Harleys, Cars, Girls & Guitars

Blacks are Responsible for Their Own Problems

Black Lives Matter is a rent-a-mob of the Democratic Party, organized, funded and controlled at the highest levels of the Obama administration. The goal of BLM is to drive law enforcement out of black communities so as to turn over the streets to black gangs. This is all a rerun for me.

I lived through the epidemic of gang violence in Brooklyn during the crack era. The city of New York turned over the streets to black gangs. Same sort of agitation in the 60s by leftists led to this surrender of the streets to thugs.

It was a nightmare which I will not describe in detail here.

I find it almost impossible to believe that we're headed toward a repeat of this nightmare. How is it possible that people did not learn from the last go round?

60 years of constant weeping and gnashing of the teeth over blacks has driven us all nuts. We've beatified blacks, simultaneously exempting them from any responsibility for their own lives and problems. White kids have been taught for generations to devise the most tortured explanations to pin the blame for any problem blacks might encounter on whites. That's what nice white people are supposed to do.

This shit has devolved into insanity and farce.

The ideological foundation for this attempt to drive law enforcement out of black communities was already in place when I was a kid in the 60s. I was taught in my undergraduate courses by white lefty professors that cops were an "occupying army" in black communities. What was supposed to take the place of a police presence was never quite explained.

But the cops were evil and racist... that was for certain.

My college indoctrination also taught me that white racism was responsible for the fact that black men dominate the prison population. In fact, I was taught that holding blacks responsible for their lives was a form of racism.

BLM is the expected outcome of this indoctrination of our kids. Several generations of black kids have been told that whites are responsible for all their problems. White kids have been beaten down into apologists and flagellants. Nobody has the courage to say to blacks:  "That's enough. Back off. You don't get any more."

I'm not a political activist. I'm not going to do anything more about this insanity than write this bit. But, I want to be the first to say this. I'm retired, financially secure and I don't have to fear blacklisting.

The time to say No! to blacks has arrived. Blacks are responsible for their own problems and their own lives. They must obey the law, and humble themselves before law enforcement, like everybody else. Injustices happen to members of every group. Blacks don't have some special claim here.

The outcome of this capitulation to the rent-a-mob BLM will be black gang control of the streets of many of our major cities. I know because I lived through the last episode.

I live now at the end of a dirt road on top a mountain in the forest. The violence and chaos is unlikely to reach me or my family. What the hell! I will only be an observer as New York City sinks again into the madness of black gang control of the streets.

World Still Going to Hell... I'm OK!

"I am never sure whether I should lament the state of the world or be complacent about it. For on the one hand everything is going to the dogs and on the other I am a happy man." Theodore Dalrymple, writing in Taki Mag.

I still support Trump. My reasons have not changed. I did my civic duty and wrote up a long winded essay explaining why I support The Donald a while ago. Go read it if you're so inclined.

I volunteered to work in a presidential campaign once... the Gene McCarthy Kids' Crusade in 1968. Anti-Vietnam war candidate.

Nobody seems to notice that Trump is, relatively speaking, the anti-war candidate in this election. Yeah, I know... how in the hell can you tell what a candidate is really going to do once he assumes office?

Trump has suggested that we might pull back from policing the world and invading other countries to focus mostly on self-defense. I'm down with that. Hillary, on the other hand, has already knocked over a couple of foreign nations... the Ukraine and Libya.

I'm still trying to stay out of the fray. My life will continue to be fine, no matter who wins or loses. I think. Each side keeps trying to tell me the End is Near if their loathed opponent wins.

I'm an internet idiot like anybody else. Catch me on a day when I'm tired, or tired of being lonely, and I'll tear some Hillary supporter a new asshole and fight and bitch for hours. I regret it later, but what can I do? I am but a sinner.

Life is too good for me to get caught up in the histrionics.

I'm just a retired Mr. Mom Grandpa. I never wanted to run the world. Shit, I never even wanted to be a manager in an office. On a few occasions, I somehow found myself fulfilling that function. Be damned if I know how or why that happened. I failed as miserably as I could and got out as fast as I could.

Life is pretty damned good. Getting ready to move into my Mr. Mom Grandpa in-law apartment. Cleaning up the house and getting it ready to go on the market. Health returning to normal.

Friggin' Cubs are going crazy this year.

Who could ask for more?

