave us passes to visit the Senate and the House galleries. And we lucked out; when we visited the House Sander Levin (D-MI) was debating Dave Camp (R-MI) on the Full Faith and Credit Act. Each Representative gave their opening statements, then called in other House Members including Representative Rangle (D-NY) and Representative Lewis (D-GA), to support their sides of the issue. Sometimes it got quite heated. The only thing they agreed on was that the United States would not default on our bills. The argument seemed to be who got paid first, the Chinese bond holders or the Social Security and disabled veterans. After about an hour of this I was so confused I’m not sure even reading the bill would help me sort it out.

Upper windows are in hallway from the House Gallery.

Then we moved over to the Senate gallery, just as a long discussion about Syria was started. Senator McCain (R-AZ), Senator Levin (D-MI), Senator Menendez (R-NJ), and Senator Graham(R-SC) all asked the President to put additional military pressure on Syria in an effort to stop their use of chemical weapons and begin the end of that government’s reign. That was interesting, if not a little frightening. Then Senator Boxer (D-CA) who is Chairwoman of the Senate Committee of Environment and Public Works, began speaking about a water bill, complete with charts. That was interesting too.

The dome is so large I couldn’t get it all!

After a couple of hours of watching people talk we needed to get up and move around, so we went on a tour of the Capitol, moving fro the visitor center up to the Rotunda, and into what was the first House of Representatives meeting room, then down through the crypt and back to the visitor center. I’m glad we did that, as it’s a truly magnificent building and everyone should see it at least once. I’m sure if I went again next time we are in DC I’ll see even ore interesting details that I missed on this tour.

Rosa Parks

We ate lunch in the visitor center and then headed out for a walk on the National Mall. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, bits of sunshine in between the clouds and a breeze to keep us cool. We walked and walked and walked…visiting a sculpture garden along the way…

Remember the typewriter eraser?

…and then finally sat down at the World War II memorial.

A corner of the WWII Memorial.

Our feet were tired, but we wanted to see everything.

Sounds of war.

When we finally got back to the hotel we rested for an hour or so, then walked the mile over Key Bridge to Georgetown for dinner. A little Advil keeps the feet going. Dinner at Clydes was wonderful…and the walk back across the Potomac for a good nights sleep in the warm night air felt nice too.

It was a good day.

Georgetown.

May 8, 2013
by dawnkinster 25 Comments

Patience. Not so much a virtue.

Hart Senate Office Building

We’re finished, finally, with our meetings on The Hill. We’ve talked to legislative staff members, subcommittee members, transportation aides, heads of agencies, chief of staffs, a Senator, cab drivers and a Cabinet Member. Everywhere we go we express our frustration with the lack of speed we see coming out of the DOT (Department of Transportation), an agency tasked with the admittedly huge responsibility to implement many of the safety advances spelled out in the Reauthorization Bill passed last August.

Russell Senate Office Building.

Sitting at the huge conference table in the Transportation Secretary’s suite we heard over and over that mandating strong rear crash guards and speed governors, finishing the rule that mandates Electronic On Board Recorders, moving ahead to increase minimum insurance levels required by truck companies, putting together an objective study on size and weight, well, these things all take time. And study. Lots and lots of study. Because they want their T’s crossed and their I’s dotted. Repeatedly we were told we didn’t understand that it’s hard to get things finished in Washington. That there are lots of levels that had to be moved through before the common sense issues could be resolved. That we were impatient and naive.

Yea. We get that.

But let me tell you, if I preformed at my job the way it seems these projects are being handled I’d be unemployed. In the world of business, industry, retail, just about any workplace you can imagine, results are what matter. How many times, when asked by your boss to meet a deadline have you been able to respond with a study? Particularly a study to study the previous studies that have been done on your problem? How often are you allowed to miss a deadline, consistently come in late with a project, and make the excuse that it’s hard? We all have hard jobs. We all face difficult decisions. But eventually we all have to be adults and make a choice…go one way or another…do the best we can with the information we have.

Cannon House Office Building.

Nothing in this world is perfect and you can spend a lifetime trying to be sure you don’t make a mistake, trying to find the perfect solution, a solution that will make all people happy. Handling problems is hard. That’s why they’re called problems. But some problems have easier solutions than others. Some problems are no-brainers.

Strengthening rear crash guards is a no-brainer. The ones mandated on trucks now fail at an unacceptable rate. Canada and Europe have a better guard, and have for years. It shouldn’t be that difficult to transfer information from them to our own trucks. Raising the amount of insurance carriers are required to have is a no-brainer. $750,000 per crash isn’t enough to handle the medical bills for the first week a victim is in the hospital, not to mention a lifetime of rehab and care. Recognizing that heavier trucks will cause more destruction, more death, more injury is a no-brainer. But let’s be sure. Let’s put together a 2 year study. That’s the ticket.

Permanent memorial to truck crash victims.

We met with the DOT Monday afternoon. While we were there people died in truck crashes across the country. Monday afternoon in Charlotte NC the driver of a disabled SUV and a good Samaritan were hit by a semi. The good Samaritan was able to stop his car, get out and try to help the driver a the SUV, but the semi couldn’t stop? Why is that? Also Monday an Arizona public safety officer was killed, sitting in his car on the shoulder of the road while investigating another crash. So at least 3 people died while we were sitting in meetings discussing moving along on projects that will save lives. Not perfect solutions, but solutions that will save lives nevertheless.

Patience. We were told to have patience. The federal government moves slowly they said. These things take time they said. We need to study the ramifications they said. We’ll get back to you on that they said. Well. Tell all that to the three families devastated Monday. Ask them for a little patience. Then imagine it was your family. How patient would you be?

Exactly.

May 8, 2013
by dawnkinster 4 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

Treasury Building

Capital Building.

