Might Not be a Five Star Hotel

There is local squabbling regarding relocation of an old building to make way for the proposed bridge approach. A former stagecoach stop from yesteryear will be moved from next door Oak Park Heights to a spot by the river. It will become a rest stop on a bike loop-trail that crosses and recrosses the St. Croix river. Because the building is on the National Registry of Historic places it will be saved. It will be saved at a pretty price of a million or more. Okay. I like saving our historic buildings. My problem is the building is ugly. For years is has been used to repair cars. Its name is the Shoddy Mill. Maybe they should convert it to a B &B instead of a bike trail reststop. Are we ready for a Shoddy Hotel?

Good Book

An online friend recommended this book to me a while ago. I read a review and decided I wasn't in the mood to read a memoir about abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and bad parenting. After again hearing what an important book it was, I read it. The book is about an imperfect childhood, but lifts the reader above that because the writer is more than a survivor. Good read.

You Won't Catch Her in the Rye

Every newscast, every newspaper carried news of the death of J.D.Salinger this week. If you read news online, there were multiple references to the passing of the man who wrote "The Catcher in the Rye", one of the best selling books in past decades. One late night host joked that Salinger who lived a reclucive life, died of teenage angst.
My husband who very, very rarely reads fiction, said he had read it. Our second son who reads mostly sports or political themed books, read it. I read it. Generations of kids read it as an assigned book in high school.
I confess I vaguely remember the book. I recall the character, Holden Caufield, running away from his prep school to New York and that the book was about adolescent turmoil. Fifty years have passed since I picked up the novel. I doubt it was required reading at the Catholic girls school I attended. Since I don't recall a great deal of angst during my coming of age years, it probably wasn't a pivotal book for me.
Death makes people more famous and people curious about their work. An online check of availability of the book at the local library shows the queue is ten deep waiting for a copy. I won't request it. At this point in my life I am more interested in ham on rye.

Better Recalculate The MPG

Last year we had a government plan, "Cash for Clunkers". If you had an older vehicle that got poor mileage you could get federal bucks to trade it in for a new car. This was proposed to reduce the gas guzzlers on the road and stimulate car sales. The big three US automakers were in trouble. This could help keep them in business. It would help (voters)citizens buy a new car. It was a green decision that would save the world.
Buyers got $4800 for turned in gas guzzlers. Actually cost to taxpayers per transaction was closer to $28,000. I'm no CPA, but I calculate a $24,000 difference. The cost was for administration of the program. Pause, while you scratch your head.
Is that efficient use of resources? Keep in mind the government wants to work its magic reengineering the healthcare system so it can reduce costs. Why are so many people skeptical it could manage that?

Maybe we could have outsourced the transaction bookwork to computer guys in India or Indonesia as a cost effective measure. I know it wouldn't be nice to lose that domestic income. I would agree, except there were no restrictions on which new car people purchased. Toyota Corolla came in 1st. Eight of the top ten cars sold was from an Asian car company.
We had a federal program which helped foreign car manufacturers more than American automakers. It only gets stranger when you consider we, the taxpayers, own one of the US automakers.
Well, the Cash for Clunkers program is over. It spent three billion bucks. Can we feel better that at least we have more fuel efficient cars on the road? All those fuel efficient Toyotas that are now on our roads might be worth the 3 billion spent. I wonder how much fossil fuel we are actually saving with a fleet of Toyotas with gas peddles stuck on accelerate?

The Sound and the Fury

Our pastor once joked to his wife that if it were up to women, we would all have 13in TVs and boomboxes. Yup. As long as it was a color TV, I am okay with that. So was his wife.
Men have more complicated needs. Men need more. Some young men need a deafening sound "system" in their cars with woofers that can be felt by a nearby pedestrian.
Some of these young men will never be old men because they have dangerous lifestyles. Some will become old men but old men who are deaf.
We don't have a woofer-enriched system in our cars but if I get in a car after husband Jon has driven it, the first thing I do is turn down the volume. He likes things loud. He also has a slight hearing loss. I wonder why.
Years ago we had huge, end-table-sized stereo speakers. When we got the big, flat HDTV Jon announced he needed new Boze speakers. His pitch emphasized getting rid of the pair of 3ft speakers. Although I can't see why the sound from the TV is deficientm I was glad to be rid of the old speakers. I don't like loud. I like the volume low. He doesn't.
This week he said he was getting a surround sound system. No discussion. I don't care except I anticipated LOUDER. Louder and everywhere. The Boze is out. I foolishly asked if "That speaker has to stay there", (tiny speaker on a tiny table I usually put my coffee cup on.) I think he had been anticipating criticism, and that is why I titled this the "Sound and the Fury". I don't think I answered his remarks in a kind way and I don't think I we said a word to each other for half a day. Maybe that is why men need sound systems. They can listen to that instead of their wives complaints.
I wonder how God will handle this dilemma when we are dead and in heaven. I am hoping for soft, harp music. I don't think that would be paradise for a lot of guys. Maybe there will be His and Hers sections or at least reserve seating in the string section.

