I was amused this week to see the government wants to control the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. Bully for it and they even got the tobacco companies on board. Suspicious me says maybe the latter will be able to sell more because they are now “Low Nicotine.” There are still three hundred kids who start smoking every day. Be careful what you wish for.

It is actually part of a larger argument as to the scope of government regulations or lack thereof. Right now it is legal to buy alcoholic beverages without any warning labels except for pregnant women. Of course I love my red or scotch but binge drinking cost our country $250 BILLION last year in lost productivity, medical treatments, criminal justice and accidents. Binge drinking is over four drinks in one sitting for a woman and five for a man. 88,000 people die every year from its ill effects.It is the number one cause of domestic violence.But it is deemed okay. Drink responsibly.

States and municipalities are freaking out about the opioid crisis. EMT’s and emergency rooms are being pushed to the limit with overdosing. Sometimes they will revive a person five or six times over a short period of weeks and months. I think I have mentioned to you that three times in the last two years I have been “encouraged” to take oxycontin after a medical procedure. I appreciate they feel my pain but that was nuts. I could have filled the prescriptions and done who knows what with it. No one told me there was good chance I would become a zombie after a few weeks of ingesting.

Sexual addiction is what they call a process not a substance. It is incredible when they find teachers, coaches, business people et alia cruising the internet looking for porn of every type. At home or at work. Name your poison. Child pornography is beyond detestable but it all seems like our dirty little secret. Every second 28,258 users are watching pornography on the internet. Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography on the internet. 40 million American people regularly visit porn sites. 35% of all internet downloads are related to pornography. Come on TTG, boys will be boys.Oh yeah! One third of porn viewers are women!

Addiction is simply enjoying a substance or an activity that becomes so pleasurable that you can’t carry on your normal daily activities without it being constantly on your mind. It can be heroin, cocaine, alcohol, sex or even shopping. This can ruin jobs, families and do I dare say a country. I will not get into all the science because I am not qualified but there is a very distinct culture that is growing that revels in excess and sees no wrong in it. As it becomes more acceptable and mainstream I am probably a jerk for even bringing it to the fore. The Irish would say Uncle Joe is not a drunk even though you have never seen him sober. He just has the “weakness”.

There is a reason why we are so overweight as a country and the main culprit is sugar. Now if you want to be fat that is fine with me but the end result is that you will develop diabetes and a variety of other ailments that we, and I mean you and me, are going to be paying for throughout our lives. We average 19 teaspoons a day as a country. But this is not just going in your coffee. It is in almost in everything we eat. it is baked in with a wonderful ingredient called corn syrup. It goes in bread, beverages, yogurt, salad dressing, even nutrition bars.

Now for the good part. No, there are not warning labels on sugar or high fructose corn syrups. As a government we actually subsidize their production. Sugar has a guaranteed price level. Corn is similarly inflated by the Energy Act of 2005 stating that there will be ethanol added to gasoline. That ethanol is derived from that stuff that grows as high as an elephants eye. Instead of deterring its use we are encouraging it. Got to get those farm votes.

I am not a dry or a vegan but this is one of these things we really have to sit down and take a long look at for its far reaching implications. When we have a “can you top this ?“ society we are finding more and more ways to satisfy our pleasures without absolutely no regard the outcomes. We don’t know how to say no to ourselves and our kids. I want it and I want it now. Over time this attitude becomes part of our culture.

I guess I find it fascinating the we are such a reactive vs proactive society. Oh oh, we have got a problem. Then we put all we can into treatment when we could have avoided so much by addressing the problem itself. There are a lot of people addicted to credit cards and shopping. They pay anywhere from 15% to 25% in annual interest. Some never dig out of the rut yet our banks derive tremendous profits from peddling the plastic and the desperation. Shouldn’t there be someone saying NO.

Abstinence sucks. I am not advocating becoming a recluse or a monk donning a hair shirt. I am saying we have to learn a stupid thing called responsibility or better yet self control. In the guise of freedom we have told people they can do anything they want and we will pick up the pieces after them. This is not sustainable from a social as well as financial point of view. I really think we should put a warning on everything the government does. “Dealing With This Entity Could be Injurious to Your Mental and Physical Health” That would be great, but we all ignore most warnings anyway.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Overall spending on illegal substances remained consistent at roughly $100 billion per year over the decade from 200-2010 Over the same time period, the U.S. government spent between $40 billion and $50 billion each year fighting the war on drugs. Despite these efforts, Americans’ spending levels on illegal drugs stayed more or less the same.

Drug Food Chain: Doctors, pharmacies, patients on the legal side. Patients, dealers, pushers, users on the illegal side. Drug abuse cuts across every economic and social landscape. Some of the underlying reasons are boredom, unemployment and lack of supervision. The dealers know how to build markets and we have no real way to stop them if everyone is complicit.

The word “addiction” is derived from a Latin term for “enslaved by” or “bound to.”Addiction exerts a long and powerful influence on the brain that manifests in three distinct ways: craving for the object of addiction, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences.Approximately 25 million Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol. There are more alcoholics than drug addicts.

Inpatient addiction treatment facilities can cost between $15,000- $30,000 per month. The overall impact on our economic well being is $450 BILION per annum as a result of alcohol and drug abuse.

Sorry I am a little late. This week has represented all ends of the spectrum. I have gone from 6% humidity in Denver to 90% humidity in Stuart, Florida. I noted to a friend that my brain must be getting soft because it does not bother me that much…so far. Kathy has arrived and of course my bachelor pad has been totally reorganized but it is great to be together again. The poor girl is doomed .

I have spent part of my first days getting lost…on purpose. I want to really know this area. The nooks and the crannies. The good and the bad. We live in a gated community but it doesn’t feel like one. The 30% who are year round residents, like it here versus just another alternative. While playing golf or having a beer afterwards, there is an easy rapport that doesn’t put a lot of stock of who you are, what your past accomplishments are or who you know. It’s kind of like,”Hey let’s get to know each other on simple terms.” That’s a great way to start.

