July 30, 2020:

Against my wishes, I’ve had to make too many trips outside the quarantined comfort of my home.  They’ve mostly been in regard to medical tests and procedures that I don’t feel should be delayed. Like many, I wondered whether I should get myself tested on occasion but so far I’ve been free of symptoms. The problem with testing, however, is first, finding a testing site, and then getting a reliable result back in a timely manner. Given that Trump appears to have given the green light to using witchdoctors, shamans, voodoo doctors, taro card readers, etc, I’ve decided to take that route. Across from the VA clinic in Wilmington is a palm reader and I’ve decided that following my next appointment I’m just going to stroll across the avenue and have Madam Lisa read my palm and peruse my tea leaves. I may have to pay for it myself out of pocket but, you never know, by that time Lisa may be employed by the CDC.

July 28, 2020: 

When George H.W. Bush passed I watched his services and even though I disagreed many times with his politics I respected his service to his nation and behaved accordingly. He was a true hero of WWII and I shed tears seeing film o him being pulled out to the Pacific by a US submarine after his fighter plane had been shot down by the Japanese. The same was true about the life and passing of Senator John McCain and so many others who I politically disagreed with but still respected their service and efforts for the good of the nation. At the base of this respect is simple humanitarianism, something Donald Trump appears to not possess. When asked yesterday, he bluntly stated he would not be attending they lying in state of civil rights hero, John Lewis.

July 1, 2020:

So, it began with Orange of the Tall Tower and trophy chick number three descending a gilded escalator and declaring that most Mexicans are drug dealers and rapists.  Later he declared that his fame and power granted him the right to grab pussies at will. Come November of 2016 he was proven correct when he proclaimed he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and still get elected. Since then he, now known as Orange of the White House, continues to defy the law and still maintains a loyal base. He’s been impeached while avoiding conviction by a Senate too fearful to challenge him and now he has failed to serve us in a major pandemic, destroyed our economy, and remained silent as his dictatorial friends have their way, even when it involves hiring mercenaries to contract murder our troops. Every morning I awake to wonder if this will be the day the Great Orange will finally be held accountable for his sins.

June 19, 2020:

I’ve been doing some research on police shootings and this meme caught my eye this morning. It did so because it is so inaccurate. Next to it is a graph I found at the Washington Post’s database and it agrees with statistics I’ve found elsewhere, including the FBI’s website.

One thing worth reporting that in the first four months of 2020 both whites and blacks had experienced a little over 300 fatal police shootings. While that sounds even the reality is, these are raw numbers and don’t take into account the far larger white population. So, in perspective, blacks experience a far greater degree of police violence.

Another error in the meme is the claim that 89 police had been killed. According to the FBI, that would have been in 2019 and the number who died of a gunshot was 44.

June 9, 2020:

Systemic discrimination is best fought with systemic voting. Ensure you’re able to vote come November.

May 8, 2020:

For the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen increasing numbers of armed citizens tramping around public buildings and places suggesting they will employ Second Amendment solutions if they don’t get their freedom. Well, in the last few days what I’ve noticed is the growing and greater threat to American freedom, the refusal of the Trump administration and other right-wing conservative governments to make Coronavirus information openly available to the public and media.  The facts are being denied as part of manipulating the political atmosphere to favor Trump and the right’s reelection.

April 28, 2020:

This is a day I thought would never come, as of 4:30 pm we officially have Internet services via a wire and are no longer dependent on satellites and cell towers. We have unlimited, uncapped, unthrottled, consistent speeds, low latency, and no negative impact from the forest we live in. And last but not least, it’s costing us less than $40 a month as opposed to $119.95 for satellite. Last summer Frontier Communications ran some fiber optics out our way and to our shock, it came close enough that we could hook in.

April 22, 2020:

This isn’t a grunt or a groan, just an interesting occurrence. There have been several iterations of my blog going back to 1997. I have always had a behind the scenes hit counter that gives me information about where hits are coming from. Today, for the first time ever, I had a hit from the country of Romania. My best guess is that it is not from a human but from a “bot”. Bots, or robots, are constantly roaming the web searching for ???.

April 19, 2020:

I don’t think there has ever been a national shortage of irony but America may be on the verge of its most ironic moment. When Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence and the colonies broke away from England and declared the creation of a new nation the basic premise was that the mother country wasn’t treating it fairly, taxation without representation, and that stuff. Many of the complaints were based on the widely and correctly held belief that England’s King, George the Third was bonkers. In fact, things got so bad that George III retired and the nation was ruled by his son, George IV.

About every two weeks, I come across an article claiming Donald Trump suffers from mental illness, that he like George is nuts. According to the most recent, Trump’s critics are becoming increasingly more willing to discuss the subject in public. Those same critics have also long declared that Trump’s insanity will lead to the end of America as we have known it.

So, here’s the irony, America was born from the behaviors of an insane monarch and may cease to exists because of the behaviors of an insane meglomaniac who wants to be a Monarch.

April 17, 2020:

Like many of you, we’ve been buying almost all of our groceries using the click ‘n pick services of Walmart and Kroger. Overall it’s been a great alternative to actually going into a box store and risking exposure to the virus. I could make recommendations to both companies about improving their service but I won’t since I’m just happy to have the option. What I will complain about, however, is that neither store seems to be offering the employees that bring your order out and put it in your vehicle any protective equipment. I’ve not yet seen any employees wearing protective masks or gloves. To me, it doesn’t seem like asking to much.

April 9, 2020:

Presidential historian, Doris Kerns Goodman, was on one of the morning shows today and spoke about the differences between how FDR and Churchill handled crisis as compared to Trump. Both men thrived on resolving the most difficult of problems and protecting their nation’s peoples. While there is no such thing as a president or prime minister devoid of ego, there is ego that is driven by the need to do good and accomplish great things, and there is ego, such as Trump’s that is driven by the need for self-aggrandizement and the furthering of personal fortune. Too bad for America that we don’t have an FDR at the helm.

April 7, 2020: 

So, some political hack named Thomas Modly gets appointed as acting Secretary of the Navy and fires the captain of a US Navy Carrier who was trying to protect his almost 5,000 crewmembers from Coronavirus. The hack then proceeds to speak to the endangered crew, calling their fired captain either, “nieve or stupid”. I wondered about this Modly guy, whether he’d ever served in the military. To my surprise, he is a graduate of the Naval Academy and served a number of years in the Navy. I can’t help but question who’s wrong in this, the captain who pleaded and fought for the safety of his crew, or some hack whose motivation was to shield a piece of shit Commander in Chief from the media? The hack has since apologized to the crew but the firing remains. UPDATE: Modly, it turns out had to be FORCED to apologize and later in the day he resigned. I hope every swab in Navy Blue remembers this come November 3rd. 

