Here is a quote from Jim Wallis over at Sojourners that will be the foundation for this post. Since the Occupy Wall Street movement began, the talk about inequality has been greater than I can remember it being for a very long time. This has been the elephant in the room in our discussions about the economy that nobody wanted to say out loud. In the last hundred years, there have been two peak periods of great inequality in American society—just before the Great Depression, and in 2008, right before our current Great Recession. And in the mysterious and secret … Continue reading Inequity in the U.S.

  Christ, in sending the [people] to the scriptures, sent them, not merely to read them, but carefully to search and ponder them. And did he not say, “Read the scriptures,” but “Search the scriptures.” … Their meaning is not expressed superficially or set forth in their literal sense, but, like a treasure, lies buried at a great depth. And those who seek for hidden things will not be able to find the object of the search if they do not seek carefully and painstakingly. – St. John Chrysostom Homily 41 (John 5:39-47), A.D. 390 From Wikipedia John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), Archbishop of Constantinople, was … Continue reading Don’t Just Read But Search & Ponder….

The above title is something that many people espouse to live by.  But in my opinion you can’t just go with the flow in your retirement life. At least not the way I perceive it or at least not in the beginning. Going with the flow is allowing things to happen without much outside intervention. When we enter your retirement life each of us needs to have some plan on what we are going to do and what we hope to accomplish. Without that plan going with the flow could mean getting up every morning, watching TV all day and … Continue reading Just Go With The Flow….

Source:  Column: We don’t want an America ‘made in China’ – USATODAY.com. Let’s subtitle this post to “When Buying American Meant Something”. There are some rather disturbing things about the source article above. It seems very strange that a U.S. supplier would lose out to the China competitor for the glass used in the new Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site! If there is anything that should be American made it would be at that site! Yet the business went out of country, although through several intermediary U.S. companies, because PPG Industries could not afford to pay the … Continue reading We don’t want an America ‘made in China’…

Continue reading Barns – Waterford Mill, Maryland

Now that I am finally a Medicare beneficiary I want to take a look back at the trip to get here. I will also be looking at how we do our healthcare relative to the rest of the industrial world. Let’s begin this journey. I have learned from experience that healthcare needs definitely increase as you get older.  I joke that I think my warranty expired when I turned sixty.  I am sure that I have been to the doctor more in the last five years than I had for the previous sixty combined. When I started out my adult … Continue reading The Cost of Healthcare….

There should be a tax on every man that wanted to get a government appointment or be elected to office. In two years that tax alone would pay our National debt. – Will Rogers  March 22, 1925 I have to go back to my hero Will Rogers for answers to many of life’s problems. Given that we are in the middle of the primary season for president and the congressional stuff will be starting soon this seems like an answer to more than one problem. But I guess I should also include the following Once a man has held public … Continue reading The Answer to the Debt Problem…

Source:  Editorial Cartoons – USATODAY.com Photos. Continue reading Way Too Narrow For Me Too…

This was a picture taken recently during our Canadian vacation. We were staying in a small motel right on the river. It was a mystical place.     Continue reading Sunset Over the St. Lawrence River – 2011

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, … Continue reading If You Are a Christian There Are Consequences To Inaction…..

Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” –Steve Jobs — Continue reading Follow Your Inner Voice….

I guess everybody who has looked at any news source yesterday know that Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Computer, passed away this week of pancreatic cancer.  He was only 56 years old.  Steve was definitely not one who was afraid of pushing the envelope of life and particularly our technology life. In that regard he was a hero of mine. I myself pushed the status quo a few times in my technical life but nothing compared to him. In 1970, when Steve was fifteen years old, I started out my career as an electric engineer. Then in … Continue reading Here's to you Steve….

Source:  Military retirees say benefits hard-earned – USATODAY.com. The news in the article above came as somewhat a shock to me.  I often hear that the military pay is substandard; that we are forcing our soldiers to live in poverty. The graph to the right seems to go against those words.  It seems that being a federal employee including ones in the military that your compensation is well above those in the private sector.  In fact being in the private sector is putting you at the bottom of the total compensation ladder in this graph! I certainly appreciate the comments … Continue reading Federal and Military Employee Compensation…

One of my favorite pictures from a previous homestead. Continue reading Misty Morning – 1994

Source Article:  Republicans unready to rout Obama – chicagotribune.com. What I find most interesting about this article is quote below. America is finally wising up to President Barack Obama, a nice guy who prepared for the presidency by being a follower, by avoiding confrontation while cozying up to City Hall. These words are from a long time Chicago Tribune reporter. Of course Chicago is the adopted home of Barak Obama. Maybe I heard these words during the campaigns of 2008 but they were drowned out by all the rhetoric and “change” words that were flying around at the time. I don’t … Continue reading By Being a Follower….

