Memoir Politics

Seeing Further

Seeing Further Whenever I finish a blog story, I try to give myself a head start on the next story by creating a template and a title to get myself going. I usually write to suit that title and only occasionally find myself writing something for which a better title is required. Having just finished writing a story this morning and just finished Round 8 with my big life insurance carrier (I sent them a…

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Memoir

Pot Running

Pot Running We lead an exciting life here on the hilltop. Yes, I have a supply of CBD gummies to help with sleep (though I have only tried them once and felt nothing). I also have some CBD /THC salve for my back that was given to me by my friend Rob from Colorado (I only tried that once as well…and never inhaled). But none of that makes me uninterested in pot acquisition at every…

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Fiction/Humor Memoir

Cybertruck

Cybertruck Last night we had dinner with brother-in-law Jeff and his wife Lisa and their friends George & Julie. We have known George & Julie for most of the last four years, almost entirely from going to dinner with them when they and Jeff & Lisa get together. The normal drill is to meet at Sushi Yama in Escondido for their collective fix of raw fish. Fortunately for me, they also serve gyoza and yakisoba,…

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Fiction/Humor Memoir

Ice Ice Baby

Ice Ice Baby Yesterday I planted eight flats of ice plants (technically, a succulent called Aizoaceae) both along the road and up in the Betty Garden behind the garage. I remember reading somewhere that the early explorers of California were attracted to the shore by seeing bright colorful flowers along the coast, so naturally, I assumed they were talking about ice plants since their colors are so very vibrant. But ice plants are natives of…

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Memoir

Hello & Goodbye

Hello & Goodbye            This evening we are going to a going-away party for some local friends who are moving to Bend, Oregon.  We met Sam and Chris through the Hidden Meadows Garden Club, which is the vehicle through which we have made most of our local friends unless they are right next door to us.  At some Garden Club event about three years ago, I was doing what I tend…

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Memoir

Planning to Plan

Planning to Plan            Do you remember Owl Jolson?  He is that little adorable Merrie Melodies cartoon character from the 1936 animated short called I Love to Singa. It’s about a young owl whose father (that sounds funny…Who, Who) believes that the only pure music is classical whereas little Owl Jolson wants to sing Jazz.  In other words, its a cartoon version of The Jazz Singer, with all the angst and…

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Business Advice Memoir

Playing With Your Life

Playing With Your Life One of the areas that I spent a great deal of time in during my professional life was the arcane arena of life insurance. Somewhere over the years, the business of life insurance took some very strange turns in this country. To begin with, the lobbying army that represents the industry is formidable, and they have done a wonderful job of making an arcane arena all the more arcane by purposefully…

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Memoir

Circulation

Circulation I’m not sure how long its been now, but for some time I have been plagued with numb toes. It really has no adverse affects and I have had it checked out vis-a-vis diabetes and it’s not that. My glucose levels and my A1C are all in line and my doctor agrees that its not diabetic nerve damage. I’ve been to a neuropathist and besides telling me what I know that there is some…

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Memoir

The Windows of Life

The Windows of Life Back in November, 1985 when my 42-year-old son was three years old, Microsoft launched what is now its ubiquitous and comprehensive personal computer platform/application called Windows. Since then, Microsoft has had a stranglehold on the business application business that no one, even Apple, has been able to unseat this behemoth from its lofty perch overseeing almost all of our daily business lives. We are all pretty much joined at the hip…

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