Last Friday I turned 70. My daughter Lindsey was kind enough to put a picture of me celebrating on Facebook and many of you responded. Thank you for the fact there were more thumbs up than down. I have discovered than it is almost impossible to look forward and backward in the same breath without tripping over yourself. Advanced age brings great wisdom.

We went to the Broadmoor with two of three offspring families for the weekend. We will do an encore in London with son Scott and company in 10 days. My mom used to say when we all got together, “Can you imagine that JJ and I started all this?” I think I get it now.

The kids were beyond funny staying at a big hotel for the first time. Sorry. For those who do not know, the Broadmoor in Colrado Springs is a beautifully updated version of a bygone era of luxury and class. A large lake with bridges and geese provided plenty of entertainment for 4-10 year olds. You couldn’t help but think of what this all must look like to these young wide eyes. They found hidden spots and nooks and crannies throughout. There was a library that could belong in any baronial manor and the oldest found their way up the book stacks on a movable ladder.

Daughter Lindsey gave me a digital picture frame loaded with pictures that really did go back 70 big ones. I don’t know where she found them but they were beyond fun. A lot of streams and bridges. I hope I didn’t burn too many of the latter. There were friends past and present. Some had died . Some had just faded away. The grandkids all marveled at the sight of Padge when he had hair. So did I.

As the pictures passed in the slide show you could almost feel the emotions of particular times. The security of a big house as a five year old. The uncertainty of a prep school in New York City or a college in DC. Be cool TTG. The world is your oyster but don’t blow it. The Navy provided a whole different sense. Sitting on a Swift Boat late at night in some God forsaken place 10,000 miles from home was not one’s idea of a road trip.

Then a new chapter with a wonderful wife and the tiny beginnings of a family. Careers, houses, station wagons and clubs. What more could you want? But then the wanderlust and adventure kicked in and we were off for the West. Seemed to suit us just fine and always called us back.

Time doesn’t tarry but roars as the years roll by. You look at your peers and say there is no way I look that old and gray. I put 19,000 steps on my Fitbit on Saturday as I tried to prove once again that I was Superman.Working out, golf, tennis and of course the victory cigar. I did this for my kids, grandkids and wife but most of all for me. Not to show off but to set the tone for the who knows how many years to come.

We drove back north to Denver on Sunday morning. It was a sparkling day and lot to think about. I25 may seem boring to some but to me it was a panoply of sights and thoughts. The Air Force Academy was a symbol of youth and leadership and at the same the war machine I have learned to detest. Mesa and buttes under Monument Hill hid farms and those anonymous families that ply the land. A huge Burlington Northern train hauled gigantic vanes for wind farms, Dozens and dozens of them. Ironic these are the same rails that carry the coal trains out of Wyoming. To each his own.

Beyond birthdays I have had some truly touching and difficult meetings this week. At hospice yesterday I sat with a woman for almost three hours as she lay dying. I was incredulous at the human spirit as she fought to live and yet knowing the inevitable. Later I talked with a great friend who is battling cancer. Nothing special. Just talk. I heard from someone who has been estranged for over five years. We talked for an hour. Some things change and others never do. I had to put distance with another. I wish I was more tolerant.

I lit into our local bishop over what I considered to be some serious insensitivity and ignorance. Predictably he told me to buzz off with a “Sincerely yours in Christ.” C’est la guerre. I am working with some incredibly civic and energetic people who want to try to make Denver a better place to live. They amaze me. All in all, situation normal.

Strangely enough this curtain came down on Sunday while watching the Masters. Jordan Speith is one hell of a golfer but an even better human being at the ripe old age of 21. Must be his Jesuit training. I didn’t marvel at his score as much as his grace and maturity, His posse was his family. The groupies and pariahs could wait and maybe never appear. He was decent and wholesome in a world where every one wants to get a piece of you.Just a nice way to end things.

I am going to use that as my plan for the future. In spite of all the mayhem abroad and nominations at home there is a beautiful world out there. So much to do and see and most of to all learn. Thanks for reading and for your friendship one and all. It’s what keeps me going.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
I have been alive during the terms of 13 presidents and 7 popes. A half a dozen major wars and countless skirmishes. A good friend, Sue Rush told me at a cocktail party many years ago if I had married any other woman I would have burned through three wives by now. No doubt.
Our first house in 1972 cost $42,500. I went to bed the night before closing convinced no one would ever pay more for a house ever again. My dad bought a house from Bill Levitt himself in a luxury neighborhood in Manhasset , Long island in 1937 for $9,000. Levitt went on to build hundreds if not thousands of homes for GI’s coming home from the war in the late 1940’s.