April 4, 2020:

There’s that old saying that if you see it in print it must be true. Well, every now and then the people need to be reminded that that has never been more bull shit than it is in these days of the Internet. I’m writing this in response to a woman who cited as factual, information she found in The Washington Examiner and The Washington Times. In my opinion, there is only one major newspaper in the nation’s capital and that is The Washington Post. It is a paper of record meaning its reporting and editorializing are considered authoritative and accurate. Just for educational purposes, The Examiner is owned by a very conservative billionaire and its reporting often doesn’t stand up to fact-checking. As bad, if not worse, The Times is totally or in part-owned by a radical religious cult communally referred to as The Moonies or Unification Church.

March 22, 2020:

I took a long drive today and except for one thing, it was great. That one thing, however, pissed me off. When Mike DeWine ordered bars, restaurants, barbershops, beauty salons, etc to shut down I recognized the economic hardships this would cause but I understood the governor’s motives and if the experts say we need to stay the fuck away from each other, that’s what we should do and for our own and everyone else’s good, that’s what Janet and I are doing. So what got me pissed? Well, it was driving by a restaurant near RFL and seeing the open sign brightly blinking and a parking lot filled enough to strongly suggest more was going on beyond take-out orders. A little piece down the road I saw a large banner in a field declaring love and support for Orange of the White House in 2020. So, reflecting back on the restaurant I decided that this whole area was mostly “above the law” territory so what else should I be expecting.

March 18, 2020:

First of all, I’m not sitting here watching the stock market collapse with a smile on my face. I, like any retired Ohio teacher, am heavily vested in the market. That’s where the State Teacher’s Retirement System earns the money to send us our monthly pension checks. But, it is worth noting that the stable genius that occupies the White House and has never admitted to anything being his thought is that leader of a failing ship. When the economy went bottom up in 2008 and Obama took the helm from Bush, the Dow Jones fell to a low of 7,949.09. In spite of all the false claims and lies about the horrors of Obama, by the time he left office in 2017, the Dow had climbed to 19,804.72. That’s the market Trump inherited. By severely and recklessly deregulating the fat cats of industry and banking the Dow rose to a high into the 29,000.00s. Today, as a result of horrible preparation and even more horrible acknowledgment that a pandemic even existed, Dow fell to 19,898.92; essentially the same as what he inherited on January 20, 2017. I’ll leave it up to each of you to assess the blame but to me, America is just one more business Orange of the White House has driven into bankruptcy.

March 15, 2020: 

I’ve decided that Republican respect for the rule of law ended with the death of John McCain. I look over the spectrum and I don’t see it in the GOP House, Senate, Executive, Attorney General’s Office, or the Supreme Court.

March 7, 2020:

According to a study by the Federal Reserve 75% of American adults claim they are doing “okay” or “living comfortably.” But, check out these statistics that came from the same report.

• Financial fragility remains high, especially among minorities and those lacking higher education.
• 27% of adults would need to borrow or sell something to pay for an unexpected expense of $400.
• One-quarter of adults have no retirement savings.
• One-quarter of adults skipped necessary medical care in 2018 because they were unable to afford the cost.

March 1, 2020: 

Maybe it’s dementia but I can’t recall it ever being this difficult to decide who I’m supporting in a presidential primary race. Of those left in the race who has a chance, I could support any of them. Of those who I sincerely like I’m torn between my dream candidates and my pragmatic candidates. Should I be a dreamer or a pragmatist? Seriously, if we build it, will they come? I want to live in Denmark but I’m afraid to fly.

February 22, 2020:

Wells-Fargo Bank, the nation’s 4th largest, was just fined $3 billion for secretly opening millions of accounts for unsuspecting customers. I’ve wondered since this was first revealed several years ago how they can possibly have any customers left? What are they doing to hang onto customers, offering 20% on passbook savings? I’ve also asked myself, why aren’t all of their executives in prison?

February 21, 2020: 

Some days one has grunts, some groans, and every so often, one has a grin. Today I had a grin when I got to talking with an older store clerk and learned he was a retired Navy Lt. Commander and that he had served three tours in Vietnam as an enlisted member of the Marine Corps. We called officers who began their careers as enlisted men, Mustangs, and they were almost always the best officers one could serve under. They knew from experience what life was like for an enlisted man and it usually earned them far more respect than some spoiled asshole who got their commission because daddy knew someone who could get them into ‘the Academy.” An officer was “on deck” at Rite Aid this morning. Present arms!

February 17, 2020:

Since the first of the year, the most popular posting was about the demolition of the Imagination Kingdom. One of the least viewed was a review of the various candidate’s positions on healthcare. One is about a playground and the other is about life, death, and potential bankruptcy. Seriously, how does one explain people?

February 16, 2020:

I love those, Today in History things. Well for today it’s: “On February 16, 1971—nearly 50 years ago today—President Richard Nixon’s order to his Chief of Staff became a reality, as the Secret Service installed the first of several recording devices to capture his conversations between 1971 and 1973.” Smoked your gun, huh Dickey?

February 15, 2020:

Jim Jordan, the total asshole who represents Ohio’s 4th Congressional District is facing allegations that he turned his eyes away from a sexual abuse scandal while serving as an assistant wrestling coach at OSU. I have a good friend who lives in the 4th and for her sake, I sure hope this will be the issue that ends Jordan’s career in politics.

February 12, 2020:

An adversarial group is advising that Democrats and friendly independents do not mention the stable genius’s name and that we not argue with his supporters. While I have used his name I have found it very difficult to use the term, president. Also, while in the beginning, I did welcome an opportunity to argue, I don’t today. It doesn’t work and only brings pain. When I look at the long list of people who I’ve unfriended on Facebook it comprises mainly his most ardent supporters and despite all my informed information and supportive evidence, I never budged one of them. They remained steadfastly insane.

February 8, 2020:

Okay fact-checkers, Photoshop or Max Factor?

February 8, 2020: 

A participant in a Facebook group responded to something I said with, “Trump has accomplished more than any other president.” Since the group is not for politics I refused to respond but here I will.

