My kids and grandkids are visiting this week and it is beyond a kick. Bodies are coming and going. One car heads to the beach. Another to the gym. Someone is jogging and another is vegging. Laughter and an occasional outburst rings throughout the air. All perfectly normal. 

As discussions go, I greet my daughter Megan at around 6:15 AM. It should be two freight trains going in opposite directions on the same track.  Au contraire mes amis. Wife Kathy shakes her head at the depth we get into at this ungodly hour. Homelessness, crime, equity, and guns were the topic this AM. 

Inevitably we go back to when I and they were young. This isn’t carping on new generations and bemoaning the good old days. It is trying to figure out what was wrong and right? What worked and what didn’t?  

Where we were placed on the socioeconomic scale obviously shaped our lives. The financial equity gap was there but not to the degree it is today. For both me and my kids we were okay financially but there weren’t any mega mansions in our neighborhoods. Your peers were one or two up or down on the scale but not fifty to one. For myself you never thought about being a snob because you never felt you were that far out in front. 

This played out in so many arenas. The local A and P supermarket or Bohacks were frequented by all. You had two or three choices of cereal producers not not twenty. You went to Jaffe’s department store to get new khakis for the school year and you had a choice of PF Flyers or Keds for sneakers.  The station wagons were Fords or Chevys. So point one is that there were not a boatload of choices. 

I asked my kids why they were so creative? We have a software developer, interior designer and artist at this point in their lives. It could have been years in Denver before cable TV. We had three channels and they came in poorly in the foothills. They wandered in the hills and built forts and ski jumps. They figured out how to entertain themselves. There was a lot of freedom of space and mind. They learned new colors and smells. 

They were challenged and learned some degree of self confidence. We were aware parents but not helicopters. They got into trouble but had to figure it out on their own. They were punished and after WWIII in the back seat one day, they were let out of the car to walk the last quarter of a mile to home. We would be arrested today! There were curfews and groundings. They survived. Point two is roots and wings.

I cut lawns and had a paper route. Kathy babysat. When your piggy bank went empty you could not go the parental  ATM. All my kids had jobs. Some of theirs do today. If you didn’t have the money you didn’t do it. Allowances were minimal and money management was introduced. I can just imagine asking my old man for $1000 to see Taylor Swift. 

The perception of money is beyond critical. I would pay $50 for a new tennis racket. If you wanted to buy one for $100 you made up the difference. My kids shared an old Ford Bronco II that we as a group negotiated to buy. They paid for the gas and washed it.  And most of their friends learned to drive a shift stick in that beauty. Point three is the value of money. Does it really grow on trees?

I could spend two or three blogs on our current media. This is not an old fuddy duddy but just a guy looking at things and saying “What have we wrought?”. Are we more creative or less? Is the access to so many things on line enlightening or overwhelming? We stream without any supervision. We don’t want our kids to miss out. So let me get this straight. Access to 100 channels, games that are mesmerizing, anonymous bullying, sexting, and constant contact night and day…..this is a good thing?

Do today’s kids have the ability to just grow up slowly and at their own pace? Does our overindulgence translate into the lack of desire for today’s generation to work no more than necessary? There are children everywhere that live at home with no visible means of support. Is this the new age or a recipe for disaster?  This is not to be judgmental but to seriously figure out if we are on the wrong or right path?

As old farts we can’t dismiss this whole genre as vapid and dispassionate. Kath and I raised our kids to live their lives not ours. It was a difficult day when we said we would love to be part of your life but we don’t have to be. That is where we are today. It is their world to mold and take forward. 

We had our chance and I have to be honest when I say I am not sure we always did the best of things. Sure there has been prosperity. We have made tremendous advancements in science.  But there is a little thing called the deficit and if we abhor social media we were the ones that got it started, fed it and have reaped so many financial benefits. We looked the other way and even sucked down opioids. 450 million guns did not happen overnight. 

Yes, we worked hard to provide. Yes, we hoped we did the right thing.  In many ways we did. I have to ask myself if I and we were responsible citizens of our world, why do we have such daunting problems today? Homelessness, drugs, the national debt, education, immigration, gun violence are part of our persona as a country.  

When I was young we had chance to shape policy and construct blueprints for our future. What mark would you give us? Hmmm. Interesting question.

As always

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

There are over 50 types of sneakers on the market today. That does not include variations of color and low tops, high tops etc. 

The number of available apps in the Google Play Store was most recently placed at 2.67 million apps, after surpassing 1 million apps in July 2013. 

Nearly a third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 — part of what is collectively known as Gen Z — live at home with their parents or other relatives, according to a new study, and they considered it a long-term housing solution.

The concert business grossed over $7 billion last year.

US Debt:

1990.  $3.200 trillion

2000.  $5.674 trillion

2010.  $13.562 trillion

2020.  $27.748 trillion

2023.  $31.748 trillion

A couple of weeks ago there was an article in the Wall Street Journal as to why isn’t good, good enough? It was mainly in relation to various world powers but its application seems manyfold. 

It discussed China at the turn of  the 20th century. Things weren’t all bad. More and more people were moving to the cities. Housing and manufacturing were exploding and there was a vibrant trade with the rest of the world. Voila, we now have a middle class. But that was not enough. Chairman Xi decided to make up for all the disgrace and humility for the last 150 years and China would once again be the predominant superpower. 

Interestingly enough Putin is ruing  the dissolution of the motherland. In the early 1990’s USSR became a footnote in history books. That was beyond unacceptable. He became hellbent on having Russia right back up at the top with China and the US. Coincidentally the new Russia wasn’t doing badly either. At least by their standards. Rinse and repeat with Turkey, India et alia..  But in all cases good was not good enough. 

Okay, you say we are sitting here in the catbird seat and can afford to say everything is just fine. Maybe I have no right to offer commentary. I and many of us have it very good. It is easy for you TTG. Your criticism has weight but at least let me try. 

