Ace Wisdom

October 17, 2005 is the date of a full moon. Strange things happen during a full moon. More babies are born each month on the date of a full moon than any other day of the month. Dogs can start barking and “baying at the moon” in an unexplained manner and if you look real close, all female gender that have a license to ride a broomstick, go for joyrides on that day.
It turns out that Oct. 17 is a Monday. We have carpenters coming to put in a new kitchen floor. So I wander downstairs into my little computer room and turn on the light. It flashes. It goes on. It goes out. It is burned out. Okay, no big deal. So I go into the empty kitchen before the workers get here to get a bulb out of a cabinet. Oops. We taped all the cabinets shut because we were advised that dust will be everywhere. So to get my light bulb, I had to strip off all the tape on the doors. Then of course was the retape job. I taped my coffee and coffee cup away along with utensils. Everytime I needed something, it was taped away in a drawer or cabinet. I didn’t let that throw me. Of course it is a full moon.
Then I get in my car to go to the mall and it is raining. The forecast was light showers. Light showers my butt. It is a drenching down-pour. So I got soaked entering and leaving the mall. Of course the explanation for these things is a full moon.
Now I notice my car is low on gas (very low) and I stopped to get gas in the pouring rain. I had been sweating from my walk and I froze in the cool wind and rain. Ah ha. Full moon.
As I turned to put the gas cap back on the car, I swore I saw a good friend driving down the street on her broomstick. I must have been halucinating.
The carpenters haven’t arrived yet but I can see envision the rain and slop and wet shoes making a mess in the kitchen. It was a vision wasted because the rain stopped and they threw old flooring into their truck in the garage. They never got wet. Now things were getting better.
The dentist called to move my appointment up. That is good because I like to get it over with.
11:00 AM the sun came out. Warm breezes and a beautiful day.
4:30 PM Christopher stops over to tell us how much he loves us. Yeah, right. He just wanted to pick up left over pizza from Dano’s party. It was nice to see his smiling face.
By supper time all was right with the world. We had survived another full moon. We expected the worst and we just blew right threw it.
So Grasshoppers, for those of you expecting to give birth, you’ll just have to wait for the full moon in November. For those of you with broomsticks, I suggest parking them along with your SUVs. And for those of you who think strange things happen to you on a full moon, it is not true. Unless of course you are superstitious and need excuses to explain strange things.
Love,
Dad

Today, Oct. 14, 2005 I had my performance review with the social security program and because I handed in a steady performance this year, I will receive a 4.1% Cost of Living (COLA) raise beginning Jan. 1, 2006. I’m thanking you because you are supporting me with your regular contributions from you paychecks (you donate 6.2% of every dollar earned for my social security program). The raise is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which reported the biggest one month jump upward in 25 years. Undoubtedly the big reason for the increase is energy prices.
I ask you “how many of you will get a 4.1% increase in wages next year?”
But wait a minute. I’ve been recently informed that I will pay $10 more per month for the medicare health benefit. Double that because you mother’s insurance will rise a like about. That is a $240 per year increase in cost.
And then we’ve also been notified that a new Medicare prescription drug program is available starting Jan. 1, 2006 for a meager charge to social security of $40 per month per person. Your mother and I will have to pay a total of $80 per month for drugs coverage or another $720 per year.
Also the supplemental health insurance we carry will offer an enhanced drug program “dove-tailing” medicare at some cost. We don’t know what that will be. Probably another $300-$500 per year.
We presently do not use many drugs so paying for a new drug program is added cost. Maybe someday it may be a significant benefit?
So the way I’ve got this figured, I got a 4.1% raise which you will pay for, I will pay more for medicare insurance, I will pay for a drug program which I don’t presently need, my supplemental drug insurance cost will go up and I will end up with a net outflow of cash. Huh?
So I thank you Grasshoppers for the significant raise…… I think!
Love,
Dad