Jordan Speith in not even three years on the tour has earned over $13,000,000. He will be 22 in July. His caddy has earned $375,000 in the last four weeks alone. Where did I go wrong?

The Broadmoor sits on 5,000 acres 60 miles south of Denver. It has over 800 rooms consisting of bedrooms, suites. brownstones, cottages, and ranch accommodations. The height above sea level is 6230 compared to 5280 for Denver. We always say going down to Colorado Springs but in actuality it is up.

It’s Easter, Passover or whatever your flavor of celebration of the season and it ain’t pretty. One can tiptoe through family, road rage, Congress, Europe, the Middle East and beyond to say we are not exactly singing out of the same hymnal…or Torah as the case may be. The older you get the more you look back at the way things used to be.

The Rite Of Spring always engenders pretty thoughts like daffodils or easter baskets and knowing that Opening Day is not far away. That is not saying yesteryear was always idyllic but I am struck by how many really earthshaking events occur today on a pretty regular basis. I always ask myself the question,”Is it chaos or growing pains?”

When you live in the Rockies the mountains are omnipresent. It may be sunny and mild in Denver but you can still see the snowcapped peaks in the distance. I can remember when we lived in Vail all you had to do was step outside your door and the landscape jumped out in front of you. You could take a hike and marvel at the thought that maybe no other human being had set foot here before.

I used to wonder to myself what those mountains thought. Over millennia they had seen just about everything from T Rexes to early settlers. People with incredible foresight and likewise immense folly had trouped through those valleys. Some had prospered and some had perished. Yet the continuity of rock and seashore endure. We are just travelers along the way.

As I approach the wonder age of a septuagenarian there is a part of me that says “Stop the world I want to get off”. Sure I could just put my feet up and chill. If I grew some hair and a stache I could be Don Ameche in Cocoon. How depressing. The world is a dynamic place and it is as satisfying as it is enigmatic. The challenge is to make it work.

Now everyone has the right way to pull this off. We seem pretty intent on spreading democracy throughout the world but the jury is still out as to its applicability everywhere. There are countries that will defy equal participation by their breadth of geography as well as multiple ethnicities. We got rid of Hussein but that created a vacuum that all manner of zealot wanted to fill. Egypt, Libya and Yemen got rid of the tyrants but maybe they weren’t the worst thing in the world at least in terms of stability. Putin’s Russia spans 10 time zones.

I have always been intrigued by Lee Kuan Yew who died last week. He appeared on the scene of a former British colony, Singapore and had nothing to work with but swampy slums. Even Indonesia cut them loose in the late 70’s and they were forced to fend for themselves. Educated at Cambridge Yew had a patrician accent and a vague idea of political science but he built and lorded over a peculiar brand of whatever. He was playing it by ear.

Slowly with a little chutzpah and a lot of resolve he created a miracle. He was dictatorial but benevolent. There were no guns nor chewing gum allowed. You don’t like it? Go somewhere else. And that crazy rag tag country grew to be the most successful nation per capita in the world. This wasn’t looking to the past because they had none. He and his subjects embraced change and innovation. They broke all the rules.

Every planner, MBA and political wizard was proven wrong. I get that same feeling today in so many areas. There was story in the Denver Post about a guy that is growing vegetables vertically in hydroponics two to three stories high. Weird arrays of pastel colored lights warm the plant to not only survive but thrive. Why didn’t I think of that?

In medicine we have a promising cancer therapy that is derived from the polio virus. There is an Israeli researcher who discovered that tissue from your nasal cavity can be grafted onto the spines of paralyzed people and they may regain sensation and perhaps walk some day. Are you kidding me?

Herein lies the rub. Let’s say I am a Republican or conservative if you will. I am a strict constructionist when it comes to the Constitution. I want less government and more defense. Free markets will conquer all. Not quite sure of all that. On the other hand if I am Democratic or liberal I think the government should provide for all. Bring up the downtrodden and all will be successful. Tax and spend beyond one’s means. It will all work out in the wash. Don’t think that is my mantra either. Still searching.

So with all this insanity going on everywhere what does a nice guy like me do? I have to learn that we as a country cannot control the world anymore. We can do pieces but not the whole magilla. That terrifies some but are we giving up power or making more nations responsible? Saudi Arabia feels deserted but is that really a bad thing? They seem like they want to step up to the plate. Ditto Europe and ditto the Far East.

