A few weeks before we graduated from Cornell, my friend Paul Osenar approached me after class. “I’m cycling cross country after graduation. Do you want to join me?” My first thought was “That’s insane!” My second thought was “I’m in.”
I called my best friend from high school, Peter Aquilone, who I knew would be crazy enough to join us. He was in too.
When I told my parents of our plans, however, they were not happy at all. “All of those years of hard work for you to die by the side of the road!” my father exclaimed. Now that I’m a parent, I can totally understand where he was coming from, but at the time, I thought he was being completely ridiculous. “I’m not going to die,” I assured him, “and I’m doing it.”
It took me, Pete, and Paul 45 cycling days to complete the journey. And none of us died by the side of the road (although Pete died unexpectedly in his sleep at age 34, but that is another story).
Back at the bodega in Brooklyn, where my father and uncles worked, you could hear my father strike up conversations with every customer who walked by the vegetable aisle that summer: “Guess what my son just did!”
This past Tuesday marked the 13-year anniversary of my father’s death. He died from lung cancer, with my mom, sister, and me by his bedside. On Tuesday, I cycled 100 miles in his memory. I wasn’t planning to ride a century, but at mile 68 I could have turned left to go home or turn right to do 32 more miles. I really wanted to go home. However, the added effort and discomfort of riding 32 more miles (2 more hours) was nothing compared to what my father went through. I’m glad I turned right.
Cancer sucks.
And so does Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), which is another reason I rode on Tuesday. As many of you know, together with my Logistics Leaders for T1D Cure teammates, I ride in support of JDRF to help us get closer to a cure for T1D — for my daughter Hannah and everyone living with T1D.
Today, I have a small ask: Thanks to our sponsors, it doesn’t cost you anything to access the posts and videos we publish on Talking Logistics. But if you enjoy and get value from our content, please consider making a tax-deductible donation in support of our LL4T1DCure team and JDRF. Any amount is greatly appreciated because every dollar gets us closer to a cure.
Thank you for listening.
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Talking Logistics will be on hiatus next week for our summer break. If you miss us, you can watch some of our past episodes until we come back on August 16. Now, here’s the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week:
- Where Did All the Shipping Containers Go? (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Federal Maritime Commission Questions Shipping Lines About Surcharges
- ASEAN supply chains disrupted as delta variant surges (Nikkei Asia)
- A.P. Moller-Maersk acquires Visible SCM, an E-commerce Fulfillment and parcel delivery company
- Amazon’s new programmes give returned and unsold inventory new life
- Amazon faces more than slowing sales growth: it needs more warehouses (Reuters)
- E2open and Vizient Announce Strategic Relationship to Establish a Supply Chain Resiliency Platform for Member Health Systems
- Leaf Logistics Launches Leaf Adapt to Help Shippers Navigate the Transportation Market with a Forward-Looking View
- TuSimple and Ryder Partner to Expand Nationwide Autonomous Trucking
Have a happy week! See you on August 16!
Song of the Week: “Get Up” by R.E.M.
