“OK Boomer!” That was an answer to a crossword clue this Sunday. I discovered it was a phrase of dismissal by Gen Z’ers and millennials. “Out of the way old man.” In an effort to show some semblance of awareness Kathy and I attended a presentation about AI here in Flalaland. 

It was quite amazing. The program consisted of three usages for AI, Health,Investment, and Legacy. Other than a human introduction the whole shebang was produced or created by bots so to speak. Pictures of the presenters, charts and outcomes all appearing  by entering a few bits of parameters. 

As usually happens, it got me to thinking….and trying.In the health category  I fed my vital statistics into my MacBook Air. Blood pressure, cholesterol, stenosis weight and age and all of that. 

I asked it how I was doing?It came back with some praise and some suggestions in a matter of seconds. Kind of like how long it takes my primary care doctor to do my annual physical. I wondered if the praise part was just to keep me using ChatGPT. 

Realizing that I probably was not going to keel over even with my cigars and scotch I kept going. Next stop was legacy. 

This portion relates to your history. Speaking into a mic, putting pen to paper or hands to a keyboard. Do you want to pass something  to prove your genius long after you are gone. I coulda been a contender! 

Maybe some expression of gratitude or love that you are not real comfortable expressing today. 

This evolves into essays or perchance a book. Whoa, TTG. This just opened a can of worms for your reading public. A wonderful friend has been bugging me a long time to write a book about hospice. I am running out of time. Humbly, I leaped into the breach. 

There are several ways to approach this. One you can just feed in your topic, number of chapters you want and Presto you have a book….in seconds. Baby, would this have been great in high school and college days. Sorry I can’t take the easy way out on this one. 

I opted for the form and critique section. It lays out for you how to start and how far do you want to take it. I gave a little background and what I wanted to accomplish and we were off. 

It comes back in just a matter of seconds with two or three pages of suggestions and observations. Once again I think they are trying to lead me on until they ask for my credit card. They actually liked what I was doing. 

I have finished a few chapters. Now is this my initial burst of enthusiasm or will I stick with it? We will soon find out. 

More importantly is the fact I am trying this thing called AI. Up to this point my only exposure has been to investments or someone telling me that the world will end in a matter of years. Server sites eating up the public juice and slurping all the water for miles. Am I contributing to all this? I have a funny feeling there is no turning back at this point. 

If you let your mind wander you see a lot of good that can be gleaned. Medicine is right up in front. Financial planning. Education. War games. Wait, let’s not go there. Like everything else there is good and there is bad. 

The money makes me nervous. Not on what is being spent but the vast fortunes the big guys want in return for all this capital expenditures. Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk and Cook might not have their interest driven by the average American. 

I really don’t know how to play this. I am a capitalist at heart but as the ultra rich get richer I think they get farther and farther from what  the real world is like. 

Ditto politicians. It’s not the people who reelect you, it is the big boys who feed your war chest. One side or the other has to have the majority. Gerrymandering or just downright corruption can do the trick every time. 

This is not my usual grousing about this or that. I really wonder if I have any real control of factors that shape my life. Our new construct tells me to shut up and enjoy the ride. The adulation of power in everything from cities to states to countries is a little unnerving. 

As we feel more and more superior there is little if any concern for lesser states whether they be one of our fifty or the 54 countries in Africa, 44 in Europe or 52 in Asia. That’s a lot of places big and small. Do we just blow them off and say sorry?

I am going to get religious on you. Today’s Gospel reading was the Beatitudes. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Yikes! Is there anyone out there? 

AI is wonderful but it is impersonal by design. I wonder if we could teach it to be more civil, compassionate or human in every sense of the word. Nah.What was I thinking?  There is no money in that.

As always 

Ted The Great

Factoids:

• A large data center can use up to 5 million gallons per day—roughly equivalent to the needs of a town with 10,000 to 50,000 people. In 2023, U.S. data centers directly consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons. This will grow exponentially by 2030
• These data centers currently use about 4% of the power produced in the US. This will probably triple by 2028. With old goats like me joining the fray who knows?

The big names like Microsoft, Meta etal expect to spend over   $5 trillion over the next five years on AI. The real question is how does one expect to get a return o that investment or even when?

I am sure AI will figure it out. 