I drove along the beach road and found stately homes not far from double wides. The beaches don’t charge and you can go from town complexes that are pristine to those that are showing their years. There are totally private ones in name only. Just a little dirt parking lot cut in the dunes that holds maybe 20 cars. Pull up and walk 100 feet to the beach. There are people of all colors and sizes and no one seems to care. Can this be real?

Of course there is weird stuff in Florida. Not sure why but it attracts all kinds and maybe that is why we like it. You run into a long haired 70 year old who has maybe been in the sun too long all these years but he is harmless. You see on TV, kids that watched a disabled teen drown as they egged him on. Just as fast, a young man who was helping a motorist stripped to his skivvies and saved a fellow resident of this planet earth who was going down for the last time in a canal. Go figure.

I was working out this morning and I saw a fellow in an Army shirt on the treadmill next to me . Couldn’t resist saying, “Go Navy, Beat Army”. We immediately struck up a friendship. He was a two or three or whatever star General but no matter. The guy had gone to West Point and done forty years. Didn’t care what his rank was, he was a kindred spirit. In civilian life he has taken on a consulting/speaking gig. He is talking to major corporations about leadership which seemed fine until I really thought about it.

In all my corporate life I never had someone tell me about what it took to succeed and stand up. Whatever resources that I had to draw on whether it was in Viet Nam or Wall Street had been instilled in me over my early and later years. Parents, Jesuit training, OCS, Catholicism and I guess just some sort of morality and ethics all melded into this thing called TTG. It was nothing special but just the way we were all raised. Why is that obsolete or not good enough today?

Are we thinking too much or too little? Does life come at us so fast that we don’t have time to think about wrong and right? Has artificial intelligence and quant theory just given you points for showing up? Are we no longer responsible for life but just unwitting participants?

I am watching the tragedy of governing unfolding in front of us. The sparring and verbal jousting from our fearless leader have brought me to disgust and shame. I watched John McCain maybe getting up from his inevitable death bed, and standing with a fresh scar on his face. Yet his exhortations could not rouse some sort of fire in soulless politicians. The Dems are sitting on the sidelines throwing brickbats but when you come right down to it they are just as complicit in this travesty.

As my new found Army buddy and I chatted we kept edging closer and closer to the reality that what might be missing is public service. Not to try to recruit for the armed services but just to say we ALL should do something for our country. I raised that to a friend awhile back and he objected. Why should his son or daughter put a halt to their education and or career to serve in some stupid and non productive way? I ask you as amigos is there any ounce of veracity to his logic? Have we become that far removed from what has made us great?

Now this may all seem some deep stuff for a guy that is supposed to be playing golf and smoking cigars on the docks. Au contraire, mon ami. This is exactly why I hope i am here, far from the madding crowd. I want to engage with thoughtful people and not so much solve the problems of the world but just seek out those who care about where we are going .

A fool’s journey? Perhaps. But I have this nagging thought that the more and more we get wrapped up in our own little selves, the further we will get from really enjoying the friendship and camaraderie that begets compromise and progress. Not banal chatter but really getting to know one another. Finding out how to make this damn thing work. It’s been a marvelous first week here. I hope Kathy and I don’t lose our lust for life in whatever form it takes. It’s a great road ahead and we have a lot of living to do. Please join us.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Sorry, but none come to mind

We departed Denver at dawn last Friday. Two guys don’t need makeup or last minute packing. Just get up and go. Two thousand miles and a bunch of wonderful memories lay ahead. Going East is a bit of problem at that hour. Visors down and shades on as the sun begins its journey across the Western sky. My son Scott had his playlist with “On The Road Again” and “Good Day Sunshine” leading the way. Johnnie Cash stopped by and was interspersed with Fleetwood Mac and Dire Straits. He was yielding to his old man’s musical tastes.

We both had been relishing this trip. Not for the miles but the time to be spent together. Three years in London left too many voids to be filled. Thoughts to be pursued and a wonderful friendship to be put back on the front burner. As with my daughters it is sometimes hard to comprehend I have son who is 43 and is married with two adolescent boys. The transition is from father to close friend but how do I play it? Do I hold back and act mature? He’ll never buy that. Maybe I’ll just be me.

I asked a lot of questions and yes I DID listen. We covered the world from Trump to cyber attacks. We got deep into parenting and God. I tried to explain our methodology in raising him and his sisters. Not as an apologist but as a veteran. There is no book per se even though the Spock’s might tell you otherwise. You go with your gut.You look at what worked for you growing up and what didn’t. In flight adjustments so to speak.

There are only two real rules Kathy and I have lived by. Never, ever freak out when your kids tell you something. If you do, they will never reveal anything to you again. When they leave the room you can look at each other and say, “Did we just hear that?” But somehow it all works out. The other piece is roots and wings. We love our kids and want them to be part of our lives…if they choose to. No guilt trips but always a safe place to call home. Yet that gets thrown askew today from kids that don’t leave home or even if they do their problems become yours. It is not a matter of being fair but of being responsible.

As Scott talked on it became more evident what a truly wonderful young man he is. Good thinking going on there and a good citizen of the world to boot. I don’t say that to brag but to just have a lot of respect for him and how he handles things. When I have that same opportunity with my girls I know the outcome will be the same but in a totally different way and that is beyond cool. I guess that is why I have such an affinity for young people. They just have great ideas and perspectives.

We agreed that the future was perilous in so many ways from the environment to our financial follies. That is not as two worry worts but pragmatists. Pension liabilities and entitlements will bring us down if we don’t get our act in gear. Scott was an environmental engineering major at Notre Dame. He understands the pluses and minuses of climatology. I felt like I was in class as he told me of the different land masses and how they were formed. Did you know Colorado was completely covered by water and the red hills are remnants of beaches where the aqua receded over millions of years? I didn’t.

We covered that two thousand miles in two days. We got used to a NASCAR type pit stop with one pumping the gas and the other hitting the head. By the time I get to Nashville or wherever was our song with apologies to Glenn Cambell. We saw all sorts of idiocy in neighboring cars. Many were texting or reading while driving. One woman was putting on makeup doing 80mph. Of course there were the left lane Louies who were doing the exact speed limit and you were not going to move them. Such is the open road.

