Ace Wisdom

Today is Feb. 1. My brother Jack (real name John) would have been 70 today. Our great grandfather John (Myrna’s Dad) was born on Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day). There were years when John and John celebrated together. They were a couple of Johns.
The Catholic Pope was presiding over a public religious ceremony recently in memory of the Jewish Holocaust. There were the traditional white dove birds released during the proceedings symbolic of kindness and love. The doves were attacked viciously by seagulls. I don’t think that is good symbolically. I bet it was Friday and they were fighting over fish.
The Donald Driver lovefest has begun. Apparently there is a celebration at Lambeau next week and free tickets were being handed out at 9:00AM this morning. The tribute will be in the Atrium at Lambeau (to avoid the cold). Would you believe that people began to “line-up at 3:30AM this morning in temperatures below zero and windchills greater than 20 below. Really? Is there a sanity test for Packer fans?
Finally this weekend the Super bowl extravaganza ends. Dan Marino, an announcer for ESPN has admitted he fathered a child out of wedlock with a comrade ESPN producer. Ray Lewis has continually denied he rubbed deer antler oil (which apparently had performance enhancing benefits) on his ailing arm and Beyonce promised not to lip-sync the National Anthem. Easy for Beyonce. She isn’t scheduled to do the Anthem. Oh yeah! Brett Favre is going to do some Super Bowl hype for the NFL channel. Have you ever been to a circus?
So there you have it. Free Donald Driver tickets and the Super Bowl. Have a great weekend.
Love,
Dad

Granddaughter Dano just celebrated her 28th birthday. Happy Birthday Dano. She was born the same year we moved to Appleton, 1985.
As if I needed to be reminded of how old I am, your Mom and I just got invited to our 55th High School reunion in August. It seems like we just graduated.
I think somebody angered the “weather gods”. We’ve gone from very cold to snow, sleet, and sh– followed by record warm today. Snow tomorrow. Are we having fun yet.
This week we have to endure all the Super Bowl bullsh–. There is the “brother coaches angle” along with Ray Lewis playing the diva role as he plays his last game. Las Vegas is taking bets on everthing from “will Beyonce lip sync the National Anthem” to what color gatorade will get dumped on the winning coach.
Today I begin the annual “tax ritual”. I’ve got my new turboTax software coupled with several drawers of 2012 receipts. It is amazing how many medical receipts get accumulated during the course of a year and we are not considered sickly. My goal is to be notified someday that a medical expense actually went down.
So here is my “glass-half full” closure. We are almost at the end of January which is technically the coldest month of the year. The days are getting longer. I even hear some baseball “hot-stove” babble. Can Spring be far behind.
Stay warm.
Love,
Dad

As our planet keeps adding people(7 billion and counting), the appreciation of “good” water keeps increasing.
Grasshopper No.2 has just installed a “reverse osmosis” water system in her house for drinking water. She did it herself. Madison has 400 ppm of impurities. Reverse osmosis filters city water before drinking. It drops impurities to 5 ppm. It certainly improves the taste. Home Depot sells RO kits.
It is amazing how many people drink bottled water. Bottles are convenient and healthier than sugar drenched soda. The truth is that most of us do not know the purity of the water. I am reminded of a water bottling plant that had to shut down because they were just bottling city water and selling it in convenient containers. Turns out that if the city water became contaminated, so did the bottled water. It got contaminated. They needed to recall product. The message is that bottles do not mean you get “good water”.
Growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s, there was the ritural of Saturday night baths. My mother would fill the bath tub with hot soapy water. Then we would take quick baths using the same water. The good part was that the oldest child went first. I was the oldest. The point was that we did not have showers and even in those days we conserved water. Yukky for younger brothers and sister. I figured our family was different but your Mom said her family did the same thing. Her problem is that she was always second in line and bathed in “used” water. The trend to showers has assured “good water”.
The cost and value of good water will keep increasing. Help yourself where ever you can.
Love,
Dad

Grasshopper No.4 calls unexpected expenses as “Cha-Ching”. You know. It is the sound of a cash register as it opens up. So for example, if your car pukes and needs service, “Cha-Ching”. Goodbye cash.
I have been critical of my dentist in the past because my teeth represent an on-going source of cash to allow him long vacations, big homes and new cars. Yesterday I had a 6 month cleaning where they also examine your teeth and always find something. Yep, not only did I get my teeth cleaned but they found two cavities and a chipped crown that needs to be replaced. Cha-Ching.
I have been looking for a sarcastic name to call my dentist. And then it came to me. He presents me with a never ending series of new costs. I am his annuity. I have decided to call him Doctor Cha-Ching. The name is synonymous with unpleasant costs.
The worst part of the whole thing is that I can’t blame Obamacare because dentists are not part of Medicare or Medicade.
I am sure that I am not at fault. The candy I eat, the cough drops I suck, the limited brushing I do or absence of flossing could not possible cause problems. Does crunching down on a hickory nut shell count? How about popcorn kernels?
There goes my HDTV with surround sound.
Stay Warm.
Love,
Dad