The idea of wants and needs pops up in my little brain. Whether you are poor or rich what do you need to live, survive and maybe have a “treat yourself”  now and then? The latter are needs to be satisfied but you ain’t going to die without them.  An interesting exercise is to see how low can you take your budget in hard times? Kathy and I got to that number back in 2008-2009. A good perspective. 

The crazy part is that it is up to us to define what is enough, whether a resident of the planet or nation state. If we don’t have our fill there is a discomfort  of sorts. That tension eats at us to work harder, save more, or perhaps put more on the credit card which is a whole other source of angina. Does this work out in the end?

The first question of course is this stress inherent in our lives? Is life supposed to be a struggle? I believe it is and dealing with it makes you stronger. If you never face adversity you have no idea how to handle it when our little bubble bursts. We are trying to create the opposite. You should never be hurt physically or emotionally. If you run up a tab in life you never have to pay it. You can always go home to mom or dad. Talk about escaping reality. 

The flip side is going too far off the wall. You are never happy with what you have or accomplish. You are a perfectionist that probably leads to procrastination. Or if you are a Putin or Xi you are unemotional and ruthless to the end. Think of Stalin, Lenin and Hitler. There is no middle ground. 

Realism is a distant concept. Do your talents and resources match your goals? Does our ego get in front of our common sense? We want social and economic equity. What does that mean? Does everyone deserve a four bedroom, three bath colonial in the burbs?Should everyone be entitled to a 6 figure plus income? I don’t think it  works this way. 

Are we there in government? Some dream of government curing every problem imaginable. We have a program for this and that. We always have your back no matter how badly you screw up. And of course we have created a bureaucracy so bloated you have no idea of effectiveness. There are 106 departments of government involved in affordable housing. To me that is beyond good enough. It is a runaway train. 

Think about your personal life. As I get older I find I want less. Not so with younger generations and that is more than understandable. They have dreams and aspirations but are they realistic? The youth of today are questioning  those very values. They were raised by moms and dads who worked their asses off and maybe were not around very much. Is that the way they want to live or even better is this the work ethic they want to pass on? Maybe they are asking how much good is enough? 

This all comes at time when there is a collision of cultures. People and nations are at each other’s throats. My idea of heaven is a lot different than yours.  Scarily that spills over into confusion and debate on morals, common law, gender identification, color, and national heritage. Is there a common good we can aspire to or are we so splintered that United States is just a term and every man or woman for themselves?

We all want to be happy. But understand happiness is a fleeting thing. It is the quick hit you get from a great meal, new car or new piece of furniture. Like every good addiction it wears off and you are looking for a new source of euphoria. There are plenty of dealers willing to provide for your satisfaction. Step right up. 

There is another concept I would like to throw out for your consideration. It is contentment. I looked up a lot of definitions and I like this one the best: “Contentment is an emotional state of satisfaction that can be seen as a mental state drawn from being at ease in one’s situation, body and mind. “ No matter what your lot in life you are accepting and embracing it. I could go on for pages but just dwell on that simplicity. For me that is more than good. 

As always 

Ted The Great

If you are a brain surgeon or employed by your local police bomb squad perfectionism is critical. Not so in golf, relationships or cooking. 

Procrastination  is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline. You worry about not being good enough and ergo you do nothing. 

When achieving a goal we rarely stop and enjoy it. We are setting new goals at that very moment. 

Good enough, happiness ,contentment, setting unrealistic goals are tough to think about and even harder to write about. I probably didn’t get it right but I hope I got you to think   TTG 

Raising the deficit is rearing its ugly head once again. Forget about the points made by either side on this, yours truly is trying to wrap his head around the whole mess without the theatrics. One side wants to open the spigot wider and the other says every man and women or whatever for themselves. 

In my wanderings I found and interesting breakdown of what we spend as a country. It delineates those numbers in a per person presentation. Kind of cool.

The United States spent $6.48 trillion in 2022 which is down about $920 billon from the previous year. Not because we are getting thrifty. COVID et al weren’t quite so gluttonous at our national trough. 

Here we go:

The country spent a total of $19,434 for every human being in the USA. Kids and all.

Defense: $2282

Veterans: $812

Social Security $3657

Medicare $2269

Disadvantaged $1858

Interest on debt $1451

Grants to states $3707

Public Health  $3400

Total $!9,434

We had a budget surplus from 1998 to 2001.Our National Debt which we all pay interest on is now $31.4 trillion. This is the tab we have run up over the last 20 years due to social spending and yes, tax cuts. 

The proportion of federal spending per person has changed over the past 40 years away from national defense and toward social programs.

There is no doubt the seeds of these deficits were sown in the 60’s and 70’s with social programs enacted by Johnson and Nixon including Medicare and Medicaid. No one had a clue it would grow by these proportions. The Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, financial downturns in 2009 and 2020 and tax cuts have only exacerbated the problem. 

It is important to note: Social Security, Medicare,Medicaid et al were originally enacted as a fail safe, lest underprivileged people fall through the cracks. A social safety net of sorts. These have all grown into “entitlements” where everyone wants their fair share whether they need it or not. I often question whether we old farts would opt for every procedure, replacement or diagnostic test if we had to pay for them?

The US government has a mandatory and discretionary budget. Mandatory is locked in by law or circumstance. These include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the debt. This accounts for 2/3 of our annual spending. It is the law. It would be political suicide to change any of this and most of it requires a 60% vote. Fugeddaboutit!

The discretionary budget is what is up for grabs. All of these require appropriations. These are defense, the FBI, education and whole slew of other social needs, research, and plain old pork barrel. This is where the negotiations take place. 

These all require appropriation bills. This is the so-called sausage making in Congress. In the times of mere mortals each side would give a little and voila we moved forward. Not so today where each vote is a litmus test or an infantile challenge to your manhood or womanhood. This is the process we support through or voting on election day. If you think it is screwed up we only have ourselves to blame. 

