Ace Wisdom

The date Aug.6, 2013 for me will go down as a day of I’ll always remember. I scheduled a routine doctor’s visit to check some shortness of breath. After some tests, it was found that my heart had released the enzyme troponin to protect itself in cases of stress. Suddenly I’m on my way to AMC Cartiology Unit. A heart catherization was scheduled for late in the afternoon to look for artery blockages. Worst case: use balloon treatment to open artery (maybe a stent). Best case: something minor was wrong. Yeah, right. I got “bumped” on the late afernoon schedule and the catherization would be first thing the next morning. And then? And then? One of the bigget tornados ever to hit the area struck. Hospital power was out for two days. Surgeries were being rescheduled. The hospital sent me home to exist in the dark with a bad heart (and enough medicine to sink a ship) until I could get my scan.

One week later they preformed the catherization. They found 4 blocked heart arteries ranging from 90% to 99%. The heart blockages could not be fixed with a mere stent. I needed open heart surgery, but there would be a 3 day delay because I was filled with blood thinners and they needed to dissipate. Clearly there was some Supreme Power orchestrating this ordeal.

Yes, I had open heart surgery on Friday, Aug.16. So far so good. I sleep alot but as of this date I’m home. The food is better than the hospital and the company, too. I picked up a Subway turkey breast on the way home from the hospital and it was the best ever.

My Wife has a fear of being put in a care-giver position. I agree with her because your life ends as you’ve known it. But you can’t change a beautiful person and I know she won’t leave me lying in a swamp. She watches me very, very carefully.

The prognosis is that by the end of 3 months I will do everything I did before and feel better. The rumors that heart operations bring on alzheimers is just that, a rumor. I think that is what they said.

Thank you for being supportive.

Love,
Dad

You know what day it is? It is game day that’s what day it is! Grasshopper 4 here, Hopper #5 had a great idea of hi-jacking the divine one’s blog while he is indisposed for a while. No worries he will be back writing his wisdom in no time.

But it is game day, the high school team I coach has their first scrimmage, tomorrow night the Packers have their 2nd preseason game, highlights of football are starting to show up on ESPN and we all get to bask in the warm glow that is the football game.

The divine one played football in high school, from all the stories he tells apparently they were pretty good, he has written about that before. I also played high school football and we were not very good. Oh every season the hope was that we had the talent to compete but we struggled on the talent, although I wasn’t holding that bell curve down. Just listen to my stories of how good I was.

There is a coach in Fond du lac by the name of Bob Hyland who coaches the Fond Du Lac Springs football team. He is the winningest coach in Wisconsin history, as of this writing it is 387 wins and 12 state titles, most coaches’ dream of 1 title but Bob has 12, that is just being greedy.

I got to play against his teams in high school and their success stemmed from one thing, they were a simple team. They didn’t do anything fancy on offense but boy they would steam roll you. They didn’t do anything fancy on defense but you would swear they were playing with 12 players instead of 11.

As I put in the years coaching kids what I have learned is that being simple wins more times than being complicated. Simple does not mean easy, in fact I believe that simple is the hardest thing anyone can do. Bob’s teams were simple and they worked extremely hard to be that way. 387 wins and 12 titles later helps that case. Funny how life imitates sports, live a simple life and success and happiness will follow.

So go forth and be simple, I believe the Divine One would approve.

A sudden storm blew through Tuesday night and spurned four or five tornados. They seemed to be all around us. We escaped with a few “down” branches, lots of blown debris and no power.

Ah yes, no power. We went 2 & 1/2 days without power. The good news is that weather since the storm has sunny and temps in the 70’s. We did have water supply.

The bad news is that all the things we take for granted when we have power were missing. Going to the bathroom in the dark sucks. Candles and flashlight are the order of the day. Phones don’t work. Cell phones can’t be recharged. Electric garage door openers lock in the closed position. I was proud of your Mom. She pulled the manual release cords and was able to lift the doors open manually. She did it. She trundled on down the road in our used Toyota.

But there are other things. The gas stove is ignited with an electric spark so we couldn’t use it. The microwave which gets used for pre-packaged snacks was inoperable. There was no coffee. Hot water needs electricity even with gas because it needs ignition to heat the water. Showers were definitely out. Things like blow dryers for hair were useless.

Some of things I repeated over and over were really stupid. I would walk into a dark bathroom and out of habit, turn on the light switch to no avail. I kept telling myself that was the last time I would commit that stupid act. Sure enough, the next time I would do it again. Dah. It is kind of a conditioned reflex

During the loss of power, Grasshopper No.3 checked on Mom and Dad several times to be sure we okay. He is my favorite. Mom and I even joined No.3 and Spouse for supper one night. Last night we got to attend a movie followed by a Panera Bread salad. Quality situations. Quality time.

So we survived. Our comfy life was disturbed a little bit but some positive things also occurred. The biggest “needful thing” I missed was my HDTV. The PGA major golf tournament is going on this weekend and I missed one day of action for sure. Go ahead and say it. Ohhhh you poor guy.

In the final analyis we were really fortunate not to incur heavy damage (maybe life threatening) and we got to revisit how things were before all the modern conviences were available.

Packers game tonight and I have my public antenna. It is also on two Spanish stations (you have to mute the sound and add the radio for audio).

