Grasshopper No.4 has had some great mojo in the past. Everytime he attends a UW Badger football game, he seems to luck out by seeing a memorable game or experience a special moment. Of course he begs to get games with powerhouses Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State.

This year he whined until he got tickets for the Ohio State game. The script was to be played out with Ohio State coming to Madison for a night game on national TV. Ohio State was voted to make the BCS series for the top 8 teams in the nation in pre-season polls. Wisconsin was rated well also. The script said that this could be a titanic struggle between two "unbeatens". Grasshopper No.4 was in position to pull off another special moment.

It was special alright. Ohio State started the season by losing it's first game to USC and dropping to No.14 in the polls. Not a bad rating, but not No.1 or No.2. Wisconsin started the Big 10 season by going to Michigan and losing (they blew a 19-0 halftime lead). So Saturday night both teams had one loss. Needless to say it was not as exciting as originally anticpated.

Then it happened. Some "goof-offs" in the UW Marching Band got caught in some sexual misconduct or hazing or something. The whole Band was suspended from performing until further notice. For the first time in 40 years, the Band would not be in attendance. So they cranked up the stadium sound system to compensate. It wasn't the same. Grasshopper No.4 and Jenny saw something different all right. No Band.

The game unfolded with Ohio State driving for a touchdown with less than 2 minutes remaining and eventually winning 20-17. There were no late game fumble recoveries by the Badgers or interceptions or long runs. Ohio State won as expected and Wisconsin now has two losses in the Big 10. Grasshopper No.4 got to experience the first Badger home loss in 3 years.

So I think that Grasshopper No.4 out-foxed himself. The conditions were right but this year he was missing the good mojo of past years.

Now I have a dilemma. If by inviting Grasshopper No.4 to a UW football game, I have to endure the same bullsh-- mojo as this year, I'll may have to rethink the invite.

Love,

Dad

Most people don't care that a "collider" has been built deep in the ground under France and Switzerland. It has sucked up 7000 scientists from around the world in an attempt to send protons from opposite directions at the speed of light around a 17 mile loop. The objective is to get these infintesimal proton particles to crash and duplicate conditions similar to when the universe was created. It is called the Big Bang Theory. It is supposed to help explain why particles have mass (along with a lot of other things). When I was a kid, "big bang" meant something else.

One of the things that they don't tell you is that when the experiment is executed, the colliding protons whizzing around the 17 mile circuit is that a "black hole" could be created. The universe outside the planet Earth has many black holes that are really super mass locations that suck up and destroy anything that comes close to them. You don't want to be sucked into a black hole. The fear is that colliding protons could produce mini-black holes and our world could be imploded into the hole and we will all disappear. Essentially it would be a mini "big bang".

So with all the negative in the world like global warming, financial crisis, energy depletion, world health issues, now we have to worry about being sucked into a mini black hole. The one positive to this whole thing is the the "collider" is partially located under the country of France and it would be the first to disappear into the hole. Now that brightens my day!

The lesson Grasshoppers is that life has many issues. Human beings have been very resourceful in solving complex issues and somehow we keep moving forward. Rejoice! The collider experiment will not generate a black hole and somehow I think I will get my Channel 11 back. The sun will come out tomorrow.

Love,

Dad

So the tickets for Ohio State were sold out early. I don't know what e-Bay was bartering the tickets for, but it had to be substantial. I have 4 tickets that I thought would be worth a fortune.

But things change! Ohio State was beaten by USC two weeks ago. Then last week the Badgers let a 19-0 halftime lead against Michigan slip away and they ended up losing their first Big 10 game. My fortune in tickets was slipping away.

So Saturday night the Ohio State game takes place and each team has 1 loss. It still is a great match-up but my guess that the e-Bay price for my tickets has dropped a little.

Lo and behold, the Milwaukee Brewers won the National League wild card for the Major League Baseball playoffs. There is one male family member living on Saemann St. in Sheboygan who continually predicted the Brewers would collapse. Boy, did he have a "wrong number". The Brewers play Game 3 of the playoffs in Milwaukee on Saturday evening (Oct.4) at Miller Park. The game starts at around 6:00 PM so that it conflicts with the evening Badger game. Whoa! Now sports fans that had Ohio State football tickets will have to make a decision on whether to atttend Badger football or Brewer baseball. Brewer fever seems to have pre-empted "Bucky Ball". Again the e-Bay bidding for Badger tickets will probably drop. I might have to pay someone to take my Ohio State tickets.