Electoral Fatigue

This presidential election has been exhausting. Damn thing has been going on for two years. As I long ago stated, I'll vote for Trump. That's about it. I'm not a campaigner. Here's my long, tedious essay explaining why I'm voting for The Donald. Not much has changed since I wrote that bit.

The furor on social media over the election wore me out a few weeks ago. Maybe being sick had something to do with that. 

Truth is, I'm feeling pretty jolly. No cancer! Yay! I'm going to live a little while longer.  But, I'm not entirely likely to live through the next president's term. If he/she goes to two terms, my chances are dim indeed. 

Bloodlust crept into the electoral process this year. Everybody's itching for a fight, and lots of people are ready to bust heads and shoot people. What in the fuck do I need with that shit?

I'm just an old Mr. Mom grandpa. It's no longer my business to fix the world. Maybe my grandkids can do that. 

I'm trying to focus nowadays on what's really important and relevant to me. Politics is pretty far down the list. No matter who's president, I've got a good (if not that long) life ahead of me. I'm going to be teaching and playing with my grandkids and bundling them off to school in the morning. 

I'll be moving into my new in-law apartment with my daughter, son-in-law and grandkids within a few months. Might wait until I sell the house in Woodstock. Might not.

My remaining time is short. Gotta focus on the important things. I'm looking forward to getting un-Woodstuck.

Everybody Liked the Meatballs!

That's what I told my girlfriend this morning. Over the weekend, she taught me her meatballs with tomato sauce recipe. I'm learning to cook some basic dishes that my grandkids will eat.

My last act in life is playing Mr. Mom to my three grandkids. Not complaining. They're a lot of fun. They're also full of a lot of hugs. My toddler granddaughter is three. The twins are one. Boy and girl.

My girlfriend is giving me Mr. Mom lessons. Tips on housekeeping. Good snacks for the grandkids. That kind of stuff.

Took a drive-by of my new home over the weekend, too. Lots of land... almost 7 acres on top a mountain. I'll put in a vegetable garden and also do some landscape gardening. The house could be quite a showplace.

I remind myself frequently that I don't need to clinch my jaw any more. Hadn't realized that I had been doing that. In the early days of my retirement, I noticed that I was clinching my jaw.

"You don't have to do that anymore," I told myself.

My life was a wild adventure played out mostly in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City. I was on edge all the time. No matter what I did, I had to do it the most difficult way possible. Especially with women.

So, I was always fighting with the world and struggling to hold myself together. And, always clinching my jaw.

That is not an easy habit to stop. I'm consciously trying, but the habit keeps popping up.

Everything has changed. I no longer need to fight anything. No longer have to look over my shoulder. No longer even have to worry about money. (I'm fixed for life at the level of a college student with a decent part time job.) 

Once I sell my house, I won't even have any bills. No car or house payment. I'll pay into the general house fund with my daughter and son-in-law. Pay for my own cable and internet. 

When I get drawn into a political fight on Facebook or some weblog, I remind myself at some point that political controversy has become irrelevant to me. Hell, I'll be lucky just to live through the next presidency.

I'm focused on the grandkids. They're fascinating people already. I am privileged to spend a lot of time with them. I'm involved in their most formative years. Cooking and cleaning for them, and taking care of a yard so that they are free to play without worry... these are the things that concern me now.

My girlfriend is a very happy Filipino. That's the first thing that people notice about her. The reason for her happiness is obvious... she lives solely to serve other people. She's as deeply Christian as a woman can be. She's a fantastic cook and homemaker. She loves to do the things that so many other people consider chores.

The kids did like the meatballs. The twins dug in, mostly into the hamburger. They tried a few slurps of sauce from a spoon. My toddler girl haggled over dessert before she finally gave in and ate meatballs, sauce and pasta.

Getting Un-Woodstuck

Got the OK from the doctor to resume my normal physical regimen. Good thing! I was going nuts sitting on my ass after 3 surgeries in two months. The good news is... no cancer! The other big news is that I'll be departing Woodstock, although the date for that is not yet set. I'll be getting un-Woodstuck.

"Woodstuck" is a term the locals have always used to describe somebody who moved to town, excited by living in the most famous small town in the world, only to become stuck with no way to get out. 

I got Woodstuck over 40 years ago. Immigrated to the burg to immerse myself in the music scene, and to put my kids in safe schools. Got stuck. Long after there's any reason to be here, I'm still here. 