I have to ask, what does this person know of history? Has Trump ever stood up to Corporate monopolies as Teddy Roosevelt did? Did Trump hold the Union together in a brother v. brother civil war? Has Trump emancipated anyone? Has he led us through the greatest depression ever or the biggest war ever, as FDR did? Did he plan and successfully execute the invasion of Europe and the defeat of Hitler as did Ike? Did he hold back the dogs of nuclear war as JFK did during the Cuban Missile Crisis? Did he stand before the walls of communism and demand the wall be demolished as did Reagan? Did he successfully lead us out of the Great Recession as did Obama? Is the world a more stable place because of his three years in office? Or, is there an asterisk next to his name for something entirely different?

February 6, 2020: 

I’ve known lots of Mormons in my life and while I can’t accept their religious tenets I know that most take them seriously and are sincere about their obligations.  That’s what I saw yesterday with Mitt Romney and his decision to put his oaths and vows before his allegiance to his political party. Romney may be the most honorable Republican in Congress at this moment.

January 31, 2020: 

So, I’m at the corner of 42nd and 5th Avenue on my way to Grand Central Station and suddenly I see Donald J. Trump calmly walk into the middle of the street and shoot a total stranger in the head, instantly killing the guy. I try to tell the cops when they arrive that I was an eye witness but they wouldn’t listen to me. I went to the city prosecutor’s office and they too refused to hear me out. This guy Trump goes to trial but is acquitted on the grounds that there wasn’t enough evidence. I was sitting right there in the court room’s gallery waving my hand, jumping up and down, but the judge wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence. WTF, is this guy Trump above the law?

January 8, 2020:

If Trump ordered the killing of the Iranian general because he had strong intelligence of imminent threats to America, where did that intelligence come from? After all, on many occasions Trump has been insultingly critical of America’s intelligence community. Maybe they’re only credible when they can serve his interest?

December 26, 2019:

My wife came home the other day and asked me if I knew what a group of vultures was called? Well, I didn’t and she quickly told me there were three names. Gathered in a tree they are called a committee, in flight, they are called a kettle, and on the ground, they are a wake. Learning is fun but just calling them a flock is much simpler.

December 25, 2019: 

Neither a grunt or a groan but instead, a wonderful Christmas present. Driving to visit a relative today we saw two bald eagles perched high in a sycamore tree along Paint Creek. The sun was bright and illuminating their white caps. Further down the highway, we saw another eagle flying low and straight at us. It passed over our van at about 25-30′. What beautiful sights!

December 24, 2019:

I grew up in a working-class Catholic family. My parents both worked, my mother as a semi-skilled wage earner and my father a master union sheet metal mechanic. They weren’t overly religious and honestly, religion was mostly my mother’s responsibility. My parents both wanted my brother and me to be as good as we could be and they were very proud of our accomplishments. One thing they never taught us, and I honestly don’t know how so many Americans leaned this, but when and how did so many of us come to believe our economic status was more important than our morality?  I’m not saying this in a religious context, merely a right and wrong context.

December 22, 2019:

I can’t believe that it’s been over 40 years since the first Star Wars movie was released and online services are still charging to stream those films. That cows teats should be bled dry by now.

December 20, 2019:

Jeff Foxworthy made a career with the phrase, “You may be a redneck.” Well, borrowing his thinking and reacting to something I read on FB yesterday, If you still think Obama is a Muslim, you may be a racist.

December 17, 2019: 

I know that many churches do good things but I’ve always had an issue with them having tax-free status and then not being required to be transparent with their finances. This was brought home yesterday when it became known that the Mormon church has stockpiled over $100 billion of donated money and not used it for charitable work. It has also been rumored that some of the money has been used to support for-profit businesses the church owns and to invest in further growing its larder.

December 15, 2019:

I suppose this would accurately be titled, a grunt. My wife recently handed me a grocery list that called for a six-pack of small cans of prune juice. Well, the store only had prune juice in large bottles so that’s what I brought home. Instead of taking it back I decided I’d drink it myself. So, for about a week or more I began each morning with a healthy portion of prune juice and suddenly, very suddenly, I was reminded of why people have often drink prune juice.

December 13, 2019:

Future Americans may ask each other where they were this day. If you aren’t aware, this is the day that will most likely witness formal Articles of Impeachment leveed against a sitting president for only the fourth time in the nation’s 243 year history. Most likely Trump won’t be removed from office but still, his place in the History textbooks of tomorrow is ensured. Future government teachers will reside over classroom debates about this issue for decades to come.

December 9, 2019:

Trump’s new SNAP guidelines will require certain food stamp recipients to work a minimum of twenty hours a week in order to receive benefits. Yesterday he said he was getting people off of welfare and back to work. While this might sound good the sad reality is that even if those people find part-time employment the wage will be so low that even with food stamps, they will still be hungry. The problem is that wages are so low in America that people can’t meet their basic needs without assistance.

December 7, 2019:

Why would any media outlet, Fox included, allot Newt Gingrich air time? At his best, he is never above abhorrent.

December 6, 2019:

When did a pair of new wiper blades start costing over $60?

December 5, 2019:

Ohio Senator, Rob Portman, is pounding his chest in pride about pushing for a bill that will supposedly bring high-speed Internet service to rural America. As a rural American, I’ve heard this promise several times, most recently during the Obama era when millions were allocated for such. Turned out that money was spent on laying fiber optics between towns so hospitals and schools could have access. The general homeowner was left with dialup or some other slower and much more expensive options. I’m pretty reconciled that I’ll go to my grave still waiting for a reliable 60 Mbps service.

October 22, 2019:

Support continues to rise for impeachment of President Trump among Democrats and independents in polling analyzed by FiveThirtyEight. As of Monday, our impeachment polling tracker registered that 84.8 percent of Democrats and 46.4 percent of independents were in support of impeachment. Only 12.1 percent of Republicans were in support, but that’s up from 9.7 percent on Sept. 19, when news about the Ukraine scandal snowballed. FiveThirtyEight evaluates each poll based on the firm’s historical accuracy, its methodology, its recency and its sample size. [FiveThirtyEight]

October 13, 2019:

Jonathan Alter recently remarked that there is “yellow tape” around the Trump Ukrainian phone call. “It is a crime scene.” Also, Adam Schiff stated that given the transcript of the call, the one provided by Trump possibly precludes the need to question the “whistleblower.”

