Month: March 2014

 

As I walked out on my front porch this morning, coffee in hand, I looked out at the front yard and smiled. Two days ago after clearing off all of the leaves in the backyard my wife and I decided to put some sod grass on the backyard, it was then only a dirt yard. So my wife went online and found a local company that sold sod grass. She also contacted the local Home Depot and found the price to be almost 4 times that of the local company. So she ordered sod grass from the local company. Two pallets of grass were delivered to the house in the morning. The weather forecast for that day was that it was going to involve thunderstorms in the afternoon. So as soon as the grass was delivered we began working on putting the pieces of sod grass on the ground. We were almost done when the delivery truck show up again in the front of our house. I noticed that the truck had another pallet of sod grass on it. As the driver walked from his truck to me he explained that one of the pallets of sod grass he delivered earlier in the day was not supposed to be on the truck. It was an older pallet that had dried out. I told him that I noticed that the pieces of grass look very distressed. But I also know that St. Augustine grass can withstand some harsh conditions. The driver told me that he had brought a new pallet of grass. I told him that we had already laid the older pallet of grass. He just smiled and asked if he could look at the older pallet of grass that was already laid. He took one look and said that he would tell his boss that the older pallet had already been laid. He said not to worry that the company was going to give us the new pallet of grass anyway. It is been a long time since I have run across such a responsible and honest company. They did not have to come back. I think initially they were just going to trade the old pallet of grass for the new one. But once they’ve seen that it already been laid, they give us a new pallet anyway. Needless to say I will continue to use this company.

This was very good news and it also gave me enough pieces of grass to finish the backyard and also cover the small front yard. So my wife and I were very hard very quickly to lay down all the pieces of sod grass, three pallets. That is what led me to my opening statement about looking out of the front yard and smiling. I know all of the homes that I’ve owned had green grass in both the front and backyard. It always made the house look good and made me feel happy. The downside of having all that grass is that it takes a lot of maintenance and money to keep looking good. There is the cost of treating the grass with fertilizer and weed killer. There is also the cost of the equipment, like a lawnmower and an edger.

I think some of the first money I made as a child was mowing other people’s lawns. When you look at suburbia it seems like every house has a grass yard. For many people it is a symbol of not only having money, but having a classier place to live. Of course many people who have a nice lawn also put a lot of money into having flowers and shrubs and even trees in it. There’s just something special about having a nice green lawn.

I hope that when you read the opening statement you were not expecting me to talk about the kind of grass that people get high on. Even though I think many people envision having marijuana in their lives a good thing. I’m not one of them. To begin with most people have to smoke to enjoy or get the effects of marijuana. Smoking is bad for you and those people around you, no matter what it is you’re smoking. I think a lot of states have given up the fight against the use of marijuana. Maybe it’s because of my generation of baby boomers who used marijuana when they were young, and now that they are older in charge of things they find it hard to find fault with its use. I think it was a joke when the term medical marijuana first appeared on the West Coast. It was just another way of getting around the law at the time. I am tired of people bringing up the use of alcohol versus the use of marijuana. Those that use this example are simply trying to take the focus off of the subject of marijuana. The abuses of any substance can be harmful. My main objection to marijuana is that most people smoke it. Smoking is just bad, not only for the person smoking; but for those people around them.

So to get back on track, if you thought by the opening statement this is going to be about the use of marijuana, you’re wrong. This is about the simple joy of having green grass yard around your house. One of the things I was amazed at while traveling was Central Park in the middle of New York City. It is beautiful and it seems impossible that it exists in the middle of all that concrete. So besides the beautiful trees, the grass on the ground makes it a beautiful place. I think if you look at any city and Its Park system, every Park includes a generous amount of grass on the ground. When you look at baseball, football and soccer, they are played on a grass field. I’m not much of a fan of Astroturf or fake grass. And of course I don’t want to leave out the sport of golf. Were the groundskeepers were hard to keep the grass beautiful. The Masters Golf tournament is coming up soon. Take a look at the beautiful conditions of that golf course. The major part of that golf course is grass. I know that there are professionals who keep the parks, playing fields and golf courses looking green. It is a huge industry and yet it seems to always be changing.

So let’s go back to my opening statement. Grass, what is it mean you? To me it’s a thing of beauty that takes time effort and money. And for me it is a symbol of life. It makes me smile in the morning. I hope it does the same for you. Keep smiling.

Pops

As I walked out on the porch this morning, coffee in hand, I watched the sun break through the trees revealing some brand-new little leaves on the trees. In a couple weeks all the trees will have substantial leaves which will change the beauty of the landscape. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I am always amazed to watch the birth of a new year. It always makes me feel a little younger when springtime hits the forest. It is always a pleasure to go outside and walk into the forest.

Yesterday, as I left the house to walk along the forest pathway, I found it impossible to keep the gas from inside my body from escaping while I was walking. I think many of you older men know what I’m talking about. This condition is also called the walking farts. It is not so embarrassing when you’re walking in the forest, but extremely embarrassing when other people are around. I can remember as a young child passing gas in public made me laugh sometimes. Maybe you can remember the old uncle who asked you to pull his finger, and when doing so he would pass gas. Those are probably the few times where passing gas was funny. But as I got older I seem to have lost the control of my gas leaks. I do not know if it is because my body processes food in a different manner. But it seems like I’m full of more and more gas. There is no longer any little toots. Sometimes the gas leak leaves me wondering it was only gas. It seems like in the past when I felt like there was going to be a gas leak I could control it by tightening up my sphincter muscle. I could usually hold in the gas until I could get to a bathroom or safe area. It did mean I walked a little like the old Charlie Chaplin character, the little tramp. But until recently I was able to avoid any real embarrassing gas leak. Now if I feel any rumbling in the stomach and pressure in the intestines I get nervous. The first worry is of the rather loud noise that accompanies a gas leak. The second worry is the horrible odor that follows that leak. I can remember the first time that I experienced the walking farts. I had gone to the convention in another city and was walking from one seminar class to another. I started to feel some pressure in my intestines and started to head for the closest bathroom. Unfortunately the bathroom was quite a ways away down a long open hallway. And then it happened, as much as I tried to keep it in, there was a gas leak. Each step that I took produced another gas leak. I would walk a couple steps and look around to see if anyone was coming close to me. I was at a convention and so of course there was always someone close to me. So in the beginning I would walk and stop, walk and stop in consideration of those walking by me. But as the pressure began to be more intense I just kept on walking to get to the bathroom. Once inside I’m sure that anyone else present could hear the rip roar of the gas leak. I know that women sometimes have a problem with gas leaks, but it seems to me that it’s the men who produce the bigger spectacle. One of the benefits that I had not thought about in retiring is that I am rarely around a group of people. So any gas leak is less embarrassing. But I still am embarrassed when I’m walking and every step produces the embarrassing sound.