From the time that every person begins a work career, they are made aware that they can retire at age 65 and receive monthly social security checks for the rest of their life. At 65 you get full benefit but if you retire early at 62, you are entitled to 80% of the “full benefit”.
Over the last few years, things have changed a little. I think at this point Grasshoppers, you must reach age 67 to get full benefit and 80% at age 64. You can still opt to retire at 62 but you get a reduced 1/2% of full benefit for each month before age 64 that you make your selection. I actually think that if you retire early enough, you pay the government for the privledge.
Us older people with birthdays in the year 1940 had to wait until age 65 years, 6 months to officially retire at full benefit. For myself, that official date would be later in October but the rule is “the benefit begins in the month that you reach 65 years, 6 months”.
So it is finally here, October, 2005. I qualify for the full retirement benefit. Hallileuyah! It is a hollow celebration since I started drawing benefits 3 years 6 months ago.
The truth is I started drawing benefits at age 62. I figured I’d get a reduced amount, actually about 77% of the eventual full benefit. But Grasshoppers, I get that 77% for 3 years, 6 months before I could have started to draw full benefit. I figure that if I reach age 80, I would have received equivalent dollars. Who knows what kind of health I’ll have at 80 (if I make it). Also, the rules of social security could change again. Give me the cash!
So for the full month of October, I can gloat that I made it to my official retirement age and qualify for full social security.
Who would have thunk it!
Work hard Grasshoppers. You too may reach your extended retirement date, choose reduced benefits and cash you checks on the bus.
Love,
Dad

When I was a teenager, my dad (Bucky) was the manager of the Plymouth Foundry in Plymouth. They also had an operation in Adell, Wisconsin located about 15 miles south of Plymouth.
One summer in August, the Foundry held a picnic at the park in Adell for all employees. Brats, hamburgers and lots of games. During the picnic there was a “buzz” that spread through the park. Casey Jones was playing horsehoes in the pits of the park. Ordinarily, who cares about horseshoes, but crowds were gathering to watch. Casey was slight of stature, kind of a crooked right arm and curly grey hair.
The first “pitch” of a horseshoe I remember from Casey’s hand, spun 1.5 turns and landed in the pit: a ringer. Pretty good. Then he repeated the ringer, and another and another. He made 20 ringers in a row. He was like a machine. He was obsessive, compulsive about perfection. I remember leaving Adell thinking about what we had seen. I learned later that Casey had won 19 of 20 State Horseshoe Championships.
Several years later, Burkhardt’s bowling alley in Plymouth was purchased by somebody from Adell. Yep. It was Casey Jones. His place became very popular and you could go in the alley at random times and watch Casey practicing. He would throw bowling balls like horseshoes. Every delivery was the same and 700 series were the norm. He posted many 300 games and several 800 series. He was a delight to watch.
Casey was grooming his son Chuck to take over the bowling alleys. He taught Chuck how to bowl and both posted very high scores.
Then one night, apparently Chuck had been drinking and he stopped his car in the middle of the road near Cascade. He fell down in the road and another car ran him over and killed him. He was early in his early 20’s of age.
For Casey it was never the same. His interest in bowling waned and he eventually sold the business. The magic died.
Every now and then you stumble upon greatness. Casey represented greatness and it was fun to watch. He established a standard that will never be reached by most people in this world. If you happen to witness greatness, enjoy the ride. It is a privledge.
Love,
Dad