In honor of my fellow blogger, Bob Lowry over at Satisfying Retirement, who is visiting the island this week I wanted to bring up a picture of my bride taken on our honeymoon there in 1986. We haven’t been back since but I expect that Bob will see a much different island than we did. Have a good time buddy…. Continue reading Maui Hawaii – 1986

Source: Post office turns to small-town mini-mart for savings – USATODAY.com. There is an old saying  “What goes around comes around” and that seems to apply to the much beleaguered Post Office. According to the above article they are starting to move small town post offices out of their specialized government owned building and back into local retail establishments.  I am old enough to remember that when I lived in a rural community while I was growing up the post office was in the general store/grocery. According to the article above they are planning to close around 3,700 offices and move them elsewhere. If they had … Continue reading What goes around…(The Post Office)

This is probably one of the most famous barns in America. Continue reading Hancock Shaker Village – 1998

Going back a way in my portfolio to pull out this picture of the Duck Pond in Central Park NYC. It was taken during our last visit there before moving back to Indiana in 2000. Continue reading Central Park NYC – Duck Pond 1999

This picture is obviously a digitized one of a picture I took almost forty years ago. This was a newly erected office park on the north side of the city. Continue reading Indianapolis – Pyramids 1973

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.   Abraham Lincoln The advice in this quote is needed more today than it was even in Lincoln’s time. Most of the people in Congress are, as Lincoln himself was, lawyers by trade. A few posts ago I lamented about how we need a true leader during these trying times. Lincoln was definitely a leader during even more trying times than we find ourselves in now. If only the members of … Continue reading Quotes — The Wisdom of Lincoln…

O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result … Continue reading Getting Beyond Ourselves….

This picture kind of fits my mood lately. A little weary; a little aged. Continue reading These Old Barns – Wisconsin – 2010

None of them from any party are going to purposely ruin the country. They will all do the best they can. -July 8, 1928 Will Rogers If I had run across this quote ten or maybe even five years ago I would have undoubtedly agreed that it applies to our times. But given what has occurred since then I am just not so sure anymore. There just seems to be so much mistrust, I might even call it hate in some circles, that I am just not sure now. It seems that one party is more willing to see the country fail rather … Continue reading Where Are You When We Need You??

Source:  Many U.S. schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks – USATODAY.com. I am a techie at heart; always have been. So it did my heart good to see this article about how many schools are now moving away from hard bound books to electronic versions. It is about time we moved into the twenty first century in some of our educational processes. From the personal interactions in the past I have found that some teachers, like so many others, shy away from technology. The educational training academics just did not have much room for forward looking things. This trend is similar to the one taking … Continue reading Many U.S. schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks

I recently read a post by a fellow blogger Bill Birnbaum about being knowledgeable on the topic of music among other things. His post got me to thinking about how I seem to be less interested in maintaining or increasing my knowledge of the world around me lately. I am a person who never got out of the habit of asking “Why?” I do continue to do it even in my senior years but it seems that I am just not as driven to find the answers that I once was. Why is that? (ok, that is another “why” that I will … Continue reading Knowledge Is a Good Thing, But….

I have been in an artsy mood lately so have been playing with my photo portfolio. I have decided to make the header picture here into what I call “A Slice of Life”.  This will be where I select a picture from my portfolio and take a narrow slice out of it. In some cases the picture will make sense; in others it will be hard to tell what the origin of the slice really means. In some cases I will tell you what the picture are about and sometime I will just let you guess. :) If you don’t … Continue reading A Slice of Life….

This post is a tribute to all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and everyday since then: To the 3,000 who lost their lives because of the terrorist attacks. To the 100,000 Coalition Soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq. To the 13,000 Coalition Soldiers killed and wounded in Afghanistan. To the 400,000 Iraqi Citizens who have been killed or wounded. To the 410,000 U.S. citizens who have lost their lives to drunk drivers since the attacks. To the 11,000,000 who have died as a result of starvation and lack of good drinking water since the attacks. I mourn each and every … Continue reading A Tribute To….

Occasionally I look back over some of my previous posts and discover that they defined a milestone in my life. I wanted to bring this one forward again as one of those moments. This was the point in my life where I discovered I really am a “senior”. Somewhat disturbing at the time but an accepted norm today. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> January 2, 2010 By RJ  As you know I have been spending much of this holiday season scanning in photo albums from the past. It has been quite a journey so far and I have not yet gotten into all the wedding photos yet  . This has … Continue reading Looking Back On My Favorite Personal Posts….