So my thought today is on gas leaks and how they can be both personally and socially embarrassing. But I believe that almost everyone goes through these moments. I know that you can help this problem by changing your diet, but I doubt that I’m going to do that. Good luck.

Pops

As I walked out on the back porch this morning I went to look at the new dog house that I and my wife built. First, I wanted to make sure it was still standing and second, I wanted to see what it looked like with all the polyurethane being dry. The dog house has cedar wood siding. Even though the day started off overcast and is probably going to rain, I smiled as I looked at the new doghouse. I had mentioned in the blog I wrote yesterday about starting a new project for my dog named Murphy. It took me almost 5 days to complete the project. But there were parts of the project that turned out to be more fun than I thought.  My wife would come out at different times and look at the progress of the doghouse. It didn’t take long before she wanted to help with the doghouse. But both she and I have been brought up by America’s greatest generation, where men worked on things outside the house and women worked on things inside the house. So with some hesitation my wife asked if she could help me build the doghouse. I thought it was great, I can always use help. She was there to help me when we talked about the design of the doghouse. So it was only fitting that she be part of building the doghouse. During one of the sessions where she was helping me, she was using a drill to put some screws into the doghouse. She has not done a lot of drill work and so it took a little bit of time before she knew how to handle the drill. I loved it. Sharing my passion for building things was being shared with the woman of my passion.

This got me to thinking of several times in our married life that we shared a passion. The first one I can think about is when we moved to Texas. I had a passion for fishing and I usually did it alone. It did not take long before my wife also enjoyed fishing. And so in the afternoon or evening hours we would walk out on the dock where the fishing boats were at. And we would sit there together, many times using a hotdog as bait, and fish for catfish. It was fun and a way for us to sit and visit with each other at the same time. I’ve always enjoyed the challenges of fishing, but it was so much more fun with my wife enjoying it with me.

My next memory is the day that my wife told me I needed a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. She had just come home from shopping, in her route home she went under the overpass of a freeway. During that time she heard a group of Harley-Davidson motorcycles driving underneath the freeway overpass too. So she came home and told me I needed a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Upon hearing that from my wife we immediately marched down to the Harley-Davidson dealer and bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I have always had a passion for riding motorcycles. Even while working for the Los Angeles Police Department I would drive to work on a motorcycle on the days where the weather was nice (the weather is almost always nice in LA). Now my wife was enjoying the ride with me. It didn’t take long before she wanted her own motorcycle. So we bought another Harley-Davidson and we rode together. Sharing that passion with my wife is something I’ll always remember. I know that I’ve heard from other men that one of the greatest things that ever happened to them is when their wives began to enjoy their passions (I’m not talking about in the bedroom). For many men who live in the city they have a passion for the game of golf. When the wives began to play golf their relationship with their wives greatly improved. And particularly those senior golfers really enjoy playing golf with their wives. I have to say the same thing about bowling. I started bowling in Indiana at the age of 12. It was a tradition that my family passed on to me. After moving to Texas my wife and I both joined a bowling league. We played on a team with her sister and brother-in-law. It was a great time and I really enjoyed sharing my passion of bowling with my wife.

Since we’ve moved to the country, the Sumner Tree Farm, I looked for new ways of getting my wife involved in some of my passions. One of things I really love is to move some dirt with my John Deere tractor. During the past week my wife decided to get up and drive the tractor. I smiled from ear to ear as I watched her work with me as she drove the tractor. So during this last week I watched my wife use an electric drill to build a doghouse, drive the tractor and visit me in my shop. I love working in my shop and I also enjoy just sitting down and drinking a beer at the end of the day. Recently she has joined me at the end of the day and sit down inside the shop and drink a beer. I really look forward to her joining me in the shop.

So the thought of today is that you need to get your wife involved in your other passions. Of course the first passion is for her. I think that couples who can enjoy the same activities and the same goals live a happier and longer life. Sometimes this is hard for men to open up their other passions. We get a little overprotective and even a little jealous when somebody else gets involved in our passions. But the payoff of getting your wife involved and the two of you sharing the action is more than just fulfilling. It’s empowering and makes you want to do more and enjoy more. So get you wife involved.

Pops

 

As I walked out on my front porch this morning, coffee in hand, I was greeted by a purple sunrise. I can’t recall ever seeing a purple sunrise before, so I set down and watched it for a while as it faded from sight. I then began to think about today’s actions. I feel the need to keep busy in my retirement and to do that I need to create some attainable goals.

While watching the morning news there has been a lot of reporting on Alzheimer’s disease. Even though I don’t know of any history in my family, Alzheimer disease still scares me. During those news stories there is a constant message to help fight the Alzheimer’s disease. That is to keep the mind busy. Do new things, like learning a new language. But learning a new language is a long term goal. I need something to do that within a relatively short period of time that can be accomplished.

