Say What?

I didn't attend any of my high school reunions until our 25th in 2000. Our 50th was last weekend. For our 10th reunion, I was so out of the loop that I didn't realize we were having one. I found out about it while watching the Johnny Carson Show, where one of Johnny's guests, Teresa Ganzel, mentioned it. Teresa was a regular on his program, and although I recognized her from some appearances she had made in film and on The Tonight Show, I didn't realize she was the same young woman who used to walk past our home on Saturday mornings on her way to drama practice at the high school we both attended. I knew her as Terry Ganzel in high school, but in her professional life as an actress, she went by Teresa Ganzel, with a different emphasis placed on the last syllable of her last name.  Johny asked her what she had done the previous weekend, and she replied that she attended her 10-year high school reunion in Bloomington, Minnesota—a 1975 graduate of Bloomington Jefferson hig...

Today marks ten years since my mother's passing, ten years since having the hearing in my left ear restored, and ten years since I retired. It feels fitting to make mention of it. The years are passing by so fast in my life now. I recall how my four year enlistment in the Navy seemed to play out at a pedestrian pace, but now, four years gets away from me in such a hurry. And this train just keeps rolling down the tracks faster with each passing year. Here's a blog post I wrote where I talk about that day ten years ago. Until Tammy's recent brush with death, it was the most emotion-filled day of my life. Tammy continues to work to regain her strength from a cardiac arrest event 2 1/2 weeks ago. She was discharged from transitional care on Saturday. Her ribs are still very sore, and she's extremely tired from some meds she's taking for her heart. It's going to take time before she feels normal again. Oscar and Rudy are happy to have her home. Cliff loves his bal...

We had a scare, but I'd like to begin by saying that Tammy will be okay. She woke me up at 4:35 on Saturday morning (11 days ago), saying, "I can't breathe, call 911!" She repeated it at least twice more. I hurriedly called 911 and explained to the dispatcher what was happening—what little Tammy could tell me and what I could observe. They continued to ask questions about Tammy and her condition. I explained the best I could, having only just awakened, while pleading with them to please hurry. Time seemed to crawl as we waited for help to arrive. I paused the 911 operator and ran to disarm our alarm and prop open the front door to save the arriving help whatever precious seconds I could.  A Lakeville Police Department officer arrived shortly after Tammy appeared to lose consciousness. He announced his presence at the front door, and I yelled for him to come up the stairs. He hurried up the ten stairs to our bedroom and stood assessing the situation for a few seconds. ...

  I finally went for a ride on my road bike last night for the first time since last summer. I've been content to ride my gravel bike until now because it allows me to unclip from the pedals more easily, placing less lateral force on my right knee than I experience when unclipping from my road bike pedals. (My nephew just reminded me that I can adjust the pedal for the amount of force it takes to unclip.) I nearly forgot how much fun it is to ride this bike —how nimble and responsive it is. It was a shorter ride of only 24 miles (39 km), but I had so much fun and returned home amped about my ride. More of this, please.  One thing I noticed right away from my Favero Assioma power meter pedals was how much less power I'm generating with my right leg compared to my left. The data indicate that my left leg accounts for 60% of my power output, while my right leg accounts for 40% (approximately the same as before surgery). This is despite my focus on trying to involve my right leg m...

The odometer on my 2014 Subaru Forrester turned over 100,000 miles (160,934 km) this week. There are a few small areas of light rust that will probably be full-blown rust spots in a few years. I don't have plans to address them, but I may rethink that. I don't usually purchase extended warranties, but I made an exception for this car. The warranty is a lifetime warranty and has more than paid for itself already.  I've never been one for flashy, expensive cars. My only desire is that they roll me safely and relatively comfortably from place to place. My Forrester is my first vehicle with a temperature and directional gauge, so I'm living large. It's been a good car for me.  Last week, we celebrated Oscar and Rudy's first anniversary with us. They have fully wormed their way into our hearts and are enjoying family status. Their antics have us smiling and laughing at them throughout the day. We can't understand how anyone could abandon them the way they did by ...

When Trump walked out onto Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, in June 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and after having a peaceful gathering of people broken up by tear gas, he stood in front of St. John's Episcopal Church and held up an upside-down bible—a prop. He didn't quote any scripture from it. He just held it in his tiny hands. It was then that I began referring to him as a fascist. For the most part, then, he had people in his orbit who kept him reigned in from his more fascistic tendencies. Later, retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley would say former President Trump is "a fascist to the core." Other senior staff in Trump's administration echoed the same concern. None of those people (respected people with decades of experience) are part of his administration anymore, and it shows.  It should be clear to anyone paying attention to the destructive moves Trump's administration has made since his inauguration that fascism has arrived here.  ...