Terrorism is here to stay. I don’t say we give into it but we realize that by virtue of everything from world trade in arms or the ability to harness the internet for all forms of evil it is just too easy to be in the bad guy business. Sadly there are going to be more young copilots that fly into mountains and whackos that are willing to blow themselves up in search of vestal virgins. That is life pure and simple.

Technology is both good and bad. It will drive you nuts and then save your life. Accept that fact. You can’t separate the wheat form the chaff. Just make sure there is more of one than the other.

Bottom line this a wild and wooly world. We will have to think on our feet and be open to all new things. Will it hurt? Depends on your outlook. You can embrace change and revel in it or you can let it scare the shit out of you. I am too old to worry and too dumb to be scared. I think I am just going to enjoy the ride and hope I don’t fall out.

As always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:
1 million domain names on the internet are reserved every month.At the end of 2012 there were 17 billion devices connected to the internet.

Apple, Microsoft, HP and Google all started in a garage.

Terrorism is actually quite rare in the West with 4.6 deaths per years since 2006.Over the last 20 years (which includes 9/11) average deaths from terrorism total 162 Americans per year.To put that in perspective, compare it to the 679,853 who die of heart disease each year, 52,823 who die of the pneumonia and the flu, and 17,961 who die of “falls.”

The pejorative connotations of the word terrorism can be summed up in the aphorism, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. This is exemplified when a group using irregular military methods is an ally of a state against a mutual enemy, but later falls out with the state and starts to use those methods against its former ally. This was too good. I plagiarized it.

The human mind and its maturation within each one of us has always intrigued me. A baby is born without predispositions, fears, or prejudices and is for the most part a pretty happy camper. It does not take too long for tendencies and personality traits to become manifest. They are shepherded or inhibited by the the actions of caregivers. I am sure the same is true whether it is homo sapiens or a lion cub.

Now fast forward to that wonderful age of puberty and beyond. Away from the womb and the nest you really have to find your way in the world. You are adjudged by athletic talent, book smarts and of course social acceptance or lack thereof. The is a wide gap between BMOC’s and dweebdom and you have to find your spot on the scale.

In our youth and beyond we adopt a series of defense mechanisms. They protect our psyche and present a prism through which we view the world. We tinker and fine tune so that we now have a consistent manner of looking at our surroundings that makes us comfortable. That grows into a habit and I guess we call that personality. I hesitate only in that today’s science says that persona is inbred or determined by DNA. I can’t buy that. I can’t surrender that we have no control over it.

What I think happens is we get comfortable in a soft pair of slippers. I may discover that if I am serious or even grouchy people will give me sway. Ditto a bully. If I am happy go lucky that doesn’t play well. People will think I am a pushover and even weak when actually the exact opposite might be true. Better to be a prick and let the world beware.

Moving right along we have now set some ground rules on how to operate. What’s more is we look for people of the same ilk. A club so to speak with its own set of initiation and membership rules. Misery loves company. Do you ever get in a conversation where every one is a grump? Partly cloudy not partly sunny. Obama sucks. Cruz is a whack job. Every word, email and news channel will back up their way of thinking. Makes no sense to screw up the world with alternative thinking. I’ll just sit here and wallow in it with my buddies.

In my newfound world of doctor’s offices misery is a joy to behold. Now there are people who are really hurting. I feel for them. Then there are those who know that if you are feeling chipper you ain’t going to get the attention. Moaning and groaning are strong suits. Fire back at your spouse. Sorry honey it’s just the pain is so bad. And watch everyone circle the wagons to ease your pain. I feel better already.

Now today’s media and government world have figured this out. You will not elect me if I tell you things are fine. I ask you how many New Americas and taking back Washington can we stand? But one election cycle after another has a new vision. This is the reason we don’t resolve issues like taxes and immigration.Wait until the next election. How are you going to grab a headline steering the good ship Tranquility that just tries to make decisions?

Speaking of the press if you don’t pillory Mitch and Boehner or Hilary and Obama you can’t be worth your salt as a beacon of journalistic excellence. There is an urgency and stridency to every news item from ISIS to a lost kitten. Open the Journal and there is nothing but anti Obama. Open the Times and they roast the GOP. Day in. Day out. Even if you are died in the wool doesn’t this get tiresome after a point?

I have told you of a battle with depression I had some 25 years ago. The most telling breakthrough of all my treatment was that we can change our whole way of looking at world not by gene therapy but by making a conscious effort to change our way of thinking. I and not you or others had the ability to change my outlook on life. It was startling. I had gotten myself into that pit but by tapping into a place in my mind I could get myself out.

