Ace Wisdom

Happy 4th of July.

Your Mom (with Grandson help) has been putting new mulch around the back of the house.  I think we bought the “mulching company”.  It looks nice!

It has been interesting to follow the Summer fortunes of Grandson Dominic as he toils in his Summer job.  Dominic’s employer is a friend of the family and the job is his first experience in the business world.  Sometimes being connected to the “right people” helps.

When I was a kid in Plymouth I always describe my Summer job in fields of the local Stokely Van Camp canning factory.  At age 12, I was old enough to “weed beets” in the fields.  That meant being bent over all day pulling the weeds that were beginning to grow in the maturing rows of beet plants.  I got paid by the row.  Getting the job was never in question.  Our next door neighbor to the City Club was Harry Z., the Superintendent at the Canning Factory.  All I had to do was turn 12 and I could weed beets because I had a connection.  Yeah it was hard work but I would earn $35-$40 a week as a 12 year old.  I had a connection like Grandson Dominic.

When I turned 16, I was elgible to work in the “canning factory”.  Summers were for peas.  Again I had the connection.  No job applications here!  Canning factories with hot production lines are relentless.  My “connection”, Harry Z. got me assigned to inspecting peas at the end of the production lines.  The foreman just happened to Roy C., who incidently had tended bar at the City Club for many years.  I earned $1.06 per  hour and some days were 14-16 hours long but I didn’t get worn out inspecting peas.  Some weeks I earned $60-$70.  God love that connection.

I was saving more money than my parents.  I had plenty of spending money.  I have come to realize being “connected”  doesn’t hurt!

Love,

Dad

Grandson Collin is officially honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.  Thank You for your service to this great Country.

Grasshopper No.4 and Family have a new addition.  She is mostly Black Lab with a little Chow mixed in.  She is a darling 2 year old and I am her favorite friend.  Welcome Melanie.

Grandson Dominic has a summer job with a local heating/refrigeration company in Sheboygan.  It takes me back 40 years because Grandpa George gave me a Summer job doing the same things as Dominic.  My position was “gopher”.  I would assist all the skilled trades people by “going for this, and going for that”.  Of course I was underpaid but I was just glad to have a job.  I did learn a lot about forming sheet metal, installing furnaces and “hanging gutters”.  I used some of my earnings to pay the $90 semester tuition at UW-Oshkosh.  I think a semester of  tuition is $3000-$4000 today.  It is called inflation.

My exercise routine is being threatened.  It has been a blessing to have a convenient place to walk every day.  The local Mall is comfortable “rain or shine”.  Malls all over the Country are closing for lack of traffic.  The culprit is on-line shopping.  Why fight the crowds when you can go to places like Amazon.com, push a button and have the product delivered at your door.  And at a lower price!   The prediction is that 50% of all Malls in the U.S. will disappear in the next 10 years.  What will I do if the local Mall closes?  I will be forced to change my exercise routine.  I do admit to being a fan of Amazon so I guess I am part of the “Mall problem”.

We are in July!  Whoa!  Enjoy the 4th.

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

 

 

Your Mother gets a new HP computer today.  Her old one ran out of “capacity”.  The hard drive on the old computer had 1/2 gigabytes of storage.  Lots of pictures fill that storage very quickly.  The new computer will put a spaceship on the moon.  The hard drive has 2000 gigabytes.  Whoa!  That should take care of your Mom for at least a year.

Birthdays. birthdays, birthdays.  Grasshopper No.4 celebrates on June 29th along with two others.  No.4 was born in 1972.  Grandson Nevin turns 27 (I think I got that right).  A friend from Sheboygan who used to babysit for you younger Grasshoppers has a birthday and she would “hurt” me if I disclosed her age.  Happy birthday to all.

Grasshopper No.5 always talks about how great it is to live in Minneapolis.  The Mississippi is overflowing it’s banks and washing away shoreline.  One hospital near the river is now without a foundation.  The State of Minnesota has mandated a $9.50 minimum wage.  No.5 will get a raise (just kidding).  Minneapolis doesn’t have a Spring season.  They go from Winter to Summer directly.  It sounds like paradise to me.

This “soccer thing” is really getting to me.  The U.S. Soccer Team lost it’s final first round game to Germany 1-0 and was estatic because it is moving on in the World Cup competition to the Round of 16.  How can you be happy about losing?  How can you lose and still advance in the competition.  “Me thinks this a game that I fail to understand”.  I still want to know how you can tell when the game is  over.

Enjoy Summer.  It is here.

Love,

Dad

There are lots of birthdays coming up later this week.  One of the Grasshoppers will turn 42.

I got my notice as a shareholder of the Green Packers of their Annual Stockholders meeting on July 24, 2014.  It sounds more like a “lovefest” than a significant financial disclosure of business affairs.  I don’t think my one share is going to make much difference.

Door County is the vacation “Heaven” of Wisconsin.  Recently it has been cold, cold, cold.   Aunt JoAnn and Bill hosted a visit for your Mom’s birthday.  The hospitality was warm.  Lots of stories about you Grasshoppers!

I am not a big Soccer affectionado.  The USA is participating in the World Cup. How do the fans know when the game is over?

