Ace Wisdom

I found out that your Mom has not been taping Oprah’s daily TV program lately.  She has some other priority.  The “earth moved”.

I have been exercising regularly for 10 years.  The building always has “elevator music” playing in the background.  The music stopped.  I don’t know if it is cost saving thing or not.  It is really erie to hear your shoes squeek or conversations from the other end of the mall because it is like a echo chamber.  Again I think the “earth moved”.

Last night I watched the Purple People Eaters destroy the Green Bay Packers (remember I am an owner with my 1 share of stock).  I have always advocated looking at the “big picture”.  Most people, including Grasshopper No.4 think that football at the professional level is a skilled game.  They are so wrong.  It is an entertainment event.  It is like a Halloween party.  People dress up in costumes, they paint their faces like Indians wearing war paint, hold tailgate parties in the rain and drink lots of beer.  People cheer, jump up and down with enthusiasm and spill beverages on the person sitting next to them at the game.  Oh yeah, there is pre-game hype and taunting like “our team is going to whip you a–“.  The game last night had extra excitement because Favre (it is really pronounced Fave-ray) which is French for “ego-maniac”.  Favre got his chance to stick it to the Packers.  The reality is that Minnesota has a really good team and they made Favre’s job very easy.  Who would have guessed that Favre got his chance to stick it to Thompson and the Green Bay Packers.  Favre and Company entertained us.  I felt the “earth move”.

Lastly, Grasshopper No.4 has been losing every youth football game this year and so has Grandson Dominic’s team (actually Dominic had a tie).  Dominic described it as a “losing funk”.  Guess what?  Both Dad and Son won their game last Thursday.  Wonders never cease.  The earth must have “moved”.

I know there was a full moon on Sunday but I don’t know if that can explain “the moving earth”.

Love,

Dad

Tomorrow, Oct. 3 marks 10 years since the cookie company I worked for was sold.

I was 59 years old.  I got up on the morning of Oct. 3 and headed for Ripon.  I had to pick up some last minute financial information.

I was supposed to be in Milwaukee at the offices of Godfrey Kahn by 10:00 AM.  They were the legal firm that represented the Ripon Foods in the sale of the company.  The “Foods” was bought by Ralcorp headquarted in St.Louis.  Key people from both sides were represented.  Documents were signed and financial projections were verified.  And then, in the blink of an eye, money was wire transfered from a certified seller account to all family members that owned part of the business.  It didn’t hurt a bit.  It was all over.  My regret is that I wasn’t an owner!  I had the wrong last name.

So now my life was about to change.  I had agreed to “stay on” until the end of the year to help with the transition.  The question became, then what?

My decision was to stop going to work everyday (I hate the word “retirement”).  The big question was “how do we live without a paycheck”.  I could not draw Social Security until age 62 (remember I was 59).  That was 2.5 years away.  I also needed to carry health insurance so I signed on for COBRA which means I could make obscene monthly payments to the Ralcorp for 18 months.  I still needed to find health insurance for another 4 years until I qualified for Medicare at age 65.  Lots of cost issues and no definitive answers.

The rest is history.  Somehow, someway your Mom and I have stumbled through 10 years of retirement.  I do miss the involvement in the business world but I don’t regret “retiring”.

Tomorrow marks the 10 year anniversary of the sale of Ripon Foods.  It was a major change in course in my life.  There probably will be another.  Who knows?

Of course your Mother’s life also changed when I was suddently home everyday.  It would be interesting to hear her perspective.  I’m sure it has been Heaven on earth?

Love,

Dad

Social Security is a retirement benefit waiting for you when you reach 62.

When you earn $1,000, your employer takes $62 and sends it to the Federal Government to build up your retirement account.  Most people don’t know it but your employer has to send an equal amount of $62 to fund your account.  So for each $1000 you earn, a total of $124 is set aside for you.  Pretty simple huh?.