Tickle Me Melmo

Photo: 16 month old granddaughter Zoe is learning to text! Her brother watches attentively. He doesn't have a cell, but is plugged in.
Zoe got an Elmo, the Sesame Street character, from Santa for Christmas. Elmo giggles and wiggles when tickled. She is a little aloof and wary of him so her parents were surprised when they were shopping and she spotted an Elmo in a store. Mom says she almost jumped out of the stroller while pointing and saying "Melmo, Melmo". I knew she was smart.

I watched the local news yesterday and they said yesterday was (supposedly) the "Most depressing day of the year". I am not sure what criteria they use to get that result and who THEY are, but the TV audience of Minnesotans probably believed it.
It rained all weekend washing away the salt and sand on roads and then snowed Monday. The rain melted the St. Paul Winter Carnival ice and snow sculptures.
Yesterday it snowed lightly and we were back to sliding off roads and fender benders again. Commutes were slow. The sky was gray. The temperature is dropping.
We were the lucky ones. Up north, which is everyone north of the metro, or bottom quarter of the state, heavy snow fell. Some places got a foot and a half. Western and southern Minnesota had blizzards. Schools and freeways closed. Just a nasty reminder that it is still January.
When this happens people used to call Hobbit Travel ( a big local agency) and book a trip somewhere else. We couldn't do that since Hobbit went bankrupt and closed suddenly around Christmas.
Minnesotans couldn't travel easily in the state and couldn't get out of the state. On top of that our Vikings lost the playoff game and most don't believe Brett Favre will play next fall. I think they send the wrong quarterback to Disney world. The losers should go to the happiest place on earth.
Maybe the people who decided yesterday was the most depressing day of the year were from Minnesota.
You can only mope so long and then you must make a list of things that cheer you up.
Number one on my list: remember everything gloomy here paled compaired to the suffering of Haitians.
Number two: I am so blessed if all I had was my family.
Number three: If I get blue, I can always go find Melmo and have a good giggle.

Thanks, Brett

There is no joy in Mudville.
I woke this morning; sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my knee and stretched; then overrode the aches remembering I felt much better this morning than Brett Favre.
Thanks, Brett for a wonderful Vikings season. No one believes we would have gotten that far without you. You gave it all and I winced everytime they hit you hard. Cameras cut to wife Deanna who looked distressed with the repeated hard hits and especially when you limped off the field.
This Vikings team was the best we have watched in years. Lots of talent working as a team and Favre probably deserves a lot of credit for rallying them. We have had stars like Randy Moss before but this team was different. We cheered to the end.
I had said I would root for the Saints if they went to the Superbowl, but it may take a couple weeks to forget. In the end, the team who fumbled less, won.
There is no joy in Mudville. We have six months to resurrect hope. During that time team owners will again ask for a new stadium forgetting the current dome is called the "twelfth player" because the noise generated by fans disrupts the visiting team.

We Didn't Even Name Him Speedy, But He Was

I shouldn't be amused, but I am. Account today of five guys arrested after a hotel party where one of the attendees was beaten and later died. That is tragic, not funny, but one of the men arrested was Marcus Badboy. His mama should have had him change his name at birth. If you believe in self-fulfilling prophecy, you will concur.