The biggest discretionary allocation is the the US military. This includes operation and maintenance, personnel, weapons development and testing and procurement. It is the likeliest place where people try to increase or decrease. Including veterans it is over half of discretionary spending. The other percentage is taken up by education, health, transpiration, housing and foreign aid. 

Strangely enough the discretionary does not bother me as much as the mandatory. Spending on Medicare and Medicaid has not just ballooned (Ha Ha!) but is exploding. I am going to go into in greater detail in another missive but suffice to say we ain’t getting any younger and for sure we are not getting healthier. Here in Flalaland just look around you at your next doctor’s appointment. That is our future. 

Trust me I am beyond torn by this whole mess. I hate debt and always have. We spend close to $500 billion on just interest alone and that is sickening. And we want to add to it by raising the debt ceiling. 

I am all for social services but the waste and misallocation are gigantic.There are people on the dole that have no business being there. You and I see them every day.  Fraud is rampant in the healthcare community. We have made healthcare and yes even hospice a money making venture for private equity. Details, details you say? These people aren’t altruistically giving money away. There is gold in them thar hills!

When you see the economy teetering on the brink come June over the debt crisis just remember these numbers. Know that the business decisions are being made not by clear thinking businessmen and women but by dudes and dudettes who rely not on rational  thinking but whether or not this is going to sell back home. In the land of plenty we have very tough decisions to make.Either cut benefits or raise taxes or both. If you have a better idea please tell me. I am stumped, but we have to do something. Or shall we just sit there?

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids: 

I have given you too many already but I do have one. When I got into my schtick over coffee with a friend he asked me why I get so worked up? He said he just wanted to put his life on automatic. I just can’t do that. I wish I could. 

I have been reading and listening to a guy named Peter Zeihan who spends a lot of time looking for trends and eventual outcomes. A great number of his premises are based on data accumulated on everything from gigawatts of power to bushels of wheat. He reaches conclusions that are compelling if not controversial. Fun to spend time on. 

One of his priorities has been the study of our populations and their effect on food, consumption and even global warming. Birth rate is the key number here in that we have x number of people being born per person and the corollary is y number of people dying. Sounds simple enough but not really. 

The numbers become very interesting when one looks into how many people are in each generation ranging from the current Gen Z to Baby Boomers and beyond. Simply put people are not having as many babies as before. In olden days with an agricultural economy you had a bunch of kids because they were cheap labor. Now with a more urban emphasis, kids are kind of expensive. 

Now when those Boomer families were young and growing we had a lot of jobs to fill with a lot of people. Now with less kids we are scrambling and it will only get tougher. Ah you say that is good for the economy. Yes and no. Sure wages will go up but you don’t have as many people paying taxes and contributions to Social Security. And as more and more people retire there will be an outsized hit on the existing and dare I say failing Social Security vault. 

Things are not as dire here as they are in older countries like Japan,Russia, Italy and even good old China. The latter’s recent drop in population was stunning in principle if not numbers. Their population went down by a million people. That is only going to accelerate, due to the long time one child policy. Big deal, why would I worry about China?

This little blue marble is powered not by oil/gas or alternative energy but rather the desire of people to have stuff. Our current economy is 75% consumer spending. People wanna have and gotta have, which is great as long as you are young and handsome. As you age you are not quite as worried about whether you are up to date. Sensibility overtakes lust. That old shirt or car works just fine. China’s burgeoning economy is starting to falter. Not only do they make a lot of goods, they are new to the scene and want a lot of the world’s hot shot goods from cars to jeans. 

This is both scary and interesting. Let’s for a moment thing about Russia and China with older populations. There is never going to be a better time to make your moves militarily because I don’t care how many tanks or ships you have built if you don’t have people to man them then what good are they? Now this is not just science fiction. You can’t create people out of nowhere. Wait, maybe you can.

We look at our border crisis as an ugly mess and it is. But think about the lack of labor in this country. These immigrants make money, pay taxes and yes, buy things. Our medical system right now is greatly understaffed because of COVID and retirement. There are a bunch of people sitting on that border with medical experience. The underlying premise that people want to come here is overshadowed by politics. 

You think they are all thieves and drug smugglers? Think again. They want to fill jobs that nobody wants. 

The older generations, Baby Boomers et al don’t contribute in a meaningful way. That is not dumping on my brethren but stating reality. Sorry about that. Financially we don’t really invest but rely on pensions and benefits to live. We eat up a whole lot of monies in healthcare. In the final stages of life it only goes up not down. We need a younger generation to support the older ones. We might might eke out a victory in the US but a big portion of the rest of the world ain’t so lucky. 

There is a move afoot to try to cut the costs of medicines by negotiation of Medicare pricing. Heretical you say. How can drug companies  do research and market? We are doing everything to prolong lives but at what cost and quality of life. Yep,I just ripped the band aid off that one. Should we spend money on old people’s diseases or on young ones? Personally I don’t want be 90 and bedridden or drooling. Holy shit, did I just say that?

I know some of you are here because of modern medicine and I applaud you and wish you nothing but well. I will bring up an ugly word called sustainability. I think we have done a rally bad job of utilizing our resources both in the ground and in our bodies. We consume so much without thinking about the damage we are doing. Not just the climate but for generations to come. 

Maybe I just see things in a different prism. We spend billions on octogenarians and yet stand by as we kill 10 or 15 younger people  at a clip. We shell out thousands for a concert ticket but do nothing about the homeless. We pay $100,000 for an EV and want a tax break. 

What has my study of demographics taught me? To look at things in a totally different way. The numbers and graphs are compelling. I can reset my priories and try to shape up my act but that is just me. We have to do it first and foremost  as a country and then as a planet. Numbers don’t lie unless we let them.

