Well kids, we are under two weeks from whatever. The polls are going nuts. Some screwball says he has picked the last five winners. Door County, Wisconsin picks the winner every time. Why do we even vote?

The first deciding factor is your sex. If you have Sir Orange in the mix it might be plain old sex itself. He’s never cheated on any of his multiple wives. He treats women with the utmost dignity. He “weaves” sex into almost every conversation and waxes eloquently as to a person’s looks or jock size. But don’t worry it is just the Donald being the Donald. 

Kamalla makes her sex about the right of a woman to have say over her own body. This gets a little tricky. We discuss when life starts and when we still can end it. When it comes to rape and incest some of us say tough luck. If a child is to be the culmination of a couple’s love for each other, then doesn’t that seem out of whack? Then again when it is just a matter of convenience or timing, I imagine there are a lot of us that would take issue. 

This really gets confusing when you say I don’t care how good or bad you are,you are one of me. Suburban housewives like Kamalla and macho men like Trump. Some guys can’t even picture a woman as president. Women detest Trump because of how he looks toward women.  I wish we could all wear blinders. It is 2024. Haven’t we outgrown the man and woman thing? I guess not. 

Inflation,deflation,taxes,tariffs are the predominant issue on everyone’s mind. One guy says he is voting for Trump because he can’t grill steaks anymore but has to settle for hamburger. Meaningful.

Things are more expensive for sure. Can a president really change that? Dunno. Price controls seem a little off the wall. But so are tariffs. 

Of course, neither one has said a word about my inconvenient topic of the national debt. Each one-ups the other with, I am going to cut taxes and issue givebacks that will bring a tear to your eye. I am crying because spending over $1 trillion on interest alone. I will see your lower income tax and raise your capital gains. 

Chuck Shumer is a progressve Democrat. He is also the guardian angel of carried interest for hedge funds. Simply put all the humungous profits they are taxed at a much lower cap gains rate. I wonder whom they are voting for?

Let’s do immigration. Kamalla was for open borders and now wants them slammed shut. His Hairness wants to send millions of illegals back to where they came from. Some have been here for over ten years. The sheer size and cost of any such operation gets lost in the shuffle. Would local commerce grind to a halt. We may find out. 

We can discuss whether we were better off under Trump than Biden. Some of us want to be walled in from the rest of the world. Some want to solve global problems. Ditto global warming, abortion, guns et al. Each side has its valid points. 

I have a problem with Kamalla in the way she answers questions. Her answers are sometimes circuitous and vague. You wonder if there is any meat to the thought process. I truly question Trump’s sanity. His narcissism would be fun to watch as a back bencher but as a president, he scares the hell out of me.  Forget the fact that he is crude and boorish. Some like it because we are seeing the real him. To each his own. 

Who am I voting for in the end? Good question. You know I will not answer that. In fact I am still undecided. That is the first time that has ever happened to me this late in the game. Part of me wants to look towards what it will mean for me and vote accordingly. Then my weird cousin Herbie asks me what is best for the country? Then I think about my kids and grandkids. A tough decision. I do not take it likely.  

As always

Ted The Great. 

Factoids: 

Registered voters are now evenly split between the Republican and Democratic parties. In reality, 1/3 are part of one party and 1/3 are part of the other. 33% consider themselves independents. Man, I wish we had a third party. 

Pew research lists what we consider to be problems. Dated 5/2024

How accurate are polls?   As a result, the actual margin of error in most historical polls is closer to 6% or 7%, not 3%, said a 2016 study from The New York Times. This represents an error range of 12 to 14 data points, the Times said. That gives one a warm fuzzy doesn’t it?  Think about how many of us are swayed by polls.  

I am sitting here in Flalaland awaiting the latest onslaught of Mother Nature. Whether it is Milton Bradley or Milton Berle, she seems to be playing a cruel joke on all of us. Sunday night at a neighborhood get-together, weather was the topic du jour. What do you think? Should we go or stay? I chuckled to myself. Weather is the one thing I have absolutely zero control over. Nada,zilch and yet we still fret. 

If we lived on the west coast of Florida, I would be doing some serious thinking about where I wanted to hang my hat in the future. The concept of rebuilding two, three, and four times just blows my mind. The idea of abandoning all hope also strikes one as a horrible Rubicon to cross. Talk about mixed emotions. 

People come here to escape the cold weather, which is fair enough. The two months from August 1 to October 1 are an acquired taste. Hot and humid can be worked around. For yours truly, it is a great way to maintain my weight. And besides, where would we go?

Up until two weeks ago, it might have been the hills of Georgia or North and South Carolina. We have visited Asheville, and it is or was idyllic. The Vanderbilts were on to something, and many followed suit. The Outer Banks? Not exactly. New Jersey, Long Island? How soon we forget Sandy. 

How about the deserts of California or Arizona? How many days straight of 100 degrees on the thermometer? I know, we will make our way to the mountains of California or Colorado. If you escape the fires, then you have to figure out how to get insurance on your little bit of heaven nestled in the woods. This is getting tough. 

The south and midwest breed a little thing called tornados as the rite of spring. The northwest has beautiful views of the Pacific but “The Big One” hits you may oceanfront property in Idaho. Could it be there is nowhere safe for TTG and the Divine Miss K?

Let’s go to the stats. The top two winners for safety are eastern Pennsylvania and Michigan. Huh? I am sure these are wonderful places but not exactly where I want to live my last. Cleveland, a Mecca? Maybe there is a message here. 

