The year 2007 is ending with one more snow storm. There is some symbolism with a storm coming because 2007 was somewhat unsettled.
This year was one of hope. The Packers are heading to the playoffs for the first time in 4 years and maybe a Super Bowl Championship. The Milwaukee Brewers were in the pennant chase until the last few days of the season. The Badgers football team had a good season and are unbeaten at home in the last two years.
The term "housing bubble" took us by storm. Foreclosures are occurring at record rates and the incompetence of the banking system is seen in full bloom.
We have accepted $3 per gallon for gasoline as standard and my prediction is that prices will only go higher.
Grasshopper No.1 endured a rare heart procedure (operation) and she has a normal "thumpety, thumpety, thumpety" heartbeart. Her gift is that her ordeal lets her understand and appreciate the important things in life.
Grasshopper No.2 gives new meaning to the name "Dear Abby". Through her exercise regimen (encouraged and paid for by her employer), she has developed her own abdomen "six-pack" hence the nickname "Abby". Her gift is that exercise and diet makes her feel good.
Grasshopper No.3 changed his life by moving to a house in the suburbs. It all comes with landscaping projects, painting rooms and replacing furnaces. His gift is that he seems to be in a good place in his life (exploding piston heads in his boat and all).
Grasshopper No.4 proved that anybody can "coach" a youth football team to a championship. As one of his coaches said at the end of the year, "so few times in your life do you experience a championship situation, you should savor the special moments". They did! He did! His gift is that he has learned the meaning of earning more and spending less.
Grasshopper No.5 seems to be developing the passion in life. Her pictures show more innovation, color, black and white contrast and detail. Her gift is that she can see things through her own special lens. Damn, camera equipment is expensive.
Your Mom continues to strive for the perfect balance through self discovery including diet, excercise and nutrition. She is succeeding. I think Yoga is entering the mix.
And me? "Little Chuckie" from Plymouth, who married Shelby Jean from up on the hill, I lost 20 pounds of ugly fat (no I didn't cut off my head). I do feel better especially when coupled with steady exercise.
So my wish to all is a healthy and prosperous 2008. My prediction is that "something good will happen to you"!
Love,
Dad
There is an ad on TV showing a wife receiving a box of Kleenex and a brown paper bag from her husband as Christmas gifts. They were certainly the gifts of a big spender! Then he takes his wife to the front window of the house and shows her the two matching convertible sports cars in the driveway. One for her. One for him. He hands her the Kleenex because she has tears of joy. He hands her the brown paper bag to breath into because she is hyperventilating and then she faints. The punchline of course is "priceless".
My bride mysteriously left for the store yesterday. She needed to pick up some miscellaneous items for Christmas. Strange. I couldn't believe we needed anything. I looked in the garage and the Saab (my chariot) was gone. She never takes the Saab. I knew it. She was headed for the local auto dealership to pick up the new car (she knows which one I'd like). I looked for Kleenex just in case I'd need it for the tears. I found a brown paper bag to handle any possible hyperventilation. Then I waited for her to come home fearing I'd pass out when I saw the new car. Mom got home and came into the living room and said she needed help with the soda and groceries. Sure she needed help! I knew better! I had to act like I didn't know what was going on! You should have seen my face as I hauled in the soda and groceries from the salt stained Saab into the house. Priceless!
Isn't it interesting the fantasy that Christmas brings. It is like Dominic seeing Santa in the night sky. Anything is possible. What a marvelous feeling.
So on this Christmas morning, far be it for be to destroy the illusion. In this life any thing is possible. Enjoy the dreams of the day!
Love,
Your Dad
My sister Addie and her husband Ike gave us a bright red fleece (soft) Bucky Badger blanket for Christmas. That blanket will stay with me in a comfortable chair as I watch the Packers (and Badgers on New Years Day) march to victory on TV. Truth be known, the blanket wasn't as precious as spending an evening with my only sister reminiscing days gone by.
I get accused of not listening very well. Imagine that! I've been trying to "listen" to the Christmas season. The music at the local mall has been terrific. The Xavier Christmas Program was classic. I watched as Grandsons played in their Christmas music program at school. I "listened" as the special partner in my life got into the Christmas spirit.
