Ace Wisdom

Our neighborhood is not replete with “little children”.  Somehow on Halloween the number of children that “trick or treat” swells to a large turnout.   The best costume was the “Grim Reaper” dressed in black with a shiny sickle.

I understand that retirees like me on Social Security will be getting a 1.5% raise in January.  The increase can be used to pay the 20% increase in medical insurance.

The earliest I can remember attending a UW-Badger football game was 1980 when Grasshopper No. 2 began her exploits in the University Marching Band.  Your Mom and I would buy tickets through the University ticket office for each individual game.  Nana and Grandpa George were included many times.  In the early 1990’s, Barry Alverez came on the scene and suddenly the stands were filled.  We had to convert to season tickets (4).  The first tickets were in the “nose bleed” section of the upper deck.  I think we were two rows from the top  of the stadium before moving to our current seats.  Why do I mention this you ask?  This is the first time in 33 years that your Mom and I will not attend a Badger football game.  There are 3 games left in the current football season but our tickets are either “spoken for” or sold.  Alas, things change.

Medical insurance when you are retired is a “mine field”.  Premiums for insurance change erratically.  Deductibles are hard to calculate.  Co-pays vary.  If you are heavy into medications, you have to worry about the “doughnut hole” which during the fiscal year can have you exposed to full medication prices without insurance protection.  I have been thinking about switching to a better program but with all the confusion associated with Obamacare, I’m afraid to change anything right now.  So I will wait for any potential changes until next year.

I will be watching the football scores tonight as Middleton High School plays Oconomowoc in the State Playoff Championship.  Grandson Mitchell is on the Middleton team as a sophomore and according to his Mom, he is psyched.

This weekend you get an extra hour of sleep as we “fall back” due to daylight saving time.  That is a good thing.

Love,

Dad

Your Mom and I journeyed to Wausau on Monday to attend the funeral of Son-in-Law Tom’s father.  It was obvious that his Dad, Bob was very respected in the community and had lots and lots of friends.  May he rest in peace.

Grandson Dominic is preparing to get his driver’s license (April, 2014).  They start the process much earlier than when I was in high school.  Over the road driving begins soon.

It is interesting how qualification for driving has evolved.  When Mom’s mother, Lyla started driving there were no tests (1920’s).  You just applied for a drivers license and you were registered.  By the time I reached age 16 in 1956, each high school administered a 12 week class on the rules of driving.  It was up to the potential driver to practice with somebody’s car (usually parents).  On the day of the my road test, I reported to the police station.  The written test was administered and the road test were taken on the same day.  I took my road test in a 1955 pea green Plymouth (which was a “piece of crap”).  It was a stick shift mounted on the steering column.  I remember stalling the car on a required U-turn.  I cooly restarted the engine, completed the turn and waited to be rejected on the road test.  To my surprise, I passed.  The driving instructor said that he passed me because I retained my composure on the “stall”.

I am sure the education process for Dominic is much more complex than my early training.  He can’t wait to get his hads on the family Nissan 4 door “hummer”.  Kids have not changed.  No, he doesn’t get to drive my used Beemer.

Grandson Mitchell’s high school football team in Middleton won last Friday in the Division 1 championship playoffs.  They play again Friday.

Thursday is Halloween!  I can’t wait to “jump up and down” for 4 hours from watching NFL football to serve all the witches and goblins candy.  Bah, humbug.  Usually the smaller the kid, the cuter the costume.

Stay warm!

Love,

Dad

 

 

Our sympathy goes out to Son-in-Law Tom and his family.  Tom’s father passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 23.  His Dad (Bob) was 90 years old.  I know that Tom and his Dad had a special relationship.  Good memories will last forever.  As you know I am a big supporter of remembering the sacrifice that WWII veterans made and the Honor Flights to Washington D.C. to see the memorial  dedicated to them has been very special.  Bob got to make an Honor Flight.  I hope that the visit was during the recent government shutdown and that he was one of the vets that stormed the barracades.  We have lost another WWII hero.

