a review of the past few days

Has America led by DJT over stepped by abducting the Venezuelan president and killing the leader of a corrupt theocracy in Iranz?  We and Israel have started a war in the region.  Plain and simple we are the aggressors.  Congress has not authorized these actions, in fact they were bypassed without a thought.  American servicemen have died already with more to come.  What does the government tell their parents even as a passing thought?  This cannot be justified.  This supreme leader is a bad guy, there is no denying it along with his staff that were killed.  

This is not the country I grew up in.  We defended countries agains aggressors.  Never perfect but with some moral code.  It appears we have lost our mora. center.

As citizens, all we can do is to see how this plays out, voting in elections both national, state and local.  

Weather is improving finally.  I am able to walk around the neighborhood.  We have a little more sunshine.  That's all the good news.

This is Judy's delicious lemon cheesecake for Kate's birthday.

Katherine Rose Kocsis

So in 1994 we went to amusement park in Ohio with Kathy and Ron and our family.  I have forgotten the name.  I have always been terrified of scary rides, generally refusing to go on them.  I remember it was Kings Island near Cincinnati.  The lead attraction was a roller coaster named "The Beast". For youngsters and fraidy cat adults there was a ride called "the beastie", a very watered down version of the bigger.  Katey convinced me to go with her.  The park takes photos of riders at the most opportune time.  Please note that I thought I was going to my death and my lovely daughter was having a great time.  Later that same day she and I were stuck at the top of some ride and secuded fromt to the line passes which we gave to Judy and Ron.  

So thats us, me terrified and she gleefully screaming. In some ways a metaphor of our relationship.  She is a great daughter reminding me to not take life so seriously.  She crosses a big road today.  I still remember when she decided to arrive before schedule. Nothing was ready.  The boys were farmed out to neighbors.  Katey has always moved with her own schedule.  Some days the ride is pretty wild. Please know I love you and hope the day is grand.

A Commentary

 

I have watched the newest season of "The Lincoln Lawyer" on Netflix.  It has taken an un expected turn in plot line with the main character, Mikey Haller, a defense attorney is in jail for accused of murder and stuck in jail.  Elliot Gould plays a minor part and is a legal mentor to Mickey.  He is old really, and I remember him as Trapper John in the original MASH from the 70's.  Still having some of the smart assed wit from his younger days, still refreshing to watch him ply his craft.  The two characters have a genuine affection of each other and a lot of history.  Well the old guy succumbs to a heart attack brought on by a highly anticipated pastrami sandwich. Mickey is devastated. I was devastated too.  Sometimes a story just gets you.

I have been recovering from my annual fall on my face.  Wounds have improved and appearance is normalizing.  I have never been accused of being a matinee idol (a young person would not know what that is).  So, normalizing is the best I can hope for.

Been watching a lot of Elijah's bowling of late an his team had a rather weak finish to the season yesterday. I think the boys were tired after about 5 days straight of tournament play.  Good guys all with wonderful supportive coaches, they have jelled as team mates.  Bowlers can come in all shapes and sizes, short, tall, skinny and wide.  The skill set is very specific.  Like golf, extreme focus, consistency and coordination are required to be successful.  I enjoyed seeing them and cheering the time on.  

Judy joined in as they had a parents day and did not embarrass herself earning at least one spar.e.  The last time a tried a few years ago, I felt like my arm was coming out of the socket so I declined to participate.  

It's still quiet at 8:06 and I am the only one up.  Breakfast is done and coffee is drank. My only parting thought is that we all need to practice more self forgiveness.  I make a mess when I cook.  I stumble when I am distracted  and trying to do multiple things at once. Give yourself a break.
 

Superbowl Aftermath

 

I've had a couple of days to stew over the Super Bowl halftime show.  Bad Bunny, the lead performer on the 13 minute show is a latin singer from Puerto Rico that is a US citizen that chooses to use his Spanish native tongue to sing in.  He is currently the biggest pop star in the world.  Judy and Shannon really dig is music.  It is constantly plugged into her Pandora stations.  I am not a big fan of his recordings only because they employ auto tune to alter voices favorably.  All that being said as prefacing comments, I thought the halftime show was magnificent even though I couldn't understand a word of it.  The energy and the production blew me away.  I really enjoyed the cultural references with old men playing dominoes, two boxers, a marriage and more.  His message of unity at the end was dynamic with all the countries from South America being included.

