Ace Wisdom

I recently talked to my “computer consultant” in Minneapolis.  She convinced me that my existing five-year old home computer is lacking the capacity to handle all the current software applications in my world.  She called our current computer set-up ancient.  Well “byte-me”.

The company I joined in Sheboygan in 1967 was “leading edge” with business computers.  The objective was always to provide employees with important information on a timely basis so they could make necessary decisions to keep us viable in the marketplace.  In the 1960’s and the 1970’s, computer hardware controlled the business world.  Computers were very limited in size and each company wrote most of it’s own software.  The dream was to reach the point where computer capacity wasn’t the limiting factor and the creative abilities of employees could be unleashed to give even more competitive advantage.

Fast forward to 2009.  Computer capacity has exploded.  Software is in abundance.  We are prepared to solve all the world problems,  We can navigate rocket ships to the moon and beyond.  We’ve arrived baby.  So what do we do?  We piddle away time on twitter, facebook and e-mail.  We download home pictures to handheld palm devices so the world can see our pictues.  We play mindless internet “war games”.

It took awhile for me to realize the magnitude of computer capacity that is being used storing pictures.  Pictures!  They are stored on the internet for immediate download.  They are attached to e-mails and they are stored in computer files until you can’t even find them any more.  You know!  “Aw, she’s so cute”.  “Oh, is that pretty”.  “That is so precious”.  We’ve lived for 5,000-6,000 years without pictures and now we can’t get enough of them  Go figure.

In the 1970’s, home computers were measured in bytes (a string of 8 binary units) and kilobytes (1000 bytes).  A megabyte (1 million bytes) was a huge number.  Now one picture can suck up a megabite.  But with thousands of pictures, megabyte has been replaced with gigabytes (1 billion bytes).  Hard disk storage of 640 gigabytes in not uncommon.  We are moving toward terabytes (1 trillion bytes) of storage.

My Minneapolis consultant pacifies me with a minimal amount of information knowing that I am a hopeless cause.  But she really doesn’t understand the amount of historical perspective I have on computers.  I know I don’t understand the applications like she does but maybe together we can build a new computer system that lets us launch our own rocketship.

So anyone who wants to loan me enough money to buy a “state of the art” computer system, let me know.

The lesson Grasshopper is technology is contantly evolving.  It is almost impossible to anticipate the amount of technology that will be needed 5 years into the future.  Alas, between myself and Minneapolis, we are going try.

Love,

Dad

   

It was 5:30 AM and the low temperature last night was 72 degrees.  The window was open and we could hear the “street washing” machine in the drone of the still air.  We got out of bed and went downstairs and out the side door.  As the large tank truck flushed water onto the street and towards the curb, we sat on the curbing and got splashed with cold water.  We would then follow the truck for a block or two stomping in the spray.

I needed to dry out and get ready for work.  As always I got my gallon thermos of cool-aid stuffed with ice cubes.  The cubes would be totally melted by early afternoon.  In addition I got meat sandwiches or tuna salad for a treat.  Occasionally there would be a small thermos filled with hot soup but that was a rarity.

The thermos along with lunch and a wide brimmed straw hat were thrown into a huge basket on the front of my second-hand Schwinn bicycle and I’d peddle up the hill, past the train depot on my way to Stokely’s local Canning Plant.  A cloth covered truck with a Stokely emblem on the door would transport 15-20 of us to a farm that had contracted to supply beets.  Stokely had the obligation to remove the weeds during the growing cycle.  Our goal was the to flood the field with kids and remove every single obnoxious, hiding, dastardly weed.

We were told how much money we would be paid for each row we completed weeding.  If there was doubt about the “row rate”, they’d tell us that they would monitor the first few rows and set a rate for the day.  Dah!  We always went very, very, very slow until a monetary rate per row was determined and then we went like hell to make money.

Mornings were okay.  Lunch usually came early like 11:00 AM during the heat of the day and we ended early at 3:00 PM.  My kool-aid was always gone along with the food.

My reward was $4-$5 per day.  A good week would yield $30-$40.

I did my exercise routine this morning and there was a summer heat smell along with high humidity.  A strong sun was coming up and there was a soft breeze.  It was August, 1952 again.  There won’t be any kool-aid today and a salad will have to do.

The best part of the summer is that I was a “saver”.  I’d end up with $300-$400 in the bank at the end of summer.  My Dad always respected the fact it was my money but because he was always “broke”, he got very creative in ways to get me to spend it.  Who was in control here?