When our oldest was 18 we gave him the Ford station wagon as his first car. There wasn't much life left in it but it was wheels. When you are eighteen you know driving a big, honking 4000# station wagon is not cool. He personalized the vehicle by painting a giant skull and crossbones on the hood. He covered the dents on the side with the slogan "Mars Needs Women". I guess we were derelict in parental duties not to inform this kid to keep a low profile and not attract the highway patrol and local police. After his first speeding ticket, he painted "Support Your Local Police" on the other side. I don't know if that helped. The beast screamed "Stop Me" to local police. He got another ticket. This is a kid who learned more from experience than counsel. Even if he evaded speed traps, the highway patrol aircraft were honing in on him.
We never heard about the third ticket. Three and you go before the judge. In our county we had a judge nicknamed "the hanging judge". Dan saw him. His "councel" finally registered with the kid. We found out about this years later. He didn't get anymore speeding tickets. His honor banged his gavel and said, "$500. and 90 days" getting the kid's attention. After a pregnant pause, he said "Suspended sentence if you don't get another ticket." He didn't. Maybe he decided it was easier to support your local police than to do battle.

Let It Blow, Let It Blow, Let It Blow

They are called roadside attractions or better still, roadside distractions. I have seen books chronicaling these strange man-made edifices. There are buildings shaped like ducks, geese, teacups and lighthouses. Hayward, WI has a giant fish. A fish with a viewing deck from the inside of the creature's mouth. A nearby town, Lindstrom, has a water tower decked out like a coffee pot. Love 'em or hate 'em, you will notice them.
My husband Jon's hometown has a giant cement snowman.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/724
It looks merry during the winter holidays and forsaken in the summer. The snowman previously sat in a parking lot behind a local business. Later, it was moved along busy Hwy 36 that transects the village. Two years ago the highway was widened and recessed and the snowman now looks down on passerbys.
The snowman got some competition as the village mascot when a giant windturbine popped up closeby. Everytime we pass, the snowman still smiles at us but the windmill just sits there. I have never seen it turn. News today explained why they are not generating wind energy in North St. Paul. It has been so cold that the lubrication froze up. I hope having a giant snowman that close didn't contribute to the windmill freezing up.

I Thought I Felt the Earth Move Under My Feet

News coverage of tragedies draws us in. It is like the traffic slowing down on the freeway in the opposite lane from a car crash. There is no impedence but people rubber-neck and jam up traffic by slowing down to watch.
I think we have slowed down to watch Haiti. We are all saddened and shocked by the images we see.
Reporters have also shared information on earthquakes. I learned occurence is more frequent than I thought. If I lived in California, I might turn the channel when they begin to speculate. Living in Minnesota makes me feel safer. At least it did, until they began talking about how many areas could potentially have earthquakes.
Remember hearing about a great earthquake in Missouri in the early 19th century caused by the New Madrid fault? It made the Mississippi run upriver and supposedly rang church bells in Boston
I heard there is a fault line that runs under the Mississippi between the Twin cities. That is pretty close to home. Time to Google. The first article I read was an archived newspaper from the Little Falls Transcript (my hometown) about cupboards rattling from a tremor felt in the early 1900's. Minnesota has had quakes measuring up to 5.0. Most of them are smaller and epicentered in the western part of the state.
http://www.morris.umn.edu/earthquakes/glance.pdf

All this earthquake talk might have triggered my imagination because I thought I felt a small tremor yesterday. Turns out it was only Ted Kennedy rolling over in his grave. You heard the election results from Massachusetts, didn't you?

Remember Martin Luther King

Many of our relatives have the day off today to commemorate Martin Luther King on the anniversary of his birthday. My sister in-law, who is a civil servant, has the day off. Her husband, Gordon, works. Gordon is African American. Something seems wrong.

Keep Your Pants Off the Ground When You Hit the Big Easy

The Vikes were letting off a little steam after the big win yesterday. Zygi or Chilly better remind them they can run faster with their pants up next Sunday.
Go Vikings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVyVvuwlJ10&feature=related

Chance of Purple Reign

A blog about the boys in purple, not the artist once again known as Prince.
We watched the Vikings demolish the Dallas Cowboys with the quarterback formerly known as a Packer. Cameras snuck a peak at our little purple Prince in one of the private boxes at the HHH Metrodome at Mall of America Field in Minneapolis. He wasn't wearing purple.
Brett Favre is wearing purple this year and it still annoys some cheesehead Packer fans. We have ceased to be humble Minnesotans and are reveling in our mement of glory, knowing it won't last. While everyone is in a celebratory mood today, not far beneath the surface we are aware this may be short lived. Next year we will have to play the Packers and Cowboys again and we may have to do it without the 40 yr. old quarterback now wearing #4.
I think my husband would say my Norwegian is coming out and I can't really enjoy the moment. Go Vikings.
Prince, wear some purple this weak in solidarity. I will. Then I will watch next weekends Vikings / Saints game with my fingers crossed. I don't think God likes the Vikings better than any other team or even watches football, but if he does maybe he could give us just one winning Super Bowl game.

