Hello. I am James Swannick, and today we are talking to Doug Rice, who is a 47-year-old father of two, married 21 years. Doug is a retail executive and real estate investor, who, as we're recording this, is 98 days alcohol-free. Doug just shared with me before we started this interview that he lost 21 pounds in the middle of doing his 19-day alcohol-free journey with me and my team.  He actually got a promotion at work in the job that he always wanted during these 90 days alcohol-free. I've said it a million times. When you go 90 days alcohol-free, it's never really, I shouldn't say never, but it's rarely about just giving up alcohol and feeling clear and feeling great. It's about all of these things like losing 21 pounds, feeling better, improving your relationship, reconnecting with family and loved ones. That's what it's about. Doug Rice, welcome, mate. Congratulations. Hey, James, how are you? Mate, I'm feeling good, but I suspect maybe not as good as you're feeling at the moment, now that you're 98 days alcohol-free. What do you just describe for us, how it feels at the moment? It just feels fantastic. I put that target out there. I'll be honest, since I started drinking as a late teenager, I've never gone more than 30 days, and I'm 47 years old. To hit a milestone like 60 days would have been quite an accomplishment, but to go 90 and then continue and know that this is going to be my lifestyle choice, it feels fantastic. It feels amazing. Yeah. What feedback have you got from your wife or children or colleagues about your experience in the past 90 days? It's just been, you look fantastic. You've got plenty of energy. What are you doing?  I've gone through seasons in 21 years. Let's just say that. So to finally, I could give her credit and say, you always told me that I maybe should think about not having alcohol in my life, and here I am, no alcohol in my life, and she was right. It's amazing. Wow. So good. And people noticed that you'd lost the 21 pounds? Yeah, absolutely. I started just hydrating, drinking water, and I started running. I was kind of an avid runner. I took it up about seven or eight years ago, and I'll tell you what, when you drink alcohol, it's pretty tough to get up in the morning and run. And so it was on again, off again, and so I just started running, and I'll tell you, it was slow at first. No breath, no legs, but almost immediately the weight started to drop in my face. And one of the things within Project 90, you get to get on Zoom calls and you get to connect with the community and post on Marco Polo. And so I started getting comments from the community almost immediately like, wow, you look like almost immediately, like within three weeks, I was already shedding pounds. And it's been consistent. And I mean, who doesn't love to hear feedback like that? I work remotely, so I don't get out much. As with most people coming out of the pandemic, I'm stuck in an office at home, but when I do get out, my friends have certainly noticed as well. I visited some friends over Super Bowl weekend and they all slept in. I got up and ran every morning and they're like, what are you doing? I said, this makes me feel good. I'm going to go out for a run. It's sunny outside and I'm going to enjoy my day. So yeah, I love running. I'm going to ask you about what your drinking habits were like before you joined us, before you set upon this journey. But just before I do, what was the promotion you got at work? Just tell us a little bit about your job, what you do and the promotion that happened. Well, I work for a retail company, a fast growing retail company, coast to coast chain. And about three years ago, I'd written a job description. It was one of those dream jobs that I thought my company needed this position. And so I wrote the description and I turned it in. And it was talked about, yeah, we certainly need this position.  Our company needs this position. And here we are. About a month ago, the position was created, approved by our board. And I was asked to take this position. And so I'm in my dream job. And it feels great. I get to impact people and I get to help grow a company. And it feels amazing. I shared with you, I'm in retail. And there's not many great retail stories out there. I mean, every time you look at the paper, you hear about retail companies closing stores. And I happen to work for a company that's growing. And I get to be part of that growth. So it feels great. And I'm excited that I have so much clarity and energy to be able to step into this role and know that I'm going to make an impact. I can't say that the old Doug, two steps forward, one step back, Doug, could make the impact that I'm going to make now that I'm clear-minded and alcohol-free. It sounds like that you had already taken steps towards this role before you actually chose to go alcohol-free. But I'm just curious, did being alcohol-free during these 90 days impact the promotion? Or do you see how that influenced the promotion, either how you showed up, maybe whether there was a negotiation on salary or anything? Like, how did being alcohol-free in the 90 days impact that promotion? You know, I don't know that I can directly link being alcohol-free to the promotion. I mean, I'd like to think that the way I was showing up as, you know, during the month of January, when our company was budgeting and deciding, you know, okay, February 1st, our fiscal year starts, and Doug is Doug's our guy. And, you know, February 1st, he's going to be in this new role. I'd like to think that made an impact. But, you know, honestly, I think it was the efforts over the last three years that I've been contributing that ultimately landed me here. I've always been a high performer and, you know, even operating well below my capacity, I've still been, you know, done rather well. So let's dig into that because you consider yourself to be a high performer. And just for context for the listener or anyone who might be watching here, our Project 90 community is filled with people who consider themselves to be natural high performers, but they've got something in the way of them performing at a high level, right? Or either or at their highest level might be a better way of saying it. And often that thing is alcohol. And often it's not just alcohol, it's what's driving people to reach for the alcohol. So you consider yourself a high performer. What was going on in your life that was contributing to you not performing at your highest that maybe led you to me and our team and what we do? Well, I mean, I'll just be honest. I shared when we opened the interview that alcohol has always been present in my life. You know, it was raised by a single mom and she always came home from work and had a cocktail. I certainly made that part of my routine, you know, I don't know through osmosis or whatever. I also grew up in a bowling alley. And, you know, if you're familiar with bowling alleys in the 80s, I mean, this is bowling alleys. This is dark and grungy bowling alleys, right? And so there was always alcohol present.  And so I think over the years, I, you know, I ended up using alcohol because everyone else was using alcohol. That was my environment. But I also found that I used alcohol. Well, I'm clear now that I used alcohol to celebrate. And I also used it to escape. And, you know, that's that's just kind of, you know, it's interesting to be so clear minded during these 90 days to to know that I didn't really understand why alcohol was so prevalent in my life until, until I was clear headed and can really look at all the evidence of the choices I was making and the impact that it was having, you know, in terms of that productivity, you know, when you're drinking alcohol, you can't you can't really be productive. So I was probably losing in the evenings, two to three hours of productivity. And that could be productivity in my relationships. It could be product, you know, could be productivity at work. It could be productivity on my side hustle. I said that, you know, I invest in real estate on the on the side. So I could be doing things after work. But no, it was it was the type of drinking activity where I would just sit down with a glass of wine and play on Facebook, a complete time waster, right? You know, and and then, you know, if it was if it was too much wine, if it was, you know, too much wine and then a glass of whiskey, you know, that impacts your next day. I think about the the the mornings and the productivity loss, getting up right before I had to be up to be on conference calls.  And just not feeling feeling 100%. And, and, you know, I look at my morning routine now, and it's it's all about productivity and getting up early and starting starting my day off, eating well, exercising, and then putting putting the energy I have to good use. So I mean, honestly, we're talking, you know, 25 to 30 hours a week of productivity loss, because of alcohol. That's a lot. That's a lot. I mean, that's three days, maybe four days of productivity in a five-day work week. Is that how much you were losing? Or I mean, I'm saying throughout throughout the course of a seven-day week. Yeah. I mean, it was quite a bit. It was quite a bit. And you wouldn't by any stretch of the imagination refer to yourself as an alcoholic? I don't believe so. No, I don't believe so either. But you were drinking enough that you were slaughtering three days of productivity every week, at least. Yes. In my opinion, as many as three days. No, that's not every week. I'm saying that's on the high end of the spectrum.  I'm a planner by nature, and I'm going to get some stuff done. And, you know, this 90 days, honestly, especially the last 60, if I look at my career as an adult, these have been some of the most productive days and weeks of my lifetime. And there's one thing missing, alcohol. That's it. It's insanity. Yeah. I mean, it's absolutely remarkable what you're sharing. How old are you? 47 next week, right? So we're recording this now at 47. You give me 47. And these last 60 days have been the most productive in your adult professional life? Yes, I believe so. Yeah. Just letting it sink in for dramatic effect here. Wow. Yeah. Isn't that something? When did you first start working? How old were you when you first started working? I started working when I was 14 years old. I've always had a full-time job from the time I was 14.  