The next nostalgic smell will be mildew grass reminescent of getting my face shoved in it while playing football.  That memory is not quite as pleasant.

Love,

Dad

 

Occasionally I get to eat at a fine restaurant like the Golden Corral Buffet.  It makes a big dent in my retirement cash flow, but what the hell.  My friend and I dined there last week.

When we arrived there was a police car sitting outside the restaurant.  The lights were flashing but it wasn’t clear why the policeman was there.  Maybe he arrested a speeder or perhaps a patron didn’t pay.  My friend and I went inside and paid for lunch.

I noticed that a fire truck had pulled up behind the police car.  There were no sirens but the red lights were flashing on top of the truck.  I didn’t see any firemen but it is a little disconcerting sitting down to eat with a fire truck outside.

I began to notice firemen walking in and out of the kitchen with portable fire extinquishers.  There was no sense of urgency but three firemen dressed in rain gear does make you wonder.

About half way through the first course of food, the fire alarms began to sound.  Nobody in the restaurant seemed anxious to leave their table and vacate the facility.   The high frequency piercing fire alarm actually hurts the ears.  The alarm lasted for about 5 seconds and stopped.  Alas, all seemed well.  Then the alarm went off again.  It was a shorter “burst” this time.  Firemen were still wandering in and out of the kitchen.

My friend and I finished our first course and decided it was okay to return to the buffet line.  The three firemen were sitting at a table with some of their fire gear removed eating lunch.  What the hell?  I guess if there is threat of fire, it is good to have experts around.  Actually I felt safe having them there.

The lunch was eaten faster than normal just in case.  It gives new meaning to a eating at a “hot restaurant”.  I can’t reisist!    We ate “hot food”.  We discussed “hot subjects”.  I had a “hot date”.

There is no lesson Grasshoppers except if you enter a restaurant with a fire truck parked outside, it probably isn’t a good thing.

Just a note about food.  The State Fair features this year are (1) chocolate covered bacon on a stick, (2) chilled cookie dough on a stick, (3) deep fried peanut butter, and (4) jelly sandwiches on a stick.  Oh yeah, don’t forget the ever popular “calorie free” cream puffs.  Life support teams are on premises to revive you when your arteries clog.

Love,

Dad. 

Our sympathy to daughter-in-law Jenny for the loss of her cousin.  I understand he was a very special person.  I think formal respects were paid yesterday.

Grasshopper No.4 actually suggested I talk about the big “E”.  It stands of the word “empathy” which gets confused with the words “apathy” and “sympathy”.

Empathy is the ability to share in another’s emotions, thoughts or feelings.  It is a special gift.  If you are empathetic, you can mentally transport yourself into another’s situation and actually understand in some depth, the pain or elation that goes with a situation.  It sounds easy.  To understand another’s feelings is difficult..

Empathy gets confused with “apathy”.  I’ve heard people say “I have apathy for you”.  They don’t mean that because the definition of apathy is “lack of emotion, lack of concern or indifference”.  If I have apathy for you it means I could care less about your situation.  Mixing up the words “empathy” and “apathy” is not a good thing.

Grasshopper No.4 introduced another word that adds confusion, “sympathy”.  Most often it is used to convey compassion for another’s troubles.  It means you care but not necessarily that you can transport yourself mentally into another’s situation.

All of your experiences in life build up your personal resources allowing you to place yourself in another’s situation, many times because you’ve “been there”.  For example, I have empathy for any family that experiences suicide in their family because it happened in our family.  There are emotions involved that most others can not understand.

When you can emphathize with another person and truly care, it makes you a better person.  That makes all you Grasshoppers great people.

Love,

Dad 

Happiness (or despair) comes in different forms.  Little things!

Yesterday I got up to go to my daily exercise class and all the lights on electronic gadgets were blinking at me.  The power had gone off over night due to an electrical storm and I had to reset everthing.  Awwww!  Then I went to make coffee and forgot to empty the old coffee out of the glass canister before starting.  I ran the new coffee over the old coffee and the pot over-flowed. Coffee ran everywhere.  I just don’t do things like that.  Then the love of my life told me she had tried to load a photo book software program onto our outdated computer and the computer puked.  We almost lost “acewisdom”.  That would really would have been a lousy break.

Today started better.  My walking routine is improving (less pain).  Then I went to my dentist and braced myself for a new filling.  It turns out that the tooth previously had a root canal so there were no nerves involved.  He drilled the tooth, filled the cavity and had me out of the chair in 13 minutes.  That works for me.  I’m sure I’ll be billed for 30 minutes.  Finally, my season tickets for UW football arrived by priority mail.  Hey, bring on the rest of the day.