On our last night here at Harbor Ridge we had an especially neat discussion while sitting on the dock with a drink and of course a cigar for TTG. The water has a way of getting to your depths. I admitted mistakes and faults not to cleanse my soul but to let him know things don’t always go according to plan. Best laid plans of mice and men. Kath and I have had a wonderful life with pratfalls and pitfalls but if you keep your sense of humor and your wits about you it all works out in the end.

Enough of my prattle. I just wanted to tell you mostly of how wonderful it is to get close to those you love and let them do the same to you. We had a marvelous trip and visit and I can’t wait to do the same with my girls. Well, maybe not the NASCAR part. But don’t waste time or opportunities. Don’t look back and think if only. Pick up the phone or make a visit. Today we only think busy. Do it before it is too late. Realize just what you have.

As always
Ted The great

Factoids:

Six people a day die from distracted driving. It could be you texting or someone else. What an incredible waste of life.

Many of you expressed frustration with me for not presenting a solution to our healthcare problem. I do not want to dictate but I will give you some hints as to my thinking.

The amount of fraud is enormous. Over $80 billion for Medicare alone. The bizarre part is they are using your and my Medicare numbers. Set up a whole group of investigators to get the bad guys…and girls. One time I talked with the  Inspector General of HHS and asked him why he didn’t have more investigators? He said he could demonstrate a 14 to 1 ROI but Congress would not let him hire more people.  Give the consumer an incentive to report and receive a portion of the monies retrieved.

2. Speaking of incentives let’s establish a base line for people with regard to Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index(BMI) and Blood Sugar. If you decrease your numbers and thus reduce your risk you get a reduction in your insurance premiums. Your call.

3.Repeal the section of Medicare relating to the banning of bidding out drugs. The VA pays one half what Medicare for the same medicines. Fini! No More!

4.Severely limit the use of emergency rooms for everyday illnesses. If your problem is deemed non emergency then you pay the bill. We are not limiting acute care but using other outlets to treat colds and sore throats than these astronomical billing machines.

5.Put money into telemedicine and the use of nurse practitioners for routine procedures. I have used them myself both at the VA and the University of Colorado and they have been more than adequate. In the long run they save a boatload of money.

6. FEHB Federal Employees Health Benefits and FERS Federal Employees Retirement System are comprehensive health and retirement programs for federal employees. I would immediately make this system which covers Congress et alia, either open to the rest of the populace or that the feds become part of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. We should not have two systems. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. At least that should get their attention.

How is that for openers?

Since I have nothing else to do today I thought I would cogitate on immigration, tax reform, infrastructure, entitlements, education and of course healthcare. Figure I better do it because Congress is fast approaching its summer recess which has followed on very quickly from their 4th of July recess. First things first, TTG. Of course we are spending most of our time skewering Trump and Co, which although warranted does not leap to the top of my list.

I hope healthcare is at least the second most important thing on the agenda. Just trying to understand all the pieces is setting me up for a visit to the ER with a big dose of angina. There are three moving parts. The patient, and that be you and me. The provider, consisting of the hospitals, docs, drug companies and medical device emporiums. Lastly is the money in the operation which consists of the government, insurances companies and the poor schmuck with none of the above. Each one plays a part and must be put to blame for our current state of affairs.

I find it interesting that all of the current conversation revolves around how are we going to pay for all of this? Not one word about why it cost so much? The increases can be 5-10% per annum and no one bats an eye. I will still hold out until my dying day that there is a finite amount of money we can throw at our health but people seem relatively calm about 18% of our GDP going into this trough. That is $10,000 for every man, woman and child.

We have all been given something and nobody wants that taken away or minimized. As patients we are used to service and right now. Ergo the overuse of the most expensive form of medicine, the ER. It has its place but we use it as our local doctor. Thousands of dollars? Not a problem when you are insured or even better, indigent. The hospitals even have billboards touting how short your wait time is.

Continuing on if you need a hip replacement we can get you one with no more than two week’s to a month’s wait time. The medical device company is constantly improving their product and we all want the latest and greatest. When it is done the pain is unbearable so there is a plethora of goodies to ease the agony. Then you become addicted and that creates a whole new round of treatment. Along the way you need physical therapy and followup care. And all this is until the next body part fails.

Meanwhile that non profit hospital group has to compete with the those mercenary for profits cross town so they do all they can to attract top notch practitioners. That will cost money for staff, administration and equipment. Lo and behold a relatively small metro area soon has multiple institutions that claim the best oncology, cardiac care, stroke treatment, and ob/gyn that money can buy. That redundancy causes further competition that results in redecorating birthing suites and providing valet parking to distinguish themselves.

I am capitalist at heart but the reason I believe we have gone off the rails for several decades is by making healing people a money making operation. MD’s have become specialists and by doing so you see five or six instead of the one General Practitioner or Internist. You don’t go to one hospital but several in or outpatient facilities related to your particular ailment.The hospital has an expensive MRI machine so we have to run people through it. Care is obviously better but at what cost?

Whole industries and municipal areas have grown up around this. The execs are compensated by stock options that soar as the drugs or devices they sell become an instant best seller. Take a look at the explosion in the pacemaker business when Medicare loosened its standards for care. You have a cold? You need a pacemaker. I am not singling them out because the number of unwarranted or misplaced treatments is a contagion throughout the halls of healing.

We spend almost $3.3 trillion a year and that is with a “T” on healing the sick. Almost ONE QUARTER of that is spent on just paperwork. If we went to a single payer system we could save $375 billion of that. We spend almost $350 billion a year on drugs and the only operation that bids them out is the VA. It is estimated that fraud alone costs us $275 billion across the entire healthcare spectrum with Medicare accounting for $100 billion of that.

This is a mess beyond comprehension. To think the rocket scientists in DC can come to the rescue is a fairy tale. The Dems had eight years to fix Obamacare and did nothing. The GOP has had eight years to come up with an alternative and is running around in circles. Everything is so rampant with interest groups you don’t know who is on which side.

Frankly it starts with you and me. For starters we should question the necessity of this treatment or that. If we had a copay on every test performed do you think we would want every last one or at least question them? We pay $200 billion per annum in unnecessary testing. I will call us all out on taking better care of ourselves. Eating right and getting some exercise. Don’t just show up at the clinic door after abusing your body for twenty or thirty years and say, “Heal me.”