I think we have become more and more resistant to coping. Not just our physical environment  but maybe how we do things. We have become inured to life’s little troubles. If we have any little malady there is a doctor nearby who can cure anything. If he can’t, then there are specialists of every ilk.You don’t go to an orthopedic doc but only to one who knows feet or knees or hip joints. And by the way I want to see that guy yesterday. 

We redo our bodies. We redo our houses to avoid the worst curse of all…looking dated. I need a new car as a pick me up. Perhaps a jet away for a week or two to try to obviate my poor overworked and stressed out psyche. Oh God ,kids are a pain! I need a break. What happened to Suck It Up?

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal this AM. It was about that little thing we call the National Debt. It seems the Trumpster would add about $7 trillion to our national credit card. Smiley would only add $3.5 trillion. Just wonderful! No one wants to sit down and shoot us straight as to the disaster looming. We will fill in the details later. 

Over the years the toughest thing for yours truly is having to deal with something really distasteful.  Having to fire someone. Can we really afford to do this or that? Having to uproot not for whimsy but survival. Ok, you have cancer. How do we want to go forward? Do you help a child who is hooked on drugs or finally have them fend for themselves?  Do we treat a fatal disease or go into hospice? 

Of course, I could punt but this is where the rubber meets the road. As for weather, I have already said there is nothing we can do about it. As for so many other parts of our lives, we can meet conflict head-on or put it off for another day, but what good does that do?  It gnaws at you and keeps popping up at a most inopportune moment. But you know it is there.  Sooner or later, there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. As individuals or as a country, we really have to deal with it.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids

California is the most disaster prone state in the union…for a lot of reasons. Throughout the US, although wildfires are the most common natural disaster, hurricanes inflict the most damage.

From 2003 to July 2023, the U.S. tallied 2,602 disaster declarations across all 50 states. California, Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida,Nevada and Montana round out the top ten in that order. 

Congress has not updated our immigration policy since 1986. We have had a balanced budget only twice in the last fifty years.

• 1969: President Lyndon Johnson balanced the budget
• 1998–2001: President Bill Clinton balanced the budget 

People are told to evacuate but a large number cannot. Evacuation, like most disaster resilience actions is easier if you have wealth, health and extensive social networks. You don’t have a car or can’t afford the gas.You don’t have family and you can’t afford a hotel room. You are handicapped or just can’t travel due to illness.  It ain’t all cut and dry kids. 

Ted’s Head is in trouble. The engine works fine and the gears mesh pretty well but I think I must have some bad gas in the fuel line. My petrol is simple. Take an idea or concept to be discussed, try to think it through and maybe even come up with a better way to do things. 

My buddy Pete calls me a “fixer”. That is not necessarily being a smart ass but trying to look at things in an alternative way. Maybe my way sucks but at least we ran it up the flagpole. A key ingredient is getting my facts right without any personal biases. You don’t make the problem fit the solution. You do a strange thing called listening. 

We have just come back from a cruise that wandered from New York City to Montreal. Boston was a revisit to where Kathy and first met too many years ago. We went right to the door front. Good stuff. Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were a discovery of so many things they called the New World in the 1400’s and 1500’s. 

My overall impression was that this is a part of the world that is doing fine. Sure, they would like more of this or that but they and their forefathers were used to sustaining life not necessarily embellishing every aspect. Until you look at not one but plenty of houses that where built in the early 1500’s you haven’t seen a thing. These were not a cutesy Sturbridge Village type of tourist attraction. People lived in them now and raised families in them and probably will for centuries to come. Hardy stock.

In New York City you were smashmouthed by the size, the opulence, the frenetic pace and the overall dispassionate mien of people towards their fellow travelers.  I really don’t say this to be critical. They love it that way…I think. But because of its size and many others, they dominate the conversation and set us on a path that we outliers don’t have a lot of sway over. 

We went to the 9/11 Museum. Every aspect of it rips at your guts. It was the area where I worked for many years and many of those faces on the wall were guys that I knew from trading bonds to drinking beers. The massive feel of the destruction and chaos was overwhelming at times. Ditto the hatred that engendered such a plot. Whether it was a fireman or cop or secretary or a hot shot executive no one was spared the swath of hellish fire that enveloped them all. 

After three or more hours Kathy and I didn’t say much but we felt together. As a city, as a country and maybe even as a world we were united back then. We cried and hugged and displayed the flag for all to see. USA was more than a chant. It was a vision we had all hoped for. You’ll see. We will do things differently. And yet like so many other good intentions, we let them slide in lieu of more important things. Our minds distracted by the banal. We want to be wooed or salved by more important things. 

I have really been into this fellow man thing. David Brooks has caused  me to be so much more aware of the other person. You have likes,dislikes and tendencies that are true to you alone. They are not left,right or conservative or liberal. They are your thoughts.  How dare some jerk try to silo you or me into this or that group for the sake of targeting you from everything as to who you are going to vote for and what kind of car you should buy. 

How many time have you been labeled this or that and come to realize you don’t buy everything that group is saying. In politics you cannot have an original thought without being chastised. How many of us in a business meeting thought the theme was out of line but never spoke up? Some will say that type of discourse is chaotic. I say it is creative and a hell of a lot easier to arrive at a consensus. 