For the last year or so, since moving to North Texas and starting the tree farm, I have been busy with short attainable goals. In one of my past blogs I spoke about cutting a limb off of a very large tree. It took a while to do so and some engineering. But within a couple of days I attained that goal and felt good about it. There is something to waking up in the morning and looking forward to working on a project. Because I do not get out among people very much, I look forward to going to the store and buying some items. My favorite store is the Home Depot. It seems like no matter what project I’m working on, I can find some of the material there. There is a great feeling when you accomplish the goal or finish the project. For example, my newest goal is the completion of another project. One of my dogs is a giant schnauzer, he weighs about 150 pounds. In the first year of living in our new home, as the weather got really bad I would open up the blog room for the dogs. It is a small room off of the garage where I write this blog. By opening up the room to the dogs, the room became full of dust and dirt which made it a problem to keep clean. So now that the weather is turning nice I can shut off the blog room to the dogs but this presents another problem. The dog, named Murphy, needs a place to stay when the weather gets bad. The two little dogs sleep in the house at night. The new project is to build a doghouse for my two big dogs, especially Murphy. A large dog means a large doghouse. This doghouse is 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall. So that the doghouse has some curb appeal I am adding cut cedar planks to the side of it. I imagine it will take me about a week to get this done. But I do get up in the morning and head out to the shop with a positive attitude. Whether it is building a chicken coop, a doghouse or getting the garden ready for planting; I enjoy having a goal and then achieving it.

Of course like many senior citizens I have some great long-term goals. I want to remain happy and live a long time. I want my family to be happy with me and with life. I work on those long-term goals every day but it’s almost impossible to see if I’m achieving them. So it is important for me to fill my life with short term goals. Such a goal occurred about a year ago. My wife and I had decided to sell our home and I wanted to move up to live on or near a lake in North Texas. I thought it would take a good amount of time to find a home and to sell our home. Well things went a little different. One half-hour after listing our home on the Internet we had someone look at the house. Within a day of our listing we sold the house. On one side that is great, on the other side we had to find a new place to live. So the new goal was to find a new place to live. We had about 30 days to do so. Luckily for us our son offered a place for us to stay at his house while the search went on. Finding a new home is an attainable short-term goal. Unlike many people who are born and raised in the same area, I have moved around the country a lot. Each time that I moved my goal was to find a place that I and my wife would be happy at. Each house had its own theme and location, but it was not the final home. To achieve this goal meant of lot of attention and information to be worked on a short amount of time. It was exciting and also frustrating while shopping for a new home. When you moved to a new area there are a lot of things that you don’t know about until you’ve lived there for a while. Much of that information does not show up in the Internet listing of the house. But we did achieve this goal and look forward to future goals (if necessary).

Even the process of buying a new car is exciting and it is an achievable short-term goal. Certainly if you asked my family I achieved a lot of short-term car buying goals. This may seem a little mundane to most people, but for me was exciting and intense.

My thought is that no matter what your age is you should try to fill it with short term achievable goals. Some people write those goals on a white board or chalk board so they can view it every day. I say let the goal present itself to you so that you are not locked into a prescribed action. I’m sure you have heard the term; ‘it’s not the destination but it is the journey getting there that makes life good”. So go out there and look around and find some short-term achievable goals. Do not make one of those goals about your weight. For some reason your weight will go up and down. Many times it has nothing to do with your actions or your desire to reach a certain weight goal. Things like DNA and environment are the deciding factors. If you have to go to the gym do so with the thought of some social interaction. It could be that the failure of a goal creates a new goal to correct the actions you took and obtaining the first goal. Just go out and do it. Don’t be afraid of not obtaining the goal; rather enjoy the journey in trying to reach the goal.

Pops

 

As I walked out on the front porch this morning, coffee in hand, I was met by the chill of the weather. The temperature was in the 30s and the wind was still coming out of the North. I know that people who live in the north and east side of our country will find that temperature quite warming. Still it felt quite cold for me. The good news is that the temperature will start going into the 70 during the daytime for the next week. While looking out at the forest and watching the sun as it started shining through the trees I began to reflect upon my last blog. In that blog I mentioned that I had been crying.

That brought me to the thought about crying and the power of crying. While I was a policeman in Los Angeles I watched the many different ways a person could use crying to influence the situation that they were in. I have found that crying has both a positive and a negative effect. A person would use crying many times to get out of trouble. For example, there were many times that I pulled over a female driver and while talking to her about the violation she would begin to cry. In the beginning, it would influence the way that I handled the outcome of the traffic stop. But that was a rookie mistake. It took a long time where I was able to talk to that person about the violation, even while they were crying. I had to learn to stay on task and not be swayed by the fact the person was crying while I was talking to them. There were times when I would go to an arrest situation and the first thing that would happen when telling somebody they were about to be arrested was that they began crying. Usually the crying was done by women. But the technique was also starting to show itself while arresting men. Maybe it was because I hadn’t cried more than a dozen times in my life I found it disarming when a man would start to cry. Once again I had to learn to keep on task and not be distracted by the fact that the person was crying. That doesn’t mean to say that I did not realize the severity of the event. Many of those people were being real when they went into their crying. In dramatic events, I had to learn a different way of communicating with someone while they were wailing-crying. There were those times when somebody lost a loved one and they would begin wailing. It was almost impossible for me to communicate with that person or persons during that time.

I believe that crying is nature’s way of allowing a person to handle the stress of the situation. I do not think it is a bad thing, unless you are using it as a tool rather than a reaction. I believe it is important for people to cry when faced with a traumatic event in their life. Some people need to cry just to get to the stress of the day. Many times after a stressful situation, when the reality of what happened hits the person, they need to cry. And usually while someone is crying, another person will go and tried to console them. If you’re watching a traumatic event on television the cameras will focus in on the people crying. Crying is a powerful emotion and can be a powerful tool. I’ve seen people cry for the bad things and many cry for the good things. I watch a television show on the Velocity Channel called, Overhaulin. At the end of each program some lucky man or woman gets their car back in a first-class condition. When this happens I’ve seen what appeared to be grown grumpy old men begin to cry. There many times when you’re watching someone, either in person or on television, and they begin to cry, it ignites the feeling inside you and you begin to cry. When someone is crying I find myself trying to solve the situation for them so they do not have to cry.

When it came to doing my police work I had to keep on task and not let the fact that someone was crying pulled me off the task. That doesn’t mean their crying did not affect me. It always affected me but I knew to get my job done had to work through it. This takes a lot of practice of a particular discipline. It is kind of like the ringing phone. Many people cannot help but pick up the phone when it rings. It takes a lot of discipline to let the phone ring and continue what you are doing. The power of that phone ringing seems to be overwhelming with some people.

