Nothing Lasts Forever

Nothing Lasts Forever

Those of us that have some life experience know that everything is ever changing.  However, subtle everything evolves constantly.  As long as I bring it to mind, try to think of anyone thing in your life that has not changed.  I personally have caught myself saying, “I’ve always known that this is the one thing that will always remain constant."

As an example that may come to mind is a mother’s or father’s love for a child.  I would like to think that with time love grows.  In some documented cases it actually can diminish based on such things as mental illness.  The extreme being where a parent or off-springs become estranged or worst.

Another example could be my love for my wife, I know that over the years, my love for my wife has become stronger (changed for the better).  On a more material level, a house might appreciate in value (dependent on the economy) but the actual condition of the house will deteriorate (weathered) or improve depending on level of maintenance.

This post is triggered by today's headline news about extreme weather around that USA, and the world for that matter.  We as individuals need to maintain vigilance on our local environment (the area where we dwell).  Counties in Texas that haven’t ever experienced floods are now under water and worst yet, because of the unpredictability of the situation many lives have been lost.

I realize that high value is placed on water front property, be it ocean, lake or river, but analyze the history of the area for flooding, if ocean front, storms (tropical or otherwise) even tsunami due to earthquakes across the ocean.  Oil spills are also not uncommon anymore (think Santa Barbara CA, or even, the Exxon Valdez, Washington State).

I like to brag that I live in the Pacific Northwest by choice because of the mild weather, and I am correct to a degree.  25 years ago our beautiful Spring (1980) was disrupted for a year plus by the eruption of Mt. St. Helen.  Speaking of the Pacific Northwest there is the sword hanging over our heads that someday Mt. Rainier could erupt (I live less than 67 miles from the base of the mountain). While I love the northwest, I would be the first to relocate at the first rumblings of Mt. Rainier.

So when I talk about inevitable change at least in this instance, I am thinking about the constant safety of where we live.  Don’t ever assume that you are safe because so far you have always been.  I’d rather be thought of as a worry-wart than find my family in danger because I assumed otherwise.  My prayers go out to all those people that find themselves in the path of extreme weather.  The best is yet to come……….

True Confessions

True Confessions

Some people are more private than others.  Most men even more so.  I reckon I was raised with the edict that little boys don’t cry, especially as you get older; men don’t kiss and tell, men by virtue of being men have to grin and bare it.  If you don’t agree with this trend of thought, don’t blame me, after all I didn't invent it.  Especially if you were raised in either the farm or a rough neighborhood (I was raised on the farm), I guess you could call it a Code of Silence.

My mother’s famous words, and coincidentally also my wife’s, “Get Over It.”  It goes without saying that we suffer in silence, and of course suffering level is in the eye of the beholder.  2015 weather in the Pacific Northwest started out with spring like days.  For that matter, we seem to have skipped winter all together. During the month of February we had some very nice 60 degree days, and so my son and I made plans and a tee time for an early March round of golf at a popular and expensive country club.  A credit card is required at the time of scheduling the tee time with a required 24 hours for cancellation.

When the day came the temperature was in the low 40s, and a Monsoon type rain prevailed all day accompanied by a strong breeze.  With 4 of us at $130 a pop we weren’t about to cancel.  The golf course is in what is considered a weather convergence zone, meaning that the weather is subject to change with little or no notice.  The rain was coming down so hard at times that the water was just running on the surface of the turf.  Being a high class course of course we had very expensive electric golf carts with GPS, and every luxury but a built in bar.  Unfortunately they were so sophisticated that if you drove off the track/trail it would shut off (as I found out).

I am a good enough golfer to tell the ball where to go, except for one place, near the track/trail.  On the tenth hole, right after taking a break for lunch and to get out of the rain (warm-up if you will), I hit my drive into an area far away from the track into a hilly area.  Before I continue I must explain that I don’t normally like to take even over the counter aspirin, but in this case I consulted with a body building friend about what I could do to keep from pulling a muscle in the cold weather.  He offered me a muscle relaxant that wouldn't make me drowsy but would sap my energy after it wore out (he instructed me to take only have of the birth control size pill). 