October 10, 2019: 

Wife of US diplomat in England killed a young man while driving on the wrong side of the road. She immediately fled the country claiming diplomatic immunity. So far, Trump has written it off as shit happens!

October 1, 2019:

It never ceases to amaze me how much we, the public, wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for a free and active press. The Washington Post is one of Trump’s favorite targets and I find it ironic that the motto of the Post is, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The free press is the light that shines on all those whose job it is to protect and serve the public’s interest. Dim that light and we all live in the ignorance of imposed darkness.

September 18, 2019:

I wonder what the outcome would have been if Trump led the invading armies at Jerico. Would the walls have come tumbling down? According to CNN Trump isn’t doing too well with walls, putting them up or tearing them down.

“President Trump’s border wall construction has hit a roadblock — again. The Defense Department will not move forward with three border wall projects in California and Arizona, citing “insufficient contract savings.” The move comes after Trump faced backlash for tapping into Pentagon funds to build part of the wall. A Monday court filing, however, reveals that there were not enough funds to cover the costs of these three projects. As of late August, about 60 miles of wall along the southern border had been updated.”

September 13, 2019:

I don’t buy any meats or seafood without checking the label for country of origin. If it says Product of China I will not buy it. I have zero faith in the quality of Chinese food products. With that in mind, I was shocked to learn last night that 80% of the chemicals used to manufacture our pharmaceuticals come from China. If China were to suddenly refuse to sell these ingredients to us, within weeks millions of Americans could die for lack of the medicines that keep them alive. Why is this so? It is so because “big pharma” can make a greater profit by buying from China than from American sources (which may not even be available anymore). Check out this NBC news report. 

September 11, 2019:

Yesterday a, “9-year-old had his cheese sticks snatched away (on his birthday). Why you ask? Because he had an unpaid school lunch balance of … $9.75. Jefferson Sharpnack, a student with Green Primary School in Ohio, said he was “a little hurt” after his hot lunch was taken last week. The incident caused a public uproar and the school district changed its policy. According to the superintendent, students will now “receive the standard lunch for the day at their respective buildings regardless of their account balance.” Happy belated, little Jefferson!”

Sometimes the only real answer to WHY these things happen is some perverted desire to hurt the vulnerable.

September 10, 2019:

Back in the 1970s and 80s, I did a lot of bicycling and one of the very simple lessons I learned was that when it came to riding through hilly terrain one rule applied. For every up there was a down and the down was the reward for the up. Well, the same thing applies to the economy. The economy is hilly terrain and for every period of economic prosperity, there will be a corresponding period of economic loss. For every up there is a down but in this case, the down is not the reward. America, by the way, is five years overdue for a recession. Enjoy the ride.

September 5, 2019:

During the time I studied history in preparation of teaching history for thirty-years one of the standard textbook stories about corruption was the Tea Pot Dome scandal. Corruption has always existed in government but all the Tea Pot Domes in our history don’t come close to what the Trump administration is doing and in open view of the public. It’s as if Trump said he could walk into the middle of 5th Ave. and drill for oil with impunity.

September 4, 2019:

Stuart Varney is a talking head on Fox TV. I know almost nothing about him other than he speaks with a British accent and is a blind adherent to Trumpism. Last week I witnessed him in a discussion (argument) with Trump challenger, GOP presidential contender, Joe Walsh. Walsh was pointing out the dishonesty in the Trump administration and Trump’s blatant history of compulsory lying. I was amazed to watch Varney sit in his chair and repeatedly say, Trump doesn’t lie,  Trump has not lied. At the same time, the Washington Post has recorded over 13,000 times Trump has lied or misled the nation since taking office in January of 2017. I think Varney needs a new face. His old one has become frozen in a look of dunceness.

September 1, 2019:

Well, the countdown is over and the real tariff war begins. According to Bloomberg, “As of today, the Trump administration’s tariffs on China are real for U.S. consumers: A 15% duty hit “goods ranging from footwear and apparel to home textiles and … the Apple Watch.” Without listing the untold number of affected items I’ll just leave it at about 2/3rds of everything Americans buy from China will be subject to increased tariffs. So, Trump supporters, you just got a huge tax raise from your best president ever!

August 30, 2019:

Does this have a RING to it? According to Gizmodo, Amazon, “its home-security company, published a map this week showing the police departments across the country with which it has signed deals. Ring has acknowledged active partnerships with 405 such departments. The deals vary, and include such things as police offering rebates to people in the community who buy Ring products and granting police “access to a portal they can use to request footage from Ring camera owners in their communities.”

August 15, 2019:

Trae is back with more of his “Do What Now” series. Trae Crowder rocks the truth!

August 8, 2019:

Looks like Trump is wrong again. For several years now he’s often made the claim that the NY Times is a failing newspaper. The truth seems to be that the current subscription level of 4.7 million is the highest in the paper’s history.

August 7, 2019:

I love Trae Crowder. He’s earthy, he’s controversial, and he is almost always spot-on correct in his summations of people and current events. Yeah, he cusses even more than I do but I could keep up with him if I tried. Here’s his latest rant that will guarantee tight sphincter conservatives will be offended.

August 6, 2019:

I don’t know who said it but I agree with it. If you’re a Democratic candidate for the presidency and you don’t have a serious chance of winning the nomination, get out of the race and keep your protect your seat in the Senate, the House, the Governorship, etc. A strong Democratic presence in all these bodies is immensely important.

August 1, 2019:

According to the Wall Street Journal, “An estimated 65 percent of cigarettes smoked in America are littered. Figures, since cigarettes are the single most littered object in the world. This has made cigarette butts, which are made from a potentially toxic plastic called cellulose acetate, an object of sharp focus for environmental regulators. Some tobacco companies are testing biodegradable filters, portable ashtrays, and others still are turning to behavioral psychologists to understand why smokers litter.”

July 30, 2019:

The pollution caused by something as simple as a plastic straw has been established and efforts are underway to legislate and force a replacement. Instead of taking the issue seriously, Trump has turned it into a moneymaker. His campaign is selling plastic straws with a laser engraved campaign message. The price is $15 each and to date, he has sold nearly half a million dollars worth.

July 25, 2019:

I recently came upon a Facebook discussion in which people who know little to nothing about the subject at hand were demanding to know why the government or a community non-profit didn’t take certain actions regarding abandoned or neglected commercial property in our town. First of all, commercial property in most small towns is marginally profitable, if at all. Second, it is not the duty of non-profits or government to maintain privately owned real estate. Third, government cannon do anything with the tax revenue with which to operate. So people, if you want the government to do anything, yes anything, you’ve got to reach deep into those jeans and pull out those tax greens.