We didn't have a lot of money. You know, I worked for everything that I wanted. And I've always had a job. There was one time where I was fired from a job, and I had a new one within like a day. And then I had a company close down. And so I went through one period of my life where I was unemployed for an extended period of time of, I believe, seven or eight weeks while I went through the interview process and found a new job. And that's actually the company I'm at now. I've been with this company for eight years. So yeah, I've always worked and it's always been progressive improvement in terms of responsibility and of course the dollars. So really if we're going to put a headline on this, because I used to be a newspaper reporter or journalist, you know, play around with headlines. You've been the most productive in 32 years. This is the most productive you've been in 32 years, because you started when you were 14, right? 32 plus 14 is 46 and you're about to be 47. That's correct. It does. And this is the tip of the iceberg. I'm just ready to get going. Yeah. I already know what the headline, what we're going to name the podcast, so it'll be like most productive in 32 years. This is the most productive I've been in 32 years. It's not always about productivity, right? Like it's also about connection with family.  Can you talk about what happened with those two relationships? Yeah. So I've been married for 21 years and my wife lives her life alcohol-free. She drank very early in our relationship, but she wanted... I've been married 21 years, I have a 21-year-old daughter. So she cleansed her body and we started having kids just right out of the gate. And she just chooses to live alcohol free and it's always been... I've always had somebody could drive me home or drive us to where we were going and that was always kind of nice, but there was always a disconnect between... She always has a good time everywhere she goes and I love her to death, but drinking was never an activity that we shared. So there was some separation there when I would drink. It was out with my friends or I had activities. I might have shared with you that I grew up in a bowling alley. So I was a semi-professional bowler for most of my life. So it was away from her on the weekends. It was traveling to tournaments, a lot of drinking with the guys, type of relationship. So there was a lot of separation when I was drinking. I certainly wasn't always with her. And I know in the last 60 days I've been more conscious and I've been writing in my journal that we still love each other. We still have a lot in common. I have all this time on my hands now. We can do our date nights. We can take the time just to enjoy each other. My kids are 21 and 19. We're going to be empty nesters soon. And so we really need... I really need a good plan to to reignite our marriage and we plan on traveling the world and look at this list of 30 places we want to go before it's all said and done. And so just I really feel good about where our relationship is at. I can see the improvement in the way she talks to me and the way that I treat her. And as far as my kids go, my daughter's away at college and so she's come home a couple times during the 90 days. She was home during the holidays and she's certainly noticed that I didn't have a bottle of wine. I've got a great relationship with my daughter and she said all along, I'm really excited for you. I'm proud of you. We went to our cabins while she was home. Just her and I had a daddy daughter like two days in the woods and fishing and all alcohol free and it was just amazing bonding time. My son on the other hand, he's a 19 year old boy and I could use the term knucklehead. I was a knucklehead too when I was 19 years old and so we've had a challenged relationship. We've certainly had a challenging relationship to the point where I think that our relationship was as frustrating for him as it was for me and we both escaped with different ways for me. No surprise. My escape was to just go to the other room and have a glass of wine and then not really address our relationship. He would scream at me and storm off and part of me thought that was normal. He's a 19 year old kid. You don't want to hang out with your dad. But it was to the point where it was a strained relationship. He's definitely closer to my wife and so we actually in the course of the last 90 days, we're going to therapy to learn how to talk to each other and something really great happened. About two weeks ago, we were at a therapy session. He hadn't screamed at me in over a month and the therapist asked him how he thought things were going and he said, I don't think we need to come here anymore.  It's been challenging. It's been very challenging. The issue for my son is that my daughter, she's off at a four-year college and he's 19 and she's graduating next month by the way. I'm very proud of her. He's at home and isn't sure what he wants to do. It's been an interesting dynamic to have a boy and a girl and one at home and one away. You just learn to be a dad and I haven't always been there and been present for both of them like I plan on being from this point on. What a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing that. It's amazing that you've had such improved connection, particularly with your son. That must have felt really terrific to have him give you that feedback or at least share to your therapist or counselor that there was no need to come back. That must have just felt incredible. Yes, it did. That was an amazing day. It was a day I wasn't expecting. Yes. Well, it's a testament, isn't it, to the actions that you've taken and maybe you didn't expect that to happen when you first decided to eliminate alcohol, but that's one of those surprising, beautiful things that present themselves or are revealed when you're in the middle of that process. Would you agree? Absolutely. I can tell you, I'm just much more patient. I'm much more aware of the way I'm feeling and I'm much slower to speak now. I have a much more measured approach when I get in a situation with him or a conversation with him and it's the same with my wife as well. I think I'm a better listener now. I take the time to listen and that's always been a challenge for me. I don't know. I think it's a guy thing. She thinks it's a dug thing, just not taking the time to listen. I'm just trying to be conscious of that. I've got all the time in the world to listen. I keep telling her, just talk away. I'm here. What was your main motivation when you first enrolled in Project 90? What was your goal or what were your goals? Let's compare that or those to what actually happened. I was very specific from day number one and knew exactly what I wanted. Health was at the top of my list. I had recently been to the doctor and they did the blood test and said, Doug, you have abnormal cholesterol levels. You really need to watch what you need to exercise or we're going to have to put you on medication like most of America. I said, I know exactly what I need to do. I need to just start running again. The health piece was very important to me. That was right at the top. The second was those relationships and then the third was productivity. I knew I was losing a lot of productivity. I knew this potential new job was coming in 2021.  I stopped bowling. I used to be my fun deal. I'm getting older. I can't keep up with 21-year-old kids anymore. I stopped bowling on the weekends and I started playing with real estate. I ended up with vacation rental cabins and I flipped houses. All those TV shows they have in America, right James? I flipped this house. I started doing that and that's how I have fun on the side. All this was picking up and my to-do list was growing, but I felt like I was two steps forward, one step back. I felt overwhelmed and I always felt like I was chasing. When I would get overwhelmed, I think that was one of the triggers where I would escape with alcohol. Now that I'm on the other side of these 90 days, there's nothing to escape from. I'm extremely happy. I'm full of joy. I'm 21 pounds lighter than I was. My days are much different and I sleep better. I could go down the list of everything that's better. But if you tie it back to my three goals, relationships are definitely better. No doubt about it. That's what I'm most pleased about is the relationships. I'm not saying they're perfect. You can't overnight change your relationship. Relationships take an investment of time and I've got clarity on that and so I'm making those daily investments. The health piece, I've got a routine down. I started a fitness challenge in January.  I know I've absolutely crushed the fitness piece. The results are the 21 pounds loss, sleeping better. I got to go buy a new belt soon. I'm on that last belt loop. That's a good problem to have. I think it's a good problem to have. Then they increase productivity. I've filled all of the morning hangover time with a great morning routine that I'm a planner by nature.  I go to bed at the end of the day, very satisfied and get up the next day and do it again. Being a planner, I love checklists and so I get to be productive at work. In the course of this program, I bought a house, remodeled it and sold it. I flipped the house within the 90 days, which was a record and very, very proud of that. That's productivity, I think. I think so. Yeah. Why didn't you just do this yourself? I got a lot of listeners, a lot of people who I tiptoe around whether they're going to engage my services to help them or not. A lot of the common resistance, I guess, or objections to getting some more professional coaching and accountability and support in the community or what we offer is I'm going to try it on my own. I think I can do this on my own. I'm going to use willpower.  