Mortality?

There's nothing like a lunch date with the old coaches to remind me of my own mortality.  Without going into details, I was so reminded this afternoon.  But it was a good two hours.  Oddly, meeting with them is quite different from meeting with my Amherst buddies and teammates.  Today, as with most of the lunches, there is a clear demarcation between talking about "the old days" and today.  With the Lord Jeffs, it's always as if we are still there, more than 40 years ago, but talking about current matters.  Oh, the past comes up, but it melds in with the current.  It's like we never became separated for all those years.  Both situtations are good.

I'd like to know how, as one Michigan Republican legislator said, how a higher gas tax will replace the lower sales tax on gasoline, but "wouldn't impact the price at the pump?"  Huh?  Is this like "when is a cut not a cut?"

The world has really turned upside down.  This AM's newspaper had an op-ed piece by a Republcan state legislator who thinks the increased federal spending on Medicaid in the state (by Michigan opting in to ObamaCare) is "a sound decision."  Whatever happened to the Republican ideas of limited government, economic responsibility, etc.?  Apparently this guy didn't read the op-ed of two or three days ago, in which two MDs outlined a far-sighted health plan that not only wouldn't spend all the ObamaCare money (that we don't have), but would actually save money and result in better health care.  This Republican from today has fallen into the same old big government/Big Brother refrain:  government will "lead to a healthier population."  I say "bologna/baloney."  Let's just leave it at this question:  Why aren't people responsible/accountable for their own health??????

And the Chickens Little are out in full force today.  Again in the newspaper "The consequences of inaction are severe" and "Michigan kids lose in sequester."  Have I said, "bologna/baloney" lately?  A quick check of what positions/offices these people hold tells us all we need to know.  I guess if I could ask each one of these guys a few questions, they'd be, "How do you expect to get a handle on eliminating a $15 trillion debt when you can't stomach $85 billion, 2.4%?"  and "How can you guys, along with your President, orchestrate this 'sequester' to do far more damage than is necessary--and I'm not convinced, with skilled leadership, it would do any at all--with a clear conscience?"  Of course, I have forgotten one of my own tenets--there is no shame any more.  People are not ashamed of the bad things that they do.  I don't know if that's because there is no longer a sense of shame or if they really believe the stuff they spout and, if they, do can they be that stupid or naive?  Or, I suppose, maybe to them it's all about winning, holding government power.  I think I don't really know.

That said, it's really nice to hear wonderful things about one's kids (or grandkids!) at teacher conferences.  I don't really care about the grades, not in and of themselves.  I've been around the block a few times and know grades have become a means, not an end.  My grades, be they in high school or in college, are not at all important to me--now.  So, they were important in that they opened doors for me, doors that would have been locked tight otherwise.  But more important are three things, all that teachers said.  I want good behavior.  I want effort.  And I want learning, which is sometimes and sometimes not reflected in grades.  Working with my grandkids, I can get a pretty good handle on what they are learning.  So, I rely on the teachers for reports on behavior and effort.  And like Uncle Matt told Bopper again last night, after hearing of the good reports, "Grandma and Grandpa have to take you out to dinner again--at a restaurant of your choice."  That Uncle Matt!  Fortunately, Bopp's favorite restaurant won't be McDonald's or Wendy's, but one of my two or three favorites, too!  Let's eat!