Every day we are hit by events whether we are six or sixty. In their basest form they are nothing more than an elapse of time. It is like a lightning bolt passing through us and discharging somewhere into the ground. The residual effect is a thing called emotion. With every event we have the ability to react positively or negatively and that tends to be constant as a normal course of action. That in turn creates a predictable form of response that might be called a habit. The devil didn’t make you do it, you did.

We all want to think liberal or conservative. We crave to find our niche.Guidelines and borders. Looking at this crazy world we live in nothing could be worse. Whether it is in government or industry or world politics we have to understand our sphere is totally new and dynamic. We have to look at each situation not as an event where we can take plan A or B off the shelf but how can I look at this from a totally different perspective.

Maybe fearing the worse shields us from disappointment. If I bitch about the weather (especially those in the Northeast) then somehow that makes it more bearable. But it also robs us of possibilities. Sure life is bummer at times but if I can surmount the negative can’t I take some sort of pride in my resilience? Boston Strong and I Survived aren’t acquiescence but triumph.

Let’s attack our problems in the world and at home as challenges. What is the most practical way to combat ISIS or pot holes? Not the old hackneyed and predictable ways but a very tough but cool mountain to climb. And when you get to the top you can say I done good rather than we should have done this or that. I participated rather than sitting on the sidelines and carping. Now that feels good.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

It is estimated that pot holes cause $6.4 billion in damage to our vehicles annually. A pot hole cost $30-40 to fix. Couldn’t even hazard a guess how many gazillions are out there. We have sent people to the moon and beyond. We have created incredible technologies. Don’t you think over the years we would have figured out a way to deal with these buggers?

“It takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile, but it doesn’t take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.” Clever as this may seem it actually takes an equal number to frown or smile.

There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 million radical Muslims who want Sharia law and a new Caliphate. This is the prime recruiting ground for ISIS and Al Quaeda. This requires some serious out of the box thinking. Calling them the JV is probably not the smartest thing in the world.

We generate around 50,000 thoughts per day.The vast majority of them are pure nonsense. We often dwell in the past or the future, obsessing about mistakes we might have made, battling guilt, planning ahead or worrying. We are constantly drifting into fantasy, fiction and negativity. Yes it is sad but true that 70-80% of our thoughts are negative. Doesn’t have to be that way.

Well here we are again. As I mentioned last week I have not been goofing off but quite the contrary. Dealing with a bunch of different issues but most of all trying to steer the starship TTG upward to look at things from 30,000 feet. I am attempting to view current events dispassionately as moments in time without wringing out every bit of rancor and calamity as some of our esteemed pundits do.

It has been difficult to start writing again. Not because of writer’s block but rather a cornucopia of ideas and observations. I keep trying to refine all that mess into a few salient points but I am not sure of my progress. I keep looking for the silver bullet of cognizance that will help us all move forward in a positive and fulfilling way but alas it remains elusive.

I am struck by attitudes and two in particular. Let’s call the first a sense of survival. No matter what our lot in life we view the world as a tough place. If we have money and the good life we want to lock our selves neatly inside. See a heart wrenching story on TV or in the press and quietly say there but for the grace of God go I. Sorry to hear about your misfortune but I am a little busy right now.

If you don’t have it, making things work is a constant ordeal. Over 50% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. One misstep and you are done. Some deal with it and plod on. Some bitch and moan. I am a victim and the world should bail me out. Others just give up and succumb.

The commonality is this vision of success. For most it is defined by money and possessions. If you have them you are going to do everything in your power to keep them. There is never enough. If you don’t life is not only a struggle to survive but to demonstrate that you are worthwhile person. And both sides say, “you don’t have clue.” Distrust and rancor prevail no matter what is in your wallet. And that is a sad thing.

The other attitude is not so much one of optimism but blind faith. Some might call it denial. We tend to feel that somehow some way everything is going to be okay. As part of a daily regimen that is a good thing. As part of a long term strategy I am not sure that is in our best interest. We take things at face value without much question. For us old farts maybe that is just a technique to say let’s hope this thing doesn’t spring leak before we get out of here.

For the young generations of many names it is almost a disinterest. I am just going to keep on trucking. I don’t understand how this all works and I don’t have the time to read or study. I can’t really blame them. You watch government in stall mode or industry sacrificing everything in the name of share price and ambivalence seem the only sane way to operate.

Everyone seems to take the word of experts. I heard this from so and so and he or she really knows what they are talking about. From sports to the market to miracle cures we are beset by people you and I have never heard of but if they are in print or on TV it must be so. Dr. Phil, Dr Oz, Rolling Stone, Fox News, CNN, 60 Minutes, and now Brian Williams, all have come under scrutiny for less than factual expertise.