In my experience, most of the time, it's probably not almost all the time. It's probably most of the time, I would probably offer it's like 80%, 90% of the time. Those same folks end up coming back to me either weeks, months, sometimes years later and say, hey, I couldn't figure it out on my own and then they're ready. Let me just pose the question for you. Why couldn't you have done it on your own or why didn't you do it on your own? What inspired you to actually invest your hard-earned time and your money to join my community and do this with the support? Well, believe me, I've tried it on my own. I've tried it many, many times. There's been probably 100 times in 25 years where I said enough is enough. I'm not enjoying my life right now. I'm not fulfilling my potential. I could be a better husband. I could be a better dad. I'm going to not drink and that might go a couple of weeks and then something happens. I was at a point where I had some great things on the horizon, great things on the horizon. I knew coming out of the pandemic that so many things were going to be better on the other side of the pandemic. I'm also at a point where I really am clear on what I want in the back half of my life, just crystal clear on what I want. I just started connecting the dots. None of this is going to happen with alcohol in my life because that's the one thing that's the step backward. I'm smart enough to take two steps forward towards my goals. It's the step backward that I can't do on my own. I just made the conclusion that I couldn't do it on my own, that I needed some structure. That's certainly what Project 90 has provided. It's provided structure. It's provided community. The community has probably been the biggest bonus. I don't think I knew going in how much the community helped. It was probably my favorite part, the connections in the community, but the accountability as well. The coaching within Project 90 was spot on and fantastic. A combination of all those things I just said, definitely it brought me, I set a record. I've never gone 90 days, 90 or 98 days today in my entire adult life. The difference is your program versus me trying to do it on my own. I have 25 years of evidence that I couldn't do it. But Doug, I can do it on my own. This time I'm really going to do it. This time I'm really, really motivated. I can do it this time. What's your response to that? Just look at the evidence. Look at all the times that it didn't work. The answer is 100% of the time it didn't work for me. There is the other piece. This was the financial investment in myself. I don't know what the term is here, but something along the lines that your heart follows your money or your heart or whatever. Focus goes where your money goes. Your focus flows where your money goes. Yeah, something along those lines. There was an investment here, but it was an investment in myself and my future. It was money well spent. Honestly, it was the best money spent in 2020 by far. It was a great way to end of the year. I chose to take on this alcohol challenge going into the holidays, which is an interesting time to say, I'm not going to have Christmas or New Year's. I was proud of myself for making the decision and running right through the holidays is part of my challenge. Doug, I'm a very private and discreet person. I don't feel comfortable sharing in a community. I want to be discreet. What would you say to that? Well, it is a discreet program. I didn't feel like my dirty laundry was aired out in any way, shape or form. There was many people in the program that were participating every day, and then there was people that were in the Project 90 program that you could tell that they weren't as comfortable participating, but I believe they were getting as much or more out of the program because I think we could call them the watchers. They were in the room and they were benefiting from everything that your program has to offer, but they may not have been as outgoing as others in the program. I mean, everybody has a different path through their 90 days, but what you see during the course of your 90 days is you see people in the beginning of the program. You see people in the middle and you see people at the end. That's the most amazing part is to watch people jumping over the finish line. It's not like maybe every once in a while somebody makes it across the finish line. It's like a regular part of this program. There's a lot of celebration when somebody makes it 90 days because there's so many people like me that don't have a 90-day streak. This has been something that people tried to tackle on their own, and there's just something special about Project 90 that gives you the support to get there. It's so cool to watch and it was so cool to be part of this community. Like I said, I felt engaged not a couple days a week, but I felt engaged in some way, shape, or form and held accountable every day. Honestly, you can look back now when you first start out, you're like, oh man, 90 days, right? I mean, that's like way in the future. I sit here today at day 98 and feel like it was yesterday when I started. It just flies by. I don't know how many people tell you this, but it's fun. I thought it was a fun journey. Thank you for sharing that. Incredible. What now, Doug?  A lot of people ask, well, what happens on day 90? What happens then? Do you just go back to drinking? Do you do moderation? Do you try to quit forever? Have you received enough training? Do you feel comfortable that you have power over alcohol now? Are you still feeling tentative? What now? Yeah, so I know that I'm going to live my life alcohol-free. I am determined to make this a lifestyle. I'll be honest, there was a point probably 60 days in where I started thinking, maybe I'll get through my 90 days and I'll, one thing I really loved, the old Doug really loved was food and wine. It was pairing food and wine and it was traveling. You and I actually had a conversation in one of our meetings and we talked about, we went through an exercise where we talked about how important is that wine with the food? We went through an exercise where you had us list all the 10 most memorable experiences in our lifetime and how many of them involved alcohol. There was only one of my 10 that involved alcohol and it was my wedding. I know for a fact it would have been better if there was no alcohol involved because I was extremely hung over. That was the connection for me to know that if my 10 best experiences don't involve alcohol, then I'm going to do life without alcohol because I want everything to be, I want to crack the top 10 list again, over and over and over and a lot of mine involved travel. And I can't wait to travel and be clear-minded and have all of this energy hopefully late into my 50s and 60s and be healthy.  But alcohol free, I can see myself doing that for sure. Doug, congratulations and thank you as well. Thank you for supporting the other members because you were always a very active participant in there and I always share it with people when they first come into our community. The fastest way to learn anything is to teach it and teaching involves just simply opening up and sharing what's going on. And I'm confident, maybe you can back me up on this, I'm confident this is not an AA group. This is not a bunch of people sitting around surrendering to a higher power and feeling powerless against something and it feels very dark and depressing at times as AA does. I've attended some meetings and experienced it firsthand. I like to think we've created an aspirational, positive, uplifting type of community here. It's a different take on it, right? It's a different take. We're getting power over alcohol in a fun, uplifting, positive, aspirational way and you certainly embodied that for sure because you always jumped in to support others. You allowed yourself to be supported, to be coached and to be trained and then you would go on to Marco Polo or in our other groups and share what you learned, which is you teaching it. So you teaching it embeds the training in your own brain as well as gives the gift of the training to someone else. So just to sum that up, congratulations and thank you. Well, thank you. Like I said, this has been an experience. It has flown by but it's not over. I'm a lifelong learner and when you speak, I'm going to continue to listen and then I'll share with others. That's just what I do. Doug Rice from Texas, Dallas Fort Worth, married father of two, retail executive and real estate investor who's today is 98 days alcohol free. Let's check in on you again in a few months and see where you are in your journey. I'd love to have you back on the show. So thanks so much, Doug and congratulations again. Awesome. Thanks, James. Thanks for listening to the alcohol free lifestyle podcast. I want to load you up with some free stuff right now. So if you want to go to jameswanick.com slash guide, I will send you my quit alcohol guide, which has helped six figure entrepreneurs and top professionals produce or quit drinking. You can also text the word quit guide to the number 44222 if you're in the US, of course. It doesn't really work anywhere outside of the US, but if you're in the US on your mobile phone and you'd like that guide, text the word quit guide to the number 44222 or you can go to jameswanick.com slash guide. If you'd like to schedule a free 15 minute call with one of my top coaches, just an exploratory call to see if or how we can help you, then you can go to jameswanick.com slash schedule or you can text the word project 90 to the number 44222 if you're listening in the US on a mobile phone. That's jameswanick.com slash schedule or you can text the word project 90. That's one word project 90 to the number 44222. Feel free to send me a direct message over on my Instagram account, which is at James Swanick. You can also watch video episodes of this podcast and a series of other educational videos on my YouTube channel, which is James Swanick one, or you can direct message me on Facebook at James Swanick official. And finally a request, would you please now write a short review of the podcast inside of the Apple podcast app on your phone or on iTunes on your desktop computer? Would you please give the show five stars and write a quick one or two sentence review? This will help the show get in front of even more listeners, potentially transforming someone's life. You can rate and review the show inside of your Apple podcast app on your phone or over on iTunes on your desktop. Thank you so much and I'll catch you next time.


