Ace Wisdom

Grasshopper No.3 and No.4 have bet that they can beat the “old man” with their picks in the NCAA basketball tournament. It is still early but on the first day of competition, the “old man” picked 14 right out of 16.
Just a comment on Harvard. It is a “brain” school. They never, ever won a game in the NCAA tournament. Guess what? Harvard beat New Mexico (a highly rated team). If Harvard is so smart, why did it take a century to figure out how to win.
My alma mater returned from the dead. Marquette was behind by 6 points in their NCAA contest against Davidson with 70 seconds remaining. Marquette had “no time-outs” left. Somehow, Marquette’s Vander Blue (hence my title True Blue) made a lay-up with one second remaining and they won. So the dance continues. Did I go to a prestigious school or what?
Your Mom and I attended the Fireside performance of “Footloose”. I thought it was a nice day and entertaining performance. Your Mom has been “throwing up ever since”. I didn’t think the play was that bad. My first thought was that maybe we ate something that caused a reaction. But so far, only she got sick. Wait! I hope I can finish this because I’m feeling nauseous.
We have finished watching the second season of “The Game of Thrones” featured on HBO. The new season starts on Mar.31. I’m almost inclined to let Season three playout and then watch on reruns. Watching the series in rapid succession lets you follow the story line easier.
My dashboard light is flashing at me again. Damn!
Love,
Dad

Did we just get a new blanket of snow (4 inches)? Is the temperature going to be “single digit” tonight? Is tomorrow the first day of Spring? Where am I?
Appleton has given us big, big blue containers for recycling plastic and paper as part of a new automated system. “Given” is a misnomer. We will be taxed on a quarterly basis.
Last Saturday was Grand-daughter Keely’s baby shower. The baby is expected May 23.
The shower was a co-ed event so I got to play some of the games. It has been a long time since I’ve seen baby food in jars. One of the games had 8 jars, each containing a different flavor. The contest was to name the food in each jar. Mushy baby food tastes terrible and “apricot” food smells like sh–. Really! I do remember trying to trick you Grasshoppers into eating baby food by pretending to eat the food myself and then exclaiming “Hmmmm, good”. Then I’d hope you’d imitate me by eating the awful food. You spit some of it out.
Keely seems commited to a natural life style. My first clue was the recently purchased Prius in the church parking lot. The car utilizes lots of electricity thereby reducing emissions into the air. Because of her allergies and reactions to certain types of foods, she is a vegan. No meat! Most food is organic. Protein comes from soy. I’m sure the new baby will get lots of natural “stuff”. There will be no disposable diapers. That brings back memories of the dredded diaper pail. Before disposable diapers (yes there was a day that the only option was cloth diapers), dirty diapers were put into a big pail with a germacide liquid. After a few diapers were allowed to age in the pail solution, the smell was rather “rank” when the lid was taken off the pail. It was a smell you never forget. It cleared your sinus’.
So you get the idea. Baby gifts were given to an “el naturale” theme.
Keely seems very happy. There are lots of significant and exciting things coming her way. Her boyfriend Pedro is very special. If you want pictures of the event, you’ve got to ask your Mom.
Spring begins. Baskeball March Madness starts Thursday. Both UW and Marquette have teams in the big dance. Does it get any better?
Love,
Dad

Our condolence to Grasshopper No.5. Her kitty Bruno had been ill for a long time and finally succumbed. Bruno’s light shone brightly in No.5’s life for a long time.
On the more cheerful side, Happy Birthday to my favorite daughter-in-law, Jenny. May your day be special!
Grand-daughter Keely is “expecting” in May. Congratulations. It will probably be a boy. I don’t know what the formula is but our family in recent history seems dominated by boys. Also, Happy Birthday to Keely.
I had mentioned that I replaced our kitchen TV with a larger HD set. The old set is probably 4-5 years old and is a “15” HD. Any Grasshopper or member of our family can have the HDTV “free”. Let me know.
We are forecast to get several inches of snow today. The temperature is supposed to be in the high 20’s over the weekend. Really? Last year the temperature hit 80 degrees F. on St.Patricks Day in New London. I really don’t understand this global warming sh–.
Your Mom and I were thinking about taking a cruise until we heard about the second Carnival Cruise Ship in a month that developed engine and electrical problems. This time, the ship made it to the port of St. Maartin in the Caribbean. Passengers are being flown home, given some cash and offered 50% off on a future cruise. I personally have a claustraphobia and being confined to a ship with toilets streaming “stuff” across the deck does not appeal to me. Besides, your Mom can’t swim.
Stay Warm,
Love,
Dad