I hope this does not sound crazy but the more we realize how unique we are,the greater chance we have of pulling this thing called life off. That being said I have no idea how to get started. Maybe that is the reason for my inertia. I am not going to change politics or the makeup of cities or my religion in my lifetime. And my period to pull it off is getting shorter and shorter. Swimming upstream gets tiring. 

Then again, maybe I am completely wrong. We should not change but just let things happen. We have lasted this long, why get so bent out of shape. It will all work out in the end. Maybe this should be my path to travel. Not quite there yet. 

I want to end up with one thought,humility. Think about that for a second. If we were all humble we would not be the end all and be all.

We would look at another person as something to be looked at for their unique properties not how they can benefit me.  We wouldn’t have to have so much stuff because we wouldn’t have to show off constantly. That is what we have it all,don’t we? If I am humble, I am just a part. Probably nuts but I am going to work on it. 

I am sorry my rudder is bent. At this point I should be able to put it on autopilot. I am old fart. I don’t have that equipment yet. 

As Always 

Ted The Great 

Governance is in its simplest form, a system to control, guide or manipulate. How do we make sense of whatever orb or orbs we live in? We elect a government of what we hope to be good administrators, who will watch over the fort while we go about our daily lives. In a sense we live in many different governing arenas from families to municipalities to states to nations and of course the world. 

Now if we lived on a desert island, we wouldn’t need much. When we start gathering and building stuff, then it gets more complex. Today we have two different schools of thought. One side says we have to regulate down to the tiniest detail and the other says blow your brains out. Just don’t include me. 

It would be so much easier if we could just trust one another to do the right thing. Just put out quality merchandise of whatever sort, get a fair price and pay your taxes so we can keep this puppy running on all cylinders. Yeah right! And that is why we need cops of all sorts. Save us from our own frailties and good old basic larceny that lies in the heart of all of us. At least mine!

I have breakfast with a great friend on Saturday mornings and we try to put on airs that we know what we are talking about. We take a topic and try as best we can to find some common ground to move forward. Yesterday we grappled with Israel and Hamas, inequality and the IRS. Add in about a half a dozen cups of Joe for moi and chaos ensued. 

Invariably we get to a point where there is no clear solution. Point being, we would not need audits from the IRS if everyone was legit and there weren’t a thousand different loopholes. What happened to Israel on October 6th was heinous by any measure but can you really ignore the death of a wife and four kids when the father was out getting a birth certificate for the newborn babe? I want you to make as much money as you can but when a mother with a job and two kids has to live in a car because their rent got jacked 50% and they can’t afford it, that gives us pause. 

The governance has two parts, the rules and regs and the people doing either the inventing or enforcing.The Wall Street Journal reported, Congress accidentally left a hole in the 2017 tax law by writing mismatched effective dates for new tax rules—and then failed to fix the problem. That is now allowing big companies to save tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that otherwise would have gone to the government. The solution is easy.  A minor fix. And yet neither party wants to solve it lest the other side look good. 

A burgh in Illinois built a water park for $13 million using COVID relief money. They weren’t alone. In Denver, it is next to impossible to build any type of housing because the permit process is so fraught with rules and departments that have to approve plans. The Code of Federal Regulations ran to 185,000 pages in 2020. In addition, state and local governments have their own laws and rules. It is estimated that there are dozens of agencies involved in affordable housing. Want to build a nuclear power plant? 

How did this morass get created? We did it. Think about it. Pols get  elected because they are going to change this or that. Specific interest groups or philosophies push to get their person a seat at the table. Let’s face it. They don’t care what is going on nationally. They want their district to reap benefits and not worry about the rest. If you keep getting returned to Congress you will move up the food chain and get more power. You can do whatever you want as long as it is in your district’s best interest. And the beat goes on. 

When some bill gets passed it is now up to the bureaucracy or cops if you will to figure out the details and enforce it. Congress cedes the responsibility for this because they are far too busy getting reelected. Nancy Pelosi, when asked what was incorporated in the Obamacare bill,  blithely replied, “Let’s just pass it and we will figure it out from there.” This gives enormous power to people in the back room.  

We don’t have a very efficient system. Bloated is a highly descriptive term because that is what we are. Cerberus with over fifty heads is even better. Spacex has been launching rockets weekly for years while Boeing and NASA are still playing with themselves at the International Space Station. Huge amounts of funds are unaccounted for in every area of government. Houston, we have a problem. 

Never fear, we will all come to our senses, tighten up and clean house. Really? Look at how we lead our own lives. We overindulge in everything from food to booze to things of all sort. Immediate satisfaction is our mantra. Put it on the credit card and worry about it next month. 

This is not trying to be a preacher at a revival meeting. This is from an old fart that is going to get out the door just fine. Look 20 or 30 years down the road. I’ll be long gone and leave you with a real mess. Oh, I forgot. We are in a new era. Let’s not be proactive at home or in the world. Let’s let things work out on their own. I am just going to worry about me. Now that is self governance. I wonder how that will work out? 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

There are 435 seats in Congress that are up for reelection. 365 are considered safe for either party. 48 are likely or leaning. That leaves 22 that are truly up for grabs. They have an 80% disapproval rating. 

Harris wants more spending. Trump wants to cut taxes. Please tell me what either side is going to do about the debt?

Improper payments, which refer to payments that are made incorrectly by the government, cost the U.S. $247 billion in 2022, according to the Government Accountability Office. The U.S. government has lost almost $2.4 trillion in simple payment errors over the last two decades, by GAO estimates. It seems like we don’t want to do anything about it. It is what it is.