Since Social Security was started in the late 1930’s, $2.5 trillion has been accumulated in excess of what has been paid out.  That is the good news.  The bad news is the government doesn’t have the money.  It loaned the $2.5 trillion to itself to pay for Medicare, the war in Iraq and a bridge to nowhere in Nebraska.

So as more and more people retire, the Federal Government in theory is going to have draw from the extra cash it has accumulated over the years.  Alas, the money is gone. The easy solution is to increase taxes.  You can “bet the farm” that your taxes will go up.

It was announced yesterday that this year applications by new people reaching 62 had increased 23%.  People that had planned to work to 65 or 67 or older are taking Social Security earlier because they have lost their jobs or job stress is intolerable.

For this year, people applying for disability has increased 20%.  My guess is that people with health problems that under normal circumstances would have “toughed it out” are surrendering to disability payments under Social Security.

In addition, collections for your Social Security fund are down 16% because unemployment is very high and without people earning money, payments to the Social Security fund are reduced.

Let me see!  More people want social security.  Payments to the Social Security fund are down significantly.  There is no true cash reserve for payment of Social Security because the Federal Government spent it all.  Tax increases on wages are coming to pay for the increased Social Security liability.

Another government program gone awry?  Don’ bend over!

Love,

Dad

 

In chatting with Grasshopper No.5 recently, I told her that I loved watching the movie “Parenthood”.  Surprisingly, she said it was one of her favorite flicks.  No.5 began to sing the opening song by the kids in the the back of the mini-van as the family was returning from a major league baseball game.

If you are running fast to first and you feel your bloomers burst, diarrhea, diarrhea.

If you are running second down and your trousers are turning brown, diarrhea, diarrhea.

If you’re sliding into third and you feel a squishing turd, diarrhea, diarreha.

If you are crashing into home and your pants fill up with foam, diarrhea, diarrhea.

It is interesting that with all the lessons in ‘Parenthood” such as disrespectful kids, ugly divorces, unwanted pregnancies, a derelict son and obsessive parents, people remember the “diarrhea song”.

In the end, life presents many difficult situations that we probably take way to serious.  There is a humorous side to parenthood and somehow things always workout.

So as Steve Martin says in the movie “we spent all that money to send our kid to camp and the only thing he remembers is the “diarrhea song”.  Yep.  But at least he learned something.

The lesson Grasshoppers is that life probably won’t turn out the way you want.  That is okay.  Why should you be different?

Love,

Dad

Fall begins today.  Another Summer has passed.  Did you make the most of it?

Grandsons Dominic and Tommy attended the UW Badger game Saturday against Wofford University.  It was more like a scrimmage.  I couldn’t help wondering what it was like for a young kid to go to a Badger game.

For Dominic it was filled with dreams and role models.  He is playing youth football and has insisted playing “center” on offense.  So during the game Dominic was watching the UW center block and hike the ball.  He and his Dad took note of the different plays as they developed.  In addition, Dominic plays a musical instrument so the early game band “run on” and half time performance is interesting.

And then there isTommy!  He is with his big brudder.  There is a lot going on but Tommy doesn’t play football yet so his technical interest level is not very high.  He is more into watching Bucky Badger do pushups after a touchdown.  Boredom sets in quickly but a few “high fives” after a touchdown keeps things moving.  By the 4th quarter, Tommy is getting “squirrelly”.

Last Saturday 4 fighter jets flew over the stadium after the National Anthem.  That is always cool.  Both kids got new UW Bucky Badger hats to shield the sun.  Between the hot dogs, bright colored drinks and nachos with cheese topped with jalopena peppers, no one went hungry.

With the Badger game no longer in doubt, we slipped out of the stadium with a few minutes remaining and were home at an early hour.

Souvenirs and food are good but it is the anticipation of a game at Camp Randall that captures the imagination.  So another Badger experience has come and gone.  Next year the meaning of the game will change for both Dominic and Tommy.  Can anything be done to lengthen Tommy’s attention span?