Hey everybody, welcome to the Wallach Way. I'm Jessica and today's video is going to be our summer homeschool plans. Now, we technically homeschool year round and there's a few reasons for that. One is because all of us are people who thrive on having some sort of rhythm or routine and the idea of there being absolutely none would drive all of us crazy so we continue to homeschool through the summer so that we kind of keep up with our rhythm or routine because that's what we thrive on. Another reason is that it gets ridiculously hot here in Florida and so we are inside a lot anyways. Actually, we're indoors more in the summer than I would say that we are in maybe probably the fall, spring or even winter. So it seems like if you're indoors, we might as well do something like school anyway so that we can get some of it done. And then the other reason is because for us, there is never like a this is school time and this is living lifetime. For us, school and learning is life. Like we literally live a learning lifestyle and so there would never be a way for us to say, okay, we're not schooling or we're not learning for three months. That's who we are, it's what we do. So we homeschool through the summer. However, in the summer, our homeschool looks a little bit different. It's a lot more relaxed and our schedule or our routine shifts a little bit and it shifts a little bit because in Florida at least, number one, it is ridiculously hot later in the day and it's a little cooler early in the day and it's 99.9% chance of afternoon thunderstorms every single day for the entire summer. So while we're not early birds and we will never wake up at the crocodile, our school schedule shifts on its head and we try to spend like we get up and we get outside, we get in the pool, we go for a walk, we do whatever we wanna do as far as like outdoors. Then we typically don't come back in until around lunchtime, well, lunchtime for us, which would be like mid-afternoon, like I'm talking 3 p.m. And then at that point after lunch, we'll kind of like sit down and start school because the thunderstorms for the afternoon are rolling in and you can't be outside anymore anyway and it's kind of hot and humid. And so that's when we would start our morning basket, which at this point would be an afternoon basket and then we would work through whatever we were gonna do for a table time and our activities together and whatever that is. So where during the school year, we typically kind of get up and start our school day during the summer, we get up, we start our fun and then we do the school when we don't have a choice because we can't be outside anyway. So we might do some school earlier but it's very untypical for that to happen in the summer. Like I said, our day kind of flips on its head because we wanna take advantage of the weather when it's nice and when we can be outside. We also typically do a lot of review in the summer. I like to spend the summer reviewing the things that we learned the year before and to make sure that we've mastered the things that I personally wanted us to master, that Emily's got the concepts I wanted her to get, that we're not forgetting things. I don't normally introduce new concepts when it comes to math and language arts. I feel like the summer is a really great time to brush up, master the things we didn't master, review the concepts I want her to review, maybe get some fact fluency for math, maybe get a lot of reading in, those kinds of things, but I don't typically introduce new concepts. It's not that I won't, it's just not typical that that happens, at least not intentionally. So I'm gonna go ahead and show you the resources that I have for us for this summer. The two things that we'll be using kind of as a spine for the summer are the BrainQuest summer workbook from fourth into fifth to get ready for fifth grade. Now there are multiple different bridge or between workbooks or whatever you want to call them. Last year I actually reviewed three different summer workbooks, so if you're curious about maybe some of the differences, I will link that video up here for you. Emily's personal favorite is the BrainQuest one, and that's because it's a lot of fun, at least to her. It's colorful, it's lively, it's vibrant. There is a map, there's always some sort of map, but there's a map in the back of this one, and it is a way for you to put stickers as you complete different pages, and it was kind of another personal fun thing that it happens to be kind of an under the sea type of theme, this particular book in this particular year, because that is something she was super excited about and wanted to learn more about anyway. So when she saw it, she was sold. She was like, oh, yep, that's the one I want. So that is what we will be doing kind of as a spine. That's the thing we'll be doing most every day. And then the other thing I have is from Lakeshore Learning, and it's the Are You Ready for Fifth Grade Game Show. This plays a lot like Jeopardy. It has questions for math and language arts as well as challenge questions. We don't sit down and do all of the cards in one day. We typically do about four to seven cards a day from whatever category she wants to do them from. I keep the things she gets correct and incorrect separate. The ones she gets incorrect, I will kind of make a note of and make sure that we are using that as a way to review or go back to those concepts and say, okay, what can we do to make sure that we understand them? Is it things that I necessarily don't care if she learns? Is it things that she's forgotten or is it things that I didn't teach well enough? Do I need to teach it in a different way? So it's kind of a really great way to check behind myself as well as make sure that she's keeping current on the concepts that we have already learned. And I personally love that it's math and language arts and not all the subjects because to me, math and language arts are the ones I like to master. Everything else, while I like to expose her to them, I don't really require or expect mastery from her. So I love that this doesn't include anything other than that. Now for unit studies, like I said, I like to be interest based. So this is a little bit of a mixture of interest based and opportunity. We are going to be spending two weeks in the keys this summer and we are going to be doing three of the national parks, all of the national parks in Florida, but three of the national parks. So we will be using traveling the parks for that. We will be going to visit and explore Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and Dry Tortugas. So we will specifically be doing those sections out of traveling the parks so that we can learn more about the places we're gonna visit and where we're gonna be and kind of the things we wanna do and let Emily kind of figure out the cost of it and all of that. And then what she asked to learn about this summer was the ocean, so we will be using the ocean unit study for that. And I'm really, really excited for this because I learned a ton, even just writing this study. Like I've lived in Florida my entire life, we're surrounded by oceans. I really thought I knew quite a bit about the ocean and I was wrong, I learned a ton writing this. I'm excited to learn it alongside with her again this summer. I'm excited to spend a lot of time at the ocean, at the beach, have an excuse for that, going to aquariums. I just feel like summer is the perfect time to literally dive in, no pun intended there, but anyway. To the ocean and so I'm like, I can't wait. Like I'm really, really ready to start that one immediately. And then just some extras that we will be doing. Emily will be taking two online classes over the summer, one of which is her Lego class. She loves doing the Lego class. It's with Miss Bethany. They are still working through the Passports to More Adventures book so she themes them around that. So they are finishing those up this summer. I will leave all the links to everything in the description box if you wanna sign your kids up for it. It's really fun. Emily gets to build and show off what she's built, but also while they're building, Miss Bethany is constantly telling them and quizzing them about facts and history and science and just all this kind of random stuff, but it's always so much fun. Emily's always running up to us after class trying to stump us like, hey, did you know whatever it is? Cause there's always so many fun facts on it. And then the other class that she's gonna be taking is a book club on out school with Mary Hannah Wilson. We absolutely love her book clubs. And this summer, she did me a huge favor and she is actually doing books and movie book clubs, which I was thrilled because I didn't plan any this year, which is surprising. I almost always plan books for us to read that are books that have been made into movies. It's kind of a thing that we love in the summer. We like reading the book and watching the movie together as a family. And I plan none of them. I'm not even sure why I planned none. I just didn't plan any. And so when Miss Mary released her book clubs, I was like, oh, this is perfect. She did it for me. So we signed Emily up for all of the ones that we would be home for. So she's going to be doing holes, the BFG, Ella Enchanted and Percy Jackson, The Lightning Thief. So she'll do all of those. And the book clubs are meeting twice for each one of them. One week they'll discuss the book and then the following week they'll discuss the movie. So we'll still get to read the books and watch the movies together as a family. And then she'll also get to go discuss it with peers instead of just mom and dad. So I think she's really excited about that. And she loves Miss Mary's book club. So I know she's going to love that. Kevin is going to continue to do a steam with her throughout the summer. The only subscription that we have continued to get throughout the summer for them is Mel.  