By the tenth hole I could feel my energy going down fast, so I made the executive decision to take the other half of the pill.  I had to climb some pretty steep hills to reach my second shot, and I did hit it well, but returning to my cart, I slid down a very steep and long hill despite my golf shoe cleats.  I twisted my left ankle and my lower back had a slight “distant” pain.  I showed everyone my wet pant and joked about how I had decided to squeegee the side of the hill.  I continued to play five more holes, and looking back fairly well considering the weather.  The discomfort grew as the effects of the pill wore off, and so I threw in the towel.

My son later mentioned to his sister that he thought that maybe I could no longer handle a round of golf.  By the time I was dropped off at home I was limping slightly, but I was also dragging form the effect of the pill sapping my energy.  My wife asked me if I was alright, and I mentioned that I had taken a fall but I would be fine in a couple of days.  A week went by before my wife talked me into going in to see the doctor.

As it turned out I had dislocated my left hip, and they had to pop it back in place.  My advice to anyone reading this post, don’t take chances with your health and comfort, life is too short, and most of us have medical insurance any way.  The days of having to bring in the harvest no longer apply, health and comfort first.  I am still undergoing physical therapy, but the prognosis is for a full recovery.  I got lucky, even if I will look a lot tougher from here on out, especially if I don’t lose the John Wayne “swag” walk.  Take care of yourselves, the best is yet to come…

Big Brother 30 Years Late

Big Brother 30 Years Late

Do you remember how scary the book and movie 1984 were.  I for one refused to believe that our society, government, and lives would ever reach that level of control.  After all those were the kinds of things that happened somewhere else in the world like Germany, and Russia but not in my country, the good old US of A.

Then 1984 came and went, we are all waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it didn’t drop.  Whew!  That was close; something predicted with so much authority, didn’t happen.  Must have been like the movie War of the Worlds, just good fiction.  Here we are now thirty years later, and guess what the story teller was off by a few years.

I hope you have been paying attention to what the NSA has been up to so I won’t have write a ten post series to explain all the intricacies of spying on other world government leader by the US Government.  How about the fact that your privacy is no longer private.  All cell phone calls are now listened too.  Our emails are scrutinized, even our automobile license plates can and are being tracked with the capability to determine where in the country you are at all times.

Do you know that most city’s law enforcement agencies have the capability to drive around with a unit inside the patrol car that scans license plates on the streets, and roads to determine the ownership of the vehicle, and whether you have any outstanding warrants, or owe parking citations?

Whatever happened to the government of the people by the people, for the people?  We are being handed a bill of goods, and not only do we not have a choice, we can’t even supervise the public servants that are controlling our lives.  When did we become so slack that all of a sudden the patients are running the institution?  As I have always said, the bill of goods is always sold as being for our own good, or protection.  If we are being protected to the point of being controlled, is it worth it?  Here is another point to show you that we haven’t seen the worst of it.  Remember it’s always sold as for the purpose of serving us better:

·       Jason McInerney and his wife, Melissa, recently tapped their lunch orders onto a touchscreen at the entrance to the Be Our Guest restaurant at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort and were told to take any open seat. Moments later a food server appeared at their table with their croque-monsieur and carved turkey sandwiches.

·       Asks McInerney, a once-a-year visitor to Disney theme parks: "How did they know where we were sitting?"

·       The answer was on the electronic bands the couple wore on their wrists. That's the magic of the MyMagic+, Walt Disney's (DIS -0.50%) $1 billion experiment in crowd control, data collection, and wearable technology that could change the way people play -- and spend -- at the "Most Magical Place on Earth." ~ By Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg BusinessWeek

 

Remember always, all this extra effort is so they can anticipate your every need!  Never mind that they can’t keep NSA away from the data, and they will now know even more about us, and how we spend your recreational time.  Oh! I almost forgot when they get hacked by some low life living in his mother’s basement in Slobovia, they will access all your information.  I sure do hope; the best is yet to come….

State of the Nation

State of the Nation

Never want to upstage someone as important as the leader of the free world.  I only mean that in the sense of posting my perspective of where the Nation is at, ahead of his State of the Union speech.

Every once in a while aging does come with benefits:  knowing from experience what to expect with regard to a pep talk (which a State of the Union speech is meant to be).  When you hear enough of this speeches and then live through the period of time that follows you learn to read between the lines.  I would be the last person to say that a politician lies but they do embellish, and you have to give them credit, they are optimistic about how they can improve things with their plans for us.

