Ace Wisdom

I have begun searching for new home/auto insurance.  I am finding that being “dropped” by an insurance company is not all that unusual.  My first visit was to an All-State office.  The encounter was well ochestrated.  I was assigned a very nice agent to compile the quote but within 3-4 minutes of my visit, the owner of the business entered the office and was conveying his thanks for my visit.  He was very personable and we were comparing common interests very quickly.  When he left, the agent and I finished the quote (30 minutes).  As the quote was wrapping up, the owner reappeared and released more charm.  The lowly agent must have signaled electronicially that we were wrapping up and “wha-la”, the owner reappears.  It was not fair.  It was two insurance types against me.  It was their version of a modern day version a “sting”.  The bottom line is it is my money.  I win!

The “eyes” are on me.  Upon returning home from a movie recently, there had been a light snow.  As your Mom and I were going from the garage into the house, I told your Mom that I was going to shovel the snow.  She told me to leave the garage door open and to leave the rear door to the house ajar.  It was apparent that she wanted to hear the sound of the shovel.  If the shoveling stopped I was probably dead (or laying in a heap in the snow).  What a sweetheart.  She was worried about me.  I think she was worried about me.  What else could she  have intended?  It is amazing what a heart operation does.

The Wisconsin Badgers are one of eight teams that remain in the quest for the NCAA basketball championship (out of 68 teams that started the tournament).  This is “rarified air” for the basketball team.  Go Bucky!

Love,

Dad

 

 

My “other” insurance has been cancelled.  Really?  I guess we are a bad risk.  I know auto insurance companies are quick to drop you with even one “fender bender”.  The one that is hard to understand is home insurance.  Several years ago, we had a tree get hit by lightning and the electrical surge blew out garage door openers and an array of electrical items like stereos and radios.  Total claim was $1,600 and we a paid $500 deductible.  Yep, we have been dropped from coverage on home insurance.  We have paid premiums for 29 years.  We  experience one claim and we are history.  My neighbor has replaced 2 roofs with insurance after questionable hail damage and his rates haven’t changed.

I have been interested in the $1 billion challenge to pick all the 63 “bracket winners” in the NCAA basketball tournament.  On the first day of the tournament, out of 11 million entrants (through Quicken Loans), one (that is right one) person picked all 32 games correctly.  That one person lost his chances when Dayton beat Syracuse in the second round.  There was one winner.  The insurance company owned by Warren Buffett was paid a premium to cover the chances $1 billion might have to be paid.  Buffett makes money because he understands risk.  No wonder he is one of the richest men in the world.

This would be funny if it wasn’t so true.  Former President Jimmy Carter handles lots of information that still requires confidentiality.  He does not use a cell phone (lacks security).  He does not use e-mail for the same reason.  He doesn’t even use a telephone using a land line.  Carter uses a typewriter to draft his messages and sends them through the mail in a sealed envelope using the U.S. Postal service.  The sad part is that he knows what he is doing.  Old fashion, but effective.

UW Badgers still dancing.

Marquette loses basketball coach Buzz Williams to Virginia Tech.  Big loss!

Brewers open Monday in 50 degree weather featuring new addition “Hank” the mascot.  Exciting.

Love,

Dad

 

Today is the first “full day” of Spring.  Feel the warmth

Grandson Collin is headed back to the Marine base in San Diego.  He has about 1 month before a pending medical discharge would be granted.  Collin has lots of options.  His training is in “high pressure hydraulics” such as those used in aircraft and helicopters.  I don’t know how those skills transfer to the public sector but apparently the demand from Boeing to Commercial airlines is very strong.  Another option is to go to college on the equivalent of a “GI Bill”.  That means the Marine Corp will pay for his schooling.  Whoa!  I think there is also a program where the “Corp” pays for technical training.  Oh, to be 23 again!

I am reminded of “days gone by”.  My Uncle Jerry (my mother’s brother) had spent 4 years in the Army and received an honorable discharge in 1954.  He was about 23 at the time.  I was a Freshman in high school.  Jerry opted to take advantage of the “GI schooling program” and came to live with our family as he attended the local college.  His study skills were poor!  I was teaching him Algebra for his college courses.  Jerry eventually “re-enlisted” in the Navy.  I think he got a $6,000 bonus.  He became a “Sea-Bee” which is the naval version of engineering construction.  He retired on a government pension at age 38 and he did get a college degree while in the service.

I’m not suggesting that Grandson Collin should re-enlist but it worked for my Uncle Jerry.  The military is cutting back on spending and I think there will be a continued reduction in personnel.  Re-enlistment may not be an option.

I was always intrigued by the concept of retiring at age 38 with a pension.  Yes sir, sitting on my a– and collecting monthly checks would have been okay!

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

Sunday was the culmination of a week of birthday celebrations.  Both daughter-in-laws were toasted by family at Schwartz’s in St. Anna.  I think I counted 14 in attendance.  Everyone got to meet Grandson Collin’s fiancee’ (Audry).

I have completed my “brackets” for the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament.  Because I am sure I have picked all 63 games correctly, the world will be clamoring to know my picks because they are worth $1 billion from Quicken Loans.  The picks are in a sealed envelope and on the way to Grasshopper No.3 (my entry into a family pool).  Send me the money!