A representative in Congress spend an average of $3 million to get elected ever two years. That’s average. A US Senator spends almost $30 million. The highest amount spent for a congressman in Arizona was $40 million A total of $405 million dollars was spent by both parties on the Ohio US Senator race between Bernie Moreno and Sherrod Brown. 

The New Year is replete with all sorts of prognostications about the future and looking back to how we can improve ourselves. Catholics call it an examination of conscience but that concentrates on nothing but sinning. I call it just taking a look at where I have been and where I want to get to. 

Honesty in its basest form, is looking at reality, warts and all. Cold hard truths but also an appreciation of all we have accomplished. It is a fine line between self efficacy and self criticism. Not too hard on oneself and not too easy. 

We are human. We lie, we cheat but we also give and love in the same breath. It is easy to throw stones but we all live in glass houses. We also have to realize our approach is governed in so many ways by history, tradition and rote. I often wonder if I am just true to my school or if I really don’t like the discomfort of questioning things I have long held.  

The best example today is the polarization of our governing system. We are not allowed to be middle of the road. With us or agin us. Not just on one issue but the whole platform of ideology. If you are able to do this and go full bore, God bless you. I usually say I can’t abide by either side but I think if I look closer there are good points to both. 

I was playing golf with a good friend the other day. Our conversation wandered from that stupid white ball and got to our current state of affairs. A dangerous venture to be sure but we don’t take things and especially ourselves too seriously. Specifically I asked him about Trump. He replied he was an a_hole but he liked what he was doing. Interesting. 

Immigration is the most predominant theme of the day. Does anyone really think leaving the border was smart under Biden? Maybe a small minority. Does anyone feel it is appropriate to carte blanche round up hundreds of people in the hopes of finding one or two gang members? Do we label everyone a terrorist? Even the guy who has been living here for many years with a contribution to society in many ways? Can you be honest? 

Moving right along, does anyone perceive Jay Powell as a crook and a danger to society? Is Mandami’s view, typical of the average American? How about Greenland? Mark Kelly’s career as a Navy pilot, astronaut should be blown up, have him court marshaled and lose his pension for stating what has been true since our founding. Really? 

Oh boy! Now I have opened a can of worms. If I believe that no one is completely wrong or right for that matter, is it a chink in the armor or perchance an inroad to civility and compromise? I chuckle at our governance here in Flalaland. When the minutes of our board meetings are published, all decisions are unanimous. Am I really to believe no one dared to object? 

I bring this all up not as an indictment(please excuse my wording) of one side or the other but to say that is difficult to opine you believe all of the tenets of the left or right. To me that is heretical. If I pressured you can you at least say you have reservations. 

Let’s get back to the personal side. I have done a lot of good things in my life. I have done well in business and in my own little way hopefully made  the world a better place. I have also screwed up royally. In 1985 after a foolish venture. I was flat ass broke with a wonderful wife and three kids to educate. I have treated people well. I have been horrible at times. This is not self flagellation but being honest with the plusses and minuses. 

I could come up with dozens of reasons why this or that did not work out.

Some of them valid and many of them smoke screens. In doing so I hope I am not living a lie. Not puffing up my CV but also taking credit where it is due. I missed that golf shot. Not because of the wind, sun or playing partner talking during my swing. Plain and simple I failed to execute. Not a big deal but also getting real. 

“Fake it til you make it.” A great maxim for today but not usually for tomorrow. Sooner or later the fraud in all of us comes to the surface.  I can bullshit with the best but as the old saying goes,You can’t bullshit a bullshitter. Sorry for my obscenities but it’s appropriate. Yet today we find all sorts of ways to project what isn’t us. We are a “thing” society. Judged not by who we are but what we have. Sad but true. 

In the end it probably bespeaks humility, self awareness, compassion and love. It ain’t just about me but about us. You and I are not God’s gift to the world. We are a speck in time that goes back millions of years. To be honest that is somewhat liberating. It’s the best I got. 

As always 

Ted The Great  

Factoids:

 Honesty creates trust!  Not only are you more trustworthy to others when you are known for being honest, others are much more likely to be trustworthy towards you. They open up. 

You order from Amazon. They sent you three of something instead of one. Billed you for one. Do you send it back or say they are so big it doesn’t matter? Good question. 

To be honest with another requires trust. I know I can tell you something and you will reciprocate. Not for the faint hearted. 

Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.” Ha!

Today is tough. Welfare and Medicare fraud. Scamming. Hyperbole. AI plagiarism. Taxes. Cheating. Impersonation. What’s a guy to do? 

I am on the Pacific coast of Mexico. A little town called Chacala, just north of Puerto Vallarta. The Kenny clan is assembling to celebrate what for Kathy and me is a significant birthday. Suffice to say the weather is spectacular and the view magical. I hope you are all getting together with some sort of family while probably under different climactic conditions. Stay warm.

We are hearing recaps of 2025 as we move towards the end. This has in a word, been tumultuous. The good, the bad and the ugly. I will let you line up your own column A and column B. There have been births  to celebrate and deaths to mourn. Marriages and divorces. There have been incredible successes and horrendous failures. 

Every day the news brings mostly bad things. We seem to delight in that. I think a big part of that is a distance created by, I am sure glad that is not me. I think in hospice, people stay away because it is more than an ample proof of one’s mortality. I can’t conjure up in any way how the parents of those two kids at Brown are suffering. Yet it happens hundreds of times every day in incidents that don’t make the nightly news. 

The good is out there. We don’t pay a lot of attention but if we look hard we can find it in so many ways. Stupid things. Little gestures. A smile you didn’t expect. A phone call that bespoke an effort to seek you out. Some quiet nobody who left their life savings to some cause. 

Those are all the best. Pleasant surprises. We never knew. 

Our world today has become an equation and somewhat predictable. Customs and rituals are great as long as they are meaningful and not just repetitious. Oh yes, we always go to Uncle Lenny’s house for Christmas Eve or Grandma’s for a 47 pound turkey on the big day. Creativity and imagination go out the window for that good old time religion. If you really want to do that, go right ahead but don’t do it for the stupid reason, we always have. 

That seems sacrilegious to some and I am not trying to be the Grinch. I am also not saying you have to go off the wall either. But I also run into people that say the holidays are intolerable. Eat,drink and be merry. It is probably why so many gym memberships are sold in January. 

I read a great article the other day on gift giving. It espoused not giving many gifts but just one. The package was the product of a lot of thought and love. It fit the person to a tee not by the price tag but by the depth of thought. One young girl put a message on 30 Keurig K cups so her mom would have something loving and positive to look at in the morning. I thought it was great. 

As part of a ritual where we live, we “adopt” families associated with the Hope Rural School in Indiantown. It is a community of hard working mostly Hispanic immigrants. We help around 120 families by buying gifts for every child in the family. We had a party there about a week ago. Pre K to 5th grade. Incredible!! The families were grateful but not subservient. This place exists without any government funding to be cut off. But wait, those horrible people. We should send them all back where they came from. Really???

You and I can argue about whether he is God Himself or just a nice guy. Crazy how His religion has hung around all this time with various sects and denominations. His message still makes sense. Can you really argue with the tenets and their applicability no matter how far civilization has come?The Bible is still the best selling book in the world.  Have we conveniently put all that on a shelf?

I can’t improve on this. I am so glad you got this far. The message is simple. Peace on earth. Good will towards men. Is that so tough to understand? I hope not. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and whatever else. 

There was a guy born a couple of thousand years ago. When he got to age 30 he started preaching a way of life. Do unto others. Love your neighbor as yourself. Be humble. Praise someone other than your false gods. You certainly are not a god. Give and accept nothing in return. Don’t kill. Don’t mess around. Don’t steal. What was He thinking?

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:  None to speak of. 

The definition of perspective is an interesting one. A “perspective” is a specific way of viewing or understanding something, shaped by your beliefs and experiences”. You and I see things differently.  The world would love to define us by silos but it is not as easy as that. I scan newspapers with articles and op-eds trying to discover what is going on. How do I feel about it.  Now I have to add is it true? That kinda sucks.

I am rereading George Friedman’s, The Storm Before The Calm. He is a favorite read of mine as a geopolitical theorist. He starts by giving you a capsule summary of our history as a young nation. The good, the bad and the ugly. He then separates various time frames into both institutional and socioeconomic outcomes. Each with its own idiosyncrasies and of course, successes and  failures. All without mudslinging or condemnation. It is what it is. 