Just a note of recognition! 

Your Mom has a friend who is involved with an organization called SIBS.  It is for the children of families with a severely disabled member (another child).  The child who is severely disabled demands full attention and the rest of the family must adjust to a very giving attitude.  SIBS pauses long enough to tell “other children” they are appreciated and they give up a lot in support of the disadvantaged brother or sister.  In a sense it creates a common awareness among SIBS and it says “thank you”.  Cool!

As you know I went through a fairly serious operation.  The nature of the situation meant that I needed a great deal of attention during the recuperation period.  The person who made everything go seamlessly was your Mom.  She was very clever at making me do many things for myself  but there was always the burden of making sure I was okay.  She was always with me during doctor care.  She introduced me to healthy foods.  She gave up attending events for me.  You get the idea.  She had to slip into an enabler role.  Like the child disadvantaged child in the SIBS “situation”, I unknowly got all the attention.  Lots and lots of cards.  Special phone calls.  People preparing special foods.  In social situations, I was the center of attention because people wanted to know my status.  Your Mom always encouraged me.  Well I am going to start an organization called ASP.  It stands for Angels of Sick People.  Your Mom gets the first Angel award for making her own needs secondary and helping me to become the sassy, sarcastic, irritating person you’ve all come to know and love.  God I love her!

We took in the Fireside yesterday.  Something about sleeping on 20 mattresses with a pea on the bottom.  Hey, I was with your Mom.

Love,

Dad

 

Grasshapper No.5 celebrated a birthday yesterday.  We got to spend a couple days over the weekend with her.  Happy Birthday No.5.  I understand her “boy friend” spent her birthday in New York taking pictures of the Minnesota Vikings losing to the New York Giants.  How could he be gone on her birthday?

We were treated to the stage production of “Wicked” on Saturday.  I found out how the green complexioned Wicked Witch of the West spent the rest of her life.  She lives in Wisconsin.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t summarize the exploits of the two Grandsons playing Junior Varsity football.  Grandson Mitchell in Middleton (Madison) was on a team that finished unbeaten at 8-0.  That makes the season special.  But wait, Mitchell has been selected to “suit up” for the varsity team which is the State Championship playoffs.  Wouldn’t it be something if he got to play in several games.  Wouldn’t it be something if Middleton won the State championship.  Wouldn’t it be something if Mitchell scored the winning touchdown in the final game.  Hey, I can dream can’t I?

Grandson Dominic’s team limped into the final game of the season.  Crippled by loss of players to injury, last night (cold and windy), Dominic’s team got creamed by cross town rival Sheboygan South”  By all personalmeasures Dominic had a successful season.  He trained in the off-season, played a solid role on both sides of the Sheboygan JV line and was still “standing” at the end of the year.  He has a lot to feel good about.

I was thinking last night of my years playing high school football.  All games were on Friday night.  If  a player was not in the game because of injury or the “platooning” substitute system, on a night like last night, you remember getting bone chilling cold.  30 degrees.  Winds to 30 miles per hour.  Dew on the grass.  The night grew colder as darkness settled in.  I know it sounds like the complaint of a wimp but it tough being enthusiastic when your ass is frozen.  But hey, there is no complaining in football.  Suck it up.

I am feeling better each day.  It must be the scrumptious food.

Love,

Dad

Sister-in-law Jane comes “home” after weeks in a Green Bay hospital.  It feels good to come home.  I know!

I see that all the government workers that were laid off are returning to work today with full back pay.  In the business world when you get time off with pay it is called a vacation.  Did I miss something?

Veterans of World War II were in Washington last week to view the Memorial dedicated to them.  Because government workers were laid off, veterans were denied access to the Memorial.  Just like WWII, the “soldiers” stormed the blockades and ignored the warnings.  Good for them.  Just a note, the government workers that were on “vacation” causing the blockades, got paid for not being there.  Really?

When you or I get laid off we get unemployment insurance.