Not moving very far away. Less than 20 miles, on the periphery of Kingston, but still out in the country and atop a mountain. A shorter mountain.

I will, however, be moving to an entirely different universe. I'll be living in an ordinary small town with no claim to fame, populated by people with a lot more sense and much smaller egos. No flocks of tourists.

The reason? I'm going in with my daughter and son-in-law to buy a house. They need all the help I can give them to care for my three grandkids, and I'm retired and happy to play the role of Mr. Mom. So, we'll be building an in-law unit in the basement of the new house for me. I'll be selling my house in Woodstock.

I've never lived in the town of Woodstock. That's too damned crazy. Town is full of rental houses for the transients, and shops and amenities for the tourists. The transients are artists, usually musicians or painters. An entertaining but addled bunch trying to continue to live the hippie dream.

No, I've always lived in isolation in the forest in the mountains to the west of Woodstock. That area belongs spiritually to Woodstock, isolated from the melodrama and mental illness. Every crazy artist and burned out far leftist must live for a while in Woodstock.

Another reason for the move is that I need somebody to look after me. I'm headed toward 70. No serious health problems, but living in isolation out in the mountains will soon be too much for me to handle. And, if I fall down or have a serious health problem, I will need to have somebody nearby to help me. 

While I'm still completely independent, capable and mobile, I am old.

I'll be Woodstuck until my house sells. Might be a year or two. Or might happen in a hurry.

I'm ready. God has blessed the final chapter of my life... He has given me these beautiful and fascinating grandkids and He's given me a big role in rearing them.

I'll be commuting to my babysitting gig until the house sells. Then, Crazy Grandpa will move into the basement apartment. Happy days ahead, indeed.

We All Fall Down

Three surgeries in the past two months! Two months of enforced physical inactivity, opiate pain medications and not even being able to babysit my grandkids. I'm seeing the surgeon on Thursday, and if he gives me the OK, I will be able to resume my normal physical regimen of bicycling, yoga and weight lifting.

Kids fall down all the time. My grandkids, ages 1 through 3, are still learning how to control their bodies. The one year old twins fall down every 30 seconds or so. The three year old is starting to get her act together.

The worst part of my two month long struggle with health is that I haven't been able to get down on the floor with my grandkids to play and rough house.

Every aspect of my life is at a standstill because of the physical inactivity. Can't wait to get started again.

We all fall down.

Kids take it all in stride. If you don't get up when you fall and try again, you'll never learn how to walk. My grandkids fall down, scrape their knees, cry and show the boo-boo to grandpa. I kiss it and we start all over again.

I've been through this picking myself up and putting myself back together so many times. I no longer get depressed or angry about it. It just seems to be the reality of life. People get sick and die. Economic disasters strike from time to time. Completely unexpected problems overwhelm us.

My midwestern upbringing and Catholic indoctrination taught me stoicism. In rural Illinois in my day (the 50s and 60s), nobody wanted to listen to your whining, your excuses or humor your bitch. My family's background is hard ass Irish and German peasantry. I was taught from childhood that nobody was going to help me and that, if I wanted anything, I had better get it for myself.

This is quite a sensible philosophy.

I know how to put myself back together. I'll start out slowly with the physical exercise so that I don't hurt myself... the first consideration for an old fart. I'll get back down on the floor to play and rough house with the grandkids. Today, I got started playing music and drawing. (Even those things went by the wayside, since the opiates put me to sleep for most of the day.)

The biggest smackdown of my life was, of course, Myrna's death. Took me years to want to go on with life. It's still a struggle without her. 12 years ago, the money was flowing in from two big paychecks and we were thinking we were on the verge of retiring to travel the world in luxury.

Everything changed in a few moments.

Then the grandkids came along. I'm not ashamed to say that they gave me a reason to enjoy life and to be positive and enthusiastic again. Caring for them has become my full time job in retirement, and I'm happy with that. In a few months, I'll be moving into an in-law apartment in a new house I'm buying with my daughter and son-in-law so that I can be full time Mr. Mom to my grandkids. Goodbye, Woodstock! (A good thing. It's time to become un-Woodstuck!)

That will come to an end to, but experience has prepared me for that. I already know that the day is not so far away when my grandkids will have other things to do than hang out with grandpa.