It's Thursday and social media is still obsessed with this guy and his impact.  Had a doctors appointment and the female doc and her female assistant were non plussed.  Frankly for me it is slowly fading away.  

We returned Tuesday from a visit to frozen Toms River NJ.  I basically sat inside, watched TV and ate.  Gained 2 pounds in 6 days.  Was stiff from all the inaction.  Met with some good friends and even met a server that was from Royal Oak.  Had a conversation with my niece that I never talk to who is approaching 49.  It was a pleasant  and surprising connection. Flights were good and on time which shocked me.  

Working to become reaclimated to my regular life and getting there slowly.  Andrew made some delectable pizzas that I ate too much of. 

Are you OK

Some days it's difficult to know where to begin.  We are all shocked at the assassination with multiple shots, of an intensive care VA nurse in Minneapolis after the agents removed his lawfully held firearm and he was brandishing a mobile phone camera.   It took me a while for all this information to sink in.  What is the country we woke up in this morning.  I am still as furious as when this story was recounted to me. This guy was coming to the aid of a woman on the ground from her attack from agents.   His last words uttered, were "Are you OK?" directed to this person. At last count, 9 people have been ended by ICE agents.  

In my mind, this agency needs to be recalibrated with a mind to serve the purpose of apprehending child traffickers like they did before.  

It's mighty cold out there today.  Schools are generally open for business even though the wind chills put it well below zero.  Our animals have not really been outside in days and are getting bored laying around as am I.  Tired of television programs, although we have seen a couple of good movies in our confinement.  "Eleanor the Great" starring a 96 year old June Squibb is a remarkable tale of resilience directed by Scarlett Johansson. This is. real keeper if you don't mind stories about old people as they travel thru life.  It's on Netflix.  "The Best You Can"  is kind of a slice of life drama staring the husband and wife team of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.  Its odd seeing her without here Brenda Lee Johnson southern accent.  It took me until this year to discover that the character was named after the singer from the 60's.  Anyway is a good diversion as we peer at the frozen tundra outside.

Today was Eli's maiden voyage driving his sister to the high school.  They got out on time remarkably.  It's yet another life transition.  He continues to astound me with a bowling score of 244 in his last tournament play. 

Will have to do some shoveling as the temps arise to 15 degrees.

 

 

Maiden Voyage

 

So grandson Elijah has earned his drivers license.  After his mother's permission was granted, I took him to her house to take his maiden voyage driving his new car to bowling practice.  He was calm and collected on the trip there, got the keys and the necessary documentation.  I helped him clean off the snow, shook hands and he started her up.  I looked away, and he was gone.  The little boy that followed behind me with his lawnmower following in my footsteps as I cut the grass on Orchard View. was driving a motor vehicle in the winter and out of my sight.  For the first time in a while, I felt completely helpless but proud of him as a newly minted driver. Even though he's still upstairs sleeping, I am sill thinking about him.

If I'm stopped

 

It I am stopped by an officer in my car no matter what town I am in, I would roll. down my window and greet the officer, asking what I did to achieve his/her attention.  These officers of the law have rules of engagement with the public they are sworn to protect.  For a guy like me, I probably rolled through a Stop Sign.  I would most likely get a ticket for the violation and the pleasant officer would drive off with a "drive safely" goodby.  They would not be masked and would have their name clearly posted with a badge number.

To be absolutely truthful,  all I know of the disruptions in Minneapolis is what is seen on the evening news.  It may or may not be the complete picture.  The last one I viewed (on a 60 Minutes segment) was a woman that said she was disabled and was trying to get to a doctors appointment. She was ordered by officers to exit her car.  The filming showed her trying to explain her situation to the masked officers to no avail.  She was dragged from her vehicle where she was subdued.  

My question is, is it lawful to forcibly extricate a driver from their vehicle without due cause or warrant.  Could any citizen be accosted by one of these officers for their appearance or speech pattern?  If a car is stolen or if the driver ie endangering themselves or the public, it makes perfect sense for a demand to leave the car.  

Federal officers are not there to enforce traffic laws.  It appears that their charge is to detain immigrants without any due process.  Now I know that media may have a skewed view of this reality.  It may be a one sided presentation.  

As we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King today, I gives me pause wondering what his comments might be.

thats it