He heralds that we are a nation born of rebellion and violence. We are upstarts and cocky. We don’t have the centuries of history and traditions like Europe to fall back on. We have been through slavery but so have many other nations in our world. The 13 colonies were each separate and provincial. We united in war but had differences. We have had robber barons, monopolies and  racism at it best. Not only towards blacks but to the Irish,Poles and Chinese. The Catholics and Jews and now Muslims. Please do not get your back up. It is all there. 

Rather than dwelling on it or trying to change that history, he looks at it as a tableau to be studied. Politically we had the era of Washington and then Lincoln and onto FDR and the last of them Regan,as being noteworthy. We are waiting for the next one and it is probably not Trump. True we are fed up with just about everyone from the government to business to education and our very malevolent press. We have not managed our resources well. Wait TTG, our economy is doing great, unemployment is low and we have a few shootings here and there but overall we get a ‘B”. Not so fast.

I would hold out to you we have a bunch of problems that get ignored while your AI stocks and Bitcoin are flying. Not only Obamacare or Medicare but healthcare as an industry is going to put us out of business. I agree let’s get rid of the subsidies but what do you do from there? Do you just let people die or waste away from their chronic diseases. Immigration has been fixed. Sorta. We have removed by force or their own volition about 2 million illegals. Unfortunately not all were criminals and the hard work they did does not fit into the aspirations of our current legal workforce. 

People are getting old! I had to visit a patient in an assisted care facility. Average cost $7,000 per month. It was not exactly what I was hoping for. And these are the people that can afford it. As the elderly section gets larger and larger there are a lot less young people that are around and better yet willing to take care of Mom and Dad. I could go on but the point is we are approaching tilt on our little pinball game of life. No one and I mean no one is providing answers. 

Friedman will tell you the end of the cycle is not pretty. Our government is moribund. Corporations are too busy making money and will continue to automate. Educational standards are getting lower and lower as we continue to throw money at it. Today’s morality is questionable.Anything goes. We have no states people nor leaders of industry that are willing to come forward and  say,”Hey gang, we have to fix a lot of things. It will require a different way of looking at our livelihood. We have to have the humility to realize what isn’t working and we will ALL have to pitch in to fix it”. Maybe you know that dude or dudette but I don’t. 

This will probably sound crazy but I am suddenly at ease. I take comfort that this has happened before and we have worked our way out of it. In my lifetime,WWII,Viet Nam, the Oil Embargo, Watergate, 9/11, 2008, Afghanistan, Ukraine ,COVID. That is only naming a few. Going back in history was the The Revolution, Great Depression, Civil War. In all those happenings an adult in the room had to come forward. Out of the box thinking and cutting through red tape. Political parties talking to one another. Or perhaps blowing by rules and regs en masse to get things done. We are truly at a crisis precipice. Oops, I better shut up or I will get gaslighted or deported. 

In an absurd way I am accepting our current situation. I have so little power to change things I have to search anywhere to find someone who will. A group of men and women who have to give us tough love. If you think we can go on this way, go for it. I am a little too practical and maybe have seen too much to dig out my rose colored glasses once again. My IRA may be gaining but the underpinning of this big blue marble is showing some serious cracks. As they say,Look Out Below. 

We have become gigantic from corporations to government to our universities. They are hard to control, unwieldy, prone to error and corruption. Friedman will tell you minor repairs and band aids won’t work. In the end we will sober up. Throw the bad parts out and polish up and streamline the good ones. If you believe AI is the salvation tell me what we do with the other 90% that do not directly benefit. I really do have a different perspective and it is not all bad. It sure beats just bitching about it. 

As always

Ted The Great 

Factoids. 

Interestingly the government in relation to the population is less than it was 80 years ago. In 1945 it was 2.6% of the population. In the 70’s it was 1.1% Today it is .6%That’s a scary thought. 

There are approximately 5,000 laws on the federal books. There are also 300,000 rules and regs. Obamacare was 1,000 pages as a bill. There are untold number of rules all written by the staffs of agencies. …ably assisted by insurers, drug companies and HMO’s. Many nullify others or are in direct conflict. 

The National debt is currently $38 trillion. That is $112,000 for each person in the US. 10,000 people turn 65 every day. They are consumers not producers. Healthcare costs $15,000 per every single person every year. We simply do not have the revenue through taxes of all sorts to cover our current expenditures. 