Garmin Edge 200 GPS Bicycle Computer

In retirement, I can't afford to buy all the electronic doodads that I want. So, it was a little bit of a thrill to buy a new GPS bicycle computer. Arrived in two days by mail from Amazon! 130 bucks.

I wasn't too clear on how the GPS ("Global Positioning System") works. So, it was a bit of a surprise to discover that access to the system of positioning satellites is free, i.e., does not demand a subscription. 

Here's a simple article explaining GPS. Below, one of the least annoying videos I could find that explains the GPS system:

The Garmin Edge 200 required very little setup. For some reason, the default menu language was French. Took me a little while to figure out how to get to the menu option to change that to English.

I immediately set out to try out my routine routes. On Saturday, I did my 10 mile route. On Sunday, the 15 mile route.

Mapping a route is incredibly simple with the Edge 200. Turn the thing on, wait for it to tell you it has linked with the GPS system, press "Start" and begin riding. You get three constant pieces of info... speed, distance traversed and time elapsed. The precision of a GPS system is beautiful.

The Edge 200 does not map in the way that a car GPS system does. A bicycle system that can pre-draw navigational maps costs about $400.

But you can connect the Edge via USB to your computer, then go to the garminconnect.com site to upload your rides to a mapping system.

Another USB device to charge! And, this is one that I use almost every day. That means clipping and unclipping the Edge 200 to the crappy mount that comes standard with the unit. No doubt, that mount will fall apart with heavy use. I've already ordered a sturdier mount.

I've got a mess of USB cables growing out of the back of my iMac.

It's not so easy to get lost nowadays. When you think of all the tech advances that have changed how we perceive reality, two really stand out to me... constant awareness of precise time and location.

I have a digital clock in every room in my house, not by intent, but because every electronic entertaining device or appliance has a built in digital clock. The clocks are all right on the money, too, since I set them to the wifi synchronized clock on my computer.

Now, with GPS, we also always know precisely where we stand on this earth. And, what direction we are moving in.

The Garmin Edge 200 is a fascinating device. 

New Classical Sheet Music... Bach and Chopin

I stopped in Sam Ash in suburban Jersey last week to buy a couple of books of sheet music that had been tempting me for some time. The first is the great college music student standard, J.S. Bach's Two and Three Part Inventions. 

This series of exercises is the standard text for learning correct piano fingering techniques. In my summer school sessions at the University of Illinois while I was still in high school, my piano teacher drilled me relentlessly on these pieces.

Completely different melodic lines in left and right hands. Fingering must be precise or these very short pieces fall apart. I have a classical compilation book that contains a few of these pieces. After six months of hacking away at three of these pieces, I have almost mastered one.

Mastering the entire collection of inventions will keep me busy for the rest of my days.

Here's Bach's own description of the purposes of these two and three part inventions:

Honest method, by which the amateurs of the keyboard – especially, however, those desirous of learning – are shown a clear way not only (1) to learn to play cleanly in two parts, but also, after further progress, (2) to handle three obligate parts correctly and well; and along with this not only to obtain good inventions (ideas) but to develop the same well; above all, however, to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition.

This book served as a nice little present for a retired grandpa. Don't we all like to buy something on Friday? At only seven bucks, it was a bargain.

I tend to get up at 3 or 4 a.m. One of the oddities of retirement. This is several hours before the political controversy starts for the day on the internet. So, I'm looking for positive things to do with my time. I feel like I've accomplished something when I start out my day with my classical practice. 

My other little present to myself, also purchased at Sam Ash, is this book of many of Chopin's Favorite Piano Works.

Chopin is my favorite classical piano composer. I wanted a big book of his standard pieces that included the Military Polonaise.

These pieces stretch my technique to the breaking point... which is my intention. I've been playing Chopin's Waltz in C Sharp Minor in my classical compilation. Here's a YouTube of a pretty Chinese girl, Yuja Wang, playing that piece:

Now, I have a ton of new pieces to explore, sight read (even if only one hand at a time) and think about adding to my tiny classical repertoire. A bargain at 17 bucks for the book!

I'll probably never play one of these classical pieces in public. (Well, I do play Chopin's Prelude in E Minor as a little mood setter before Mass.) That's not really the point.

I play classical piano for mental clarity, to promote a sense of peace and well-being, and for the simple satisfaction of conquering difficult pieces. My goals are entirely self defined.

And, I enjoy hearing my own interpretations of some of my favorite classical pieces.

