Ace Wisdom

After the terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon yesterday, I have re-thought some of my life’s priorities.
I have decided to stop training for the 26 mile marathon. Of course, I will be giving up on one of my goals to run the Boston Marathon on Patriots Day in mid-April. Sh– happens.
Second, I am going to support legislation to limit production of bombs. Anyone that buys detergents, baking soda or chili powder will have to pass a background check. The materials could be ingredients for a potential bomb. People will be limited to buying no more than 3 boxes of baking soda at one time. Hey, the anti-gun advocates are pursuing tough limitations.
For the 15th time in my lifetime, I am going to resolve to not buy gold or silver. It’s value has nothing to do with the “free market system”. The price of gold/silver is manipulated by “big money” players and is strictly tied to emotion. Yesterday, the gold market dropped 8% and was down 25% from it’s peak 2 years ago. Nobody knows why. My favorite son-in-law indicates that the price of bullets is sky-rocketing and stores are limiting how much ammunition each customer can buy. Now, there is a market trend I can understand. Buy bullets, not gold.
Lastly, I pledge not to believe corporate bullsh– being expressed on radio or TV. With the Boston bombing, people in the area began high volume usage of their cell phones (social media networking). Many people noted that their phones went dead. Verizon and AT&T denied network over-load and indicated they had no problems. My guess is that Homeland Security shut down all networks because bomb devices can be triggered by phone signals. So people were without their “security blankets” (their cell phones) for a small amount of time. I want to know the truth!
It is a shame that it takes the Boston Marathon to shake up my world, forcing life altering decisions. What can I say?
Love,
Dad

I am in the process of having the snow tires taken off the cars. I had my “little car” scheduled for Wednesday morning. 8:00 AM.
I had a friend that offered to pick me up at Ray’s Tire while they did the change and we could go to the local gym to work out. Afterwards, I would be dropped off at the garage to pick up the finished car.
Not everything goes as planned. “Unbeknownst” to my friend, the ice storm over night had knocked off the power and the alarm clock was disabled. They didn’t show up. So I adjusted. I figured I would deliver the car at 8:00 AM and wait an hour or so until the tires got changed. No big deal. So I drove over to the garage in the ice storm.
I was at the garage for about 15 minutes and the power went out. That means that all work on my car stopped. Luckily, the snow tires were still on their rims but had been deflated. My choices were to re-inflate the tires and put them back on the car manually or wait until power was restored. I waited for about 45 minutes. Still no power so I had my snow tires re-installed. I left Ray’s Tire intending to repeat the drill next week. I was told Ray’s lost power all day so I made the right decision.
There is something sick about getting snow tires removed during a snow/ice storm. Then it dawned on me. I was getting a message from “above”. The Big Guy was telling me that winter weather is far from over and I should leave the “snows” on. It was a sign? Naw!
Sometimes things happen for a reason. The way things are going, I may keep the snow tires on all year.
Love,
Dad

His name is T.Boone. He is a “good old boy” from Texas who made billions in oil. He owns several drilling companies and invests in oil patch companies. His full name is T.Boone Pickens.
T.Boone is a big contributor to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University. He has dropped hundreds of millions into the athletic programs at OSU. The University doesn’t make big decisions with out calling T.Boone first.
T.Boone and a university fund raising group called Cowboy Athletics (the OSU mascot is a Cowboy) hatched a plan to raise $33 million dollars through contributions. The money would be used to buy life insurance on 27 distinquished supporters of the OSU athletic program. Each life insurance policy would be worth $10 million. If all 27 supporters died at one time, the University as the beneficiary would receive $270 million. Clever.
My old boss always said “the plans are mans, the odds are Gods”. Guess what? The Cowboy Athletic group ran out of money paying the premiums on life insurance of the alumni. The whole $33 million was gone. The policies had to be dropped. The big problem was that nobody died. All 27 people that had life insurance policies were still living. If just one had died, $10 million more would have been available to keep insurance going.
T.Boone and friends sued the insurance company for deceptive practices claiming they had been defrauded. Alas, they lost!
So God gets the last laugh. There are obviously lots of old alumni at Oklahoma State and they don’t intend to die soon. The insurance company is $33 million richer.
Don’t count T.Boone out. He is smart. He is clever. He will devise a new program. OSU athletics will continue to prosper.
Love,
Dad

Our cottage on Crystal Lake in the 1980’s gave our family access to “lake living”. Included was the need for a boat. The boat everybody remembers was the 15′ Glastron with the gold flecked finish and a black 60 horsepower Mercury engine. The shallow hull allowed the boat to get up “on plane” easily and skim over the water. It was “pretty” and fun.
Grasshopper No.3 attempted to make a racing machine out of it. Under perfect conditions, the boat would attain 55 mph. That meant that Crystal Lake had to have calm conditions and No.3 would start out at the west end of the lake, get the boat up on plane and trim the engine at top RPM’s so that the prop was just deep enough in water to optimize speed and reduce drag. Hey, I sound like a marine engineer.
No.3 could out-race most boats on the lake though skill. Trimming out the boat perfectly at top speed produced a fun racing machine.
Ah, but not all was perfect. There was faster boat on the lake. It was the “boss”. It was owned by Martins. It was also a Glastron but it was longer (16-17 foot length) with a deeper Carlsson sport hull design. The boat used a bigger engine. In a “side by side” race across the lake against our speed boat, Martin’s Glastron Carlsson always won. Not by much, but it dominated performance.
Fast forward to 2013. Grasshopper No.3 purchased a used boat last Fall. He is the process of refurbishing it repleat with a 175 hp Mercury engine. The boat is the same model (a Glastron Carlsson) as the “boss” boat that used to beat us across the lake but I think the engine is bigger. After re-fiberglassing the transom, I think the boat will accept an even bigger engine than 175. In effect, Grasshopper is building the dream “boss”. He will never be beaten again. That is what dreams are about.
I have been invited to join No.3 for a “memory” ride around Crystal Lake sometime this summer. We will go down to the west end of the Lake, open the throttle and experience the ride of a life time. But it will be different. The DNR has imposed a speed limit of 35 mph on the lake. So the experience will be “go like hell to 35 mph and then cruise”.
Finally Grasshopper No.3 will have the “boss”. Bring back the Martin boat. Hold the race. Let the lake know there is a new boss in town.
Love,
Dad

