Archives for 2023

According to Inc. Magazine your complete happiness comes down to one question:  “Am I doing the work I want to be doing?”

Gag me with a spoon!  The question should be “Am I being paid enough to allow me to bury my conscience and work for a soul-sucking bunch of arch-villains draining our planet of natural resources and poisoning the earth?”
At least that’s the question I imagine the folks at ExxonMobil are asking.

The above titled article was written by Slovie Jungreis Wolff, a noted teacher, author, relationships and parenting lecturer.  These are the 7 signs about which she wrote.  A spoiled child; 

1. Never accepts “No” for an answer.
2. Never gives.
3. Is always impatient.
4. Feels entitled.
5. Is never content.
6. Is a SORE LOSER.
7. Won’t do the work without a bribe or begging.

While Linda and I have 3 perfect sons, six perfect grandchildren and 3 perfect great grandchildren I, along with all citizens of the United States, have been part of the raising of a horribly spoiled ex-president.  I think it’s time we gave little Donald a big TIME-OUT!

How about 5 to 10 in Leavenworth?

According to the History Channel on March 23, 1839 the initials O.K. were first published in The Boston Morning Post; meant as an abbreviation of “oll korrect,”  a popular misspelling of “all correct.”  In the 1830’s making up misspelling words and then abbreviating them to use as slang was popular among educated youth.

OMG!  Educated youth made up clever acronyms in the past just like today’s kids.  BTW, I wonder how else they were like us today.  D0 you suppose they moved back home with their parents and, instead of saving to move out, bought fancy cars and designer clothes?  The say history repeats itself.  TTFN.

Socrates understood.  We have limits but some are easy to grasp:

• Our senses perceive only a narrow band of visible light and audible sound.
• The accepted beginning of the cosmos, the big bang, is a barrier that prevents us from knowing anything about the pre-created state of the universe.
• Despite theories about what lies outside space-time, the human brain is constructed from the materials produced in space and time.
• The visible universe is less than 10% of the total matter and energy in creation. The rest is “dark” because it doesn’t obey the known laws of nature.

Most people are content to live with these limitations, but there is a percentage of humans that are so ignorant and fearful they must make things up to believe in.  For example, some people still are wallowing in the banana oil of thinking that the results of the last presidential election were manipulated by some great conspiracy.  They really know nothing! (And some are running our government, Yikes!)

This Teachable Moment brought to you by the last remaining vestige of sanity in American politics: 

First of all, get your mind out of the gutter!  I said for the ladies because in our culture it was generally accepted that women are more obsessed with weight loss than men.  But in my case it is not so.  I have been obsessed with my weight since 1975, the year I took my first leap from 186 lbs. to 240 lbs.  From then on my life has been a non-stop struggle to lose weight.

So with the help of world renowned gurus including Deepak Chopra, D.J. Pavey and Linda L Berman, I no longer set myself up for failure with restrictive diets, daily weight goals with graphs and intricate calorie counting.   I am changing my feedback loops and thought patterns to radiate success.  I set my intention to eat a healthy diet whenever I can, but totally without specifics.  Whatever I choose to eat is fine.  It is the equivalent of giving yourself a participation trophy; regardless of the results I win!

Now the cucumber part.  I read a clean-eating expert’s advice.  She suggested you eat as healthy as possible. ” If you can afford to pay the extra for organic vegetables than do so.  If not, conventional is fine.  An organic cucumber is only slightly better than a conventional one.  But a conventional cucumber is a thousand times better choice than a Baby Ruth candy bar.”

Success at last!

Coco Trivia reports “The world’s largest Starbucks is now open in Chicago. The massive location is more than 35,000 square feet on 5 floors.  “The Reserve” gives patrons an immersive experience that goes beyond the usual morning coffee.  There are interactive tours, on-site roasting of rare Reserve beans, a rooftop deck, and exclusive drinks inspired by Chicago’s culture and history. Floors one and two feature a variety of baked goods and Reserve coffees, espresso drinks, and teas. There’s also a selection of exclusive Chicago Reserve merchandise, including one-of-a-kind collaborations with local artists.”  