Sometimes life passes by so quickly that we fail to recognize the special moments in our life.
Yesterday your Mom and I did the “Fireside Thing”. Each year they kick off the new theater season with a musical offering. This year it was the “Sizzling 60’s”. Grasshoppers No.1, No.2 and No.3 were all born in the early 1960’s. You wouldn’t expect kids born in the “60’s” to remember that music because everyone was so young. Grasshopper No.2 reminds me that there are lots of good memories. She realized that when she put together CD music disc’s from 1960 for your Mom and My 50th wedding anniversary. Yesterday was one of those fun afternoons. Rock and Roll Artists, the Beatles, and Motown. Special moments.
Grandson Collin was home for the holidays. I should say Lance Corporal Collin. He is almost 3 years into his 5 year enlistment. He has tough duty being stationed in San Diego. For some reason he has a “deep seeded” passion for Saab automobiles, in fact he owns one. I wonder where that interest comes from. For now it is fun, girls and cars. The transition to careers, retirement plans and marriage will have to wait. Presently he has no plans for staying in the Marines but retirement at 38 and access to medical care for a lifetime might look pretty good in a few years. Spending time with Collin was a special moment. He is in a good place.
I have tried to become aware when special moments are occuring and enjoy them to the fullest. The problem is that I am not always cognizant at the time to know that something special is taking place.
Wishing you many special moments.
Love,
Dad

Here is some “Ace Wisdom”! Obamacare is going to cost you a lot of money.
The long range goal of Obamacare is to get everyone on a national healthcare plan. Goodbye choices. Goodbye quality. Hello imposed costs (sometimes disguised as taxes or assessments).
In the meantime, Obamacare is on an imposed implementation schedule of new requirements, raising costs to all of us. It is like “Chinese Water Torture”. Slow and painful.
The “Affordable Care Act” (Obamacare) kicks up the costs later this year. Insurance companies will have to accept everyone who applies, regardless of condition (guaranteed). Yep, insurance companies will raise rates. Implied is that insurance companies can not charge more for serious medical conditions (guaranteed). There will also be coverage mandates that will force up costs. Anyone who does not have health insurance will be forced to pay a penality (tax) for being exposed.
Watch for the clues. Employers will start dropping full time employees in favor of part-time employees to avoid providing medical coverage. Or, “deductible” requirements will increase dramatically. Private insurance companies could double premiums. Doctors will start (continue) refusing more insurance coverages. You get the idea. Lots and lots of price/cost increases.
My disappointment is that all the “jerks” (I had to restrain myself) in Washington D.C. who passed the new healthcare laws aren’t mandated to use the same national mandated healthcare system. They are privledged to enjoy a “good” healthcare benefit.
I don’t even know how to tell you to stop the hellish healthcare system coming “down the track”. Ultimately we need smarter, dedicated elected officials who really care about us. Yeah, right.
Love,
Dad

Before the holidays, I got a call from a fellow employee from the past. It probably has been 14 years since we’ve had personal contact. He suggested a “face to face” over a cup of coffee.
Gary was a “top level” manager. He was always organized and seemed to have control of his life. Brilliant mind!
Monday we met for coffee. Gary is 60 years old and has a very weathered look (he looks much older). Gary’s life didn’t turn out quite the way he expected. He found a young lady at a horse barn (where his daughter had her horse). Yep, he divorced his wife for the young “filly”. He bought a small farm of 40 acres to live out his life with his new young wife and horses. Here it comes! Divorce number two. Follow that with bankruptcy, a foreclosure of the “farmette” and a battle with alcoholism. Throw in a diagnosis of spinal stenosis which entails constant pain and you have the ingredients for a great novel.
My lunch was not quite what I had expected. I thought we’d talk about old times, grandchildren, golf and common acquaintances.
Gary seems to be coping. I’m not sure what role I just played by meeting him for lunch. Sometimes just talking is good. You’ve got to admit, I am a good listener.
Life has twists and turns. We all live the consequences of our decisions. I’m really glad that I never got involved with horses!
Love,
Dad