Ace Wisdom

Your Mom and I scheduled a visit to Mawqwet (Collin’s pronunciation) in Minneapolis on Mother’s Day. It is just coincidence that our visit to Minneapolis fell on that special day. We intended to enjoy the onset of Spring. No, this was not the journey into Hell.
The hotels in downtown Minneapolis have different room rates depending on conventions and community events. Mother’s Day weekend at the hotels is like a ghost town. Needless to say the room rates were fantastic. It turns out that the AARP membership did not help in getting a better rate. I think that everyone over the age of 50 has a card and it really isn’t unique to cater to an AARP member. The “biggie” card is AAA. Grasshopper No.1 (and loved one) gave us an AAA membership for Christmas. Magic! So on top of your Mom using AAA for road service twice in the last couple years, we got a great hotel discount. This obviously was not the journey into Hell.
Mawqwets cat Indigo started moaning the minute we got to her apartment on Friday night. I know we upset people, but I didn’t think we had that effect on cats. So Friday night was an adventure. Turns out that Indy had an infection in his urinary tract and actually had crytalized urine that had to be removed at the emergency pet clinic. No this wasn’t the journey into Hell. Indy seems to be responding well to anti-biotics and “different” cat food. As Shelby Jr would say, we created a memory saving Indy.
The journey into into Hell occured on Sunday morning before we left Minneapolis. There is a popular restaurant called “Hell’s Kitchen” in downtown. It conjures up the image of something sinister and for years it was a very small diner with great food. They have moved to a new location near the Nicolett Mall. You have to descend a flight of stairs to get into “Hell”. At the top of the stairs is a chandelier completely filled with dangling knives that you walk under as you enter. The basement had lots of red colors suggesting what Hell looks like. The waitresses wore pajamas as if to indicate things were very casual in Hell. The food was fantastic (and reasonably priced). It was memorable. Mawqwet took her Mom to Hell for Mother’s Day. I resist embellishing that thought. She created a Mother’s day memory.
So your Mom and I are back from Hell. A special Thank You to Margaret.
The lesson Grasshoppers is you never know when a memory will be created. It could be when you are changing a tire in the rain, escorting Indy to the Clinic or having breakfast in Hell. It is part of the journery.
Love,
Dad

The smell in the air is changing. You can see the buds on all the trees exploding as leaves begin to form. Moisture in the air is heavy. Crab trees are beginning to blossom. Lilacs will shortly be in full bloom. The days are getting longer. I think they calll it Spring.
Mom’s Day is Sunday. Remember that you (described at a large bowling ball or watermelon) passed through a narrow passage at great pain and suddenly you were given your life. You were nutured with great care and have become the stunning success you are because of one person, Mom. So if you are smart, you will remember the one person who loves you unconditionally and always will! You were lucky to get a great Mom.
Your Mom and I went to see Bobby Vinton at the PAC Sunday night. Who is Vinton you ask? He is a musician from the 1960’s. He is called the Polish Prince. His Dad had a polka band in Pennsylvania and Bobby took over during high school years. I have to admit that lots of the audience had grey hair but I saw lots of old ladies dancing the polkas and “rock ‘n rolling” in the aisles. Fun night.
The experience of owning a “used” Bavarian Motor Works car is interesting. All maintenance including brakes and wearing parts are warranteed up to 50,000 miles or 5 years. There are no incidental charges. Yesterday I took my car in at 19,000 miles to replace the micro filters that protect all passengers in the cabin from undue polution. Absolutely no charge and I got a free car wash. Cool. My next scheduled maintenance for oil and bleeding air from the brake system is at the end of 2010. It is part of the upscale car experience. Hey, it beats replacing headlight bulbs in a Saab every month or two. At least my car company is still in business.
As Spring “happens”, open your doors and windows. Let the sun shine in. Breath deeply. There aren’t many advantages to living in Wisconsin but the onset of Spring is one of them. My favorite memory was living on 6th street and our bedroom window faced west. There happened to be a backyard full of lilacs to the west and when the wind blew that fragrance through the house, you wanted the moment to last forever.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that is okay to feel the promise of Spring. It is the great part of being alive!
Love,
Dad

