Sterling Consulting Group

The days of SCG are finally over.
It was very short, very disappointing and very wrong from the very beginning.
R.I.P.

Burek naš svagdašnji

Trip Home - Day 8

- Kemo woke me up at 1am than I had to wake him up at 1:30am; Izet was there on time
- no problem on the way to Zagreb; we talked all along; Fatima made us sandwiches and coffee
- nice, uneventful flight to Copenhagen, but then couple of glitches at Kalstrup (had to walk back and forth couple of times) and their security took away my hair moose
- flight on SAS to Newark was much nicer than the previous one but felt too long (I guess I was too tired and eager to get back home)
- long lines at airport customs and luggage check
- and finally...

Trip Home - Day 7

- few times I've been trying to find and get in touch with Mr. Smajic (one of my fathers best buddies) but no cigar; Kemo, Halima and guys at Caco's caffee all helped; he is hard to get
- Faruk has a very convenient set-up: his house, office and his coffee shop are all in one building; it was nice seeing him again
- Kemo and I took a nice little walk through Dragovac and over to Potklecje: amazing views of the surrounding hills; I had picked some blackberries and an apple, oh my..., that taste brought back some memories
- returned key to Stefo; he will have someone look into the bathroom leak
- had a last lunch of grah at Avlija
- went to Bozo and Danica for coffee and to say good bye
- at Art caffee met with Robie; waiter screwed me up for km1.50 on a km3.00 bill..., what an asshole..., felt like telling Robie I'll never get back there
- said good bye to both Roberto and Zdena; they gave me some old pictures
- went over to Hasan for dinner of chicken burger; man, can he talk; I like him anyway- he is not Bosnjak, he is Bosanac just like the rest of us

Trip Home - Day 6

- breakfast of burek and yogurt at Dzeni's and then cappuccino and mineral water at Caco's Art Caffe (this was pretty much my every day routine
- on the way to Lovacki met Jovica and Edo for a few minutes; about 100ft further up met Begaca...
- spent couple of hours with Kemo talking about his dilemma's
- went to Danica for lunch: veal cutlet, mashed potatoes, garden salad and home made "shape"; checked Zagreb hotels and taxis to compare with Izet's offer: he is somewhat cheaper and also much more convenient
- Kemo and I went to Krivaja to sit down with Izet and iron out the deal; teta Bahra was there: she looks pretty good as usual; her and Fatima kept saying how good I looked
- Falja caught up with me on our way back from Krivaja making sure I got his gift: what a beautiful soul
- Went to Longo with Daba who I found in front of Post Office
- Sok was already sitting there raising his arms as he saw me entering; he purposly had Buddy Guy playing for me; we had fun
- I ordered 7pc cevapi from Hasan Kadic who could not recognize me but knew a lot about me and my family; he promised he would say hello to his brother Sejko
- Darko Gakic came along little later; he had hard time recognizing me even after I gave him bunch of clues; finally had to tell him: he was surprised
- Menso is also looking for an apartment for his son

Trip Home - Day 5

- slept good for the first time; did not even hear muyezin
- went to the church with Robie and obtained some info on Bosanski Brod; gave 50km for the cemetery
- spent afternoon with Kemo;
- on our way to Lovacki I saw Jovica siting in front of Monaco drinking a glass of white wine; he did not believe it was me at first
- at Lovacki met Vera; I called out "Stara!" and she immediately turned around; was so excited to see me
- Irena recognized me almost immediately
- Eda works at the Post Office; looks the same but older
- had a good beans 'n' meat lunch at Avlija
- Samir Siljin took me home on his way from work for coffee, juice and a corn on a cob - beautiful people him and his wife; they might have their daughter and her husband rent our place
- whole family got together at Danica's
- Kemo called; his brother in law wanted 250km to take me to the airport
- Mujo finally called; I had to leave dinner to meet him at Lovacki at around 9:15pm; chatted for a couple of hours (mostly he did); I had a bad case of heartburn because of Danica's cucumber salad... (delicious, buy the way)