Now we actually are signed up for a physics subscription as well as a chemistry subscription. So we get both of these every month. So they get a chemistry and a physics each month. And so they will continue to do those throughout the summer. They absolutely love doing them. It's kind of a special time for them. And so I will pay for those all day long for them to have that special bonding time together. We will continue to also receive universal yums. This is a family favorite. It's something we've received for years since the beginning of homeschooling. We've, I literally can't think of anything else to have more fun with as a family. We've done it when friends have come over, when grandparents have come over. We love pulling it out and being like, hey, you wanna try food from wherever it's from, you know, Taiwan or Hong Kong or Europe or all these different places. It's just really, really fun. And that is one of our family night, like family night favorites. So we will definitely continue that throughout the summer. And then the last thing that we will be doing a lot of the summer is pool schooling. And I will have a video up next week for you guys of all of our favorite pool school resources. So if you wanna sneak in some pool school for your own self, like some learning while you're in the pool, stay tuned, because all of those resources will be up next week. Now, I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of our summer homeschool plans. As always, if you wanna see things a little bit more in action, try to follow me on social media, because I try to post a little more like, day to day stuff there on Instagram and Facebook. However, I will make sure that I do a day in the life this summer so you can see all of this stuff in action. So stay tuned for that. And I would love it if you would tell me down in the comments your summer plans. Are you homeschooling through the summer? Are you taking a break? And if you are doing either of those, I would love for you to tell me why or what you're doing because of it. If you're taking a break or you're going on some fun vacations, if you're gonna school through, what are you using for resources?


Aloha and welcome to Non-profits Mean Business 2. I'm your host Brandon Kenan and I'd like to tell you a little bit about our show. Our show is the shed light on the world of nonprofits here in Hawaii and the challenges that go into keeping their operating and hopefully inspiring you to find a nonprofit organization that you would like to support. With that I have the distinct pleasure of introducing Diane Paloma, the CEO of Lunalilo Home. Good afternoon. Aloha everybody. Thank you so much for having me. Well Diane, I'd like to know have you tell us a little bit about the mission of Lunalilo Home and the trust. Sure. So Lunalilo Home was established in 1883 and its mission is to honor, tend to, protect the well-being of elders. We know them as kupuna, kupuna are revered members of our society and especially in native Hawaiian culture. They are the ones who hold the ike. They hold the wisdom in their age and grace. And so we started off in the hills of Makiki and started in 1883 and it wasn't until 1927 that we came to Mauna Lua, which is also more modernly known as Hawaii Kai, in 1927. So back in 1927 and it was just fish pond, no Kalani on the Ole Highway, no Costco, no Coco Marina shopping center. And we've been there ever since. So I put my background to Lunalilo Home because it is over 100 years old. We've been here for a long time and right now we do three main programs. We do adult residential care. So we have kupuna with us 24-7 being cared for. We also have an adult daycare program, which is daycare, runs Monday through Saturday, which we are starting to reopen in the next couple of weeks and I'll talk a little bit more about that later. And then we finally have meal delivery program, which delivers hot meals to the vicinity, anywhere from east of Honolulu, from about Kaimuki to Waimanalo. And so those are three main, I'll just call them lines of businesses, for lack of a better word. And really our mission is really to be able to take care of our kupuna in ways that, you know, if people are working and you cannot, please consider us and, you know, please consider the work that we've been doing for over 137 years. Oh, that's amazing. Your background, a little bit about schools, job, something that's near to your heart also, Hula. Okay. So I started off pre-med. So I, you know, I got good grades. I thought I was going to be a physician. And then in college, organic chemistry derailed me. But then it made me also think about other healthcare avenues that didn't involve necessarily medical school or becoming a physician. And so I took on a lot of opportunities when I got my master's, ended up with a PhD in healthcare administration. And I really found other ways of incorporating health into my passion, which is Native Hawaiian culture. Yes, I am a Hula practitioner. It's kind of the foundational grounding of values that kind of permeate through all of the work that I do and communities and other boards that I serve on. And it's just been a really nice blend of my passion for Native Hawaiian health and the ability to work in the healthcare industry in Hawaii, which has so many facets and which is so unique and really different from how healthcare is done on the continental US. We have, we were the, Hawaii was the first in 1976 to have the prepaid healthcare act where businesses would offer healthcare insurance to their employees. And so over time, we've seen many, many changes in this infrastructure. And yet institutions like Queens or institutions like ours at the Nabila Home have persisted regardless of the changes in, you know, this thing called Medicare or this thing called Medicaid health insurance and all these other things that come up in healthcare. So to me, this is probably the most exciting job I've had. It's also the one with the most Kuleana with Kuleana's responsibility. Sometimes it's translated as burden, but Kuleana also translates to privilege. So I really feel it's a, it's a privilege for me to be able to enter into this industry and be able to give back to a community that has, you know, the community basically raises every child. And so how can the child give back to the community, which is what I, what I see you guys doing here with, with these sessions and with these online webinars. So thanks. Oh, that's so awesome.  You really have done quite a bit already going into this. I know that the hula, it means so very much to you as does the Hawaiian culture and being very knowledgeable in that we were, that Atlas insurance, we were privileged to have you as our speaker to kick off our year. And you sing beautifully and you really, really do, I think emulate the aloha spirit as well. I'm going to credit my credit, all my teachers for that comment. Oh, okay. I like that. No, that's so good. So how would you say that given the current situation that we're in, the COVID-19, how's that, how's that affected you guys?  That, yeah. And so that question, right, that's a loaded question of for the past three months for everybody. You know, and I, we're talking before this about how not only do I have an existing vulnerable population, but now it's even made more vulnerable because of COVID. We've had to do a lot of adjustments, a lot of changes. And in the beginning, it was much more reactive to what we knew. And of course, as everybody knew at the time, like nobody knew anything about coronavirus or how it moved, how can, I think we're looking mainly at how can we keep our kupuna safe? One of the main things we did was temporarily suspend our adult daycare, right? And part of that decision was that we realized coronavirus was in the community. And we had community members coming to our facility every day on a daily basis. And so how do I keep my residential clients safe? How do I keep the ADC clients safe? So we made the conscious decision to close our ADC. That was about three months ago. And so now we're finally in the point of trying to reopen. I think we're going to be reopening by the end of this month. However, we have had to make many modifications. In general, nursing care homes is very communal, right? So you have group activities, you have communal dining, you want that social interaction, you want the day-to-day activities of interaction with other kupuna. So that has still been maintained, but now we do it across three rooms instead of one. They don't do any communal dining together. They do it separately in different places. They're about six to nine feet apart when they're eating, which really, you know, kind of, it's a hard thing to do and hard thing to explain to someone who is closely tied to their seats. They're same four people that they eat with three meals a day. When we first implemented some of the changes, some of the kupuna were like, where's my seat? My seat is right here and there's no chair there. What's going on, right? And we're like, oh, well, Auntie, we had to move your chair over because you got to keep a little bit more distance from each other. And they're like, okay, but my chair