I am pissed off. As I have said before, I will probably sneak out the door but what are we leaving our kids and grandkids with? The six topics I mentioned at the beginning of my epistle are not nice to do things but incredibly vital to our success as a nation and a world. Yet the village idiots can’t wait to take planes home on Wednesday and most of the summer off. We shrug our shoulders and say what can I do? Please tell me it is not that hopeless.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

5% of the population accounts for almost 50% of the nation’s cost for healthcare. In one of the absurdities of life, healthy people spend more on healthcare in their lifetimes because they live longer than obese people or smokers.

I

Medicare and its beneficiaries spent $103 billion on pharmaceuticals in 2013.The data show that 14 drugs cost the federal government over $1 billion apiece. Most of those drugs are used to treat chronic conditions that plague the elderly, including diabetes, depression, high cholesterol and blood pressure, dementia and asthma.The brand drug Nexium, used to treat heartburn, acid reflux and related stomach ailments, cost the most: $2.5 billion for 1.5 million Medicare patients, who filled 8 million prescriptions and refills. None of this was bid out.

The end of life costs are a bit of a myth when looked at in a short period of time. It is more appropriate to look at overall care which for the elderly entails sometimes many years of treatment for chronic diseases which begin to have a multiple effect. The most expensive diseases to treat per annum are:

1.HIV $25,000
2. Cancer $49,000
3. Transplant $51,000
4. Stroke $61,000
5 Hemophilia $62,000
6. Heart Attack including Cardiac Revascularization (Angioplasty with or without Stent) $72,000
7. Coronary Artery Disease $75,000
8. Neonate (premature baby) with extreme problems $101,000
9. End-Stage Renal Disease $173,000
10. Respiratory Failure on Ventilator $314,000

We are living longer and that care is one of the primary drivers of our exploding costs. My treatise is just an attempt to define things. My head is spinning with the amount of data but we have to start somewhere. Tell me where I am wrong. Let’s get the discussion going.

.

It’s 5:00AM here in the Mile High City and the sun is beginning to reveal its unclose view of Denver. I treasure this time of day because it is quiet and contemplative. As I look downtown and to the mountains beyond I realize I am in the final leg of a wonderful stop in this thing we call life. The insightful book, Passages, by Gaily Sheehy seems an apt description of where I am.

Colorado is a majestic place to live. We spent part of the weekend with friends in the Vail Valley. They have an idyllic home right on the Eagle River that I have spoken about previously. The snowmelt laden waters put you in a bit of a revery as they roar by. It is a marvelous place to take stock.

On Saturday I read a book my daughter Megan had given me, “Barking Up The Wrong Tree” by Eric Barker. There are far too many fantastic nuggets of insight to enumerate but suffice to say he parses our thoughts ranging from daydreaming to stark reality. Positives and negatives. Helps and hindrances. There are no magic bullets but it gets you to thinking in extraordinary ways. Most of all it demonstrated to me how much more there is to do and yes to learn.

I was watching PBS Nova on the origins of our earth. I was spellbound by the gradual unravelling of how this place came to be. Tectonic plates still grinding and palm frond fossils uncovered in Alaska showed our blue marble is ever morphing into something different from the original Pangea. Evolution of all sorts is part of our DNA. Education and questioning should never stop until the day we die.

I mentioned a few weeks ago about my 50th reunion at Georgetown. Beyond eyeballing who looked good and who looked not so good I had to recall what five decades had imparted not only on my life but the world. Then I realized we are but a dot in time when we talk of billions of years of history. Yet I am still responsible for my place, however minute. What have I done and what I have failed to do. A little borrowing from the Catholic Act of Confession. Mea culpa but very apropos.

You have to go with both sides of the ledger, assets and liabilities. My plus list is a lot shorter than the problem areas. I have a sense of other people which I guess can be called empathy. I do care about my fellow man and by extension my world. I have this crazy gift to be able to relate to people who are having a hard time. Whether it is homeless or hospice or maybe the mentally ill I just sort of do my thing. . I hope I am a decent friend and have been truly blessed by many of you in that light. As an amigo recently told me when we talk we are not guarded. Let it rip, warts and all.   I am indeed lucky.

I am enthusiastic about just about everything. I get too psyched up sometimes about the tiniest of things. Some call it energy and others deem it insanity. I become frustrated when others don’t share my interest level and all too often I have run into brick walls of disinterest or resistance to change. Then that fleeting concept all too often goes into my book,”100 Great Ideas I Haven’t Done Squat About”. I should be more dogged and dedicated.

I have to get better at so many things and I consider that a goal rather than self flagellation. First and foremost I have to listen better. I don’t have all the answers. I have to sit and observe more. I go off half cocked because I have this idea there is only so much time to get things done. I have a pretty good sense of when things are screwed up but I usually use dynamite rather than modeling clay when fashioning a solution. My son Scott and I are driving cross country next week. He has just finished a three year tour in London. It will be a great test of my ears rather than my vocal chords.

I really need work on being a husband, dad and Padge. With Kathy I have to understand it is not just me or her but us. Even after 46 years there is work to do and lessons to be learned. I was proud and yet startled when having a drink at my youngest daughter’s new condo in Vail. I looked at the surroundings, her husband and her children and in a crazy way said. “Holy shit, she is all grown up!” All of my kids have grown and done remarkable things in their own lives. Where have I been? Not exactly “Cat in the Cradle” but I need work.

I want to become a better writer. I had breakfast with a great friend and I told her I want to be more disciplined in my approach to writing. I have great fun writing Ted’s Head but I have to write for writing’s sake and explore new and different ways to do so. Don’t worry I won’t foist the great American novel on you and whatever I put on paper probably will never see the light of day. It is just a wonderful medium to process thoughts and bring some coherence to my zany existence.

I hope I have not bored you with this missive. I hope in my twists and turns and delving that I am not alone in thinking about where I am and what I want to be. Kathy says I think too much. I would hold out that as we put our lives on automatic and one day mindlessly blends into another we don’t think enough. The phrase du jour is “Living With Purpose”. I will just call it just stopping and realizing who we are and just maybe who we might want to be. That is a passage in its own right. See you on down the road.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Many thanks to those that responded to my “I Have the Deck” blog. There were a record number of responses.