Our life expectancy in the US is 78.4 years  Men at 74 and women at 81. Older people can expect to live around 5 years with pain or a serious illness. Sorry kids, that costs a lot of money. 

Is it just me or are a lot of things going down the chute at the same time? I am a pretty optimistic person but our world or at least our small part of it seems to have taken a nasty turn. Spending two weeks in a different hemisphere only seems to amplify certain thresholds we should never have crossed. 

As denizens of the US do we have a responsibility to set a tone for the rest of the world? If you thought the behavior of the fans at the Ryder Cup was not beyond the pale or if you thought it was cool to drop F bombs and throw beer at the opponent’s wives, then we are on different wavelengths. There are basic tenets of decency, empathy, morality that I am trying to live my life by. Not always succeeding by any means but it is part of my game plan.How about you?

This all comes from the top whether it is government, business, military, professions, religion or education. We all have our part. It is so easy to blame one or the other but don’t we all have a hand in each one? If we vote clowns in aren’t we complicit? Corporations are constantly  paying exorbitant sums to make things go away without admitting guilt. Universities aren’t areas of discussion but lockstep acceptance to get a good grade. Religion? Do I even have to go there?

We all want to see gang members and criminals who have repeatedly come across our borders with abandon, kicked out once and for all. I just want to ask if this is what you voted for? Masked ICE enforcers answerable to no one. They don’t care if they are criminals or not, they just have to make quota. A man or woman could have standing in the community after being here for decades. Shouldn’t they at least have a hearing? There kids who were brought here at the age of one or two. Do you really want to toss them all out?

12 short years ago there was the “Gang of Eight in the congress who drafted legislation to undertake immigration reform in all quadrants from legalization, to border security to dealing with DACAS. Was it perfect? No, but it was a blueprint to be worked on. It passed the Senate and never even made it to the floor of the House for debate because of John Boehner. Of the eight notably there was John Mc Cain, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham. No word since. 

I cannot stand the Donald getting up and spouting off statistics that are nowhere close to the truth. People shrug their shoulders and say he is just being Trump. His berating and name calling of opponents are beyond childish. His threats of retribution for even a TV ad smack of a very insecure man. He cuts off discussion. He ascribes to the ready, shoot and aim form of warfare. He contradicts himself and backs off his pronouncements the next day. He rambles and constantly seeks adulation. Is this any way to run a railroad?

Wait! Do you think I have gone to the dark side?  No way! I am still firmly entrenched in the middle. Do I agree with Trumps objectives? Many of them. Do I like his style, demeanor, vacillation and gilded lifestyle? Not a prayer. Do I in any way see salvation in Chuck Schumer and Co? Not one iota. Gerrymandering is cheating the system no matter how you look at it. Taking a three or four week recess in Congress in the middle of a shutdown is unconscionable and criminal. The lack of backbone both locally and, nationally and worldwide is obscene.  I hope you catch my drift.  

Two articles blew me away this week. The first was about the FIG. That is Figueroa Street in LA. For FIFTY blocks it is the most notorious prostitution area in the US. Girls as young as twelve are being trafficked. The younger the more money people pay.One did her work with a colostomy bag attached. Why not put the National Guard to work here? How can this even exist in a modern and supposedly educated city? LA has been beset by cutbacks to police. Have we totally lost it as we label this a victimless crime?

Another was about Sudanese refugees in Chad. It seems US AID grants helped these people go to school and get on their feet in a business. The cost per student was $205. That’s it and they are on their way. Yet the machete of Rubio and Co removed all that with the surgical precision of a chain saw. Both of these articles just leaped out at me as a whole new brand of thinking. Don’t get involved. Let someone else figure it out. I am a very busy person and have to worry about my family. The US of A  is your family!

By now you think I am a bleeding heart liberal. I am not but I do have a crazy thing called empathy in my heart. I was not raised this way. I can’t look the other way. Absent in all of this is that no one seems to be fighting back. No one is standing up to the Bully in Chief. We cannot parse sound thinking from screaming and yelling at each other. Faith in our institutions of all sorts is at new lows. Some say we are numb. Some say this is new thinking vs old thinking. I am saying we have got to get off the couches of all classes. 

Please don’t take this as a whiner adding to the load. Take it as someone who is pissed off that in all our wealth and abundance we cannot figure out a way to share that. I wish it would start at the top. Doesn’t look that way. I guess we minions have to start from the middle. I really have had it! How about you?