is supposed to go here. Why is it not here? So that was, you know, a little bit of learning curve for kupuna, but pretty soon they got used to it. They're really kind of more adaptable than we think we are, I think. And in a way, I think it's one other way that we can keep them safe and still keep their regular schedule and the normal day-to-day activities without too much disruption, right? They still watch TV. We still have activities. We just have to do those activities ourselves because our volunteers have not been able to return back. We hope that they'll be able to come back at some point, but not sure what that means quite yet about having external people who are out in the community come in. We had probably about 300 plus volunteers throughout the year in terms of group activities, church services, regular social visits, even things like activities, flower arrangements. I mean, every single activity we had was pretty much led by volunteer groups. I'll say the ones that I miss the most are the school groups. Having youth and kids around is really an energy boost. It's exhausting sometimes, too, with my own kids. And it's really making us think about how we provide that level of touch and care and nurturing while we're masked up. They can't see our faces. We're always gloved when we are caring for them. And I think that human nature, that human touch, is what I feel has been the hardest to kind of disavow when you have a virus that you have no idea what it's going to do. So, anyways, I'm sorry for being so long in my answer, but many, many, many changes. I'm like, what hasn't changed for all of us in the past three months. Yeah. Well, the good news is, too, is you have some, I believe, you have some raised gardens there. That was something that you implemented and it allows, you know, you can talk a little bit about that. I'm sure that gives them some fresh air and some ability to get out and about. Oh, yeah. So, luckily, we have a five-acre property. And so while we're close to visitors, the kupuna can still go into the garden. The gardens, I will say, have been phenomenal in transforming not just the, you know, the atmosphere and the activities at the home, but they've also been really big in contributing to our meal delivery and our meal program. We started that off maybe about a year and a half ago, just wondering what we could grow, because I always think Hawaii is super dry and arid. But really, it's pretty fertile. And we found that you can yield a lot of vegetables, which we use in our meals and our meal delivery. With COVID, our meal deliveries have exponentially taken off. Yeah.  So where we did an average of about 1000 meals out of our kitchen per month. That was like January, February. In May, we just did 6,700 out of our kitchen. And so, you know, we're thinking, okay, yes, it's great that we can provide this need to the community in terms of meal delivery. We have a great partnership with Hawaii Meals on Wheels, Office of Hawaiian Affairs has come in. Hawaii Community Foundation has helped us out tremendously. But we're also wondering, we realize that that is, you know, that's a temporary emergency fund. And what happens to kupuna once those funds are gone?  What do we do when the COVID money runs out, and we're all okay and stable now? But when that happens, does that mean they just go back to grocery shopping? Does it mean they don't need the meals anymore? So we are in talk with communities now to be able to try and figure out, you know, before it happens, what do we do to service that need? No, that's good to be planning ahead. What about donations? Like right now, there's a lot of food that's being donated to the communities from various organizations. Is that something that you are receiving that you would like to receive? Yeah. Yeah. So we have been really grateful and thankful to be the recipients of food from Aloha Harvest. So this is a funny story. In the beginning of the year, our gardens were so abundant with vegetables, we had reached out to organizations like the Food Bank and Aloha Harvest to say, you know what, if we have this, if we have this extra vegetables, can we give them to you and can you help us distribute them? And little did we know that, you know, honestly, like three weeks after that meeting, we would be the ones on meeting that food and meeting those donations. We also had some food box drops for our employees because we realized, okay, we didn't necessarily want them having to go to the grocery store multiple times per week to pick up food for dinner. So that was so tremendously helpful. And I think when people, when the community gives to us, we feel the added need and kuleana to give it right back to the community, right? So you give us food, okay, so how can we push out better meals for you? If you give us, you know, donations, how do we utilize that to increase the activity for kuleana? So things like that, it just kind of motivates us to do more, which is what I think we need here in Hawaii now. You know, that's, that really speaks to your passion and your sense of community. And I will say that, you know, I am fortunate to participate in Polo Valley and through another nonprofit that I get a chance to be a part of. And yeah, you know, that was the whole impetus for this show and everything was to try to coordinate effort and try to help each other out in this situation. I got to tell you, Hawaii is just an amazing place. And we have shown that in these times more than anything. And I think it's bringing our communities back together. So what kind of changes, well, we talked a little bit about that. So what are some of the current projects that you have in the works? And what are some of the projects you hope to achieve in the next several years? So that's a great question, right, because it changes almost weekly with the COVID changes. What I think really, and I'm sure not just our business is looking at it, but all nonprofits and all businesses is how do we financially sustain our organization so that we can continue the jobs for our employees? We can continue the services that we provide? It's, I mean, it's a tremendous task to be able to care for Kupuna. And how do we do that during a crisis when, you know, like 25%, almost 30% unemployment in Hawaii? That's going to be probably our main focus for a while is the financial sustainability.  I would also say that our next plan is looking at how do we optimize our effectiveness and how do we expand our outreach, right? So, yes, we're locked in by 42 beds. Yes, we're locked in by probably a finite amount of meals that we can deliver. But how do we reach more Kupuna? Because we know that the ones that we serve are not the only ones that are in need. It's the constant dilemma of this infinite need and finite resources, right, that most nonprofits are always dealing with, like, do we find extramural funding, do we rent a grant, do we do all these other things, do we fundraise even more, have a big gala? Those are the kinds of projects I think that generally the home is going to be seriously looking at and being able to say, okay, how do we sustain this model in an environment that is been up, upheaved and overturned and, you know, kind of laid out flat smack on its back. What, you know, do we have the same model going forward? And I think it's really pushing us to challenge ourselves is that if this model doesn't work, we change whether or not we have the desire to or not. I think we have to change, we have to modify. And I know that everybody is facing those same questions too. How do you change restaurants? How do you change bars? How do you change visitor industry? How do you change hotels? All of those things that we just kind of take for granted in the past are now kind of like, holy smokes, we got to get this together and we got to get it together quick before, you know, the temporary emergency funds that are sustaining us now, when they run out, what happens? So that's kind of what I foresee.  You know, kupuna want to stay in their communities. They want to stay close and connected to families. Why wouldn't we try and have a LunarLila Home or meal delivery start on the west side? Why not on the neighbor island? Because not like kupuna are only located on Oahu either. So I'm trying to think a little bit more statewide and serving our native Hawaiian kupuna and all the other kupuna that have grown up here in Hoi and have really big contributions to make and to have a place for working families, right? This is a high expensive place to live. And so when you have the added burden of caring for kupuna while raising children, it's another layer that, you know, local residents have to consider. And I'm trying to think of what my role through LunarLila Home would be in that mix, right? What kind of care could I provide for them that would keep them working, keep them paying for tuition for their kids, supporting their families and almost reducing the burden of kupuna care for individuals so that they can make their living? You know, that's what, you know, and I said this in the beginning before the show started was that's what makes you so perfect for the role that you play is I recall you mentioning as our keynote speaker that, you know, King LunarLila actually was one of the largest property holders in the state of Hawaii. And that his, here's a guy who was going to leave his entire estate, if you will, to his people, people he would never meet, people he would never know. The generosity in that concept. Oh, good job. You were listening on that presentation. You know, I got to say, I was so impressed with you when you, the way you, like I say, you just, you emulate that beautiful aloha spirit and really does live here in Hawaii and it does live inside of all of us who choose to embrace that. And I think you're wanting to bring that same level of passion and service to the outer islands that that's just, that's exactly what King LunarLila would have wanted you to do. And there you are doing exactly that. I'm just, you know, I just think you're amazing. I do. I'm so glad to have you on this show. And you're and so you are correct.  