Point Made

Why do weeds grow faster than grass?  Report from the War on Dandelions A hardy hello from Camp Jeff, here on the shores of Lake Maria. It's spring and what was hiding underneath a couple of year of fallen leaves, has blossomed. And it is, (Hold for a drum roll) Dandelions. Not surprised? Don't feel too smug. Anyone from the midwest would have guessed that correctly. Two thoughts here. Number one. No one is responsible for an outbreak of dandelions. Not even the Trump supporter who didn't cut his lawn until it was so long you couldn't read his little fanboy sign supporting "The Donald." Rather than cutting the blossoms while they weren't ready to promulgate, safely enclosing them in a bag for the trashman to pick up where he would deposit the seed in a landfill, he waited. He waited until the somewhat attractive dandelion blossoms turn white. These facets from these complicated dead blossoms become parachutes, which convey the dandelion seed as far as ...

All is good in the land of The Cheeseheads. Well, let me just say in any state with state government like we have, good is a thinly defined thing. Let's just say for Maria and me one of those God Light openings in the clouds opened up and shone down on us. Maria is taking the position of Executive Director The Paper Discovery Center in Appleton. Here is the humor in all of this. After over five months of searching, sending resumes, going to interviews and getting nowhere, this week she has multiple offers on the table. She accepted the best offer. Her reasons for having accepted this offer is that she has an  opportunity to work with the staff and board to get something done, the pay and benefits are where they should be, and the hours are reasonable. As the Trophy Husband, I'm looking at the wardrobe and all the other responsibilities of the arm candy part of the effort. It is worth noting that I have become involved in the jobs Maria has taken ...

While the sun is shining reluctantly on the shoreline of Lake Maria, the news from Camp Jeff is good. I can't reveal the details, but her highness is about to accept an offer of employment. The job is an excellent fit. The six-month search may be over as soon as this coming Monday. Watch this space. I can see DeForest . This Friday the primary wage earner and I hustled over to visit the mid-state branch of the family. Friday s our daughter-in-law's work from home day. Both Brogan and his brother Tate are home from day-care. Ryan gets off from work in the early afternoon. We held this family outing at their home in DeForest, Wisconsin. (Just North & East of Madison) MiMi and I always are amused and amazed at these two brothers. Brogan, the too old for his age eldest brother, who is serious about order and process. Tate, who is more like a basket of ping pong balls, emptied off the fifteenth floor of a building stairwell. Both of them are way beyond the age where they...

My friend and co-conspirator, Kerry and I exchanged emails this morning. In her's, she asked about how things were going. I answered that the weather forecast for The Tundra was that high temperatures were going to be in the sixties and lows in the forties. Further, that forecast coming true would be like the weather I was experiencing in Louisiana. Of course, I was in Lousiana in February. But envy not. They had three and one-half inches of rain in less than two hours yesterday making their total for the week five inches. The PGA golf tournament that was going on this last weekend is delayed. They hope to finish on Monday. PS: The sun came out today. Lots of joy in The Tundra, Maria bought and installed new blinds for the front windows. Kinda shows ya that life, for me, is running on the new, smooth, blacktop road.  Other high points The yard is beginning to lose its winter look. The trees are budding and strange things are growing here and there i...

Many of you know my philosophy on life. Don't grow old it's a waste of time I don't doubt the existence of God, but his line is always busy, and his voice mail is full. At least they are when I call. If there is a God, his only commandment was, "I'm giving you this planet with all of its possibilities and assets. Don't fuck it up." All of the problems in the world are caused by 5% of the people. Depending on the problem you may be counted in the 5%. Some problems are caused by groups that defy my 5% rule but don't blame my math, blame reality TV. Remember Donald Trump didn't invent himself. He had parents and odds are somehow, someway they were dysfunctional. We don't fix anything anymore. There are potholes galore in every street in America. We have bridges falling, and we still don't fix the ones that are standing, no matter how many are killed when they fall. We are afraid of everything. We became that way when we began to be...

Mopedites Cured As many of you know, my preferred mode of long-distance transportation is my Aprilia Rally 150 moped. It offers many advantages. I can step through to mount, so need not try to throw my bad leg over the saddle. I don't have to shift gears. It has what is known as "twist n' go" acceleration. My specially modified unit can get up to 50mph and cruise comfortably at 45mph. This increase in speed makes it reasonable to use many streets, such as Lincoln Memorial Drive in Milwaukee. In the State of Wisconsin, it is treated as if it were a bicycle; I can park it anywhere on the sidewalk, as long as I don't block pedestrians. I do not need a motorcycle permit. My Wisconsin drivers license is sufficient. As I have written about my inability to get anyone in Louisiana to service my moped I have am grounded, so to speak. Horray! I have found a shop in Appleton who will work on the bike. Watch this space for further news. By the way, it goes without saying...

When we moved back to Appleton, we moved rather quickly into some old activities that were familiar and more or less traditional. Maria hosted a brunch for the family, celebrating a visit by a contingent of our left coast family. We began to stop at Frank's Pizza on Tuesday evening to see which Toads showed up. Maria and I shop at our neighborhood markets. We have our places. Kwik Trip,  Copps, Target and we added Costco. Soon we will join a gym. We are gathering up our old friends. We joined the Nagler's, Slama's, and Olson's for a monthly dinner meeting of The Royal Order of the Toads (ROT). The lure of Any Movie, Any Time for $5, on Tuesday at the local Marcus theater has us in its grip. We didn't forget our friends to the South. This last weekend we made a quick trip to the City on the Fresh Coast of the Inland Sea (Milwaukee). While we didn't get to see everyone, we did a good job for the short amount of time we had. I wish I could report that Maria ha...