When I questioned things about the way the government is run, a DC wag told me you can’t run the government like a business. My comment above about Spacex was not naive. I understand that there are constraints when one has to serve many masters and not just stockholders, but it does not exclude efficiency and of course that absurd word, CHANGE. There is little room for creativity and reward of excellence in our system of government.  

Hi People:

I have been doing a lot of reading on a variety of topics, rather than being a good boy and writing Ted’s Head. My mind is chock a block with all manner of social and economic theories. Throughout it all, I keep coming back to try to figure out why people are so unhappy? 

To cut to the chase, people don’t like being screwed. We are bombarded by pundits and the masses alike with messages that show this side or that is getting a raw deal. This election cycle will only amp up the rhetoric. Trump wants to make America great again and Harris will tell you we are going to rework society. All in all, we are pitting ourselves against each other. Can this ever work?

A book in progress for me is, “How To Know A Person” by David Brooks. David is a somewhat conservative writer who is better described as a wonderful thinker. I mentioned him to a friend, who scoffed he liked him a while back but now he is too liberal. I guess that means he is no longer coherent or has anything useful to say. But I digress. 

One of the precepts of the book is how incredibly different each and every one of us are. We live in a stereotypical world where unfortunately we believe we can size up a person in the first few introductory sentences. I’ve got your number and I know where people like you come from. We can be put off or on just by a glance. But the fact of the matter is that you and I are beyond complex and nuanced. 

Think about it. All of your thoughts, environment, relationships and biases shape how you view the world and react to it. You cannot put that into a bottle and label it. Going further, he explains the art of conversation.  Ideally, you are open and welcoming. It is not about you expounding but trying to draw out what the other guy or gal is thinking. You not only listen but do so intently. If you really think about it, it is pretty heavy stuff to come out of your world and into someone else’s. 

We have created a crazy world. It is sterile, calculating and methodical. We have no spare time to interact or if we do it is a hit and run. One of the key elements in anybody’s world is to be noticed and more importantly to have value. Some try to do it by their “things” but this fame turns out to be shallow and fleeting. Some attempt to be brilliant only to have their uniqueness scorned. Most are just put in the blender to be pureed and served up as a shake. It is so much better than that. 

I read an article about credit card debt. It seems that we as individuals have run up a tab of over $1.1 trillion dollars. All that debt supports an interest rate of over 22%. One of the main culprits is “revenge” spending. COVID caused us to miss so much, we are blowing gazillions of dollars on travel and entertainment. Trivial, irrational and flawed are adjectives that come to mind. 

Where am I going with all of this? We let ourselves be dictated to in every sense of the word. We are told what to wear, where to live, how to invest and what we are lacking. Don’t ask questions. Just shut up and we will show you the way to Eden whether it is through Taylor Swift, a new car or a house,way beyond your means. You can’t be yourself because that is not good enough. Everything you have is dated. Keep up or you will fall hopelessly behind. 

Our economy is 75% based on consumption. As long as you keep on buying, the world will be a better place. If you don’t we will go into recession. If you buy too much we have inflation. The Fed, Washington, Wall Street and corporate America are at the controls of the ship of state. Everything from food to healthcare and even dying has been monetized. And you wonder why people get in a bad mood?

I am a capitalist at heart but we have lost it. The disconnect and inequality today is over the top. Small-town America, replete with Main Street and simple pleasures has become passe. People want to be where the action is. Young people are becoming rich beyond compare in their thirties. Old people are counting their shekels and wanting more and more. Let the good times roll! 

But wait. Has anybody heard anything from either side about the National debt? Biden has run up a tab far beyond needs. Trump matched him buck for buck but we don’t hear about it. Drive down an Interstate and tell me how many potholes and bare spots you hit. Yes, even in Flalaland. 

Simply put, we have to sober up in a lot of ways. The oligarchs can’t keep squeezing more and more out of working America. The latter has to set realistic goals and desires. The gang on top does have to kick in more. The crew on the bottom can’t long for an absurd high life. Their playing field is not level but they have to work around it.

 If you have to live in your car you have every right to bitch. If your house is tight make do. How many of us grew up with 1 1/2 baths and made it? On the other end, 10,000 square feet with 8 bedrooms is obscene.  Yes, there is malaise on all ends, but tell me how really bad you have it. The grass is greener on the other side or is it?

As always,

Ted The Great. 

Factoids:

The average consumer has 3-4 credit cards. 1/2 of all those cards carry balances. As mentioned it is over $1.1 trillion.   

Twenty million people have medical debt. That is over $220 billion and could be a serious part of the credit card debt. 

The US debt now stands at $35 trillion. 

Trump administration (1/20/17–1/20/21)

• Net borrowing: $8.4 trillion
• Net borrowing excluding COVID measures: $4.8 trillion

Biden administration (1/20/21–6/21/24)

• Net borrowing: $4.3 trillion
• Borrowing excluding American Rescue Plan: $2.2 trillion

All of these were passed by bipartisan action. 

Fox News

The  Economic Policy Institute found that CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in 2022, up from an average pay ratio of just 21 to 1 in 1965. Kids, fun is fun but that is crazy. 

Years ago in my travels on Wall Street, there was one standard. Your word was your bond. You could be trading millions of dollar’s worth of securities over the phone. The simple words of “I buy” or “I sell” were sacrosanct. No reneging and no do overs. Fait accompli. 