As always 

Ted The great 

Factoids:

Baby Boomers. 1946-1964. 72 million. Retired

Gen X. 1965-1980. 65.2 million. Soon to Be retired

Gen Y 1981-1996. 72 million

Gen Z 1997-2012 68 million

Gen A 2013 to now 48 million. This is our future suppliers of capital. 

Marriage rates are falling 

A couple of factors are behind this trend. When men’s economic prospects aren’t promising, their wages fall. With lower chances of marrying and supporting a family, men tend to work less. For women, access to a college degree allowed them to enter the workforce. As a result, women put off parenthood to tend to their careers. In addition, access to birth control puts them in charge of their fertility. With the ability to earn for themselves, women did not need to be married for economic survival.

Demographics can include any statistical factors that influence population growth or decline, but several parameters are particularly important: population size, density, age structure, fecundity (birth rates), mortality (death rates), and sex ratio

, https://zeihan.com. Interesting dude. You don’t have t believe everything

Happy New Year to all. I sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” several times over the holiday. A wish can be an outcome  we hope for even though  many times it is an unattainable goal.  Stupid of course but it still feels good. We can also wish for some evil to befall our worst enemies. Revenge is so sweet. We are an equal opportunity donor for both good and bad. 

Sometimes we wish we hadn’t done something. A particular act or deed that didn’t turn out too well. A bad trade or a not so nice relationship. How many times do you ask yourself,”What the hell was I thinking?”. Or, “I wish I was dead?”  Really? Actually when you do something really stupid or find yourself in an impossible situation, death might be the more attractive alternative. Not really. 

Wishes have either future or past attributes. Real time is far too sobering. They are fantasies in a way and as such unrealistic. We spend a lot of time in the past. “If only” can rule our world. Second guessing becomes a way of life for some. Every now and then is fine but we tend to be somewhat obsessive. If I rethought every idiot move I have made overt he years I would never get any sleep. Possibly an early trip to the funny farm. 

This of course breeds victimhood or self pity.” I coulda been a contender” bemoans Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. His brother screwed him. The world screwed him. How many Terry Malloys have you met over the years?  

The other side is always thinking forward. We wait for a positive outcome. Good if you work your ass off to attain but bad if you lay back and wait for the lottery of fame, fortune or even golf to visit your domain. I would never want to rule out hope for any situation. But hope requires an honest evaluation of who and what you are to define achievable. That is elusive. 

Some of us are Pollyannas or partake in the Peter Pan complex. “I won’t grow up, no never not me.” Take yours truly. I like to have fun and joke around. Revelry could be my middle name. But when the rubber meets the road I tend to get very pragmatic and see the writing on the wall. Nothing heavy duty but realistic. And perhaps that is the crux of our problems today. 

At press time I am witnessing a come to Jesus moment in the House of Representatives. Kevin McCarthy is scrambling to find more pro votes. Doesn’t look like it is going to happen. Does he wish he had done this or that? Of course. Will he accept defeat? We will soon find out. 

The extremists on the left and right are dug in to the point of no return. They and in their person, we are dreaming the unreachable. We have to pay taxes but it is not a bottomless pit. We need to provide services but we have our limits. I would love to provide every citizen the most incredible healthcare but we can’t in a practical way do so. Money, facilities and medicine are finite. People have to be proactive in their own welfare. I don’t see that happening. Oh,I forgot we are going to have a special pill to cure all. 

We are witnessing the life and death situation of a young professional football player. In the worst of all worlds he was in the the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet nothing is spared to try to make it all good. We could not have responded and more quickly or competently. Can we do that for the rest of us? We can hope and wish but I think we know the answer. 

Putin wants Ukraine. China wants to rule the world. Musk and Bezos want to go to Mars. We have Republican and Democratic agendas. This area wants development while the locals want a quiet hometown. The military wants more and more weaponry. The progressives want peace not war. Parents want to have their children learn but on their terms. We want to end homelessness but not in my back yard. It almost seems the more we wish for the harder and harder it is to find agreement. 

I am going to hope, wish, dream or whatever you want to call it in 2023 that somehow some way we come to our senses. If we all took a long look at our lives, our relationships, our ethos, our position in our country and our world and were brutally honest how would things look? Not just it is wonderful thought Ted but really sat down and took stock. Parse out what is real and what is bullshit.

 Give up some of those sacred cows or at least question them thoroughly. Understand you cannot be 100% right all of the time. Bend no matter how bad it feels.  Forget about the past unless you are willing to learn from it. Look to the future after you have thrown away your rose colored glasses. That’s hope with a purpose. Thanks for listening to this poor schmuck for trying to make sense of this. 

As Always

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

“Unlike other animals, humans spend a lot of time thinking about what isn’t going on around them: contemplating events that happened in the past, might happen in the future, or may never happen at all. Indeed, mind-wandering appears to be the human brain’s default mode of operation.”  Harvard Research Gazette

Humans think about other than the present about 50% of the time.

Conspiracy theories, wokeism, victimhood, extremism are part and parcel of our attempt to frame our world. The world is neither fair nor perfect. Wish it was but it ain’t.

Politicians will tell you how they can fix their opponents wrongs. They will weave dreams of the future. They take all the credit and admit no wrong. They rarely deal with reality and give you a candid analysis of the present. A vote you can believe in. 

I just took a long walk the other day in Flalaland. It was a balmy south Florida day. That will not endear me with all you who are freezing your butts off somewhere but tis the season to be jolly. 

I was thinking about the 70 some odd Christmases I can remember. A lot of different places. A lot of wonderful times. The ones is Colorado were particularly memorable. In the mountains there was always snow and in those days no one frowned upon your yule log in the fireplace. 

We used to go to Mass in the chapel at Beaver Creek and I was the lector and plate passer rolled into one. I would get bugged and curse under my breath when the grand dames dripping in mink would put a couple of bucks in the basket. Coincidentally I would think of what their room cost or even better the Xmas dinner for  8 at one of the very expensive emporiums of culinary excellence. Mea maxima culpa. 