Picnic in Grandpa's Back Yard

All three grandkids stopped by yesterday, a grand, hot summer day. I'm on grandpa vacation while my teacher daughter is off for the summer. No daily babysitting. So, I hadn't seen the kids in a few days.

That's a pic of the Peppa Pigs... my three year old girl's current YouTube favorite. The Peppa's are quite droll! Here they are, packing up, most likely to visit their grandparents.

I'm now the lonely old grandpa, waiting impatiently for the kids to stop by. I rushed home from Mass to put on the hamburgers and hot dogs. I finished most of the prep work before I attended church. Like my dad, I stood in the door and watched for my daughter and my grandchildren when they showed up late.

My one year old twins are moving out of the nursery into the big world outside. But, they are moving out slowly. They cautiously checked out the grass in my back yard. My three year old granddaughter will be ready for school soon. But, she still needs lots of mom and grandpa hugs to have the courage to navigate the world.

They'll need grandpa to nanny them for another four years. Then, everybody will be in school full time. Lately, it's occurred to me that I have to start planning for life after they all go off to school. Will I work again? 

By the time the kids are all off to school full time, I'll be 70 and I'll have been retired for 8 years. Is it possible to return to work in light of that?

I thought that the picnic in the backyard would be kinda rowdy, but it was too hot and the kids hadn't seen grandpa for a while. So, my daughter and I spent most of the day holding the kids and reassuring them. Which is OK by me. Grandpa got his hugs.

The toddler asked if I would teach her to play piano! How can I do that and make it fun for her so that she continues to play? 

For now, I'm deep in grandpa-ing. Next fall, the toddler will go to half day pre-school. She really needs the socializing with other kids, and the twins need to be able to do things on their own, without their sister lording it over them. I'll have all three grandkids half the day, and only the twins for half the day.

For the past three years, I've been enclosed in the nursery with the grandkids. A very quiet, slow and satisfying life.

The next four years will be their transition to school and social life. And, somewhere along that road, they'll need grandpa less.

And, what, then, will grandpa do?

Grandpa Summer Vacation! Whee!

Grandpa Howling' Steve will have 10 weeks off from daily babysitting of the grandkids starting next week! Yay! While I love my little Munchkins and enjoy my time with them, I need to recharge. (My daughter is a school teacher, so she gets the summer off.) What will I do?

I'll be taking a week long road trip to Chicago with a stop in Detroit. In Detroit, I'll be meeting a Facebook friend for a trip to Comerica Park and a Tiger baseball game. In Illinois, I'll be visiting my soon to be 90 year old mom and taking in a Cubs baseball game at Wrigley.

I considered continuing out to Colorado so that I could buy some 420 from a retail store, but that's a long way to go for a 1/2 ounce of pot. A lot of wear and tear on my 2011 Ford Ranger pickup, too!

The grandkids will still be very much in my life. My 3 year old girl has made it clear that she wants picnics in the backyard with chocolate ice cream. That's fine with me! My back yard is a great place for my one year old twins to play, too. You couldn't find a quieter, safer place. No traffic noise. Only the birdies and the deer.

And, I have no doubt I'll be called on for spot babysitting.

Unfortunately, I have another surgery scheduled for this summer. What can you do? I'm old, as my toddler Munchkin so often tells me. My body is starting to break down. The surgery will hospitalize me for a couple of days, then I face a month long recovery.

I'm still recovering from two surgeries over a month ago. Yesterday, I did a full set of yoga for the first time since those surgeries. I was afraid to go all in. Now that I have, everything feels better and my outlook has improved.

The picture above is from Uncle Grandpa, one of my favorite kids' TV shows. The grandkids do not appreciate the sublime humor of this show. They prefer The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Princess Sofia and P J Masks. I do love Minnie and Mickey, but a summer off from the endless reruns will do me some good.

Most of my great Grandpa Summer Vacation will be spent at home, doing what my dad called "puttering around." Bicycle riding, softball in the backyard, tending to my yoga regimen, playing, writing and recording music, and sketching and painting. My house needs some minor repairs that I can manage, too.

My time with the grandkids is already running out! I've been babysitting them almost full time during the school year for three years. Next year, it's off to pre-school for my toddler girl, so I'll only see her half days. In two more years, my baby twins will also head off to pre-school. Within four years, all the kids will be in school full time and grandpa will have to find something new to do with his life.