Love,
Dad

This weekend is the 55th reunion of our (Mom and My) high school class. We paid our money. Yes, we are going.
I added “Showtime” to our Cable package on Aug.1. The reason was to get season 3 of “Borgias”. On Aug.2, our Cable network announced that they had not reached a new agreement with CBS which owns Showtime. You guessed it! The Cable network is not offering Showtime until an agreement is reached. No, I am not paying for it.

So far, the Cable network is carrying CBS public TV without an agreement. NBC is already off cable as a result of no agreement.

No fear! I have installed my “old power aided regular antenna” and I get all the public stations clearly. The signal strength is about 90-95%. Ah the games we play. I wouldn’t want to miss any NFL football.

Grandson Dominic finished his summer football conditioning program. His goal was to power lift 400 pounds. He lifted 405. The dilemma was “should he try for 415”. He had to think about it before trying. Common sense prevailed. If you have to think about it “at length”, you probably shouldn’t try it. Good call! Congrats to Dominic. 405? Really?

I have a doctor appointment today. I get to use my Medicare program which everybody hates. No fear. In a few months when Obamacare “kicks in”, all my problems will be solved.

Days are getting shorter!

Love,
Dad

My “tinker toy” cable television company continues to irritate, befuddle and annoy. I know you all have experienced price increases, changes in service and general dis-respect. My theory is that they intentionally baffle you with bullsh–, confuse you with complexity, and constantly change rules. Sometimes you can get a price discount if you threaten to switch services.

I visited the local office of my cable provider to return an electronic box. While I was there, I was told they were running special deal. Because I bundle TV, internet and telephone, my choices qualified me for a $28 per month reduction in price. My question is “why wasn’t I told this before”. I will get new 2 HD receiver boxes capable of recording 2 programs at a time (and the boxes can “talk” to each other). My internet speed will double. I get “lots” of additional stations. Will the ecstasy ever stop?

The challenge is to take advantage of this electronic gadgetry and not change your Mom’s TV antiquated recording set-up in the basement. Talk about pressure!

Being suspicious as I am, the Cable Company doesn’t provide more services and reduce costs because they are good guys. Each time they put a new computer based device in your home, they find new ways to profile you and I. The Cable Company then sells the information to other companies. We then get exploited by advertisers targeting our preferences. Ah yes! Is this the land of opportunity or what! The value of information continues to increase.

This date, Aug.2 marks the anniversary of the purchase of our Crystal Lake Cottage. Would you believe it cost more than our home in Sheboygan?

Love,
Dad

I have mentioned my investment in a share of “Packer’s” stock. It is essentially worthless because I can’t resell it. Hey, the bragging rights are “priceless”. Obviously it is a lousy investment from pure financial standpoint.

Then there is the Milwaukee Brewers. I have been approached by the Brewers to invest in their organization (not really). They own the rights to Ryan Braun and owe him $117 million. The Brewers can’t sell him to another team because he is “radio-active”. His performance will probably decrease without the drugs. I told the Brewers I wasn’t interested. It is high risk and just a poor choice for investment.

There is a company “Generac Power Systems” that sells home portable generator systems to be used for emergency situations. The natural gas powered unit installed is probably $3500-$4000. This investment would be fantastic in an emergency situation such as power outages from severe storms. The investment is one of convenience because people in this area will survive without a portable electric “backup system”. It is a marginal investment. You might get some money back when you sell your home.

Another investment choice is “games”. Grasshopper No.5 works for a company that markets and sells video games for use on electronic devices including ipods and cell phones. The company, Gamestop has doubled in price in the last 10 months. Whoa! In October of 2012, you could have bought Gamestop for $22 per share. Lately it has been hovering around $44 per share. Investing in video games has been an excellent investment. No I don’t own any shares! Damn.

Give me “Games”. It is the one investment that appears to keep on giving (at least for now). It looks like Grasshopper No.5 has landed in a good situation. I wonder if she gets stock?

Only you can choose the use of your money for investment. Emotion can cloud judgement. Choose wisely.

Love,
Dad

It happened! The Green Bay NBC affiliate (our Channel 26) could not reach a broadcast agreement with Time Warner Cable and “it is off the air”. My life as I know it changes. Really? I do have to worry about NBC Sunday Night NFL football in several weeks but I think I have an alternate antenna hookup. Now I am waiting for a rebate from Time Warner for not carrying NBC. Yeah, right!

I’m not sure which is bigger? Cabelas or the Green Bay Packers! Cabelas Sports complex opened on property owned by the Green Bay Packers and they’ve had people sleeping outside over night to get free deals when they officially open Thursday. Cabelas is supposed to be a hunter/fisherman’s merchandise paradise.

The Packers open training camp today. People were also sleeping outside the gate to get good seats to witness the first training session. Really? I guess I don’t understand the rabid passion of football fans. The estimate is that over 100,000 people will visit traing camp this week. Hey, it is great to be a stockholder.

This week Green Bay is the center of the universe. TV stations are going off the air, Cabelas has opened a new facility and the Packers are back. Does it get any better!

I think NBC (the official Packer station) broadcasts the annual “fan appreciation game” in two weeks. My anxiety level is going to really increase if Time Warner and NBC don’t get their act together. Such bullsh–.

Love,
Dad