Ace Wisdom

For those of you who forgot, Oct. 21, is Margaret’s birthday. She was born in 1977 in the afternoon at Memorial Hospital in Sheboygan.
There is an erie similarity to the day. It was Friday, just like today. There was a warm autumn sun, just like today. The temperature outside was mid-50’s, just like today
I guess I remember Margaret being born because it was scheduled. The first four Grasshoppers arrived when the contractions got to be 10 minutes apart (I think it was 10 minutes but but my memory sometimes fails me). In Margaret’s case, there was concern on the part of the doctor that your Mom’s health was at risk because of water retention and other potential complications. So it was ordained. Margaret will be born today and labor will be induced. No waking up in the middle of the night to rush to the hospital. No concern about getting to the hospital in time. No concern about the availability of the doctor. This new “spirit” was coming today in early afternoon.
Nana arrived at our house before we left for the hospital to calm the home waters.
I remember two things at the hospital. First, I was allowed to stay with your mom prior to her going into the Delivery Room. We were in this narrow little room as they monitored her progress when her water broke. I never knew a body could hold so much fluid. There was water everywhere. I am surprised that Margaret didn’t arrive on a raft or a surf board. They ushered me out of the room to a lounge area while they cleaned up the mess. Then I was told that they had taken your mom into the delivery room.
The second thing I remember is meeting the “rolling bed” as they came from the delivery room. Mom was still lying flat with Margaret in her arm. I remember asking how much Margaret weighed and they told me 10 pounds, 2 ounces. Now I know I will get taken to task for getting the weight wrong but she was the only baby over 10 pounds.
I remember going back home (2040 N. 6th street), parking in the back of the house and walking from the warm sunshine into the house. Nana was waiting to find out how everything went. I know she was really excited and pleased with the outcome. I think Nana always had a bias for girls.
So you see, Margaret’s delivery was carefully planned and the plan implemented. I don’t know what was so difficult. It all seemed pretty easy to me.
So to Margaret who turns 28 today. May it be a very special birthday. May she receive many special balloons. I remember it well.
Love,
Dad

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