The RAAM (Race Across America) is an insane bike ride that occurs every year. It goes from San Diego to Atlantic City and covers some 3000 miles. The cyclists accomplish this in 12 days. One fellow has won it five times often doing so in nine days. At the end he was hallucinating and crying. Crazy? Of course but what an effort.

Each person has an average of 60,000 thoughts a day! That’s one thought per second in every waking hour! Amazingly, 95 percent are the same thoughts repeated every day. On average, 80 percent of those habitual thoughts are negative. Unfortunately, our brains are hardwired to pay more attention to negative experiences than to positive ones. That is our survival instinct but how sad.
Merriam Webster Definition of success
1
obsolete :  outcome, result
2a :  degree or measure of succeeding
b :  favorable or desired outcome; also :  the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence
3:  one that succeeds

I don’t know about you but I would take issue with the above. It seems the definition leaves out the intangibles of self worth…..Still pondering the imponderables.

Last week’s collision of the USS Fitzgerald  near Yokosuka, Japan brought back a number of memories of Navy days. No, I was not involved in an unwanted crash at sea but it is undoubtedly the worst fate that can befall a captain of the line. The loss of seven sailors only exacerbated the sense of helplessness and failure for that poor chap. His career in the US Navy is over, plain and simple.

The will be boards of inquiry and perhaps a court martial of the guilty parties. This is not fun and games but serious business. Shipboard life can be tense or laid back given the surrounding areas and tactical situation but one must be always ready to take things from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds.

That destroyer probably had a crew’s compliment of 250 with 15 or so officers. They supervised everything from the propulsion systems to weaponry as well as the gear for detecting the enemy and taking appropriate action. All officers stand the “watch” except for the supply officer who is known as the “pork chop,” as one of his duties is keeping the mates well fed.

There are various watches throughout the ship from the engine room to combat information center to the bridge itself which is El Supremo in any given four hour period. There are six watches a day. The bridge is manned by an Officer of the Deck(OOD,) a Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD), a navigator, helmsman, lee helmsman and various lookouts. I go into this detail because it makes the tragedy above all the more maddening.

When I was aboard ship there were rudimentary devices by today’s standards that enabled one to know your position at any given moment. Today’s vessels must be chock a block with whiz bang devices that constantly spit out data in an almost instantaneous fashion. Somehow, some way, personnel dropped the ball in an extraordinary fashion. The waters they were in were extremely crowded shipping lanes. If you stared at your radar there were blips everywhere. Where were they going? What was their course and speed? Were they a danger?

On the Mid watch from 12:00 AM to 4:00 AM things can be quiet. At least 80% of the crew is sleeping soundly beneath you and in all actuality an officer who might be no more than 22 or 23 years of age is calling the shots. It is at the same time exciting but sobering to know that you are the man.

The Navy is steeped in tradition. There is a ceremony when the watch shifts on the fourth hour. If I came on duty, I arrived about 15 minutes before the appointed time. I ascertained the ship’s position and situation. All of the systems of the ship were reviewed in case there were items not quite up to snuff. You might have one of multiple radars off line for maintenance. A bilge pump might be acting up. All part of the picture.

When I felt I had the situation in hand I said “I am ready to relieve you” to the Officer of the Deck. He acknowledges and then I say, “I relieve you” and he replies, “I stand relieved”. That is a seminal moment both in lore and maritime law. I have authority only to be taken by the Captain or Executive Officer who at this time are sacked out below. I then announce, “This is Mr Kenny and I have the deck.” Various seamen report out loud and the reins are passed. Game on.

The whole nature of the collision depends on a number of factors that can be complex. The are international rules of the road that seem to have been violated. You pass port to port which is not what happened. But you are also beguiled by the fact you are supposed to maintain course and speed so that the opposing ship is not guessing what you are going to do. Then you have the meeting situation which is called, “in extremis” because you have to take rapid evasive maneuvers. Basically you give it hard right rudder and all ahead flank. If the other guy does the same you might avoid each other. Didn’t happen.

The last piece is the action of the OOD. If he has his wits about him, he has sensed the impending doom and has hit the intercom and announced. “Captain to the bridge” rather forcefully. The skipper would then take control and make his decision. That is why the buck stops there. No matter what is going on he is responsible. That’s what he gets paid for.

I bring all this up for two reasons. In this day and age I am amazed at how many chief execs of publicly held corporations are relieved for incompetence or impropriety and then receive the golden parachute. Market conditions or underlings so far down the chain are responsible and how was I to know? Mega millions are spent on their tenure and the same even if they go down in flames. Something doesn’t seem right.

The second is the nature of service to your country. Where else could a kid fresh out of college receive this type of training and responsibility? It was a combination that I will treasure forever. I truly feel badly for those that did not get this opportunity. For once in my life nobody cared who my daddy was or where I went to school. I could have been on a ship or a gun battery or in the cockpit of a supersonic jet. It teaches you a lot about yourself.

I was somewhat amused when I came back from Viet Nam after being Officer in Charge of a Swift Boat. I went to work on a trading desk and had to be trained on how to deal with customers. It was somewhat surreal to think a month or two before I was responsible 24/7 and now I had to just listen. Such is life but think about that when a current day vet comes looking for a job. He’s got a lot of living under his belt no matter how old he is.

As always
Ted The Great.

The Captain’s stateroom is right below the bridge. He can be up on the bridge in seconds. The commander of the Fitzgerald was medevaced with a head injury as the container ship rammed right into his stateroom. There is a good chance the OOD had not called him to the bridge.

Times have changed. Back in 1970 I and my fellow officers received a sum total of $4,000 pay for being OINCs of river gunboats for a year. I think that even included combat pay. Oh yes,I forgot it was tax exempt. Today a Ltjg makes around $4,000 per month with over two years of service. Still not a lot. Most services have one officer per 5 enlisted except for the Marines where it is 1officer for 8 grunts.

In 2015 there were 235 shipping accidents which ranged from collisions to sinking to groundings. Around 20% were due to unexpected meetings on the high seas. The same amount were attributed to putting ships on the rocks or sandbars. That will also affect your career.