The lesson Grasshoppers is that nothing in life can be taken for granted. One minute I've got 4 tickets to a highly anticipated Ohio State game worth a fortune on e-Bay and the next minute both football teams have a loss and their game is competing with the Brewers. A fortune just slipped though my fingers. I'm still smiling though because like a hot date, anticipation is the biggest part of the experience. I have my dreams of what might have been.

Love

Dad

Our old Hewlett Packard printer was purchased 5-6 years ago from Sam's Club. We paid $140. We wanted photo printing capabilities so we paid a little more at the time. I think we got our money's worth. But the real cost (as you know) lies in the ink cartridges. Black cartridges are about $18 and color units are $25. Then there are special cartridges with more intense color capabilities for high quality prints. Another $30 per unit. I don't even want to think about the total cost of printing over the years including cartridges, special paper and software upgrades.

You can't really afford to take a broken printer to a technician for repair. A new black printer can be purchased for under $50.

So merrily we went to Best Buy and looked at the new printers. The cheapest were black printers. A color printer costs a little more. If you want color and scanning, the price increases. The big incremental jump up in price comes with "photo" capability. A printer with photo features along with internet wave transmitting and receiving was the most expensive. Amazingly, the unit with everything was priced at $189. How could they offer this futuristic "do everything" machine so cheap? The answer of course is that you will pay for the printer again and again and again with all the cartridges you will buy.

So we bought a new HP photo capable printer. It does everything except brew coffee in the morning. Then we bought a special cord to connect the printer to our computer and an additional cartridge for high quality color reproduction. The extras pushed the total cash outlay to over $200. And now we are destined to purchase a never ending stream of ink cartridges forever or until the new printer "pukes".

The lesson Grasshoppers is that you never know when an unplanned expense is going to hit. In this case it was a printer. Who knows what is next? My mother always said bad things happen in 3's.

I have to admit the new printer is kind of cute! It blinks lots of lights at me.

Love,

Dad

Actually we found lots of things to do and the weather was incredible. No.5 was a gracious host.

No.5 doesn't talk about her personal life much but she did have a medical procedure to remove a suspicious looking mole from her side over her rib cage two weeks ago. There were internal stitches that dissolve over time and then surface (skin) stitches. The stitches were pretty blue color. She down plays the significance of the procedure but it unscores the significance of getting moles checked on a regular basis.

We always stay at a cheap hotel in downtown Minneapolis. It is on the edge of the Nickolett Mall that graces downtown. By walking from the hotel, every store you could want is within 3-4 blocks. It is very busy during the week as workers commute to downtown and shop in their spare time or after work. Weekends, the Nickolette Mall is like a ghost town. Stores are open but it is very quiet. It is like having your own personal shopping center.

I always liked early mornings growing up as a kid in downtown Plymouth. It was quiet. Occasionally a water truck washing the streets would cool off a warm morning but their was serenity. My mother would send us down the block to Muellers Bakery for sweetrolls (long johns, crescent rolls, mudpies and some hardrolls) for breakfast. They were always fresh and we didn't know that sugar was bad for us. So in the early mornings, Plymouth's downtown concrete streets belonged to me filled with smells of fresh bakery.

Fast forward to Minneapolis. If you get up real early in the morning and venture from the hotel you will find that it is a cavern of concrete with very few people. There are a few "shady" looking characters requesting "spare change" and a few dedicated joggers. It took me back to my childhood Plymouth mornings. One block from the hotel is a Caribou Coffee shop. It had expensive coffee but guess what? It had fresh sweetrolls. So the devil made me buy a couple of sweetrolls. For the morning, I just didn't care if it was bad for me. It was like 50 years ago. And there were the bakery smells. Oh, the smells.

The lesson is Grasshoppers is that sometimes you can go back in time if only in your mind. For a short hour or so, I was a teenager reliving my childhood. Happiness is a sweet roll!