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids;

Poverty in America is defined by a family of four making less that $30,000 per year. They spend about 40% on housing alone. Is it their fault? Maybe. Are there cheaters? Of course. But are they all bad? Good question.

Elon Musk wants to get paid $1 trillion. That is around $19 billion per week or almost $2.5 billion per day. The Mets pay Juan Soto $765 mill over 15 years or $62 mill per year. Tom Brady gets $37 mill over ten years to comment on NFL games. Are they worth it? Fired LSU football coach is going to be paid $53 million to do nothing. 

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Trump came up with supposedly 18 misstatements. Subject to debate. However when AI looked at 20 questions posed to him over a period of time, they found serious errors or exaggerations in 16 of them. They used 5 different AI programs to avoid bias. They all came up the same.

The House is in recess and has been so for several weeks. The next session is scheduled on November 7, 2025. Don’t worry. They are all getting paid on time. 

US aid to foreign countries was $100 billion in 2023. 40% of that was military aid. Of the $100 bill, $71 billion was actually spent. Top recipients were Ukraine,$17 bill, Israel,$3.3 bill, Jordan $1.7 bill,

Egypt $1.5 bill and Ethiopia $1.5 bill. 

I don’t want the Trumpster to fail. I just want hime to grow up and act like and adult. Pretty simple, huh?

I am writing this from beautiful Machu  Picchu,Peru. It is part of the latest Magical Mystery Tour that TTG and the lovely Kathy are participating in. It is truly among the most thought provoking and beautiful things we have come to. I hope I get it right. 

We started in Quito,Ecuador which was our doorway to the Galapagos. Driving from the airport at night was a tad depressing. One conjures up a vision of beautiful colonial architecture  of which there was plenty. But we also saw the poverty in a beautiful country that caused one to think. That while we were ensconced in a five star hotel Iin the old town of Quito. 

The next morning revealed a square filled with hundreds of people ranging from hawkers to families looking for a deal or at least sweets of some sort.

Stalls filled every side street with everything from hardware supplies to 20 pounds sacks of animal crackers. Go figure. There were several churches that were chock a block with altars and gold beyond belief. The country like Peru is overwhelming Catholic on and in both places people  practice their religion. 

We are soon on our way to Galapagos. Ironically the airport code is GPS. We approach the islands after a two hour plane ride. The similarities from the air to the Hawaiian islands are striking. Sans Waikiki and endless hotels and condos. Various modes from buses to launches  to Zodiacs get us to our home for the next four days, the Isabela II. We are diverse group of 28 from various colleges and universities. The largest group was from Hollins College with a current enrollment of 1200, all women. 

We trekked across several islands over the next four days.

We snorkeled and just sat and pondered. We got up close and personal with seals, seal lions and birds of every description. Even some moms of sea lion and chicks let us get a few feet away. We followed Darwin but we also discovered remoteness both physically and spiritually. Watching Mother Nature at work creating families and colonies. Things like maternity and a lack of ant real predatory action almost showed life as it should be or maybe ought to be to be. We have a lot to learn.

We had  several presentations of the islands, sometimes over a scotch. Meals were an occasion to mix it up and listen to a bunch of different points of view.No put downs but just expressions. Some opened up and some remained reclusive but as the days passed people did a stupid thing. The opened up and of course yours truly was in the middle asking questions and trying to engender ease. It actually worked. 

Most striking were our guides. They worked one month on and one month off. They spoke with pride and love of their home. Their far off gaze at the beauty of their environment was contagious. It engendered a serenity not often found. There are about 35,000 people who live on two or three main islands. Tourism is big business and growing. I really hope we don’t screw this up.  

I could go on about all sorts of flora and fauna. Especially blue footed boobies but I could never do it all justice.

We will just rely on memory as foggy as it gets sometimes. Hopscotching from GPS to Guayaquil  to Quito to Lima where we said good bye to most. Literally! The hardy few were seeking more adventure in the Andes. 

The Lima airport is only four months old and the amount of passengers was startling. There we were introduced to the best amenity by far. In Peru,senior citizens. have preference by law. Whether it is a line for customs or a table in a restaurant, we go to the front. 

We landed in Cuzco, the capital of the ancient Incan empire. 