Today 1/2% of our population is in the Armed forces. In WWII that was 12% but that was 80% of the males between 18-25 years of age. In the Viet Nam War approximately 8% of the draft pool was conscripted. Today well over 90% of our population has no connection to anyone in the armed services.

At the earlier part of the week I was struck by both the NBA championships and the Senate hearings on Jeff Sessions. Yesterday in Alexandria brought a whole new dimension to this saga we call life. Celebrities in oh so many ways. Some for better. Some for worse. We hold ourselves and our heroes to scrutiny, demanding, catcalling, praising and adulating. We are all bit players.

I am not a close follower of the NBA but for some reason these finals intrigued me. The Cavs and the Warriors were beyond talented and featured two superstars in LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Both played their hearts out but with different personas. Durant more of a quiet giant going about his business and Le Bron, the scowling chest pumping gladiator urging his team on. As I watched I wondered what drove them? Was it the winning or the limelight ?

Pan over to Capitol Hill. The Dems were licking their chops and the Republicans were building their defenses. The object was to discover the truth whatever that is. Was this just Kabuki theater or was there going to be a reasoned inquiry and objective conclusion? Then the press briefings with the combatants standing in lockstep before the dais with the lead singer flanked by the chorus behind saying, “Amen brother or sister.” More vaudeville than drama but theatrics nonetheless.

Where does this desire for notoriety come from? Is it just them or all of us? I will espouse that from birth we are taught to act out and please. Our parents compare us to other kids and tout our talents. “That’s my boy or girl” as they beam with pride and high five any one around. As a consequence it feels good to be the object of praise so we strut our stuff more and more.

Whether it is in the classroom, sports field or dance floor there are winners and losers. We constantly compare ourselves to one another. We get up in the morning and look in the mirror and decide whether or not we are looking good or there is a giant zit in the middle of our forehead and it will set the tone for our day. How does my golf swing look or does my house or car reflect my success in life? We are thespians in everything we do.

The distinction must be drawn between ego and pride. The latter is a feeling of pleasure and accomplishment. You worked your ass off and done good. You can look back and revel in that fact and you feel at ease even if you were not the eventual winner. Durant and James had to feel they left nothing in the bag. Defeat hurts but pride is the salve for that wound.

Ego is a little different. It says there is no one like me. I am the greatest and you better believe it and heap huzzahs and hosannas on me. The cheers and great press become addictive and you do not rest unless you have more and more of it. It is said pride gives a swollen heart and ego gives a swollen head.

Celebrities live this life 24/7. Ironically movie and rock stars crave their privacy while trying to please the fan base. Politicians demand respect and you have to pay to get their attention. High ranking execs constantly ask, “Do you know who I am?” whether in public or private. The true oxymoron is that these snits and petulance bespeak a whole lot of insecurity. I don’t feel too strong about me, ergo I am going to rag on you to make me feel better. Classic.

The tragedy is when we go beyond simple childishness and the game turns deadly. A guy doesn’t like Trump and that transfers to all Republicans. His mind is fed by vitriol and has the right to correct the wrongs of the world. It is not ideology but the sign of a very sick person. I would hold that as we see more and more of this lunacy people feel more brazen and think this is part of the mainstream of life. News reports and breathless ‘breaking coverage” makes the sicko giddy with the prospect of fame.

Throughout the theater of life some play as comedies and others as tragedies. The danger is not so much in outcomes but that we don’t feel we are part of the cast. We look on with disinterest or numbness as the killing of 4 or 5 at a UPS depot feels so far away. Today it was on page 10 and not even an article but a small insert in News of The Day. We laugh and chuckle at the comedienne carrying the severed head of the Donald. Not a fan of either but it is not funny.

The bottom line is the world is a stage. At times we are stars, other times the director and others  the spectators. The roles are interchangeable but each one carries its own gravitas. It is not on tape or digital photos. It’s all live and exciting to be a part of. We should not overplay our role but rather be part of the company. Share the applause and correct the bad reviews. The show is never ending and must go on. The curtain is rising. Break a leg!

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
None to speak of.

Georgetown asked me to write something of a bio for the reunion magazine. As I put words down I couldn’t help but be amazed at what has transpired over the past 50 years both personally and geopoliticially. You never understand your history until you pause and review. Some good and some bad but a wonderfully varied and downright interesting existence.

So much coalesced this weekend. As I saw people I had not seen in five decades there was wonderment. Some had not changed one iota. Some had changed for the worse and many for the better. Some had found incredible fortune and others had fallen on hard times both physically and financially.

We relived the hijinks of the 5th Copley dorm, our sophomore abode that was affectionately called the Animal Kingdom. Long ago a cohort decided to try his talents as a Motocross biker on our L shaped corridor. As he deftly maneuvered the 90 turn he missed and wiped out the statue of Our Lady who was watching over the troops but no more. Just one of many stunts to prove we were indeed Gentlemen of Georgetown.

The campus is packed tighter than a drum. Former ball fields and parking lots are chock a block with new dorms and classroom buildings. Not an inch to spare. Interestingly with its increased size there was more a sense of community than disparate pieces. Buildings were as much form as function. The local watering hole, the 1789, still held court for all as the only place to have that cold one midday. As I walked the streets, memories welled up and it was good fun. Nice to be young again.

The neighboring environs have not changed much. There was always a subtle sophistication of the brick sidewalks and cobbled streets but most of the stones are now gone. Wealthy politicians or whatever cohabited with the raucous students. As we walked by, cleaning people were doing their best to restore row houses to some form of presentablity. Sorry dad, the damage deposit will not be returned.

May and June are magnificent before the swelter of steamy summer days take hold. The students that were around didn’t look much different from us except for their habadashery and brains. Not sure I could get in the place now as they only accept 15% of applicants. They seemed pleasant and not arrogant. Sort of an aloofness to those around that probably comes with our new technology. Mainstays like Clyde’s and Dixie Liquors have not lost their panache.

As we said our good byes we knew most would not be back again. Out of 850 graduates there were 150 attendees and 150 who had passed on. I wonder if the other 500 ever gave a thought of coming back. Maybe like me there were unavoidable circumstances that kept them away? Such is life.