Now I am not a got rocks but I try to help out our local charities and church. I want to give back. Is that trite or heartfelt? Is that a gift or the result of Irish Catholic guilt? Good question. Works the same for Jews and Italians.

I know giving is a very personal thing. But I thought about all the different ways one can give. Is there not at least a piece of caritas in every one of us? The most obvious is cash, credit card or check.Maybe even bitcoin if it is worth anything.  I used to give to a lot of national things but felt I had no idea where it was going. I decided to stay local with church, schools and of course hospice. 

Now when you give unless it is in person it is somewhat abstract. You stuff the ever present prepaid envelope and voila! you are the patron of something. You feel good but it is not always euphoric. You hope for some sort of acknowledgment, not necessarily with huzzahs and genuflections but at least a word of thanks. We are all human.

At St Patrick’s church in Vail we used to collect money in the month of March for needy souls. One day a woman came into the sacristy(where they suit up) after mass and gave my buddy Fr.Tom a check. It was nice but not off the charts. The lady left and when Tom was about to leave he noticed there was another check underneath. It was for several hundred thousand dollars! Talk about an anonymous donor!

I sometimes wonder if giving time is harder than writing a check. I do my hospice gig every Monday morning from 8-12. After you do it long enough they begin to rely on you. You are part of the team. That is good and can be bad on a morning when you really don’t feel like getting out of bed. Sorry TTG, you can’t mail it in !

People tell me how wonderful it is what I do and I really feel uncomfortable about that.  I always manage to meet someone who does a lot more both in time and effort. I am not anything special and neither are you. We all live on this  planet and it is not only nice to reach out, but I think the only way we are going to make sense of all this mess. 

Aha! There is another way we can give. A smile. A gesture. A hug. These days be careful on that last one. Look the counter person, check-out  cashier or the loading dock employee, right in the eye and say please and thank you. Do you have any idea how it makes that person feel? And very selfishly you won’t believe how good it feels when you get that smile of gratitude back. 

Why is it so difficult for some? One of my buddies said I could talk to a tree. Point taken. Another calls me Smiley because I always seem to have an ever present grin. One of my fellow inmates here has never smiled in the going on six years of our stay. I thought it was just me but others have certified my observations as true. I just can’t do that. 

We will keep it simple. You can give your money, your time or just a little bit of you. Put your attitude away, lower your defenses and just greet the world with an open gesture. Don’t think of how am I going to get screwed but what can I add to another human being’s life?

Is this all BS and Kumbaya? I think not. We are growing further and further from each other. We are all caught up in our own lives. But Ted it has been a bad year in the market. There is no loose change anywhere? But Ted I am a very busy person. There is no time in your life for watching football, working out or hitting golf balls? But Ted I am an intense person and besides half of those people don’t really need it. Don’t worry, I know all the off ramps. 

Beware! Once you get into it, it becomes contagious. Can you imagine how great it would be if we reached out in the most simple way to just one stranger a day? Tell him or her to do the same. Is it crazy? Of course it is but come on in, the water is fine. The gift of giving YOU is the greatest gift of all. 

As always 

Ted The Great.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all you crazy people who read Ted’s Head. In a way it is my gift to you. 

Factoids:

Americans gave $471.44 billion to charities in 2020

Matures:  born before 1946, 78% (that’s 23.5 million people) of this generation gave to charities.  The most generous of the five generations, they gave, on average, $1,235 per person to 6.3 charities

Boomers:  born between 1947 and 1964, remain the largest of the five generations.  Three quarters (75%, or 55.3 million people) of this generation donated an average of $1,061 last year

Generation X:  the generation that has been overshadowed by Boomers and Millennials, was born between 1965 and 1980.  Over half (55%, or 35.8 million people) of this generation gave an average of $921 

Millennials:  in case you don’t know this, this generation was born between 1981 and 1995.  Just over half of Millennials (51%, or 34.1 donors) gave an average of $591 a year

Generation Z:  born from 1996 and after, this generation has just begun to enter the workforce and has already started giving.  Forty-four percent of them (representing 9.3 million people) gave an average of $341 

Corporations account for 5% of charitable giving

25% of Americans volunteer

Women are more likely than men.

11% of volunteer organizations ceased to exist because of COVID

Volunteer efforts are valued at $200 billion per annum 

Epiphanies, upheaval, chaos, revolution, sacred traditions under fire ….our world both near and far is reacting normally or erratically depending on your point of view. Without getting particular I have been studying just the process these last few weeks. Some can’t wait for it and others abhor it. Regardless, change is a fact of life. 

Here in Flalaland, as we all grow older our ideas become more entrenched. We have broken in the shoes of life and they feel pretty comfy. We embrace the good old days in song, dress and behavior. We reveled the other night that we never wore helmets biking, stood on the arm rest while driving with our parents and walked just about everywhere without fear of a pervert or stray bullet. All wonderful.

But change is evident everywhere. We are able to fly anywhere. Our world population has grown from 3.7 billion to over 8 billion in 50 years. Companies and countries have come and gone. In America we have gone from cute Cape Cods to mega mansions. The information age is forty years old and we have seen the unimaginable. When you put a bunch of smart entrepreneurial people together you see a new version in every walk of life. 

The New World is gut wrenching for some more than others. Why? It is more likely than not hard wired into us. Our bodies and brains have worked out a system to survive. It is called homeostasis that keeps everything in balance. Anything alien is considered a threat. We also are tribal whether it be family or nationality. We are wary of new arrivals and how they might alter our pecking order.  What does it do to our self esteem ? Crazy? I am not sure it is. 

There is a fascinating concept of inertia. Let’s say you smoke, drink or are overweight. You have become very used to living that

way. You know it probably is not good for you but you keep at it. To do something different is going to take a lot of work. You might even say you like your life. Nobody is going to tell me what to do. It has worked for me for a long long time. I am doing fine. Are you?