And yeah, we have only five acres left of that. And that and our five acres currently is not the actual original property, just the five acres was a donated property over time. So yes, it's a it's a little bit of a hard history. But what I feel is that I'm here as one sliver of a long legacy that is LunarLila home. And so if I can make the incremental improvements now, then we'll be here for another 137 years, and we'll be here in perpetuity. Right. So that's what I think he really foresaw in that in the future for his people. And not very many people think that way in today's society. And so while I while I say it's unique, I think it's also very characteristic of of Hawaii of the way we we think here. We have limited resources, you know, we're in the middle of the Pacific, which is a real advantage right now I'd say during COVID. I would agree. Yeah. And we have to find ways of working together in order to survive. So that's how it's been. That's how it'll be. And I think will will be the most resilient one. And I gotta prove it to the world. We most certainly will. And I, you know, I believe that there are no coincidences. So you're obviously a very important part of this whole process moving forward. And it was by no coincidence that you were prepared for this position.  I know we're coming into some of the final minutes, we have about three minutes left. I know that you normally hold a couple of fundraisers every year to support Lunalito home. Do you have, what is your plan to manage the shortfall or what how? Yeah, talk a little bit about that. Oh, every year we're really well known for our Lunalilo home annual benefit Luau, which happens around his birthday, which is around birthday January 31. So we did have that Luau just before COVID hit. So I cannot say how thankful I am for that. But going forward, we had to cancel a couple of, we call them moonlight, mele, benefit dinners under the chiave tree. It's a backyard dinner. That's just, you know, kind of magical utilizing the plant from our garden. We also had to cancel our golf tournament, which is every July. So yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure everybody is in the same way, hurting in that same sense. What we have been doing is writing more grants and looking for extramural funding. And we have been accepting wonderful donations. So when people hear our story, we are really thankful for the donations that come in through our website. And you can donate at Lunalilo.org. And really trying to find ways of having virtual fundraisers, which I realize is probably harder than having the actual fundraiser itself. And just we're trying to strategize what everybody else is doing so that we're not tapping the same people at the same time for the same resources. And really just trying to look at what large gatherings of people will look like. So our annual luau usually has 400 people. We don't think that's going to be able to be possible next January, especially if there's no vaccine. I mean, it's in the middle of flu season. So really, we've been relying heavily on independent donations, which we truly appreciate. They do go to work. Oh, yeah. So how can our listeners support your mission at Lunalilo Home? They can visit us. Lunalilo.org is our website. And we have the ability to be able to donate online. You can give us a call. We also have on our website a wish list of items that are highly used that we accept in a donation box. So we do have a donation box. And you can give us a call at 395-1000, really easy number to remember with any questions or contributions that they can make. Very good. Though that's amazing. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day for us today and giving us a little bit more information about what's going on over at Lunalilo Home and how we can best support you and help you out. I'm glad you have a web page link. And I would like to talk to you a little bit as well at some point in the near future about what we can maybe coordinate after this. Yeah, great. And my email is Diane at Lunalilo.org for those people who ask questions, but we maybe didn't have time to connect with, always interested in hearing from your viewers too about collaborations or things that we can do to help you guys. Outstanding. Really appreciate your time today. And of course, we'll meet once again, no doubt about it. Yes, face to face. Thank you. Yes, I know, right? Enjoy your afternoon. Thank you so much. Aloha, everybody. Thank you. Thanks so much, Brandon.


Watch it from the highlands to the cover it with green grass, dense forests, lush fields, and great pastures. Cloak it with natural beauty. Build cities and towns along the wooded slopes, and you have the Valley of the Mississippi, the greatest in the world. This is the Valley of the Giant. Our nation is drained by many large streams. But the largest by far is the Mississippi. The outlet for water from an area of one and a quarter million square miles. The Mississippi drains water from 31 of the states and two Canadian provinces. Waters from West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all find their way to the Mississippi. Winding their way through the alluvial valley, an area subject to floods without protective engineering works. This valley begins just below Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and extends to the Gulf of Mexico. The lower Mississippi carries the combined discharge of the Missouri, the Ohio, and the upper Mississippi. And in the lower valley, the waters of the St. Francis, the White, the Arkansas, the Washington, the Red, and the Yazoo. From rivulets and creeks, from brooks and bayous, the waters come, flowing into larger streams. Down these into the Mississippi and a headlong wash to the sea. South from Carroll, past Memphis, Vicksburg, and Natchez. Past great steel bridges linking the east with the west. South past Baton Rouge to deep water, great valley to the port of New Orleans. Through the passes to the sea, the city is a thing of beauty. This is the river of Mark Twain, a paddle wheel steamer. The river of the Kews boat in the log ramp. This is the river of romance, of laughter, and of tears. Paddle wheels can be heard over the broad waters of the river. You can hear the steady, powerful plumb of twin screw diesels. Today, the Mississippi carries more peacetime tonnage than ever before in our history. From caro to Baton Rouge, the products transported by water each year would fill more than 300,000 freight cars. And each year, between New Orleans and the mouth of the passes to the sea, enough tonnage is moved to fill a freight train almost 6,000 miles long. The Mississippi is one of the most important of our national assets. The strong arm of a widespread inland waterway system, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with the upper Mississippi, linking the Great Lakes to the seven seas. During the war, the existence of this waterway made it possible for us to build fighting ships hundreds of miles from our vulnerable oceanside shipyards. Maintenance of a safe navigation channel is a big job. Upriver, dust-pan-type dredges are used to remove dangerous sandbars. These giant machines help keep the channel open so traffic can move in safety. From caro to Baton Rouge, a 9-foot depth has been maintained, and a 12-foot depth is authorized for deep-draft barges and steamers. A depth of 35 feet is maintained at all times from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico so that deep-draft ocean vessels can make an easy passage to the lower river ports. Lower river cutterhead dredges work around the clock and 365 days a year, digging and pumping, eating away great mouthfuls of dirt, cutting and filling, changing the river's course. Road use and manufactured goods consigned to all parts of the world pass through the busy ports on the lower Mississippi. Because of the open channel, great ships move down river, bound for Antwerp and Naples, London and Liverpool. Because of safe navigation, long tolls travel along the broad Mississippi and its many tributaries. Iron and steel southward from the east and midwest. Salt, sulfur and petroleum products north to the great markets of the midwest and the east. But sometimes the giant gets out of control. Sometimes the rich valley lies helpless, defenseless against great floods which leave terror and destruction in their wake. Rain storms to the north, to the east, to the west and the waters of the small and tributaries rush to join each other at the head of the valley. And the giant stormed down the valley in his greatest fury. Crops could not be planted. Bewildered livestock sought refuge on un-topped parts of the valley because of lives were lost. Rail transportation was disrupted.  