As I write, I am watching the British Open. Golf is an interesting game. You may have an opponent but it is the one sport where you are completely on your own. Your mind plays tricks. The transition from the driving range to the golf course is often tortuous. A short putt missed or your ball finding the deep blue sea can ruin anyone’s day. 

There are some very intricate and difficult rules to follow as you make your way through 18 holes. You are required to call any misplays on yourself. Maybe your playing partner didn’t notice but you did. It is simple. You broke the rule. You take the penalty. End of discussion.  

As I watch the tournament I pay particular attention to Jon Rahm. The feisty Spaniard is one of the best. I used to like him, I don’t now. A few years back he avowed his allegiance to the PGA Tour during the period when the LIV group of renegades were throwing some serious money at people to bat a little white ball. “I have all the money I need. I want to just play golf in the PGA.” Fast forward a few years and he took the money and ran. That would have been okay if he hadn’t professed his loyalty. To me, he broke his word. How petty of me!

Back in the US, I was watching the Republican convention in Beer Town. Pol after pol from Vance to DeSantis to Nicki Haile, all have castigated His Hairness in the months vying for the nomination. This wasn’t a disagreement of sorts. This was downright hatred. And yet now we are love and unity. Great for getting votes but can I really trust anything you say?

The Dems now have a chance to reboot. Can they come up with someone without the requisite baggage?  Probably not. We all have skeletons in the closet. Can they level with the American people about things like the debt, and infrastructure? I say no. They don’t know how to do that and even if they did we are too deaf to listen.

Enter the fine art of equivocating. Oh, I was just kidding. I didn’t really mean that. It was taken out of context. When asked a question in his Monica Lewinski hearing, Bill Clinton answered “It depends on what the definition of “Is”, is?” Mind-boggling for all to see. Politicians of all sizes stretch credulity. Just give them what they want to hear and truth be damned. 

Trump,Biden et al have rattled off facts that are so outrageously wrong and misleading that we now accept them as the Donald being Donald or Biden is so old he just forgets. We now have fact checkers of every statement. Some are nitpickers but some are pointing out some really egregious falsehoods. Not to worry,it is not done in real time so the public doesn’t know or probably doesn’t care. 

I am continually amazed by the commentary of this or that celebrity on matters far afield from their stardom. It is as if they have been endowed with some sort of wisdom far beyond their years or capabilities. Years ago I listened to Famous Amos of cookie fame, opine on the deeper meaning of life.  Brother, you are entitled to any opinion you want but a savant you ain’t. 

As I write I might be considered guilty of the same sin. Over all these years I have espoused views on many different subjects. I would be shocked and dismayed if any of you took it as Gospel truth. I try as best I can to get my facts right but I  want it as a jumping off point for your own thought. 

Unfortunately we have to do our homework. We have to consider a lot of different sides to a premise. We have to deeply form our opinions and at the same time be open to change. In our instantaneous world we are not prone to do so. We listen to sound bytes. We read one paragraph summaries and think we have it. We do so at our own peril. I give you my word. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

An average person lies once or twice a day. Politicians at least once every five minutes during a debate. 80% of women lie to their partners about their spending habits. 

Lying can have negative effects on mental health. Research has found that individuals who frequently lie experience more anxiety, depression, and stress than those who are more honest.

Lying can be a coping mechanism as well as a personality trait. Narcissists are pros at altering reality.   Over time we can become numb to falsehoods and consider them part of the landscape. 

People lie to avoid punishment, to gain an advantage, to protect themselves or others, or to fit in socially.  Trust me….Ha!

There are shallow and deep thinkers. Which one are you?

Scenery has a lot of meanings. It can be a lake,ocean,mountain or a village or city from an aerial view. It can also be constructed as a backdrop for a play or musical. We love to go to museums to see this or that but do we oft consider that all you really have to do is look out the window. 

Here in Flalaland we are chock a block with joys to the senses. Flora abounds and the water has such a mysterious blend of serenity and power. There is a big old live oak in our backyard. It has been there a long time and I wonder how many people have really stopped to notice. I feel right now as if I am looking at it for the first time. Leaves, branches and girth are symbols of grace, color, and strength. How many hurricanes has this guy been through and lived to tell the tale?

On the lake there is a big old alligator just cruising, looking for lunch. There is every type of waterfowl soaring and diving in the same endeavor. They didn’t play golf today or see a concert last night but they still seem to have it pretty good. They are not worried about inflation or AI and it doesn’t sound that bad. 

The sky? What can I say? Cumulus abounds.

You can take a Rorschach test every few minutes. One of my buddies was a weatherman of sorts in the Air Force before satellites. Macadoodle waxes eloquently about the diversity of our cloud cover while beating balls on the range. Not sure if he knows what he is talking about but it sounds pretty good to me. 

We have lived in some pretty beautiful and wonderful places. The ocean,mountains, desert, and cities all have a part of the newsreel Kathy and I call life. People call the Sonoran brown and ugly. They just don’t get it. Watch the sun rise and set in the mountains of Colorado. How about the vast ocean beyond the confines of Hawaii? The crazy part is that if you live there it doesn’t cost a dime. You don’t need a palatial mansion or trendy condo. 

I once took a friend for a ride on the Colorado River Road that stretches from Dotsero to Bond on the outskirts of the Vail Valley. I used to take it every so often to remind myself why I lived there.

