Page 54 - March-2015-Life-in-Naples-Magazine

politipcostapndourri
Lby Councilman Bill Barnett
ast month I made the statement that I was going to try
and run my eighth consecutive Naples Daily News Half
Marathon on January 18th. I exuded a lot of confidence in
that article, but I sure didn’t feel much of it on race day. It was a
beautiful morning, 63 degrees, and over 2300 runners competing.
I was running with two very good friends of mine, Patrick
O’Connor, a local realtor who does this race with me every year
and every year I tell him not to wait for me because he is much
faster than I am. His answer is always
the same, “Bill, I enjoy your company
don’t worry about it.”
My other friend David Fralick who
works for the City decided three weeks
before the race that he was going to do
it and texted me and asked me if he
could run with me that day. Long story
short he had never run a half marathon
before; he is not a runner, and everyone too many that I know of! It’s nice to see there are still some first-
he told that he was going to do it told
him the same thing, “No way David,
you’ll never finish.”
His determination won out and on race day the three of us
started together. At the three-mile marker Patrick and I thought
David was finished as he stopped at the first rest station and told
us he would catch up to us. He did, and at the eleven-mile marker
I was running out of steam and knew that the next two miles were
going to be a challenge for me to finish. Patrick was chatting away
and he knew I was struggling, but he remained optimistic and
encouraging as he is in his daily life. I glanced over at David who
was clearly feeling a lot worse than I thought I was, and seeing
him with that look of pure perseverance I knew we were going to
finish and we did. Two hours, forty-five minutes and 32 seconds
later I was done for another year. The good news is that next year
I will be in the 75-79 age bracket, and I’m sure I will try it again
with my goal being to finish it in under three hours which is
when they close the course. As for Patrick and David who were so
inspirational to me I hope they are up for another challenge with
me next year!
I like to cook and many years ago I bought some All-Clad
cookware which has a lifetime warranty provided that the proper
care is given to it. A few weeks ago, my wife Chris asked me if
I spilled something on the stovetop and I answered no. It turned
out that the All-Clad teapot was leaking. Well, we like that old
teapot so I went online, found their website and sent them an
e-mail explaining the problem and asking what I should do. They
responded and sent me a shipping label for the teapot explaining
54
“Although it’s a year out,
and the more I think
about it the more I realize
”that retirement is not
something I want to do.
that they would look at it and determine if they would fix it under
warranty or they would advise me if I needed to pay for it and how
much it would be. A few weeks went by and you can imagine my
surprise when a package from All-Clad arrived on a Friday and
when we opened it there was a brand new oven thermometer in the
box which of course I didn’t order. On Saturday morning I e-mailed
them and explained the situation and said someone else must be
waiting for their oven thermometer and how would they like to
proceed. That afternoon my phone rang and it was a representative
from All-Clad who thanked me and said my teapot was fixed and
shipped at no charge, and we could keep the thermometer. How
many businesses would go to that extreme on the same day an
e-mail was received and call from a customer on a Saturday? Not
class companies out there. As for the shiny new oven thermometer
it will go to a charity for them to put in a silent auction!
I have written about retiring from Council when my current
term expires in February of 2016. Although it’s a year out, and
the more I think about it the more I realize that retirement is
not something I want to do. After all, I love what I do on a daily
basis. I enjoy corresponding and representing my constituents
and City Council is always challenging. I still have my mental
and physical capabilities and my sense of humor! My wife Chris
has always been a great sounding board for me throughout my
entire political career, and although we differ on many issues her
advice has always been prudent for me. One of the reasons for
even considering retirement was because of Chris and because I
thought that was something she wanted me to do. A few weeks
ago as we sat down to dinner there was an article next to my
dinner plate that had been taken from the newspaper and written
by a professor at a major university about retiring before you were
ready. It simply stated exactly what I said above. I looked over at
Chris as she watched me read the article and she smiled and said,
“I know you’re not ready to retire, you deeply care about what you
do and you’re good at it. I’m happy to support you for one more
term, so go for it.” So, I’m shelving retirement and I officially filed
to run for one more term. Of course there is no guarantee that I’ll
get re-elected but I’ll give it my best shot.
Life in Naples | March 2015