Love,

Dad

Over the last 5-10 years, the term "money market funds" has crept into the financial vocabulary. The only place you could safely "park" your cash previously was with your friendly banker. Your account was insured by the FDIC (a federal agency) and you were sure to get your money back. The problem was that they paid a pittence for their interest. You know! No interest on a Christmas Club but they'd handle all the accounting. 1/2% interest. Maybe 1% interest. It was a haven for widow and orphan accounts. It is a known fact that 85% of all bank account holders will not switch out of the bank no matter what the incentive.

Money market accounts changed all that. Mutual fund companies like Vanguard and Fidelity offered "money market accounts" for their customers as an enticement to "park" their cash until they could amass enough funds to invest in their family of funds. The money market accounts paid 2-3-4-5-6% interest depending on whether interest rates were high or low. The money market fund is based on you buying shares of the money market fund at $1 per share and when you went to cash out, you'd get your $1 back. The selling point has always been "nobody has ever lost a cent in a money market account". Money market funds buy corporate and government bonds for 90 days and get really high interest that they turn around and pay to you the participant.

Now the good news and the bad news. The good news is that as of this date, nobody has still never lost a penny in a money market account. The bad news is that there are money market funds presently "closing themselves to new deposits". The reason is that some of the money market funds invested in risky brokerage firms (not perceived as risky one month ago). One broker went bankrupt and suddenly the money market fund investments didn't seem so safe.

The chances that money in a "money market account" will drop below $1 in value and that you might not get you money back is pretty slim. If necessary the big companies like Vanguard will put their own money into the money market account so that it doesn't lose. They don't want the public to lose confidence.

For the second time in a week, I'm telling you that there is no such thing as security. If you have money you don't want to lose, put it in a bank savings account with FDIC insurance so that you are assured you'd get you principal back.

Love,

Dad

You would think that after continually building a team to a better record each year for 6 years, Ned Yost (the manager) would have been able to complete the journey. Actually one of my basic universal laws is still in tack: "there is no such thing as job security".

It is fun to watch the soap opera play out. Doug Melvin, the general manager, doesn't fire anyone. He is loyal to his subordinates to a fault. He tries to build on trust and loyality and it usually works. His boss, the loving Mark Attanasio owns a big part of the Brewers along with his investment partners. He has become wealthy by making shrewd financial decisions. There is no question in my mind that Attanasio said "fire Yost tomorrow" and Doug Melvin dutifully complied.

In defense of Attanasio, he has a business to run. There are hundreds of employees (maybe thousands) that depend on the Milwaukee Brewer fanchise. Success means winning. The Brewers have spent big bucks locking in Ryan Braun to a $46 million long term contract. They traded for C.C. Sabathia along with his $10 million dollar salary for the rest of this year knowing he will cost $18 million next year and beyond. Attanasio opened the wallet to winning this year and that is in suddenly in doubt. What would you do?

Maybe Attanasio fired the wrong man. Doug Melvin has been the architect of this baseball club and it is faultering. Melvin chose Ed Yost to manage player operations. Melvin's plan isn't working. Of course you fired Yost. It is simple logic. The boss isn't going to get fired.

I mentioned that there is no such thing as job security. Doug Melvin should be worried. I can tell you his job is in jeopardy. Yost thought his job was safe and look what happened to him..

The lesson Grasshoppers is that the person who owns "the ball", controls the game. It is Attanasio's money. The rest is a social soap opera. Doug Melvin should start looking for a job. The only thing that could save Melvin's job is that the Brewers, through some miracle, make the playoffs and win the World Series. I guess miracles can enhance job security.

Love,

Dad

Last night (Thursday), Grandson Dominic played in a driving rain against a very good opponent. I errored by referring to his wearing No.75. That is his practice jersey. On game day he wears No. 58 and plays center. In his uniform complete with white helmet, Dominic looks like a football player. He fills out the football garb. By the way, his team won 12-6 despite the inclimate weather. He knocked a couple of opponents on their ass and his tackling was superb.