 The same goes for the power of crying. When someone is crying it is overwhelming for some people to handle. Our children use that power when they were little and for while it worked. But after a few years most parents figured out that is being used as a tool and are able to work through the event without being swayed by the child’s crying. Actors work very hard at trying to be convincing if they are supposed to be crying in a scene. I know some people that can cry at the drop of a hat, so to speak. They continually misuse crying as a tool to influence the outcome to their favor.

I also know that crying is needed for me and others to handle stressful situations. I have PTSD and it didn’t really hit me until I was in my 60s. As I stated in an earlier blog, I am a Vietnam War veteran who was spit on and cursed at when I came back to the states. My work as a policeman kept my mind so busy and my emotions so guarded that I very rarely cried. Than one day while watching a simple commercial on television I found myself crying. In the beginning I did not understand what was happening. But with some professional help I found out that my crying was a way of my handling the stress of my past. Unfortunately my generation was brought up by America’s greatest generation, where men don’t cry. It was looked at as a weakness in character and a flaw in manhood. So it is taking some adjustment for me to accept the fact that there will be days I cry and its okay. It is a powerful emotion and I am lucky that my wife and family understand when I cry.

So the thought of the day is about the power of crying. It has both it’s a good side and a bad side. It is an emotion that is needed for us to help handle the stress of our living. And in today’s world it is okay for both men and women to cry. Unfortunately, there are people that misuse crying. They use it as a tool to influencethe situation to their advantage. Even today, if someone starts crying in front of me my first response is to do whatever I can do help them out so they do not cry. But now I look at the situation and usually make a decision on how I’m going to respond to their crying. I try to focus on what the task is and work through the crying to complete that task. I think no less or no more of anyone who cries then those that never cry. But I feel that it is a strong emotion that is truly needed.

That is my thought for the day as I now watch as the sun shines down on my front porch and the temperature is rising. That brings a smile to my face and I hope it’s a long time before I find a situation that ends up in my crying.

Pops

 

As I was sitting on my porch the other night, drinking some non-sweet iced tea; I looked out on the forest floor and looked up into the sky. I found them both to be very busy. The songbirds were moving all over the place and the squirrels seemed to be bouncing around on the ground from tree to tree. It felt good just sitting there looking around. It is the springtime and all the hard work of some of those little animals did to take care of each other is paying off as they are alive to enjoy another spring. This got me to thinking about those people in my life have worked hard to take care of me and others.

They almost seem invisible sometimes and yet they’re there every day to care for someone. I think you’ll know what I mean. You know the grandmother who takes care the grandchildren because her children are unable to do so. Or the son and the daughter who take care the father or the mother. There are children who take care of their parents. There are the brothers and sisters who take care of their brothers and sisters. There are the parents of disabled children who must rely upon other family members to help them take care of those children. I think no matter where you look you’ll find that someone is looking over and caring for someone. They do it because they love and care for each other. I know there are people who get paid to care for people. I am talking about the people who do it because they want to. Many times it is because there is no one else to do this. You do not have to go far to find the circumstance near you where this is happening.

My thought for today is that you need to take the time and thank these people. It is probably more likely that you will go out of your way to thank a policeman or fireman, rather than one of your own family members. I know that as the oldest child of my family, I was called on at a very early age to help my family out. Usually it was just a matter of money or the inconvenience of taking someone to and from a place. As the oldest son I felt that it was my duty to handle any incident that was presented to me for my family.

In the beginning it was a mark of pride for me to help my mom or my dad. It made me feel like I had reached a level of respect that I desired. I carry that tradition on for many years. Then as I got older I found it harder to handle family matters without feeling a little stressed. I did not recognize the stress in the beginning, but it was there nonetheless. While living through the death of my mother, my father and my brother, I broke down and just started crying. I did not realize at the time that I’ve been carrying the load of stress that comes along with taking care of loved ones. No one asked me to do this and I did not want any special recognition for it. It was just something that seemed to be the natural order of things. I was fortunate that my youngest sister was there when I broke down and she took up the reins of caring for the family matters.

I mention this because there are still people in my family and my extended family they carry the load and stress. Many times it is the child that lives near us the aging parent that takes up caring for that parent. That means that their life is really not their own and everything they do is done with the thought of that parent mind. Even when some folks go on vacation they feel obligated to take their parents. I did this once with my mom on the trip to San Francisco. Things that I had not thought of began to bear down on me. For example, I did not take into consideration the long walk at the airport from the parking lot to the airport check it. My mom faded fast and I felt like an idiot for not already having a wheelchair there. During that trip my mom really didn’t get out much. I had not taken into account a way to get there from point A to point B; she needed a wheelchair to do that. There are also a lot of grandparents out there that take care of their grandchildren full-time. In an ideal world when you get to the age of retirement you should be able to do what you want when you want. Many grandparents end up being full-time parents to their grandchildren. They do so willingly and out of love. But that also means they are not free to do what they want when they want. Everything they do must be done with the thought of that child in mind. Once again, it is usually the grandparent who lives closest to the child that takes up that task. These people give every day and willingly. But what they may not see is that their stress level really goes up.

Those of us that live around those caretakers usually start to see something like a change in that person’s personality. Many of us just write it off as they are getting older or they’re just getting grumpy. I think if you look further you will find out that they are living with a lot of stress. Until you understand that you’re living with a lot of stress, you cannot do things to relieve that stress. The stress tends to building up and up and up. People around you notice that you’re becoming more easily irritated and this many times ends up in a family fight.

I think it’s time for you to look around and seek out those people who take care of others and say thank you. I know that you can just say that on the telephone while talking to them, but I would recommend that you do or buy something that will make them smile. I also think you need to tell them that their handling a lot of stress. Once they realize what is happening they can take action on handling the stress. Maybe you can send them a flower or plant. Or you can set them up to have dinner somewhere while you take care of their duties. You must make sure that you let them know that you’re doing this as a way of saying thank you. This is not saying that they’re not doing a good job. Help them handle the stress. Even if it’s just a little bit at a time it really does mean a lot.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.

