The Saturday Morning Post: 50 States in 52 Weeks: Ohio

The Art Museum in Cleveland Ohio 

I have long ago lost track of the number of times I have visited Ohio. Located south of Michigan, north of Kentucky, west of Pennsylvania, east of Indiana Ohio is very much in the center of the Midwest, and the gateway to the eastern United States.  The state has three major cities, the three Cs, Cleveland in the north on Lake Erie, Columbus kind of in the middle, and Cincinnati in the south on the Ohio River. In between there is miles, and miles, and miles of gently rolling farmland, old industrial towns, and in the south east, petroleum production. 

There are great art museums in Cleveland and Cincinnati. A major military aircraft museum in Dayton (on last September's road trip and breakfast with Diaday.) 

The Sweet Bear is from Cleveland, we have made many trips there to visit family. Cincinnati was a great city escape when we lived in Lexington Kentucky, less than a 100 miles away. Cincinnati has many more big city amenities like museums and shopping than Lexington, it made a great weekend getaway or day trip. 

Ohio is probably underrated as a tourist destination, there are many things to see and do.  The winters are a bit much for me - the West Side Market in Cleveland is one of the best in the country. 

There are major airports in Cleveland and Columbus. If you fly into Cincinnati, you are actually flying into Kentucky - just across the river. 

Friday Fun: Smiling Tops and How Frank Sinatra Keeps the Gnomes Away

The top quit working on my little VW convertible (cabriolet) way back in April.  We were getting ready to leave for a month, and the top closed just fine, it wouldn't open, so I just ignored it. I have this fantasy that if I ignore problems they will go away, but most are like that molding cheese in the back corner of the refrigerator, they are still there, and get worse over time.  When we returned home, I was in a stingy mood after having spent an unimaginable amount on a wonderful trip. And then the weather warmed up, really warmed up, we had an exceedingly hot summer. I had learned the hard way, that diving with the top down when the temperature is in the high 90's f (about 40c) is unpleasant. So I put off doing anything about the top. Then last week to add insult to injury the check engine light came on. Reluctantly I called the local VW dealer and made arranged to take it in for service. I figured the top was a job for someone who has worked on them before. The check engine light should have been a check brakes light, the power brake booster had failed, and the "top string" was broken. The repairs cost about 1/3rd of what the car is worth, but without them, the car is ready for the breakers yard. It is 18 years old, but only has a little over 55,500 miles on it.  I picked it up Wednesday morning, put the top down, and my smile came up. A long slow drive out to Mt Vernon and back.  I am back to being the slightly eccentric old man aging into a rust pile in his old convertible.    

A dear friend was telling me about a family member who lived with dementia.  As sometimes happens, the person experienced hallucinations, she saw things that no one else could see. In her case it was gnomes. And she hated the gnomes staring at her in silence. She would shout at the gnomes trying to get them to go away. 

Someone noticed that she stopped complaining about the gnomes when the radio was playing. Hmm, a family member suggested, why don't we play music? Her response was "No, you know I don't like all that noise!" 

Someone thought about and rephrased the question: 

How about if we play music to scare the gnomes away? She responded that is a great idea. Cue the music, playing Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits solved the gnome infestation.  

I had another post written for today, and decided we really needed something more fun. 

Thursday Ramble: A changing World

I am writing an article for the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division on how technology will help us remain independent as we age. 

My bold statement is that autonomous vehicles will be the biggest change in how we move about in our daily lives, since automobiles replaced horses.  I have written about my Waymo ride in Phoenix, I eagerly await their start of service here in the DC area this year. 

Apps and email are replacing letters. The Danish Post Office will end letter delivery and concentrate on package delivery. I find that sad. But I can count on my fingers the number of personal letters and cards I have sent or received in the last year. The average address in Denmark received one letter or card per month. Advertising is delivered by private contractors, and letter delivery will be offered by private contractors (think Fedex, without the planes.) Package delivery is a rapidly growing industry in Denmark (and most of the world.)  

Britain is going to or has phased out processing paper checks (cheques.) I am down to writing very few checks, the property tax office wants to charge extra to pay by card, and I am too stingy to pay extra on top of my rather large tax bill. We are getting closer and closer to not having any real mail in our mail.  