Something good happened Saturday. The Kentucky Derby attended mostly by the pretentious rich was held in less than perfect conditions. Yep, sloppy, muddy yuk! One of the horses not owned by the Arabs was hauled by a pickup truck from New Mexico and entered in this race against “giants”. Wouldn’t you know the “little guy” named “Mine The Bird” won at 50-1 odds. The owner had to limp on crutches to the winner circle. The toothless jockey must have had a drink or two before the race explaining his crazy exhuberance. It is actually a better story than “Seabiscut”. And in the end, the Arabs loaded their throughbread steeds into their modified jet aircraft and zoomed back to the middle east. Money can’t always buy every-thing.
Yesterday, the movie star Denise Richards (recently on Dancing with the Stars), sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at Wrigley Field in Chicago during the seventh inning stretch. It was worse that Roseanne Barr’s rendition of the National Anthem. It was like scraping fingernails across a blackboard. Ugly! I think Charlie Sheen made the right decision when he divorced her.
I was exercising this morning when I noticed that Victoria’s Secret store was advertising to stimulate Mother’s Day sales. Now I ask you “what kid would buy their mother frilly under-garments for Mother’s Day”. I know I would not have considered buying Grandma Alice something dicey from Victoria’s. What did I miss?
And then the New York Yankees with the highest prices in the world had heavy rain last night. A large number of fans hung around for several hours and were informed by “attendants” that the game was called. No game tonight. Some were just starting home when they heard that the game would be played inspite of the rain. The ticket policy is “if you leave the stadium, you can not get back in with the same ticket”. So people who were told there was no game, could not get back in. Sorry, no bending the rules. Policy is policy. So the stadium which was 90% empty would not let loyal fans paying $200 for tickets back in. Is the world nuts?
The lesson Grasshoppers is that “common sense” seems to be a fleeting personal trait. It is the reason our world seems to a “bubble off center”.
Love,
Dad

Are some things in life inevitable? Do some people have the ability to “see”or predict future events. Does destiny exist?
When I was in high school, the end of the summer was always signaled by the County Fair in Plymouth. Labor Day weekend was synonymous with the “Fair”. I remember one year, the Fair featured a midway ride called “the Hammer” with a rotating cage swinging like a pendulum at the end of a long metal arm. It would swing in a circle with the people being “upside down” at the top. My buddy John Z. wanted me to go on the ride with him. I watched the ride for a while before answering. It was considered “wild and reckless” at the time. As the ride swung in wide circles, the thick cables that held the Hammer in place would move slightly under the pressure. I would not go on the Hammer. The next day, the Hammer broke loose from the restraining cables and fell over. A buddy of John Z’s was killed. The question in my mind was always “did I have a premonition or was I just scared”. I will never know. Was it my destiny to avoid being killed in a Hammer accident?
There was a baseball player, Jack “Lucky” Lohrke that just died at age 85. They called him Lucky because he kept surviving “death situations”. He survived D-Day while four soldiers around him all died. In 1945 he was going to board a military transport to fly to California for a trip home and he was bumped at the last moment by a high ranking officer. The plane crashed and all were killed. In 1946 he was riding a bus with minor league baseball teammates, the Spokane Indians. Halfway through the trip, Lucky was notified he been promoted to Triple A San Diego. He took his baseball gear, left the bus and proceded to hitchhike home. The bus and his former teammates proceded on and crashed on a rain slicked highway. Nine players were killed. Lucky eventually played major league baseball and lived to age of 85. Was destiny involved?
The lesson Grasshoppers is that you will always have events that make you question whether destiny shapes your future. You will never get an answer? You will be left to ponder? Woooo!
Love,
Dad

I got a nostalgic comic book for my birthday from Grasshopper No.1. It is from 1950 and is vintage Rocky Lane, the cowboy with his trusty steed “Black Jack”. For some reason, I thought that Rocky’s horse was named “Thunder”. Who the hell does “Thunder” belong too? The comic book originally sold for 10 cents.and included the normal advertising for Daisy B-B guns, Double Bubble gum, Wheaties and Brownie cameras. Ah, the return to yesteryear!
Officially yesterday I signed up for another year of league golf at Chaska Golf Course. Insanity is believing that this year will be better that last. I sound like a baseball fan believing that the Brewers will do better this year. That is insanity.
This morning news includes the story about the Presidential plane flying low over the city of New York doing a “photo op”. Turns out that the Mayor knew nothing about the photo shoot nor did the citizens of New York. How would you feel with this giant 747 air craft cruising over your city in the area of the Statute of Liberty and the fallen Twin Towers. Kind of scary after the 9/11 experience. Well all will be forgiven. After all it was the Obama administration that authorized it. Imagine if Bush had attempted the same thing.
Grandson Collin is signed up to play soccer with the “big boys” this summer. Returning college students and high school seniors have their own league. Tough, kick-ass soccer. Should be exciting.
Grandson Mitchell is signed up to play baseball. I think he plays outfield but I’m not sure.
Daughter-in Law, Shelby Jr. is off to France. I hope the aircraft has been dis-infected for the outbreak of swine flu. I don’t know if the Mexican outbreak has reached France?
Grasshopper No.2 ran the “Crazylegs” five mile marathon on Saturday. I know she ran the course in 43:59 minutes (and seconds) but I am not sure how she finished among her peers. It rained for the whole race. Splish-splash, she got a bath for free.
So here we go. Spring-summer is beginning. Trees have buds. Grass is getting green. Boats are sitting in driveways being readied for the open water. Birds are “dumping” on my back deck. Let the seasonal symphony begin.
Love,
Dad