Trip Home - Day 4

- met Samir (Kemo's brother) going downstairs this morning; I don't think he knew who I was and I had a hard time figuring out who he was
- Sisko was very happy to see me; feeling was definitely mutual; his wife Nada died few years back from brain tumor; he still looks the same, just older as all of us; lives alone, retired
- visited cemetery with Robie; it was beautiful, surreal
- Edo Mandic; I did not know he owns a flower shop at which I stopped by; his wife (whom I did not know) all of a sudden called him as he was pulling out of the parking lot; I rink an out and turned him around; he was so pleased...
- went to the ranch and saw two women sitting in the shade; ordinary village folk; one's daughter is renting there; they made some turkish coffee chatted for awhile; very pleasant
- Namik did not recognize me at first (said I had lost weight) but was extremely excited to see me; will e-mail me some old pictures of tennis
- spent most of the afternoon at Lovacki with Kemo talking about life and his problems with his first girlfriend Teda
- Smajo walked into Lovacki; it was nice seeing him again; he was very happy to see me; remembered my little thing at beechbrook and his "enemies" (made me feel good); his wife is in a progressive stage of Alzheimer's
- Soraja asking about Marina
- Viki at Caco's: semi official little chat
- aunt Zdena was extremely happy to see me; I was treated to a dinner of all home made and home grown stuff; amazing!!!
- Nedzad Kadic (Kadija); extreme professional; knew me as an intellectual, musician, professional and an all around well groomed person (his words)
- Falja: knew more than I ever thought about me; was very grateful about me advertising his work etc...

Trip Home - Day 3

- Sudo is unemployed, disenchanted and has bad teeth; drinks apple brandy for living
- Niko looks olderand walks with cane; had a cup of turkish coffee and ca. 2 hours of superb conversation on life
- had delicious satarash and chicken at Danica's
- another couple of hours of very engaging conversation with Kemo at Longo's
- problem with bus ride back to Zagreb: 7am and 3:30pm only which means I would have to stay in a hotel in Zagreb Monday night
- nice little chat at Kemo & Camila's place
- did not sleep much last night: stray dogs kept barking all night and hodzha kept praying
- super burek kod Sade
- Begaca did not recognize me; did not seem too excited to see me

Trip Home - Day 2

- met teta Stefica in the hallway on my way up; looks older but very good; recognized me right away ("Gdje si Miro lutko moja?")
- Stefo looks the same; very organized, helpful
- apartment looks run-down
- Kemo posti; u penziji; kaze fino mu
- Samir Susic never stops talking; very intelligent; Don Quixote
- Rabija: no pension for me; BH law: 20 years minimum or buy out
- Robie works around the clock; said he will help me
- cevabdzinica Kobra: could be better (cevapi oversized, lepinja supersized, yoghurt minisized)
- met Daba, Berta at Caco's; nice as always
- Sok at Longo: "Is that Mr. Miro Glavic's voice from around the corner?"; Daba, Robie and Crlja joined us

Trip Home - Day 1

- U.S. security took away shaving cream and toothpaste at the airport
- never to fly SAS again (too cramped and I vomited everything I ate)
- Copenhagen airport: small, nice (wood floors), bathroom stinks
- Zagreb: hot; everybody smokes, everywhere!!! No a/c at the bus terminal; sandwich - one italian sub with one slice ham and cheese each...
- bus to Zavidovici: driver smokes; no a/c; kid behind me kept screaming; two old bitches talking loud non stop; Biljana and her son Nenad (said I looked like Harrison Ford) nice people.
- Bozo and Danica look good, very happy to see me

Perpetuum Mobile

Short of discovering or creating one ourselves, we will have to get satisfied with this thing we call among other things universe, mother nature or simply life.

Wisconsin

Is this about the problems our government has with never ending budget balancing or is it about the government of the people, by the people and for the people having issues with those same people?
How difficult can it be to balance one's budget? We all do it. Everyday. All of us, individually. Regardless of our individual level of education and sophistication we all know that you can't spend more than you make, and that takes care of it. Our government, apparently is not capable of doing the job we gave them our confidence to do. They simply blame their predecessors and then, they just pass the ever growing imbalance onto their successors. And that's how we got here. And that's been going on for a long time now and nobody is willing to go back and find that "first guy" who started it all. And, honestly, it wouldn't matter one bit, at this point.
Or is it maybe that for political reasons, they saw it more profitable not to balance the budget? It is whole lot easier to just blame their constituents for it instead? Yes, constituents. Us. In a progressively speeding vicious tricycle of "of, by and for the people" we the people vote for our political representatives who are only on our side during the process of being elected. And as soon as they do (get elected), the tune gets changed and we the people become the most expendable part of the whole process. Now they want Wisconsin taxpayers to pay for their (politicians') mistakes. And it's not that they will have to pay financially, by increased taxes and their standard of living being lowered. They will pay for it by giving up (or loosing) some of their democratic rights: right to get and stay organized and keep the democracy alive.
Democracy is the rule of the people through it's representatives. Once those representatives turn against those they represent, democracy becomes dictatorship.
And that's not what America is all about.