If you want to get a real feeling for how the nation is doing you should consider that not everyone is affected in the same exact way at the same exact time by prevailing conditions, political or otherwise.  I’ve always measure improvements by getting it down to the lowest common denominator.  First of all, how am I (my home) doing since the last State of the Union speech?  The next level might be to assess the status of your job or business.  The next most important measure to an individual should be, the family.  How are your children doing?  How are your brothers and sisters doing?  How about your parents:  the ones that can least afford a negative condition in the state of the nation.  Before you counter; some of our elderly that have had a nice life may actually be in better shape economically to withstand a temporary downturn in the economy.  However, generally speaking elderly population with a fixed incomes have limited ability to withstand even temporary downturns.

Now for the tools to measure how we are doing.  Take a look at the property tax statement for your home, if you are one of the fortunate people to own or to be buying your home.  You can usually see a comparison from your past property valuation to your next increase or decrease in valuation, and taxes due.  Take a look at your bank account are your savings stable or has it been declining?  Check your credit card balances are your credit card balances down or up?  Certain things affect us all equally, as an example the unusually cold weather we are experiencing in parts of the nation.  According to some news reports utility bills are doubling in some areas because of the extreme and prolonged cold weather.  If your personal situation is stable, you should be able to withstand the fluctuation in your utility bills, but if you are not doing well, it could be the difference between buying groceries and keeping warm.

Another area to measure is the security issues that have been prevalent in the news.  Are you more concerned about privacy with regards to electronic communications?  Are you experiencing problems with your health coverage (have you recently been dropped?)?  Has your health coverage costs increased significantly?  Most of us can withstand the flu or a cold, maybe even a sprained ankle without insurance.  However, a major surgery event in the family can bankrupt you, if you can even get medical care without insurance.

It turns out that I am not reporting the State of the Nation, instead I am giving you some ideas on how to evaluate on your own.  Having read the State of the Nation post, how are you and yours doing?  The best is yet to come……

Head Above The Clouds

Head Above The Clouds

Any one following this Blog from the start knows that I live in the Northwest by design.  I love having the four mellow season every year.  The summers are perfect and so are the other three seasons.  There are no sinkholes, large earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, or monsoon type rains with flash floods.  What we do have is more than our fair share of cloudy skies and foggy morning at certain times of the year.

Some people suffer from a lack of natural light, and we are talking serious depression here. Others avoid the problem by investing in equipment that recreate natural light illumination. Then there are those like me that are not often affected by lack of sunlight.

A few years back (within the last 10 years), we went through an extra-long period of gray skies that stretched from early fall into almost early spring (with winter sandwiched in-between). I remember that toward the end of that period of time I was at my rope’s end and looking at weather charts to see how far south I would have to travel to get some sunlight. 

After I figured I would have to drive about a thousand miles south to almost Central California, I started to check my schedule for an open weekend.  I couldn’t see the clear schedule any time soon, and I must admit I was beginning to panic.  When I finally found the open weekend I booked a three day trip to Southern California.

To my surprise as soon as the airliner lifted off the ground and within minutes we pierced through the cloud layer and there it was the magnificent warm sun.  Of course I knew this all along, but the lack of direct sunlight for so long had affected my brain and kept me from reasoning.  As common sense as it sounds, what good can it possibly do to rationalize that the sun is just the other side of the clouds if you never get to see it.

That reasoning makes as much sense as knowing that there is plenty of money in circulation, but somehow it doesn’t get to my bank account.  I don’t know how much this information will help you, but if you get to where you get desperate for nice warm sunlight, just take it from me, it’s close by.

Drive or get on a plane and go chase it.  It will do your state of mind lots of good.  It does me, and while you are at it take your golf clubs (if you are an enthusiast) and get in a little practice.  The best is yet to come…

Stable Life Style

Stable Life Style

What are different types of life styles?

• Answer: Lifestyle usually reflects an individual's attitudes, values or world view. The different types of lifestyles include general, income or occupation based lifestyles, military lifestyles, sexual lifestyles, musical subculture lifestyles as well as lifestyles based on recreation.
• Additional Answer: The different types of lifestyles are living an actualizing life, living to fulfil one's dreams, striving to possess wealth and fame, living to achieve the unexpected, experiencing life moments, making up new situations and struggling to survive. These lifestyles characterize an individual's personality. They stem from the individual's original or imparted way of reasoning.