Another 21st-century reality is that the larger the Amazons get the more commercial storefronts will go empty. It’s the reality and it will never be what it once was until the vast majority of consumers start keeping their money in their home towns.

July 21, 2019:

Making friends with strangers is so much more satisfying than standing back from a sense of trepidation or fear. Nothing is to be gained from maintaining one’s distance. Most people are very happy and willing to talk about where they come from and where they’re going. It makes them smile and they want to know your story as well.

July 19, 2019:

I’ve been interested in bicycles for decades and have been following the Tour de France for most of that time. I watched a news report from the UK today about the cost of today’s top Tour racing bikes. Some teams are riding a Cannondale model that cost around $3,000 but the averages bike cost is nearer to $10,000. The king of the mountain, however, is the Pinarello at a cost of $18,000. I think it’s appropriate to say, my head is shaking. Reality is that if you put me on one of those Pinarellos at $18k, a schoolboy could beat me riding a $100 Chinese made, Walmart sold,  Schwinn fat-tired single-speed cruiser.

 

 

 

 

July 15, 2019:

Over the weekend Donald Trump, America’s racist in charge, tweeted yet another blatantly misogynistic and racist statement suggesting certain Congressional women of color return to their homelands in an old,  America love it or leave it, move. The big question is where are the Republicans, why hasn’t a single one of the GOP in the Congress come forward and demanded that the leader of their party, shut the fuck up? Well, I went looking and found them cowering in a corner of the House gymnasium.

 

 

 

 

July 11, 2019:

Tell me this isn’t really happening. We’ve just gotten past Trump saying the Continental Army took over Britain’s airports during the Revolutionary War and now, he’s telling us the kidney has a very special place in the heart. Is there anything this asshat can’t screw up?

July 10, 2019: 

In the words of Earl Pitts, “you know what pisses me off?” Well, today it’s continued evangelical love for Donald Trump in light of his sexual and marital infidelities, his long association with a known and convicted pedophile, the inhumanity he is visiting on child immigrants along the southern border, and his blatant narcissism. That’s just today’s list. More tomorrow!

July 2, 2019:

If she could have you know she would have!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 1, 2019:

I find Buttigieg’s comments to be even more meaningful given that Donald Trump deliberately used the power and wealth of his father to avoid serving in Vietnam. By his own admission, he was too busy avoiding sexually transmitted diseases.

 

 

 

 

 

June 24, 2019

• VP Pence is going to be in Miami tomorrow to attend a Latinos for Trump gathering. This is a true scalp scratcher, how the hell can there be a Latino who supports Trump? He opened his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists, criminals, and drug dealers and he has spent his entire term in office, to date, harassing Latino immigrants in ways that cross over the line between inhumanity and crimes against humanity.

April 25, 2019

• The Feds busted the Rochester Drug Cooperative, a pharmaceutical distributor, for selling untold millions of opioid products and not reporting signs of abusive pharmacies or doctors. A couple of executives were charged with felonies and the company fined $20 million. Charging them $20 million may be the equivalent of finding me a dollar for hit and run.
• Franklin Graham thinks Pete Buttigieg should repent for being gay. I think Franklin Graham should kiss mayor Pete’s ass.

April 23, 2019

• According to those present Trump, when told of the Mueller investigation, responded, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.” To my ear, this sounds much like the words of a person who has no doubt he’s guilty of some serious shit.
•  Listening to a group of progressive pundits it was asked, what are the Democrats going to do about Trump? Someone interjected that the more serious question was, what are the Republicans going to do? After all, Trump’s ratings are at near record lows, he’s being investigated from every angle, and unless they do something they’ve got to run with him as their banner carrier in 2020.

April 18, 2019

• I don’t know about anyone else but I genuinely peeved that so much of my tax dollars went to buy redacting ink in an attempt to keep the Mueller report hidden. I want my tax dollars to purchase total openness.

April 17, 2019

• Easiest of all lessons in government. If you want more and better services from any government, elect honest politicians and be prepared to pay higher taxes. Streets can’t get paid or bridges built without tax money.
• Among the top tier Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren is the most charitable. She and her husband gave in excess of 5% of their income to charity last year. Bernie was second with over 3%.

April 14, 2019

• Nothing helps golf like a Tiger winning the Masters.

April 10, 2019

• I heard a commentator refer to Trump as being an “amateur” president. It took me about three seconds to decide that amateurs throughout the world had just been slammed. After all, amateurs can be quite talented and skilled. I once played pool and was an amateur in the sense that I didn’t make my living from it. In spite of that, I could whip your pool playing ass pretty good on most occasions. Same is true about being president. I’m not the president but as amateurish as I may be I know more about what it requires and think I could do a better job of it than Trump.

April 9, 2019

• Baseball is one of the great things Cubans and Americans share in common. Sports, over the ages, have been a great source of improving national relationships. Hell, wasn’t that the original purpose of the early Olympics? Yet, Trump just can’t be an uniter or peacemaker and is now banning Cuban ballplayers from playing in the MLB.

April 8, 2019

• To develop a vaccine for malaria, scientists need access to mosquitoes’ salivary glands, where the malaria-causing parasite is found. This painstaking work requires the procedure to be performed on each individual mosquito by hand. To accelerate the process, the biotech firm Sanaria and roboticists from Johns Hopkins have created a tiny guillotine that can decapitate 30 mosquitoes at a time. Tiny heads will roll. [Wired]
  
  April 6, 2019
• As we age we acquire knowledge. We’re not always right but odds fall in our favor. One thing I’ve learned is that the truth usually wins out despite how hard the secret is held. The affairs of lovers always become known and reports like Mueller’s will eventually all be made public. Loose ships will sink ships, leakers will leak, rats will rat, and whistleblowers will whistle. Armies of prying investigative reporters will dig and rake the muck and attorneys will manipulate the courts until eventually all is known.

April 5, 2019

• Were we Americans ever opposed to transparency in government? Did we ever believe we don’t have a right to know what our elected officials and public servants were doing? Well, with the release of the Mueller Report it seems like the GOP seems to think so. Why are they so afraid of the truth, good or bad?