Pops

Ps Thanks sister

 

As I walked out onto my porch this morning, with my coffee in hand, I was greeted by some heavy fog. But within 30 minutes the sun started breaking through. For the last several days it has been overcast and rainy and when that happens I feel a little gloomy. But when the sun comes through I can start my day feeling fresh and ready for my next adventure. Back when I was working nine to five six days of the week) I started the day by using a structured discipline I usually followed every morning.  I retired a few years ago and no longer have to get up to go to work. In the beginning of my retirement I felt a little guilty about not going to work. Like most men and women of my generation I’ve had a job since I was 10 years old. When I was 10 years old I got up early in the morning to deliver the newspaper. I would get on my bicycle and go to the local newspaper distribution shed. There I was met by a manager who gave me the appropriate amount of newspapers to deliver. In those days they also gave me something that looked like saddlebags for people. If you did not have a bicycle to carry the bag on, you put it on yourself, something like a poncho. On the days that it was icy and snowy my father would get up with me and help me deliver the papers. Since then, usually after the school day, I had some sort of a job. So in the beginning of my retirement I felt very guilty about not going to work. One part of it was the loss of funds, my retirement does not provide me with the same amount of money that I had when I was working. But it’s more than that. It is the actual routine and discipline of getting up and going to work. You would think that once you retired, you would sleep until 11 or noon. But you don’t, you get up early in the morning just like you used to. The difference is you do not have the same routine or discipline. After a few years I started to develop one, only to find comfort in using the routine that I had when I worked. For me, I start every day by making a cup of coffee and then having something to eat along with it. Instead of the weekend being the break in the routine for me, I now go on trips. This last week I went to Shreveport Louisiana to a casino. My wife had just got back from California and so, after picking her up at the airport, we decided to go and do a little gambling.

We arrived at the casino just as a concert was letting out. As we got out of our car and went to the elevator we noticed that as each elevator door opened it, was full of people headed the other way. The first thing I noticed was the age of the people (they were somewhere in the 30s and 40s). It wasn’t like there were a lot of young teenagers, all giddy and excited about seeing an artist or band. This crowd seemed to be more mellow and they were headed home for some rest. The band playing at the concert had its heyday in the 1980s. But like most rock ‘n roll bands it seemed like they were in their 70s and still playing at concerts. It always amazes me how artist and singers from the 1960s 70s and 80s are still out there in concert. I still do not understand how the members of the Rolling Stones are still above ground.

As I started to play in the casino I again looked around and noticed that most of people there were over the age of 50. There were a few of the players who seemed to be younger and I think only one or two looked like they were in their 20s. There were definitely more women gambling at the slot machines and more men gambling at the craps table. There seem to be a good mix on the card playing tables, with people from all age groups playing.

During that night I sat next to a woman who I’m guessing was in her 80s. She had very thin white hair that was cut fairly short. Her skin was very white and her stature was bent over a little bit. She wore her very bright red lipstick while being very intent on playing the slot machine. While sitting next to her I watched her win the small jackpot of over $1000. After congratulating her on her win she went on to explain how she was not getting very much of it because of “those taxes”. She went on to tell me that she had won two jackpots Saturday and that most of it was probably going to go to paying taxes. She looked at me with some concern and stated, “why would they take an old widows taxes like that?” For the next 10 minutes or so she went on to tell me about how tough life was for a widow. During the conversation, the one-way conversation, she let me know that her husband died several years ago and left her with a lot of money. She believed that the government was trying to take it all away from her and “what was a poor old widow to do”? During the conversation I noticed that she was wearing what appeared to be some expensive clothing and a designer handbag. While she was gambling she did not seem to worry about the amount of money being gambled on each play of the machine.

During the rest of my stay at the casino I noticed a lot of elderly women (70 years plus) who were playing at the machines. The staff, working at the casino, seemed to know most of them by their first name. Most of the women were smokers. This brings me to the title of the blog for the day. Of men and women, who will live longer? I know that when I went to a retirement seminar, I was told that my generation of men would likely live to be about 75 years old. That same seminar told the women in the audience that they would likely live to be 85 years old.

During my time as a detective, both in California and in Texas, I would do a lot of speaking to different groups. Things like how to protect your house and your car from being broken into or inform the audience of some of the scams going on during that time. What I noticed when going into retirement homes was that there seemed to be a ratio of about 10 to 1, of women to men.

That’s not to say that men do not live a long and healthy life, look at Frank in Sacramento. He is in his 90s and is active and looking good. But I think he is the exception to the rule and that in the United States of America, women are more likely to outlive men.

There’s another issue that comes to light when one of the partners of the marriage pass on. Is that should surviving spouses go on to meet someone else or do they stay widowed for the rest of their life.

Are men more likely to remarry or find someone else more so than women? I’m not sure about the answer on this one, but I think men are more likely to try and find someone. I’m not sure what the reason is for that, but in my world it is seems like a man is more likely to move on to another partner.

My thoughts on who will live the longest; is that women will live longer. However I hope to be one of the exceptions to that rule. I hope to be more like Frank in Sacramento California. I hope to remain busy for the rest of my life, going from one adventure to another.

Pops

As I walked out on the front porch this morning, my coffee in hand, I was greeted by sunshine. Even though the temperature was still 27°, it was great to see the sun again as it melted away the snow. I know the saying: March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, and I hope that it is so this year. I’m looking forward to the spring time and the growth of new trees, leaves, flowers and plants. The passing of the seasons got me thinking about the passing of the baton.

My generation of Americans is known as the baby boomer generation. The generation that brought us to life is being called the America’s greatest generation. The men and women who started the 20th century without television, without radio and without freeways, also who also fought in World War II. That generation of Americans is steeped in tradition and hardened by the rough times of economy, drought and war. Those Americans born in the early 1900s watch their world go from horse drawn carriages to the World Wide Web. I believe the ethics they grew up on, made their generation great. There had strong values for family, country and religion. Many of those Americans migrated from the farm and rural areas to cities in search of a way to survive. The ethics of hard work and the keeping of their word was very strong. Respect was always a goal and making the world a better place for their children, drove those men and women. The ideal of family meant a father that worked and a mother who stayed home and raise the children. Even though many of those Americans and their relatives before them had little to no formal education, they instilled in my generation the necessity of going to school and getting educated. Their generation participated in World War II, the last war the United States of American can say that won. While the men marched off to war the women work in the factories and gave up many the luxuries of life so that those resources could be used in the war effort. This is not to say that generation did not have its faults. But I believe that generations build the foundation for the next several generations to come.