You get the idea. My intent was to absorb as much of the season as possible. Christmas comes and goes so fast.
Christmas of course, starts and ends with the birth of the Christ Child. What a magnificent gift for mankind.
Christmas is the music.
Christmas is Children with dreams and wishes.
Christmas is family.
Christmas is good friends.
Christmas is good health.
I want you to know I failed. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't absorb all the things around me. I missed a lot. I guess I didn't listen as well as I could. Alas, wait until next year. I'll try harder.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that Christmas is all the things around you and it offers memories, comfort and warmth if you "listen". Try to enjoy as much as you can!
Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Dad
Grasshopper No.1 and No.4 witnessed the "Christmas Train" coming into the station in Plymouth. It brings back memories because I would stand on the "platform" waiting for my dad to come home from World War II. My Grandpa Chalk also arranged for me to ride the switching trains with coal stoked engines and belching steam. It is impressive. There is one fact about trains. They are never on time. This was no exception. No I didn't forget that Tom, Dominic and Tommy were there.
Just a note. The National Football League is not known for outstanding intelligence. How much intelligence is required to throw long, run fast and hit hard. On Sunday, Brian Westbrook for Philadelphia was running for what was an apparent touchdown. He got to the one yard line and fell down on purpose. His team only led by 4 points at the time. By falling down, the clock ran down to the two minute warning and then his quarterback took 3 "knees" because Dallas was out of time outs and the clock kept running. Philadelphia won by 4 points and took all the risk out of winning. I think Brian Westbrook went to Princeton. What the hell is he doing in the league? A thinking football player. Imagine that.
Okay, "its not fair". I got a brochure from my local bank advertising current interest rates that they pay on various accounts. Would you believe that the bank pays you .55% on all savings accounts up to $10,000. Holy cow, it you invest 10K you get the credited with $55 at the end of one year. The same bank issues credit cards to as many people as possible and charges as high as 25% on the unpaid monthly balances. So if you had a $10,000 credit card balance (shame on you for running up that kind of a bill), you would pay $2500 in interest for not paying off your bill. Now let me see! On a savings account, you make $55. On an unpaid charge account you pay $2500. That doesn't seem fair. It feels like an interest rate "warp". Is this a great country or what?
By the way, if your kiddies want to establish good savings habits, they do pay a whopping 1% interest.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that you should always pay credit card bills in full so there is no interest penalty. Secondly, if you have money to invest, don't go to your local bank. They pay lousy rates. Its not fair!
Love,
Dad
Tis' the season! Your Mom and I went out for lunch this week at Chili's restaurant. When it came time to pay the bill, it came stamped "no money due". It was a holiday present from the manager. Is this a great time of the year or what? I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the money we spend there during the year.
Then our Saab, which is being held together by "white salt", needed a car wash. I reached into my special drawer and pulled out a cash wash certificate from last Christmas (gratis of Grasshopper No. 3). My car wash was free. Is this a great season or what?
Then I turned on ESPN. It turns out the super relief pitcher just signed by the Milwaukee Brewers is named in the steroid scandal, Eric Gagne will get paid $10 million dollars next year plus incentives to stop other team hitters. It makes me feel better that Eric "pushes the edge" with his physical conditioning and the future bodes well for the future. Do we have a great national past-time or what?
Wednesday night we got to attend the Christmas music concert put on by the kids of High Point Christian School in Madison. Grasshopper No. 2 had two sons playing solo (or duo"s) for part of the presentation. Mitchell with his trumpet (ala "Satchmo") and the Grantster with his inherited trombone talents wowed the audience. There is no question that our Grandsons stole the show. The holiday spirit lives!
So turn up the music, trim the tree and bake the cookies. The season is upon us. Hide the credit card bills until after the first of the year.
The lesson Grasshoppers is "Christmas time" is what you make of it. Keep it positive. Hug those close to you!
Love,
Dad
Grasshopper No. 4 has suggested several times that his Dad should buy the City Club (he assumes I could afford it), then have it declared a historical landmark. Apparently there is financial help from the State of Wisconsin to restore old properties to their original condition. I am aware of a small simple house in Fond du Lac that cost over 1 million dollars to get back to original condition. It took many years and my guess is that the State did not supply all the money.