April 4, 2019

• Reading the daily headlines is a mixed bag. While it can be extremely upsetting and depressing it can also make you smile if you can see the ridiculousness of it all. Two things that made me smile was Trump, for at least the third time, claiming his father was born in a nice place in Germany. He apparently doesn’t realize the Bronx NYC isn’t in Germany. Secondly, his statements about wind turbines and how the sound causes cancer and when the wind stops blowing housewives can’t watch their soap operas.

April 1, 2019

One of the greatest April Fool’s jokes of my lifetime was pulled off in 1957 by the BBC. It dealt with a filmed report of the annual Swiss spaghetti harvest.

March 30, 2019

• Two months ago I pulled a muscle in the lower back which inflamed left hip, which inflamed left knee. Finally went to Dr. and was put on a low regime of prednisone. Got to feeling better but a side effect of prednisone is a hacking cough. So, now my back, hip, and knee feel better but think I’m dying of pneumonia-like symptoms. Old age is not for the weak!

 

March 26, 2019

• In what had to be a rush to judgment or an already prepared conclusion, AG Barr issued a four-page document relieving Trump of all charges of colluding with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election. However, the Mueller investigation did reveal that the Russians were plenty active in trying to get Trump in the WH. That said, Trump stood beside Putin in Helsinki and totally ignored what America’s intelligence community had been telling him for a couple of years and exonerated Puting and Russia of any such activity. The question of why the lies and why the avoidance of American intelligence is as strong as ever.
• South Bend mayor, Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj), is quickly learning he has to step up his game. What have been small town hall crowds are turning into major rallies, even in conservative South Carolina. The antithesis of Mike Pense may end up with a real chance at the Democratic nomination for the WH. Too soon to say but he could be the real deal.

March 21, 2019

I heard about this yesterday while listening to NPR. Look, there was one Woodstock and it was in 1969. It made history and will never be repeated. Leave it alone, let it inhabit its sacred place in music history. Long live the memory of Jimi Hendrix butchering the Star Spangled Banner (in a fantastic way) and try to get rich without dishonoring rock’s history.

March 20, 2019

• Drove from NC home via US 23 through KY. One thing I noticed when nearing the Big Sandy River below Greenup was a noticeable absence of coal. The Big Sandy power plant has been converted to natural gas, and many of the nearby coal yards were standing empty with their equipment up for sale or lease.  Despite what Dumb Donny says, coal ain’t coming back.

March 18, 2019

• If I’m ever found again in close proximity of Atlanta, please just shoot me!

March 14, 2019

• One of the news commentators said that yesterday was a good day for America’s system of justice. Manafort’s further sentencing being a part of it. The bigger part was the almost immediate filing of sixteen indictments by the State of New York.
• A little later in the day, the House Judicial Committee announced that former acting US Attorney General Mathew Whitaker, in a closed-door hearing, admitted he had colluded with Trump to interfere in the Mueller and SDNY investigations. While good news for justice it gives Trump and company further cause to worry. And that, good friends, is a good thing!

March 12, 2019

I don’t know if I’ve ever argued for a tax cut, even on the working classes. America owes lots of money and it needs lots of things done. We need more governmental services, such as bridge and highway maintenance, restoration of our national parks, rebuilding our general infrastructure, lowering the cost of medicines, increasing the degree of affordable health care, making all levels of post-secondary education more available and affordable, strengthing the Social Security system, cleaning up our waters and air, dealing with a warming climate, and so much more. If we want a better life we all have to pay for it. In spite of what you’ve been told just give Robert Reich three minutes of your time. And if you don’t believe what he says, take another three minutes and briefly study the budget Trump just presented to Congress.

March 11, 2019

• According to Daily Beast, ” Fox News star Tucker Carlson once argued that women are “extremely primitive” beings who “just need to be quiet and kind of do what you’re told,” according to newly unearthed audio of the host ranting on a shock jock radio show.” I’d now like to read that Carlson hasn’t been laid since then.
• A top of the hat to the person who figured out that blue cheese stuffed olives and ice cold gin is a perfect pairing

March 10, 2019

• Trump supporters feel they are being discriminated against and are seeking safe harbors. One of them has created an app that shows where restaurants who welcome MAGA caps are located. Problem is, this same app shows where non-MAGA diners don’t want to spend their money. And, since the no MAGAs outnumber the yes MAGAs it isn’t a smart business practice to get your restaurant’s name on the MAGA friendly list.

 

March 8, 2019

• Trump says he says he really feels bad for Manafort and a pardon is still on the table. Truth is that Trump doesn’t give a shit about Manafort just as he doesn’t give a shit about anyone other than himself. All Trump got out of the sentencing is that the judge said the case had nothing to do with collusion. Well, not shit. This case wasn’t, and never was, about collusion. It was about fraud and tax cheating. Now, this next case, cross your short little fingers, Donny. It is about collusion. Furthermore, you’ve got much worse things to fear than collusion. Some agency is currently digging into every aspect of your personal, business, and political life and they haven’t even begun to find all the dead bodies!

February 27, 2019

February 26, 2019

• With Trump time zones away and under orders from Putin to let Kim screw over America, and the Congress voting to protect the Constitution from Trump’s aggressions against its powers, and Cohen testifying about Trump’s many dirty deeds before the House, I’m going to need a week’s worth of crystal meth just to stay awake and keep current.

February 25, 2019

• Well, another year goes by and I haven’t a clue or a shit to give about the movies and actors who won Academy Awards. On the other hand, NBC did a piece on a woman who is a trapeze performer at age 86. Now, that’s impressive!

February 20, 2019

• Just when you think people should have learned all the no-nos something like this comes along. For five years a Wisconsin high school has been allowing their athletic department to issue awards for cheerleaders such as “Big Booty,” “Big Boobie,” and “String Bean.” Presenting these awards at team banquets was a regular part of the program. It took five years for someone to finally decide and speakout that this was degrading to women.

February 18, 2019

• I continue having lower back problems and I’m taking two Tylenol and half a muscle relaxer several times daily. These relaxers hit me so hard it’s difficult to rant and ramble. At best I may be able to runt and rumble.

February 17, 2019

Things that caught my attention last evening included:

• Mike Pence, appearing before the 2019 Munich Security Conference, presented wishes from Trump. There was literally no response from the large audience. He received a totally cold shoulder.
• Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, however, were warmly welcomed.