A wonderful buddy, Pete Sullivan from the Bay State had a bunch of us over for an after party. He and his wife Jean live at the famed Watergate and the festivities took place on the roof patio. It afforded a panoramic view of DC and therein my revery took another turn. The District is really a wonderful city with buildings and monuments from every vantage point. No comment about the denizens that make government their life’s work. There are many who have tried to make it a better place and yet so many who just want to suck at the teats of federal largesse. I wish we could brand the good guys and bad, at least for a reference point.

Sunday morning my roommate and his wife joined us for a visit to the Mall which can only remind one of a European city with its rich gardens. We stood at the Washington Monument where the four esplanades lead to the Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. Kind of like the good the bad and the ugly. We all felt it would be a wonderful DMZ for the Trumpster and pols to get together. You couldn’t leave until you figured this mess out.
The final trek was the most poignant. We went to the Viet Nam Memorial and then the WWII Memorial. Their dissimilarities were striking. The first is stark as the granite lists 58,000 poor souls whose lives were cut short in a faraway place called Indo China. The entryway is simple and the message was raw in that maybe this was something that never should have happened but we wanted to honor them somehow.

To the contrary our fight against Japan and Germany had an aura of celebration. Towering columns with wreaths represented every state in the union. Porticoes remembered Iwo Jima, the Philippines, Midway and Okinawa in the Pacific. Likewise the Atlantic heralded the defeat of Germany and the enormity of D Day. There are 4048 stars each representing 100 servicemen and women who died. 404,800 in all.

Both memorials feted the warrior. One told of us defending our homeland after Pearl Harbor. The other of perhaps a bogus crusade after the Tonkin Gulf confrontation. One was personal and the other ideological. I shudder to think of the resources we waste in defense not only in the US but the world in its entirety. We have this whole deterrence thing which I understand perfectly and agree with in principle. But just for moment think of its absurdity. We are armed to the hilt for a war that hopefully will never occur.

I am not a pacifist. We have to defend ourselves when attacked. Yet as a wartime vet I think I have a right to question the sanity of our wanderings in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will always wonder at what good we could do with the trillions we spend on firepower. It was probably apt I finished my reunion weekend on the Mall. As brothers in arms we all got back together again. Hoya Saxa!

As always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:

There are over 450 hotels in the DC area. Some for tourists but mostly for those that want to do business for the government. There are more than 750,000 in the area workforce with 1/3 of those employed by the government.

The Pentagon is 6.5 million square feet in size with about 3.7 million sf of office space. It is home to around 23,000 military and civilian personnel. There are 17.5 miles of corridors.The same person who oversaw the Manhattan Project supervised its construction.

About 23 million people visit our nation’s capital vs a little over 10 million for New York City. The most popular attractions are the Smithsonian and the Lincoln Memorial.

We watched three flights over the city of Marine One. It was said that one carried His Hairness to play golf with Peyton Manning. There are actually three to five helos that fly with the actual one carrying the President not marked in any way and the others acting as decoys. There are approximately 600 Marines that are involved i the air operations.

In Greek Hoya means “what” and Saxa means “Rocks” What Rocks!

A fellow reader of my “ I Love” blog a few weeks ago sent me the lyrics to George Strait’s classic, “I Hate Everything.” I was a bit put off at the reaction but this morning I reread the verses. More on that later. I consider myself extremely optimistic and upbeat but events of the last week or so are testing my mettle.

A sicko killed two men on a train because he did not like a young girl’s hijab and didn’t care for the two unsung heroes coming to her aid. We had people blowing themselves up in the UK and Afghanistan because they didn’t like ISIS being subject to derision and cruelty. Sadly poetic in that justice. Washington. The Donald. Need I say more. Liberals hate conservative and vice versa. Ditto, the rich and the poor. Is it really hate?

I started thinking about this while I covered my four miles. I forgot my headphones and had to cover the distance sans entertainment. I hate when I do that. So I was left to ponder and define this thing we call hate. It is an intense or passionate dislike for someone or something. I can’t stand you. My blood boils when I see this or that. I am seething inside and ready to lash out. Really? All because I cut you off on the road or said something you didn’t like?

I started thinking about levels of vitriol. Almost akin to the Richter scale. So a minor thought or inconvenience might be a 1 or a 2. Don’t really notice it. Next is irritation at 3 or 4. Can’t let it go immediately but it will pass shortly. Noticeable but no damage. Next is anger or the proverbial pissed off. This has staying power and those around you feel the tremors. Let’s go with 5 or 6. Then we get to the big daddy. This ain’t going away. It becomes the focus of your life. Sanity has now left the room and we are subject to rage and continuous grinding of our mental plates. Any where from 7 to 10 and you might even cause a tsunami.

As I thought about my daily wanderings I realized that I probably use the word hate a fair amount. I hate it when I get stuck in traffic. Or you are approaching a light with some doofus in front you going at a snail’s pace until the light turns yellow and he floors it. I hate to wait for elevators and slow golfers. I hate Wolf Blitzer, Sean Hannity, Nancy Pelosi, and Mitch McConnell with equanimity. I hate arrogance and at the same time timidity. I hate commercials and stupid shows.

Going back to my measurement of irritation how many of these do I really hate? Probably very few get above a 3.0. Truth be told my use of the word is probably more out of habit than actuality. But I still employ it for a variety of situations. I repeat it constantly. and then does somehow the essence become part of me. Could I possibly hate more than I love at least in theory? Ugh!

People and things bug us. If you are tapping your finger or constantly clearing your throat while I am trying to write you are getting to me. If you are insensitive to the world around you and show no understanding of the havoc you are wreaking you have gotten my attention. So maybe we dislike our world being put upon as if it is our personal sacred turf. You disagree with me ergo I am bent out of shape. You are not up to my standards and expectations. In other words you better toe MY mark and not yours. Interesting.

Let’s bring in cognitive therapy. It teaches you how to react to things in a different way. Your way of looking at things is creating a roadblock to anything near happiness. If you are hating most things or at least a good portion of them then you are not a carefree camper. Your mental images and predispositions drag you down. All of a sudden your life sucks. Sounds crazy but it happens. We are creatures of habit. The old half empty, half full glass thing.