Let Them Eat Cake

It has been a week with stories ranging from the tragically horrible to the entertaining. The Haiti earthquake gave us such sad images of suffering. The other stories of the NBC debacle with late show hosts was overblown. The only one probably happy about Jay and Conan's trials was Tiger. He has not been in the headlines.

We will cap this week today by celebrating the January birthdays in our family. Don't know why I didn't think of this before. We have two sons, a granddaughter and a brother in-law whose birthdays fall in a ten day period. We needed a little company to break up the long winter weekends, so everyone is coming this afternoon.
We have one birthday cake with a candle for each of them. I considered putting the sum of their ages in candles ( 139) but wondered if we would set off the smoke detector. Also, who would want to light that many candles on a cake?

Happy Birthday to Mina who is officially a teenager today. Congrats also to Andy who turns 24, Dave @ 39 and Gordon who is closer to my age.

On the Lookout For Ed McMahon and Sure To Be Disappointed

In his senior years my dad fantasized about winning the Publishers Clearing House
big prize. When the mail arrived with the order forms that said you need not buy anything to be a winner, he returned it. He also believed he would have an edge if he did buy something, much to the chagrin of my mother. He bought magazines and books. In spite of contest promotions that your entry was not filed in the circular file if the outside indicated you didn't order a magazine, he felt luckier if he ordered something. The outside of his returned envelope always said "Yes".
Year after year, I have tossed the Publishers Clearing House stuff in the trash.
This year they also have an online contest. Hmmm. You can win in 48hrs. I wouldn't even have to wait until Superbowl Sunday for the prize patrol to show up at my door. I could enter online and get quick results, so I did. It sounded easy enough until I tried it. They have your attention and you must wade through page after page of ads for items that are usually sold on late night infomercials. Stuff you don't need but might buy if your resistance was down. After going through about 5 or 6 pages I thought I had completed the entry. Next a screen came up saying "we noticed you didn't purchase anything". Correct. I didn't want the junk. Next they offered a $5.00 discount on each item and made me go through it again. Because I already invested time, I decided to finish it. At the end it wasn't clear whether I had completed my entry or not. Oh well. The contest only lasts 48 hours, right? Wrong. I started the process last week and get an email daily from PCH everyday announcing I now have another chance to enter. All this is reminiscent of my dad's experience. He actually believed them when they said "you may already be a winner". Next they thanked him for his order and told him the field had been narrowed but he was still in the running. They offered him another chance to buy magazines and stay in the contest. The letter usually listed his name and two or three others and claimed one of them had won a big prize.
I think I am caught in the same trap. Did I mention I will turn 65 next month? I wonder if PCH knows that.
If the real Prize Patrol shows up at my door, I will have Jon answer the door while I delete this blog and act properly grateful and very surprised. I will be shocked if I see Ed McMahon because he is dead. A little Googling also informed me that there are 30+ prize patrol teams in vans out there. Maybe some of them are delivering the magazines.

Gate Crashing 101

We all heard about the couple who crashed the White House state dinner for the Indian statesman. Now, accusations of gate crashing are being made against a third man who arrived with an Indian delegation though he isn't on an official guest list.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/01/06/2167072.aspx

Reactions range from horrified at the security breach, to amusement at the ineptitude of the Secret Service to "who cares".
I sit somewhere in the middle of that group. Those in charge of security need to be held accountable. System review is needed.
The guy who snuck in maintains his innocence. He seems like a publicity seeker to me. Maybe he was just swept along. Could it happen? Could he have been sent a bogus invite by a prankster? Doubtful.
I think there might be a 1% possibility he accidentally was included with the Indian delegation.
He tells of being at the Willard hotel when it was announced the shuttle was leaving for the White House party and just going along. Really? Well... Let me tell you a story.