Things happen every day that make you wonder. You know! You look down and find a $100 bill laying on the sidewalk. Terrific. What a wonderful unexpected occurance. Unfortunately, the number of good things that happen each day are usually out-numbered by the bad things. By the way, I’ve never found $100.
Not only do bad things happen regularly. They cost money. My tooth was bothering me the other day and my friendly dentist, Mr. Brightsmile performed a root canal. I don’t have the bill but my guess is $500. I remember thinking “not today”. Then your mother told me her back tooth was very sensitive to touch at which point I told her to quit pounding on it. You guessed it! Another root canal. Another $500.
I was driving home from my morning walk and my high tech Saab computer display was aranging numbers and letters in funny arrays. I haven’t had it checked yet, but I would bet on $200. Then I stopped for groceries, put the the groceries in to the trunk and noticed my back tire was going flat slowly. I had it checked. $20 to remove a staple. All these things happening generate a range of responses from “why is the big bird of happiness dumping on my parade” to a polite “not today”.
Yesterday it was our super sized, snob appealing Sub-Zero refrigerator. The highest temperature we could generate was 62 degrees on the non-freezer compartment. Milk doesn’t taste good at that temperature and the fuzz on the old chicken is yukky. So we called a friendly service man who tore apart the mechanisms and as all our food was sitting on the floor and wires were hanging out everywhere, he announces that we need a new thermostat costing $249. What are you going to do? So he fixed it. The big bird of happiness really annoys me. Again. “Not today”.
I am not looking for sympathy or a hand-out. My point is these things happen constantly and you can’t plan for them. I’m sure you can share many stories of incurring unexpected expenses that just seem to crush your budgets.
The solution. Save your money so that you are in a position to pay for the un-expected. There will be unexpected events. They should not “throw you for a loop”. You are entitled to say “Oh, shit”. Or if you want to clean it up a little, “Not today”.
Love,
Dad

I know you animal lovers out there think that I am disrespectful of “man’s best friends”. That is not true!
I was probably around 10 years old when my Grandma Myrna came home to the City Club (I think she had just married Chuck Andes) with a cardboard box. Inside were two Boston Bull puppies. I have never understood the distinction between the Boston Bull and Boston Terrier. They look alike to me. One puppy was black with a white feet. The other was a brown with white irregular markings. I got to choose one puppy for our family. I took the striking black with four white feet, hence the name white “Boots”. Mryna and Chuck took the other puppy and named her “Lady”. Lady?. Lady!
Bootsy was spoiled. Four kids and two adults that took turns playing with her and feeding her improperly at the dinner table. She was a good “lap dog”. She would lay in your lap for as long as you didn’t move.
Funny thing about Bootsy. She never commented on my music, she listened to my radio programs and even enjoyed our first TV. She understood every problem I ever had and she would respond with large caring eyes. I never got any “back talk”.
Because we lived downtown, it was difficult to house train her because we had to walk down the stairs at the City Club, out the door and walk to the back of the property to find grass. In the winter we’d just walk down the steps and let her out. Usually we’d wait until she came back and barked, but in the morning, we’d let her out and go back to bed. Then she’d howl outside until someone went to get her. Usually it was my mother. Bootsy slept with “us” boys and when my mother let Bootsy in, her paws were sometimes wet, her nose very cold and she was full of energy. Of course my mom would point her to our bedroom and Bootsy would try to get under our covers. It worked. It was my mother’s way of getting us kids out of bed and started for school.
There were a couple of times that a strangly stray male mutt ambushed poor Bootsy and there were several litters of pups. No, we didn’t drown them, we always found good homes for them.
Bootsy always had her own small closet with a curtain concealing the inside. If she heard the words “bad dog” she headed for the closet.
Bootsy became part of the family. Across the street from the City Club was a grocery store called Bob’s IGA with a Johnsonville meat counter in the back. They did not pre-package meats in those days and you had to order at the counter. We would ask for dog bones every time we ordered and Bootsy had her personal supply.
Bootsy was a catalyst to our chaotic family. She would obey simple commands and got included in many family events.
My theory is that a dog is like a psychologist. If you pay $200 per hour to visit a psychologist, they ask you “how do you feel about that” and you end up talking to yourself and solving your own problems. With Bootsy, you just talked to her and she would look at you with big eyes of approval. You knew she understood and like the psychologist, you solved your own problems. And you saved $200. You haven’t lived until your canine friend licks your face (“ick”) with approval.
Later in life Shelby and I made an attempt to bring a dog into our family. It was a failed experiment but a valiant effort.
So here is a tribute to family pets everywhere. They can be especially important to every child growing up. Adults too!
Love,
Dad

