Ace Wisdom

Our fore-fathers formed a whole new government over 200 years ago and one of the platforms was that we would not have taxes without representation. Well we’ve got representation and our taxes are higher than ever.
We have a Presidential election in 8 months and you can bet that taxes are going to go up. We are living under lower federal tax rates enacted 4-5 years ago. So when you make out your Federal Income Tax forms, you are paying less tax on earned income, dividends and capital gains. All the reduced tax rates expire in 2010 and tax rates will return to higher levels experienced in the early 2000’s. So if our representatives do nothing, in 2010 we will all get automatic tax increases.
Don’t stop there! Hiliary wants healthcare for all and will get it through higher taxes. She also proposes raising the tax rates on top of the automatic tax increases that will happen. Obama has a modified healthcare program. I’m not sure what McCain stands for!
There are plenty of hidden taxes. You pay a 15% gas tax as prices at the pump approach $4 per gallon. If you buy a gas guzzler SUV you will pay up to $7700 special dealers tax (I’m not sure this is a bad tax). There are local hotel taxes. If you smoke, you pay a cigarette tax. There is a beer tax. Can you believe that? How about taxes on guns, fishing equipment, and food products protected by import tariffs.
Add in a 5% State sales tax. Did I mention local property taxes.
Look at your pay check. You pay a social security tax (as does your employer) along with a medicare tax and an unemployment tax.
So you see, we got just what our forefathers wanted. We have taxes but we are well represented by our Senators and Congressmen. How is it working for you?
The lesson Grasshoppers is that you should stay informed on what your representatives are doing in Congress and if you enjoy having you taxes increased, keep voting for the same pompous assh—-.
Love,
Dad

As you know, Mary Ann’s funeral was yesterday. The attendance of friends and family was over-whelming.
Sometimes things happen that can’t be planned and turn out to be very special. Willie, Mary Ann’s grandson (Jackie’s son) had asked if he could say a few words during the religious service. After the Priest had led some prayers, Willie stepped to the podium.
He had written a tribute to his Grandmother. It was delivered very deliberately and it was heartfelt. Willie portrayed a person who cared and was unconditionally supportive. You could sense from the people who had gathered that Willie “nailed it”. By the time he was finished, you felt like you’d like to clap and applaud. Applauding didn’t happen because of the solemness of the occasion. Too Bad! A standing ovation was in order.
So I know that Willie’s mom was very proud. Jack had to be very proud. I’m positive that Mary Ann was proud.
Willie presented a beautiful tribute!
Love,
Dad

As you know, Mary Ann Andrews (your Aunt) passed away Sunday. I got to visit with her last Thursday. She will be missed. The relationship she forged with her son Johnny was very special, one that only a mother/son can truly understand. My sympathy to Jack’s whole family.
It has been 8 years since I wore suits and sports jackets to work. The suits have been hanging in the closet collecting dust. Anticipating that I would need to wear a suit to Mary Ann’s funeral, I pulled out a dark colored suit. I wiped the dust off the shoulders. Then I tried the suit on. Remember, I’ve lost 20 pounds! None of the suits fit very well. I look like a drowning rat. Two buttons fell off the suits, I think from 8 years of decay.
Next I tried on some white dress shirts. Would you believe I was up to an 18 inch neck back in the 1990’s. An 18 inch neck in my shirts looks ridiculous. I had some 17.5 inch necks. Ridiculous. I had some 17 inch necks, ridiculous. When I stopped at my local clothing store, I found I’m down to 16.5 inches.
So time marches on. I have been walking at my local health club (Fox River Health Club) for over 8 years. I figure I have logged over 10,000 miles (maybe closer to 12,000). That is equivalent to one half the way around the world. Unbelievable!
And then as a reminder of the ravages of time, I notice on a regular basis as I walk up the steps from the basement (your Mom has a full length mirror positioned at the top of the stairs) that fraility is creeping in.
I am not complaining! I can still score in the low 40’s playing 9 holes of golf. I can still shoot a basketball better that most people. How many people walk 4 miles everyday?
Grasshoppers, I think I’m describing life’s process. Pursue your dreams! Enjoy the moment! You too will lament someday that “time flies”!
Love,
Dad