If you are close enough to me you would know that I despise change.  I love continuity, but I am smart enough to realize that few things in life can remain static.  Someone that isn’t close to me might think that I procrastinate, but in fact when it comes to inevitable change in my (our family life) I make my moves ever so cautiously.  To an outsider it may look like I am dragging my feet.  However, due to my deliberate decision making process I can proudly claim that I can count in one hand the number of times I’ve regretted a life changing decision.

 

My post this time around is not so much about the type of lifestyle as it is about comfort zone within a lifestyle.  As a perfect example somewhere in the process of getting to this point in life, we (my wife and I) very carefully selected the Pacific NW as the place to raise our family and eventually retire.  I won’t brag about the positives the Northwest offers, I’ll just list a few of the negatives that we can live without:  No massive or frequent earthquakes, no tornados, no hurricanes, no Florida style sink holes, and no flash floods.

 

Especially as you near or enter the golden year’s portion of life, we can’t afford the rebuilding of our home, or other loss of property and life that goes with the negatives mentioned above.  I enjoy a certain level of comfort in knowing that there are certain things in everyday life that I can count on to be predictable.  I have always believed in leading by example and fortunately for us, all of our children also live in the Northwest. 

 

One unpredictable future change is that as we get older, we need to be more aware of our surrounding when we are out and about.  It seems that it doesn’t matter where in the world you live, the mature citizen is an easy target for criminals and opportunist. I also have a solution for that, I will travel more often with my two bodyguards, Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson.  After all I’ve earned the reputation of being a marksman.  The best is yet to come……

Season Preferences

Season Preferences

 

It’s a well-known fact that variety is the spice of life!  That being said, if you could have your favorite Season (out of four) of the year, which one would it be for year round?  As I have progressed through life, my choices would definitely be spring or summer with a slight lean towards summer.  There are pros and cons for my choices; pros for Spring, I love the sounds of the birds chirping as they return to the area with the nice weather, and the blooming of flowers and leaves on the trees, the warming-up of the weather.  As they say love and romance is in the air.  Cons: Since I live in the Northwest (by choice), I can tolerate but not totally embrace the abundance of rain, and flooding from melting snow (cascades are an hour away - East), the air turbulence due to the various convergence zones coming inland from the Pacific Ocean (another hour away - West), aggravate the pollen issues of Spring and thus allergies.

Pros and cons for summer; I love the hot summer days (70 to 80 degrees) (I’ve been quoted to say that I play golf in the 70’s!  Any hotter and I refuse to go out!) With the nice weather and periodic rain comes lots of yard work (I do hire a landscape service but it costs plenty), we usually reach over 100 degrees 4 or more times (days) on any given summer.  I won’t complain about the cost of staying cool because it is on par with keeping warm in the winter.

My dislike for fall and winter is that during my lifetime career, I had to travel 2,500 miles per month on average.  I crisscrossed over the Cascade Mountain Range every two weeks.  While winter is a short and mild season in the lowlands, my winters were always longer and more intense because of my traveling the Cascades.  It wasn’t unusual to encounter the first snow blizzard of the season in October on the early end and in May on the late end of the season.

Earlier in my life before I became fortunate enough to land the career of a lifetime, I thought winters were cool (no pun intended).  My wife and I enjoyed drinking a cup of hot chocolate while watching the snowflakes come down on our patio (while burning logs in our fire place).  Since I retired early, I guess I should begin to enjoy winters again.  A lifetime of disliking something is hard to break, it seems that my subconscious becomes aware of the changing weather, and goes into withdrawals.   I need to re-educate my subconscious, which I am working on, but it takes time.

Someone, much wiser than I will ever be, gave us four seasons for a reason and I will enjoy each and every one of them; after all some people live in areas of the world where one season or at most two is the only choice they have.  Hot chocolate time is around the corner, hope you are ready for it because here it comes.  The best is yet to come….