Many of us feel we are not doing fine. Self help books have tripled in numbers annually for the last 5 years. So we have the enigma of despising change and yet embracing it a the same time. We want to be open and welcoming but it scares the crap out of us. Hmmm.

I wonder about myself. Here in Flalaland we have been treated to new arrivals on pretty much a non stop basis for the last couple of years. Our club is collegial and really not that stuffy. It has an air of gentility as contrary to snobbishness. People are decent types and not gaudy. But the new folk? 

There is a silly thing called a dress code. Collared shirts tucked in and no hats in the clubhouse for the guys. No jeans in dining rooms and flip flops are frowned upon. Some of you might take this as typical of old fart fuddy duddies. I look at it as a tradition of sorts. You say what is wrong with a tee shirt or dress shirts hanging out? You want to bring us into the 21st century. I am trying real hard but it ain’t easy. 

I only bring this all up to demonstrate the theory. First is we are tribal. Those interlopers might ruin the place. The second is wondering if I and others are being unreasonable. Geez Louise I have worn the same type of clothes for a long time. Am I suffering from inertia or do I have a just argument? Dunno.

You could take the same overlay of thought as it relates to politics, religion, feminism, chauvinism, immigration, and even family life. I have changed my stripes on so many things over my lifetime I wonder if I am a revolutionary or just someone who can’t make up his mind? When I pose an alternate solution people recoil. And here is where it gets good. 

If I come to you with a new idea or method aren’t I really telling you that you are wrong? This totally new way of doings things says for all these years you have been at fault. I am threatening your authenticity or competency. The only way you can comply is by changing or eating crow. Yikes, that sounds heavy duty. Can a stupid thing called compromise heal that wound of defeat?

My argument about term limits is simple. If you have been in the same spot in government for 30-50 years is it possible to have an original thought? When we construct the bastions of partisanship doesn’t it become solely a fight of egos rather than ideology. The old story of the work of Congress should get done in the center doesn’t work today. Our country is and has changed drastically in so many ways. Probably a lot more for the better than the worse but no one will admit that. Have we adapted or dare I use the word “change” one more time?

Look at the things we have to fix. Immigration and education to name two. On face value both are a mess. It would require sea changes to solve either one. Inertia? You bet. Threats to reputations, expertise, and status? Ha! Is it all so simple or irretrievably complex?

Disney just replaced their CEO with a retread who had actually recommended him in the first place. Meta and Zuckerberg are incredibly off message. Amazon overbuilt. Boeing is almost FUBAR. 

The stockholders are demanding change. Whether it is a corporation or a country or even a church aren’t we all owners of a sort. Changing Times? You bet. Are we keeping up? You tell me.

As always

Ted The Great.

Factoids:

Change done right gives people hope. It creates opportunity. Most of all there is a growth in us that is hard to imagine. It’s the best drug of all.

Change means coming out of your cocoon. It is scary. First steps are the hardest. Vulnerability How did you or do you feel about the following?

1.       Starting a new fantastic job

2.       Getting married

3.       Buying a house/relocating

4.       Becoming a parent

Stressful but cool!  The fine line between scary and exciting is palpable.

The starting point of change is admitting or defining the problem. A gradual, well structured plan will win out over the sledge hammer approach every time.

I am an oddball. I am ADHD. I am a right winger. I am a lefty. I am crazy. I am raw. I am caring. I am tough. I am honest. I am old fashioned. I am the consummate thinker. I am a slob. I march to my own drummer. I am a doer. I am not a team player. All of this is not my act of contrition. It’s what various people have said about me over time. Probably all somewhat true. 

All this begs the question how would you really like to be remembered? Come on, you know you think about that. Do you want to be loved or just relevant? I have often asked, do you want to be a merry go round or a roller coaster? Can we be so many things? Why not?

I think a lot. Kathy gets crazy when I am behind the wheel, going down life’s highway and gesturing to myself. She knows I am off somewhere in space. It can be my surroundings, my encounters with my fellow man or woman, or just a concept that I haven’t given full attention to. To me it is just plain old fun.

As many of you know my most despised trait is arrogance. You have it all and know it all and couldn’t give a shit about anyone else. You live in a gilded cage that could be physical or psychological. Why should I worry about anyone. I don’t need a thing. 

Whiners need not enter here. Even the worst off of us have something to be thankful for. Someone out there is having a worse time of it than you. I guess the antonym is gratitude. Not just saying grace every now and then but getting down on your knees to pray to whatever God you want. We all have it so good. 

I love deep discussions. Not a self analysis of me but the world we live in. With a great friend, man or woman. Just letting it rip without the worry of disclosure or embarrassment of what you are thinking. There is a freedom of expression but more a trust of that other person. You are both vulnerable and that is okay. It’s just between us. 

Most of you know my affinity towards hospice. I guess it does not get any more down or dirty than that. I work in an inpatient unit. The stay is not long and you don’t have time to beat around the bush. In a personal relationship I go from zero to sixty in about five minutes. It is the one time in my life when it is nothing at all about me. You listen, you care and you love. Patient, family, and staff are alI in this together. I am in awe that they are so open and trusting with me. 

I like to fix things that are broken. I have this weird sense of what is wrong and how we might change things for the better. I wish I were a better politician because I am sure I piss a lot of people off. I try to figure out  if a new approach is needed that says the old way was wrong or at lest outdated. I am impatient and that probably borders on arrogance. Yikes! Mea Culpa!

I have a good amount of energy and tend to put too much on my plate. I am a pretty good dreamer and a horrible administrator. That’s probably why some think I have ADHD and maybe I do? C’est la guerre.

I have several close friends and for this I am truly thankful. I probably have lot of serious enemies and I wish that were not so. Over 30 years ago I was diagnosed with clinical depression. I was a hot shot on the outside and a hot mess on the inside. What really brought me back was the realization that I cannot please everyone. I learned to love me and in turn the people around me. I think the phrase is comfortable in one’s own skin. 