My recent prediction was that some real estate mogul would purchase the City Club property, tear it down and erect a parking lot (isn't there a song about tearing down a house and putting up a parking lot). I'm kidding! The property is in downtown Plymouth and conversion to office buildings or restaurants probably make the most sense.
We were contacted yesterday by one of Harry Stroebel's nephews. He had discovered a complete "slide" collection including projector while cleaning out junk. It had been determined that the slides did not belong to the Stroebels so they gave us the slides. I have a feeling that they don't belong to us either, but we will take a look.
Now on to "new life". Apparently the City Club has been sold. It was purchased by a restaurateur from Sheboygan Falls who is going to re-establish the City Club as an eating establishment. The menu is supposed to be expanded to include additional items. The new owners plan to make it a "work in progress" by doing continual improvement by themselves. I don't know the extent of restoration. Stay tuned! It is fun to watch. So new life is being pumped into the old facility.
Alas, I can put my checkbook away and Grasshopper No. 4 can turn his attention to other endeavors. Damn, another opportunity lost!
The lesson Grasshoppers is that opportunity lays in the eyes of the beholder. The restaurateurs from Sheboygan Falls see a positive investment. I see a "sink hole" for cash and lots of work. Time will tell!
Love,
Dad
First an apology. I recently mentioned that snow was a special part of Christmas. I must have been on a bipolar high because I now hate the stuff. Three snowfalls in 6 days convinced me that there is nothing good about snow. I hate the f------ stuff. Maybe I've shifted to a bipolar low.
I've been watching the mortgage mess that has been created. Fear not! The government is coming to the rescue. Government is you and me wiping the noses of the financial a--h---- who made bad loans.
It is really simple. Financial institutions lent money to "marginal" customers with creative mortgage instruments. You could borrow money with "nothing down". You could borrow money for more than the value of your house. You could borrow money and pay "interest only" on a mortgage. And then there is the beautiful "adjustable rate mortgage" that lets you borrow at a low rate and 1-3 years down the road the rate adjusts upward to reflect market conditions (and then you can't afford the payment).
Who is at fault? The banks and credit unions with their MBA's and economic guru's ought to know better. Common sense says that you don't loan money to marginal customers at teaser rates for more than what a property home is worth. The financial institutions did it and the whole economy is now in jeopardy. The founder of Countrywide Financial (the largest mortgage company in America) paid himself $130 million before the debacle began. Not a bad reward for creating financial chaos. Shame on the financial companies for putting the home market in such jeopardy. Don't worry! "We the people" will bail them out.
The people taking out mortgages for houses they could never afford were wrong for making such a move. This part of the issue gets very emotional because people could lose homes. Who's fault is this? It is the people who commited to pay mortgage money they could never afford. Dry the tears. Our government will come to the rescue. We will keep you in those house you can't afford.
What is really wrong is that good people will pay. You and I. We will do it because the economy will slip into a really bad condition if we don't. We were wrong because we elected really lousy government officials to champion our economic system
The winners are the financial institutions that won't incur large losses like they thought. The winners are home owners that get to stay in extremely nice home conditions because we feel bad that they might get thrown out.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that sometimes common sense gets lost. There is enough blame to go around but until all parties accept responsibility, mortgage messes will continue to occur.
Oh well, I guess I'll do something really important like shovel my snow covered sidewalk.
Love,
Dad
As Christmas approaches it imposes stress. Decorations! Shopping for presents! Demands on your time. Frenzy. Rushing. Chaos.
STOP!
Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the Christ child! That is spiritual. Rejoice!
Christmas conjures up to special images and feelings such as:
Being with the one(s) you love.
Snow.
Beautiful music at the mall (no filtering religious songs).
Santa Claus!
The Xavier high school annual Christmas program.
Your kids participating in a school play or choir.
Smiles.
Anticipation.
Jobs.
Cookies baking (yummy as Grasshopper No. 5 would proclaim).
Good Health.
So make yourself a good cup of coffee or cappuccino, rent yourself a good movie, cuddle up with the one that makes your heart go "pidder-pat" and enjoy the season.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that you can manage the Christmas blitz. Keep it in perspective. Don't let it manage you.
Love,
Dad