In a totally bizarre way we have absolute control of our world. Everyday occurrences or interactions with people should be viewed as inanimate objects. It is not the actual thing but how we react to them that matters. I can do so in a plus, minus or ambivalent way. But it is not set in stone. Change is so incredibly difficult at times but within our reach.If you like being a pain in the ass then go for it. But if it really doesn’t fit then do something about it.

“I Hate Everything” is a Country and Western ballad of a man drinking in a bar and bemoaning how bad things are. As he drops another twenty to pay for his drunken stupor, a picture of his kids falls out of his wallet. Probably the first time he has looked at it in a while. It’s the first step of many to get him back. Who knows if he makes it but there is that element of hope. Might be that way for all of us.

As always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:

Ambivalence is a state where you are positively and negatively affected by someone or something. Sometimes described as love/hate or mixed emotions. The uncertainty is sometimes maddening.

When we love someone, we shut off the part of our brain that judges – a trait that, we hope, has led to more happiness than sorrow. When we hate someone, we leave the judgment part of our brain a’blazing.

The Montagues and Capulets, the Hatfields and Mccoys, Shiites and Sunnis, Jews and Palestinians are examples of family or religious feuds. The hatred is passed on from generation to generation and woe be tide the family member who does not carry it on.

To not hate one must understand and forgive. Realize what that person is going through and why they are the way they are. Change if you can but more importantly forgive or accept.

The times they are a changin’. I am going back to my 50th reunion at Georgetown next week. I have not been back in forty years. Probably a combination of things but I tend not to revisit the past. My rear view mirror is broken and I see no real reason to fix it. Don’t get me wrong, nostalgia and tradition are fun but I think we try too hard to bring back the old days. Things like they used to be. That just ain’t going to happen.

When we lived in Vail, the local school district was having a hard time keeping young teachers. The cost of residing in the Eagle Valley was not commensurate with their salary. I met with the superintendent to float a different look. The major cost of building is roads and utilities. Every school site already had water and electric and the easy access was a given. Every school has more than enough land, especially in the mountains.

I was also talking with modular home builders in Phoenix. They could do anything from condos to town homes to full fledged residences. What if we had just that? Apartments for the young scholars, townhouses for the intermediates and by jove a house for the principal a la prep schools back East. Everyone was psyched and yet I heard nothing. Then I got word they had taken down some beautiful trees by the river, leveled the lot and put in trailers. Not exactly what I had in mind but at least they were thinking.

We have western states with anywhere from 700,000 to a couple of million people. They adjoin each other. They all have state departments for highways etc. Every county has its own government, police, fire etc. Couldn’t there be some economies of scale? From planning to law enforcement to medicine isn’t there a more efficient way to accomplish things? Maintain the boundaries and of course representation but just lay out as if we were starting from scratch.

Our country is being ravaged by forest fires of all sorts. Jefferson County here in Colorado was particularly struck a few years back. The area lost over 350 homes. This week they signed a contract with a company that uses a converted 747 that can drop 19,000 pounds of fire retardant or water. If it works out shouldn’t we convert dozens of such planes from the boneyard in Arizona where a plethora of these behemoths are baking in the desert sun? Probably couldn’t meet government specs or something. I understand the FAA gave them an incredibly hard time in approving this one.

It’s not just gizmos and business ideas that should face the scrutiny of our national Shark Tank. Our approach to tax reform is archaic. We have been talking about this for decades. Education fits neatly into a discipline first used in the early 1900’s. We are in such a maelstrom of technological innovation and yet we are so woefully deficient in providing adequate employees for this culture.
Illegal immigration may be an ugly concept but it is what is keeping our country going in so many ways. Our birth rate will render the economy of the future listless and recessionary. We are getting older and yet we are not replenishing our workforce. I know it is against the law but maybe, just maybe the law has to be changed. We can stand on principle and get blown away in the process.

I don’t think we have this incarceration thing down pat by any stretch. People commit crimes. I get it. But is locking them away for ten, twenty, thirty years really productive? When they get out they can’t vote, drive a car or many other things we take for granted. Recidivism is at a high percentage. Do you think if we put a guy on the streets with twenty bucks and a bus ticket that he is going to make it?

Part of the problem with innovation is seeing a problem as a problem and not just business as usual. Sure we can find a new app to download tunes or play games but what about improving our everyday life? We have to say this or that doesn’t work as opposed to just shrugging our shoulders and saying, “It is what it is.” It doesn’t have to be that way. What does it take for us to get involved as opposed to closing our eyes in the hope that things will just go away?
Biases, prejudices and ingrained cultures are hard to break through. People get stuck in their ways. It is a comfort zone that feels like an old pair of slippers that we slide into every day. If it was good enough for our parents then it still has to be relevant and efficient. If we leave new ideas to the few we do so at our own peril. They become the dictators of our future. If you say let it be, then don’t bitch about it when it becomes fact. I just don’t understand why we all sit idly by.

I am going to go back and see a campus that is physically foreign to my memories. I will walk the lettered streets and decry the change as I am sure it will have become more effete.The studies more liberal and students more disaffected. That’s okay, I get it. But in many ways my lack of involvement should not retard my amazement but demonstrate to me that I could have had a say but chose not to.

And that is really my final thought. If you don’t like what you see, do something about it. It can be your neighborhood, school, church or current employer. To be meaningful change should arise from a consensus and we are currently not very good at that. Thinking outside of the box is both stimulating and beneficial. You might just have something cooking in that brain of yours whether young or old that can make the world a better place. I am going to do it myself. I hope you join me.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Think outside the box’ originated in the USA in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The “box” is considered rigid and forbidding for anyone to be outside of it. Inside is protection and outside is peril.

Change: Verb Make or become different. Synonyms: growing, dynamic, unstable Antonyms: stable, steady, fixed.

Creativity is intelligence having fun….Albert Einstein

Every child is an artist. The problem is how do we remain an artist when we grow up….Pablo Picasso

When nothing goes right, go left….Unknown

I have never let my schooling get in the way of my education…
MarkTwain