My generation, the baby boomers, grow up carrying some of those same ethics. But because of all the hard work of the previous generation, we became spoilt and for some reason did not want grow up to be like our mom and dads. The ideal of being different became very attractive. I think it started with a change in the music. Although jazz existed in the previous generation’s arts, rock ‘n roll music seemed like some kind of a revolutionary act that was embraced by my generation. Those ethics and standards that were a part of the American life in the previous generations started to dissolve and almost evaporate. Because the generation before ours, America’s greatest generation who fought hard and worked hard: my generation started off with a lot of opportunities that our parents could not afford. The ideal of moving away from your  home and community became more popular than staying in your community with your family. The first thing that I did was to move out of my community as soon as possible. Because of the growth of television, I was presented with a lot of other places to go to and to live in. The idea was staying in one town for all my life seemed too simple. I wanted more and I wanted it quickly.

 Most the men who served during World War II volunteered and signed up for the different services. This idea, for me, comes from the old Minuteman era. When there was trouble for the community, town state or the newly formed country the men were quick to volunteer to save their community, town and newly formed country. When the call came out, the men of the community would answer that call with the full support of their families and wives and children.

That didn’t disappear with my generation, it just wasn’t as accepted. Although I join the Army in my belief that I was supporting my country, many others did not. Some even went to Canada or other countries to avoid serving their country. There was the draft.The draft was not new to the Vietnam War but it had not been used for a while. For many of my generation the men had to be drafted into the service of their country. This is not to say that the Vietnam War was like World War II. But it is to say that if you live in this country and your country calls for your help you should do your best to answer the call. My generation had its hippies, its yuppies, and its narcotic use. The fact that some states now legalize the so-called personal use of marijuana has its roots in my generations desire to get high. Sexual activity that once was limited to the house and was kept private, then it came to be open and almost an orgy like lifestyle.  The acceptance of alternate lifestyles became more accepted but still somehow hidden in the closet. The brakes on some of that sexual activity came when the AIDS virus hit. Magazines like Playboy became fashionable to own and could be found in almost any household. Even though many my generation follow their family’s footsteps, a large amount of them decided to be different. Well my generation is now retiring and dying away. The next two generations started their lives in a world that keeps them constantly connected and constantly aware of the problems on any part of this earth.

You are probably wondering why I’m rambling on about this generation stuff. Well I saw an interview on CBS, where the editor of Vice was interviewed. Vice is a company who started off in Canada as some sort of a musical review and now has grown to have worldwide offices and news broadcast just like CBS. Even though vice to me was something that I used arrest somebody for, this news media called Vice is something that I’m interested in. Vice is not interested in directing its publication and broadcast to my generation or America’s greatest generation. I think it’s not even talking to the Y generation. It is directed to the generation of people 25 years and younger. They are the ones that are going to inherit all the good and bad things that the prior generations are given them. It seems to be directed to delivering the news and telling the stories in a way that actually communicates with its young listeners. Many of the terms and the ways to deliver information have changed so much in the last 10 years that a new way to communicate needed to be found. I know the people of my generation are retiring and dying at a fast rate. For example, commercial airlines cannot find enough pilots to fly their planes. Many other disciplines are finding that the rate of retirees and positions are not being filled due to the lack of people to fill them. I am glad to say that my generation, on average, is living longer than any generation before it. I’m sad to say that many in my generation have to keep working to cover the expense of still living. Even the way we buy things has changed from going to a store to getting on the Internet. You do not need a computer to do that. Your iPad or your iPhone can get you on the Internet and you can buy your product or service plus pay for without even leaving your car or your house.

This new generation of Americans must be ready to assume the leadership roles that are becoming vacant mostly due to the age of the person now handling the job. The way that they communicate and the speed they communicate well help them take over this task. So a company like Vice is one of the efforts to get the very young people involved and informed so they can take over the leadership roles in the very near future. In looking around at some of the leaders of companies today I found that many are less than 30 years old. And many of the aspiring politicians are also around 30 years old. The world that they’re growing up in communicates completely different than in my generation. The joke recently of pops actually having a computer or any senior citizen have a computer is not that far from the truth. My granddaughter is not even in first grade yet she can operate a computer and find sites plus send messages (of course my son controls the use of her computer and the messaging).

Many people are wondering if this new generation is going to even be able to afford to buy a home or to go to college. Even the cost of bringing a child into the world has increased faster than just inflation. Such basic questions as: do you have to own a home to be happy, do you even need to go to college and get a degree to get a good job are to be addressed. America will still need blue-collar workers and laborers as well as white-collar workers and professionals. I imagine that the practice of going to see an actual medical doctor in the future will be replaced by nurse practitioners or Internet educated home practitioners.

Even now I do not understand some of the communication modes that are currently in use, I know that most of the world does. And when I say most of the world I mean most the world. If you look out at many of the foreign countries who are experiencing some kind a civil dispute, you will see that most of the people there are young and are carrying some kind of a phone. Instead of holding up candles at a gathering, they are holding up their phones and turning them on so that the light shines brightly towards the object of the gathering.

I want to see companies like Vice succeed and help in giving birth to other companies that would direct their energies towards this new generation. Many people my age do not take to change very well. The statement that:  “it worked for me”, is useless in today’s world. The rapid changing of everything in our lives from DNA medical advances to the wristwatch that is more powerful than a whole floor of computers in the 1960s. I do not want to say that my generation is done for and should just pull over to the curb and let the parade passed by. But I do want to say that I’d like to see the person or the generation that I’m going to pass the baton onto will succeed. I want to know that they’re ready for it and they can handle it.

I recently received a video a man in Sacramento California called Frank, a member of America’s greatest generation. I admired the fact that he looked healthy and a lot younger than his years and that his generation gave my generation the platform to do a lot of great things, I felt the pride of America in his presence. I hope that this new generation can be as fortunate as Frank and I.

Here is the baton and I’m passing it on.