As we passed an old Airstream that overlooked an astounding valley he said, “Isn’t that sad that is where that poor bastard has to live.” I was speechless at his lack of soul and then I remembered he was from New York. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 There was even beauty in a place called Viet Nam. Cam Rahn Bay and the French Quarters of Saigon were a tease of what could be without war. I was blown away when a friend of mine showed me a recent picture of our theater of war, replete with waterfront condos and outdoor cafes. I wonder if Gaza or Ukraine will ever be pretty again?

We do bad things to our scenery. We pump plastics into our lakes and oceans to the point where we ingest plastics from the fish we eat to the water we drink. In the Middle Ages we threw human waste out of the window onto the street. In a way we are still doing it.

I have often wondered if we took every vehicle or piece of machinery that lies rusting on major highways and local byways and put that all in one spot how big that mountain would be? Not a pretty sight for sure.

Scenery changes with the seasons and that is kind of cool. Going back to our mountain aeries at different times of the year gave you a totally different vibe. From the snow packed slopes in winter, to the meadows ablaze with wildflowers midsummer or the aspens in the fall, you have a show that even George Lucas or Dreamworks would find hard to equal. Budget? Zero. Admission? Free. 

I have been watching the Senior Golf Open this weekend. It is interesting that in addition to the Links like beauty of Newport Country Club, they feature the mansions of the Vanderbilts and other swells. I spent two years there in the US Navy. Ocean Drive was fantastic without the falderal. Get the Sunday paper and sit in your car for a front-row seat. Of course it was also a great makeout heaven at night. Want to come up and see my etchings? 

Scenery can be man-made. You see it on the stage and movie sets. It creates illusions, nightmares and fantasies. Of course, we have amped this up with all sorts of technical embellishments. Outer space and avatars will take you into a whole new reality. Can you top this? The Oscars for special effects are truly earned. 

In closing let’s get back to reality. Maybe I am getting old but my senses seem to be getting better. I am finally sitting down and just enjoying what’s around me. There are more greens and blues than I knew existed. A stupid tree or bush is really an art form if you look closely. Is this too sappy? I hope not. 

We can look at scenery or we can create our own. We can film in black and white or technicolor. We can do close-ups or panoramic shots. No matter what it is ours and we are free to choose. What’s in your pallette? 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

There are 12 times more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way. Who needs Mr Hubbel?

Tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding can devastate entire towns at once, but the weather condition that proves deadliest to humans is actually heat.

Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan, Cats are among the many Broadway  sets/scenery that were off the charts. 

On the movie side, Ben Hur,Cleopatra, Harry Potter and Star Wars comes to mind. 

When we lived in Vail, I worked as a volunteer INFO person on the mountain in winter. While riding up on the #2 Avanti lift I was with three guests. As we neared the top I announced,” You are about to see one of the most beautiful backdrops in the world, the New York Range.” One of the passengers said,”Have you ever been to Nepal?” I wanted to say, “No a…hole, I haven’t ”  but I backed off. Surprising huh?

I had a great breakfast with a good buddy the other day. In a manner of speaking, we have both been through a variety of life’s skirmishes in the last few months. His were far worse than mine. As we sat, the questions became more personal and probing. Not nosy as much as showing genuine care and interest. It felt good on both sides. 

Afterward, I started pondering about the nature of friendships or relationships if you will. What creates them? What prevents them? Why are we so reticent about letting people in? Is it pride,fear, or even shame? A lot of questions for my poor little brain. All the while, good fun. 

It seems we are social beings. We like to interact and be noticed. We want to be worthy of someone’s attention, to be worthwhile. But what if we are not? Our crazy world scores everything. How you act, what you say, what you are wearing. It causes so many people to back off entirely. Who needs it?  

We fear a lot of things these days. The world is not a pretty place. There are revolts and coups. It seems the big guys are building bigger, better and faster missiles that preclude any sort of early warning. At home, a cyberattack can wipe out your life’s savings. There are a lot of crackpots with guns. Road rage? Fuhgeddaboutit. Better to stay out of harm’s way….physically and socially. 

Why would anyone in their right mind speak up? There are people laying in the weeds just to pounce upon any misstep or faux pas. We seek out friendly spaces that are beyond predictable. We build our own little fortresses. We want comfort even if it is at the cost of discovery.  It’s just not worth it. 

Remember when you first met someone? They seemed nice. You are attracted and want to get to know them better. You open up just a tad bit more every time you meet. You want to be so careful as to not look totally stupid. Each step is a balancing act between openness and wariness. You become more comfortable. More trusting. Maybe even show a few warts here and there. 

Now if you are Joe or Jane Cool, you have never given it a thought. Feel free to exit now. I will probably bore you. But for the rest of us schmucks, interactions with others can at times be a tightrope. At some point we have to be vulnerable, to be dare I say, authentic. This is where the rubber meets the road. 

Life is full of hit and runs. We are all at a cocktail party. Hi’s and air kisses abound. We chat briefly about this or that. How’s the weather? Do you want to hear about my golf game? No and I don’t want to be graced by descriptions of your children and grandchildren. It is not a place for deep conversation but we do look for some form of connectivity. Kathy and I will talk later and say,”That person or persons really seemed nice.” Maybe we can get to know them better.

My wife is more selective than I am and it is a good thing. A buddy of mine said I could talk to a tree. I want to know everybody. I reach out a lot and have been burned a lot. Tragic flaw! Do I want to be amigos with everyone? No, but I want to be open to the possibilities. It is something I have done over the years. Maybe my moat is just not that wide. 