Admit it! We all need to believe in something. Something more. Something better. It is what inspires our very existence.
The whole state of Wisconsin and sports fans around the world are “mourning” the retirement of Brett Favre. Part of me says get over it, but the other part understands the promise that Favre’s prescence meant.
Whenever Favre took the field, there was a chance the Green Bay Packers could win. Sometimes he would have a few “brain farts” and throw stupid interceptions but at other times he would unleash his cannon arm and lead the team to unbelieveable victories. For the fan there was constant optimism that something great might happen today. What a gift! Something good may happen to you today. We live for that.
I am reminded of the musical production of “The Music Man”. A flim-flam salesman comes to town and convinces the whole community to buy new musical instruments and uniforms for their children. Excitement builds over the summer as everyone waits for the equipment to arrive (via the Wells Fargo Wagon). Of course when the instruments arrive, everyone realizes that the kids do not know how to play. Anger! More anger! The flim-flam man should be tarred and feathered. In the end, all is forgiven because they realize the gift of “promise” has inspired the whole community for months. Dreams of kids developing skills! Common purpose! People dreaming of something better. Hey, there ought to be a parade led by 76 trombones.
My perception is that none of our Presidential candidates generates a vision of something better. The last visionary to generate excitement was Kennedy (and I’m not even a Democrat). He dreamed of going to the moon. How stupid was that? Yet 7 years later, we landed on the moon and the country collectively rejoiced. How great we were!
You see Grasshoppers, we need to believe there is something better. And there is! Don’t give up on your dreams. I predict something good will happen to you!
Love,
Dad

Tell me it isn’t so. Fox Sports.com is reporting that Brett Favre has made the decision to retire. How can this be? He engineered a 13-3 league record last year. The team went to overtime in the league Championship game. Favre is only 38 years old. He makes one million dollars every month. Packerland depends on him. He never misses a game. He is a gunslinger. He is tough! His back up, Aaron Rogers got to play a major part of one game recently and pulled a “hammie”. He can’t win games sitting on the bench. Well I won’t believe it until Favre holds a news conference to officially announce his retirement. It is just a rumor. It can’t be true. Gasp!
As you can tell, I don’t always deal with change real well. It has been reported that the government is contemplating elimination of the penny. They have postphoned the decision but it is clear that it costs two cents to produce a penny that is no longer copper. I guess one way of looking at it is that every penny you now hold is worth two. Another gasp!
When I was a kid, the “mill” had been eliminated as a form of currency. It represented one tenth of one cent but with all the inflation it had become meaningless. Now it is 60-70 years later and the “mill” is still used by the oil companies to peg prices at the pump. You’ve seen the prices as $3.099 per gallon. Why would an oil company that is used to raping and pillaging the consumer for big bucks even consider posting the 9 mills at the end of the price. How insulting can you be? Call it what it is: $3.10 per gallon.
If the penny is dropped as one of our standard coins, my life falls apart. Years ago I would take 5 pennies and buy 5 pieces of bubble gum. I could put pennies in a machine and get prizes. Beserdicks General Store in downtown Plymouth thrived on “penny candy”.
It gets worse. You can’t say “a penny for your thoughts”. It makes you sound cheap. Now you’ll have to say “a nickel for your thoughts”. Inflation does that. A package of terrible cookies can no longer sell at Aldi’s for $.99 because it doesn’t allow use of nickels.
You can’t have a “penny jar” any more.
You’ll have to wear out your pockets with nickels rather than pennies.
If you find a penny lying on the street, do you pick it up. It is hardly worth the effort. There is a common understanding that if you find a penny lying on the ground and it is “face up”, someone is thinking of you (and something good will happen to you). Does the same philosophy apply to finding a nickel face up. I don’t know!
So you see, this day is turning to sh–! First Brett Favre retires. Then the possibility of losing our penny. Did I mention my coffee pot ran over this morning.
I guess I’ll adapt. What choice to I have? Actually I found a penny this morning (and it was face up) so the promise for something good is strong today. I’ll just enjoy the moment.
Love,
Dad