Pops

 

As I looked out at my front porch this morning; that’s right looked out, there was a view of white snow and sleet covering all the forest. The temperature is about 19° and the wind chill brings it almost down to 0°. So I took a photograph from the blog room window looking out at the white forest floor. I went out of the house and took a few more photographs of the snow on the ground to send to my wife, who is in California. As I walked out of the house and stepped upon the white snow I heard this crunching noise. It was the sleet beneath my feet making that very distinctive sound. Is been a long time since I’ve heard that sound. It was probably 30 years ago when I was up in the mountains of California trying to ski that I heard that sound. But with the cold wind and the frigid air around me, it reminded me of when I was a child living in Indianapolis Indiana during the winter. I quickly checked on the animals and the chickens, they were all fine. But I did run into a problem trying to open the doors of the chicken coop and the chicken yard. They were frozen shut; I cannot remember the last time I had to break through some ice just open a door. I had a heater on inside the chicken coop and so the chicks were just fine. The bigger chickens, out in the chicken yard, stayed underneath the tarp I placed to keep them out of the rain. I’m pretty sure they didn’t know what to think about the snow on the ground. I put some freshwater into the water tray which at this time was frozen over. I know that in a little while I will have to do the same thing as the temperature here is not supposed to get over freezing today. I do not like the cold weather, that is why I originally moved to California and then into Texas. But I can handle it as long it doesn’t last very long.

I was inside watching the television “and what to my wondering eyes should appear” but the United States and Russia going at it again. This reminds me of when I was a growing up and I lived under the threat of the atomic bomb being sent here by the Russians. I’m sure many of you can remember the drills we used to go through of hiding under the desk or next to a brick wall in order to save us from a nuclear blast. I think I am like a lot of other Americans and I’m tired of wars and I’m tired of saber rattling from the United States and Russia. The country that Russia is currently invading used to be a part of the USSR. Most of people there speak Russian and still believe they are Russian. I do not really care if Russia goes back to that country and takes it over. I do not see any real benefits they will receive from doing this. I do not believe that this action threaten United States at all, if Russia wants to expand its control over country that used to be part of Russia I do not see a problem. I am concerned, even frightened a little, that the United States of America would even get involved in this. The last couple of wars we’ve been in started off with the use of sanctions against that country. I do not think that stern warnings or hard words really mean anything in the international community. I hope that the United States of America and its leaders will stop being the policeman of the world. Before we go to battle with Russia again, I would like to know the reasons why we need to get involved at all. The fact that some people want everyone to live in a democracy is unreal. We should address our own problems here in the United States of America. Let’s use some of that money we spend on sending troops to foreign lands on domestic issues and fixing up our infrastructure.

I really don’t think that any, stern warnings to Russia’s President Putin is really going to have any affect at all. Putin was the president of Russia and then his term ran out and he chose his own successor. Then as soon as he could, he became the president again. Why mess with this man. I do not think that Russia or any other country thinks that we are weak, if so they would’ve made some kind of an effort to take over the United States or any one of our territories. The last time that Russia fell apart it was because of economics, not politics.

Let’s quit being the world’s policeman or the world’s conscience and get real for a minute. If you watch the evening news it seems like every month there’s a new calamity or a revolution happening in another country. Look at the Arab world. After a while this seems like the old Abbott and Costello comedy sketch of “who’s on first- what’s on second and I don’t know is on third”. The United States often puts its money and manpower into getting a resolution that the United States likes. We are not always right nor are we that holy that we should tell other people, religions and nations what to do. I think we can lead by example of making our country the very best place to live. The citizens of Mexico figured that out. Without going to war with Mexico in the last century, many of the citizens of Mexico and other South American countries find a way into the United States of America. They are here because of the quality of life and the standard that we have set for this country. I think the last time that I checked there are literally thousands of people from all over the world waiting to get a visa to live in the United States.

I am tired of all the saber rattling and the name-calling when it comes to our foreign relations. The United States of America cannot always be right nor can always be a counselor, policeman or savior of another country. With the current state of our Congress I cannot imagine anything really happening until after the next general election. So I hope that our current Congress and President do not write a check that we cannot cash. I think we need to bring our troops home. We need to focus on the problems that are inside our borders. We need to stop meddling in other countries affairs. If there’s something that’s going on that I or other Americans do not see, maybe it’s time that something is shown to us that would change our minds about going abroad and being involved in foreign matters. I’m not saying we should be an isolationist and not notice what is going on around us. We have got to stop being the big brother, big sister and the policeman for the world. If you look at other newscast from abroad you will notice that other countries do not see the United States of America in the same light that we see ourselves.

I think a lot of this was brought on this morning by the sound of crunching snow beneath my feet and the vision of Russian troops marching their way into my country. It was that kind of sound and vision that worried me through my childhood and my teenage years. The hidden fear of another Cold War with Russia or China is very disconcerting to me. If we have to go to war because we are invaded, as happened on Perl Harbor Day in 1941, then let’s do that. But if another countries leaders call and want us to stop the bully from hurting them, I think we should let them handle their own problem.

Pops

As I walked out on the front porch this morning, with coffee in hand, I was greeted by very cold weather and rain. I usually like to sit on the front porch when it’s raining, but today with the cold North wind I decided to go back into the house. Then I realize I needed to check on the chickens in the chicken coop, so I walked back out into the rain and entered the chicken coop. The chicks were fine and so I replenish their water and their food. Then I looked outside at the hens who were fine, they were staying underneath a large tarp I have built to shield them from the rain. I filled up their food and water and then went back into the house. Then I thought about writing today’s blog and I wanted to add a picture to it, so I went back out into the rain. I was protecting my camera from the rain and I took a picture of the ladder to success.

Usually when you use the term, ladder to success, it refers to your chosen profession. You know, you start out in the mail room and soon you get to the warehouse or the office. You slowly work your way up to be manager and then towards the end of your career, if you’re lucky, you become one of the executives of the company. That is not what this blog is about.

For about a year now I’ve noticed several large dead red oak trees on my tree farm property. Most of the very large red oak trees, I’m guessing they were 100 years old, died last year. It was either a disease or the drought that cause their demise after so many years of growing. There was one of these very large red oak trees that had a very long limb protruding from it. This limb stretched out over a pathway that I use a lot. This concerned me greatly because I did not want the old dead limb to fall and hurt someone. Other limbs from this tree had fallen off and were on the ground. So I know it is just a matter time before this limb, which stretched over 30 feet long, would fall from the tree.