About ten years ago my husband went to Las Vegas to sell some artwork that was part of his dad's estate. He was executor and had contacted a gallery owner in Las Vegas who promised a good price. Off he went. He had a little down time and drove out to see the Hoover Dam. Jon is an early riser and arrived there around 6 am. An odd time to be taking a tour, but people were queued up and he joined them. He got a hard hat and tour guide, and was assigned a group. Amazing tour, it was. He saw the inner working of generators and equipment. At one point someone asked him where he was from. "Minnesota", his answer. "But, what park?" they asked. "What park?"
Turned out he was getting a special behind the scenes tour for managers of national parks. The VIP treatment. They discovered he was an accidental interloper and good naturedly let him finish the tour. I think he even had coffee and donuts with the group. This was all before 9-11 and tightened security measures. It does illustrate you can get by with some things just bungling along. Wonder if Jon is up for a White House dinner. He'll need to trade the hard hat for a tuxedo.

3D is Really Just Real Life, Isn't It?

I cringed the first time I heard about 3D television. Then I started a novena to St. Jude, the saint of impossible causes, not to have any news of 3D tv reach my husband.
My husband, Jon, loves new technology. He began dragging me into stores when HDTVs were introduced and cost $7000. He was impressed but knew I wouldn't go along with a $7000 pricetag and did wait until prices dropped to $1500.
Got to have the latest technology. He does, not me. I thought color was nice, but haven't been that impressed with anything past that. I don't think we need 3D anymore than I couldn't live without HDTV. Isn't life itself 3d? Can't we just observe other people or look out the window for that experience? I don't want to wear 3D googles over my trifocles.

It Could Always Be Worse

The picture, supposedly of Quebec City, was in my email. Don't think we will move there. I've been to Quebec in the summer and visited areas where my mum's family emigrated from. Now we know why they came to America.
I recaptioned the picture. It originally said, "And you have been whining about winter". I can still hear my mom trying to encourage us with her words, "It could always be worse". Not sure if that is a positive statement. It might explain why I usually wonder what else could go wrong.

Generations

Pictures: Our older three kids in a newly discovered picture from the 70s. That is my baby girl, Mary with brothers Davey and Danny.
Picture 2: My baby girl, Mary, with her baby girl, Zoe.

I Feel Your Pain

Spring will come. Say that three times and click your heels together. Got to stay positive, don't we? Spring will come to Minnesota. We don't know when. Last year April was warm and May was chilly. May was cold enough to slow down farmers spring planting. April was warm enough that when we vacationed in San Diego, it was warmer in Minnesota the day we left than it was in southern California when we arrived.
Most of the country has had a colder than normal season. The Carolinas have snow and ice. Lake effect snow has fallen by the foot in northern New York and Ohio.
People in these parts are tired of the ice. We have plows and salt and sand, but all this still can't fix everything. Sidewalks are lumpy and roads are rutty.

We expect the snow and cold, but the ice is bad. Regions with slightly warmer climes often have winter ice storms. It is usually cold enough for us to only have to deal with snow. It may be interesting to see what we find when this ultimately melts. I will probably forget what I have under the ice on our deck--the turkey carcass is still there. I use the outdoor freezer to keep stuff like that. If I put it in the trash can which is in a heated garage, it will get smelly. Keeping the bones in a bag outside works until pickup day. Since we haven't had any cougar sightings lately it remains untouched.
It warmed up a bit today and is now snowing. That is the pattern in January. Freezing or shoveling. At least we aren't like the unfortunate citrus growers in Florida who are worrying about a billion $$ crop loss or worse yet, tree kill. National news reported Kansas City closed schools when temps dropped into the teens. Wusses. I guess we are conditioned to take pride in our ability to deal with winter. We don't have any oranges or strawberries to freeze. The only thing that freezes here are people new to Minnesota. The rest of us celebrate Winter Carnival Days with an outdoor parade.

Melting Moments

I have been chipping away at the 3 to 4 inches of ice on our sidewalk with a chisel. I do a little at a time. We had freezing rain on Christmas which made a mess of streets and sidewalks. The snowblower wouldn't handle it without clogging when it was slush and frigid weather since set it up as ice. Most sidewalks are in poor shape. Our streets aren't as bad as St. Paul where side streets are deeply rutted in ice.
Can't wait for April.
Besides trying to physical remove the ice, I used 40# bags of sand and 4 bags of ice melt to make it less slippery.
Yesterday Jon told me he has been using a propane torch to start a wood fire in his garage stove. He bought a new propane tank for $2.38. The last propane tank he bought was thirty years ago for a home plumbing project. The price tag was still on it. $2.50. How often do prices of thirty years ago drop? Must have been during the oil embargo years.
I think I have found a cheaper way to remove ice. Propane is cheaper than all the ice melting salts and bagged sand we bought. This might be fun. Don't know if it is a "green" solution, but neither is adding all that salt to the environment.

