Point Made

Vacation. How's the Weather? After my wife and I returned from our visit to Seattle, with an unexpected side trip to O'Hare in Chicago, I'm back in my writing chair. First the Seattle trip. We always seem to be in Seattle when the weather is nice. Don't ask me why. I haven't a clue. I think it might be just a comparative thing. Anytime people from that area complain about their cold and damp climate, I tell them what cold means in Wisconsin and that when they have to shovel the rain they are complaining about I feel bad for them. While we were there, the sun shined brightly even if it occasionally had to fight some big puffy clouds. Truth be told like Wisconsin, Washington needs some rain. The true test of weather in Seattle is your ability to "see the mountain". In the gloomiest of circumstances seeing Mount Rainer is impossible. On a clear day, you can't miss it. We were leaving the downtown stadium where the Seattle Sounder's, the Major Lea...

Tis Summer,   where every weekend seems to be hot, humid and eventful. We are in the midst of, what I call, the one hundred and twenty days of possible good weather in Northern Wisconsin. Our drought continues. As a result, my lawn experiment reveals unintended but interesting outcomes. I and this was against my better judgment, treated our lawn with "Weed and Feed". This branded product is supposed to eliminate weeds and promote the growth of green grass. The other thing, the thing you have to think about, it does is increase the number of times you have to cut the grass. I've often stopped people in the middle of their tirade about how many times they cut the grass to inquire if they fertilize their lawn. If they tell me they do, my mindset switches from empathy to contempt. Because I volunteered to cut my neighbor, Harley's lawn this summer, I thought about treating his also. In the end, I did not spread the chem...

We old folk at some point start thinking of how much time we have left. Some of us think about it a lot and others not so much, but we do think about it. Having looked at life, I would have to say I lived it both rationally and often irrationally. I would categorize my taking the motorcycle safety courses at the age of 68 as one of those irrational moments. It was only when I was satisfied with the options I had left, I calmed down a little. I recognized there are some things older folks have in common during this period. Those of us who are healthy want to be relevant. By that I mean, we want to be doing something useful. We want to be doing something that if we couldn't do it anymore, they would have to get someone else to do it. In reflecting back on my life, I have to say that I have a restless spirit. Endlessly curious, I have done a lot of things, but none of them particularly good. I was what we used to call a jack of all tra...

Living in a racist society: So much has been said and written about how we fooled ourselves into thinking we were in a Post Racist Society because we voted for a black President and even re-elected him. It took the nomination of Donald Trump with his blatant and outright legitimizing of Far Right Wing of bigots and white supremacists to require us to recognize how wrong we were. If anything, The election of Barak Obama was a rallying point for that part of our society that is frightened of losing its control of their relevance in our future. To them becoming a minority and to coexist with people that don't look like them is incomprehensible and unacceptable. Their leaders are varied but most visible in the political world are what many, including myself, refer to as "old white men". They could be called silly old white men except that what they do and say causes so much pain and suffering to people who for the most part cannot defend themselves, that it's not fun...

Louisana Hot. If you've never been in the deep south in the summer, you won't understand what I call Louisiana hot. We moved to Mandeville LA in July. when we arrived the temperature was in the nineties with dew points in the seventies. In the north, we talk about wind chill. Wind chill is the effective temperature that we feel when the wind on our bodies affects the temperature we experience. It's that blast of cold air you feel when you walk outside. In the south, the problem is the "feels like" temperature, that combination of high humidity and air temperature that sucks the fluids out of your system and stamina out of your ability to function. If you ever wondered why the South got a reputation for being slow and sleepy, you haven't been there in the summer. From that first day in July when we arrived in Mandeville, it was over ninety degree's every day for three months. It was over ninety degree's for weeks before we got there. That is Lo...

A question no doubts had bubbled up in my mind as a clarified the status of my Milwaukee County Transit M-Card the other day. I wanted to check the balance, as I'm going to visit the City by the Inland Sea in a couple of weeks. The M-Card is like an electronic Passport for me. I can get on any MCTS bus, tap the card on the pay pedestal, and I have paid for my ride and received a transfer for another bus in my route. I understand because of a new agreement with Bublr Bikes, I will be able to also use the card to rent a shared bike for the all-important last mile. Some might just say that it just makes sense for me to keep my M-Card since I will continue to visit Milwaukee, but I know different. .Just looking at the thing brings back memories. I think of the first one I got when the concept was being developed. I was a member and then Chair of Transit Services Advisory Committee (TSAC) We were issued the passes in order to test the system. I glad to say th...

Sunday Morning is spent watching CBS Sunday Morning at our house. both Maaria and I have been watching this program from the Days of Charles Kuralt through, as I called him, Chuck The Second and now with Jane Pauley. Lately, I've been recording Chuck Todd's Meet the Press. This last Sunday, one of his interviews was with Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister. Trudeau was skillfully and forcefully telling Todd why Canadians were taking Trump's Trade Tariff's so indignantly. Trump's reason for the tariffs was that importing steel was a security threat to the United States. Trump's reasoning is that raising tariffs on steel and aluminum would foster a better competitive situation and promote US Steel production. This production would make US steek available in the event of a threat to the United States. After pointing out the long-standing record of mutual trade benefits the relationship between the US and Canada, Trudeau vigorously ...