I’m sure that you have had this situation happened to you before, where you looked at something and you knew that it could be done.  You believe that you could do it. But you have never done it before and it looked a little risky, so you thought about it for a long time. This limb concerned me so much that I pointed it out to my wife and told her of my concerns that someday it may fall. Her response, as she smiled, was “just do not walk over there”. But the limb just kept bothering me. And I also knew that I needed to take it down while my wife was off visiting her family in California. I just needed the right day and time to do it. Well yesterday was the right day and the right time. It was a sunny a day with little to no wind and the temperature had to be at least 72°. So I began the task of getting all the equipment that I would needed together and marched out to where the tree was. The limb is about 16 feet above the ground. Luckily I have an extension ladder that can reach that height. The girth of the trunk of the tree, or the width of the trunk of the tree, is over 3 feet wide. I will be anxious to count all the rings in the stump when I finally cut the whole tree down. I’m only guessing that it’s at least 100 years old. It is sad that a disease or the drought killed it. I put the ladder against the tree and extended it so that I could reach the limb. I then secure the ladder to the trunk of the tree with a tie down strap. Even when the wind is blowing the trunk of this tree does not move. So I secured the ladder to the trunk of the tree and extended the ladder a little over 16 feet in the air. Then I slowly climbed the ladder and secured the top of the ladder to another limb on the other side of the tree. In the past five years I’ve owned property that has had trees that needed to be removed. And most the time I called a professional tree company to cut down and remove the tree. Each time that I did that I would watch how the professionals did it. And so with that knowledge and a little courage I decided to take down the limb on the big red oak tree. I put on an old motorcycle helmet for safety and took up a couple of ropes to secure me to the ladder and tree. And then I tied a rope onto the chainsaw so that once I got to the top of the ladder I could pull up the chainsaw. I’ve seen this done many times by the professionals and felt confident that this would work. So I climbed to the top of the ladder, pulled up on the rope that held the chainsaw and pulled the chainsaw up to my position at the top of the ladder. One of the issues that I had not thought about was how heavy the big chainsaw was I was pulling up to my position. Before I climbed up the ladder I started the chainsaw on the ground to make sure that it was working. After pulling it up to the top of the ladder and at the fork in the tree, I tried to start the chainsaw. Even though I was tethered to the tree I must tell you, I was feeling a little nervous. So much so, that I was sweating profusely. I could even smell my own sweat at this point (body odor). So I started the chainsaw and after a couple pulls it started just fine. So I slowly went through several configurations of how to hold the chainsaw and cut the limb. The first cut was at the bottom of the limb and only went in a couple inches. The second cut was at the top of the limb and I got about a third of the way through the limb before the chain saw blade started to dull and my arms were got really tired. I turned off the chainsaw, slowly rotated it around so I could lower it down to the ground. I must’ve been very nervous during this time because my body odor was getting really bad. I then climbed down the ladder and decided to use the smaller chainsaw to cut a little further into the limb. Once again I climbed up the ladder pulled up the chainsaw and began to cut a little further into the limb. It was a little bit easier to manage as this chain saw as it was very small and very light. But the problem with this chainsaw was that the chain was very old and it kept coming off of the bar. This meant I had to climb back down the ladder to use some tools to loosen the bar, put the chain back on the bar and then climb back up the ladder again. Each time that I stopped cutting on the limb I would look at the cut gap to see if it was growing. This would mean that the weight of the limb was starting to pull the limb down. As a part of my safety procedures I would only cut so far and then climb down the ladder and put the chainsaw down. I decided to connect a long chain around the limb and connect it to a wench line that was connected to my tractor. The first time I did this I could only put the chain a short distance from where I was cutting, which meant it was only about a foot up from the cut line of the limb. So I would climb up and down the ladder to be able to safely put the chain around the limb and then connect the chain to the winch line. After several attempts of pulling on the limb with the tractor, I realized that I was making no progress. That means I needed to put the chain further out on the limb so I would have more leverage. In the meantime, I’m estimate I made 10 trips up and down the ladder with a small chainsaw. Each time I would cut a little more into the limb. The chain would come off of the chainsaw bar and I would climb down the ladder and repair the chainsaw. I did notice that the gap I first started with had grown some and that gave me encouragement that I was making progress. To get the chain further out on the limb meant I had a use a process of attaching a weight to a small line and throw it further out over the limb. I’d seen this done by the professionals with a weight attached to a small line that they would throw it over limb. Then they would lower that weight, which was attached to a small line. At the other end of the line was a large rope. The professionals would pull on the small line that was attached to the bigger rope until the bigger rope went over the limb. Then they would tie off the rope and attach it to a tractor and pull the tree or the limb in the direction that they wanted it to fall. That was the process that I was going to use. The only problem was it took about 40 attempts to get that weight over the right area of the limb. More times than not, when I release the rope with the weight on it, instead of going over the limb it would go straight up into the air. That meant that I better move very quickly so the weight didn’t come down and hit me in the head. That is what I did and I’m glad to say I wore my helmet and was never hit. But my arm was getting sore from trying to throw this weight over the limb. Finally it happened; the weight went over the limb. I lowered it down and was able to tie some large straps to the end of the line. After some more trips up and down the ladder and the use of another line, I was able to connect the large straps to the winch cable line. By this time I’m about four or five hours into the process and definitely did not want to have to climb up and down that ladder again. So I started the tractor and pulled on the new line. This time instead of the tractor just stopping when the line was tight, I could feel it give a little. So I use a technique that many people use when stuck in the snow or the mud, going forward and then backwards and then forwarded and backwards. I heard the limb snap and crash to the ground, hooray success. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon when this happened. I grabbed all my tools, put them in a bucket, threw the bucket on the tractor and went back to the house. I went to the fridge and grab myself a cold beer and set out on my front porch and smiled.

I had climbed the ladder to success.

Pops

I just found out that in priors blogs I have been misspelling chicken coop, I used coup. I will get better at this