Thousands of people were left homeless and destitute. Refugee camps were established to cope with this national disaster. Concerning this crisis, the Congress of the United States passed the Flood Control Act of 1928. An act which was designed to permit the federal government to unify the control programs which had already been undertaken. The Army engineers were instructed to develop and put into effect an overall plan for controlling the floods which for years had been stripping the valley of its great wealth. The broad flood control plan was no overnight accomplishment. It took years of careful planning and exhaustive investigation. Specially trained engineers mapped and studied the Mississippi and its tributaries. Measure the valley of the giant for size and cut the control pattern accordingly. The program is based on a flood greater than any of the valley has ever known. Greater than the record flood of 1927. Let's superimpose this flood on the valley and see how the engineers plan to take care of it. Here are the features of the master plan. Thousands of miles of levees have been built. Long earth walls along the stream to hold back the overflow. Dams have been built. Giant bulwarks to hold flood water until it can be safely released. Floodways have been built. Auxiliary channels to divert water flow when the giant storms down the valley again to align the channel and to help lower flood stages. Cutoffs have been made. And where the river is migrated dangerously, revetments have been laid to protect farmlands and threatened levees. In the great alluvial valley flood control reservoirs have been built. Others are under construction on tributary streams. Today the Mississippi has been walled in by levees. The West Bank levee line begins just below Cape Gerardo and except for gaps where tributaries join the main river extends unbroken almost to the Gulf of Mexico. The East Bank is protected by levees alternating with high bluffs. Diversion of excess flow is provided by the bird's point new bad rid floodway. Iboni carries spillway and floodway is in the achapalaya basin. These are the essential features of the master plan. 3,500 miles of levee have been built along the Mississippi and its tributaries. A big job and one that requires much more than merely piling up earth. The samples of the soil on which the levee will rest are taken by field parties and brought to the district soils laboratory for analysis. Here delicate machines measure the physical properties of the soil. Each of the samples is analyzed. The results are compiled and studied allowing the research engineer to pass on valuable information to the designers. In the field the site is surveyed and state. Then bulldozers clear the way for the levee. Belling free. Grubbing stump so that bigger machines can go to work. Drag lines are widely used especially when the borrowed pit is located close to the levee embankment. Machines are used where the borrowed pit is some distance from the embankment. Uncontracted sections such as this are typical of levees constructed immediately after the passage of the 1928 act when speed and quantity were the governing factors in building levees. These machines can dump 20 tons of dirt into the levee in one load. Farther away from the scene of actual construction, drag lines dig dirt from selected pits and load hauling equipment. Equipment moves continuously from pit to levee and back again. In the levee site the wagons dump their load, 40,000 pounds each. In the big bulldozers, dress the newly deposited fill to the design form. This is the way levees are built today where compaction is the prime factor. During construction engineer survey parties check the work to make sure each phase is finished to conform with contract specifications. And high standards are required. Sodding the slopes with tough bermuda grass is the final step. It prevents erosion. The grass grows quickly and forms a protective cover against high water. Mark Twain called the Mississippi the crookedest river in the world. And crooked rivers mean high flood stages. Navigating these bends is slow business for water as well as for boats. In the early 30s the engineers began a systematic straightening of the river. 16 cutoffs were made between Memphis and Baton Rouge and 170 miles were cut out of the river. This new channel was straighter and the floor of water through it was straighter. With the result that the flood crest at Arkansas City was lowered by 14 feet. And the best way to loosen soil is to blast it with dynamite. Monitor jets are used to wash down material from the bank. This makes the dredging job easier. Dredges work in pairs while making a cutoff working through the neck of land toward each other. The dredge material is carried through a long flexible pipeline to a point well downstream. At the other end of a cut the other dredge eats its way through working steadily toward its mate. The cut is not carried completely through. A small section called a plug is left in place. Later when conditions are right the plug is blasted. The higher water above the gap flows swiftly downstream. The banks of a pilot cut are quickly eaten away and the river soon adopts its newer and shorter course. The Mississippi is a meandering river. Meandering rivers cave their banks and present a menace to nearby levees, farms and industrial areas. These caving banks present the engineer with one of his most perplexing problems. The soft soil through which the Mississippi flows is easily eroded, allowing the river to migrate in long loops through the valley. In a lower valley revetments are used to protect the levees. The first step in revetment construction is to grade the rough bank with drag lines mounted on barges. The bucket digs into the steep bank and flattens its slope carrying the material down into the stream. When the rough operation is completed more machines begin the final grading operation several hundred feet into the stream and make a subject to wave action. This prevents leaching of soft clay and silt through the revetment. Self is made up of flexible mat sections. Modern production line techniques are employed. The first step is to lay down a paper separator. The wire mat acts as a reinforcing fabric. Then slotted steel forms are laid and the fabric is drawn up into the slots and the forms are locked. Before concrete is poured the forms are sprayed with oil to keep them from sticking when the concrete is removed. Here is an open air assembly line, a fleet of mixer crux which moves down the forms filling them with concrete. Then follow the machines to finish the sections. Each man on this job walks ten miles during his eight hour day. Finished units are then stockpiled in the field and left to cure. Finished units are carried on barges to the site of revetment construction. Here they are assembled on the platform of a sinking bar. Change lift the units and swing them onto the wave. Then the workers slide them on rollers into the required position. Each unit is securely attached to its mate. Then the entire section is launched to form one continuous mattress. The concrete mattress extends from slightly above the water line beyond the deepest part of the channel. In many cases these revetment mattresses are more than 600 feet long. When the protective mattress has been lowered to the river floor the cables are cut. Then the assembly barge moves upstream to place a new section. This is a highly specialized operation. It requires special equipment which can only be used in this type work. Much river work is done by private contractors under the supervision of the engineer corps. But this operation is done by the corps itself with hired labor. Conveyor carries the asphalt cement sand mixture from the floating asphalt bay to dump their loads into steel sleds behind a layer of un-contacted sand asphalt. The concrete mattress completes the revetment which is now ready to help guide the course of the river. The master plan goes forward. When the giant river awaits to begin its headlong rush to the sea these massive walls will stand as a bulwark to protect the valley. Agriculture will flourish unharmed and the people of the valley will prosper. Cities formally ravaged by flood will grow stronger under the protection of the great levees. An industry can now safely bring its factories to the banks of the river which holds new promise for the valley and the nation.


Russian deputies and senators were instructed to blame the U.S. for conflict between Hamas and Israel. State Duma deputies and members of the Federation Council of Russia were advised to comment with restraint on the military conflict between Hamas and Israel. They should repeat the words of Vladimir Putin that the blame for the new war in the Middle East lies with the United States. Parliamentary sources told Vestka media outlet Putin himself reacted to the conflict that broke out only on the fourth day after it began. I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failure of the policy of the United States in the Middle East, which tried to monopolize the settlement, but unfortunately was not concerned with finding compromises acceptable to both sides. Putin said during negotiations with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Soudani, after this the leadership of the State Duma and the Federation Council began to instruct deputies and senators how they should comment on what was happening. According to sources, parliamentarians were advised to show restraint not to support either side, but at the same time condemn the United States, which is fueling conflicts in the Middle East. Separately deputies and senators should focus on Russians who moved to Israel after the start of the war in Ukraine and support Kiev, the sources noted the same instructions could have been given to other officials.