This may be a broad brush but I think our vaunted connectivity has had a debilitating rather than particularly positive role to play. We want everything fast and furious. Don’t bore me with details. A matter of morality or conscience? Just tell me what to do. You are hurting? You need help? Geez, I didn’t get that feeling in your last text. Why didn’t you speak up?

I think we have to get interested in our world and just as importantly in one another. We have got to see people as living and breathing organisms and not just a means to an end. How many of us really look at the world and say how can I help you? How can I make you better? How many of us just take the time to notice a fellow human being and even wonder how their life is going? This is not just a lofty goal but I really believe tantamount to our survival as a country and possibly a world.

The way we do this is a change of attitude. Not as difficult as it seems but it would take some work. Right now in your face is the national anthem. We need a consistent albeit positive message. We tell people to save for retirement but then the market goes down because consumer spending is off. Healthcare costs soar but we want our freedom to eat what we want and blow each others brains out with guns. We want to cut back on government spending but not for defense. And congress votes itself a raise every year. We want moral values but then take our 12 year old to a concert where the tickets are $600 and the bump and grind would make a stripper blush. As the old saying goes,”Me Thinks ye speak with forked tongue.”

A wonderful buddy of mine threw up his hands in disgust after reading one of my missives and said “Why can’t we all get along?” Well we can if we get serious and attack problems. But right now our DNA is soft, complicit and complacent. We are worrying about our own lives but not the motherland. Let someone else do it. I am too busy. Please tell me I’ve got it all wrong.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Pew Research has demonstrated that people are as conversant in public affairs as they were 30 years ago. This despite the vaunted Information Age. Rich more than poor. Men more than women. Old over young.

A study by Portland State University asked twelve questions regarding today’s news. 2% got all the answers right. 6% got no answers right. Only 42% got half right. Lower income and less educated people were up on local politics more than national. Of those that voted 25% were deemed LIC, lower information citizens. I think that means they voted with their heart rather than their heads.

Success is defined as the accomplishment of and aim or purpose. It seems the most successful are those that view this a dynamic process. You don’t “make it” but rather go on from there. Constantly questioning and creating and reaching out to your fellow man or woman yield more inner peace. Money may be a measure but does not assure it.

Your resume can and probably should be the most random document you own. Uncertainty breeds creativity.

The most trusted people in US? Actors and actresses: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock(she gets my vote) Denzel Washington and Meryll Streep. In the top ten are Bill and Melinda Gates and Alex Trabek. Nursing is the most trusted profession and politicians and used car salesmen the worst. .

My short break turned into a long one. Part laziness. Part vagaries of life. The day after Christmas I got the glorious news that I had prostate cancer. An unopened gift of sorts. Of course I was crestfallen. Not that I had the big C but that Superman was no longer invincible. The journey has gotten interesting.

In the true Jesuit tradition I took nothing for granted and began doing research. Books and internet articles provided me with the basics. This disease is common among those my age. The fact I was in good shape worked against me. The implied longevity of my life dictated that I do something about it, not ignore it.

I got to meet a bunch of interesting people in the medical profession. Each MD had a little different slant on things and that was just fine. One even noted that it was a matter of personality. I could watch and wait, zap it or just remove it so there were no questions. Which one do you think I picked?

After a PET scan and an MRI I got surgery a week and a half ago. I wasn’t nervous or upset. I just wanted to get it over with. I mention all this not as an “organ recital” buy rather a cause for wonder. Throughout everything I had my wits about me and wanted to absorb the experience.

I had never been in a hospital as a patient before and the University of Colorado Med Center is a great place to lose one’s virginity. The entire complex is less than ten years old. They started from scratch and did not have to make do. When we arrived at admissions at 5:30 AM I was astounded to see a dozen or so fellow travelers already there. As it turns out this place has 24 operating rooms and is building 6 more. Cut down again. They didn’t care if I was Ted The Great. Just start the process Mr. Kenny and keep it moving.

After getting checked in I was escorted back to pre op by a very pleasant nurse. It was one of many handoffs throughout the day. Each one was beyond caring. I said please and thank you to everyone but moreover wanted to know something about them. Married or single? Kids? From Colorado or elsewhere? They seemed to be surprised by my queries and were only too happy to fill in blanks. Very cool.

I met the whole team from docs to nurses and each one described what they were going to do in great detail. Beth was our OR nurse and like a good drill sergeant kept everyone in line. At precisely 7:20AM (and I mean to the second) the good ship lollipop was wending its way to OR10.