Adding to Chicago’s impressive lists of bests that include, Hot Dogs, Italian Beef, Chinese food and sports fans is the distinction of being the city where the most money is thrown away on mediocre, overpriced coffee!

This was the subject line of an email I received this morning asking me to donate to the Providence St Vincent Medical Foundation.  They provide affordable healthcare to low-income families in need.  I can’t think of a better cause and will donate today.
It’s nice being part of something bigger rather than wishing something bigger was part of me!

(This one may take you a minute but keep thinking…you’ll get there!)

Growing up in Chicago in the 1950’s, (yes, I am that old), in a pre-VHS, TiVo, or streaming age, we were forced to suffer through television commercials to watch a show.  One that sticks with me was a campaign designed to create a mystique that would have all Chicagoland buzzing with anticipation.  A very short TV spot showed a hand written note in cursive script (please explain that to your kids) with a voice-over that delivered the quote about moving a mountain from the unknown Captain Folger.

  It worked, sparking speculative conversations at the water cooler, barber shop, beauty salon or the lunch counter at the five and dime; gathering spots from days gone by.  We discussed it at supper as well; who was Captain Folger and what was he bringing to Chicago?  A new roller coaster to Riverview Park?  A new suburban housing development?  A bunch of dirt?  Gradually information started to leak out and we zeroed in on coffee; Blue Mountain coffee I heard.  But as the more keenly perceptive of you have figured out, it was the very successful introduction of Folgers Coffee.  Soon the supermarket shelves were stocked and the short-lived buying frenzy began.  Not for what a 7 year old had hoped!

Fast Forward Fifty Years: Folgers coffee is still here and the marketing department came up with the jingle, “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup!”  I do enjoy a cup of strong coffee, but on my “best part” list coffee comes in about 16th.  The best part of waking up at my age is…Waking Up!

I am not one of those old curmudgeons that constantly lament the price of food these days.  You’ve hear Grandpa go on a rant, “In my day you could get a T-bone steak and all the fixins’ for a nickel,” always leaving out the part about the average salary being 60 cents a week.

Still, there are things that have gone up in price disproportionately with normal inflation.  Going through college the minimum wage was around $2.10 an hour.  Carrying a full academic load while working minimum wage jobs and paying tuition, books, rent and food did not leave me much but I never went hungry.  There was ramen noodles about 10 cents a package and eggs, 35 cents for a half-dozen.  50 years later ramen and eggs are still reasonable.  But where they got me was on my college staple, squid.

Squid was considered bait and could be purchased in Santa Monica for 20-25 cents a pound.   Fry up a pound of squid and you ate like royalty for 2 meals (Side note: Linda, not a lover of tentacles, would vehemently disagree).  But then it became “Calamari” and was a common appetizer and a main course.  Catches became smaller, demand higher and the final blow as sushi came to the United States and bait was forever transformed to Ika for $3.00 or more for a tiny piece with a little rice.  This was the real Squid Games!

Inflation has forced many college students to take a hard look at their situation and do the only thing possible for them to survive; demand more money from their parents!

This is going to get a little technical so if statistics are not your strong suit just sit back and let the facts flow over you, absorbing what you can.
First, the facts.  There are 336 dimples in an average golf balls.  441 million rounds of golf are played each year in the USA and the average par of a course is 72.

So the number of dimples sent flying in a year is as follows:
336 x 72 = 24,192        24,192 x 441,ooo,ooo = 10,668,672,000,000
If we could reduce the number of dimples on a golf ball by only 15% or 5o dimples see what happens: 
286 x 72 = 20,592 x 441,000,000 = 9,081,072,000,000       
10,668,672,000,000 – 9,081,072,000,000 = 1,587,600,000,000

A simple reduction in the number of dimples on a golf ball would result in over a quadrillion and a half less dimples flying through the air each year.  Can you wrap your ahead around how that might positively affect global climate change?

And to all my friends and relatives that said I would be bored and non-productive in retirement, what do you say now?