February 16, 2019

• I’m having lower back problems at the moment and to try and keep my mind off of it I’ve been contemplating if it’s morally or ethically correct fora president to declare a national emergency and then spend a three day holiday playing golf in Florida? I wonder if FDR would have immediately taken the train to Warm Springs, GA after declaring war on Japan and Germany following the invasion of Pearl Harbor?

February 15, 2019

• I just learned that I really don’t love America. Trump reportedly said during a public announcement this morning that, “The people who really love America love me.”
• Here’s my horrible factoid for the day. The total student debt in 2018 exceeded $1.5 trillion. Correct me if I’m wrong but my gut tells me much of this is owed to the vultures of American banking. Maybe we should ease up telling our kids they should risk bankruptcy in pursuing a college degree. Maybe they would be just as successful and happy learning a secure trade. The future may be bright for a skilled finish carpenter. 
  
• Trump says he didn’t need to declare an emergency, that it would just get his wall built faster. In court this could bit him on the ass.

February 14, 2019

• First of all, I want to say happy birthday to our son Mike. Many more my man! 
• I have a software program that monitors hits to this site and among other things it lists the browser that is most commonly used by visitors. In today’s world, the leader by far is Google’s Chrome. Firefox is second and Microsoft’s Explorer (by whatever name) is third. It’s like the world has swapped polarity in the past few years.

February 13, 2019

• Trump is now suggesting we have fireworks and parades on or around the 4th of July to celebrate America. He thinks it may catch on and that people would enjoy it. He does this often enough to seriously cause one to question his sanity.
• Given the past several weeks there’s little doubt my well will have an abundance of water this summer.

February 11, 2019

• After the grandkids grew the electric griddle fell into disuse. It is now a shelf that held cooking things such as spices and oils. A sign of aging is that the contents are now over 50% medicines and vitamins. 

February 10, 2019

• “Those 400 Americans own more of the country’s riches than the 150 million adults in the bottom 60 percent of the wealth distribution, who saw their share of the nation’s wealth fall from 5.7 percent in 1987 to 2.1 percent in 2014, according to the World Inequality Database maintained by Zucman and others.” Keep supporting hard-cord conservatives and you may work your self right onto the bottom rung of the economic ladder.

February 9, 2019

• Another chilly day but sunny and beautiful. I was going to have lunch at home but decided to take a ride with the dog that would include a stop at Beechwood Pizza for maybe the world’s best cheeseburger. My favorite, grilled bun, locally fresh ground beef, cheese, a slab of red onion, and a slathering of Miracle Whip. I drove by the boat ramp at North Shore and darned if there wasn’t a truck and trailer parked there. Brought a smile to my face. Happy for the fisherman and happy that it wasn’t me freezing their butt off! 

February 8, 2019

• Twenty-five degrees out with a partly sunny sky. Just finished a small bowl of strawberries and whipped cream. Thank you, Mother Nature and Mexico.

February 6, 2019

• Early in Trump’s SOTU address, whose theme was to include unity, Donny the Ego sets the opposite theme by telling the Democratically controlled house, they can’t expect his bipartisan support if they continue to investigate him, his businesses, and his presidency. “If there is going to peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation.” After that tone-setter, the remainder of the photo op was given over to his typical river of lies and half-truths. Did anyone with a mind expect more?

February 5, 2019:

• I sat through yesterday’s Super Bowl with an empty feeling in my stomach. None of the commercials were interesting or entertaining to me (maybe because I didn’t really pay close attention), the half-time show totally sucked (which it usually does, even when I do recognize a performer’s name), the most exciting part of the game was seeing a kicker punt a new record, and finally, I wanted to see the Rams pull a rabbit out of the hat and that didn’t happen. Just today I finally realized why the gloom. It really came down to the heartbreak of knowing the Saints got screwed by a blind referee.
• I know this is a gross generalization but in my gut, which is not as yuge as Trumps, I believe that if someone in power is going to do something stupid it will usually be in Kansas, Texas, or South Carolina. Example, a Kansas judge just blamed two 14-year-old girls for causing their own sexual abuse and gave their 60 plus-year-old abuser a reduced sentence.

February 4, 2019

• I wonder what percentage of the world’s endangered animals are believed to be aphrodisiacs in Asia?
• One of the old age things that are increasingly becoming more of a problem is the ability to read in a darkened environment. Had one hell of a time reading a restaurant menu until I took my cellphone out and turned on the flashlight feature. And another thing, who the hell were all those people in the half-time show?

February 3, 2019: 

• We just watched Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard deliver her “my hat’s in the ring” speech. She becomes the latest in a growing field of what, so far, is a decent looking crop of Democratic candidates. I’ve got lots of time and need lots more information before making up my mind. But, she did raise a question in my mind.

  

  Several times she mentioned the nuclear threat that came to be following WWII. She spoke of a rising nuclear threat and how many times the world could be destroyed just using our current weapons arsenals. It made me ask the question, just how many deaf, unknowing, ears her words fell upon? How many of today’s Americans, especially young Americans, are aware of the nuclear threat that still exists and threatens to get worse? Everyone my age knew about atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, B-52 bombers, Trident submarines, and ICBM silos in North Dakota. We could turn on our B&W TVs and see atomic test explosions just outside Las Vegas. We could watch news footage of whole Pacific Island groups made forever uninhabitable from H-bomb experiments. We never see these things today and although all this and more exists, do we even know about it. Maybe we need to take a little time out of watching scripted reality TV and give it over to the true realities.

February 2, 2019:

• You know you have a loving wife when she delivers something like this to you in your recliner. 
• Given the massive Polar Vortex, we’ve been experiencing everyone is in the ultra lazy mode, including my main man, Cooper. 

February 1, 2019:

• Remember Baghdad Bob standing on a roof and telling the citizens of his country nothing was wrong. As he spoke there were American tanks arriving in the background. I see so much in what Trump says an does that borrows from the Baghdad Bob School of Reality Avoidance. His security chiefs discount all he’s said and he replies, no they didn’t, it was fake news.
• Biggest question today seems to be, what are we going to eat during the Super Bowl. I’ve got a couple of Guinness Stouts on hand for the game but the food remains undecided. I’m thinking Mike Sell’s Potato Chips and UDF cherry cordial ice cream.  WTH, it’s the big game and it’s only once a year! 