Now quickly to Joe Schmuck. The Milwaukee Brewers might make the playoffs for the first time since 1982. If they do, fans everywhere will want to see "home" playoff games. First priority goes to season ticket holders and 20-game ticket packages. 93% of the preferred ticket holders purchased playoff tickets. Now three options have been offered beyond 2008 season ticket holders. You can purchase full season tickets for next year and you will be guaranteed playoff tickets up to a limit of 8 if you deposit $1500 per seat (non-refundable). Or you can purchase a 40 game package for next year up to a limit of four seats for a non-refundable $1000 deposit per seat. Lastly, a 20 game package for next year gets you the division series and one championship game up to 4 seats. Cost is $400 per seat and again is non-refundable.

My observation is that there won't be any seats left for Joe Schmuck. You know, the average guy that takes his family to one or two games, drinks beer and eats their $5 hot dogs. What the professional sports teams are doing is screening out the average guy. I know that baseball is a business and it's purpose is to provide entertainment but it is slowly evolving into entertainment for the rich.

The lesson Grasshoppers is that the professional and college sports arena is evolving into a party for the elete. I guess if I owned a sports franchise, I'd leverage it for maximum profit too. What is lost is a sense fo fairness. What about the other loyal supporters that have accounted for close to 30 consecutive sellouts? Somehow I think we are all getting Schmucked.

Love,

Dad

The NFL season "kicked off" it's season Thursday night followed by games all day Sunday including a featured evening contest. Then on Monday night there was a double header starting with the Packers followed by a Denver-Oakland matchup. It was non-stop NFL. It went on and on and on.

If NFL football wasn't enough, college football began with a serious agenda all weekend. Saturday was non-conference encounters with a few major match-ups. Cheerleaders, bands, mascots, tailgating and more.

On a more personal level. your Mom and I and attended a Badger game in Madison. I think it has been almost 3 years since we've seen a "home loss". At least attending a home game involves a personal commitment and some exercise.

If you are into youth football, you could have watched Grasshopper No.4's team get blitzed by a losing score of 48-12. Didn't the same team win a championship last year? I'm sure that lucky breaks for the other team determined the contest.

Dominic centered the offensive line on his new team with his No.75 intimidating the opponents on the other side of the ball. My understanding is that teams platoon players so everyone gets a chance to play. Dominic's unit played very well, it was the other guys that caused the 19-0 loss.

So if you are a football fan, you had everything you could wish for. If you are not a football fan, you are probably wishing someone would put you out of your misery.

The lesson Grasshoppers is that football seems to be woven in to our cultural fabric. It represents competition. It generates passion. It personifies "team". Yep, and it gives fans a reason to buy expensive TV's, drink beer, eat pizza and do stupid things. Does it get any better?

To be fair as I make fun of football, I did take part in the "overload". Your Mom and I did go to the Badger game in Madison. Monday night, I turned up the volume on the HDTV presentation of the Packers and watched the "Packer Nation" get over the rejection of Brett Favre.

The whole football extravaganza continues until February next year. Sigh!

Love,

Dad

There a lot of people hyped by the biased Press like Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and the promised one, Barack Obama. Once you get past the hype, it is the same old sh--. The good old boys and the lobbyist deals. Trust is a lost word.

Then along comes Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. Of course she is pretty. Her smile is beguiling. She has an air of confidence. You get the feeling that she could un-nerve "the good old boy" club. And, yep there is more, she can work a crowd into spontaneous support.

For those of you that were not part of the 38 million viewers that tuned into the Republican Convention to see Sarah accept the Vice Presidential nomination for the Republican ticket, you missed an electric moment.

Sarah has all the credentials. Good family! High school athlete actually winning the Alaskian State Basketball Championship. A reputation for fighting for what she believes (her nickname is "Sarah Barracuda"). Five Children. Her guy (her husband) who has stood with her for 21 years. Accomplishment! Understanding of huge issues like taxes, medical insurance and energy. Imagine that.

The reason I even mention Sarah is because I am a student of special people. Grasshopper No. 4 calls it the "It factor". "It" is something that you can not exactly define but when someone has "It" like Sarah, good things happen. Some times it seems magical. Charisma has something to do with it but there is more. Sarah has the ability to rally people for a cause.