More Weather Blogs

It's hard to think of much else when the morning temp is -22. We must be acclimatizing though, because my husband said, "It doesn't feel as cold this morning". Could be he is just numb. Kidding aside, we are insulated from the worst of it. Jon stoked a pretty good fire in the stove in the attached garage yesterday warming it to 70. It was warm enough to enjoy roasting hot dogs.

Other places have not been so lucky. One outstate town lost power due to cold weather taking out a transformer. A homeowner there then had the house burn down when the wood stove overheated because the electric fan circulating the heat didn't work.
We are still safe and snug and warm and not even considering a polar plunge into a local lake.
Minnesota. Land where one of our governors was criticized a decade or so ago for closing state schools when widespread -30 degrees hit. We pride ourselves on being tough Minnesotans. Hope we are tough enough to beat the Packers again if that is the Vikings fate.

Dangerously Cold

My husband noticed it was 78 degrees warmer in San Diego than the Twin Cities. Local temps dropped to -18 this morning. Sadly, this is normal for early January. We console ourselves that at least we don't live "up north" where it is -36.
It was balmier yesterday with temps closer to zero and 1200 people paid $35 to take the Polar Plunge in a metro lake. They do this every New Year's Day as a charity fundraiser. The thick ice is cut away so people can jump in and climb out. If that isn't your thing, there is a club that water skiis on the Mississippi on New Years.
They have a longer exposure time and use wet suits. Most of us don't go in to this self-inflicted pain. I get enough cold exposure moving from a warm car to a heated store and remembering it is only six months before we complain about the heat.

The Bat That Roared

Remember the 50's movie, "The Mouse That Roared"? This cinematic (fictional) tale of a small nation who declares war on America so they can lose and get foreign aid is a classic. Today's paper has a story on the editiorial page by Joel Brinkley that is as amusing as the "mouse" movie. My husband scratched his head and doubted it's veracity but it checks out on Wikipedia if you can trust that source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru

To paraphrase the article, there is an island nation, Nauru, that hails as the smallest republic in the world. It is a Pacific Island that had the highest per capita income in the world during part of the 20th century. The wealth came from strip mining fertilizer from the tiny 8.1 square mile country. The fertilizer came from centuries of bat guano buildup. When they exhausted the fertilizer, they ran out of $$$$$. The population had decades of easy living without work. Now they were among the poorest nations on earth. It's always good to diversify, isn't it?
Nauru became resourceful. They became bankers and money launderers. They sold diplomatic recognition to other countries. Their previous wealth may have come from bats--t, but they showed themselves to be crazy like a fox in the new endeavors. In 2008 sold diplomatic recognition to Georgia and Ossetia and were paid $50,000,000. Why didn't we think of that? Millions more were paid the coffers by Taiwan to recognize them. China countered with $130,000,000. to switch sides and disavow Taiwan. Nauru changed sides once more with more $$$ from Taiwan but China dropped out of the game.
Nauru is currently looking for another source of funds. I hope we keep our head low and our Air Force One home. I hope they don't declare war on the US. We don't need to do any more nation building for a while. Maybe we could send them our surplus H1N1 flu shots. No one seems to want them now.

Counting by Tens

Another milestone. We just turned the page into a new decade. I guess we are digitally minded. It shouldn't make any difference if it is a decade year. This morning I remarked that I have seen a lot of decades come and go and never thought time would go so fast. My husband querried, "Do you think we will be around for the next decade in 2020? Sobering thought. We aren't promised even another day so best to live in the now and forget projecting.
When your kids are born you calculate the year they will graduate from high school. We had a class of '85er, '89, '90 and '04. All those dates seemed so far in the future when the kid was a baby. Now the oldest is approaching his 25th class reunion and there is a lot of evidence that I am old! Added to that, I am getting all the paperwork for Medicare which starts next month.
I missed being a baby boomer by being born a year too soon. That generation whose mantra was "Don't trust anyone over 30", must be struggling a bit too.
If you can say "Happy New Year" it is time to be thankful.

Happy New Year