January 31, 2019:

• • Judgment call. You have 1/2 a Panera French toast cinnamon bagel left and a couple dozen sugar ants get into the bag it was in. Do you toss the bagel or toast it, ants and all, slab on some butter, and enjoy? Now guess what I did? 
  • Cleaning out a drawer today and came across one of the most humiliating moments of my life. Years ago I carefully and proudly navigated my full-sized Ford conversion van into a tight parking spot and when we returned from lunch found this under the wiper blade.
    

January 30, 2019:

• Sotheby’s is planning to auction off  16,889 bottles of wine and the take is expected to be around $26 million. That figures out to be $1,588.55 a bottle. When I was a kid there were a group of local winos who spent their hard scraped money on pint bottles of Mogan-David 20/20. Wonder what they would have said about this?
• I just received a message from FiveThirtyEight announcing they are beginning their presidential polling for the 2020 election season. In 2016 I religiously followed their daily poll and was certain Hillary was going to beat Trump. Well, she didn’t and I blame the entire freaking thing on 538!
• Speaking about 2020, Kamala Harris’ hat hasn’t been the ring for a week yet and she’s under the vilest of attack. Already called a birther fortelling worse to come.

January 28, 2019:

• Have a few errands to run and looked at the 5-day forecast. The high for today is predicted to be 46. The weather gurus say that Wednesday’s high will only be 4. I’m thinking today’s the day because my buttocks aren’t leaving the recliner on Wednesday!

January 25, 2019:

• For years I’ve ranted that there is such a thing as obscene wealth. Well, here’s an example. I have a former student who has been homeless for years and is currently living in a tent along an abandoned railroad line. At the same time a guy in NYC, Ken Griffin,  just set a new all-time record for a residence in America. He paid $238 million for a 24,000 square-foot penthouse overlooking Central Park. That is absolutely obscene and gets close to what I think should be illegal. AOC wants a 70% marginal tax on earned income above $10 million annually. Sign me up to that!

January 24, 2019:

• I began my first website in 1997and in the intervening twenty-two years I’ve written several thousand pieces. I don’t know if it’s age-related or simply lacking the mental hard drive space, but these days it seems increasingly difficult to remember what I’ve written about before. To save myself time and worry I’m not going to bother looking for an earlier story, I’m just going to write about what’s on my mind at this moment. Fair enough?

January 23, 2019:

• According to ABC Trump is preparing two speeches to mee the State of the Union requirement, “one a traditional address to Congress (location undetermined) and the other a rally style speech to be delivered outside of D.C.” There is no Constitutional requirement how the annual report to Congress be made and during much of our history, just a simple letter was filed.
• My mother knew perfectly well how to make biscuits but when canned whomp biscuits came along that ended homemade in our home. Yesterday my wife discovered frozen Pillsbury biscuits in our market’s freezer and the church bells are peeling. Happy days are here again and breakfast this morning was a biscuit with sausage gravy and a sunnyside up country egg.

January 22, 2019:

• I’ve promised myself that today is the day I’m going to conquer my fear of the cold and go for a walk. Don’t know how this will turn out but maybe there’ll be film at eleven! If Kroger had a great donut shop that may be all the motivation needed.
• You may not be keeping track of the times Trump has lied to or mislead Americans but the Washington Post is. Yesterday they reported the count since the beginning of his term is up to 8152. His nose remains much longer than his penis.
• Yesterday I saw a meme containing three photos, each representing the recognized symbol of racism in their century. The 19th century was represented by the Confederate flag. The 20th by the Nazi Swastika. And the 21st by a bright red MAGA cap.  With red hats in mind, I see that Trump has come out in support of his red hat sporting gaggle of smart ass mid-West teenagers. Go figure! 

January 21, 2019:

• Our oldest daughter has been in Spain for almost three weeks. She was chosen to be part of an artist in residence project. Technology has permitted us to have contact throughout the day and to look at and enjoy the art projects she and others have created. Yesterday she was making her way home and stopped over in Madrid. She shared a photo of a cream puff she had purchased for a snack. I’m hoping that before I pass technology will permit the teleporting of cream puffs over the Internet in real time, I want that before smellyvision.
• I really take no comfort in this cartoon. It’s just so realistic.

January 19, 2019:

• Just hanging out in the living room waiting to see which part of the winter storm warning will be correct The predictions range from a rain event, a mixed mess, some freezing rain, and 3-5″ of snow. We seem to be on the edge of several possibilities. During this government shut down I know the meteorologists at NOAA in Wilmington aren’t getting paid so I hope they aren’t just screwing with our heads and in truth, the blizzard of 2019 isn’t about to dump on us.
• Our daughter is finishing a two-week artist residency in Southern Spain and is currently on a 200 mph train to Madrid. Somehow an image of going that fast on a train isn’t settling well. The thought of nearby features going past that quickly makes my head spin.

January 18, 2019:

• Last evening I watched a small group of incoming congressional women being interviewed on MSNBC by Ari Melber. It was one of the few moments of political joy I’ve experienced lately. Women in politics is a true source of hope. I never thought that I, as an old white-haired man would dislike old white-haired men as I do.
• A friend remarked about how sharp my memory was and while I liked hearing it said I know that it’s nothing like it once was. I don’t suspect I’m experiencing any form of dementia but one’s memory is an early victim of normal aging. The friend’s comments prompted me to recall how many of us have people in our lives with special talents to recall information about certain aspects of life. I had a childhood friend who was especially good at recalling 1950s and 60s trivia about our hometown of Greenfield. He knew who dated who, who drove what kind of car, and who lived in that house where Rapid Forge and Lower Twin Roads crossed each other. Another was a lady I taught with and she was a trove of information about former students. If you wanted to know who was dating who in 1973 and who who was sneaking out with, she was your go-to person. Both those people have passed and I’ve found no one to take their place. An old African saying goes, “When an old man dies a library burns down.” Such is very true.

January 17, 2019: 

• I received an online newsletter from the Cal-State Fullerton Alumni Organization this morning and it made me feel very disconnected from my past. I haven’t been on that campus since graduating in 1969 and moving back East in 1970. Since it was at that time mostly a commuter school I made no lasting friendships. The only connection was during those few times when the CSF baseball team was competitive on a national basis. Such a different experience to those I know who graduated from OU, OSU, Bowling Green, Kent State, etc. Oh well, at least I haven’t forgotten the education I obtained there!
• Our oldest daughter turned 51 today and is celebrating her birthday at an art residency in Spain. Happy birthday Jenny!

[whohit]ramblings of an old man[/whohit]