Today is April 2. It is significant. It marks the 53rd Anniversary of your Mom and Myself.
I could do a rehash of the significant events our marriage. Actually, for our 50th anniversary celebration, Grasshopper No.2 wrote “A 50th Anniversay Ode to Chuck and Shelby”. I have selected some of the prose from No.2’s insightful Ode. It tells the story.
“On April second, 1960 they were wed, initially to Milwaukee to Allis-Chalmers Chuck was led”.
“Grasshoppers No.1, No.2,and No.3 were added to their lair. They relocated to Sheboygan, their first home was on St.Clair”.
“When Grasshopper No.4 arrived, one bathroom was not enough. A bigger home on North 6th Street had all the perfect stuff”.
“Three teens and all their challenges, the youngest 5 years old. Along came baby No.5, a moonbeam to the household”.
“Crystal Lake soon became the playground for everyone. With cottage, boats and lazy days, Summers were lots of fun”.
“A Paper Company offered Chuck a job, so to Appleton they did roam. Shelby went back to work and Greenfield Street was home”.
“The kids moved on and they were alone again, most couples would downsize. But no, these two upgraded, Maple Hills is their home”.
“Five kids and eight grandkids later, describes the Andrews clan. Happy Anniversay Mom and Dad, best wishes and love from your fam”.
Grasshopper wrote the ode in 2010. I have changed a few words around but I don’t think I changed any feeling or meanings. To all of you who have shared the “ride”, Thank You.
To Shelby, the love of my life, Thank you for sharing the journey. It has indeed been memorable. Happy Anniversary.
Love,
Dad

I was driving down our street yesterday and I saw a man sitting on his front stoop basking in the sun. I drove a little further where 4 kids were playing basketball in the driveway. In the evening I could smell bratwurst being grilled next door. The Brewers open their baseball season at Miller Park on Monday. So do the TimberRattlers. What is happening? What does this mean? Could it be? No it couldn’t! Spring? Really?
Easter is Sunday. My favorite memory is from the early 1960’s. Your Mom and I were visiting Grandpa George and Nana on Easter Sunday. Grasshopper No.1 was probably 3 years old and Grasshopper No.2 was “2”. Nana had hand tailor made two bright red matching cordoroy coats and red bonnets from the same material for No.1 and No.2. Of course, there were shiny patent leather shoes and cute dresses. All the parishners from St. John the Baptist Church turned their heads as these two cute little angles walked down the aisle. Angels? Little did they know. The festive nature of Easter and the “red outfits” punctuated the day.
I have my electronics “wish list”. Putting a bigger TV set in the kitchen was completed several weeks ago. I now have a sports bar (kitchen). Yesterday, I replaced the Blue-Ray HD DVD player in the computer room. I replaced it with an upgraded, high powered Blue-Ray player with Wi-Fi capability including such features as connecting to desired Apps. I can now get Net-Flix on two different TV’s. Some day, my wish list will get to a large screen, smart, 3-D capable LED, 1080p HDTV for the basement. After that, I want multiple TV screens in the computer room so that 2-3 programs can be played simultaneously. That will be followed by having a miniture hand telephone that controls all my devices. And then…. And then….
Marquette is still dancing. My NCAA bracket got “blown up” when favorite Indiana lost last night. Next year my picks will be based on “nasty”. The biggest, most physical, intimidating teams will get my pick. Shooting a basketball is secondary.
Have a Very Happy Easter.
Love,
Dad

Grasshoppers #3 and #4 have a bet with me on who will win the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I have not done too well so far. Grasshopper #4 has misquoted me as proclaiming, “the damn little a–holes are beating me”. Well, “the rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated”; that quote comes from Shakespeare and that is my response.
Your Mom and I got a bad case of the flu. Of course, she got it first and gave it to me. We both refuse the annual flu shots because there is less than a 50% chance that the strain they have planned for, is really the strain that you potentially get. In this case, who knows?
Our local parish has been on a fund raising mission (several million dollars) to “improve the facilities where treasured offerings and prayers are made”. In other words, update the church. Okay! We are now 70% into the fundraiser. A summary detail of how the money is to be spent is finally revealed – $300,000 goes to an endowment to help children with school tuition. Why didn’t the church leaders say that? There is a one time $100,000 amount that goes to the World Mission Support. Why didn’t the church leaders say that? What other money is being channeled to causes that are not related to remodeling the church? “Me thinks that there is deception afoot”; that wasn’t Shakespeare, that was me. I am not happy when people lie to me. We have a government that does that. Now I have to worry about the church.
Today is March 26. I walked out to the mailbox to get the morning paper and there was a light hint of snow. Really!
Stay warm.
Love,
Dad