I got to drive the new fire-red, extended cab, all wheel drive Ford F-150 “bad boy” truck recently purchased by the Grasshopper No.1 family.  I’m sure I made No.1 nervous as I backed out of the driveway using the only rear-view mirrors (Grasshopper No.3 taught me that trick), she commented I was too close to the barrier barrels on highway 41 and finally she exclaimed some obscenity as I squeeled the tires accelerating from an intersection.  Hey, it ain’t my truck.

This is just an insight check.  I never realized it but it is really hard to solve a “redneck murder”.  First all the DNA matches and second, there are no dental records.

Don’t think too hard Grasshoppers because there are no lessons this time.  Just bullsh– jibberish.  Get those kiddies ready for school.

Love,

Dad

 

I see that Obama had a summit meeting to discuss the issue of racial profiling.  It was the result of calling an arresting police officer stupid.  Last night was the “beer summit”.  The type of beer was spelled out for each participant.  Obama’s choice was “Lite”.  All is now well.  My suggestion is that when there is a problem between our family members, we need to have a “lite” discussion.  Make mine Bud Lite.

When summer is long and life’s issues suck, indulge yourself, buy a truck,  “Fire-red with an extended cab, all wheel drive makes this “big boy” bad.

Grasshopper No.1 and spouse just contributed to keeping the economy going with a brand new F-150 Ford.  Enjoy!

Grandson Collin might have played his last organized soccer game.   The soccer season ended with a 3-0 loss.  I noticed several times he intentionally slammed the ball into opposing players.  Take that!

Grandson Tommy ended his MVP baseball season in the rain.  I’m told that if you have trouble pitching, the coach will do it for you.  Oh to be 8 years old again.

Grandson Mitchell finished the baseball season with a last inning pitching assignment.  At last count he surrendered 8 runs to the other team.  A pizza party made all the disappointment go away.  The world will never remember.

Yesterday I was invited to Lambeau Field in Green Bay.  Owning one share of Green Bay Packer stock, I’m an “invite-ee” to the annual stockholders meeting.  I sat in the rain for two hours listening to how revenues were down, profits down and there are plans to honor Brett Favre sometime in the future (unless of course, the Packers change their mind. again.).  Good thing there was no lightning was in the area.  A great season was promised.

University of Wisconsin football season tickets arrive next week.  The season starts with four straight games at home.

Grandson Dominic started football practice in the Youth Football Program Monday.  Grasshopper No.4 is a coach.  I think No.4 gets more excited than the kids.

As the fun of Summer fades, the promise of Fall creeps in.  Rest assured everything is as it should be.

Love,

Dad 

 

 

                                                                  

 

I recently was talking to Grandson Dominic who is a pretty bright guy.  I asked him “where did you get your intelligence from”?  He said “he must have got it from Dad because his mother still has hers”!  Actually somebody sent me that joke in different form.

Grandson Collin (according to my sources) has signed to become a U.S. Marine.  There are things to be completed but he would report for duty early next year.  Just imagine.  We’ve got the making of a future General.  Congratulations Collin.

I’ve become conscious of drinking more water.  I like bottled water because it is convenient and I can take it with me.  I bought a bottle at my local convenience store for $.89.  That was the lowest price.  The next day I decided to buy a bottle of water from McDonalds because they advertise low pricesl.  I paid $1.56 for a slightly larger bottle of water.  Whoa!  So then I stopped at the local grocery store and picked up a 28 pack of bottled water.  The price per bottle averaged $.19 each.  Talk about price gouging.  Next stop?  Tap water.

Your Mom and I visited the EAA Museum in Oshkosh last week before large crowds gather for the annual convention.  I was impressed with the size of the facility as well as the number for planes on display.  We did not try the “pilot simulator” but I guided a glider successful to a pin point landing.

We also attended Wisconsin Timber Rattler minor league game.  It really isn’t about baseball.  It is a picnic.  Nachos and Cheese.  Low cost hot dogs.  Soda and beer.  Sticky, messy, icky cotton candy.  Lots of skinny people to watch.  Incidently the Brewers farm team won 5-4.  Since the Brewers bought the Timber Rattler farm team, attendance has doubled (this year).  It is a good value for 3-4 hours of entertainment (not necessarily baseball).

You can see that your Mom and I are spending money to keep the economy going.  No wonder I need to compare water prices!

There are no significant lessons this week.  Just watching life go by.

Love,

Dad