This Saturday begins the formal Big Ten season signalling 4 remaining home games.  Then the season is over.  Jeepers.

Love,

Dad

Grasshopper No.1 has her “umteith” birthday tomorrow.  Heres wishing her a very special day.  It seems like just yesterday.

I missed commenting on September 9th as an unsual calendar date.  It was 09/09/09.  So if you are hung up on the number nine (i.e. maybe it is your lucky number), the nineth was your day.  Add to that the possibility that at 9:09 in the morning something special might happen.  Imagine delivering a baby at 9:09 and it weighs 9 pounds, 9 ounces.  Spooky!  Just wondering.

In the context of “wondering”, I see that Representative Joe Wilson who blirted out “you lie” during Obama’s speech on Healthcare has had his actions rebuked by the House of Representatives.  I am not passing judgement on the appropriateness of the outburst.  What puzzles me is the harsh reprimand that Wilson got.  The “House” passed a Resolution of Disapproval against Wilson for his comment.  What the hell does that mean?  Is that like a parent telling a kid you disapprove of his/her girlfriend?  Yeah, that will do a lot of good.  Just wondering.

Then I see that the Foreign Trade Commission is issuing concerns about the quality of some products from China.  It seems “tires” and “chickens” are not up to standard.  If China doesn’t improve the quality of tires and chickens we are not going to allow their import.  Now those are two products that will upset the international community.  Just wondering.

This morning my BMW warning light came on indicating that my coolant was low.  It recommends that I bring the car in immediately and I should be cognizant of the fact that I should use genuine BMW coolant.  What happened to the days when I took the cap off the radiator and dumped in some water to fill it up.  Warning lights didn’t exist.  I wonder what would have happened if I took the cover off the coolant tank and added water.  Would it blow up?  Just wondering.

The lesson Grasshoppers is that there is all sorts of craziness in the world.  Can’t we just apply common sense.  Just wondering?

Love,

Dad

 

Occasionally things go right.  My Minneapolis computer consultant used a day of vacation on Friday to help me install a new computer with wireless upgrades and fabulous storage systems.  It all works.  It did take most of the day to adjust all the software.  I guess you might say it was magical the way it all came together.  A sincere thank you to Grasshopper No.5.

Then on Saturday, No.5 joined us for the UW football game against Fresno State.  It wasn’t billed as the game of the century but it was a close contest with UW winning in two overtimes.  The opponent didnt matter.  UW won.  Everyone left the stadium on a “high”.  It seemed again like a magical moment.  No.5 hadn’t seen a game in 11 years.  She does remember the years when Grasshopper No.2 was in the Marching Band.  That was from 1980 to 1984.  Mom and I would drag No.4 and No.5 over to Madison for most home football games and witness the complete football extravaganza.  It always started by meeting No.2 at her dorm, walking over to the South Union for a pre-game pep rally and then marching with the Band over to the stadium.  After the Band’s performance at the game, we’d follow the Band over to Bascum Hill for a wrap.  Yep, we made a 6-7 year old little girl do that.  Nana and Grandpa would join us many times.  Fond memories.

To top off the game day, Grasshopper No.2 offered to fry brats and hamburgers at her house.  Grant and Mitchell could not get enough of Mawgwet.  There were rehashes of family stories and again, more pictures.  I think I escaped most of the focus.  The time flew by as if by magic.

My regret is that I promised to get No.5 home in time for an evening with Grasshopper No.3 and family.  The “time master” (me) didn’t do very good.  I don’t know if that makes me a bad Dad, but my apologies to all.

Sunday was a return to normal (whatever that is).  The Packers played an evening game and beat the Bears with a long touchdown pass with less than a minute remaining.  The weekend ended as if by magic.

The lesson Grasshoppers is you never know when special moments will occur.  There were a few “magic times’ this weekend.  Would you believe my new computer is really “cool”.

Love,

Dad