As for religion I am having a hard time. Church is boring and the homilies not original. The ritual is fine but it leads me to just going through the paces. I believe there is a God but I am not sure if it is a being or concept. To look around my world and see flora, fauna and mankind and not think there has to be some sort of Superior Being is beyond the realm of my small brain. 

The love of my life is Kathy. That is not mush but saying she is an amazing person and the most patient being alive. We have had an enormous amount of fun. My kids and grandkids are beyond original, fascinating and loving. All doing their own thing in divergent strata. This is not braggadocio but the observations of a very lucky guy. 

Why am I writing all of this? You are kind enough to read me every now and then. You have a right to know where this whack job is coming from. I have written Ted’s Head for over 13 years. My style is simple. I want to have a conversation with you. You do not have to agree with me and I am sure you don’t. All I can hope for is that I made you think. Thank you for being part of this off the wall dude. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Born April 10 ,1945. Manhasset,NY

St Mary’s Grammar School

Loyola School NYC

Georgetown University. C’67 Poli Sci Major 

US Navy. USS Glover and then PCF (Swift Boat) in country Viet Nam

Wall Street, Post and Beam home builder, computer company owner, developer, real estate broker Yada Yada Yada Jack of all trades ,master of none. 

Lived on Long Island, New York City, Newport RI,  Boston MA, An Thoi, Viet Nam,  Denver CO, Vail CO, Scottsdale Arizona, Palm City Fl.

Wife Kathy of going on 52 years.

Son Scott and Wife Dionne. Two wonderful boys, Jack and Aiden

Daughter Megan and Husband Austin  Three beautiful girls Harper, Ryan,Quincy

Daughter Lindsey and Husband Chip. Great teen age son Anders and beautiful Phebe who is a sixth grader going on 21. 

That’s All Folks!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Of, For and By the people

Democracy as we know it is a compilation of principles and subtleties. Our forefathers put a lot of thought into what we should look and act like as a nation. Equality, the rule of law and a representative government looked good on paper. The application process has become muddled. 

The soup de jour for political scientists is more often that not is as a strict interpretation of the constitution or as a living document that must be amended to fit our contemporary society ? You might be tempted to say that conservatives want the old time religion and the liberals want the church of what’s happening now. You are probably not far from the truth. 

Right now let’s just chat about what is going down in just a few short days. We have all had to endure the idiocy of mudslinging and wild accusations. Truth either way is out the window. Negative ads supposedly do the trick. Like the Buffalo Bills and Kansa City Chiefs it comes down to who has the ball last. Then judgement day. 

Let’s get crazy for a moment and assume we will all accept the outcome. Counts and recounts really do expose the flaws but we actually come as close as one can to getting it right. The underlying message is what gets to me. If I win, you hate me. If you prevail, I will do my best to have you fail over the next two to four years. 

Think about that for a second. 51% are going to say we won. 49% say we lost. 154.6 million people voted 2020. 78 million were happy and 76 million were really pissed off. Even worse well over 50% on the short end believe the election was stolen. 40million plus! To have functioning democracy we have to have faith that the system works. That is a lot of people who are either delusional or refuse to accept that fact, even after some 45 cases before many Republican appointed judges. 

When all the players become seated in the legislative chambers, you have another foil for the people’s will. The system was invented to give fair voice to all sides. No one should prevail in a dictatorial way but we have figured a way around that. Forget about your constituents you are first and foremost a Democrat or Republican. You hear cogent arguments for and against but leave your brain or conscience at the shit can at the door and vote in lockstep with the bosses. 

The Manchins, Romneys and Cheneys are labeled traitors. You want to overhaul the system. You want to cross the aisles because their side makes sense but don’t you dare. “We have our ways to convince you” just like the interrogation room in an old war movie. There is no negotiating or attempt at consensus. You are with us or agin us. 

Another little game is the introduction of bills. Everyone has a right to put something forward that would hopefully further the cause of all sorts of people in these United States.  As soon as a bill is introduced it is assigned to a committee or subcommittee for analysis and polishing. The bill has to be reported out of committee for consideration by the Congress as a whole. 

I will share with you that I have been researching this process for several days as to how many bills have been introduced and how many have come to fruition. The answers are vague and contradictory at best. As of March it seems over 10,000 bills were introduced in this session and 85 were passed into law. 

• Overall, 59% of legislation passed had bipartisan support, with at least one Democrat and Republican cosponsor.
• Four bills had more than 300 cosponsors. Two awarded Congressional Gold Medals to the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan and the Harlem Hellfighters, a Black WWI infantry unit.
• The other two provided service dogs to veterans and help to ALS patients.

Sorry, I gave you Factoids early but this is mind boggling!  Schumer, McConnell and Pelosi constantly say that don’t have time to get to a bunch of pressing issues. Is this the best we got?

Numbers don’t lie. 

Let’s not spare the Executive branch. Presidents of all stripes have taken to Executive orders. Uncle Joe’s forgiving of college debt and Trump’s border regs are just the tip of the iceberg. Some say they had to because to the gridlock in Congress. Some say they are violating the Constitution. Where do we go next? The Supreme Court of course.Yikes!

I would hope the highest court in the land is of good intentions  and impartial as Solomon would be. I have a hard time when various members go out and lecture as to this or that fine point of law or even worse the social construct. Stick to what you do best. Maybe our investigative world requires constant dialogue but Supreme Courts and Grand Juries have to have some sort of non disclosure. 

People, I am trying to be positive and optimistic. I believe that vast majority of all of us are both decent and true of heart. I despise the politician in the global sense. The con, the maneuverer, the underhanded and the slime. That’s not being moralistic but stating the case for a group of us that hope that truth, honor and the American Way will win out. Sounds like an old Superman lead in. It is! I plagiarized! String me up!

