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All aboard!
We are off on a 12 night Caribbean cruise starting tomorrow so this will likely be the last entry on this blog until our return. We both love cruises and now that we are retired we have the flexibility, within reason, to go for one as and when we please. This flexibility gives us the opportunity to take advantage of pricing which is usually a lot less during certain times of the year. People either love cruises or they just don’t like them. We obviously fall in the first group and find cruises to be relaxing, love the ocean around us, enjoy the usually excellent food, the entertainment that is…
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Thanksgiving – a great American tradition
Thanksgiving is, without a doubt, my favorite holiday of the year. It has all of the elements that I find most desirable – a time to gather with family and extended family, lots of good food and fun. Most importantly from my standpoint, it has not been commercialized the way Christmas has in much of the West with the focus being on gift-giving and shopping. In the case of Thanksgiving the only shopping that one does is buying groceries for the dinner. Wikipedia says: “Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and…
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Sarah Palin revisited
When Sarah Palin was selected by John McCain as his running mate, I was intrigued by the choice. On a personal level, I felt that her decision to give birth to a baby with full knowledge that he had Down’s Syndrome, was an act of grace and courage – and I admired her for it. I still do so. But I became quickly disillusioned as to her preparedness to be president if the circumstances ever warranted it. As I watched the Sarah Palin appearance on Oprah and other shows it felt, as Yogi Berra would say, “like deja vu all over again”! On the one hand, I am able to…
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Is this the face of health care rationing?
In 1994, we were living in Southern California when the Northridge earthquake occurred. It was 6.8 on the Richter scale and took place in the early hours of the morning while we were asleep. Our house literally shook for what seemed an eternity but was actually less than a minute. It felt like King Kong had grabbed hold of the house and was literally shaking it! Our house was probably about 7 miles – as the crow flies – from the epi-center. Several days later I was in a discussion with an associate at the company where I worked. He was a Californian – born and bred – and I…
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Waist size by decree
I posted a few weeks ago about North Carolina’s plan to require higher health care premiums from state employees who are obese – a proposal that generated criticism especially from those who felt that reversing obesity was more appropriately done through education. The “tea-party” crowd and Republicans who are so up in arms about various policies espoused by Barack Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress and especially health care reform should be glad that they don’t live in Japan. I say this because Japan is the only nation that has decided to mandate the waist size for men and women! In an effort to combat obesity and the corresponding impact…
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Are newspapers becoming obsolete?
The print media in the US is facing the greatest financial crisis since its inception – essentially caused by the internet which has changed the way entire generations get their news. But I am getting ahead of myself ……………… When I was about twelve years old while living in Mombasa (Kenya), my father got on my case about the fact that I did not read the newspaper and was therefore ill-informed about what was going on it the world. He pestered me to a point where I started to read the paper reluctantly and with some resentment. Interestingly, over time I developed a genuine fascination with current affairs and politics…
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Gold, glorious gold!
Indians and most Asians, have had a love-affair with gold for centuries. Perhaps, it is because gold has always been viewed as the ultimate refuge in times of economic and political instability. In most of Asia where there is no safety net whether in the way of state pensions or government provided healthcare, having a stash of gold is viewed as a form of investment/security. To this day, in India and presumably other parts of Asia, when parents bestow upon their daughters at the time of marriage, large amounts of gold jewelry to be worn during the ceremony and reception. Fast forward to the the US and the UK ……………..…