This falls under the category of “really?”.  The Milwaukee Brewers found a strange dog around the clubhouse during Spring training and the club has adopted him as a mascot.  They have named him Hank (as a tribute to Hank Aaron).  Really?  I wonder how honored Aaron would be to know a dog was named after him.  Under great financial stress, the dog was flown to Milwaukee and met by hundreds of fans at the airport.  Really?  He even licked the faces of supportive fans.  I think Hank is going to participate in the Sausage races at Miller Park ballgames.  T-shirts have sold out with Hank’s picture on them.  Maybe they will let Hank play an outfield position.  He can’t be any worse than the rest of the team.  Eventually the Brewers will have to play baseball.  Really!

The Wisconsin Badgers kick off the NCAA basketball tournament Thursday morning.  They have one of the more talented teams Wisconsin has ever had.  Go Bucky.

More shoveling tomorrow.

Love,

Dad

 

 

Happy Birthday to daughter-in-law Shelby.  I remember being her age!  Her birthday came and went several days ago.

Happy Birthday to Grand-daughter Keely in Cleveland.  Sunday marks the date.  I remember being her age too!

Happy Birthday to daughter-in-law Jenny.  The birthday coincides with St. Patricks day.  Let the celebration begin!

There is a group of Sheboygan ladies that met on a regular basis 35 years ago.  There has been an effort to gather one more time.  One of the ladies was our neighbor Marge from Crystal Lake.  She seems to have vanished.  Throw in a divorce, abandoning lake life, sharing life with a special “other” and then more moves.  Where oh where is Marge?  She seems to have vanished “in plain sight”.  Stay tuned!  I know.  I know.  There is always Google.

The guessing contest to pick the winner of the NCAA basketball tournament sponsored by Quicken Loans starts next week.  The prize?  $1 billion.  The odds? 1 in 9.2 quad-tillion.  Actually the odds are better because everyone knows that a #1 seed has never lost in the first round.  Also knowledge of individual team tendencies has a big effect.  Only the first 15 million entrants are elgible for the prize, so act early.  To enter you must reveal lots of personal information including e-mail address and date of birth.  Is it really worth a 1 in 128 billion chance of winning $1 billion dollars in exchange for having Quicken harrass you with sales promotions forever?

Next week is the official arrival of Spring.

Love,

Dad

 

Grand-daughter Dano has completed the “textbook” requirements needed to become a CNA (I think it is “certified nursing assistant”).  Next is the “hands on” training followed by the the final test.  Then the “big money”.  Go Dano.  The journey takes her towards RN.

At Christmas, there are random gifts we hand out.  One of those gifts this year was a model plastic car kit, a corvette.  I think it was Grandson Grant who won it but forgot to take it home with him.  Rather than throw out the kit or send it to Grant, I assembled the corvette myself.  I didn’t bother to paint the various body parts or put on decals but it looks pretty good.  To Grant all I have to say is “losers weepers, finders keepers”.  It just goes to show what I do with my time when bored.

I mentioned that we were going to change the tradition of buying 4 season tickets to UW football games at Camp Randall.  Instead of 4 tickets, we are going to buy 2 tickets.  The family interest in the tickets seems to have waned.  There are usually “other” tickets available for individual games through Craigs List (or local friends) should additional tickets be desired.  Last year, I did not see a single football game.  Your Mom would not let me go (of course heart surgery might have had something to do with that).

Grasshopper No.2  and family heads out on a Caribbean cruise in a couple weeks.

Grasshopper No.4 and family heads to Florida next week.

Why is everybody going south?

Love,

Dad

 

Grandson Grant graduates from Middleton High School in mid-June.  He as been accepted at Iowa State University and will attend in the Fall.  Congratulations to Grant.  Congrats to his Mom for raising a great  kid.  See you all at  the celebration.

I try to minimize political rhetoric, but I am reminded of a powerful quote that might reveal my political bias.  Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England back in World War II was a defiant leader.  He led the effort to keep Hitler from invading England.  I think the term conservative fits him well.  After the War, he was voted out of office by a liberal socialist politician named Atwater.  After the vote, Churchill and Atwater ended up standing at urinals in the same restroom.  Churchill made it a point to stay as far away from Atwater as possible (like 15 urinal spacing away).  Atwater admonished Churchill for standing so far away.  Churchill’s response was “every time you socialists (i.e.democrats) see something large, you try to nationalize it”.

There has been a movement afoot to adopt the “Bitcoin” as the currency to be used for internet transactions.  You purchase Bitcoins and then can use them electronically to buy from merchants that accept them.  I don’t want to be negative but the value of the Bitcoin keeps changing so you don’t know the value of what you have.  What is this?  One of the major banks sponsoring the Bitcoin went bankrupt!  Whoops.  And then, the 38 year old chief executive of the Bitcoin operation dies mysteriously in a Singapore hotel.  Whoops again.  This gets followed with a disclosure that a billion Bitcoins had mysteriously disappeared (electronically I suppose).  Here is my advice.  Stay away from Bitcoins!

Daylight Saving time kicks in this weekend.  Clocks “spring ahead”.

Love,

Dad