Library of Congress

Metro station.

May 6, 2013
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Working on safety – DC style

I don’t quite know where to start, how to catch you up on the activity here in DC. Sunday was a fact filled day as we learned more about how government works, how bills become laws, how agencies write regulatory rules, how change can happen. It’s all so ponderous. What seems like common sense to all of us, raising the required insurance minimums for truck companies from $750,000 a crash (where it has been for almost 30 years) to something more representative of actual expenses families incur…adding side guards and strengthening the rear guard to prevent people from sliding under semi trailers…freezing the maximum size and weights on trucks where they are now to preserve lives and infrastructure…well apparently all of that needs to be studied. Some more. To make sure the data is correct…to make sure implementation (if there ever is any) will be done correctly.

We spent this morning in meetings on ‘The Hill” in Senate office buildings meeting with transportation staff members. Some we’ve seen before, some were new. Turns out talking to the new people isn’t that bad, as we had an opportunity to educate them on safety issues and they had fewer preconceived ideas. The afternoon was spent at four back to back meetings with different agencies at the Department of Transportation. They’re the ones doing all the studying. The legislature mandated last summer that several things be studied, and that some rules about implementation (for example, the Electronic On Board Recorders I am so excited about) be written. They’re under tight deadlines and we wanted them to know that we’re watching to make sure things are done correctly, with safety in mind. Most of the meetings were cordial, an exchange of ideas between us and agency officials. Sometimes it got a bit tense when we expressed concern over our perception of bias toward heavier trucks being present in some study processes.

On a bittersweet note I got to tell Secretary LaHood how much we appreciated his work toward safety during the past four years. He told us then that safety was his priority and that this “was not our grandmother’s DOT.” He has kept his word. We wish he could stick around as we work through some very difficult issues. but we hope his leadership will lay the foundation for continued progress, and that our relationship with the agency will continue to move forward to positive outcomes.

On occasion I’d look at Dad’s picture sitting in front of me and wish he could see all of this; listen to the engineers in our group talk about sway tests and automated brake systems with administrators of agencies tasked with mandating safer vehicles of all types. Pretty fascinating if you didn’t let yourself be overwhelmed by it all. I’m still surprised to find myself sitting in these meetings, to be representing families everywhere that have lost members or been injured in truck crashes.

At a dinner Sunday night, after we spent the day talking laws and regulations, issues and mandates, after an hour spent crying together as we shared the longer versions of “our crashes,” with each other, after we shared dinner and hugs the Truck Safety Coalition gave me an award for volunteering. It’s a beautiful crystal vase and I will be proud to put flowers in it this summer. It’s their way of thanking me for work done. But I don’t know how I will ever thank them for the opportunity to take my anger and pain and turn it into something constructive. This is all so much bigger than me or my family or even our group. I’m honored to be involved.

Right now I’m so tired I can’t even add photos to this post. So just imagine large buildings with lots of people all working on something vital, and us running around in between pushing for the issues we know will save lives. Now think of us doing this all over again tomorrow. In the rain.

Yep, it’s going to be another great day!

May 4, 2013
by dawnkinster 14 Comments

River of hope

Lincoln Monument from the river.

Today was the first day of the Sorrow to Strength conference here in DC. We met in a conference room of the hotel and got to know each other a little bit, then listened to a media specialist give advice on handling reporters and doing interviews. She reminds us that we don’t have to be experts on statistics and safety issues, that all we need to do is tell our stories and stay focused on our message. Good advice. We’re just regular people not used to press reporters or television cameras. I was thinking that we should all watch politicians and learn from them; they never seem to answer the questions asked of them, and they always stay on task with their preplanned message.

Later in the day we heard from a grief specialist, Kathleen O’Hara. I feel a connection to Kathleen because my sister found her book several years ago and that’s how she came to work with the Truck Safety group. We are lucky to have her. She works with new families and helps them get set up with local grief counseling She was amazing. She talked about how grief changes over the years and where to find sources of strength, both from within ourselves and from outside.

Kathleen on the boat.

At the end of the day the whole group walked over to Georgetown and took a sunset river cruise. We held a remembrance ceremony on the boat, where people told stories about their lost loved ones and we laughed and cried. We were each given a paper boat and Kathleen told us to think about our person, make a wish and let the little boats drift free down the river. It was a beautiful and unspeakably sad moment.

Dad’s little orange boat.

Dad was a water person, he grew up on the Huron River and lived on or near water all his life. He and Mom went out on the lake often in the evenings to watch the sun set. The neighbors tell us that after she died he went out in the boat alone every night at sunset. So I felt a special connection with Dad tonight as we floated on the Potomac…as I watch my little paper boat float away.

Today was good. Kathleen reminds us to see the good in what we have left, to not dwell entirely on what we lost. Today I am reminded that I have a lot of good left…and the people at this conference are some of the very best of my life.

Hugs to all of them. May we always have the support of each other as we float down this river of hope toward our new tomorrows.

Georgetown at night.

May 3, 2013
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

Gone away

Landed at Regan National.

Tonight I’m hanging out with friends in DC, tomorrow the work begins. We’re sitting at the hotel bar catching up; it’s good to see them again. We laugh, tell stories, but underneath the smiles rests the truth, the pain, the reason we’re all here. We’re here because there are people missing from our lives that shouldn’t be gone. We’re here because we can’t stay away.

This is the greatest group of people I wish I had never met. As one in the group says she told her spouse when she called him tonight….”these are my friends.” These are the people that truly know what it feels like because they’ve been there. People that don’t have to talk at all, they’re just there and you know you’re not alone. The kind of people that hug tight and long, that look deep into your eyes and just know.

Tonight was the easy part of our very long weekend. Tomorrow it gets harder.

Time for bed, I’ll share more later.

May 1, 2013
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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