On the road after spending the night at a hotel that was a former convent, we started to climb, and climb and climb by coach and train. Along the way we encountered Work In Progress. The countryside is inundated with homes that are half done. It might have a first floor but the second was open air or just some jutting rebar. Why? They cannot afford to go any further. Day laborers or free lancers have no credit history. They try to accumulate whatever surplus they can and that goes to putting a kitchen, a toilet or even a window or two. 

Poverty in both Ecuador and Peru is pervasive. Most of their economy is based on tourism. COVID was not an inconvenience but a stab in the heart. That being said, one it not uncomfortable with the poor as much as much more cognizant. We have so much. 

Arriving at Machu Picchu is like waiting to open a present. After  seeing a bend in a walking trail you come upon a sight that is beyond belief. This was a sacred place to live in and be part of. The sophistication and utility of the construction is mind blowing. The scope is from temples to store houses for food  situated precariously on sheer mountain cliffs. 

We lived in the middle of the the Rockies for many years. Not even close. From Cuzco to Macchu Picchu is about seventy miles. I could not even imagine doing this on foot although there is a trail that hardy hikers do take. Soaring and sheer mountain faces almost guard the entrances or at least serve as warning. 

I could rhapsodize for pages but I don’t want to bore you with my amateur slide shows. Suffice to say this has been not so much life changing but more refreshing thoughts and ideas that get lost in my vapid life. You think about how  this all came to be be. You are hit in the face with needy and hardship. You understand how simple and satisfying life can be. You wonder about how far afield one can get. Most of all is we do not have the monopoly on smarts. People without instruments and earth movers created majesty with their own hands and heads. Life in the islands is the the same as it has been for millennia. We are still only a dot in the history of our world. That’s a good thought to leave on. 

As always 

Ted The Great

Factoids:

The Incan Empire numbered around 10 million in 1500. It was defeated and destroyed by the Conqistadors who numbered around 500. All for gold and silver in the name of saving souls for Christ. At least that’s their story and they are sticking with it. 

There are over 9,000 different species on GPS. Around 1500 are endemic. Some only exist on one island and not any others. Giant tortoises can grow to almost 1,000 pounds and do not need to  eat or drink for almost 6 months. Great food source for sailing ships on long voyages. 

Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos while on a worldwide voyage on the HMS beagle. It was 1535 and he was 26 studying for the priesthood. He only spent 5 weeks exploring the islands. He would research and contemplate for almost twenty years before publish the “Origins of Species” 

Machu Picchu was built in the middle of the 1400’s. It took around thirty years. It was abandoned in 1535 and no one really knows why? Several sites were left unfinished.  

Poverty in South America is around 27%.This is people living under $6.85 per day. Extreme poverty which is 10%, is defined by people making $3.65 per day. The worst countries are Mexico,Brazil and Venezuela. The continent  has substantial natural resources. Political instability and corruption make any sort of foreign investment difficult at best.  Thing are getting better but very, very slowly. 

We are on tour. For the longest time we have wanted to see where our grandkids go to school. Seeking out environs in Colorado, Montana and Bellingham,Washington we have hit the road. No planes but ribbons of highway. Scenic to say the least and riveting in so many ways. 

We began in Rado where one goes from small to extra large. Colorado College in the Springs has a student body of 2,000. A compact campus and a different way of learning. You study one subject at a time for three and half weeks full bore. Then five days off and rinse and repeat with a new subject. Anders is just starting. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Next up is CU(University of Colorado) in Boulder.

This is home to 38,000 students and of course Coach Prime. The campus rambles for blocks and all the time you have a view of the magnificent Flatirons. I asked my very social granddaughter how many of the 38k she knew? We walked into a restaurant on Pearl Street and among the staff were three of her friends. Divide and conquer. 

Heading North we went through Wyoming. The vastness of miles and miles of rangeland are strangely beguiling.

It is our first look at a gigantic state with only 590,000 inhabitants. We stopped at a McDonalds in who knows where and there were six old hands in jeans and baseball caps. Drinking coffee and trading thoughts. You become jealous not bored with the sheer simplicity. 