First, Happy Birthday to my favorite daughter-in-law Shelby. May your day be special. I think she is slightly older than 29.
“29ers'” is a term you will hear more and more. The new Obamacare rules require companies with more than 50 full time employees to offer a medical insurance plan or pay a $2,000 fine. The operative word is “full-time”. Obamacare defines a full time employee as anyone who works 30 hours a week. So what are small employers (McDonalds, Hardees, Taco Bell) going to do. They will cap employee hours at 29 to avoid paying $2,000 fines. Hence the term 29ers’. If you are a 29er, you are condemned to live a life of limited work hours.
There are rules. A full time equivalent employee must work 30 hours or more. Equivalent means two 15 hour employees performing a job could be considered full time. Tricky! The 50th employee hired by a McDonalds triggers all kinds of penalties such as McDonalds having to pay a $2,000 penalty on every employee over 30 in number. You get the idea. Getting to be a full time employee is going to get difficult for both the employee and the employer.
So if you need a job and are willing to work at a fast food restaurant, plan on 29 hours or less a week. Your alternatives are to get another part time job at a different fast food restaurant and work 20-25 hours at each place. You will not get medical insurance coverage at either place.
The medical insurance game has already begun although penalties don’t kick in until 2014. The hiring practices of 2013 will be used to determine the $2,000 penalties imposed next year.
It seems to me that the process of getting people to “full time” status just got harder. Then again what do I know. Thank goodness we have government to guide us.
Here is hoping you or somebody you know don’t get thrust into 29er status.
Love,
Dad

I have been told that maybe I should consider a hearing aid. That is a nice way to say my hearing isn’t worth a sh–!
Easy for you to say. Hearing loss is subjective and usually self-diagnosed. I have noticed a lot of people don’t pronounce words distinctly or mumble in low tones. When do you know that you need the assistance of a hearing aid. Huh? I ask you. Huh?
Hearing aids range in cost from $2,000 to $8,000 for a pair (or higher). The cost for retirees is not covered by insurance. After spending that kind of money you risk paying for “aids” that don’t fit, are hard to operate and overamplify background noises.
To do it right, you start with an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose and throat specialist) who will eventually send you to a registered audiologist for testing to confirm that your hearing is sh–tty. Then you need to find the hearing device that works for you.
I’m considering getting a hearing aid that gets stuffed into my ear with Bluetooth capability so I can use a discrete remote control to change volume, turn the “aid” on or off, toggle between electronic devices, answer hands free phone calls and stream music into my ear. It is a wireless headset in my ear. Yeah, right!
People that sell hearing aids need to be added to the list of sleezy professions like car salesmen, real estate agents and lawyers. The industry is filled with high commission products and aggressive sales types.
I haven’t met a single person with a hearing aid that is satisfied. A lot of them say “huh” too.
Well, I’m off to Walmart to check out hearing aids. Huh? What’s that you say? Don’t sleep out? Oh, don’t cheap out. Speak up! Quit mumbling.
The assumption here is that not being able to hear is a bad thing. Silence can be golden.
Love,
Dad

Free at last. Free at last. Free at last. I’ve been held hostage to my dentist for the last 3 weeks. My “routine cleaning and check-up” has cost a fortune and after all the dental work, I had constant tooth-aches. Yesterday, March 4, I revisited my dentist and was ready to tell him, “pull the damn tooth”. He made some adjustments to new fillings and today “no more pain”. Free at last.
Grasshopper No.4 offered to fry brats last Sunday. I guess it took 30 minutes to shovel snow (Sheboygan had 17 inches of snow on the previous Wednesday) off the deck and find the outdoor grill. That is why you have kids. They must serve their masters. The brats were incredible because they were the season firsts. Why is that?
I did wander out to Best Buy yesterday and bought a larger 32″ HD television with 1080p (Samsung) for the kitchen. Now your Mom and I can have lunch, watch HDTV and never have to talk to each other. We already do the “no talking to each other bit”. It will be nice during the upcoming March Madness basketball frenzy. I’ll pretend I’m visiting a sports bar (the kitchen), eating buffalo wings and watching sports on TV.
Grasshopper No.5 in Minneapolis is getting 8 inches of snow today. Again. Really?
There will be a Spring. I promise.
Love,
Dad

First there is this “Pope” thing. The Catholic Church is without it’s leader because he retired. I didn’t realize that the divine selection (meaning the Pope) could elect retirement. It sounds like mortal intervention. So now I need to worry about electing a new Pope that can lead during this time of spiritual turmoil. Sigh!
Then the matter of our Federal Government running up our national debt. We now face a “sequester”. Our government has to reduce expenditures by $1 trillion in the next 10 years. That amounts to $85 billion per year and is less than 2% of total government expenditures. That is like having your income reduced from $100 to $98. Our politicians make it sound like armegadon. Really? Sigh! I wish they would just love each other.
We have a tiny TV in our kitchen. My intent has been to get a larger TV. Now come all the decisions. 1080p or 720p for High Definition. Then there is plasma, LCD or LED. Did I mention you can get LED blended with LCD. Do I get 27″, 32″ or 37″. How about Lg, Panasonic, Sony or Samsung? This is overwhelming. Choices, choices, choices. Sigh!
You get the idea. I am constantly faced with heavy issues that weigh heavily on my mind! Multiple sighs!
My solution is Tom & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream. All the problems of the world seem to disappear. Happy sighs!
Love,
Dad