Day 118 – WOOT! WOOT! I’m 32. And I feel it.
The day didn’t start out great. I’m definitely feeling my age now. I hit the gym first thing this morning, and while pushing a giant tractor trailer tire across the gym, I felt an urgent need to puke. So I ran to the restroom, puked my guts out and headed home. I got home, opened the door, fell to the floor in the foyer and slept for a little over an hour. Yep, I literally passed out in the foyer of my home.
I think its exhaustion. I don’t feel real sick, but I haven’t slept well in days. I have some really major decisions to make in the coming days and its starting to weigh on me.
Honestly, I have a real knack for stress. I’m able to tolerate and perform under tense situations better than most people I know. It’s one of the only natural talents I have. God didn’t give me great looks, a massive brain, the ability to play instruments or a body for sports. He did give me two unique traits: the abilities to screw with people and to handle stress. I think that’s why I’m so good at politics =)
Luckily my iPhone alarm went off telling me that I was late for a Thad Viers conference call, so I picked myself up off the floor, did the call, showered and headed to the Liberty Summit.
The Liberty Summit is a great annual event hosted by Liberty Fellowship, a non-partisan group of the state’s top thinkers. Entrepreneurs, political leaders and civic leaders between the ages of 30 – 45 fill their member roles. Just over 150 South Carolinians are members of the elite club and over 1,000 people attend the summit. I was nominated last year, but I did not get in. I really hope to get in over the next couple years.
This year Walter Isaacson, author of the new Steve Jobs bio, was the keynote speaker. He spoke about the need to break down tribal walls to solve problems, which is what we did in our breakout sessions. I requested the education breakout to tackle South Carolina’s rural poverty issues.
Last year I had a lot of fun in the public policy breakout that handled government restructuring, but since then, I’ve become fascinated with the ways technology can be used to fix South Carolina’s education ills in economically depressed areas. Specifically, I think we now have the technology to put the best teachers in the world in every classroom while getting kids more engaged both in the classroom and at home. More on that later, because it will take a while.
Anyway, I was a bit disappointed. My breakout team turned in the unfortunate direction most folks turn – dump more money on a broken system. Sure, money is part of the solution, but dumping more money on the same broken system isn’t going to solve anything. We must create a new system utilizing technology, reallocate the money we have already provided and then figure out if we need more. But like I said, more on that later.
Next came Pub Politics. I rushed home, put on my tuxedo for the evening’s Junior League Christmas Market Preview Party and then rushed to Pub Politics, making it just before going live at 6. Here’s the episode:
This one was great. The venue was fantastic. The guests were awesome. And I got red velvet cupcakes and presents!!!
And then the Junior League Party. Elizabeth is a very active Junior Leaguer and over the past week she has been very busy helping throw this big annual event. By the time we got to the event, my exhaustion was starting to set in again. Like every year, I had a blast, but I was walking around like a zombie.
Nope, that’s not my wife. That’s Amanda Loveday, Executive Director of the South Carolina Democratic Party. See, Phil Bailey isn’t my only Democratic friend.
Whew, it was a busy birthday.
- Wesley Donehue
PS – If you can’t find humor in this, then there is just something wrong with you. Ape shit! HA!!
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