We spent the first night in Jackson Hole which runs the gamut for well heeled to worker bees. Swells to ski bums. The Tetons are dramatic in their youth. It seems the sheer peaks were formed later than most of the Rockies. Simply put they have not been ground down yet. Give them another million years or so. The next morning we stop for an everything bagel with BEC in a local coffee shop. . Huh? Bacon,egg and cheese. I am learning. 

We then climb to around 8,550 feet above Florida at the Teton Pass. Spacious views but holy crap we have to drive down the backside. Ten degree grades! For the initiated that is seriously steep. You note the steady stream of traffic going the other way into Jackson. As in every ski town there is no way ordinary folk can live nearby. This was a gorgeous autumn day. Can you imagine navigating all this during  a blinding snowstorm in a month or two hence? At the bottom, Voila we are in Idaho ! Go figure. 

A hop skip and a jump and we are in Montana making our way towards Bozeman and home to my grandson and Montana State University. The state’s  population of just over 1.2 million, is sprinkled with cities of  25-30,000 people….and a lot of cows and wheat. The 17,000 students aka Bobcats, are a mix of on and off campus housing. This is where it gets interesting. 

Aiden is studying Civil Engineering. After my BA from Georgetown this is nuts. We toured the campus and wound up in engineering central. There are classrooms, labs and we pass by a cache of students working on a very complex formula. There is a room called Make Space where these dudes and dudettes can just come in and dream stuff up. Electrical, mechanical, you name it. Does anybody have any fun?

There is an area outside of town called Big Sky. And it is big!

The base of the mountain is about 6,000ft. The summits is 11,100. That is a lot of vertical drop for skiing. Steep and deep. There is also some serious money here. One wonders where they come from? What did or do they do. 

A very private aside as part of Big Sky is the Yellowstone Club. It costs over $400,000  and upwards of $40-70k for yearly dues. to join but you have to be a homeowner. That can cost you about $4mill for a one bedroom condo to $5-15 mill for a house. The club is estimated to have between 50 and 80 billionaire members The club’s 900 homeowners are worth more than a combined $290 billion.It is very impressive a ski area but all of this seems strangely out of place. 

We are now in Whitefish, Montana after driving through Glacier National Park. The sheer magnitude of the soaring heights and incredible sheer rock faces makes this more than awesome to a former Coloradan.

From a road that is around 6,000 feet, the highest point is Mt Cleveland at over 10,000 feet. That is almost a mile higher. The highest building in the world is 2100 feet. This is serious. 

I could go one and on about the vast expanses and towering heights but just being here is beyond chill. People are friendly but not overwhelming. We haven’t looked at the news in four or five days. In all this driving we have encountered just two BMW’s and one Audi. The state vehicle has to be a Subaru or pickup truck. If you are a local your vehicle has a patina of mud and grit. Probably several years worth. 

I will go back to the fact that if were any other country we would probably be four or five separate ones. Our divisions are natural. I can see why these are red states. They want the government to leave them alone. I am pretty sure they don’t care who the Trumpster hires or fires. Woke isn’t even on heir radar.Yet at the same time there is an allegiance to each other and to their country. They don’t take a fancy to threats or even scandals. Live and let live. They are doing just fine. 

This all leads to MAGA in a way. After many miles, America is already great. Whether you are lunatic left or right can’t you understand all we have? This process of blowing everything up after every 2 or four years gets tiresome. Waste and corruption seems to me to be evident on both sides of the ledger. Maybe all the crazies should just take a ride with me…on the Road to The Sun.

As always

Ted the Great 

Factoids :

Road to the Sun is a 50 mile long pathway through Glacier National Park. “Journey to the Sun” is a documentary film about the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Look it up and be amazed

In Dubois,Wyoming there is a National Museum of Military Vehicles. It is about 30 miles from Jackson but could be on the planet Mars.

A billionaire has collected over 500 military vehicles(and a few boats )and has assembled them in a 160,000 sf exhibition hall. He and his family have spent over $100 million to collect all these pieces and build the museum in less that four years. Now that’s a guy we should have in government. Go to :https://nmmv.org

Our trip will end in Bellingham Washington to  visit  our last stop and grandson at Western Washington University where he is studying Kinesiology. We will have covered over 1800 miles. 

Wyoming 587,618 residents

Colorado 5.9 million

Idaho 2.02 million

Montana 1.137 million 

Washington 7.95 million 

Total around 16 million 

California 39 million

Texas. 31 million

Florida 23 million