Fun in the Sun

California Beach

 Extreme weekend heat wave could bring temperatures above 120 to Western US

• A wave of record-setting, life-threatening heat is expected to blaze across the West this weekend, with temperatures in some areas projected to top 120 degrees.
• Death Valley, Calif., could even top 130 degrees Saturday through Monday, just below the world record high of 134 recorded there on July 10, 1913
• The cause is a high pressure system that will scorch a long arm of the Southwest. Temperatures in Phoenix and Las Vegas are expected to soar into the triple digits, with temperatures hovering between 115 and 120 degrees. In western parts of Arizona, temperatures could reach 125.

California Sun-The Rivieras

Summer 2013; after a terrible winter and worst spring, Mother Nature is not done with us yet.  Many people had plans for the summer vacation well in advance and we are not quitters. We’ve waited a long time for nice vacation on the beach or otherwise outdoors, whatever you do, use caution, when deciding how long to stay exposed to the elements.  The beach and clear skies are a nice combination to lure you and lull you into overstaying your time out. For many people fun in the sun, sand and surf means plenty of beer or other alcoholic beverages; a bad combination with extreme heat in the forecast (clouds better judgment).

Heat exhaustion and dehydration are known to cause casualties in weather such as we are facing in this summer’s forecast.  Drink plenty of water and don’t get over exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time.  Many elderly people can’t afford air condition systems for their homes, if you have elderly neighbors consider checking up on them, better yet put it on your to do list.

Las Vegas

One of the worst vacations I ever experienced was about 10 years ago and it happened at the happiest place on earth (Disneyland-Southern California).  The lines were at least 45 minutes long for all rides, and I had to spend lots of money buying bottled water just to pour it on my children’s heads to cool them off. My idea of a nice vacation on a very hot summer day is to stay indoors in an air conditioned room, or restaurant, and then go out at night in a place like Las Vegas.  I do recall one summer vacation in Las Vegas where the temperature at 3 in the morning was 92 degrees.

For many young indestructible people (or so they think- been there done that) there will be many other vacations.  For us older folk hopefully we are smart enough to know better.  The goal is to live today to enjoy another day.  The best is yet to come….

Worst Weather vs. Better Communications

Worst Weather Extremes 

North America — and the USA in particular — has the world's wildest weather extremes: No other part of the planet can boast its ferocious weather stew of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, wildfires, blizzards, heat waves and cold snaps.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find another patch of land on Earth the size of the USA that boasts such a variety of such intensely extreme weather inside its borders," says meteorologist and author Robert Henson of Boulder, Colo. - USA Today

I hope everyone is concerned about the weather phenomenon taking place in Middle America.  Today’s weather reports are a repeat of recent weeks and months.  Severe storm warnings for an area from Southern Texas through Oklahoma City, Kansas City and tracking to the Northeastern portion of the country.  The forecast includes tornados, hurricanes, wind, rain, and snow blizzards.  High winds in California and out of control fires.  All of this stormy weather is taking place at the end of May and into the summer months.

Is it possible that this has been the case all along through many years, but we just weren’t as aware because communications weren’t as good as they are today?  Not too many years ago “El Nino, and La Nina, is what I used to call my children at home.  Today those terms are synonymous with extreme, and unnatural weather changes.

If we take the time to look into the weather history (data) it will show that the weather has become erratic and almost unpredictable.  Something is affecting the weather in an abnormal way, it could well be what we are doing to our planet (global warming) or not.  We still have the ability to make decisions that can help keep our loved ones out of harm’s way.  Many years ago President Reagan while speaking on the subject of unemployment said that citizens could vote with their feet; meaning that they could move to areas of more or better opportunity.  I happen to think that lives, and property destruction trump (are more important than even) employment.

If the weather was to slowly or abruptly start following a pattern of change for the worst in my area, I would do my best to move out of the way and influence my loved one to move to a safer environment.  I realize that not everyone can do this, however, in order to be here tomorrow we need to survive today’s events.  More simply stated you can’t fight tomorrow if you don’t survive today.

I don’t know what the answer is to our horrible patterns of destructive weather, the study of the subject needs to become a priority.  I am only making reference to lives being disrupted, but we also need to be concerned for the disruption of crops and industries that will eventually affect millions of citizens, and society in general.  I pray that everyone especially in areas affected will stay safe and won’t take unnecessary chances.  The best is yet to come….