My birthday came and went. Lots of calls. Some gifts topped off with an evening dinner with your Mom. Usually on my birthday, my siblings send me a silly card. In the past, the first card each year was from my Sister Addie. I missed that this year. Your Mom (who of course is in touch with the universe) suggested that my thought about Addie was her wishing me a Happy Birthday? Hmmm!
I do get lots of dreams. They seem strange. Apparently you need to go to a psychologist to have them decipher the deeper meaning. You are supposed to write them down to determine trends and themes. A dream might represent someone from the “other side” trying to contact you.
Last night I dreamt about going to a Green Bay Packer game with your Mom. Someone gave us the tickets. When we arrived at the game, the ticket usher did not know exactly where the seats were located but he pointed me in a certain direction. I told your Mom to wait while I went off to search for the seat location. When I got there, I was told the seats were “up there in an elevated section”. There were no steps to get there. I had to step on people’s shoulders to get up to the proper section. I didn’t attempt to climb up because I had to go back a get your Mom. Once you got up the the proper section, there were no restrooms or refreshment stands. To come down you would again have to step on peoples shoulders.
I observed the seats faced away from the playing field. Not only couldn’t I get to my section but if I did, I couldn’t watch the game.
On the way back to get your Mom, I found an open section to sit with church pews arranged back to back. Some fans could look forward and some back. No one could see the game. Why would I want to sit there?
Finally I got back to where I left your Mom. She wasn’t there. Now there is a dream!
Someone pointed out where Mom had sauntered off to and I did find her. We left the game never witnessing a single play.
I’m sure there is some deep significant meaning to attending a Packer game, finding a really bad seat, not being able to see the game and losing your Mom in the stadium. Go ahead, have your fun, make your guesses. I really think is was the fish (salmon) I had for supper.
Have a nice weekend.
Love,
Dad

Today is Grandson Collin’s 18th birthday. It entitles him to begin transition to the great opportunities that life has to offer (including school and jobs). Happy Birthday Collin!
I see that Obama has come up with budget cuts of $100 million. Too bad it amounts to such an infinitesimal fraction of the total government expenditures. To put it in perspective, it would be the same as someone making $50,000 per year cutting his expenses $5. Come on!
An extended male member of the family named Tom living in Sheboygan has suggested that he and I “pan” for gold in “them thar hills”. When the glaciers of long ago carved out the Kettle Moraine, it left gold in the mounds or hills. The theory is that the Kettle Moraine is full of gold nuggets such as found in California during the Gold Rush of the 1840’s. I’ll comtemplate it!
But there are “nuggets” of another nature. I keep looking for little ways to save money that reduce my cost of living. I’m on a “roll”.
Nugget No.1 is I’ve stopped insisting on getting my cancelled checks back from the bank each month. I save $5 per month or $60 per year. Don’t laugh. On a percentage basis that one move saves more than Obama proposes in his budget by a magnitude of 10.
Nugget No.2, I cancelled HBO from my cable company. Savings $15 per month or $180 per year. I might end up with withdrawal symptons but I’ll survive.
Nugget No.3, I switched our phone service to the cable company for unlimited long distance service. I save $600 per year.
Nugget No.4, I succombed to buying the new Gillette “fusion” razor blades. They are expensive but last 3 times longer than the old. Based on longer use per blade, I save $70 per year.
Nugget No.5, I actually switched to “private store brand” canned soup versus Campbell. Savings should be $25-$30 per year. Hey, it is the same soup with a different label.
And so it goes! Being slightly anal retentive, I can find lots and lots of “nuggets” of savings out there.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that you don’t have to go hiking through the Kettle Moraine to find more money to put in your pockets. “Nuggets” are all round you! You can find them too! My daily senior Diet Coke from McDonalds for $.51 a day is off limits. I don’t want to get carried away with this program.
Love,
Dad