It wasn’t like being wheeled through an episode of ER and of course I was yukking it up with all involved. I peered around at every detail and was surprised how compact it was. There were tons of vials and dials but they all seemed to fit perfectly. The table was definitely a twin and no more. They actually tied my legs down which I of course found offensive. How is guy going to put the moves on nurses when I was thus constrained?

The most incredible part of the whole thing was that it was all going to be robotic. My brilliant 41 year old surgeon never laid a hand on me. They put the mask over my mouth and for the next 3 1/2 hours TTG was blissfully in dreamland while the gang inserted about one wrench short of a tool chest in my belly to extract the interloper. Mission accomplished.

A couple of hours after that Lazarus awakened but I was not jumping off the gurney just yet. Tubes and wires adorned my torso and everyone was asking if I was okay. Why wouldn’t I be with Kathy and all these beautiful women poking and prodding? I kind of just laid there and was wondering what the hell had just happened? You listen for beeps and alarms and just hope it is not you. A few patients were pains in the ass but most were just trying to grin and bear it.

It was almost like a prison where you have never met the guy or gal in the next cell but you started to conjure up what they looked like and where were they from. I probable should have passed notes. Some had come from 4-6 hours away because our rural nature as a state demands it. One was from Hawaii. I have no idea how that happened.

I continued my questioning and this new set of staff was more than willing to spill their guts. It was wonderful. One Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) was coming to the end of a twelve hours shift. from 7:00PM to 7:00 AM I said “I bet you are going home to get some sleep?” Not so. She was going to class at the Denver School of Nursing at 9:15AM. Talk about a work ethic. I guess it was almost the same for someone to go home and take care of unruly toddlers.

Well enough of this. I hope you don’t mind that this is the way I wend back into your lives. I had to have a cover story for all my goofing off. I have missed you guys and gals. I have a bunch of things to talk over with you. I have watched this crazy world we live in for some common threads. Some good. Some bad. But we will give them full air together.

I will try to stick with Tuesdays but don’t bank on it. I will also attempt to put pen to pad weekly but the times may dictate more or less frequently. In other words I will be random with a plan if that makes sense. I have been thinking a lot and I hope to prod you to do the same once again. It’s a gorgeous day here in Denver and the view from Unit #509 is glorious. You all look just fine.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Surgeons in the 1800’s were both healers and barbers. They used the same utensils for both. Today we have general and specialty surgeons. A surgeon today might perform up to 500 operations per year. The male surgeon performs up to 30% more than the female. Why? The male is trusted more. Incredible.

Intuitive Surgical manufactures the Da Vinci Robotic surgical system. There are over 3200 installed thought the world varying from $500,000- $3.0 million per unit. Last year there were more than 600,000 procedures on their systems. The stock came public for around $5 in 2000 and currently trades under symbol ISRG. Last quote was $492.59.

Minimally invasive surgery is being performed on urological, cardio, breast cancer, hysterectomies et al. They simply use smaller more precise tools and as a result your recovery times and complications are quicker.

The head OR nurse can make in excess of $100k per annum depending on location. The median salary for a general surgeon is $190,000. For a specialty surgeon it is $396,000. These may or may not seem high but consider the cost of medicine and doctor’s salaries are not the primary villains.

In the US we spend more than any other country in the world on healthcare. On the order of 40% higher than countries like Canada, UK, Denmark, Sweden. Yet our life expectancy of 78 pales to their 82-83 years.

This is #200 of Ted’s Head. That encompasses four years more or less of pondering. I have put out a lot of verbiage and I hope that some of it has made sense. I thank you all for reading and commenting but most of all just thinking. It’s what it is all about.

I have gone back through several topics I have written on to see if there aren’t some common threads among them. Partially to see if I am consistent in my words and moreover to ascertain if I have become redundant and monotone. Ergo boring. The jury is still out on this end.

Some of my vexations? Leadership or lack thereof.Whether it is business, government or church our management as a whole has been lackluster in its avoidance of doing the right thing. Everything is couched by money, power or ego.Consequential is the inability or lack of desire of people to get involved and speak out for what should mean so much to them. Wealth and power bugs me not by their very existence but for the arrogance and callousness they engender. Lastly is the victim. We are by our own hand responsible for what goes on in our lives. Every thing good or bad that happens is a result of a decision you made. No one else is to blame.

I hate what is going on with cops today. Just imagine if your whole day was spent with the dregs of society. Petty thieves or bank robbers. Drug lords or pimps. The most incredible domestic disputes that are blown up even moreso by booze or hallucinogenics.You are lied to constantly. Sometimes you are set up and ambushed. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t. Not once in a while but constantly throughout too long a shift.Then a mayor gets voted in by piggy backing on populism and rabble rousing. That sucks.