Last week, your Mom and I had reservations in Ames, Iowa at the same Motel as Grasshopper No.2 and Grandson Grant.  We arrived early (4:00).  They had computer glitches, no room access because of electronic keys, and no toner in the printer to confirm our status.  We were assured we would get into the room sometime and have a place to “sleep that night”.  Really?  Being the resourceful creatures that your Mom I are, we went down the road to Country Inn & Suites.  They had one room left but it was a suite with 3 beds,  two TV’s and a refrigerator.   I took it!  The girl at the desk saw we were frequent guests of the motel and gave as a special rate of $89 per night, $25 per night cheaper that our previous gig.  It turns out the suite had been scheduled and cancelled at the last minute.  The suite had a gift basket for the previous guests but because they wouldn’t be there, we got the gift.  Now that is what I call a “triple play”.  My Mother would call it “falling in sh– and coming out smelling like a rose”!  Sometimes things “fall right”.  It is about time.  Grassshopper No.2 arrived later and did get in at the original motel.

Love,

Dad

Happy Birthday to your Mom!  She had lunch with her special group of friends.  She is lovingly known by one as “Yoda” (from the Star Wars episodes) for all her wisdom.  Yeah!

Twice this week I have been involved in a “factory” setting.  As you know your Mom and I went to Io-way, yes sir Io-way.  Grandson Grant was getting orientation at the University of Iowa (Io-way) State.  I can’t get the song that refers to Io-way out of my brain.  The city of Ames is a “University” town.  During the orientation I was stricken by the number of students passing through the gates of the University on their way to forever.  UIS (Iowa State University) is an “education factory”.  They bring in young minds (like raw material in a factory), they educate, and they ship students to the world.  The system is well organized and believe me it is big business. Construction of new buildings never ends and tuition and State subsidies never end.  The business employes most of the citizens of Ames.  If not at the University, hotels, restaurants and associated services thrive in Ames.  Grandson Grant is now accepted as a raw talent waiting to be transformed on their production line into a desired contributor to society.

My next exposure to a factory was the clinic that does cataract surgery.  I was scheduled for an initial consultation this morning.  From the time I walked in the door, I had the feeling that I was part of a production line.  First I filled out forms. Second my eyesight was retested by a different aide.  Then an young doctor did an audit of the health of my eyes.  I was given an Ipod to watch a video on my own. I was given my options and costs on cataract removal.  I was presented with my 3 options for surgery and “steered into what was right for me”.  I made my choice, scheduled the procedures and signed all the insurance forms necessary for everyone to get paid.  When I left with my eyes dilated, I couldn’t help but think,  “what just happened?”.  I had just passed through one of the most efficient eye clinics in the country.  They had transformed my eye concerns into a committed profitable venture in two hours.  Their profit. My money.

I always think of a factory as a place that makes tangible products, such as motors, pumps or cookies.  This week I saw a “mind transformation” factory and a medical procedure juggernaut (a service factory).

Both factories are big business.  If you don’t think running a University is big business, you are living on another planet.  Vision correction surgery?  Dah.

Hang on to your wallets.

Love,

Dad

 

Grandson Grant is now an official member of society.  I saw him walk across the stage and get his high school diploma.

Your Mom has a birthday later this week.  I think she is catching up to me with age.  Happy Birthday to the love of my life.

Usually Mom’s birthday falls on the longest day of the year.  From then on the days start getting shorter.  Jes–.

Football practice for the high schools begin in 4-5 weeks.  Really?

Well as you know I gambled and bought the car of my dreams (and my father’s dreams, and his father’s dreams).  Yep, the upscale Buick.  Problem is my ignition switch keeps falling out and now I’m one of 3.2 million new owners sitting in line to get it fixed.  Maybe GM Buicks aren’t all they are cracked up to be (get it “cracked up”).

The raining season is beginning.  Have a good week.

Love,

Dad

In the early 1980’s, Mom’s Dad (Grandpa George) had retired from his business and he and Nana had settled into retirement  in the family home.  One day while visiting them, I encountered George on a ladder scraping the exterior of the house in preparation for paint.  He must have been 77-78 at the time.  I remember attempting to tease him about having to “scrap and paint again”.  His comment was “this is the last time; I can’t do this any more”.  He was struggling with long hours on the ladder and fading eyesight.  I remember thinking that I had heard him complain before; but this time was different.  George had come to the conclusion that his physical abilities were diminishing and it was time to change his life.  Soon after, he and Nana sold the homestead, moved to an apartment and began to do “old things”.  The day he was on that ladder telling me he couldn’t contend with the painting, a chill feeling came over me.  This wasn’t the discussion I wanted to hear from a person who was always optimistic and strong, raised a family and built a business.  Life is about dreams.  George wasn’t dreaming any more and he was dealing with the last stages of life.  I didn’t like the feeling at the time.  I still don’t like the feeling.

Last night your Mom and I attended the PAC performance of “Phantom of the Opera”.  We have season tickets and sit next to an old business colleague of mine and his wife.  He (his name is Tom) just celebrated his 80th birthday.  During intermission, they indicated they were “dropping” their season theater tickets because they see too many repeat performances and their interest wasn’t there any more.  Tom talked about updating their Will and they are in the process of installing a new furnace in an old home (who would buy an old home that hadn’t been updated).  I got the same chill feeling that Grandpa George had given me.  There are “end of life things people do”.  With my friend Tom, there is a chill wind blowing.

Keep pursuing your dreams.  They are the elixir of life.  No chill winds there!

Love,

Dad