This day is extra. The 29th of February only comes along every 4 years. It is one more day to earn more money or do something special. It defines leap year. Don’t waste it.
One of the more affluent members of the family has purchased a “Blu-Ray” DVD player to compliment her HDTV. Apparently “Blu-Ray” won the lottery for HD technology and it will be the standard of the DVD business. I am not familiar with “HDDVD” (the competing company) but I do understand the concept. Years ago in the late 1970’s, Beta competed with VHS for dominance in the video tape business. Beta was better by far and our family bought a new unit. It took about 3 days to find out that we couldn’t get “tapes” at the video store for BETA, so I exchanged it for a VHS unit. It is called capitalism. VHS destroyed BETA with marketing and “money”. It was Sony who lost the BETA wars.
So now Blu-Ray which is the basic software of Sony (and PlayStation) has a victory. You are free to purchase the new HD Blu-Ray technology and be assured that it will serve you for a few years. It is only part of the puzzle however. The signal you receive is only 760p (or is it 720). An improved transmission of 1080p (or is it 1060) is planned for the future. Who cares? The point is that the signal now coming into your home is less than optimal. Then you buy a HDTV with 1080p capability receiving a less than optimal 760p signal. Blu-Ray that comes with 760p transmission capibility (or is it 1080p). Obviously I making a spoof of the whole situation. The truth is that all TV’s have a better picture as the transmission of digital HD gets better and better. The question is how much you are willing to spend for this pursuit of perfection. Did I mention you need a special box to receive HD properly from the Cable Company?
Now lets finish off the Blu-Ray technolgoy with the choices of HD DVD’s. You can buy a high quality Sony HD DVD player for $400. You can buy a Sony Play Station with HD technolgy which lets you play HD games along with playing HD DVD’s you’ve rented from the store. The Sony Play Station software lets you download HD quality movies from your computer (and the internet) and play them on your HDTV. Same Price, $400. It seems like you’d buy the Play Station because you get so much more but the quality of downloads over the computer has had lots of problems. The family member of which I spoke bought the simple HD DVD Blu-Ray Sony player unit. Somewhere in my training I learned that “complexity eventually brings decay”. I think the right choice was made. The Geeks would disagree with me.
So now Grasshoppers, as you receive you tax stimulus (rebate) checks and are encouraged to spend your money to stimulate the economy, you have all the information you need to p— the money away on Blu-Ray and HD stuff. I think it falls in the category of “want” not “need”. You can worry about food for the table and college for the kids later. It is like going to the “poor house” in a Cadillac.
Love,
Dad

This year (2008) represents our 50th anniversary since graduating from High Schoool. Both your Mom and I graduated in the same year. Scholastically she was ranked much higher than I was.
Well we have been contacted by classmates from ’58 informing us of the upcoming reunion. We need to “mail-in” personal information along with pictures. Later we will need to send in money to pay for the festivities.
Talk about a dilemma. All the memories are of skinny people along with shared experiences from 50 years ago. Expectation is you return to this era of hard bodies and good looks and everybody will be happy, happy, happy.
The reality is that everybody has changed a lot. “Frompy” physiques, balding heads and a sea of eye-glasses. Maybe even a few canes and wheelchairs.
So you really don’t know what you are going to find. Some classmembers are deceased. Some have been married multiple times. They are spread all over the country.
And then the enevitable comparisons of success. Doctors! Lawyers! Professors! World travelers! Admit it! This is the most intimidating part of the reunion. It is a judgement on what you did with your life. Maybe you were the best Mom in the world and raised 5 great kids but that gets little acclaim. So you have to develop the mindset that if you go to the reunion, you’ll just look past all the petty career comparisons and enjoy the old friends for what they meant to you in 1958.
Part of me says it would interesting to go back and re-visit 1958 provided the right people show up and part of me says that 50 years have passed and you can’t go back.
Going back in time is not always pleasant. The teen years are awkward. There were select cliques of people that could do hurtful things and there were many negative experiences that are best forgotten.
I know what we will do. We will send in our personal information sheets (along with pictures) to get them included in a class booklet. We will send in our money as if we are going to attend. Then sometime in June as we get near the date of the reunion, we will make the decision on whether to go. That is called keeping your options open (of maybe lack of commitment).
I really believe you can’t go back. My memories have drifted to being mostly positive. Why not leave my memories alone.
And yet, I have to admit just a little curiosity.
Stay tuned!
Love,
Dad