I hate what is going on with blacks today. A ten to twelve year old kid did not ask to brought into such a broken world. Dad’s gone and Mom lives with a boyfriend who beats you. Or else she is working two or three jobs and the TV is the babysitter. Don’t sit close to the window or your ass may get shot up by a drive by. And the Sharptons and the Jacksons milk it for all it is worth rather than preaching to root out the culture of irresponsibility that perpetuates their meaning. And then some jerk tells me to pick myself up and make my way in life without a tinge of understanding. Really?

I love people with soul and a heart. There was a cop here in Denver who went to an emergency call for an old woman. He noticed the yard was in bad disrepair. He and his wife came back off hours and cut the lawn and trimmed the bushes.On another call a little boy was choking. Tragically he died and the father had no money. The attending cop paid for the funeral. Why? Some kids had bought he and his partner lunch a few months back.He thought it was only fair. There was a black kid in Seattle being hugged by a motorcycle cop. But I am sure you have heard all those stories.

I adore people who can cheer and sing. I think the choir in our church is fabulous because they offer a prayer that is so sweet but moreso sing with one voice.I get lost in revery when I hear a beautiful symphony or maybe Norah Jones belting out something right from the gut. I am humbled and grateful when someone tells me that my smile lights up a room. I grin and say hello to everyone I see and every so often a pretty girl smiles back.It is beyond wonderful to feel that somehow I have made someone’s day a little bit better.

I love to play with words and sometimes just let it rip. Puns are fun and most of the time the words just start flying out. My fingers can’t type fast enough. Some times it makes sense. Sometimes it doesn’t but I can tell you at all times it is 100% TTG. I may be harsh or obscene but it is not for effect. It is what’s going on inside and I can’t edit that out.

I am off on a variety of projects. On a personal as well as public side some things need fixing and some need a new creative look. I am going to be more involved in Hospice to try to pave the way for people to understand it better. I am also working with a close friend to help caregivers in their lot. Unless you are on the front lines you can’t even fathom the stress they have. Their souls and psyches need someone to be their champion.

The Denver Post put out an editorial on an upcoming piece of legislation that serves Death With Dignity. A form of legal suicide. I am against it. I wrote to our state senator and told her of my experience and she nicely blew me off. She had all the experts and polls she needed. Let the chips fall where they may but the process has really pissed me off. You can see my letter to the editor below.

To make it short and sweet I am going to take a few weeks off. Not so much a sabbatical but a fresh look at things. I will be debating the future of Ted’s Head as to content and regularity. I am going to go out and try to get things done. I am going to walk the walk and talk the talk of all my ramblings. How can I tell you to get your ass in gear if my tush is sitting behind this desk? Be back soon with new tales to tell

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
The Denver Post wrote an pro editorial calling for the option of legal suicide. My reply.

“The terminally ill already have an option. It is called hospice.Death is not a medical procedure for us but a process of life as  being born is also a process. We use no artificial means to keep a person alive. Their life passes as their body shuts down its systems in a very natural and most would agree beautiful way. 

As we mess with life in so many ways from genetics to replacing body parts and sustaining life by artificial means we are indeed on slippery slope. What you are really advocating here is ending life by artificial means. You say that under the guise of “Coloradans esteem independence and free choice.” Speak for yourself please. 

As a volunteer in hospice I could not have more compassion for Mr. Selsberg and his family. We have had ALS patients, Alzheimer patients, cancer and the like. If the bill’s proponents want to see “death with dignity” I would invite them to come out and spend a shift with me. They might have  a different viewpoint. 

Sooner or later science and self determination will go too far if it hasn’t already. Then the genie will truly be out of the bottle. 

Ted Kenny
Volunteer, Porter Hospice”

The people at Channel9 here in Denver were desperate for a filler piece. See the following
http://www.9news.com/story/news/health/2014/12/15/have-you-had-the-conversation/20448465/

Teds Head is viewed by over 300 people on different weeks with readership in over 20 countries last year. We usually average 5-7 replies per week which they tell me is great. Most of them are complimentary which means I hang out with a bunch of liars or at least very kind people.

As I sit reviewing 2014 I am looking at all sorts of numbers from my investments to my handicap. One can’t help but look at the figures as everyone wants to pare down and decipher what the hell this all means. It is actually quite telling how our moods and our outlook can be determined by a twist of a decimal point or integer.

So many of these are guesstimates. It is amazing how fortunes rise and fall on a survey. The unemployment rate is just that. The Bureau of Census surveys 60,000 households and asks them who is working and who is not. From this is garnered a rate and is deemed up or down and ditto your IRA.