It was Sept. 12, 1981. Kelly was a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Michigan, the elite of the Big Ten had won 12 straight conference openers. It would be 11 years before Barry Alvarez would arrive on the scene. Somehow, someway the UW-Badgers beat Michigan 21-14. I’m sure Kelly remembers the nutsy atmosphere as everybody celebrated beating the arrogant Wolverines.
Since 1981, Michigan has won 23 straight Big Ten opening games. On Saturday night, Sept. 24, 2005, Michigan again came to town to open it’s conference season. Michigan was favored by 3 points.
The Badgers trailed by 10 points at half-time but they played “Barry-ball”. That means run, run, and maybe run some more. That spells control and it keeps the game close. Well, lo and behold, the Badgers trailed by 4 points with 37 seconds to go when John Stocco, the inept Badger quarterback stepped backed 3 steps and then ran the ball 4 yards with a “quarter back draw”. He scored. Badgers up by 3. Badgers win, Badgers win, Badgers win. Final score? 23-20.
Paul (and Jenny) and your mom got to see history being made. Somehow Paul has been suspiciously present at big events. He and Jenny got to see Badger fans go nuts as history repeated itself for the first time since 1981. A little rain could not dampen spirits.
But even more significant, Kelly (and Carlos) were at the game with tickets provided by Group Health. So Kelly got to see the repeat of a special moment. I’m sure her thoughts go back to the days when she was in the Marching Band and they beat the “bad guys from Ann Arbor” in 1981. They say you can’t go back, but this had to be awful close.
Suddenly Wisconsin is now rated No. 17 in the nation in several polls and Michigan has fallen on bad times with the pollsters. Aaawwwww! Poor Michgigan!
The Badgers do not have a great team but they won a great game. There is no question that the highlight of the season will be the victory over Michigan. A special historical moment was created; again!
A fun time was had by all.
Love,
Dad

When I was a kid in the early 1950’s, Friday night was “cowboy movie” night. One of the two movie theaters in town always showcased Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Rockie Lane and Hopalong Cassidy in a double feature presentation. I think it cost $.25 cents for 3 hours of rock ’em, sock ’em, shoot ’em up entertainment.
My mom would always give us about $.50 total so that we had $.25 for candy and “crap”. I would buy a pack of Juicy Fruit gum and slowly keep adding more sticks to my mouth until I had all the flavor sucked out of all five sticks and was chewing on the whole pack. I wonder why I have so many cavities.
And then there were the lemon drops. They lasted longer because you could suck and crunch a whole bag. More fodder for the teeth.
Occasionally we would go through a bag of popcorn. I think that was around $.10 per bag. Would you believe that I paid $5.00 for a bag at a local theater last week.
My favorite cowboy was Roy Rogers. Mostly because he wore two guns versus one. He could sing “Don’t Fence Me In” and he always got Dale Evans in the end. He had a golden palamino named Trigger and a dog named Bullit. They were like friends. Roy never got shot. The bad guys actually wore black hats. Yup, and Dale Evans horse was “Buttercup”. How sweet. Roy always had buddies that sang with him and they were called Sons of the Pioneers, a musical group that also sold records. I think all the buddies were perverts. They never had girlfriends and they sung in higher toned voices. The theater would come alive with cheering for the good guys and everybody went home happy.
After the movies, next door to to the movie theater was a bar and grill called the Sunnyside. They made scrumptious french fries. Remember this was 1951-1952, 4 years before McDonald’s was even a chain restaurant featuring fench fries. Yup, we had french fries and malted milks. I think I exceeded the money my mom had allowed me but somehow I always had enough.
And then, I would walk two blocks to the City Club at about 10:30 PM. My mother would say “Are the movies over already?”. You’d think she was trying to get rid of us.
In the early 50’s we had no TV. No VCR’s to run “Find Nemo”. No “X-boxes” to play mind numbing games for hours on end.
So here it is. Friday night. We have cable television with over 100 different stations to view and my comment is “isn’t there something good on for a change”?
Oh, I miss the good old Friday nights. Bring back Roy, Gene, Rocky and “Hoppy”.
Love,
Dad