Authenticity to me is simply what I believe and being true to that. I hope that comes across in friendships and in my writing. It is intriguing because there is a debate as to whether that is ingrained from early childhood or an adaptation over the years. I think I will go with the latter. As we learn, we grow. Yet I have to have a basic set of principles. They may come in conflict with yours but I have to know that you are being true to yours also. It is a thing that combines trust with compassion. 

It is odd that we are ingrained from childhood with the opposites. Don’t talk that way. If you take left or right viewpoints, you must be hanging around with the wrong type of people. Exploration and experimentation are becoming more and more taboo. Loving parents want to protect us from all harm. No negative situations. No controversy. Stick with me kid and you will go places. Then again maybe not. 

A relationship or friendship does not have to involve romance or be overly serious. It can be friends just sitting down to talk. But beyond the superficial, you have to be real, honest and yes, vulnerable.  You take risks. There are no guarantees. Our world is imperfect. Not everyone will like you. So what? Think of all the opportunities you might miss.

I take chances with my writing. I am not looking to prove anything. I am taking chances you might laugh at me but maybe, just maybe I will find a couple of kindred spirits who want to share something of themselves.  And that my friends might lead to a deeper friendship for us. I could not think of anything better.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

A surprising or unexpected reward causes an extra dopamine release. So every time we do something with an uncertain outcome—taking a “risk”—increased dopamine is released while we are determining what happens. This release alerts other parts of the brain that the activity or situation is new and deserves attention.

One study estimated that it usually takes around 219 hours to become good friends with someone while engaging in small-talk. But it is also common for people who have known each other for years to continue in surface level interaction, failing to develop a deeper level of relating.

Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness, but rather an expression of courage and authenticity. It is very meaningful to realize you are not the only one that feels a certain way. 

Brené Brown is a researcher and storyteller who’s spent two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. Look her up on Ted Talks. She has a lot to say. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. 

A lawyer friend many years back was talking about his practice. It was a partnership. He said partnerships are great until one side or the other feels like they are being screwed. Then it should be disbanded immediately for no good will come of it. Seemed to make sense at the  time  but I wonder?

As I ponder it is amazing that we get involved in so many partnerships. It could be our marriage, affiliations, religion, business, or pickleball. We are together like it or not for a short or long period of time. We join a club or live in a community or even country. The depth and duration of that relationship relies on many factors. 

Let’s start off easy and talk about marriage Ha! It is the topic de jour in many ways today. If one goes back in time the reasons for tying the know were more mercenary and strategic.

People had a lot of kids because that meant more avenues of income or at least hands to work in the family business. Families joined because it was advantageous to expand wealth or land ownership. Love had very little to do with it despite what the poets said. 

Then the rebels appeared. Dowries and alliances not withstanding, people wanted to look at things in a different way. Genealogy and background checks gave way to a scary thought. I just might want spend my whole life with someone because they were fun to be around. We had mutual interests, beliefs and goals. We might want to have kids not to pad the bankroll but because they added a wonderful dimension to our life. What were we thinking?

The different roles in marriage became less traditional. Men felt threatened that there might be more than one breadwinner. Women wanted their freedom from household chores and childbearing. Some sought out mates of the same sex. Single parents chose to do so. Therein lay the subtle but vital change. People thought about themselves for better or for worse. 

Partnerships in business are sometimes relegated to law firms, accounting outfits and of course the financial canyons of Wall Street. To be chosen is to be anointed. You were vetted for rep and spunk. If you knew how to attract clients and make money, welcome to the family. If not, you were sent off to ply your trade elsewhere. I have often wondered if an obnoxious so and so who could bring in mega millions would be admitted to that inner sanctum? It’s only business, you know. 

Sometimes partnerships on the world stage are purely a matter of accommodation. Deep down our cultures have nothing in common, but I need your weaponry. I will trade with you but not with them…until the other side has more to offer. Or perhaps you just want to avoid them getting in bed with your adversary. Note the recent state dinner for the president of Kenya. Back slapping and toasts while the cue cards are held up so you don’t forget names. I love you man!

Partnerships require work and a crazy thing called trust. If I am really good at it, I am worrying about the other side. How can I help them? How can I look out for their needs? In a totally ridiculous moment I might put their interests above mine. But in our screwy society we are going the other way. It is dog eat dog. We crave the serenity of solitude. We want our space. We want our freedom. 

Some might call this evolution and maybe it is. Or maybe it makes no sense at all. For the most part we are urban societies. We have left the farms and burbs to seek out fortune. The city offers a melange of restaurants, museums and watering holes. The anonymity belies hit and run. Hookups and relationships have to fit the moment and the need. You can be random and without roots. And we wonder why a great young man or woman can’t find the right person? Deep down I think they really want to. 

When I worked on Wall Street the trading room was large. You exchanged ideas and emotions. Now all you have to have is a Bloomberg machine and a chunk of capital. You are a millionaire at 30 and cock sure you don’t need anyone else. I don’t need anyone but me. I have it all. Really? Ditto so many other walks of life. 

The biggest partnership of all is our little old planet earth, or at least it should be. By all outward appearances this ain’t going to happen anytime soon. We clean up oceans and let others pollute theirs. We are oh so righteous but will buy anything made by slave labor because the price is right or the margin so much better. We are nationalists in every corner. We don’t want to spoil the blood line. That is true in every little burgh, big state or nation. We want freedom from the tiniest care. We want everything provided. We are entitled! 

