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

Jon Kocsis

 yesterday was my son Joh's 43 birthday.  He's a great husband, dad and all around nice guy.  I am very proud of him for all he has done and become.  He served our country for 9 years in the US Navy after high school.  He and his family moved around a bit and finally settled in the lovely little town of Middleville MI, near Grand Rapids.  I miss them due to the distance.  We had our party last week with a luncheon and cake. He is well and I hope continues to be.

On a positive note. 

National update

 So we went into a sovereign nation with planes and captured their president and his wife.  Let me say up front that this guy is a thug and a criminal and lost the last popular election but refused to leave office.  Still, this is a nation we were not at war with and we invaded to capture the guy. The congressional branch of government was not consulted and the president proceeded without any restraint..   Earlier, we commandeered two tankers filled with Venezuelan  oil with our military and became pirates on the high seas.  Prior to this action, we used unmanned drones and blew fishing boats out of the water claiming without evidence that they were transporting illegal drugs.  

And now, a 37 year old widow and mother has been shot in the face in her car watching ICE agents and their actions in Minneapolis.  She died from her injuries.  Words fail me. 

A new year reprise

 

It's now officially 2026.  Slept poorly last night; probably ate too late.  Katey came over and we watched the last two episodes of Stranger Things which were riveting.  Really enjoyed all the seasons of this program with the kids growing into teenagers and graduating from high school.  If you have the opportunity, watch it on Netflix.

This day will be a quiet one with some snow shoveling.  I pace myself better now with the effort and temperatures.

So, I made pasta sauce early in the day yesterday, tomato based.  Shared it with Katey last evening watching over spaghetti.  I ate late.  Glucose numbers (my measurement of health) were pretty good this morning.  Has to be due to mixing protein with carbohydrate.  This condition is always puzzling to me.

Our social security 2026 increase amounts to $2 a month after the Medicare/Medicaid cost increases for this year. What an annual raise.

It's the next day, still cold, still winter.  Watched a recent film called Boyhood. It took twelve years to film and showed the main character and his family in their evolution in actual years.  Basically it was a window into the lives of this family over that duration.  While it was a massive effort,  I missed some of the nuances and the subtleties.  I am always looking for an ending with summation.  I missed it here.  Lots of people loved this movie including my wife; me not so much.

Going back to the gym today to try to beat some life back into this body.