Crackers are oil refineries that take various grades of crude oil and “crack” the oil into to grades of finished products. Gasoline products, resin bases for plastics and diesel oils come from the cracking process. Right now we don’t have enough refineries to handle surges in demand for finished products.
As you invest your money, consider that oil companies such as Exxon, British Petroleum and Chevron will continue to makes lots of money. Over the next 5-10 years, the world will continue to use more oil products. Imagine over 1 billion Chinese and Indians (India) driving cars and SUVs. Also world population continues to increase. You can depend on the need for oil increasing. The oil companies I’ve mentioned are integrated. They explore for new oil, they drill, extract, transport, refine and deliver products to your local gas stations. They do it all. The oil companies have said that right now there is plenty of oil. The problem is a shortage in refineries to convert oil to gas.
Remember this fact. The world consumes 82 million barrels of oil daily. The world can produce 84 million barrels of oil daily. We produce slightly more oil than we use. Not for long! If we get any disruption in supply like from hurricane Katrina, shortages can occur.
The U.S. uses 21 million barrels of oil daily. That is approximately 25% of total world production for our population that is only 5% of the world total. We suck up lots of oil daily.
Which brings me to the “crackers”. Since there is limited refining capability in the U.S. and the world, investing in companies that do nothing but cracking or have cracking as a major business segment makes sense. I belong to an investment club that owns Sunoco Oil, sponsor of NASCAR and a major “cracker”. It has tripled in the last 2 years. I am not recommending Sunoco right now because I think it might be a little inflated but over the next 5-10 years companies that own crackers will do well.
Oil is expected to last the next 40-50 years. After that there won’t be any more oil. We had better have alternate energy sources. For the next 5-10 years oil companies and crackers will do very well.
Eventually oil companies will have to re-invent themselves with alternate sources of energy because they will run out of the oil that sustains them. You can bet that prices will remain high so that they have the money to find new sources of energy.
Close your eyes, invest in oil and “crackers” and open your eyes in 20 years. You will have some extra money.
So there you have it grasshoppers. My view of “crude oil” business and how it might benefit you. Send all gratuities to my home address.
Love,
Dad

When I was growing up, my Dad died when I was seventeen and a senior in high school. My brother Jack was 15 years old and a sophomore. Jack was rather strong minded but he listened to his father. When Bucky died, Jack launched a steady stream of defiant actions against the “establishment”. He skipped school. He even landed in jail a couple times. But you see, deep down Jack knew what was right and wrong and when he turned 17 he begged his mother to sign a document that allowed him to enter the Navy. He was a model Navy enlistee. He made a special honor guard awarded only to the best cadets and he took courses to finish his high school course requirements. When he left the service, he approached the Plymouth High School administration to get his high school diploma. As I recall (because I went with him), they refused to grant the diploma and they insisted he get it by taking the GED tests. Of course Jack’s response was “go chase yourself”. So Jack never got his GED and I know deep down there were times he wished he had.
What has this got to do with anything? Well there is a rumor that a young lady in Sheboygan named Dano has desired to take the GED so that she can get certification of high school equivalency achievement. Sometimes you need a gentle push. Someone other than mom. That is because mom’s always push. That encouragement came from a very special Uncle (and Aunt).
A little bird told me that Dano studied very hard preparing for the GED battery of tests. I believe there were four “units” she had to take covering everything from math (yuk) to general science.
Believe it or not, I know what scary is! Scary is having to go into a room, be given four separate units of tests and be judged on how well you answer the questions. What if you fail? What if? What if?
I think Dano knows the significance of get the GED. Jobs open for high school graduates that don’t open for “non-graduates”. She also knows that she can pursue more courses and more college type cirriculums. Dreams can be pursued.
Dano passed! She passed all the GED tests. She has satisfied all high school requirements. Let the dreams begin. There are no limits and as Dano will find, she can achieve anything she wants.
Her mom cried. Honey cried. Paul cried. Dano cried. I admit to a “glassy eye”.
Dano, a door has opened. Step boldly through it and show the world what you can do!
Love,
Chas.