California Dreaming My readers are probably tired about hearing me prattle on about the joys of the Golden State, but please indulge me this last time to wallow in the earthly pleasures I find myself amidst out here in San Diego. I am still adjusting to waking up in this paradise and pinching myself that this is what I get to wake up to every morning form here on in. This morning I had a…
Sweeping the Garage I have used the analogy of sweeping the garage for many years. It is my way of saying that every life needs to include some trivial tasks, not because they cannot always be avoided, but because doing basic tasks is good for the soul. This is somewhat about reminding ourselves that being of service and not vending every aspect of our lives, even when we have the means to do so, is…
Genesis Today is the first day of my new life in San Diego. Let me not start with something misleading (as the polite fact-checkers like to say about Donald Trump’s speeches). It is the first day of my permanent residence in the enclave of Hidden Meadows in the northern part of the town of Escondido in the north-county of San Diego County in the great state of California. California is symbolized by the Great Hulking…
Fox and Friends It’s happening in Miami, but you can only watch the Super Bowl on Fox Sports. Twenty years ago I dated a woman who worked at Fox Sports and I don’t recall having my skin crawl at the mention of Fox, but things are different now. I don’t think it was Bombshell or even The Loudest Voice in the Room that did it to me, but they certainly helped to lock in…
Footballing It’s Super Bowl Sunday and in nine hours the LIV (54th) game will be played between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers have won five Super Bowls, the latest being twenty-six years ago in the days of Joe Montana.and Steve Young. By contrast, the Chiefs were last in the Super Bowl fifty years ago for game IV. That was actually the first year the game was formally called the…
Chillaxing We have now officially moved out of our apartment and into the next door Hampton Inn. It’s funny, sometime after the financial crash of 2008, I imagine some aggressive developer who owned this building on Water Street stroked his chin about what to do with this underperforming B-class office building. Downtown office space was not in very high demand (except with HMO’s for some reason) as most of the action had moved well off…
Empty Spaces Today I am sitting in my office overlooking New York Harbor for the last time. Next we will all crowd into a space one-third this size on the darker, less impressive side of our floor. This is space we had previously relegated to storage and spare offices and the occasional outcast who needed temporary office space. Now it will be home to our little venture. Truth be told, it is more like…
Connections Being in the midst of this last week in New York City before moving to San Diego has meant that I have been taking all the offered lunch and dinner appointments with friends and colleagues that want to send me off with good wishes. Since most of those folks live, work or just hang out in midtown, it means I have been shuttling back and forth all week, but have told myself it’s…
Going Slow Today I turn sixty-six years old. According to the Social Security Administration, I am now eligible for full retirement. I’m waiting until March to start my monthly check for the silly reason that the monthly amount will then click over the maximum amount for someone my age of $3,011. If I waited until age seventy to claim (four years from now), I could claim $3,790 per month. That means I am choosing…
Up at Night It’s 3:30am and do you know where your mind has wandered off to? There is nothing so frustrating as insomnia. The older we get, the more we come to realize that the simplest of bodily functions are the ones that give us the most peace and happiness. Few things that I want to discuss in a story do this more than a good night’s sleep. I characterize a good night’s sleep…