I did a little research, 98% of persons age 64 in the USA regularly use the internet. This drops to about half by age 80. But in another decade or two, the number of adults who are not digitally connected will drop to only those who need help with basic transactions with or without technology. We are only a decade or two away from not needing cash, checks and letter delivery.  

My older sister and I were trading text messages. Her 50th High School Reunion is coming up next month. Her first thought was where has the time gone? Then it was with the changes we have see in our lives, what will her grandchildren see in their lifetimes? Her sons grew up with computers in the their rooms. Our grandparents went from horse and buggy to man walking on the moon. We went from typewriters to more computing power in our hand than was used to land on the moon when we were children.  

There are a couple of companies developing supersonic airliners.  One has successfully tested a design that eliminates the sonic boom. Now to show economic viability. There has not been a major advance in air travel in nearly 70 years.  

Passenger carrying drones are being developed and tested.  These are more Jetsons, than flying cars.  And yes, I would ride in one. 

Things are going to continue to change. 

  

My World of Wonders, aka, the Wednesday Ws - How Old Am I Edition

What happened on this day long long ago? My parents welcomed their last child. My how I have grown from 6 lbs 10.5 ounces, and 20 inches. 

What surprises me most about this? That I lived this long, I have done a few stupid things over the decades. Someplace in the drafts folder is a list of the ten stupidest things I have ever done. I should delete that draft. 

What amazes me? How far I have come from where I started out. Growing up on a very rural farm in the middle of nowhere, I never dreamed that I would finish the education that I did, live in a world Capital, do research and work on national policy and training. Origin is not destiny. 

What is next?  The next few months are mostly quiet, mostly at home. Next spring we have another adventure. I have bid on a consulting gig that if funded will fill 150-200 hours, and generate a bit of extra travel money. There is a price at which I will gladly return to the paid workplace, temporarily, if the project is interesting. We should know if the project is a go within a month. 

What else is special about this day? It was my paternal Grandfather's birthday. He died 49 years ago this fall, and I still miss him.  

Travel Tuesday: Smithsonian Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery

 

Monday Moods: Late Summer Angest

 I have noticed over the last decade that the last couple of weeks in August, are often a weird time for me. I notice it now, but it is probably a longer term behaviour pattern dating back to childhood.  The end of August was peak harvest season on the funny farm, a tense time when our fortunes, good or bad, for the year were revealed. It was back to school season, change of routine, new teachers, new classes, new challenges. Work on the harvest would kick into high gear at the same time school was starting, working 7 days a week until it was all in the barrel in late September or early October. And it is also my birthday season. 

Acknowledging that this is a weird time of the year for me helps - but does not entirely settle the sense of being unsettled. 

Add to that this year some expensive car repairs - I hate spending money on car repairs, and it took almost 48 hours for the shop to tell me what was wrong and what it was going to cost to fix. Assuming the parts arrive I should get the little convertible back, and be able to put the top down late Tuesday or sometime on Wednesday. I look forward to a long drive out to Mt Vernon and back with the wind blowing in what is left of my hair.  (The top had not worked in several months.) 

Today should be fun, I am meeting an old friend for a long chatty lunch and maybe a little retail therapy.  We have not had a chance to sit and ramble on for a few years. Lots has happened in both of our lives since the last time. 

Acknowledging and talking or writing about how I am feeling,  helps me. Knowing what works for me, and doing it, is good. I should be back to my less stressed status within a few days.  

I should find a way to divert myself during the last couple of weeks in August, to change this long term behaviour pattern.   

The Sunday Five: Row-Row-Row Your Boat

1: What is your experience with canoes?

2: Tell us about the last time you were on a boat? 

3: What size boat would you like to have? 

4: How close do you live to water that you could boat on? 

5: Have you ever owned a boat? 

My answers: 

1: What is your experience with canoes? I have never been in one. 

2: Tell us about the last time you were on a boat? In May we took the Thames River Taxi from near the Wheel to Greenwich. 

3: What size boat would you like to have? Something small and slow, with a shallow draft that I could explore the wetlands along the river in. It has to be a power boat. Electric would be fine. 

4: How close do you live to water that you could boat on? We are about a mile as the eagle flies from the Potomac River, closer than that the Hunting Run, but there are no boats on it.  

5: Have you ever owned a boat? No, always wanted to. 

Please share your answers in the comments.