I am not supposed to believe that those who have preceded me in death (like my Mother and Dad and ….) can communicate with us.  I don’t necessarily believe that but I don’t know.  I think people close to me that have died look over me and occasionally send me messages.  The problem is interpreting  those messages.  Yesterday was a wierd day.  The bathroom light went out.  I thought it had burned out.  I flipped the switch just to verify and what the hell, the light came on again.  I was driving down the highway and a stone glanced off my windshield.  You get the idea.  Strange things were happening.  Last night I was sitting in “my chair” and the light along side the chair burned out.  Somebody, somewhere was trying to communicate with me.  For some reason I checked the row of 10-12 daily medications that I take and it turns out I had a mistake and had doubled a powerful “A-fib” drug.  I caught the error avoiding  potential negative effects.  Maybe that is what the “stange happenings” were all about.  I was being warned.

Seasonal weather coming in!

Love,

Dad

With all the controversy in Washington D.C. about the country “going broke”, my level of concern keeps going up.  What about my Social Security check?  What about payment of the medical bills paid by Medicare for my recent “operation”.  What about the value of my 401k that has stock investments?  And so it goes, lots of things to worry about.  No wonder I am “sweating”.

There is one bright spot.  Governor Walker has promised to return surplus State Tax dollars to property owners of Wisconsin.  The average property tax payer with a $150,000 home will get $13 back.  Legislation has not yet been passed but the outlook is positive.  I guess my worry is that I will not get my property tax credit.  More “woe is me”.

I have finished my initial physical rehabilitation (rehab) at the local hospital (AMC).  I am going to miss all the attention from the physical exercise specialists.  As part of the rehab, they really push education of healthy living through their nutrition programs.  I know I should restrict caleries, avoid saturated fat, stay away from carbohydrates and reduce sodium intake (salt).  I have studied the issue and there aren’t many foods that offer all the reductions recommended.  My “take” on the whole thing is (1) be aware of the food you eat, (2)create a balance and (3)use common sense.  There is something about portion control that gets involved.

My sister-in-law Jane is still in the hospital with an ordeal that began in late August.  A broken hip followed by a heart attack has taken its toll.  Having spent time in the hospital, my hope is Jane finds her way home soon.

Today is the 8 week check-up by my surgeon(s).  Hope they reduce medications.

Love,

Dad

 

More raspberries today.  Grasshopper No.1 brought more of the red morsels.  My understanding is that there are so many berries on the bushes they will be food for the critters.

Andy Pafko died this week.  He has been a person that has “threaded” through my life.  It began with stories from my Dad.  My Dad was invited in 1940 to a baseball “try-out” with the Chicago Cubs.  One of his best friends during that period was Andy Pafko.  My Dad recounted the physical attributes of the Boyceville, Wisconsin farm boy.  Pafko could throw a baseball from the fence in centerfield to homeplate “on the line”.  Pafko went on to play for the Chicago Cubs, the Brooklyn Dodgers and finally the Milwaukee Braves (not Brewers).  The Milwaukee Braves came to Milwaukee in 1953.  My Dad used the Pafko connection to get some autographs during the mid-50’s.  Pafko even met with our family after one game at Miller Park.

Several years ago Son-in-Law Tom found a wall billboard announcing that Pafko was coming to Boyceville in 1986 to dedicate a baseball field he  played on as a kid.  The billboard features a large picture of Pafko.  I have it mounted on my wall in the basement.

Pafko has been a constant reminder that he followed the path my Dad had wanted.  Pafko played in the Major Leagues for 17 years, a career my Dad had dreamt of.  My Dad and Pafko were almost the same age.  It is un-imaginable that my Dad could still be alive following Pafko’s long life (Bucky died 56 years ago).

It seems like the end of life’s journey is becoming a nursing home.  Pafko died in a nursing home.  A quiet end to an exciting life.  I can’t help but wonder “will the the Pafko connection” appear in my life once again?

Enjoy the colors.

Love,

Dad