At earnings season all the gurus try to project what the earnings or losses will be at XYZ corp. When they are announced they may hit or miss by one or two cents and the quants pick up key words in their algorithms and either reward or trash a stock accordingly. Then they have a conference call to explain everything and the stock continues to bounce around on projections. All of these are just numbers but who cares? Everyone looks knowing and C’est la vie.

You can play with numbers to make things look good or bad. A major league baseball player can manipulate his ERA or batting average to merit a multi year contract. His agent deftly surveys the market to show his man is not really that bad but actually better than most. What other industry can you be so handsomely rewarded for batting .270 or having a losing record and ERA just under 4.0?

By the way I don’t know about you but the analysis of everything cosmic in every sport takes a lot of fun out of doing something stupid like just watching the game. We regurgitate the On Base Percentage or Slugging Average of a guy just playing a sport. The golfer has a .043 chance of making a 40 foot putt. I know that stupid! But the best is always this kicker has not missed a field goal in his last 43 tries. The kiss of death!

The number of children born to unwed mothers in the US is 40% of the birth rate or around 1.6 million. They will then tell you it is 72% among black women which is horrific. It is the single most critical problem in solving poverty among African Americans. They will not tell you it is 30% among white women as if to say that is not really a bad number. Hello?

The number or Americans killed in Afghanistan from 2001 -2012 was 6,488. There were 11,766 women killed by their current or ex male partner in the US in the same period of time. Approximately 150,000 of the rest of our citizenry were murdered during this era. 93% of the blacks were murdered by other blacks. 83% of the whites were murdered by other whites. Males make up 90% of murderers and are equally divided by 50% black and 50% white. I am sorry. I am sure you already knew that.

I am not trying to make one side look better or worse. The point is I can fudge the numbers or at least make them look good by the way I present them to you. One of the easiest ways to present things is as percentages. While helpful I also find the mode a tad misleading.

For instance I can tell you that 7% of our population over twelve years of age abuse drugs. 6% abuse alcohol. That doesn’t sound all that bad until you realize that is 24 million and 17 million of our fellow soldiers respectively. A total of 41 million denizens have a serious problem and you and I are going to be paying for it for a long time in everything from lost productivity, healthcare and long term rehab if they don’t kill themselves first.

There are currently 11.3 million undocumenteds in the US today. That is roughly 3% of our populace. 80% are Hispanic which is a bunch. But 20 % or some 2 million aren’t of brown color. I don’t know about you but that is not just a drop in the bucket to me.

In my last shot at percentages think about the 1%. As Kathy and I travel the world we are fascinated at everywhere from San Diego to Vancouver and Aukland to Paris that there is such an incredible amount of high end real estate. Your first question is “Who are these people?” The 1% of the world population is 70 million. The 1% of the US is 3.3 million. We have 545 billionaires in the States.That’s a lot of money floating around in the pockets of a lot of people. Better buy Tiffany and Sotheby’s stock.

Point being is it is important to look at percentages. They and numbers are a very opportune way to decipher a lot of data. But when we reduce everything to decimal points and axes on a graph we really lose the humanity of things. We want to categorize and put things in neat piles. Worse yet we can’t look past the numbers. Sorry but even though your department is making money and has done so for years you are not meeting projections. Progress you know. Been nice knowing you and good luck in future endeavors. Nice and antiseptic. By the numbers.

I am a white, married, male, Catholic, retired and who knows what percentage. I am no longer looking for my 15 minutes of fame but I really do hope I am more than a statistic. I hope I contribute more than a decimal here or there. I hope I am a human being to be respected and in turn be able to respect you. It’s just me. Numero Uno. Happy New Year to all and and thanks for listening.

As Always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:

Workplace: 67% of American workers are planning on leaving their job this year. 46% of us will fail in our first 18 months of a new job. Square pegs, round holes. 10,000 Japanese drop dead yearly at their desks from overwork after 14-18 hour days.

Lifestyle: The average person spends 5 years of their life standing in line. Americans waste $165 billion annually by tossing away unwanted snacks and meals. The math works out to approximately $529 per person each year. On any given day there over 2 million impaired drivers on the road. There are more cell phones than toothbrushes in the world.

Population;
There are more women than men in the US population of 325 million. In the 85+ category they outnumber men 2 to 1. Guys, there will be some hot times in the rest home tonight. We were 76 million in 1900, 200 million in 1968, 300 in 2006 and will be 439 million in 2050. 81% of us live in cities and the population is moving west and south.