I know there are two months before the Presidential election and Sarah is only No.2 on the Republican ticket. I am sure the "Press" will drag Sarah's family through excruciating falsehoods and she will wonder why she even agreed to a national stage. If she survives the scrutiny, remember the name Sarah Palin.

The lesson Grasshopppers is that our national government is floundering like a ship without a rudder. Someone needs to inspire people to move toward good values and fiscal responsibility. I love this country. Why else would I get goosebumps when high powered jets fly low over a sports event after the Star Spangled Banner. Sarah might have arrived just in time. I'd give her a chance to steer ship.

Love,

Dad

Bucky called mid-morning and inquired if we wanted to go out to Elkhart Lake to the Fireman's Park. It had a great park area to romp around and we could all go swimming. So promptly at noon, Bucky picked us up in 1938 Cadillac and we zipped out to Elkhart. My Mother didn't have a drivers license until the late 1950's so my Dad had to drive. We only had the one car. My Dad would drop us off and go back to work. So we were "commited" for the afternoon.

Fireman's Park hasn't changed much. We parked for free in the gravel parking lot. We always wore our swimming suits so that we didn't have to change clothes at the beach. My Mother brought a big bag of "stuff" along to take care of us for the afternoon. It was always filled with candy bars, chewing gum and "sun tan oil". No it wasn't sun block with a PF factor of 45 like today. The sun tan oil (I believe it was Coppertone) was always heavy and thick and it was rubbed on like you baste a pig. I guess the idea was that you would develop a golden brown suntan even though you had light white pigment skin. When you went in the water the sun tan oil would wash off. I remember a lot of afternoons where we ended up wearning T-shirts in the lake to give extra protection. There was a small building near the beach where we could buy a soda.

Fireman's Park had one of the greatest beaches in the area. It was white sand and you could walk out 50-100 yards with the water getting gradually deeper. We would bring snorkels and water masks for diving. Yep, we frittered away the whole afternoon in the water.

Then around 5:00 PM my Dad would come back to the lake to go swimming, "fry out" and finally take us home. I know that we would throw the baseball around and I think there was an occasional football. The Park had plenty of shade trees and they provided concrete permanent outdoor grills.

For some reason I remember my Mother (who didn't smoke cigarettes up to this time of her life), worshipping the sun. She loved to lay on a blanket in the park near the water lathered with sun tan oil trying to develop a tan. A tan was symbolic of healthy. It was a desired look.

As the sun would begin to set around 7:30-8:00 PM we would jump in the car and trundle on back to Plymouth. Somehow the hot apartment didn't seem as hot. We had spent the day at the beach and we didn't even need a cottage. Maybe those days influenced my desire to own a cottage later on in life? Hmmmmm?

The lesson Grasshoppers is that your early life influences the choices you make later in life. There were many good times that my family shared while I was growing up and Fireman's Park remains indelibly etched in my mind. I could revisit the same routine today if I wanted. Of course I wouldn't look the same. Another Hmmmm!

Love,

Dad

We are all the "result" of our mother's warnings. You know! "Don't cross your eyes because they might stay that way".

Your Mom also conditions you for your eating habits with her insights.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away?"

"If you have a cold, you need Chicken soup."

"If you want muscles like Popeye, eat your spinach." Mom never convinced me.

"If you don't drink your milk, you won't grow big and strong,"

As the years have gone by, I have adopted a regimen of eating too much and exercising too little. If someone says that I am too heavy, I rationalize that I am too short for my weight. If I were 6 inches taller, my weight would be perfect. Or, I'm not heavy, I'm just "big boned". You get the idea. I've got good reasons for being like I am.

The comic Jay Leno helped me put things in perspective. He observed that he has been in training for the Olympics all his life. Michael Phelps eats 10,000 calories per day to supply all the energy he needs in the pool. Leno says he has the 10,000 calories down. now all he has to do is develop a swimming routine. Don't we all. I've got the calorie requirement down. Now all I need is lots of exercise. I plan on starting tomorrow (or maybe the day after).

The lesson Grasshoppers is that our nutritional lives are filled with myths and dillusion. The reality is that we eat too much. We eat the wrong foods. We rationalize that what we do is okay. For sure, it is not our fault. I know, blame it on Mom.

