Memoir Retirement

Medicare Wellness

Medicare Wellness When I moved here almost four years ago, I found a primary physician in one of the larger medical groups in San Diego (actually affiliated with the top university here). When we started together I was just 65, so I was on Medicare. I know how this works and I knew that after one look at me and my size (I have been characterized medically as morbidly obese forever, since a BMI of…

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Memoir Retirement

Stretch-U

Stretch-U Not so long ago I threw in the towel on The Perfect Workout, which Kim had been doing and convinced me to do. It is a 20-minute high-intensity weight machine workout that takes you through approximately six weight stations with repetition until muscle failure. The theory is that this is the most efficient form of weight training that is also very time-effective. The problems I had with it were varied. First of all, it…

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Retirement

Control Yourself

Control Yourself I am exploring a side of life that comes up every so often. It is that strange balancing act we all do between keeping busy and being busy. Keeping busy is a good thing that has many benefits including the fulfillment of some purpose and an identification that we are adding value in some way to the world. Being busy sounds like an excuse right from the get-go and generally envisages a state…

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Fiction/Humor Memoir Retirement

Rejection and Regret

Rejection and Regret You know I am an eternal optimist and while some might think that is either naive or tactically artificial (like Donald Trump claiming to always be a winner and never a loser), I actually believe that my system creates excess serotonin and that seems to be something that happens overnight. I am serious about that, why else would I be such a difficult and cranky person at night (never engage me in…

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Fiction/Humor Retirement

Home Alone

Home Alone Who doesn’t love the original 1990 Macaulay Culkin movie with such greats as Joe Pesci, John Candy and Catherine O’Hara? The idea of a kid left alone and on his own devices over the holidays is a hilarious premise, made all the funnier by the ne’er-do-well assailants slipping, falling and setting themselves on fire as they try to best the kid left Home Alone. Well, I have been left home alone for the…

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Memoir Retirement

The Great Expectations of Steven

The Great Expectations of Steven “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” This was, indeed the tale of two cities, but neither…

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Memoir Retirement

Relitigating the Wheel

Relitigating the Wheel The moment I knew I would have to encounter is coming tomorrow. The litigation between the The New York Wheel and its primary contractor, called the Design/Build Team (DBT) has gotten to the point where I am being deposed tomorrow. Due to some quirk, the deposition will be held here in San Diego, so it will be relatively easy to get to, but it will be the standard “up to 7 hours”…

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Memoir Retirement

Be Useful

Be Useful I have just watched the three-part Netflix series called Arnold about the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was recommended to me by my oldest son Roger, who has always had a thing about pro wrestlers, and, I guess, guys like Arnold that build themselves up physically. I found it a very interesting biopic. There were three episodes, one for his early life and bodybuilding career (he was Mr. Universe four times and Mr.…

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Memoir Retirement

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions While I was in college, Kurt Vonnegut, a notable fellow alumnus of Cornell University, wrote a book called Breakfast of Champions. The title is an obvious take-off from the General Mills breakfast cereal called Wheaties, which specializes in putting the pictures of famous athletes on the box to encourage young Americans to eat their breakfast cereal, which is basically a corn flake with bran added to keep the youngsters more or less…

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Business Advice Memoir Retirement

An Expert’s Expert

An Expert’s Expert Business is booming. Did I mention that I’m retired? Have I explained about how after 45 years of being in harness, I’m working hard at trying to relax more and be less focused on achievement orientation? Well, I seem to be doing something wrong here because the work just seems to be coming at me more and more rather than less and less. And here’s the thing that I have to admit,…

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