How can we bring us back to a point that is not decrepit and broken? How can we make our voices heard? Not so long ago a guy vowed to clean up the swamp. I think he made it worse. I don’t see anybody out there that is our hope…at the moment!

My kids are somewhat disillusioned. They have brought up more than once we need a third party.

Not spoilers but a real choice. The wags say no way. Maybe that is why we are in this predicament? They have called the shots. Are we that impotent? I hope not?

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Researchers have found that anger motivates people to engage more than any other emotion, and candidates have found over the years that if they’re willing to sling mud in ads, their supporters are more willing to show up at the polls.

The House of Representatives has averaged 146.7 “legislative days” a year since 2001, according to records kept. That’s about one day of work every two and a half days. The Senate, on the other hand, was in session an average of 165 days a year over the same time period

There are 20 standing committees in the House and 16 in the Senate. There are five special committees in each chamber. These can have 50 or more in committee staff. And they didn’t want the Donald to build a wall. Yikes!

We all have dreams or at least I hope we do. Aspirations, fantasies, imaginations..something that takes us out of our everyday life. We all want to do better and for some to be a better person. A better golfer, parent, spouse or maybe just a better citizen of this big blue orb we live on. 

If I dream I have optimism. There can be a new and improved TTG out there somewhere, I just have to find it. It’s odd because I have a pretty good life. I don’t really want for anything. Am I being a pig at the table of life? I guess the answer to that is what you wish for?

Looking at the material side, the divine Miss K and my life has really changed. Over time we have had some pretty nice houses. I imagine it was somewhat important what car we drove, what club we belonged to and what booze we served.( I still like Johnnie Walker Black.)  Now my golf shirts are old and my blue blazer has seen better days but it doesn’t rise to the definition of crisis. 

That is not true for others and I get it. I hope couples still want to get married, have kids and move into bigger digs.If you live in public housing project, or in a run down part of town you want to get out not only for a better life but maybe just life itself. Defining those parameters are the most important part. 

I have always believed if you aim high, you hit high. Yet today for many this is all so out of reach. And for many the lure of lotteries or on line betting becomes a bottomless hole that you cannot get out of. And of course  as businesses and even  government we play to that weakness in so many ways. It is not only tragic but sick. Would that it were not.  

Getting to the personal side I am intrigued by so much in our world today. We have in so many ways an unachievable existence although we try and try. Role models are the rich and famous. Look at the Kardashians. They created this highly lucrative persona out of nothing. It is smoke and mirrors. Hell man,I could do that! Or so they think. 

Young people are making it big. Whether it is high tech, financial markets, entertainment or some other fast growing industry they are succeeding to unfathomable degrees.

This is not to throw cold water on that, but to add some degree of practicality. This joy ride is unsustainable or unachievable for the masses. We have created such unreal expectations that you feel like a loser if you don’t hit it that big.   This creates a dilemma for me to ponder and try to solve. Believe me I am not even close. 

There is another side to this whole line of thinking. The difference between optimism and stupidity. We adopt a sense of the Lord will provide or don’t worry things will work out for the best. That is admirable but it doesn’t pay the bills. A smart person enjoys the good times but plans for the downside. What is your plan B ? Many dreamers don’t think that far. The crash hurts more than ever. 

The line between success and failure is often a fine one. Are we equipped to handle it? Our educational system has made its intent to be a safe and nurturing place. I guess you could broaden that to include adolescence and young adulthood. There was a well respected chemistry professor at NYU who was fired after complaints from 85 of 350 students about the class being too hard. In their petition, students said that “a class with such a high percentage of withdrawals and low grades has failed to make students’ learning and well-being a priority.” Yikes!

Some dream of stability and others of revolution. That clash spells polarization. The common thread of democracy, civility and yes morality of a sort is under fire. One man’s fantasy is another one’s nightmare. Change is part of life but it seems a portion of our society wants to throw everything out and start over. Every last vestige of the country’s history and methodology is suspect. Others want to be back in time. The good old days.  These dreams are clashing and clashing big time. 

My kids have been very much involved in their schools through various forms of PTA groups. The common thread is the teachers having to wade through countless complaints and accusations from parents that their son or daughter is going to be a total failure if they don’t get B or better. How will these kids handle any bit of criticism or downside in the game of life? This is indeed a dream that probably won’t come true. 

My dream is that we survive and I believe we will. My dream is we all come to our senses. We are torn between so many countermeasures and basic philosophies. We want a forward thinking world but it can’t be based on fantasies. We want to foster creativity but we can’t have a society that caters to every need and whim. 

I believe it starts with education both at home and in our schools. Basic discipline and decency towards one another. Puberty demands structure but not a stifling of the spirit. Experiments are part of life but taken too far you find a wandering and chaotic mosaic. Look at your life and do you find excesses of all sorts to be your paradigm? BOTH LEFT AND RGHT!!

I dream that each and everyone of us take a long look in the mirror. No smug looks. No vitriol unleashed. Just a honest look at ourselves and where we ought to be in a communal and interdependent world. I know I have lot of work to do. I only hope that dream I am chasing is not sheer fantasy. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Dream:noun

1.a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.

2.a state of mind in which someone is or seems to be unaware of their immediate surroundings.

3.a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.

4.an unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy.

5.a person or thing perceived as wonderful or perfect.

I think Webster hit the nail on the head

People ages 65 to 74 spent the most on lottery tickets and pari-mutuels (betting pools), spending an average of $132.43. This is almost twice as much, or even more, than the amount spent by any of the other age groups.

Households with incomes in the fourth 20 percent spent the most on lottery tickets and pooled betting, spending an average of $94.72  per quarterThe next big spenders were households with incomes in the second 20 percent spending an average of $81.98.

Way back when I attended 8th grade at St Mary’s, class was held in the basement of the church and we totaled 54 students. We had one nun and rolling green blackboard. We all passed our NY State Regents exams in English,Math and History. How the hell did that happen?