I have had a great partnership with the lovely Kathy for 53 years. We have a wonderful family of kids and grandkids. Has it been hard at times? Of course but we have had a lot of fun. Are we perfect? No way. But we have worked at it and in the end you can look back and say we have done good. Above all we have just shared experiences and life. Not a bad way to fly. It would really be no fun to do it alone. 

As Always 

Ted The Great 

Countries have formed alliances since 500 BC. The Pelopennisian cities of Greece and the early Latin Leagues were for commerce and defense. Today there are 60 such groupings throughout the world with a vast majority involving mutual defense. 

A good partnership from marriage to business to nations requires constant change and innovation. The world changes. We have to adapt. 

NATO was formed in 1949 with 12 countries. Now there are 32. It invoked Article 5 Military Commitment for the first time after 9/11

Divorces are trending downward. So are marriages

It has been a crazy few weeks. I have written three other treatises that I decided not to publish. They weren’t that bad but I confused even myself. There are so many different crosscurrents in today’s world. It is so easy to blame others or yearn for the good old days.

I have decided that I am tired of analyzing and parsing, seeking that certain something that will unlock the secrets of life. I no longer want to listen to everything bad in the world. I could care less about Trump, Biden, Netanyahu, Musk and Bezos to name a few. Met Galas, Tom Brady, and LIV/PGA controversy are not worth my time. I am just going to look into the mirror and figure out how to move forward.

It finally dawned on me that we truly do live in a different world than when I grew up. That time was bland and predictable. If you worked hard and did your 25 years you would get a gold watch. In Bye Bye Birdie, Paul Lynde reveled they were going to be on Ed Sullivan. Ozzie and Harriet as well as Mr. Ed were Nirvana. It was in a phrase, a fairy tale. Not bad but uneventful.

As more and more people went to college new ideas were introduced. Travel went from trains to jets around the world. Computers became ubiquitous and the genie came out of the bottle. And that was 30-40 years ago. We have morphed by leaps and bounds. Some good, some bad, but that is life.

Awhile back there were going to be too many people on the planet to be able to feed the world. In coming years there may not be enough people working to feed the world. We were going to run out of oil and of course the future was in plastics, Mrs. Robinson. Just recently we were teetering between, recessions, soft landings, and catastrophic bank failures. And we pay a lot of money to a lot of people to figure all this out.

The rate of change has ramped up, and with AI it is going to seem like warp speed. The way we communicate, the way we work, even the way we leisure will take on all new symbols and nuances. We are creating a Brave New World whether we like it or not.

The most essential part to ponder is demographics. We are becoming older on one end and not younger on the other. Birthrate seems like a callous number of 2.2 or 1.8. How do you have a .2 child? Plain and simple we need to start having babies to man our workforces that produce our food, build our homes and take care of us when we start to drool. They also need to provide wages to be taxed to support an ever increasing populace of old age.

All this comes at a time when a new generation is avoiding long term relationships, commitment and family creation. Couples are worrying about themselves and find rug rats to be a tedious exercise. They want careers, wealth and off time that exist in an urban environment. They are not even sure if they want each other. They can chat with bots or while the hours away with every type of amusement on line.

Hyperbole? I think not. This old fart is trying to understand a world that bears little resemblance to 70’s and even 80’s. It is easy to dismiss this as a fad or passing fancy but if we dig deeper we will find it is a different way of approaching life. We can call it the Me or I generation which is a cute moniker, but ain’t going to go away. You are grounded or go to your room disappeared a long time ago. This is real.

I say all this with a tad bit of alarm but also a new acceptance. We have failed these kids in so many ways. We abandoned them from lack of oversight. We were too busy with our careers. Discipline was replaced with being buddies to get the most out of any time spent. We became so entranced with the right thing whether it was dress, friends, or schools, we threw money at concerts, specialized summer camps or spring breaks in all parts of the world.

Our institutions from religion, government and even business have had less than ethical and upright people at the helm. I am not sure if it is a new reality or old flaws that have finally been exposed. The point I am trying to make is this is a world that is being recreated and we really have little control over it. How is any young person going to get a feel good about the two idiots we are proposing to lead this great country? This is all a continuation or remnants of a system we have let happen by OUR negligence and abdication of responsibility.

Does this mean we are going to die as a country or civilization? No, in the most emphatic way. From Pax Romana to the Age of Enlightenment to the Industrial Age and to the AI revolution, we have figured out a way to make it work. Sometimes it is well thought out and other times we have just muddled along.

The thing I fear most is our method and depth of interacting. We don’t have a sense of community or if we do it is so narrow and selfish that the good will created is for the few. We seem to feel we can exist in a bubble and the rest of the world be damned. That holds true for rich or poor.

I have looked in the mirror. I think I will have to work small. See if I can affect my own little world first. See if I can understand where different people are coming from. Then maybe we can find something in common and build on that.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
People drive economies. They produce things and then buy things and of course they need medical assistance, shelter and food. AI will not create that dynamic.

One major deterrent to having children is economic. It takes a lot to raise a child from care, clothing, education and time. The best outcome is raising a healthy and contributing member of society. There are no shortcuts.

New data from a consumer study released in June, 2023, found 34% of Americans expect to spend more time by themselves with 37% saying they don’t interact with anyone at least once a week.
The Sense of Community has four components: membership, influence, fulfillment of needs, and emotional connection.Think about your family, town, club or country and tell me how that is working for you.

The key to solving the aging population dilemma is immigration…but we won’t go there. Ha!