Love,

Dad

Some new cars do not carry a spare because the "run flat" feature eliminates the need for it. If your tire goes flat, just stop at a tire dealer and have them fix it.

Great idea, huh? Guess again!

Most "fun flat" tires can not be repaired because the internal air tube prevents getting to the inside of the tire to repair it. Sometimes (and I emphasized sometimes), a small nail hole can be "plugged" from the outside. The net of all this is, if your "run flat" tire blows, you probably have to buy a new one. There goes $250.

Next comes the availability factor. Run flat tires are not stock items. So if you need a run flat tire replaced, you have to wait. One day? One week? One month?

Then you need the same brand tire to match the three tires that didn't go flat. The dealer you stopped at may not have that brand and you are screwed. Yes, you can search dealers until you find the right tire.

So some people order an extra "run flat" tire so that it is available in case of failure. Oops! There goes another $250.

It is a bullsh-- system!

The lesson Grasshoppers is that for now, stay away from "run flat" tires. Some German designer in Europe came up with a better idea. He (or she) needs to get out in the real world.

Love,

Dad

Previously I mentioned that at age 12, 13, 14 and 15, I worked in the Stokely fields during the summer weeding beets. When I turned 16, I was now elgible to work in the Stokely factory "canning" the early crop of peas. No more hot work in the sun. And I was elgible for the big money jobs.

Again my neighbor, Harry Zelm (plant superintendent) made sure that I got a job in the plant. Not only did I get a job, I was a "pea inspector". Now there is a title to relish. I was Chief Pea Inspector. I started at $1.06 per hour. Once Stokely would begin to harvest the peas, I would work 15-16 hours per day (no there was no overtime), seven days a week. Still for a kid, earning over $100 per week, I was always in "pocket money". There were interruptions when it rained but I usually found alternate work in the Stokely warehouse.

As I look back on summer employment, I realize that there were many positive lessons. First, I was taught financial independence. Having my own money allowed me to do many things without having to involve my parents. Second, I developed a "work ethic". There is no shame in earning money. Third, I learned that I didn't want to work in a factory all my life. It is an honorable job position but I just wanted to have Harry Zelm's job as superintendent or better.

From my parents perspective, they always knew where I was during the summer (I was at work) and it kept me out of trouble. Other than dating that girl from "up on the hill", I'm sure my parents felt like they were in control. Ha.

The lesson Grasshoppers is that good things happen from early employment. The lessons are numerous. There is nothing wrong with hard work. The "big money" isn't bad either.

Love,

Dad

A young motherless female lion cub (named Elsa) is rescued from the wilds of Africa by a childless couple. As the lion grows up, she is very docile and loved by all.

But little lions become big lions. It becomes obvious that Elsa's natural pedigree requires her to live with "her own" in the wild. There is a great deal of pain by her adopted family in dealing with the return of Elsa to the wild. The effort begins. Elsa is placed into settings natural to a female lion to see if she can break away from domestication. She keeps coming home. It turns out to be a very painful process but eventually Elsa learns to exist on her own.

The parallel to life is uncanny. Children grow up as part of a close family. There is an unwritten law that once kids graduate (or try to graduate) from high school, they will have to move out of the house and begin to support themselves. The reality is similar to Elsa the lion who had no clue about how to survive. Some kids make the transition with relative ease and some kids would be content to live at home forever.

Like Elsa, the transition to independence needs to be made. It is a natural part of life's process. Each person should be allowed to grow and evolve on their own terms. Why would you deny a child the opportunity to become President or a neurosurgeon?

The lesson Grasshoppers is that life is meant to be lived. Children should be nutured to develop as many skills as possible but the evolution to becoming independent needs to be made. Forcing your kids to learn meaningful skills should be a priority.

There is one poignant scene in "Born Free" where Elsa wanders into the camp of the couple who raised her after she has been on her own for several years. There is a stark realization that Elsa remembers and loves her previous home and she brings her two lion cubs with her. But Elsa also meanders out of camp to pursue her new life. Everyone (and Elsa) understands that what has happened is "right".

And then the music theme of Born Free begins in and everyone cries.

Love,

Dad