I have been thinking about this for awhile. I am going to be taking some time off from Ted’s Head. I have been at it for over seven years and as I look back, a multitude of things have shaped our world. I have tried to decipher them and make some sense of them. Can’t say I have always been successful. 

During that time frame I have written over 375 of these epistles or essays. Some of you think they are too long. Some of you feel I should provide more answers instead of just posing questions. Some like this one or that. I am always quite surprised at those who respond and how they hit you. I thank all of you, whether you have seen fit to comment or not, for just listening. 

I wish I could say I am tired and slowing down. Not so. Sorry Kath, I still have my boundless energy. I do feel I am getting somewhat repetitive and probably a tad stale. Maybe a better word is frustrated at my inability to create a form of discourse. I am in a pit as to our current circumstances. We have lost our civility and yes our moral compass if  that does not sound too preachy. 

I speak up and have my share of arrow scars as a result. I just can’t sit there and let things go amiss without at least a well meaning attempt to set things right. I feel sorry for and at the same time get furious at different sections of our society. 

I am a capitalist and want  people to be successful. At the same time I abhor the filthy rich for their ostentatiousness and air of superiority. Yet I am continually blown at their huge monetary contributions and service on not for profit boards.Go figure

 My heart goes out to the poor and struggling while I see fraud and corruption tinge every effort to help them out. There are a whole bunch of people who should not be on disability or food stamps but the system accepts that as a cost of doing business. LBJ’s Great Society wound up costing $1 trillion. What do we have to show for it?

So many people in these United States game the system. If we totaled up all the ill gotten funds it would probably wipe out poverty and our national debt in one fell swoop. The Bernie Madoffs et al are notorious, yet for every one they catch there are probably hundreds they don’t. As it becomes more commonplace the more we accept it as fact. It dulls our sense of morality and that is the most dangerous part of all. 

You may think I am preaching religion but I am not. You can be a Jew, Muslim or atheist and it really doesn’t matter to me. I am talking about decency and that incorporates a respect and love of your fellow man. The rancor that fills our airwaves and electronic devices becomes all the more difficult to stop as we transfer that into all of our communication. We want to break ourselves down into smaller and smaller groups demanding a thing we call identity. It soon becomes all for none. 

There are good people and bad people. At last count I think the good guys are still winning. But it is the malcontents that seem to have control of the conversation and that really galls me. We listen to psychobabble and talking heads and take it for Gospel truth. We nod approvingly and and that gives them gravitas. Bad news sells. Good news and upbeat reporting are boring. 

We are taking trip to Alaska at the end of July. We will spend some time in Denver and the mountains with our kids and friends. I am going to research some topics that interest me. They cover the gamut of preventive health/wellness to the psychology of men. I am going to try to learn more of our environs here in Florida. I may even outline a book. 

So for now I will bid you adieu. It has been a wonderful ride and thank you to so many for tagging along. I have just tried to share me with you…warts and all. Just going down life’s highway. There is still a whole lot to see. 

As always,

Ted the Great

Factoids:

If there are 375 Ted’s Heads out there that means I have pounded out almost 400,000 words of this and that. It takes about 5-8 minutes to reread them as I edit. It might take you 15 minutes but for some that is too much.

My mind is full of facts and information. Some useful, some not. I read two to three papers a day and do at least two crosswords, especially on Sundays. I get lost for an hour or two and tackle the LA Times and NY Times in succession. 

I play golf at least three and sometimes four times a week. I enjoy, a glass of red, a vodka and diet tonic or a couple of fingers of a Scotch or Irish whiskey neat. Not all at once. I work out 4-5 times a week not to stay in shape but to support my bad habits. Maduro cigars keep cropping up on my to do list. 

Kathy and I have been married for 47 great years. We have a great deal of fun and joke every day. I tell her all the time how beautiful she looks. She truly is. I try to say something funny every night before we go to sleep. It keeps us young. We have 3 great kids and spouses and 7 grandkids from 7-14 that we adore. We are incredibly lucky….and that’s the all the facts I care to divulge. 

For the uninitiated TTFN means TaTa For Now.