Tesla Magic My brother-in-law is all about leading-edge technology. He bent my ear for years about an electric car. So, a few years ago I decided to buy a Tesla X after sitting in one and finding it quite comfortable for me. The X is the Tesla version of an SUV even though it looks like an SUV-light. I got the regular 75D model since the quickness and top speed were more than enough for…
The Bagel Suit My father was married seven times, as best I can count. He had three of us with my mother (marriages #1 and #2). He had two daughters with Shirley (#3). He had another daughter from a marriage in Northern California (#4). He had a son from an annulled marriage in Mexico City (#5). I can’t identify #6 or the possibility of children, but I know Bobbie, #7, with whom he had no…
Sneaky Pete When I first heard Elizabeth Warren speak on the topic of bank regulation, I considered her a reactionary socialist. Over the years, I have listened carefully to her ideas and think she has many fine and well-reasoned ideas that would greatly benefit the nation. Universal healthcare and even universal income are enlightened and forward-looking ideas that could make a positive and meaningful improvement in the life of Americans. That, of course, would hinge…
Science and Other Flights of Fancy In 1964, at the age of ten, Chris almost burned his family’s house to the ground. The fault lay in the science. Luckily, the damage was limited to the downstairs bedroom closet and it’s surrounding area. That was lucky because this was an expanded log cabin from about 1850 (the oldest home in the neighborhood). It was old enough and dry enough, being all wood, to have gone up…
Things Fall Apart Fast Tonight I feel like I am once again watching the final death throes of the Trump circus. I say once again because I must admit I have felt this way before several times. It has been amazing to witness the attempted hijacking of our country twice in my lifetime. I was very aware of it all during college, and I was as happy as anyone to see the Nixon Presidency unravel,…
Road Trip Who doesn’t remember the thrill in college of sitting around in the dorm or fraternity and discussing some distant spot (usually somewhere warm like Florida) and hearing someone yell, “Road trip!”). It was immortalized in the movie Animal House and very specifically in the 2000 classic, Road Trip. In Animal House it was only a trip to a nearby women’s college (Wells College?), but in Road Trip it was the “full Monty” from…
The Inbox Years ago, when I came out of the bank training program I attended after Business School, I remember talking to a young British colleague who explained the experience he was having on the line for the first time. He was assigned to the Latin America Department and was the junior member on the Brazil Desk. That’s what we used to call coverage of s specified region or country, the _______ Desk. His comment…
Smoke On! Several years ago I went to an unusual sporting event, an aerial race around New York Harbor. These were air races of souped-up single-prop planes that were reminiscent of WWII fighter planes (I am reminded of that scene from Empire of the Sun when a young war-torn Christian Bale points at a passing American fighter-bomber and says, “P-51, Cadillac of the sky!”). Red Bull was promoting the event and it involved taking a…
Facial Hair Facial hair is a bigger deal than many people realize. I recall in all my travels in Saudi Arabia that the way the supreme ruler, the King, keeps his facial hair sets the tone for the rest of the nation. Men across the Kingdom, out of respect for their sovereign, wear their facial hair in a similar manner. In other countries, particularly the “Stans” of the steppes of middle Eurasia, a man’s virility…
Mini Us Who doesn’t like a good ferry tale? The morals of the stories alone make most of the ferry tales worth reading. Once upon a time there were a man and wife who loved each other very much. They had both grown up in the Midwest and ate way too many donuts as children. He had actually figured out how to scam the milkman into thinking he was supposed to leave a dozen donuts…