The Nightmare Before Xmas

From the pages yet to come...

    "Brrr, it's cold in here." Newt shivered as he set the pitcher down. "Maybe we should be drinking coffee."
    "Too bad there's no fireplace. That's progress for ya." Chimp shook his hair back, then poured himself another cupful. "But hey, if you drink enough beer, you'll stay warm!" He lifted the cup, pausing abruptly as foam overflowed the lip.
    "Look at that," said Chimp with exaggerated gaiety. "It's Santa Claus!"
    "What?" Newt was pulling on his sweater.
    The sun had settled beneath swaths of coral and salmon, and the waning light angling in through the big lakefront windows gave the Leinie's a rich red hue. "He's upside down, see..?" Chimp tilted the cup, inadvertently pouring more foam onto the carpet. "Oops."
    Newt frowned, massaging his forehead, then ran his fingers through his hair.
    "See, that's his beard on top," Chimp continued. He took a big gulp, slurping foam off his upper lip.
    "Let's not trash the lounge." Newt's head had been throbbing all day and he had little interest in the usual Hoofer antics. They had important business to cover before the next BOC meeting.
    The commodore and head of instruction sat alone in the wood-paneled room, the door closed. An early December dusting of snow outside and the decorative lights inside belied the sordid state of things.
    "So we're going to kick him off the BOC then?" Chimp began.
    "That's not what you said in your email." Newt straightened his neck. "Didn't you say that could be discrimination?"
    "Yeah, well, you have to be careful what you say in an email." Chimp paused. "Other people might get ahold of it." For a moment, Chimp felt as if Newt was probing, testing Chimp's loyalty, but he understood the need to confirm they were on the same page before going any further. It was an unspoken reality in Hoofers, as it is in any organization that employs a military structure—the subtle assertion of standing or authority that infects every interaction, except between equals. The two Hoofer leaders turned in unison as a man in a blue snowsuit shuffled past in the hallway and glanced in at them. They watched the man grab a shovel by the door, then head outside.

To be continued...

Hoofer Sailing Not Found

A scary thought, isn't it. We have heard some of the rumors about the club's future, but we question whether they could disband HSC and make it student-only. Then what, UW faculty/staff couldn't join either..? That would seem to violate the UW's mission. Not to mention taking a great sailing club and turning into a joke.

But check out this eerie foreshadowing of what Union management is trying to do.

The next BOC meeting should be Monday, Nov 21, but knowing Mills, he might very well use Thxgiving as an excuse to move it to a different day. No one is even bothering to announce them on the web any more, nor is there an up-to-date list of BOC members. Just lots of "404" errors. Perhaps a foreshadowing of where HSC itself is headed..? Lists and up-to-date info make it too easy to contact people or to show up at BOC meetings--where we ALL should be--and complain.

The BOC prefers to do things under the table, not out in the open. For those who aren't aware, the "approved BOC minutes" are not the actual minutes. The juicy stuff, and anything that's borderline illegal, gets "cleaned" before the minutes are approved.

With regard to this blog, we don't know how much use it can really be in averting the out-of-control freighter that is crooked Union management. It can at least be used as a forum, and to post BOC emails or other potentially useful info (or they can be forwarded here. Like a newspaper or other publication, we need evidence before being able to say much that is concrete.

Xenophobia

We leave a lot of leeway for comments on this blog, one exception being the use of personal names. Civility is not required, although hopefully each comment will contribute something. Jeff put his name out there himself, which was big of him, but we are still uncomfortable with it. The simple fact is that Jeff got the shaft, mainly as the result of general dysfunction within the club, but he is not the only one. The lack of empathy and of any interest in trying to understand sure doesn't help.

This is to be expected, though, when those in charge are 21 year old white boys who never even saw a black guy (except on TV) until they got to college. Discrimination is nothing new for Hoofer "leaders" or for the UW in general. The further you fall outside the 18-22 year old frat boy/girl demographic, the more trouble you're going to have. Recent comments have helped to reveal the seething xenophobia in Hoofers/the UW. For instance:

It is the job of an older man to be friendly, fatherly, and NOT engage at any other level with college age women than they would with their own daughter. That is sick, twisted, and SO wrong.

It is unclear whether that commenter is just trying to stir things up or if there's been a lot of incest in his family. And what does he mean by "older"..? If I'm 28, can I pursue a 21 year old? What if I'm 35--but don't look a day over 25? Our President-elect was 52 when he met his then-28-year old wife-to-be. Michael Douglas was 56 when he met the very hot 29 year old Catherine Zeta Jones circa 1999. Our commenter would call that "sick". I'd probably call it a good catch by MD--or maybe by CZJ. Things may be different for movie stars and billionaires, or maybe not.

According to that commenter, if you're over 40, sitting under the canopy, and not averting your eyes while female undergrads rig their boards, you're stalking them. That's absurd, of course, and it sounds a lot like age discrimination too. I personally don't think most men join HSC to meet women. They join to sail. On the other hand, the club is advertised as a social organization, and lots of people have met their future spouses in the club. Former commodores Chris Frye and Mike Larsen, for instance. It would be interesting to examine whether or not general club members are just as likely to meet their future spouses in Hoofers. If not, that would suggest some misbehaviour by those at the top.

Unfortunately HSC is run mostly by those spoiled white frat boys who enjoy bullying others--especially people who are different--just as they haze and abuse underclassmen pledging their fraternities. It's why there are virtually no mechanisms for mediation within the club, in Hoofers, or at the UW. Once you get a taste of being the abuser, it's a high that you come to crave. Mediation only helps the abusee, not the abuser.

Nor can the abusers be expected to correct themselves. They must be forced, by more decent people, to stop abusing and discriminating against others.

Idle hands

Big news at last night's BOC meeting. Unfortunately, we can't pass along the details, at least not yet, because they involve libel, slander, and other criminal acts by current BOC members (other than me and my co-author, of course). Suffice it to say that there are going to be some very unhappy campers. Stay tuned.

And always remember: Idle hands are the Devil's plaything!

What does that make idle minds..?

The octopussy

People are still needed for the keelboat work party this Saturday! We have to get things squared away out there asap. Details are here:

https://lessons.hoofersailing.org/event/59008

The end of the season is always a sad time, but with enough people we can get this done in a couple of hours and then go grab some food. Or go sailing--the forecast for Sat/Sun is looking pretty nice.

Remember, "Many fingers, er, thar she blows, er, many hands make light work! (Sorry, I am preoccupied with Donald Trump.)

Try not to run anyone over in your rush to sign up.

For Instructors only

Extra lessons are now available, taught by HOI Dave Elsmo.

Tonight is "Rig tuning" (6 PM on the lakefront) for those who want to learn how to maximize a boat's power and win races. This lesson will cover stay tension, car positioning, halyard tension, weight placement, etc. This is only open to instructors (because most of them don't already know that stuff?).

General club members aren't expected to win races, so they are not eligible to take this class. Of course, they're not eligible for a lot of other instructor goodies, either.... General (i.e. paying) club members are mainly around to provide cash for the instructors.

Next Tues Aug 23 will be "Sail Trim". In this lesson we'll cover proper sail trim for all conditions at all points of sail. Again, not open to paying club members.

Huh. I actually teach all this stuff myself from time to time on the keelboats, as do some of the other KB instructors, so why aren't these lessons open to any Hoofer Sailing Club member..? They're not even full (as of the time of this post), and general club members are the ones who pay Elsmo's salary. Evidently he thinks it makes more sense for him to teach it to the "instructors", and then they can try to pass some of it on to the plebes.