I suppose you might call it my last great project. It’s been hanging around for over 20 years in fact to be precise, since 18th February, 1994. I can be so precise because I keep a diary and the experience that started the whole thing is right there. On that day in 1994 I wrote: …more

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I should have had the sense to put the brakes on before my daughter, her husband and I committed to buying a house together. I should have held out and demanded promises in writing. Each item I presented for discussion was dismissed before my list hit the table. “These are all common sense.” Her husband …more

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“Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer, but wish we didn’t.” – Erica Jong I received a call from a fellow retired golfing buddy last Sunday evening, one who I had not seen for several weeks, this communicative/physical void was realised for primarily two specific reasons, one being a family …more

“Hi Spud.” The friendly male voice from behind my left shoulder caught me off guard. Spud? I thought. Who would ever want to call me Spud? I hardly knew anyone in this room. Yes, I was from Idaho, but we were basically a room full of strangers at this annual meet and greet in Las …more

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After receiving my Navy Wings of Gold I thought my training days were over and it would be lots of actual flying to become an experienced pilot. Well that wasn’t exactly true. When I arrived at my new squadron the first thing they assigned me to was to spend 10 days on survival training. An …more

I hate it when people say that many middle-aged people “aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed.” It’s condescending, insulting, naive and just plain wrong. What I hate even more, though, is being one of those dull tools. Alas, there are times when I feel I’m struggling to stay in the shed, period.  This morning was a …more

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You probably haven’t thought about a roommate since college! Ah, but you are now somewhere between 40 and 70 and you find yourself living alone. You’ve heard about this new “movement” where single adults are trying a new version of communal living (homesharing) called the Golden Girls Lifestyle (like the TV show)…and you realize that …more

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In the early 1960’s, when I was seven, my mother took me to a bar every Saturday morning. We would walk to the back of the bar toward the narrow, dimly lit stairway leading down to the basement. That’s where I met a handful of other kids waiting for the Saturday morning Polish language class. …more